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diff --git a/12243-h/12243-h.htm b/12243-h/12243-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..71b5799 --- /dev/null +++ b/12243-h/12243-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,15884 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Round the Block, by John Bell Bouton</title> +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + blockquote {text-align: justify; + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%;} + .ctr { TEXT-ALIGN: center } + IMG { + BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; + BORDER-TOP: 0px; + BORDER-LEFT: 0px; + BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; } + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + pre {font-size: 9pt;} + // --> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12243 ***</div> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Round the Block, by John Bell Bouton</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr class="full" size="5" noshade> +<br> +<br> +<p class="ctr"><img src="images/001.png" width="100%" alt=""><br> +<b>MRS. SLAPMAN AT HOME.</b></p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h1>ROUND THE BLOCK.</h1> +<h2>An American Novel.</h2> +<br> +<h4>By</h4> +<h2>John Bell Bouton</h2> +<h4><i>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS</i>.</h4> +<br> +<h5>1864.</h5> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<blockquote><a href="#BOOK_FIRST.">BOOK FIRST.</a><br> +<br> +NEW YEAR'S DAY.<br> +<br> +<ul> +<li><a href="#A_CHAPTER_I.">I. THE BLOCK.</a></li> +<li><a href="#A_CHAPTER_III.">II. THREE BACHELORS.</a></li> +<li><a href="#A_CHAPTER_III.">III. PEEPS.</a></li> +<li><a href="#A_CHAPTER_IV.">IV. QUIGG.</a></li> +<li><a href="#A_CHAPTER_V.">V. PLEASURE AS BUSINESS.</a></li> +<li><a href="#B_CHAPTER_VI.">VI. SOMETHING HIDDEN.</a></li> +<li><a href="#A_CHAPTER_VII.">VII. THE BOY BOG.</a></li> +<li><a href="#A_CHAPTER_VIII.">VIII. MALTBOY'S TWENTIETH +AFFAIR.</a></li> +<li><a href="#A_CHAPTER_IX.">IX. MRS. SLAPMAN AT HOME.</a></li> +<li><a href="#A_CHAPTER_X.">X. INFIRMITIES OF GENIUS.</a></li> +</ul> +<br> +<a href="#BOOK_SECOND.">BOOK SECOND.</a><br> +<br> +POLISHING.<br> +<br> +<ul> +<li><a href="#B_CHAPTER_I.">I. THE ENIGMA.</a></li> +<li><a href="#B_CHAPTER_II.">II. A DELICATE PROPOSITION.</a></li> +<li><a href="#B_CHAPTER_III.">III. AN AUXILIARY OF MODERN +CIVILIZATION.</a></li> +<li><a href="#B_CHAPTER_IV.">IV. MISS PILLBODY.</a></li> +<li><a href="#B_CHAPTER_V.">V. A FRIEND IN NEED.</a></li> +<li><a href="#B_CHAPTER_VI.">VI. BRANCHING OUT.</a></li> +<li><a href="#B_CHAPTER_VII.">VII. THE LITTLE PUPIL.</a></li> +</ul> +<br> +<a href="#BOOK_THIRD.">BOOK THIRD.</a><br> +<br> +TRAIL OF THE SERPENT.<br> +<br> +<ul> +<li><a href="#C_CHAPTER_I.">I. "ONE--TWO--THREE--FOUR."</a></li> +<li><a href="#C_CHAPTER_II.">II. THE FALLING BOARD.</a></li> +<li><a href="#C_CHAPTER_III.">III. SNEAKING JUSTIFIED.</a></li> +<li><a href="#C_CHAPTER_IV.">IV. UP IN THE AIR.</a></li> +<li><a href="#C_CHAPTER_V.">V. TONGUES OF FIRE.</a></li> +</ul> +<br> +<a href="#BOOK_FOURTH.">BOOK FOURTH.</a><br> +<br> +CHILDREN OF THE WORLD.<br> +<br> +<ul> +<li><a href="#D_CHAPTER_I.">I. MENDERT VAN QUINTEM AND +SON.</a></li> +<li><a href="#D_CHAPTER_II.">II. BUYING GOOD BEHAVIOR.</a></li> +<li><a href="#D_CHAPTER_III.">III. THE YOUNG MONSTER.</a></li> +<li><a href="#D_CHAPTER_IV.">IV. WESLEY TIFFLES.</a></li> +<li><a href="#D_CHAPTER_V.">V. THE PANORAMA OF AFRICA.</a></li> +</ul> +<br> +<a href="#BOOK_FIFTH.">BOOK FIFTH.</a><br> +<br> +MANOEUVRES.<br> +<br> +<ul> +<li><a href="#E_CHAPTER_I.">I. STOLEN--MORE THAN A PURSE.</a></li> +<li><a href="#E_CHAPTER_II.">II. CONSOLATIONS OF HIGH ART.</a></li> +<li><a href="#E_CHAPTER_III.">III. LOVING AFAR OFF.</a></li> +<li><a href="#E_CHAPTER_IV.">IV. LEGERDEMAIN.</a></li> +</ul> +<br> +<a href="#BOOK_SIXTH.">BOOK SIXTH.</a><br> +<br> +MYSTERIES OF THE NIGHT.<br> +<br> +<ul> +<li><a href="#F_CHAPTER_I.">I. THE UNKNOWN HAND.</a></li> +<li><a href="#F_CHAPTER_II.">II. IN VAIN--IN VAIN.</a></li> +<li><a href="#F_CHAPTER_III.">III. THE CLASHING ORBS.</a></li> +<li><a href="#F_CHAPTER_IV.">IV. A VISION OP HORRORS.</a></li> +<li><a href="#F_CHAPTER_V.">V. WHAT THE MORNING BROUGHT.</a></li> +</ul> +<br> +<a href="#BOOK_SEVENTH.">BOOK SEVENTH.</a><br> +<br> +JOURNEYINGS AGAINST FATE.<br> +<br> +<ul> +<li><a href="#G_CHAPTER_I.">I. PEA-SHOOTING AS A SCIENCE.</a></li> +<li><a href="#G_CHAPTER_II.">II. BY STEAM.</a></li> +<li><a href="#G_CHAPTER_III.">III. PIGWORTH, J.P.</a></li> +<li><a href="#G_CHAPTER_IV.">IV. STOOP.</a></li> +<li><a href="#G_CHAPTER_V.">V. AN AUDIENCE ANALYZED.</a></li> +<li><a href="#G_CHAPTER_VI.">VI. HUMORS OF THE +MANY-HEADED.</a></li> +<li><a href="#G_CHAPTER_VII.">VII. SCENES NOT IN THE +BILLS.</a></li> +</ul> +<br> +<a href="#BOOK_EIGHTH.">BOOK EIGHTH.</a><br> +<br> +A DRAMATIC INTERLUDE.<br> +<br> +<ul> +<li><a href="#H_CHAPTER_I.">I. THE OVERTURE.</a></li> +<li><a href="#H_CHAPTER_II.">II. CURTAIN UP.</a></li> +<li><a href="#H_CHAPTER_III.">III. ACT SECOND.</a></li> +<li><a href="#H_CHAPTER_IV.">IV. HOW THE PLAY ENDED.</a></li> +</ul> +<br> +<a href="#BOOK_NINTH.">BOOK NINTH.</a><br> +<br> +THE INQUEST.<br> +<br> +<ul> +<li><a href="#I_CHAPTER_I.">I. CORONER AND JURY.</a></li> +<li><a href="#I_CHAPTER_II.">II. STATEMENT OF THE +PRISONER.</a></li> +<li><a href="#I_CHAPTER_III.">III. JUSTICE GOES TO DINNER.</a></li> +<li><a href="#I_CHAPTER_IV.">IV. LIGHT IN THE PRISON.</a></li> +<li><a href="#I_CHAPTER_V.">V. THE SORROW OF WHITE HAIRS.</a></li> +<li><a href="#I_CHAPTER_VI.">VI. WHAT PAPER, TYPES, AND INK CAN +DO.</a></li> +<li><a href="#I_CHAPTER_VII.">VII. PET AS A WITNESS.</a></li> +<li><a href="#I_CHAPTER_VIII.">VIII. THE BENEFICENCE OF FIRE +BELLS.</a></li> +<li><a href="#I_CHAPTER_IX.">IX. AN OLD MAN'S OFFERING.</a></li> +</ul> +<br> +<a href="#BOOK_TENTH.">BOOK TENTH.</a><br> +<br> +DONE ON BOTH SIDES.<br> +<br> +<ul> +<li><a href="#J_CHAPTER_I.">I. A FISHER OF MEN.</a></li> +<li><a href="#J_CHAPTER_II.">II. PLAYING WITH THE LINE.</a></li> +<li><a href="#J_CHAPTER_III.">III. PULLING IN.</a></li> +<li><a href="#J_CHAPTER_IV.">IV. THE FIRST OF MAY.</a></li> +<li><a href="#J_CHAPTER_V.">V. DEMOLITION OF CERTAIN AIR +CASTLES.</a></li> +<li><a href="#J_CHAPTER_VI.">VI. MR. WHEDELL'S CREDITORS IN +CONVENTION ASSEMBLED.</a></li> +<li><a href="#J_CHAPTER_VII.">VII. DEUS EX MACHINA.</a></li> +</ul> +<br> +<a href="#BOOK_ELEVENTH.">BOOK ELEVENTH.</a><br> +<br> +DISCOVERIES.<br> +<br> +<ul> +<li><a href="#K_CHAPTER_I.">I. THE OLD HOUSE REVISITED.</a></li> +<li><a href="#K_CHAPTER_II.">II. A POSTHUMOUS SECRET.</a></li> +<li><a href="#K_CHAPTER_III.">III. OVERTOP FINDS A SENSIBLE +WOMAN.</a></li> +<li><a href="#K_CHAPTER_IV.">IV. INNOCENCE ON A SLIPPERY +ROAD.</a></li> +<li><a href="#K_CHAPTER_V.">V. BOG'S OPEN SESAME.</a></li> +<li><a href="#K_CHAPTER_VI.">VI. TRACKED.</a></li> +<li><a href="#K_CHAPTER_VII.">VII. FOUND AND LOST.</a></li> +</ul> +<br> +<a href="#BOOK_TWELFTH.">BOOK TWELFTH.</a><br> +<br> +SPECULATIONS--PECUNIARY AND MATRIMONIAL.<br> +<br> +<ul> +<li><a href="#L_CHAPTER_I.">I. THE "COSMOPOLITAN WINDOW +FASTENER."</a></li> +<li><a href="#L_CHAPTER_II.">II. MIDDLE-AGED CUPID.</a></li> +<li><a href="#L_CHAPTER_III.">III. SLAPMAN <i>vs</i>. +SLAPMAN.</a></li> +<li><a href="#L_CHAPTER_IV.">IV. HOW OVERTOP SEALED A CONTRACT IN A +WAY UNKNOWN TO CHITTY.</a></li> +<li><a href="#L_CHAPTER_V.">V. A RETURNED CALIFORNIAN.</a></li> +<li><a href="#L_CHAPTER_VI.">VI. REVELATIONS OF A LAUGH.</a></li> +</ul> +<br> +<a href="#BOOK_THIRTEENTH.">BOOK THIRTEENTH.</a><br> +<br> +THE STRANGE LADY.<br> +<br> +<ul> +<li><a href="#M_CHAPTER_I.">I. A STORY OP THE PAST.</a></li> +<li><a href="#M_CHAPTER_II.">II. POSSIBLE LOVE.</a></li> +<li><a href="#M_CHAPTER_III.">III. UNCLE AND NIECE.</a></li> +</ul> +<br> +<a href="#BOOK_FOURTEENTH.">BOOK FOURTEENTH.</a><br> +<br> +HAPPY DAYS.<br> +<br> +<ul> +<li><a href="#N_CHAPTER_I.">I. OWNERS OF THE BEAUTIFUL.</a></li> +<li><a href="#N_CHAPTER_II.">II. THE LAST OF A MYSTERY.</a></li> +<li><a href="#N_CHAPTER_III.">III. LOVE CROWNED.</a></li> +<li><a href="#N_CHAPTER_IV.">IV. FIVE YEARS.</a></li> +</ul> +</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BOOK_FIRST."></a>BOOK FIRST.</h2> +<h3>NEW YEAR'S DAY</h3> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="A_CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>THE BLOCK.</h3> +<br> +<p>On the east side of the block were four brownstone houses, wide, +tall, and roomy. Seen from the street, they had the appearance of +not being inhabited. In the upper stories, all the curtains or +blinds were closely drawn. In the lower story, the heavy lace that +hung in carefully careless folds on each side of the window, seemed +never to have been disturbed since it left the upholsterer's hands. +Whatever life and motion there might have been in the basement, +were sheltered from observation by conical firs or square-clipped +box borders, set out on strictly geometrical principles in each of +the four front yards. The doors were ponderous and tight fitting, +as if they were never meant to be opened; and the vivid polish of +their surfaces showed no trace of human handling. No marks of feet +could be detected on the smooth, heavy flagstones which led up from +the sidewalk, or on the great steps flanked by massive balustrades. +The four mansions, in their new, lofty, and apparently tenantless +state, looked, like the occasional residences of people for some +purpose of ceremony, rather than the dear homes of the small, +loving, domestic circles that really lived there.</p> +<p>Such was the outer view of the east side of the block, and it is +the only view that the reader of this book will get; for it is the +author's intention profoundly to respect the select seclusion of +the occupants.</p> +<p>Now, the west side of the block was in all respects, exactly +opposite to the east side. The houses were built of bricks, dingy +with the whirling dust of twenty years. Two of the three stories +swarmed with women and children, always visible at all seasons; and +the lower story was devoted to some kind of cheap trade. Wholesale +business is gregarious in its ways; but it is the habit of retail +business to scatter, so as to present, in the same neighborhood, no +two people in exactly the same line. Thus it happened that, on the +west side of the block, there was only one drygoods dealer, whose +shop front and awning posts were festooned with calicoes and other +fabrics, ticketed with ingeniously deformed figures, and bearing +some attractive adjective, expressing the owners private and +conscientious opinion of their excellence. There was one +boot-maker, who strung up his products in long branches, like +onions; and, although his business was not at all flourishing, +solaced himself with the reflection that he had a monopoly of it on +the block. There was one apothecary, between whose flashing red and +yellow lights and those of his nearest rival there was a desirable +distance. A solitary coffinmaker, a butcher, a baker, a newspaper +vender, a barber, a confectioner, a hardware merchant, a hatter, +and a tailor, each encroaching rather extensively on the sidewalk +with the emblems of his trade, rejoiced in their exemption from a +ruinous competition. The only people on the block whose interests +appeared to clash, were the grocers, who flanked either corner, and +made a large and delusive show of boxes, barrels, and tea chests; +and it was strongly suspected that they were identical in +interests, under different names, and maintained a secret league to +catch all the custom of the vicinity.</p> +<p>The south side was a gradation of buildings, from the two-story +brick grocery on the west corner to the grandest of the stone +mansions on the east. With the exception of two or three houses +built in the early history of the block, and occupied by obstinate +old proprietors, it presented such a regularly ascending line of +roofs, that a giant could have walked up stairs from one end to the +other. Although each house was built upon a plan peculiar to +itself, and supposed to reflect the long-cherished views of the +original owner, there were certain resemblances among them. This +was sometimes the effect of a jealous rivalry; sometimes of +imitation. In one dozen houses there was a costly struggle for +supremacy in window curtains. In another dozen, the harmless +contest pertained to Grecian urns crowned with flowers, or dry +dolphins, tritons, or naiads, rising from the bosoms of little +gravel beds in miniature front yards. In a third dozen, there was a +perspective of broad iron balconies elegantly constructed for show, +and sometimes put to hazardous use, on warm summer nights, by +venturesome gentlemen with cigars, or ladies with fans.</p> +<p>About the middle of the block was a colony of doctors, who had +increased, in five years, from two to ten. Their march was +eastward, and it could be calculated to a nicety how long it would +be before the small black, gilt-lettered signs of their profession +would press hard upon the great house at the corner. Why they thus +congregated together, unless with the friendly purpose of relieving +each other's patients in each other's absence, and so saving +humanity from sudden suffering and death, was a mystery to +everybody but themselves.</p> +<p>The north side lacked variety. One part of it, comprising twenty +lots, had been built up on speculation by an enterprising +landowner. The houses were precisely alike, from coal cellar to +chimney top, with front railings of exactly the same pattern, +crowned with iron pineapples from the same mould, encompassing +little plots of ground laid out in walks similar to the fraction of +a hair; the sole ornaments of which were four little spruce trees, +planted at equal distances apart.</p> +<p>This row of houses was very distracting even to the occupants, +with whom it was a feat of arithmetic to identify their homes in +the daytime, and much more so at night, when the landmarks were +shadowy and indistinguishable. Occasionally, well-meaning tenants +found themselves pulling at wrong doorbells; and there was one man +who got tipsy every Saturday night, and rang himself quite through +the row before he tumbled in on his own hall carpet. It was in +counting the spruce trees, he said, which had a perplexing way of +doubling, that he invariably lost the track.</p> +<p>In nearly every house on this block there was a piano. The piano +was the great equalizer of the block. And, though in the loftier +houses the pianos might have been larger and costlier, and +unquestionably noisier, it did not follow that they were better +played or pleasanter to hear than the humbler instruments which +served to swell the tumultuous chorus in hours of morning practice. +With regard to these pianos, it may here be observed, that a +gentleman with a passion for statistics, who chanced to be well +acquainted through the block, made the remarkable discovery that +the players were usually unmarried ladies; and that, when they +acquired husbands (as they occasionally did on that block), they +put aside the piano as something quite incapable of contributing to +their new-found happiness.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="A_CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>THREE BACHELOKS.</h3> +<br> +<p>Near the centre of the north side of the block stood a house in +which three men, who have much to do in this story, were whiling +away an hour before dinner, at the edge of evening, in the month of +December, 185-. The house had strange stones let in over the +windows and door, and was broad and sturdy, and was entered by +steps slightly worn, and was shaded by a tall and old chestnut +tree, and showed many signs of age. It was because of these +evidences of antiquity, although the house was in good preservation +and vastly comfortable, that it had been picked out and rented by +the three men, two weeks previously.</p> +<p>Yet the three men exhibited no marks of age, past or coming, +upon them. The oldest, Mr. Marcus Wilkeson, looked no more than +thirty-two; but frankly owned to thirty-six. Being six feet and two +inches high, having a slim figure, round face, smooth brow, gentle +eyes, perfect teeth to the utmost extent of his laugh, and a head +of hair free from the plague-spot of incipient baldness which +haunts the young men of this generation, his appearance, now that +he was confessedly a man, was very much like that of an overgrown +boy. On the contrary, when he was really a boy, his extraordinary +height (six feet at sixteen years) had given him the outward +semblance of a premature man. Probably his long legs and arms, +which were exceedingly supple, and were always swinging about with +a certain juvenile awkwardness, contributed much to the +youthfulness of his appearance.</p> +<p>At the time of his introduction here, his legs were as quiet as +in their nature they could be, having been elevated, for the +greater comfort of the owner, to the top of a pianoforte, and +presenting an inclination of forty-five degrees to Mr. Wilkeson's +body, reposing calmly and smoking an antique pipe in his favorite +chair below. One of his long arms was hanging listlessly by his +side, and the other made a sharp projecting elbow, and terminated +in the interior of his vest. This was the attitude which, of all +possible adjustments of the human anatomy, Mr. Wilkeson preferred; +and he always assumed it and his pipe the moment he had put on his +dressing gown and Turkey slippers. He was well aware that popular +treatises on the "Art of Behavior" and the "Code of Politeness" +were extremely hard upon this disposition of the legs. His +half-sister, Philomela Wilkeson, who was high authority, had often +visited his legs with the severest censure, when, upon suddenly +entering the room where he was seated, she found the offending +members confronting her from the top of the piano, or the table, or +a chair, or sometimes from the mantelpiece. While Marcus Wilkeson +admitted the full force of her strictures as applied to legs in +general, he claimed an exception for his legs, which were always in +his own or other people's way when they rested on the floor, or +were crossed after the many fashions popular with the short-legged +part of mankind.</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson's heretical opinion concerning legs was part of +a system of independent views which he entertained of life +generally. He had given up a profitable broker's shop in Wall +street, a year before, because he had made a fortune ten times +larger than he would ever spend. Having fulfilled the object for +which he started in business, and for which he had toiled like a +slave ten years, he conceived that nothing could be more sensible +than to retire from it, make room for other deserving men, and +enjoy his ample earnings in the ways which pleased him most, before +an old age of money getting had deadened his five senses, his +intellect, and his heart.</p> +<p>Persons who knew Marcus Wilkeson well were aware that he was a +shy, self-distrustful fellow, amiable, generous, and that the only +faults which could possibly be alleged against him were an +excessive fondness for old books, old cigars, and profitless +meditations, and a catlike affection for quiet corners. And when +his half-sister Philomela--who had no hypocritical concealment +about her, thank heaven! and always told people what she thought of +them--pronounced the first of those luxuries "trash," the second +"disgusting," and the other two "idiotic," he met her candid +criticisms with a pleasant laugh, and said that, at any rate, they +hurt nobody but himself.</p> +<p>To which Philomela invariably retorted: "But suppose every +strapping fellow, at your time of life, should take to +novel-reading, and such fooleries, what would become of the world, +I would like to know?"</p> +<p>And her brother, puffing out a long stream of smoke, would +respond: "Suppose, my dear sister, every woman was destined to be +an old maid, as you are, what would become of the world, <i>I</i> +would like to know?"</p> +<p>The conversation always terminated at this point, by Philomela +declaring that coarse personality was the refuge of weak-minded +people when they could not answer arguments, and that, for her +part, she would never take the trouble to say another plain, +straightforward word for his good; whereupon there would be a +truce, lasting sometimes a whole day.</p> +<p>Fayette Overtop, the second of the three young men--the one +looking out of the window, drumming idly on the glass, and +continually tossing back his head to clear the long black hair from +his brow, over which it hung in an incurable cowlick--was a short, +compact, nervous person, twenty-five years old. Mr. Overtop had +been educated for the law, but, finding the profession +uncomfortably crowded when he came into it, had not yet achieved +those brilliant triumphs which he once fondly imagined within his +reach. For three years he had been in regular attendance at his +office from nine A.M. to three P.M. (as per written card on the +door), except in term time, when he was a patient frequenter of the +courts. During these three years he had picked up something less +than enough to pay his half of the rent of two small, dimly +lighted, but expensive rooms on the fourth floor of a labyrinth in +the lower part of the city.</p> +<p>Mr. Overtop, when asked to explain this state of things, about +which he made no concealment, always attributed it to a "lack of +clients."</p> +<p>If he had clients enough, and of the right kind, he felt +confident that he could make a figure in the profession. Having few +clients, and those in insignificant cases only, of course he had no +opportunities for distinction. He could not stand in the street and +beg for clients, or drag men forcibly into his chambers and compel +them to be clients; and he would not degrade the dignity of his +calling by advertising for clients, or taking any means whatever to +get them, except by establishing a reputation for professional +learning and integrity. The only inducement which he ever put in +the way of clients, was a series of signs, outside the street door, +on the first flight of stairs, at the head of the first landing, on +the second flight of stairs, at the head of the second landing, and +so on to the fourth floor, where the firm name of "Overtop & +Maltboy" confronted the panting climber for the eighth and last +time, painted in large gold letters on black tin, nailed to the +office door.</p> +<p>Mr. Overtop was willing to give clients every facility for +finding him, when they had once started at the bottom of the +building; and would, as it were, lead them gently on, by successive +signs; but good luck and a good name, slowly but surely acquired, +must do the rest.</p> +<p>A snug property, of which Mr. Overtop spent less than the +income, fortunately enabled him to indulge in these novel views, +and to regard clients, much as they were desired, as by no means +indispensable to his existence. In his unprofessional hours, Mr. +Overtop was everything but a lawyer. He was chiefly a philosopher, +a discoverer, a searcher after truth, a turner-up of undeveloped +beauties in every-day things, which, he said, were rich in +instruction when intelligently examined. He could trace out lines +of beauty in a gridiron, and detect the subtle charm that lurks in +the bootjack.</p> +<p>As not unfrequently happens, in partnerships of business and of +other descriptions, Matthew Maltboy--the young man standing before +the blazing coal fire, and critically surveying his own person--was +quite the opposite of Fayette Overtop. Maltboy was fat and calm. +Portraits were in existence showing Maltboy as a young lad in a +jacket and turn-down collar, having a slim, graceful figure, a +delicate face, and a sad but interesting promise of early decay +upon him. Other portraits, of the same original, taken at later +periods of the photographic art, represented a gradual squaring out +of the shoulders, a progressive puffiness in the cheeks, lips, and +hands, incipient folds in the chin, and a prevalent swollen +appearance over all of Matthew Maltboy that the artist permitted +the sun to copy.</p> +<p>Portraits of Maltboy for a series of years would have proved a +valuable contribution to human knowledge, as showing the steady and +remarkable changes through which a man who is doomed to be fat +passes onward to his destiny. But Maltboy stopped sitting for +portraits when he reached the age of twenty, deciding, as many +another public character has done, to transmit only the earlier and +more ethereal representations of himself to posterity.</p> +<p>By some compensating law of Nature, there were given to Maltboy +a light and cheerful heart, a tendency to laugh on the smallest +provocation, and a nice susceptibility to the beautiful. Not the +beautiful in rivers, forests, skies, and other inanimate things, +but the beautiful in woman. And as Overtop was gifted to discover +charms in material objects which were plain in other eyes, so +Maltboy possessed the wonderful faculty of seeing beauty in female +faces, where other people saw, perhaps, only a bad nose, dull eyes, +and a pinched-up mouth. This mental endowment might have been a +priceless gift to a portrait painter, who was desirous of +gratifying his sitters; but it was for Matthew Maltboy a fatal +possession. It had led him to love too many women too much at first +sight, and to shift his admiration from one dear object to another +with a suddenness and rapidity destructive to a well-ordered state +of society.</p> +<p>Though these multiplied transfers of affection occasionally +caused some disappointment among the victims of Mr. Maltboy's +inconstancy, it was wisely ordained that he should be the principal +sufferer--that every new passion should involve him in new +difficulties, and subject him to a degree of mental distress which +would have reduced the flesh of any man not hopelessly predisposed +to fatness. As Mr. Matthew Maltboy stood by the fire, he was not +taking the profitable retrospective view of his life which he +should have taken, but was glancing with an expression of concern +at the circumference of a showy vest pattern which cut off the view +of his legs.</p> +<p>The apartment in which the three bachelors were keeping a +meditative silence, was large, square, high, on the first floor +back, commanding an ample prospect of neglected rear yards, and all +the strange things that are usually huddled into those strictly +private domains. The furniture of the room was rich and +substantial, but not too good to be used. The chairs were none of +those frail, slippery structures of horsehair and mahogany so +inhospitably cold to the touch; but they were oak, high backed, +deep, long armed, softly but stoutly cushioned with leather, and +yawned to receive nodding tenants and send them comfortably to +sleep amid the fragrant clouds of the after-dinner pipe or +cigar.</p> +<p>At one end of the room was Marcus Wilkeson's library, consisting +of about five hundred volumes, of poems, novels, travels by land +and sea, histories, and biographies, which the owner dogmatically +held to be all the books in the world worth reading. The admission +of a new book to this select company of standard worthies, Mr. +Wilkeson was vain enough to regard as a high compliment to the +author, and as a final settlement of any disputes which might have +been abroad as to its merits.</p> +<p>On another side of the room was a grand piano, open, and covered +with the latest music, and sometimes played on in a surprisingly +graceful manner by the fat fingers of Matthew Maltboy. On the walls +hung some pictures, that were not unpleasant to look at. There were +two portraits of danseuses, with little gauzy wings, and wands +tipped with magic stars; one large, full-faced likeness of a pet +actress, taken in just the right attitude to show the rounding +shoulders, the lightly poised head, and the heavy hair, to the best +advantage; some charming French prints, among them "Niobe and her +Daughters" and "Di Vernon;" and a half dozen pictures of the fine +old English stage-coach days. Over the fireplace were suspended +several pairs of boxing gloves, garnishing the picture of a tall +fellow in fighting attitude, whose prodigious muscles were only a +little smaller than those of all the saints and angels of all the +accredited masterpieces of ancient art. A pair of foils and masks, +neatly arranged over each corner of the mantelpiece, completed the +decorations of the room.</p> +<p>The three bachelors had gone into housekeeping by way of +experiment, as a relief from the tedium and oppression of hotels +and boarding houses, and as an escape from female society, which +was beginning to pall even upon the huge appetite of Matthew +Maltboy.</p> +<p>But two weeks of this self-imposed exile--with no female society +but Miss Philomela Wilkeson, and Mash, the cook--proved rather too +much for Matthew's fortitude. He yawned audibly.</p> +<p>"I understand you," said Marcus; "you are sick of this."</p> +<p>"Well--hum--it's a little prosy at times." Maltboy yawned +again.</p> +<p>"Incorrigible monster!" cried Marcus. "What shall we do with +him, Top?"</p> +<p>The person addressed swung back the rebellious cowlick from his +forehead, as if to clear his thinking faculties from a load while +he considered the grave question. "Do with him? Do with him? Oh! +I'll tell you." Here the speaker's eyes flashed with the light of a +great discovery. "Tether him like a horse, with a certain limited +area to feed in. D'ye see? D'ye see?"</p> +<p>"A horse? Can't say that I do," returned Mr. Marcus +Wilkeson.</p> +<p>"And I can't say that <i>I</i> do, either," added Mr. Matthew +Maltboy. "A horse! Why not say a donkey? I should see it quite as +well."</p> +<p>"As you please," resumed the impetuous Overtop. "A donkey, then. +Perhaps the metaphor will be better. What I mean--what you two are +so dull as not to see--is to put this unreliable Maltboy on a +moderate allowance of flirtation; to keep him, for example, within +the limits of this block. D'ye see? D'ye catch the idea?"</p> +<p>"It begins to dawn on me," said Wilkeson.</p> +<p>"And I catch a ray or two of it," added Maltboy. But--"</p> +<p>"Excuse me," interrupted Overtop, stepping between his two +companions, and gesticulating wildly at each of them in turn, as if +he would dart conviction into them like electricity from the tips +of his fingers. "Here is a block full of people. Their houses are +joined together, or nearly so, all the way round. The inhabitants +hear each other's pianos playing and each other's babies squalling +all day long. If a fire breaks out in the block, it may be all +burned down together. If the measles makes its appearance on the +block, it probably runs through it. Is there not, therefore, a +community of dangers among us; and if of dangers, why not of +pleasures? Why should not the inhabitants of a block be regarded as +a distinct settlement, or tribe, whose members owe kindness and +goodwill to each other before the rest of the world? Looking at it +in the light of humanity, is it not our duty to know our +neighbors?"</p> +<p>"And Matt would say, To love them too--that is, the young and +pretty ones," observed "Wilkeson.</p> +<p>"Precisely," said Maltboy.</p> +<p>"Excuse me," continued Overtop, deprecating further interruption +with both hands. "That is the point I was just coming to. Since +Maltboy <i>must</i> have female society, and cannot be kept out of +it by main force, why not give him the range of this block? Catch +the idea, eh?--in its full force and bearings?"</p> +<p>"Wilkeson and Maltboy implied, by nods, that they caught it.</p> +<p>"And--ahem--I think I'll take the same range too," added +Overtop. "Not because I care a pin about female society, but just +to test my new theory."</p> +<p>Cries of "Oh! oh!" from Marcus Wilkeson.</p> +<p>Overtop laughed. "You'll be a convert to it yet, my good +fellow."</p> +<p>"Never," said Marcus, inflexibly, "so long as books and tobacco +hold out."</p> +<p>"We'll see," replied Overtop. "But let me think how we are to +begin." He rubbed his nose with a forefinger, then tossed back the +cowlick, and said, impetuously: "I have it--I have it! We know +Quigg, the grocer, at the corner below, for we are customers of +his. Of course, he has an immense number of customers on the block, +and will make New Year's calls on all of them, in the way of +business. Why can't he take us in tow? It's as plain as +daylight."</p> +<p>"Plain enough, I admit," said Marcus Wilkeson; "but what will +Quigg's customers say?"</p> +<p>"Poor fellow!" returned Overtop. "How feebly you hermits reason +about society! If you had knocked round town on New Year's days, as +Matt and I have often done, you would know that visitors are valued +only because they swell the number of calls, and that it is +entirely immaterial who they are, or who introduces them. The +militia general, the banker, the judge, the D.D., the butcher, the +drygoods clerk, are units of equal value on that day, each adding +one more to the score which is privately kept behind the door. We +shall be welcome; never fear for that. You must come with us, and +see for yourself."</p> +<p>"I thank you," said Marcus Wilkeson, laughing. "No such +fooleries at my time of life."</p> +<p>"Very well," said Overtop. "Matt and I will try to represent the +new firm of bachelor housekeepers creditably. Matt will look after +the pretty girls, and I after the sensible ones--that is, if there +happen to be any on this block."</p> +<p>"Agreed," observed Matthew Maltboy, catching a view of himself +in a glass over the fireplace, and not wholly displeased with his +appearance.</p> +<p>"Another thought strikes me," said Overtop, explosively. "It's +nearly half an hour to sunset. I am impatient to begin my +acquaintance with our fellow citizens--our future friends, if I may +so call them. Let us look out of the windows, and see what the +excellent people are doing. Perhaps it may interest even a recluse +and bookworm like you."</p> +<p>"Nonsense," rejoined Marcus Wilkeson. "There's no curiosity in +my composition."</p> +<p>And yet, when his two companions stood at the window of the +little back parlor, pressing their noses against the glass, and +looking out, he could not resist the temptation to join them, +although he thought proper to punch them in the ribs, and call them +a pair of inquisitive puppies, by way of showing how much he was +superior to the great human infirmity.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="A_CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>PEEPS.</h3> +<br> +<p>The uniform row of houses on the other side of a dead waste of +snow, to which the attention of the three friends was ardently +directed, promised, at first sight, a poor return of instruction +and entertainment. The rear view presented one dull stretch of +bricks irregularly set even in those houses which displayed +imposing fronts of brown stone. The blinds were of a faded green +color, and broken. The stoops, the doors opening on them, and the +steps leading down to the dirty, sodden snow, had a generic look of +cheapness and frailty. "Whatever the censorious critic might say of +the front, he could not charge the rear with false pretences; for +there was apparent, all over it, an utter indifference to the +opinions of mankind. Perhaps because the owners of the houses did +not expect mankind to study their property from that point of +view.</p> +<p>"Say!" was Mr. Fayette Overtop's first remark, after a moment's +observation; "do not those rustic fences on the roofs remind you of +the sweet, fresh country in summer time?" Mr. Overtop alluded to +the barriers which are erected to keep people from getting into +each other's houses, and which are scaled not without difficulty +even by cats.</p> +<p>Neither of his friends answering this remark except by a quiet, +incredulous smile, Overtop continued, a little pettishly:</p> +<p>"And you really mean to tell me that that pastoral object, +happily introduced on the roofs of houses, does not recall the +green fields, daisies, babbling brooks, and cloudless skies of +early boyhood? Humbug!" The speaker flattened his nose still more +against the glass by way of emphasis.</p> +<p>"You look for beauties among the chimney pots, while I search +for them in back-parlor windows," said Matthew Maltboy. "Observe +where I throw my eye now."</p> +<p>Mr. Maltboy threw his eye toward a house near the middle of the +block. His companions followed it, and saw a tall girl with +prodigious skirts standing at a window, and looking, as they +thought, at them. The view which she obtained was evidently not +satisfactory, for with her handkerchief she wiped off the moisture +from several of the panes; and, when the glass was clear to her +liking, shook out the folds of her dress, and peered forth again, +this time more decidedly, at the window occupied by the three +friends. Her use of the handkerchief was not lost upon Maltboy, who +straightway pulled out his extensive cambric, and polished up their +window too. This improvement of the medium of vision on both sides, +enabled the three friends to form some idea of the tall girl's +personal charms. Her figure was straight; her hair was black; her +eyes were brilliant; her complexion was healthy; she exhibited +jewelry in her ears, on her neck, her bosom, her wrists, and her +fingers; her dress gave her a great deal of trouble, as she leaned +forward to look out.</p> +<p>"Charming, is she not?" said Maltboy.</p> +<p>"Hard to say, at this distance," returned Overtop, who, feeling +neglected in the matter of the rustic fence, was controversially +disposed.</p> +<p>"You may find it so," said Maltboy; "but as for me, the flash of +her eyes--there, now, for instance!--is convincing enough."</p> +<p>"Perhaps you have seen her before," remarked Marcus +Wilkeson.</p> +<p>"Perhaps," was that gentleman's answer, implying, by his accent +and accompanying wink, that he had seen her repeatedly.</p> +<p>"And said nothing about her to us, you inveterate humbug," added +Marcus.</p> +<p>Mr. Maltboy felt the compliment conveyed in the word +"humbug"--as most people do when that accusation of shrewdness and +deep dissembling is brought against them--and smiled.</p> +<p>"I confess," he replied, as he polished the window +simultaneously with the performance of that process across the way, +"I confess I have noticed her several times; but what was the use +of mentioning it to a pair of woman haters like you?"</p> +<p>His two companions laughed pleasantly, thereby expressing their +gratification at the return compliment involved in the phrase +"woman haters."</p> +<p>"You are such dull fellows now," continued Maltboy, "that +perhaps you will say this fair stranger is not looking at us; that +she does not desire to be seen by us--that is, by me; and that her +rubbing of the window with a handkerchief is not a signal which she +expects to be answered."</p> +<p>"We say nothing," replied the disputatious Overtop. "We only +wait for proof. It is easy to find out whether a signal is meant or +not. Rub the window now."</p> +<p>Maltboy did so, concluding the act with an unmistakable flourish +of the handkerchief. Whereupon the tall girl averted her face, +pulled down the curtain, and eclipsed herself.</p> +<p>Wilkeson and Overtop laughed, and, with a common impulse, +punched Maltboy triumphantly in the ribs--a friendly salute that +was always vastly amusing to that gentleman.</p> +<p>"Be it understood, at this stage of affairs," said Marcus, +solemnly, "that I reject the Overtop theory, and wash my hands of +all responsibility for Maltboy's misdeeds.--Hallo! There he is +again."</p> +<p>"Who? Where?" exclaimed his two friends.</p> +<p>"In the house nearly opposite--the one with the grape arbor. +Isn't he a fine old fellow?"</p> +<p>Overtop and Maltboy looked, and there saw, sitting at a window, +and placidly gazing out of it, an old gentleman with long and thick +white hair, a ruddy face, a white neckcloth, and a large projecting +shirt frill--which were all the peculiarities of person and dress +that could be distinctly made out. He was smoking a long pipe, and +placidly rocking himself to and fro. His appearance, through the +two windows, was that of a finely preserved relic of a past +generation,</p> +<p>"He always has a long pipe in his mouth, and looks benignantly +into the open air," said Wilkeson,</p> +<p>"So even <i>you</i> are not wholly devoid of curiosity, and do +take some interest in the people on our block," remarked Matthew +Maltboy,</p> +<p>"I have noticed the old gentleman often, when I have been +reading near the window; and own that I should like to know him. I +think, too, from certain signs, that he would not object to knowing +me. Unless I am much mistaken, he has bowed to me several times. +But fearing that the supposed bow might have been nothing more than +a sleepy nod, I have never ventured to answer it. Step back a +moment, and see if he observes me."</p> +<p>Maltboy and Overtop retired a few paces. A moment afterward, the +old gentleman looked over to Wilkeson, and made a bow at him about +which there could be no mistake.</p> +<p>"Answer him." "Answer him," said his two friends. Acting upon +this advice, Marcus Wilkeson, blushing, returned a courtly salute, +which was immediately reciprocated by a still lower bow, and a +pleasant smile from the old gentleman. Wilkeson bowed again, and +added a smile. The old gentleman did the same; and this odd +exchange of civilities was beginning to get awkward for Wilkeson, +when the old gentleman's attention was suddenly called off.</p> +<p>A slender young man, whose broad black mustache contrasted +unpleasantly with the sallow whiteness of his face, dressed in the +jauntiest costume of the period, and bearing in one hand a black +cane with a large ivory handle, which looked, even in the distance, +like a human leg, stood by the old gentleman's side. The old +gentleman put down his pipe, seized the young man's disengaged +hand, and gazed affectionately at him (so the three observers +thought). Some conversation then took place between them, during +which the old gentleman repeatedly pressed the young man's hand, +and sometimes reached up and softly patted him on the shoulder. The +young man appeared to receive the words and caresses of the old +gentleman with a sullen indifference. Several times he pettishly +drew his hand away, and at last shook his head fiercely, folded his +arms, and seemed (though the spectators could only conjecture that) +to stamp the floor with his foot. At this, the old gentleman bowed +his head in his hands. The young man held his defiant attitude +unmoved, until, glancing out of the window, he saw for the first +time that he was watched. "With a jerk, he pulled down the curtain, +and cut off a scene which the three observers had begun to find +profoundly interesting.</p> +<p>"Well," said Marcus Wilkeson, "though I have given up making +calls as a business, I shall certainly take the New-Year's +privilege of dropping in on the venerable unknown over the +way."</p> +<p>"Two things are plain," said Fayette Overtop. "One is, that the +pale, rascally looking young man is the old man's son. Now, I don't +suppose either of you will dispute that?" (Overtop paused a moment +to receive and dispose of objections, but none were made.) "The +other is, that the old fellow is immensely rich--worth a million or +two, maybe. Perhaps you <i>would</i> like to argue that point." +Overtop smiled, as if nothing would give him greater pleasure than +to annihilate a few dozen opinions to the contrary.</p> +<p>"To save argument, as usual, we admit everything," responded +Wilkeson. "But, pray condescend to tell us how you know this fine +old boy to be superlatively rich."</p> +<p>Overtop smiled upon his ignorant friends, and answered:</p> +<p>"Because he wears a white cravat. The man isn't a clergyman, is +he? Do clergymen smoke pipes? He isn't a Quaker, is he? Do Quakers, +or those of them who indulge in white cravats, wear their coat +collars turned down? Consult your own experience, now, and tell me +whether you ever saw anybody but a very rich man (with the +exceptions already stated) wearing a white cravat. I leave it to +your candor."</p> +<p>Wilkeson and Maltboy nodded their heads, as if stricken dumb +with conviction.</p> +<p>Overtop, gratified with this ready acquiescence, modestly went +on to say that he would not undertake to explain the phenomenon; +that task he left to some more philosophical mind. He contented +himself with making a humble record of facts.</p> +<p>"And now that each of you have made a discovery in the row of +houses, let me try my luck." Overtop rubbed the window, looked out, +and carefully surveyed the row from end to end, and back again. +"Ah, I have it!" he said. "A real mystery, too. Look at that +four-story house near the western end of the block, the one a +trifle shabbier than its neighbors. Do you see, in the open window, +a man with a pale, intellectual face, gray hair, and arms bare to +the elbows, filing away at something held in a vise before him? Now +he stops to examine a paper--a plan, probably--which he holds in +his hand. Now he wipes the perspiration from his forehead. Can't +you see him?"</p> +<p>"Distinctly," was the joint reply.</p> +<p>"What do you suppose he is doing?" asked Overtop.</p> +<p>"No idea," said Wilkeson. "Perhaps mending a teakettle."</p> +<p>"Or repairing an umbrella," suggested Maltboy.</p> +<p>Overtop smiled, and said:</p> +<p>"A person with the slightest powers of observation, would see +that that man has genius in his face; that his thin arm is not used +to hard mechanical labor; that his brain is so heated with great +ideas, that he tries to cool it by opening the window. The +tinkering of an umbrella or teakettle would not make a man sweat in +midwinter. You won't deny the force of that suggestion."</p> +<p>As he spoke, a young girl advanced from the back part of the +room, and stood by the pale workman's side. She wore a bonnet, and +a shawl tightly wrapped around her. Though the features of her face +could not be distinguished in the distance, it was not hard to +detect a pleasant expression in her eyes, a smile on her lips, and +a high color on her cheeks, as if she had just come in from the +street. She held up a little basket for the workman's +inspection.</p> +<p>He paused in his labor, took the girl's head between his hands, +and kissed her fondly on the brow. Then he opened the little +basket, and drew from it a loaf of bread and a piece of cheese, +which he began eating hurriedly. He also seemed, by signs, to press +the girl to eat; but she shook her head, smiled more than before, +and looked up affectionately into his face. Having bolted a few +mouthfuls, the workman placed the remains of the repast on the +bench or table before him, kissed the young girl, and resumed his +work. She watched every motion of his hand with eager eyes. Once +she moved as if to close the window, but he shook his head, and +again wiped the sweat from his brow.</p> +<p>He had consulted the paper, and attacked his task with fresh +energy for the third or fourth time, when his eyes happened to rest +upon the window full of scrutinizing faces. His lips moved in some +sudden exclamation, and then he shut the window with vehemence, and +drew the curtain which obscured the lower half of it.</p> +<p>"Not a very kind reception of your theory, so far," said +Marcus.</p> +<p>"Prejudice--nothing more," said Overtop. "When they see that we +have no wish to pry into their private affairs, but are animated +with a neighborly regard for them, they will not repel our +advances. It isn't human nature."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="A_CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>QIGG.</h3> +<br> +<p>During the following two weeks, up to New Year's day, the three +friends made little progress in their observations. The tall girl +in the immense skirts appeared rarely to reward Matthew Maltboy's +ardent gaze, and even then seemed to look down at the dingy snow +beneath, or the clouds overhead, or to something or somebody across +the way, but never to the fluttering Maltboy.</p> +<p>Nothing more was seen of the pale and grayhaired workman; for he +kept the lower curtain of his window jealously drawn. But at night +his shadow, strongly projected on the curtain, was in incessant +motion; and far into the morning hours a gigantic head and arms +shifted and blended upon it in grotesque forms. At the other window +of the workman's apartment the young girl often sat, book in hand, +and moved her lips as if she were reading aloud. Her eyes were +never seen to wander to the outer world with those longings for +freedom and fresh air which are natural to the youthful heart, but +were always fixed upon the book, or upon some object within the +room. She was entirely unconscious of the distant and imperfect +scrutiny to which her form and movements were subjected by Marcus +Wilkeson, who had begun to take a strange interest in her, and in +the shadow on the curtain, since the healthy and amiable old +gentleman directly opposite had ceased to smoke his pipe and +indulge in his tranquil meditation daily.</p> +<p>Twice only had he shown himself, and then, after a grave bow to +Marcus Wilkeson, who returned it with more than the usual +inclination of head, the old gentleman had taken a few whiffs at +his pipe, looked out of the window with a troubled air, and +vanished from the sight of his sympathizing observer, as if the +quiet old sitting place had lost its charm for him. The young +man--the disturbing element of the old gentleman's life, as Marcus +Wilkeson regarded him--was not again seen in the room where he had +made his first appearance, but was discovered, several days after +that event, sitting at a table near a window in the second story, +and writing industriously. His labors were evidently not +disagreeable; for, after an hour's engagement with his pen, he +would sit back in his chair, laugh, take a long drink from a black +bottle which stood at his elbow, and light a fresh cigar. Whatever +his occupation, he was completely absorbed in it, and did not +notice the pair of keen eyes peering at him from behind a book in +the house opposite. Every afternoon, about three o'clock, the young +man sat at the table with his bottle, cigars, and writing +materials, and pursued his pleasant labors.</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson would never have pretended that it was not +highly improper to watch one's neighbors. He would have denounced +it as deserving of the severest reprobation. But he would have +said, that if, while he was sitting, according to his invariable +custom, at his own window, for the sole purpose of reading a book, +people chose to bring themselves within the range of his vision, he +was not therefore under obligations to vacate his seat. He would +have insisted that any glances which he might have directed at his +neighbors, were so levelled in fits of mental abstraction, or in +the exercise of a friendly regard for them. The Overtop theory he +discarded as fallacious, and likely to get its talented founder +into trouble.</p> +<p>That founder and his only follower, Maltboy, were determined, +however, to put the new social system into practice on New Year's +day, and had secured the ready services of Quigg, the grocer, as +originally proposed by the sagacious Overtop. Marcus Wilkeson +obstinately refused to participate in this projected grand tour; +which refusal was too bad, said Overtop, because the fourth seat in +the double sleigh that had been hired for the occasion would be +left vacant.</p> +<p>At last came New Year's day; and the sky was cloudless, and the +sun was bright, and the weather was just cold enough to make the +blood tingle pleasantly, and the snow was a foot deep, and well +beaten down in the side streets. The elements themselves had +conspired to give the Overtop theory every chance of success.</p> +<p>J.M. Quigg, grocer, was elaborately attiring himself in the snug +sleeping room behind his store, at ten o'clock on the morning of +the eventful day. He little knew the tremendous importance of the +part which he was about to perform. He looked upon Overtop and +Maltboy, not as the expounders of a new social philosophy, but as +cash customers to a considerable extent, and as partners in +defraying the heavy expenses of a large double team. Mr. Quigg +exercised the virtue of prudence even in his dissipations, and +derived pleasure from the reflection that he would make his annual +round of complimentary calls in an elegant turnout at a moderate +cost.</p> +<p>Therefore Mr. Quigg hummed pleasantly as he dressed himself, by +the aid of a large mirror which he had taken for a bad debt, and +which was the only ornament of the plainly furnished little room. +Mr. Quigg was a man of business, and never fretted with cravats, +nor made himself unhappy on the subject of hair. Three turns and a +pull adjusted the former; and a half dozen well-directed dabs with +a stiff brush regulated the latter. Fifteen minutes after he began +his toilet, he took a comprehensive view of himself in the large +mirror, and mentally expressed the conviction that, for a man of +thirty-seven, he was not bad looking.</p> +<p>Quigg was right; and his just opinion of himself was shared by +the young widows and unmarried ladies of his acquaintance. He was +about six feet high, with a graceful figure, and the head of a +statesman. A more intellectual face, and a broader or more massive +brow, assisted, perhaps, in its general effect, by a slight +baldness, were rarely if ever seen. A distinguished professor of +phrenology had picked out Quigg's head from among half an acre of +heads at a lecture upon that subject in the city, and had +pronounced it the "model head," greatly to the disgust of all the +other large-skulled men in the hall. The professor had also assured +Quigg, upon learning who and what he was, that it was a solemn duty +he owed to society to abandon the grocery business, and devote +himself to "philosophical culture, the development of the +humanities, and the true expansion of his interior individuality." +Notwithstanding this flattering opinion, Quigg still sanded his +sugar, and reduced his whiskey, and found his delight as well as +his-profit in those gross material pursuits.</p> +<p>The interior Quigg, of whom the professor had spoken so +hopefully, was still undeveloped. The professor's views of Quigg's +head had, however, made a deep impression upon the owner of it, and +had given to Quigg's ordinary observations on the weather, the +state of his health, and the other familiar topics to which his +remarks were principally addressed, an oracular importance in his +own opinion. Such were the deceptive effects produced by his large, +polished brow, and slow, imposing speech, that he always seemed to +be on the point of uttering vital truths. But the listener's ear +ached in vain for them.</p> +<p>Quigg put on his overcoat, took a small glass of bitters from a +bottle kept behind the large mirror, locked up the store, proceeded +to the nearest restaurant, hastily despatched a lean, +unsatisfactory chop and a cup of weak tea, gave a half dime to the +waiter who bade him, in a loud and significant voice, "Happy New +Year, sir," and then returning found the double sleigh punctual to +appointment.</p> +<p>It was a swan-shaped vehicle, brightly painted, thickly covered +with buffalo robes, and drawn by two high-stepping horses, which +tossed their heads and shook their bells merrily as if they shared +in the prevailing jovialty of the day.</p> +<p>On the front seat, and nearly filling up the whole width of the +sleigh, sat the driver. His shoulders were broad enough for two +men; his legs and arms were of twice the common size, and he had +two well-defined chins. He seemed to be double in all his +dimensions, like the sleigh.</p> +<p>"Hallo, Quigg!" said the driver, in a voice of double strength, +snapping his whip playfully at that gentleman as he approached.</p> +<p>"Hallo to <i>you</i>, Cap," returned Quigg, pleasantly. "It is a +very fine day. I guess there will be a great many calls made." +Quigg uttered these words slowly, as if they were precious, and he +hated to part with them.</p> +<p>"Shouldn't wonder," answered Cap, which was a short name for +Captain (nobody knew of what), and added, without any apparent +sequence of ideas: "I s'pose you're goin' to take some brandy +along, old fellow? It's hardly fair for me to be sittin' into the +cold outside, with nothin' to drink, while you chaps are drinkin' +your champagne punch before a warm fire."</p> +<p>Mr. Quigg reflected a moment, as one who reckons up profit and +loss. He then said:</p> +<p>"A good idea, Cap. Brandy is not a bad thing on a cold day." He +spoke with impressive solemnity.</p> +<p>"Or any other day," added the driver. "Partickley 'lection day. +Leastways, such was the 'pinion of the voters into my ward, last +December, when I run for School Inspector, you know. Unfortunately, +I didn't know the ropes then; and thought, when I got the +nomination, I was sure to be 'lected. My 'ponent issued tickets for +free drinks at all the rum mills into the ward. I didn't find out +his game till about two o'clock in the afternoon, and then I tried +it myself. But I was too late. He had six hours' start of me, and +beat me by five hundred drinks--I mean votes."</p> +<p>Mr. Quigg nodded, and said, "Of course," as if he had often +heard of such instances, and there was nothing surprising in them. +He then abruptly cut off the Captain's political reminiscences, by +unlocking the store and entering it. After a few minutes' absence, +he returned with a half-gallon jug and a tin dipper.</p> +<p>"A nice, fat little feller," rapturously exclaimed Captain +Tonkins, taking the proffered jug. Placing it in the bottom of the +sleigh, where such of the public as were stirring in that vicinity +could not see the operation, he half filled the tin dipper, and, +raising it suddenly to his mouth, drank the contents with a double +gulp. "Prime stuff, that," said the Captain, smacking his lips. "A +hogshead of it would make a school commissioner, an alderman, mebbe +a major of you, Quigg."</p> +<p>"I dare say," said Quigg. "But what would a dull, practical +fellow like me be good for in public life?" This was Quigg's +habitual way of depreciating himself, and it always impressed the +hearer with a sense of Quigg's eminent ability.</p> +<p>Quigg then drew a pair of yellow gloves on his large, hairy +hands, slightly ripping the two thumbs and most of the fingers in +the operation, took a seat in the double sleigh, and proclaimed +himself ready to start.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="A_CHAPTER_V."></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>PLEASURE AS BUSINESS.</h3> +<br> +<p>Captain Tonkins cracked his whip with professional sonority over +the heads of his lively horses, and they started off at a slapping +pace, which brought them to the house of the three friends before +the bells had fairly begun to jingle in unison. The door was +instantly opened, and Overtop and Maltboy presented themselves, +dressed in the most elaborate and captivating style. Marcus +Wilkeson appeared just behind them, in his dressing gown and +slippers, calmly smoking his well-browned Meerschaum.</p> +<p>After the salutations of the day, both Overtop and Maltboy +addressed a last appeal to Marcus to give up his ridiculous +prejudices, and join the party; but he obstinately refused, saying +that he should make only one call, and that was upon the old +gentleman over the way.</p> +<p>The arrangements for the day had already been made. The party +were to call on a few dozen of Quigg's customers (selected from a +carefully prepared list of one hundred) within range of a mile or +two; also on a few friends of Overtop and Maltboy, who could not +well be slighted, and then come back to the block.</p> +<p>Quigg looked upon the day as one of business, and not of +pleasure, and had methodized a system of callmaking, which was +submitted to his companions, and highly approved by them. The order +of exercises was as follows: First, a jerk at the doorbell; second, +precipitate entrance, hat in hand; third, "Happy New Year," remark +on fine weather, and introduction of friends; fourth, a second +remark on fine weather, or any other one remark which might occur +to friends on inspiration of moment; fifth, acceptance of one sip +of wine, and one bite of cake, if any offered, with compliments on +excellence of both; sixth, reference to list in hand, observation +on the necessity of retiring, and regret for the same; seventh, +precipitate retreat.</p> +<p>The system did not work smoothly at first, in consequence of +Overtop's and Maltboy's strained, excessive efforts to make +themselves agreeable. It happened that, at the first two or three +houses visited, Maltboy discovered charming young ladies, and could +not resist the temptation to linger beyond the prescribed minutes, +and talk trifles to them. It also fell out, that Overtop found a +number of those sensible women for whom his heart ever longed, and +whose starving souls, as he called them, were not to be satisfied +with the dry crust of ordinary compliment. To them, therefore, he +addressed observations on the inner or spiritual significance of +the New Year's call; on the reminiscences of childhood suggested by +sleigh bells; on the typical meaning of snow as the shroud of +death, and, at the same time, the warming garment of coming life; +on wine or lemonade (as the case might be), as an emblem of +hospitality; and on many other little things as expressive of the +loftiest truths.</p> +<p>It was only after earnest remonstrances from Quigg, that the +discursive Overtop brought himself down to the rules of the day. In +deference to Quigg, Mr. Maltboy also steeled his too susceptible +heart against the attractions which he was perpetually +encountering, and kept strictly to the weather. He, as well as +Overtop, was surprised to find that the single stereotyped +observation, "It's a fine day," was, after all, more acceptable +than a longer and more strikingly original remark for it imposed no +tax upon the conversational resources of the ladies, and left them +unfatigued to succeeding scores of visitors.</p> +<p>About this time, it was observed of Captain Tonkins that he +began to show signs of fatigue, rocking heavily in his seat with +every oscillation of the sleigh, and talking thick like a jaded +man. These phenomena seeming to require some explanation, the +Captain stated that he had been up late the past three nights, and +could keep himself awake only by taking occasional draughts of +Quigg's brandy. The Captain then proceeded to indulge in random +recollections of his political career, and withering denunciations +of one Larry Mulcahy, his successful rival for the office of School +Inspector, whom the Captain did not hesitate to brand as a +jailbird.</p> +<p>When the party returned to the block where the Overtop theory +was to be tested, Mr. Quigg's services were found invaluable. He +had not only been the principal grocer in the vicinity for five +years, but he had served on Ward Committees for the relief of the +poor at other people's expense, and had participated largely in +those admirable institutions for the promotion of matrimony known +as Sociables. Therefore, Quigg knew about everybody on the block +worth knowing. There were a few persons in that old house near the +corner, who sent in for herrings, cheap butter, and pounds of +flour, and whom, of course, he did not know. There was a queer old +Dutchman in that square, old-fashioned house in the middle of the +block, whom neither he nor anybody else knew.</p> +<p>They went through half of the south side of the block, and found +only plain and commonplace people. Overtop and Maltboy began to be +weary. The former was gradually discovering that his theory was a +bore. The latter wondered whether Quigg knew the tall girl, +concerning the identity of the front part of whose residence +Maltboy was at fault, although he knew every brick of the rear.</p> +<p>"In this 'ere house," said Quigg, "I shall be treated rudely, +because they owe me fifty dollars for groceries. It's a curious +fact, but I have noticed that debtors always act kind o' cold to +creditors, as if it was the creditors that owed the money."</p> +<p>Mr. Quigg spoke with an important air, as if he had made an +original discovery in human nature.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="A_CHAPTER_VI."></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>SOMETHING HIDDEN.</h3> +<br> +<p>While this exploring party were going through the block, Mr. +Marcus Wilkeson dressed himself with more than usual care, +preparatory to a call upon the unknown old gentleman over the way, +who that very morning had appeared at his window, the first time in +three days, and tendered the compliments of the season in two low +bows and a smile. Having carefully adjusted his necktie, and +smoothed the creases of his gloves, Mr. Wilkeson grasped his old +friend, a hickory cane, by its sturdy elbow, and marched forth to +make his solitary visit.</p> +<p>As 'he turned the corner of the street upon which the unknown +old gentleman's residence was situated, thinking of the oddity of +the call he was about to make, and half inclined to abandon it, he +saw, in a doorway a few yards in front of him, a little girl who +bore a striking resemblance to the patient creature that he had +often noticed sitting at a window in the room of the pale mechanic. +A single glance at the cracked and dirty front of the building +established its connection with the weather-stained and shaky rear +premises in which the worker toiled at his strange task from +morning to night, and far into the morning again.</p> +<p>The little girl was earnestly talking with a rough, +hungry-looking fellow in a greasy cap and tattered blue overalls. +As Marcus approached, he heard the following fragment of +conversation:</p> +<p>"Yer can't fool this child again, now, I tell yer. Why don't he +pay me? <i>that's</i> what I want to know. I <i>will</i> go up." +The man stepped forward, as if to ascend the stairs.</p> +<p>"Please don't, Mr. Gilsum," said the girl, in a sweet, pleading +tone, laying a red and toilworn little hand softly on his arm. +"Papa will pay you next week. He will, believe me, sir."</p> +<p>"So you told me last week," growled Mr. Gilsum, "and the week +before that. It's all humbug. Why don't he pay me now? +<i>that's</i> what I want to know." Again he put a foot forward, +and was again restrained by the hand of the little girl.</p> +<p>"I have tried very hard to earn money, Mr. Gilsum," said the +musical and plaintive voice, <i>but</i> have been disappointed. +Next week I am sure I will have some for you."</p> +<p>"Pshaw!" ejaculated the man, pulling the greasy cap over his +eyes in a spirit of savage determination. "I can't waste time +talking. I <i>will</i> find out why he don't pay me now."</p> +<p>The inexorable Mr. Gilsum pushed aside the feeble hand of the +little girl, and was about to go up the stairs in good earnest, +when Marcus Wilkeson, who had lingered near the door to catch the +exact purport of the conversation, called out to him:</p> +<p>"Hallo, my friend! what's the row?"</p> +<p>Mr. Gilsum stopped, and, turning, said snappishly:</p> +<p>"None of yer business. Unless," he prudently added, "yer a +friend of the comical old chap up stairs, and want to pay his +debts."</p> +<p>"I am a friend, and I will pay them," rejoined Marcus, speaking +from the impulse of the moment. Since he had become rich, and could +afford the luxury, he frequently spoke and acted upon impulse, +without regard to consequences.</p> +<p>Mr. Gilsum's face suddenly changed from an aspect of moroseness +to one of bewitching amiability. He stood in the doorway, and +said:</p> +<p>"It's only a matter of ten shillings, sir, for brass and screws, +and little odds and ends from my shop--the locksmith's shop over in +the next street--you may remember it, sir. I'm sure I don't want to +be hard on the gentleman."</p> +<p>To cut short explanations, which he hated, Marcus paid the +locksmith his ten shillings, and suggested that he need not wait +longer. The locksmith, having received the money, thought it +incumbent upon him to apologize and explain still further, till +Marcus took hold of the door, as if to close it, when he accepted +the hint, and departed, mumbling an apology as he went.</p> +<p>The young girl, who had looked on in amazement, turned a pair of +soft blue eyes toward the face of the stranger, and said:</p> +<p>"Papa will thank you very much, sir."</p> +<p>Marcus now had an opportunity to observe her more closely. Her +figure was slightly formed, and undersized for her apparent age of +seventeen years. Her face would have been plain, but for one +peculiarity which made it charming, in his practised judgment. This +rare excellence was her complexion, which showed a perfect pink and +white, without roughness, spot, or blemish, under the strong light +of a noonday sun, made more dazzling by its reflection from the +snow. Marcus had never seen but one such complexion, and that was +many years ago. He looked at it in silent wonder, until the +delicate bloom in the centre of her cheeks began to invade the +neighboring white, and the large blue eyes drooped in +confusion.</p> +<p>"Pardon me, my child," said Marcus, in a gentle, reassuring +voice.</p> +<p>She looked up, much embarrassed, and said:</p> +<p>"Will you be so good as to walk up and see my poor father, sir? +He will be delighted to meet a friend, for he is very much in want +of one, sir."</p> +<p>"I do not know him, my child; but I should be happy to make his +acquaintance."</p> +<p>The girl was surprised to learn that her father's benefactor was +a stranger to him, and looked doubtingly at him for a moment--but +only a moment--and then ran briskly up the stairs, asking him to +follow.</p> +<p>The stairs were uncarpeted, and had little feet-worn hollows in +the middle of them. The banisters were rickety, and had been +notched by the knives of reckless tenants. The first and second +floors were occupied by different families (so Marcus inferred from +the distinct set of baby cries issuing from each), and the halls +were dirty, and flavored with a decided odor of washing day. But on +the third story he saw a clean, white floor, and drew breaths of +pure air from an open rear window, and heard no noise save the dull +sound of filing.</p> +<p>The little girl paused a second at a door bearing the +inscription, "Private," asked the visitor to please wait, and +opened the door just wide enough to admit her body, and entered, +nearly closing it behind her. In the one glance which Marcus then +obtained of the interior of the room, he saw the pale mechanic +hastily rise from a jumble of cog wheels before him, and put up a +screen to shelter his work from observation, after which he stepped +forward, or rather sprang, to meet his child.</p> +<p>Mr. Wilkeson heard a few words of hurried conversation between +the father and daughter, and then the door was thrown wide open, +and the mechanic stood in full view. He was a man of medium height, +of a spare build, and attired in faded, seedy black. His head +seemed altogether too large for his body; and his almost livid +complexion, hollow cheeks, and gleaming eyes, told a story of +constant and consuming thought. The strange, fixed glitter of his +eyes was unpleasant to behold. Marcus had noticed the same thing in +insane persons.</p> +<p>"My name is Minford," said the mechanic, in a deep and solemn +voice, "and I thank you for saving me from the annoying visits of +that impertinent fellow. I beg, sir, that you will give me your +address, and assure you that the sum shall positively be repaid to +you next week."</p> +<p>"Never mind the repayment," said Marcus, kindly. "The sum was a +trifle for me."</p> +<p>The mechanic's eyes flashed with new fire, and his lower lip +curved with pride, as he answered:</p> +<p>"But I shall insist on returning it, sir. We are temporarily +poor, sir; but we are not beggars yet, I trust that, some day, we +shall be in a position to confer benefits, instead of receiving +them."</p> +<p>Marcus knew that the man was turning over in his mind the +troublesome question of "MOTIVE," with which so many people like to +make themselves unhappy; and he therefore said:</p> +<p>"I took the liberty of assisting you, sir, because I am a +neighbor of yours, living on the other side of the block, in a +house which can be plainly seen from your window; and I think it is +the duty of neighbors to be neighborly, on New Year's day at least. +My name is Marcus Wilkeson."</p> +<p>The mechanic's face assumed a pleasanter expression. "Perhaps," +said he, "you are the gentleman that I have sometimes seen sitting +with a book, in a window covered with grape vines?"</p> +<p>"I am," returned Marcus.</p> +<p>"As a scholar, then--as one who is superior to mean motives and +vulgar curiosity--you are welcome to my poor home. Pray, walk in, +sir. Pet, give the gentleman a chair."</p> +<p>The girl, whose face had been clouded during the first part of +this conversation, brightened up at its close, and obeyed her +father with alacrity, brushing the clean chair with her +handkerchief, to make it the more acceptable to their visitor. She +also took his hat and cane, and placed them carefully away.</p> +<p>The room was simply but neatly furnished, and very clean. The +hand of taste and order was everywhere visible. Snow-white curtains +festooned the two small windows, and concealed all of a turn-up +bedstead but two of its legs. A small array of white crockery shone +from an open closet; and a squat-looking stove, which made the +apartment agreeably warm, was smartly polished, and was evaporating +cheerful music out of a bright teakettle. Through a door partly +ajar could be seen another room, covered with a rag carpet, and the +companion of the first in simplicity and neatness.</p> +<p>Marcus had not intended to look at the mechanic's corner, which +was almost completely screened from view, being desirous to justify +the high opinion which Mr. Minford had expressed of him; but his +eyes were irresistibly attracted to the mysterious spot, and +obtained a clearer glimpse, through an open space between the two +screens, of a something composed of cogwheels, springs, bands, and +levers. His host, observing this casual glance, much to the guest's +mortification, rose, and placed the screens close together at right +angles, thus shutting out a view of the corner.</p> +<p>Mr. Minford opened his lips as if to offer some explanation of +the act, but did not offer it. A moment afterward, he said:</p> +<p>"I have not always been a poor man, Mr. Wilkeson. Six years ago +I possessed a handsome fortune, which enabled me to pursue certain +philosophical experiments, in which I had taken great interest, at +leisure. An unfortunate speculation in real estate, year before +last, nearly ruined me. I converted the remains of my property into +cash, and went on with my experiments, undiscouraged. Like all +laborers in the cause of science--which is the cause of humanity--I +have met with many obstacles. Several times, when I have been on +the point of perfecting my great invention, some small, unforeseen +difficulty has occurred, compelling me to reconstruct large +portions of the machinery. Eighteen months passed away, and I found +myself penniless. I tried to borrow money, but without success. +Now, who do you suppose has supported us the last three +months?"</p> +<p>"Some benevolent relative, perhaps," said Mr. Wilkeson, +hazarding a wild guess.</p> +<p>"You are right, sir. And a near and dear relative it is--no +other than my little Pet here." Mr. Minford placed his right hand +fondly on the shining head of the young girl, who sat on a low +stool by his side, looking into his face.</p> +<p>She blushed deeply, and said:</p> +<p>"You forget the unknown good friend who sent the letters with +money to you, papa."</p> +<p>"No, no, I don't, Pet," continued Mr. Minford, patting her +playfully on the cheeks; "but you were the dearest and sweetest of +my guardian angels. You know you were, you rogue. Why, sir, you +will hardly believe it, but this little creature, when she knew our +money was nearly gone, taught herself the art of embroidery, with +the aid of some illustrations from an old magazine, and in less +than a fortnight could work so beautifully, that she was able to +earn from three to four dollars a week. When she first told me that +she was going out to look for work, I opposed it fiercely; but the +obstinate little Pet would have her way. She was lucky enough to +get a job from a milliner, and pleased her employer so well, that +steady work was given to her, until last week, when the +kind-hearted lady died, and now little Pet has nothing to do. Some +people think, because she is young--"</p> +<p>"Please don't talk about me any more, papa," said Pet, who had +been blushing deeply, and looking very beautiful in the visitor's +eyes. "You forget what the postman used to bring you every +Saturday."</p> +<p>"No, I don't, you little, troublesome, impertinent Pet. I was +just about to speak of it, when you interrupted me. You must know, +Mr. Wilkeson, that every Saturday the postman, on his first morning +round, delivered to me a letter, marked 'New York City,' containing +two dollars, without a word of writing inside, and addressed to me +in large capitals, each nearly half an inch long. The object of +this singular style of address was either to make it so plain that +the postman could not mistake, or to disguise some handwriting +which otherwise I might recognize. Now, as I have no relatives +living, and no friends that I know of, who would lend me a dollar +except on the best security, I am greatly puzzled, as you may +suppose, to guess the name of my unknown benefactor. Generous man! +For aught I know, he may now be dead, or himself reduced to +poverty; for, last Saturday, the regular weekly remittance failed +to come."</p> +<p>"Then I see that I am just in season to help you," said Marcus +Wilkeson, who, during the recital of this brief history, had +decided upon his course of action.</p> +<p>"I thank you most gratefully," returned Mr. Minford, "and fully +appreciate the noble motives of your conduct. Your appearance +convinces me that you are entirely disinterested. But I should feel +ashamed to take money from you, without giving some security for +its repayment. I shall therefore insist upon making over to you a +certain interest in the invention, the most valuable of modern +times, which lies almost finished behind those screens. Let me give +you some idea of it, and you can then decide how much money you +will advance, merely as a matter of business. I cannot consent to +put our negotiations upon any other ground. The invention, then, +is--" The speaker looked at the corner as he spoke, and paused.</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson knew that the inventor was about to part with +his secret unwillingly, and that he would regret it forever after. +To save him from unpleasant feelings on that score, and to maintain +friendly relations between them for the future, Marcus put a stop +to the reluctant disclosure. He said:</p> +<p>"Never mind it, Mr. Minford. I know nothing of mechanical +matters, and take no interest in them. Your explanation would only +be wasted on me. Besides, it is entirely uncalled for, as I am +willing to take your own opinion of the invention, and will pay you +five hundred dollars for a one-tenth interest in it, if those terms +will suit." Marcus took a keen delight in acting upon this singular +impulse, and was sorry he had not said a "thousand," when he saw +the glow of happiness that irradiated the sweet face of Pet, still +sitting on the stool by her father's side.</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="images/047.png" width="60%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE BOY BOG.</b></p> +<p>"Heaven bless you, sir!" said Mr. Minford. "You will be the +means not only of relieving me and my dear child, but also of +conferring the boon of a great discovery upon mankind. But your +terms are too liberal, sir. I shall insist upon assigning one fifth +of my right to you, which, mark my prediction, will prove of itself +a fortune. Furthermore, I feel that I ought, if only to show my +complete confidence in you, to tell you what it is. It is--" Mr. +Minford hesitated for a word.</p> +<p>"Now I beg, as a particular favor, that you won't tell me," said +Marcus, goodhumoredly. "If you bore me with any of those dull +details, I'll--I'll take back my offer. As to the proportion of the +invention which I am to have, I will accept one fifth, since you +insist on it, not because I want it, but that we may not say +another word about the matter."</p> +<p>"As you please, sir. But how shall I sufficiently thank +you?"</p> +<p>Marcus, who was already overcome with the gratitude which shone +from the large, soft eyes of the young girl, answered, with a laugh +and a blush (he had not outgrown the habit of reddening on +occasions):</p> +<p>"By changing the subject."</p> +<p>Mr. Minford was about to protest against this extraordinary +method of thanking a benefactor, when a rap was heard at the +door.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="A_CHAPTER_VII."></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3>THE BOY BOG.</h3> +<br> +<p>In reply to the invitation, "Come in," a tall boy opened the +door, and started back on seeing a stranger.</p> +<p>"Do come in, Bog," said Mr. Minford. "I have good news to tell +you. This is a friend of ours, Mr. Wilkeson. What with his running +of errands, and doing little jobs for us, we really couldn't get +along without him. Oh, walk in, Bog; you're always welcome +here."</p> +<p>"Now <i>do</i> come in, Bog," added the little girl, in a +winning tone, rising from her stool, stepping to the door, and +placing a hand on his shoulder.</p> +<p>The new comer, after a few shuffles on the threshold, and an +unintelligible murmur of words, walked in with painful awkwardness, +and took a seat upon a corner of the chair which Pet offered him, +as if the whole chair were more of a favor than he could +conscientiously accept; He was a bony, strongly built stripling, +with a record of anywhere from seventeen to nineteen years written +in his red, resolute, honest face. He wore a coarse but neat suit +of boy's clothes, one inch too small in every dimension, a white +turn-down collar, and a black neckerchief fastidiously tied; and +carried a slouched cloth cap in his hand, with which he slapped his +knees alternately, after he had taken a seat, and continued to do +so without cessation.</p> +<p>"Well, Bog," said Mr. Minford, kindly, but condescendingly, "you +are just in time to hear good news. This gentleman has taken a +partnership in my invention (Mr. Minford thought it best to state +the case that way), and, with his assistance, I shall be able to +complete it and bring it before the public immediately."</p> +<p>"Glad to hear it, sir," answered the boy Bog, blushing hard, +lifting his eyes from the floor long enough to glance at Mr. +Minford and his daughter, and all the while slapping his knees +vigorously.</p> +<p>"He is in the bill-posting business," said Mr. Minford to +Marcus. "You may have seen him at the head of his company of +walking advertisers. Ha! ha!"</p> +<p>Marcus remembered having seen that honest face, that thick head +of hair, and that identical cap, sticking out of the top of a +portable wooden frame covered with placards, setting forth the +virtues of quack medicines, the excellencies of dry goods, or the +unequalled attractions of concert saloons. He also remembered that +this wooden frame was much taller than any of the long procession +of frames which followed it, and that, from a hole in the right +side thereof, protruded a fist about the size of the boy Bog's, +clutching a broomstick, with which the inmate kept a semblance of +order among the wilful and eccentric occupants of the frames behind +him. "Oh, yes; I have seen you very often, Bog. How do you like the +business?" said Marcus, pleasantly.</p> +<p>"Very well, sir, thank you," replied Bog, with his eyes still on +the floor, "'cept when the boys poke fun at us; 'cos we can't run +after 'em in them boxes, and wollop 'em. 'S rather hard, that." Bog +caught Miss Minford's eye as he concluded these remarks, and +blushed till he perspired, to think that he should have dropped +such a brutal observation in presence of that young lady.</p> +<p>Mr. Minford noticed the confusion of his young friend, and +unintentionally added to it, by saying:</p> +<p>"Bog is a good boy. By his industry, he earns eight or ten +dollars a week, not only supporting himself, but his aunt."</p> +<p>"Not this week, nor last week neither, Mr. Minford," said Bog, +mopping the modest sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his coat. +"The adv'tisin' line a'n't as good as't used to be. I only got +three jobs with my company the last fortnight, and nary cent of pay +from any of 'em. Of course, all my boys had to be paid just the +same."</p> +<p>"And you paid them?" asked Marcus.</p> +<p>"Certainly," said Bog.</p> +<p>"Then be good enough to accept five dollars from me, as a reward +for your honesty," said Marcus, acting upon another of his +impulses.</p> +<p>"No, thank you, sir. No, thank you," returned Bog, quickly, to +prevent Marcus from pulling the money out of his pocket. "I sha'n't +take it, sir; I won't have it anyway. I'm goin' into the reg'lar +bill-postin' business, as Jack Fink's assistant, to-morrow, and can +earn all I want." Bog blushed, but this time with honest pride, +though he was flustered to look up and see that Miss Minford nodded +in approval of his independent spirit.</p> +<p>Bog then slapped each knee about a dozen times with his cap, and +betrayed many symptoms of fever heat and great mental distress. +After which, he said that he had only called to see if he could do +anything for them.</p> +<p>"Now do you mean to tell us that it is not a regular New Year's +call," said Mr. Minford, playfully, "and that you have not a dozen +more to make?"</p> +<p>Bog looked guilty of an enormous fraud, dropped his cap, in his +confusion, twice, murmured something inaudible, rose to his feet, +and backed out of the room, making one comprehensive bow to +everybody, and saying "Good-night" before it was two P.M.</p> +<p>As Bog shut the door, everybody laughed, but not so loud as to +be heard by the boy; and, under the cover of the general good +humor, Marcus rose, and said that he must go. He was afraid he had +made his visit too long for a first one. He would call again on the +following day, if agreeable, and complete the proposed arrangement. +In conclusion, he placed his card in Mr. Minford's hand, with the +names of a few references pencilled on the margin.</p> +<p>Mr. Minford was very sorry that their pleasant acquaintance +should take his leave so abruptly, and hoped that they would enjoy +many visits from him, not merely as a business partner (Mr. Minford +laid emphasis on this), but as a friend.</p> +<p>Pet repeated her father's regrets and hopes in the more +impressive language of her sweet eyes, and, for the twentieth time +that day, conjured up, in the memory of Marcus Wilkeson, a vague +reminiscence of the distant past.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="A_CHAPTER_VIII."></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> +<h3>MALTBOY'S TWENTIETH AFFAIR.</h3> +<br> +<p>The house which had elicited Quigg's last sagacious remark, was +a three-story brownstone front, and was one of the finest looking +on the south side. The heavy mahogany door was opened by a slovenly +girl, who ushered the callers into the front parlor, which was +carefully darkened, according to the custom of the day. The only +objects plainly visible were two female figures, each seated near a +front window, under the rosy shade of damask curtains artfully +disposed. One of the ladies, whom Matthew Maltboy was not slow to +recognize, looked like a fountain of pink silk, gushing out with +great vehemence in high, curving jets on every side; from which +fountain a slim, graceful figure had risen, as far as the waist, +like a modern Arethusa. The gleam of a shapely neck, of a pearl +necklace and diamond cross, of diamond earrings, of an enormous +gold brooch, of golden gyves an inch broad on each wrist, as the +rose-tinted rays fell on those natural and artificial charms, +produced a dazzling effect in the shady corner. On plainer persons, +this display might have seemed, in Maltboy's eyes, a glaring +instance of bad taste. But, looking at that small, oval face, those +large, flashing black eyes, complexion of red and white, so +beautifully blended that it hardly seemed a work of nature, pouting +lips, even, white teeth, and heavily braided hair, Maltboy thought +that no decorations could be-too gaudy for a creature of such +radiant loveliness.</p> +<p>At the same instant (as their feet passed the parlor threshold) +that Maltboy made these comprehensive observations, the quick eyes +of Fayette Overtop were scanning the lady that basked in the +subdued light of the other window. She rose from a smaller fountain +of silk to a less height than her companion. She was fat to such a +degree, that the bodice of her dress seemed ready to burst with the +excessive pressure beneath, immediately suggesting to every +beholder the obvious humanity of enlarging it, by taking only a +small portion from the superfluous silk below. She was quite +pretty, and very healthy, and had a smile lurking on her lips, and +in the corners of her small blue eyes, and in the dimples of her +round, red cheeks, and in the curved crease which was beginning to +show under her apple of a chin. She wore plain colors, and +exhibited no ornaments save a large brooch with braided hair in it. +The lean Overtop immediately felt a tender inclination toward this +fat young lady.</p> +<p>Mr. Quigg paid the compliments of the season in his neat, +settled style, to Miss Whedell--the tall young lady--who received +them with marked coldness, and then begged leave to introduce +Messrs. Overtop and Maltboy, to whom she smiled graciously, rising +slightly from her chair, and sinking back again, without disturbing +the symmetrical flow of the silken fountain. With a wave of her +jewelled right hand she performed the ceremony of introduction +between the three callers and Mrs. Frump--the fat young lady--who +also carefully raised herself about two inches from her chair, and +lowered herself again, without disarranging a ripple.</p> +<p>In compliance with an invitation from Miss Whedell, the three +callers sat down. Mr. Maltboy gravitated by a natural instinct to +the side of his charmer. Mr. Overtop was drawn by an irresistible +impulse into the vicinity of Mrs. Frump, having detected in her +general appearance certain indications of what he called "a +sensible woman." Mr. Quigg, feeling that he was one too many, took +a "seat equally removed from the two ladies, and commenced playing +soft tunes on his hat, and looking vacantly about the room.</p> +<p>"I had begun to wonder, Mr. Maltboy," said Miss Whedell, "what +makes our friends so backward to-day. I do declare, we have not had +a caller for more than--how long is it, Gusty, since Colonel +Bigford dropped in?"</p> +<p>Maltboy thought her voice had a sweet, metallic ring.</p> +<p>"About half an hour," replied Mrs. Frump, after a brief mental +calculation.</p> +<p>"Why, Gusty!" exclaimed Miss Whedell; "how can you sit there and +tell such stories? You know it is not five minutes."</p> +<p>"Just as you please, dear," said Mrs. Frump, leaving on the +minds of her hearers the impression that her estimate was the +correct one.</p> +<p>"I never saw anything so slow," pursued Miss Whedell. "Would you +believe it, Mr. Maltboy--here are two hours gone, and we have not +had more than--how many callers have we had, Gusty? You keep +account of them."</p> +<p>Mrs. Frump drew out a little memorandum book from one of her +pockets, and consulted. "Exactly eleven, Clemmy," said she.</p> +<p>"Gusty Frump," returned Miss Whedell, with some warmth, "you +ought to be ashamed of yourself! We have had fifty callers, to my +certain knowledge."</p> +<p>"I presume you are right," said Mrs. Frump, with a smile that +irradiated the whole of her fat face, and again imparted the idea +that Miss Whedell was wrong.</p> +<p>"For one," said Matthew Maltboy, improving the opportunity to +put in a word, "I should not be surprised to learn that you had a +hundred."</p> +<p>Miss Whedell appreciated the delicate compliment, and beamed +fascination upon him.</p> +<p>"It has been a horrid, dreary winter, has it not, Mr. Maltboy?" +said she, in a tone that invited sympathy and confidence.</p> +<p>Mr. Maltboy, supposing that she alluded to the prevalent snow +and ice of the season, said that it certainly had.</p> +<p>"No balls, no opera--or none to speak of--no parties, no +anything. You will hardly believe it, Mr. Maltboy, but I declare I +haven't been to twenty parties this winter--have I, Gusty?"</p> +<p>"To only two that I know of," responded Mrs. Frump, in a winning +voice.</p> +<p>"You provoking creature," said Miss Whedell, "to talk so, when +you know that I have been to at least eighteen parties!" Miss +Whedell scowled charmingly as she spoke, and then added, with a +pleasant smile, for the benefit of Mr. Maltboy: "She's a gay young +widow; and you know what widows are."</p> +<p>Mr. Maltboy's knowledge of that species of the human family was +extensive and exact. He nodded, to signify that he knew something +of them, and felt forearmed, from that moment, against the charms +of Mrs. Frump.</p> +<p>Mrs. Frump told Miss Whedell that she thanked her very much for +the compliment, and laughed so prettily, that Fayette Overtop +determined to apply some of his grand tests for the discovery of +sensible women.</p> +<p>Abandoning the vein of commonplace conversation which he had +worked during the five minutes since his arrival, he remarked:</p> +<p>"It really makes us feel young again--does it not, Mrs. +Frump?--to renew this charming custom of receiving and making +calls."</p> +<p>Mr. Overtop spoke in general terms, like a philosopher; whereas +Mrs. Frump made a personal application of the remark to herself, +and replied, rather coldly: "I have no doubt that it makes +<i>old</i> persons feel younger," and then she looked at Matthew +Maltboy, and seemed to be listening to the conversation between him +and Miss Whedell.</p> +<p>Mr. Overtop paused a moment, and tried again: "Is it not +pleasant, though sad, Mrs. Frump, to think of the friends whom we +knew many, many years ago, who no longer live to greet us on this +festal day?" The speaker alluded to mankind at large.</p> +<p>Mrs. Frump responded tartly, that she could not speak from +experience, of course, but she presumed that Mr. Overtop's opinion +was correct. And again she glanced at Maltboy.</p> +<p>Mr. Overtop briefly rested, and then remarked:</p> +<p>"It may be merely a poetical conceit of mine, but it seems to me +that the horses prance higher, and shake their bells more merrily +on New Year's than any other day, as if they partook in our +enjoyment of the occasion. May not the horse, by some mysterious +instinct, know that it is the beginning of the year?"</p> +<p>Mrs. Frump smiled, and answered: "Not being a horse, of course I +can't say. But I would suggest, whether ostlers do not give their +animals an extra quantity of oats on New Year's day, to make their +action more stylish?"</p> +<p>Mr. Overtop marked a quizzical expression in the widow's left +eye, and was disgusted.</p> +<p>For the third time she looked intently at Matthew Maltboy, who +was putting in a few words with great animation; and then turned +her face toward Mr. Quigg, who was taking his third mental +inventory of the furniture, and executing "Hail Columbia," with +variations, on his hat.</p> +<p>"It's a finer New Year's day than the last one, is it not, Mr. +Quigg?"</p> +<p>Mr. Quigg, who had an astonishing memory for dates and +conditions of the weather, replied, after a second's +reflection:</p> +<p>"It is a much finer day, Mrs. Frump. It rained last New Year's. +Perhaps you may remember my leaving an umbrella at the house where +you were then stopping, in Sixteenth street, and my calling for it +again, on which occasion you said I reminded you of Paul Pry, in +the play, who was always forgetting his umbrella."</p> +<p>The widow laughed, and said that she distinctly remembered the +circumstances.</p> +<p>Mr. Quigg, thus encouraged, went on:</p> +<p>"New Year's days differ very much. The one before the last was +very snowy in the forenoon, with hail in the afternoon; and the one +before that was so mild, that I found an overcoat really +uncomfortable. The one before--"</p> +<p>"Excuse me for the interruption," said Mrs. Frump, suddenly, +"but I can't help saying how much Mr. Maltboy looks like Dr. Warts. +Doesn't he, Clemmy?"</p> +<p>"Like Dr. Warts!" exclaimed Miss Whedell. "Who's he?"</p> +<p>"Why, don't you remember, Clemmy, the doctor that you consulted +about your hair?" The widow looked the picture of guilelessness as +she asked the question.</p> +<p>Miss Whedell turned slightly red in parts of her face that were +not red before, and involuntarily raised her hands to two heavy +braids of hair which fronted each ear, and adjusted them. Then she +said, sarcastically:</p> +<p>"Mr. Maltboy must feel much flattered at being compared with a +notorious quack."</p> +<p>Mrs. Frump, with a laugh spreading all over her gentle face, +replied:</p> +<p>"Oh! of course you call him a quack, because he could not save +your--"</p> +<p>"You are rude, madam," said Miss Whedell, with emotion.</p> +<p>"And you are silly, miss," retorted Mrs. Frump, still smiling, +"to take offence at nothing."</p> +<p>"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, madam."</p> +<p>Greatly to the relief of the three callers, who were seized with +a desire to laugh aloud during this short, snapping dialogue, a +bell rang, and a new figure entered upon the scene. The two ladies +rose about three inches, and greeted him as Mr. Chiffield. Mr. +Chiffield bowed stiffly, smiled mechanically, and cast a sweeping +glance at the three men present. This glance, and the looks with +which it was met, called up a singular train of associations.</p> +<p>Maltboy remembered the new comer as a fellow who had trod on his +corns getting into an Amity street stage. Overtop remembered him as +an eccentric individual, who always carried, without the slightest +reference to existing weather, an umbrella under his arm, with the +point rearward, and held at just the angle to pierce the eye of a +person walking incautiously after him. Overtop had frequently felt +a strong inclination to pull the umbrella out from behind, and ask +the bearer to carry it in a less threatening manner.</p> +<p>Mr. Chiffield, on the other hand, readily recalled Matthew +Maltboy as a suspicious person whom he had seen hanging around an +up-town hotel, about a year and a half before (when Maltboy was +paying his ineffectual addresses to a cruel Cuban beauty who passed +the summer months at that house). Mr. Chiffield had always supposed +him to be a confidence man of superior abilities.</p> +<p>Of Overtop, Mr. Chiffield was vaguely reminiscent. Unless he was +mistaken, that person was the one who wore an entire suit of pepper +and salt, including a felt hat, necktie, and gaiters, two summers +before.</p> +<p>Mr. Quigg was a novelty in Mr. Chiffield's eyes; but Mr. +Chiffield was well known by sight to Mr. Quigg, who also remembered +to have heard that he was a partner in the great drygoods house of +Upjack, Chiffield & Co.</p> +<p>Mr. Chiffield was about forty years of age, and had a bald head, +a square, heavy face, scanty whiskers, small, shrewd eyes, and a +bilious complexion. He dressed in profound black, wore his necktie +negligently, exhibited neither ring nor breastpin nor gold chain, +spoke as if he were always thinking inwardly of his private +business, and never laughed. These peculiarities indicated, beyond +any doubt, that Mr. Chiffield was a wealthy man; though it might be +difficult to trace the exact processes of reasoning by which this +conclusion was reached. Any unprejudiced stranger, seeing Mr. +Chiffield, and being told that he was a partner in a large drygoods +house, would instantly think, "That drygoods house will stand in +the midst of fires, earthquakes, and financial revulsions."</p> +<p>With that fine instinct peculiar to lovers, Matthew Maltboy +immediately recognized in Mr. Chiffield a rival--and a dangerous +one. Having seen much of society, Maltboy was well aware that Mr. +Chiffield's mature age, his grim appearance, his sparse whiskers, +and even the bald spot on the top of his head, were eminent +advantages with which youth and bloom, and a full head of hair +could not cope--unless with the aid of that fascination which +Matthew flattered himself that he possessed, and which, he thought, +he had used to some purpose during his hurried conversation with +his twentieth enslaver, Miss Whedell. The usages of New Year's day, +as well as frequent impatient nods from Quigg, and suggestive +coughs from Overtop, would not permit of his staying longer. He +therefore, rose to take his leave, his fellow pilgrims doing +likewise, when Miss Whedell remarked that they were in a great +hurry, and regretted that they could not remain a few minutes +more.</p> +<p>The captivated Maltboy toyed, with his hat in an uncertain way, +and was half disposed to sit down again, when Quigg hastily +produced his visiting list, and said, with his best business +smile:</p> +<p>"We Should certainly be very happy, Miss Whedell; but we have +seventy-five calls still to make, and it is now (consulting his +watch) two o'clock."'</p> +<p>As the three visitors withdrew (declining, at every step, a +pressing invitation to taste the refreshments which were piled in +mountainous form on a table in an adjoining alcove), Maltboy +exchanged a look of deep, sentimental meaning with Miss Whedell, +who rose at least six inches from her chair, and followed it with a +slight hostile glare at Mr. Chiffield, upon whose equable face it +fell harmless. Overtop bowed coldly to everybody, as if he were +disappointed in the human species; and Quigg gave a parting grin at +the room in general, and at nobody or nothing in particular,</p> +<p>"We're all right, Top," whispered Maltboy, as they descended the +steps to the sidewalk. "She smiled slightly when I mentioned having +seen her from our back parlor window. I have obtained permission to +call again."</p> +<p>"You'll have to do it without me, my dear fellow," returned +Overtop, tossing back his head from force of habit, the offensive +cowlick being then suppressed by his hat. "Nothing on earth could +induce me to speak to that dull widow again."</p> +<p>"She doesn't live there," said Quigg. "She is some connection, I +believe, of the queer old Dutchman that I spoke of, and is probably +only helping Miss Whedell to receive callers. I should think, from +the way they abuse each other, that they were old and dear +friends."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="A_CHAPTER_IX."></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<h3>MRS. SLAPMAN AT HOME.</h3> +<br> +<p>Full of new and pleasant thoughts, Marcus Wilkeson walked on +toward the half-antique house which contained the strange old +gentleman. Just as he was about to swing back the iron gate of the +front yard, he saw, at a distance, the two friends of his bosom and +Mr. Quigg descending a flight of steps to the sidewalk. They saw +him at the same time; and both Overtop and Maltboy violently +beckoned him to approach. Mr. Quigg added his solicitations in a +calmer and more dignified manner, moving his arm like an automaton +three times from the elbow. Even the driver, Captain Tonkins, in +the spirit of invitation peculiar to his mental state, steadied +himself on the seat, poked his right arm and his long whip toward +Marcus, and said: "Hu-hullo there--come along?" Having done this, +Captain Tonkins furtively poured a gill of brandy into the tin cup, +and drank it under cover of the buffalo robe.</p> +<p>In compliance with this general request, Marcus forbore to open +the gate of the old gentleman's house, and joined his friends.</p> +<p>"How many people have you called on, you old humbug?" asked +Overtop, as Marcus drew near.</p> +<p>Marcus was on the point of alluding to the chance acquaintances +that he had made that morning; but a moment's reflection stopped +him.</p> +<p>"I told you," said he, "that my only visit was to be to our odd +old neighbor. I was at his gate, when you called. And now, what do +you want?"</p> +<p>"I want to tell you," said Matthew Maltboy, "that Miss +Whedell--the Juno-like young lady with the handkerchief, you +know--is--"</p> +<p>"All your fancy painted her," interrupted Marcus.</p> +<p>"She's lovely--she's divine," said Maltboy, rapturously +finishing the quotation. "I have made an impression. Congratulate +me, old boy!"</p> +<p>"I do," said Marcus, laughing, "and only hope that you will find +it as easy getting out of the scrape as into it. And what have you +discovered, Top?"</p> +<p>"That there isn't a sensible woman or an original idea, so far, +on the block. I wouldn't budge an inch farther, but for Quigg's +promise to introduce me to a young widow who lives next door--a +regular prodigy of science and art, according to his story. I think +you said she was a widow, Quigg?"</p> +<p>"I suppose so," said Quigg, "as I never saw nor heard of her +husband; and she's lived on this block five years last May."</p> +<p>The three besieged Marcus to lay aside his scruples for once, +and join them in visiting this accomplished lady. Marcus fought +them until his patience was exhausted, and then gave in.</p> +<p>The door to which they climbed, bore, on a large and shining +plate, the name "Slapman." This door was opened to them by a tall +negro in livery, which, like the wearer, had a borrowed appearance. +As they entered, they saw a little wiry man, with a pale face full +of wrinkles and crowsfeet, bounding up the first flight of stairs, +two steps at a time. When the little man reached the first landing +he looked back, and directed a strange, suspicious glance at the +callers.</p> +<p>The opening of the parlor door discovered a room full of men, +who were sipping wine, eating cold fowl and confections, talking +and laughing loudly with each other, or exchanging repartees with a +lady who stood in the centre of the apartment and shed her light +upon all. This lady was Mrs. Grazella Jigbee Slapman.</p> +<p>Previous to her marriage, she had been not altogether unknown to +the corners of several weekly newspapers, under the name of +"Grazella." She had also cultivated a natural talent for painting, +so assiduously, that a little cabinet piece of hers, representing a +cat, a lobster, and a plate of fruit, was considered good enough to +exhibit in the window of a Broadway print shop, in which her uncle +was a silent partner, and was approvingly paragraphed in a paper +partly owned by her first cousin. To gifts capable of producing +results like these, she added a great aptitude for music; although +an incurable indolence, she gracefully said, had always prevented +her from learning the piano. While yet sustaining the name of +Jigbee, she had achieved a high reputation in private circles as a +merciless judge of music. But her conversation had been, from +earliest girlhood, her chief attraction. She possessed the +extraordinary faculty of talking with a dozen persons upon a dozen +different subjects at the same time.</p> +<p>Unlike many people similarly endowed, she did not exercise this +wonderful gift for the brutal purpose of putting down feebler +intellects, but only to elicit TRUTH, which she often declared to +be the sole object of her existence. When, by her alliance with Mr. +Slapman, a thrifty speculator in real estate, she was installed as +mistress of a fine house and furniture, and a few thousand a year, +the lady naturally gathered about her a still larger circle of +admirers. Her researches for TRUTH were met halfway by people that +were supposed to deal in that article, abstractly considered; such +as poets, painters, sculptors, reformers, inventors. Anybody with a +new idea was sure to be understood and encouraged by her. Her +fondness for new ideas was as keen as an entomologist's for new +bugs or butterflies.</p> +<p>Mrs. Slapman had not made the mistake of neglecting her physical +and perishable charms in deference to her intellectual and immortal +nature. She was twenty-four years old, and had clear, sparkling +eyes, a fresh complexion, good teeth, rich, heavy hair, and a +substantial figure. The pursuit of TRUTH did not disagree with her +health.</p> +<p>Mrs. Slapman bustled out of the little knot of persons about +her, and advanced in a frank, hearty way to meet her visitors. To +Mr. Quigg she nodded patronizingly, as to one whom she had long +known to be guiltless of new ideas; but to the strangers who sought +her society, she addressed a cordial smile.</p> +<p>Mr. Quigg, having performed his office, judiciously stepped +aside, and left the honors and burdens of conversation with the +three friends.</p> +<p>Matthew Maltboy, with the rashness of youth, opened the verbal +engagement, by remarking that it was a fine day.</p> +<p>This wretched conventionalism was met by a "Very," so obviously +sarcastic, that Marcus Wilkeson decided not to utter a remark which +was at that moment on his lips.</p> +<p>At this embarrassing juncture, Fayette Overtop came to the +rescue. "As we alighted from our sleigh, Mrs. Slapman, I noticed +how firmly the snow at the edge of the street was pressed down by +the feet of the hundreds who have called on you; and I could not +but think how truly that white surface, upon which the prints of so +many boots were beautifully blended, typified the purity of the +motives which brought the owners of those boots to your door."</p> +<p>"A most original and charming remark!" said Mrs. Slapman. "I +must repeat it to Chickson. The author of 'A Snowflake's Lament' +will appreciate that felicitous observation. You have heard of +Chickson?"</p> +<p>Mr. Overtop read new books, magazines, literary papers, in +considerable quantities, but did not remember to have ever met with +the name. Speaking upon impulse, and to avoid explanation, however, +he said:</p> +<p>"Oh, yes--certainly, but have not the pleasure of his +acquaintance."</p> +<p>"You should know each other," said Mrs. Slapman. "Excuse me a +minute." She ran with girlish haste to the other end of the +parlors, and brought back an undersized young man. When he had been +introduced to Overtop, and shaken hands with him, the enthusiastic +hostess quoted, somewhat imperfectly, the beautiful conceit which +Overtop had just uttered, and remarked that it would be a capital +subject for a poem.</p> +<p>Mr. Chickson turned his eyes upward to the ceiling, and then +downward to the floor, as if he were committing what he had heard +to memory, and then said it was very curious, but he had thought of +the same theme before, and was intending to write a poem on it next +week.</p> +<p>"Now, that's just like you, you provoking creature!" said Mrs. +Slapman, tapping the poet playfully with her fan. "It's really +selfish of you to keep all your poetical thoughts for your +poems."</p> +<p>Mr. Chickson smiled pleasantly, but said nothing; and when Mrs. +Slapman's attention was momentarily attracted by a passing remark +from another person, the poet improved the opportunity to slip away +and take another glass of champagne in the corner.</p> +<p>"Ah! gone, is he?" said Mrs. Slapman, remarking his +disappearance. "Though one of the most promising of our young +poets, he is dull enough in conversation. It may be said of him, as +of Goldsmith, 'He writes like an angel, but talks like poor Poll.' +You may have read his poem, 'Echoes of the Empyrean,' published in +the <i>Weekly Lotus</i>."</p> +<p>Mr. Overtop was wicked enough to say that he had read and +admired it.</p> +<p>"It is a curious fact in the history of the poem, that the +subtle thoughts which it evolves were the topic of discussion at +one of my <i>conversazioni</i>; and on that very night Chickson +told me he had forty-five lines written on the subject. The +knowledge of that trifling circumstance lends additional interest +to the poem."</p> +<p>"That is, if anything could lend additional interest to it," +observed Overtop.</p> +<p>"You are right," said Mrs. Slapman. "TRUTH, like that which +animates every line of the 'Empyrean,' needs no factitious +attractions. You have read the 'Empyrean?'"--turning to Wilkeson +and Maltboy, who had stood hard by during this conversation, calm +patterns of politeness.</p> +<p>Mr. Wilkeson, not understanding the question (his thoughts +wandering back to the pale mechanic and his child), nodded "Yes," +and was immediately put down on Mrs. Slapman's mental tablet as a +quiet gentleman of good taste. But Matthew Maltboy, distinctly +understanding it, was candid enough to say "No," and from that +moment was as nothing in the eyes of the lady.</p> +<p>Overtop proceeded to deepen the favorable impression which he +had made upon this charming patroness of intellect.</p> +<p>"Did it ever occur to you how many subjects for the highest +order of poetry lie unnoticed all about us? Take that chandelier, +for example, the prismatic drops of which are dull in the shade, +but sparkle with all the colors of the rainbow in the gaslight. +Might not those hidden splendors be compared to that genius whose +brilliancy is alone evoked by Beauty's radiant smile?"</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson squirmed, and Matthew Maltboy felt uneasy, while +their friend was delivering this elaborate idea, and felt easier +when he reached the end in safety. Mr. Overtop himself shared in +the sensation of relief.</p> +<p>"Beautiful! beautiful!" cried Mrs. Slapman, in a species of +rapture. "I must repeat that delicious thought to Chickson. But not +now." And she looked inquiringly at Overtop, as if in expectation +that he would utter another new TRUTH immediately. That gentleman +not happening to have one on his tongue's end, Mrs. Slapman was +kind enough to give him time for reflection.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="A_CHAPTER_X."></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> +<h3>INFIRMITIES OF GENIUS.</h3> +<br> +<p>"Allow me to point out some of my friends, Mr. Overtop. Among +them are faces which you may have seen. If not, you will at least +recognize several of the names."</p> +<p>"But I must protest that I am monopolizing too much of your +time, madam," interposed Overtop, conscious that his neglected +friends were looking on awkwardly, and waiting for him.</p> +<p>"And I protest against your protesting," said Mrs. Slapman, with +a merry laugh. So saying, she motioned him to one of the front +windows, and, under the shade of heavy blue and gold curtains, +commenced to point out notable guests.</p> +<p>Mr. Overtop observed, first with regret and then with pride, +that their withdrawal into a corner elicited looks of surprise and +curiosity, not unmingled with envy, from the little group that +hovered about the refreshment table, and drank Mrs. Slapman's fine +wines, and laughed and joked together. He was glad to see that his +two friends sauntered through the parlors, examining the pictures +and articles of taste which caught the eye on every side; and that +Mr. Quigg was engrossed in the examination of some books on a +centre table, opening them, and smoothing their fair pages with his +hand as if they were ledgers.</p> +<p>"You see that stout man with the double chin--the one drinking +champagne, to the left of the table? That is Mr. Scrymser, a +gentleman who has made several aeronautic excursions, and talked +about a balloon voyage to Europe last year. You may remember his +portrait, and plans of his air ship, in the illustrated +papers."</p> +<p>"I do," said Overtop; "and also that he didn't go." "Precisely. +Some trouble about the currents, I believe. You note that small +man, with the sharp face--the one sipping a glass, to the right of +the table? That is Mr. Boskirk, inventor of the <i>'Submarine +Summer House,'</i> a species of diving bell, which is to be owned +and managed by a Joint-Stock Company. I have promised to take a few +shares in the concern."</p> +<p>"Excuse the digression, madam," said Overtop, "but ought not +these two gentlemen to change places in life? Is not the heavy one +peculiarly adapted to the diving bell, and the light one to the +balloon?"</p> +<p>Mrs. Slapman smiled, and looked faintly surprised, as if the +remark were unworthy of her guest. "Probably you know that +gentleman under the picture of a landscape, talking very earnestly +to another gentleman, who seems to want to be getting away."</p> +<p>"The man with the long, curly, red hair? I know his face well, +and, though I have no further knowledge of him, am morally certain +that he is a social reformer."</p> +<p>"Why?" asked Mrs. Slapman.</p> +<p>"Because I never saw a man with long, curly, red hair, who was +not a social reformer. Men with red hair--the true carrot tint, I +mean--have a natural propensity for reform. Some of them repress +it, but others give rein to their inclinations, go into the reform +business, and hang out their curls as a sign to all mankind. And +all mankind interpret it as readily as they do the striped pole in +front of a barber's shop."</p> +<p>"A striking thought, truly, and full of TRUTH," said Mrs. +Slapman. "I will mention it to Mr. Gormit. On reflection, however, +I won't. I might wound his feelings, for he is an exquisitely +sensitive creature. As you have ingeniously discovered, he +<i>is</i> a social reformer. At present he is only known to the +public as the editor of the 'Humanitarian Harbinger;' but his +select circle of friends are well aware that he is devoting his +ripened genius to the production of a work called the +'Progressional Principia,' which will be in four volumes, and +exhaust the whole subject of social science. This immense +undertaking is a favorite subject of his ordinary conversation. He +is probably, at this very moment, giving a general outline of the +book to that gentleman on his right.</p> +<p>"That slender young man with the Vandyke beard, cutting into a +cake, you may not need to be told, is Patching, the painter of +those delicious interiors which have been seen every year by those +who had eyes to find them, in obscure corners at the rooms of the +National Academy of Design. In short, Patching is the subject of a +conspiracy in which the Hanging Committee is implicated. But though +professional envy may place his works in the worst possible light, +and for some time cast a shadow over his prospects, an independent +public taste will ultimately appreciate his genius. Mark the +melancholy that overspreads his features, as he tastes that glass +of sherry. Next to TRUTH, melancholy is the chief characteristic of +his style. In a miniature portrait which he painted of me, last +year, and which is regarded as a capital likeness, he introduced a +shade of sadness, which is, at least, not habitual with me."</p> +<p>Mr. Overtop hastened to say, that of <i>that</i> fact he needed +no assurance.</p> +<p>"Without giving a minute account of all my guests, I may say +generally, that they include novelists, dramatists, actors, and +musicians. Some you may know by sight. The acquaintance of all you +may make at a future time."</p> +<p>At this strong hint, Mr. Overtop replied, that he should be only +too happy. He had by this time come to the conclusion that there +never was a more candid and delightful widow than Mrs. Slapman; +and, furthermore, that she was that rarity--a sensible woman--of +which he had been so long in search. Mr. Overtop mentally hugged +himself.</p> +<p>"By the way, sir--you will pardon the impertinence of the +question--but to what profession do you belong?"</p> +<p>"I am a lawyer, madam," said he, fearful that the announcement +would not be well received. "Fayette Overtop, firm of Overtop & +Maltboy."</p> +<p>Mrs. Slapman mused a moment, and said:</p> +<p>"It is a little singular, that, among my large collection--I +mean circle--of friends, there shouldn't be a single lawyer."</p> +<p>"As I am a <i>single</i> lawyer, Mrs. Slapman, it is within my +power to supply that deficiency among those who are honored with +your friendship." Mr. Overtop thought, with some reason, as he +finished this remark, that he had never said a better thing in his +life.</p> +<p>Mrs. Slapman's severe taste rejected Overtop's pun, but not +himself, and she was about to say that she should put him on the +list for her next <i>conversazione</i>, when another awkward +interruption occurred, in this wise:</p> +<p>Signor Mancussi was a gentleman with an Italian name and a +perfect knowledge of English, who sang bass parts in a church up +town, and enjoyed the reputation of having personated the chief +Druid in Norma, at an early period of the New York opera. M. Bartin +played one of numerous violins at the Academy of Music, and was +believed to be kept down only by a powerful combination. Three +months before this New Year's day, both of these gentlemen had +volunteered their services, in company with many other musical +people, to give a grand concert in aid of a benevolent enterprise. +To M. Bartin, as a man supposed to know something of sharp +management, from his connection with the opera, was intrusted the +supreme control of the whole affair. It is due to M. Bartin to say, +that he tried to perform his laborious duties faithfully and with +perfect justice to his associates.</p> +<p>When, therefore, in ordering the printing of the gigantic +posters which heralded the concert, he directed his own name to be +placed at the head of the "eminent artists who had offered their +services for the occasion," and in type half as large again as any +of the rest, he only expressed a conscientious opinion of his +superiority over all of them. In this opinion his associates +happened to disagree with him, each one claiming that himself, and +nobody else, was entitled to typographical precedence.</p> +<p>Most keenly was the alleged injustice felt by Signer Mancussi, +who stood at the foot of the sloping list in letters less than an +inch long; and he had made a solemn vow to revenge himself on M. +Bartin the first time that they met after the concert. Their +simultaneous appearance at Mrs. Slapman's was that time. M. Bartin +had been privately informed of the Signer's intentions, and +regretted that that gentleman's ridiculous vanity should get the +better of his judgment. Seeing him at Mrs. Slapman's, M. Bartin +avoided the Signer's presence, fearing they might come into a +collision disgraceful to the time and the place. The Signer, for +the same considerate reasons, kept shy of M. Bartin. After dodging +each other for a long time, they were at last brought, by accident, +face to face. M. Bartin was calm. Signor Mancussi tried to be +tranquil, but those small, lean black letters at the foot of the +list rose vividly to his mind; and, before he could check himself, +he had whispered, or hissed, between his set teeth, the word,</p> +<p>"SCOUNDREL!"</p> +<p>M. Bartin was taken unawares, but had sufficient presence of +mind to reply, "You're another," in a whisper, low, but freighted +with meaning.</p> +<p>Whereupon the Signor responded, also under his breath, "You're +no gentleman." To this assertion, M. Bartin answered, with masterly +irony, "And you <i>are</i> a gentleman, now, a'n't you?"</p> +<p>Up to this point the controversy had been pleasantly conducted +in whispers, and was unnoticed by the bystanders; but M. Bartin's +last insinuation had the strange effect of maddening the Signor +still more. He lost his self-control, and said, in an audible +voice:</p> +<p>"You're only a scraper of catgut, anyhow."</p> +<p>M. Bartin, also oblivious of the proprieties, retorted, louder +still:</p> +<p>"And what are you but an infernal screech owl?"</p> +<p>Cries of "Hallo!" "What's the row?" "Hush!" and "For shame!" +rose from all parts of the room, and the two musical gentlemen, +conscious that they had grossly misconducted themselves, stepped +back a yard from each other, and were immediately surrounded by +several friends, and kindly told that they were a pair of +fools.</p> +<p>Mrs. Slapman and Overtop rushed to the spot. The latter measured +the two combatants with his eye, to see if he could safely +undertake to pitch both, or either of them, out of the room, if +requested so to do by the widow, and concluded that he could +not.</p> +<p>Mrs. Slapman was much embarrassed by this painful outbreak. It +was only three weeks ago that M. Bartin had dedicated a new +quadrille to her; and but a fortnight since Signor Mancussi had +sung four operatic airs gratuitously at one of her musical and +dramatic <i>soirées</i>. But respect for herself and for her +guests--especially for Mr. Overtop, of whose talents she had formed +an exalted opinion--pointed out her path of duty, and she followed +it. She stepped between the two disputants, and cast a look of +surprise and regret at each.</p> +<p>"I was hasty," said Signor Mancussi.</p> +<p>"And I was too impulsive," said M. Bartin.</p> +<p>"Then, gentlemen, if you would merit my continued friendship, +please make up your little difference, by shaking hands."</p> +<p>They recoiled from the proposition a moment, but, being pushed +together by their respective friends from behind, took each other's +right hand, shook it once feebly, and said distinctly, with their +eyes, "We shall meet again!"</p> +<p>"Very well done," said Mrs. Slapman, with the air of an empress, +tempered by a charming smile. "And let us hope that is the end of +it. Now, Mr. Overtop, allow me to offer you some refreshment."</p> +<p>Mrs. Slapman was in the act of handing a glass of champagne to +the favored Overtop, when an unearthly shriek was heard, which +startled the steadiest nerves. This shriek was repeated three times +in quick succession, and seemed to come from the sidewalk in front +of the house. There was a general rush to the window; but Wilkeson, +Overtop, Maltboy, and Quigg ran for the street at once, surmising +the source of the cry.</p> +<p>There stood Captain Tonkins, in the sleigh, leaning against the +dashboard, holding in one hand an empty jug, and in the other his +whip. Around the sleigh were a dozen men and boys, who had been +convoked by the cry of "FELL' CITIZENS!" More men and more boys +were seen coming in the distance.</p> +<p>As the four lessees of the sleigh approached him, the Captain +again yelled, "FELL' CITIZENS!"</p> +<p>"For heaven's sake, stop, Captain!" cried Quigg.</p> +<p>A smile of contempt played upon the Captain's large lips, as, +shaking his whip defiantly at the agitated group, he shouted:</p> +<p>"I--I know ye. Don' think I doknowye. You're Mulcahy men, ev' +moth's sonofye; and you've come to this 'ere meet'n' to put down +free-ee-dom of speech. But yer carndoit. 'Peat it, yer ca-arn-doit. +I d'fy ye. I d'fy ye."</p> +<p>The Captain was a powerful man; and Quigg, as well as his +companions, singly and collectively, shrank from trying physical +persuasion on him. Besides, a crowd of people had gathered, who +were greatly enjoying the scene, and desiring its continuance for +an indefinite period.</p> +<p>"FELL' CITIZENS!" continued the Captain, "now these vile tools +o' Mulca-a-hy silenced, warntellye I'm can'date School 'Spector in +this ward. Fuss place, I'm only reg'l can'date. Secun' place, I +feel great int'st mor'l wants of all your chi-i-ld'n, Masay they +are my own child'n, Go'bless'em. Third place, my dear FELL' +CIT'Z'NS, if yer'll jess step in ter Phil Rooney's 'fore ye vote, +yer'll find some whi-i-sky there; and that--that's bess arg'ment, +after all."</p> +<p>Having reached the logical end of the first and last speech ever +made in public by Captain Tonkins, the Captain tumbled out of his +sleigh, and sprawled upon the snow; whereat the bystanders shouted +for joy, and the widow Slapman and two large windows full of guests +shook with laughter.</p> +<p>"'S pla-at-form fall'n'?" asked the Captain.</p> +<p>"Yes," replied one of the citizens, humoring the idea; "the +platform gave way, and you tumbled to the ground."</p> +<p>"I--I'no' who di't," resumed the Captain. "Them Mulca'men. They +saw-awed posts." Here the Captain descried two widow Slapmans +smiling on him from a window, and gallantly kissed his hand at +them.</p> +<p>His heavy body was tumbled into the rear of the sleigh, a +buffalo robe thrown over it, and Captain Tonkins was then +unconsciously borne toward the bosom of his family, in Minetta lane +(a friend officiating as driver), amid the cheers of his late +audience.</p> +<p>The three bachelors were satiated with their day's experiences. +They raised their hats to Mrs. Slapman, still laughing at the +window, and walked smartly home. Mr. Quigg, deriving much comfort +from the thought that Captain Tonkins had not been paid for his +sleigh, and would not be, hastened to a neighboring stable, hired +the only remaining team, and continued his round of calls, giving +one minute to each.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BOOK_SECOND."></a>BOOK SECOND.</h2> +<h3>POLISHING.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="B_CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>THE ENIGMA.</h3> +<br> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson's new acquaintance throve rapidly. Mr. Minford's +dealings with the world had made him shy and suspicious, and he was +at first disposed to keep his benevolent visitor at a safe business +distance. But the heart of the thoughtful mechanic could not long +resist the kind and earnest sympathy of the man who sought to be +his friend.</p> +<p>With a caution born of experience, however, Mr. Minford, before +admitting the new guest to his full confidence, called upon a +number of Wall street brokers and South street merchants, to whom +Marcus had referred him, and learned from them that that gentleman +bore a reputation of the rarest honor and purity of character. +While giving this united testimony, however, they all agreed in +condemning Mr. Wilkeson's eccentricity--insanity, one broker called +it--in retiring from business at the very moment when he was most +successful, and had a great fortune within easy reach. The fact +that he had retired with one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, +instead of mitigating his offence in the eyes of those critics, +increased it. "Why," said a noted bear, "with that amount of +capital, and Wilkeson's first-rate talents--when he chose to use +them--he might have become the king of Wall street. It's a pity so +smart a fellow should make a wreck of himself." And the bear heaved +a sigh of commiseration; which was by no means echoed by Mr. +Minford, who gathered, from all this evidence, an increased esteem +for his benefactor.</p> +<p>From the time when he first crossed the threshold of the house +on his mission of mercy, Pet had looked upon him with the deepest +reverence. She had read, in story books, of mysterious gentlemen +who went about doing good merely for the pleasure of it, and who +always reached the scene of distress with fairy-like certainty, +when everybody and everything would have gone to ruin without them. +Such a strange, supernatural embodiment of goodness seemed Marcus +Wilkeson to her childish fancy. When he entered the room--and he +was an every-day caller now--she looked around with great anxiety +to see that all the chairs were in their proper places; that there +was no dirt or dust visible anywhere; that everything was in a +state of order and cleanliness worthy so exalted a guest.</p> +<p>She would run to take his overcoat and hat and cane, and place +them as carefully in the clothes press as if they had been the +robe, crown, and sceptre of a king. Then she would sit in her +little chair, and take her sewing, or knitting, or embroidery, and +pretend to be all absorbed in it, while she was listening eagerly +to every word that Marcus addressed to her father, and occasionally +looked up at the face of their guest, and thought how noble it was, +and how proud she should be to call him uncle.</p> +<p>When he spoke to her, as he often did, and asked her about her +work, or her companions, or her studies (upon the latter subject he +had grown quite curious, of late), she would feel that she was +blushing, and answer, with downcast eyes, and be half glad and half +sorry when he ceased to question her, and would then sit and +torment herself by recalling what she had said, and thinking how +much it might have been improved.</p> +<p>A sharp-eyed observer, had such been present, accustomed to +studying the human face and weighing motives, would have been +puzzled to guess the exact nature of the feelings which Marcus +entertained for the pretty, innocent young creature who sat there, +always plying her little fingers at some useful work. The puzzle +would have been a still greater one for Mr. Wilkeson himself. He +felt a profound interest in Pet; and she it was, and not the pale +mechanic or his novel machine, that led him daily up those three +flights of rickety stairs to that humble room. He said to himself, +and he would have said to anybody who was entitled to call upon him +for an explanation, that he had always loved children, and that the +beauty and goodness of this child had deeply interested him. If +there was any other motive at the bottom of his heart, he +studiously concealed it from himself, as he would have concealed it +from all the world.</p> +<p>During these visits, Mr. Minford pursued his work without +interruption. The screens, which were at first jealously closed, +were now thrown open, and the inventor sat there in full sight of +his visitor, laboring at his great mechanical problem. Repeatedly +he had begged of Marcus the privilege of explaining to him the +principles of the machine; but that gentleman had always resolutely +declined, for the reasons before stated. And he had always observed +that, a few moments after such refusal, the face of the inventor +would brighten up, as if with joy that he had not parted with his +secret even to one who held a fifth interest in it.</p> +<p>Of the wonderful results which the machine was sure to +accomplish, Mr. Minford was never tired of talking, nor Mr. +Wilkeson of hearing, although, at these times, his eyes followed +the flying motions of Pet's fingers, as if they were a part of the +wonder of which the inventor discoursed so glowingly.</p> +<p>Precisely what the machine was to effect, when completed, Marcus +Wilkeson would never have known, if he had been the most attentive +of listeners. Mr. Minford spoke in vague, general terms, that +afforded no clue to the mystery. He talked of old philosophers and +mechanicians, who had failed to discover an unnamed secret of +Nature, because they had no faith in its existence. Complete faith +in the existence of the thing to be discovered, as well as in the +ability of the searcher to find it, he regarded as indispensable +conditions of an inventor's success.</p> +<p>The fact that the natural law which he was trying to demonstrate +had been pronounced an impossibility by professors of science, +should weigh as nothing in the mind of any man who remembered how +every great invention of the age had in turn been stamped +"impossible" by those dogmatizers in their academical chairs, their +books, and their reviews. Latterly (Mr. Minford confessed), the +scientific theorists had been more tolerant toward other people's +inventions (they never invent anything themselves); but with regard +to the one upon which he was now engaged, they had, with complete +unanimity, decided that the thing could not be done, and charitably +called every man an idiot or a lunatic who attempted to do it.</p> +<p>"The world has at last fallen into this belief," Mr. Minford +would say, bitterly, "and the few people with whom I am acquainted +would all agree in echoing these scientific opinions, if they knew +what I am working at. But no one shall know--excepting you, Mr. +Wilkeson, to whom I should be most happy to explain everything, if +you would only let me. This prejudice is too deep rooted to be +readily pulled up. Even when my invention is perfected, and has +entered upon its boundless career of usefulness, I know that it +will be called a humbug; that people will look at it, and see it in +operation, and still say it is a lie. Yet the time will come when +the professors of science will feel proud to expound, by formulas, +the very invention which they have shown, by formulas, to be an +absolute contradiction of all the laws of Nature. As for the rabble +who make up the world (the inventor's lips curled as he said this), +they will be glad to atone for the mad hue-and-cry with which they +will follow me at first, by giving me, at last, limitless wealth +and immortal fame."</p> +<p>Mr. Minford's eyes flashed; and Marcus Wilkeson, looking up at +them from Pet's volant fingers, saw in their sudden glare what he +took to be the evidence of genius; but what, in an ordinary man, he +would have called a decided symptom of insanity.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="B_CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>A DELICATE PROPOSITION.</h3> +<br> +<p>One afternoon--when Mr. Minford was in excellent humor, having +made a great discovery in the course of his experiments the +previous night--Marcus thought it a good opportunity to propose +something that had been on his mind for a week past.</p> +<p>"Mr. Minford," he said, "will you excuse me for meddling a +little in your household affairs?"</p> +<p>"Not if you offer me any more kindness," returned the inventor, +smiling gratefully at his guest. "I am too much in your debt +already."</p> +<p>"But you forget that I hold an interest in your invention, which +you would make me take. I consider that more than payment in +full."</p> +<p>"So you have confidence in my success?"</p> +<p>"You have begun to inspire me with it, I confess," replied +Marcus, indulging in a little unavoidable flattery. "But--but it +was not to <i>you</i> that I was about to offer any kindness," he +continued, emphasizing the personal pronoun, and looking hard at +Pet, who bent patiently over her work, and began to blush in +anticipation that her name would be mentioned, Mr. Minford raised +his eyes from a ratchet which he was finishing in a vice, and +glanced with curiosity at the speaker.</p> +<p>"Do you not think, sir, that your daughter might profitably +spare a few hours every day toward the completion of her education? +You have told me that her studies were interrupted by a change in +your circumstances, some years ago."</p> +<p>"Certainly she might," answered the inventor, "and I thank you +for the suggestion. This machine has so completely engaged my +thoughts, that I had quite lost sight of the dear girl's education. +I should say, however, that I have been expecting at any moment to +put the finishing touch on my invention, the very first profits of +which I shall spend in employing a dozen teachers, if need be, for +my little Pet. She shall be an educated lady, if money can make her +so. Sha'n't you, Pet?"</p> +<p>The young girl's fingers twinkled faster at her work. "I hope +so, father," said she.</p> +<p>"But, Mr. Minford, it is possible--barely possible, you +know--that your invention may not be completed, nor money be +realized from it, for many months; perhaps one or two years. +Suppose--only suppose, of course--your triumph to be postponed for +even one year; your daughter will then be one year older, and less +fitted to acquire the accomplishments which you desire her to +possess, than she now is. Pardon the suggestion, if it is an +obtrusive one. I plead the sincere interest which I take in you and +her as my only excuse."</p> +<p>"No apology is needed, my dear sir," replied the inventor "I +know and appreciate your thoughtful kindness toward us; and I +consider your advice most excellent, especially as I intend to +travel in Europe, and take out patents for my invention there. It +would be desirable to have my Pet learn French, and also to improve +her knowledge of music. You understand the English branches pretty +well, I believe, my dear. Let me see--how long is it since you left +school?"</p> +<p>"Three years, pa."</p> +<p>"True! true!" said the inventor, sadly. "It was when our +troubles first began, and I found it necessary to economize. But I +did very wrong to take you from school at that time."</p> +<p>"You forget, pa," replied his daughter, in a sweet, chiding +voice. "You wanted me to go on with my studies, but I said that you +must save the tuition money, and let me learn to keep house. Don't +you remember, pa?"</p> +<p>"Yes, child; I remember. And I was selfish enough to allow you +to make the sacrifice. But you shall have schooling to your heart's +content now, whether you will or not. I agree with our dear friend, +that no time should be lost in resuming your education. I shall +insist upon setting apart two hundred dollars for that purpose. +Enough money will still be left to perfect my invention; and that, +too, within a month, notwithstanding" (he added, playfully) "Mr. +Wilkeson's discouraging remarks a moment ago."</p> +<p>"And I shall insist upon not taking the money, pa," said Pet, +laughing, but shaking her head, and patting her feet on the floor +in the most decisive manner.</p> +<p>"And I shall insist on furnishing the money," said Marcus +Wilkeson, folding his arms, and looking very much in earnest. "Let +us see who can be obstinate the longest."</p> +<p>"Then <i>I</i> shall insist on your taking another fifth +interest in the invention. Upon that point I am immovable." Mr. +Minford folded his arms likewise, to imply that nothing could shake +his granitic determination.</p> +<p>"Ah, now I see some prospect of a friendly arrangement. I will +pay five hundred dollars for another fifth, and esteem it a good +bargain, provided your daughter consents to let one half of it be +spent on her education. What do you say to that, Pet?"</p> +<p>"That I thank you very much for your kind offer," said the young +girl, whose eyes sparkled with gratitude; "but I must not accept +it. Pa will need all the money he can get to finish his work. I +know it."</p> +<p>Marcus and the father exchanged pleasant looks, and the former +said, with an ill-assumed sternness:</p> +<p>"Then I don't advance another cent to him. I have named my +conditions, and they must be accepted. You have no idea, Pet, what +a tremendously obstinate fellow I am when I'm roused."</p> +<p>Nobody could have gathered the idea from his intensely amiable +face at that moment.</p> +<p>"I see, my dear, that we must yield to this determined man," +said Mr. Minford, winking at Marcus. "We shall never have any peace +with him until we do."</p> +<p>"You know best, pa," returned his daughter, who shrank timidly +from any further discussion with their guest.</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson was delighted with the perfect confidence which +father and child reposed in him. "Now that this little matter is +happily settled," said he, "I must tell you that I have already +taken the liberty of selecting a school for her."</p> +<p>"How can we ever repay your goodness?" said Mr. Minford.</p> +<p>"It is situated only two blocks away," pursued Marcus.</p> +<p>"Capital!" cried Mr. Minford; "for then she will never be far +from home."</p> +<p>"And if you want me at any time, pa, you can send for me, and I +can be here in a moment," said Pet. "It will be so delightful!"</p> +<p>"It is a private school, and, if your daughter prefers, she can +be taught separately from the other pupils. Miss Pillbody, the +teacher, tells me that she can give her an hour and a half in the +morning, before ten o'clock, and half an hour in the afternoon, +after four o'clock."</p> +<p>"That will suit me exactly, pa," cried Pet, clapping her hands +with glee; "because then I can get your breakfast, dinner, and +supper, and do all the housework, without any interruption in my +studies."</p> +<p>"Miss Pillbody thought the arrangement would suit you. She is a +perfectly competent teacher of French, Italian, the English +branches, music, drawing, the dead languages, and higher +mathematics--quite a prodigy, I assure you, for a lady not yet +twenty-two years old." (Marcus was addressing the father.) "I have +been particular in my inquiries, and all who know her speak in the +highest terms of her remarkable attainments, her ability to teach +others, and her goodness of heart. Your daughter will like her, +without doubt."</p> +<p>"I know I shall," said Pet, with enthusiasm. "There are so many +things that I will learn, pa. First, music--"</p> +<p>"She has a fine piano, and plays splendidly," remarked the +guest. "I heard her."</p> +<p>"And French and Italian, to please you, pa--that is, if I can +learn them--and everything else that the lady will teach me. I +shall be so happy, sir."</p> +<p>The father and the guest smiled at the zeal with which this +young beginner proposed to grapple with the difficulties of human +knowledge. It was fortunate for her that a long series of hard and +injudicious teachers had not already sickened her of learning, and +that she brought a fresh and uncorrupted taste to the work.</p> +<p>Pet was thinking which one of her two dresses (equally faded) +she should wear to school, and what bit of ribbon or trimming she +could introduce in her old bonnet, to improve its general effect. +Marcus Wilkeson was marvelling at the confidence which the inventor +and his daughter placed in him, and at what there was about him to +inspire it. Mr. Minford was congratulating himself on having met +with a man so generous and sincere as this Mr. Wilkeson, and so +entirely disinterested, too: "For," reasoned the inventor, "he +cannot appreciate, as I do, the enormous value of my discovery, and +does not dream that his portion of it will compensate him for his +outlay more than a hundred times over."</p> +<p>The silence was broken by a sound as of heavy boots trying to +move softly on the stairs, and a subsequent modest rap at the +door.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="B_CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>AN AUXILIARY OF MODERN CIVILIZATION.</h3> +<br> +<p>The boy Bog rapped, and entered. He was more neatly dressed than +when Marcus saw him on the occasion of his first visit. His patched +and threadbare coat was replaced by a neat roundabout jacket; his +greasy, visorless cap, by a flat felt hat, of which the brim was +symmetrically turned up; his tattered shoes by great cowhide boots. +The boy was of that age when the human frame grows with +vegetable-like rapidity; and he seemed to hare increased a little +all around within three weeks.</p> +<p>The boy looked distressingly awkward in his new articles of +attire. Had he stolen them, he could not have appeared more guilty +in presence of the rightful owner.</p> +<p>"Why, Bog!" said Mr. Minford, reproachfully; "where have you +been these three weeks? Not called to see us once!"</p> +<p>The boy's confusion increased at this unexpected salutation, and +he hung down his head at the threshold of the door. Mr. Minford +partly reassured his bashful visitor, by springing forward, shaking +him heartily by the hand, and saying, with earnestness, "My good +lad, I am always glad to see you." Pet was also by his side in an +instant, and warmly shaking the other hand. "You look real nice, +Bog," said she. Mr. Wilkeson also came forward, and said, "Don't +you remember me, Bog?" and clasped him by the right hand when the +inventor had relinquished It.</p> +<p>Bog bowed and scraped and blushed, and murmured "Thank you, very +well," several times, confusedly, and at last settled down into a +chair which was pushed under him by Pet. Having crossed his legs, +he began to feel a little more at ease.</p> +<p>"You've been very busy of late, haven't you, Bog?" asked Pet, +charitably anticipating an excuse for the boy's long absence.</p> +<p>"You'd better believe it," replied Bog, not looking at her, but +studying the pattern of his left boot. "The day after I called here +last, Mr. Fink he got a job to stick up bills for a new hair dye, +all the way from here to Dunkirk, on the Erie Railroad. Well, he +couldn't go, cos he had lots o' city posting, ye see; so he hires +me to do it for ten dollars a week and expenses. The pay was good, +he said, because the work was extry hard. The bills was to be +posted on new whitewashed fences, new houses, and places generally +where there was signs up telling people not to 'post no +bills.'"</p> +<p>"That was a singular direction, Bog," said Mr. Minford.</p> +<p>"So I told Mr. Fink," replied the boy; "but he said as how them +were the hair-dye man's orders. He said the idea was to make folks +look at bills who wouldn't notice 'em if they was on a place all +covered over with adv'tisements. They was to be posted up high and +strong, so that the owner of the property couldn't tear 'em down +easy. Mr. Fink thought the idea was a good one; but he owned it was +a little risky."</p> +<p>"Perhaps that is why he didn't care to do it himself," suggested +Marcus Wilkeson.</p> +<p>"Mebbe," said Bog; "but I didn't consider it no objection. I +told him I was goin' to be a bill poster, and wanted to study every +branch o' the business." At this point Bog hitched his chair +nervously, uncrossed and recrossed his legs, as if he were +conscious of trespassing on the patience of his auditors, and then +went on: "Well, I hurried home, and saw that aunt didn't want for +nothin', and then I started on my travels. I should ha' called and +seen you, Mr. Minford," he added, casting a side glance at the +inventor, "but I hadn't time."</p> +<p>"No excuse necessary, my good Bog," returned Mr. Minford, +kindly. "Business before pleasure, you know. But I am anxious to +hear how you got along with the job."</p> +<p>"Well, pooty hard," said Bog, emphatically, "though I made out +to go all through the State, and stick up six thousand bills, every +one on 'em on a new house, shop, or fence. Lemme see--I was chased +seven times by big dogs that was set on me, shot at three +times"</p> +<p>"Why, poor Bog!" interrupted Pet; "you wern't hurt, I hope?"</p> +<p>"No, Miss Minford; I wasn't hurt," answered Bog, looking her in +the face for the first time since he entered the house, "though I +got one through my old cap."</p> +<p>"I'm <i>so</i> glad it was no worse, Bog."</p> +<p>These words of sympathy from the young girl flustered the poor +boy for a minute. Then he rallied:</p> +<p>"Besides that, I was took up four times by the perlice, and was +carried afore justices of the peace. When they asked what I had to +say why I shouldn't be fined, I told 'em the whole truth about it, +and they all laughed except one, and said it was really funny, and +they hadn't no doubt the hair dye was a very good thing to take, +but could tell better after they had tried some. I told 'em that +the hair-dye man would send 'em a dozen bottles apiece. Mr. Fink +had d'rected me to say this, if I was 'rested and brought afore a +justice. The justices--that is, all of 'em but one--then said they +didn't want to be hard on me; and as that was my first offence, +they would let me go without any fine. And they did, after givin' +me their names, and tellin' me to be sure to have the bottles sent +on jest as soon as could be. Ye see, they were all as bald on the +top o' their heads as punkins. But the fourth justice that I was +took to, he wasn't bald, but had a crop o' hair like a picter; and +when I offered to put down his name for a dozen bottles, he swore, +and fined me five dollars for what he said was a insult to the +dignity of justice, and five dollars for postin' up bills in places +where it was agin the law. Mr. Fink had give me money from the +hair-dye man to pay fines, as well as my board; so I didn't care. +But--but I am talking too much."</p> +<p>Bog paused, because, on taking a stealthy observation around +him, he suddenly become conscious that his three auditors were +listening attentively to his story.</p> +<p>"Not at all, my dear Bog," said Mr. Minford. "I, for one, am +curious to know how this ingenious plan of advertising, in defiance +of the law, succeeded." Mr. Wilkeson expressed himself curious on +the same point. Bog, thus encouraged, continued:</p> +<p>"When I come home, after havin' stuck up six thousand bills in +the principal towns and villages along the route, I went right to +Mr. Fink. He shook hands with me, and ses he, 'Bog, your fortun's +made.' 'How's that?' said I. 'Why, ses he, 'you're the greatest +bill poster I ever heerd of. Professor Macfuddle" (that was the +hair-dye man) "ses the money has begun to pour in to him like +sixty, and he is buyin' up all the hair dye in the market, and +puttin' his labils on it to supply the demand. He has given me ten +dollars to present to you, besides the thirty for your wages.' Mr. +Fink then give me forty dollars, and ses he, 'That a'n't all; for I +have so much business now, I want a pardner, and I'll take you, and +give you one third of the earnin's.' I rather guess I snapped at +the offer; and we is goin' into pardnership to-morrer."</p> +<p>"Success to you," said Marcus and the inventor together. They +saw, in this illustration of his bill-posting talents, only an +evidence of business shrewdness that deserved encouragement. The +young girl, however, viewed it in the light of a violation of law, +and therefore could not conscientiously approve of it. Bog noticed +her silence, and guessed the cause.</p> +<p>"Thank you very much," said he; "but I forgot to say I a'n't +goin' to do any more business on the Erie plan. It a'n't right. +Come to think it over, I was sorry I done it; and so I told Mr. +Fink; and he sed it wasn't exackly reg'lar either, and he shouldn't +never ask me to do it agen."</p> +<p>"I am glad of that," said Pet, quietly.</p> +<p>Bog's eyes were instantly turned toward her with an expression +of pride and gratitude.</p> +<p>"Oh! of course, it is always best to obey the laws," observed +Mr. Minford.</p> +<p>"And I wouldn't for a moment be thought to advise anything +else," added Marcus Wilkeson; "though I never could help admiring +pluck and sharpness in business affairs."</p> +<p>"I am going to school again, Bog," said the young girl, +hastening to change the subject of conversation.</p> +<p>Bog looked up, surprised and pleased.</p> +<p>"Mr. Wilkeson," said Mr. Minford, "has taken another small share +in my invention, and pays me in advance for it. With that, Pet will +finish her education." The inventor would have made this disclosure +of his private affairs to no other human being but Bog; for this +simple boy was the only person he had ever known (excepting Marcus +Wilkeson) who had not openly ridiculed his mysterious labors.</p> +<p>"I am very glad to hear of it, sir," said Bog, awkwardly, but +with an air of profound respect. "How--how is the <i>ma</i>sheen, +sir?" Bog asked the question hurriedly, as if the machine were a +sick person, whose health he had until then forgotten to inquire +after.</p> +<p>"Getting on finely, Bog. Only two or three springs, a cog here, +a ratchet here, a band at this point, and a lever up there (Mr. +Minford touched portions of the machine rapidly), and then look out +for a noise!"</p> +<p>"A noise!" repeated Bog, with juvenile earnestness.</p> +<p>"Not an explosion, my good fellow, but tremendous public +excitement--plenty of fame, mixed with a good deal of abuse at +first, and a <i>little</i> money, I hope." The inventor's eyes +flashed with the fire that Bog had often seen; and when he +emphasized the word "little," Bog knew that he meant to express the +boundlessness of the wealth that his labors would bring to him.</p> +<p>"I believe it," said Bog, with sincerity pictured in every +lineament of his honest face. "I've always believed it."</p> +<p>"So you have, my dear Bog; and your faith has often cheered me," +replied the inventor, patronizingly. "By the way, how's your +aunt?"</p> +<p>"Oh, yes; how <i>is</i> your aunt, Bog?" asked Pet. "I had quite +forgotten her."</p> +<p>"She's pooty well, ony them rheumatics troubles her some. +They're workin' their way from her left arm into her head, aunt +says. Week afore last they was in her feet, and they've ben clear +round her and goin' back agen since then. Queer things, them +rheumatics!"</p> +<p>"They are very painful, Bog, you know," said Pet.</p> +<p>"Yes; so aunt says." Bog did not add, as he might have truly +done, "A thousand times a day."</p> +<p>"Give her my kind regards, Bog, and say I will call and see +her," continued Pet.</p> +<p>"My respectful regards also," added Mr. Minford.</p> +<p>"Thank you," said the boy; "but I guess you better not call, +Miss Minford. Aunt's a good woman, but kind o' cur'us, you know. +Them rheumatics has made a great change in her." Bog here referred, +but made no verbal allusion, to a certain friendly call which Pet +had once made upon his aunt, on which occasion that elderly lady +had entertained her visitor with a monologue two hours long, giving +her a complete history of the malady, from its birth in the right +great toe, three years previous, through all its eccentric +phenomena, to that stage of the disease which made it, as the +venerable sufferer observed with, some pride, the "very wust case +the doctors ever heerd of."</p> +<p>Upon this fruitful theme, Bog's aunt could and would have +discoursed for hours longer, but for the appearance of Bog, when +she sought a new relief from her agonies by abusing that poor +fellow, charging him with neglect and ingratitude, finding fault +with the food which he brought home for her from market, and asking +him when he was going to buy that soft armchair he had promised her +so long. Bog laughed, and explained this outburst, by saying to +Pet, "It's only aunt's rheumatics;" but the old lady rejected the +explanation, and went on scolding and faultfinding with such +increased fierceness, that Pet hastily put on her bonnet and shawl, +and bade the rheumatic grumbler "good-by," saying (which was true) +that her father would be anxious about her. Since then, the young +girl had kept away from Bog's aunt.</p> +<p>"I've bought her a nice, soft armchair lately," continued Bog; +"but it don't do her no good. The rheumatics seem to be getting +wusser all the time; and the thing that makes them wussest of all +is calls. So I guess it's better for aunt you should keep away, +Miss Minford." Bog prided himself on his tact in putting forth the +last argument.</p> +<p>Then the conversation turned on Pet's education; Marcus and her +father fondly discussing what it ought to be, and Bog listening, +and looking stealthily at the young girl, still busy at her work; +and they all sat, happy in thoughts of the future, far into the +twilight.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="B_CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>MISS PILLBODY.</h3> +<br> +<p>Miss Pillbody's school was unknown to the pages of the City +Directory. It was never advertised in the newspapers, with a long +list of "Hons." and bank presidents as unimpeachable references. +The bright little plate on her door exhibited only "Pillbody," in +neat script, and no hint of the existence of a school within. The +school was select to such an extent, that not more than a dozen +pupils were admitted to its privileges; and so private, that, +outside of that number, its name was not known except among its +graduates; and there were reasons why they should hesitate to +spread its reputation abroad. If strictly classified among the +institutions of the city, it might be termed, "A school for female +adults in good circumstances, whose early education had been +neglected."</p> +<p>The idea of this school originated with Miss Pillbody; and, like +many other valuable ideas, it was hit upon quite accidentally.</p> +<p>Dorcas Pillbody was the only daughter of a man who had amassed a +fortune in the oyster business, and had finally retired to a +four-story house in Sixteenth street, near the Sixth Avenue, where +he purposed to spend the balance of his days in the dignified +enjoyment of his hard-earned money. To this secluded oyster dealer, +as solitary and happy in the midst of his new grandeur as a bivalve +in its native bed, came a plausible stockbroker, who, after a +series of interviews, persuaded Mr. Pillbody to make a small +investment in the "Sky Blue Ridge Pure Vein Copper Mining +Company."</p> +<p>The small investment unfortunately turned out well. In less than +sixty days, the shares that he had bought at ten per cent, sold at +seventy-five, and ultimately advanced to par. Delighted with this +unexpected result, Mr. Pillbody determined to stake largely (he had +been a wholesale oyster dealer, and was a man of comprehensive +ideas). Again his venture prospered. Mr. Pillbody, intoxicated with +success, invested his entire means in the purchase of two new mines +in a Southern State, whose unparalleled richness was certified to +by mineralogists of great reputation.</p> +<p>Just as Mr. Pillbody was making arrangements to bring these +mines before the public, his stockbroking friend, through whom he +had effected the purchase, left for Europe, and it was then +discovered that Mr. Pillbody's mines, if they existed at all, were +ten feet under a swamp, on property which belonged to somebody +else, the title deeds of which had been forged by the adroit +operator. Mr. Pillbody could not endure his misfortune. He wrote +notes bidding farewell to his wife and child, and commending them +to the care of their relatives, to whom he had always been +bountifully generous. Then he went to Staten Island by ferry, there +took a row boat, proceeded to a celebrated oyster bed which was the +scene of his youthful labors, and drowned himself.</p> +<p>The widow and daughter (the latter twenty years of age, healthy, +and finely educated) applied to the two brothers of the deceased +for assistance, and were at once kindly received into their +families, and sat upon sofas and ate from tables purchased with +money (never repaid) of the late Mr. Pillbody. The two brothers, +upon application to the proper tribunal, were appointed executors +of the estate, and were not long in discovering that it was +insolvent. Mother and daughter were shifted about with almost +monthly regularity from one house to the other; and, though they +tried to make themselves useful in every capacity except that of a +servant, they could not disguise the conviction that their +departure was an event a great deal more welcome than their coming. +The widow's talent for dressmaking (she had been a milliner's +apprentice before marriage), though of a high order, and exerted to +the utmost, failed to please. Miss Pillbody's thorough knowledge of +French, and the higher branches of an elegant education, as well as +her proficiency on the piano, and her sweet, simple style of ballad +singing, were worse than useless acquirements in her uncles' +families.</p> +<p>Her uncles were cold, stern, ignorant men, who had an intense +hatred for the mere accomplishments of life. Each had two +daughters, who, with the natural tastes of the sex, were not averse +to the graces of education, in the abstract, but could not bear to +see them displayed by their "stuck-up, pauper cousin," as they +often termed that hapless young lady in private conversation. A +kind offer, which she was imprudent enough, to make, to teach them +all she knew, had set them against her from the first.</p> +<p>The widow endured the cold looks and cutting words of her +husband's relatives, and even the reproaches which they heaped upon +his folly, with a widow's patience, and seemed content to remain a +poor, broken-down, dependent creature. Miss Pillbody, on the +contrary, was quick to discern and to resent, mentally, the uncivil +treatment daily experienced by her mother and herself. Had she been +alone in the world, she would have left those inhospitable roofs +when the unkind hints first began to be dropped, and trusted to the +cold charity of strangers; but she could not bear the thought of +being separated from her mother. So she endured her wretched state +of dependence as best she could, while she quietly sought for some +means of employment that would yield them a living.</p> +<p>Profiting by the lessons she had learned from her uncles, she +did not apply to any person who had known her father and received +favors from him in their better days. She asked no favor from any +one--only work, at a fair price. By diligent hunting, she found +several opportunities. She could earn four dollars a week by +embroidering (at which she was skilful, and had taken premiums); or +two dollars and a half for teaching French, twice a week, in a +country seminary; or her board and washing for inducting a family +of four little musical prodigies into all the mysteries of the +piano. But these tempting offers would still have left her mother +with her uncles, and she spurned them all.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="B_CHAPTER_V."></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>A FRIEND IN NEED.</h3> +<br> +<p>One day, as Miss Pillbody was riding up Broadway, in tending to +visit a Teachers' Agency for the sixteenth time, she accidentally +made the acquaintance of a middle-aged lady, who talked a great +deal upon the slightest provocation, trifled sadly with grammar and +pronunciation, and was excessively friendly and amiable. The +diamonds in her ears and on her fingers, and her overdone and gaudy +style of dressing, were some indication, though not a convincing +one, that she was a woman of wealth; and Miss Pillbody made bold to +ask her if she knew anybody who wanted a private teacher in her +family.</p> +<p>The lady said she did not, "unless," she added, laughing very +loud at the humor of the suggestion, "you come into my family, and +learn me something."</p> +<p>The remark was unpremeditated, but, the moment it was made, the +lady seemed to be greatly struck with its force, and immediately +followed it up with the question, "Do you s'pose you could learn +grammar and pronunciation, and how to talk French, to a grown-up +woman like me?" Miss Pillbody thought the lady with the diamonds +was joking, and laughed by way of reply. "But I am ra-ally in +earnest," continued the lady, thoughtfully, turning three heavy +cluster rings on her little left finger. "Ye see, my early +eddication was rather poor, 'cos I was poor then; but my old man +made a spec' in tobacco, last year, and now I'm pooty well off, and +live in good s'ciety. I kinder feel the want of grammar, French, +and a few o' them things. I like your face and your manners, and if +you can learn me 'em, I'll give you ten dollars a week to come to +my house one hour every day, and be my private schoolmistress. +It'll be rather hard, I s'pose, to learn an old dog new tricks; but +there is no harm a-tryin'."</p> +<p>Notwithstanding the oddity of the proposition, Miss Pillbody saw +by the lady's face that she meant what she said. "I think I +understand English grammar, and French, and the other branches +usually taught at academies," she replied, "and should be very +happy to accept your offer."</p> +<p>"Then consider the bargain closed," returned the lady. "Here is +my 'dress" (handing her a card), "and you may come to-morrer +mornin', at ten o'clock, if that'll suit you. I have no children, +and the old man will be out at that time, and we shall be as snug +as two bugs in a rug, ye see."</p> +<p>Miss Pillbody was delighted with the sudden prospect of an +honest living thus opened to her, and she only feared that she +would not be able to do enough for her money. So, after she had +again thanked the lady for her kindness, she said:</p> +<p>"I think I could give you lessons on the piano, madam--unless +you understand that instrument better than I do."</p> +<p>"Lor' bless me, child!" responded the lady, holding up her +thick, red hands, and making the diamonds flash in the sunlight; +"Lor' bless me! them fingers is too stiff to play the pianner now. +I've got a splendid pianner, though, with an oleon 'tachment, three +pedals, and pearl keys--cost eight hundred dollar; and a nice piece +of furniture it is, you may believe. I let it be out of tune all +the time. That's an excuse for not playing when anybody asks me to, +ye know. I don't mind tellin' you this, because you'll be sure to +find it out." And the lady laughed very loudly at the confession of +this small deceit, which Miss Pillbody assured her was by no means +confined to herself, but had been adopted by her ingenious sex from +time immemorial.</p> +<p>When the middle-aged pupil and her young teacher separated, as +they did on the arrival of the stage at an up-town jeweller's, +where the former got out to make a few purchases, Miss Pillbody +felt as if she had known her patroness for years, and that, in that +coarse, showy, good-hearted woman, she had found a true friend.</p> +<p>And so it turned out. However dull Mrs. Crull might be as a +scholar, she was quick-witted as a friend, and was constantly +bestowing unexpected kindnesses upon Miss Pillbody. Scarcely a day +passed that the young teacher did not receive from her pupil some +little present--at times rising to the value of a bonnet or a +shawl. Mrs. Crull's all-embracing kindness would have extended to +the widow Pillbody too (in whom she was much interested from the +daughter's accounts of her), but for the shrewd objection which she +entertained against intrusting any one with the secret of her +pupilage. Miss Pillbody was often and particularly enjoined by her +not to tell any one--- not even her mother--of it; and she saw the +advantages of carefully observing the request. Great pains were +taken to keep Mr. Crull, and the housemaid, cook, and coachman, +from a knowledge of the mystery.</p> +<p>On Miss Pillbody's arrival daily at ten A.M., she was ushered +into the drawing room, where Mrs. Crull was always anxiously +awaiting her. The servant was told to say to callers that "Mistress +is out" (Mrs. Crull bolted at this trifling deception at first, but +soon got used to it), and the lesson began.</p> +<p>Mrs. Crull at first thought she was competent to learn her +native tongue and French together, in a series of half-hour +lessons; but she soon found out that the latter language had some +eccentric peculiarities quite beyond her powers of articulation, +and that the spelling of a word did not afford the slightest clue +to the method of pronouncing it. After floundering about heroically +but hopelessly through the introductory chapter of the first French +grammar, she gave up the polite tongue in despair, consoling +herself with the reflection, that speaking bad French was worse +than speaking no French at all.</p> +<p>Miss Pillbody, who did not venture to advise her pupil on her +choice of studies, but left her to consult her own fancies +undisturbed, heartily approved of Mrs. Crull's conclusion, though +she acknowledged that New York society by no means took that view +of the case, but tolerated bad French with a courtesy worthy of +France itself.</p> +<p>Mrs. Crull's studies were thereafter confined to English +spelling, grammar, and writing. She declared that she knew enough +of arithmetic to count change correctly, and wanted to know no +more; and that geography was of no earthly use to her. Besides, she +never could remember the names of places.</p> +<p>It was in pronunciation that Miss Pillbody's system achieved the +greatest good. Anxious to strengthen herself on that weak point, +Mrs. Crull set a watch on her language, and gave every word a good +look before she sent it forth. The effect of this constant +introspection was most happy; but, at times, Mrs. Crull would be +thrown off her guard by a rush of ideas, and all the old blunders +would come out. Toward other persons, she became, to some extent, a +free teacher, and would, in the most obliging manner, rectify their +little errors of pronunciation, when she was sure of them, and +sometimes when she was not.</p> +<p>Of course, Mr. Crull was taken in training by her. That +gentleman, having made the discovery, early in life, that the less +a man says, the more he is supposed to know, had acquired a habit +of taciturnity which had become a second nature to him. His +conversation consisted mainly of grunts and nods; and it was +astonishing how much he could express by them. At any rate, they +had "made his fortin', and he couldn't ha' done more'n that if he'd +talked like a house a-fire"--which explanation, often repeated, was +about the longest one ever known to be uttered by Mr. Crull. +Therefore Mr. Crull did not offer a large field for the exhibition +of his wife's new acquirements; but, by drawing him into +conversation, and then lying in wait for him, she found +opportunities to exhibit them for his good.</p> +<p>At first, Mr. Crull only stared and grunted. Then he laughed +(his laugh and Mrs. Crull's laugh were very similar, and were their +strongest bond of union). Once he said, "Wonder what's the matter +with the ole woman?" And, on a subsequent occasion, when Mrs. Crull +had convicted him of three mistakes in five words, he ventured upon +this protracted remark: "Guess the ole gal feels rather big since +she got inter wot they call good s'ciety, eh?" This was in allusion +to the recent successful speculation in tobacco, which had enabled +Mr. Crull to buy the best house in Twenty-third street, and take +the second best pew in a fashionable church, thereby placing Mrs. +Crull at once within the charmed circle of society.</p> +<p>As for himself, Mr. Crull took very little interest in society, +having observed that society had taken very little interest in him +until that "lucky turn in terbacker." Mrs. Crull would smile, and +confess that society had claims upon people, and that, when one is +in Rome, one must do as the Romans do. The moral of which proverb +was, that Mr. Crull ought to improve his speech. Mr. Crull replied, +by asking "wot difference 'twould make a hunderd years from now?" +Which observation, when Mr. Crull condescended to speak at such +length, was a favorite argument with him. But he little suspected +his wife's secret.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="B_CHAPTER_VI."></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>BRANCHING OUT.</h3> +<br> +<p>To Miss Pillbody, this quiet little arrangement proved a fortune +indeed. In two weeks after she became acquainted with her +benefactress, she was rich enough to take lodgings for her mother +and herself at a decent boarding house. The old lady entertained +singular notions about the rights of relationship, and held that it +was the duty of her husband's brothers to give them a home for the +balance of their lives, and regarded her daughter's desire to cut +loose from her uncles, and be independent, as a romantic and absurd +notion, born of novel reading, to which Miss Pillbody was a good +deal addicted.</p> +<p>To gratify her daughter's whim, the widow Pillbody finally +consented to move into a boarding house, though she did it in the +firm belief that the good luck which the young lady had fallen upon +would be of brief duration, and they would be glad to come back to +their relatives again--their "natteral protectors," as Mrs. P. +called them.</p> +<p>In their new residence, Miss Pillbody was happy. The money which +she earned weekly, and which was always paid to her in advance, was +sufficient for her own and her mother's board. In addition to other +presents, Mrs. Crull had forced small sums upon her acceptance, at +different times; and Miss Pillbody began to enjoy the odd sensation +of laying up money in a savings bank. Of the future she thought but +little; first, because she had no head for plans; and second, +because Mrs. Crull had promised to set her up in a private school; +and Miss Pillbody placed a blind trust in that lady. An accident, +in this wise, caused the fulfilment of the promise much sooner than +was expected.</p> +<p>Mr. Crull, in getting out of a stage, one day, slipped on the +step, and dislocated his left shoulder. At his age, careful +treatment was necessary for an injury of that kind; and the family +doctor peremptorily forbade him to leave the house for a month. Mr. +Crull therefore stayed at home, growling like a bear in a cage, and +solacing himself with the determination to bring a suit for damages +against the stage company, the carelessness of whose driver (in Mr. +Crull's opinion) caused the accident.</p> +<p>Mr. Crull, like a good husband, would have nobody to nurse him, +apply his embrocations, and put on his bandages, but his wife; and +Mrs. Crull, like a good wife, cheerfully and tenderly performed +that duty. But this rendered necessary the abandonment of the daily +lessons at her house; for she was liable to be summoned to her +husband's bedside at any moment (he sent for her at every new +twinge of pain); and, furthermore, it was his custom to crawl out +of his couch every half hour, and wander restlessly through the +house, until his wife, under the stern instructions of the family +doctor, sent him back to bed again.</p> +<p>Mrs. Crull, though not wanting in love for her disabled consort, +was loth to abandon her lessons. Having tasted of the Pierian +spring, she desired to drink deeply.</p> +<p>As Miss Pillbody could not continue her course of instruction at +Mrs. Crull's residence, without being detected in the act by the +invalid lord of that mansion; and as it was clearly impracticable +for Mrs. Crull to go to Miss Pillbody's boarding house, and turn +the widow Pillbody out of the little room which mother and daughter +jointly occupied, the generous pupil hit upon the idea of renting +the ground floor of a house for her teacher, setting apart one room +as a schoolroom, fitting it up for her in comfortable style, and +helping her to get wealthy adult pupils enough to pay all the +expenses of the establishment, and a handsome income besides.</p> +<p>Miss Pillbody thankfully accepted the noble offer; though she +feared that she would never obtain scholars enough to repay the +money which Mrs. Crull was willing to advance, and also to defray +the current expenses of housekeeping.</p> +<p>Mrs. Crull entertained no such fears. She had great faith in the +efficacy of advertising. She had personally known three quacks who +made half a million apiece out of patent medicines; and one woman +who had turned a common recipe for removing superfluous hair into +an eligible establishment in Thirty-second street, and a country +cottage, with sixteen acres under good cultivation. She believed +that newspaper advertising was the shortest and surest road to +fortune; and the only standing cause of quarrel between her and her +husband was the latter's incredulous "Pooh! pooh!" at her theory +upon this subject.</p> +<p>At her request, Miss Pillbody drew up this advertisement, and +caused it to be inserted twice in three daily papers:</p> +<p>"To LADIES IN GOOD SOCIETY WHO DESIRE TO IMPROVE THEIR +EDUCATION.--A young lady who has moved in wealthy and fashionable +circles, and has received the best education that New York city +could afford, having met with reverses in fortune, would be happy +to accept, as private pupils, a few ladies whose early cultivation +was, for any reason, neglected. French, Italian, Spanish, vocal +music, the piano, and all the English rudiments, taught at +reasonable prices. Particular attention paid to pronunciation, +spelling, and writing. Satisfactory references given and +required.</p> +<p>"N.B.--Pupils taught separately, and at different hours.</p> +<p>"For further information, address 'Educatrix, New York Post +Office.'"</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<p>There were many points in this advertisement to which Miss +Pillbody's modesty took exception; but Mrs. Crull insisted upon +them in a way that permitted no refusal. The little bit of bragging +was the principal thing, she said. She had always observed that +people are inclined to believe bragging advertisements, though they +openly profess that they can't be taken in by them. As for the +satisfactory references, she would undertake to give them, if they +were required--which, of course, they would not be, as the mere +offering of them invariably sufficed. If called upon, she would say +that she knew a wealthy lady, the head of a family, who had derived +the greatest possible benefit from the instructions of "Educatrix." +If asked who she was, she could answer, that "Educatrix" would on +no account allow the name to be made known, as it was a great merit +of her system that she kept the names of her pupils a profound +secret from each other, and from the rest of the world. The good +sense of this regulation would at once be appreciated by all mature +ladies who wished to repair the defects of their early education. +Her own position as the mistress of an elegant mansion in +Twenty-third street, would (Mrs. Crull reasoned) entitle her +statement to ready belief.</p> +<p>The plan worked capitally. "Educatrix" received fifty answers to +her advertisement, and was busy more than a week calling at the +houses of those who desired an interview with her. The ladies were +all in good circumstances, and, without an exception, were the +wives of men who had made sudden fortunes, after the manner common +in the United States. Finding themselves elevated above the +necessity of cooking their own dinners and washing their own +clothes, they keenly felt the want, hitherto unknown, of an +education which would fit them, in a measure, for that society +whose portals were now thrown wide open to them. Miss Pillbody's +gentle manners and polished ways gained for her the confidence of +all; and she could have had fifty pupils daily, at two dollars a +lesson (the fixed price), of one hour each, if it had been possible +to teach that number.</p> +<p>Acting on the advice of Mrs. Crull, Miss Pillbody decided to +accept only twelve pupils, for twenty-four lessons each, and devote +six hours daily to them. This arrangement would give her six pupils +a day; and the twelve would complete their course in about two +months. Then she could take twelve more, and so on. It was plain, +from the success of the first experiment, that there would never be +a scarcity of pupils.</p> +<p>Mrs. Crull then rented the first floor and basement of a +suitable house in a quiet neighborhood, furnished it nicely, hired +a grand piano for the front parlor, and turned over the premises +and their contents to her young teacher. Miss Pillbody brought her +mother to their new home, a fair share of which had been set apart +and fitted up expressly for her.</p> +<p>The old lady admitted, with some reluctance, that the house was +not badly furnished, and that her daughter's prospects might be +worse than they were. But who was this mysterious woman, that took +such an interest in her daughter? What was her motive? she would +like to know. And why was she so anxious to avoid her (Mrs. +Pillbody)? To which questions her daughter responded, as she had +done fifty times before, that her teaching was strictly private, +and that none of her pupils would visit her, except under a pledge +of the profoundest secrecy. Mrs. Pillbody shook her head +doubtingly, and said, "We shall see," adding that she only hoped +they would be as comfortable there as they were at Uncle John's and +Daniel's, that was all.</p> +<p>The school throve. The pupils came with great punctuality at +their different hours, and were unknown to each other and to the +world. The secret of the school would never have got abroad, but +for the incaution of a certain Mrs. Brigback (wife of a man who had +been connected with the City Government for two years on a nominal +salary, and retired rich). She was so delighted at the progress +which she made in the English rudiments, and in the French (being +able to ask for bread, or fish, or concerning a person's health, in +that language), that she could not refrain from confidentially +advising another lady (the wife of a street contractor, suddenly +opulent) to take a few lessons from the same accomplished teacher. +The street contractor's wife was perfectly indifferent to society, +and had no wish to remedy the defects of her early education. She +promised secrecy, and the next day told the story, at the expense +of her friend, to a mutual female acquaintance, who passed it on +with embellishments to a third, who amused a fourth with its +narration; and so it went through a succession of confidential +people, until, one day, it became the subject of conversation in a +stage in which Marcus Wilkeson was riding. He could not avoid +hearing it; and, although the two ladies (themselves shockingly +astray in their grammar) laughed at the absurdity of the thing, +Marcus Wilkeson thought it was a capital idea. A plan which he had +been idly revolving in his mind for the education of Miss Minford, +began to take shape. The inventor (he reasoned) would not be likely +to object to a strictly private school for his daughter, if the +teacher were a lady of correct principles, and highly educated.</p> +<p>Upon the last point, Marcus Wilkeson determined to satisfy +himself. So he addressed a note, through the General Post Office, +to "Miss Pillbody, New York City," requesting the privilege of an +interview on business, at the residence of the lady, the exact +location of which she was asked to designate.</p> +<p>The letter was advertised (Miss Pillbody's address being unknown +to the carrier), and, about two weeks after it was written, an +answer came back to Mr. Wilkeson, at his house, giving information +as to the whereabouts of the lady, and appointing the time for an +interview.</p> +<p>Mr. Wilkeson called, and in five minutes' conversation was +satisfied of Miss Pillbody's moral and intellectual qualifications +as teacher, and thought himself very fortunate in securing a +vacancy among the pupils (caused by sudden illness) for Miss +Minford. With what perfect confidence the suspicious inventor, as +well as his simple-hearted daughter, accepted the frank offer of +their friend and benefactor, we have already seen.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="B_CHAPTER_VII."></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3>THE LITTLE PUPIL.</h3> +<br> +<p>It was a pleasant winter's morning, when Mr. Minford and his +daughter, and their singular friend, made a formal call on Miss +Pillbody, by appointment. The inventor had overcome a difficulty in +his machine, by introducing a cam movement, and was in excellent +humor. As he walked along the streets, he said that the snow and +the sky and his future all looked bright to him now. Of the two +former objects his assertion was obviously true, and Pet enjoyed +the shining scene, as youth, health, and innocence always do, +without reference to the future.</p> +<p>A few minutes' walk brought them to Miss Pillbody's private +schoolhouse. A pull at the bell summoned a stout, red-faced servant +girl to the door. To the question, if Miss Pillbody was in, she +said, "Yaas, sir, ef yer plaze" (Miss P. had vainly endeavored to +correct her English), and ushered her visitors into the reception +parlor, or schoolroom.</p> +<p>A pleasant place it was, and nicely warmed with a smouldering +coal fire, the coziness and comfort of which, were fitly reflected +from the red carpet, and red curtains, and red plush covered +furniture. The grand piano, hired for use, gave the room that +completely furnished appearance that nothing but a piano can give. +A book of instruction, open at a passage which strongly resembled a +rail fence through a rolling country, showed that inexperienced +hands had recently been pounding the instrument. There was no sign +of a school or any side, excepting a small blackboard, which had +been hastily thrust into a corner, and which bore, faintly traced +in chalk, a sum in simple division.</p> +<p>The visitors sat down in the warm red chairs, and looked around +the room but a moment, when Miss Pillbody entered by a door +connecting with the rear parlor. She bowed gracefully to Mr. +Wilkeson, and was by him introduced to his two companions. To the +father she was profoundly respectful, and to the daughter tender +and affectionate, grasping her hand closely, and smiling a welcome +upon her.</p> +<p>Pet was instantly fascinated with her future teacher. There was +something lovable not only in her intelligent face, pale with the +protracted labors of her daily life, but in the infirmity of her +eyes, for she was shortsighted, and could see objects distinctly +only by nearly closing the lids. This peculiarity, not disagreeable +in itself, won upon Pet's compassion, and made her feel more at +home in the strange lady's presence than if she were conscious that +a pair of full-sighted orbs were looking at her, and accurately +noting her defects.</p> +<p>Miss Pillbody's occupation, for some weeks past, had given her a +new idea of the value of time, and she proceeded at once to +business, without wasting a single word upon the weather. In less +than five minutes, she had, by artful inquiries and a winning +voice, found out the exact range and extent of Miss Minford's +acquirements, and agreed with the father that a further education +in the English branches was unnecessary at that time (with the +exception, perhaps, of an occasional exercise in reading), and that +his daughter might devote twenty-four lessons to French and the +piano, with hopes of success, provided she could study and practise +several hours a day at her own home.</p> +<p>Mr. Minford replied, that she could study French at home to her +heart's content, but he had no piano. Whereupon Mr. Wilkeson took +the liberty of suggesting that it might be possible to borrow one, +at a moderate rate, by the month, and set it up in their front +room. Miss Pillbody applauded this idea, and it was instantly +agreed to.</p> +<p>"For certain reasons, which I will not now mention," said Mr. +Minford, "I am anxious to hurry up her education."</p> +<p>"By the way, what is your first name, my dear?" asked Miss +Pillbody. "It is quite awkward to call you Miss Minford, you +know."</p> +<p>The inventor answered for his daughter. "Her name is Patty, +miss; and we call her Pet, for short, instead of Pat, which would +be hardly appropriate."</p> +<p>"A pretty name," said Miss Pillbody; "and she <i>is</i> a pet, +if I mistake not." The teacher looked archly at Mr. Minford, and +then affectionately at the daughter, through her half-shut eyes. "I +promise you she shall be a pet here, provided, always, she learns +her lessons like a good girl. We always insist on that first." The +teacher waved her hand with magisterial authority as she spoke, but +accompanied the act with a laugh, which made Pet laugh also.</p> +<p>During this conversation, Mr. Minford had dwelt upon his machine +in an undercurrent of thought; and an idea just then occurred to +him, which he was desirous to test immediately. He therefore rose, +and said that they would not detain Miss Pillbody any longer, and +that his daughter would call and receive the first lesson at any +time which that lady would name.</p> +<p>"Her hour will be from nine to ten o'clock every other morning, +and from three to four on alternate afternoons," said Miss +Pillbody. "It is now half past ten," she added, consulting a watch. +"Mrs. Penfeather, my eleven-o'clock pupil, is put of town to-day: +so Miss Minford--that is. Pet--can commence now, and I will give +her until twelve o'clock. This will save time."</p> +<p>"Good!" remarked the inventor. "The great point is to save time. +For certain reasons, as I said before, you have none to lose in +educating my daughter. And, that we may not detain her a moment, +Mr. Wilkeson, we will leave, if you please."</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson was glad to do this, for the conversation had +already reached its natural terminus. He therefore followed Mr. +Minford's motion, and grasped his hat and cane.</p> +<p>"You are not afraid to stay here, child?" said-the inventor.</p> +<p>"Oh, no," replied Pet, with a happy laugh. "I already feel quite +at home."</p> +<p>"And she shall always feel so here, I assure you, sir," added +Miss Pillbody.</p> +<p>Mr. Minford's new idea occurred to him again with fresh force, +and he hurriedly said: "Good-by, Pet. Be a good girl, now, and see +how much you can learn in your first lesson." Then he kissed her, +jerked a bow at Miss Pillbody, and made his exit into the hall. +Marcus Wilkeson added his best wishes for the progress of the +little scholar, bade her and her teacher a pleasant farewell, and +followed Mr. Minford.</p> +<p>The child ran after them to the front door, and exchanged +good-bys with them until they had turned the corner of the next +street, when she entered the schoolroom, and straightway began her +first lesson in the accomplishments of life.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BOOK_THIRD."></a>BOOK THIRD.</h2> +<h3>THE TRAIL OF THE SERPENT.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="C_CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>"ONE--TWO--THBEE--FOUR."</h3> +<br> +<p>Pet studied hard, and made great progress. Her father and Marcus +Wilkeson watched her developing education with equal pride, and +constantly applauded and encouraged her.</p> +<p>The inventor did not know one word of French beyond the +colloquial phrases with which everybody is familiar; but he would +ask his daughter to read the crisp and tinkling tongue to him for +hours at a time. He would hammer softly and file gently as she +read, so that he might not lose a word of it. He would hear no news +but that which she translated from the triweekly French paper +published in the city. With correct and careful tuition at Miss +Pillbody's, these constant exercises at home, ambition, and an +excellent memory for languages, Pet was soon able not only to +satisfy her teacher, but to make herself understood, in a small +way, by a real French woman, Mdlle. Duchette, the forewoman of a +candy store on the nearest business avenue.</p> +<p>Pet followed every lesson on the piano at Miss Pillbody's by +three hours of daily practice at home. Marcus had hired for her a +small piano, warranted to be just the thing for beginners. In other +words, the keys and pedals were nearly worn out, and could not be +much further damaged by unpractised hands and feet. This instrument +was squeezed in between the bureau and the washstand, filling up +the last spare place in the crowded little room. Pet wanted to have +it set up in the next apartment, and practise there in the cold, +alone; but neither her father nor Marcus would listen to that +proposition for a moment.</p> +<p>Mr. Minford's nerves were extremely sensitive to sound. They +vibrated to it, like Aeolian harp in the wind. He placed pianos, +cats, fish peddlers, and hand organs on precisely the same footing, +as nuisances. Nothing but the ruling desire to make a lady of his +child, could have steeled him to the endurance, hour after hour, of +her monotonous "One--two--three--four," and the discordant banging +which accompanied those plaintive utterances.</p> +<p>The permanent discords with which the piano was afflicted, or +the striking of a false note, would sometimes set his teeth on +edge; but he would only hold his jaws tightly together, beat time +with his head, and smile a hypocritical approval. Sometimes he +would torture himself playfully, and make Pet laugh, by running a +musical opposition with his three-cornered file--a small but +effective instrument.</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson was equally tolerant of Pet's practice, and +there was little false pretence in the patience with which he +listened. Happily, he was not all alive to sounds. Screeches and +harmonies were pretty much the same to him. Since he was a boy, he +had been trying (privately) to sing, or whistle, "Auld Lang Syne," +and had not yet mastered the first bar of it. He watched Pet's +little fingers moving up and down the piano with mechanical +repetition, and was truly interested in the sight--for two reasons: +first, the motion was graceful; and second, she was acquiring an +accomplishment which he held in the highest esteem, because Nature +had put it entirely beyond his reach.</p> +<p>Sometimes, but not often, Bog was a listener at these rudimental +concerts. Since Marcus had come to the relief of the family, Bog +felt that his mission was ended. He knew that it was a piece of +pure hypocrisy to call once or twice a week to see if he could be +of any service, when he was aware that Mr. Minford had hired a +woman, who lived on the floor below, to do all their household +work, marketing, cooking, and general errands. He knew that Pet, on +these occasions, asked him to go for a spool of thread, or a paper +of needles, or a package of candy, merely to gratify him with the +idea that he was making himself useful. When he came into the room +tidily dressed, and highly polished as to his boots, he blushed +even redder than he used to. It was not the acquisition of a little +money by Mr. Minford that had exalted his daughter in the-eyes of +Bog, but the French and the music. These two accomplishments seemed +to lift her into an upper air of delicacy and refinement, for which +Bog felt that his miserable education and clumsy manners quite +unfitted him. After Bog had performed some little invented errand +for her, she would reward him with a short exercise, and Bog would +sit, with open mouth and crossed legs, staring at Pet's face and +hands alternately, and beating time with his large red hands on his +knees.</p> +<p>Bog knew the negro songs of the period, and admired them. He +would have liked to hear Pet play them, but feared she would think +his musical taste very bad if he asked her to. Her "exercises," as +she called them, he considered something perfectly wonderful, and +belonging to a class of scientific music which a poor fellow like +him could not be expected to enjoy. But, like many an older and +more worldly-wise person, he pretended to be thrown into raptures +by it, and, at every pause in the playing, would say, "Beautiful! +a'n't it?" "That's prime!" or "Splendid!" or "The best I ever +heerd." Sometimes, at his earnest entreaty, Pet would read a page +of French to him; and he would listen with awe and reverence, as to +a beautiful sibyl prophesying in an unknown tongue.</p> +<p>Bog always paid these visits in the afternoon. Marcus Wilkeson +always called in the evening. The two had met in the house rarely +since New Year's. When they accidentally met on the sidewalk, +within a square or two of the house, as they sometimes did, Bog +colored up as if he were guilty of something. Once Marcus Wilkeson +saw Bog at a distance, turning suddenly down a side street, as if +to avoid him; and Marcus wondered what could be the matter with the +boy. By industry and tact, Bog made money in his new partnership, +and had already laid up a snug sum in the savings bank.</p> +<p>Between Pet and her teacher a feeling of sisterly affection had +sprung up. Miss Pillbody turned with a feeling of relief from her +dull elderly pupils, stiff in manners, and firmly set in their +habits, to this fresh, impressible young creature. What she did +conscientiously to the others for pay, she would have done to Pet +for love, had not her bills been settled in advance. Whenever Miss +Pillbody had a spare hour or two, afforded by the indisposition of +one of her older scholars (from excessive fatigue occasioned by a +dinner party or other laborious hospitality the night before), she +would send the red-headed servant to Mr. Minford's, and notify Pet, +who was only too happy to go to her beloved teacher, and take an +extra lesson.</p> +<p>Mrs. Crull could not be called a promising pupil. Her intentions +were excellent. Her patience and her good nature were unbounded. +She was always punctual at her lessons. Neither cold nor storm +could keep her away. While she was in the schoolroom, she would +resolutely deny herself the pleasure of indulging in more than a +dozen episodes on the fashions and bits of scandal which she picked +up in her cruise through society.</p> +<p>With the exception of these little wanderings, she would go +through her recitations with as much correctness and docility as a +sharp-witted child of twelve years. She felt a childlike pride in +gaining the approval of her teacher. When she was under Miss +Pillbody's instructions, and knew that every mistake would be +courteously but firmly corrected on the spot (the teacher's +invariable custom), she kept such a guard upon her tongue that she +sometimes read or conversed in long sentences without making a +single error. But when she was out of Miss Pillbody's sight, there +were certain blunders which she fell into as surely as she opened +her mouth.</p> +<p>Sometimes Mrs. Crull and Pet would meet on the doorsteps of Miss +Pillbody's house--the one going in and the other coming out--or on +the sidewalk in the neighborhood. Mrs. Crull would catch the child +by both hands, smack her heartily on the cheek (no matter how +public the kiss), and then a conversation something like this would +follow:</p> +<p>"How bright and pretty you look this mornin', my darlin!" (Mrs. +Crull could not remember to pick up the "g's," except under Miss +Pillbody's eye, and then not always.)</p> +<p>"Thank you, Mrs. Crull; I am quite well. How are you, marm?"</p> +<p>"Oh! smart as a trap. Haven't known not a sick day these ten +years." (Mrs. Crull was weak on the double negatives.)</p> +<p>"How do you get along?" From motives of delicacy, Pet never +added, "in your studies."</p> +<p>"Well, I don't mind tellin' you, as you are my confidential +little friend." Here Mrs. Crull would look around cautiously, to be +sure no one was listening. "The other studies isn't so hard, but +grammar knocks me." (Mrs. Crull's nominatives and verbs were +irreconcilable.)</p> +<p>Then Pet would say, telling an innocent fib:</p> +<p>"I don't observe anything very wrong, Mrs. Crull."</p> +<p>"Ha! ha! there you are flattering me, you little chick. I know, +or think, I have improved a good deal with our dear Miss Pillbody; +but a smart little scholar like you must see lots of mistakes in +me."</p> +<p>At this point, Pet would blush, and murmur, "No--no!"</p> +<p>"Humbug!" Mrs. Crull would say. "I know my incurable faults, and +I know that you know 'em. But Lor' bless you, child! there is +plenty of ladies in good s'ciety" (Mrs. C. always slurred on the +first syllable of that word) "who talk as bad as me. Their +husbands, just like mine, got rich suddenly, you see. I tell you, I +was 'stonished to find how many of 'em there was. They are +thicker'n blackberries. I found out something else, too." Here Mrs. +Crull would shake her head knowingly, like one who had discovered a +great truth.</p> +<p>Pet would know what was coming, but would ask: "Pray, what is +it, Mrs. Crull?"</p> +<p>"Why, I found out that, if you give good dinners and big +parties, and keep a carriage, and have a conservatory, and rent a +pew up near the altar, your little shortcomin's in grammar isn't no +objection to you. 'Money makes the mare go.' However, eddication, +as Miss Pillbody says, is a good thing of itself, and I shall keep +on tryin' to get it."</p> +<p>These conversations always ended by an invitation to Pet to +visit Mrs. Crull. "I'll have our carriage call for you," she would +say, "at your father's house. We have no children, you know, and +the old man would be very good to you; though, of course, it +wouldn't do to hint about the school. But I can trust my little +friend for that. Come, now, won't you?"</p> +<p>But Pet always modestly declined these kind invitations. She +knew her father's pride, and his aversion to the patronage of rich +people.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="C_CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>THE FALLING BOARD.</h3> +<br> +<p>One afternoon, Pet had been taking an extra lesson from Miss +Pillbody, and had started homeward with a light heart, humming to +herself a musical exercise which she had practised for the first +time that day. A few doors from Miss Pillbody's, some workmen were +repairing a wooden awning. The framework was covered with loose +boards, which the carpenters were about to nail down. A feminine +dread of danger would have induced Pet to make a wide detour of +this awning; but her mind was so fully occupied by the musical +exercise, that she walked, unheeding, right under it.</p> +<p>"Look out! look out!" shrieked a chorus of voices overhead, +accompanied by a rattle of falling boards. Pet sprang forward just +in time to escape one of them, and to catch another on her +shoulder. It touched her gently, not even abrading her skin, for +its fall had been stopped midway by a young man.</p> +<p>"Stupid!" "Silly creature!" "The girl's a blockhead!" "Where's +her eyes, I wonder?" shouted the carpenters, after the manner of +carmen and stage drivers, when you narrowly escape being run over +by <i>their</i> carelessness, at the crossings.</p> +<p>"Shut up!" said the young man, savagely. "Why the d---l don't +you keep your boards where they belong, instead of tumbling them +down on people's heads?--I hope you are not hurt, miss?" (in a +gentle voice).</p> +<p>"Oh, no; not at all. I am sure I thank you, sir, very much." Pet +blushed, and hurried away.</p> +<p>The young man and the carpenters then exchanged the customary +abusive epithets with each other, which might have resulted in +something more serious (though such verbal encounters rarely do), +but for the desire of the young man to overtake the young girl whom +he had saved from a bruised shoulder, or a worse accident. Shaking +his fist at the four jeering carpenters, and muttering a farewell +execration between his teeth, he rapidly followed Pet, and soon +came up with her.</p> +<p>"You are sure you are not hurt?" said he. "Those scoundrelly +workmen! I'll thrash one of them yet."</p> +<p>Pet was confused by the second appearance of the young man at +her side, though she knew that he would follow her; even her brief +experience having taught her that it is not in the nature of man to +do a kindness to a woman, without exacting a full acknowledgment +for it.</p> +<p>"No, sir; I am not hurt the least bit," she replied, looking in +his face no more than gratitude and civility required. Here she +would have stopped, but she feared (charming simplicity of +girlhood) that the young man would, some future day, get into +trouble with the four carpenters. So she added, timidly: "As for +the workmen, sir, they were not to blame. It was all my fault, +running into the danger. I--I beg, sir, that you won't say another +word to them."</p> +<p>This was a long speech for timid Pet to make to a stranger, and +she blushed fearfully at the end of it, and wished that the young +man would go away.</p> +<p>"They deserve a thrashing, every one of them," said he; "but, +for your sake, I let them go." The young man spoke in a sweet +voice, and his manner was respectful. Pet had observed, in several +hasty side glances, that he was nicely dressed, and not +ill-featured, in all except the eyes. But had his eyes been large +and handsome, instead of small and forbidding, she would have +desired his absence all the same.</p> +<p>"You say you are not hurt," he continued; "but you may be, +without knowing it. I have heard of people receiving serious +injuries, and never finding them out till they got home. Have you +far to go, miss?"</p> +<p>"Only two blocks farther," said Pet, turning the corner.</p> +<p>"The very route I was going," observed the young man.</p> +<p>Although Pet felt that the young man's company was unnecessary +and disagreeable, she did not like to tell him so. She kept silence +until she reached her home, when she said, "I stop here, sir." She +would have added, "Good-by, sir," or "Thank you, sir," or something +equivalent, but instinct checked the expression, and she darted +into the entry (the door being accidentally ajar), and shut the +door after her, before the young man could say a word. Although the +door was shut, he raised his hat respectfully as one often does on +Broadway <i>after</i> he has passed a female acquaintance upon whom +he suddenly comes--the salute being received and acknowledged with +a stare by the next lady, or ladies, following after. The young man +then noted the number of the house, nodded satisfactorily to +himself, and strolled very leisurely along the street, as if +neither business nor pleasure had urgent demands upon him.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="C_CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>SNEAKING JUSTIFIED.</h3> +<br> +<p>Neither Pet nor the young man saw the awkward figure of an +overgrown boy, who had followed them at a distance, on the other +side of the street, keeping the trunks of trees between them and +him. This clumsy figure, upon which a suit of good clothes and a +new cap looked strangely out of place, was Bog.</p> +<p>The boy Bog was often seen lounging about the neighborhood of +Miss Pillbody's school; and if the policeman on that beat had not +known him to be an honest lad from childhood, he would have watched +him as a suspicious character. From whatever part of the city Bog +came home after a bill-posting expedition, he invariably made a +circuit past Miss Pillbody's school, keeping the other side of the +street always, and never looking at the house. He walked hurriedly +by, but came to a sudden stop at a grocery store halfway up the +second block beyond, and there he would stand, partly covered by an +awning post, and look strangely around, letting his eyes fall +occasionally, and as if by accident, on that house. If his object +in these singular manoeuvres was to see Miss Minford, he always +failed to improve the opportunity when it offered; for, as surely +as Pet came out from the school, or turned into the street to go +toward it, so surely did the boy Bog walk off whistling in another +direction. Nobody can understand the motives of Bog's conduct, +except those who have done the same thing in their youthful +days.</p> +<p>On this eventful afternoon (eventful as a starting point in a +history of sorrows), Bog had taken his usual circuitous route home +from a profitable professional tour on the east side of town. +Reaching the grocery store, he sheltered himself behind the +friendly post, and commenced looking up and down the street, and +across the way, and into the sky, always winding up his mysterious +observations by a single glance at Miss Pillbody's front door. When +Pet came out, after her musical exercise, the boy Bog flushed up a +little, turned upon his heels, and walked quickly away. He had not +gone a dozen steps, before the shouts of the workmen and the sound +of the first falling board reached his ears. He suddenly turned +about, and saw a young man catching the next board that fell. His +first impulse was to run to Pet's assistance; but a fatal spell +chained his feet.</p> +<p>Poor Bog had dreamed a thousand times, by night and by day, of +the ineffable bliss of rescuing Pet from a mad dog, from a runaway +horse, from the assault of ruffians, from drowning, from a burning +building. He had his plans all laid for doing every one of these +things. He would have coveted the pleasure of whipping three times +his weight of any well-dressed, white-handed young men, who should +presume to insult her. In imagination, he had done it times without +number; and had contrived a private method to double up a number of +effeminate antagonists in succession. But, in all his reveries, he +had never anticipated peril to Miss Minford from a falling board; +nor had it occurred to him that the supreme felicity of saving her +from death or injury would ever be the lot of anybody else.</p> +<p>The entire novelty of the accident and rescue struck him with +amazement, and fastened him to the spot long enough to see that Pet +walked away apparently unhurt. Hardly knowing what he did, or why +he did it, he shifted his body behind the awning post so as +continually to keep himself out of Pet's sight. Then the strong +conviction came upon him that it was his duty to escort Pet home; +for, although she did not seem to be hurt, she might be. This +conviction was met and almost put down by the thought that Pet +would know he had been watching for her; and he could not bear +that. While he was halting and sweating between these two opinions, +the unknown young man had finished his little colloquy with the +four carpenters, and, by walking fast, had caught up with Pet.</p> +<p>Then the boy Bog decided that his wisest course, under all the +circumstances, would be to follow the couple at a distance, and see +that no harm came to her from the young man.</p> +<p>"If the feller insults her," murmured Bog, "just because he was +lucky enough to do her a little bit of a kindness, I'll lick him +till he's blue." Besides whipping him for the insults which he +might offer, Bog felt that he could give him a few good blows for +his impudence in assuming Bog's exclusive prerogative of rescuing +that particular young girl.</p> +<p>Bog looked very sheepish as he sneaked from one street corner to +another, and skulked in shadows to avoid observation, though he +tried to flatter himself that he was doing something highly +meritorious. Two or three times, when the unknown young man +inclined his head toward Pet, as if to speak to her, Bog +entertained a hope that she would command him to leave her, and +that he wouldn't. A single gesture from her, an impatient shrug of +the shoulders, a turning away of her head, would have been all the +hint that Bog needed to fly to her relief, and make up for his lost +opportunity by knocking his dandy rival into the gutter.</p> +<p>But not even Bog's sharp eyes could detect any impudent +familiarity in the young man's conduct, or any desire on the part +of Pet to get rid of him. "Everything is agin' me," said Bog, +wiping the perspiration from his forehead.</p> +<p>When Bog saw Pet part from the young man at Mr. Minford's door, +his first wild idea was to call on her, quite by accident, in the +course of half an hour. Perhaps she would tell him--as a piece of +startling news--about her narrow escape from the board, and what +the young man said to her. But Bog was unequal to the dissimulation +involved in this plan, and abandoned it. Then he had a notion of +following the young man, and seeing what became of him. But a +sudden and very decided rising of fresh blood to Bog's cheeks and +ears told him that he had played the part of spy long enough. So +Bog determined--as many grown-up people in graver dilemmas do--to +go home to supper.</p> +<p>Bog found his supper all ready for him, and it was a good one. +For his aunt, although the victim of a chronic rheumatism, had +contrived to preserve a sharp appetite from the wreck of her former +health, and cooked three meals for herself and two for Bog (who was +never home at noon) daily. She was singularly punctual, too. +Breakfast was always smoking hot on the table at 6 A.M.; and supper +(and dinner combined, for Bog) was never a minute behind 5 P.M. in +the winter time. Bog, who had a truly boyish idea of feminine +excellencies, considered that this knack of cooking, and this +amazing punctuality, were more than an offset for his aunt's little +infirmities of temper, and her everlasting discourse on the +rheumatics.</p> +<p>Though the beef hash was good, and the toast nicely browned and +buttered, and the tea strong, and the fire burning brightly through +the grates of the stove, and the curtains snugly drawn, and +everything cheerful and comfortable in Bog's humble home, the boy +was unhappy, and could not eat.</p> +<p>Happily, his aunt was so engrossed with her own physical +troubles, that she never noticed indications of ill health in other +people. She held that every other human ailment was unworthy of +mention in the presence of her sovereign affliction. Whenever +anybody presumed to speak of their little personal sufferings +before her, she said: "You should thank Heaven you haven't got the +rheumatics," and would then proceed to give a circumstantial +history of her acquaintance with that disease. Therefore, on this +occasion, she was quite unaware that poor Bog sat opposite to her +with a pale, dejected face, playing aimlessly on his plate with his +knife and fork. She thought only, and talked only, of her malady, +which had been pranking in the oddest manner all day, and had +settled, at last, in her "limbs." Bog's aunt had no legs that she +would own to.</p> +<p>After supper, Bog heaved a sigh, and said that he would go round +to Uncle Ith's; and asked his aunt if she had any word to send by +him.</p> +<p>"Oh, no; nothing partickler," said she. "He don't care about +me."</p> +<p>Uncle Ith, as everybody called him, was Bog's uncle on his +mother's side. Uncle Ith and the aunt had a standing difference +touching that rheumatism. Whenever they met--which was +rarely--Uncle Ith would ask her, with a wink, how she was; and when +she candidly told him that she was in a dreadful state, he would +laugh at her, and say that half of it was "imagination." This +indignity he had repeated so often, that, latterly, she scorned to +complain in his presence, and bore her anguish in noble +silence.</p> +<p>"All right," said Bog, who took no part in these family +differences. He put on his cap, and left the house.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="C_CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>UP IN THE AIR.</h3> +<br> +<p>"Uncle Ith" was one of the city bellringers, and lived at the +top of a tower a hundred feet high, which vibrated with every +stroke of the great bell hanging midway between his airy perch and +the ground. He was sixty years of age, and had white hair, but he +was as strong as younger men, and could swing the clapper against +the side of the great bell with a boom that could be heard across +rivers, and far into the peaceful country, on quiet nights. His +eyes were so sharp, that, without the aid of a glass, he could read +names on the paddle boxes of steamboats, where the unassisted +vision of most persons descried nothing but a blur. He had done +duty on that tower during the six years since it was built; and he +knew the section of the city which lay spread out beneath him as a +man knows his own garden. In the daytime, he could always guess, +within a street or two, the location of any fire in his district. +He knew all the smokes from a hundred factories, foundries, +distilleries, and never confounded them with the fires which it was +his business to detect. The presence of a new and suspicious smoke +among the black stretch of roofs, caught his eye instantly; and he +could tell in a moment, by its color, its speed of ascent, and the +quantity of sparks accompanying it, whether it came from a +carpenter's shop, a stable, a distillery, a camphene and oil store, +or some other kind of building. In the nighttime, he knew the +lights which mapped out the squares and the streets within his +range of observation, almost as well as the astronomer knows the +other lights that shine down upon the sleeping city from the +heavens. He could fix the position of a fire by night rather better +than by day, because he had the red reflection of the flames on +well-known steeples, and high, prominent roofs to guide him.</p> +<p>Such were Uncle Ith's qualifications for his place; and he was +so loved and trusted by the firemen of his district, that no mayor, +however beset by applicants for office, had ever dreamed of +removing him. In all of Uncle Ith's limited relations with the +world, he was esteemed an honest man; and his word would have +possessed the literal novelty of being as good as his note, had +necessity ever required him to borrow money. But Uncle Ith was +frugal, and made his small salary suffice for himself and a family +of seven motherless children.</p> +<p>He had one eccentricity--a complete indifference to newspapers. +He never bought nor borrowed them. "What's the use of reading 'em?" +he would say. "Why not imagine the murders, suicides, political +meetings, and other trash that fills 'em, and save your money for +terbacker?" This did Uncle Ith, and he flattered himself that it +was wisely done.</p> +<p>The bell tower was not far from the boy's home, and in a few +minutes he stood at the foot of it, and shouted to Uncle Ith: +"Hallo, there!"</p> +<p>Uncle Ith, always on the alert for calls, poked his head out of +the window, which he left partly open for ventilation in the +coldest nights, and answered, rather gruffly, "Well, what's +wanted?" He never allowed his own children, nor any persons except +his nephew Bog, and a few old firemen, friends of his, to visit him +in the tower at night. Uncle Ith was conscientious. The presence of +his children, with whom he loved to converse, or that of strangers, +who would stare vacantly all over the lighted city, and ask +innumerable questions, interfered with the strictness of his watch. +Uncle Ith was a little eccentric, too, in his devotion to duty.</p> +<p>"It's me, uncle," said Bog, screaming upward.</p> +<p>"Glad to see you, Bog. You can come up," shouted the old man in +return. He slung a latch key, fastened to a string, out of the +window. It slid down the side of the tower, into Bog's hand. He +unlocked the door, and the next moment the key was jerked aloft. +The boy entered the base of the tower. He was so familiar with +every crook and passage, that the small light of a gas jet, inside, +was not necessary to show him the way. Up he ran, sometimes +clearing two steps at a jump, slipping his hand lightly along the +rough wooden banister. A few spiral turns brought him to the bell, +which hung in an open framework of timber. He gave the huge bronze +a familiar tap as he passed, and wound on and upward until he came +to a trap door, which Uncle Ith held invitingly open. Then he +sprang into the little room at the top of the tower, and Uncle Ith +shook him by the hand.</p> +<p>"You look well, I see, Bog. And how is your aunt?" Uncle Ith was +mindful of the usages of society, and always asked after her.</p> +<p>"Oh, she's smart," said Bog, totally oblivious of her +rheumatism, "and sent her love to ye." Bog was a peacemaker.</p> +<p>"Sent her rheumatism, I guess yer mean. No doubt she wishes I +had it."</p> +<p>Bog laughed, and his uncle laughed. And then his uncle, never +forgetting duty, took a sharp look out of the eight clearly +polished windows that commanded a view of the surrounding district. +Discovering no sign of fire, he resumed the conversation with his +nephew, asking him about his business (which he was happy to learn +was prosperous), and giving him a quantity of good advice which +none but a genius could remember, or an angel follow. During these +exhortations, Uncle Ith paced to and fro in the little room, +looking out of some window at the end of every sentence. Bog sat on +a three-legged stool (the only seat except a backless chair) by the +side of a miniature stove, on whose top hissed the kettle, from +which Uncle Ith made his pot of coffee at midnight.</p> +<p>The night was cold; the little fire was warm; and Bog liked to +hear advice from his uncle; but his eyes would wander to a certain +window, as if, for some reason, he would derive great pleasure in +opening and looking out of it. This movement of his eyes was so +frequent, that Uncle Ith observed it, and said:</p> +<p>"Ah, I see! You want to stare out of that southeast window +again. Now, I think the sight is handsomer to the west, where you +can see the lights of Jersey City and Hoboken, and on the ferry +boats and the shipping anchored in North River. But that's a matter +o' taste. Well, look out o' the window, if you want to. I guess I +can trust you for fires in that quarter."</p> +<p>"That you may!" answered Bog, throwing open the southeast +window.</p> +<p>The stars above twinkled crisply in the frosty air; and the sky, +with its low horizon on every side, seemed infinitely vaster than +it did to Bog in the narrow and high-walled streets of the city. +But Bog, though he used to puzzle over the wonders of the heavens +when he was a few years younger, and had picked up a little +something of astronomy from his uncle Ith (who knew something of +that as of many other sciences), did not turn his gaze to them. Nor +did he give more than a sweeping glance at the dotted line of +lights below, stretching out in long perspectives, until the two +luminous points at the end seemed blended into one. There were +several parks in sight, which looked like portions of the sky let +down on the earth, in all but the mathematical regularity of their +mock stars. But Bog's eyes passed them by. To an inquisitive mind, +there was something of interest to be seen and speculated over, in +the lighted windows of houses all about him. People could be seen +eating their late suppers, rocking by the fire, playing the piano, +dancing, taking a rubber at whist or euchre, or diverting +themselves with other recreations of winter house life. In one +upper chamber, a physician was presenting a child just born to the +proud father. In another, there was a mysterious spectacle, which a +closer examination might have proved to be the preparing of a dead +body for the morrow's burial. But Bog saw none of these sights.</p> +<p>His eyes sought for, and found immediately, as if by instinct, +one light, which, in his opinion, was the only one worth looking at +on earth or sky. It was a single bright gas jet, burning very close +to a window about six hundred feet distant from him in an air line. +Several tall chimneys of intervening houses rose almost between him +and this light, and, perhaps, their dark, spectral shapes aided him +in identifying it so readily. The lower sash of the window through +which the light shone was curtained, but the upper part was +uncovered; and an observer on the tower, being fifty or sixty feet +above the top of the curtain, could easily look into the room. Bog +rubbed his eyes, into which the cold but not biting wind had +brought the tears, and gazed anxiously into Mr. Minford's +apartment.</p> +<p>The pale inventor stood a few feet from the window, attentively +examining a mass of machinery before him, upon which the light +shone strongly. Only the tops of the wheels and of the more complex +parts were visible; but there was one lever, or bar, connected with +it, which rose above the whole, and could be seen by Bog to the +extent of at least two feet. This was an addition to the strange +machine as Bog had last seen it, and he contemplated it with +fearful interest.</p> +<p>Mr. Minford stood motionless for five minutes in the presence of +his creation. He was ghostlike and frightful in that fixed +attitude, and Bog wished that he would move. He did so, nodding his +head, and smiling, as he bent down and detached some part of the +machine. All but his head and his right shoulder then disappeared +from view; but Bog knew, by the vibrating motion of his shoulder +blade, that he was filing upon something. Mr. Minford then stooped +again, as if to put the part of the machine back into its proper +place. Having done this, he stood erect once more, folded his arms, +and looked intently at the Mystery for the second time.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="C_CHAPTER_V."></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>TONGUES OF FIRE.</h3> +<br> +<p>But now Bog's attention was diverted from Mr. Minford, and his +heart was made to beat more rapidly by a new sight. While he had +kept both eyes closely fixed upon the inventor, he had looked with +an oblique, or reflected vision, into the other window of the room. +This window was uncurtained, and Bog could distinctly see the +chairs, bureau, and other articles of furniture. A new light (so +Bog oddly thought) was suddenly irradiated through the darker +portion of the apartment by the entrance of Pet from the hall. She +had no bonnet on; and Bog reasoned (if he could be said to reason +in his excited state) that she had been spending a part of the +evening, as was often her wont, with a poor family, rich in +children, who lived on the floor below. Her father smiled upon the +problem before him, as a new difficulty melted away under his +burning gaze. Then he turned, and smiled at Pet. She ran toward +him, and he kissed her tenderly. Bog was devouring this little +episode with open mouth and eyes, when the hoarse voice of Uncle +Ith broke in upon the enchantment:</p> +<p>"Hallo! there's a fire."</p> +<p>"What! Where?" shouted Bog, forgetting where he was.</p> +<p>"Why, you blind man!" said Uncle Ith; "straight afore ye. Don't +ye see it breaking out?"</p> +<p>Bog cast his eyes about him wildly; and, sure enough, directly +in the range of Mr. Minford's house, but four or five blocks +beyond, there was an illuminated streak of smoke curling up from a +roof.</p> +<p>"It's in my district!" cried Uncle Ith. "So here goes." He +seized the long iron lever near him, by which the enormous clapper +of the bell was swung, and moved it like the handle of a pump. The +second motion was followed by a hoarse sound, which shook the tower +to its foundations, and started into listening attitudes a thousand +firemen in their engine or hose houses, in the streets, at the +theatres, or at their own homes.</p> +<p>"Sha'n't I help you?" asked Bog, who always proffered his +services on these occasions.</p> +<p>"Pooh! no. It's baby play for me." By this time Uncle Ith had +evoked the second gruff note from the deep throat of the imprisoned +monster below. Then came a third in quicker succession, and louder, +as if the bell had warmed up to the work, and then other notes, +until the district had been struck; and then the bell, as if +rejoicing in its strength to resist blows, murmured plaintively for +a repetition of them. Long before this sad sound had died away, the +deep bass of the City Hall bell, the shrill tenor of the Post +Office bell, and the intermediate pitches of the bells all over the +city, had taken up the chorus of alarm. There was a rattle of +engines, hose carriages, and hook-and-ladder trucks through the +streets. There was a frantic rush of men and boys, some with +cumbrous fire-caps on their heads, and putting on their coats as +they ran. How they knew the location of the fire, none could guess, +for it had not yet streamed out against the sky; but know it they +did; and the dove goes to its cote not more directly than they +centred from all parts of the district upon the exact spot of the +fire. Meanwhile, Uncle Ith lashed his mighty instrument into a +sonorous fury; and all the other bells played their echo, even to +the far-away tinkler on Mount Morris, which, having few fires in +its own neighborhood to report, took a pleasure in telling its +little world of those which were raging down town.</p> +<p>For the information of his uncle, and to atone in part for his +previous neglect, Bog devoted only a half eye to the Minford +family, and kept the rest of his optics on the fire. Just after its +discovery, the smoke had loomed up dense and black, as if it were +trying to suffocate the flames beneath. Then it changed rapidly to +a light blue, and was chased faster upward by two tongues of fire. +These tongues leaped aloft with a sudden impulse, and shed a +revelation of light over acres of houses, and brought out church +steeples in vivid relief against the sky, and put a new gilding on +storm-beat en vanes and weathercocks. All this Bog described in his +own way to his uncle; and his uncle, stooping at the lever, kept on +ringing with unabated zeal; and all the other bells banged away +like an orchestra of which Uncle Ith was the leader.</p> +<p>Then Bog saw the forms of men suddenly spring into sight, as if +out of the very roof, between the two fiery tongues. The tongues +licked the air about them with savage whirls; but the brave fellows +dodged back, and were unhurt. Then, advancing boldly again, they +released their hands from something which they had been holding, +and lo! four jets of water struck at the very roots of the flames, +tripped at them, and made them stagger, drove them twice into the +roof, and caught them with deadly accuracy as they came out again; +and, in less than five minutes, changed all their brave splendor to +dull, black smoke, and set the victor's mark upon them--the column +of white steam which arises from the half-quenched embers, and +proclaims that the fire is put out of mischief at last.</p> +<p>"Nothing but a kind o' white smoke, now," said Bog.</p> +<p>Uncle Ith, who had just rung the last stroke of a round, +relinquished the lever, and looked over the shoulder of his nephew. +"The fire's out," said he. "When you see the steam comin' up that +way, you may know that the water has whipped." The old man then +seated himself in the backless chair, produced a short black pipe +from a crossbeam overhead, and rewarded himself with a few long +puffs.</p> +<p>When Uncle Ith had a pipe in his mouth, he became didactic, and +he therefore proceeded to renew his donations of valuable advice to +his nephew, who was still looking hard out of the southeast +window.</p> +<p>Bog cocked his head on one side, to make a show of listening, +and said "Yes, sir," now and then, which was all that his uncle +expected of him. But his whole mind, and his heart, were in the +little double-windowed room, where Pet was now practising upon the +piano. Through the uncurtained glass, Bog could see her hands +weaving music with the keys, and almost fancy he could hear it. The +inventor bent over his machine, and plied the hammer, the chisel, +and the file, on various parts of it. Now and then he would pause, +stand erect, and look proudly toward his child, and keep time to +her music with inclinations of his head. Bog, without knowing it, +would do the same thing.</p> +<p>While the boy was gloating over this scene, unconscious of the +swift passage of time, the clock on the nearest church struck nine. +Bog sighed, for he knew that that was Pet's hour for bed. Sure +enough. Her little hands shut up the piano, and neatly smoothed +down the cloth over it. Then she lit a candle, ran up to her father +and kissed him, and in a moment was lost from Bog's sight in her +chamber. As she disappeared, the boy's lips murmured "Good-night" +with a fervor which made that simple colloquial phrase both a +prayer and a blessing.</p> +<p>When Pet had gone, Bog suddenly found that the night had become +cold, and that he was beginning to shiver. So he shut the southeast +window, and took a seat by the fire to warm himself before going +home.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BOOK_FOURTH."></a>BOOK FOURTH.</h2> +<h3>CHILDREN OF THE WORLD.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="D_CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>MYNDERT VAN QUINTEM AND SON.</h3> +<br> +<p>One morning, when Marcus Wilkeson returned home from a ramble, +he found his half-sister Philomela violently dusting the furniture +and books of the snug little back parlor. The air was full of +dancing motes, which looked large and suffocating in the sunshine. +Marcus had politely requested his sister, fifty times at least, +<i>not</i> to molest that sanctuary of meditation oftener than once +a fortnight. To which she always replied: "I suppose you great lazy +fellows would like to have the cobwebs grow on you. But you +sha'n't, while I am in the house." Then, with a few dexterous +flourishes of her cloth, she would start the dust up in a +cloud.</p> +<p>On this morning, Marcus Wilkeson, being in the most tolerant of +moods, merely said "Whew!" and took a seat by his favorite window, +the lower sash of which he threw wide open, with the vain hope that +some of the dust would blow out. Miss Philomela smiled at this act +so as to be seen by him. But he did not appear to notice it. Then +she whisked her cloth under his very nose, as if to challenge +objections. After this aggravation had been repeated three or four +times, Marcus felt compelled to make a mild protest.</p> +<p>"Great deal of dust, sister," he said, stating what he presumed +would not be contradicted.</p> +<p>"Is there?" replied Miss Philomela, exulting in the success of +her stratagem. "<i>I</i> didn't notice it; nor would you, if you +had some business to look after, like other people, instead of +stopping in the house all day."</p> +<p>Marcus had heard that argument and triumphantly put it down so +often, that he did not think it worth another word. Consequently he +said nothing.</p> +<p>This obstinate silence galled Miss Philomela; and, after waiting +full three minutes to see if Marcus would not answer, and meanwhile +dusting prodigiously in his neighborhood, she said:</p> +<p>"Well, it's some gratification to know that you do not have the +hardihood to defend yourself. You are well aware that nothing can +justify a healthy, middle-aged man--I may say, a young one--in +retiring from active life and society, and becoming a great lazy +mope."</p> +<p>"I'm really too lazy to discuss it now," replied Marcus, +smiling, and filling his meerschaum from the tobacco pouch which +hung conveniently at the window's side.</p> +<p>Philomela regarded him for a moment with an expression of pity +and horror. Then she heaved a sigh, and muttered something about +misapplied talents.</p> +<p>"You had better say, 'Misapplied brooms and dusters,'" retorted +her half-brother. "I should be perfectly happy now, but for this +confounded dust."</p> +<p>"Laugh away. I know you despise my sisterly advice. But you can +never say that I have not done my duty--"</p> +<p>"To the furniture, most assuredly," interrupted Marcus.</p> +<p>Miss Philomela Wilkeson heaved another sigh in the best style of +martyrdom, and precipitately left the room, followed by her +brother's cheerful, rattling laugh.</p> +<p>"A good old girl enough," said Marcus to himself, "but for her +well-meaning and strictly conscientious habit of making people +miserable."</p> +<p>Then he lighted his meerschaum, closed the window, squared his +chair in front of it, and looked out. His face instantly flushed +with pleasure at a strange sight. The blinds of the lower parlor +windows across the way, which had been shut for several weeks, were +now thrown open, and the white-haired old gentleman, looking thin +and pale, sat in his armchair in his old place, and was gazing at +him. At least so Marcus thought; but he hesitated to bow until the +old gentleman gave a distinct salutation. Marcus returned it two or +three times with emphasis, as if to express his great pleasure at +seeing his unknown neighbor and friend again. He blushed as he did +so, for he was conscious of wilful neglect and cruel indifference, +in not having called upon him on New Year's day, or since then, +during the period of the closed blinds; and worse still, in not +having thought of him a dozen times, though he had taken the +trouble to pass his door on his way to or from Mr. Minford's, and +had felt relieved to see no black crape on the bell-pull.</p> +<p>"But then," thought Marcus, pleading with and for himself, "my +mind has been occupied--very much occupied--- with other matters. +Now, if he beckons to me again, I will go over to him without a +moment's delay. My old friend looks very sick and unhappy."</p> +<p>Just then the old gentleman reached out his thin white hand, as +if the motion required an effort, and beckoned twice. Marcus +answered with two bows, and immediately rose, and laid down his +pipe on the window sill, thereby implying that he would come over +at once. The old gentleman smiled faintly, to express his +delight.</p> +<p>In a few minutes Marcus Wilkeson stood at the antique mansion, +and pulled the bell. It vibrated feebly as if it shared with the +house and its owner the infirmities of age. The bell was answered +by an old, neatly dressed female servant. She had been told to +admit the caller instantly, and said, "Mr. Van Quintem will see +you, sir."</p> +<p>He entered a wide hallway, and followed the noiseless step of +the servant, trying to remember, without success, where he had +heard the name of Van Quintem.</p> +<p>At the end of the hall the servant opened a door, and ushered +him into a room decorated at the edges of the ceiling with heavy +wooden carvings, and furnished in the style of the last century. +The old gentleman partly rose from his soft armchair, supported +himself by one hand on it, and extended the other to his +visitor.</p> +<p>"My name is Myndert Van Quintem, sir," said he, "and I am very +glad to see you." There was a pleasant smile in the old gentleman's +pale face, and a warmth in the grasp of his thin right hand, that +attested the sincerity of his words.</p> +<p>"And my name is Marcus Wilkeson, sir; and I am truly happy to +make your acquaintance," responded the visitor, in his most genial +manner.</p> +<p>The old gentleman here showed symptoms of faintness from the +exertion of standing; and Marcus, taking him by the arm, forced him +gently into his easy chair, and took a seat beside him.</p> +<p>"I must apologize for not having called before," said Marcus. +"I--"</p> +<p>"Not a word, sir," interrupted the old gentleman. "It is I who +must apologize for the rudeness of nodding and beckoning to a +perfect stranger. But the fact was, I could not regard you as a +stranger. Seeing you at your window, smoking and reading, day after +day, while I was smoking and musing at mine, I gradually came to +sympathize with you, and to wish that the distance across the lots +was short enough to allow us to converse. I thought, perhaps, that +on some subjects we might interest each other. Now, be good enough +to fill that pipe and smoke it, while I tell you in few words who I +am."</p> +<p>He pointed to a meerschaum, carved into the semblance of a +Dutchman's head, which looked not unlike his own. It was fitted to +a long Turkish stem, and hung against the wall by a silver chain, +within reach of his hand. Five other pipes of quaint design hung +near it.</p> +<p>Marcus protested against smoking in an invalid's presence; but +the old gentleman insisted upon it, and playfully but firmly +threatened to smoke the pipe himself if his guest did not. So +Marcus filled the large bowl from a paper of old, mild tobacco, +which hung in a pouch near it, and drew a few gentle whiffs, +intending to let the pipe go out. But the old gentleman watched +him.</p> +<p>"'Twon't do," said he. "That old pipe of mine is not used to +neglect. As a particular favor, now, I beg that you'll smoke, and +puff out clouds, as I have often seen you do across the way."</p> +<p>Marcus protested again, but the old gentleman stubbornly +maintained his point; and it was not till the pungent smoke began +to curl upward, that he proceeded with his personal disclosure.</p> +<p>"Have you ever heard my name before, Mr. Wilkeson?" said he.</p> +<p>Marcus bowed, and said that he had not had that pleasure.</p> +<p>"Of course not," returned the old gentleman, not displeased with +the answer. "I have taken infinite pains to keep out of public life +since I retired from business, twenty-five years ago. Even before +that time, I was known only to a very few persons as a silent +partner in the large iron-importing house of Sniggs, Buffet & +Co. I had no relations, and few friends, in the common acceptance +of that much-abused word. My only happiness was in my wife--that is +her picture hanging over the mantelpiece--and this house, which my +father built, and which, according to a tradition in our family, is +on or near the spot where my great-great-grandfather, the fourth +Myndert Van Quintem, perished by the hands of the Indians."</p> +<p>"Then," interrupted Marcus, "you belong to an old Dutch +family?"</p> +<p>"To one of the oldest on record," replied Mr. Van Quintem. "My +great ancestor, the genuine original Myndert, came over as cook +with Hendrik Hudson. We have an iron spoon of doubtful +authenticity, said to have descended from him. Sometimes I have +paid the penalty of this ancient and distinguished origin, by +receiving stupid compliments on my old Dutch blood, as if that +species of blood were better than any other. That sort of nonsense +I have always answered by informing the flatterer that the first +bearer of my venerable name was a cook; the second, a tanner; the +third--well, the least said about the third the better; and the +fourth, a barber. My grandfather, a very worthy saddler, in old +Queen's street, was the first of the series that was ever able to +buy and hold real estate. My father increased upon his purchases, +and, when the property came into my possession, I, in turn, added +to its extent as fast as I could. In forty years, this property has +become valuable; and I now find myself and my lots occupying a +large space on the tax rolls.</p> +<p>"It is a curious fact, and illustrates the uncertainty of human +events, that my success is the result of accident, and is not in +the least due to my judgment or foresight. Every kind of business +that I have engaged in--and I have tried several kinds--has failed. +Sniggs, Buffet & Co. almost finished me; and, if I had not +backed out as I did, the better part of my estate would have been +sacrificed. Among those who know me, I pass for a very shrewd +business man, who has made a fortune by his numerous failures. This +tribute to my abilities is flattering, but I must disclaim it. But +I am tiring you with these petty details of my life."</p> +<p>"Not at all, really," said Marcus Wilkeson, who enjoyed the old +gentleman's frankness.</p> +<p>Mr. Van Quintem paused, and began to show signs of fatigue. He +asked for a cordial which stood on an old sideboard with great +lion's feet, near his visitor's chair. Having sipped of its +contents, he expressed himself relieved, and resumed his story:</p> +<p>"As I was saying, I found my whole happiness in my wife, and in +this house. With the exception of a few friends of my youth--now +all dead--she was my only society. Like me, she was fond of +retirement and of books. You, sir, can appreciate the quiet, +satisfying pleasure which we derived from books, for you, too, are +a constant, happy reader; and you have fine books, as I know by the +size of them. You see, I have been observing you closely," he +added, with a smile. The old gentleman's smile was sweet, but +relapsed into a mild expression of sadness.</p> +<p>"Not more closely than I have observed you," said Marcus. "I +have often wondered what stout old quartos you were reading. To +tell you the truth, I inferred, from the dimensions of the books +and your white cravat, that you were a clergyman." Marcus might +have added, that the old gentleman's flowing white locks and +benevolent features had contributed to the illusion; but he had +already discovered that Mr. Van Quintem, like himself, was averse +to compliments.</p> +<p>The old gentleman took the remark good-naturedly. "This is not +the first time," said he, "that my old-fashioned fancy for a white +cravat has led to that mistake. You will find very little of the +body of divinity in that library. When I recover from this illness +so as to hobble about, we will look over my little collection +together."</p> +<p>Marcus said that nothing could give him greater delight, unless +it was to show his friend his own humble library.</p> +<p>"Thank you," returned Mr. Van Quintem; "and I promise to run +over and look at it when I am well enough to go out." The haste +with which the old gentleman made the last remark, and the fact +that he did not invite his visitor to examine the library then and +there, led Marcus to think that the old gentleman had some private +trouble on his mind, which he wished to diminish by imparting to +another. Marcus was right.</p> +<p>The old gentleman heaved a sigh, and resumed:</p> +<p>"For ten years after my retirement, my wife and I lived on in +the calm, happy manner that I have described. We had no griefs--not +even that one which most commonly afflicts parents, the loss of +children. Yet I sometimes think, sir, that it would be far better +for some children to die in their youth and innocence, than to grow +up and become bad men, and torture and almost kill their parents +with ingratitude and unkindness." Marcus guessed what was to +come.</p> +<p>"We had but one child--a boy--born long after I had given up all +hopes of having an heir. I need not tell you, sir, what a joy he +was to us in his infancy; for you, too, I presume, are a husband +and a father."</p> +<p>Marcus replied confusedly, and as if it were something to be +ashamed of, that he was neither the one nor the other, though he +hoped some day (here he was exceedingly awkward) to be both.</p> +<p>The old gentleman was so wrapped up in his own thoughts, that he +did not seem to notice the reply. He again braced himself in the +chair, as if he would, by that act, gather strength to proceed.</p> +<p>"Of course, I called the child Myndert. He was the seventh of +that name; and I used to think, even when he was a toddling little +baby, what plans of education would be best suited to develop his +talents. I know that a parent's partiality is a magnifying glass of +high power; but, to the best of my belief, he was a most precocious +child. I think so now, as I look back upon the days of his +prattling innocence.</p> +<p>"After a great deal of debating, my wife and I concluded to make +a lawyer of him. He was to be the first lawyer in our family +annals; and we fondly pictured to ourselves that he would become an +eminent judge, or that he would step from the bar into political +life, and shed honor upon his country and his family as a +statesman. I know how ridiculous these imaginings must seem to you, +and I recall them only to show you how deeply our hearts were +wrapped up in that boy.</p> +<p>"When our little Myndert was five years old, my wife died." Here +the old gentleman clutched the arms of the chair firmly with both +hands. "Our son had been very sick for a week before, and my dear +Clara had nearly worn herself out watching over and nursing him. A +severe cold, which she caught while going to the druggist's in a +rain, did the rest. She died with one arm around me and the other +around little Myndert; and her last words were a blessing on the +boy, and a request that I would always love him for her sake." The +old gentleman's eyes glistened with tears, and his lips twitched +convulsively. Marcus evinced his sympathy in the fittest way, by +keeping silence, and fixing his eyes on the floor.</p> +<p>"Well, sir, not to be tedious, I lavished my whole heart upon +that child. His presence seemed to be some consolation for the +great loss I had sustained. His features were so like hers, in all +except the eyes, that I seemed to see her through him; and thus, in +a peculiar sense, I loved him for her sake, indeed. He was petted +and caressed from his very cradle. Ah, there was my error; but who +can blame a father for over-loving his only son, and that one +motherless!</p> +<p>"He early showed indications of a fierce temper and a sullen +pride, in which respects he resembled not his mother, but her +father, who, with the exception of these two faults, was a good and +just man. I have heard of cases in which strong mental traits jump +over a generation, and appear in the next one. I thought, and still +think, that my son's singular peculiarities might be explained in +that way. If you will bear with me, sir, I will give you some +illustrations of his character.</p> +<p>"When he was nine years of age, a dear friend, now dead, advised +me not to injure so precocious an intellect by too much +cultivation, but to put the boy on a farm, where he could divide +his time between healthful work and youthful sports, and would be +kept away from the contaminating influences of the city, I agreed +to make the experiment, though reluctantly, for I could not bear +the thought of parting with my child. An old family acquaintance +who owned a farm in Dutchess County, and had no children, was +willing to take my boy.</p> +<p>"Little Myndert liked the idea of going into the country, and +for two weeks he behaved very well; and his acting father wrote me, +that if I could spare the boy, he would like to adopt him as his +own. But the next letter, a week afterward, brought a different +story. It was while Myndert was not put to work, that he behaved so +well. But when the farmer gave him a little hoe, and asked him to +grub up a few weeds in the garden, the lad threw it down, and said +to the farmer, 'I hate you.' This was his favorite expression to +those who aroused his displeasure when a child. The good man was +astonished at this insubordination, and tried to persuade Myndert +to do as he was told. But persuasion was useless; and so were the +threats with which the farmer tried to frighten him. As for +whipping the boy, he was, like me, too soft-hearted to do that.</p> +<p>"So Myndert became the master there, as he had been here. His +real nature now came out. From that time until the worthy farmer +sent the boy home in despair--ten weeks later--he was the wonder +and terror of the neighborhood. Chickens, goslings, and young ducks +were killed; boughs of apple trees and other fruit trees were +broken down; strawberry beds were entered, and the plants pulled up +by the roots; the windows of the village church and schoolhouse +were broken with stones; and three fourths of these acts were +traced to little Myndert. He always denied the charges, and put on +an air of innocence, which deceived many persons.</p> +<p>"The cunning which he exhibited in doing these malicious acts, +and trying to divert suspicion from himself, was truly wonderful in +a child of his age. One day he was caught by a farmer in the act of +killing some young chickens; and the owner was so mad, that he +whipped the boy soundly. That very night the farmer's wood shed was +set on fire from the outside; but a heavy rain came on, and put out +the flames. The traces of the fire were plainly to be seen next +morning; and the farmer found proofs enough, I fear, to have +convicted my son of a felony.</p> +<p>"My friend informed me of all these facts in a very sorrowful +letter, and I hastened to take my son once more under my own +roof.</p> +<p>"Here I tried every method that a father's love could devise to +reform him. But all was useless. He seemed to have no idea of truth +or honor, of affection or duty to me. When, at times, I thought he +was showing signs of improvement, I always found, afterward, that +he was only concealing his mischievous acts more carefully. I call +them mischievous, though the word 'malicious' would perhaps +describe them better; for they were all undertaken in a spirit of +evil, and not of fun." The old gentleman here rested, and refreshed +himself with a sip of the cordial.</p> +<p>"But it would take days to tell you of all my troubles with that +boy, and I will briefly refer to the rest of them.</p> +<p>"By the advice of another friend (for I have never taken any +step in the treatment of my child without first seeking for +friendly advice), I sent him, when twelve years of age, to a +celebrated school in Massachusetts, where the discipline is very +strict. I had a personal interview with the master, and requested +him, as a favor, to chastise Myndert, if all other means failed to +subdue him. Though I could not bear to whip him, I was willing that +he should suffer a proper punishment, inflicted in the right +spirit, from others. At this school he conducted himself properly +for about three weeks, and was taking a high rank as a scholar, +when his natural tastes asserted themselves, in all sorts of wicked +pranks on his fellow pupils, on the teachers, and on people in the +village. The master at first expostulated, and then gave Myndert a +good thrashing. That night the master narrowly escaped being hit by +a large stone thrown through his bedroom window. Next morning my +son was missing, and for three weeks no trace of him could be +found. I advertised in newspapers, describing him, and offering +large rewards for his recovery. I had the same notice printed on +bills, and stuck up all through the country. I employed detectives +to trace out the runaway. A month passed, and no tidings. I was in +despair. Toward the close of the fifth week, one of the detectives +struck a trail on Cape Cod, and, after a patient search, found the +young rascal living, under the assumed name of Carlo, with a +fisherman, in a little seaside hamlet. As the fishing season was a +good one, and men were scarce, the fisherman had gladly received my +son as an apprentice for his board. The novelty, excitement, and +sometimes danger of the pursuit pleased Myndert greatly, and the +old fisherman said that he was a good hand for a boy. When the +detective found him, however, he was beginning to be tired of his +strange occupation (nothing pleases him long), and he consented to +come home on condition that I would not scold him, and would give +him plenty of pocket money. I had been weak enough to authorize the +making of these promises.</p> +<p>"The return of my prodigal son made me happy. As I had promised, +I did not reproach him, and gave him all the money that he wished. +He was not old enough to know how to spend money viciously. His +tastes, though costly, were comparatively innocent. From childhood +he had always been very fond of new clothes, and he indulged that +passion to the utmost. At twelve years of age, he was called the +'Young Dandy' all through this part of the town; and I sometimes +heard of his attracting attention on Broadway.</p> +<p>"He was so well satisfied with my generosity, that he consented +to receive two short lessons daily from tutors at the house, and +surprised them, as he did everybody, with his wonderful aptitude +for learning."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="D_CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>BUYING GOOD BEHAVIOR.</h3> +<br> +<p>"For three years I bought my son's good behavior with unlimited +pocket money, and foolishly thought that his nature had changed. +Occasionally he would do malicious acts to his tutors, or to my +housekeeper or servants; but these occurred less frequently as time +rolled on, and at last ceased. At fifteen years of age, he was +sufficiently advanced in learning to pass a college examination, +and I determined to send him to college. He was delighted at the +proposal, for he had begun now to appreciate the advantages of +education. Anticipating that he would have trouble with the +Faculty, I selected a college which was distinguished for its means +of learning, and was jet very lenient in its discipline. Myndert +easily obtained admission, and at once took high rank in his class. +Knowledge came so easy to him, that he had plenty of leisure, and I +feared that his old vicious habits would break out again. Greatly +did I rejoice not to hear a single complaint of him during his +first term. But, alas! I found, when he returned home, that he had +learned to drink and gamble, and that the large sums of money I had +sent him had been squandered in carousals, and over the card table. +Still he maintained the first position in his class, and of that I +was proud.</p> +<p>"I remonstrated against his vices. He admitted that there was +some truth in what I had heard, mixed up with a great deal of +exaggeration; and justified his conduct by saying that it was the +fashion, and he could not keep out of it if he would. His good +health and naturally high spirits did not appear to be in the least +affected by dissipation, and I gladly allowed myself to believe +that many of the reports about him were false.</p> +<p>"The next term was still more expensive; and I found out that +the larger portion of my heavy outlay went for liquor and gambling. +Still he kept a high grade in his class--taking the second rank +instead of the first; and the Faculty either were ignorant of his +misconduct, or did not think it worth punishing. Through his first, +second, and third years at college, these were his only vices. His +constitution, though strong, was gradually undermined; and, at the +end of his junior year, he showed unmistakable signs of bloating, +became very irregular in his attendance on recitations, and had +sunk to be the fifteenth in his class. I had hopes that he would +pass through his fourth year safely, and get a diploma. But, at the +very beginning of that year, he kept drunk, and absented himself +from recitations for a fortnight, and, when called before the +Faculty for a mild reprimand, cursed them with the most horrible +oaths, defied them, and left their presence. They had no choice but +to expel him from the college; and, a week after, he was brought +home to me nearly dead with intoxication.</p> +<p>"A month's illness followed, which brought him almost to the +grave. Though, at the time, I prayed with all a father's love for +his recovery, I have since thought--- oh, how often!--that it would +have been far better for him to have died. But he was spared; and, +having been thoroughly frightened by his narrow escape from the +effects of drunkenness, he vowed, on his recovery, that he would +never touch another drop of liquor. This pledge he kept for some +months after his health was fully restored.</p> +<p>"Having decided to educate him for the law--the only profession +that he did not hold in contempt--I procured a place for him in the +office of Mulroy, Biggup & Lartimore, an excellent firm with +whom I had had some dealings.</p> +<p>"Myndert entered upon his study of the profession with such +ardor, that I was obliged to caution him against ruining his +health. But he only laughed, and said he wanted to make up for past +follies. I had never before seen him in a penitent mood, and I was +delighted. Mr. Mulroy, who has had a hundred pupils in his time, +told me that he never had a more promising one than Myndert. He was +a regular and constant attendant at the office, and spent all his +evenings at home. The natural strength of his constitution came to +his aid, as if to encourage him in his efforts to reform; and, +notwithstanding his severe studies, he began to look in better +health than he had ever been. Thus things went on six whole weeks, +and I was happy, and busied myself in framing plans for my son's +advancement in life.</p> +<p>"He told me, one day, that he had joined a club of young law +students, who met every evening and discussed legal points, held +mock courts, and thus sought to familiarize themselves with the +duties of their profession; and asked me if I approved of it. He +sought my approval so rarely for anything, that I freely gave it, +cautioning him again, however, to be careful of his health. He +laughed at my apprehensions. But I was pained to see how soon my +fears proved true. Within a fortnight, the rosy color of his cheeks +had disappeared, and his eyes were palpably sunken, dull, and +marked with a sickly blue beneath. He never returned home till +midnight, and sometimes was out till three o'clock in the morning. +I scolded him for devoting so much time to his law club; but he +said that the members were, like himself, enthusiastic students, +and that he was always the first to leave their fascinating debates +and mimic trials. A week later, I marked the familiar bloat in his +cheeks, and suspected the truth.</p> +<p>"Placing a watch upon his movements--no easy matter, for he is +very shrewd and cautious--I soon found out that the law club was a +myth, and that his nights were passed in the wildest debauchery. He +had not only resumed all his old vices, but had acquired new +ones.</p> +<p>"When I reproved him, as I did with just indignation, he threw +off the mask of concealment, which he said he was tired of wearing, +and became the same bold, defiant, reckless boy that he always was; +while I continued to be the same weak, foolish, fond parent. I +cannot recount the tortures inflicted upon me by my son since that +fatal discovery. He has not only abandoned all his law studies +(having been expelled from the office of Mulroy, Biggup & +Lartimore for grossly insulting a young female client), and utterly +ruined his own body and soul, but, by his acts, he has brought +shame upon several families.</p> +<p>"When this new series of outrages came to my knowledge, I +threatened to disinherit him. He laughed at me. He knew how I loved +him for his mother's sake, and, with that hold upon my affections, +he defied me.</p> +<p>"To heartless indifference he gradually added insults, and often +cursed me, his own father, in this very room, where his mother has +rocked his cradle a thousand times while she listened to my reading +of an old poem or novel. The last of his crimes of which I have +heard, was brought to my knowledge about six weeks ago. It was a +piece of treachery the most villanous, and I told my son, in plain +words, what I thought of it. I was weak and nervous from an illness +which is hereditary in my family, and I reprimanded him with more +severity than usual. I told him, that if God, in His infinite +mercy, spared him, yet he was not secure from just punishment from +the friends of those whom he had wronged, and that the human +vengeance, which had been so long postponed, would surely come. He +looked at me with malice in his small gray eyes (not his mother's +eyes), and, when I ceased speaking, raised both hands to heaven, +and, with the most horrible blasphemy, called down its curses upon +me; and then he swore, that if I crossed his path, or thwarted his +plans, or refused him money, he would kill me.</p> +<p>"Just before he uttered this monstrous threat, I sprang from my +chair with horror, and caught him imploringly by both hands. I +would have saved him from that dreadful act, but I was too late. I +saw him wrench away his right hand, and raise it to strike me +back.... I knew no more, until Mrs. Frump, my niece, who has had +charge of my household during the past three years, entered the +room, and found me stretched insensible on the floor."</p> +<p>"I saw a part of the sad scene," said Marcus Wilkeson, who had +listened with mingled indignation and compassion to this strange +tale. "Your son was standing by that window, and you were sitting +near him, also within sight of me. I distinctly saw you catch your +son's hands with your own; he wrenched the right one away, and +raised it; then you fell, but he did not strike you, or attempt to. +As you dropped to the floor, he glanced anxiously through the +window, saw me watching him, and then pulled down the curtain."</p> +<p>"Then he did not strike me to the floor! I never believed he +did, for there was no bruise or other mark upon my head. Thank God, +my son was spared the commission of that crime! Bad as he is, he +would not strike his own father." And the poor old gentleman's +heart found meagre comfort, for a moment, in that thought.</p> +<p>"A few words more, and I am done. The shock brought my disease +to a crisis. For over a month my recovery was doubtful. But my +naturally tough constitution, skilful medical attendance, and the +unceasing care of Mrs. Frump, brought me safely out of it. The +devotion of that good, light-hearted woman was truly affecting. She +never left my bedside, night or day, except for a few hours' rest; +and even to-day, when, as you see, I am well enough to sit up and +talk, and, in fact, am perfectly restored to health, it was only by +almost pushing her into the street that I could get her to go out +for a day's shopping--a luxury which the good soul had denied to +herself during all my illness."</p> +<p>("I must tell Maltboy about this excellent woman," thought +Marcus,)</p> +<p>"My son did not come near my sickbed, and I have not seen him +since that unhappy day. He has visited the house daily, and shut +himself in his room for several hours. How he occupies his time, I +cannot imagine, but am sure that it is only in studying or +practising evil."</p> +<p>"Possibly I may throw some light on that mystery," said Marcus. +"I have seen him, from my convenient window, enter his room, day +after day, generally in the afternoon, sit down at his table, and +write for over an hour steadily."</p> +<p>"That is strange!" exclaimed the old gentleman. "He has given up +the study of law. He has no taste for literary labor. He writes a +beautiful hand, and would not waste time in trying to improve his +penmanship. It is singular, indeed."</p> +<p>"His work, whatever it is, does not seem to satisfy him; for I +have observed that he no sooner fills a page with writing, than he +burns it to ashes by the gas jet, which he always keeps faintly +lighted above his head."</p> +<p>"Some more villany, I am sure," said the old gentleman, with a +deep sigh. "We shall find it out by its terrible consequences, in +due time. He has plenty of leisure to cultivate his vices, but not +a moment to seek my forgiveness (which, God knows, I would freely +grant, if he would only ask it). He cannot even throw away a word +upon Mrs. Frump, to find out whether his own father is dead or +alive."</p> +<p>The last thought gave acute pain to the wretched parent. Tears +again sprang to his eyes, and Marcus feared that he was about to +witness that saddest sight in nature--an old man weeping.</p> +<p>But, by an effort, Mr. Van Quintem stifled his emotion, and, +turning suddenly upon his visitor, cried, in a voice of +despair:</p> +<p>"Tell me, sir, in Heaven's name, what <i>shall I</i> do with my +son?"</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="D_CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>THE YOUNG MONSTER.</h3> +<br> +<p>From boyhood, it had been Marcus Wilkeson's fortune (or the +reverse) to attract confidence, and to be sought out for advice. +And it had most generally happened that he was requested to bestow +the last valuable article in cases where inexperience absolutely +disqualified him from giving it.</p> +<p>He had found, however, that, when people ask for advice, they +expect to receive it, although they reserve to themselves the +right, and, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, exercise the +privilege, of rejecting it.</p> +<p>But Marcus had gathered, from the old gentleman's story, that +the error of his dealings with the rebellious son lay in his +constantly seeking advice from everybody, and taking it, too, +instead of adopting some firm, consistent, and independent course +of his own toward that unfilial monster. Furthermore, Marcus knew +that the son was already beyond the reach of reform. For the future +peace of his venerable friend, and for the good of society, he +could have conscientiously recommended two things:</p> +<p>First, the immediate hanging of Myndert Van Quintem, jr. Second, +his imprisonment for life in a penitentiary warranted to be strong +enough to hold him.</p> +<p>Neither of these courses being practicable until that young man +had entitled himself to the benefit of one or the other of them in +the legitimate way, Marcus Wilkeson had nothing to offer, and so he +told the old gentleman.</p> +<p>Mr. Van Quintem was disappointed. He looked up wistfully, and +said:</p> +<p>"Can't you suggest something?"</p> +<p>Thus appealed to, Marcus angled in the deep waters of his mind, +and fished up this inadequate idea:</p> +<p>"Let him travel a couple of years in Europe."</p> +<p>"I have proposed it," returned the old gentleman, "but he won't, +unless I give him five thousand dollars, and an unlimited letter of +credit. This I refused. Besides, to tell the truth, I do not wish +to exile the boy, but to reform him at home."</p> +<p>Marcus was too polite to say bluntly that that was impossible; +so he cast in his line again at random, and drew out this worthless +suggestion:</p> +<p>"Stop all his pocket money, and tell him plainly that you will +disinherit him unless he reforms."</p> +<p>"My dear sir," replied the old gentleman, "that might do with +some sons, but not with mine. He would obtain money by theft, or +even a worse crime, and bring disgrace upon my gray hairs. He might +go even farther--for he has threatened it, as I told you--and +murder me in revenge. Besides, he is on short allowance now. I give +him only thirty dollars a week--less than a quarter of what he used +to receive from me. Much as his conduct deserves punishment, I +could not reduce him to beggary, you know."</p> +<p>This useless discussion was cut short by the precipitate +entrance of the subject of it. Mr. Van Quintem was greatly +surprised at the sudden apparition, and his face exhibited signs +first of astonishment, then of indignation, then of pleasure, in +quick succession. But before his erring son Had advanced halfway +toward the father's chair, the father turned his head slightly +away, as if not daring to trust himself to an interview.</p> +<p>The son took one sharp survey of Marcus, and then slipped his +right hand insinuatingly in that of his father, which hung over an +arm of the easy chair. Mr. Van Quintem turned his face farther +away, but Marcus observed that his fingers closed upon the hand +which lay within them.</p> +<p>"Are you quite well, my dear father?" asked the son, in a low, +hollow voice, not meant to be overheard by the visitor.</p> +<p>"I am, thanks to God, and the doctor, and my niece," said the +father, stealing a side look at his son.</p> +<p>"And no thanks to me, I know that. I feared, my dear father, +after what had occurred, that you could not bear the sight of me. +Therefore I kept away from your bedside."</p> +<p>"That is a lame excuse, Myndert," replied the father. He spoke +in a voice intended to be audible to Marcus Wilkeson.</p> +<p>A gleam in the son's sunken eyes, and a new pallor on his +bloated cheeks, indicated his displeasure at the turn which this +conversation was taking. He withdrew his hand, and said, in a deep +whisper:</p> +<p>"I did not think you would quarrel with me, when I called to +congratulate you on your recovery."</p> +<p>Mr. Van Quintem wavered a moment. Then, looking at the calm face +of Marcus Wilkeson, as if to gather strength from it, he +replied:</p> +<p>"My son, such language is not respectful to your father. You +know, as God knows, that I have been too indulgent with you."</p> +<p>The son coolly twirled the ends of his mustache--which protruded +from each side of his mouth like the antennae of a catfish--and +gazed impudently in his father's face. Then he turned about, and +bestowed another scornful, analyzing look on the tranquil +Marcus.</p> +<p>"That is a friend of mine, Myndert, and I have no secrets from +him. Mr. Wilkeson--my son."</p> +<p>Marcus politely rose, and offered his hand to the young man, who +accepted it reluctantly.</p> +<p>"I have seen you before, I believe," said he. "Across the way, +eh?"</p> +<p>"I dare say," was the reply. "I sometimes sit at the window, +reading."</p> +<p>Myndert then abruptly faced his fatherland Marcus resumed his +chair.</p> +<p>"Since you have no secrets from this gentleman," said the son, +"allow me to ask if you could conveniently spare five hundred +dollars this morning?"</p> +<p>The old gentleman hesitated; then reassured himself by an +observation of Marcus Wilkeson's face, and said:</p> +<p>"No, my son; I can no longer encourage this extravagance. Where +is your last monthly allowance?"</p> +<p>"Gone, of course," answered the son, in a loud and insolent +tone. "Do you expect to keep me on miserable driblets like +that?"</p> +<p>"Thirty dollars a week, and board and lodging, are enough for +any reasonable young man, Myndert. I cannot give you more."</p> +<p>The son glared on his father and Marcus Wilkeson (holding the +latter chiefly responsible for the refusal) with amazement.</p> +<p>"Since you are obstinate, then, make it three hundred." The son +had often been able to obtain half or two thirds of what he +originally asked, as a compromise.</p> +<p>Again the old gentleman wavered; and it was not until he had +looked Marcus Wilkeson straight in the eye, that he answered, +striking the arm of the chair with his thin white hand:</p> +<p>"Not one cent!"</p> +<p>The tumid cheeks assumed a sicklier white, and the small, +offensive eyes sparkled with a fiercer fury, as the son +replied:</p> +<p>"Very well, sir. Be as stingy as you please. Take the advice of +your new friend here, and cut off my beggarly monthly allowance, +too. But remember, I must have money, and I will have it!"</p> +<p>Had Marcus Wilkeson not been present, the father might have been +brought to terms by this vague but dreadful threat. But now he +shook his head, as an intimation that nothing could move him.</p> +<p>"You have taken your own course, sir," continued the son, +through his closed teeth. "I shall take mine. Don't forget my last +words. As for you, sir," turning to Marcus Wilkeson, "we shall +probably meet again."</p> +<p>Marcus urbanely responded that nothing could give him greater +pleasure. The son, darting a last malignant look at his father, +whose face was happily averted, strode out of the room, slamming +the door, and afterward the street door, with increased +emphasis.</p> +<p>When he had gone, the father said to his visitor, feebly:</p> +<p>"Have I done right?"</p> +<p>"Precisely. Your conduct was firm, prudent, and will have a good +effect."</p> +<p>"I hope so--I hope so. But don't you think, now, I was a little +too severe--to begin with, I mean? I fear that my son will be +driven to crime; and that would kill me."</p> +<p>"I regard his threats as only empty words," replied Marcus. He +has found them useful heretofore, and he tries them now. Having +learned that they do not longer frighten you, he will never employ +them again. That is one point gained. If he is really bad enough to +commit a crime for money, your misjudged kindness will not prevent +him, but will rather encourage his evil disposition."</p> +<p>"There is truth in what you say," replied the old gentleman, +faintly; "but I--I--fear."</p> +<p>The protracted conversation, and the suppressed agony of the +past few minutes, were too much for the old gentleman to bear on +his first day of convalescence. He suddenly turned very pale, and +his head drooped. Marcus threw open a window, and held the cordial +to his lips. As Marcus was applying this restorative, without any +perceptible benefit, the door opened, and Mrs. Frump ran in, red in +the face, and quite out of breath.</p> +<p>"Excuse me, sir. I am Mrs. Frump, Mr. Van Quintem's niece."</p> +<p>"I am Mr. Wilkeson, a friend of Mr. Van Quintem," said Marcus, +hastily introducing himself; "and I am glad you are come."</p> +<p>"Yes, I see. Fainted away. Revive in a moment. Fresh air. +Cordial, Quite right. Now a little water on his forehead."</p> +<p>Mrs. Frump made her sentences short, to accommodate her +breath.</p> +<p>As she passed a cool sponge across the patient's brow, she +said:</p> +<p>"I knew it would be so. He has been here. I saw him round the +corner. Looking pale and mad."</p> +<p>"You are right, madam. He <i>has</i> been here."</p> +<p>Mrs. Frump's pleasant little eyes shone with unnatural anger, +and there was a presage of wrathful words in her quivering lips. +Mrs. Frump was desperately trying to keep back certain private +opinions that she had long entertained, but proved unequal to the +effort. She burst out with:</p> +<p>"He's an undutiful son, sir. A monster, sir. And he's killing +his poor father. He's--"</p> +<p>"Ah! what?" said Mr. Van Quintem, opening his eyes, and looking +wildly around, like one who wakes from a horrible dream.</p> +<p>"It's I. Your niece--Gusty," replied Mrs. Frump, changing her +assumed harsh tones into her natural soft ones "And I think you had +better go to bed. Please take hold, Mr. Wilkeson, and assist him to +the next room." She added, in a whisper, "Don't talk with him any +more to-day."</p> +<p>Mr. Wilkeson nodded, raised his eyebrows to signify that he +appreciated the advice, and proceeded at once to aid Mrs. Frump in +her benevolent task. The old gentleman had considerably revived by +this time.</p> +<p>"You are right, my dear Gusty," said he, looking fondly at his +niece. "You are always right. And you are right, too, sir," he +added, turning to Marcus. "Ah, if I had known such a good adviser +years ago."</p> +<p>Marcus, remembering Mrs. Frump's injunction, made no answer to +this remark.</p> +<p>When the old gentleman had been led tottering into the adjacent +parlor, which was fitted up as his bedroom, and placed comfortably +on a high prop of pillows, Marcus drew out his watch, made an +amiable pretence of very important business down town, and bade his +venerable friend "good-by."</p> +<p>"I had hoped you could stay longer; for I feel that you are a +true friend, and I can confide my sorrows to you," murmured the old +gentleman, taking his guest fondly by the hand.</p> +<p>But Marcus, fortified by another significant look from Mrs. +Frump, declared that business was imperative, and he must go. He +would call to-morrow, without fail, and hoped to find his friend as +cheerful as a cricket. The old gentleman smiled at the absurdity of +that hope, and said he should depend on seeing him to-morrow.</p> +<p>So, shaking hands warmly with Mr. Van Quintem, and bowing most +respectfully to Mrs. Frump, Marcus took his departure, and +meditated, as he walked slowly home, on the strange occurrences of +the day.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="D_CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>WESLEY TIFFLES.</h3> +<br> +<p>One evening, shortly after the events narrated in the last +chapter, the three bachelors, having finished dinner, and escaped +from the grim presence of Miss Philomela Wilkeson, took their +accustomed seats and pipes in the little back parlor. The curtains +were drawn, the gas was lighted, the fire burning brightly, and, +upon these outward tokens of cheer, the three bachelors reflected +contentment and happiness from their six eyes. In his own opinion, +each of the three had unlimited cause to be happy; and not even +that killjoy of the household, Miss Wilkeson, could mar the +completeness of their felicity--when she was not present.</p> +<p>Fayette Overtop was blessed with the thought, that in Mrs. +Slapman he had found, at last, that rare bird for which he had +patiently hunted through the valleys and uplands of society--"a +sensible woman." The intellectual sympathy which was enkindled +between them on the memorable occasion of their first meeting, had +grown warmer at each successive interview--first at a supper party, +second at a <i>conversazione</i>, and third at a private theatrical +and musical entertainment, to all of which Mr. Overtop had been +invited, with the particular compliments of the liberal +hostess.</p> +<p>During this pleasant acquaintance, Mr. Overtop had made the +extraordinary discovery that Mrs. Slapman was married, and that the +thin little man whom he saw dodging up the stairs on New Year's day +was her husband.</p> +<p>It would be difficult to explain, on behalf of Mr. Overtop, a +phenomenon which Mr. Overtop was never able to explain to the +satisfaction of the gossip-loving public, or of his best friends. +We therefore content ourselves with merely stating the fact, that +Mr. Overtop's admiration for Mrs. Slapman was purely intellectual; +that he was fascinated by her vivacious intellect, and not by her +substantial person; by the charm of her manners, and not of her +face. He looked upon Mrs. Slapman as a masculine mind and soul, of +uncommon depth, made powerfully magnetic by its enshrinement in a +feminine form. Overtop once told Matthew Maltboy, that he knew, in +his own experience, the meaning of Platonic love. But Matthew, who +was a sad materialist even in his sentimental moods, laughed at +him, and winked. Overtop positively felt hurt at this unkind +reception of his confidences, and never again alluded to the state +of his feelings toward Mrs. Slapman, until subsequent occurrences +made it necessary in self-defence.</p> +<p>With Mr. Slapman he was not personally acquainted; but he had +ascertained privately, from a musical frequenter of the house, who +invariably brought his flute with him, and who was understood to be +the oldest friend of the family, that Mr. Slapman owned a large +property in wild land in Pennsylvania, not a hundred miles from New +York; that he was improving it, and selling it out in building +lots, and had already cleared a handsome fortune; that he was a +strict business man, and looked after his affairs in person, +passing between New York and Slapmansville (the name of the new +settlement) twice a week, and spending the larger part of his time +at the latter place. Also that, next to avarice, which was his +crowning trait, his chief fault was jealousy. It galled him to +think that his wife had obtained a settlement in bank from him +before marriage, which enabled her to indulge her tastes for +society; and it enraged him still more to observe how much she was +loved and admired by others, when he had purchased her exclusively +for his private love and admiration. He it was who was to be +sometimes seen stalking through the parlors with a pale face, or +running up and down the front staircase in a state of great nervous +agitation. None of Mrs. Slapman's visitors had the pleasure of his +personal acquaintance; and it was considered a point of good +breeding not to allude to him in her presence.</p> +<p>For this misguided man Fayette Overtop felt a real pity. He +yearned to expostulate with him gently, as a friend. Taking Mr. +Slapman's hand in his own, he would have said:</p> +<p>"Your wife is a precious gift to the world. Seek not to check +the outflow of her ardent nature. Thank Heaven that you are the +custodian of such a treasure, not to be selfishly monopolized by +yourself, but held in trust for the benefit of society."</p> +<p>Overtop's meditations, on this particular occasion, pertained to +the style of the costume which would most become him as the lover +of Mrs. Slapman, in an original play to be enacted at her house +toward the close of the week. The question was chiefly of knee +breeches. Overtop was mentally debating whether he ought not, in +justice to his thin legs, to substitute an ampler style of +integuments.</p> +<p>Matthew Maltboy had also been invited to this <i>soirée +dramatique</i> (as Mrs. Slapman's large pasteboards expressed it). +A fat man was a necessity of the play. Mrs. Slapman was not cordial +to Matthew, regarding him as an excessively commonplace person, and +had invited him to her social gatherings out of courtesy to +Overtop; but her artist eye saw in him a fitness for the fat man. +Matthew was delighted with the implied compliment to those talents +for the stage which every man supposes himself to possess in some +degree, and cheerfully undertook the part.</p> +<p>The proprieties of costume did not in the least perplex Mr. +Maltboy, as he lay on the sofa digesting his dinner, and puffing +out smoke rings by the dozen. His thoughts were mildly fixed on +that delightful Miss Whedell. Five times he had been graciously +permitted to visit the lady at her house, and to discover a score +of new charms at each interview. A large experience in love making +assured him that the object of his idolatry was not wholly +indifferent to him. The paternal Whedell had hobbies. Matthew had +studied them, like a skilful strategist, catered to them, and felt +quite sure that he had that revered individual on his side. But, in +the midst of these pleasant imaginings, there rose the dark and +baleful image of Chiffield!</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson was also pondering--pleasantly, if one might +judge from the contented smile upon his lips. The subject of his +thoughts was one which, for reasons that seemed good to him, he +still kept secret from his fellow bachelors. He had freely told +them of his singular adventure at the house of the old gentleman +opposite; but not a word of the inventor and his daughter, and of +the private school at Miss Pillbody's. Not even the minute and +sometimes tedious accounts which Overtop and Maltboy gave of their +private thoughts and experiences, could induce Marcus to +reciprocate their confidence. For the first time in his life he +wore a mask before his companions, and prevaricated, and became, on +a small scale, a humbug.</p> +<p>The sharp ringing of the doorbell broke in upon the quiet +reflections of the three bachelors. Mash, the cook, who was at that +moment reading the fifteenth chapter of "The Buttery and the +Boudoir: A Tale of Real Life," in her favorite weekly, threw down +the paper in a passion, bounded up stairs, and admitted John Wesley +Tiffles, or Wesley Tiffles, as he always subscribed himself on +promissory notes and other worthless paper. Mr. Tiffles chucked +Mash familiarly under the chin (resented with a scornful look by +Mash, who had learned from "The Buttery and the Boudoir" to set a +proper value on herself), and then walked straight to the parlor, +like one who knew he was a welcome guest.</p> +<p>And he was right. For when he opened the door, and disclosed to +the three bachelors the well-known laughing eyes, hopeful face, and +spare figure of Wesley Tiffles, they hailed him with enthusiasm. He +was a walking cure for despondency, although he sometimes charged +too high, in the shape of borrowed money, for his professional +services. But neither of the three bachelors had yet sustained that +pecuniary tax which Wesley Tiffles always levied upon his friends, +just before leaving them forever. They formed a part of his reserve +corps, which had latterly been sadly thinned out in Mr. Tiffles's +desperate contest with the world.</p> +<p>Mr. Tiffles shook hands with Marcus Wilkeson, giving him the +grip of some unknown Order, slapped Overtop on the back, and +playfully pulled the whiskers of Maltboy. Then he filled a pipe, +threw himself into a chair, adjusted his legs in the true form of a +compass, and opened his coat ostentatiously. All this in about ten +seconds, and with a geniality that defied reproof. He was the very +embodiment of cheer.</p> +<p>"Prepare to be astonished," said Mr. Tiffles, after his third +whiff. "I have a splendid idea." The three bachelors smiled, and +nodded an intimation that they were prepared,</p> +<p>"I have had some impracticable notions in my time; but this +<i>is</i> good, and you'll say so. You know that dog, Mark, two +doors below--the large yellow one, with cropped ears, and a tail +like the handle of a shaving brush?"</p> +<p>Mr. Wilkeson replied that he had the pleasure of the animal's +acquaintance,</p> +<p>"Well, as I was passing the dog's house on my way here, I +slipped in the snow. The dog, always on the alert for victims, took +a mean advantage of my situation, and jumped after me through the +open gate. I scrambled to my feet, but not before he had fastened +his teeth in my right leg----"</p> +<p>"Good heavens! was he mad?" cried Overtop, who had a horror of +dogs, and made wide circuits about them in the street.</p> +<p>"Can't say as to that," replied Wesley Tiffles, "but advise you +to keep shy of him for the future, I was about to say that he bit +me through the leg of my trowsers. And on that very instant, as if +by inspiration, I caught--not the hydrophobia, but a magnificent +idea. Having got on my pins, I kicked the dog into his front yard, +and immediately worked the idea into shape. You'll be sure to like +it."</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson, speaking for self and friends, said he had no +doubt of that. Mr. Tiffles's ideas always possessed the merit of +novelty.</p> +<p>"That means that they have no other merit!" returned Tiffles, +laughing, "Very true of most of them, I confess all my failures. +But here is an idea which even you, skeptic as you are, will grant +to be not only novel, but great. You have all observed, gentlemen, +the immense differences in dogs. There are white, black, brown, +gray, yellow (like our suggestive canine friend two doors below), +tan-colored, mouse-colored, striped, and spotted dogs. There are +round dogs, square dogs, long dogs, short dogs, tall dogs, and low +dogs. There are full-grown dogs that weigh less than a pound, and +others that kick the beam at a hundred pounds. There are dogs that +are pretty much all tail, and there are dogs that have no tail to +speak of. Among all the dogs that you meet in the street, do you +ever see two exactly alike?"</p> +<p>Fayette Overtop, who spoke from extensive and minute +observation, unhesitatingly said "No."</p> +<p>"True! Nature never repeats herself in dogs. In so doing, Nature +works directly for my benefit, as I will show you. Now, in the +second place, as you are probably aware, there is an ordinance +forbidding unmuzzled dogs to run in the streets during the hot +months--"</p> +<p>"An excellent law," interrupted Overtop.</p> +<p>"If caught at large without muzzles, they are taken to the +public pound, and, unless redeemed by the owners within twenty-four +hours, are drowned in a tub--"</p> +<p>"Serve 'em right," remarked the hydrophobiac bachelor.</p> +<p>"Now, I am <i>slightly</i> acquainted with some members of the +Common Council" (he laid emphasis on the word "slightly," to imply +that he was on terms of the closest intimacy with them), "and can +easily obtain from them the privilege of catching all the stray +dogs, and taking them out of the country next summer."</p> +<p>"Which would be very benevolent to the dogs; and, regarded from +their point of view, your idea is a noble one," thoughtfully +observed Marcus Wilkeson. "But I don't, at this moment, exactly see +how you are benefited by it."</p> +<p>Mr. Tiffles smiled with the consciousness of power, and +chidingly said:</p> +<p>"You are dull this morning, Mark--quite dull. Strike, but hear! +In a word, then, I propose to exhibit two or three hundred of these +dogs, in some country where there are <i>no</i> dogs. I would give +them strange names, put them in cages, and call them the 'American +Menagerie of Trained Animals.' A person who had never seen dogs, +would suppose each one to be a different species from the +others--just as the lion, the tiger, and the leopard are different, +though all belonging to the one cat family. Now, there is my idea. +What do you think of it? Of course, you laugh, at first."</p> +<p>Roars of laughter from the three bachelors had formed the chorus +of "Wesley Tiffles's closing sentences. Marcus Wilkeson, as became +his age, was the first to recover himself.</p> +<p>"The idea is a splendid one. None better. But there is one +slight difficulty in the way. Where are you to find your country +that has no dogs? If there were such a happy land on the face of +this earth, Overtop would have hunted it up long ago, and moved +there."</p> +<p>Overtop laughingly replied, "That's so." He then informed Mr. +Tiffles, while admitting the theoretical excellence of his idea, +that every nation had its dogs as well as its fleas. Those two +friends of man were impartially distributed over the terrestrial +globe. Overtop referred to the standard Cyclopaedias, and several +works on Natural History, in proof of his assertion.</p> +<p>"Can't be! can't be!" retorted Wesley Tiffles, who was at first +disposed to defend his brilliant idea. But brilliant ideas were a +common growth of his fertile mind, and, like all things easily +produced, he held them cheaply. The moment that evidence, or the +test of practice, showed them to be fallacious, he gave them up, +and drew upon his brain for others. So, after a second's +reflection, he added:</p> +<p>"Perhaps you are right. Dogs are not exactly in my line, after +all. But the idea, as an idea, was magnificent."</p> +<p>As Wesley Tiffles spoke, he repeated the act, for the twentieth +time, of throwing back his overcoat (a little seedy), and opening +his vest, as if to draw attention to his shirt front, whose natural +whiteness was toned down by a delicate neutral tint. Immediately +afterward, he placed his hand on a small breastpin in the centre of +the shirt front, and turned it to the right and left. It sparkled +for the first time in the rays of the fire, and revealed to the +experienced eyes of the three bachelors simultaneously, that Wesley +Tiffles was the wearer of a real diamond.</p> +<p>"Excuse me," said Marcus Wilkeson, who divined that Tiffles +wished his diamond to be remarked upon, "but that is pretty!"</p> +<p>"Pretty! What?" said Tiffles, looking about the room.</p> +<p>"That diamond."</p> +<p>"Oh! the diamond. Perhaps you would like to look at it?" (hands +it round for inspection). "Cost forty dollars. Rather a hard draw +on my exchequer" (that was Mr. Tiffles's word for a friend's +pocket); "but I considered it a most judicious investment for a +young man just going into business."</p> +<p>The novelty of this idea was not lost on Fayette Overtop. "Pray +explain, Tiffles," said he.</p> +<p>"Cheerfully," said Tiffles, replacing the gem in his shirt +front, after it had been duly handled and admired. "Nobody will +acknowledge that he is taken in by a diamond. He will say, 'Anybody +can buy a diamond, by saving up thirty or forty dollars; and why +should I believe a man to be rich who wears one?' Yet, in his heart +of hearts, he does believe it, unless the possessor of the diamond +has the bad taste to dress flashily. Then he passes for an +impostor, and people will doubt, even against their own senses, the +genuineness of the stone. But let him dress plainly, as I do," +continued Mr. Tiffles, stroking down the left leg of his black +trowsers, shiny with wear, "and that little diamond shall stand, in +the eyes of the whole world, as the representative of a fat bank +account, a brown stone house, and a couple of corner lots."</p> +<p>Marcus and Matthew laughed, but Fayette Overtop, who absolutely +revelled in paradoxes, said, "True, Tiffles, true!"</p> +<p>"Don't think," pursued Tiffles, "that I expected to impose on +you with it. You know that I am a poor devil, living on my wits." +(Tiffles was delightfully frank with his intimate acquaintances.) +"I hold out this glittering bait, not for my friends, but for my +old foe and natural enemy, the world. You must know that I am on +the eve of a grand speculation--probably the grandest I have ever +undertaken."</p> +<p>"Another plan of advertising with large kites by day, and +pictorial lanterns attached to their tails at night?" asked Marcus +Wilkeson.</p> +<p>"Or another Submarine Pneumatic Parcel-Delivering Tube to +Brooklyn?" asked Matthew Maltboy.</p> +<p>"Or an Association for the Cultivation of Mushrooms in Dark +Cellars?" asked Fayette Overtop.</p> +<p>"Capital hits!" replied Wesley Tiffles, who took an unfeigned +delight in a friendly allusion to his failures. "But allow me to +inform you definitely, that those unfortunate speculations are not +to be revived. Like the lightning, I don't strike twice in the same +place. No; the project upon which I am now engaged is one so +eminently practical, so free from all that is visionary, that you +will wonder how I thought of it. That project is a PANORAMA OF +AFRICA!"</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="D_CHAPTER_V."></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>THE PANORAMA OF AFRICA</h3> +<br> +<p>The three bachelors concurred in the opinion that the idea was a +good one; but Marcus Wilkeson suggested that the field was too +large.</p> +<p>"I thought you would like the general proposition," said +Tiffles. "But, bless you, Mark! I don't mean to paint the whole +continent, from stem to stern, so to speak; only the undiscovered +part of Central Africa--say from Cape Guardafui on the east to the +Bight of Benin on the west."</p> +<p>"But how the deuce," asked Matthew Maltboy, "are you, or anybody +else, going to paint what has not been discovered?"</p> +<p>Tiffles could hardly suppress a smile at the simplicity of the +question. "Why," said he, "that's easy enough. Don't all the +geographers tell us that the interior of Africa is made up, so far +as known, of alternate deserts and jungles, like the patches on a +coverlet? Very well. I conform to this general principle of the +continent. I put half of the canvas in desert, and the rest in +jungle, and I can't be far out of the way. Take the idea?"</p> +<p>"Perfectly," said Matthew Maltboy; "but if you have nothing but +alternate, deserts and jungles, it strikes me your panorama will be +a little monotonous. Perhaps I am wrong." (Maltboy always offered +suggestions timidly.)</p> +<p>"I have thought of that, and guarded against it. I shall fill +the jungles with animated life--elephants, lions, tigers, panthers, +leopards, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, giraffes, zebras, +crocodiles, boa constrictors, and other specimens of natural +history indigenous to that delightful region."</p> +<p>"Good!" cried Overtop; "and if you will take a hint from me, you +will show your elephants in the act of being caught by natives, or +engaged in combats with each other; your lions fighting your tigers +or your rhinoceroses; your hippopotamuses engaged in death +struggles with your crocodiles; and your boa constrictors gobbling +down your natives--or, if that is objectionable on the score of +humanity, your monkeys."</p> +<p>"Thank you for the hint; but the expense, and the necessity of +completing the panorama at an early day, put it out of the +question. To paint accurate representations of these animals +engaged in their innocent sports, would occupy the time of a +first-class artist for months, and cost an enormous sum."</p> +<p>"Ah, I see," interrupted Overtop, who liked to show that he +snatched the meaning; "you will put your animals in recumbent +attitudes--sleeping, perhaps, in the depth of jungles, shaded from +the fierce rays of the equatorial sun."</p> +<p>"You have guessed it," said Tiffles, with a broad smile. "Most +of them will be just there--out of sight. The others will be +suggested rather than introduced. Elephants will be signified by +their trunks appearing above the tops of the dense undergrowth. +Lions, tigers, and other quadrupeds, by the tips of their tails. A +boa constrictor will be expressed by a head, a coil, and a bit of +tail showing at intervals. The one horn of the rhinoceros will +always tell where <i>he</i> is. I shall have two small lakes (they +are scarce in Africa) for my hippopotamuses and crocodiles. If they +exhibit only small portions of their heads above the surface, that +is not my fault. It is the nature of the beasts, you know."</p> +<p>"Ha! ha! That is what I call Art concealing Art," said +Overtop.</p> +<p>"So it is," returned Tiffles; "and it will be appreciated, I +doubt not, by those who affect the school of Severe Simplicity in +painting."</p> +<p>"One thing more," said Marcus Wilkeson. "Do you intend to take +the panorama through the country, and lecture on it?"</p> +<p>"I do. And here let me say, that I read up the law of false +pretences long ago. I shall style myself Professor Wesley on the +bills. That I have a right to do, as my full name doesn't look well +in type. Actors and singers do the same thing every day. I shall +call myself a great traveller. This is strictly true. I have been +North to Boston, West to Detroit, and South to Baltimore. I shall +not say that I have been in Africa, or that the sketches were taken +on the spot. If my audience choose to infer <i>that</i>, that is +their business. If any one doubts the accuracy of my panorama, I +can say triumphantly, 'Prove it!'"</p> +<p>"Excellent, but a little risky," said Marcus Wilkeson, who could +not help admiring the audacity of the plan. "Your next great +difficulty will be to satisfy audiences after you have got them +together, as I dare say you will, by some brilliant system of +advertising. I have heard--perhaps you have--of audiences breaking +furniture, smashing chandeliers, and tarring and feathering +people."</p> +<p>"All that has been thought of," was the reply. "Before I leave +the city, I shall give a private exhibition of the panorama to a +few ministers of various denominations, in the lecture room of some +up-town church. Ministers, you know, are debarred by their +profession from attending the opera and theatres, and will catch at +the chance to see a panorama for nothing. In private life, they are +capital people, as a class--I have known several of them--and will +willingly certify that the panorama is a highly moral, instructive, +and interesting exhibition. I think I can rely on my persuasive +powers for that much. These certificates I shall print on my +posters and handbills. They will draw moral audiences. Moral +audiences do not break furniture, &c., &c. Comprehend my +line of argument?"</p> +<p>"Perfectly," said Marcus; "and very ingenious, <i>as</i> an +argument."</p> +<p>"I thought you would like it. And now, to drop the subject, I +want you three fellows to come up to my rooms, No. 121, third +floor, Bartholomew Buildings, Broadway--you remember--and see this +great work of art, early next week."</p> +<p>"Is it nearly finished?" asked Marcus.</p> +<p>"Yes--in my mind's eye. That is the main thing. The painting has +not yet been begun. It will be a very simple matter. The canvas +will be about four hundred feet long. One half of it will be a dead +level of yellow paint, for desert; and the rest, perpendicular +stripes of green paint, for jungle. A good artist, with a whitewash +brush and two tubsful of paint, ought to do up the whole panorama +in two days. The heads and tails of animated life, the two small +lakes, and a few other objects of interest, such as the sun, the +moon, birds flying in the air, &c., could be put in afterward +by an artist of higher grade. And, by the way, now I think of it, I +may as well open with a sunrise off Cape Guardafui, and a distant +view of the Straits of Babel Mandel, give a passing glance at the +sources of the Nile, which lie in that undiscovered region, a brief +glimpse at the Mountains of the Moon, and wind up with a splendid +sunset in the Bight of Benin. It--"</p> +<p>Mr. Tiffles's observations were cut short by the sudden entrance +of Miss Philomela Wilkeson. She shot rapidly into the room, but, +when her eyes rested on Mr. Tiffles, she recoiled with maiden +modesty, and stepped back as if to beat a retreat. Then, recovering +her self-possession in a small measure, she stepped forward again, +and said, in the blandest of tones, with just the least virgin +coyness:</p> +<p>"I thought perhaps I had left my scissors here this +afternoon."</p> +<p>Messrs. Wilkeson, Overtop, and Maltboy asserted, without rising +from their seats, that they had not seen her scissors, and doubted +very much whether the scissors were in that room. But Wesley +Tiffles, who was the most polite and obliging of mortals when there +was a lady in the case, rose respectfully upon her entrance, and +insisted upon searching the apartment for the missing tool.</p> +<p>Miss Wilkeson, thus being placed under obligations to Mr. +Tiffles, was compelled to take personal cognizance of him, which +she did with the nearest approach to a blush that she was ever +known to make. "I beg, sir, that you will not trouble yourself. +I--I do not think the scissors are here, after all."</p> +<p>"That can be ascertained only by searching, miss," replied +Tiffles. Then he glided about the room in his own nimble fashion, +looking behind the two vases on the mantelpiece, raking over the +littered burden of the table in the corner, and peering and poking +into every place where there was the least likelihood of finding a +stray pair of scissors; Miss Wilkeson all the while deprecating any +further search.</p> +<p>Mr. Tiffles suddenly stopped, like a dragonfly in the midst of +his angular dartings, and said: "Since your scissors are not to be +found, it is fortunate that I have a pocket pair, which are always +at your service." Mr. Tiffles produced the ill-omened article, and +handed it to her. This called out a new lot of thanks, regrets for +having troubled him, apologies, and a peremptory refusal to take +his scissors, immediately followed by their acceptance, and a +promise that she would take the best care of them, and return them +to the owner on his next visit.</p> +<p>Then was the auspicious moment for Miss Wilkeson to have retired +with dignity; but she stood at the door, twirling the fatal +scissors in her hand, and waiting either to say something which did +not come spontaneously, or to have something said to her.</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson saw a subtle motive in this awkward tarrying at +the door, and, having no objection to gratifying it, he straightway +introduced Mr. Wesley Tiffles to Miss Philomela Wilkeson. Mr. +Tiffles put himself into the form of an L, like a professional +acrobat; and Miss Wilkeson executed a courtesy in the old, exploded +style. Then, as if appalled at what she had done, she backed into +the entry as fast as she had come from it.</p> +<p>Mr. Tiffles, upon whom the small events of life made no +impression, thought no more of Miss Wilkeson that evening, but +smoked three pipes, told two funny stories, sang one comic song, +and then went home, having previously exacted from the three +bachelors a promise to call at his rooms and see at least one half +of the panorama completed, on the following day week.</p> +<p>Since Miss Wilkeson had been an inmate of that house, she had +seen Wesley Tiffles perhaps a dozen times, in the entry or on the +doorsteps, and had been impressed with his gentlemanlike air, his +quick black eyes, and his deferential manner toward her. Everybody +is supposed to have a realized ideal somewhere, if he or she could +only find it. Such was Wesley Tiffles to Philomela Wilkeson. Let it +be confessed at once. The lost scissors were all the time quietly +resting at the bottom of Miss Wilkeson's workbag, and she knew it. +The prevalent frailty of human nature must be her excuse.</p> +<p>She had-obtained not only an introduction to Wesley Tiffles, but +a pair of scissors which must be returned to him, and were +therefore a bond of friendship. But Miss Wilkeson forgot the +fatality which the proverb attaches to gifts or loans of that +particular article of cutlery.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BOOK_FIFTH."></a>BOOK FIFTH.</h2> +<h3>MANOEUVRES.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="E_CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>STOLEN--MOKE THAN A PURSE.</h3> +<br> +<p>One morning, as Marcus Wilkeson was idly turning the pages of a +blue-and-gold favorite, the doorbell rang. In accordance with some +mysterious law of acoustics, the sound was full three minutes +descending the kitchen staircase, entering the keyhole of the +kitchen door, and striking on the tympanum of Mash, the cook, who +was sitting by the fire, reading the twenty-fifth chapter of "The +Buttery and the Boudoir: A Tale of Real Life." When Mash became +fully conscious (which was not till the end of the chapter) that +the bell had rung, she expelled a sigh from her fat chest, and +wiped the tears from her eyes with the end of her clean apron, and +then went to the door with a noble resignation to her lot. There +she found a stout elderly woman, bearing a note for "Marcus +Wilkeson, Esq."</p> +<p>"Lor'! how slow you are!" said the stout woman, handing the +letter to her.</p> +<p>Mash, who had read, in the twenty-third chapter, of the +overwhelming way in which the heroine cook had answered an insult +by dignified silence, said not a word in reply, but took the note, +and slammed the door in the stout woman's face.</p> +<p>The exclamation "Bah!" and certain indistinct mutterings which +were audible through the panels, convinced Mash that, by her +self-denial, she had won a moral victory. It was with a feeling of +excusable pride that she walked into the back parlor, and delivered +the note to Marcus Wilkeson.</p> +<p>"Thank you, Mash," said he. It was a singular illustration of +his excessive politeness, that he was no less grateful for paid +services than for free.</p> +<p>Mash retired, thinking to herself that, if Mr. Wilkeson were +only a pirate, a smuggler, a guerilla chieftain, or a dashing +fellow in some unlawful, dangerous business, a few years younger, +he would be a perfect hero.</p> +<p>Marcus did not recognize the handwriting of the address. Tearing +open the envelope, he read the following lines, hastily scrawled on +a bit of blue paper:</p> +<blockquote>Wednesday, A.M.<br> +MARCUS WILKESON, ESQ.:<br> +<br> +SIR: Please come over and see me immediately. I have something +important to communicate.<br> +<br> +Your obedient servant,<br> +ELIPHALET MINFORD.</blockquote> +<p>"Something must be wrong," said Marcus; and startling thoughts +then occurred to him. "Has her hard studying brought on illness? It +can't be. She was well enough last evening. What can be the +matter?"</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson's temperament was of that unfortunate nervous +sort which is thrown off its balance by the slightest shock. His +frame trembled as he put on his overcoat and hat; and, when he +looked in the mirror, he noticed that his face was paler than +usual, and his eyes were glassy. "Pooh! what a sensitive fool I +am!" said he.</p> +<p>He walked hurriedly to Mr. Minford's, and mounted the long, +creaking staircases, two steps at a time, tormenting himself all +the way with vague apprehensions of evil.</p> +<p>When he entered the room, without knocking (as was his custom of +late), he found the inventor standing in front of his machine, with +bare arms, hard at work. Marcus nervously said, "Good morning," and +stepped forward to shake him by the hand, but stopped when he saw +that Mr. Minford averted his face, and did not move.</p> +<p>"I wished to show you a letter which I received a few minutes +ago," said the inventor, still not facing Marcus, but busily filing +off the rough edge of a brass wheel fresh from the mould. "There it +is, on the table."</p> +<p>Marcus caught up the letter, and read the following:</p> +<blockquote>NEW YORK, Wednesday Forenoon.<br> +MR. MINFORD:<br> +<br> +RESPECTED SIR: Allow a true friend and well wisher to ask a few +questions. Who is this Mr. Marcus Wilkeson that has suddenly taken +such an interest in your family affairs? What is his private +history? Why is he relieving you from all trouble and expense in +the education of your beautiful child? What are the man's +<i>real</i> motives? Would it not be well to spare your eyes from +your invention long enough to look into these matters a little? +Pardon the suggestion. The office of a spy, and a secret accuser, +is an unpleasant, and, perhaps, a thankless one. I should never +have assumed it, but for the fact that your ardent devotion to +science may render you the easy dupe--and your daughter the +innocent victim--of a designing and heartless man of the world. I +do not ask you to believe the writer of an anonymous note, and +therefore I make no specific charges against this Wilkeson; but +merely ask you to inquire into his private character, and, above +all, his MOTIVES, for yourself.<br> +<br> +ONE OF MANY.</blockquote> +<p>Though Marcus Wilkeson was as innocent as a child, in deed and +thought, of the baseness hinted at in this letter, he felt that he +was looking guilty. Astonishment and indignation kindled in his +eyes; but a flush of shame mounted at the same time to his cheeks. +Marcus had often said, that if he were tapped on the shoulder in +the street, and charged with a petty theft, he would look guilty of +grand larceny until he could regain command of his feelings. This +diseased sensitiveness, inherited from his mother, was the curse of +his physical and mental organization.</p> +<p>His shame was increased by a consciousness that the inventor was +stealthily watching him, and studying the enlargement of those +horrid red spots on his cheeks.</p> +<p>"When Marcus finished the letter, he put on an expression of +outraged innocence--which matched poorly with the flaming tokens of +guilt--and said:</p> +<p>"These are infernal lies, sir; and, if I knew the coward who +wrote them, I would cram them down his throat."</p> +<p>"Of course they are lies," returned Mr. Minford. "Every +anonymous letter writer is a liar--until it is proved that he tells +the truth. I shall believe none of these low aspersions on your +honor, Mr. Wilkeson, without conclusive evidence." As the inventor +said this, not emphatically, Marcus saw that he believed all that +the letter had insinuated.</p> +<p>By this time, Marcus had got his constitutional devil a little +under control. There was something of real boldness and honesty in +his eyes, as he answered:</p> +<p>"This is a distressing subject to talk or think of. But now that +it has been brought before us, I demand a full investigation. Go, +wherever you will, among those who know me, and inquire into my +character. Recall everything that has occurred between us since the +beginning of our acquaintance. Ask your daughter if I have ever +spoken a word to her, or cast a look at her, which could justify +these infamous insinuations. Thus much I ask of you, in justice to +me."</p> +<p>"And I refuse, sir," said the inventor. "I will not insult you +by an unworthy suspicion. The world is full of impertinent people, +and we can no more stop their gabble, than that of swallows in the +air. This nameless fellow signs himself 'One of Many,' That is +probably a lie. But if there were thousands like himself prying +into your and my affairs, I should not care. As for motives, none +but fools and misanthropes trouble themselves about +<i>them</i>."</p> +<p>The inventor tossed off the last sentence contemptuously. But +Marcus knew that he did attach a great importance to motives; +although he could not fairly be ranked either among the +misanthropes or the fools. He therefore replied:</p> +<p>"The whole world is welcome to inquire into my motives. As I +understand them, they are: First, I take pleasure in your society, +sir, because, like myself, you are a quiet, thinking man. Second, +you have a hobby--your machine, there--and I admire people with +hobbies. Third, I am fond of children, and--and--your daughter is a +very pleasant, intelligent child. Fourth, you have insisted on +selling me an interest in your invention, in return for a small +loan, and that fact would draw me here, if nothing else did. These +are motives enough to satisfy the most inquisitive mind, I should +think."</p> +<p>Marcus said this with an attempt at a light laugh. But there was +one motive not yet confessed--a motive which could hardly be called +a motive, for it lay dim and half-formed within his brain. He had +never, in his moments of self-inquisition, acknowledged its +existence to himself. How could he, then, venture to disclose it to +another? It was the suppression of this immature motive, that +brought back that look of deceit and guilt to Marcus Wilkeson's +ingenuous face.</p> +<p>This unfortunate physiognomical revelation was not lost upon the +keen eyes of the inventor. But he said:</p> +<p>"Mr. Wilkeson, let us not say another word on this ridiculous +subject. I am ashamed of myself for showing you the letter. I ought +to have thrown it into the fire."</p> +<p>"There I differ with you, my dear sir," said Marcus. "You did +perfectly right, and I am glad that I have had the opportunity to +define my position here clearly, once and for all." Marcus could +not avoid saying this much in mere civility to the inventor, but he +indulged the private opinion that that gentleman should have burned +the anonymous note.</p> +<p>"Who can have written this scoundrelly thing?" continued Marcus, +turning over the letter, and then the envelope, for the twentieth +time each, and minutely examining them.</p> +<p>The note was written on a half sheet of common letter paper. The +manufacturer's stamp in the corner had been cut off, and the size +of the half sheet further diminished by paring down one of the +sides. The writing was what is known as "backhanded," in strokes +which appeared at first sight to be of a uniform lightness. On +inspecting it very closely, Marcus discovered a tendency, in this +backhanded penmanship, to ascend from the line; and also that, in a +few instances, the downward strokes on certain long letters were a +trifle thicker than on others. That the writing was a man's, Marcus +had no doubt, though he would have been puzzled to give the reasons +which led him to that conclusion. The envelope was the ordinary +prepaid-stamped one issued by the Government, and therefore could +not contribute to the identification of the anonymous writer. The +superscription was in the same backhand, and was peculiar in +nothing but a small curved nourish, like Hogarth's line of beauty, +beneath the words, "New York. City."</p> +<p>"The rascal has carefully disguised his hand," said Marcus, "and +does not mean to be found out. I can say nothing more positive, +than that it is written by somebody who has never corresponded with +me. My memory of autographs happens to be pretty tenacious."</p> +<p>"And I am positive that it is written by no acquaintance of +mine, or of my daughter's, for we have none--except you. As the +case now stands, it is a mystery, not worth the exploring."</p> +<p>"Again I differ with you," said Marcus. "Whoever wrote this +false letter, has powerful motives of hostility to me or you, or, +perhaps--worse still--to your daughter. I must try to smoke him out +of his hiding place. Meanwhile, I trust, sir, you will see the +propriety of concealing this unpleasant matter from Miss +Minford."</p> +<p>"Certainly, Mr. Wilkeson, certainly. As for myself, it is +forever dismissed from my mind; and I cannot blame myself +sufficiently for having troubled you with it." Mr. Minford here +proffered his hand, which Marcus cordially shook, rejoicing to +observe no trace of suspicion in the inventor's clear gray +eyes.</p> +<p>"Allow me to retain this letter for the present," asked Marcus. +"It may serve as a clue to the detection of the concealed +scoundrel. I also beg that you will show me any other anonymous +letters of the same character that may reach you."</p> +<p>Mr. Minford laughed. "The stove door is the pigeonhole where all +such nonsense ought to be filed away. But just as you please. If +any more come to hand, you shall see them. They may amuse you, as +they do me. Ha! ha!"</p> +<p>Marcus echoed the laugh, but feebly. Then it occurred to him +that Pet would soon be home, and he felt a strange aversion to +meeting her, after what had happened. He therefore pleaded a +pressing engagement at eleven o'clock (which it then was), and took +his departure from the inventor's roof, but not without a warm and +seemingly sincere invitation to "call soon."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="E_CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>CONSOLATIONS OF HIGH ART.</h3> +<br> +<p>Marcus walked slowly toward Broadway, musing and unhappy. To a +man of his delicate and hyper-sensitive nature, an event of this +kind was a vast disturbance. He felt that this anonymous letter was +but the forerunner of a long series of troubles. That prescience +which nervous people have of misfortunes portrayed to him a future +black with disappointments and dangers.</p> +<p>"Hallo, Mark! What's the matter? You look as sad as a low +comedian by daylight!" Previous to this salutation came a ringing +slap on the left shoulder.</p> +<p>Marcus rather liked familiarities; but the slap, coming on him +when his nerves were unstrung, startled him. He turned sharply; but +the stern and indignant face wreathed into amiable smiles, when he +saw that the lively gentleman behind him was only Wesley Tiffles. +Everybody liked Wesley Tiffles; even those who bore the burden of +his unlucky financial schemes uniting in cheerful testimony to his +charming, companionable qualities. His presence was like a ray of +sunlight to Marcus Wilkeson's beclouded mind; and when Wesley +Tiffles hooked an arm in his (as he did to everybody on the second +day of their acquaintance), Marcus felt his perplexities passing +away from him, like electricity on a conducting rod.</p> +<p>Wesley Tiffles and his single diamond (the latter from the +background of a third day's shirt) shone on him together; and +Marcus laughed merrily in reply:</p> +<p>"I don't look sad now," said he. "I'm glad to see you, Tiffles. +What are you driving at <i>now</i>, eh?"</p> +<p>This question was continually poked at Tiffles. He changed his +business so often.</p> +<p>"At the panorama of Africa, to be sure," said Tiffles. "It is a +great idea, and I am constant to it, although several capital +schemes have occurred to me since I first thought of it. But Africa +deserves, and shall have the precedence."</p> +<p>"Oh! yes--I remember. And how far have you got along with this +great work?"</p> +<p>"It's almost finished, thank you. Patching is the artist. You +know Patching, of course--one of the most promising painters of the +modern school. There were several Patchings very much praised by +the Sunday papers, at the last National Academy Exhibition, though +the hanging committee put them either among the dirt or the +cobwebs. This conspiracy against Patching is far-reaching. It would +seem as if his rivals of the Academy actually went about town +calling upon people, and cautioning them <i>not</i> to buy +Patchings. Indeed, to such an extent has this outrageous attempt to +put down a fellow artist been carried, that I know of but one +Patching to be publicly seen in the city. It is an attic +interior--a sweet thing, quite equal to Frère, and hangs +behind a bar near Spring street. Perhaps you would like to examine +it?"</p> +<p>"Hem! Not to-day. Some other time," answered Marcus, who, +strangely enough, interpreted the question as an invitation to +drink at his (Marcus's) expense.</p> +<p>"I did not mean to-day," said Wesley Tiffles. "Any time will do. +Well, I have engaged this brilliant but neglected creature to paint +my panorama. At first he refused--as I expected. He said that it +would hurt his reputation. I argued to him, that, the larger the +picture, the more the reputation; and said that I would put his +name on the bills in type second only to my own. But he could not +bring himself to see the matter as I did, and consented to paint it +only on condition of profound secrecy. Price, one hundred dollars. +You will therefore understand (Tiffles lowered his voice) that what +I am saying to you is strictly confidential--as, indeed, all is +that I say about my panorama. Secrecy alone gives value to these +grand, original ideas."</p> +<p>Wesley Tiffles was always unbosoming himself to the world, and +informing each individual hearer that his disclosure was strictly +confidential.</p> +<p>"I give you my word," said Marcus. He wondered where Tiffles +raised the money to pay the artist, but did not like to ask +him.</p> +<p>"Now I have caught you, you must come and see how we get along. +The work is going on at my room in the Bartholomew Buildings, only +a few steps from here." (According to Tiffles, the Bartholomew +Buildings were only a few steps from anywhere, when he wanted to +take anybody to them.) "Patching will object to bringing in a +stranger; but I can pass you off as a capitalist, who thinks of +taking an interest in the panorama. Good joke, that!"</p> +<p>Marcus drew back a little at the joke; but Wesley Tiffles had +proved so great a relief to his low spirits, that he determined to +keep on taking him, and expressed his ardent desire to see the +panorama.</p> +<p>The couple, arm in arm, sauntered into Broadway, and down that +thoroughfare. Tiffles nodded to a great many acquaintances, and +Wilkeson to a very few. People whom Tiffles did not know +personally, he had short biographies of, and he entertained Marcus +with an incessant string of anecdotes and memoranda of passers by. +The walk was leisurely and uninterrupted, with two exceptions, when +Wesley Tiffles broke suddenly from his companion, rushed into the +entry of a photographic establishment, and examined numerous square +feet of show portraits with profound interest. Marcus explained +these impulsive movements on the supposition that Tiffles sought to +escape from approaching duns. He noticed that that individual, +while observing people who streamed by him on either side, kept one +eye, as it were, about a block and a half ahead. In some parts of +the world, Marcus might have objected to walking publicly with a +man of such an eccentric demeanor. But he was well aware that, in +New York, a citizen's reputation is not in the least degree +affected by the company that he keeps.</p> +<p>They soon arrived at the Bartholomew Buildings--a rickety +five-story edifice, which had been altered from a hotel to a nest +of private offices. The basement was a restaurant, the first floor +a dry goods store, and thence to the roof there was a small Babel +of trades and professions known and unknown. No census taker had +ever booked all the businesses and all the names under that +comprehensive roof.</p> +<p>In the upper story of this building, at the end of a long, hall, +the floor of which was hollowed in places by the feet of half a +century, was the room, or office, as he called it, of Mr. Wesley +Tiffles. There was no number, or sign, on the door, but only a card +bearing the inscription, in a bold hand, "Back in five minutes." +Mr. Tiffles always put out this standing announcement whenever he +had occasion to absent himself from his office for an indefinite +period. At the top of the door there was a swinging window, which +was ever close fastened, and covered with four thicknesses of +newspapers. Though door and window were shut, there came from this +room, as if through pores of the wood and the glass, a strong odor +of tobacco smoke. A voice within could be heard softly humming an +operatic air.</p> +<p>Wesley Tiffles opened the door with a latch key, saying, "All +right!" in a loud voice, as he did so. Marcus entered with him into +a blue cloud of smoke heated to a sickly degree by a small coal +stove with a prodigious quantity of pipe. Even Marcus's hardened +lungs found it difficult to breathe.</p> +<p>The room was about twenty feet square. It had been a part of the +laundry when the building was a hotel. The walls, from the floor to +the low ceiling, appeared to be hung with a strange, dim tapestry. +A second glance convinced Marcus Wilkeson that this seeming +tapestry was the panorama, which was fastened on stretchers along +three sides of the room, and rolled up in a corner as fast as +completed. At the farther end of the room, barely visible through +the smoke, was the figure of a man in a torn and dirty dressing +gown, and an enormous black felt hat with a huge turn-up brim, of +the kind supposed to be worn by the bandits of the Pyrenees. The +back of the man was turned to Marcus Wilkeson, and he was making +rapid dabs on the canvas with a long brush, frequently dipping into +one of a series of pails or pans which stood on the floor by his +side. He was smoking and humming the operatic air at the same time; +and he pulled his great slouched hat farther over his eyes, as a +signal for impertinent curiosity to keep its distance.</p> +<p>Wesley Tiffles whispered something about the eccentricities of +genius, and then said:</p> +<p>"Mr. Patching. Allow me. Mr. Wilkeson. A capitalist, who thinks +of taking a small interest in the panorama. Confidential, of +course."</p> +<p>The artist turned round during these remarks, and presented the +original of a portrait which Marcus remembered to have +seen--dressing gown, hat, and all--in a small print-shop window in +the Sixth Avenue. Touching the face he might have had doubt, but +there was no mistaking the pattern of the dressing gown and the +amazing hat. He also had a faint recollection of the thin face, the +Vandyke beard, and the long, tangled hair at Mrs. Slapman's, on New +Year's, but was not positive as to their identity. Mr. Patching's +individuality lay chiefly in his hat.</p> +<p>The artist placed a moist hand, with one long finger nail like a +claw, at the disposal of Marcus Wilkeson. The latter gentleman +shook the member feebly, and distinctly felt the sharp edge of the +long finger nail in his palm. It was an unpleasant sensation.</p> +<p>"Happy to meet a <i>confidential</i> friend of Tiffles's," said +Patching. "Painting panoramas is not exactly what I have been used +to. An artist's reputation is his capital in trade, you know." He +spoke slowly and languidly, as if hope and happiness were quite +dead within him, and he had consented to live on only for the good +of high Art.</p> +<p>"I understand," said Marcus. "The secret shall be +inviolate."</p> +<p>"Nothing but my old friendship for Tiffles here could possibly +have induced me to undertake the job. My enemies--and I have them, +ha! ha!" (he said this bitterly)--"would like nothing better to say +of Patching, than that he had got down to the panorama line of +business. It would be a pretty piece of scandal."</p> +<p>"My lips are sealed, sir. But it strikes me, as a casual +observer, that there is nothing to be ashamed of in this beautiful +work of art." Marcus Wilkeson had the amiable vice of flattery.</p> +<p>Patching shrugged his shoulders, and made a contemptuous gesture +toward the canvas with his outstretched brush. "A mere daub," said +he. "One step higher than painting a barn or a board fence--that's +all."</p> +<p>"Yet the true artist adorns what he touches," said Marcus.</p> +<p>Patching accepted the homage calmly, as one who knew that he +deserved it. "A very just and discriminating remark, sir. I have no +doubt that a person thoroughly familiar with my style would say, +looking at this panorama, 'It has the severe simplicity of a +Patching.' I consented to paint it, as Tiffles well remembers, only +on condition that I should not wholly abase myself by abandoning +the style upon which I have built up my reputation."</p> +<p>Tiffles, thus appealed to, corroborated the statement with a +solemn bow.</p> +<p>The artist continued: "Fortunately, the subject is one +peculiarly adapted to my genius. For instance: the desert of Sahara +is a dead level of sand. It is a perfect type of severe simplicity +in the highest sense. It exhibits no common display of gorgeous +colors, such as poor artists and the ignorant crowd rejoice in. As +far as the eye can see, there is a serene stretch of yellow sand, +without even a blade of grass to break its awful immensity." (The +artist, being on his favorite theme, took his pipe out of his mouth +for the first time, and spoke with warmth.) "Look at that bit of +desert, now. Does it not convey a perfect idea of solitude and +desolation?"</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson glanced at about ten feet of straight yellow +paint (which was all of the desert of Sahara not rolled up in the +canvas), and said that it did--which was perfectly true.</p> +<p>"There are one hundred feet more, which you don't see, just like +it. Another artist would have put in an oasis, or a stray hyena, or +the bleached bones of an unfortunate traveller. <i>I</i> did not. +Why? Another would have worked up a sunset, or a moonrise, or a +thunder storm, to give variety to the sky. <i>I</i> did not. Why? +The sky over my desert is an uninterrupted blue. There is not even +a bird in it. There is nothing, in short, either on the ground or +in the air, to take away the mind of the spectator, for one moment, +from the sublime idea of a desert--an object which, considered +aesthetically, is one of the grandest in the universe. This is +severe simplicity. It is the highest school of Art."</p> +<p>"And the cheapest," observed Tiffles; "which is an important +consideration when you have an acre or two of canvas to paint. It +would cost a deal more to put in the sun and moon, travelling +caravans, and other objects of interest, here and there."</p> +<p>"Incidentally it may be the cheapest," said Patching. "But that +is a question for capitalists, and not for artists to determine. +True Art never thinks of the expense."</p> +<p>"It always seemed to me to be the easiest school of Art," said +Marcus Wilkeson. "I suppose, now, that you can dash off twenty or +thirty rods of this a day."</p> +<p>Patching smiled with a lofty pity. "So I can. Not because it is +the easiest, though--far from it; but because I happen to have a +genius for quick and sure touches. You, not being a professional +artist, think the execution of that scrap of desert and sky an easy +matter. Perhaps you fancy that you could do it." There was the +least infusion of satire in the artist's tone.</p> +<p>"Oh, no!" replied Marcus Wilkeson, who ever shrank from wounding +the self-love of a fellow creature. "I am not rash enough to +suppose that I could do it. I merely observed that it seemed--to my +inexperienced eyes--an easy matter. A few strokes of yellow paint +here, for sand, and a few strokes of blue paint there, for sky. But +I am not even an amateur, and so my opinion goes for nothing."</p> +<p>"I admire your frankness," said Patching. "Now let me convince +you practically. Be good enough to stand near this window with +me."</p> +<p>Marcus moved to the spot indicated by the artist.</p> +<p>"Here," said Patching, "you are at about the same distance from +the desert as the front row of spectators will be. Now look at it +critically."</p> +<p>Marcus shaded his eyes with his left hand, cocked his head over +his right shoulder, in the true critical style, and gazed on the +scene.</p> +<p>"Do you see the harmony--the TONE, I may say--in the desert?" +asked Patching, after a short pause.</p> +<p>"I think I do," responded Marcus, willing to oblige the +artist.</p> +<p>"And the spiritual, or INNER meaning of the sky?"</p> +<p>"Ye-yes. It is quite perceptible."</p> +<p>"These are the effects of severe simplicity. But you must +understand that a single mis-stroke of the brush would have spoiled +all the harmony in the desert, or reduced the sky to a mere +inexpressive field of blue vapor. Why? Genius alone can achieve +such grand results by such apparently simple means. You +comprehend?"</p> +<p>"Perfectly," said Marcus Wilkeson.</p> +<p>"Then I shall take a real pleasure in showing you more of the +panorama which is already completed and rolled up. With this idea +of severe simplicity in your mind, you will be prepared to +appreciate the work,"</p> +<p>"I believe I have already remarked, that Mr. Wilkeson is a +capitalist, and comes here expressly to look at the panorama," said +Tiffles; with a wink at the artist.</p> +<p>"With every respect for him as a capitalist," returned Patching, +"I see in him only the ingenuous student of Art, whom it is a +happiness to teach."</p> +<p>The first instalment was a continuation of the desert with which +Marcus had been already regaled. Patching begged him to observe the +unfaltering harmony of the sand, and the protracted spirituality of +the sky. Then came a jungle.</p> +<p>"You will note the severe simplicity here," observed Patching, +"No meretricious effects. Nothing but strokes of green paint, up +and down, representing the density of an African jungle. Yet how +admirably these seemingly careless strokes, laid on by the hand of +genius, convey the idea of DEPTH! You do not fail to notice the +DEPTH, I presume?"</p> +<p>"I see it," said Marcus.</p> +<p>"<i>That</i> is severe simplicity," replied the artist.</p> +<p>At this point, Marcus noticed a brown something bearing a strong +resemblance to the swamp stalk, known among boys as the cattail. +"Excuse my ignorance of African plants," said he; "but what is +that?"</p> +<p>The artist smiled. "Another happy illustration of my theory," +said he. "It is the tail of a lion bounding through his native +jungles. Why? The effect of suggesting the lion, so to speak, is +much more thrilling than that of painting him at full length. +Genius accomplishes by hints what mere talent fails to achieve by +the utmost elaboration. You will not deny that that vague +revelation of the lion's tail inspires a feeling of mystery and +terror, which would not be caused by a full-length portrait of that +king of beasts?"</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson did not deny it, but said that perhaps everybody +could not identify the object as a lion's tail.</p> +<p>"That has all been thought of," said Tiffles. "I shall explain +the panorama, you must understand. When I come to the lion's tail, +I shall tell the audience what it is, and go on to give a full +account of the lion, and his ferocious habits. This will gratify +the women and small boys quite as much as seeing the lion <i>in +propria persona</i>."</p> +<p>"Precisely. Very good," was the laughing acknowledgment. "And +what is that thing, twisted like a piece of grapevine above the +tall grass at this point?"</p> +<p>"The trunk of an elephant. Look a little farther on, as the +canvas unrolls, and you will observe the white tusk of a rhinoceros +protruding from the jungle with wonderful effect. Why? The two +animals are advancing toward each other for mortal combat."</p> +<p>"I shall describe their terrific struggles," interrupted +Tiffles. "Have read up Buffon for it."</p> +<p>"More lions' and elephants' tails, you observe," continued the +artist; "also more rhinoceroses' tusks. It is well to have enough +of them, to illustrate the teeming life of the African jungle. Also +the head of a boa constrictor. Likewise the tail of one. Here we +come to a change of scene. Mark how wonderfully a few strokes of +dark-green paint, put on by the hand of genius, impart the idea of +a pestiferous swamp. That odd-looking object, like a rock, is the +head of a hippopotamus. A few feet beyond, you notice two things +like the stumps of aquatic weeds. Those are the tails of two +hippopotamuses engaged in deadly strife at the bottom of the swamp. +The heads of crocodiles are thrust up here and there. Severe +simplicity again."</p> +<p>The panorama, from thence nearly to the end of it--or rather the +beginning--was a repetition of jungles and deserts, varied by an +occasional swamp, all diversified with the heads and tails of +indigenous animals. The last hundred feet was the river Gambier, +over which Patching had introduced a sunrise of the most gorgeous +description, at the earnest request of Wesley Tiffles.</p> +<p>Patching explained: "In my opinion, such effects are tawdry, and +detract not only from the severe simplicity, but from the UNITY +which should pervade a painting of this description. Of course, I +wash my hands of all these innovations upon the province of high +Art."</p> +<p>"And I cheerfully shoulder them," said Tiffles. "I know what the +public want. They want any quantity of sunsets, crocodiles, lions, +and other objects of interest. If we had time and money to spare, +and I could overcome Patching's scruples--do you understand?--I +would put 'em in twice as thick. Men of genius, like Patching, +cannot be expected to be practical."</p> +<p>The artist shrugged his shoulders, and smiled.</p> +<p>Tiffles then repeated his invitation to Marcus to accompany him +on his first expedition into the interior of New Jersey; but Marcus +positively declined. Tiffles said he would send him a note a day or +two before the panorama started, and hoped that Marcus would +conclude to go, just for the fun of the thing.</p> +<p>Marcus then shook hands with Patching--who made his long finger +nail amicably felt--and with Tiffles, and withdrew to the entry, +followed by the latter individual.</p> +<p>Tiffles closed the door. "By the way," said he, as if the +thought occurred to him then for the first time, "can you spare +thirty-five dollars to-day? Pay you on the--let me see--on the +first of next month. By that time the panorama will be fairly under +headway, and coining money." (Tiffles always fixed his days of +payment with great particularity.)</p> +<p>Marcus, without saying a word, produced his pocket book, and +counted out thirty-five dollars. Tiffles had already borrowed from +Overtop and Maltboy, but had generously spared the oldest of the +three bachelors. Marcus felt that his time had come, and he would +not meanly avoid his destiny. He placed the money in Tiffles's +hand.</p> +<p>"Give you my note?" asked Tiffles.</p> +<p>"Oh, no!" said Marcus; "make it a matter of honor."</p> +<p>Tiffles pocketed the funds, placed his hand over his heart, and +replied that it should be. "But, now I think of it," he suddenly +added, "I want exactly sixty-three dollars--do you understand?--to +see me through with this panorama. Suppose you make it twenty-eight +dollars more."</p> +<p>Marcus smiled, and said that he didn't understand; whereat +Tiffles laughed outright, to show that he took no offence at the +refusal; and creditor and debtor parted with mutual good +wishes.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="E_CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>LOVING AFAR OFF.</h3> +<br> +<p>The boy Bog had now become, professionally, a creature of the +night. He was abroad at the, same hours as the burglars and +garroters, and other owls and weasels of society. Fink & Co. +(Bog was the Co.) had secured the bill posting for three theatres +and one negro-minstrel hall. This they called their heavy business. +Carrying the huge damp placards, had already given to Bog's +shoulders a manifest tendency to roundness, which he was constantly +trying to overcome by straightening up. Fink, who was the veteran +bill poster of the town, was as round shouldered as a hod carrier. +But Bog thought of somebody, and stood as nearly erect as he +could.</p> +<p>The firm also obtained rather more than their share of ordinary +bill posting, from doctors, drygoods dealers, and other people who +find their profit in continually addressing the public from the +summit of a dead wall, or the muddy level of the curbstones. This +they called their light business. As it required neither strength +nor practised dexterity of manipulation, the firm intrusted it to +assistants.</p> +<p>There were a dozen of these, all stout, hulking young fellows +nearly as old as Bog. They took a fancy to bill posting, and worked +industriously and faithfully at it, because it was nocturnal, +mysterious, romantic. The half dollar which they each received for +a night's labor, enabled them to lounge about the streets all day +in glorious indolence. Sometimes there was a prodigious rush of +business, and then the firm were obliged to hire an extra force of +boys.</p> +<p>Once, when a quack undertook to take the public by storm with +his "New and Sure Cure for Dyspepsia," Fink & Co. put a colored +poster as large as a dining table on every wall and high fence +below Sixty-first street; small oblong bills every ten feet along +the curbstones of Broadway, Bowery, Wall street, Fulton street, +Cortlandt street, and Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Madison, +and Lexington Avenues; besides throwing cheap circulars, folded, +into the front yards of about four thousand residences in the +fashionable quarters of the town--all in a single night. This +immense job took one hundred boys.</p> +<p>Bog had been in this partnership since the first of January. It +was now near the close of March. The firm had been very successful. +Bog had comfortably supported himself and his aunt (whose +rheumatism got worse in steady proportion as his business +improved), and had invested more than two hundred and fifty dollars +in a Wall-street savings bank.</p> +<p>With this money at his disposal, Bog might have thrown away the +greasy cap and old coat and trowsers, spotted with paste, in which +he pursued his occupation. But when Bog was at his business, he was +not above his business. And he felt none the less attached to his +old clothes because they were two inches too short in the legs and +arms, and pinched him a little in all directions.</p> +<p>But Bog had a better suit, made of neat gray cloth, which he +wore upon occasions. These occasions happened daily between three +and four P.M. During that interval, it always fell out that Bog had +no work to do which he could not postpone as well as not. And +whether it rained or shone, the occasions brought him, like an +inexorable fate, through the street where Miss Pillbody's school +was situated. He would first stride smartly up the opposite +sidewalk, whistling, and cast ardent glances at the lower windows +of Miss Pillbody's school, shaded by green curtains with gold +borders.</p> +<p>After going two blocks in that direction, he would cross the +street, whistling yet, and march boldly up the other sidewalk, past +Miss Pillbody's school, as on an enemy. But if there had been +anybody to watch him closely--as there was not on that thronged +street--that body would have seen that Bog's cheeks began to blush, +and his eyes to be cast down, and his whistle to be fainter, as he +hurried by the neat three-story brick building with the polished +doorplate and handsome curtains.</p> +<p>Then he would loiter for a while in front of McFeeter's grocery, +two corners remote, and gaze from that safe distance with +intrepidity upon the abode of enchantment; after which he would +screw his courage up to the point of marching past the house back +and forth again, and would then resume his position at McFeeter's, +and wait until four P.M., or about that time, when the envied door +of Miss Pillbody's establishment would open, and an angel would +dazzle upon his sight, with a music book in her hand instead of a +harp, and a jaunty little chip bonnet on her head instead of a +golden crown. If the harp and crown had suddenly taken their proper +places, and a pair of spangled wings had blossomed right out of her +shoulders, and the radiant creature, thus equipped, had spread her +pinions and soared up to heaven, the boy Bog would hardly have been +surprised. As this angel came down the happy front steps to the +blessed pavement (Bog's mind supplying these adjectives), Bog would +color up, and sneak off at his best walking pace in the opposite +direction. He felt that, if Pet ever saw him, and should ask him +what he was doing in that neighborhood, he should melt away in +perspiring confusion on the spot.</p> +<p>He called at Mr. Minford's twice a week, to indulge in the +hollow form of asking if he could do anything for him. There he +confronted Pet, with that trembling figure and those averted eyes +which an inexperienced thief may show before the man that he has +robbed. But Pet knew not of the adoring spy.</p> +<p>One afternoon, the boy Bog had made his second detour, and was +approaching the corner of the favored block, when a novel idea +struck him. The very night before, Bog had posted bills of the +play, "Faint Heart Ne'er Won Fair Lady." The gigantic lettering +arose in his mind's eye, like the cross in Constantine's. He had +never seen the drama, and he did not know to what extent Ruy Gomez +pushed his audacity, and won the Countess by it. But the name of +the drama held the moral of it; and the moral, as applied to Bog's +case, was: "Stop at this corner, and take a good view of the, +house." To do this, in Bog's opinion, was the height of boldness. +But he thought of the huge parti-colored lettering, and he did +it.</p> +<p>He stopped at the corner, and leaned recklessly against a +hydrant. He looked at the house with a deliberation that amazed +himself. At the same time, as a matter of instinctive caution, he +kept his left leg well out toward the side street, so that he might +retreat, should the door suddenly open and disclose the seraphic +vision. He consulted his large bull's-eye silver watch (a capital +timekeeper), and found that it was half past three o'clock, and he +never knew her to be out before four.</p> +<p>This reflection emboldened him. "Faint Heart Ne'er Won Fair +Lady," he thought again, and brought back his left leg to an easy +position, crossing it with his right one against the hydrant. Then +he feasted, with strange composure, upon the house.</p> +<p>Neither Bog nor a much wiser metaphysician could explain it; but +the house, and all around it, seemed to be glorified by the loved +one within. The newly painted door was bright with love; the +polished doorplate and bell handle glistened with love. The name +Pillbody looked, somehow, musical and winning, because the owner of +that name was the teacher and dear companion of Pet. The carved +stone roses over the door seemed to be truly the emblems of love. +It was a silly notion; but, in Bog's eyes, love imparted a not +unpleasant expression to the grim lions' faces that looked down +from the roof. But the green window curtains with gold borders were +the most significant symbols of love, in his eyes. Bog felt that +curtains of any other color would be wholly out of place in that +house. The patch of a garden, scarcely bigger than a bathroom, in +front of the house; the single fir tree that grew up in the middle +of it; the black iron railing; the door steps, and the +pavement--all took their share of beatitude from the joy within. +Bog could hear love rustle in the boughs of the young maple, that +stood in its long green case like a fancy boot top, at the edge of +the sidewalk.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="E_CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>LEGERDEMAIN.</h3> +<br> +<p>As Bog was resting against the hydrant, absorbed in this +delicious revery, and totally indifferent to the consequences, he +was startled by a slight tap on the shoulder. He turned quickly, +and saw--the man he hated--the man who pretended (Bog would never +admit that it was more than a pretence) to save Pet from the +falling boards.</p> +<p>"Well," said Bog, looking on this man as his mortal enemy, "What +do you want of me?" He spoke in the gruff, defiant manner peculiar +to children of the city.</p> +<p>The man's livid face and lead-colored eyes and white teeth all +combined in a reassuring smile. "Nothing," said he, "my good +fellow, but to do an errand."</p> +<p>"I say, now, who'd you take me for, hey?" answered Bog, shaking +his head at the man, and feeling a tremendous desire to knock his +shining hat off.</p> +<p>The man looked up and down Bog's cheap gray suit, and at his +neatly polished shoes and his clean slouching cap, and then +said:</p> +<p>"No offence meant, my lad. But I thought you wouldn't object to +earning a quarter. You're only to deliver a letter at that house; +that's all." He pointed to Miss Pillbody's.</p> +<p>"Hey--what house?" asked Bog, turning pale, with a strange and +jarring combination of rage, jealousy, envy, and insulted +dignity.</p> +<p>"The one with the bright doorplate, green curtains and gold +borders. I thought you were looking at it as I came up."</p> +<p>"N-no, I wasn't. And what if I was, hey?"</p> +<p>"It strikes me you're rather touchy, my young friend," said the +man, with his conciliatory smile. "Here's the letter, now, and a +quarter. It's only a few steps. No answer required."</p> +<p>As Bog caught sight of the letter, done up in the long, rakish +envelope which had just begun to come into fashion, and faintly +perfumed, a lucky thought occurred to him.</p> +<p>The man saw that he wavered. "Only a step," said he. "And here +is the quarter." He offered it to Bog between a thumb and +finger.</p> +<p>"Why don't you deliver the letter yourself?" asked Bog.</p> +<p>"Oh! oh! for family reasons," answered the man, hesitating. +"Miss Pillbody there is my aunt, and the lady to whom this letter +is addressed is my cousin. The old woman and I have had a sort of +falling out about the young one, you see. These little difficulties +will occur in the best-regulated families. Come, take the letter. +I'm in a hurry."</p> +<p>Bog allowed the letter to be thrust into his hand. He looked at +it, and saw, as he expected, that it was addressed to "Miss +Minford, Present." The direction was in a beautiful commercial +hand, which was at once more hateful in his eyes than the most +crabbed of writing.</p> +<p>"All right," said he. "I'll deliver it. Poh! never mind the +quarter. I won't take it." Bog moved toward the house as he +spoke.</p> +<p>"You're a queer fellow, but a good one. Well, you'll accept my +thanks, at any rate."</p> +<p>He waited at the hydrant until Bog had delivered the letter.</p> +<p>Bog walked straight to the house, and up the steps, although his +face was pale, and his knees trembled.</p> +<p>He rang the bell with a decisive pull, and, as he did so, +glanced at the strange man, who nodded approvingly at him.</p> +<p>He suddenly turned his back on the strange man. With a quick +movement of the fingers of his right hand, he thrust the letter up +his coat sleeve: The next instant he whipped a handkerchief out of +an inside breast pocket, and, with it, a stray copy of a new +"Dentifrice" circular, which he had been distributing the night +before. This circular was folded to about the size and shape of the +letter. With the handkerchief he wiped his face, upon which there +were real drops of sweat. The circular he slipped into his right +hand, and then turned toward the strange man again, to show that he +still held the letter. This bit of legerdemain took about three +seconds.</p> +<p>In three seconds more, Bog heard footsteps approaching in the +entry. What if his angel should come to the door? The thought sent +a horrible, sickly sensation all over him, and the solid rock +seemed to tremble beneath his feet.</p> +<p>The door opened, and something quite the opposite of an angel +presented itself. It was Bridget; and her red hair was dishevelled, +her face flushed to the parboiled tint, and her dress uncommonly +damp and frowsy. A mop which she held in her hand explained +everything.</p> +<p>"A circular, if you please," said Bog, in a quivering voice, +poking the folded paper at her.</p> +<p>"A succular, is it? Miss Peelbody told me not to take any +succulars for her. So 'way wid ye." Bridget put her hand on the +door, and was about to swing it to.</p> +<p>"It isn't for Miss Pillbody at all," said Bog, fearful lest the +strange man should see it refused, "but for your own pretty +self."</p> +<p>Bridget smiled, for she was conscious that the compliment was +deserved. She relaxed her hand on the door. "Fat is it?" said +she.</p> +<p>"Hush!" said Bog, in a whisper; "a circular about the rights of +servants, issued by the 'Servants' Mootual Protecting Society.'" +(Bog thought of the name on the spur of the moment.) "Please take +it--quick."</p> +<p>Bridget snatched the circular out of his hand, and was about to +look at it, bottom side up, for she had not yet attained to the +mystery of reading, when the musical voice of Miss Pillbody was +heard at the back of the entry. "Bridget--what is wanted, +Bridget?"</p> +<p>"Nothing ma'am, but one of these succular men. Bad luck to him! +Here, now, take it."</p> +<p>She made a feint of handing back the circular to Bog, but +concealed it, with the other hand, in her capacious bosom.</p> +<p>"Heaven bless ye!" said she, in a low voice, and then slammed +the door in his face.</p> +<p>Bog came down the door steps quickly, and saw the strange man +make a bow and a gesture of gratitude at him, and then disappear +suddenly round the corner. Bog's first impulse was to follow him at +a distance; but his curiosity to inspect the slender, perfumed +letter, overcame it.</p> +<p>When Bog reached the awning in front of McFeeter's store--a sort +of haven or putting-in place for him--he pulled out the letter, and +was about to read it. Then it occurred to him that the situation +was too much exposed. The strange man might come back, and see him +with the open letter in his hand. Bog would have enjoyed a personal +collision with him on any pretext; but to be caught in the act of +reading the letter, would spoil the strategical advantage that Bog +now had over him.</p> +<p>Bog moved on down a side street, and took his stand behind a +huge wooden column surmounted by a gilded mortar and pestle. Here +he was about to rip open the envelope, but a glance across the +street discovered a policeman looking at him. Bog felt guilty and +awkward. He coughed, and thrust the letter into his pocket, and +moved on again. The exciting events of the morning had made Bog +intensely nervous. He did not stop this time until he had gained +his home.</p> +<p>His aunt was sitting in the front room, reading a book through a +huge pair of silver-rimmed spectacles. There was a thick fold of +flannel about her neck, and she smelt strongly of embrocation. As +Bog rushed into the room, she groaned audibly, and laid down the +book, as if it were a wicked enjoyment.</p> +<p>"I'm so bad to-day, Bog," said she. "Them shootin' pains'll be +the death of me."</p> +<p>Bog responded not a word, but dashed across the apartment, and, +entering his little sleeping room, closed the door, and bolted +it.</p> +<p>"Unfeelin' creetur!" said his aunt. She stopped groaning, and +took up her book and read again.</p> +<p>Bog seated himself on his hair trunk, and drew out the letter. +There was a slight discussion within him on the abstract question +of his right to open it. After turning it over twice, the question +was decided in the affirmative. He slit the envelope with his +thumb, and brought to light a billet faultlessly written, as +follows:</p> +<p>"Frederick Lynville begs to present his compliments to Miss +Minford, and to assure her, from the depths of his heart, that his +feelings toward her are only those of the purest admiration for the +matchless charms of her mind and person. He takes this method of +explaining himself, because he has observed with great sorrow that +Miss Minford has shown a desire to avoid him on several recent +occasions, when they have accidentally met in the street. It was +Mr. Lynville's blessed privilege, under Providence, to save Miss +Minford's life; but he would not be selfish and base enough on that +account to obtrude himself on Miss Minford's notice. Mr. Lynville +would die sooner than be guilty of that discourtesy. He is not +presumptuous enough to ask an answer to this letter. His only +object in writing it, is to inform Miss Minford that he will not +venture again upon the impropriety of speaking to her first when +they next meet. Miss Minford will therefore be free to drop his +acquaintance, or continue it, as she thinks best. Whatever fate she +may decide for him, her happiness will still be his constant +prayer."</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<p>Bog was ill versed in the art of complimentary letter writing. +But the villany here seemed to be clumsily concealed. That the +letter was full of danger to the object of his boyish idolatry, he +had no doubt.</p> +<p>But why did Pet avoid this Frederick Lynville? Did she really +dislike him? Or----. The thought of his own shyness toward the +beautiful girl came into his mind like a flash. To avoid might +be--to love.</p> +<p>The poor boy dropped the letter, and covered his face with his +hands, and wept.</p> +<p>Love is not always selfish; and goodness is sometimes its own +reward. In that bitter hour of his first real misery, Bog did not +regret his kindness to the Minfords, or take credit to himself for +having nobly concealed from their knowledge those little weekly +gifts of money which he sent to them through the mail, when they +were in poorer circumstances. He was not for a moment base enough +to think that Pet would look with kinder eyes on him, if she but +knew of his secret benefactions--which, up to this time, neither +she nor her father had suspected, and which they would never learn +from his lips.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BOOK_SIXTH."></a>BOOK SIXTH.</h2> +<h3>MYSTERIES OF THE NIGHT.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="F_CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>THE UNKNOWN HAND.</h3> +<br> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson made no effort to discover the writer of the +anonymous letter, because he knew that such an effort would be in +vain. He called on Mr. Minford once in two or three days now. The +inventor always took occasion to refer to the letter, and assured +Marcus that it was not worth remembering, or talking about. "Why, +then, did he talk about it?" Marcus asked himself. His eyes were +not blind to watchful and suspicious glances which the old man +directed to him, at times, under cover of those shaggy, overhanging +eyebrows. Nor could he help noticing a strange reserve in the +bearing of Pet toward him. It was not mere modesty, or timid +gratitude, but DOUBT, as he read the signs. Marcus was convinced +that the father had put his child on guard against something, +though he might not have mentioned the existence of the anonymous +letter. This thought distressed him acutely.</p> +<p>But his troubles, as well as his joys, he kept to himself. The +miser puts his broken bank notes and his good gold under the same +lock and key.</p> +<p>One evening, early in April, Overtop and Maltboy observed a +peculiar expression of sadness on the face of their friend. He had +eaten nothing at dinner, but had drunk more than his usual +allowance of sherry. He had kept his eyes fixed on the table as in +a revery, and had scarcely spoken a word. Miss Wilkeson, in her +solemn state opposite the boiled chickens, was hardly less +social.</p> +<p>After dinner, Marcus took to his pipe with a strange sullenness, +and smoked furiously. His two friends, closely regarding him, saw +that he was unhappy, but wisely forbore to make him more unhappy +still by obtruding their condolence on him. The day had been rainy +and cold. They knew that Marcus's spirits were barometrically +sensitive to the weather, like those of most persons who look at it +through a window.</p> +<p>They had noticed, as they came home, that he was reading that +sweetest of elegies, the "In Memoriam" of Tennyson. And the two +friends thought that the melancholy weather and the melancholy poem +together fully accounted for the gloom on his brow.</p> +<p>Marcus sat for some minutes meditating. Then he heaved a sigh, +which was distinctly audible to his two friends. Then he left the +room without saying a word, and went up stairs.</p> +<p>Presently he was heard to come down; but, instead of returning +to the little parlor, he went into the street, and closed the door +with a sharp slam. At the same moment, the cold rain of the April +night beat noisily against the window.</p> +<p>"Sly old fellow!" said Maltboy.</p> +<p>"Up to something, depend on it," said Overtop.</p> +<p>Marcus walked rapidly toward the inventor's house. "My fate is +decided to-night," he muttered.</p> +<p>His long strides soon brought him to the house. The old building +wore a gloomy look. He did not speculate on the reason of this. It +was probably because there was no light visible in any of the front +windows, and very little light in the street lamps. The gas burned +low and blue, and flickered in the wind.</p> +<p>Ringing the bell, Marcus was admitted by one of the numerous +children belonging to somebody in the house (Marcus could never +determine to whom), and walked up to the inventor's room. His heart +beat with strange emotion as he rapped at the door. For a moment he +was sorry that he had come.</p> +<p>"Come in," said the inventor, in a voice more sepulchral than +usual.</p> +<p>Marcus entered the apartment. The inventor received him with a +feeble shake of the hand, bearing no resemblance to the hearty one +which he used to bestow in the early days of their acquaintance. +Marcus noticed that Mr. Minford's hand was hot. He also observed +that his eyes were preternaturally lustrous, and that the circles +under them were deep and dark. His cheeks were deathly pale, saving +a little red spot in the centres. He looked like a man in a state +of fearful mental exaltation and nervous excitement.</p> +<p>Marcus was not in the habit of worrying people upon the subject +of their ill health; but the inventor looked so palpably bad, that +Marcus could not forbear to say, in a tone of anxiety, "You are +unwell, sir."</p> +<p>"Oh, no! Quite well, I assure you," said the inventor, with a +weary smile. "Though I should be sick, perhaps, but for the +glorious hope that bears me up. I have not eaten, or slept, for +forty-eight hours."</p> +<p>"But, my dear sir, this is trifling with your health."</p> +<p>"I acknowledge it. But we must make sacrifices, if we would +master the UNKNOWN. Newton lived on bread and water when he wrote +his immortal Principia. He condemned himself to the coarse fare of +a prison, in order that his intellect might soar untrammelled to +the stars. I have improved on Newton--I eat nothing. As for sleep, +I grudge a single hour of it which comes between me and the +completion of my great work."</p> +<p>"But how long can you stand this dreadful strain upon your +powers?"</p> +<p>"Till daylight to-morrow, with safety. By that time I shall have +overcome the last obstacle. Of this I am confident. Then, ho! for +unbounded wealth and undying fame. The toil has been severe, but +the reward will be glorious."</p> +<p>"I congratulate you," said Marcus, "on the near approach of your +final triumph. And, in order that I may not delay you a single +moment, I will bid you 'good-night.'" Marcus rose, but he hoped +that the inventor would ask him to stay.</p> +<p>The inventor did so. "Pray don't hurry, Mr. Wilkeson; I would +like to have a brief conversation with you. A few minutes only." He +drew a chair to the side of Marcus, and seated himself.</p> +<p>"Mr. Wilkeson," he said, in a deliberate voice, as if he were +repeating carefully-considered words, "it is unnecessary for me to +say that I have the highest opinion of you. Providence seems to +have sent you to me at a time when I was in the greatest need. You +saved me from starving. The world will be as much indebted to you +for my grand invention, as it was to the generous patronage of +Queen Isabella for the discovery of America."</p> +<p>"Pooh!" interrupted Marcus, blushing.</p> +<p>"The praise is none too high," continued the inventor. "It is +true, I have repaid your advances of money tenfold, by giving you +an interest in my future but certain fortune. But that does not +diminish my gratitude."</p> +<p>Marcus knew that this flattering exordium meant something +serious. It was a favorite theory of his, that danger, or any kind +of anticipated, disagreeable thing, was best met halfway. So he +said, with a feeble attempt at a smile:</p> +<p>"I infer from this ominous opening that you have received +another lying anonymous letter about me. If I am right, Mr. +Minford, be good enough to let me see it at once, according to your +promise."</p> +<p>"You have guessed correctly, Mr. Wilkeson. I have received a +second anonymous letter, which I intended showing to you after a +further brief explanation. But I can readily appreciate your +anxiety to read it without delay. Here it is." He drew forth a +letter, and handed it to Marcus.</p> +<p>Marcus immediately recognized the envelope and the address as +similar to those of the first letter, which he still had in his +possession.</p> +<p>He pulled the letter nervously from its yellow sheath, and read +as follows:</p> +<blockquote>MR. MINFORD:<br> +<br> +DEAR SIR,--Pardon me for intruding on you a second time. But, as a +friend of virtue, I must warn you of continued danger to your +daughter from the acquaintance of Mr. Wilkeson, your pretended +benefactor. If you are any longer in doubt as to the vile +intentions of this man, conceal yourself from observation within +sight of Miss Pillbody's school, any fair afternoon, about half +past two o'clock, and watch his actions. If his suspicious conduct, +at that time and place, does not give a sufficient significance to +my warnings, then take the trouble to go to ----, Westchester Co., +where he was born, and search into his infamous history. Take +heed--I warn you again--lest, in your devotion to science, you +forget that you are a father.<br> +<br> +ONE WHO WOULD SHIELD THE INNOCENT.</blockquote> +<p>While reading this letter, Marcus was conscious that the eyes of +the inventor were fixed piercingly upon him. That consciousness +caused his head to bow, and his cheeks to crimson with shame. It is +the curse of this morbid sensibility, that righteous indignation at +a foul slander upon one's good name springs up only after the +victim has shown all the accepted evidences of guilt.</p> +<p>There was one reason why a man much less sensitive than Marcus +should have been thrown off his balance by this letter. It was a +fact that every afternoon, at half past two o'clock, rain or shine, +with bachelor-like punctuality, he passed up and down in front of +Miss Pillbody's school, and looked sentimentally at the closed +blinds, thinking unutterable things. He was also addicted to +standing at the hydrant on the corner, and gazing hard at the +house, wishing that he could see through its brick walls. Then he +would cross the street, and pace up and down on that side, taking +views of the house at every variety of angle. This was precisely +what the boy Bog did daily about an hour and a half later. Now, +although Marcus felt, in his heart, that these pedestrian +exercises--absurd to everybody but a lover--were perfectly harmless +in their purpose and effect, he was aware that, to a man like Mr. +Minford, looking at them suspiciously, they would appear to be +connected with some stealthy and base design.</p> +<p>As to the imputations upon his former history, Marcus could +freely challenge the closest scrutiny; which is more than most men +can do into that long record of juvenile frailties and escapades +which ushers in the sober book of manhood. But here again the devil +of sensitiveness asserted his supremacy. Marcus had had a twin +brother (who died years before), a duplicate of himself in all +respects but two. Marcus was quiet, studious, honest, and frank; +while Aurelius was quiet, studious, less honest, and infinitely +crafty. Marcus had, on several occasions in his boyhood, been +accused of petty offences which Aurelius had committed, but which +that cunning youth had unblushingly denied. These, so far as Marcus +supposed, were nothing more serious than robbing orchards or melon +patches. Still it was possible that some graver wrong--more worthy +of the title "infamous"--committed by his wild, shrewd brother, +might be brought to light by some deep explorer among the +traditions of his native village, and charged upon himself. This +possibility, and the difficulty of refuting a serious accusation +under such circumstances, brought a second flush of guilt to the +face of Marcus Wilkeson as he read the letter.</p> +<p>These harassing thoughts, which fill so much space, written out, +are but a small part of those which were suggested with electric +suddenness.</p> +<p>Marcus's first impulse was to say: "I love your daughter, Mr. +Minford, with my whole heart and soul. It is my first and my only +love, singular though this confession may sound from the lips of a +man of thirty-six years. The proudest and happiest day of my life +would be that on which I could marry her, with her dear love and +your fatherly consent. This love, which is as pure as the angelic +creature upon whom it is lavished, fully explains my visits here, +and whatever else is mysterious in my conduct. But, before +declaring myself to your daughter, or asking her hand of you, I +have desired to see whether it were possible to inspire her with +love for a man so much older than herself. For, much as I love her, +I would not seek to marry her without a return of love--not mere +respect, esteem, or gratitude. That is the problem I have been +waiting to solve."</p> +<p>A confession to this effect was on the tip of his tongue. To +have made it, would have been like tearing open his breast and +showing his heart. But he would have made it, whatever the pain, +if, on looking nervously up from the letter, which he had now +finished, he had not met the cold, searching eyes of the inventor. +He instantly shut his lips upon the outcoming confession, and said, +with as much indifference as he could awkwardly assume:</p> +<p>"I hope, sir, you have taken the trouble to investigate these +ridiculous charges." But Marcus inwardly hoped he had not.</p> +<p>"I have sir," responded the inventor, gravely. "Had the +accusations been vague, like those in the first letter from this +unknown person, I should have dismissed them from my mind with a +laugh. But they were so specific, and the truth or falsity of them +was so easily ascertained, that I thought it my duty, in justice to +my daughter, yourself, and to me, to look into them. It was a +painful task, but I have done it."</p> +<p>"And what have you learned?" asked Marcus, making a transparent +feint to look at ease.</p> +<p>"I will tell you frankly; though I wish to say, in advance, that +my discoveries, though they might justify some suspicion, do not +prejudice me in the least against you. I have no doubt that you +will be able to explain everything." But so spoke not the eyes of +the inventor.</p> +<p>"Well, then, to make a short story of this unpleasant affair, I +have watched your promenades in front of Miss Pillbody's school +three afternoons in succession. I will spare you the details, +though, so clearly are your movements back and forth imprinted on +my memory, that I could recount them all to you, if necessary. It +is sufficient to say, that I am forced to believe that my daughter +is the magnet which draws you to that neighborhood, and keeps your +eyes riveted on that house. This is all I have to say on the first +point in the letter."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="F_CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>IN VAIN--IN VAIN.</h3> +<br> +<p>This was Marcus Wilkeson's golden opportunity, and he manfully +determined to seize it. But, as he was on the point of blurting out +the stifled secret, that cold, pale face--which resembled marble in +all but the drops of sweat upon the brow--chilled him again. At the +same moment, the hopeless absurdity of love and marriage between a +girl of seventeen and a man of thirty-six, occurred to him in all +its force. Stupidly sensitive being that he was, he thought that +this icy, intellectual Mr. Minford would laugh at him.</p> +<p>"I confess, sir, that these wanderings seem 'singular,' as you +term them. But all the habits of old bachelors are regarded as +singular, I believe. Now, it has been my daily habit, since I +retired from business, to lay down my book at two o'clock, and take +a little out-door exercise. Miss Pillbody's school is not far from +my house; the street is pretty clean for New York, and the +sidewalks are tolerably dry. Therefore I select that neighborhood +for my daily walk--my--my 'constitutional,' as they call it. If, in +so doing, I should occasionally cast my eyes--in fits of +absent-mindedness, I may say--on Miss Pillbody's school, that is +not strange, considering--considering the interest that I take in +your daughter's education. It strikes me, my dear sir, that this +seeming suspicion is easily cleared up." Marcus smiled to think how +adroitly he had extricated himself.</p> +<p>But there was no smile on the shroud-colored face of the +inventor.</p> +<p>"The explanation is <i>plausible</i>" (Mr. Minford emphasized +the word), "and I will not attempt to set it aside. God alone knows +all the motives of human action. Now, to the second, and more +serious implication of the letter. I have visited your native +village, and inquired into your early history. Though you moved to +the city over fifteen years ago, and have returned to your +birthplace but once since, so far as I could ascertain--"</p> +<p>"Allow me," said Marcus. "My absence from my old home may seem +strange, but it is occasioned by no shame or disgrace. My father, +mother, and twin brother died and were buried there. By my father's +failure, shortly before his death, the old family mansion passed +out of his hands, and was afterward torn down to make room for a +railway depot. This extinction of my family--for I am now left +without a relation in the world, excepting a half-sister--and this +destruction of our old home, have made my native village horrible +to me. When I visited the scene of desolation, ten years ago, the +village seemed to me like a huge graveyard, in every part of which +some happiness of my boyhood was entombed; and I vowed that I would +never go near it again. In the matter of family recollections, I am +exquisitely sensitive."</p> +<p>"I respect your feelings, sir," said the inventor, "and regret +that I should be the means of reviving these painful recollections. +But I have, a duty to perform."</p> +<p>"And I will no longer delay you in its performance. Now be kind +enough to let me know the worst at once. I can stand it." Marcus +unconsciously sat up more erect, as if to brace himself against a +shock.</p> +<p>"On my arrival in the village, my first act was to seek out some +of the oldest inhabitants. I found that most of them distinctly +remembered you, and your brother--Aurelius, I think, was his name. +You will pardon me for telling you the exact result of my +inquiries, but I found that these old inhabitants, without a single +exception, gave you a very bad name, and your brother a very good +one."</p> +<p>Marcus was about to explain, that his brother and himself were +images of each other; that the former was crafty, and full of +mischief, and that he (Marcus) had been made, on fifty occasions, +the innocent scapegoat of his brother's little offences. But he +forbore. He had cheerfully received reprimands, and even +chastisements, for his brother while living; and he would not +blacken his memory when dead. He merely smiled a sad smile, and +said, "Ah?"</p> +<p>"Many of the offences charged against you by these old gossips, +were petty and excusable. But there were others, committed by you +when you were at or near manhood, exhibiting, if true--understand, +I say, <i>if</i> true--a moral depravity for which no extenuation +can be found. Some of the charges were not sustained by adequate +proofs, and those I set down as idle rumors. But there was one of +which the proof was abundant and most positive. No less than five +persons gave me circumstantial accounts--all agreeing with each +other--of your betrayal and ruin of Lucy Anserhoff."</p> +<p>"Lucy Anserhoff!" echoed Marcus, in real amazement. "I have a +faint remembrance of an old lady by that name, and a pretty girl +who was her daughter. But as God is my judge, I never wronged her." +Still there was that expression of guilt, which did not escape the +scrutinizing glance of the inventor.</p> +<p>Marcus could have hunted up evidence to transfer the burden of +the imputed wrong to the memory of the dead Aurelius. But should he +commit this profanation of the grave--as he regarded it? The voice +of brotherly love--for he had tenderly loved his erring +brother--said, "No." Would any amount of proof satisfy the nervous, +doubting man before him? He feared not. Therefore Marcus Wilkeson +did an act of awful solemnity, to prove his innocence. And, because +the doing of it thrilled his sensitive soul, as if he had thrust +himself into the terrible presence of the Infinite, he weakly +supposed that the most suspicious of men would unhesitatingly +believe him.</p> +<p>He stood up, turned his eyes to the ceiling, raised both hands, +and said, in a deep, trembling voice:</p> +<p>"May God strike me dead, if I am guilty of this offence, or any +like it, or of any thought of wrong toward your daughter."</p> +<p>Marc as sat down, pale, and caught his breath quickly. He was +awestricken by his own act.</p> +<p>"That is a solemn adjuration," said the inventor, after a short +pause, "and should not be lightly taken."</p> +<p>Marcus looked well at Mr. Minford. Unbelief was written in every +hard line and wrinkle of that white, deathlike face. "Do you doubt +me now?" he asked, sharply. His sensitiveness on the subject of +personal honor and veracity was painfully acute. He had never told +a lie in his life.</p> +<p>"Oh! no," replied Mr. Minford; "I do not say that I doubt you" +(in a tone expressive of the greatest doubt). "I shall be truly +glad to receive counter proofs from you."</p> +<p>"You have heard my solemn appeal to God, sir. Between gentlemen +of honor that should be sufficient."</p> +<p>The inventor's thin lips (from which the last drops of blood had +disappeared within the last half hour) curved in a satirical smile. +Marcus interpreted it as a reiterated doubt and a sneer upon his +honor. For the moment he lost control of his temper, and was about +to make a remark that he would have regretted immediately after, +when the door yielded to a gentle pressure, and Pet entered the +room.</p> +<p>Her face was pale. Her eyes were dull, and the lids hung +droopingly, weighed down by twenty-four hours of wakefulness by the +bedside of her sick teacher. The faint blue crescents +beneath--those strange shadows of the grave, which sometimes seem +the deepest when the eyes above are giving the brightest +light--imparted a frail, delicate beauty to her countenance. They +were the last master-touches of Nature in working out that +portraiture of weaned and sleepy loveliness.</p> +<p>As she put her foot in the room, Mr. Minford and his guest +telegraphed a truce with their eyes, and assumed a cheerful +look.</p> +<p>Little Pet timidly ran to her father, and kissed him, and then +shook hands with Marcus. He observed a shrinking in her touch. She +averted her eyes.</p> +<p>"Your clothes are damp, and your feet wet, my darling," said the +father,</p> +<p>"Are they?" answered Pet, looking down at her saturated garments +and glistening shoes. "I had not noticed them. Oh! I am so happy +that she is well now. The doctor called at the house just before I +left, and said she was out of all danger. He ordered me home."</p> +<p>"Very sensible of the doctor. Another hour of this watching +might have killed my poor child."</p> +<p>"So I took a last look at my dear teacher--who was asleep--and +kissed her, and came right away through the rain."</p> +<p>"It was foolish to do that without an umbrella and overshoes, my +child. But, as you were always forgetful of yourself, your father +will not be forgetful of you, at any rate." The inventor glanced +significantly at Marcus. That glance, so full of distrust, entered +his soul. He longed to say something--if only a word of common +civility--to the young girl; but he felt that there was now an +impassable barrier between them.</p> +<p>"But what is the matter, Pet?" exclaimed the father. She had +dropped into a chair, and her head fell on one side. He sprang to +catch her. So did Marcus. But the inventor reached her first, and +seized her in his arms, directing another of his speaking looks at +Marcus.</p> +<p>Pet roused herself at the touch of her father's hands, sat +erect, and opened her large blue eyes. "I am so sleepy," she +said.</p> +<p>"Of course you are, my blessed; and to bed you must go at once. +That is my prescription. But, first--always first--a cup of +tea."</p> +<p>The inventor darted to the stove, snatched up the teapot, poured +out a cup of the universal restorer, scalding his forefinger in the +hurry, milked and sugared it just right, and bore it to his +daughter, who was nodding again. She drank it dutifully, like +medicine.</p> +<p>Children do not comprehend tea. We have to grow up to it. It is +the appointed balm of fatigued and sorrowing middle age.</p> +<p>In its function of medicine, the strong draught revived her, +giving a twist to her pretty features, and sending a lively shudder +through her slender frame. Pet rose from her seat quite +briskly.</p> +<p>"Now to bed. To bed at once. No delay. And mind you put on all +the blankets, and your heavy shawl a-top of them."</p> +<p>"Yes, father."</p> +<p>Marcus blushed, twirled his hat, and made a motion toward the +door.</p> +<p>"You need not go, Mr. Wilkeson," said the inventor. "I beg that +you will not. I wish to settle up that little unfinished business +with you to-night."</p> +<p>Marcus saw that the inventor was in earnest. He coughed, and +hesitated what to say.</p> +<p>But, before he could say anything, Pet had kissed her father, +and said "Good-night," in a faint voice, to the guest, and already +had her hand on the knob of the door which led to her little +sleeping room.</p> +<p>"Remember, darling--all the blankets, and your shawl. To-morrow +morning you will wake up bright and happy, and ready to enjoy a +little surprise that I shall have for you." He jerked his thumb +toward the machine.</p> +<p>Pet understood him, and smiled sadly. "You need bed more than I, +father," said she.</p> +<p>"Nonsense, child!" replied the old man, with a hollow laugh. "It +is not for the patient to prescribe to the physician. There, +good-night, now."</p> +<p>He kissed her again with more tenderness. "Remember," said he, +"there is a little surprise in store for you to-morrow."</p> +<p>Pet said, "Heaven bless you, father," murmured another +"Good-night," and disappeared within her sanctuary, closing the +door after her.</p> +<p>"Now, Mr. Wilkeson," said the inventor, "we can finish our +conversation."</p> +<p>His voice sounded like a voice from the tomb.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="F_CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>THE CLASHING ORBS.</h3> +<br> +<p>The rain had ceased, and the moon was out. The dark, massy +clouds that floated between her and the earth were doing their +ghostly, phantasmagoric work. At one moment, clear, white light, +like a shroud; at another moment, darkness, like a pall. An owl, +lighting on the spire of Grace Church in his flight over the city, +might have seen the white edge of the shroud, or the black edge of +the pall, advancing in well-defined lines over the housetops, and +the parks, and the two rivers, swiftly succeeding each other.</p> +<p>It was as if the mighty invisible demons of the night were +capriciously trying the effects of cerements on the sleeping city. +It was as if they were perplexed between the soft beauty of the +shroud and the sombre majesty of the pall. A woman could not have +tried on two shawls more often and more indecisively, before making +up her mind to buy.</p> +<p>Little Pet's sleeping room, like every room that faced the +south, that night, was full of strange, spectral effects. The +scrolls and the roses on the cheap yellow curtains that hung in the +windows, were changed to hideous faces of variable size and +ugliness. Their grotesque shadows on the floor mingled with other +faces--horrible as antique masks--wrought by the magic of the moon +from the gigantic flowers that adorned the narrow strip of carpet +by the bedside. Her dresses, suspended from a row of hooks in the +corner--and showing, in gentle swells and curves, the lithe, +graceful form of the little wearer, like moulds,--would have looked +to any open eye, that dreadful night, like women hanging against +the wall. This startling idea would have been helped along by two +or three shadowy bonnets depending from pegs above them. The white +somethings carelessly tossed over a chair near the head of the bed, +were no longer the garments of youth, beauty, and innocence, but +graveclothes, cold, shining, shuddering, in that deathly light. The +touch of the moon, like the presence of a sexton, suggested +mortality.</p> +<p>The narrow, single bed, with its four black posts, looked like +the fatal trestle, or bier. The slender body which lay upon it was +still as death. The head nestled motionless in a deep indentation +of the pillow. A slanting ray of the moon, coming between one of +the window curtains and the window, fell upon the face, and showed +it white and waxen; the lips, still red, parted to the gleaming +teeth; and the eyes not quite covered by the lids. One beautiful +round arm curved above her head, and some of her soft brown hair +rested in the little open palm. The other stretched down toward the +centre of the bed, as if fearlessly to invite the touch of those +weird things with which imagination peoples the solemn night--which +the wakeful eye, in the still, small hours, sees moving in the +darker corners, or passing swiftly by the bedside, or hovering in +the air, wearing the semblance of one's dead friends, or filling +large portions of the room with some formless presence of +unutterable malignity and woe.</p> +<p>It was only sleep to which the moon thus gave the pale polish of +death. The gentle murmur of a childish breath broke the silence. +The heavy bedclothes slowly rose and fell with the mysterious +pulsations of warm life beneath. At intervals, a shudder shook the +little figure of the sleeper, her breath came louder and quicker, +and her arms moved with sudden starts. Pet was dreaming, under the +joint influences of an excess of blankets and a cup of strong +tea.</p> +<p>She was alone in infinite space. Above, below, on all sides, was +a leaden atmosphere. Neither sun, nor moon, nor stars illumined it, +but only some dull, phosphorescent light, which seemed to be born +of the murky, stagnant air. It was such a strange, sickly, wavering +gleam as she had seen above decaying wood, fish, and other +substances. All around was absolute stillness. Not a swallow waved +his wing nor an insect hummed in that barren immensity. Nature was +hushed by some deadly spell.</p> +<p>Yet the dread silence portended the near approach of HORRORS. +She knew what they were, for she had been in this frightful region +often before, and was familiar with its dread phenomena. They came. +They were only two little black specks--like motes in the +sunbeams--scarcely visible to her strained vision at first. She +gazed upon them with the fascination of a charmed bird on the two +small jet eyes of a serpent; but with this difference, that she +knew the terrible peril that they brought. The moment that these +two motes became visible to her in that dimly lighted mist, they +commenced revolving around each other.</p> +<p>They revolved slowly, and increased in size as they rolled on. +The slowness of the motion and the swelling of the motes were +elements of horror. But she could not take her eyes from those two +black objects revolving like binary stars, until her breath should +cease to come and go, and her heart to beat. As the motes enlarged, +their orbits widened. And they grew and-grew, performing greater +and more awful circuits--still slowly, still noiselessly. The +eternal, unbroken silence was another element of horror. The doomed +spectatress of this solemn, maddening whirl would fain have +shrieked, or even whispered, to break the silence, but she could +not. Either her powers of articulation had disappeared in that +region of universal dumbness, or the dead atmosphere was waveless, +and could vibrate to no sound. She knew, by harrowing experience, +the scene that was to come, and she prayed inwardly to God to +strengthen her for it.</p> +<p>The two black objects swelled and swelled in even proportions, +until they became as large as a full moon just seen above the +horizon; then to the size of two full moons, and a dozen, and a +hundred, and a thousand. Still black, still noiseless, still +revolving slowly, like a tardy but certain doom. Then a quarter of +the leaden space was filled with their gigantic bodies, and the +lurid air was darker. Then a half of the heavens was blotted out; +She grew faint and sick, as she moved her head to the right and +left, and up and down, and watched the dizzy revolutions of those +vast orbs, between which she knew that she was to be crushed at +last, as by the nether and upper millstones. Her inarticulate cries +to God were unheard. It seemed as if there were no God for that +accursed part of the universe.</p> +<p>Majestically, slowly, silently ever, the orbs increased. Two +strips of the sky could be seen constantly changing positions, but +always opposite to each other. These were the gaps, fast narrowing, +which were to be filled up by the swelling worlds before her +destruction was accomplished. Her long familiarity with the +movements of this stupendous enginery of death enabled her to +calculate to a nicety when the crash would come. She lay like the +bound victim under the guillotine, watching fer the axe to +descend.</p> +<p>The blackness of darkness above and beneath and around her ... a +suffocating compression of the stagnant air ... a thrilling +consciousness of the close approach of the two cruel orbs.... a +superlative stillness ... and then a mighty attrition, in which the +mortal part of the poor girl was about to be ground to atoms, when +she ... awoke.</p> +<p>She threw back the heavy blankets that oppressed her chest, as +if <i>they</i> were the crushing danger. She looked overhead, +expecting to see a whirling globe within a foot of her face. But +she saw only the ceiling, made visible by the pallid light of the +room. Then she knew that she was in her own little room, and that +this frightful adventure was only the old, old dream, that came to +her two or three times a year, as far back as she could +remember--the same always, without addition or curtailment.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="F_CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>A VISION OF HORRORS.</h3> +<br> +<p>Little Pet was not the least superstitious; because her father +had taught her from infancy to pay no heed to dreams or signs; and +because he had allowed no housemaid or fussy old woman to inoculate +his young daughter with her own senseless and cowardly fears. Pet +smiled at the momentary terror which the strange old dream had +caused, closed her eyes, and addressed herself again to sleep. But, +first, she drew up the weighty blankets over her little frame, as +her father had told her to do. She had already found out by +experience, that a hot application of blankets was the best remedy +for a young cold.</p> +<p>A low murmur, as of conversation, came from the adjoining room. +Then she remembered that Mr. Wilkeson was there when she had come +to bed. She said to herself: "It cannot be late; for he never stops +after ten o'clock." Then she began to think of some matters which +had recently perplexed and distressed her greatly. But she was so +sleepy, that the thoughts came into her little head confusedly, +and, several times, merged into dreams, and then came out again. +The low murmur of the talk outside, like the distant hum of a +waterfall or a mill, was sedative. The act of listening to it--as +she did for a few moments with natural curiosity--was provocative +of sleep.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<p>The conversation suddenly grew louder. The hollow voice of the +inventor, and the deep bass of Marcus Wilkeson, could be heard +alternating quickly. These words reached little Pet:</p> +<p>THE INVENTOR. "We have had along conversation, Mr. Wilkeson, and +I will end it by saying that it is best for us to separate, now and +forever."</p> +<p>MARCUS (<i>bitterly</i>). "As you please, sir; but it is hard +that a man's reputation should be at the mercy of any scoundrel who +knows how to write a libel, and has not courage enough to +acknowledge it."</p> +<p>THE INVENTOR (<i>pettishly</i>). "I have told you a dozen times, +that I despise anonymous letter writers. They are ever liars and +cowards."</p> +<p>MARCUS. "But you respected this one enough to adopt his +suggestions."</p> +<p>THE INVENTOR. "So the magistrate uses hints that may be +furnished him by professional thieves, for the detection of crime. +But he, none the less, loathes those who would inform upon their +comrades."</p> +<p>MARCUS. "You believe, therefore, only what you have seen or +heard for yourself."</p> +<p>THE INVENTOR. "Nothing further, I assure you. In all matters of +proof, it is my nature to be suspicious."</p> +<p>MARCUS. "But none of these accusations against me have been +proved."</p> +<p>THE INVENTOR. "Why protract this painful conversation? It is +sufficient for me to say that we must part.--(<i>Excitedly</i>.) +Good heavens, sir! am I not the guardian of my daughter, and +warranted in accepting or rejecting acquaintances for her? Must I +make long explanations to everybody that I don't see fit to admit +into my house and my daughter's society? Is not this a free +country, sir?"</p> +<p>MARCUS <i>(with deep despair in his voice</i>). "Perfectly free, +sir. I admit your rights. And I hereby pledge myself not to intrude +upon you or her--at least, until you are convinced of the great +injustice of your conduct toward me, and invite me again to your +house. But there is one thing more!"</p> +<p>THE INVENTOR (<i>impatiently</i>). "One thing more! will this +dialogue never end? Well, sir. What the devil is it?" Then he +added, as if aware of the coarseness and gross impropriety of that +expression. "Excuse me, sir, but it is late, and my machine is +waiting."</p> +<p>MARCUS (<i>slowly and firmly</i>). "One moment, sir. I have +sworn my innocence before God, with the most solemn oath known to +man. I may have misconstrued your remarks, but I thought you still +doubted me. It is my misfortune to be extremely sensitive upon the +point of honor. Having relinquished your acquaintance and that +of--of--your daughter, it is now my duty to ask whether you presume +to question my oath?"</p> +<p>THE INVENTOR (<i>with increased impatience</i>). "Why should I +be bored with this cross-examination? I have never said I doubted +your oath."</p> +<p>MARCUS (<i>quickly</i>). "That is not an answer. Do you believe +me, or disbelieve me? Am I a liar and perjurer, or not? In one +word; yes, or no!"</p> +<p>THE INVENTOR (<i>laughing nervously</i>). "Will you bully me in +my own house, sir? There is the door. Out of it!"</p> +<p>There was a noise like the opening of a door.</p> +<p>MARCUS (<i>between his teeth</i>). "Never, sir. Never, until you +retract your imputation upon my honor."</p> +<p>THE INVENTOR (<i>losing all control of himself</i>). "Curse your +honor. If you had been more careful of it in your native +village--where you are best known--it would not trouble you now. +Come, there are the stairs."</p> +<p>MARCUS. "Once more. Do you believe my oath, or not?"</p> +<p>THE INVENTOR (<i>shouting</i>). "No! no! a million times, no! +since you drive me to it. I believe you to be a crafty scoundrel, +who has been trying to ruin my daughter. Out, sir, now--out!"</p> +<p>Then was a sound of two men clenching, and struggling toward the +door. A noise followed like that caused by the sharp closing of the +door; but the two men were still in the room, for their scuffling +and their short, quick grunts of exertion could be heard with +increased distinctness. The noise indicated that one was pushing +the other toward the centre of the room. Then followed the dull, +nauseating sound of blows, apparently struck with fists upon heads +and chests, mingled with noisier but still partly suppressed +groans, and defiances.</p> +<p>The conversation which preceded this struggle, had come to Pet's +ears with such distinctness, and made such a terrifying impression +upon her mind, that it seemed as if she could see the +combatants.</p> +<p>At the time when the clenching commenced, the vision was faint, +as if she were looking into a dark room. But, as the struggle +proceeded, the room seemed to be gradually lighted up for her; and +every grapple, every blow, every facial contortion of this horrible +contest, were plainly visible. And yet she was not in the room, but +lying in her little bed, bound as in the awful dream of the +clashing orbs. She knew she was there, and yet she felt that her +eyes, all her faculties of observation, had been somehow +transferred to her father's room, and that she was actually seeing +and hearing the commission of a murder there.</p> +<p>She tried to cry aloud, but her jaws were closed. She would have +risen, entered the room, and thrown herself between the frenzied +men, but neither hand nor foot could she move. Her body was +fastened to the bed as if with adamantine chains, while her mind +and soul were the voiceless spectators of a tragedy of which she +knew that she was the cause. She could not even open her eyes. If +she could have loosed but a muscle from the rigidity of the trance, +she knew that her whole frame would be relaxed in an instant. Then +she would have bounded--oh! with what speed--into the other room, +where her immortal part was helplessly watching the conflict, and +interceded at the risk of her life. Alas! Prometheus was tied to +the rock not more firmly than she to that bed of anguish!</p> +<p>The struggle went on. The inventor, though past the prime of +life, and worn down by excessive thought, had some strength left. +Its duration was brief; but it was not to be despised while it +lasted. He grasped the tall figure of Marcus Wilkeson by the neck +with one arm, and with the other struck dozens of blows upon his +face and chest. The comparative youth and freshness of Marcus were +unable to free him from the strong hold of this vigorous old man. +Pangs of terror shot through the heart of the poor girl as she saw +that her father was about to become a murderer. Then the tide of +fortune changed. Marcus, bruised and black in the face, and panting +with exertion, released himself from the inventor's clutch, and, in +turn, caught him by the throat. With his long arm he held the +furious old man at a safe distance. The unhappy girl was now +agonized with fears for her father's life.</p> +<p>"This is madness. Let us stop it." Thus Pet heard Marcus +Wilkeson say, in panting accents.</p> +<p>What demoniac spell was it that prevented her from +shrieking--"Stop it. In God's name, father, stop?"</p> +<p>"Never!" said the undaunted old man. "Never, till I have thrown +you headlong down stairs! Liar! Villain!"</p> +<p>With that, Pet saw her father hurl himself, with the ferocity of +a tiger, on Marcus Wilkeson. Such was the suddenness and +impetuosity of the movement, that Marcus was pushed back several +feet toward the door, from the centre of the room, where the most +obstinate part of the struggle had taken place.</p> +<p>But the old man's supremacy was short lived. The younger and +stronger man suddenly stooped, caught the inventor with both hands +under the arms, and thrust him toward the corner occupied by the +mysterious machine. The inventor would have fallen on it, and +perhaps have been instantly killed by contact with some portion of +the brass or iron work, but for the interposition of the screen. +This broke his fall. He scrambled to his feet, full of rage, and +foaming at the mouth.</p> +<p>Marcus stepped back, and said, "Now let it cease."</p> +<p>Pet saw her father snatch something that looked like a club, +from some part of the machine.</p> +<p>"This is my answer," he said, and precipitated himself with +fresh fury upon Marcus.</p> +<p>The younger man had expected the attack, and braced himself for +it. He caught the inventor by the arm that held the club, or other +weapon. They wrestled for its possession--the inventor with frenzy +in every feature, Marcus with fixed determination, and +silently.</p> +<p>The weapon was now aloft--now below--now shifted in the +twinkling of an eye to the right, and now to the left. At one time +the inventor seemed to be on the point of securing it; at another, +Marcus. Suddenly Pet saw it whirl like a shillelah above her +father's head, with a strange noise like the quick winding of a +clock. Then she heard a dull sound, as of striking a board with a +brick, and--she saw her father fall to the floor. At the same +moment, the light in the room went out, and all was darkness.</p> +<p>The pent-up agony at last found utterance. She shrieked, and, +instantly, her eyes were open, and her limbs free. She jumped out +of bed, and was about to rush into the chamber of horrors, when she +saw the bright light of the gas yet shining through the crack +beneath her door. She listened. The house was still as the grave. +Not a sound from all the world outside, except the striking of a +fire alarm for the seventh district. The deep notes vibrated upon +her quickened hearing like a knell.</p> +<p>Then she remembered that, in the vision, the light had +disappeared. Here it was gleaming under her door as brightly as +ever. "Pshaw! what a silly girl I am!" said she. "It was a +nightmare. That's all." She raised her hands to her face. It was +hot and dripping.</p> +<p>"Father prescribed too large a dose of blankets. No wonder I had +this horrid dream."</p> +<p>But, notwithstanding the presence of the light, and the absence +of all noise, such as would be caused by the murderer in leaving +the room and going down stairs, the impression of this tragic +vision upon her mind was not to be dismissed with a "Pshaw!"</p> +<p>Pet would have derived much relief from opening the door and +looking in, and seeing, with her own waking eyes, that her father +was alive, at his usual seat in the corner. She placed her hand +upon the latch.</p> +<p>But then she remembered how her father had laughed at her, two +or three times before, when she was a younger girl, and not so wise +as now, and had rushed into his room screaming with fright from a +nightmare. She prided herself on having outgrown childish +fears.</p> +<p>She also remembered that her father had told her, two days +before, that he was engaged in the most difficult mathematical +calculations, day and night, and, kissing her, had playfully said +that she must not disturb him.</p> +<p>"He is thinking over his problems now," thought little Pet. +"Dear father! I <i>do</i> wish he would give up that hateful +machine. It will be the death of him. But he said I must not +disturb him, and I will not. Mr. Wilkeson must have gone home a +long time ago; and dear father is thinking, as he calls it, with +his hand on his forehead, in the old corner. Let me take one little +peep through the keyhole, and go to bed again."</p> +<p>Pet stooped, and looked through the keyhole. Within her range +were the chair where Marcus Wilkeson had sat that evening, and the +nail where--with bachelor-like precision--he always hung his hat. +Neither Marcus Wilkeson nor his hat were in their accustomed, +places. "What silly things these dreams are!" thought little Pet. +The keyhole did not command the corner of the room where the +machine stood, and where the inventor pondered and toiled; but Pet +felt as certain that he was there, coaxing thoughts out of his pale +brow with that habitual caress of the hand, as if she had seen +him.</p> +<p>"Good night, dear father," she whispered, softly. "May Heaven +watch over your labors, and keep you from all harm."</p> +<p>With this pious prayer, she slid into her warm nest. But, before +adjusting her limbs for sleep, she threw off a portion of the heavy +blankets which had weighed upon her, and was soon sound asleep, and +dreaming of a garden in which all the roses were beautiful new +bonnets.</p> +<p>Still the moon played her ghastly metamorphoses in the little +chamber. And the figures on the carpet and the figures on the +curtain writhed in horrible contortions of glee, as if they +rejoiced over a calamity which had befallen that house.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="F_CHAPTER_V."></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>WHAT THE MORNING BROUGHT.</h3> +<br> +<p>The child woke about seven o'clock. She knew the time by the +sun's rays upon the window curtains. In that strong, cheerful +light, the phantom faces had shrunk back to great red bunches of +flowers again. She thought of the absurd dream, or vision, as of +something that had happened ages ago, and wondered that she had +been foolish enough to be frightened by it.</p> +<p>There was no noise in her father's room. But that was not +strange, for he rarely retired to bed before three o'clock in the +morning (even when he did not sit up all night), and slept till +eight. His sleep, though short, was sound; and it was Pet's custom +to prepare breakfast in her father's room without waking him.</p> +<p>She washed her face, which looked rosy and bewitching in the +little cracked mirror, and dressed her hair in two simple bands +down the cheeks, and put on a white calico dress with small red +spots, and a white apron bound with blue. This was the dress that +her father loved the best. She looked in the glass, and examined +her damaged reflection with a charming coquetry, and said, "Pet, +child, you are looking well to-day. Now for breakfast."</p> +<p>Pet walked to the door, humming her last music lesson in a low +voice.</p> +<p>She placed her hand upon the latch, and opened the door softly. +As it swung on its hinges, and she began to obtain a glimpse of the +room, she noticed the gas still burning, though the daylight filled +the apartment. This was strange. A shudder passed through her +frame, and her cheeks began to pale.</p> +<p>"Pooh! what nonsense!" she said. She pushed the door wide +open.</p> +<p>Was it another mocking, maddening vision that she saw? She +rubbed her eyes in wild affright, and then raised her hands aloft +with a piercing shriek.</p> +<p>There, before her, lay the dead body of her father. In the +centre of his ghastly forehead was a small wound, from which the +blood had trickled over the temples, bedabbling his thin gray +hairs, and forming a small red pool by his side. Near him, on the +floor, was a club with an iron tip, which had done the dreadful +deed. She recognized it at once as a part of the machine.</p> +<p>The monstrous vision of the night was true! Her father was dead! +Mr. Wilkeson was his murderer! She was an orphan!</p> +<p>These agonizing thoughts flashed through her brain in the single +instant. She felt her head turning, and her limbs failing under +her. She had only strength to shriek, "Murder! murder! Help! help!" +and then she fell headlong and senseless upon her father's dead +body.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BOOK_SEVENTH."></a>BOOK SEVENTH.</h2> +<h3>JOURNEYINGS AGAINST FATE.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="G_CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>PEA-SHOOTING AS A SCIENCE.</h3> +<br> +<p>Be it said to the credit of Wesley Tiffles, that he always paid +bills promptly when he could borrow money to do it. The funds that +he had raised from Marcus Wilkeson, and others, for the panorama, +had been faithfully applied to that great object. If he could have +borrowed money from other people to repay those loans, that act of +financial justice would also have been done; and so on without end, +like a round robin.</p> +<p>When Tiffles bestowed the last instalment of compensation upon +Patching, that individual shrugged his shoulders, and smiled. "The +paltry price of artistic degradation," said he. "Remember, I would +have done this job only for a friend. The world must not know it is +a Patching--though I fear that even on this hasty daub I have left +marks of my style which will betray me."</p> +<p>"You are safe, my dear fellow," said Tiffles. "I have already +ordered the posters and bills; and the name of Andrea Ceccarini +will appear thereon as the artist. Ceccarini has an Italian look, +which is an advantage; and, you will pardon me for saying, is +rather more imposing than Patching."</p> +<p>The artist was sensitive touching his name. It had been punned +upon in some of the comic papers. He could not take offence at the +innocent remark of a friend, but he felt hurt, and vindictively +rammed the large roll of one-dollar bills into his vest pocket +without counting them. (Whenever it was practicable, Tiffles paid +his debts in bills of that denomination. He had a theory that the +amount looked larger, and was more satisfactory to the +receiver.)</p> +<p>As Tiffles saw how lightly the artist regarded the money, not +even counting it, he felt a momentary pang at the thought that he +had paid him.</p> +<p>The panorama of Africa had not only been finished and paid for, +but it had been exhibited to a large number of clergymen of all +denominations, at the lecture room of an up-town church. The +clergymen, being debarred from attending secular amusements, as a +class, had gladly accepted the invitation of "Professor Wesley" +(Tiffles's panoramic name), and brought with them their wives and a +number of children apiece.</p> +<p>The panorama was rigged up at the end of the lecture room, in +front of the desk, under the personal supervision of a former +assistant of Banvard's, and worked beautifully, saving an +occasional squeak in the rollers.</p> +<p>Tiffles, in his character of Professor Wesley, told his story +glibly and with perfect coolness, interspersing the heavier details +with amusing anecdotes, which made the ministers smile, and brought +out a loud titter of laughter from the ministers' wives, and +tremendous applause, inclusive of stamping and the banging of hymn +books, from the ministers' children.</p> +<p>One of the children, with the love of mischief peculiar to that +division of the human family, had provided himself with peas, and, +taking advantage of the partial darkness in which the panorama was +exhibited, shot those missiles with practised aim at Professor +Wesley, and now and then hit him in the face. The lecturer kept in +good humor; and when, after a smart volley of peas, Rev. Dr. A---- +arose, and suggested that these disturbances were disgraceful, and, +although he did not wish to meddle with the household government of +his brethren, he thought that the children who were guilty of such +outrages ought to be taken home, soundly whipped, and put to +bed--when Rev. Dr. A----, moved by just indignation, did this, the +lecturer smiled, and blandly said: Oh, no; he wasn't annoyed in the +least (at the same time receiving a pea on his left cheek). He +would trust to the generosity of his young friends not to fire +their peas too hard; and he hoped that the reverend gentleman would +withdraw his suggestion.</p> +<p>Cries of "All right, brother!" "We'll keep the boys quiet!" "Go +on! go on!" went up from all parts of the room. Rev. Dr. A----, +yielding to the pressure, sat down, and received, at that moment, +one pea on the right eye of his gold spectacles, and another square +on the end of his nose. The two peas were fired by his second son +John, who had been delivering this invisible artillery all the +evening from the other end of the identical pew in which the Rev. +Dr. was seated. He groaned in the spirit, and muttered something to +Mrs. Rev. Dr. A---- about the degeneracy of other people's +children, which made that lady chuckle low, under cover of the +night; for she knew that her second son John was the pea-shooter, +and had made vain efforts to stop him, by pinching his leg, though +the good matron could not help laughing at every fine shot achieved +by her promising boy.</p> +<p>Professor Wesley "went on," as requested, and so did the +pea-shooting, until John's stock of ammunition gave out.</p> +<p>The lecturer had ransacked the Society, Astor, and Mercantile +libraries, and stuffed himself with facts touching the interior of +Africa, so far as that mystery had been explored. Fortified with +these facts, and a lively imagination, he found no difficulty in +satisfying the curiosity of his auditors on every point; and +answered questions of all sorts, which were fired at him even +thicker than the peas, without the least hesitation.</p> +<p>When the exhibition was over, every clergyman present signed a +certificate declaring that they had been highly entertained and +instructed by the Panorama of Africa, and Mr. Wesley's able +lecture; that they considered the painting a masterpiece of moral +Art, and cordially recommended it to the patronage of an +enlightened public.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="G_CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>BY STEAM.</h3> +<br> +<p>Tiffles had selected, as his first field of active operations, +the State of New Jersey. His large number of relatives (the +Tiffleses were prolific on the female side) and friends, and +occasional creditors, scattered through New England and New York, +effectually barred him from all that territory. New Jersey, then +Pennsylvania, then the West--those were the great topographical +features of his campaign.</p> +<p>For his initiatory performance, he had chosen a quiet little +town less than thirty miles from the city, on a line of railway. If +his panorama was to be a hopeless failure at the very outset, +Tiffles wanted to be within striking distance of New York. He was +sanguine of success; but, like a prudent general, he looked after +his lines of retreat.</p> +<p>To this small town in New Jersey, with which the fate of the +great enterprise was to be indissolubly linked, Tiffles had sent a +large stock of posters and handbills. He had previously +corresponded (free of expense both ways) with that universal +business man of every American village, the postmaster, and, +through him, had engaged Washington Hall--the largest hall in the +place, capable of holding six hundred people--at five dollars for +one night, with the refusal of two nights more.</p> +<p>The name of the hall and the night of exhibition were written in +blank spaces on the posters and handbills with red chalk, in a fine +commercial hand, by Tiffles himself; and, for a small +consideration, the postmaster had agreed to stick up the posters on +every corner; also on the post office and the three town pumps; and +to distribute the handbills in every house. These labors the P.M. +did not undertake to perform personally--though he had plenty of +leisure for them, as well as for the local defence of the National +Administration, which was his peculiar and official function--but +he turned them over to a semi-idiot, who occasionally did jobs of +that kind, and who was willing to trust for his pay to the coming +of Professor Wesley.</p> +<p>The last letter from the postmaster ran thus:</p> +<blockquote>Yure's of the 6th reseved, and contense, including for +my pussenel expenses, dooly noted, Washinton Hall has been moped +out for you and is clene as a pin, six new tin cannel sticks have +been put up in the antyrum by the propryetor, this is lyberul, all +the hanbils has been distributid, and the posters stuck up, sum of +em wrong side down, owin to the bilposter bein a little +week-minded, which will be a kind of curosity, and an advantije to +you I think. I have sent tickets to the village pastures and their +famylis, as yu requested and they red the notises last Sunday and +advised everybuddy to go. I have gut public opinion all rite for yu +here, now cum on with yer panyrammer of Afriky.<br> +<br> +Yure's trooly,<br> +B. PERSIMMON, p.m.</blockquote> +<p>This was cheering; and Tiffles only hoped that he would be able +to secure so faithful an ally in every postmaster, for he had +decided to do this preliminary work through that variety of public +functionary, until the success of the panorama would justify hiring +a special courier to go in advance and smooth the way for him,</p> +<p>All these preparations having been satisfactorily made; and the +panorama, with the curtains, the lighting apparatus, and the other +properties, having been forwarded in three enormous boxes to the +scene of the impending conflict with public opinion, Tiffles made +ready to follow. And, on the eventful morning of the----- of April, +185-, he might have been seen at the Cortlandt-street ferry, +accompanied by Patching, who had graciously consented to see how +the "thing worked" on its first public trial.</p> +<p>Patching pulled his enormous hat still farther over his eyes, so +that he might not be recognized. This gave him an extremely +questionable aspect; and the ticket taker at the ferry peered under +the huge brim suspiciously as Patching came in. He also attracted +the attention of a detective in citizen's clothes, and was a +general object of interest to all the people congregated in the +ferry house and waiting for the boat.</p> +<p>"This is fame," muttered Patching, glancing at his scrutinizers +from the shadow of the far-reaching hat. "This is what people +starve and die for. It is a bore." He struck an attitude, as if +unconsciously, folding his arms, and appearing to be in a profound +revery. Then, after another cautious glance about, he turned to +Tiffles, by his side, and said:</p> +<p>"It is useless. I am recognized. But remember your solemn +promise. I had no hand in the painting of it."</p> +<p>"Not a little finger, my dear fellow," cheerfully replied +Tiffles, who had given the artist similar assurances of secrecy +five times that morning.</p> +<p>At that moment a hand touched Tiffles familiarly on the +shoulder. He turned suddenly, for he was always expecting rear +attacks from creditors. He saw Marcus Wilkeson.</p> +<p>"Best of friends," said Tiffles, with unfeigned joy, "I am glad +to see you. Of course you are going with us, though I hardly dared +hope as much when I sent you the invitation."</p> +<p>"To tell the truth, Tiffles, I had no intention of going, till +this morning, when it suddenly occurred to me that a little trip in +the country, and the fun of seeing your panorama and hearing you +lecture, would drive away the blues. I had a bad fit of them last +night."</p> +<p>Here Patching turned, and looked Marcus in the face, without +seeming to recognize him. It was his habit (not a singular one +among the human species) to pretend not to remember people, and to +wait for the first word. Marcus indulged in the same habit to some +extent, and, when he saw Patching looking at him without a nod or a +word, he also was blank and speechless.</p> +<p>"Don't you remember each other?" said Tiffles. "Mr. Patching. +Mr. Marcus Wilkeson."</p> +<p>The gentlemen shook hands, and said:</p> +<p>"Oh, yes! How do you do? It is a fine morning. Very."</p> +<p>"So much paler than when I last saw you, that I didn't know you, +positively. Little ill, sir?" asked Patching. The artist was sure +to observe and speak of any signs of illness on the faces of his +friends and acquaintances. Some people called him malevolent for +it.</p> +<p>To be told that one looks pale, always makes one turn paler. +Marcus, extra sensitive on the point of looks, became quite pallid, +and said, with confusion:</p> +<p>"I have not been well for several days, and my rest was badly +broken last night."</p> +<p>Tiffles had also remarked the unusual deadly whiteness of his +friend's complexion, and the air of lassitude and unhappiness which +pervaded his face, but he would not have alluded to them for the +world. He never made impertinent observations of that sort.</p> +<p>"Unwell?" said Tiffles. "I had not noticed it. In the morning, +all New York looks as if it had just come out of a debauch. +Wilkeson will pass, I guess." This calumny upon the city was +Tiffles's favorite bit of satire, and it had cheered up many a poor +fellow who thought himself looking uncommonly haggard.</p> +<p>Marcus smiled languidly, and turned away his head with a sigh. +As his eyes swept about, they encountered the gaze of the man in +citizen's clothes, previously noticed. At first, Marcus thought he +had seen this man somewhere before; and then he thought he was +mistaken. The man evinced no recognition of Marcus, and, an instant +after, his sharp glance wandered to some other person in the large +group waiting for the boat.</p> +<p>Here the boat came into the slip, and, after bumping in an +uncertain way against the piles on either side, neared almost +within leaping distance of the wharf. A solid crowd of passengers +stood at the edge of the boat, with their eyes fixed on the landing +place, as if it were the soil of a new world upon which they were +to leap for the first time, like a party of Columbuses When the +distance had been diminished to about four feet, the front row of +passengers jumped ashore, and rushed wildly up the street, as if +impelled by a rocket-like power from behind. These people could not +have been more eager to get ashore, if they had come from the other +side of the globe on business involving a million apiece, to be +transacted on that day only.</p> +<p>In fact, they were only lawyers, tradesmen, mechanics, and +clerks, living in Jersey City, and going over to New York on their +daily, humdrum business. It was not the business that attracted +them, but the demon of American restlessness that pushed them on. +They went back at night in just the same hurry, and made equally +hazardous jumps on the Jersey side. They were mere shuttlecocks +between the battledoors of Jersey City and New York.</p> +<p>Tiffles and Patching lifted up the thin carpet bags which +reposed at their feet, and which contained an exceedingly small +amount of personal linen and other attire, and went on board the +boat, followed by Marcus, who was unencumbered with baggage. They +entered the ladies' cabin. The thick crowd of people pressed into +the cabin in their front and rear, and all about them, and +scrambled for seats. There was a general preference for the part +forward of the wheelhouse, because it was a few feet nearer New +Jersey than the aft part. The rush to obtain these preferred places +was like that of the opera-going world for the front row of boxes +at a <i>matinée</i>. Ladies who obtained eligible seats, +settled themselves in them, spread out their dresses, put their +gloved hands in position, and smiled with a sweet satisfaction at +ladies who had got no seats. Those ladies, in turn, looked +reproachfully at the gentlemen who were comfortably seated. And +those gentlemen, with the exception of a few who rose and +gracefully offered their seats to the youngest and prettiest of the +ladies, in turn looked out of the windows, or at the floor, or at a +paper, intently.</p> +<p>A stranger to the ferry boats and customs of the country would +have supposed that the passengers were bound for Europe instead of +the opposite shore of North River.</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson, Times, and Patching did not participate in this +contest for seats, but walked through the fetid and stifling cabins +to the forward deck, where fresh, bracing air, glorious sunlight, +and a cheery view of the river were to be had. But these charms of +nature were apparently thrown away on the trio. They all leaned +over the railing, and, looked steadily into the water. Times was +thinking up his lecture, and other matters of the panorama. +Patching was misanthropically reviewing his career, and exulting in +future triumphs over his professional enemies. Marcus was engrossed +with some sad theme which, once or twice, brought tears into his +eyes. A burst of noble music, a fine sentiment in a poem, a poor +woman crying, keen personal disappointment, or any acute mental +trouble, had this strange effect on the optics of Marcus +Wilkeson.</p> +<p>The bell rang; voices shouted, "All aboard!" the gangplank was +drawn in; several belated people jumped on, at the risk of their +lives, after the boat had left the wharf, one man vaulting over ten +feet; and the voyage for Jersey was commenced.</p> +<p>Three minutes later, the inmates of the cabins began to go +forward and pick favorable positions for jumping off on the other +side. The scramble to evacuate the seats then was as sharp as the +scramble to possess them, three minutes before. A few more rounds +of the wheels, and the boat thumped in the usual way against one +row of piles at the entrance of the Jersey slip, and then caromed +like a billiard ball on the other, each time nearly knocking the +passengers off their feet, and shaking a small chorus of screams +out of the ladies.</p> +<p>When the boat was within a yard of the wharf, the jumping +commenced; and all the able-bodied men, most of the boys, and some +of the ladies, were off before the boat butted with tremendous +force against the wharf, shaking both wharf and boat to their +foundations, and giving to the people on both a parting jar, which +they carried in their bones for the rest of the day.</p> +<p>Once safely on the wharf, the scramble was continued in various +directions and for various objects. Marcus, Tiffles, and Patching +indulged in the eccentricity of not scrambling; and, when they +reached the Erie Railroad cars, they found every seat taken, some +by two persons, but many by one lady and a bandbox or carpet bag, +which was intended to signify to the inquiring eye that the lawful +human occupant of that half of the seat was absent, but might be +expected to come in and claim it at any moment.</p> +<p>The three companions understood this conventional imposture, and +politely claimed the spare half seats from the nearest ladies. The +fair occupants looked forbidding, and slowly removed their +bandboxes, baskets, and other parcels, to the floor beneath, or the +rack overhead; and the disturbers of their peace and comfort +ruthlessly took the vacated seats, with a bow, signifying "Thank +you."</p> +<p>The seats thus procured were some distance apart; and so the +three companions were precluded from conversing with each other. +This suited the taciturn mood of each that morning. As for the +ladies who filled the other half of the three seats, they might as +well have been lay figures from a Broadway drygoods store; +conversation with them being prohibited by the etiquette of railway +travelling. A man may journey two hundred and fifty miles in a car, +with his elbow unavoidably jogging a lady's all the way, and still +be as far from her acquaintance (unless she is graciously inclined +to say something first) as if the pair were leagues apart. This is +proper, but peculiar.</p> +<p>The strange sadness that possessed Marcus that morning was +intensified as the ears rolled on. There is something in the +monotonous vibration of the train, and the recurring click of the +wheels against the end of the rails, that provokes melancholy. +Marcus looked out of the window at the flying landscape, and the +distant patches of wood which seemed to be slowly revolving about +each other, and was profoundly wretched. He was totally unconscious +of the sharp, pale, nervous face by his side.</p> +<p>The owner of the face was about thirty-five years old, though +the lines on her brow and cheeks added an apparent five years to +her age. If she had been put upon her trial for murder, the police +reporters would have discovered traces of great beauty in her +countenance. An ordinary spectator, having no occasion to spice a +paragraph, would have made the equivocal remark that she had once +been handsomer.</p> +<p>This lady was dressed plainly, comfortably, and in good taste. +Her hands, ungloved, were shapely, but red and hard with manual +labor. On the second finger of the left hand was a little gold +ring, much thinned by wearing. The eyes of this lady were regarding +the unconscious Marcus obliquely, with a singular expression of +mingled recollection and doubt. Sometimes her glance would drop to +the ring, as if that were a link in the chain of her perplexed +reflections. A sudden jolt of the car, as the train ran over a pole +which had fallen on the track, roused Marcus to the existence of +this face and those eyes.</p> +<p>As he saw the eyes sternly bent on him, he thought that his +staring out of the window, past the lady's profile, might have +offended her. So, with a cough which was meant to serve as an +apology for the unintentional rudeness, he turned his face away, +and continued his gloomy revery among the odd patterns of the +oilcloth on the floor of the aisle.</p> +<p>Still the thin, nervous lady watched him obliquely.</p> +<p>A ride of three quarters of an hour brought them to their +destination, as they learned from a preliminary howl of the +conductor through the rear door of the car. The engine bell rang, +the whistle screamed, the clack of the wheels gradually became +slower.</p> +<p>"Only one minute. Hurry!" howled the conductor again.</p> +<p>Marcus, Tiffles, and Patching were out of their seats and at the +door with American despatch. Before the car had quite stopped, they +had jumped off. Marcus did not notice that, behind him, was a woman +struggling between the two rows of seats with a bandbox, a +workbasket, an umbrella, and her hoops, all of which caught in turn +on one side or the other. Nor did the conductor observe that this +burdened and distressed lady was trying to make her way out; for, +after looking from the rear of the train, and seeing that three +persons had landed, and that there was nobody to get on, he +concluded that it would be a waste of time to stop a minute, and so +rang the bell to go ahead. The engine driver, equally impatient, +jerked the starting lever, and the engine bounded forward like a +horse, giving a shock to the train, and nearly upsetting the woman, +who was still wrestling with her personal effects between the rows +of seats. With a sudden effort, she freed herself, opened the door, +and stood upon the platform.</p> +<p>The engine had wheezed three times, and she hesitated to jump. +She screamed shrilly. The sound entered the ears of Marcus +Wilkeson, who was whisking dust and ashes off his clothes with a +handkerchief. He ran forward, and saw the predicament of his pale +and nervous fellow traveller. She screamed again, as the engine +wheezed for the eighth time.</p> +<p>Marcus extended his hand. "Jump!" said he; "I'll catch you."</p> +<p>She did jump, much to the surprise of Marcus and the two lookers +on--thereby indicating decision of character.</p> +<p>Marcus caught her in his arms--bandbox, basket, and all--and the +train hurried on.</p> +<p>"Thank you, sir," said the lady, with some confusion. Then she +walked rapidly down the road toward the village, like one who lived +there.</p> +<p>"A customer for the panorama, perhaps," said Tiffles. "I'm glad +you landed her safely." Tiffles had got through his thinking, and +was exhilarate again. He laughed so pleasantly, that even Marcus +relaxed his grim visage, and smiled.</p> +<p>"Not a bad ankle, that," observed Patching, looking at the +rapidly retreating form of the rescued woman. Patching, +artist-like, was always discovering beauties where nobody else +looked for them.</p> +<p>Marcus had no eye for the charms of nature that morning, and he +responded not to the remark which the artist had addressed to him. +Whereupon Patching determined not to speak to Marcus again that +day.</p> +<p>They followed the mysterious female down the road which led to +the village. On the fences, every few rods, were plastered posters +announcing the "Panorama of Africa" for that evening, at +"Washington Hall"--"Tickets, twenty-five cents"--"Children under +twelve years of age, half price," &c., &c. As B. Persimmon, +P.M., had said, in one of his letters, some of the posters were +stuck upside down. This circumstance did not seem to prevent the +population from reading them; for the party observed at least two +boys (half prices) in the act of spelling them out between their +legs.</p> +<p>Tiffles was so absorbed in the contemplation of the posters, +Patching in a critical survey of the scenery on both sides of the +road, and Marcus Wilkeson in an introspection of his troubled +heart, that none of them observed how often the thin, nervous +female, walking rapidly ahead, looked over her shoulder at one of +their number.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="G_CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>PIGWORTH, J.P.</h3> +<br> +<p>The village was composed of the usual ingredients, in the usual +proportions. Law, drygoods, liquor, blacksmithing, carpentry, +education, painting and glazing, medicine, dentistry, tinware, and +other comforts of civilization, were all to be had on reasonable +terms. There were four churches with rival steeples, and two +taverns with rival signs. The village contained everything that any +reasonable man could ask for, except a barber's shop. It takes a +good-sized town to support a barber's shop.</p> +<p>As they marched into the village, they were conscious of +attracting general attention. Men looked out of the doors, women +out of the windows, and boys had begun to fall in procession +behind.</p> +<p>"Them are the performers," said one boy to another "Wonder what +that feller with the big hat does?" observed a second. "Turns the +crank, guess," was the response.</p> +<p>Patching pulled his hat farther over his eyes, and smiled +gloomily at Tiffles, "They little think who I am," he murmured.</p> +<p>"What a solemncholy mug that tall chap's got," said another +youthful citizen. This made Marcus try to laugh genially at the +boys. But in vain.</p> +<p>"Say, Bill, isn't that little feller's shirt out o' jail?"</p> +<p>Tiffles made a personal application of this remark. It was his +constant misfortune to suffer rents in portions of his garments +where their existence was least likely to be discovered by himself. +As he could not publicly verify the suggestion of the impertinent +small boy, he buttoned his coat tightly about him.</p> +<p>How their identity with the panorama of Africa had been +established, was a mystery. Small boys divine secrets by instinct, +as birds find food and water.</p> +<p>The two taverns were the National House and the United States +Hotel. Although the signs were large and clean, the taverns were +small and dirty. There was no choice between them, except in the +fact that the United States Hotel was directly opposite Washington +Hall. Therefore the adherents of the panorama cast their fortunes +with that place of entertainment for man and beast--particularly +beast.</p> +<p>Mr. Thomas Pigworth, the landlord, was seated on the stoop of +his hostelry, discoursing of national politics to a small group of +his fellow citizens, who were performing acrobatic feats with +chairs in a circle about him. Pigworth was a justice of the peace, +and was always dressed in his best clothes, so as to perform his +judicial functions at a moments notice, with dignity and ease. He +was tall, thin, baldheaded. T.J. Childon, landlord of the +"National," said hard things, as in duty bound, of his rival. Among +others, that he had kept himself lean by running so hard for office +for the last ten years. To which slander Pigworth retorted, that +Childon was fat (which was true--a fine, plump figure was +Childon's) only because he ate everything in his house, and left +nothing for his customers.</p> +<p>The three newcomers mounted the rotten wooden steps to the +stoop. Mr. Pigworth left his group of auditors, came forward, and +received them with the affability of a retired statesman.</p> +<p>"The landlord?" asked Tiffles.</p> +<p>"I keep the hotel," said Pigworth, with a smile which intimated +that he kept it for amusement rather than profit.</p> +<p>"Room and board for three of us?" asked Tiffles.</p> +<p>"Certainly," said Pigworth, with the air of a man who was doing +them a favor. "Ef you want only one apartment, I can give you the +one occupied last week by the Hon. Mr. Podhammer. You have heard of +him?"</p> +<p>"Of course," responded Tiffles, to cut short the +conversation.</p> +<p>"He spoke in Washington Hall, there, on the Cons'tution. He is +smart on some things, but THE CONS'TUTION he doesn't +understand--not a word of it. I told him so."</p> +<p>Tiffles was about to ask why, if the Hon. Mr. Podhammer didn't +understand a word of the Constitution, he had the audacity to +lecture on it; when he remembered that it was no uncommon thing for +lecturers to talk of what they don't understand--himself of Africa, +for instance.</p> +<p>"Be good enough to show us the room," said he.</p> +<p>"I say, Judge" (Pigworth, being a justice of the peace, was +universally styled thus), cried a voice from the group, "do you, or +do you not, indorse my sentiments?"</p> +<p>Pigworth turned majestically, and spoke like an oracle:</p> +<p>"I do not indorse your sentiments. I wish it distinctly +understood, that I do not indorse them. I indorse nothing but the +Cons'tution. That instrument I indorse to any extent. Are you +satisfied now?"</p> +<p>This speech was hailed by cries of "Good! good!" "That's so!" +"Sound doctrine, that!" "The Judge knows what's what!" Only one +person, the questioner, a young man with a preternatural head, was +unappeased.</p> +<p>"A single word more," said this young man. "Do you, or do you +not, subscribe to my views on the Homestead Law?"</p> +<p>Pigworth looked at the three comers as if to say, "Mark how I +crush him now." Then, pointing his long right arm at the rash +youth, he replied, slowly, but with fearful distinctness: "I do not +subscribe to your views. Sooner would I lose this right arm than +subscribe to them. There is only one view that I subscribe to. That +view to which I subscribe (the Judge spoke with increased dignity +here, and rose on his toes)--that view is found in the Cons'tution. +You would do well to study the Cons'tution, my young friend."</p> +<p>This withering rebuke was greeted with shouts and clapping of +hands from all but the young man, who muttered something about +humbug, and looked glum.</p> +<p>The landlord had another excoriating remark, which he might have +flung at the young man and finished him up, but he magnanimously +forbore.</p> +<p>"Now, my friends," said the landlord, patronizingly. He ushered +them into a dirty entry, and piloted the way up stairs.</p> +<p>"From New York, I suppose?" said the landlord. "Any political +news?"</p> +<p>"Really, sir, we don't meddle with politics," replied Tiffles, +sharply.</p> +<p>The landlord looked at him with an expression of pity "Oh! to be +sure not. You belong to the pannyrama. I recolleck that the last +circus folks that come here never talked about politics. Are you +Professor Wesley?"</p> +<p>"I am," said Tiffles.</p> +<p>"I merely wanted to say," continued the landlord, "that six of +my lodgers are goin' to the pannyrama on my recommendation. I have +a wife, sister-in-law and five children."</p> +<p>Tiffles took the hint. "I will hand you a complimentary ticket +for yourself and family," said he.</p> +<p>"Oh, no! by no means!" replied the landlord. "I wouldn't think +of taking it."</p> +<p>Mr. Pigworth then ushered his guests into the large, +uncomfortable apartment known as the "best room" in all country +hotels. The ceiling was low; there were three windows with small +panes, the sashes of which rattled in the wind; a rag carpet +covered the floor; an old bureau, topped off with a dirty white +cloth, a rickety table similarly draped, four cane-bottomed chairs, +and a huge wooden spitbox filled with sawdust, stood at intervals +around. Two single beds occupied opposite corners.</p> +<p>With reference to the beds, Mr. Pigworth remarked:</p> +<p>"Podhammer and Gineral Chetley slept in that air one. Colonel +Hockensacker and Judge Waterfield in t'other. There was four other +mattresses put down here that night, each of 'em with two of our +most distinguished citizens on it. That convention was worth to me +a good hundred dollars."</p> +<p>With every respect for the precedent established by Podhammer +and associates, Marcus Wilkeson preferred to sleep alone, as he had +done for twenty years. He privately expressed to the landlord a +desire for one of the mattresses which had done duty during the +convention.</p> +<p>The landlord smiled, evidently regarding the request as +eccentric and unreasonable, but nodded "All right." As for Tiffles +and Patching, having shared the same couch several nights during +the incubation of the panorama, the problem of how to distribute +three men among two beds gave them no concern. Pigworth then +retired.</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson's first act was to open the windows, and mix +some fresh air with the damp and mouldy atmosphere of the +apartment. Patching's first act was to light his pipe, and throw +himself on the nearest bed for a smoke. Tiffles's first act was to +inspect the rent which the impertinent small boy had discovered, +and make temporary repairs with a pin. Having done these things, +and arranged their toilets hastily in a mirror with a crack running +through it like a streak of lightning, the three adventurers +sallied forth, and crossed the street to Washington Hall.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="G_CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>STOOP.</h3> +<br> +<p>Washington Hall was the only place of public congregation, +excepting the churches, in the village. It was used on Sunday by a +small but clamorous religious sect; on Monday by a lodge of Free +Masons; on Tuesday by a lodge of Odd Fellows; on Wednesday by the +Sons of Temperance; and for the balance of the week was open to any +description of exhibition that came along. It was originally built +for a loft, and its reconstruction into a public hall was an +afterthought. It was situated over a drug store, and was owned by +the druggist, Mr. Boolpin, who was universally regarded as the +meanest man in the village.</p> +<p>As the three drew near the door, Mr. Boolpin, strongly smelling +of aloes, and carrying a pestle in his hand, came out to greet +them. He, in common with all the inhabitants, knew that the +"pannyrarmer folks" were in town. The small boys had borne the glad +intelligence all abroad. A number of citizens, who had been lying +in wait, issued forth with Mr. Boolpin, and looked hard at the +three.</p> +<p>"The proprietor of the hall," said Mr. Boolpin, introducing +himself.</p> +<p>"My name is Wesley," responded Tiffles. He then introduced +Patching as Signor Ceccarini, and Wilkeson as Mr. Wilkes. Patching +chuckled inwardly at the thought of the incognito, and imagined the +sensation that would be produced by the accidental revelation of +his real name. Marcus felt a momentary humiliation at having +consented to this innocent imposture.</p> +<p>Mr. Boolpin, having shaken hands solemnly with the three, asked +them to walk up stairs and look at the hall. They accordingly +followed him up a series of creaking steps.</p> +<p>"Everything in apple-pie order," said Mr. Boolpin. "The three +boxes containing the panorama right side up with care, you see. I +had them carted from the depot. Cost me a dollar. People thought +they were coffins. Ha! ha! Six new tin candlesticks, you observe; +also the ceiling whitewashed; also ten extra seats introduced, +making the entire capacity of the hall three hundred and +fifty--giving twelve inches of sitting room to each person. No +extra charge for these fixings, though I made them expressly on +your account. There are some things about this hall to which I +would call your attention. Boo! Boo! Hallo! Hallo! No echo, you +perceive. Likewise notice the fine view from the window." Mr. +Boolpin pointed to a swamp which could be distinctly seen over a +housetop toward the east. "The ventilation is a great feature, +too." Mr. Boolpin directed his pestle toward a trap door in a +corner of the ceiling, through which a quantity of rain had come a +night or two previous, leaving a large wet patch on the floor. +"It's almost too cheap for fifteen dollars a night."</p> +<p>"For what?" asked Tiffles.</p> +<p>"For fifteen dollars," replied Mr. Boolpin, twirling his pestle +playfully. "Of course, not reckoning in the one dollar that you owe +me for cartage. It's too cheap. I ought to have made it twenty +dollars."</p> +<p>"Why, Mr. Persimmon, the postmaster here, engaged the hall for +five dollars. Here is his letter mentioning the price." Tiffles +produced the letter, and pointed out the numeral in question.</p> +<p>"It's a 5, without any doubt," rejoined Mr. Boolpin; "but +Persimmon had no authority to name that price. I distinctly told +him fifteen dollars. But here he is. Perhaps he can explain +it."</p> +<p>The three turned on their heels, and beheld, standing at the +door, a short, dirty man in a faded suit of black, and a +cold-shining satin vest. He wore an old hat set well back on a bald +head, and his cravat was tied on one side in hangman's fashion. One +leg of his trowsers was tucked into the top of his boot; the other +hung down in its proper position. The man's face and hands wanted +washing. This was Mr. Persimmon, postmaster. The secrets of his +popularity were: First, his addiction to dirt; second, his +eccentricities of dress, heretofore enumerated; third, a reputation +for political craft and long-headedness, not wholly unfounded, as +his ingenuity in procuring the passage of resolutions supporting +the policy of the Administration, in all the conventions of his +party since he became postmaster, fully proved. This political sage +walked about town with Post-Office documents and confidential +communications from Washington sticking out of all his pockets, and +under the edge of his hat. He had a slight stoop in the shoulders, +which the local wits said had increased since he undertook to carry +the Administration.</p> +<p>"Professor Wesley?" remarked Persimmon, extending a grimy hand. +"Happy to see you."</p> +<p>"Your most obedient," said Tiffles, a little stiffly, for the +fifteen dollars annoyed him. It was a small sum to borrow, but a +large one to pay.</p> +<p>"Have you such a thing as a morning newspaper about you?" asked +the postmaster. "Our bundle missed the train. As you may naturally +imagine, sir, I am anxious to see how the grand mass meeting went +off last night in your city. Perhaps you wos there?"</p> +<p>Tiffles had never attended such a thing in his life; although he +was aware that two or three grand mass meetings were held every +week about all the year round, and a dozen nightly in times of +political excitement. "No," said he; "but will you be good enough +to tell me how much you hired this room for?"</p> +<p>Persimmon thought how culpably ignorant some people were of the +great political movements of the day, but did not say so. +Descending from politics to the subject in hand, he replied:</p> +<p>"Oh! fifteen dollars, of course. You will find it stated in my +last letter to you." At this moment (no one of the three observing +the act), the long-headed postmaster tipped a slight wink to Mr. +Boolpin, who returned that signal of mutual understanding.</p> +<p>Tiffles handed the letter to the postmaster, pointing out the +figure 5.</p> +<p>"Can I believe my eyes?" said the postmaster. "True enough, it +is a 5. Confound my absent-mindedness in not puttin' down a 1." It +may here be said, that similar instances of mental aberration were +discovered in Mr. Persimmon's accounts toward the close of his +official term.</p> +<p>Tiffles was staggered, as he reflected that it would take sixty +full tickets to pay the single item of rent. He had less than half +a dollar in his own pocket. Patching was, as usual, reduced to his +last five-dollar bill. Marcus had incidentally observed, a few +minutes before, that he had left his wallet at home, and had only a +handful of small silver about him. Suppose the panorama should fail +on the first night, and be detained for debt! Tiffles had not +thought of that.</p> +<p>Tiffles remonstrated, entreated, suggested compromises, but all +to no purpose. Boolpin was iron. The best arrangement that Tiffles +could make, was to postpone the final settlement of the terms until +after the performance. To that, Boolpin had not the least +objection.</p> +<p>"One thing more," said Boolpin. "If there is a row, and any +seats or windows are broken, you are to pay the damages."</p> +<p>Tiffles laughed faintly. "Oh! of course," said he. "But you +never have rows here, do you?" He put the question with disguised +interest.</p> +<p>"Sometimes," carelessly replied Mr. Boolpin. "There was a +legerdemain man got his machinery knocked to pieces, and his head +broken. The mob was quite reasonable about the furniture, and +smashed only ten seats and sixteen panes of glass. I charged the +Professor twenty dollars for damages, but took off two dollars on +account of his illness. Poor fellow! he was laid up more than a +month. Then there was a band of nigger minstrels, called the +'Metropoliganians.' They were regular humbugs; and so the mob took +them, and tarred and feathered them in the back lot. Damage to +furniture on that occasion was only sixteen dollars; and I got +every cent of it, by holding on to their trunks. There have been a +good many such little affairs in this village. I mention these two +cases only as examples."</p> +<p>"And yet no people in the world is more peaceable, nor more +easily satisfied, than the people of this town," said the +postmaster. "They only axes not to be imposed on. That's all."</p> +<p>"A kinder-hearted people don't live on the face of this earth," +added Boolpin, stating the case in another way; "but you mustn't +give them less than twenty-five cents' worth for a quarter."</p> +<p>Tiffles replied to the effect that he would give them a dollar's +worth apiece; but, in his heart, he foresaw, with that remarkable +prescience which is occasionally vouchsafed to mortals, that the +panorama of Africa was doomed to be a bad failure; and he bitterly +regretted that he had not tried some one of a dozen other immense +speculations which he had thought of. But he determined to give one +night's exhibition, whatever might be the consequences. "I may as +well die for an old sheep as a lamb," thought Tiffles.</p> +<p>During this conversation, Patching was secretly studying the +effect of the swamp, visible from the eastern windows; and Marcus +was looking at the cracked wall in a fit of abstraction.</p> +<p>Tiffles had observed several times, that morning, a youth, or +man, of singular aspect, following him. Occasionally, on turning +around suddenly, he would see this person at his elbow. Looking +behind, at the close of the colloquy with the landlord, he again +saw the strange youth, or man. The being was nearly six feet high, +and powerfully built, like a strong man of twenty-five. His face +was childish even to the degree of silliness. The mouth opened like +a flytrap; the eyes were small and intensely guileless. Only a few +wrinkles, and a few hairs, which grew wide apart on his cheeks and +chin, indicated his manhood. But the oddest feature was the falling +away of his forehead, at an angle which a dirty greased cap, pulled +over his brow, could not conceal.</p> +<p>"Well, sir, what do you want?" said Tiffles.</p> +<p>"If you please, sir," said the singular being, in a cracked +voice, "yure the pannyrarmer, a'n't ye?"</p> +<p>"Not exactly, my lad, but I own it. And who are you?"</p> +<p>"My name's Stoop, if you please, sir."</p> +<p>Mr. Boolpin broke out with a laugh, which made the building +reverberate. "It's the village idiot," said he. "He goes by the +name of Stoop, which is short for Stupid. Ha! ha! Come, now, clear +out, Stupid, and don't be bothering the gentleman."</p> +<p>The boy-man began to whimper, when Tiffles, recollecting an +allusion to a semi-idiot in one of the postmaster's letters, +said:</p> +<p>"Stay, my lad; I believe I owe you something."</p> +<p>"For pastin' up two hundred posters, fifty cents; and +distributin' five hundred bills, twenty-five cents. Totale, +seventy-five cents." The idiot did not hold out his hand for the +pay, and Tiffles conceived an instant esteem for him. An idea came +to Tiffles. This idiot, as he was called, had shown intelligence in +reckoning. He might have a deal of good sense under that dull +exterior. Tiffles had observed, in his travels, that <i>the</i> +idiot which Providence assigns to every town and village, is not +always the biggest fool in it. This idiot might have sufficient +intellect to turn the crank of the panorama, and render muscular +aid in other respects. At any rate, he was able-bodied enough.</p> +<p>"My lad," said Tiffles.</p> +<p>"Stoop, if you please, sir."</p> +<p>"Very good. Stoop, I think I can find some work for you behind +the scenes to-night. Can you turn a crank?"</p> +<p>"I've done it to grindstones, sir."</p> +<p>"It's the same principle," said Tiffles, laughing. "I'll engage +you."</p> +<p>The idiot took off his greasy cap, and swung it in the air with +joy. A smile irradiated his great, coarse face, and his small eyes +twinkled. "Gosh golly!" he cried; "I'm goin' to be one of the +performers. I'm so glad!"</p> +<p>He said this, in a spirit of juvenile exultation, to the dozen +boys who stood gaping in at the doorway. This innocent bit of +boasting provoked their derisive laughter, and a quantity of +playful epithets and nicknames, which the idiot endured with +marvellous patience, until one dirty little boy put the thumb of +his left hand to his nose, twirled the fingers, and said, "Boo! +boo! boo!" This act had the same effect on poor Stoop as the +shaking of a red handkerchief at a bull. It enraged him. He sprang +at the youth, and, but for the sudden closing of the door by the +offender, who had judiciously kept a hand on the knob, would have +chastised him on the spot.</p> +<p>The door not only arrested his progress, but suddenly checked +his wrath. "I'm very sorry, indeed, Professor," said he; "but +Gorrifus! it makes me so mad!"</p> +<p>Messrs. Boolpin and Persimmon laughed heartily. "He's a perfect +idiot, you see," remarked the former. "Coming the nose system at +him always makes him mad."</p> +<p>Tiffles did not understand how that was any proof of idiocy; +but, to prevent the recurrence of any difficulty between his new +assistant and the populace of small boys, he thought it best to +take possession of the hall, and lock the door. He therefore +signified to Mr. Boolpin that they would at once proceed to put up +the panorama. Tiffles threw off his coat, thereby intimating that +he would go to work at once.</p> +<p>Messrs. Boolpin and Persimmon inquired, as a matter of form, +whether their further assistance was needed, and were answered in +the negative. Whereupon they retired--Mr. Boolpin uttering a +farewell caution against driving more nails in the wall than were +necessary, and not to cut the floor under any circumstances--and +the panorama and its adherents were left alone.</p> +<p>Mr. Boolpin had driven the uproarious boys before him with his +pestle, administering smart taps to the reluctant ones. Tiffles +suffered no further annoyance from them that day, save an +occasional "Boo! boo!" shouted through the keyhole, and followed by +an immediate scampering of the perpetrators down stairs. This +well-known sound always roused the idiot to fury; and the peaceable +persuasions, and even the gentle violence of Tiffles, were needed +to keep him from relinquishing his work and springing to the +door.</p> +<p>He was a most intelligent and useful idiot. He could measure +distances more accurately than either of the three, and could ply +the saw, hammer, plane, or hatchet (Tiffles brought all these tools +with him) like a carpenter. His strength and skill were so great, +that Tiffles found himself gratefully relieved from the necessity +of lifting, or directing. Marcus Wilkeson, who had also thrown off +his coat with a manful determination to do a hard day's work, in +the hope of tiring out and driving away the sadness that possessed +him, put on the garment again, and sat on a front bench, vacantly +staring like an idiot at the idiot, and all the while thinking, +gloomily, of New York. Patching stalked about the hall, and +criticized the work as it progressed, from numerous angles of +observation; but even he confessed that he could make no +improvement on Stoop's highly artistic disposition of things.</p> +<p>The idiot worked on steadily and swiftly, and only two things +interrupted him. The first was the "Boo!" yelled through the +keyhole, as heretofore described. The second was the unrolling of +portions of the panorama as they were taken out of the boxes, +fastened together, and attached to the rollers.</p> +<p>As the canvas was unwound, Stoop would drop his saw, or hammer, +or other tool, and gaze, with his large mouth and small eyes wide +open, at the pictorial marvels successively disclosed. "Blame it!" +said he; "a'n't that splendid?" or, "By jingo! look at that!" or, +"Thunder! don't that beat all?" The tigers' tails and the +elephants' trunks, the alligators' snouts and the boa constrictor's +convolutions, he recognized at once. He had "read all about 'em in +Olney's Jogriffy."</p> +<p>"He is an idiot of taste," thought Patching. "I wonder what they +call him an idiot for?" thought Tiffles. "It's a pity all the +people aren't idiots," said Marcus Wilkeson to Tiffles. "Your +panorama would be patronized and appreciated then." It was Marcus's +first approach to a joke that day.</p> +<p>By four o'clock in the afternoon the Panorama of Africa was all +up, the rollers and the curtain in good working order, and +everything ready for the eventful night. Stoop had taken a lesson +at the wheel, and turned it beautifully. Tiffles had arranged a +system of signals with him. One cough was "Stop;" two coughs were +"Go on;" one stamp was "Slower;" two, stamps were "Faster." Tiffles +and Stoop rehearsed the system several times, the one being before +the curtain, in the position of the lecturer, and the other behind +it, at the crank. Nothing could be more satisfactory.</p> +<p>"Only one thing puzzles me," said Tiffles to his friends. "Why +do they call this smart fellow an idiot?"</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="G_CHAPTER_V."></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>AN AUDIENCE ANALYZED.</h3> +<br> +<p>The eventful night came on. Tiffles and friends fortified +themselves with a poor supper, including numerous cups of weak +black tea, at the hotel, and repaired, full of anxiety and +misgivings, to the hall. The idiotic but intelligent Stoop had +remained in charge of the panorama, and feasted himself, +intellectually, upon the splendors of that work of Art, as +disclosed by a single candle in front.</p> +<p>All the candles in the hall and the entry were then lighted up, +and produced quite a gorgeous illumination of the four windows +fronting on the main street. This having been done, Marcus (who, +having a more extensive acquaintance with the faces of bank bills +than either of his friends, had kindly consented to act as money +taker and cashier) took his seat in a little box with a pigeon hole +in it, and his entire stock of loose change, amounting to +seventy-five cents in silver, spread before him. Tiffles stood +within the door of the hall, to see that nobody came in (especially +small boys) who had not paid. Stoop remained behind the scenes, and +was positively instructed to stay there. Patching wandered up and +down the hall, as if he were an early comer, and had paid his +quarter, and had no personal knowledge of or interest in the +panorama.</p> +<p>Performance was to commence at 8 o'clock. Doors were open at +61/2. Some time previous to that hour, the stairs leading from the +street door to the hall were lined with the lads of the village, +who amused themselves with making jocular remarks about "the man in +the cage there" (meaning Marcus), and "t'other man at the door, +whose shirt was out of jail" (meaning Tiffles). Marcus smiled +grimly at his assailants through the small pigeon hole; and +Tiffles, who felt reckless in the sure view of a failure, laughed +heartily at them, returned jokes as bad as they sent, but, in the +height of his humor, begged them distinctly to understand that they +could not get In without paying. At which the juvenile chorus +sarcastically replied, "P'r'aps not;" "Mebbe you're right," "You'll +have to stop up the keyhole, Mister;" "Mind I don't get down the +chimbley," &c., &c.</p> +<p>At precisely forty-seven minutes past six, the first man made +his appearance. He was a thick-set, pompous individual, with a +gold-headed cane and gold spectacles, and climbed up the stairs +with dignity and difficulty. He was followed by a pale little +woman, four small children, and a stout, red-haired nurse, bearing +in her arms a baby, which was laboring under an attack of the +intermittent squalls. Marcus reconnoitred the party through his +pigeon hole, and nervously jingled the seventy-five cents in his +hand. Tiffles stepped forward to the head of the stairs, in order +that he might not be wanting in personal respect to his first +patron.</p> +<p>As this thick-set man ascended the stairs, the boys hushed their +voices; but Tiffles distinctly heard several of them say, "It's the +Square." Though apparently awestruck in his presence, the boys did +not forget to play a few practical jokes on "the Square's" +children, such as slapping them, and pinching their legs as they +clambered wearily up. A peal of cries from his tortured offspring, +particularly the baby, who received a pin in a sensitive part of +its little person, so enraged "the Square," that he would have +beaten all the boys with his gold-headed cane, had they not jumped +away, laughing, and got safely out of the building, only to be back +again the next minute.</p> +<p>"You should not allow these boys to hang around the stairs, +sir," said the pompous man, planting his foot on the topmost step, +and bringing down his cane on the floor with the ring of a +watchman's club. "It's trouble enough to come to your panorama, +without being annoyed by all the young vagabonds in the +village."</p> +<p>"I'm sorry, sir," replied Tiffles, inwardly laughing, "but it +would take six strong men to regulate the little rascals."</p> +<p>"Then you ought to employ six strong men, sir. It's your +business to see that your patrons are not insulted."</p> +<p>Tiffles could only smile deprecatingly.</p> +<p>"Every exhibition in this hall, for a year past," continued the +man, "has been a humbug--an outrage on the common sense of mankind. +Perhaps yours is an exception, though, to be candid, I have my +doubts of it. Do I understand, sir, that you have travelled in +Africa?"</p> +<p>Tiffles indulged in the unjustifiable deception of nodding his +head.</p> +<p>"And you mean to say that the sketches for this panorama were +taken on the spot?"</p> +<p>"Yes, sir; on the spot--in a horn."</p> +<p>"In a horn! What's that?"</p> +<p>"A technical phrase, sir, which it is hardly worth while to +explain at length. Briefly, however, I may say, that no more +ingenious or satisfactory mode of taking sketches has been +invented."</p> +<p>"Oh! never mind the details. I hate the jargon of Art. I only +wished to assure myself that I am not to be imposed on. Well, I +think I will risk it, and go in. You can put us on a front seat, I +suppose?"</p> +<p>"First come, first served," said Tiffles, amiably, for he had +reckoned up, and found that this party brought him a dollar and a +quarter, counting the children as half prices, and the baby +free.</p> +<p>"Under these circumstances we will go in, though I must confess +I expect to be disappointed. You will excuse my plain speaking." +The thick-set gentleman thereupon thrust a hand into a pocket, and +produced--not a huge roll of bank bills, or a half pint of silver, +as Marcus, who eyed him sharply through the pigeon hole, had +expected, but--a card, which he poked at Tiffles.</p> +<p>Tiffles recognized it at the first glance. It was one of thirty +complimentary tickets that he had caused to be distributed among +the leading men of the village that morning, by advice of the +landlord; and it bore the name of "C. Skimmerhorn, Esq."</p> +<p>"Welcome, sir, welcome!" said Tiffles, as he observed the dollar +and a quarter disappear from his mental horizon, and felt that, but +for his indomitable good nature, he would like to kick C. +Skimmerhorn, Esq., down stairs. And Tiffles, nobly concealing his +disappointment, showed C. Skimmerhorn, Esq., and his domestic +caravan to the best front seat. As he turned back to the door, he +heard that gentleman say to his spouse, "That fellow looks like a +humbug."</p> +<p>A stream of people on the stairs gladdened his eyes. In one +sweeping survey, he figured up three dollars. But they proved to be +three clergymen, with faded wives, large families, and female +relatives stopping with them. Each of the clergymen graciously +informed Tiffles, on delivering up his family ticket, that a +panorama was one of the few secular entertainments that he could +consent to patronize. They doubted very much whether they could +have been persuaded to come, but for the recommendation of their +evangelical brethren in the city.</p> +<p>Tiffles bowed acknowledgment of the empty honor, and ushered the +three clergymen and families to the front row of seats, of which C. +Skimmerhorn, Esq., and his train, occupied as much as they could +cover by spreading out. Mr. Skimmerhorn recognized, in one of the +clergymen, his beloved pastor, and proceeded, in a pleasant, +off-hand manner, and a loud voice, to give a few of the reasons +which inclined him to pronounce the panorama a humbug.</p> +<p>"Being deadheads," sarcastically observed Tiffles to Marcus +Wilkeson, "of course they come early, and take the best seats."</p> +<p>The next customer was a poor but jovial mechanic, having a +red-faced little wife slung on his arm. This humble individual paid +down fifty cents in bright new silver to the grim treasurer, +entered the hall, and took seats about halfway up. "It's a splendid +affair, Sally, this 'ere pannyrammer, I'll bet anything." "Sha'n't +we enjoy it, John!" returned that healthy young woman.</p> +<p>More work for the amiable Tiffles, but none for the melancholy +Wilkeson. Two more clergymen with families, the County Judge, the +local railroad agent, all the members of the Board of Freeholders, +and several other people, who, according to the landlord of the +United States Hotel, were highly influential in moulding public +opinion, and were in the habit of receiving free tickets.</p> +<p>"Very good for a school of comparative anatomy," said Tiffles to +Marcus (in facetious allusion to the deadheads), "but decidedly bad +for my panorama."</p> +<p>Marcus responded with a dreary smile through the pigeon +hole.</p> +<p>Then there came a few more mechanics and other plain people, and +then a streak of fortune--an entire young ladies' seminary, headed +by the preceptress, and divided into squads, each commanded by an +assistant teacher acting as drill sergeant. They were admitted at +half price (as per advertisement), and brought five dollars and +sixty-two cents into the treasury. Tiffles rubbed his eyes at the +sight of such a troop of blooming faces, and his hands at the +thought of the grand accession to his cash box. The female seminary +was accommodated with the two front rows of the best seats +left.</p> +<p>Following the seminary, in an unprecedented sequence of luck, +was a boys' school, that came whooping up the stairway like a tribe +of young Indians, in charge of a venerable sachem in spectacles. In +the rush and excitement of the moment, several of them ran toll--a +circumstance of which the old gentleman did not take cognizance +when he settled with Marcus Wilkeson for their admission at twelve +and a half cents <i>per capita</i>. Marcus had not noticed it, and +Tiffles was far too generous to make a fuss about a few +shillings.</p> +<p>Then a party of six flashily dressed young men, who threw away +their cigars as they came up stairs, and thrust their quarters +through the pigeon hole at Marcus Wilkeson, as if they were good +for nothing--which proved to be true of two of them. Being informed +of the fact by Marcus, the owners of the counterfeits winked at +each other, and whispered, "No go," and then offered a broken bill +on a Connecticut bank. This also proved "no go," whereat the sharp +practitioners winked again and laughed, and this time paid out good +current coin. These were some of the fast men of the village. They +took seats behind the female seminary.</p> +<p>Luck changed again, and brought in the landlord, Mr. Persimmon, +P.M., Mr. Boolpin, and three more free tickets, with their wives +and families. Mr. Boolpin whispered in Tiffles's ear, that he hoped +there wouldn't be a row; but it was a hard-looking crowd that had +just gone in ahead of him. And there were plenty more of them +coming.</p> +<p>The latter observation proved true. The next minute, the stairs +swarmed with a jovial party, under the leadership of a gorgeous +person, who wore in the middle of his snowy shirt front a cluster +diamond pin larger than a ten-cent piece. This was one of the +gentlemanly conductors on the railroad; and the mixed company which +he had the honor to command, was composed of ticket sellers, +freight masters, brakemen, civil engineers, and clerks of liberal +dispositions and small salaries in various walks of life. The party +was slightly drunk, but not offensive. The gentlemanly conductor +paid for himself and associates out of a huge side pocket full of +loose silver. They rolled up the hall, and took the nearest spare +seats to the female seminary.</p> +<p>Seven and three quarters P.M. arrived. The people in the hall +began to stamp with a noise like thunder. Tiffles had marked the +heavy boots of the conductor, and could recognize them in the din. +Several deep hisses varied the monotony of the performance. There +were no persons coming up stairs. The small boys, Tiffles observed +with astonishment, had vacated the building some time before, and +could now be heard whispering quietly around the door below.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="G_CHAPTER_VI."></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>HUMOUS OF THE MANY-HEADED.</h3> +<br> +<p>Tiffles knew that his time had come, and he accepted the +crisis.</p> +<p>Requesting Marcus to pocket the funds, shut up the shop, and +leave the door to take care of itself, Tiffles marched boldly to +his doom. Previous to extinguishing the candles in the exhibition +hall, he went behind the curtain, and there found the idiot sitting +patiently at the crank, and rehearsing, in a low tone, the code of +signals which had been adopted. Patching was also there. He +shrugged his shoulders in the French style as Tiffles came in, but +said not a word. Tiffles proceeded straight to a bottle which stood +on a window sill, and took a long drink from it, and then passed it +to Patching, who mutely did the same, and, in turn, handed it to +the idiot, who pulled at it with great gusto, in the manner of a +rational person.</p> +<p>Feeling that it would be superfluous to repeat his instructions +to so sagacious an idiot, Tiffles immediately presented himself +before the audience again, with a long stick, or wand, for pointing +out the beauties of the panorama.</p> +<p>"Ladies and gentlemen, I am about to exhibit to you the Panorama +of Africa. You have all heard of Africa."</p> +<p>VOICE. "Consider'ble."</p> +<p>"True, my friend; therefore you will be well prepared to enjoy +the pictorial attractions which I am about to unfold."</p> +<p>VOICE. "H'ist the rag."</p> +<p>"My friend--who has no doubt paid his quarter--I respect your +request. The rag <i>is</i> about to be h'isted. But, before that +ceremony is proceeded with, I would ask the gentlemen sitting +nearest the candles to be good enough to blow them out."</p> +<p>Never was request more cheerfully complied with. There was a +scramble of six or seven tall young men to each candle; and, at +several of the candles, a brisk but friendly struggle took place +between rival aspirants for the privilege. The room was then in +total darkness, save a small gleam which came through the partly +opened door from a solitary tallow in the entry, and the dull +reflection of the panorama lights through the curtain.</p> +<p>Some of the effects of this sudden extinguishment were +extraordinary. The female seminary all screamed slightly. The boys' +school all laughed, and several were heard to say, "Prime fun, +a'n't it?" The railroad conductor and his friends coughed +fictitiously, and said, "Oh! oh!" "A'n't you ashamed!" "Look out +for pockets!" "Thief in the house!" and other playful things, which +put the entire audience in good humor. But the strangest and most +unexpected occurrence, was a grand rush, as of a herd of wild +bulls, on the stairs, accompanied by the dousing of the one +remaining light in the entry. Another moment, and over a hundred of +the choicest juvenile spirits tore into the hall, and knocked over +each other and everybody else in a frantic contest for free seats. +The young ladies' seminary screamed in concert, and all the elderly +ladies cried, "Oh my!" "Good gracious!" "What's that?"</p> +<p>"Only the boys," said Tiffles, with unruffled composure. "Let +them come. It is a moral entertainment, and will do them good."</p> +<p>After a pause of about three minutes, giving the boys time to +seat themselves, and the screams, mutterings, and laughter of the +rest of the audience to die away, Tiffles said:</p> +<p>"Now, ladies and gentlemen, I will introduce you to sunrise, in +the Bight of Benin."</p> +<p>This was the preconcerted signal for the raising of the curtain, +which office was performed by Patching, without a hitch. The +gorgeous proem, or introduction to the panorama, was then for the +first time disclosed to the public. Patching blushed as he thought +of the vile pandering to popular taste of which he had been +guilty.</p> +<p>There was a dead calm for a minute. Tiffles was silent, in order +that he might not interrupt the quiet admiration of the spectators. +The spectators were silent, because they could not exactly +understand the scene, and did not know whether to laugh, hiss, or +applaud. The silence was broken, by a boy in the back part of the +hall:</p> +<p>"I say, Mister, is that a cartwheel on top of a stonewall?"</p> +<p>"No, sonny not exactly," said Tiffles. "What your uneducated +eyes mistake for a cartwheel is the rising sun. The objects that +your immature judgment confounds with spokes, are rays. Your stone +wall, it is hardly necessary to inform riper intellects, is a +distant range of mountains. It is one of Ceccarini's happiest +efforts."</p> +<p>"Hurrah for Checkerberry!" cried another lad, mistaking the name +of the high (imaginary) Italian artist.</p> +<p>"Are we to understand, sir, that this is a rolling prairie in +the foreground?" asked a deep voice, which Tiffles at once +recognized as emanating from C. Skimmerhorn, Esq.</p> +<p>"Oh! no, sir; it is the Bight of Benin; and I must say, though, +perhaps, I am too partial, that Ceccarini never did a better +thing."</p> +<p>"The <i>what</i> of Benin?" asked the voice.</p> +<p>"The Bight--or, in other words, as you may not be familiar with +geography, the Bay of Benin."</p> +<p>"Then why not say Bay, sir?" replied C. Skimmerhorn Esq., stung +with the allusion to his want of geographical knowledge. "Why this +mystery about terms!"</p> +<p>There were cries of "Go it, Square." "Dry up, old boy!" "Propel +with the show!" &c., &c. Tiffles adopted the latter +suggestion, and without answering the lawyer's insinuation, +proceeded to point out the natural appearance of the waves, the +truthfulness of the distant mountains, the absolute fidelity of the +sunrise. "And here let me answer an objection in advance. It may be +said that this sunrise does not look like a sunrise in Jersey. +Admit it. Neither do the snakes (<i>sensation</i>)--neither do the +snakes which I am about, to exhibit (<i>increased sensation</i> and +Oh! me's! from the Young Ladies' Seminary) resemble the familiar +green or striped serpent of your own peaceful fields. Neither do +the tigers, which I shall presently have the honor of showing to +you <i>(renewed sensation)</i>, bear any marked affinity to the +serene woodchuck that burrows in your happy hills. The sunrises and +sunsets, the boa constrictors, the tigers, and the other phenomena +of Africa, are all immense, gorgeous, and peculiar. They must be +judged by themselves, and not by comparison. My hearers will be +kind enough to bear this in mind, as we go on."</p> +<p>He then went on to repeat a great many statistics concerning the +population and resources of Africa. He had read up for these facts +and figures, under the impression that they would interest the +solid portion of his audience. But he soon found out that he +interested nobody (perhaps because the solid portion of audiences +is a myth), and finally yielded to general requests of "Push +ahead!" "Fire away!" "Start your train!" (the latter from the +gentlemanly conductor and friends.)</p> +<p>Tiffles therefore whistled once, and the panorama commenced +moving slowly and steadily. The idiot, the rollers, and the lights, +all worked well.</p> +<p>From the Bight of Benin, the voyaging spectators took an +excursion up the river.</p> +<p>The uninterrupted stretch of deep blue for water, and light blue +for sky, and green for the farther bank, with occasional palm trees +looking like long-handled pickaxes, seemed to satisfy them. At any +rate they looked on, and found no fault in words; which both +Tiffles and Patching took for an auspicious sign. Tiffles kept step +with his explanations.</p> +<p>His method was this. When the palm tree came in sight, he would +give a minute account of that noble tropical growth, and the many +uses to which it and its products could be put. When a flock of +wild ducks appeared sailing majestically on the river, he would +entertain his auditors with a circumstantial description of how the +natives caught wild ducks. A boat or hollow log, with a human +figure, suggested a reference to the progress which the African had +made in marine architecture and the science of navigation. In this +way, Tiffles thought he was beguiling his customers. Some low +sounds, like suppressed hisses, soon convinced him of his +error.</p> +<p>"I beg your pardon, Professor," said a thick-set voice, which he +always recognized as coming from C. Skimmerhorn, Esq.; "but it +seems to me that this portion of your panorama is a little +monotonous. I presume that in this suggestion, I express the +sentiments of my fellow citizens here assembled." Cries of "Go on, +Square!" "That's so!" mingled with a vigorous stamping of feet and +catcalls from the boys in the background, proved, alas! the truth +of the conjecture.</p> +<p>Tiffles coughed twice for the idiot to stop, and was sagaciously +obeyed. "In behalf of Africa," he remarked, "representing her, as I +may say, on this occasion, I would beg leave to apologize to the +learned gentleman for the poverty of her scenery, at this stage of +the panorama. If Africa had been aware of the learned gentleman's +preferences, she would, doubtless, have got up some stunning +effects for him in places where now you see only a river, a sky, +and a strip of green bank, all unadorned, precisely as they +are."</p> +<p>The exquisite irony of this retort pleased the audience, and +elicited general though faint applause, and several cries of "Shut +up, Skim!" "Got your match, old boy!" "Oh! let the man go on!" The +last remark issued from the gentlemanly conductor, and fell with +peculiar pleasure on Tiffles's ears.</p> +<p>"One word more, and I am done," resumed the lawyer, who was +professionally calm amid scenes of disturbance. "I only wish to +elicit the truth. Have you, and your artist (Mr. Chicory, I think +you call him), or either of you, actually gone over the scenery +here represented. We wish to understand that point!"</p> +<p>"We have, both of us, gone over this scenery repeatedly." This +was true, as both Tiffles and Patching, anticipating some such +question, had stepped over the canvas back and forth, in rolling +and unrolling it, several times. "Is the eminent counsellor +satisfied?"</p> +<p>"Oh! yes," said C. Skimmerhorn, Esq., in a voice which signified +that he knew the panorama was a humbug, but, unfortunately, +couldn't prove it.</p> +<p>One cough, and the panorama started again--but a little too +fast. Tiffles stamped once, and the idiot reduced the speed, until +it was too slow. Two stamps brought it right. The river soon +disappeared in a swamp, where the alligators' heads protruding +above the water gave Tiffles an opportunity to describe several +terrific combats which he had enjoyed with those pugnacious +creatures. This entertained the audience for several minutes.</p> +<p>"Have you no full views of alligators, sir?" asked a voice which +Tiffles presumed, from its solemn inflection, to come from a +clergyman.</p> +<p>"None at all, sir. The African alligator persists in keeping out +of sight. You never see anything but his head--except his tail, as +represented here." Tiffles pointed with his wand to something that +looked like the end of a fence rail sticking out of the water. +"True Art, sir, sacrifices effect for Truth."</p> +<p>"Certainly, sir. Truth is what we are all after," replied the +clergyman. But there was an indefinable something in his voice that +indicated a wish for more alligator--much more.</p> +<p>The swamp ended in a dry jungle, interspersed with palm trees, +elephants, lions, tigers, and serpents. Tiffles counted upon +interesting his audience here. Snakes were first on the list. Two +heads, with expanded jaws and forked tongues, were looking at each +other above the jungle, and two tails were interlocked, also above +the jungle, a few feet off. This conveyed the idea of two boa +constrictors fighting. Other heads and other tails--there was +always a tail for every head--stuck up at regular intervals about. +He stopped the panorama with a cough, and said:</p> +<p>"The entire population of this particular jungle are--boa +constrictors of unprecedented size and ferocity."</p> +<p>Tiffles heard a rustle of fans and dresses not far off. It was +the whole female seminary shuddering. There was also a general +movement throughout the audience as of people adjusting themselves +to obtain a good sight.</p> +<p>"These boa constrictors, so admirably delineated +here,"--commenced Tiffles.</p> +<p>"Where?" said the voice of a country gentleman. "I don't see any +bore constructors."</p> +<p>"Nor I." "Nor I." "Trot 'em out!" "Show 'em up!" "Produce your +snakes!" Such were the remarks that resounded through the hall.</p> +<p>"Oh, no!" "Don't!" "Please don't!" emanated from several girlish +voices.</p> +<p>"My fair auditors have no cause for alarm. I have no living +snakes to show. I might have captured several hundred, and brought +them to this country and exhibited them, but, in deference to the +well-known aversion cherished toward snakes by cultivated +communities, I forbore to do so. The only boa constrictors that I +have, are now before you. These are their heads. These their tails" +(indicating the termini of the snakes).</p> +<p>Now, the spectators--or a large number of them--had suffered +fearful expectations of seeing real snakes. When, therefore, it was +announced that these harmless daubs, resembling, at a distance, +some variety of tropical vegetation, were the only snakes they were +to see, there was a feeling, first, of relief, and then of +disappointment.</p> +<p>The disappointment manifested itself in low hisses, and +exclamations, such as "Humbug!" "Gammon!" "Swindle!" Tiffles made +several beginnings of excellent snake stories, of which he was the +hero, but was checked by the tumult. Finding the snakes were not +popular, he determined to try the tigers, lions, and other beasts +of prey farther on. He coughed once emphatically, and the canvas +moved like clockwork.</p> +<p>Before it had journeyed five feet, somebody on the front row of +seats coughed twice in precisely the same manner as Tiffles. The +idiot, supposing the signal came from his employer, stopped. +Tiffles, perceiving the mistake, coughed again, and the motion was +resumed; when a double cough resounded from the front seat, and the +motion ceased.</p> +<p>Then Tiffles realized that his system of signals was understood +by somebody. What should he do? He could not stop the free, +universal right to cough. Therefore he stepped to the corner of the +curtain, raised it, and said, in a voice loud enough to be heard by +the audience, "Stoop, whenever I want you to 'stop,' or 'go on,' or +'faster,' or 'slower,' I will say so. You understand?"</p> +<p>"Puffickly," replied the gifted idiot.</p> +<p>"I say, boys, Stoop's in there," shouted the somebody that had +coughed.</p> +<p>"Stoop!" "Stoop!" "Bully for Stoop!" "Come out o' that, Stoop!" +was shouted all over the house; but Stoop remained faithful to his +post, and calmly ground away at the crank.</p> +<p>Suddenly it occurred to some boy to yell, "Boo! boo!" whereat +the other boys laughed, and took up the chorus, "Boo! boo!"</p> +<p>The canvas moved less steadily, slackening for a moment, and +then shooting ahead, as if the propelling power were the subject of +strange perturbation. The roguish boys, and the men too, and, chief +of them, that practical humorist of a conductor, observing this, +screamed, "Boo! boo! boo I boo!" all the louder. Tiffles knew that +the critical time had come, and philosophically laughed at the ruin +of his last grand project, as he had laughed at the ruin of forty +other grand projects in their day.</p> +<p>The panorama stopped without a signal this time. A hoarse voice +screamed, "Gorryfus! Gosh thunder! By jimminy!" The curtain was +jerked aside, and Stoop rushed into the hall like a fury. Coming +out of a place partly lighted into one totally dark, his first move +was to run blindly into Tiffles, nearly knocking that gentleman off +his legs.</p> +<p>"Hold on, Stoop! Hold on!" shouted Tiffles, with what was left +of his breath. But the idiot only screamed, "Gosh thunder! +Gorryfus!" and darted for the main aisle, intending to run a muck +among his persecutors. There was a general scrambling of the boys +to avoid this incarnated wrath. The whole female seminary, and all +the ladies present, screamed together.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="G_CHAPTER_VII."></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3>SCENES NOT IN THE BILLS.</h3> +<br> +<p>The enraged idiot struck out right and left, without hurting +anybody--the objects of his vengeance contriving to elude him in +the dark. Most of the sturdy blows which he dealt, using his arms +like flails, fell upon the railings of the seats, and only bruised +his hands. Just as he had caught a boy by the collar, and was about +to take a twist in his hair, the door opened, and a light appeared. +It came from three candles borne by three men.</p> +<p>This apparition caused the furious idiot to suspend hostilities +on the instant.</p> +<p>All eyes were turned toward the three men. All voices were +hushed. There was a whisper in the air that something strange was +about to happen.</p> +<p>The man who entered first was a stranger, who moved and looked +about in the quick, nervous way born of city life. The other two +men were well-known residents of the village. Some of the audience +had had unpleasant cause to know them.</p> +<p>Having locked the door, and stationed his associates in a +position to command the windows, the stranger walked quickly up the +aisle, bearing his lighted candle, and said, in a loud voice, which +fell strangely on the hushed assemblage:</p> +<p>"Marcus Wilkeson will be kind enough to give himself up. Upon my +honor, he cannot escape." This was said with a charming +politeness.</p> +<p>A tall figure arose at the wall end of one of the back seats. "I +am Marcus Wilkeson. What do you want with me, sir?" His voice +trembled, and his face was livid.</p> +<p>"To go with me to New York, Mr. Wilkeson," said the tall +stranger, quickly. "Thank you for your promptness in answering. The +only clue that I had, was the hasty measure I took of you this +morning, when I was watching for an escaped convict at +Cortlandt-street ferry. Perhaps you remember seeing me there, +sir?"</p> +<p>Marcus, though the sudden shock had almost stunned him, at once +recalled the man who had eyed him narrowly at the ferry that +morning.</p> +<p>The two other candle bearers had stepped forward as Marcus +declared himself, and were about to lay hold of him, when the first +man smilingly pushed them back, and said:</p> +<p>"Don't touch him. It's all right. Mr. Wilkeson is a gentleman, +and will go quietly."</p> +<p>To Marcus he said, apologetically:</p> +<p>"Two Jersey constables I got to assist me. They don't do things +exactly in the style of Detective Leffingwell."</p> +<p>Marcus recognized the name; and so terrified was he at the +thoughts which it conjured up, that his tongue clove to the roof of +his mouth. The scene was like a horrid dream.</p> +<p>"Everything is regular, sir," continued the detective. "We have +a requisition for you from the Governor of this State. It was +obtained by telegraph from Trenton. You will excuse my dropping on +you in this way; but I wanted to take you to New York to-night, as +the inquest meets again at ten o'clock to-morrow morning."</p> +<p>"The inquest!--what inquest? Tell me, in God's name!" said +Marcus, finding his voice at last.</p> +<p>"Inquest! There must have been a murder committed." "What is +it?" "Tell us, Mr. Policeman." The question was asked on all +sides.</p> +<p>"Now I <i>didn't</i> want a scene," said Detective Leffingwell, +politely, "and I won't have one. Mr. Wilkeson and I understand each +other. The word 'inquest' dropped out of my mouth before I +thought."</p> +<p>"As heaven is above us, we do not understand each other!" said +Marcus. "Tell me, pray tell me at once, or I shall go mad."</p> +<p>"Anything to please you," replied the officer; "but I can't bear +these explanations in public. It isn't my way of doing business." +He then leaned forward, and whispered in the ear of Marcus.</p> +<p>"Great God!" was all that Marcus could say. Then he sank to the +seat, and bowed his head in agony.</p> +<p>Tiffles, who had forced his way to his friend's side during the +excitement, threw his arms about him, and said:</p> +<p>"Never mind appearances, Marcus. I'll stake my life you are +innocent of the charge, whatever it is."</p> +<p>"Oh! you're a humbug," remarked C. Skimmerhorn, Esq.</p> +<p>"Call me and my panorama a humbug, if you please; but Mr. +Wilkeson is a gentleman and a man of honor." Tiffles's face beamed +with a strange kindness. He looked up, and saw the idiot standing +near him. His small eyes filled with tears as he gazed with an +expression of intelligent pity at the crushed man. Tiffles could +have hugged the idiot, not only as the most sensible man, but the +best-hearted one he had seen in the village.</p> +<p>C. Skimmerhorn, Esq., would have retorted severely, but his +attention, and that of all the crowd, was drawn, at that moment, to +a citizen who came forward, and, in a state of beathless +excitement, said he guessed he knew what it all meant. He was in +New York that afternoon, and read, in one of the evening papers, an +account of a dreadful murder committed on an old man named Minford. +The supposed murderer, the paper said, was a Mr. Wilkes or +Wilkson.</p> +<p>"Now I hope you are satisfied," said Detective Leffingwell, +looking around with contempt at his hearers.</p> +<p>A slight scream was heard from the corner of a seat near by. +From the beginning of this unpleasant affair, it was observed that +a plainly dressed woman--a seamstress accompanying the family of a +Mr. Graft--had become very pale and nervous, and had been seen to +move uneasily in her seat. This woman had fainted away. She it was +who had stared so strangely at Marcus in the car that morning.</p> +<p>Mrs. Graft and her two daughters promptly removed the fainting +woman to the entry, where the fresh air soon restored her, and she +was sent home.</p> +<p>"No wonder the women faint away, when you crowd round here so +stupidly," said the officer, momentarily losing his temper. "Please +step back, now, and let Mr. Wilkeson and me get out. We must leave +for New York by the next train--and that starts in fifteen +minutes." The detective referred to his watch. "Are you ready, +sir?" tapping Marcus gently on the shoulder.</p> +<p>Marcus rose, and displayed a face haggard with grief.</p> +<p>They all whispered, or thought, "He is guilty."</p> +<p>"I am ready," said he; "but I call heaven to witness that I know +nothing of this crime."</p> +<p>The detective bowed courteously, and then said:</p> +<p>"I also have summons for Mr. Tiffles and Mr. Patching, gentlemen +connected with this panorama, as witnesses. They will please step +forward."</p> +<p>"I am Mr. Tiffles," said that person. "Wesley is my panoramic +name."</p> +<p>This disclosure caused a small sensation. "I knew the man was a +humbug from the start," whispered C. Skimmerhorn, Esq., to a friend +at his elbow. "I'd like to prosecute him for swindling."</p> +<p>"And I am Mr. Patching," exclaimed the artist, presenting +himself.</p> +<p>It should be here stated, that, when the disturbances of the +evening first set in, Patching, in pure disgust at the bad taste of +the audience, had quietly dropped himself out of the second story +window at the rear of the stage, and had been skulking in the back +lot ever since. Having heard, outside, of the arrest of Marcus +Wilkeson, on an unknown charge, he had plucked up courage and +friendship enough to reenter the hall, and tender his aid and +consolation to that unhappy man. He came in just in time to hear +his name called.</p> +<p>"So that's the chap they called Chicory, or Checkerberry," +whispered C. Skimmerhorn, Esq. "Anybody can see he is a swindler by +his slouched hat, and beard. <i>Shouldn't</i> I enjoy having a good +case against him!"</p> +<p>Pigworth, J. P., landlord of the United States Hotel, and Mr. +Boolpin, proprietor, came forward with their little bills, and +demanded immediate payment. This financial difficulty was arranged +in one minute by the genius of Wesley Tiffles. After paying Stoop +one dollar and a half (that excellent idiot crying, and vowing that +he didn't want it), the rest of the proceeds, deducting enough for +fares to New York, were divided equally between the two other +creditors; and the panorama and all the appurtenances were left as +a joint security for remaining obligations. The panorama was worth +twice the debts, to be cut into window shades. After some +grumbling, Messrs. Pigworth and Boolpin accepted the terms.</p> +<p>Five minutes later, the polite detective and his party started +for New York. There was a great number of people at the station to +see them off, but only one to say "good-by." That one was the +man-boy Stoop, who cried as if his great, simple heart would +break.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BOOK_EIGHTH."></a>BOOK EIGHTH.</h2> +<h3>A DRAMATIC INTERLUDE.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="H_CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>THE OVERTURE.</h3> +<br> +<p>It was the last of a delightful series of dramatic nights at +Mrs. Slapman's; and her house was quite filled with embodied +Poetry, Travels, Dramatic Literature, Music, Art, and the +Sciences.</p> +<p>The dramatic arrangements of Mrs. Slapman's house were simple, +but effective. A curtain, with rings, hung across the north end of +the parlor, established the confines of the stage, which was on a +level with the floor, and covered with green baize to represent +rural scenes, or a three-ply carpet to indicate refined interiors. +Against the wall were rollers, from which scenes could be dropped, +affording perspectives of country, or streets, or gilded saloons, +as the necessities of the drama required. There were six of these +scenes, all painted by Patching (to oblige Mrs. Slapman) in his +leisure moments, which were numerous; and they all exhibited +evidences of his style. Six sets of flies, or side scenes, matching +with the rear views, had been executed by a scene-painter's +assistant, whom Mrs. Slapman had taken under her patronage, and +were thought, by some persons, superior to Patching's efforts. Such +was the belittling criticism to which that great artist was +constantly subjected. There was a space of about four feet between +the top of the curtain and the high ceiling. The light from the +parlor chandelier directly in front, aided by six gas jets behind +the scenes, made the whole performance and performers as clear as +noonday.</p> +<p>This miniature theatre was constructed of portable frames, which +could be put up or taken down in half an hour, and was the +ingenious invention of the scene-painter's assistant. When it was +removed, the only traces of its former presence were two +brass-headed spikes in the walls, from which the side curtains +depended.</p> +<p>These spikes imparted anguish to the mind of Mr. Slapman +whenever he gazed upon them. Mrs. S. had heard him say, that "some +people would look well hanging up there." By "some people," he was +supposed to mean the gentlemen who participated in her dramatic +entertainments. Mrs. S. bore the cruel remark meekly, merely +replying that perhaps he had better try the strength of the spikes +first, by suspending himself from one of them.</p> +<p>The audience, usually numbering about fifty, were seated in +chairs, which filled the parlor, with the exception of a space of +ten feet in front of the stage. A fair view of the entire +proceedings could be had from all but the two back rows of chairs, +the occupants of which were compelled to imagine the attachment of +feet and ankles to the several characters of the drama.</p> +<p>From the left wing of the stage a door opened into the hall, +affording communication by the staircase to the ladies' and +gentlemen's dressing rooms on the floor above. On the third floor +(it was known to some of the guests) was the private apartment of +Mr. Slapman. A strong smell of cigar smoke, as of one fumigating +sullenly and furiously, was the unvarying proof of his presence in +the house. On this eventful night, he had been seen, at an early +hour, pacing up and down the hall of his third floor, belching +forth clouds of smoke, like Vesuvius just before a fiery +eruption.</p> +<p>People who were in the sad secret of Mrs. Slapman's household +sorrows, looked at each other and smiled, but said nothing; for it +was a point of good breeding not to allude to him in conversation. +The newer guests, unaware of the melancholy facts in the case, +supposed that the restless gentleman on the third floor was some +one of Mrs. Slapman's eccentric friends, working out an idea. Mrs. +Slapman paid no attention to her jealous spouse, imagining that he +would smoke away his wrath quietly, as usual, and not interfere +with the evening's amusement. Hitherto, on occasions, he had done +nothing more disagreeable than to open the parlor door furtively, +cast one wild look inside, and then suddenly withdraw his head, +gently slamming the door after him.</p> +<p>The play of the evening was written "expressly for the occasion" +by a gentleman who had produced one melodrama at a Bowery theatre, +and failed to produce a large number of melodramas at all the +theatres in Broadway. Mrs. Slapman, a true patroness of genius, +kindly permitted this gentleman to prepare all her charades, and +gratified him, on several occasions by bringing out some of the +minor plays from his stuffed portfolio.</p> +<p>By eight o'clock all the chairs were filled, and the actors and +actresses were still lingering over their toilet. After waiting ten +minutes longer, and crossing and uncrossing their legs repeatedly, +the audience stamped and whistled very much in the manner of an +impatient crowd at a real theatre. Mrs. Slapman relished these +little ebullitions of natural feeling, because it made the illusion +of her "Thespian parlor" (as she called it) more complete.</p> +<p>At eight and a quarter o'clock, the orchestra, consisting of two +flutes and a violin, issued from behind the curtain, and seated +itself before some music stands ranged against the wall. The +performers were amateurs (two bookkeepers, and a cashier in private +life), and could not have been hired to play for any amount of +money, though they were always willing to favor a few friends. Mrs. +Slapman humored them in this whim, and they played regularly at her +private theatricals.</p> +<p>After a few nods and facetious remarks to their friends in the +audience (familiarities from which a paid orchestra would have been +totally cut off), the musicians dashed into a new overture, +composed by Signor Mancussi, also "expressly for the occasion."</p> +<p>This musical composition had been rehearsed the week previous in +the presence of a select party of amateurs and critics, and had +been pronounced, by the sub-editor of a weekly paper, "remarkable +for its breadth and color." Under these circumstances, the overture +was listened to with much interest at first, which abated as the +music progressed. Touching the merits of "color" and "breadth" +there might be some grounds of doubt, but none whatever concerning +its "length."</p> +<p>It lasted until twenty minutes of nine; and, toward the close, +faint scrapings of dissatisfaction were heard, which would have +been more audible had Signor Mancussi not been present. As the last +twang of the fiddle died on the air, M. Bartin was heard by several +persons to say, "Bah! a bad hash from Rossini and Auber." The +remark was reported to Signor Mancussi, and did not tend to enhance +his friendly regards for the other gentleman.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="H_CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>CURTAIN UP.</h3> +<br> +<p>At eight and three quarters P.M. the curtain was rung up, and +discovered a rustic scene, in the midst of which Mrs. Slapman +(Fidelia) was seated. She was dressed in a white frock with low +neck, and a flat hat, and was trimmed out with red ribbons in all +directions. She looked young and pretty. Only an anxious knitting +of her eyebrows revealed the cares and troubles of intellect. Mrs. +Slapman was applauded by a unanimous clapping of hands. She was +seated in a red-velvet rocking chair, at a small but costly table, +on which stood an expensive vase filled with flowers. These +properties, though few, were intended to signify boundless +affluence and luxury. Fidelia languidly waved a jewelled fan, and +sighed. "Will he never come?" said she.</p> +<p>She had hardly made this remark, when, by a singular +coincidence, Alberto (Overtop) entered from the left wing, and +threw himself, with as much grace as his tights would permit, at +her feet. She emitted a small shriek, and gave him her hand to +kiss, which he did with ecstasy. Alberto was habited like an +Italian gentleman in good circumstances; and no one would have +suspected his poverty, if he had not commenced the dialogue by an +affecting allusion to his last <i>scudi</i>, which brought tears to +the eyes of the fair Fidelia.</p> +<p>Such trifling questions as lovers alone can ask and answer then +passed between them; and at last came the solemn interrogatory from +the kneeling Alberto: "And will you always love me, dearest?"</p> +<p>Fidelia turned her meek orbs toward the ceiling, raised her +hand, said "<i>Forever!</i>" and was about to add, "I swear," when +Bidette (Miss Wick) rushed upon the scene with the intelligence, +"He comes."</p> +<p>"Who?" asked Alberto.</p> +<p>"My father!" shrieked Fidelia. "Go--that way." She pointed with +her small alabaster hand to the left wing.</p> +<p>Alberto vanished as per request, while Fidelia, with +well-affected calmness, commenced humming an opera air, and fanning +herself. Bidette, the favorite maid, pretended to readjust a flower +in her mistress's hair. These feminine artifices were to throw the +coming father off his scent.</p> +<p>But the father (Mr. Johnsone, the junior of a small +book-publishing house) was sharp eyed, though he lacked spectacles. +As he emerged from the right wing, he caught a distinct view of a +pair of soles disappearing in the distance, and benignantly asked: +"Who is that, my child?"</p> +<p>The child answered: "Only the postman, pa."</p> +<p>"Where is the letter?" he asked.</p> +<p>"Please, sir," interrupted Bidette, observing her mistress's +confusion, "there wasn't no letter. He mistook the house for +another, sir."</p> +<p>The father nodded his head to express his complete satisfaction +with this explanation, and then told Bidette to leave the spot, as +he had something of the utmost importance to tell his daughter. +Bidette pouted, and withdrew, giving a bewitching shake of her +striped calico dress, to signify her hatred of brutal fathers. This +touch of nature drew plaudits from those among the audience who +were but slightly acquainted with Miss Wick. The others looked on +with critical indifference.</p> +<p>The father took a chair, thrust out his legs like a reigning +prince, and proceeded, in a story of unnecessary length, to tell +his daughter that he owed one hundred and seventy thousand florins +to Signor Rodicaso, and would be a ruined man in forty-eight hours +if that sum were not paid. Life, in that event, would be simply +insupportable. He had procured a pistol to blow out his brains, but +had subsequently concluded to make one more effort to save himself. +He would, therefore, appeal to his daughter, <i>as</i> a father, +and ask her to marry Signor Rodicaso, and so liquidate the debt, +to-morrow. He did not wish to influence her choice--far from +it--but, if she did not consent, he should feel under the painful +necessity of shooting himself on the spot.</p> +<p>The father produced a pistol, and held it to his left ear.</p> +<p>Fidelia, looking like a marble statue of grief, said, in a low +but perfectly audible voice: "Stay! I will wed him." This was +enunciated with the calmness of despair. Not a gesture, nor a +twinge of the features, nor an accent to indicate emotion of any +kind. It was in quiet efforts like these that Mrs. Slapman +excelled.</p> +<p>When the applause elicited by this stroke of genius had ceased, +Mr. Chickson (Signor Rodicaso) came rather awkwardly upon the +stage. His eyes (and, it might be added, his legs) rolled absently +about, as if he were endeavoring to recall his part, or were in the +inward act of composing a poem.</p> +<p>"Your future husband, Fidelia," said the father.</p> +<p>Fidelia rose from her seat--still imperturbable.</p> +<p>Chickson advanced with a sliding motion, and then paused, as if +he had forgotten what to do. Mrs. Slapman was heard to whisper +something (probably the cue), but he only rolled his eyes heavily +in response. A look of displeasure marred her serene features, and, +instead of fainting away in Signor Rodicaso's arms, as she should +have done, she dropped into the embrace of her father, taking that +personage quite unexpectedly, and nearly knocking him off his +chair.</p> +<p>Chickson projected himself forward at the same time to catch +her, and, in so doing, lost his balance, and just escaped, by an +effort, from sprawling on the floor.</p> +<p>Then he looked helplessly at the audience; and there was no +longer any doubt entertained that Chickson was slightly +intoxicated. Getting drunk, now and then, was an infirmity of +Chickson's genius.</p> +<p>The stage manager had the good sense to ring down the curtain on +this painful scene, and, the next moment, there was a dull sound, +as of somebody falling on the floor behind the green baize.</p> +<p>After an interval of fifteen minutes--protracted by the +"unexpected indisposition" of the poet, and the consequent +necessity of intrusting Signor Rodicaso to other hands--the curtain +rises again, and discloses Alberto in a humble cot, surrounded by +three-legged stools, and other evidences of extreme poverty. He is +seated on a rickety table (in preference to the greater uncertainty +of the stools), his arms are folded, and his head droops upon his +breast.</p> +<p>In this attitude, he begins to soliloquize, and informs the +audience (what they did not know before) that, from a clump of +shrubbery, he had seen fully as much as they of the preceding +scene. He does not blame Fidelia. Oh! no. In her cruel dilemma, she +could do no less. But he curses--and curses again--and continues to +curse for some time--that Fate which deprives him of the "paltry +means" (one hundred and seventy thousand florins) to buy off the +"heartless monster" (Rodicaso). Having wreaked himself upon Destiny +to his own satisfaction, he suddenly remembers that he has not +eaten anything for thirty-six hours. He feels in all his pockets +successively, but finds nothing. He then draws from his bosom a +portrait of his father, set with antique gems. He gazes upon it +reverently, kisses it, and says: "Shall I part with this sacred +memento for vulgar bread? Never! Let me die!" He restores the +portrait to his bosom, folds his arms again, inclines his head, and +shuts his eyes, as if preparing to expire comfortably.</p> +<p>All this time, a fat red face, belonging to a corpulent body, +has been watching the depressed lover from the right wing. As +Alberto utters the last sad ejaculation, a thick hand attached to a +short arm raises a kerchief to a pair of small eyes in this fat red +face, and wipes them. Then the stout gentleman reflects a moment, +nods his head approvingly, draws forth a wallet, opens it slowly, +takes out some paper that rustles like bank notes, produces a +memorandum book, writes a few lines on one of the leaves hastily +with a pencil, tears out the leaf, encloses the leaf and the bank +notes in an envelope, emerges with his entire figure into the full +light of the stage, walks stealthily toward Alberto with a pair of +creaking shoes that would have waked the soundest sleeper, places +the note on the table by his side, raises his hands to heaven, +murmuring, "God bless the boy!" and retires in the same feline but +tumultuous manner.</p> +<p>This mysterious visitor was Bignolio (Matthew Maltboy), a rich +money lender, uncle of Alberto, and commonly reported to be the +"tightest old skinflint in Venice."</p> +<p>After a pause, scarcely long enough to allow his uncle's heavy +footsteps to die away in the distance, Alberto came out of his +revery. His first act was to look at the ceiling, then at the +floor, then all about him--everywhere but at the note on the table. +At last, when nothing else remained to be scrutinized, his eyes +naturally fell upon this valuable communication.</p> +<p>"What is this?" he asked. Then he answered his own question by +opening the letter, and reading it, as follows:</p> +<blockquote>Venice, Oct. 16,----.<br> +Dear Nephew:<br> +<br> +I have watched you, and know all. You are indeed the son of your +father, and, I am proud to add, the nephew of your uncle. Enclosed +are sixty thousand florins. Go to Jinkerini Bros., on the Rialto, +and buy up judgments that they hold against Rodicaso for three +times that amount, and offset them against old Corpetto's debts. +Rodicaso conceals his property so well, that none has ever been +found to satisfy these judgments. Drive a sharp bargain, and show +yourself a chip of the old block. Keep the balance for your wedding +gift.<br> +<br> +Farewell--till we meet again.<br> +Bignolio.</blockquote> +<p>"Dear, dear uncle!" exclaimed Alberto, carefully buttoning up +his pocket over the funds, and kissing the letter in transports of +joy. "And only yesterday he would not lend me a <i>scudi</i> to get +my dinner. Generous man! how have I wronged him! Now, Fate, I will +floor thee and Rodicaso together."</p> +<p>[Exit Alberto, rapidly, by shortest land route to the +Rialto.]</p> +<p>Overtop's acting, throughout this difficult scene, was of a +superior order. Nothing could be more natural, for instance, than +the buttoning up of his pocket over his uncle's gift. But neither +that, nor the other strong point, where he exulted in the finest +tragedy tones over the anticipated downfall of Fate and Rodicaso, +produced the slightest sensation among his hearers. Matthew Maltboy +paid the penalty of his intimate relations with Overtop, by an +equal unpopularity. His fine rendition of the character of Bignolio +might as well have been played to a select company of +gravestones.</p> +<p>There was a necessary interval of twenty minutes for the fitting +out of the stage--during which time the amateur orchestra performed +selections from "Semiramide," but, happily, not loud enough to +interfere with the easy flow of conversation all over the room. The +second flutist, while looking over his shoulder angrily at the +garrulous audience, executed a false note, which almost threw the +first (and only) violinist into fits. In turning round to rebuke +the errant performer, the violinist struck his elbow against a +similar projection of the other flutist, and knocked a false note +out of that gentleman too, besides momentarily ruffling his temper. +This little episode diffused unhappiness over the entire music.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="H_CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>ACT SECOND.</h3> +<br> +<p>The spectators had been told that there were imposing stage +effects in the second and last act; and they were not disappointed. +The entire front was filled with furniture, real mahogany and +brocade, leaving barely room for human beings to walk about. The +background was a perspective of pillars, conveying the idea of +unlimited saloons, all opening into each other. Three Bohemian +vases, filled with natural flowers, were placed on pedestals in +places where they would be least in the way, if it were possible to +make such a discrimination. But the great feature of the scene was +a magnificent paper chandelier of nine candles, which hung from the +centre of the framework, and made every spectator, while he +admired, tremble with fear that it would set the house on fire.</p> +<p>At a small table in front, covered by a rich cloth, sat the +heroine, dressed in a gorgeousness of apparel that mocked her +misery. Beneath the gems that studded her bosom, there was supposed +to be unappeasable wretchedness; and the white brow, covered with a +spangled wreath, was presumed to ache with mental agony. She was +pale and beautiful. Murmurs of applause ran round the +apartment.</p> +<p>By her side was the faithful Bidette, armed with a bottle of +salts. She bent affectionately over her mistress, and asked if she +wanted anything.</p> +<p>"Nothing, my child--but death," was the thrilling reply.</p> +<p>Bidette was taken somewhat aback. She made a respectful pause. +Then she said:</p> +<p>"But, my dear mistress, though you do not love Signor +Rodicaso--"</p> +<p>"In Heaven's name, stop, child! You are piercing my heart with a +hot iron. Name not love to me. Henceforth I erase it from the +tablets of my brain. Now go on" (with tranquil despair).</p> +<p>"I was about to say, dear mistress, please, that Signor Rodicaso +has a splendid town house, and a beautiful country seat (they say), +and thousands of acres of land, which will all be yours--"</p> +<p>The eloquent grief of her mistress's face checked the maid.</p> +<p>"Bidette," she said, "I shall want but a small portion of all +his lands."</p> +<p>"What do you mean, dear mistress?" asked the frightened +maid.</p> +<p>"Only enough for--a grave," was the harrowing reply.</p> +<p>This dreary dialogue was here interrupted by the appearance of +the father in tights, knee buckles, velvet coat, ruffles, a +powdered wig, and a general air of having been got up for a great +occasion. He carefully picked his way through the furniture to his +daughter, and kissed her on the forehead.</p> +<p>"Are you happy, my dear daughter?" he asked.</p> +<p>"Happy? Oh! yes, father, I am <i>so</i> happy! See how I smile." +So saying, she made a feeble attempt to smile, which was a most +artistic failure, and brought out another tribute of applause.</p> +<p>The father, not detecting the sad irony of the smile, +replied:</p> +<p>"It is indeed fortunate that you are enabled not only to achieve +your own happiness by this marriage, but also to redeem what is +dearer to me than all else in this world--my mercantile credit. But +here they come."</p> +<p>"Here they come," was the cue which was to bring in Signor +Rodicaso and party; but the Signor was momentarily delayed by the +giving way of two buttons in his doublet. When he had repaired +damages with pins as well as he could, he emerged into view, +accompanied by a notary and a pair of friendly witnesses. The +Signor, this time, proved to be the author of the play, who had +kindly consented, at five minutes' notice, to take the part in +which the hapless Chickson had broken down. Stealing behind, in the +shadow of the others, was distinctly seen (by all except the people +on the stage) the burly form of Uncle Bignolio.</p> +<p>To satisfy the conventional idea of dramatic concealment, his +left leg was plunged in obscurity behind the scenes, while the rest +of his figure stood out in bold relief. He was observed, by those +who watched him narrowly, to send a pleasant wink and nod to +Bidette, who responded with a scarcely perceptible pout.</p> +<p>On the entrance of Signor Rodicaso and friends, Fidelia rose, +turned toward them, and made a profound courtesy, as if to signify +her abject submission. Signor Rodicaso bowed with equal profundity, +and straightway proceeded to make a speech to the lady, in which he +spoke of the wild idolatry that he had long felt for her, and +alluded most disparagingly to his own merits. If the Signor's +statements could be relied on, he was totally unworthy of an +alliance with the beautiful Fidelia; in fact, was a "dog who would +be proud only but to bask in the sunshine of her smile."</p> +<p>This singular address, extending over "one length," or +forty-five lines, excited little less astonishment on the stage +than in the audience. For it was not set down in the acting copy, +but had been improvised by the author, to better the part of the +Signor, which, as originally written, was destitute of Long and +effective orations.</p> +<p>Fidelia smiled, and could only reply to this unpremeditated +effusion by several modest inclinations of the head. The other +actors and actress turned aside to conceal their grins. Uncle +Bignolio alone fulfilled the requirements of his part, by casting +Mephistophelean leers at the Signor, and now and then stealthily +shaking his fists at him.</p> +<p>The father, not being apt at off-hand oratory, did not attempt +any response to this speech, but merely bowed, to express his +perfect agreement in everything that had been said, and waved his +hand toward a table in the rear of the stage, as if to say, "Let us +proceed to business."</p> +<p>The notary, taking the hint, seated himself at the table, opened +his black bag, drew forth a document from it, and spread it out. +Then he dipped a pen into an inkstand, and said:</p> +<p>"We now await the signing of the contract of marriage between +Signor Alessandro Arturo Rodicaso, gentleman, and Signorina Giulia +Innocenza Fidelia Corpetto, only daughter of Signor Francesco +Corpetto, merchant."</p> +<p>In the absence of any definite information on the Venetian +formula adopted in such cases, the author had selected this style +of announcement as being sufficiently stiff and imposing.</p> +<p>Signor Rodicaso sprang forward with joyful alacrity to sign the +contract, dashing off his name in two strokes, as is the invariable +custom on the stage.</p> +<p>The climax of the drama had now arrived, and everybody stood +aside for the wretched Fidelia. Mrs. Slapman proved equal to the +great occasion. Directing one look to heaven, as if for strength, +and pressing a hand over the jewelled bodice which covered her +bursting heart, she walked with firm steps toward the fatal table. +Never in her life had she been more grandly simple. It was +sublime!</p> +<p>As Fidelia came up to the little table, she faltered, and leaned +upon it to support herself; then, with a nervous motion, grasped +the pen. Several times she dipped the pen in the empty inkstand, +and each time her face assumed a look of more settled anguish. +Then, bracing all her nerves for the decisive act of woman's life, +she put down the pen boldly on the paper, and made one up stroke. +Before she could make the other down stroke which was necessary to +complete her signature, a wild figure, with hair dishevelled, and +other evidences of hasty purpose, burst upon the stage.</p> +<p>Fidelia paused; all stood back; and gentlemen who had swords +laid hands on them.</p> +<p>"Who is this?" asked the Father, with mercantile calmness.</p> +<p>"Who dares thus break in upon my happiness?" inquired Signor +Rodicaso.</p> +<p>"Know you not, young man, that you are committing a breach of +the peace?" remarked the notary, regarding the intrusion with the +eye of a lawyer.</p> +<p>The wild figure answered them all at once: "I am Alberto, and I +come to rend this impious contract--thus--thus--thus!" (snatching +the parchment from the table, tearing it to pieces, and trampling +on it).</p> +<p>Fidelia, astonished at the turn events were taking, leaned back +in her chair, and looked on silently. Her time for fainting had not +yet come.</p> +<p>"Draw and defend yourself, caitiff!" exclaimed Signor Rodicaso, +brandishing his sword.</p> +<p>"Anywhere but in the presence of a lady," was the sarcastic +reply. "Besides, I have claims on you, which, perhaps may teach you +to respect me."</p> +<p>"Claims! Thou liest! What claims?"</p> +<p>"These! Hast seen them before? Ha! ha!" shouted Alberto, shaking +a bundle of papers in the face of his rival.</p> +<p>"Allow me to examine them, if you please?" asked Signor +Rodicaso, with forced calmness.</p> +<p>"No, you don't," was the response. "But I'll tell you what they +are. They are judgments to the extent of one hundred and seventy +thousand florins--dost hear? one hundred and seventy thousand +florins--against you, which I have bought for less than quarter +price from Jinkerini Bros, No. 124 Rialto. With them I offset the +sum which this unhappy but excellent merchant" (pointing to the +father) "owes you. Here, sir; now you are released from yon +monster's clutches." (Hands package of judgments to the father, +who, overpowered by the scene, takes and holds them in dumb +amazement.)</p> +<p>An expression of silent joy begins to steal over the face of +Fidelia. But her time for fainting had not yet come!</p> +<p>"Boy!" said Signor Rodicaso, with a composure that was perfectly +wonderful, "there is another hand than thine in all this work. Thou +art but the poor tool and I despise thee!"</p> +<p>"Here is the hand!" exclaimed the uncle Bignolio, drawing out +his leg from its seclusion, and bringing his whole body into full +view. "Dost know it?" He held up his right hand, to carry out the +idea of the author.</p> +<p>"It is the hand of Bignolio the usurer," said Signor Rodicaso, +despondingly, seeing now that the game was clearly against him.</p> +<p>"Bignolio the usurer!" exclaimed the father, still wrapped in +amazement.</p> +<p>"Bignolio the usurer!" murmured Fidelia, whose woman's wit +divined the mystery of his appearance. But her time to faint had +not <i>yet</i> come.</p> +<p>"Bignolio the usurer!" cried the notary, witnesses, and Bidette +in chorus.</p> +<p>"Yes," returned that gentleman; "Bignolio the <i>usurer,</i> who +now is proud to claim the dearer title of 'own uncle' to his nephew +Alberto. That nephew he this day receives into his partnership, and +proclaims his only heir. Come to my arms, adopted son!"</p> +<p>Alberto flew to his uncle, and was silently embraced. Even at +this moment, sacred to the interchange of the noblest affections, +several persons in the audience distinctly saw the uncle's left eye +wink over Alberto's shoulder to Bidette, who responded to the +unwelcome familiarity, this time, with an indignant frown.</p> +<p>The nephew gently uncoiled his uncle, and addressed himself to +the father:</p> +<p>"Respected sir, I have long loved your daughter, and am not +totally unprepared to believe that she may, in some slight measure, +reciprocate my affections. I humbly solicit her hand in +marriage."</p> +<p>The father, with the characteristic decision of an old man of +business, had already made up his mind. Alberto, the young partner +and heir of the rich usurer of Venice, would be a more manageable +son-in-law than the middle-aged though wealthy Rodicaso. The father +said words to this effect in an "aside," and then replied +aloud:</p> +<p>"Her hand is yours; and may your union be crowned with felicity. +Come, children, and receive a parent's blessing."</p> +<p>"My bitter curse be on you all! Boy, we shall meet again!" +shouted Rodicaso, striding off the stage, and followed by the +notary for his pay, and by the laughter and scorn of the rest of +the company.</p> +<p>Fidelia's little cup of earthly happiness was now full. Her time +for fainting had arrived at last. Everybody moved to clear a space +for her. She rose, and walked with an unfaltering step toward +Alberto. There was no overdone rapture in her gait; no exaggerated +ecstasy in her face. As a practised critic remarked, "her calmness +was the truest expression of her agony of joy."</p> +<p>Alberto advanced halfway with a lover's ardor, and extended his +arms. Then was her time to faint; and she fainted with a slight +scream, sinking gently upon a faithful breast.</p> +<p>The father raised his hands above the couple, and blessed them +in the correct way, never seen off the stage. Uncle Bignolio wiped +his eyes, and murmured, "Dear boy! How much he looks like his +father now!"--a remark somewhat out of place, considering that +Alberto's back was turned to the uncle. Bidette hovered near the +happy group, and danced for joy.</p> +<p>It was a touching tableau, and the spectators applauded it In a +way that tickled the heart of the author, who was watching the +effect through an eyehole of the left wing.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="H_CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>HOW THE PLAY ENDED.</h3> +<br> +<p>Just as the curtain was to be rung down on the end of the play, +a mad clatter of boots was heard behind the scenes. Then a man, +dressed in complete black, and excessively pale, jumped upon the +stage. His black hair was tossed all over his head, and his black +eyes were rolling wildly. Thus much all the spectators saw at a +glance.</p> +<p>The strange man's first intention appeared to be to dash at the +happy couple; but, if so, he checked himself, and, standing at a +distance of four feet from them, uttered these words: "Scoundrel! +what are you doing with my wife there?" The man's whole figure +could be seen to tremble.</p> +<p>Many of the spectators, supposing this was a part of the +play--though they did not see its precise connection with the +plot--applauded what was apparently a fine piece of acting.</p> +<p>"Good!" "Capital!" "Bravo!" were heard from all parts of the +room, mingled with stamping and clapping.</p> +<p>The man darted looks of concentrated hate at the audience.</p> +<p>"Who is he?" "How well he does it!" "What splendid tragedy +powers!" were some of the audible remarks that this called +forth.</p> +<p>It was also observed that a wonderfully natural style of acting +was instantly developed among the other <i>dramatis personae</i>. +Fidelia sprang from the arms of Alberto, and put on a lifelike +expression of insulted dignity, mingled with astonishment. Alberto +took a step away from the ghastly intruder, and was evidently at a +loss what to do. His face was eloquent with bewilderment and +mortification. The father looked confused and sheepish, and put his +hands into his pockets. Bidette screamed a little, and fled to the +opposite scenes. Uncle Bignolio whistled and smiled, and was +evidently amused at the occurrence.</p> +<p>All this, done in five seconds, so delighted the spectators, +that they cheered, and cheered again. "As good as a theatre!" +ejaculated a new friend of Mrs. Slapman's, on the front row.</p> +<p>The strange, disorderly man plunged forward with one leg toward +Alberto, and then drew himself back suddenly, as if in a state of +harassing indecision. (Applause.) Then he cast a diabolical look +(worthy of the elder Booth in Richard III) at the young lover, and +shrieked, "Wretch! villain! I will--I will--" He hesitated to add +what he would do, but shook his fists in a highly natural manner at +the object of his hate. (Great applause.)</p> +<p>"Sir!" said Fidelia, stretching her proud young form erect, like +a tragedy queen, "How dare you, sir!" (Boisterous applause, and +this remark from an elderly gentleman: "The picture of Mrs. +Siddons!")</p> +<p>The singular individual in black was seen to tremble with +increased violence. His eyes rolled more wildly, while his face +took on a chalkier hue. He stepped back, as if to insure his +retreat. Then, mustering all his resolution, he said:</p> +<p>"M-Mrs. M-Mrs. Slapman, you--you ought to be a-ashamed of +yourself!"</p> +<p>The real character of the strange actor was now made evident, +and the whole house was hushed in awe and expectation. There was +not a man or woman present but knew too well the folly of mingling +in a family quarrel. So they held their tongues, and enjoyed the +scene.</p> +<p>Mrs. Slapman turned to the audience. She was pale, but perfectly +composed. She said:</p> +<p>"Ladies and gentlemen, this is my husband, a very quiet and +well-behaved man, whose only fault is excessive nervousness. This +fault, I am sorry to say, he encourages, by constantly smoking +cigars and drinking strong black tea. He has been indulging in both +of these stimulants to-night, till he is quite beside himself. I +trust you will excuse and pity him. He has no other vices that I +know of."</p> +<p>Then, turning to her husband, whose hands had now dropped +listlessly by his side, she added:</p> +<p>"My dear, bathe your head, and go to bed immediately."</p> +<p>He struggled to say something in the presence of this calm +embodiment of satire, but could not. Hanging down his head, and +looking very silly, he slinked off the stage.</p> +<p>"Now, ladies and gentlemen," said Mrs. Slapman, "after an +interval of fifteen minutes, we will proceed with the comedietta of +'A Morning Call,' as if nothing had happened."</p> +<p>When she had said this, Mrs. Slapman fainted--this time in +earnest. She was caught in the arms of Fayette Overtop, who +immediately, and with the utmost delicacy, resigned her to the arms +of Miss Wick (Bidette), and of several other ladies, who came upon +the stage and proffered salts, cologne, and other restoratives.</p> +<p>The gentlemen present, actors and audience, unanimously decided +that the best thing for them to do, under all the circumstances, +was to leave the premises.</p> +<p>This they did as soon as they could, reserving all discussion of +the painful event of the evening for the free air of the +street.</p> +<p>As Overtop, very serious, and Maltboy, very jovial, were about +to descend the steps to the sidewalk, they were met by a messenger, +who desired them to go with him immediately to the station house to +see some friends (names forgotten) who had been arrested, and had +sent for them.</p> +<p>Thither they went, and experienced the greatest surprise of the +evening.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BOOK_NINTH."></a>BOOK NINTH.</h2> +<h3>THE INQUEST.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="I_CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>CORONER AND JURY.</h3> +<br> +<p>The post-mortem examination had been held; and three doctors had +sworn that deceased came to his death from a great variety of Greek +and Latin troubles, all caused by a learned something which +signified, in plain English, a blow on the head. Coroner Bullfast +was so struck with the clear and explicit nature of the medical +evidence, that he had it reduced to writing for his private +regalement.</p> +<p>The post-mortem examination, and the testimony of the three +doctors, and of all the people in the house (except Patty Minford, +daughter of the deceased)--whose joint knowledge upon the subject +amounted to nothing more than hearing somebody with heavy boots +come down stairs about midnight--occupied the whole of the first +day. Patty, or Pet, was so thoroughly unnerved by the events of +that horrible night, that the coroner found it impossible to take +her evidence on that day. She had fainted twice before she could +make Coroner Bullfast clearly understand that Marcus Wilkeson, her +benefactor, and her father's best friend, was THE MURDERER. Having +learned thus much, the coroner had put the police on the track of +Marcus Wilkeson, and had postponed the further examination of the +chief witness.</p> +<p>Mrs. Crull, on learning of the tragic affair, had gone in person +to the house of death, and taken Patty to her own home.</p> +<p>The remains of the unfortunate inventor had been removed to the +nearest undertaker's for interment, at the expense of Mrs. Crull. +The apartments had been diligently searched, and the personal +effects of the deceased examined, under the direction of the +coroner. A number of documents had been discovered, which, in the +coroner's opinion, threw a flood of light on the motives that led +to the crime. A few dollars and a bull's-eye silver watch, found on +the dead body, precluded the idea that the murder was done for +plunder. With that quickness of perception for which Coroner +Bullfast, like most of his official kind, was celebrated, he had +formed his theory of the murder, and tremendously strong must be +the future testimony that could shake it.</p> +<p>On the morning of the second day, Coroner Bullfast and the jury +reassembled, about ten o'clock, in the room where the murder was +committed.</p> +<p>The coroner was a jovial man, with a bulging forehead, a ruddy +nose, a large diamond breastpin (a real diamond, of that +superlative style only seen in its perfection on the shirt fronts +of aldermen, contractors, and Washington Market butchers), and the +native New York manner of speaking, which is sharp and mandatory. +The coroner began life as a stone mason, gained early distinction +as a fireman, controlled several hundred votes in his ward, became +a member of a political committee, and got a coronership as his +share of the spoils. He had aspired to be a police justice, or city +inspector, or commissioner of the Croton Board. To either of these +positions, or, for that matter, to any position indefinitely +higher, he felt himself perfectly equal. But other members of the +committee (which was a kind of joint-stock company for the +distribution of offices) had prior and stronger claims than Harry +Bullfast, and so he was put off with a coronership. He felt the +slight acutely, but, like a prudent man, determined to so keep +himself before the public in his performance of the office, as to +make it a stepping stone to something much higher--the city +comptrollership, or a seat in the State Senate, or in Congress, or +(who could tell?) the governorship of the commonwealth--that grand +possibility which every ward politician carries in his hat.</p> +<p>The coroner was seated in the inventor's private armchair, with +one leg thrown over the side of it, and the other stretched on the +floor. He was chewing tobacco with manly vigor, and cracking jokes +with a facetious juryman, who was assistant foreman of the Bully +Boy Hose, of which the coroner was an exempt and honorary +member.</p> +<p>The jury was composed of six men whom the coroner had picked +from the large number of idle spectators found by him at the scene +of the murder when he was first summoned. Two of them chanced to be +acquaintances of his. As to the rest, the coroner had not the +remotest idea. They might have been beggars or pickpockets, for +aught that he cared. They looked stupid, and he liked stupid +jurors.</p> +<p>"Them sharp fellers that thinks they knows more'n the cor'ner, +is a cussed nuisance," he often had occasion to remark.</p> +<p>The jury sat near one of the windows, in a semicircle of chairs +which had been borrowed from the first and second floors. Pending +the resumption of their melancholy work, such of them as could read +were reading newspapers containing reports of the first day's +proceedings, from two to ten columns long, wherein the scene of the +"Mysterious Midnight Tragedy," as one paper called it, was +represented in the most ingenious manner by printers' rules cut to +show the dimensions of the rooms on the third floor, the position +of the fireplace, bed, washstand, chest of drawers, unknown machine +in the corner, and other things which had no bearing whatever on +the affair. The other jurors, who could not read at all, or had an +insuperable aversion to that laborious occupation, were rolling +their quids in silence, and looking wise.</p> +<p>At a long table in the centre of the room were seated several +young gentlemen, dressed with singular independence of style. From +one point of view they looked like actors, bearing about them signs +of fatigue, as if from heavy night work. Observed again, they +resembled young lawyers of indolent habits and scanty practice, who +had just dropped in to watch the case.</p> +<p>From their conversation, no clue to their professional identity +could be gathered. They were cracking jokes, propounding +conundrums, and telling stories humorously broad to each other. +Everything was to them a legitimate amusement. The proceedings of +the day before were peculiarly rich in funny reminiscences; and one +tall, bright, curly-haired fellow was evoking roars of suppressed +laughter by his capital mimicry of two of the dullest witnesses. +Another was drawing comic profiles of a sleepy juryman on a scrap +of paper. He had previously dashed off a very happy sketch of the +coroner, and shown it to that functionary, who had "haw-hawed," and +pronounced it "devilish good," and, in turn, presented the young +artist with a fine Havana cigar, which he playfully put in his +mouth and chewed the end of. Yet there were, about these young +gentlemen, signs of business, which an intelligent observer might +have easily interpreted. From the outside breast pockets of each of +them protruded a number of pencils; and, from their lower side +pockets, thick memorandum books with gray covers, or stiffly folded +quires of foolscap.</p> +<p>They were the reporters of the press--the gamins and good +fellows of literature;--fellows of inexhaustible resources, who +carry their wits literally at their fingers' ends;--who can do more +than extract sunbeams from cucumbers; for they can make up +thrilling facts out of nothing;--who can thread their way through a +crowd where a tapeworm would be squeezed to death;--whose writing +desk is usually another man's back; and who sketch out a much +better speech between an orator's shoulder blades than he is making +in front;--whose written language is a perplexity compared with +which Greek is a relaxation and Sanscrit a positive amusement;--who +deal in adjectives, and know their precise value, and how to +administer them, as an apothecary knows the drugs that are boxed +and bottled on his shelves;--who are less men than parts of an +enormous mill grinding out grist to be branned and bolted in the +editorial rooms, made into food in the printing office and press +vault, and served up hot for the public's breakfast next +morning.</p> +<p>Clever, witty, insatiable fellows they, for whom a planet ought +to be set apart, where all the murders are wrapped in impenetrable +mystery, and the smallest railroad accidents are frightful +catastrophes.</p> +<p>The east side of the room, where the dead body had been found, +was preserved inviolate from the broom, mop, and other touch, until +the inquest was over. The strange machine stood in its accustomed +place, flanked by the screen. It had been extensively handled and +looked at, and passed for a new kind of clock. Two large weights +(which had fallen to the floor) and the interplaying cogwheels gave +force to that conjecture.</p> +<p>A large purple spot on the floor showed where the old man's life +had ebbed away. Close by this spot, precisely where it had been +picked up, lay the long oaken club with the iron tip, which, it was +supposed, had done the dreadful deed. There were small splashes and +spots on it too.</p> +<p>The fun of the reporters, the chat of the coroner and his +friends, the readings and airy meditations of the jurors, were all +suddenly checked by the appearance of Marcus Wilkeson, escorted by +two police officers, and Messrs. Overtop and Maltboy, Patching and +Tiffles. All five had passed the night in the station +house--Messrs. Patching and Tiffles from compulsion, as witnesses, +and possible accomplices, and Overtop and Maltboy as guides, +philosophers, and friends. All looked seedy and criminal, as if +there were something in the atmosphere of station houses to give a +man the semblance of a vagabond and an outcast. Marcus Wilkeson was +very pale, and, when he looked across the room, as he did upon his +entrance, by a singular impulse, and saw the great blood mark and +the club on the floor, he trembled with emotion.</p> +<p>The keen eyes of the coroner caught these signs, and he +immediately brought in a mental verdict of "guilty." Some of the +jury observed the same signs, and thought them suspicious. The +reporters looked upon Marcus Wilkeson without emotion or +prejudgment. They were so accustomed to seeing murderers, that they +regarded them simply as a part of the business community--a little +vicious, perhaps, but not so much worse than other people, after +all. One reporter, attached to an illustrated paper, dashed off the +profile of Marcus Wilkeson, under the cover of his hat, and caught +the dejected expression of his face to a nicety.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="I_CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>STATEMENT OF THE PRISONER.</h3> +<br> +<p>The coroner received Marcus with that air of consideration which +magistrates instinctively bestow upon persons charged with great +crimes, and informed him, with some respect, that he was brought +there to make any explanation that he saw fit, touching his +connection with "this 'ere murder."</p> +<p>The party were then accommodated with seats near the jury, and +facing the reporters. As Marcus looked up, and saw those practised +scribes sharpening their pencils, his heart sank deeper within him. +The vision which had troubled him all night, of a broadside +notoriety in all the city papers, rose before his mind, clothed +with fresh horror. The dull sound of sharpening those pencils was +like the whetting of the executioner's knife.</p> +<p>The proper course was to have accepted an unsworn statement from +the prisoner; but the coroner always administered oaths when +prisoners were willing to take them. The repetition of that jargon +with a profane conclusion (for so it seemed, in the slipshod way +that it was said), which the coroner called an oath, was a positive +pleasure to that official. As Marcus desired to take the oath, the +coroner rattled off the unintelligible something, and handed him a +Bible, which the prisoner pressed reverentially to his lips. +Marcus, being now supposed to be sworn, proceeded, with what +firmness he could muster, to answer the numerous interrogatories of +the coroner. That official chewed hard, and, as it were, spit out +his questions.</p> +<p>His testimony, in substance, was this:</p> +<p>That he was a friend of the deceased, and had loaned him one +thousand dollars to complete a machine upon which he was +engaged--pointing to the unfinished pile in the corner. That his +relations with the deceased and his family (Marcus did not like to +mention Pet's name) were entirely agreeable, until an anonymous +letter, charging him with improper motives in visiting the house, +had poisoned the mind of the deceased against him. [The giving up +of this letter to the coroner, who read it to the jury, and then +tossed it over to the reporters for copying, was a hard trial, but +Marcus had resolved upon meeting all the troubles of the case +halfway.]</p> +<p>The coroner here produced the second anonymous letter, which had +been found on the person of the deceased, showed it to Marcus for +identification, and then threw it to the reporters, as one would +throw a choice bone to a cage full of hungry animals.</p> +<p>Marcus explained that he had made every effort to discover the +authorship of the letters, without success; whereupon the coroner +shut his eyes knowingly, rolled his quid from right to left, and +said that he was "investigatin' 'em" himself.</p> +<p>QUESTION BY A JUROR. "Wos the letters postpaid?"</p> +<p>ANSWER. "They were."</p> +<p>The juror took the reply into his profoundest consideration.</p> +<p>Marcus, resuming, stated that, on his last visit--the night of +the supposed murder--he had found Mr. Minford very much disturbed +in mind by the unjust suspicions aroused by these letters. He had +accused witness of the vile intentions referred to in them. Witness +had denied the imputations with emphasis. The discussion was +becoming quite warm, when the daughter of the deceased entered the +room, and, being worn out with watching by the side of a sick +friend, retired to bed in the adjoining chamber. The conversation, +broken off by her entrance, was then continued, much in the same +vein. Mr. Minford was in a distressing state of nervous excitement +that evening, and talked loud and wild. Witness made an effort to +keep his temper, and did so, though the peculiar injustice of the +accusations were enough to arouse any man's anger. He reserved his +show of wrath for the author of the anonymous letters, if he could +ever catch him. He would not say that he had not replied to the +deceased with some warmth of manner. But as to threatening him, or +hurting one hair of his head, witness had not done it--so help him +God!</p> +<p>QUESTION BY A JUROR. "Was the key of the door in the keyhole +that night?"</p> +<p>ANSWER. "I don't know."</p> +<p>COMMENT BY FACETIOUS JUROR. "Be me sowl, I thinks that whishkay +had more to do with it than the doorkay. Don't you, Harry?"</p> +<p>CORONER. "Bully for you!"</p> +<p>Clothing himself again with dignity, the coroner asked:</p> +<p>"Der yer mean to say, Mr. Wilkingson, that yer didn't kill this +man? Remember, now, yer on yer oath!"</p> +<p>The horrible bluntness of the question nearly felled Marcus to +the floor. He placed his hand on his brow, now pale with the +acutest anguish. Then he rose, and, looking upward said:</p> +<p>"As God is my judge, and as I hope for heaven, I am innocent of +this murder, or of any part in it."</p> +<p>"If you please, Mr. Coroner, this gentleman and myself are +counsel for the accused," said Overtop.</p> +<p>"Oh! you're his counsel. Then the other two are the chaps +arrested as 'complices?"</p> +<p>Patching writhed at this. Nor were his feelings relieved by +observing, with an oblique glance, that the artist of the +illustrated paper was in the act of taking him.</p> +<p>"I protest," said Wesley Tiffles, rising to his full height, and +throwing out both arms for a comprehensive gesture, "I protest +against this arrest and detention as illegal. If the coroner will +give me but a short hour of his valuable time, I can--"</p> +<p>CORONER <i>(puffing up</i>). "The gentleman will be good enough +to shut up for the present. When we are ready, we will hear what he +has to say."</p> +<p>TIFFLES. "I protest, sir. I wish the gentlemanly and intelligent +reporters to note that I protest--"</p> +<p>CORONER. "Are you, or me, boss here, hey?"</p> +<p>TIFFLES. "Oh! you, of course, sir." The protestant then sank +into his seat, not wholly disappointed, for he had gained his +object of making a little newspaper capital by tickling the +reporters. He had also remarked, with pleasure, that, while he +stood erect, with both arms outstretched, the artist had secured +his full length. Tiffles was fond of notoriety, however achieved; +and he saw a good opening for it in this case.</p> +<p>Overtop here suggested that it would be easy to prove their +client's innocence. He would respectfully request his Honor to +procure the testimony of Miss Patty Minford, if she could be found. +As she went to bed in the adjoining room early that evening, she +must have heard some noise in connection with the murder--if, +indeed, a murder had been committed. Overtop's legal education +taught him to doubt everything.</p> +<p>Coroner Bullfast was touched with the title of Honor, so +skilfully applied by Overtop; and he answered, with uncommon +sweetness:</p> +<p>"I am expecting Miss Minford every minute, sir. She will speak +for herself. For the present, sir, I am sorry to say that it was on +her testimony alone that Mr. Wilkingson was 'rested."</p> +<p>A look of new surprise and horror passed over the pale face of +Marcus, and Overtop and Maltboy exchanged glances of +astonishment.</p> +<p>"Now, Mr. Wilkingson," continued the coroner, taking a fresh +chew, "please drive ahead with yer statement--if yer choose to. Yer +not bound to say anythink, yer know."</p> +<p>AN INTELLIGENT JUROR. "Will Mr. Wilkeson tell us about what time +he left this house that night, and where he went?"</p> +<p>Marcus raised his sunken head, and shook it, as if to dispel a +stupefaction. Then, in a faint and trembling voice, he replied that +he looked at his watch just before bidding Mr. Minford +"good-night," and-observed that it was fifteen minutes past eleven +o'clock.</p> +<p>QUESTION BY A JUROR. "What kind o' watch do you carry?"</p> +<p>ANSWER (<i>exhibiting the watch</i>). "An English hunter--- +lever escapement--- full jewelled."</p> +<p>At any other time, Marcus would have smiled at the impertinence +of the question, but he answered it gravely.</p> +<p>He then went on to say, that Mr. Minford had not replied to his +"good-night." That he repeated the salutation, and extended his +hand as a token of unbroken friendship. That Mr. Minford refused to +take it, and said that he had one last favor to ask of him +(Marcus), and that was, never to cross his threshold again. That he +(Marcus) responded, "I forgive you, sir. When, on reflection, you +think that you have done me injustice--as you will, at last--send +for me, and I will still be your friend." That he received no +answer to this, save a shake of the head, and immediately went down +stairs into the street. He was feverish, and his brain was in a +whirl. Hardly knowing what he did, he walked the streets hither and +thither. He could not tell what streets he traversed, but he kept +up the exercise till he was tired. Then he became calmer, returned +home, entered the house with a latch key, and went to bed without +waking any of the inmates. On going to bed, he observed that his +watch marked one o'clock.</p> +<p>An intelligent juror. "You must have passed a large number of +people in the streets between eleven and one o'clock. Did you see +no one whom you knew?"</p> +<p>"No one; but at a corner some distance from here,--I could not +say what corner,--I noticed a policeman sitting on a barrel in +front of a grocery, smoking. He was a short, fat man, and his legs +hardly reached to the pavement. I remember him the more +particularly, because I stopped and lighted a cigar at his pipe. +Just at that moment, the City Hall bell commenced striking a fire +alarm."</p> +<p>"What was the district?" asked the juror who was assistant +foreman of the Bully Boy Hose.</p> +<p>"The Seventh. I counted the strokes. I walked on rapidly, and +soon came up with another policeman, who was leaning against a +grocery store. I said to him, 'A cold night, Mr. Policeman,' and I +think he would remember that circumstance, if he could be found. +Just after I had passed him, the alarm bells struck the last round. +Three or four rounds had been struck."</p> +<p>The assistant foreman of the Bully Boy Hose, having referred to +a memorandum book which he drew from a breast pocket, here +exclaimed:</p> +<p>"The alarm was at twenty-five minutes of twelve. Nothing but a +chimney in Whitehall street. We run into Twenty's fellers, comin' +back, and had a nice little row. Ever belong to the department, +sir?"</p> +<p>Marcus answered "No;" and the pyrophilist looked compassionately +upon him, as upon one who had never known true happiness.</p> +<p>"If you never run with the mersheen," observed the coroner, "you +do' 'no' wot life is. As for me, sir, it's my boast and pride that +I have been a member of the New York Fire Department for more'n +twenty years. It wos the backin' of the boys that made me a +coroner; and, thank God! I'm never ashamed to tell 'em so."</p> +<p>The coroner spoke truly. So far from being ashamed to "tell 'em +so," he was always "telling 'em so," never missing an opportunity, +at political meetings, to inform the firemen that he was "one of +'em," and that no mark of honor, even from the President of the +United States, was equal to his fireman's badge. The continual +"telling of 'em so" had aided in procuring for him his present +official distinction, and was destined to earn higher honors for +him at a future day.</p> +<p>The coroner tore off a fresh chew from a half hand of Cavendish +which had been well gnawed at all the edges, and told Marcus that +he might "fire away" again.</p> +<p>Marcus then proceeded to state that, on the morning after the +eventful night, he woke up early. His dreams had been horrible, and +his waking reflections were no less distressing. The thought that +Mr. Minford should have suspected him, thus unjustly, of the basest +of crimes, and that they, who had been such good friends, should +have parted in a way that effectually cut off reconciliation; and +the other thought, that this mischief had been wrought by some +unscrupulous enemy, when he had always fondly believed that he +never could have a foe in the world--these thoughts, occurring with +great force to a nervous and sensitive man, nearly maddened him. He +felt that if he remained in the house that day, as usual, and +brooded over his troubles, he would grow crazy. While he was +pondering what to do, his eyes chanced to fall on an invitation +which he had received from Mr. Wesley Tiffles, to meet him at the +Cortlandt street ferry at seven and a quarter o'clock that morning, +and accompany him and his panorama of Africa to New Jersey. The day +before, when this invitation came to hand, he had determined not to +accept it; but it now seemed to offer him a capital chance to see +some excitement and ran. As these remedies were precisely what his +mental malady required, he jumped to dress himself, and hurried out +of the house, seeing nobody as he made his exit, and leaving no +word of explanation. He took no luggage, except a clean collar, as +he intended to return the following day. He was even so careless +and forgetful as to leave his purse behind him, and found, on +reaching the ferry, that he had barely two dollars in his +pocket.</p> +<p>Question by a juror. "Wos they bank bills; and, if so, what bank +wos they on?"</p> +<p>Marcus answered the question to the best of his knowledge, and +the juror sagely nodded, and took the reply under treatment.</p> +<p>"I say, Tubbs," cried the coroner, "wot's the use of askin' them +kind o' questions?"</p> +<p>Tubbs looked up from his ruminations, somewhat confused. The +politic Overtop--that model of a rising lawyer--here put in a word +for Tubbs, and said that the question, in his opinion, was a very +pertinent one, for it went to test the memory of his client. If Mr. +Wilkeson had just committed murder, he would hardly be in that calm +frame of mind which is necessary to the recollection of small +facts. He hoped that the ingenious gentleman would ask many more +such questions. By these judicious remarks, Overtop gained one fast +friend for his client on the jury.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="I_CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>JUSTICE GOES TO DINNER.</h3> +<br> +<p>Wesley Tiffles was then examined. He commenced with an eloquent +dissertation on the rights of man, and his own rights in +particular, but stopped when he saw that the reporters tucked their +pencils behind their ears, and waited for facts. The moment he +began to talk facts--which are to reporters what corn is to +crows--down came the pencils from their perches again, and went +tripping over the paper.</p> +<p>Mr. Tiffles's testimony would have consumed two hours, or two +days, perhaps, if he had been allowed to go on unchecked. But the +coroner had been invited to dine at a Broadway restaurant, with a +few political friends, at three P.M. So he concluded, after Tiffles +had talked five minutes, that he knew nothing about the murder, and +could throw no light on it, and told Tiffles that he was not wanted +further.</p> +<p>"And you mean to tell me, sir, that I am not to be locked up in +the station house to-night," said Tiffles.</p> +<p>"No, unless yer want ter be."</p> +<p>"Of course not--of course not." But the interior Tiffles was +disappointed at this sudden and unromantic termination of his case. +A few more nights in the station house, or in the Tombs, would have +given him capital material for a book, of which he had already +projected the first chapter. He sat down, and execrated his ill +luck.</p> +<p>Patching, the artist, was then interrogated, to the extent of +two minutes, and corroborated Tiffles's testimony as to the sad and +strange appearance of Mr. Wilkeson on the day after the supposed +murder. Patching was then informed by the coroner that his further +attendance at the inquest would not be required.</p> +<p>Patching, on rising, had assumed the attitude of Paul before +Felix, as set forth in some ancient cartoon; and in that position +of mingled innocence, dignity, and defiance, the artist of the +illustrated paper got a spirited sketch of him. Had Patching +dreamed how capitally his long hair, peaked beard, thin nose, and +bony forehead would be taken off, in a rough but faithful character +portrait, he would have sunk in confusion. Happily, the newspaper +artist was sitting almost behind his more pretentious brother of +the canvas, and the latter knew not what had been done, until, the +following week, he saw a striking intensification of himself +staring into the street from numerous bulletin boards and shop +windows.</p> +<p>Before sitting down, Mr. Patching begged to explain to the jury, +and to the public through the reporters (who did not take down a +word of the explanation), that he had painted the panorama of +Africa to oblige his friend, "Wesley Tiffles. It was hardly +necessary for him to say, in this community, that he was more at +home among higher walks of Art.</p> +<p>"Are you a sign painter, Mr. Patching?" asked the coroner. "No, +sir; I am not," said Patching, with dignified contempt.</p> +<p>"Perhaps you're a carriage painter, then? Them's the fellers for +picturin'. The woman and flowers on the Bully Boys' hose carriage +wos well done. Hey, Jack?"</p> +<p>"That it wos, Harry," returned the assistant foreman of the +Bully Boys. "If Patching can do that sort o' thing, he'll +pass."</p> +<p>Patching fixed looks of professional indignation on the coroner +and the assistant foreman, and sat down gloomily, amid the +suppressed laughter of the irreverent reporters.</p> +<p>The coroner then looked at his watch, and, finding that the time +was within half an hour of dinner, said that the inquest would be +adjourned till the following morning, at ten o'clock.</p> +<p>"But, your Honor," said Overtop, "--that is, if you will allow +me to make the suggestion--couldn't you give us an hour longer? +Nothing has yet been heard from Miss Minford, who, you said, was +expected to be in attendance to-day. Will you be good enough to +send to Mrs. Crull's house for her?"</p> +<p>"Really, I can't wait," replied the coroner. "The young lady +must be sick, or she would have been here before now."</p> +<p>"But--pardon me, your Honor--we are anxious to have Miss Minford +brought on the stand this afternoon, believing, that her testimony +alone will acquit our client."</p> +<p>"You believe so, because you do' 'no' what it is. But, as I said +before, it wos on Miss Minford's statement that Mr. Wilkingson +there was 'rested. And the best advice I can give him is to take a +good night's rest, and get his nerves ready for the young woman's +testimony to-morrow, for it'll be a staggerer." The coroner +consulted his watch again, with evident impatience, and rose from +his seat.</p> +<p>Overtop essayed to speak again; but the coroner interrupted him +with, "The inquest is 'journed till to-morrer, at ten o'clock. Mr. +Policeman, you will take the prisoner back to the station +house."</p> +<p>This speech was torture to Overtop and Maltboy, who, believing +firmly in their friend's innocence, were convinced that a full +investigation of the case that day would procure his acquittal. +They turned eyes of exhaustless friendship and sympathy toward +him.</p> +<p>Marcus was in that half-comatose state which is the stupid +reaction from an intense and painful excitation of the nerves. He +was morbidly calm. The opinion of the coroner, that Miss Minford's +testimony would be a "staggerer," had no more effect on him than it +would have had on the most phlegmatic reader of the case in next +morning's paper.</p> +<p>"Then, your Honor, we must ask you to take bail," said +Overtop.</p> +<p>"Can't take bail! Can't take anything but my dinner, to-day! For +the third time, I say, the inquest is adjourned." The coroner +hastily put on his spring overcoat.</p> +<p>Overtop was tempted to make a fierce reply; but the legal +discretion in which he was educated restrained him.</p> +<p>The word had gone forth. The jurors rose, yawned, and grasped +their hats. The reporters jammed their notes into their pockets, +and precipitately fled from the room. The policeman escorted Marcus +Wilkeson and his counsel, and Tiffles and Patching, to the carriage +which brought them, and which still stood in front of the house, an +object of tragic interest to a large crowd of men, women, and +children, who had remained about the doorway during the inquest, +and could not be dispersed by the policemen.</p> +<p>"Which is he?" "Who's the murderer?" whispered twenty voices, as +the party emerged from the stairs upon the sidewalk.</p> +<p>"That's him! That chap with the big hat and long hair. You could +pick him out of a million," said a shrewd observer.</p> +<p>"What ugly eyes he's got! They're sharp enough to stab ye," +added a shop girl.</p> +<p>"I seen some pirates hung, when I was a little gal," remarked an +old woman, "and they were pooty compared to him."</p> +<p>The object of these and other remarks was the unhappy Patching, +who had not yet got over his wrath at the coroner, and was scowling +and compressing his lips very like a murderer.</p> +<p>The policeman and his companions, all but the spell-bound +Marcus, could not help laughing at these ridiculous mistakes. But +Patching turned upon the crowd, and delivered among them one +withering look of scorn, which fully confirmed them in the belief +that he was a murderer of the deepest dye. And when the carriage +rolled away, it was followed by a volley of groans, mixed with a +few pebbles, handfuls of mud, and other missiles which happened to +be lying around loose.</p> +<p>"Here, boys, don't act that way," said the coroner, who had just +made his appearance on the sidewalk. "Let the poor devil go. It's a +case of murder, clear, enough; and he won't slip through my hands +easy, I can tell ye, if he <i>is</i> rich." The coroner spoke +good-naturedly, for he saw several of his political adherents among +the throng.</p> +<p>"That's the talk!" "Good boy!" "You're the feller for us!" were +some of the warm responses.</p> +<p>The coroner smiled, as he stopped to light a cigar from the pipe +of a dirty admirer, and then, bowing obsequiously to the group, he +stalked off in a rowdy way in the direction of his expected +dinner.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="I_CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>LIGHT IN THE PRISON.</h3> +<br> +<p>On the return of the prisoner and friends to the station house, +Marcus was gratified to find a number of old business acquaintances +waiting for him in the ante-room. They were men whom he had known +in his Wall-street epoch, and had always set down as good-enough +friends in prosperity, but cold-shouldered creatures in an hour of +trial. He was mistaken, as many men are mistaken, in judging the +hearts of business men from their white and careworn faces. They +came with warm hands, sympathetic words, and offers of bail money +and other aid, if wanted. There were short notes from two or three +other old fellows whom he had not seen for years, telling him that +they were at his command.</p> +<p>These expressions of good will touched Marcus to the heart. He +learned that, in the self-conceit of his retired and studious life, +he had done injustice to these citizens of the whirling world. With +a thousand thanks for the kindness of his callers, he told them +that their friendly services were not needed; that his innocence +would surely be made to appear; and that, to the day of his death, +he should never forget them. Upon this assurance, repeated two or +three times, his business friends withdrew with characteristic +business impetuosity, wishing him a speedy release from his +disagreeable position--which is the roundabout phrase for +prison.</p> +<p>A policeman, who had charge of the station house during the +absence of his superior officer, here informed Marcus that an old +lady and a young one, an old gen'leman and a lad, had called. The +old gen'leman and the lad would drop round again during the +evening. The old lady and the young one were waiting for him in the +captain's room.</p> +<p>He entered the captain's room--his companions staying +outside--and saw, as he expected, his half-sister Philomela, and a +young woman dressed in the height of cheap fashion, who was no +other than Mash, the cook.</p> +<p>His sister rose, and extended her hand to him severely, and +said, with a solemn voice:</p> +<p>"Brother Marcus, I am sorry to see you here. I hope you are not +guilty of this crime?"</p> +<p>"Hope?" said Marcus, stung to the quick. "Why not say at once +that I am guilty? It is strange that the only relative I have on +earth should be the first to doubt my innocence."</p> +<p>"Oh, no, Marcus! You do me injustice there. I do not for a +moment doubt your innocence. But you know I always advised you to +give up your moping habits at home, and go into active business, +like other men of your age. If you had been in business now, you +wouldn't have had time to get mixed up in the affairs of this old +man Minford and his daughter, and would have escaped this disgrace. +I trust, Marcus," she added, emphatically, "I trust this will be a +lesson to you."</p> +<p>Poor Mash, the cook, had been playing with her bonnet strings, +and trying to check her tears. But the unnatural effort was too +much for her, and she burst out crying.</p> +<p>"Oh, Mr. Wilkeson!" she said, between her sobs, "I--I'm so sorry +to see you here; b-but I--I know yer innocent. Boo-boo-hoo!"</p> +<p>"Thank you, Mash," replied Marcus, quite affected at this sudden +outbreak of sympathy. "<i>You</i> speak like a true woman. But +don't cry any more, my good girl. I shall be released to-morrow." +Marcus said this confidently--though he had not the least idea how +his acquittal was to be obtained.</p> +<p>"Oh! I hope so--I--hope so, Mr. Wilkeson. Boo-boo-hoo--I--I wish +I could g-go to prison in your place. Boo-boo-hoo!"</p> +<p>Mash had derived this preposterous idea of vicarious +imprisonment from the story of "The Buttery and the Boudoir," which +was now drawing near its conclusion, and gradually killing, or +marrying off, its heroes and heroines.</p> +<p>Marcus could not help smiling at the romantic notion. Miss +Philomela laughed sarcastically, and exclaimed:</p> +<p>"You must take pattern from me, girl, and control your feelings. +My brother doesn't want crying women about him at this time."</p> +<p>"Don't be too sure of that, sister. Tears come naturally from a +woman. They are her best evidence of sympathy, and therefore +precious to one who needs it."</p> +<p>Mash, the cook, gave vent to a fresh shower of tears at this +encouraging remark, and made Miss Philomela shrug her shoulders in +disgust.</p> +<p>"Oh! <i>don't</i> be silly. Mash!" said Miss Philomela, losing +all patience with the cook.</p> +<p>"I--I--boo-boo-hoo!--can't help it, marm."</p> +<p>"Nonsense!" said the superior female. "As for you, Marcus, you +should not encourage such folly, when you have troubles that demand +our sober and earnest attention. With reference to the past, I +might say a great many things, but I forbear. To be serious, +now--for once in your life--what can I do for you?"</p> +<p>"Will you do what I ask, faithfully?" asked Marcus.</p> +<p>"Yes, faithfully. I promise."</p> +<p>"Then, my sister, be so good as to go home immediately, and send +me a spare shirt and a change of clothes. Mash can bring them. And, +lest another interview should prove too severe a trial for your +female sensibility, I beg that you will not come here again. If I +want you very much, I can send for you."</p> +<p>"You are very unkind--very unkind. But I will not make any +remarks. You know that nothing would give me greater pleasure than +to serve my brother. For, though you have faults--I suppose you +will not deny that you have some little faults--you are still my +brother."</p> +<p>Marcus smiled, and thought how foolish it was to quarrel with +the whimsical but not bad-hearted woman. "Well, sister Philomela, +you can see for yourself that I am not ill used here. Comfortable +bed, rousing fire, and warm meals from the restaurant round the +corner! The lieutenant<a name="FNanchor1"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_1">[1]</a> who is in command of this station house turns +out to be an old friend of my boyhood, and treats me more like a +guest than a prisoner. And I must say, that, but for the idea of a +prison, I could live as pleasantly here as at home. Even you can do +nothing to lighten my captivity. But I promise, that <i>if</i> I am +held by this coroner's jury--which, of course, I shall not be--and +am sent to the Tombs, then I will tax your sisterly affection to +the utmost."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor1">[1]</a> +Called sergeant of police under the recent Metropolitan +Act.</blockquote> +<p>At the mention of that dreadful place, the "Tombs," Mash broke +into sobs again. The touching experiences of Gerald Florville in +that house of despair--as set forth in "The Buttery and the +Boudoir"--were poignantly brought to her mind.</p> +<p>Miss Philomela looked serious as the Tombs loomed up in her +mind, and she would have said something condoling, but for the +irritating conduct of the cook, who annoyed her so much that she +decided to leave. She abruptly shook hands with her half-brother. +"It is very easy," said she, "to point out how certain mistakes +might have been avoided. But let the past go. If you are not +acquitted to-morrow, I shall call here again, notwithstanding you +don't seem very desirous to see me. Now, good-by. Come, hurry up, +Mash!"</p> +<p>Marcus shook hands with his half-sister, and also with Mash, who +wept afresh.</p> +<p>In the ante-room, Miss Philomela saw Overtop and Maltboy, upon +whom she bestowed a half smile, and Tiffles, whom she treated to a +cordial grimace, not unmingled with a blush. Tiffles, on his part, +was profoundly polite, and inquired if she were going home. +Learning that she was, he remarked that he had occasion to walk in +the same direction, and accompanied her as she left the station +house. Mash followed at a short distance behind, not because she +did not think herself fully as good as Miss Philomela, but because +she wished to indulge unchecked in the mild luxury of tears.</p> +<p>A new visitor was now announced. He was a curly-headed, neatly +dressed boy of nineteen years. His face was one that is handsomer +in promise than in fact. Marcus recognized him as the boy Bog, whom +he had not seen for several weeks. The boy had developed a +remarkable talent for making money honestly. For two months he had +attended a night school, and was fast correcting his awkward +English, and attaining to other knowledge. Prosperity and schooling +together had given him quite a polish. The rough boy was coming to +be a presentable youth.</p> +<p>He advanced timidly toward Marcus, who shook hands with him. He +sat down before the fire, and commenced fumbling his cap in the old +way. "With the exception of that trick, and his shyness, there was +little of the original boy Bog about him,</p> +<p>"Mr. Wilkeson," said he, giving his cap a twirl, "I am very +sorry to see you here; because, I may say, I <i>know</i> you are +innocent."</p> +<p>The positive manner in which the boy asserted this, charmed +Marcus, "I thank you, my dear Bog," said he; "but how do you know +it? For, though I am innocent, I may have some trouble in proving +it."</p> +<p>The boy drew a small folded note from his pocket. "I'll explain, +sir," said he.</p> +<p>Marcus here called in his counsel, Messrs. Overtop and Maltboy, +and his good friend the lieutenant of police, who had just arrived +in the outer room, in order that they might hear the +explanation.</p> +<p>The boy was embarrassed by his audience; but the anxious look of +Marcus, and a few kind words from the lieutenant of police, +reassured him. Bog then proceeded to tell what he knew of the +strange young man's acquaintance with Miss Patty Minford--which was +very easily told, since it did not amount to much--and concluded by +opening the letter given to him by the young man for delivery to +Miss Minford, and handed it to Marcus.</p> +<p>Marcus glanced at the writing, expecting that it would resemble +that of the first anonymous letter addressed to Mr. Minford, which +he drew from his pocket for comparison. But the writing was totally +different in inclination, thickness of the downward stroke, and all +other respects. He read it aloud, his counsel and the lieutenant of +police listening attentively.</p> +<p>"I don't know much about the case yet," said the lieutenant, +"but, jumping at a conclusion, I should say that this sneaking chap +was jealous of your intimacy with the Minford family; that he wrote +the anonymous letters to the old man, in a different hand, and that +he either committed the murder, or knows something about it. His +motive for annoying Miss Minford I can understand--for this city is +full of just such well dressed scoundrels; but the motive of the +murder I can't comprehend. But mark me--- this fellow has some +knowledge of it; and we must hunt him up. And, first, let us +compare the letters."</p> +<p>Marcus handed the two letters to the lieutenant, who, with +Overtop and Maltboy, gave them a close examination. One was written +on faint blue paper in a buff envelope; the other on white paper in +a white envelope. Every curve, cross, and dot was minutely +compared; but not the faintest resemblance between the two letters +could be discovered. "No more like than chalk and cheese," said the +lieutenant. "My theory is knocked on the head."</p> +<p>"Let me examine the envelopes again," said Overtop. They had +inspected them less carefully than the contents.</p> +<p>As soon as Overtop had placed the two envelopes side by side, +his eyes lighted up with the pleasure of a great discovery. "What +fools we are!" he exclaimed. "There it is! Don't you see? Don't you +see? A regular Hogarthian line of beauty under the name on +each."</p> +<p>All stared at the envelopes, and at once recognized the +similarity between the graceful curved lines. They looked somewhat +like the letter S laid on its side; and more like the arm of a +rocking chair.</p> +<p>Marcus had a sudden inward vision of the writer. One of those +convictions which defy all logical analysis flashed upon his +mind.</p> +<p>"Do you know where this strange young man lives, Bog?" asked +Marcus.</p> +<p>"No, sir. I follered--I should say followed--him two or three +times, because I thought he wasn't acting just right toward Miss +Minford (here Bog blushed). He always went into drinking houses and +billiard saloons, and once into a place where they say the worst +kind o' gambling is allers--I mean always--going on. But he knew me +by sight, and I was afraid he would ask me about that letter which +I didn't deliver for him. So I had to follow him a good piece +behind; and sometimes I lost track of him. Then, again, he would +keep a tramping round from one drinking place to another--but never +getting drunk that I could see--till twelve or one o'clock at +night. By that time I felt I ought to go home, and so I never +tracked him to his lodgings, if he has any. But it's my belief he +travels in the night, and sleeps in the daytime, like the +cats."</p> +<p>"Good, so far," said Marcus. "You have already given us a +general description of this fellow's dress and appearance. Now, +tell me whether his face is pale, his mustache small and curved up +in points, his eyes light gray, and never looking straight at you; +his nose small, thin, and sharp; and, now I think of it, has he not +got a small scar on one of his cheeks?"</p> +<p>"Why, Mr. Wilkeson," exclaimed the boy Bog, "that's the very +chap!"</p> +<p>"Who is he?" asked the lieutenant of police, "that I may have +him arrested at once."</p> +<p>"He is the son--"</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="I_CHAPTER_V."></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>THE SORROW OF WHITE HAIRS</h3> +<br> +<p>At that moment the door opened, and the venerable form of +Myndert Van Quintem appeared before them. Marcus cast a hasty +glance, importing silence, at his companions, and rose to receive +his old friend.</p> +<p>Mr. Van Quintem's face expressed the tenderest compassion. He +clasped Marcus's hand, and said:</p> +<p>"My young friend, it deeply grieves me to see you here; for I +feel--I may say I know morally--that you are innocent of any part +in this murder."</p> +<p>"Thank you for your confidence," said Marcus. "I hope, when Miss +Minford and certain other witnesses are examined to-morrow, to +prove my innocence conclusively."</p> +<p>"So you will, I am sure. When I say that I know you are +innocent, I found my belief on my short but pleasant acquaintance +with you. But I cannot guess, from the evidence at the inquest +yesterday and that of to-day--just published in the afternoon +papers,--who committed the murder, or what was the motive of it. +Have you any clue to the mystery?"</p> +<p>"Yes--yes," replied Marcus. "We think we have a clue; but so +slight, that it is hardly worth mentioning. My friends here are +going to follow it up."</p> +<p>"And in order that we may do so without any delay," said the +lieutenant, "please give us the name of that sneaking letter +writer."</p> +<p>Marcus coughed, looked at the lieutenant knowingly, and said, +"Oh, <i>that's</i> no consequence. It's a false scent. Depend on +it."</p> +<p>The old gentleman, as he entered the room, had caught Marcus +Wilkeson's words. "He is the son--" and had observed the slight +confusion with which Marcus had stopped saying something. He now +noticed the glance enjoining silence, which Marcus had directed at +the lieutenant of police.</p> +<p>Mr. Van Quintem turned pale, as a harrowing suspicion came into +his mind. "Mr. Wilkeson," he said, in a trembling voice, "will you +answer me one question truly?"</p> +<p>"I--I will," replied Marcus.</p> +<p>"Then tell me, in Heaven's name, do you know of anything that +connects my son with this monstrous crime? I have had a dreadful +presentiment, all along, that he had something to do with it. The +end of his wrong career will be the gallows. I have dreamt of it +for years. O God! that I should have begotten such a profligate and +miscreant into the world!"</p> +<p>The old man made another pause, and then said, with a calmness +that surprised his hearers. "Now I am ready to hear all."</p> +<p>"And you shall," said Marcus, "though it pains me, my dear +friend, to tell you what we know of your son. I will say, however, +that there is no proof directly connecting him with the +murder."</p> +<p>"He is cunning and covers his tracks," said the wretched parent. +"I know him well."</p> +<p>Marcus then exhibited the letters. Mr. Van Quintem compared them +carefully, but could not detect the least trace of resemblance. +But, on examining the envelopes, at the suggestion of Fayette +Overtop, he at once recognized the Hogarthian curve as a mark which +he had always observed on his son's letters.</p> +<p>"I could almost swear to this mark; and yet it is possible that +he did not write the letters. Bad as he is, I will wait for further +proofs. Please tell me all else that you know, Mr. Wilkeson."</p> +<p>"With regard to the letter written to Miss Minford," said +Marcus, "there is, unhappily, but little doubt; as this lad, who +was well acquainted with the Minford family, can inform you."</p> +<p>The boy Bog, very reluctantly, and with many awkward breaks, and +swingings of his cap, repeated the history of the first letter, and +described the young man's person most minutely, and told how he had +followed him in his wild rambles about the town.</p> +<p>The old man listened sadly and quietly; only now and then +interrupting the boy's narrative with questions that were seemingly +as calm as a judge's interrogatories.</p> +<p>"He is a murderer. Something in the air tells me that he is," +murmured the old man. "And he is my son."</p> +<p>The inexpressible heart-broken sadness, with which he uttered +these words, brought tears to the eyes of his hearers.</p> +<p>"It may be, my dear Mr. Van Quintem, that your son did not write +the anonymous letters to Mr. Minford, notwithstanding the point of +resemblance which we think we have detected. While sitting, at my +window, I have often noticed him in his room scribbling at a desk, +as if he were practising penmanship. Perhaps, if you examine the +contents of the desk, you may get some further light on the +subject. It is wonderful--most people would say impossible--that a +man should write two letters so entirely dissimilar as these."</p> +<p>"My son always excelled in writing. It was one of the branches +that he took prizes in at school. I will examine the desk; but I +fear I shall only confirm my strong suspicions that he is a +murderer. O God! O God! Why did he not die with his sainted mother! +Far better would that have been. It is a hard thing, gentlemen--it +is a very hard thing; but if this boy of mine does not surrender +himself to the hands of justice to-morrow, I shall--I shall--myself +denounce him to the--"</p> +<p>The afflicted man, overcome with the terrible conflict between a +sense of public duty, and a lingering, inextinguishable parental +affection, fainted and fell into the arms of Marcus, who sprang to +catch him.</p> +<p>While he was still insensible, the lieutenant of police, and the +boy Bog, slipped out of the room, and started off on a search for +Myndert Van Quintem, jr.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="I_CHAPTER_VI."></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>WHAT PAPER, TYPES, AND INK CAN DO.</h3> +<br> +<p>When Marcus and his counsel, accompanied by the faithful +lieutenant of police, arrived in a close carriage at the scene of +the inquest, at the hour of adjournment next morning, they saw a +convincing illustration of the power of paper, types, and ink.</p> +<p>The morning journals, with whole leaded pages of evidence, and +new diagrams of the house and fatal room; and the enterprising +illustrated weekly, with portraits of the deceased, the prisoner, +his counsel, Tiffles, Patching (great hat and all), Patty Minford, +the coroner, the foreman of the jury, a full-page design of the +murder, as it was supposed to have taken place, representing the +infuriate Wilkeson, club in hand, standing over the prostrate body +of the inventor, from whose forehead the gore was pouring in +torrents--all these delightful, provocatives of sensation had done +their full and perfect work.</p> +<p>At that moment, Marcus Wilkeson was known to the world of +readers in New York and the whole country round about, as the +murderer of Eliphalet Minford.</p> +<p>On the second morning of the inquest an immense crowd of people +were assembled in front of the house. They had been collecting +since five A.M., when a party of six Jerseymen, having sold off +their stock of nocturnal cabbages at Washington Market, had taken +position of vantage before the house, from which they and their +wagons were afterward dislodged with great effort by a squad of +police. Some butcher boys, also returning from their night's work +at market, were next on the ground, and selected adjacent awning +posts and trees, as good points of observation. Mechanics and shop +girls, going to their labor, recklessly postponed the duties of the +day, and stopped to stare, awestricken, at the house.</p> +<p>A knot of people in a street, is like a drift of wood in a +river. It chokes up the stream, and catches all the other wood that +is floating down.</p> +<p>The police had in vain tried to clear out this human throng. +They had waged the following contests with their fellow citizens, +since six o'clock A.M.:--first, they had driven the Jersey market +wagons to the street corner below; second, they had tumbled the +butcher boys out of the trees, where they hung like a strange +species of fruit; third, they had cleared a space of ten feet +square in front of the house. Having done thus much, the police +paused from exhaustion, and endured the jokes of the populace with +philosophic disdain.</p> +<p>Three policemen guarded the door, within which no one was +admitted but the coroner, the jury, witnesses, a few political +friends of the coroner, who exhibited passes from him, and about +twenty-five reporters, fifteen of whom really belonged to +newspapers, and the remainder had a general connection with the +press, which could never be clearly defined and established. To the +magic word "reporter," accompanied by the flourish of a pencil and +a roll of paper, the three policemen smiled obsequiously, and +unbarred the way. Seeing how well this plan worked, two gentlemen +of inelegant leisure, and at least one pickpocket, provided +themselves with rolls of paper and pencils, and, giving the +password, were admitted.</p> +<p>As the carriage rolled round the corner of the street, bringing +Marcus in full view of these acres of men, women, and children--all +waiting for him--the little courage which he had plucked up failed +him, as plucked-up courage generally does. The sound of mingled +laughter, jokes, oaths, and exclamations of impatience reached his +ears.</p> +<p>"Great heavens!" he cried; "and I am to face all these people!" +If his features could have been seen, at that instant, by some +person who thought himself skilled in physiognomy, he would have +been unhesitatingly pronounced guilty of several murders. Marcus +sat in the rear part of the coach, and he leaned back to avoid +observation.</p> +<p>As the carriage entered the outskirts of the throng, they became +aware that it contained the man of their desires. Five small boys, +who had run all the way from the station house, had brought the +exciting intelligence. The vehicle was at once surrounded by +clamorous people.</p> +<p>"Say, Mister, wich is the murderer, hey?" asked a red-shirted +fellow of Matthew Maltboy, whose corpulent figure squeezed the thin +form of Fayette Overtop into a corner of the front seat.</p> +<p>Maltboy was not quick at thinking; but, on this occasion, a +brave thought came into his head before he could turn to the +speaker. "I am the prisoner," said he.</p> +<p>"I knowed you wos," was the red-shirted reply, "by your--ugly +face."</p> +<p>"Thank you," said Matthew, meekly.</p> +<p>"That's the chap that killed the old man--him with the big +chops," said the red-shirted individual to his numerous red and +other shirted friends about.</p> +<p>"What! that fat cuss with the pig eyes?"</p> +<p>"Zackly!"</p> +<p>"He's the puffick image of his portrait in the--Weekly, isn't +he?"</p> +<p>"Like as two peas."</p> +<p>There was truth in this; for the artist who sketched the +portraits, had inadvertently placed Marcus's name under Matthew's +portrait, and <i>vice versa</i>.</p> +<p>"Well," said another man, an expert in human nature, "I'd +convict that fellow of murder any time, on the strength of his +looks. Never were the worst passions of our nature more prominently +shown than in that bad face." Having said which, the speaker looked +about for somebody to contradict him, and was disappointed in +finding no one.</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson said: "Here, Matt, none of that generous +nonsense, if you please. I am the prisoner, my good people." As +Marcus spoke, he stretched forward, and exhibited his face to the +gaze of the red-shirted querist and his companions.</p> +<p>"No, you don't!" said that fiery leader. "This blubbery chap is +the one. We knows him by his picter."</p> +<p>"No use disputing them, Mark," said Maltboy, with his +indomitable smile.</p> +<p>The friendly struggle was soon terminated by their arrival at +the house. Here the human jam was tremendous; but the police, under +the direction of the lieutenant, succeeded in getting their convoy +safe within the entry. The door was then closed, and five sturdy +policemen stood outside to guard it.</p> +<p>On entering the room, everybody and everything were found just +as they had been the day before--a day that seemed to Marcus a +month ago. The jury were idling over the newspapers, or lazily +turning their quids. The coroner, who looked a little the worse for +his dinner of the day before, was bandying jokes with the facetious +reporters. The other reporters were sharpening their pencils and +laying out their note books. Some--the younger ones--were listening +with a species of reverence, which they would soon outgrow, to the +official jesting of the coroner. Others were squabbling over the +right and title to certain chairs which possessed the extraordinary +advantage of being a foot or two nearer the coroner than the other +chairs. This is a grave cause of dispute among the reporters, and +has been known to give rise to a great many hard words, and threats +of subsequent chastisements, which are always indefinitely +postponed.</p> +<p>The coroner nodded, and said "good morning" to the comers, and +assumed a temporary official dignity, by taking down his right leg +from the arm of the chair over which it gracefully depended. He +also fortified himself, by thrusting a sizable chew into a corner +of his mouth, as if he were carefully loading a pistol.</p> +<p>But neither the coroner, nor the jury, nor the reporters, nor +the few private citizens who had obtained entrance by special +dispensation, and sat gaping about the room, attracted the +attention of the prisoner. Before him was one in whose presence all +other persons faded into nothingness--the fair disturber of his +peaceful life--the arbitress of his fate--Patty Minford.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="I_CHAPTER_VII."></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3>PET AS A WITNESS.</h3> +<br> +<p>Little Pet sat on the low stool which she had always occupied, +and which Marcus, in his strange sentimentality, had always +considered sacred to her. She was veiled; but, through the thick +gauze, he could see that her beautiful face was deathly pale. Her +slender frame shook with little convulsions, that made the chair +rattle.</p> +<p>"Be calm, my dear child," said a stout, self-possessed woman who +sat by her side, and held a bottle of salts conspicuously in her +hand. "Remember, you have only to tell the trewth, and let the +consekences fall where they may. Tell the trewth, as the old sayin' +is, and shame the de--you know who."</p> +<p>Mrs. Crull--for she it was--checked herself with a neat cough. +Her three months' private education seemed to have been lost upon +her. She could never speak correctly out of Miss Pillbody's sight. +Fortunately, her heart needed no education. She had taken the poor +orphan girl to her home, and been a mother to her. In that phrase +there is an horizonless world of love.</p> +<p>The deep, manly voice of Mrs. Crull carried assurance to the +sinking heart of Patty. She took the extended hand, and pressed it, +deriving strength from the contact of that strong, positive +nature.</p> +<p>"If you please, Mr. Cronner," said Mrs. Crull, "I think you'd +better go ahead with her examination at once. Quickest said, +soonest mended, you know."</p> +<p>The prisoner and his counsel having taken their seats, the +coroner having involuntarily thrown his right leg into the old, +easy position, the jury having pricked up their ears, the reporters +having cleared spaces for their elbows, the young girl proceeded to +give her testimony. She was too nervous to make a clear, connected +statement. Sometimes terror, sometimes tears, would choke her +voice; but the cheering words and the smelling bottle of Mrs. Crull +invariably "brought her round in no time," in the words of that +estimable lady.</p> +<p>Pet told the story of her return home on the fatal night, of her +finding Mr. Wilkeson and her father in angry conversation; of her +retiring to bed very much fatigued; of more conversation, growing +angrier and angrier, which she overheard; of her marvellous vision +in the night; of her waking next morning to find her vision true, +and her father dead on the floor. All these facts, with which the +reader is already familiar, the poor child made known to the jury +in a fragmentary, roundabout way, as they were elicited by +questions from the coroner, the jury, and occasionally the +prisoner's counsel. The narrative of the vivid dream, or vision, +produced a startling effect on the coroner, who was a firm believer +in every species of supernaturalism winch is most at variance with +human experience and reason.</p> +<p>In his interrogatories to the witness, the coroner took the +truth of the vision for granted. When she testified to the blows +which (in her dream) she saw her father and the prisoner exchange, +and the battered appearance of Mr. Wilkeson's face, the coroner +looked at the prisoner, and was evidently disappointed to observe +no traces of a bruise upon his pale brow or cheeks, nor the +lightest discoloration about his eyes. But the absence of this +corroboration did not, in the coroner's opinion, throw the least +discredit on the dream.</p> +<p>But the foreman of the jury, who had been listening with an +affrighted look to the marvellous story, and believing it, had his +faith sadly shaken by this discrepancy. Having been fireman ten +years, and foreman of a hose company six years, he knew by large +experience how long it took to tone down a black eye or reduce a +puffed cheek. The foreman looked at the smooth, clear face of the +prisoner, smiled incredulously, and shook his head at his +associates.</p> +<p>Fayette Overtop here acted his part with a skill worthy of a +veteran. Instead of making a great ado over this weak point of the +dream, he shrugged his shoulders, and smiled faintly at the jury. +The jurors, who had been inclined, up to this time, to accept the +dream as evidence, without question, now decided that it was +nonsense.</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson sat and listened, as if the scene and all the +actors in it, himself included, were only a dream too. The young +girl's evidence, of which he had not an inkling before, would have +astounded him, if anything could. But he had reached that point of +reaction in the emotions, where a stolid and complete apathy +happily takes the place of high nervous excitement. He somehow felt +certain of his acquittal, but was strangely benumbed to his +fate.</p> +<p>He looked at the witness--the holy idol of all his romantic and +tender thoughts in days gone by--with unruffled composure. The +marked stoicism of his demeanor was not lost on the reporters, and +they noticed it in paragraphs to the effect that the prisoner +exhibited a hardened indifference during the most thrilling portion +of the evidence.</p> +<p>QUESTION BY THE CORONER (<i>after thinking it over a bit</i>). +"Who do you say struck the fust blow, miss? Remember, now, you're +on oath."</p> +<p>ANSWER. "My father, sir--or rather, I dreamed so."</p> +<p>The coroner was disappointed again, for he hoped that the +witness would, on second thought, fix the commencement of the +actual assault on the prisoner. "Your father, being old and kind o' +feeble, struck a light blow, I s'pose."</p> +<p>WITNESS. "No, sir--a heavy one, I should judge; for it appeared +to cut open Mr. Wilkeson's lip, and bruise his cheek. The blood +seemed to run down his face in a stream." Here little Pet exhibited +signs of faintness, which good Mrs. Crull stopped by an instant +application of the smelling bottle.</p> +<p>CORONER. "Mr. Wilkeson struck back a terrible blow in return, I +s'pose."</p> +<p>WITNESS. "Yes, sir. He hit my father right in the eye, raising a +black and blue spot as large as a hen's egg." The painful +recollection of this part of the dream so overpowered the witness, +that she burst into tears, but was soon quieted by the motherly +attentions of Mrs. Crull.</p> +<p>FOREMAN OF THE JURY. "I don't want to hurt the young lady's +feelin's, but this 'ere dream is all nonsense; and it strikes me +we're a lot o' fools to be listenin' to it. Why, Harry, you know, +as well as I do, that there wasn't no bruise on the old man's face, +exceptin' the big one on his forehead. No more is there a sign of a +scratch on the prisoner's mug there. It's all gammon."</p> +<p>Three others of the jury nodded in approval of this sentiment. +The remaining two shared somewhat in the coroner's reverence for +dreams, and awaited further developments.</p> +<p>The coroner turned his quid uneasily. "You can think as you +please, Jack," said he: "but we'll see--we'll see." The coroner, +like many other men of greater claims to wisdom, used this +enigmatical expression when he could not see anything.</p> +<p>A lawyer less crafty than Fayette Overtop would have protested +against the reception of this singular testimony at the outset, and +at intervals of a minute during its delivery. But he foresaw that, +being a dream, it must be full of absurdities, which would surely +betray themselves, and help his client. Besides, he was curious to +hear all of the evidence, however ridiculous and worthless, against +the prisoner.</p> +<p>The witness then proceeded to the close of her testimony, amid +the silence of all hearers. The narrative of the dreadful grapple, +the struggle for the club, and the death blow given by Mr. Wilkeson +to her prostrate father--all delivered with an intense earnestness, +broken only by occasional sobs and pauses of anguish--produced a +powerful impression. As she finished, and fell, half fainting, into +the arms of Mrs. Crull, the coroner nodded his head slowly, and +said:</p> +<p>"What do you think of dreams now, Jack? Something in 'em, +eh?"</p> +<p>The foreman shared in the general feeling of awe; but he had +given his opinion that the dream was nonsense, and stood by it. +"It's strange," said he. "It's what the newspapers call a +'strordinary quincidence,' that the young lady should 'a' dreamed +out this murder so plain. I do' 'no' much about the science o' +dreams, but I think this one might be explained somethin' in this +way: The young lady heerd the old man and Mr. Wilkeson here talkin' +strong, when she come home that night. She went to sleep with their +conversation ringin' in her ears. Part on it she heerd in her +dreams, and the rest she 'magined. She says she was afraid there +would be trouble between 'em when she went to bed. The fight, and +the murder, and all that, which she says she saw in a dream, or +vision like, might have grown out o' that naterally enough. That's +my notion of it, off hand. I've often gone to bed, myself, thinkin' +of somethin' horrible that was goin' to happen, and dreamt that it +did happen."</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="images/317.png" width="100%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE INQUEST. MARCUS SPRINGS TO HIS FEET.</b></p> +<p>This was precisely the theory upon which Fayette Overtop +intended to explain the dream to the jury when the proper time +arrived. He was glad that the foreman had done it instead; for he +knew the tenacity with which a man, having given an opinion, +defends it. To have so potent an advocate of his client's innocence +on the jury, was a strong point.</p> +<p>"Very good, old boy," said the coroner; "but, if the prisoner +didn't commit the murder, who did?"</p> +<p>This question, so manifestly unjust, and betraying the coroner's +intention to sacrifice Marcus to a theory, roused that unfortunate +man to consciousness, and he sprang to his feet. But the wiser +Overtop placed his hands upon his friend's shoulder, whispered in +his ear, and forced him reluctantly into his seat. Overtop knew +that the argumentative foreman could best dispose of the +coroner.</p> +<p>The foreman replied to the coroner's question:</p> +<p>"As to who did the murder, that's what we're here to find out. +But, for one, I sha'n't bring in no man guilty till it's proved +onto him."</p> +<p>The foreman's face was a dull one, but it became suddenly +luminous with an idea:</p> +<p>"You say, miss, that you was waked by a noise as of somethin' +heavy fallin' on the floor?"</p> +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> +<p>"You s'pose--as we all s'pose--that it was your father's body +that fell, when he received his death blow?"</p> +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> +<p>"You say you heerd no one a-goin' out o' the room?"</p> +<p>"No, sir."</p> +<p>"That's not strange; for the murd'rer could 'a' slipped off his +boots or shoes, and walked out puffickly quiet. I noticed, this +mornin', and the other members of the jury can see for themselves, +that the boards of the floor don't creak when you walk on 'em, nor +the entry door neither when you open it. Didn't you never observe +that succumstance?"</p> +<p>"Yes, sir; but it did not occur to me when I woke up. I thought, +if the dream had been true, that I should have heard Mr. Wilkeson +moving around in the room, or going out of the door. I listened for +a long time, as I have already said, and, hearing nobody, I thought +the dream was nothing but a nightmare, as father used to call +it."</p> +<p>"One more question, miss, which may or may not be of some +consekence. Haven't you no idee about what time it was when you was +waked up by this noise of somethin' fallin'?"</p> +<p>"No, sir; not the least. It might have been about midnight, I +should guess."</p> +<p>"Think a minute, miss, if you didn't hear any sound outside that +could give you some idee of the time." The foreman fixed his eyes +piercingly on the witness.</p> +<p>She reflected a moment. "Yes--yes; I do remember, that when I +jumped out of bed--which I did the very second that I woke up--and +listened at the door, I heard the fire bells striking. Now, if +anybody could tell what time that happened."</p> +<p>"At precisely twenty-five minutes of twelve," said the foreman, +in a solemn voice. "It was for the seventh district--the only 'larm +that night. It was a false 'larm, and only three or four rounds was +sounded. Did you hear the bell many times?"</p> +<p>"Only two or three, and then it stopped. The sound was very +plain, sir, because the bell tower is only a short distance from +here, you know."</p> +<p>"Exactly," said the foreman. "You woke up just as Uncle Ith was +givin' off the last round."</p> +<p>There was a deep, awestruck silence in the room; for all +understood the object of these inquiries.</p> +<p>"Now, gentlemen," continued the foreman, in a trembling voice, +"let the prisoner only prove that he was a half, or a quarter, or +an eighth of a mile from here when that 'larm was sounded, and I +rather think he will clear himself. Where are the policemen that +the prisoner saw that night?"</p> +<p>A noise, as of heavy official boots, was heard on the stairs, +sending a strange thrill through the hearts of all present.</p> +<p>"God be praised," said Fayette Overtop, "if the lieutenant has +found them." It was the first time that the model young lawyer had +shown any signs of emotion.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="I_CHAPTER_VIII."></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> +<h3>THE BENEFICENCE OF FIRE BELLS.</h3> +<br> +<p>The door opened, and the tall form of the police lieutenant +appeared, attended by two patrolmen. The patrolmen, on entering, +looked directly at the prisoner, and seemed to recognize him. The +police lieutenant appeared to be pleased with his success in +finding the witnesses, after a hunt through several station houses; +but he was not aware what importance the testimony which they could +give had suddenly acquired. The witnesses had been searched for at +the suggestion of Fayette Overtop, with the vague hope of making +them useful in some way.</p> +<p>The coroner scowled at the witnesses, for he feared that they +would prove the man innocent, who, in his opinion, was the +murderer. Having adopted this theory at the outset, and staked the +whole issue upon it, he felt a natural reluctance to give it +up.</p> +<p>The lieutenant explained to the coroner that the two officers +could probably throw some light on the prisoner's movements, the +night of the murder.</p> +<p>The coroner administered the oath to both of them, as +follows:</p> +<p>"Holeup your ri't'an'. You swear to tell truth, th'ole truth, +nothin' but truth, s'elpyeGod. Kiss the book."</p> +<p>The men complied with these impressive formalities, and the +coroner then proceeded to interrogate one of them--a strapping +fellow with an intensely Irish face.</p> +<p>"Name?" said the coroner.</p> +<p>"Patrick O'Dougherty, yer Honor."</p> +<p>The phrase "Yer Honor" produced its customary gracious +effect.</p> +<p>"Do you spell O'Dougherty with a 'k,'?" asked the coroner.</p> +<p>"Hang me if I knows!" said the O'Dougherty. "I niver spilt it. +Spill it to suit yezself, yer Honor."</p> +<p>"Spell it in the usual way, with a 'k'" said the coroner, +turning to the reporters.</p> +<p>"Your residence, Mr. O'Dougherty?"</p> +<p>"Me what?"</p> +<p>"Your residence. Where do you live?"</p> +<p>"Oh! it's fare I live yer want to know. In Mulberry street, near +Baxter."</p> +<p>"You belong to the perlice, I believe?" asked the coroner.</p> +<p>"It's quare ye should ax me that!" replied the O'Dougherty, with +an enormous smile.</p> +<p>"Because you have the perliceman's hat, club, and badge? You +forget," said the coroner, patronizingly, "that courts of justice +doesn't know nothin' until it's proved to them. As a coroner, I +shouldn't know my own grandmother, until she swore to herself."</p> +<p>"'Tisn't that, yer Honor; but becos yer got me onto the perlice +yerself. Don't yer 'member, on 'lection day, I smashed two ticket +booths of t'other can'date, in the Sixth Ward, lickt as much as a +dozen men who was workin' agen ye, an' din was put into the Tumes +over night--bad luck to the Tumes, I say! Well, yer Honor, ye was +'lected coroner by a small vote; an', in turn for me services, ye +got me 'p'inted--"</p> +<p>"Ah! oh! I remember, now," said the coroner, somewhat confused. +"I did not know you in the perliceman's dress. Well, Mr. +O'Dougherty, did you see the prisoner on the night of the +murder?"</p> +<p>"I did, yer Honor. It was about twelve o'clock. I was sittin' on +a bar'l in front of Pat McKibbin's store, corner of Washin'ton and +---- streets. I was watchin' the bar'l, yer Honor, becos Pat +McKibbin had some of 'em stole lately, ye see."</p> +<p>"Could yer swear to him, Mr. O'Dougherty?"</p> +<p>"Could I shwear to me own mother?--Hivin rest her sowl! Bedad, I +shud know him a thousan' years from now. Didn't he shtop and light +his siggar at me poipe? And didn't his nose touch me own?"</p> +<p>"Did he look pale and excited?" asked the coroner.</p> +<p>"No, yer Honor; his face was red as a brick, an', though it was +a cowld night, he looked to be warm wid fasht walkin'."</p> +<p>"Did he say anythin'?"</p> +<p>"No; he only axed for a light."</p> +<p>"Was his 'pearance 'spicious?"</p> +<p>"No, yer Honor, more'n yer own. No offince to yez."</p> +<p>"That'll do, Mr. O'Dougherty. Next witness."</p> +<p>"If you please, your Honor," said the smooth Overtop, rising, +"you have accidentally omitted to ask one very important question. +The prisoner stated, on his preliminary examination, you remember, +that, when he stopped to light a cigar from the pipe of a +policeman, he heard the sound of a fire bell commencing to strike. +Miss Minford testifies, that when she was roused from sleep by the +noise of her father falling to the floor, she heard the alarm for +the Seventh District. McKibbin's store, at the corner of Washington +and ---- streets, is more than half a mile from here. In view of +these facts, I will, with your Honor's permission, ask Mr. +O'Dougherty if he heard the fire alarm that night; and, if so, +whether the prisoner was in sight at the time?"</p> +<p>"Shure, an' I heerd it," answered the O'Dougherty. "It was fur +the Seventh District. An' wasn't this gin'leman here at the ind o' +me poipe, jist when it begun to bang away?"</p> +<p>Overtop cast one triumphant glance at the jury, which was fully +reciprocated by the foreman and four others.</p> +<p>"I have no more questions to ask, your Honor," said Overtop.</p> +<p>"Nor I," said the coroner, "as the witness's testimony has no +great bearin' on the case, that I can see. What is jour name, +Mister--er--"</p> +<p>"Thomas Jelliman," responded the second policeman, a stout, +bluff, honest-looking fellow. He did not say "Your Honor," and +thereby offended the coroner.</p> +<p>"Well, what's yer bizness, anyhow?" asked the coroner, +curtly.</p> +<p>"I should think you would remember that I was a policeman," said +the witness, looking the coroner straight in the eye.</p> +<p>The coroner, taking a second observation of the witness, +recalled him as the identical officer who had arrested him, one +Christmas night, for drunkenness, and locked him up in the station +house. This little occurrence was before his election to the +dignified and responsible office of County Coroner.</p> +<p>"If you don't remember me," said the witness, "I think I could +bring myself to your mind easy. On a certain Christmas night, not +many years ago--"</p> +<p>"Never mind the particulars, Mr. Jelliman," observed the +coroner. "Come to look at yer, I recolleck yer very well. Ahem! +What do you know about this 'ere case, Mr. Jelliman?"</p> +<p>"Nothing, sir, except that I can swear to having seen the +prisoner, on the night of the murder, at the corner of West and +---- streets. He was smoking a cigar, and walking fast. As he +passed me, he said, 'A cold night, Mr. Policeman.' This made me +notice him particularly, because it isn't very often that people +throw away civilities on us. Just as he turned the corner below me, +the alarm bells struck the last round for the Seventh District. +They had struck three or four rounds. That is all I know about the +affair."</p> +<p>"I have no other questions to ask, Mr. Jelliman," said the +coroner, with great politeness.</p> +<p>The coroner was baffled. He had staked the whole case upon the +theory of Marcus Wilkeson's guilt, and had made no attempt to +procure other testimony than what would prove that supposition. He +scratched his head and rolled his quid in a perfect quandary.</p> +<p>Another noise was heard on the stairs, as of several persons +hurriedly ascending.</p> +<p>Then the door opened, and an excited group made its appearance. +In advance was a slender young man, whose face was pale with +debauchery. His clothes were rich, and had an unpleasantly new +look. As he stepped over the threshold, he glanced coolly about the +room, and, his eyes resting on the coroner, smiled.</p> +<p>"Ah, Myndert, my boy," said the coroner, "what are you here +for?"</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="I_CHAPTER_IX."></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<h3>AN OLD MAN'S OFFERING.</h3> +<br> +<p>"Hang me if I know, Harry! It's the old man's work. He'll +explain it to you."</p> +<p>Behind this easy young man came a strong policeman, who, +immediately upon his entrance, received a nod of approbation from +the lieutenant. Behind the policeman walked, with bended white head +and tottering limbs, the venerable Mr. Van Quintem. The old +gentleman was partly supported, in his infirmity, by the boy Bog. +It was a touching sight to see the confiding trust with which the +weakness of sixty-eight clung to the strong arm of nineteen. Bog +hung down his head modestly, and blushed. He was not seen even to +look at the little veiled figure which sat in the middle of the +room. But young Myndert Van Quintem looked at it, and bowed with +the deepest respect. The bow was answered by a faint nod and a +delicate blush. Mrs. Crull observed the interchange of +recognitions, and frowned to herself.</p> +<p>"Mr. Coroner," said the old gentleman, straightening himself, +and coming forward with a quick step, as one who was about to +perform an unpleasant task, and would hurry through it, "this young +man is my son. God knows what love I have lavished upon him from +the day that he was born, and with what ingratitude he has repaid +me. But--but that is neither here nor there. I have come here to +deliver him up to you as a prisoner--"</p> +<p>"As a prisoner!" echoed the coroner; and he and all looked +amazed at this strange announcement.</p> +<p>"Why should it surprise you? It is a simple act of justice. I +have reason to think that my son knows something about this murder" +(here the old gentleman's voice faltered); "and my duty, as a good +citizen and an honest man, requires me to surrender him. There are +other affairs of a private nature between myself and my son--he +knows to what I refer --which I am not prepared to make public at +the present time." The old gentleman looked significantly at his +son, who smiled calmly at him in return.</p> +<p>A chair was brought for Mr. Van Quintem, sen., and he sank into +it. The young man seated himself in another chair which was handed +to him by the attentive coroner himself.</p> +<p>"Now, Myndert, my good fellow," said the coroner, "if yer knows +anything about this affair, fire away."</p> +<p>"Will the coroner be good enough to swear the witness?" asked +Fayette Overtop.</p> +<p>"Oh! I'd quite forgot it." And the coroner mumbled his +irreverent jargon.</p> +<p>"Two minutes are enough to tell you all I know, Harry," said the +young man, in a sweet, effeminate voice. "I happened to save Miss +Minford's life, a few months ago--she will give you the +particulars, no doubt, if you desire them--and that is the way I +made her acquaintance." (Here another respectful bow to the young +lady.) "Since then, I have met her, quite accidentally, a few +times, and--I do not pretend to conceal it--have gradually come to +feel an interest--a brotherly interest, I may call it--in her." +(The coroner smiled.) "Having learned from her that she was +receiving her education at the expense of Mr. Wilkeson, and that +that gentleman was a constant visitor at her father's house I +thought it proper, as a sincere and disinterested friend of the +young lady, to make some inquiries into his character. Judging, +from the result of these inquiries, that his designs were not +honorable toward Miss Minford--Mr. Wilkeson will pardon the +expression, but I am under oath, and must tell the truth as to my +motives--I took the liberty of writing a note to Mr. Minford, +merely cautioning him against Mr. Wilkeson. I did not sign my name +to the note, because I was not personally acquainted with Mr. +Minford--in fact, never saw him in my life--and did not wish to +assume the responsibility, disagreeable to every sensitive person, +of interfering in another man's family affairs. The object of the +note was to make Mr. Minford cautious. I presume no one will +undertake to say that a father can be too cautious concerning the +honor of a young and lovely daughter." (Another respectful glance +at Miss Minford.) "I am aware anonymous letters are a little +irregular, in the opinions of most people. But, when sent with a +good motive, I really don't see the harm in them."</p> +<p>"Nor I neither," said the coroner. "It strikes me they're +correct enough when the motive's a good 'un."</p> +<p>"But, your Honor, when an anonymous letter is full of lies and +slanders, I respectfully submit that it is a piece of cowardly +malice, which the law ought to punish with the utmost severity." +Fayette Overtop spoke with tranquillity and firmness, looking young +Van Quintem directly in the eye, and making him quail.</p> +<p>The judicious phrase, "Your Honor," alone saved Overtop from an +explosion of official wrath. "The Court can't allow these +interruptions, Mr. Overtop," said the coroner. "Her dignity must be +maintained. As for 'nonymous letters, whether it's right or wrong +to send them, people will differ. The coroner and the jury is +competent to judge for themselves. Go ahead, Myndert."</p> +<p>"As the first letter seemed to have no effect, I sent another, +suggesting that Mr. Minford should inquire into Mr. Wilkeson's +history in the little village of----, Westchester County, where he +was born, and lived many years. I learned from Miss Minford that +her father visited Westchester County one day, and presume that he +made some important discoveries there; for Miss Minford told me, +that, on his return, he had forbidden Mr. Wilkeson to come to the +house. If there was any harm in putting Mr. Minford on the track to +find out the real truth about the man who was a constant attendant +at his fireside, I do not see it."</p> +<p>"Nor I neither," said the coroner. "The end, as the sayin' is, +justifies the means."</p> +<p>"If your Honor pleases," said the facile Overtop, "we could +easily prove that all the reports which Mr. Minford gathered in +Westchester County, prejudicial to my client, arose from a +confounding of another person with him. But, as this explanation +would involve the disclosure of private family affairs, and also +the reflection of disgrace on the memory of the dead, my client +prohibits me from saying more on the subject. But all this, as none +knows better than your Honor, has nothing to do with the case. We +ask that my client shall either be proved guilty of the murder, or +of some knowledge of it, or released."</p> +<p>Fayette Overtop here looked volumes of confidence at the jury; +and five of the jury looked back volumes of agreement with him.</p> +<p>"Nobody can be in a bigger hurry than me, Mr. Overtop," said the +coroner, with tolerable good nature. "These 'ere inquests, +commencin' in the mornin' and holdin' on a good part of the day, +are rather hard on a chap 'customed to his 'leven-o'clock drink. I +have to make up for the loss by adjournin' early in the arternoon. +Ha! ha! Now, Myndert, my boy, rush her through. You don't know +anythin' about the murder, I s'pose. You were somewhere else on the +fatal night, of course--and I can guess where. At Brown's, eh?"</p> +<p>Brown's was a notorious gambling house on Broadway.</p> +<p>"Exactly, Harry. I was at Brown's from nine P.M. to four o'clock +the following morning. And, if I mistake not, there is a gentleman +in this room who can swear to having seen me there, say from ten to +eleven." Saying this, young Van Quintem winked hard at the +coroner.</p> +<p>"You needn't mince matters," said the coroner. "I was at Brown's +that night, and between the hours you name. Being a public officer, +I sometimes look into Brown's, and a good many other places, too, +to see that nothin' a'n't a-goin' on wrong. Ha! I partickly 'member +it, because I accidentally lost about fifty dollars there that +night. Ha! ha!"</p> +<p>"I think I recollect the little circumstance," said the witness, +with a smile.</p> +<p>"Very likely. Ha! Now, Myndert, of course we all understand that +you are innocent; but, to satisfy the public, I guess I'd better +summon a few witnesses from Brown's, to prove you were there all +night."</p> +<p>"I thought of that, Harry, and requested a number of my friends +at Brown's to drop around here, and prove an <i>alibi</i> for me. +They were very much engaged at the time, or they would have come +with me."</p> +<p>"They were playing faro," said the old gentleman, "and my son +was gambling with them. Wretched young man, how often have I +cautioned you against that vice!"</p> +<p>"The cautioning I don't object to," said the son; "but I +consider it unfair to drag a fellow away from a streak of good +luck. I was raking in the piles just as you and the policeman, and +that mop-headed youth behind you" (he alluded to the boy Bog) "came +down on me. Ah! I see the game is finished, and here they are."</p> +<p>Four men, of a highly correct appearance, dressed in quiet good +taste, who would have passed in the Broadway muster for merchants +of the severest practical variety, entered the room.</p> +<p>They nodded in the most gentlemanly manner to the coroner, and +gave a friendly recognition to young Myndert.</p> +<p>"You may be willing to believe these polished scoundrels under +oath; but hang me if I would!" said the old gentleman, with +emphasis.</p> +<p>The four gamblers showed their even rows of white teeth +pleasantly, and one of them replied:</p> +<p>"You are an elderly gentleman, Mr. Van Quintem, and the father +of our young friend; and, of course, you are permitted to abuse us +as much as you like."</p> +<p>"It seems to me, Mr. Van Quintem," said the coroner, "that you +are rather hard on these gen'lemen, who, so fur as I know 'em, is +of the highest respectability. Don't yer want to have yer son prove +an <i>alibi?</i>"</p> +<p>"I want to have him prove the truth, and that's all. And for +that reason I wouldn't credit such evidence as these men will +give."</p> +<p>"You would like to have me hanged, my dear father," said the +son, mildly; "but I don't think you will be gratified in that +amiable little desire. Eh, Harry?"</p> +<p>The coroner grinned, shifted his quid, put on his most serious +official look, and said:</p> +<p>"No more of this 'ere jokin', if you please, gen'lemen. A +inquest isn't zactly the place for fun."</p> +<p>He then proceeded to swear and interrogate the four new +witnesses. They took the oath decorously, kissing the book in the +politest, most gentlemanly manner. Their testimony was to the +effect that young Van Quintem passed the night of the murder, from +ten P.M. till four A.M., at Brown's, and was not absent one minute. +They were able to corroborate the fact, by a reference to pocket +memorandum books, in which entries such as "Van Q., debit $50," or +"Van Q., credit $100," appeared at intervals. As to the general +character of the house, upon which several members of the jury +asked questions, they testified that it was a species of club +house, where a few gentlemen of excellent reputation occasionally +met for the purposes of innocent social intercourse. Games of +chance were sometimes played at Brown's, to while away an hour; and +betting was now and then done, in a strictly honorable and +legitimate way. Several of the jurymen would have improved the +occasion, to learn all about the internal management of Brown's; +but the coroner decided that such questions were entirely +"relevant" (meaning irrelevant), and suggested that, as there were +no more witnesses, the case might as well go to the jury. The +coroner had just consulted his watch, and found that it was four +o'clock. He was aware, from the turn things had taken, that he had +lost the verdict which he hoped to obtain; but that was no reason +why he should lose his dinner. The coroner was not a man of energy; +and, being foiled in his efforts to convict Marcus Wilkeson, he had +no disposition to pursue the matter further. Besides, he had +already achieved a large measure of profitable notoriety from the +case; for he had been ridiculed and abused in most of the city +papers; and <i>that</i> insured him, beyond all doubt, the +nomination for and election to the State Senate, for which he was +an aspirant at the next fall campaign. Under all these +circumstances, the coroner was satisfied.</p> +<p>The jurors, receiving but a shilling a day, and being hungry and +tired, were quite willing to wind up the case. After putting their +heads together, whispering and nodding about five minutes, the +foreman declared the following as their verdict:</p> +<p>"That the deceased, Eliphalet Minford, came to his death, on the +night of the ---- day of April, 185-, from a wound inflicted on the +head by a club in the hands of some person unknown to the +jurors."</p> +<p>Overtop and Maltboy took the verdict as a matter of course, +having anticipated it for some time. Marcus Wilkeson, who had been +in a gloomy stupor for the past hour, and had expected the worst, +looked up in surprise at this lucky dispensation of Fate. Tears +sprang to his eyes, and he extended a hand to each of his faithful +friends, by whom he was warmly congratulated on the happy issue of +the affair. The jurors also came forward with their +congratulations. Even the coroner said, "Well, Mr. Wilkeson, I did +my pootiest to hold you, because I thought you was the murderer; +but the jury doesn't indorse my 'pinion, and I gives in." Mrs. +Crull, who had been watching Marcus narrowly, and was firmly +impressed with the conviction of his innocence, came forward with a +warm hand, and tried to think of a proverb suitable to the +occasion, but could not. Patty Minford removed the veil from her +face, and looked at her benefactor. She made a motion as if to rise +and go toward him. Then an expression of doubt stole over her +features; and Marcus, who observed her at that moment, knew that +the vision of the night was still before her, and that she could +not hold him guiltless though a dozen juries had released him. This +thought touched Marcus with sadness, which all the congratulations +of his friends could not disperse.</p> +<p>A faint cry was heard. Old Mr. Van Quintem had fallen from his +chair, and would have dropped upon the floor, but for the strong +arm of the boy Bog. He was in the act of rising from his seat for +the purpose of offering his hand to Marcus, when the vertigo, from +which he was an occasional sufferer, seized him.</p> +<p>"Poor old gentleman!" said Marcus, forgetful of all else, and +rushing to the side of his venerable friend. Directing that the +windows be opened, Marcus, aided by the boy Bog, bore the senseless +form to the fresh, cool air. The grateful breeze, and a cup of cold +water applied to his brow, soon restored the wretched father to a +beginning of consciousness.</p> +<p>As he lay there, more dead than alive, in the arms of his two +friends, the ingrate son, having lighted a cigar, looked coldly +over the shoulders of the bystanders at the senseless figure of his +father, and said, in the sweetest voice:</p> +<p>"Poor old fellow! He has only himself to blame for kicking up +all this row. I told him it would be too much for his nerves; but +he would insist on dragging me up here. I forgive him from the +bottom of my heart."</p> +<p>The bystanders looked on in amazement at this speech.</p> +<p>The son continued: "I'm glad to see that he is in good hands. +Upon my word, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to help a +little; but I fear that, when the old man came out of it, and saw +me over him, he would go off again. So I guess I had better +leave."</p> +<p>And young Van Quintem sauntered cheerfully out of the room, in +company with his four friends from Brown's. The coroner had been +waiting at the foot of the stairs for them; and the party adjourned +to the nearest drinking saloon, when the coroner, overjoyed at +having got rid of a tedious and embarrassing case, stood treat for +one round.</p> +<p>But who killed the inventor?</p> +<p>The papers and the police, after groping for weeks in search of +the answer, turned it over to the solution of Time, with the +comforting assurance that MURDER WILL OUT.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BOOK_TENTH."></a>BOOK TENTH.</h2> +<h3>DONE ON BOTH SIDES.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="J_CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>A FISHER OF MEN.</h3> +<br> +<p>Mr. Augustus Whedell was a gentleman who had been living +handsomely for three years on his wits.</p> +<p>There was nothing remarkable in Mr. Whedell's personal +appearance, with the exception of his wig. It was his fond belief +that this wig looked like natural hair; but everybody knew it was a +wig across the street. He also wore a gold double eyeglass, which +he handled as effectively as a senorita her fan. Most of his loans, +credits, and extensions, had been obtained by the dexterous +manipulation of that eyeglass.</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell twirled the dangerous instrument, and opened and +shut it with more than his usual grace, one evening toward the +middle of April. He was about to broach a disagreeable subject to +his daughter, who, blooming, and exquisitely dressed, sat by the +fire and yawned.</p> +<p>"My dear Clementina, you are now twenty years old, and ought to +be married. Delays are dangerous. What do you think of +Chiffield?"</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell spoke bluntly, and to the point, because he was +addressing his own daughter, and also because short speeches suited +his natural languor.</p> +<p>"He's a horrid dancer!" said that young lady.</p> +<p>"Granted. But when he does dance, he jingles money in his +pocket."</p> +<p>"He's a perfect fright, pa. You won't deny that?"</p> +<p>"I won't deny that he is a plain, substantial gentleman. He has +immense feet, and he is a little bald. What of that?"</p> +<p>"Oh! nothing," replied Clementina, in a tone that signified +"Everything."</p> +<p>Her father caught the irony of the remark, and said:</p> +<p>"My dear child, I know the natural leaning of your sex to +handsome men. You are like your mother there. But remember, they +never have any money--as a general rule. I won't undertake to +explain the curious fact. But fact it is, you will admit that."</p> +<p>"Very likely. But I hate this old Chiffield."</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell smiled, twirled his double eyeglass a few dozen +times round his forefinger, and said:</p> +<p>"My darling daughter, listen, and you will appreciate the +advantages of this match."</p> +<p>Clementina frowned, and bit her finger nails.</p> +<p>"My child," continued the fond parent, "I have always concealed +my troubles from you. They can no longer be kept a secret. This +house is not mine. Most of this furniture is unpaid for. The last +month's bills at the butcher's, baker's, and grocer's are still +due. I have exhausted my credit, and don't know where to raise a +dollar. That is my 'situation,' as the newspapers say."</p> +<p>Clementina turned pale with amazement, and could not say a +word.</p> +<p>"You are willing to hear me? I will explain further. Three years +ago, my old friend Mr. Abernuckle failed. He owned this house, and, +wishing to save it from his creditors, he had previously made a +sham sale of it to me. I have occupied it free of rent. On the +strength of this house, I got credit for furniture, for clothes, +for our bread and meat. On the strength of this house, I have +borrowed money enough to keep my principal creditors at bay. On the +strength of this house, we occupy to-day a very fair position in +society. On the strength of this house, I propose to marry +you."</p> +<p>His daughter still looked on with open mouth, like one +stupefied.</p> +<p>"But, to do this, no time must be lost. My friend Abernuckle has +at last settled with his creditors at fifteen per cent., and wants +possession of the house on the 1st of May. On that day this will be +our home no longer."</p> +<p>There was a fearless pull at the door bell. "It is a creditor," +said Mr. Whedell. "I will face him."</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell went to the door, and returned in a few moments. "It +was the butcher," said he. "He had called twice to-day, and, not +finding me in, takes this unusual hour to ask for a settlement. The +old excuses would not do. What do you suppose I told him this +time?"</p> +<p>"I can't imagine. Something dreadful, I suppose," was the +shuddering reply.</p> +<p>"The man had to be got rid of. We must have meat. I was at my +wits' end. So I took the liberty of telling him, confidentially, +that my daughter would marry a wealthy merchant in a few days, and +asked him, as a favor, to let the bill run on to the 1st of May. On +that day he should positively be paid. The man grumbled at first, +but finally said he would give me one more trial, and then went +away. Neatly arranged, wasn't it, my dear?"</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell would have been delighted with one word of approval +(even a qualified one) from his daughter, but she would not, or +could not speak it.</p> +<p>"You listen attentively, my darling. I am glad to see it. This +plan worked so well with the butcher, that I shall try it on with +the upholsterer, the baker, the grocer, the tailor, and the rest of +my long list of creditors. I shall stake all on the 1st of May. To +save us from a grand explosion, and to obtain a roof for your head +and mine on the 1st of May, you must marry immediately."</p> +<p>Miss Clementina Whedell, like many other people, had an +unsuspected strength of character which only a great occasion could +call out. "It is perfectly atrocious," said she, at length, "and I +am making a grave sacrifice of my happiness; but I suppose I must +do it. Are you sure this Chiffield is rich?"</p> +<p>"Now, you are my own dear daughter!" said Mr. Whedell, tossing +his double eyeglass up and catching it, as was his custom when +exulting. "Your question is a prudent one, and worthy of you. I am +happy to inform you that Chiffield is worth one hundred and fifty +thousand dollars."</p> +<p>Clementina smiled faintly, though she tried to look like a +martyr.</p> +<p>"I learn this from the tax rolls. When Chiffield first began to +call here, and showed a profound interest in my conversation, I +knew that he was after you, and I thought it best to look into his +resources. The tax rolls, which are the best possible evidence, +show that he has ten lots in Harlem, with a cottage tenement on +each of them, and several acres now rented to German gardeners in +the Twelfth Ward. These are rated in a lump at seventy-five +thousand dollars, which is a low estimate. So much for the real +estate. Now the personal property of Upjack, Chiffield & Co. is +valued on the same tax rolls (which always understate it) at three +hundred thousand dollars. Suppose Chiffield to own a one-fourth +interest only, and there you have the item of seventy-five thousand +dollars more. Grand total, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. +A nearer figure would probably be two hundred thousand dollars; but +I will not build castles in the air for you. Chiffield is only +forty--which is, in fact, young. He is healthy and energetic. The +firm are making money. He will yet be a millionnaire. Confess, now, +that I have chosen wisely for you."</p> +<p>Here another decisive pull at the door bell. Mr. Whedell +answered it in person. Returning, he merely said, giving his double +eyeglass a fillip, "The furniture man. Have fixed him for the 1st +of May. So far, the plan works well."</p> +<p>"But are you sure, pa," asked the discreet Clementina, "that Mr. +Chiffield will offer himself?"</p> +<p>"Positive; because he has always been so very attentive to me. +When men flatter, and study the hobbies of the father, they are +after the daughter in earnest. Mr. Chiffield's very figure--the cut +of his jib, so to speak--is that of a marrying man. Only you must +give him some little encouragement. Not keep him at a distance, as +you have hitherto done."</p> +<p>"But he may not be anxious to marry before the 1st of May. Then +what?"</p> +<p>"Poor thing! how little you understand mankind! He will marry +you at twenty-four hours' notice, if you will let him. All men are +alike impatient and unreasonable in such matters. It is the women +who hold back--after they are safely engaged."</p> +<p>"La, pa! how knowingly you talk!"</p> +<p>"I flatter myself I know something of the human species," +returned Mr. Whedell. "Ah! another ring. Too faint for a creditor. +Mr. Chiffield, perhaps."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="J_CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>PLAYING WITH THE LINE.</h3> +<br> +<p>The conjecture was correct. But with Mr. Chiffield came Matthew +Maltboy. They had arrived on the door steps at the same moment, +coming from different directions.</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell received Chiffield with his heartiest grip, and +inflicted only a mild squeeze on the hand of Maltboy, whose +appearance at that time he considered decidedly unfortunate. The +father thought he had observed in Clementina signs of preference +for that corpulent young lawyer. He was pained to see that +Clementina barely extended the tips of her fingers to Chiffield, +while to Maltboy she gave her whole palm with great cordiality. Not +only this, but she encouraged Maltboy to take a seat by her, and +commenced talking with him of the opera, of balls, of new music, of +fashions, of the last novel, rattling away on these subjects as if +her whole soul were wrapped up in the discussion. It was almost a +monologue. Maltboy's part consisted of "Yes;" "I think so too;" "We +agree perfectly," and adjectives of admiration occasionally thrown +in. That musical voice! He could have listened with rapture to its +recital of the multiplication table.</p> +<p>Mr. Chiffield and Mr. Whedell had settled themselves on a +<i>tête-à-tête</i>, and, after some cursory +observations on the weather, commenced talking of finance--a theme +of which neither of those gentlemen ever tired.</p> +<p>"So money is getting tighter?" said Mr. Whedell, after a pause +to digest the awful truth which Mr. Chiffield had imparted to him. +"Now I shouldn't be surprised, sir, to hear of failures before +long, and in quarters where the public least expect them."</p> +<p>If Mr. Whedell's double eyeglass had been astride his nose +instead of swinging in his fingers, he might have noticed a faint +paleness blending with the deep yellow of Mr. Chiffield's +complexion. That gentleman replied, a little more quickly than was +his wont:</p> +<p>"A few small, weak houses may go down, perhaps, but the strong +ones will weather the storm easy enough. If our establishment could +live through 1847, it is in no danger now."</p> +<p>"And such was the good fortune of Upjack, Chiffield & Co., I +well remember," said Mr. Whedell.</p> +<p>Mr. Chiffield bowed his gracious acknowledgment of the handsome +historical allusion.</p> +<p>"How is Erie, Mr. Chiffield?"</p> +<p>"Looking up."</p> +<p>"Sure of it?"</p> +<p>"A leading Wall-street man told me, this afternoon, it would +advance three per cent. this week. I have a slight interest in +watching it," said Mr. Chiffield, smiling.</p> +<p>"So have I," said Mr. Whedell, smiling also.</p> +<p>Daring their conversation, and the remainder of their financial +dialogue, Mr. Whedell kept one ear, and occasionally one eye, +inclined toward his daughter and the favored Maltboy. If there was +a hint conveyed in those side glances at his daughter, she either +did not notice it, or did not choose to take it. Sometimes Mr. +Chiffield looked in the same direction, but casually, as it were, +and without one sign of impatience visible in the depths of his +calm brown eyes. Mr. Chiffield was not a nervous man.</p> +<p>Matthew Maltboy was so perfectly free from selfishness at this +moment, that he would cheerfully have spared a few words from Miss +Whedell's delightful monologue for the gratification of his late +rival ("late" was now decidedly the word, in Maltboy's opinion) +over the way. In the exercise of his large charity and compassion, +he pitied that unfortunate, sadly disappointed dealer in dry +goods.</p> +<p>This pity, as Matthew used to say in after days, was thrown +away. At the end of a brilliant description of a new set of +quadrilles which Miss Whedell had danced at a sociable the night +before, that young lady said, "Excuse me," and crossed the room to +a what-not in the corner, and searched for something among a pile +of magazines and pictures. The thought that she was making efforts +to please him, tickled Matthew's vanity. While she was overhauling +the pile, Mr. Whedell left his seat by Chiffield, and took the one +just vacated by his daughter. Matthew received him with the +diplomatic courtesy due to the parent of one's enchantress, and +made a well-meant if not novel remark on the state of the weather. +Mr. Whedell mildly disputed his proposition (whatever it was)--for +Mr. W. was always disputatious on that subject--and then passed to +the consideration of national politics. "The one topic natually +suggests the other," said Mr. Whedell, "for they are equally +variable." This was one of the father's few standard jokes; and +Maltboy always laughed at it with the heartiness of a future +son-in-law. They then grappled with the great theme in earnest.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="J_CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>PULLING IN.</h3> +<br> +<p>Clementina, having found what she sought, glided to the chair +which her father had relinquished, and said, coquettishly, "Now I +have come to entertain <i>you</i>, Mr. Chiffield. You were speaking +of Niagara Falls, the other day. Here are some photographs of them, +taken for me on the spot." She handed the pictures to Mr. +Chiffield. That gentleman took them with a profound bow, glanced +over them, and said, "How elegant!" "What rich scenery!" "How tasty +they are got up, a'n't they?" "This is the showiest picture;" +"Here's a neat one," &c., &c., &c. Mr. Chiffield had +contracted the use of a certain class of highly descriptive +adjectives in selling dry goods. Clementina watched him narrowly, +and thought how nicely she could manage this heavy fellow.</p> +<p>"How many times have you been to the Falls?" she asked, when +Chiffield had shuffled through the photographs twice.</p> +<p>"Three times," said Chiffield, telling a white lie; for he had +seen them at morning, noon, and evening on the same day. "And how +often have you visited them, Miss Whedell?"</p> +<p>"Oh! so often I can't remember. My last visit was early last +autumn. Oh! pa, did we go to Niagara Falls before or after our trip +to the White Mountains?"</p> +<p>"After it, my child," replied the father, who maintained a +cocked ear toward his child. "Don't you recollect we went from the +Falls to Lake George, and stayed there till the first week in +November? That was the year we omitted Newport and Saratoga, for a +wonder," he added, conveying the idea, in a look to Mr. Chiffield, +that such an omission was a marvel in their annual experiences.</p> +<p>"You love the Falls, I suppose?" said Mr. Chiffield.</p> +<p>"Oh! not much. I think they're dreadfully overrated." Clementina +was determined not to be won too cheaply.</p> +<p>"So I think," said Chiffield, delighted to speak his real +sentiments this time; "though everybody is obliged to praise 'em, +because that's the fashion."</p> +<p>"But, though the Falls a'n't much, I must say the balls and hops +are delightful. The fresh air there seems to give one strength to +dance all night without a bit of fatigue. I bought these pictures +because they show the hotels and other places where I have had such +delicious dances."</p> +<p>Chiffield execrated dancing, because he had large feet, and legs +slightly bowed. He moved in the cotillon or waltz with a certain +elephantine ponderousness and sagacity. Therefore she tantalized +him with these reminiscences.</p> +<p>"You see the Clifton House, there, on the Canada side? One night +I danced eight waltzes, six polkas, four quadrilles, three fancy +dances, and wound up, at five o'clock, with the German."</p> +<p>"Wonderful!" observed Chiffield, not knowing what else to +say.</p> +<p>"Perhaps you think I was tired? Oh! not a particle. Next night +we had a little hop on Table Rock. It was got up on short notice, +but perfectly charming, I assure you. There were only two fiddles, +and sometimes the noise of the Falls would almost drown the music. +The fiddlers had to scrape so hard, that they gave out about three +o'clock, and we had to give up the dancing, and go home, very much +disappointed."</p> +<p>"Unlucky, indeed!" interjected Chiffield.</p> +<p>"But the next night we had two extra fiddlers. They relieved the +other two at midnight, and then we danced till daybreak. Oh! such a +glorious time. Next year, when I heard that a part of Table Rock +had tumbled into the horrid river, I could have cried."</p> +<p>"It was a great shame, indeed!" said Chiffield.</p> +<p>"Isn't this view of Suspension Bridge natural?" she asked</p> +<p>"Amazing!" said Chiffield; and he ventured to add that he +considered that bridge to be a great triumph of human genius.</p> +<p>"I dare say it is. But I didn't think of that. I was only going +to tell you how the gentlemen of our Table Rock party tried to hire +the use of the bridge one night to dance on. The owners wouldn't +let it. Mean, weren't they?"</p> +<p>"Contemptible!" replied Chiffield.</p> +<p>"We should have had it nicely swept and lighted. The breeze +coming down the river would have been beautiful, and the awful +noise of the Falls wouldn't have been too loud for the music. But +we almost made up for our disappointment. Next night, the gentlemen +hired the 'Maid of the Mist'--the little steamboat, you know, that +you see in this picture--and we sailed round and round below the +Falls all night, dancing all the time. We went so near the Falls +twice, that I got quite wet with the nasty spray, and caught cold; +but that didn't prevent me from dancing all the next night, at the +International. You have a good view of the house in this +picture."</p> +<p>"Tasty," said Chiffield.</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell and Maltboy had not lost a word of this +conversation, though they had been mutually boring each other with +complex sentences about national politics. Happily, the discussion +required no mental effort, and left them both free to hear and make +mental comments on the dialogue that buzzed across the way.</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell regretted that his daughter should expatiate with +such vivacity upon a subject that must be extremely disagreeable to +a gentleman of Mr. Chiffield's large figure and steady habits. To +the cultivated judgment of Maltboy, it was evident that the young +lady was trying to amuse Chiffield merely for the purpose of +annoying him (Maltboy). Experience had taught Matthew the best kind +of cure for this species of female perversity. He determined to +leave the house, and thereby show that he was not to be trifled +with.</p> +<p>Availing himself of a pause in the dissertations on national +politics, Maltboy pulled out his watch and consulted it. "Why!" +said he; "nine o'clock! And I was to be in Fourteenth street by +half past eight. Only intended to drop in just to see how you were. +You really must excuse me, Mr. Whedell." Matthew rose as he spoke, +to show that his mind was made up, and remonstrances would be +useless.</p> +<p>"Don't go. Put off your other call," ejaculated Mr. "Whedell, at +the same time rising, and thereby indicating a perfect acquiescence +in the departure of his guest.</p> +<p>"You are in a hurry," said Miss Whedell, calmly, but without +objection in voice or eye.</p> +<p>Mr. Chiffield looked calmly at his rival; and none but a skilled +student of physiognomy could have discovered a gleam of triumph in +his dull, yellow face.</p> +<p>Maltboy was disappointed in the calm demeanor of Miss Whedell; +but, strong in his purpose, he walked toward the door, followed by +the father. As he passed into the entry, he bowed coldly to the +lady of his heart, and drew from her a scarcely perceptible +nod.</p> +<p>At this moment, a valuable thought occurred to the paternal +Whedell.</p> +<p>"My dear Maltboy," said he, closing the parlor door, "excuse the +abruptness of the question; but could you lend me a couple of +hundred?"</p> +<p>The question was indeed abrupt, but not altogether unexpected. +Mr. Quigg had apprised Maltboy of Mr. Whedell's financial weakness; +but the infatuation of the ardent young bachelor had led him to +disregard that warning. He was fully prepared to say, "Yes, with +pleasure," and he did say so.</p> +<p>"Thank you," said the gratified parent. "Only want it a few +days." Mr. Whedell was too great an adept in the art of borrowing, +to waste words of tedious explanation and gratitude, which only +produce an impression that the borrower does not mean to pay. He +accepted Maltboy's reply as a matter of course.</p> +<p>"If not too much trouble, could you give me a check to-night?" +asked Mr. Whedell. "Have a payment to make before bank hours +to-morrow."</p> +<p>"Most readily, my dear sir," replied the amiable Matthew. "Have +you pen and paper convenient?"</p> +<p>"In this room, Mr. Maltboy," said his host, ushering him into a +little apartment at the end of the entry, which contained a few +books, and was passed off upon a credulous world as Mr. Whedell's +library. The gas was lighted, writing materials were produced, and, +in less than three minutes, Matthew Maltboy had put his name at the +bottom of a check on the ---- Bank, for two hundred dollars. He did +so smiling, and with a full consciousness that he had sustained a +dead loss to that extent. But he was always too good-natured to +deny a friend; and, in this particular case, he felt that he was +buying a perpetual free admission to the house, and a usufructuary +interest in the fascinations of Clementina. The idea of marriage +with that young lady had never occurred to him. He never troubled +himself with problems of the future.</p> +<p>"All right," said Mr. Whedell, folding up the check carelessly, +and putting it in his pocket. "Shall I give you my note?"</p> +<p>"Oh, no!" said the willing victim, blandly. "Hand it me any +time, at your convenience."</p> +<p>"Can return it within a week," responded Mr. Whedell; "but, on +some accounts, the 1st of May will suit me best, if perfectly +agreeable to you."</p> +<p>"As you please."</p> +<p>"We will call it the 1st of May, then. I regret you are in a +hurry, sir. But remember, we are always happy to see you here."</p> +<p>With this pleasant remark ringing in his ears, and fully +compensating him for the loss of his two hundred dollars, Maltboy +hastened home, but did not tell his friends of his adventure; but +he smoked and mused over it agreeably, and was totally unmindful of +the truth announced by Mr. Quigg on New Year's day, when speaking +of this same Whedell, that "somehow debtors always give the cold +shoulder to creditors, as if the creditors owed the money."</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell, left to his own society, flattered himself that he +had turned a rejected lover to a good account, and entered his +library and sat down in the cold, that he might not, by his +presence, mar the harmonious progress of the courtship upon which +so much depended, in the parlor.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="J_CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>THE FIRST OF MAY.</h3> +<br> +<p>Mr. Chiffield proposed, was accepted, and was married in a +Broadway church about the middle of April. The affair was +simplicity itself--bridesmaids, groomsmen, costly wedding costume, +and the subsequent conventional reception at the bride's residence +being dispensed with. The ceremony was witnessed only by the +officiating minister, the sexton, the happy father, and about two +hundred of the floating population of Broadway, including a number +of pickpockets, one of whom sounded the recesses of the coat tails +appertaining unto Mr. Whedell and his son-in-law, as they were +coming out of church, and found nothing in them.</p> +<p>The Siamese twins of the soul passed from the church amid the +sneers, criticisms, and suppressed laughter of the spectators--who +united in pronouncing the ceremony a shabby affair, not worth +looking at--and, entering a carriage with Mr. Whedell, were driven +to the New Jersey Railroad Depot furiously, as if they had been +guilty of some crime against society. At the depot, Mr. Whedell +kissed his daughter in public, and not without a touch of the +melodrama, for which he had cherished a fondness in his earlier +days, and wrung the hand of his son-in-law. The train bore the +couple away toward the city of Washington, where a portion of that +indefinite season known as the honeymoon was to be passed, amid +every discomfort that money could purchase. Why they should have +gone to Washington in pursuit of bad hotels, and other miseries, +when they could have procured them in so many other parts of the +country for a quarter of the money, was something which Mr. +Chiffield was never able to explain to his own satisfaction.</p> +<p>He afterward bitterly regretted that he had not made the nuptial +trip to Newburg, or some place near the city, where the expenses +would have been more moderate. But we anticipate.</p> +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Chiffield had been absent ten days. They were +expected home on the 28th day of April; but a letter from +Clementina informed her father that she had taken a bad cold, was +confined to her room, and could not return before the 1st of May. +The brief note was written in a crabbed hand, and exhibited spots, +which, if not lemon juice, were tears. She made no allusion to her +husband, but wound up by saying, "Oh, pa! I am an unhappy +girl!"</p> +<p>This intelligence was a thorn in the bed of Mr. Whedell's +comfort. Had he not arranged to settle with his creditors on the +1st of May? Was not the owner of the house occupied and used by him +to resume possession on that eventful day? And was not +everything--even his daily food--dependent on the return of his +children, as he fondly called them, with their pockets full of +money? What if this infernal cold should keep them in Washington +until after the 1st of May? As Mr. Whedell thought of himself, +turned adrift, and a wanderer, he invariably tore out a few of the +gray hairs which could be poorly spared from his venerable +skull.</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell had a deep and unchanging faith in his ill luck; +but, this time, he was pleasantly disappointed. The morning train +on the 1st of May brought back his children to him. They arrived +just as those Bedouins of civilization--the New Yorkers--were +beginning to indulge their nomadic propensities. The streets were +full of wagons and drays laden with jingling stoves, rickety +bedsteads, conspicuous crockery, and other damaged Penates, on the +way to new domiciles. Fortunately, the owner of Mr. Whedell's +residence had not yet come to claim possession. Creditors are early +birds; but the hour--sis and a half A.M.--was even too early for +them; and only one--Mr. Rickarts, the shoemaker--had called. He had +been disposed of in the library, by the servant, under the pretence +that Mr. Whedell was not yet up. But Mr. Whedell was up and dressed +before six o'clock, and was watching for the expected carriage, +through the window blinds of his apartment. He ran down to the door +with juvenile briskness to receive the returning ones.</p> +<p>Mrs. Chiffield looked pale and jaded. Her hair was carelessly +arranged, and her bonnet awry--unerring indications of fathomless +female misery. To the anxious inquiry by her parent after her +health, she only replied, "Horrid!" Mr. Chiffield wore the aspect +of a man who is disappointed in his just expectations. He gave a +hearty grip to the proffered hand of his father-in-law, but he +quarrelled with the driver over the fare, and abused him in an +under tone, by way of relieving himself.</p> +<p>"And how did you like Washington, my child?" said the fond +father, in his tenderest voice.</p> +<p>"I hate it!" said Mrs. Chiffield, hurrying into the house, as if +she were running away from her husband.</p> +<p>"Hum. Well, I'm not surprised that she dislikes the capital. I +believe most visitors do. Clemmy seems to be a little nervous from +travelling, eh?" Mr. Whedell addressed these remarks to his +son-in-law.</p> +<p>"Nervous? Perhaps she is just a trifle nervous, sir. All women +are."</p> +<p>"True--true! One of the peculiarities of the sex. Well, you have +had a pleasant time, I trust?"</p> +<p>"Pleasant time? Oh! yes--delightful! Your daughter is a charming +girl, sir, and will make a most excellent wife." Mr. Chiffield +spoke as if he were very much in earnest, but the expression of his +face was not of rapture.</p> +<p>"She is a treasure, sir--a perfect treasure!" replied the doting +parent. "It cost me many pangs to part with her. I trust that we +shall not be separated now. Why should we be? There are but three +of us--just enough for a happy family." Mr. Whedell was hinting at +a home under the future roof of his son-in-law.</p> +<p>"I agree with you perfectly," said Mr. Chiffield, with +unaffected eagerness. "Let us live together always. It will suit me +exactly." He was thinking of free board and lodging at the house of +his father-in-law.</p> +<p>The couple shook hands, mutually pleased at the prospect, and +beamed on each other.</p> +<p>A part of this conversation took place in the hall, into which +the hackman had borne the travellers' luggage. A pull was heard at +the door bell--a loud, confident pull--which Mr. Whedell knew could +be inflicted only by a creditor. It would not do to admit his +son-in-law into his budget of family secrets just yet. So he +said:</p> +<p>"Now, Chiffield, you must need some rest. Let me not detain you, +my dear fellow. Your room is on the first floor. I'll show it to +you."</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell snatched a carpet bag out of the hand of his +son-in-law, and hurried up stairs with him. Having turned that +gentleman into the apartment reserved for him, and shut the door, +Mr. Whedell paused at the head of the stairs, and listened for the +developments below. The servant, after waiting for two or three +more jerks at the bell, so as to be quite sure that it was the +bell, went to the door, and there found Mr. Numble, the butcher, +who supplied the Whedells with meat on the strength of the +brownstone front.</p> +<p>Pursuant to instructions, the servant explained that Mr. Whedell +was not up, and asked him to walk into the library and wait a few +minutes. Mr. Numble growled--as if he scented deception not far +off--but allowed himself to be conducted into the library. There he +discovered Mr. Rickarts, the shoemaker, taking down the few books +which graced the shelves of the library, and evidently pricing them +with an unpractised eye. The two gentlemen knew each other, and +straightway engaged in a brisk dialogue about the weather.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="J_CHAPTER_V."></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>DEMOLITION OF CERTAIN AIR CASTLES.</h3> +<br> +<p>The coast being clear, Mr. Whedell hastened down stairs to the +front parlor, where his daughter had secluded herself immediately +after her entrance into the house. She was lying back on the sofa, +with her bonnet on, biting the ends of her gloves, and staring into +space. She did not appear to observe her father.</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell seated himself on the other end of the sofa, and +reached out his hand, as if he would have taken his daughter's +caressingly within it. If that was his intention, it was frustrated +by her drawing the hand away. Then the father heaved a sigh, and +said:</p> +<p>"Ah, my child, I am so thankful that you have returned to-day. +You will save us from ruin."</p> +<p>"<i>I</i> save you from ruin!" said Mrs. Chiffield, in a hollow +voice. "That's a good joke!"</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell grinned a ghastly smile, as if he did not precisely +see the point of the jest. "Joke or no joke," said he, "I must look +to you for some money to put off the infernal creditors, who have +begun to flock into the house. There's the bell. Hang me, if it +isn't another one! To come to the point, then, I wish you would +loan me, say two hundred dollars. It is a small amount, but will +stave them off a week or two."</p> +<p>"Two hundred dollars!" Mrs. Chiffield opened her fine eyes in +amazement.</p> +<p>"That's all. Perhaps you have saved up the amount from your pin +money? Or, if you have been a little extravagant, and spent it all, +why, then, perhaps you can get it from Mr. Chiffield this +morning?"</p> +<p>The daughter laughed bitterly again. "I tell you, father," said +she, "that this man is the meanest creature that walks OB two legs. +He has not spent fifty dollars on both of us, during our absence. +As for me, I have never got a cent from him, though I have dropped +a thousand hints about new bonnets, dresses, and jewelry."</p> +<p>"Gracious heavens!" cried Mr. Whedell, turning pale "But then," +he added, with an effort to laugh, "Mr. Chiffield is a business +man, and was an old bachelor. He knows nothing of women's wants. It +must be your mission to teach him what they are."</p> +<p>"Pooh!" said the daughter; "I don't believe he has got any +money."</p> +<p>"Don't talk so, my child. You put me in a cold sweat."</p> +<p>"Anyhow, I examined his pocket, last night, when he was asleep +in the cars, and found only five dollars there."</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell's jaw dropped. "Oh, no! it can't be," said he, at +length. "Mr. Chiffield must be a rich man. You remember his fine +horses at Saratoga and Newport. You remember how much his society +was courted by mammas with disposable daughters. They never +patronize poor young men. Their instinct in finding out rich ones +is unerring. And furthermore, Mr. Chiffield is a member of a firm +twenty years old, who are marked 'A No. 1' on the books of a +mercantile agency, that makes it a business to pry into other +people's affairs. I paid ten dollars for the information, only a +month ago. He must be rich! He must be rich!" Mr. Whedell repeated +it twice, as if the repetition put the question of Chiffield's +opulence beyond a doubt. "Ha! there goes that dreadful bell +again!"</p> +<p>"What you say may be true, but I don't believe a word of it, +till I have the proofs," replied the daughter, who seemed to +delight in taking a gloomy view of her case. "Why--will you believe +it?--I can't get him even to talk about engaging a house in New +York. He always dodges the subject, somehow. Upon my word, I think +he expects to quarter on you for the balance of his life. That +would be rich!"</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell raised his eyebrows, and emitted a doleful whistle. +Reflecting, he said:</p> +<p>"You may misjudge him. Perhaps he doesn't like to disturb Love's +young dream, by looking into the future. That's all--I'm sure of +it."</p> +<p>"Humbug!" ejaculated Mrs. Chiffield.</p> +<p>"Poor thing!" said her father, tenderly. "There--cheer up. +Depend upon it, that you have got a rich husband, who will take all +our troubles off our shoulders. Stay here, and I will go up stairs +and sound him."</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell proceeded to the apartment where his son-in-law was +shut up, and found that individual in a deep fit of meditation.</p> +<p>"Thinking--and so soon after marriage?" said Mr. Whedell, with a +charming smile.</p> +<p>"Oh, yes; and I was thinking how much happier is a married man +than a bachelor."</p> +<p>"You will always think so, I am sure, with my dear Clemmy as +your wife. My dear Clemmy! How naturally that phrase comes to my +lips. And you are about to take her away. It's a foolish thought, +but I hardly know how I shall live without her." Mr. Whedell +paused, for effect, and contemplated the vermicular work in the +carpet.</p> +<p>"A happy thought strikes me," said Chiffield. "You have a house +here, already furnished. Let us occupy it free of rent, and I will +pay the housekeeping bills of the establishment. That will be +mutually advantageous, and will especially suit your daughter, who, +of course, has a child's attachment for home. What do you say to +the proposition, respected father-in-law?"</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell did not catch at it with the alacrity that was +expected of him. "A capital plan," said he, at length; "but, +unfortunately, the house is not mine. I only lease it."</p> +<p>Chiffield's lips puckered up. "That's curious," thought he. "The +old fellow must have put his money into bonds and stocks. Well, +they are the best-paying investments."</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell proceeded to break the news of his penniless +condition to his son-in-law, gently. "Mr. Chiffield," said he, "as +a wholesale dealer in dry goods, you must have observed, perhaps at +times experienced, the fickleness of fortune."</p> +<p>"Can he suspect?" thought Chiffield. "And what if he does? The +truth cannot be concealed much longer. But I will pump him a little +further before disclosing all."</p> +<p>"Yes," said he; "our firm, like others, has had its ups and +downs; but then, business would not be interesting without some +little risks, you know."</p> +<p>The easy manner of his son-in-law convinced Mr. Whedell that no +"little risks" had shaken the firm of Upjack, Chiffield & Co. +"Ah, yes," said he. "Rich to-day, poor to-morrow--the history of +the world. As every person may learn this by his own sad +experience, some time or other, he ought to be lenient in judging +of those who have become reduced from wealth to poverty."</p> +<p>"Can he mean me?" thought the son-in-law. "Faith! it sounds very +much like it. If so, his manner of broaching the subject is truly +generous and delicate."</p> +<p>"I agree with you," said he, aloud. "Money does not make the +man." It is a safe adage, and Chiffield quoted it intrepidly.</p> +<p>"True--true!" replied Mr. Whedell. "Money is but a small item in +the sum of earthly happiness. Take the institution of marriage, for +example. What gives to that institution its blessedness--love, or +money?"</p> +<p>"Love," responded the unhesitating Chiffield.</p> +<p>"The promptness of that reply shows that he does not expect a +fortune with Clemmy," thought Mr. Whedell.</p> +<p>"He must suspect--perhaps already knows--the truth," thought +Chiffield. "How kind in him to spare me the least humiliation!"</p> +<p>"That person is truly rich," continued Mr. Whedell, "rich beyond +expression, who brings pure love and exalted virtues into the +married state."</p> +<p>"Generous father-in-law!" thought Chiffield. "He knows that I am +ruined. Yet how nobly he treats me! I may cast away all reserve +now."</p> +<p>"It would be an affectation, sir," said Chiffield, aloud, "to +pretend that I do not understand to whom you refer, my dear +father-in-law."</p> +<p>"The glorious fellow!" thought Mr. Whedell. "He guesses what I +am about to disclose, and yet calls me a dear father-in-law."</p> +<p>Chiffield continued: "To save any further circumlocution, sir, +and in order that we may fully understand each other, I will say at +once, that we are completely--ruined!"</p> +<p>"Ha! What! Who ruined?"</p> +<p>"The house of Upjack, Chiffield & Co. I--I thought you knew +it."</p> +<p>"Ruined, sir!" cried Mr. Whedell, livid with horror. He choked +for further utterance.</p> +<p>"Yes, sir," said Chiffield, who, being a fat man, was happily +calm; "totally ruined."</p> +<p>"You impudent scoundrel! out of this house!" shrieked Mr. +Whedell, rising from his chair, and glaring like a wildcat at his +son-in-law.</p> +<p>"Be calm," said that phlegmatic individual. "I respect your +age."</p> +<p>"Curse your impudence! what do you mean by my age?" (approaching +Chiffield in a threatening manner). "I'll let you know, sir, that I +am young enough to kick a swindler like you into the street."</p> +<p>"Pray compose yourself, sir," returned the bland Chiffield. +"Your surprise and excitement are natural, and therefore +pardonable. But my affairs are, after all, not quite as bad as they +might be. I have a sure prospective fortune, if not a present +one."</p> +<p>"What do you mean, sir?" asked Mr. Whedell, not quite so savage +as before.</p> +<p>"That I have talents, energy, a large business acquaintance," +said the cheerful Chiffield.</p> +<p>"Humbug!" roared Mr. Whedell. "What is all that stuff good for, +without money?"</p> +<p>"Not much, I admit," was the conciliatory reply. "There fore, +sir, to come to the point at once, advance me ten thousand dollars +to start in business again, and I will make a fortune in three +years. It was the outside speculations of my partners that ruined +me. Perhaps you don't know that dry goods are going up, sir? Now's +the time to buy."</p> +<p>"This man will drive me mad!" shrieked Mr. Whedell, combing his +hair wildly with his hands.</p> +<p>"Regard it in the light of a family investment," suggested the +soothing Chiffield.</p> +<p>"You diabolical scoundrel!" yelled Mr. Whedell, in a partial +asphyxia of rage; "if I had a million dollars to-day, I wouldn't +give you a cent. You should starve first. But I want to tell +you--and hang me if it isn't a pleasure, too--that I am a beggar, +sir--a beggar, sir--a beggar, sir! By noon to-day I shall be turned +out of this house. And, by Jove! I'm glad of it, for then I shall +get rid of you." During this <i>adagio</i> passage, the speaker +shook his fist within a few inches of Chiffield's nose.</p> +<p>The summery Chiffield answered, with a hearty laugh: "I see," +said he; "it's a regular sell on both sides. However, neither of us +is worse off than he was, since neither of us had anything. As for +me, I have gained one point, for I have a tolerably good-looking +wife."</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell was about to retort in a vein of unmitigated +ferocity, when Mrs. Chiffield, who had been listening in the entry, +and could contain herself no longer, rushed into the room, and, +brandishing a small clenched hand in the face of her laughing +spouse, forcibly observed:</p> +<p>"You sneaking, swindling, cheating, lying, black-hearted, +ill-looking pauper, scoundrel, and vagabond!"</p> +<p>"Very prettily said," remarked the imperturbable Chiffield.</p> +<p>"You miserable thief!" continued his matrimonial partner, aiming +a blow at him, which he playfully parried; "why didn't you tell me +you were a beggar?"</p> +<p>"Why? Because you didn't ask me. For that matter, why didn't you +or your father tell me that <i>you</i> were beggars?"</p> +<p>"I sha'n't answer your insulting questions, you mean, deceiving, +ugly, ungentlemanly--" (no other epithet suggesting itself.) At +this crisis, the infuriated wife burst into tears, and wished +several times that she was dead.</p> +<p>"Poor, dear wifey!" said the emollient Chiffield.</p> +<p>"None of your 'poor dears' to my daughter, you jailbird!" +screamed Mr. Whedell.</p> +<p>"Now, don't get excited, father-in-law."</p> +<p>"How dare you call me father-in-law, sir!"</p> +<p>"Perhaps you prefer the more endearing epithet of 'poppy,' +sir?"</p> +<p>"Monster! will you leave my house?"</p> +<p>"Have you any good old brandy on hand?" asked Chiffield.</p> +<p>"Brandy! No. If you want brandy, sir, go to the d---l for +it."</p> +<p>"Not quite so far, thank you," retorted Chiffield the genial; +"but I don't mind walking to the next corner for a smash."</p> +<p>Chiffield rose, put on his hat, and stepped toward the door.</p> +<p>"Good-by, wifey. I sha'n't be gone long."</p> +<p>A growl, bisected by a sob, was the only reply.</p> +<p>"By-by, poppy," said Chiffield, with a flippant wave of the +hand.</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell cast at him a look of scorn, to which justice could +be done in no known language; and Chiffield, with a bow of +exceeding grace, left father and child to their reflections.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="J_CHAPTER_VI."></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>MR. WHEDEEL'S CREDITORS IN CONVENTION ASSEMBLED.</h3> +<br> +<p>These reflections, which were neither profitable nor interesting +to the parties immediately concerned, were interrupted by a +peculiarly rigorous pull at the door bell. Pulls of a startling +description had come so often, the previous ten minutes, that Mr. +Whedell had quite ceased to notice them. But this long and strong +pull caused him to start, and remark, "It must be Quigg."</p> +<p>It was Quigg, who had come to make his last appeal. He was by +far the heaviest creditor. The unfortunate servant girl, acting +under her general instructions, would fain have shown him into the +parlor, where his fellow sufferers, having overrun the library and +dining room, were already in strong force; but Quigg, having +immense interests at stake, would stand no such nonsense.</p> +<p>"Where is Whedell?" said he. "I can't dance attendance on him +all day."</p> +<p>It was always remarked that Quigg put off his slow and stately +method of speech, when dealing with obstinate debtors.</p> +<p>The terrified Mary lost her presence of mind, and replied; "In +the first floor, front." Quigg mounted the stairs with surprising +agility, and gave a hard rap at the door of the first floor +front.</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell said, in a voice calm with despair, "Come in." In +the few minutes that had elapsed since the retirement of Chiffield, +Mr. Whedell had privately determined to give up everything to his +creditors, leaving them to divide the spoils among themselves, and +then to go out, expend his last quarter on a dose of poison, and +end his existence. This resolution, suddenly taken, imparted +preternatural composure both to his mind and his face. He could now +see his way out of all difficulties--or out of the world, which is +the same thing. Clementina, who had not yet risen to that height of +philosophy, buried her face in her hands, and sobbed with fresh +violence.</p> +<p>Quigg entered, and at a glance saw that he had lost. He stopped +short in the bow that he was intending to make.</p> +<p>"Well, Whedell," said he, roughly, "how are things to-day?" By +"things," he always meant money.</p> +<p>"Not a penny," said Mr. Whedell. "I've done my best to pay you, +and failed."</p> +<p>"Just as I expected. Serves me right. I never was forbearing +with a debtor, that I didn't get chiselled this way. Strike me if I +ever make the mistake again. This marriage of your daughter's, +which was going to set you up in funds, has proved a fizzle, eh? +Instead of taking somebody in, you have been taken in +yourself."</p> +<p>Quigg laughed; and then remembering that a delinquent debtor was +before him, assumed his wonted serious aspect.</p> +<p>At this allusion, poor Mrs. Chiffield burst into tears again. +Mr. Whedell adroitly turned the circumstance to advantage. He +pointed to her, and said, "There is my reply."</p> +<p>Quigg felt that he was losing ground on these side issues. +"Well, Whedell, we must have a settlement to day. You owe me one +hundred and fifty dollars. Turn over all your furniture to me, and +we'll call it square."</p> +<p>Mrs. Chiffield doubled her sobs anew. But Mr. Whedell said, +"Very good. Take everything, I shall want nothing where I am +going."</p> +<p>Quigg had been accustomed to these dark hints from contumacious +debtors, and was not to be frightened. "I accept your offer," said +he, "and will take everything."</p> +<p>At this moment, a rush, as of many feet, was heard upon the +stairs. The owners of the feet appeared to be literally tumbling up +in their anxiety to get up. By the time Quigg could open the door, +a half dozen flushed persons were ready to step in, and did so, +brushing him aside. More than a score of others followed, and all +plunged pell mell into the presence of Mr. Whedell and +daughter.</p> +<p>"Here we are, Mr. Whedell, by appintment," said the spokesman of +the party, Rickarts, the shoemaker.</p> +<p>"I see you are," responded the placid Whedell. "Take seats, if +you can find them, gentlemen." This with a real smile, for he +thought of the arsenic, and the immeasurable relief that it would +afford him.</p> +<p>"We don't want seats, Mr. Whedell; and, if we did, there isn't +enough for all of us. We want our pay, and have got tired of +waitin' down stairs for it. You put us all off to the 1st of May, +you know, expecting you said, to raise money enough by the marriage +of your daughter (excuse the remark, marm, but business is +business) to pay off all of us. We found, on comparin' notes down +stairs, this mornin', that you had told the same story to +everybody. Now, sir, as your daughter is married, accordin' to the +papers, and the 1st of May has arriv', will you be good enough to +square up?"</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell smiled touchingly. "My good and patient friends," +said he, "nothing would give me greater pleasure--I might say, +without exaggeration, rapture--than to pay all that I owe, with +compound interest thrown in. But, unfortunately for my excellent +intentions, I have no money."</p> +<p>"Blast me if that isn't just what we expected! I told 'em, down +stairs, that I'd bet ten to one you couldn't or wouldn't raise any +think out of your son-in-law."</p> +<p>"Your name is Rickarts, I believe?" asked Mr. Whedell.</p> +<p>"Yes, Rickarts!" growled the owner of the appellation, "You +ought to know it by this time; for I've dunned you often +enough."</p> +<p>"True, Mr. Rickarts, but then I have so many creditors, you see, +that I cannot be expected to know them all. I merely wanted to +observe, Mr. Rickarts, that, at least, <i>you</i> have not been +disappointed in your expectations. Furthermore, that if you had +made a bet of ten to one, it wouldn't have been a bad speculation +for you."</p> +<p>Cries of "Pshaw!" "Humbug!" "Swindled!" "Done for!" and kindred +expressions, arose from all sides. The spokesman said: "We ha'n't +got no time to joke, Mr. Whedell. We have only to remark, now, that +the best thing for you to do is to give up your furniture, without +the trouble and expense of a lot of lawsuits."</p> +<p>"You are perfectly welcome to the whole of it, my good friends," +said Mr. Whedell.</p> +<p>"The, deuce they are!" cried Quigg. "Why, you have just turned +it over to me!"</p> +<p>"I give it to all of you, singly and collectively, severally and +jointly," responded the happy, melancholy man. "Divide it among +yourselves, and leave me."</p> +<p>The small creditors, under twenty dollars, took a favorable view +of the proposition. One of them immediately jumped on a bureau +having a marble top and elaborately carved legs, and expressed his +willingness to take that for his pay. Another laid violent hands on +the heavy yellow window curtains, and declared himself satisfied. A +third commenced ripping up a corner of the carpet, and notified all +persons that he claimed <i>that</i>. The original owner of the +bureau, curtains, and carpet, who had furnished the house, and held +an exalted rank among the principal creditors, objected to this +summary disposition of the property. Quigg, in very emphatic but +improper English, insisted that he had the largest and first claim, +and warned everybody on their peril not to remove a thing from the +house.</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell reclined in his chair, positively enjoying the +spectacle, which was all the more entertaining because the common +wrath was now diverted from him. Mrs. Chiffield wept behind her +handkerchief. Her bonnet was knocked on one side, and the flowers +were seriously disarranged, indicating a real case of distress.</p> +<p><i>Sauve qui peut</i> was now the motto among all the small +creditors. Notwithstanding the energetic objections of Quigg and +others, they rushed down stairs into the parlors, where the best +furniture was kept, and commenced, taking possession. Rickarts, the +shoemaker, seated himself on the top of the piano, and said he +considered that his'n. But a second after, a man milliner, who had +furnished two new bonnets to Miss Clementina on the strength of the +brownstone front, took his seat on the other end of the piano, and +gave Mr. Rickarts distinctly to understand that he was glued to it. +The man milliner was a powerful fellow, and looked as if his proper +vocation were hammering stone or rolling iron, instead of handling +flowers and feathers. Rickarts murmured something inaudibly, at +first but, on taking a second survey of his neighbor, concluded +that he would be more desirable as an ally than as an enemy.</p> +<p>"All right," said he; "s'pose we go snacks on this?"</p> +<p>"Agreed," said the man milliner.</p> +<p>Other of the minor creditors, not caring to quarrel for a third +or fourth interest in the piano, attached themselves to movable +pieces of furniture, such as ottomans, whatnots, etageres, and +chairs. One succeeded in unscrewing a large chandelier which hung +from the centre of the front parlor, and the gas came pouring +through the opening in odorous volumes, while the spoliator waddled +off to the door with his prize. Others rummaged the small stock of +showy books which consituted the library, and were surprised to +find that the most imposing volumes were bound in wood, with gilt +backs, and contained nothing but air, which a funny creditor +characterized as very light reading matter.</p> +<p>In about five minutes, a considerable amount of portable +property would have gone out of the house, but for Quigg's presence +of mind. Seeing that decisive action was required, he slipped out +of the front door, locked it, and returned in a moment with a +couple of policemen, who chanced to be strolling through the street +at that hour.</p> +<p>On the way to the house, Mr. Quigg succeeded in persuading the +policemen that it was necessary for the peace of society that they +should turn all the other creditors out of the house, and leave Mr. +Whedell's effects to be divided among them according to the regular +legal process. As the officers marched up the steps of the house, +it fell out that Matthew Maltboy came sauntering by. Observing the +two officers, headed by an excited individual, going into Mr. +Whedell's house, it occurred, to his benevolent heart that that +gentleman must be in trouble. He also felt moved by a desire to +hear of his old flame--for such she now seemed at the remote +distance of six weeks,--of whose marriage with Mr. Chiffield he had +read in the papers with the utmost complacency. Therefore, Maltboy +stepped up behind the officers, and was about to follow them into +the house. The officers would have kept him back; but Quigg +recognized his friend of New Year's day, and asked him in, hoping +to get legal advice for nothing.</p> +<p>"An old friend of mine, and of Mr. Whedell's," said Quigg. +"Admit him, officers. Perhaps, sir" (Quigg had forgotten his name), +"you know something about Whedell's affairs, and, as a lawyer" +(with a wink), "can tell me where he has some property snugly +stowed away, that I can pounce on. If so, I would cheerfully let +the smaller creditors divide the furniture among themselves. Any +information--ahem!--will be confidential, you know."</p> +<p>"I am not a shyster!" said the indignant Matthew, alluding, by +that term, to the outlaws of his profession.</p> +<p>Quigg was evidently surprised at this unfriendly repulse. "I +only made the suggestion for you to think on. No offence meant. +Please walk in, sir."</p> +<p>The door being opened, several of the small creditors were +discovered, grouped together, with property in their hands. They +had made several ineffectual attempts to break the lock, or pry +back the bolt. The larger creditors were forcibly remonstrating +against this disposition of Mr. Whedell's effects; and a serious +row would probably have ensued, but for the timely arrival of the +police.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="J_CHAPTER_VII."></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3>DEUS EX MACHINA.</h3> +<br> +<p>One of the officers planted himself against the front door, and +gave general notice that no one would be allowed to remove any of +the furniture. The other officer stationed himself at the back +door, to carry out a similar policy at that point.</p> +<p>These manoeuvres caused consternation among the small creditors, +and a vivid feeling of approval among the larger ones.</p> +<p>"I am happy to announce," said Quigg, "that the counsel of Mr. +Whedell--one of the most distinguished ornaments of the bar--has +now arrived, and will take charge of his client's affairs. To those +who know the name of--" (Aside) "By the way, your name escapes me +at this moment."</p> +<p>"Maltboy," said Matthew, a little flattered with this +compliment.</p> +<p>"I repeat, that, to those who know the name of Maltboy, no +assurance need be given that Mr. Whedell's affairs will be +honorably adjusted." Quigg again winked at the young lawyer.</p> +<p>Matthew, having recovered from the flutter into which he was +thrown, was about to disclaim the office thus thrust upon him, when +the voice of Mr. Whedell was heard from the first landing. He had +come to listen to the disturbance, and smile at it.</p> +<p>"It is my dear Maltboy!" he exclaimed, catching at the straw of +a hope. "Thank Heaven! he is here. Yes, gentlemen, he is my lawyer, +and I refer you to him for the adjustment of all your claims. Come +up, my dear Maltboy."</p> +<p>"Oh! it is dear--good--Mr. Maltboy!" added a voice, qualified by +sobs. "How kind of him--to--to come here at this time! Oh--ho!"</p> +<p>Maltboy never could resist Beauty in any condition; and, for +Beauty in tears, he would cheerfully lay down his life. He did not +deny that he was the counsel and confidential adviser of Mr. +Whedell, but rushed up stairs, just in time to receive the falling +form of Mrs. Chiffield in his arms.</p> +<p>Matthew felt that he had no moral right to clasp that burden of +loveliness; but he took it tenderly in his arms, and followed Mr. +Whedell into the room which father and daughter had just left. +There he deposited it, with the gentleness of a professional nurse, +on the sofa, when it opened its eyes, and faintly said, "Heaven +bless you, our benefactor!"</p> +<p>The creditors were pouring into the apartment. "In the name of +humanity," said Mr. Whedell, "leave us for a few moments. I appeal +to you as gentlemen and Christians."</p> +<p>The appeal produced no effect; those to whom it was made +conceiving, perhaps, that it did not apply to them. Maltboy added +the remark: "If you will withdraw at once, I promise you that in +fifteen minutes we will proceed to business."</p> +<p>"That's all right," said Quigg, winking again at Matthew. "Let +us go, friends."</p> +<p>The proposition was accepted, as the best thing that could be +done under the circumstances, and all the creditors retired.</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell then locked the door, and proceeded to inform Mr. +Maltboy of the black-hearted treachery of which he and his daughter +had been the victims, in the Chiffield alliance. Clementina +corroborated the paternal statement with numerous particulars, +delivered in a heart-broken voice, showing what an abandoned wretch +her husband was. Matthew listened, nodded his head, and said, "The +brute!" and the "The monster!" at intervals, looking the while into +the deep blue eyes of Mrs. Chiffield, which sparkled with tears. +"If he had but been the lucky man!" he thought. But it suddenly +occurred to Matthew that these thoughts were a little irregular; +and, besides, he had a fresh recollection of the troubles from +which Fayette Overtop had not yet emerged. He therefore pulled out +his watch, and informed Mr. Whedell that thirteen of the fifteen +minutes were consumed. The creditors were beginning to pace heavily +in the entry.</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell, taking the hint, came down to business. His affairs +were of a kind that were easily settled. He owned nothing except +his personal clothing, and a few small articles of furniture. +Everything else had been obtained on credit, and either not paid +for, or only partly paid for. This statement of affairs occupied +one minute.</p> +<p>A minute remained, which Mr. Whedell put to good use. He looked +appealingly at Maltboy. So did Mrs. Chiffield.</p> +<p>"My dear friend," said Mr. Whedell, "I find myself, at an +advanced period of life, in this cold world, deserted, penniless. +You are the only person living that I can call by the sacred name +of friend. I have already experienced your noble bounty in a loan +of two hundred dollars." (Tramps of creditors becoming louder +outside.) "In a word, sir, can you lend me one hundred dollars +more? It will at least save me from the self-destruction which I +had contemplated."</p> +<p>At the word "self-destruction," Mrs. Chiffield cried aloud, and +threw herself on her parent's breast, with a fresh flood of +tears.</p> +<p>These tears swept away the last trace of Matthew's prudence. He +whipped out his pocket book, and delivered over five twenty-dollar +gold pieces to Mr. Whedell. The sight of those beautiful coins +seemed to reconcile the wretched man to life.</p> +<p>Mr. Whedell was about to thank his preserver most profusely, and +Mrs. Chiffield to burst into a new torrent, when Matthew, to avoid +these demonstrations, rose, opened the door, and let in the pack of +hungry creditors.</p> +<p>Now Matthew had, in these fleeting fifteen minutes, thought up +no plan of settlement. Being taken aback by the sudden reappearance +of the creditors, he did not know what to propose.</p> +<p>"Everything fixed, I s'pose?" said Rickarts, the shoemaker.</p> +<p>When Matthew was in strong doubt what to do in any case, it was +his invariable custom to postpone. "I think," he feebly suggested, +"that we had better postpone final action, say till three P.M. It +would give us time--"</p> +<p>"Can't come it!" "No go!" "Now, or never!" were some of the +exclamations which went up from the excited crowd.</p> +<p>Matthew was too good natured to quarrel with these insinuations. +"My friends," said he, "as you appear to have unlimited confidence +in each other, suppose you appoint a committee to dispose of this +property, which my client generously" (cries of "Oh! oh!") "turns +over to you, and divide the proceeds among yourselves <i>pro +rata</i>"</p> +<p>The creditors looked at each other suspiciously. A want of that +childlike trust which, in a perfect state of society should exist +between man and man, was unhappily too apparent.</p> +<p>Just then, when Matthew was at his wits' end, the police man who +guarded the front door entered the room, and delivered a note to +Mr. Whedell. That gentleman perused it languidly, and passed it to +Matthew.</p> +<p>"Good news," said he. "Mr. Abernuckle, the owner of these +premises, who was intending to move in to-day, writes that he will +not be able to take possession until noon to-morrow. Therefore, I +say, let the creditors employ an auctioneer, hang out the red flag, +sell, and divide, before that period arrives."</p> +<p>The large creditors were silent--Quigg veiling his +dissatisfaction under a look of complete misanthropy--but the small +ones, headed by Rickarts, the shoemaker, highly commended it.</p> +<p>"Besides," added a butter man, who had originally been in the +mock-auction line, "don't ye see, we can all stay at the auction, +and kind o' bid on the things. Hey?" The butter man nodded at the +lesser creditors.</p> +<p>The idea took; only a few of the larger creditors holding out +against it.</p> +<p>"My friends," again observed Matthew, drawing on his stores of +legal knowledge, "you seem to forget that, if my client chose to +resist your claims, he could retain a large amount of furniture as +household articles under the law, which exempts certain necessary +things. But, with rare magnanimity, he gives up all."</p> +<p>The allusion to magnanimity produced some derisive laughs, which +slightly nettled Matthew.</p> +<p>"Auction it off," said he, "or we throw ourselves back on our +reserved rights."</p> +<p>At this hint, everybody gave in; and a committee, consisting of +Quigg, Rickarts, and the butter man, was appointed to make all the +arrangements for an immediate sale.</p> +<p>It is not pleasant to pursue this painful theme--the decline and +fall of the Whedell household--farther. Let the historian barely +record, that the sale attracted a large crowd, and that, by the +ingenious side bids of the creditors, the furniture was run up to +twice its original value (no uncommon thing at auctions); that the +creditors, large and small, were well satisfied with the results; +that Mr. Whedell and daughter moved to Boston, and became +stipendiaries upon a younger brother, who had made a fortune in the +upholstery business, and whom Mr. Whedell had always despised; that +Mr. Chiffield took to drink tenaciously in consequence of his +misfortunes, and never saw or sought after his wife from the day +when he discovered that she was dowerless; that Mrs. Chiffield +obtained a divorce from the bonds of matrimony, but had not married +again at last accounts; and that Matthew Maltboy, Esq., on looking +over the whole episode of his acquaintance with the Whedells +thanked his stars that he had got out of their entanglements on the +reasonable terms of three hundred dollars.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BOOK_ELEVENTH."></a>BOOK ELEVENTH.</h2> +<h3>DISCOVERIES.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="K_CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>THE OLD HOUSE REVISITED.</h3> +<br> +<p>In the month that followed the acquittal of Marcus Wilkeson, +three real murders, a railway collision killing thirty persons, and +a steamboat explosion almost as tragical in its results, occurred. +The Minford affair was already getting old. Public curiosity, +except in the immediate neighborhood of the house, no longer +exercised itself upon the problem which all of Coroner Bullfast's +powers of analysis had failed to solve.</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson might have derived a selfish consolation from +the fact that other mysteries and calamities were causing his name, +which last month was on the tongue of the whole town, to be +forgotten. But he had a nobler and truer source of consolation in +his dear books. In the presence of the philosophers, and sages, and +historians, and novelists, and poets, and wits, the men of genius +of the past, chroniclers of the loss of empires, grave men who +taught the vanity of life, and funny men who taught the same lesson +in a different way, Marcus felt his pack of sorrows considerably +lightening. His first, last, only disappointment in love had +subsided into a gentle and not disagreeable melancholy. His trial, +and the dreadful notoriety which his name had acquired, had +imparted to his mild nature a gentle tinge of cynicism, which +improved him.</p> +<p>Marcus was sitting, one morning, in the little back parlor, idly +turning over the leaves of an old folio, and looking with a half +eye through the closed window at the houses opposite, and thinking +what a deal of trouble it was possible to extract from a single +block of buildings, when a slight rap was heard at the door. +Simultaneously, the door was pushed open, and Wesley Tiffles shot +in.</p> +<p>He had brought all his tonical properties with him. Good nature +and cheerfulness effervesced from his face. Through the trial, and +since the acquittal, Wesley Tiffles had stuck to Marcus. Twice, +often three times a day, he called, and was always welcomed by +Marcus, and not inhospitably received by Miss Philomela Wilkeson. +The interviews between that lady and the romantic speculator +usually took place, quite by accident, in the entry, on the arrival +or the departure of Mr. Tiffles; but, as it happened, not with the +cognizance of Marcus.</p> +<p>On one occasion--at the edge of evening--Marcus went into the +entry a few minutes after Tiffles had left the room, and saw that +gentleman and Philomela standing in the doorway. Tiffles appeared +to be in the act of raising the lady's hand to kiss it; but, if +that were his intention, he abandoned it on seeing Marcus, and +shook the attenuated fingers instead. Then he coughed, and, saying +"Good-night," went down the steps, as if he had not seen Marcus in +the gloom. Miss Wilkeson coughed also (why do people always +cough?), and, turning to her approaching brother, said it was a +cool night, which was not true, as the night was agreeably warm. +Marcus had never afterward seen them together, and had forgotten +this slightly mysterious circumstance. Wesley Tiffles had, as +usual, something enlivening to tell.</p> +<p>"Got the funniest piece of news for you, my dear fellow!" said +he.</p> +<p>"Anything funny is always welcome, Tiffles," said he, closing +his folio, that he might not appear to obstruct his friend's +jocosity.</p> +<p>"I've heard from that infernal old panorama--when I say +infernal, of course I don't mean to imply that it wasn't a splendid +idea, if I had had capital enough to see it through--and what do +you s'pose the landlord and the other creditor have done with it? +You couldn't guess in a month."</p> +<p>"Well, what?" asked Marcus Wilkeson, laughing in +anticipation.</p> +<p>"Ha! ha! cut it up, and sold it for window curtains. A friend of +mine, who passed through there the other day, says there's a +picture of a lion, or a palm tree, or a slice of a +desert--principally desert--hung up in every other window. And the +best of it is, that they made a good thing of it. The curtains +brought at least twice what I owed them. Great heavens! why didn't +I think of it myself?"</p> +<p>"Of what?"</p> +<p>"Why, to cut up the panorama into window curtains, when Patching +had finished it, and--ha! ha!--peddle them through the country. By +Jupiter! that speculation may be worth trying yet. But at present I +have my new patent process for----"</p> +<p>Marcus coughed, and opened the book. Tiffles accepted the +delicate hint in a spirit of true friendship, and let his new +patent process drop.</p> +<p>"Marcus," said he, "I don't wish to revive an unpleasant +subject; but have you no idea what the late Mr. Minford was trying +to invent?"</p> +<p>"Not the least. I never trouble myself about inventions, as you +well know, who are full of them. Besides, poor Mr. Minford was not +communicative on that subject. He kept the secret even from his +daughter."</p> +<p>"You have a claim on the apparatus, whatever it is."</p> +<p>"Yes. Mr. Minford insisted on giving me a paper to that effect, +as security for two loans of five hundred dollars each. I took it +to please the old gentleman." Marcus felt like groaning, as he +thought of the sorrows that he had derived from his connection with +the Minford family; but he had just been reading of the +consolations of philosophy, and he stifled the rising weakness.</p> +<p>"I have thought, Marcus, that there might be something about +that unfinished machine that could be patented for the benefit of +Miss Minford. You know I am a good judge of patentable things."</p> +<p>"What do you propose, then?" asked Marcus, concealing, with an +effort, the emotions which the mention of Miss Minford always +caused."</p> +<p>"That we go to the house together. The legal claim which you +hold upon the machine entitles you to see it, if only to ascertain +that it has not been stolen."</p> +<p>"The visit you propose is a disagreeable one; but if you think +there is a possibility of benefiting Miss Minford, I will go. Not +that she is likely to be in want, however, at present, for I +understand that a wealthy lady, Mrs. Crull, who befriended her at +the inquest, you remember, has taken her to her own house."</p> +<p>Without further words--for Marcus retained his old business +habit of forming his conclusions suddenly, and adhering to +them--the friends proceeded to the late residence of Mr. +Minford.</p> +<p>Marcus had not yet philosophically conquered his dread of +recognition in the street as the man who had been suspected of a +murder. He buttoned his overcoat up to his chin, pulled his hat +over his brow, and walked fast. As he had purposely altered his +style of dress since the inquest, he was not readily identified. +But he was sympathetically conscious that several persons whom he +passed, and who glanced at him, knew him, and that he was pointed +out to others when his back was turned.</p> +<p>Reaching the house, they hurried up stairs, hoping to run the +gauntlet of the three floors in safety. Luckily, there had been a +general move from the premises--the lodgings being less desirable +since the supposed murder. The faces which thrust themselves out of +the doorways as the two visitors passed, were strange ones.</p> +<p>Marcus felt his heart palpitating, and his face growing pale, as +they ascended the last flight of stairs, at the head of which were +the room and the mystery. The lodgings had not been taken. The rent +had been paid by Mr. Minford up to the 1st of May; and no person +had been sufficiently charmed with the apartments to hire them +since that date.</p> +<p>Upon the door was a placard, announcing that the key could be +obtained by application to the floor below. Tiffles went for it, +and returned accompanied by an old woman, who looked as if she knew +a great deal which she did not care to tell. She had been requested +by the landlord to show the apartments to applicants, but not to +whisper a word about the murder; and she was almost bursting with +her great secret. While the old woman was wondering how much longer +she would be able to hold in, Marcus and Tiffles entered the front +room, and quietly closed the door in her face. The old woman +grumbled at this discourtesy but, as she had a superstitious +objection to putting her foot in a room where a murder had been +committed, she leaned against the banisters of the stairs, and +waited for the visitors' reappearance.</p> +<p>The room looked just as it did on the day of the inquest. The +faded and worn furniture was all there; the yellow curtains still +covered the windows; the clock still hung against the wall, +tickless. Marcus's eyes glanced restlessly about the room for a +moment, not daring to look at the spot where the old man had +received his death blow. But an inevitable magnetism soon brought +his eyes to it, and his heart was lightened as he saw that the +blood stains had been carefully wiped out.</p> +<p>The door of the adjoining room--the maiden's bedchamber--was +ajar. Marcus pushed it open with that slow motion which is a token +of delicacy and respect. The general appearance of the room was +unchanged, as well as Marcus could recollect from the occasional +glimpses of it which he had formerly stolen. The little row of +dresses which hung on pegs in a corner, and a few simple ornaments, +might have been removed, but nothing more. Marcus felt that he was +intruding here, and he closed the door.</p> +<p>In the mean time, Wesley Tiffles had been examining the +mysterious machine, which stood undisturbed in its corner, with the +protecting screen still standing before it. Tiffles had first wiped +off the dust, and then looked into it, and through it, and over it, +and under it, with an eye that was predetermined to pry out a +secret. Then he felt of every wheel, lever, cam, ratchet, drum, and +other portion within reach of his fingers. Everything was +immovable. Then he stood aloof from the machine, folded his arms, +pursed up his lips, and cocked an eye at it, as if, by the mere +force of intellect, he would compel the dumb thing to give up its +mystery.</p> +<p>As Tiffles was applying this species of exorcism in vain, Marcus +came to his assistance.</p> +<p>"What on earth can it be?" exclaimed Tiffles. "Not a new kind of +steam engine; or an electrical apparatus; or a clock; or a sewing +machine; or anything for spinning, carding, or weaving--nothing +that is adapted to any useful labor. These heavy weights, that have +fallen on the floor, would give the works a kind of jerky motion +for a few seconds, while the weights were descending. Nothing more. +But the ultimate purpose of the machine is a puzzler."</p> +<p>"Mr. Minford always said that it was something that would +revolutionize the world of industry--that it was a new mechanical +principle of universal application."</p> +<p>Tiffles laughed a little. "Excuse my levity," said he, "but +inventors--and I am one of them, you know--always claim that they +are about to revolutionize the world of industry. I never knew one +of them to claim less than that for a patent flytrap or an improved +sausage stuffer. Mr. Minford was a man of genius, I dare say, but +he probably overestimated the importance of his invention. Have you +any objection to my prying the thing apart at this opening? I want +to inspect some of the works that are partly concealed. I pledge +myself to put it together again as good as new."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="K_CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>A POSTHUMOUS SECRET.</h3> +<br> +<p>"Go ahead," said Marcus; and Tiffles, inserting his walking +stick in a wide gap between two cog wheels, forced the strange +machine apart. A large brass drum upon which a small chain was +loosely coiled, fell to the floor. The other portions were not +disturbed. Marcus picked up the drum; and Tiffles cast his unerring +eye in among the new jumble of wheels and connecting levers that +was brought to view.</p> +<p>"Can't make head or tail of it," said he, at length. "Let me see +that drum."</p> +<p>Marcus handed it to him. Tiffles took it, like an expert, +between a thumb and finger, and tapped it with his stick. It +answered back with a muffled clink.</p> +<p>"It is hollow, and contains some soft non-metallic substance. +Ah! here we have it." And Tiffles, unscrewing a nicely fitting cap +from the drum, drew out a close roll of paper. He unfolded it with +trembling fingers.</p> +<p>The upper portion of the paper was covered with neatly drawn +diagrams, which bore some semblance to the machine. Beneath, in the +fine copperplate hand of the inventor, were these memorable +words:</p> +<p>"<i>Eliphalet Minford's original plan of</i> PERPETUAL MOTION, +<i>to which he has devoted his fortune, and twenty years of labor. +Perseverantia vincit omnia</i>."</p> +<p>"<i>Christmas Day</i>, 185-."</p> +<p>Then followed a careful technical description of the plan, and a +mention of the fact that on two occasions the machine had moved. +One occasion was the night of April 10, 184-, when the mass of +wheels started with a sudden click, but stopped in three seconds by +the clock. The other occasion was daybreak, December 30, 185-, when +the works began to move of their own accord, and did not stop for +six seconds. This record had evidently been made by the inventor +for his private reference, and concealed in the brass drum for safe +keeping.</p> +<p>Tiffles read with bated breath; and Marcus listened in +astonishment.</p> +<p>"What do you think of it?" asked Marcus.</p> +<p>"I think," replied Tiffles, "with every respect for the memory +of the inventor, that he was insane. Perpetual motion, without an +exhaustive power--or, in other words, the eternal motion of a thing +by its own inherent properties--is a simple impossibility. To cite +familiar illustrations of its absurdity, you might as well try to +lift yourself by the straps of your boots, or pour a quart into a +pint pot. I wasted six months on perpetual motion when I was a boy, +and gave it up. Every inventive genius bothers his head with this +nonsensical problem, till he learns that he is a fool. Of course, I +say this with every possible regard for your deceased friend. He +was insane on this point--<i>quoad hoc</i>, as the lawyers have +it--without question, or he would not have thrown away twenty years +on it;--or twenty-three years, I should say, since the paper is +dated, you observe, three years ago."</p> +<p>"But Mr. Minford says, in that document, that the machine moved +twice. He could have no object in deceiving himself."</p> +<p>"You are wrong there, my friend. Inventors are continually +deceiving themselves. Their judgment, their very eyesight becomes +worthless in respect to subjects upon which they have labored long +and hoped ardently. This machine has evidently been greatly altered +from the original plan in the progress of its construction. You +observe that these weights do not appear on the diagrams. They were +an afterthought--recently put on, I should judge, from the +appearance of the cords which hold them. Anybody can see, as I said +before, that the weights would move the works spasmodically, so to +speak. But this motion cannot be what he alludes to as having taken +place on two occasions. Of course, I can't explain what caused the +motion on those occasions--if it were a real motion, and not a +fantasy of the inventor's brain--but I'll bet my life that any +intelligent mechanic could have fully explained it to Mr. Minford +at the time. But, mark you, Mr. Minford would never have accepted +the explanation. Inventors never take advice."</p> +<p>"So then you are satisfied that this machine is of no value--to +Miss Minford--except for old brass?"</p> +<p>"Oh! I don't say that. Mr. Minford, aside from this absurd +crotchet, may have possessed real mechanical genius. Let me see if +some part of it may not be good for something besides perpetual +motion."</p> +<p>Wesley Tiffles peered down among the brazen and steel +complexities again. "Sure enough, here it is," said he; "a splendid +window fastener."</p> +<p>"I don't see any window fastener," exclaimed Marcus, looking in +the direction of his friend's forefinger.</p> +<p>"There--that cam with a small spring and lever attached. +Strength and simplicity combined. I have studied the subject of +window fasteners--in fact, have invented three or four, which +possessed the extraordinary property of never letting the window up +or down when you wanted to move it. I recognize, in this window +fastener, my ideal. Marcus, you must patent it for Miss Minford. It +will be a sure fortune to her. I'll make the drawings and +specifications."</p> +<p>Marcus, sadly happy in the thought of rendering any service to +that young lady, readily chimed in with Tiffles's views, and said +that the patent should be obtained as soon as might be.</p> +<p>It was then agreed that Tiffles should call on Mrs. Crull, on +the following day, and inform Miss Minford of the important +discoveries which had been made by him--not mentioning the name of +Marcus Wilkeson--and should also offer to remove and dispose of the +neglected furniture, as the young lady might think best.</p> +<p>As this conclusion was arrived at, the door opened suddenly. The +old lady, being apprehensive, from the long stay of the two +visitors, that they were ransacking the rooms and hiding portable +articles about their persons, had overcome her superstitious +antipathy, and opened the door quickly, so that she might catch +them in the act. But they were only standing in the middle of the +room, earnestly talking to each other.</p> +<p>The old lady muttered an inaudible apology; and the two friends +hastened to take their departure.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="K_CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>OVERTOP FINDS A SENSIBLE WOMAN.</h3> +<br> +<p>Next morning, Mr. Wesley Tiffles, after an inexpensive breakfast +at a cheap restaurant in Chatham street, set out on his mission of +goodness. He was reduced to his last dollar, but felt opulent in +the possession of his diamond breastpin--that tower of moral +strength to the borrower. He whistled as he walked, and thought +what would be the best name for the new patent window fastener of +the future. "Union," "American," "Columbian," "Peoples'," +"Washington," "Ne Plus Ultra," and a score more, were turned over +and rejected. Finally he settled upon the "Cosmopolitan Window +Fastener," meaning that its destined field of usefulness was the +whole civilized globe. Patents for it could be and should be +obtained in England, France, Germany, Russia, and Spain.</p> +<p>While Wesley Tiffles was taking this rosy view of the +"Cosmopolitan Window Fastener," he stumbled upon Fayette Overtop, +Esq., who was walking briskly toward his office, and thinking over +a hard case in which his services had been secured the day +before.</p> +<p>The firm of Overtop & Maltboy had recently come into a small +but paying business, in this way: The release of Marcus Wilkeson +was generally supposed to have been effected, not by his innocence, +but by the skilful and professional, but unprincipled efforts of +his legal advisers. Their name was not unfavorably known among the +thieves and murderers of the city; and several individuals +belonging to those classes of society resolved to employ them when +they got into their next little difficulty. And, since the inquest, +another thing had greatly contributed to the prosperity of the +firm. We allude to the case of Slapman <i>vs</i>. Slapman.</p> +<p>This was an action for divorce, with alimony, brought by Mrs. +Grazella Jigbee Slapman against her husband, Ferdinand P. Slapman. +The ground upon which the separation was sought, was the continual +brutality of Mr. Slapman toward his wife.</p> +<p>It was the law and the custom, in cases where both parties to +the action were agreed to that arrangement, to turn over this +species of litigation to a referee, who took the testimony in +private, heard arguments of counsel, and rendered a decision +subject to the confirmation of the Supreme Court. The Court had +issued a standing order prohibiting all persons from publishing +(except with the consent of the parties to the action) any further +reports of the cases than a simple announcement of the decree, as +confirmed by the Court, for or against a divorce. This order was +put forth to protect the public from the contaminating example of +matrimonial infelicities; though we are not aware that the number +of divorce cases has materially decreased, or the standard of +public morality been greatly elevated in consequence thereof.</p> +<p>The case of Slapman <i>vs</i>. Slapman was on trial before a +referee, by mutual agreement of the parties. The newspapers did not +report it; but some of them kept hinting at it in an appetizing +way. The gentleman whose "gallantry, &c.," was the "remote +cause of the action," was described as "a rising young lawyer, who +distinguished himself in a recent inquest before Coroner ----, the +thrilling particulars of which are still fresh in the minds of our +readers;" or as a "young ornament of the legal profession, whose +office was not a hundred miles from the corner of Broadway and ---- +street" (the precise location of his office). One paper went so far +as to say, that the "triumph which this disciple of Coke had +achieved in the late <i>cause celebre</i>, was only to be equalled +by his invariable success in affairs of the heart, &c., +&c."</p> +<p>All this caused Fayette Overtop's name to be known by thousands +of people. Persons who were seeking divorces, reasoned, strangely +enough, that a man whose "gallantry, &c.," was the cause of a +divorce, could materially assist them in severing the matrimonial +bonds. Therefore they began to flock to him. He already had five +female and two male clients of this description.</p> +<p>When Tiffles stumbled against Fayette Overtop, he at once +invited his friend to go with him to Mrs. Crull's. His legal +knowledge (of which Tiffles, in common with the public, was +beginning to have a high opinion) might be of some service. Overtop +had been told by Marcus Wilkeson of the previous day's +transactions, and of Wesley Tiffles's intended visit to Miss +Minford; and he at once consented to accompany him.</p> +<p>On their way to Mrs. Crull's--whose residence had been +ascertained from the Directory--they passed Miss Pillbody's select +school. Tiffles suggested that it would be well to call on that +young lady, and pick up some intelligence of Miss Minford. She +might still be receiving lessons from Miss Pillbody; and might, +possibly, be in the house at that moment. Overtop also thought it +would not be a bad idea to call there. He had heard much from +Marcus Wilkeson in praise of Miss Pillbody, especially of her +sensible qualities. Being still in the active pursuit of a sensible +woman, he was moved with a real curiosity to see her.</p> +<p>The servant showed the two callers to the speckless little front +parlor; and, a minute afterward, Miss Pillbody, looking fresh and +neat, her narrow collar white and smooth, and every hair of her +heavy brown tresses in its place, made her appearance.</p> +<p>Miss Pillbody entered the room in that noiseless, sliding way, +which indicates a constitutional diffidence. Her eyelids +involuntarily contracted, so that she might see her callers on a +near approach to them. Fayette Overtop, marking her modest demeanor +and her short-sightedness, immediately announced his name and that +of his companion, and the object of their visit.</p> +<p>At the mention of his name, Miss Pillbody started. She had heard +of Fayette Overtop, Esq., through the newspapers, as counsel for +Marcus Wilkeson; but not as the philosophic friend of Mrs. Slapman. +In reply to questions about Miss Minford, she stated that that +interesting young pupil had not taken lessons from her since the +death of her father.</p> +<p>Miss Pillbody here indulged in a little artifice. She produced a +memorandum book, to see when Miss Minford took her last lesson; +and, in order that she might read distinctly, drew out her +eyeglasses, and adjusted them with a graceful movement of the arm +and hand. Overtop thought that she handled the eyeglasses in a most +ladylike manner; and that, when they were astride of her shapely +nose, they became her face wonderfully.</p> +<p>When Miss Pillbody had referred to the little memorandum book, +she gave one short look at Fayette Overtop. That gentleman, +conscious that his face was scrutinized, looked at the wall. Miss +Pillbody stole but one glance, and then shut the eyeglasses +prettily, and stuck them into an invisible pocket of her waist. She +had come to the conclusion that Mr. Overtop was a person of +dignified and intelligent appearance. And Mr. Overtop had settled +into the opinion that Miss Pillbody was a near approach to that +imagined paragon--a sensible woman.</p> +<p>Mr. Overtop was about to make a shrewd remark upon the great +superiority of private select schools over all public institutions +for the education of young ladies, when Miss Pillbody rose.</p> +<p>"Do you desire any other information, gentlemen?" said she.</p> +<p>"No, I thank you, Miss Pillbody," returned Overtop, who +interpreted her question to mean that a pupil was waiting for her +somewhere--which was true; for Mrs. Gipscon, a fat lady of +forty-eight, was taking her second grammar lesson in the back +parlor.</p> +<p>The two callers seized their hats.</p> +<p>"Could I intrust you with a message for Miss Minford, Mr. +Overtop?"</p> +<p>"With a thousand," said that gallant man.</p> +<p>"Please, then, give my love to her, and ask her to come round +and see me."</p> +<p>Mr. Overtop would have said that he always found it difficult to +carry a lady's love to another without keeping some himself; but +then he thought that this might be a little bold for a stray +caller. So he answered, "With pleasure."</p> +<p>The two visitors bowed, and Miss Pillbody bent her head +gracefully toward Mr. Overtop.</p> +<p>"What do you think of the schoolmarm?" asked Tiffles, when they +had got into the street.</p> +<p>Overtop did not like the phrase "schoolmarm." "I think Miss +Pillbody," said he, "is--a sensible woman."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="K_CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>INNOCENCE ON A SLIPPERY ROAD.</h3> +<br> +<p>Walking with the nervous and unreasonable quickness of city men, +they soon arrived at Mrs. Grail's. The good lady was sitting at one +of her front windows, sewing. As she looked into the street, her +face was seen to have a sad and thoughtful expression. She came to +the door in response to a sharp ring by Wesley Tiffles, who was +tentative of bellpulls. Mrs. Crull kept two servants, but she could +never get over the impulse to answer the door, when she was near +it.</p> +<p>Overtop explained that they were desirous of seeing Miss Minford +on important business.</p> +<p>"The poor, dear child!" exclaimed Mrs. Crull, in a broken voice. +"She is not here."</p> +<p>"Not here!" cried Overtop. "Where is she, then?"</p> +<p>"I don't know, sir; and that's what troubles me so." Here the +good Mrs. Crull began to twitch about the mouth. But she did not +cry. She had too much of the masculine element for that. Her whole +life was a struggle between the weakness of her feminine body and +the strong self-control of her manly soul, in which the latter, +after an effort, always came out victor.</p> +<p>Mrs. Crull then proceeded to explain, a little incoherently, +that she had taken Miss Minford to her house, the day after the +murder, and had asked the poor child to live with her, to be her +adopted daughter. Miss Minford had gladly accepted the offer, and +had stayed there until yesterday. During the last two or three +days, she had noticed that Miss Minford, or Pet, as she always +called her, was worried about something. She would not tell Mrs. +Crull what was the matter, but Mrs. Crull somehow guessed that it +was a love affair. She remembered the handsome, dissipated young +man at the inquest, and she had seen him standing at the corner +below her house, only two days before Miss Minford left.</p> +<p>"Left!" exclaimed Overtop, jumping at a conclusion. "Then that +villain has abducted and ruined her."</p> +<p>"It's bad enough, I fear," continued Mrs. Crull; "but perhaps +not so bad as that 'ere. Anyhow, I hopes not. I spoke to Pet about +that young man, and she looked as innocent as a spring lamb at me, +though she kind o' blushed when she denied having met him since the +trial. And, to do her justice, I don't think she had met him then, +though I sort o' suspeck she seen him from the window two or three +times--she had a habit of looking out o' the window--and that he +contrived to have a talk with her somewhere and somehow, the day +before she went away. And I think he must have had the cheek to +come into this very room" (Mrs. Crull had shown her visitors into +her front parlor), "because one o' my servants says that she heerd +a strange voice in the entry, and the door shut as if somebody had +gone out. When she come into the entry to see who it was, she saw +Pet hurrying into the parlor, and heerd her humming a tune. Pet +wasn't in the habit of humming tunes; and, the servant thought that +rather 'spicious. So do I--not of any wrong, mind you. I wouldn't +believe that till it was proved. But, to make a long story short, +here is the note that poor Pet left on my dressin' table. Read it. +I--I haven't got my spectacles."</p> +<p>The truth was, that Mrs. Crull's eyes were filling with tears, +and she could not have read the now familiar lines on that little +piece of paper even with the powerful aid of her spectacles.</p> +<blockquote>Monday Evening.<br> +DEAR MRS. CRULL:<br> +<br> +Please pardon me for what I have done. I knew you would not +consent to it, and so I did not tell you. I was afraid I should +become a burden to you; though you are too good-hearted to say so. +I have a nice place, and am earning my own living honestly. Do not +try to find me, but believe I will always be good, and worthy of +your love, and, some day, will repay you for all your kindness.<br> +<br> +With love and respect,<br> +PATTY MINFORD.</blockquote> +<p>"A very strange note!" murmured Overtop. "Young girls are not +apt to complain of being burdens, or to take such misanthropic +views of life. There is a man's hand in this. That wretch, Van +Quintem, jr., without a doubt. Did you never warn Miss Minford +against him?"</p> +<p>"Once," said Mrs. Crull, with a faint choke in her voice. "I had +noticed his glances toward her at the inquest, and I told her he +was a bad young man, and she must not allow him to speak to her in +the street, and that, if he should come to my house to see her, I +should shut the door in his face."</p> +<p>"And what did she say to that?"</p> +<p>"She said all she knew about him was, that he had saved her life +once. She couldn't forget that. Then I showed her how improper it +was in him to hide his own name from her, and what horrid holes +these gambling dens was which he goes to. I also p'inted out how +unfeelin' his conduct was to his poor old father."</p> +<p>"And what did she say to all that?"</p> +<p>"She nodded her head, and said, 'Yes, so it was;' but I see, +now, that all my talk didn't make no impression on her."</p> +<p>"The sum of it is," said Overtop, "that she loves this worthless +vagabond, and knew that you would not permit his visits to your +house. Therefore she has left you."</p> +<p>Mrs. Crull was a woman of firmness as well as affection. She +regretted that her opposition to this young man should have been +the means of driving Pet away. But she knew that she had done what +any prudent mother would have done for her own child.</p> +<p>"I'm sorry it has come to this," said she; "but I did it all for +the best, Heaven knows. Gen'lemen, we must find this child. But +how?"</p> +<p>Tiffles, being a man of infinite expedients, and accustomed to +solve problems for himself, and everybody else, at the shortest +notice, answered at once:</p> +<p>"<i>Not</i> by advertising for her, or putting the police on her +track. Young Van Quintem would take the alarm, and move her out of +town. She will go anywhere with him, if I mistake not, until she +finds him out better. Have you no clue to her whereabouts; or can +you think of any one that could give us any information?"</p> +<p>Mrs. Crull reflected. "Unless I am much mistaken," said she, "I +saw that tall, clean-looking boy, Bog, I believe they call him--you +remember him at the inquest--walking on t'other side o' the street, +two or three times since Pet come to live with me. He looked +sideways and kind o' sheepish at the house as he passed. I've a +notion that he was a lover of Pet's, too."</p> +<p>"He's the man, or boy, for us!" cried Tiffles. "Is in the +bill-posting business, and knows the town better than I do, if +anything. A shrewd fellow, judging from his looks; and, if he's in +love with Miss Minford, then he's sure never to tire of hunting her +up. He must disguise himself, and find young Van Quintem, and +follow him day and night, till he brings up at Miss Minford. That's +the shortest road. When Miss Minford has been found, then we will +consider what is to be done next."</p> +<p>Mrs. Crull and Overtop at once approved of this plan, and no +time was lost in putting it into execution.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="K_CHAPTER_V."></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>BOG'S OPEN SESAME.</h3> +<br> +<p>Bog was easily found, and gladly consented to do the work +allotted to him. It was agreed that he should conduct the search +alone, and in his own way; but that, after he had succeeded in +tracing Miss Minford to her place of concealment, he should send +word, without delay, to Mrs. Crull, and also to old Van Quintem, +whose advice upon the subject had been obtained. It was thought +that the reasoning and entreaties of the two together would win +back the poor girl from the path of danger which she was +unconsciously treading.</p> +<p>Bog disguised himself by putting on his old, discarded working +clothes; and, as he looked at his reflection in the glass, thought +how much truth there was in the maxim, that "fine feathers make +fine birds."</p> +<p>"Go, my good boy," old Van Quintem had said to him, in faltering +accents; "go among the gambling houses, and other dens of infamy, +and you will surely hear of my son."</p> +<p>Acting on this advice--which confirmed his own opinion--Bog +proceeded to visit the gambling houses on Broadway. Child of the +city as he was, he knew the locations of them all. His constant +travels about town, day and night, had made him a master of all +this knowledge, and much more of the sort, which is only useful +when, as in the case of this poor orphan boy, it serves to show +where evil must be avoided, not sought. Thus the pilot, taking his +vessel through Hellgate, profits by his knowledge of the rocks and +the shallows, to steer clear of all dangers, and come safely into +port.</p> +<p>Bog, before leaving his shop, had been provided with this decoy +note, written by the ingenious Wesley Tiffles in cunning imitation +of Miss Minford's handwriting. The long, elegant curves, and all +the delicate peculiarities of her chirography, taught by Miss +Pillbody, had been copied from the sample furnished by her note to +Mrs. Crull. It ran as follows:</p> +<blockquote>MR. VAN QUINTEM:<br> +<br> +DEAR SIR: Come to me at once, for I am in trouble.<br> +<br> +PET.</blockquote> +<p>The plan (Bog's contrivance all this) was to inquire at the +gambling houses where Mr. Van Quintem, jr., was most likely to be, +and, when he was found, to send this note in to him by a servant. +Bog, having delivered the note, was to withdraw to the sidewalk, +lie in ambush, till young Van Quintem came out, and then follow him +to Miss Minford's retreat. There he was to wait, and send a swift +messenger to Mrs. Crull and old Van Quintem. It was not known that +young Van Quintem had ever seen Miss Minford's handwriting; but, to +make the game sure, the note had been written with a skill worthy +of a counterfeiter, or that most dexterous of penmen, young Van +Quintem himself.</p> +<p>Bog commenced operations about three o'clock in the +afternoon--the hour when the gambler and debauchee, who have been +up all the previous night, are ready to begin their feverish life +again.</p> +<p>He first visited a snug establishment near the lower end of +Broadway. It was situated in the second story, over a nominal +exchange office, and was the favorite resort of down-town brokers, +who, having gambled on Wall street till the close of business +hours, dropped in to flirt with Fortune an hour or two before going +home to dinner. Sometimes their hour or two was protracted to six +o'clock next morning, when they staggered home to breakfast and a +curtain lecture together. This Temple of Faro was never +impertinently molested by the police; and it was a subject of +remark, among people who thought they had been robbed there, that +there was never a policeman within sight of the door.</p> +<p>In the hallway of the second story occupied by this gambling +saloon, were a number of doors, which the experienced eye of the +boy at once decided to be blinds, or, in other words, no doors at +all, but only imitations. The appearance of the second story was +that of a suite of unoccupied offices. Whoever rapped at these +blind doors, could obtain no admission.</p> +<p>At the end of the hallway, Bog came upon a long window, which +was painted white on the inside. He saw, by a glance at the grooves +of the lower sash, that it was often raised. There was a boot-worn +hollow on the floor beneath the window. The unusual length of the +lower sash, and the nearness of the sill to the floor, would permit +persons to step into the room easily when the window was +raised.</p> +<p>Bog rapped thrice at this window. He had a vague idea--derived +from reading, perhaps--that three raps were an open sesame to +mysterious rooms the world over. The last rap had not ceased to +vibrate on the pane of glass, when the window was suddenly shoved +up, as if by somebody waiting on the other side.</p> +<p>A negro of intense blackness stood revealed. He took a hasty +inventory of Bog's old clothes, and then said, "Clare out, now!" He +commenced to close the window.</p> +<p>"I was told to give you a half dollar," said Bog, bethinking +himself of a powerful expedient, "if you would find out whether Mr. +Van Quintem was here, and hand him a letter."</p> +<p>The negro's eyes dilated, and his thick lips wreathed into a +grin.</p> +<p>"Mr. Fan Squintem--a little feller with a big black mustache? I +knows him. Dunno wether he's in, 'L see fur ye." The negro paused. +The interrogatory, "Where's your half dollar?" could be plainly +seen in his great eyes.</p> +<p>"Here it is," said Bog.</p> +<p>The negro grinned his satisfaction, pocketed the coin, +disappeared through another door from which there exhaled an odor +of cigars and mint juleps, and returned, in a minute, with the +intelligence, "He a'n't in, Mister. P'a'ps you want to leave some +word for him?"</p> +<p>Bog had no time to lose. He said, "Nothing partickler," and +hurried off, leaving the negro to puzzle over his half dollar.</p> +<p>At the next gambling saloon, near the junction of Broadway and +Park Row, Bog simplified his method of operations. Before making +any inquiry of the servant who answered his triple rap, he thrust a +half dollar at him, and then put his question. This plan saved +surly looks and explanations. Mr. Van Quintem was a well-known +patron of the establishment, but had not been there for a week: +which was rather strange, the man politely added.</p> +<p>Bog continued his search, walking as fast as he could. In second +stories, in third stories, in fourth stories, in the rear of ground +floors, in one or two basements, among all the more fashionable +gambling dens, which, at that period, lay between Fulton and Tenth +streets, he picked his way. His new system had drawn heavily upon +his stock of loose silver, and he had but two half dollars left. +The question now was, how to spend them?--for Bog knew of no more +resorts of gamblers on Broadway; and there were none on any of the +side streets which a man of young Van Quintem's style would be +likely to frequent. It was the edge of evening.</p> +<p>The boy walked up and down between Tenth and Fourteenth streets, +thinking what it would be best to do next. He kept a sharp lookout +at the passers by, hoping to see the object of his search. He +paused to rest himself a few minutes in the doorway of a +photographic gallery; and, while there, observed two young men, +with sickly complexions and bloodshot eyes, coming up the street. +He recognized them as young men whom he had often seen issuing from +gambling places in the small hours of the morning. They were +talking briskly, and Bog pricked up his ears.</p> +<p>"The very d----l's in the cards lately," said the whitest-faced +of the two.</p> +<p>"Luck must have a turn," said the other. "By ----" (with a +horrid oath), "suppose we try Van's?"</p> +<p>"Van's? Where's that?"</p> +<p>"Why, the concern just opened on the corner above. The biggest +kind of suppers there, they say."</p> +<p>"All right," said the other, wearily. "We'll try Van's."</p> +<p>Van is a common prefix of names in New York; but Bog needed no +further assurance that this Van belonged to Quintem. The opening of +a new gambling saloon under his name (with some wealthy backer +furnishing the capital, as is usually the case) would explain why +young Van Quintem had not been seen at any of his old haunts on +Broadway for a fortnight past.</p> +<p>Bog followed his guides at a short distance. After proceeding +two squares, they stopped in front of a stylish old mansion, and, +after a furtive look up and down and across the street, ascended +the steps, and opened the door. As they did so, Bog swiftly passed +the house, and saw that a muscular servant stood within the entry, +for the obvious purpose of preventing the intrusion of persons not +wanted there. The large diamond breastpins and depraved faces of +the two young men were their passports, and were +<i>viséd</i> without hesitation by the diplomatic +attendant.</p> +<p>Bog took a half dollar in his hand, advanced to the door, which +was now closed, and boldly opened it.</p> +<p>The athletic guardian of the place, being confronted with this +audacious youth in old clothes, put on a commanding look, and +said:</p> +<p>"Well, sir, and what the d----l do you want here?"</p> +<p>"Only to give you half a dollar, as I was told to," said Bog, +"and to ask if Mr. Van Quintem was in. Note from a lady, sir; +that's all." Bog winked.</p> +<p>The servant smiled, and took the coin.</p> +<p>"He's in," was the reply.</p> +<p>"Then please hand this to him, and say as how it's 'mportant. No +arnser wanted."</p> +<p>The servant received the note, and sententiously remarked, +"Consider it done;" whereon the boy Bog hurriedly retreated, and +hid himself in a doorway nearly opposite. He had hardly done this, +before the door of the house opened again, and disclosed the man +whom he longed to see. The letter was crumpled in his hand, and his +pale face betrayed agitation. He cast wary looks in all directions, +and then descended to the sidewalk, and walked fast down Broadway. +Bog emerged from his seclusion, and followed him at a distance, +always keeping somebody between him and the object of his +pursuit.</p> +<p>At the corner of Astor Place, young Van Quintem stopped; and Bog +came to a halt also, half a block behind.</p> +<p>The next minute, the Eighth-street stage, going up, approached +the corner at a rapid rate, as if the driver were hurrying home to +his supper. There were but few persons in the stage.</p> +<p>Young Van Quintem hailed the conveyance, jumped in before it +could stop, and the driver whipped up his horses to an increased +speed. Bog was tired, and he knew not how far he might have to +follow the stage at a full trot. He resolved upon his course +instantly. Turning the corner of Clinton Place, he ran up that side +of the triangular block, and met the stage. He pulled his old cap +farther over his eyes, to prevent the possibility of recognition by +young Van Quintem, and, gliding swiftly behind the stage, when he +was sure that the driver was not looking, hooked on to the step +behind, just as he had done a thousand times when he was a smaller +boy.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="K_CHAPTER_VI."></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>TRACKED.</h3> +<br> +<p>Young Van Quintem sat at the farther end of the stage, absorbed +in his own thoughts. His thin lips moved restlessly at times, as if +he were arguing to himself. In his hand he still held the crumpled +note. Twice he unfolded it, and read the contents carefully; then +crushed it in his hand again. Bog watched him through the window of +the stage door--not looking straight at him, but with that side +vision with which we trace the outline of faint comets. He was +aware that young Van Quintem looked at him twice suspiciously, and +then settled back into his own meditations. Bog felt safe in his +disguise--or rather his original and native dress.</p> +<p>When the stage stopped to take in or let out passengers, Bog +slipped from his perch, and hid himself from the driver's sight. +Long experience had taught him how to render himself invisible to +that vindictive personage.</p> +<p>The stage rolled on to the Greenpoint ferry, dropping all its +passengers by the way, excepting the pursued and the pursuer. It +was now evident that young Van Quintem was going to Greenpoint.</p> +<p>The ferry boat was not in, and would not be in, and ready to +leave again, for ten minutes. Bog, having seen his game enter the +ferry house, thereby conclusively proving his intention to cross +the river, slipped into a boiler yard near the ferry. There, +against a post, he scrawled with a stump of pencil, on the back of +two playbills (which he had brought with him for stationery), two +notes, as follows:</p> +<blockquote>Tuesday Evening, about 8 o'clock.<br> +<br> +Please come to the ferry house on the Greenpoint side, and wait +there till I send for you. BOG.</blockquote> +<p>These notes he addressed to Mr. Van Quintem, sen., and Mrs. +Crull, at their residences. The next step was to find a boy to +deliver them. Bog did not have to wait long for that. Boys of the +ragged and city-wise variety may be picked up at any corner of New +York at any hour of the day or night.</p> +<p>Another Eighth-street stage, which came rattling toward the +ferry, brought a fine specimen of the juvenile vagrant and +dare-devil, seated on the step. Bog looked out of the boiler yard, +and hailed him with a shrill whistle, formed by thrusting two +fingers in the mouth, and blowing fiercely. The boy recognized the +signal of his ragged tribe, slid off the seat, and came running to +where Bog was standing. As he drew near, Bog recognized him as a +trusty lad whom he had employed as file leader in a walking +advertisement procession, several weeks before.</p> +<p>"Wot yer want, hey?" asked this youth.</p> +<p>"Know me?" asked Bog.</p> +<p>"Know ye? No. Yer a'n't one of our fellers."</p> +<p>"Look again." Bog raised his ragged cap, and smoothed his hair +back.</p> +<p>"Why, it's Mr. Bogert. Cuss me if it a'n't!"</p> +<p>"Just so, Bill. I'm trying to catch a chap that owes me +something, you see. He's in the ferry house there, waiting for the +boat. I'm going to follow him to Greenpoint, and find out where he +lives. Then I'll have him arrested. Now, there are two people I +would like to have as witnesses, when I track him to his house. The +names are written here; and what I want of you is, to deliver these +notes to them as soon as you can, and tell them to come right away. +Will you do it, Bill?"</p> +<p>"Won't I, Mr. Bogert? Jest tell me the names, streets, and +numbers, cos I can't read handwritin' very well, yer know."</p> +<p>Bog read the addresses, and, at the same time, produced a +quarter from his fast-diminishing stock of silver. "Take that," +said he.</p> +<p>"No yer don't!" said the eccentric youth. "You've done some good +turns to me. Bill Fish don't forget his friends, I can tell yer. +Here goes, now."</p> +<p>Bill Fish snatched the notes from Bog's hand, and ran down the +street after a stage which had just left the ferry house on its +down trip. Bog saw him seat himself on the step, with his head well +hid from the driver, and sent a parting whistle after him, to which +Bill Fish responded with an enormous grin and a jerk of thumb over +shoulder at his natural enemy on the box.</p> +<p>"I'll give Bill Fish a good job, some day," mused Bog. "Now for +the scoundrel."</p> +<p>The boat had come in. Bog watched from his hiding place until he +saw young Van Quintem step on board, and disappear in the ladies' +cabin. Then he hastened to the ferry house, paid his fare, and +entered. To avoid being seen by young Van Quintem, he took a seat +in that repository of stale tobacco-smoke called the "Gentlemen's +Cabin."</p> +<p>At the Greenpoint landing, Bog watched young Van Quintem's +departure from the boat, and stole out, taking the opposite side of +the street. It was then quite dark, and, with reasonable +precaution, there was no fear that the pursued would see him.</p> +<p>The young profligate walked up the street several blocks, and +turned into a side street, occupied by residences, with small shops +and groceries at the corners, and occasionally at intervals between +them. Suddenly, Bog observed him looking around, as if to be sure +that he was not watched. Bog slipped behind a large tree. Having +apparently come to the conclusion that nobody was observing him, +young Van Quintem strode on rapidly a few rods farther, and then +made a sharp turn into a neat little millinery shop, which stood +quite remote from all other places of business.</p> +<p>When the young man's form had disappeared, Bog ran at the top of +his speed to a point opposite the shop, where he could readily see +what was going on within.</p> +<p>The door was open and a strong light from the interior shone +across the street. There was no tree or awning post, or other +object, on the sidewalk, behind which he could conceal himself. +Exactly opposite to the shop, and in the full blaze of its light, +was a high door shutting on a small alley way. Bog tried the latch, +and found the door locked. With instant decision, he caught the top +of the door, and vaulted over it, trusting to fortune not to be +caught on the inside. Applying his eye to the keyhole, he observed +the following condition of things:</p> +<p>The shop was a milliner's, beyond all question. It was filled +with articles of ladies' wear, whose names and uses were all +unknown to Bog; while outside, in the air, dangled various patterns +of skirts which had just then come into fashion; and the public and +obtrusive exhibition of which is one of the singularities of our +rapid civilization.</p> +<p>Behind the counter stood one of those thin ladies who have +dedicated themselves to the millinery and a single life. At that +distance, she looked to Bog like a perfectly respectable woman, +with a sharp eye to business. Farther on, toward the end of the +same counter, was the angel of his heart, Patty Minford. Her +appearance, pale, and therefore more touchingly beautiful than +ever, threw his senses into that sweet flutter which is the proof +and mystery of love. He repeated the vow which he had made to +himself, and dreamed of fulfilling a thousand times, to save her +from harm at the risk of his life. She was folding up articles on +the counter, and packing them into little boxes, and did not look +toward young Van Quintem. Bog thought this a good sign.</p> +<p>The young man leaned over the counter, and addressed some words +to her, to which her lips moved as if in reply, while her eyes were +still downcast on her work. He then smoothed out the crumpled note +which he had carried in his hand, and placed it before her. She +started in amazement, as she remarked the close imitation of her +handwriting; and, having read it, shook her head with a wondering +air. Young Van Quintem's inexpressive face assumed a look of +astonishment, and he instantly walked to the door, and peered up +and down the street, and opposite. Then he nodded to Miss Minford, +as if to excuse himself for a moment, and, darting out of the shop, +walked rapidly to the street below, and then to the one above, +passing Bog's hiding place on that side of the street, and causing +that youth to remove his eye from the keyhole for fear of +detection. When he had made this reconnoissance, and satisfied +himself that there was no spy about, he returned to the shop. In +the mean time, some pantomime had been going on between Miss +Minford and the shopwoman, which Bog interpreted to mean that Miss +Minford appealed to her for protection, and that the shopwoman +promised it. This was followed by the retiring of the young lady +through a door in the rear of the shop, and the locking of the door +by her female friend, who put the key in her pocket.</p> +<p>Young Van Quintem came in, and was surprised not to see Patty. +The shopwoman explained, with a gesture, that she had gone up +stairs, whereon he consulted his watch, and then sat down in an +armchair in front of the counter, as if with the determination of +waiting for her.</p> +<p>Bog judged, from all the circumstances, that Miss Minford would +not again show herself for some time; that young Van Quintem would +wait, in the hope of seeing her; and that the shopwoman could be +depended on as her friend to the last. He therefore concluded that +he might safely spend time to go to the ferry house, and procure +the company of old Van Quintem and Mrs. Crull, who had probably +reached the rendezvous. Watching for an opportunity when the young +man's back was turned, Bog lightly vaulted from his hiding place, +and noiselessly ran down the street.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="K_CHAPTER_VII."></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3>FOUND AND LOST.</h3> +<br> +<p>When he arrived at the ferry house, the boat was coming in, with +his venerable accomplices on board. Upon receiving her cue from the +faithful Bill Fish, Mrs. Crull entered her carriage (which had been +in readiness for her since Bog started out on his search), and was +driven to Mr. Van Quintem's. The old gentleman, who was sitting in +his study, with his light overcoat and hat on, prepared for any +journey, took the spare seat in the carriage, and, in less than +twenty-five minutes, by fast driving and the timely cooperation of +the ferry boat, they were at the appointed spot.</p> +<p>"Have you found her, you dear Bog?" asked Mrs. Crull, +breathless.</p> +<p>Bog answered "Yes," and that Mrs. Crull should see her in five +minutes. That lady then assisted him into the carriage, and kissed +him on the forehead in a motherly way, which would have astonished +the sedate family coachman, if he had not been entirely used to +Mrs. Crull's eccentricities.</p> +<p>"My good boy," said old Van Quintem, in a trembling voice, "are +you sure we are not too late--quite sure?"</p> +<p>"Sure!" said Bog.</p> +<p>"Thank God! thank God!" murmured the old gentleman. Then he +looked with a strange interest upon the honest and intelligent face +of the lad. He was contrasting the history of the poor boy, which +he had learned from Mrs. Crull, with that of his abandoned son.</p> +<p>The carriage was stopped, by the order of Bog (who calmly took +charge of the whole proceedings), at the corner of the street below +the shop; and the party (excepting the driver) walked slowly toward +the scene of interest. Old Van Quintem's increasing infirmities +compelled him to lean for support on the arm of Mrs. Crull, and +also with greater and more confiding weight, on that of Bog.</p> +<p>As the party entered the shop, young Van Quintem was sitting +with his head turned toward the door by which Miss Minford had +vanished, savagely biting his finger nails. He wheeled in his +chair, and confronted the intruders.</p> +<p>"What the ---- are you doing here?" he cried to his father.</p> +<p>"We are here to save a young girl from ruin, and you from +another crime," said the old gentleman, greatly agitated, and +leaning with his whole weight, now, on Bog's arm.</p> +<p>"The ---- you are! And you have brought along an old woman, and +a boy that looks like a pickpocket, to help you."</p> +<p>The phrase "old woman" stirred up Mrs. Crull. She left the old +gentleman's side, and advanced to within a yard of the profligate. +"Old as I am," said she, "I'm strong enough to spank such a +white-livered, broken-down puppy as you are. But I'll leave you to +the hands of the law. It's a long lane that hasn't any turning, +remember; and you'll pull up at the gallows at last. That's some +comfort!"</p> +<p>Mrs. Crull here became conscious that it was highly impolite to +lose her temper, and she fell back to the support of her old +friend. Young Van Quintem laughed at her, showing his white teeth +unpleasantly.</p> +<p>"Ah, I recognize you now," he continued, looking maliciously at +the boy Bog. "You are the young thief that tracked me here, are +you? I'll settle with you now."</p> +<p>He sprang from his chair, and strode toward the lad. He was met +halfway by Bog, whom the insulting epithet had stung to the +quick.</p> +<p>A foe met halfway is half vanquished. A single glance at Bog's +clear, courageous eye, and his sinewy proportions, assured young +Van Quintem that he had more than his match.</p> +<p>"This--this is no place for a row," he faltered. "I'll attend to +you, some time, in the street."</p> +<p>"I shall always be ready for you," said Bog, smiling at this +pusillanimous postponement--which is a mild way of making a clear +backout.</p> +<p>Here the attention of all was called off by the appearance of +Miss Minford. The quick ear of the milliner had caught her footstep +on the stairs, coming down. She unlocked the door, and the +beautiful object of their search stood before them. She was very +pale, and tears dimmed her eyes. Mrs. Crull flew toward her, and +the poor girl fell on her breast, and cried as if her heart would +break.</p> +<p>Good Mrs. Crull helped her to a sofa, and sat down, and strained +her young friend closely to her bosom, "Be calm," said she, "dear +child!"</p> +<p>Old Van Quintem and Bog looked on with sad interest. The young +villain stood in a corner, gnawing his finger nails, and revolving +schemes of vengeance. All waited for Miss Minford to become calm +before any explanation was sought.</p> +<p>Under the soothing caresses of Mrs. Crull, the young girl soon +became comparatively tranquil. With her head still pillowed on the +broad bosom of her protectress, she made a broken statement to the +following effect, in response to the tender questionings of that +lady:</p> +<p>She said that she had no thought of leaving the house of her +dear friend, until he had told her how much better it would be to +earn her own living at some easy and pleasant trade, than to be +dependent on one who was not a relative. He had also told her that, +one day, when he was passing the house, he heard Mr. Crull scolding +because Mrs. Crull had brought a girl home to be her companion.</p> +<p>At this point, Mrs. Crull turned furiously toward the pale +offender. "You miserable wretch!" said she. "I only wish my dear +old man was here, to thrash you soundly. Why, he loved this little +darling almost as much as I did. Besides, I'm the mistress of our +house; and he never meddles with my affairs. Go on, dear Pet."</p> +<p>Pet then stated that he (she never called him by his name) had +promised to get a place for her, and that she, supposing he was a +true friend, had accepted the offer of his aid. One day, when they +had met by appointment (which was very wrong, she admitted, with a +fresh torrent of tears), he told her that he had found a nice +situation for her in a milliner's shop in Greenpoint, and that she +must come right away, or she would lose the chance. She went home, +and packed up her few things in a handkerchief, and came with him +here in a carriage. She came directly here, and had not been out of +Mrs. Wopping's sight since then. Mrs. Wopping had treated her very, +very kindly.</p> +<p>Mrs. Wopping, who had been lying in wait for her opportunity, +here spoke up. She was a respectable woman, she said, thank God! +and had been in the business for fifteen years, in New York. They +could inquire about her in Canal street, where she had served her +apprenticeship; in Division street, where she had been a forewoman; +and in Grand street, where she had kept a shop. In an evil hour, +she had been persuaded to start a millinery establishment in +Greenpoint; and a very bad time she had had of it. All she knew +about this unfortunate affair, was this: The young man, there, had +called on her, a few days ago, and said that he wanted to do a +favor for an orphan girl, who was a distant relative of his. She +was poor, he said, but proud--no strange thing, Mrs. Wopping +believed--and would not accept anything directly from him.</p> +<p>"Therefore," said Mrs. Wopping, "he wanted to arrange with me to +give her some easy work to do, enough to make her think she was +earning her own living, and he would pay me her board, and give me +twenty shillings a week to hand to her as her wages. By this plan, +I could get a boarder at a fair price, and the services of a young +lady to wait on the shop for nothing. Very imprudently, I +consented, but not before I had made the young man there swear to +Heaven that his intentions were honorable. This he did in the most +solemn manner. I loved the dear girl at first sight, and determined +to watch over her, and keep her from harm. I had a little sister +once--long since dead--that much resembled her. I should add, that, +though Miss Minford seemed to think very well of the young man +there, when he brought her here, she became quite suspicious of him +yesterday--he was here all yesterday afternoon--and refused to ride +out with him, though he had brought a handsome carriage for her. I +advised her not to go."</p> +<p>"Thank you, good Mrs. Wopping!" said Mrs. Crull, shaking that +lady by the hand, "you have been a true friend to our dear child; +and I'll order my bonnets from you for the futer. Virtue shouldn't +always be its own reward.</p> +<p>"You see, now, my darling," continued Mrs. Crull, "what a +scoundrel you have escaped from. Will you be my adopted child +forever? Speak, my precious!"</p> +<p>Poor Pet threw her soft white arms around the thick neck of her +protectress, and cried for joy. "Dear, dear mother!" she +murmured.</p> +<p>There was a pause, daring which everybody but young Van Quintem +had occasion to wipe their eyes. He paced up and down, his brow +wrinkled, and inextinguishable hate flashing from his eyes.</p> +<p>"Well, sir," said his father, calmly, "what atonement have you +to make for this outrage?"</p> +<p>"You're a ---- old fool, and that's all I've got to say."</p> +<p>"Heaven be praised that his poor mother was not spared for this +sorrow!" was the tranquil reply.</p> +<p>"Curse you--and the old woman's memory. You're always making a +fuss about her."</p> +<p>The benignant expression of old Van Quintem's face vanished +instantly, and a just rage gleamed on every feature. "Unnatural +son! monster! fiend!" he cried, raising his hands aloft; "at last +you have gone too far. Leave my presence, sir, and +never--never--let me see your face again. I say to you, and before +these witnesses, that I disown and disinherit you +forever--forever--forever!"</p> +<p>The coward son could not endure that terrible visitation of +parental wrath, and fled, without another word, from the shop.</p> +<p>Old Van Quintem fell exhausted upon the strong shoulder of the +boy Bog.</p> +<p>"Henceforth," said he, "you--you--shall be my son."</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="images/400.png" width="60%" alt=""><br> +<b>FATHER AND SON.</b></p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BOOK_TWELFTH."></a>BOOK TWELFTH.</h2> +<h3>SPECULATIONS--PECUNIARY AND MATRIMONIAL.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="L_CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>THE "COSMOPOLITAN WINDOW FASTENER."</h3> +<br> +<p>The "Cosmopolitan Window Fastener" was a veritable success. For +the first time in his life, Mr. Wesley Tiffles's theories had been +demonstrated by results. Had the "Cosmopolitan Window Fastener" +been his own invention, and disposed of for his own behoof, he +would have abandoned it long before its merits had been fairly +tested, and tried some other of the myriad schemes that floated +through his brain. But the profits of the "Cosmopolitan Window +Fastener" went to another; and this was the secret of Wesley +Tiffles's persistent (and therefore successful) exertions.</p> +<p>This was his plan of operations: In the first place, from the +funds supplied by Marcus Wilkeson, he procured a patent for the +invention. In the second place, he put an advertisement a column +long in every daily paper--six insertions paid in advance--and +handed a highly polished brass model of the invention to the +editor, with a request to notice, if perfectly agreeable. The just +and logical result followed. Instead of the ten-line paragraph with +which patent churns and washing machines are ordinarily turned +loose on society, the "Cosmopolitan Window Fastener" received +notices so long and ornate, that it was quite impossible to derive +from them a correct idea of the matchless simplicity of the +invention.</p> +<p>Having thus roused public curiosity, Tiffles, in the third +place, took an office on Broadway, and put up a large sign +inscribed in gilt capitals, "The Cosmopolitan Window Fastener +Manufacturing Co." From this <i>pou sto</i>, Archimedes-like, he +commenced to move the world of house owners. This he accomplished +by the following manoeuvre: He caused double-leaded advertisements, +under the head of special notices, to be inserted in all the +papers, informing the public that it would be utterly impossible to +supply the demand for the "Cosmopolitan Window Fastener," and that, +therefore, it would be useless to send in orders. The Company were +employing all the resources of two large manufacturing +establishments; but it was evident that these would fail to meet +the extraordinary and totally unexpected demand for this +indispensable protection against burglars--this moral safeguard, as +it might not inappropriately be called, of civilized homes. The +Company had made every effort, but without success, to secure a +force of skilled workmen equal to the emergency. Justice to their +customers in all parts of the country, compelled the Company to +announce that no orders received after that date could be filled +under two months. Under these remarkable--they might say, in some +respects, disagreeable--circumstances, they begged leave to throw +themselves on the indulgence of a generous public.</p> +<p>These notices were put forth not only in the form of newspaper +advertisements, but as placards and handbills, which were stuck all +over the city, and thrown into all the stages, falling like autumn +leaves into the laps of passengers. This was the coöperative +work of the boy Bog, who, though adopted by old Van Quintem as his +son and heir, had not yet given up the bill-sticking business, but, +on the contrary, had increased it, and now had a practical monopoly +of it in the city, with branches in the suburbs. Bog would not eat +the bread of idleness--and so he had modestly told Mr. Van +Quintem--and that fine old gentleman had patted him on the back, +and told him that there was genuine Dutch blood in him.</p> +<p>Bogert & Co. now employed a hundred lads; and Bog's +department of labor was the general planning of operations, and the +receiving and disbursement of the money--and a very nice and +agreeable department it was. It enabled Bog to dress neatly, and +keep his hands clean--two points upon which he was now extremely +fastidious. Bog was growing tall, manly, and handsome. He was also +showing a great improvement in his grammar and pronunciation--the +fruit of diligent attendance at the evening school.</p> +<p>The public, being thus continually informed that orders for the +"Cosmopolitan Window Fastener" could not possibly be filled under +two months, very naturally began to send in orders for the +invaluable invention, to be filled after that period. Every mail +brought hundreds of them from all parts of the country. The +Company--that is, Wesley Tiffles--sat at their desk in the Broadway +office from, nine to three o'clock, exhibiting the window fastener +to hundreds of visitors, and receiving orders rather as a matter of +favor to the customer than to the Company.</p> +<p>At the end of a month, when orders to the amount of nearly +seventy-five thousand dollars had been received--every Northern and +Western State being extensively represented on the books--the +Company issued another advertisement, to the effect that, owing to +the overwhelming pressure of business, they were willing to dispose +of patent rights for two of the States.</p> +<p>There was a rush of applicants, to all of whom the Company could +truthfully exhibit large and genuine orders from all the States. +The rights for two States were readily sold, and the Company then +found that they could spare one more for a fair compensation; and +so on, until every State in the Union had been disposed of, and the +Company had not an inch of United States territory left. Not only +this, but liberal purchasers were found for Cuba, Canada, South +America, England, France, Germany, Russia, and all the countries of +the Continent.</p> +<p>In three months, the Company had disposed of their entire +interest, and realized about one hundred thousand dollars cash. +This sum Tiffles had faithfully paid over, as fast as received, to +Fayette Overtop, who not only represented Marcus Wilkeson (unknown +to Pet), but was Pet's own attorney and agent. By Fayette Overtop +it was placed in bank, credited to Miss Patty Minford, and subject +to her order alone.</p> +<p>Thus it happened that the poor inventor had not toiled in vain +for the child that he loved.</p> +<p>Tiffles--with that strange unselfishness sometimes found in men +of his class--had not thought of or desired any compensation for +his services, other than the payment of all the bills incurred in +the operation. The pleasure which he took in manipulating the +public, and seeing his labors crowned with success, was the only +reward that he wished for.</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson, however, as soon as he saw that Tiffles was +actually about to perform the amazing feat of raising money, +determined, as an act of common justice, to insist upon his +receiving twenty per cent. of the total. Tiffles flatly refused, at +first, saying (which was true) that he could work a great deal +better if he had no personal interest in the scheme; but yielded, +at length, to the earnest solicitations of Marcus, backed by the +emphatic declaration of Miss Minford (through her attorney), that +she would not touch a penny of the money unless he consented. So, +when the affairs of the Company were wound up, Tiffles found +himself the possessor of twenty thousand dollars--a sum whose +existence in a concrete form he had always secretly disbelieved. +And Tiffles's first act was to settle up all his outstanding +debts.</p> +<p>The unexpected acquisition of this immense sum imparted a charm +to every object in life except Miss Philomela Wilkeson.</p> +<p>Poor Miss Wilkeson was quick to discern the change in Tiffles's +manner toward her. His calls were as frequent as ever, but were +exclusively on her half-brother, and had no side bearing in her +direction. He no longer lingered in the entry to converse with her; +and flatly refused her invitation to take a glass of wine in the +dining room. Most ominous of signs, he did not press her hand in +the least, when he took it in his own. His voice was no longer +winning, but harsh and neglectful. Indifference brooded in the +heart of the monster. The worst of it was, that he had been so +cautious and noncommittal in his declarations, that she could not +upbraid him for his perfidy. With a cold calculation worthy of a +demon, he had made love in the pantomimic way, and eschewed written +or verbal communications of an erotic nature. No jury could have +muleted him one cent for damages in a breach-of-promise case, and +he knew it.</p> +<p>While Wesley Tiffles slipped off Miss Wilkeson like a loose +glove, she might as well have tried to divest herself of her +natural cuticle as to banish all thoughts of him. Miss Wilkeson was +accustomed to allude mysteriously to certain sentimental affairs of +her youth. In confidential moments, her friends had been favored +with shadowy reminiscences of a romantic past. But truth compels us +to state that Miss Wilkeson had never been the recipient of that +delicate and awkward thing known as a proposal, and that she had +never been kissed by man or boy since she wore long dresses. Hence +the magnified importance which she attached to that kiss which, in +a moment of reckless but cheap gallantry, Wesley Tiffles, on one +fatal evening, had impressed upon her withered hand. She loved the +destroyer of her peace with the pent-up energies of forty +years.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="L_CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>MIDDLE-AGED CUPID.</h3> +<br> +<p>Being in ignorance of Tiffles's sudden fortune, she was at a +loss how to explain his defection. She conjectured all things, and +finally settled down to the conclusion that he was a coy young man, +and had not been sufficiently encouraged by her. She remembered +instances where he had exhibited signs of ardor--in one case so far +as beginning to slip a hand around her waist--and she had repelled +him. He was evidently waiting for some marked encouragement. How +foolishly prudish she had been!</p> +<p>One evening, as Wesley Tiffles was passing through the hall to +the door, after a rattling hour with the three bachelors, he was +confronted by Miss Wilkeson, who chanced to leave the front parlor +on a journey up stairs at that moment. She was dressed in a light +silk, and her hair was carefully braided, and her face had a pink +color in some parts, which contrasted well with the pallor in other +parts; and her glass had told her that she was looking uncommonly +youthful and charming. She had carefully studied her part, which +was to be a bold one, throwing off all reserve.</p> +<p>"Good evening, Mr. Tiffles," said she, promptly offering her +hand.</p> +<p>He took it with unsqueezing indifference. She had expected +that.</p> +<p>"Mr. Tiffles," said she, with an air of youthful raillery, "you +are a naughty man, and I had an idea of not speaking to you +again."</p> +<p>"Naughty!" said Tiffles, astonished. "How?"</p> +<p>"Why, you have hardly been civil to me, of late. I do believe +you wouldn't speak, or shake hands with me, if I didn't always set +the example." This in a half-complaining, half-laughing way.</p> +<p>It suddenly flashed upon Tiffles that he had been, for some +time, rather neglectful of the lady. It also forcibly occurred to +him that it was wise policy to be on good terms, at all times, with +the mistress of the house; and such was Miss Wilkeson's present +position. He therefore clutched her hand again, gave it a faint +squeeze, and said that he apologized a million times for his +rudeness; but the fact was, he had so much business on hand, that +he had been turned into a perfect bear, he supposed. He playfully +challenged Miss Wilkeson to step into the parlor and take a glass +of wine, and he would show her that he was not the brute she +fancied.</p> +<p>Miss Wilkeson laughingly accepted the challenge. "But I do +believe," she added, "that it is only the glass of wine you care +for. Now tell me, Mr. Tiffles, aren't you a woman hater?"</p> +<p>"When a man is asked that question, categorically, by a woman, +his most effective answer is to make love to her out of hand. +Tiffles was not prepared to do this in the present case, but he was +willing to pay compliments to any extent.</p> +<p>"Ah, Miss Wilkeson, there you do me great injustice," said he, +with his pleasantest of laughs. "I drink this glass of wine to +'lovely woman,'" with a nod at Miss Wilkeson.</p> +<p>Miss Wilkeson giggled, and took a fly's sip from the brim of her +glass.</p> +<p>Tiffles heaved a sigh. "We bachelors are poor, unhappy fellows, +really to be pitied."</p> +<p>"You are horrid creatures--you know you are--and deserve no pity +from us!" Miss Wilkeson played her frisky, juvenile part +admirably.</p> +<p>"So charming, and yet so cruel!" said Tiffles, uttering the +first preposterous compliment that he thought of.</p> +<p>"You flatterer!" said Miss Wilkeson, beating a breeze toward him +with her fan.</p> +<p>Tiffles, observing that matters were coming to a crisis, paused. +Miss Wilkeson interpreted his silence as another attack of +timidity. Time was valuable to her, and this kind of conversation +might be kept up all night, and amount to nothing. She resolved +upon her final <i>coup</i>.</p> +<p>"Oh! oh! Mr. Tiffles, what--what is the matter?" She looked +wildly about her.</p> +<p>"The matter! What matter?" exclaimed that gentleman, little +suspecting what was to happen.</p> +<p>"The wine--the warm weather--something--oh! oh!"</p> +<p>"With these inexplicable remarks, Miss Wilkeson dropped her fan, +uttered a slight but sharp scream, and fell back in her chair, like +a withered flower on a broken stalk.</p> +<p>"By thunder, she has fainted!" said the excited Tiffles. He had +never been in a similar dilemma, and did not know what to do. He +had heard tickling of the feet highly recommended in such cases; +but that was obviously impracticable. A dash of cold water in the +face was also said to afford instant relief; but there was no water +at hand. "I must call for help," said he.</p> +<p>This remark appeared to arouse Miss Wilkeson. "Support me," she +murmured. "I shall be better soon."</p> +<p>Tiffles, all accommodation, clasped her fragile waist with an +arm, and gently inclined her head upon his shoulder. She heaved a +sigh, and gave other tokens of returning animation. Tiffles here +noticed that her face had not the prevailing paleness which always +accompanies fainting. He instantly suspected the true nature of +Miss Wilkeson's complaint.</p> +<p>The noise of quick footsteps resounded in the entry. Marcus, +Overtop, and Maltboy had heard the sharp scream, and were rushing +to the rescue.</p> +<p>"Good heavens! what will they say?" exclaimed Tiffles. "Don't be +silly, Miss Wilkeson, at your time of life." This cutting remark +was wrung from him by the annoyance and confusion of the +moment.</p> +<p>It served as a wonderful anodyne; for Miss Wilkeson Jerked +herself into an erect position, and said, "You're a fool!"</p> +<p>At this juncture, before Tiffles had quite uncoiled his +serpentine arms from her, and while she was looking fiery +indignation at him, the door was pushed open, and the three +bachelors rushed in.</p> +<p>"I really beg pardon," said Marcus. "No occasion for my +services, I see--ahem!"</p> +<p>"Heard a scream--thought it was here--no intention to intrude," +added Overtop.</p> +<p>The tableau reminded Maltboy of his own innumerable little +affairs, and he laughed. "It's a lovers' quarrel," said he, "and +not to be interrupted, of course."</p> +<p>The three bachelors hastily evacuated the room, and their merry +laughs rang in the entry.</p> +<p>"Miss Wilkeson," said Times, consulting his watch--he carried a +gold one, with an enormous gold chain--"you must really excuse me. +Important business engagement at nine. Good evening." So saying, +Tiffles precipitately retired, with the determination not to enter +the house again until he knew that Miss Wilkeson was out of it.</p> +<p>A week from that memorable day, Tiffles met Marcus Wilkeson on +Broadway.</p> +<p>"Why haven't you been to see us?" said Marcus.</p> +<p>"Not been very smart, of late," explained Tiffles.</p> +<p>"Fainting fits, perhaps. Maybe they are catching, eh?"</p> +<p>Tiffles smiled, for he saw that Marcus knew the truth. "How is +Miss Wilkeson?" he asked, respectfully.</p> +<p>"She has gone into the country for her health, and will probably +stay away a number of years. In short, I have engaged for her the +position of first preceptress of a female seminary in the middle of +the State. She said she was quite sick of the hollow and heartless +life of New York."</p> +<p>Marcus spoke truly. Miss Wilkeson had retired to the country +with a thorough feeling of disgust for town existence. She has +taught for several years, and is still teaching in the ---- Young +Ladies' Seminary, with eminent success, though her fair pupils +complain, with much pretty pouting, of her savage restrictions upon +all walks and talks with the eligible young beaux of the village. +They say that she hates the men; and they call her a cross old +maid, and a great number of other hard epithets.</p> +<p>But, sometimes, a tear is observed in the corner of her eye, +which she hastily wipes away. That tear is an oblation upon the +memory of a lost love. That lost love was, and is, and always will +be, Wesley Tiffles.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="L_CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>SLAPMAN <i>vs</i>. SLAPMAN.</h3> +<br> +<p>The case of Slapman <i>vs</i>. Slapman occupied the attention of +the referee, Samuel Goldfinch, Esq., over two months. That +gentleman was corpulent, fond of good dinners, and had a highly +cultivated taste for scandal. It had been his custom to give this +interesting case a hearing one or two hours every afternoon, daily, +after court. It was a relief from the heavy business of the day; +for Goldfinch had heavy business, which came to him because he was +a fat and pleasant fellow, with a large head, and a great circle of +miscellaneous acquaintance. The real work of the office was done by +a modest, unappreciated man named Mixer. On the occasion of these +antimatrimonial audiences, Mixer sat in the back room, grubbing +among his dusty papers; while Samuel Goldfinch, Esq., in the front +room, with shut doors, leaned back in his easy chair and +surrendered himself to enjoyment.</p> +<p>In the case of Slapman <i>vs</i>. Slapman, a great number of +witnesses had been examined on each side. Affidavits, amounting to +hundreds of pages, had been obtained in distant States--some as far +away as California. The lawyers had spared neither their own time +nor the money of their clients in raking together testimony which +would bear in the slightest degree upon the interests which they +represented. All the relatives of Mr. Slapman had testified that he +was a gentleman uniformly kind and courteous, possessing a singular +placidity of temper, and indulgent to his wife to a degree where +indulgence became a fault. Those relatives, and they were +numerous--particularly in the country branch--who had passed +anniversary weeks at Mr. Slapman's house, were very severe on Mrs. +Slapman. She was a proud, disagreeable woman. She was continually +snubbing her husband before people. She had a great many male +friends, whose acquaintance she had retained in defiance of his +wishes. She was known to have received letters from men, and when +her husband had desired to peruse them, had laughed at him. It is +true that she pretended to be a patroness of literature, science, +and the arts; but anybody could see that those things were only the +cover of the grossest improprieties. She had been heard to listen +without remonstrance, to declarations of love from several young +men. It turned out, upon cross-examination, that these +irregularities took place in charades and plays, of which Mr. +Slapman's relatives had been shocked spectators. With regard to Mr. +Overtop's transactions in the family, they could say nothing; for +they had long since ceased to visit Mrs. Slapman, on account of her +disgraceful conduct--and also (they might have added, but they did +not add) because Mrs. Slapman latterly had her house full of +Jigbees, and put her husband's relatives into obscure rooms in the +third story, and quite forgot their existence afterward.</p> +<p><i>Per contra</i>, all the Jigbees--and they were a prolific +race--swore that their distinguished relative was a pattern of +artlessness and innocence. That she was remarkable from early +childhood for a charming frankness and transparent candor. That +when this bright ornament of the Jigbee stock was sought in +marriage by the defendant, the whole family, with one mind and +voice, opposed the match. They had felt that a being of her exalted +intellectual tastes was too good for a sordid money-getting +creature like Slapman. But that man, by his ingenious artifices, +had succeeded in winning the hand of their gifted kinswoman, and +married her against their unanimous protests. There was but one +consolation for this family misfortune. Mr. Slapman was reported to +be wealthy, and could afford to indulge his wife in the exercise of +her noble longings for TRUTH. They were willing to say that Mr. +Slapman had not been illiberal, so far as vulgar money was +concerned. He had given to his wife the house and lot which she +occupied, and had never stinted her in respect of allowances. But +what was money to a woman of Mrs. Slapman's soul, when her husband +withheld from her his confidence and trust, regarded her innocent +labors in behalf of Art, Literature, and the Drama, with a cold, +unsympathizing eye, and finally descended so low as to feel a +brutal jealousy of those gentlemen of talent, of whom she was the +revered patroness?</p> +<p>"Money" (we are quoting here from the remarks of Mrs. Slapman's +eminent counsel) "is very desirable in its way, but is it not the +vilest dross, your Honor, when compared with the pure gold of +connubial trust and sympathy?" Mr. Goldfinch nodded his head, as if +to say that he rather thought it was.</p> +<p>The testimony of two servant girls established the fact that Mr. +Slapman had several times been overheard to tell his wife that she +would regret it; and that the time was fast coming when forbearance +would cease to be a virtue; also that the worm, when trodden on +repeatedly, might at last turn and sting, and many other +enigmatical sayings of that character. The very vagueness of these +threats, implying unknown horrors, had inspired his wife with a +mortal dread of him. She did not know at what moment this jealous +and revengeful man might strike her dead. She had been living in +the fear of her life for six years, and, during all this time, had +never complained, or expressed that fear to one of her relatives or +friends.</p> +<p>"Such is the noble, uncomplaining nature," said the eminent +counsel, in reference to this fact, "of the woman that Fate has +thrown into the arms of a fiend."</p> +<p>But the most striking proof of Mr. Slapman's murderous designs +upon his wife, was his conduct at the last dramatic +<i>soirée</i>. Twenty witnesses swore that it was his +evident intention to spring on her and strangle her, and that he +was only thwarted in this horrid purpose by the noble courage of +Fayette Overtop, Esq. Mr. Overtop briefly and modestly testified to +this effect also; and, furthermore, narrated all the particulars of +his acquaintance with Mrs. Slapman, holding before her a shield, +from which the arrows of calumny, aimed by her husband, fell +harmless.</p> +<p>Mr. Slapman had not shown himself in the referee's office since +the investigation began. He had become convinced that he had lost +the case into which his mad jealousy and his lawyer's advice had +plunged him. Mrs. Slapman, according to the testimony of the two +servants and several others, was immured in her house, and brooding +over this saddest episode in her unhappy history.</p> +<p>"Nothing but that instinct of self-preservation," said the +eminent counsel, "which bids the dove to fly from the hawk, and the +rabbit to evade the pursuing hounds, could have induced that +delicate, shrinking lady to lay bare the horrors of her prison +house to the world, and to ask, in the name of common humanity, a +release from the tyrant, and a liberal alimony."</p> +<p>The eminent counsel repeated this flight of fancy in the ear of +Mrs. Slapman, at the opera that evening, whither she was +accompanied by a few of the Jigbees, and she smiled, and said that +it was really beautiful.</p> +<p>The protracted case--of which we have given a mere sketch--was +decided by Samuel Goldfinch, Esq., in favor of the lady, a +separation was decreed, and alimony fixed at six thousand dollars a +year, that being only a wife's fair proportion of Mr. Slapman's +income. Mrs. Slapman, with a well-assumed appearance of levity, +gave a <i>grande soirée musicale et dramatique</i> at her +house, in honor of the event, at which Overtop was a favored guest. +Mr. Slapman went direct to Slapmanville, and raised the rent on all +his tenants, turned a superannuated non-paying couple into the +street, and took a general account of his property, to see how much +he could sell out for, preparatory to leaving for Europe, and so +dodging the payment of the alimony.</p> +<p>The illustrated papers published two portraits--one of an angel, +the other of a demon. The angel was Mrs. Slapman: the demon was her +husband. The comic papers served him up in puns, conundrums, and +acrostics, of the most satirical import. The daily papers, always +on the look out for subjects to write about, improved the occasion +to overhaul the question of divorce, in its statistical, moral, +social, and religious bearings. Two editors, in pursuance of a +previous agreement, continued to discuss the question with great +warmth in their respective journals, until they had written about +two hundred octavo pages, when the debate was published in book +form, with paper covers, and sold for their joint benefit.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="L_CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>HOW OVERTOP SEALED A CONTRACT IN A WAY UNKNOWN TO CHITTY.</h3> +<br> +<p>The notoriety which Fayette Overtop had derived from his +questionable connection with the Slapman Divorce case, had (as has +been already stated) materially contributed to his professional +income. By the time the case was decided, the firm of Overtop & +Maltboy ranked among the most successful of the Junior Bar.</p> +<p>Now that Overtop had his hands full of business, his thoughts +reverted to matrimony more strongly than ever. It is a singular +fact, that business men find more time to think of marriage, than +men of leisure.</p> +<p>Thoughts of matrimony invariably brought Miss Pillbody into +Overtop's head. He would project mental photographs of her at the +top of a table, beaming sweetly upon him, opposite, with her dim, +lovely eyes, and pouring out the tea from a small silver pot. +Overtop never could explain it; but this imaginary picture realized +all his desires of domestic happiness.</p> +<p>Overtop not only thought of Miss Pillbody, but, what was more to +the purpose, he visited her. For this, pretexts were not wanting. +They never are. At first, he professed to have been requested, by a +friend in the country, to find a suitable private school for two +young daughters. This justified several visits, until Miss Pillbody +could decide positively that it would be impossible for her to take +them--an announcement which greatly relieved Overtop, though it +temporarily put an end to his calls. Then he hit upon the expedient +of pretending to write an essay on Popular Education, for a monthly +magazine, and desired to obtain hints from her upon the subject. +Miss Pillbody, not displeased with the compliment, though declaring +that she had not an idea to give him, gave him a great many good +ideas, to which he appeared to listen, while he was contemplating +her trim figure, and the animated expression of her face, and +thinking how very well she would look at the head of that poetical +table behind that phantom teapot. At last the topic of Popular +Education ran out; and Overtop felt that this kind of imposition +could not be practised much longer.</p> +<p>One day, while Overtop sat at his desk, with a mass of law +papers before him, thinking not of them but of his dilemma with +respect of Miss Pillbody, a small boy brought him a beautifully +written little note from that lady, asking him to call that evening +on business. Overtop sent a reply, written with extraordinary care +(this is a sign of love), saying that he would be happy to call, as +requested. At the same time, he felt a pang of apprehension that +she had found places in her school for the two young daughters of +his supposititious country friend.</p> +<p>Overtop dressed with unusual care that evening, and presented +himself at Miss Pillbody's house, punctually at the appointed hour. +The young teacher was hard at work in the back parlor, setting copy +for the illiterate wife of a rich city contractor to try her brawny +fist on next day. Miss Pillbody's bewitching eyeglasses bestrided +her nose; and the narrow collar, wristbands, and dainty apron with +the red-bound pockets, looked whiter than ever.</p> +<p>The teacher blushed slightly as Overtop entered, and put away +the copy book on a high shelf, thereby intimating that she should +not work more that night, and Overtop could stay as long as he +would. Thus, at least, that sagacious student of men, women, and +things, interpreted it. Without a particle of those preliminary +commonplaces for which Overtop had a cherished aversion, Miss +Pillbody broke into business at once.</p> +<p>She said that a Mrs. Cudgeon, the wife of a citizen who had made +a large fortune in butter and eggs, had been taking lessons in all +the English branches, and French (here Miss Pillbody smiled), for +six months, but had postponed payment on one pretext and another, +and had finally withdrawn from the school, leaving unpaid tuition +to the amount of one hundred and fifty dollars. Miss Pillbody had +written several dunning letters to Mrs. Cudgeon, and received no +answer. The soft grass of epistolary entreaty having failed, Miss +P. now proposed to try what virtue there was in the hard stones of +the law. She had sent to Mr. Overtop for advice.</p> +<p>Overtop listened to the statement of the case with professional +attentiveness. He was sub-thinking, all the time, what an extremely +sensible woman Miss Pillbody was, not to allow herself to be +cheated, but to go to law in defence of her rights. He assured his +interesting client that she could count on his best services, and +that she might consider the one hundred and fifty dollars as good +as recovered. From this point the conversation glided off into a +wilderness of general topics. Overtop had a habit (a bad one, it +must be confessed) of sounding people's mental depths. He found +that Miss Pillbody was no shallow thinker. He left the house at +eleven o'clock, supposing it was ten, and had a delightful vision, +that night, of the little round table and the teapot, and the +presiding angel.</p> +<p>Next day, Overtop wrote the following letter:</p> +<blockquote>New York,--.<br> +MR. J. CUDGEON:<br> +<br> +SIR: Enclosed is a bill of items, amounting to one hundred and +fifty dollars, for your wife's tuition at Miss Pillbody's private +school. Be good enough to look it over, and inform me, to-morrow, +what you will do about it. I will tell you candidly, that it is for +our interest, as a young law firm, to sue you for the debt; but my +client will not consent to this, until all other efforts fail, out +of regard to the feelings of Mrs. C.<br> +<br> +Your obedient servant,<br> +OVERTOP & MALTBOY,<br> +No ------ Building,<br> +J. CUDGEON, Esq.</blockquote> +<p>Overtop remembered that one J. Cudgeon had run for the Assembly +at the previous fall election, and he surmised that, being a +politician and a public character, J. Cudgeon would not like to see +the bill of items in print. Overtop reasoned correctly; for, at ten +A.M. the following day, that gentleman called at the office and +paid the one hundred and fifty dollars, and said that he was very +much obliged to Overtop & Maltboy for their gentlemanly conduct +in the affair. Mr. Gudgeon had not been aware of his wife's +pupilage at Miss Pillbody's private school, though he had observed +(he added, confidentially), for some months past, a slight +improvement in her grammar. "I am not ashamed to say that we were +poor once," said Mr. Gudgeon, with a glow of pride.</p> +<p>"When Overtop placed the one hundred and fifty dollars in the +white hand of the schoolmistress, she looked at him with gratitude +and admiration, which more than repaid him. Not only this, but she +asked him, with not a particle of hesitation, how much his fee +was.</p> +<p>"Fee!" exclaimed Overtop, a little nettled at the implied +insult. (Young lawyers are apt to be.) "Nothing, Miss Pillbody; +decidedly nothing."</p> +<p>"But I prefer to pay you, Mr. Overtop. Why should you work for +me for nothing, when I am not willing to do the same thing for Mrs. +Gudgeon? 'The laborer is worthy of his hire,'" she added, laughing. +"I set that adage in a copy book to-night."</p> +<p>"But I won't take anything," said Overtop, no longer nettled, +but charmed to perceive this exhibition of sound good sense in a +young lady.</p> +<p>"But I insist that you shall," continued Miss Pillbody, +pleasantly. "Tell me, now, how much it is."</p> +<p>Overtop was standing within two feet of the schoolmistress, and +her soft, dim eyes were beaming right into his. We leave +psychologists to settle the phenomenon as they will; but the fact +was, that each saw love in the eyes of the other. Overtop, in his +bachelor musings, had thought over a hundred odd methods of putting +<i>the</i> question. At this critical moment in the history of two +hearts, a new form of the proposition occurred to him, so original +and eccentric, that he determined to propound it at once.</p> +<p>He took Miss Pillbody's hand in his, before she knew it. She +blushed, and would have withdrawn it; but he retained the hand with +a gentle pressure.</p> +<p>"My dear Miss Pillbody," said Overtop, "I will take five dollars +from you on one condition, and no other. Will you grant it?"</p> +<p>The schoolmistress, not knowing what she was saying, said +"Yes."</p> +<p>"The condition is, that I shall buy an engagement ring, and put +it on this dear hand."</p> +<p>Miss Pillbody blushed, and cast down her gentle eyes. The +sagacious young lawyer, interpreting these signs as a full consent, +stole his arm around her waist, and sealed the contract in a way +all unknown to Chitty.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="L_CHAPTER_V."></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>A RETURNED CALIFORNIAN.</h3> +<br> +<p>At last, Matthew Maltboy was engaged. He had, since twenty, been +dallying on the edge of a betrothal. Now he had taken the momentous +step into that anomalous region which lies between celibacy and +married life, where a man is not exactly a bachelor, nor yet, by +any means, a husband. It is the land in which the dim enchantments +of romance begin to assume the plain outlines of reality. It is the +land in which the pledge of undying affection, breathed, at some +rapturous moment, into a delicate, inclining ear, becomes invested +with awful meaning, and has a value in the legal market like a bond +and mortgage. It is the land where the excitement of pursuit is +over, and the game is securely cornered, but not yet in hand. It is +the spot where the ardent huntsman of Love pauses to look back, and +ceases to bend his longing gaze into the distance beyond.</p> +<p>How it came to pass that the unreliable Matthew Maltboy had +become the affianced one of the pleasant widow Frump, it is not the +purpose of this history to record. Let it suffice to say, that the +mutual aversion which they felt, some months before, at Mr. +Whedell's house, on New Year's day, was the starting point in their +course of true love. Such an aversion, subsequently smoothed away, +is often the most promising beginning of a courtship.</p> +<p>Mrs. Frump had frequently met Matthew on the street, and been +gratified with his deferential bow. His bulk, to which, as a rotund +lady, she had taken an antipathy, seemed to dwindle down as it was +looked at. Matthew, whose ideal was a delicate woman with +observable shoulder blades, had also, by repeated sights of Mrs. +Frump, become reconciled to her ample proportions. Meantime, they +had heard much, incidentally, of each other through Marcus +Wilkeson. Matthew had come to esteem Mrs. Frump for her +affectionate devotion to old Van Quintem; and Mrs. Frump had +secretly admired the powerful though silent legal ability displayed +by Mr. Maltboy in the inquisition before Coroner Bullfast.</p> +<p>One night, Matthew, accompanied Marcus to his old friend's +house; and, on the second night following, this couple were +engaged--a happy event, which was brought about no less by the +widow's experience, and conviction that there was no time to lose, +than by Matthew's impulsive ardor.</p> +<p>He had been engaged ten days; and so entirely had he talked out +the time to the widow, that it seemed six months.</p> +<p>"Why is it," thought Matthew, stretching himself in his chair, +and looking critically at the widow, who was knitting crotchet +work, "why is it that I no longer adore her? She is just as pretty, +just as amiable, just as affectionate as ever. Now, why don't I +care a button for her at this moment?" Matthew was not a +transcendental philosopher; and the true answers to these questions +did not come to him.</p> +<p>Old Van Quintem, pale and beautiful in his declining years, sat +by the window that opened on the green leaves of the back yard, +calmly smoking his pipe, and thinking, with a holy sadness, of his +dead wife and his worse-than-dead son. The old gentleman, and the +two quiet affianced ones, who sat near him, made up a well-dressed +and handsome group; the pictorial effect of which was suddenly +marred by the apparition of a stranger in the doorway.</p> +<p>He was tall, muscular, and what little could be seen of his face +through a heavy growth of whiskers was mild and prepossessing, in +spite of two large scars just visible below the broad brim of a +rough hat. His dress was faded and dirty.</p> +<p>The stranger stood in the doorway, and surveyed the occupants of +the room.</p> +<p>Old Van Quintem looked at the intruder a moment, and then said, +as if remembering something, "Are you the man sent by Crumley to +mend my piazza railing?"</p> +<p>There was the least hesitation in the man's voice, as he +answered, "Yes, sir. I'm here to do that job." His voice was a deep +growl, as of a grizzly bear half tamed.</p> +<p>"Where are your tools?" asked old Van Quintem.</p> +<p>The stranger communed with himself, and then replied, in the +most natural manner, "I s'pose I only want a saw, a hammer, and a +few nails. You have 'em, haven't yer?"</p> +<p>"You're a funny sort of carpenter, to travel without your tools. +Do you know, now, that you look more like a California miner than a +carpenter?"</p> +<p>"That's not very 'markable," returned the stranger, in profound +guttural accents, "considerin' as how I come from California this +week."</p> +<p>"You have brought home tons of gold, I dare say," said old Van +Quintem, playfully.</p> +<p>"A little," growled the stranger. "The diggins was poor in +Calaveras County when I fust went there, but latterly they +improved."</p> +<p>At the mention of Calaveras County, the widow suddenly fixed her +eyes upon the stranger, and then dropped them on her crotchet +work.</p> +<p>Matthew Maltboy here conceived a happy thought, namely, to ask +this stranger if he ever knew Amos Frump (the deceased husband of +Mrs. Frump), who was killed in that very county in an affray +growing out of a disputed claim, five years before. Mrs. Frump, +after her engagement to Matthew, had furnished him with slips from +three California papers, giving full particulars of the sanguinary +affair. Before he was engaged, he had never felt the slightest +curiosity to know the history of his predecessor; but, since then, +he had entertained a strong secret desire to learn more of him, and +especially of the reasons which induced him to abandon a young and +lovely wife, and make a Californian exile of himself. Upon this +subject the widow had never volunteered any satisfactory +information, and he had been politely reluctant to ask her about +it.</p> +<p>Old Van Quintem, who was too sleepy at that time to talk much, +procured the necessary tools from a cupboard in the kitchen, and +showed the stranger what work was to be done. The old gentleman +then returned to his easy chair by the window, threw a handkerchief +over his head, and settled himself for a nap.</p> +<p>Before the carpenter had struck the first blow, Matthew Maltboy +rose, remarked to the widow that he wanted to stretch himself a +little, and walked out upon the piazza.</p> +<p>The carpenter stood near the door, with the saw in one hand and +the hammer in the other, very much in the attitude of listening. At +Matthew's approach, he commenced feeling the teeth of the saw, as +if to test their sharpness.</p> +<p>"I would like to speak a word with you, sir," said Matthew, in a +low voice, motioning the carpenter to accompany him to a corner of +the piazza, out of the widow's possible hearing.</p> +<p>Having attained that safe position, Matthew opened the great +subject.</p> +<p>"You remarked that you had dug gold in Calaveras County," said +he. "Did you ever happen to know a man by the name of Frump--Amos +Frump--who was a miner there?"</p> +<p>"Frump!" replied the carpenter. "He was an intimate friend of +mine."</p> +<p>"Now that's lucky," said Matthew, "for I want to find out +something about the man."</p> +<p>"Then you've come to the right shop," answered the carpenter; +"for his own brother--if he ever had one--couldn't tell you more +about him than I."</p> +<p>"I am indeed fortunate. In the first place, then this man Frump +is really--dead?"</p> +<p>The carpenter pulled his rough hat farther over his forehead, +and replied:</p> +<p>"As dead as two big splits in the skull could make him. But +'xcuse me, sir; he was my bosom friend, and I can't bear to talk of +his death."</p> +<p>"He <i>is</i> dead, then, and no mistake," said Matthew, +soliloquizing. "Yet I am not exactly glad to know it."</p> +<p>The carpenter's face expressed surprise at this remark.</p> +<p>"I beg your pardon," said Matthew. "Of course I am not glad to +hear of your friend's death. But, to tell the truth," he continued +(inventing an excuse), "I had always heard that this Frump was a +wild fellow; that he didn't treat his wife decently, and at last +ran away from her. You see I am acquainted with the family. In +fact, I know Mrs. Frump quite well."</p> +<p>"And did she tell you all this about her dead husband?" asked +the carpenter.</p> +<p>"Oh, no!" returned Matthew, who began to fear that he had gone +too far. "She never says anything about his personal character. I +only spoke from common report."</p> +<p>"Then common report is a common liar; for I know there never was +a steadier chap than this same Amos Frump; and his wife can't say +that he ever struck her, or said a cross word to her. Amos told me +all about himself; and I'd believe him through thick and thin." The +carpenter spoke in his dismal chest voice, without the least +indication of excitement.</p> +<p>"Then why did he leave his wife? and why did she never hear of +him until the time of his death? You will confess that <i>that</i> +was odd."</p> +<p>"I give you the reasons," answered the carpenter, "as Amos give +'em to me. It seems that <i>he</i> was a poor, uneducated feller. +<i>She</i> had a few thousand dollars from her grandfather's +property, and was sent by her parents to the best o' schools. +Though he and she were so much unlike, they got up a kind o' +fondness for each other from the time when Amos saved her from +bein' run over by a horse. They used to meet each other secretly, +because, you see, her folks didn't like Amos. They thought that a +girl with three or four thousand dollars in her own name, ought to +set her eyes rather above a feller like him. Well, arter no end o' +trouble, they was married. Her folks pretended to treat Amos all +right, but was allers talkin' agin him; and finally they pizened +her mind with the idee that he had married her only for her money, +and that all the while he loved another gal. She began to treat him +very cold like, and, one day, when she was in a little bit of +temper--"</p> +<p>"Has Mrs. Frump any temper?" asked Matthew, anxiously. "I never +saw it."</p> +<p>"But you a'n't her husband," replied the carpenter. "Amos told +me that she did show a leetle temper now and then. However, he +allers said she was a pooty good gal in the main. Well, one day, +when her dander was up about somethin', she told him that she +b'lieved he married her for her money, and she'd die before he +should have a cent. Amos was a proud feller, if he <i>was</i> poor; +and, when he heerd this, he left the house right off, walked to New +York, and shipped as a sailor to San Francisco. I met him when he +fust come to the mines, and, as he was a spry, tough chap, I let +him work a claim with me on shares. We ate and slept together, and +many a time, in the dark night, has he spoke to me about his wife, +and how much he thought of her; but he said he never should go back +till he had money enough to buy out her and her hull family. We was +very unlucky, and Amos got downhearted, and took to drink. By and +by he moved off to another claim, and worked on his own hook. He +did better there; but all the gold he dug out he used to spend in +gamblin' and rum; and at last a drunken quarrel put an end to Amos +Frump."</p> +<p>"Poor fellow!" said Matthew. "And do you think the widow ever +grieved for him?"</p> +<p>"No, I guess not; for Amos allers said that she was not a very +lovin', affectionate woman; though, if he had been as rich as her, +or if her family had let her alone, she would have made him a +tol'able wife."</p> +<p>"Not loving! Not affectionate!" thought Matthew. "And I am about +to marry her!" A cold shudder crept over him.</p> +<p>Hiding his emotions with an effort, he again interrogated the +affable carpenter:</p> +<p>"And do you really think that Mr. Frump would have returned, and +lived again with his wife, if he had become rich?"</p> +<p>"To be sure he would. He couldn't marry anybody else, yer know, +without committin' bigamy. He allers said he didn't care much +whether his wife loved him, so long as she treated him +civilly."</p> +<p>"Mr. Frump had practical views of married life," suggested +Matthew.</p> +<p>"Amos was sensible in some things," said the carpenter. "But he +was a queer feller, too. He allers had a notion of comin' home kind +o' disguised, so that his wife shouldn't know him. I used to tell +him that a few more years in Californy would make him so thin, +yaller, and grizzly, that he wouldn't need no disguise."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="L_CHAPTER_VI."></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>REVELATIONS OF A LAUGH.</h3> +<br> +<p>The carpenter here burst out with an extraordinary peal of +laughter. It was so very peculiar, that, once heard, it would +always be identified with the person making it. This singular laugh +consisted of a brilliant stacatto passage on a high key, +interrupted by occasional snorts, and terminating with a slur which +covered the whole descending octave. It was also very loud and very +long.</p> +<p>It had the effect of bringing Mrs. Frump to the door. She thrust +out her head, unseen by either the carpenter or Matthew, and looked +at the former with a wondering air.</p> +<p>"It was an odd idea," said Matthew, laughing slightly out of +compliment to the carpenter, though he could not understand what +there was to laugh at.</p> +<p>"And now," continued he, when the carpenter's cachinations had +subsided, "I will explain to you my motive in asking all these +questions. I am engaged to Mrs. Frump, and she is now--"</p> +<p>The carpenter immediately broke into another of his remarkable +laughs, louder and longer than before.</p> +<p>"Well, sir," said Matthew, sarcastically, "when you get through, +perhaps you will be good enough to tell me what you are laughing +about?"</p> +<p>"The idee--ha! ha!--of your--ha! ha!--marrying Mrs.--ha! ha! +ha!" and the remainder of the sentence was lost in that monstrous +laugh.</p> +<p>Matthew, irritated by this most aggravating species of ridicule, +took the carpenter's measure for a kick--but judiciously refrained +from fitting him with one.</p> +<p>The second of the carpenter's laughs had made the widow (still +stealthily looking out of the door) turn pale. The third had +inspired her with a painful curiosity, which she had determined to +gratify, at any risk. Before the last laugh, she had, therefore, +crept up, unobserved, near where Matthew and the carpenter were +standing, with their backs toward her. Coming around suddenly in +front of them, she saw the carpenter's mouth wide open, still in +the act of laughing, and observed that one of his front teeth was +out. The widow screamed, and fell--into Matthew's arms, nearly +flooring him.</p> +<p>"Hold on to her," said the carpenter. "She will come to in a +minute."</p> +<p>"Who, sir--who on earth <i>are</i> you?" shouted Matthew, +struggling under the burdensome widow and a sense of mental +bewilderment.</p> +<p>"I am Amos Frump," he replied, in a voice which had suddenly +risen five notes.</p> +<p>"The widow's husband! The dead come to life!" exclaimed Matthew, +starting back, and nearly dropping the inanimate form.</p> +<p>Astounded as he was, he did not forget the marital rights of the +man before him; and he said, with a trembling voice, politely, "I +beg your pardon; but, as you are this lady's husband, perhaps you +had better hold her."</p> +<p>"She appears to be doing very well where she is," replied the +singularly calm Amos Frump. "A moment more, and she will be out of +her fainting spell. I've seed her very often this way before."</p> +<p>Mr. Frump's prediction was verified; for his lips had scarcely +closed on the words, when Mrs. Frump opened her eyes, and feebly +said, "Is it a dream?"</p> +<p>"No, Gusty," replied the composed Amos; "it is a husband come +back from Californy, with fifty thousand dollars."</p> +<p>"It is--it is my own 'husband's voice!" cried Mrs. Frump, +throwing herself impulsively out of Matthew's arms upon the patched +and faded coat of her restored consort.</p> +<p>"I thought you would know the voice," said Amos, "and that's the +reason I changed it into a growl. This 'ere old Californy suit was +a pooty good disguise, too. But my confounded laugh betrayed me. I +didn't think to change that."</p> +<p>The third laugh had roused old Van Quintem from a nice nap, and +he came out on the piazza.</p> +<p>"Hallo, Mr. Carpenter! what are you doing there?" said he, +good-naturedly.</p> +<p>A few words from the supposed carpenter defined his position, +and threw old Van Quintem into the appropriate state of amazement. +Looking at the shaggy face by a variety of lights, he soon came to +recognize it as that of his niece's husband, whom he had seen a few +times on his yearly visits to the country, before his farming +brother, Nicholas Van Quintem, father of Mrs. Frump, had died.</p> +<p>"From the way Gusty hangs to you, I judge you are no ghost," +said old Van Quintem, when he had partly recovered his senses.</p> +<p>"No more than I am a carpenter," was the dry response.</p> +<p>"But how does it happen that you are no ghost?" asked old Van +Quintem, with fearful interest.</p> +<p>This was what everybody wanted to know; and so Mr. Frump, +supporting his wife by the waist, while she, apparently half +stupefied, reposed her head on his shoulder, explained the mystery +of his appearance. He had been severely injured in a drunken +quarrel about a claim--he would not deny <i>that</i>; and, taking +off his broad-brimmed hat, he showed the two deep scars extending +from his eyebrows to the roots of his hair. He was left on the +ground for dead, and his assailants ran away. The enterprising +correspondent of three San Francisco papers saw him when he was +first found, and, learning that he would undoubtedly die, the +enterprising correspondent regarded him as already sufficiently +dead for newspaper purposes, and sent three thrilling accounts of +his butchery, written up with ingenious variations, to the three +journals of which he was the indefatigable "special." In a few +days, the nearly murdered man was out of danger. On learning that +the news of his death had already been sent to the papers, the +singular idea came into his mind to let the report go +uncontradicted, change his name, give up drinking, move away to +some place where he was not known, and begin his miner's life over +again. The special correspondent, on being consulted by him, +assured Mr. Frump that he could depend on his (the correspondent's) +silence, since it was his invariable practice never to take back or +qualify any statement made by him--such a course being obviously +fatal to his hard-earned reputation for accuracy. The correspondent +also very obligingly supplied him with copies of the papers +containing the circumstantial accounts of his death, which he +directed in a disguised hand, and sent through the mail to his +wife. He had then assumed another name, gone into Benicia County, +was successful in gold digging, and, after making about two +thousand dollars, had taken up his residence in the nearest village +(undesignated), and had invested his money in speculations (kind +not particularized). Fortune followed him, but he found it +convenient, for certain reasons (not given), to move away to +another village, in a few months. In fact, he had, within four +years, made the entire circuit of California, never staying in one +place more than a quarter of a year.</p> +<p>"I don't want to brag," said Mr. Frump, "but it is well enough +to have it understood that I made my pile."</p> +<p>Mr. Frump nodded his head quietly, as one who does not lie.</p> +<p>Old Van Quintem had hitherto hesitated to congratulate Mrs. +Frump upon the reacquisition of her husband. He now advanced, and +shook her warmly by the hand.</p> +<p>"I wish you joy," said he. "And you too, Mr. Frump. I never had +the pleasure of meeting you often, though I had frequently heard of +you. With regard to those unpleasant family difficulties in which +you became involved, they are now at an end; for Gusty's parents +are both dead, and the old house and farm are sold. Let bygones be +bygones."</p> +<p>"So say I, Mr. Van Quintem," said Mr. Frump, grasping the +extended hand. "As for my wife's relatives, I'm sure I allers +forgave 'em. As for the old house and farm, if you like, Gusty, +we'll buy it back agin."</p> +<p>Mrs. Frump, still resting on her husband's shoulder, sobbed a +little, and clung closer about him.</p> +<p>"Here is one friend of the family," continued Amos, in his +pleasantest manner, pointing to Matthew, "whom I don't know by +name, though we've scraped an off-hand 'quaintance."</p> +<p>"Mr. Frump--Matthew Maltboy, Esq.," said old Van Quintem.</p> +<p>Matthew, like Mrs. Frump, had fully appreciated the awkwardness +of his situation, and had kept a rigid silence since the returned +Californian resumed possession of his wife. The minute after Mr. +Frump's identity had been established, Matthew could have hugged +him with ecstasy. But, having lost the widow, his fickle mind +straightway began to discover in her a great many excellencies that +he had never seen before. Therefore, when he submitted his hand to +the grip of Mr. Frump, his face expressed a strangely mingled joy +and regret.</p> +<p>"I like you," said Mr. Frump, "and, as soon as wifey and I +commence housekeepin' agin, I'll expect lots o' visits from you. +Whenever I'm not at home, wifey'll make everything comfortable. +Won't you, dear?"</p> +<p>"If you wish it," replied Mrs. Frump, looking up into his face, +which was not a repulsive one, "for your word shall always be my +law."</p> +<p>"I must say," said Matthew, his face exhibiting unqualified +admiration for Mr. Frump, "that you are the most generous man I +ever met. And, if Mrs. Frump will promise to introduce me to some +nice young woman, that she could recommend for a wife, perhaps I'll +accept your invitation."</p> +<p>"I'll get you a wife in less than a week," said Mrs. F., who was +rejoiced that the interview between her recovered husband and late +suitor had ended peacefully.</p> +<p>"But one thing you haven't yet explained, Amos," said old Van +Quintem. "How did you get into Crumley's employment?"</p> +<p>"Bless your innocent heart, I am not! I arrived this mornin', in +the steamer----, straight from Aspinwall, with this old scarecrow +suit on, jest as you see me now. I was intendin' to take the +railroad for Tioga County, and play off a leetle surprise on Gusty, +and her relations up there. But, before goin', it 'curred to me to +call on a Mr. Lambkin, who was raised in Tioga, and keeps a grocery +store in the lower part of Washington street. I found Mr. Lambkin +in, and he told me as how, accordin' to last accounts, Gusty was +stayin' with her uncle Van Quintem. I knowed your address, and come +up here short metre. I was goin' to pretend that I was a man in +search of work, and trust to luck to get a sight of Gusty. I found +your front door open, and walked through the entry to the back +parlor, where you fust see me standin'. Afore I could ask you for +any work, you wanted to know if I hadn't been sent to mend your +piazza railing. It was easy to say 'Yes,' and I said it."</p> +<p>"And very well you carried out the joke, Amos," said old Van +Quintem. "You wouldn't make a bad actor."</p> +<p>"Rather better actor than carpenter, I guess," said Mr. +Frump.</p> +<p>"Perhaps so," said old Van Quintem; "but a financier of your +talent needn't act, or mend railings, for a living. I should like +to know, now, how you made your money in California. Nine out of +ten who go there, come back poorer than they went."</p> +<p>"'Tisn't best to ask too many questions of a returned +Californian," answered Amos, in perfect good humor.</p> +<p>"Nor of anybody else, about business matters. You are right," +added old Van Quintem.</p> +<p>"I say to wifey, and to all my friends, 'Let bygones be bygones. +Take me as you find me, and I'll take you as I find you; and we'll +ax no questions on either side.'"</p> +<p>"Dear Amos, you are the best of husbands!" said Mrs. Frump, +looking fondly in his face. Mr. Frump improved as he was looked +at.</p> +<p>"Let bygones be bygones' is a very good rule," said old Van +Quintem.</p> +<p>"Mr. Frump," said Matthew, unable longer to repress the +compliment, "you have a wonderful amount of good sense!"</p> +<p>"I told you," was the laughing reply, "that 'Amos was sensible +in some things.'"</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BOOK_THIRTEENTH."></a>BOOK THIRTEENTH.</h2> +<h3>THE STRANGE LADY.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="M_CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>A STORY OF THE PAST.</h3> +<br> +<p>Another year slipped away, and wrought many changes among the +inhabitants of the block. Some of them had passed from stately +mansions to those narrow houses which are appointed for all the +living. Others had wedded, and moved to other blocks which were to +be their future homes--till the 1st of the following May. Some of +them had grown rich by quick speculations, and got into the +choicest society by the simple manoeuvre of taking a four-story +brownstone front in the avenue which formed the eastern boundary of +the block. Others had attained to poverty by the same process, and +had migrated to cheaper lodgings in blocks remote, expecting that a +lucky turn of Fortune's wheel would bring them back to fashionable +life next year, as it most likely would. The principal personages +of this history had been radically affected by this lapse of +time--as will hereafter be shown--with the single exception of +Marcus Wilkeson.</p> +<p>For one year, life had passed tranquilly, uneventfully. He had +sought, and found, in his dear books, a panacea for that sickness +of the heart which sometimes attacked him in his lonelier hours. At +such, times, he would repeat to himself these expressive lines of +an old poet:</p> +<blockquote><br> +This books can do; nor this alone; they give<br> +New views of life, and teach us how to live;<br> +The grieved they soothe, the stubborn they chastise;<br> +Fools they admonish, and confirm the wise.<br> +Their aid they yield to all; they never shun<br> +The man of sorrow, or the wretch undone.<br> +Unlike the hard, the selfish, and the proud,<br> +They fly not sullen from the suppliant crowd,<br> +Nor tell to various people various things,<br> +But show to subjects what they show to kings.</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The end of the quiet, sad (but not unpleasantly sad) twelve +months found Marcus, on a bright morning in the month of August, +sitting at his window, with a favorite book on his knees, +looking--where he should not have looked so much--at that window in +the old house where the only tragedy of his life had been wrought. +As he gazed, like one fascinated by a spell, his features +lengthened, and the habitually melancholy expression of his face +became deepened and confirmed.</p> +<p>So wrapt was he in these unhappy self-communings, that he did +not hear a vigorous "rat-tat-tat" on the door of the little back +parlor. A repetition of the performance aroused him, and to his +call, "Come in," Mash, the cook, presented herself.</p> +<p>"A woman at the door wishes to speak to you, sir, on important +business, she says. Shall I show her in, sir?" Mash laid stress on +the word "woman," in retaliation for the somewhat peremptory way in +which the person in question had accosted her at the door. The +"Buttery and the Boudoir--a Tale of Real Life," afforded her a +precedent on this point.</p> +<p>"Show in the lady," said Marcus, wondering who she could be.</p> +<p>A tall, shapely person, dressed in deep black, and wearing a +thick veil, was ushered into the room. She bowed slightly, and took +a seat which Marcus offered her, near the window, and then looked +significantly at Mash, who lingered in an uncertain way about the +door.</p> +<p>"You may shut the door, Mash," said Marcus; and Mash did so with +a little slam, intended to pierce the heart of the mysterious woman +in black, for whom that domestic had, in one minute, conceived a +mortal dislike.</p> +<p>The strange woman drew back her veil, and revealed a thin, pale +face, which might have been handsome twenty years back. "Do you +remember having seen me before?"</p> +<p>Marcus looked into the thin face with polite scrutiny. "Yes, +madam," said he, at length. "I think I saw you on a railway train +in New Jersey, over a year ago; and also in the town of--, in that +State, on the evening of a certain unfortunate exhibition. But you +are changed, in some respects, since then."</p> +<p>"You would say that I am paler and thinner; and I am here to +tell you why I am, and also to make all the atonement in my power +for a crime that I have committed."</p> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson's first thought was of the unfathomed murder. +His startled face expressed what was passing through his mind.</p> +<p>The strange woman read his thoughts. "The crime to which I refer +is not the murder of Mr. Minford; of which, I may here say, I +believed, from the first, that you were entirely innocent. +Crimes--of that character, at least--have never been known in your +family."</p> +<p>"All that you say, taken in connection with some curious +circumstances which occurred on that railway ride, and that +memorable night in New Jersey," said Marcus, "make me intensely +anxious to hear what you have to tell. Please impart the +information at once, and fully. I call Heaven to witness, that your +name, your history, the secret which you are to reveal, shall pass +with me to the grave, if you desire it."</p> +<p>"I accept your offer," said she, with emotion, "though my crime +is so flagrant that no publicity, no punishment would be too great +for it. Still, as full justice can be done, and reparation made, +without this public disgrace, I prefer that my identity should be +unknown except to you. I think that I have but few months to live." +The woman expelled a hacking cough.</p> +<p>"My story must be short," said she, "and suited to my strength +and this cough. You probably remember Lucy Anserhoff, who was a +little playmate of yours in your native village? I see, by your +nod, that you do. I am--she. You may well look surprised, for there +is little in my haggard face and wasted form to recall that once +innocent girl. You remember, I presume, my engagement to your +brother Aurelius--excuse my faltering, sir, for, even at this +distance of time, I cannot speak of your dead brother without +emotion. It is not necessary to recall to your memory the details +of your brother's conduct to me, and how he afterward +married--another--and moved to this city. This early portion of my +unfortunate career is well known to you, as it was to all the +people of our little village."</p> +<p>Here the strange visitor paused, and coughed. The cough was dry +and hollow.</p> +<p>She continued: "I think I may say that I was amiable and good +enough, as a child. But your brother's desertion changed my whole +nature. I dwelt upon one thought--revenge. I shudder as I confess +it, but, for months, I meditated taking the life of the man who had +wronged me. I came to this city twice, and lay in wait for him; but +my heart faltered, and, thank God! I did not commit that crime. +Soon, Heaven interposed--so it seemed to me at that wicked time--to +help on my work of vengeance. Your brother's wife died, giving +birth to a female child. I used to ride into the city twice a week +regularly after this, and watch for him near his place of business, +that I might gloat on his pale, unhappy face. I see the look of +horror with which you receive this part of my confession; but you +will bear in mind, sir, that I am hero to tell the truth, +concealing nothing. You remember, sir, the old lines about a woman +scorned? I, sir, can bear witness to their awful truth."</p> +<p>Another fit of coughing here interrupted her. At length she +resumed, in a feebler voice: "I must hasten while I can talk at +all. One day, while I was watching near your brother's house for +his appearance, the door opened, and a servant appeared, with a +child in her arms--his child. The servant walked down the street, +and I followed her, unobserved, until she came to Washington Parade +Ground. She entered the park, and took a seat near the fountain. I +sat down on a bench near her. It was not long before I made the +girl's acquaintance, and had the child in my arms, caressing it +with well-counterfeited kindness. Suddenly, the girl recollected +that she had left the street door of the house unlocked, and was +afraid that the house, having not a soul in it, would be robbed +during her absence. She was so much troubled about it, that she +asked me to hold the child--then about a year old--until she could +go and lock up the house, and return. A horrible suggestion came +into my mind, and I took the child in my arms. The servant was no +sooner out of my sight, than I rose, and, clasping the child +tightly, walked rapidly in the opposite direction. When I had got +out of the park, among the side streets near North River, I ran +until I was tired, turning at every corner, to avoid pursuit. My +plan was clear from the moment that the child was left in my +charge. It was, to give her into the keeping of some stranger, and +so rob the widowed father of his only child. It was a scheme worthy +of the lost and wretched woman that I then was."</p> +<p>A fit of coughing here set in, interrupting the narrative for +several minutes. Marcus offered his strange guest a glass of water. +She sipped it, until her cough was checked.</p> +<p>"I wished to make a full and minute statement, sir; but this +cough again warns me to be very brief. In a word, then, I had not +gone far, before I saw a German woman--a neat, elderly +person--sitting on the stoop of her house. An impulse moved me to +leave the child with her. I accosted her, but she answered me in +German, saying that she could not speak English. Hardly knowing +what I did, I mounted the steps, and placed the child in her arms, +first kissing it. Then I tossed my pocket book, containing about +twenty dollars, into her lap, and, without another word or act, ran +off again. As I drew near the next corner, I turned, and saw the +German woman still sitting on the stoop, looking at the child, and +then at the money, and then at my flying form, in perfect +amazement.</p> +<p>"Well, I returned to my country home in safety. Next day, I saw +in the New York papers a reward of five hundred dollars for the +recovery of the child, and the same amount for the arrest of the +woman who stole it. My person was described, according to the +recollection of the servant, but so imperfectly that I could not be +identified. In two weeks I visited the city again, found the house +where I had left the child--for I had remembered, even in my haste, +the street and the number. The poor little thing was well, and had +learned to love its new mother, who, in turn, seemed to love it as +well as her own two children. I kissed the child, left more money +with the German woman, and fled again to my home. These visits I +repeated from week to week for six months, without detection. The +German woman supposed that I was the mother of the child, but knew +there was a secret, and did not seek to disturb it. At the end of +the six months, your--your--brother died." (There was here a slight +quaver in her voice, almost instantly passing away.) "Soon after +this, my mother died, and the last of our family estate was spent +on her burial." (Another tremor in the voice, but brief. The woman +seemed to have perfect control of her feelings.)</p> +<p>"Fortunately, I was qualified to earn my living as a seamstress. +I went to the city, advertised for such a place, and obtained it. I +visited the child secretly, sometimes, and left money for its +support and clothing. But the idea of detection and exposure +troubled me greatly. One day, I read an advertisement from a +married couple who had no children, offering to adopt a girl under +two years of age. I answered the advertisement, and thus became +acquainted with--"</p> +<p>"I anticipate the disclosure," said Marcus. "Mr. Minford! And +the poor, dear child is my niece. Heaven be praised, she is found +at last!"</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="M_CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>POSSIBLE LOVE.</h3> +<br> +<p>"You have guessed rightly. Miss Minford is your niece. The +proofs will be found in this packet. They are articles of clothing, +taken from the child as fast as new ones were supplied, to prevent +its identification, bearing the initials of Helen Wilkeson. I +preserved them, with the vague idea of benefiting her by them, some +day. I have seen the child by stealth a few times since I gave her +to Mr. and Mrs. Minford, but never called at their house. It was +agreed between us that I should never make myself known as the +child's mother, and that they should never seek to learn my name +and history. I acted as seamstress in several families in this +city, until, about five years ago, I obtained an engagement in a +family in New Jersey, living in the very town where that unlucky +panorama was exhibited. It happened, as you know, that you and I +rode in the same car from New York, where I had been on a shopping +excursion. I recognized and was profoundly impressed with your +resemblance to your brother. Learning that you were connected with +the panorama, I attended the exhibition, that I might observe you +more closely. There you were arrested on the charge of murdering +Mr. Minford--of which, I again say, I always believed that you were +totally innocent. You may remember that a woman fainted away. I was +she. The sudden recollection of those two names--Wilkeson and +Minford--in such a connection, was too much even for my nerves. I +read the trial with fearful interest, and rejoiced in your release +from the accusation. Providence at last seemed to point out the way +to make all the reparation for my crime. I should have done it +immediately after your acquittal, had I not seen by the papers that +a wealthy lady--Mrs. Crull--had given your niece a home in her +family. I postponed this act of justice from one week to another, +until my failing health warned me that it could not be put off with +safety longer. I thank Heaven that I have had strength and +resolution to do it at last."</p> +<p>"This act of atonement, madam," said Marcus, "entitles you to my +respect and sympathy. If you ever need a friend, I trust you will +do me the favor of calling on me."</p> +<p>"I thank you," she replied; "but I have means enough to support +me for the remainder of my days, which are numbered. The family in +which I live, little knowing my true history, are very kind to +me."</p> +<p>The protracted conversation had not been closed too soon. A +violent cough seized upon the poor woman's frame, and shook it like +a leaf. When it had ceased, Marcus observed that her lips were +streaked with blood.</p> +<p>He begged to send for a doctor, but she would not have one, and +rose to take her leave.</p> +<p>Marcus insisted, however, upon ordering a carriage for her +conveyance to the New Jersey Railroad Depot, and she at length +consented to receive that kindness from him.</p> +<p>To the driver he whispered words of caution, and instructed him +to take the lady to a physician, in case she was ill on the +journey; and, if so, to report, immediately thereafter, to him. He +then shook her hand frankly, and begged her again to remember that +he should always be her friend.</p> +<p>She smiled sadly, as she replied: "Again and again I thank you, +sir; but it is useless to accept your kind offers, for we are +meeting for the last time."</p> +<p>The carriage was driven slowly away.</p> +<p>The poor woman's word's were true; and Marcus never saw her +more.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="M_CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>UNCLE AND NIECE.</h3> +<br> +<p>Marcus Wilkeson had seen Pet but twice since the inquest--once +in Mrs. Crull's carriage, and once afoot, on the opposite side of +the street. He was delicately conscious that she regarded him with +distrust or aversion; and, raising his hat politely to her, bowed, +and passed on. He had expressly enjoined upon Tiffles and Overtop, +in the communications which they had with her relative to the +"Cosmopolitan Window Fastener," not to mention his name. He shrank +from appearing to force himself on her notice.</p> +<p>The discovery of her real parentage had modified Marcus's +sensitiveness somewhat. He was now no longer in the ridiculous +position of a middle-aged, hopeless lover, but was an uncle, with a +charming niece whom he could honorably love like a father. His +first impulse, after the departure of the mysterious woman, was to +hurry around to Mrs. Crull's house, unpack his bundle of proofs, +and embrace the dear child with avuncular affection.</p> +<p>Upon him, glowing with this impulse, came the calm, deep +Overtop, to whom Marcus told the strange story. Overtop listened +with lawyer-like composure, and, when Marcus had finished, asked +for the bundle. "The story is likely enough," said he, "but a +lawyer wants to know all the proofs."</p> +<p>So saying, he removed from the parcel the string which bound it, +and which, with the wrapping cloth, had become yellow with age, and +brought to view a baby's long frock, and a cap made of the finest +materials, and heavily fringed with lace, and a pair of tarnished +golden morocco shoes of fairy dimensions. Upon an edge of the dress +were daintily wrought, in needle work, the initials, H.W. A +separate package contained extracts from three daily papers, giving +accounts of the "Mysterious Disappearance of a Child," and an +advertisement, signed Aurelius Wilkeson, offering five hundred +dollars for the recovery of his daughter Helen, and describing the +circumstances of the abduction so far as they were known, and the +articles of dress which the infant wore at the time.</p> +<p>"So far, so good," said Overtop; "but it now remains to identify +the original owner of these baby clothes with Miss Minford. We must +find some old friends or acquaintances of the late inventor, who +can testify that he adopted a child during the year 18--."</p> +<p>Marcus, whose memory was tenacious of names, recollected that +Mr. Minford, in his few confidential moments, had told him of +several persons whom he had known in more prosperous days.</p> +<p>With these memoranda to guide him, Overtop went resolutely to +work, and, in two days, found four old friends of Mr. and Mrs. +Minford, who remembered the very year when they adopted an infant +child. It was the same year that the daughter of Aurelius Wilkeson +had disappeared. Overtop, being a Notary Public, took the +affidavits of these persons as he went along.</p> +<p>Here Overtop would have stopped, and left Marcus to break the +important news of his new-found relationship to the young lady. But +Marcus, who had a perfect horror of scenes, begged his friend to do +this troublesome piece of diplomacy for him, but promised, when it +was done, to appear at Mrs. Crull's in his new character of +uncle.</p> +<p>Overtop performed the difficult task with success. He found Pet +not altogether unprepared for the discovery. She recalled to mind +several conversations and significant glances between Mr. and Mrs. +Minford (the latter died in Pet's twelfth year), in which there was +an evident allusion to the mystery of her birth. She remembered how +often persons had expressed surprise that she did not resemble her +supposed father or mother in the least. She remembered that, on +those occasions, Mrs. Minford had been much disconcerted; and Mr. +Minford, remarking that it was a freak of nature, he presumed, had +always seemed desirous of changing the subject. She remembered that +this strange want of resemblance to either of her reputed parents +had often been a puzzle to her before Mrs. Minford's death.</p> +<p>With regard to Lucy Anserhoff, and the causes which prompted her +to the abduction of the child. Overtop said nothing; because, among +other reasons, Marcus, true to his solemn pledge, had told him +nothing. He explained that the crime had been committed by a person +who had formerly been a servant in her father's family; and that +she had made full confession to her uncle, only on condition that +her name should never be mentioned to any human being.</p> +<p>Mrs. Crull, who to a practical mind united a love of the +romantic and marvellous, accepted Overtop's proofs even more +readily than Pet. She said she had observed, at the inquest, a +wonderful resemblance between Mr. Wilkeson and her darling, +especially in the nose and eyes. Overtop, being appealed to to mark +the likeness, took an oracular three-quarters view of the young +lady, and said that the word "niece" was written on her face.</p> +<p>"He's your uncle, my dear," said Mrs. Crull. "There a'n't no +doubt o' that. But don't forget that I'm your mother, now."</p> +<p>Pet kissed Mrs. Crull, and placed her little hand confidingly in +the large, ineradicably red hand of her protectress.</p> +<p>"Now that Marcus Wilkeson stands in the relation of uncle to +you," said Overtop, "there is no harm in telling you something." He +then broke to her the secret of her uncle's important aid in the +affair of the "Cosmopolitan Window Fastener"--the sole credit of +which had always been attributed by Pet and Mrs. Crull to Wesley +Tiffles and Overtop, agreeably to the wish of Marcus.</p> +<p>"What a fool I've been," said Mrs. Crull, "to feel the least +doubt about this excellent man! It was very weak of me, I s'pose, +Mr. Overtop; but I don't mind tellin' you, that, after what had +'curred, I thought that Mr. Wilkeson's quaintance with Pet had +better be stopped. I take all the 'sponsibility of it. We must make +it up, by thinkin' all the more of him now."</p> +<p>At the suggestion of Overtop, a servant, with Mrs. Crull's +carriage, was now sent for Marcus, and soon returned with him.</p> +<p>When he entered the room, Pet rose, and walked toward him, half +hesitating. Her face was very pale, and her lips quivered. "My dear +uncle!" she said, and turned her sweet face up to be kissed.</p> +<p>Marcus, to whom the probable character of his reception had been +a distressing subject of conjecture, was delighted at this frank, +affectionate greeting, and stooped and imprinted an uncle's kiss on +the young girl's brow. It was a pleasant way out of an +embarrassment.</p> +<p>The conflicting emotions of the hour were too much for Pet; and +she tottered to Mrs. Crull's arms, and wept for a few moments.</p> +<p>"You are her uncle, Mr. Wilkeson," said Mrs. Crull, extending +her red right hand, while, with her left, she smoothed Pet's thick +brown hair, "but I am her mother." Mrs. Crull seized upon this +early opportunity to give notice that her rights as adopted parent +were not to be abridged.</p> +<p>"And happy she is in having such a mother, my dear Mrs. Crull," +said Marcus.</p> +<p>A quick ring, as of a familiar visitor, was heard at the door. +The servant ushered in Bog. He was much changed since his last +presentation to the reader. Six months of worldly polish, of +private tutoring, and of a strong desire to appear well in the eyes +of one he loved, had turned the clumsy boy into the quiet but +stylish young gentleman. He had given up the bill-posting business, +not because he was sick of it, or ashamed of it, but because old +Van Quintem loved his adopted son so well, that he could not spare +him from his side. Bog passed the greater portion of every day with +him, rambling through the streets, or riding to the suburbs in the +old family carriage, or reading the dear old books to him. Bog read +well now, and had learned to love those repositories of wit and +wisdom with almost as keen a relish as the venerable white-headed +listener. This was another bond of affection between the old +gentleman and himself.</p> +<p>At Bog's entrance. Pet looked up, and showed the sparkling tears +in her eyes. A deep shade of anxiety passed over the young man's +face, and he looked around for an explanation.</p> +<p>The prompt Overtop was ready to give it; and, in a few moments, +Bog was enlightened with the great discovery.</p> +<p>"And Pet has been crying a little because she is so +happy--that's all," added Mrs. Crull. "Sit down here, Bog."</p> +<p>Mrs. Crull made room for him on the other end of the sofa where +she was sitting--her left hand still smoothing the soft brown hair +of her adopted child.</p> +<p>Bog took the seat, and smiled across the good lady's broad +figure to Pet, who smiled back at him again.</p> +<p>This expressive exchange of glances was not lost on Marcus. He +instantly saw, what he had not divined before, that the devotion, +the self-sacrifice, the constant, unswerving love of the boy, had +at last sounded its echo in the bosom of the maiden. As he swiftly +contrasted the manly, athletic figure of the young man, with the +delicate beauty of his niece, he thought how well they were adapted +to each other; and wondered that he could ever have been so blind +and conceited as to suppose that a nervous old bachelor like +himself could win the heart of that fresh and youthful image of +loveliness. And how thankful he then was that he had never, by a +single word, hinted at the mad love which he once felt for her.</p> +<p>He had no cause to blush now!</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BOOK_FOURTEENTH."></a>BOOK FOURTEENTH.</h2> +<h3>HAPPY DAYS.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="N_CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>OWNERS OF THE BEAUTIFUL.</h3> +<br> +<p>The world and all its inhabitants had rolled round to another +fragrant spring. The buds were bursting in city parks and gardens, +and birds twittered in the dusty air. Every happy heart said to +itself, "This green, and these opening roses, this music of the +birds, this shining day, this temperate breeze, are all mine, and +made for me."</p> +<p>There were two young persons, one sweet morning in May, who +experienced a delightful sense of that universal proprietorship of +the Beautiful. They were a couple who appeared to be expressly made +for each other; for the young man was tall and broad chested, the +young woman short, and delicately formed; his eyes were black, hers +blue; he was calm, resolute, deliberate in every movement, she +quick and impulsive. There never was a clearer case of mutual +fitness by virtue of entire dissimilarity.</p> +<p>Any one could see that they loved each other, and that, if they +were not married, they were engaged--for her little hand was +entwined most trustingly about his muscular arm, and she leaned +toward him with that gentle inclination which seems to be a +magnetism of the heart.</p> +<p>"Are you happy, my own Pet?" asked the young man, looking +proudly down at the beautiful face beside him.</p> +<p>"Happy! dear Bog--for I <i>will</i> always call you Bog. You +know I am!" Her blue eyes filled with tears.</p> +<p>If excess of happiness had not choked her voice, she would have +asked Bog if he thought she could be other than perfectly happy in +the love of her adopted mother, in the love of her dear uncle--who +was at once a father and brother in his tender solicitudes--in the +love of that darling old gentleman, Myndert Van Quintem, and in one +other love, which it was not necessary to mention.</p> +<p>But Bog knew that she was supremely happy, and he needed no such +elaborate answer. He also knew that he possessed the first, fresh, +and only love that she had ever cherished. All the events in +connection with her Greenpoint adventure, both before and after it, +proved that she had never loved young Van Quintem, and that her +sentiments toward him were only those of gratitude for his supposed +saving of her life, and an innocent, childlike confidence in his +good intentions.</p> +<p>The lovers sauntered down the street slowly, as if they would +protract the walk. Not another word was said. Passing a garden full +of roses, Bog reached through the fence, and plucked a full-blown +white one and handed it to Pet. She eagerly took it, and pinned it +to the bosom of her dress.</p> +<p>"Here we are, dearest; and I am almost ashamed to show myself to +uncle, for I am such a stranger," said Bog, breaking the silence, +as they stood at the foot of the memorable bell tower. "Hallo, +Uncle Ith!" he shouted, looking upward.</p> +<p>The old gentleman thrust his white head out of an open window at +the top, and said, "All right. Come up."</p> +<p>The door at the foot of the tower was open, and the young couple +proceeded to comply with the invitation. Bog led the way, and +gently dragged Pet from step to step, with much laughter on his +part, and many charming little feminine screams on her party until +the trap door was reached. Uncle Ith had combed his hair with his +five fingers, retied his old black cravat, and put on his coat, to +receive them. He smiled through the trap door, as they came in +sight, and said, "Be very careful of the young lady, Bog. Mind, +now, how the young lady steps."</p> +<p>Bog jumped through the trap door into the cupola. Then he +lowered a hand to Pet, and Uncle Ith lent her the same assistance, +and the two raised the precious burden to a place of safety. Uncle +Ith, after he had been introduced to Pet, proudly, by his nephew, +looked at her for a moment in silent admiration. He had never seen +her before, but he knew her well from Bog's descriptions (hurriedly +communicated by Bog when they had met in the street), and said to +himself that the boy had done no more than justice to her rare +beauty.</p> +<p>Then Uncle Ith looked at his nephew. "Ah, Bog," said he, shaking +his head at him, "what changes Time does make! It seems only a few +days ago that you was a little scrub of a chap, runnin' 'round town +and pickin' up your livin'. And a very good and honest livin' you +picked up, too. Now, here you are, a nicely dressed, tall, handsome +young man, with a snug little fortun' all of your own earnin', not +to mention your bein' the adopted son of that splendid old +gentleman, Myndert Van Quintem. And, last and best, you are goin' +to be married to this dear young lady to-morrer."</p> +<p>Pet blushed; and Bog said, "That is why we are here to-day, dear +uncle. We must have you at the wedding."</p> +<p>Uncle Ith faltered. "Me at Mr. Van Quintem's! I should feel like +a fish out o' water." He said nothing about the antiquated blue +coat with brass buttons, the short, black trousers, and the figured +satin vest, hanging up in a closet at home; but he thought of them, +and what a stiff figure he would cut in them.</p> +<p>"But you must come, Uncle Ith!" said Pet, with her sweetest +smile. "I ask it as a particular favor."</p> +<p>"You are my only living relative, you know, uncle," added +Bog.</p> +<p>"We should not be happy, if you were away," said Pet, placing +her hand confidingly on the old man's shoulder. Young persons +always took to the good old man in this spontaneous way.</p> +<p>The entreaties of the couple, and the continual iteration of +that name by which he loved to be called--"Uncle Ith"--finally +overcame his objections. He reconciled himself to the prospect of +the blue coat, short trousers, and gaudy vest, and solemnly +promised to attend the wedding.</p> +<p>This important matter having been settled, Uncle Ith pointed out +to Pet all the interesting objects to be seen from the tower, and +adjusted the spyglass for her, and gave her near views of +Governor's Island, the Palisades, and other remote objects. He also +explained to her the process of striking the bell by means of the +long iron lever, and told her that, if she would wait there long +enough, she could hear how the big chap sounded ten feet away. Pet +put her hands to her ears, in anticipation of the stunning noise, +and laughingly said that she didn't think she would wait long.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="N_CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>THE LAST OF A MYSTERY.</h3> +<br> +<p>After Pet had looked at all the objects of interest visible from +the bell tower--Uncle Ith pointing them out with the pride of an +owner--Bog called Pet aside, and said, "Now, Uncle Ith, I have +something to show her that I used to think most interesting of +all."</p> +<p>Pet rested her hand upon his arm, and gazed through the +southeastern window, in the direction indicated by Bog's +forefinger.</p> +<p>"Right there," said he, "midway between those two tall chimneys, +and a trifle south of the line of that steeple--the last two +windows in the upper story of that old house--do you see them?"</p> +<p>Pet looked along his outstretched arm, to get the precise +direction, and then said, hurriedly, "It is my old home."</p> +<p>The sight of those familiar windows, in which the calico +curtains still hung, recalled the horrid vision of that dreadful +night. Pet turned pale, and shuddered. "Let us look elsewhere, +Bog," said she.</p> +<p>"I beg your pardon, dearest; but I wanted to tell you how many +hours I had spent in this cupola, day and night, gazing at those +two windows, and feeling, oh, so happy! if I could but catch a +glimpse of you or your shadow. But I never told Uncle Ith about +it."</p> +<p>Uncle Ith had not overheard this conversation, but he had +followed with his eyes the direction pointed out by Bog. As the +young couple stepped back from the window, he said:</p> +<p>"I see some strange sights occasionally, my children" (he was +fond of calling young people his children), "I can tell you. There +are a couple of windows, in the upper story of that old brick +house, between the two big chimneys, that used to interest me +some."</p> +<p>"We see them," said Bog and Pet.</p> +<p>"About five years back, I began to notice lights burnin' in that +room, long after all other lights, except the street lamps, was put +out. Of course, this attracted my attention, and I used to feel a +queer kind of pleasure in looking into the room with my spyglass, +and wonderin' what was goin' on there. The curtains were usually +drawn over the lower sashes; but, this tower bein' fifty or sixty +feet higher than the house, I could look over the top of the +curtains, and see somethin'. An old man, tall and slim, and a young +girl, 'peared to be the only folks that lived there. Are you sick, +young lady?" said he, observing that Pet looked pale.</p> +<p>"Oh, no; I am not sick--only a little fatigued."</p> +<p>"What a brute I was, not to offer you a chair! Now do sit down, +young lady."</p> +<p>Pet did so, and Uncle Ith resumed:</p> +<p>"The old gentleman was a machinist, I s'pose, for I used to see +his shadow on the wall, goin' through the motions of filin', +sawin', and hammerin', though I could never guess what he was +workin' on. I have known him sometimes to be at this queer business +till daylight. For three years the strange old gentleman never +missed a night at his work. I fear you are not quite well, young +lady. Take a glass of water."</p> +<p>Pet sipped from the proffered glass, and declared that she was +much better now,</p> +<p>"One night, about two years ago, I took a look into this room +with my spyglass. I generally didn't do it until three or four +o'clock in the mornin', when all the other lights in the +neighborhood was out. But, on that partickler night, about eleven +o'clock, I happened to observe that one of the window curtains +which covered the lower sash was left partly undrawn. This had +never occurred before, and so I brought my glass to bear on the +room at once. A tall gentleman, whose face I had often seen movin' +in the room over the top o' the curtain, was just in the act of +takin' his departure, which he did without shakin' hands. The old +man then went to his place at the other window, and tackled to his +work again. He had been at it about twenty minutes, when a bar, or +rod, which stuck up above the curtain, and was somehow connected +with his work, fell forward with a quick motion, as if it was +jerked away. The old man stooped, picked it up, and fixed it in its +place again. His face, as well as I could see through my glass in +the night time, at that distance, showed a wonderful amount of +surprise and astonishment--at the fall of this rod or bar, I +s'pose. He then seemed to be filin' on somethin', and afterward +stooped down, as if to put it into some part of the machine, or +whatever it was. Jest at that minute the Post Office struck, and I +put down my glass, and turned my head toward the sound, to catch +the district. It struck seven. I jumped to the lever, and started +the old bell for seven, too. As I was strikin' the first round, my +eyes happened to rest on the strange window again. The old man was +not standin' there. The bar, or rod, had fallen out of its place +again, I s'posed, and I expected every minute to see the old man +appear at the window, and fix it again. But he didn't show himself +any more that night--and (which is the curious part of my story) +I've never seen him since. Whether he dropped dead from heart +disease, I can't guess; but certain I am that he is dead, +for--"</p> +<p>Poor Pet here exhibited such signs of faintness, that Bog, who +had been leaning against the edge of the window, gazing at the +well-known window with a strange fascination, sprang to her side, +and instantly bathed her brow with water from Uncle Ith's old +pitcher, near at hand. This restored her. "Be calm, dearest," said +Bog.</p> +<p>"What--what is the matter with the young lady?" asked Uncle Ith, +in great trepidation. "Shall I run for a doctor?"</p> +<p>"No, Uncle Ith; no doctor. But we won't talk any more about this +strange room at present. It affects Miss Wilkeson's nerves."</p> +<p>"The shock is past, dear Bog," said she, "and I can bear to hear +everything."</p> +<p>"But you must promise to control yoursell, darling," said Bog, +tenderly.</p> +<p>"One question, Uncle Ith," said he. "How long a time were your +eyes off the room, after the first stroke for the Seventh +District?"</p> +<p>"Not more than three seconds."</p> +<p>"And you are sure that there was nobody in the room?"</p> +<p>"Certain; for I must have seen him enter, or go out."</p> +<p>"Then, Uncle Ith, you have cleared up a great mystery."</p> +<p>"What! What mystery?"</p> +<p>"The death of Mr. Minford, the inventor, my old friend, and the +protector and guardian of Miss Wilkeson. He lived in that very +room! He was at work on a perpetual-motion machine! It was +operated, somehow, by weights! It started suddenly, when you saw +that rod, or lever, fall to the floor! Mr. Minford put the rod in +its place, and made some little improvement in the works! The +machine started again at a moment when your eyes were turned away! +The rod fell with greater violence, struck the inventor on the +head, and killed him! That is the whole story; and stupid we have +all been not to have guessed it before."</p> +<p>Nature furnished her own sweet relief to Pet's pent-up emotions. +She burst into tears. "Thank Heaven," said she, "it is all plain +now!"</p> +<p>Pet had not whispered it to Mrs. Crull, or Bog, or her uncle, or +to any other living soul, but the mystery of that awful night had +hung over her young mind like a pall, which in vain she had tried +to lift.</p> +<p>"What a blockhead I am," cried Uncle Ith, "not to take the +papers! If I had only taken the papers, now, I should ha' read all +about that affair, and might ha' guessed that the man who was +s'posed to be murdered was the man I had seen workin' in that room +for three years. Then I should ha' offered myself as a witness, and +might ha' thrown some light on the business. I'll 'scribe for a +paper to-day, instead of trustin' to hearsay for the news."</p> +<p>"And a very neglectful fellow was I," said Bog, "not to have +called here and seen you, after that sad affair. But the truth was, +that Pet went to live with her best of friends, Mrs. Crull, and I +had no longer a desire to look at the room from your bell tower. In +fact," Bog added, with a smile, "the tower has not been quite as +interesting for two years past as it used to be. If I had come up +here at any time since Mr. Minford's death, I should probably have +told you of the supposed murder, and pointed out those windows to +you. But--"</p> +<p>"But you forgot all about your old uncle. Ha! I understand. +Well, I forgive you, seein' what there was to 'sturb your +recollections." Uncle Ith looked affectionately at Pet, who smiled +and blushed through her tears.</p> +<p>The old man continued: "I 'member once when we met in the +street, about two years ago--"</p> +<p>"I used to come around this way, you must know, Uncle Ith, in +order to meet you, two or three times a week."</p> +<p>"I give you credit for that, Bog. You never disowned your poor +old uncle. But, as I was sayin', I 'member one time when we met, +that you told me somethin' about the murder of somebody of your +'quaintance. But I didn't take no partickler interest in it, +because I didn't know any of the parties concerned. And, of course, +I didn't dream that poor Mr. Minford was the man I had seen workin' +away there for three years. But the main fault is mine, because I +don't take the papers. I see, now, that every man ought to take the +papers--if only as a duty to his feller man." Uncle Ith coughed, as +one who utters a maxim of great moral depth.</p> +<p>It was then agreed, at Bog's suggestion, that Uncle Ith, +accompanied by him, should call at Overtop's office, at early +business hours (when Uncle Ith was off duty), next day, and consult +upon the best course to be adopted to make his testimony public, +and set the mystery of Mr. Minford's death forever at rest.</p> +<p>This having been done, Bog and Pet withdrew, and had hardly +reached the foot of the tower, when the musical thunder of the +great bell announced the constantly reiterated story of a fire in +the Seventh--that most combustible of all the city districts.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="N_CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>LOVE CROWNED.</h3> +<br> +<p>Late on a fair afternoon of May, wedding guests began to +assemble at old Van Quintem's house. The old gentleman had been out +of society many years; and he improved this happy occasion to bring +together his few surviving relatives, and friends of his former +business days.</p> +<p>Heavy antique carriages rolled up to the door, with retired +merchants and their wives. The retired merchants were of a pattern +not altogether extinct in New York, who, at the ages of sixty years +and upward, had cleared their skirts of business, and settled down +to a calm retrospect of the past, and serene anticipations of the +future. They were evidently destined for a good old age, and had +fat pocket books to help them through. The proper place to look for +this class of retired merchants is on the tax books, and not in +public assemblies, or among the Directing Boards of benevolent +institutions. They are good, charitable souls; but, having got out +of business, they desire to keep out of it literally, leaving to a +younger generation the task of managing men and affairs.</p> +<p>A more stylish vehicle deposited at the door a bachelor Bank +President, who was not only the old personal friend of the host, +but his trusted adviser in business affairs. The parlor of the ---- +Bank was one of the few places that old Van Quintem still visited +in the bustling haunts of the city; and to old Van Quintem's house +the bachelor Bank President made monthly pilgrimages of friendship. +He was a handsome man of fifty, with long white hair, which matched +beautifully with his yet ruddy cheeks, and a figure portly and full +of strength. Nobody but himself knew why so eligible a man remained +a bachelor.</p> +<p>In a humpbacked chaise drawn by an exemplary horse, there rode a +fat and pleasant old gentleman, who was uncomfortably swathed about +the neck with a white cravat. He crawled from his narrow coop with +the nimbleness of one who is on professional business. He was +followed by his wife, a little woman, who was the mother of ten +children from two to twenty years of age--just two years apart, and +all strongly resembling their father. This fat, pleasant old +gentleman was the old-fashioned minister of the old-fashioned +church to which Mr. Van Quintem had belonged for forty years. The +little woman was his second wife; and there was a first crop of +children, who had been safely launched on the world for many years, +and were doing extremely well.</p> +<p>The sole surviving relatives of old Van Quintem were three +elderly ladies, who, by some contagious fatality, remained +unmarried. After pining romantically over their doom for some time, +they had settled down to the conviction that they were much happier +single than wedded, and that they had escaped a great many dangers +and disappointments--which was unquestionably true. It was really +pleasant for them to reflect that the snug property which their +father left them had not been squandered upon designing husbands, +but had been kept, improved, and added to, until it was one of the +prettiest estates on Staten Island. These ladies were first cousins +of old Van Quintem, and had an odd habit of staying at home. They +came to New York always on important business, which could not be +transacted by any one else, four times a year; and, on those +occasions, paid state visits to old Van Quintem, who reciprocated +the civility by calling on them, in a ceremonial way, twice every +summer.</p> +<p>Uncle Ith came on foot; and wore his old blue coat with brass +buttons, his flowered vest, and shining trousers so awkwardly, that +people who did not know him stared at him as at a strange +spectacle. People--and they were many--who did know him, stared at +him with a still greater surprise, wondering what extraordinary +event in his history was about to occur. Uncle Ith felt the +additional embarrassment of fame, or notoriety; for an affidavit, +prepared by Overtop, giving the full particulars of his +observations from the bell tower, had been published in all the +city papers that morning. Before noon, Uncle Ith had been waited on +by six newspaper reporters, to whom he had furnished particulars of +his early life; and had promised to sit for his photograph, for the +use of an illustrated weekly, on the following day. For all these +reasons, added to his natural modesty, he pulled the door bell with +a feeling of profound regret, which was followed by a strange +desire to run around the corner. Before this desire could have been +gratified, the door was opened by a servant, and Uncle Ith was +ushered in.</p> +<p>The anticipated awkwardness of an introduction to old Van +Quintem, was prevented by the approach of that gentleman before his +name was announced.</p> +<p>"Welcome! welcome!" said he, shaking him by the hand with Dutch +fervor. "I know you from Bog's description, you see. Your statement +in the morning papers has lifted a load from several hearts, I can +tell you. Bog will be delighted to see you. He was beginning to be +afraid you would not come. Hallo, Bog!" said, the good old +gentleman, shouting up the stairs; "here is Uncle Ith."</p> +<p>The bridegroom bounded down the stairs with boyish impetuosity, +looking so fine that Uncle Ith hardly knew him. It was difficult to +realize that the ungainly, ignorant boy of a few years back, had +become this nice-looking, graceful young gentleman. Thus readily +does the rough diamond of a good heart and brain, under the guiding +hands of Ambition and Love, take its polish from contact with the +world and with society!</p> +<p>"Dear Uncle Ith!" said the bridegroom.</p> +<p>"Happy to see you, Uncle Ith!" exclaimed Fayette Overtop, who, +with Marcus Wilkeson and Matthew Maltboy, had been drawn from the +second floor at the mention of his name.</p> +<p>Marcus had not before seen Uncle Ith, though he had been +thinking of him all day. The publication of the old man's affidavit +was an entire surprise to Marcus--Overtop and Maltboy having said +nothing to him about it. Other people read the document with +interest, because it solved a mystery. But to Marcus it wore the +profounder, vastly greater importance of clearing the last shadow +of foul suspicion from his name. It may be unnecessary to say, that +it also gave rise to learned and interesting, but profitless +discussions, in several of the papers, upon the possibilities of +perpetual motion--which lasted until the explosion of a steam +boiler under the pavement turned every editor to the consideration +of steam boilers, their nature and habits, the rights of owners and +of the public, and the necessity of stringent legislation for the +better management of those subterranean powers of good and +evil.</p> +<p>Upon being introduced to Uncle Ith, Marcus gave the old man's +hand a warm pressure, but said nothing. But Uncle Ith saw in his +eyes an expression of the deepest gratitude, and he knew what it +meant; for he had read the report of the inquest at Overtop's +office, and there learned, for the first time, the unhappy +connection of Marcus Wilkeson with the Minford affair.</p> +<p>Maltboy, who, being one of the appointed groomsmen of the day, +was in extraordinary spirits, was profuse in his congratulations to +Uncle Ith, and insisted, rather unnecessarily, upon introducing him +to the retired merchants and the bachelor Bank President. They had +all read his affidavit, and regarded him with undisguised +interest.</p> +<p>For a man who has always been a lamb in his shyness and +self-depreciation, to find himself suddenly transformed into a +lion, is a cause of no little embarrassment. Uncle Ith was so much +flustered by all these tokens of popularity, that he could not +utter an articulate word, but only mumble, and wipe his heated +brow. He wished that the usages of society would permit him to take +off his coat, as he did in the bell tower, and be comfortable.</p> +<p>A few more guests arrived, mostly of the ancient order, and a +little too much of one sort to please a lover of variety. The +advent of Mr. Frump, with all his impulsive occidental +peculiarities of character fresh upon him, was a decided relief to +the decorous company already assembled in the parlors. In less than +ten minutes, he was on terms of off-hand friendship with everybody, +and was telling strange stories of Western adventure to a group of +eager listeners.</p> +<p>Old Van Quintem received all his guests with that simple +cordiality which leaves no doubt of a sincere welcome. The common +remark was, "How well you are looking, Mr. Van Quintem!" And it was +very true. Few men at seventy could show a figure so straight, +cheeks so smooth, and an eye so bright. The unavailing sorrow which +tenanted his heart two years before, had gradually disappeared. +From the hour that his son fled abashed from his presence, he had +not seen or heard of him, and had at last come to regard him as +dead--though the old gentleman could not have given a good reason +for that singular belief, except that his son had been a constant +cause of sorrow and trouble to him when alive. He preferred to +think of the lost son not as the ripened villain, but as the +innocent child prattling upon its mother's knee. This mental +picture filled a select chamber of the old man's memory. But the +affection and reverential duty of a son had been supplied by the +boy Bog; and, in the virtuous character and filial love of that +young man, he saw what the innocent child might have grown to, had +all his prayers and tears been answered.</p> +<p>When old Van Quintem's wishes were consulted with regard to the +wedding, he had but one favor to ask; and that was, that the +ceremony might take place at his house. It was a whimsical idea, he +said, but he would like to see his old home gay once more, as it +used to be years ago. "Besides," said he, "I am rheumatic, and +might not be able to attend the wedding, if held elsewhere."</p> +<p>Mrs. Crull, when she first heard, from the lips of the blushing +Pet, that Bog had proposed and been accepted, immediately outlined +the plan of a wedding at her house, which should be something +unprecedented in point of magnificence. The plan took shape as she +thought of it, and she had already settled upon the number of +invitations, and the other principal arrangements, when old Van +Quintem's wish was mentioned to her. The sacrifice was a great one; +and Mrs. Crull would make it only on condition that she should +superintend the preparations with the same freedom as at her own +house. Old Van Quintem consented to this, only stipulating that he +should pay all the bills; and, for over a week before the wedding, +Mrs. Crull, assisted by that most buxom and busy of women, Mrs. +Frump, had taken tyrannical possession of the dwelling, and made +such extraordinary transpositions of the carpets and pictures, and +other movable property, that old Van Quintem, on surveying the work +of renovation, hardly recognized the house as his own. The only +apartment that was not inwardly transformed by these female +magicians was the library. To that he clung, conscious that both +his services and his advice were of no value.</p> +<p>The house was soon filled with guests--or rather appeared to be +filled, for the whole number invited and present was only forty. +But forty people, moving about uneasily, and expecting something, +look like a hundred or more. Among them were many whose only claim +to an invitation was their friendship for the host, or Mrs. Crull, +or the bride, and not any mental, moral, or physical excellence +which entitles them to mention in this history.</p> +<p>There were two rooms on the second floor, upon which the +interest of loungers, male and female, was concentrated.</p> +<p>In one waited the bridegroom, his groomsmen Overtop and Maltboy, +Marcus Wilkeson and Wesley Tiffles. They were a happy party, and +not at all frightened at the approaching nuptials. Bog--for such +his friends always did, should, and will call him--could not have +been happier--far from it!--if he had held a sceptre in each hand. +Overtop was happy in the contemplation of his marriage with that +most sensible of girls, Miss Pillbody, which was set down for the +week following. The affair would have come off six months before, +but for Miss Pillbody's illness, happening soon after her mother's +death. In consequence of this illness, her select school had been +given up--never to be revived. Poor Overtop did not know how much +he loved her, until he saw how near he came to losing her. She had +completely recovered, was ruddy and pretty with new health, and was +Pet's first bridesmaid. Overtop thought pleasantly of her, and +combed back his intractable cowlick. Matthew Maltboy was happy +because he had taken a serious fancy to Miss Trapper, the second +bridesmaid, a charming but peculiar girl, and the particular +juvenile friend of Mrs. Frump. Matthew had met this young lady two +or three times, and had suffered sweetly from her black eyes. +Marcus Wilkeson was happy in his contented bachelorhood, in the +happiness of his niece and of all around him, and in the clearing +up of the "Minford enigma." Wesley Tiffles was happy because +happiness was his constitutional disposition, under all +circumstances and in all weathers. The arrival of Uncle Ith was the +only event that had drawn this good-natured party from their +retreat; and those who watched for their reappearance were +disappointed.</p> +<p>In the other room, the bride had been dressing for several +hours, and was still hard at it, under the immediate supervision of +the indefatigable Mrs. Crull, Mrs. Frump, and the two bridesmaids. +Only the favored few were admitted to this retreat of mysteries. +But they were kindly communicative. They brought back minute +reports of the appearance and condition of the bride elect, in the +various stages of her enrobement and ornamentation; and there was +not a woman in the house who did not, every ten minutes, have the +image of Helen Wilkeson stamped on her mind as accurately as the +changeful phases of an eclipse on the photographer's plate.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<p>At the soft, calm, mystic, love-making, marrying twilight hour, +the bridal party took their stand near the southern end of the +great double parlor. The forty guests were grouped before them, an +audience without seats.</p> +<p>Pet was pale, and leaned for support on Bog's arm. He stood +firm, erect, unblenching, with that instinct of physical strength +which one feels when the woman that he loves hangs confidingly on +his arm. Fayette Overtop, with his well-known dislike for +conventionalism, was thinking how tedious all that formality was, +and how much more sensible to be married by an alderman or justice +of the peace, privately, in two minutes. Miss Pillbody did not +agree with her future husband on this point, and was thinking, at +that very moment, what a solemn thing marriage was, and with what +ceremonious deliberation it ought to be entered upon. Matthew +Maltboy had had great experience as a groomsman, and he speculated +with perfect composure on this important question: Whether the +gentle tremor of Miss Trapper's hand was caused altogether by the +fluttering novelty of her situation, or partly by the +love-enkindling contact of their interlocked elbows?</p> +<p>As the six took their chosen positions, and gazed at a +particular pattern in the carpet, selected by them at a private +rehearsal in the morning, they were the subject of mental comment +by the forty guests. The women, looking at the costly dress of the +bride, pronounced her beautiful. The men, never noticing her dress, +but observing her pale face and heavy eyes, were not vividly +impressed with her loveliness. Bog was admired by all, and envied +by none to whom his history was known. The old ladies took a mild +maternal interest in him, because he was an orphan; and the young +ladies thought extremely well of him, because he was a strong, +gallant, handsome fellow. Overtop was regarded with curiosity, as +the reputed hero of the Slapman scandal. Matthew Maltboy was +universally condemned as too fat, and, with that brief criticism, +was dismissed. Miss Pillbody was pronounced "a little proud," +because she stood straight, with shoulders thrown back, which was +her usual attitude. Miss Trapper was admitted to be a very modest +and diffident creature, because she had a slight stoop in the back, +which was chronic.</p> +<p>Old Van Quintem stood near the wedding party, and recalled, with +fond minuteness, the hour when one, about the same age as Pet, and +resembling her in the freshness of her youthful beauty, had crowned +him with happiness. Mrs. Crull was close by, and looked at the +bride, whom she had dressed, with the pride of an artist. Mrs. +Frump stood next to her, and shared in the same sentiments. Marcus +Wilkeson's appointed place was somewhere in the neighborhood of the +bride; but he shrank away to the side of Uncle Ith, who also +obstinately clung to the other end of the room.</p> +<p>The venerable clergyman stepped into the centre of the small +open space which had been left in front of the bridal party, and +uttered a cough, at which signal the buzz of conversation +ceased.</p> +<p>The ceremony was very brief and simple--according to the ritual +of the Dutch Church--and people were married by it before they knew +it. The minister had received, in advance, a fee of unprecedented +size, which was, at that moment, lying at the bottom of his wife's +pocket, and which that good woman had already spent, in +imagination, on a new bonnet for herself, a new hat for the +minister, dresses for the girls, books for the boys, and playthings +for the baby. If the dimensions of the fee had any effect whatever +on the mind of the excellent minister, that effect was to hurry up +the ceremony, and make the two one with the least possible +delay.</p> +<p>At last the magical, binding words were spoken; and the husband, +stooping proudly to the not-averted face of his blushing wife, gave +her the first kiss. And at the same instant a little band of +musicians, with chosen instruments, secretly stationed in the +library, of which the door was now thrown open, struck up +Mendelssohn's divine Wedding March. As its jubilant notes floated +through the house, the round of congratulations commenced.</p> +<p>Blest Pet! What had she ever done--she thought, so far as giddy +happiness would allow her to think--to merit all these kisses (of +which her two shy uncles bestowed two), these benedictions, these +tears, and, above all, the possession of this noble heart by her +side, henceforth to be all her own? The exultant peals of the +Wedding March--that highest expression of triumphal love--but +faintly interpreted her joy.</p> +<p>The bridegroom received his full share of the universal good +wishes. Everybody was pleased with his behavior; and the bachelor +Bank President, and other members of the old school of gentlemen, +pronounced him a glorious young fellow, a refreshing contrast to +the puny, cadaverous youth of the day, and altogether worthy to +have flourished thirty years ago. The bridesmaids and groomsmen +were not neglected either; and both Miss Pillbody and Miss Trapper +thought that the next best thing to getting married, was to assist +others in the operation.</p> +<p>As for old Van Quintem, after kissing the bride, and calling Bog +his son, and giving both of them his blessing, he had retired from +the room to hide the tears of happiness which not even seventy +years of this hardening world could keep from his eyes.</p> +<p>For the second time in five minutes, Amos Frump approached +Matthew Maltboy, and shook hands with him. "Fat and jolly as ever," +said he.</p> +<p>From the first adjective Matthew recoiled; though he tried to +justify the propriety of the second by a laugh.</p> +<p>"And I like you--hang me if I don't!" said Mr. Frump, with +California bluntness, "<i>because</i> you're fat and jolly. But +here's wifey, and I know she wants to say somethin' to you."</p> +<p>"So I do," said Mrs. Frump. "My head was so full of business +to-day, that I had quite forgotten it. But you must step aside with +me," she added, looking significantly at Miss Trapper.</p> +<p>Matthew stepped aside; and she placed her lips to his ear, and +whispered, "What do you think of Miss Trapper?"</p> +<p>"A very pretty girl," said Matthew.</p> +<p>"So she is; and one of the best-hearted creatures that ever +lived. A little singular in one respect, perhaps."</p> +<p>"What is that?"</p> +<p>"Oh! she speaks out her mind--that's all. But then you always +know where to find her."</p> +<p>"She has not spoken any of it to me, at all events," said +Matthew. "I can't get her to talk."</p> +<p>"That's because she's modest. Cultivate her, and you'll find her +a splendid girl. Between you and me, I have recommended you to her, +and, depend upon it, she will meet you halfway."</p> +<p>"All right," whispered Matthew, gratefully.</p> +<p>Here the full voice of old Van Quintem announced dinner, for +which the elderly ladies had been demurely waiting for some time. +Two by two the bridal party and the guests marched to the banquet, +spread in the long, broad dining room, which was one of the best +features of this sturdy, old-fashioned house.</p> +<p>What the bill of fare was; what tunes the band played in the +library; what kind things were said to the bride and bridegroom; +what compliments were breathed into young female ears, and not +rebuked; what vows of love were exchanged; what courteous remarks +of the old school were made by the bachelor Bank President; what +ancient jokes were passed off by the wits of the party as new; what +abominable conundrums were then and there honestly invented; what +overwhelming confusion Uncle Ith experienced, when he found himself +seated next to a lady who talked loud at him, and how he wished +himself at home, one hundred feet from the ground; what complete +happiness was felt and expressed by everybody, but especially by +old Van Quintem and Marcus Wilkeson; what improbable stories were +told by Mr. Frump; what philosophical sayings uttered on the spur +of the moment by Fayette Overtop; what slightly impertinent but +always amiable remarks advanced by Wesley Tiffles;--all this might +be imagined, with a slight mental effort; but not so Matthew +Maltboy's new misfortune.</p> +<p>Profiting by Mrs. Frump's friendly suggestion, Matthew had +exhausted all his resources of conversation in an effort to +interest Miss Trapper. She had listened, and had returned +faultlessly proper replies, and had conducted herself so much like +all the other young women that Matthew had ever met, that he was +puzzled to guess in what respect her singularity consisted. He +longed to see a piece of that mind, which, according to Mrs. Frump, +she was in the habit of exhibiting to people. He was soon +gratified.</p> +<p>Miss Trapper had remarked, that, in a few days, she was going to +visit her friends in Chemung County, and would probably remain +there three months. It struck Matthew as the right time to make a +point.</p> +<p>"Then I shall not see you, Miss Trapper, during all that time!" +he said, with a sigh.</p> +<p>Miss Trapper levelled a sharp glance at him, and said, "I +suppose not."</p> +<p>The remark was tartly made; but Matthew had noticed that she +habitually spoke quick and short.</p> +<p>"Our acquaintance has thus far been very pleasant, Miss Trapper; +at least on my side," whispered Matthew. "Must it stop here?"</p> +<p>To which Miss Trapper replied, "I don't know."</p> +<p>Though the observation was not encouraging, it was, on the other +hand, not entirely forbidding.</p> +<p>"Since we are to be separated for three months, Miss Trapper, +might I solicit the great privilege of corresponding with you +occasionally?"</p> +<p>Miss Trapper's thin lips expelled two words, like shot out of a +gun: "What for?"</p> +<p>"What for?" echoed the amazed Matthew. "Why--for the pleasure of +exchanging our ideas, you know."</p> +<p>"That would be a bore," said Miss Trapper.</p> +<p>"I didn't understand you," said Matthew, distrusting his +ears.</p> +<p>"I said it would be a bore--a bore!" returned Miss Trapper, with +painful distinctness. "I hate letter writing."</p> +<p>"Oh! ah! Do you?" said Matthew, feebly. "Perhaps you would like +some pickled cauliflower, Miss Trapper?"</p> +<p>"Thank you."</p> +<p>Matthew handed the pickled cauliflower to her, and held his +tongue, satisfied with what he had seen of Miss Trapper's +singularity, and not at all anxious to receive a larger piece of +her mind.</p> +<p>"I am doomed to be a bachelor," thought Matthew, with a +suppressed groan. But Hope, which attends upon fat and lean men +alike, whispered in his mind's ear, "Why not marry a woman as fat +as yourself?"</p> +<p>"A capital idea!" thought Matthew "and if there's no other way +to find one, I'll advertise for her."</p> +<p>Dinner was protracted to a length that seemed tedious to all but +the representatives of the old school. When it did come to an end, +the party adjourned to the parlors, where a reasonable time was +devoted to conversation and flirtation. At length the musicians, +having taken their wedding dinner in their apartment, and drank +full bumpers (which, somehow, never interfere with the accuracy of +musical performances) to the health of the happy pair, struck up a +quadrille, which was at once interpreted by the younger people as a +signal for dancing. Two sets were instantly formed, and rattled +through with. The Lancers followed, and was liked so much that the +musicians were called upon to repeat it three times. The sets had +now increased to four, filling the two parlors, and crowding the +elderly people to the wall or the hallway. Then, luckily, old Van +Quintem bethought himself of the old-fashioned contra-dance, as a +contrivance for bringing his contemporaries on their legs. By an +extraordinary piece of good fortune, the musicians had learned it, +and played it at a silver wedding the week previous.</p> +<p>As the familiar notes, not heard for years, saluted the ears of +the bachelor Bank President, he showed the animation of an old +war-horse at the sound of the trumpet. "Now is our time," said +he.</p> +<p>Moved by common impulse, the members of a past generation rose, +and took their places. Old Van Quintem, temporarily forgetting his +rheumatism, led off, escorting Mrs. Crull. The bachelor Bank +President took charge of a widow, in whose breast he had revived +feelings that flourished twenty years before. The retired merchants +brought each other's wives upon the floor. Even Uncle Ith came out +from his seclusion in a corner, where he had been listening to the +sound of his own fire bell, rung by other hands that night, and +felt that here, at least, he should make no blunders. The tall, +talkative lady, from whom there seemed to be no escape, had +fastened on him as a partner. The good clergyman was the only old +or middle-aged gentleman who did not take his place in the set, and +he looked on and laughed.</p> +<p>The dance commenced, slow at first, then gradually faster. The +younger people, when they came to understand the simple movement, +fell into the chain couple after couple, until it extended into the +hallway, and through it into the parlors again. Everybody was drawn +in now, old and young, married and unmarried, the minister and his +wife only excepted, and they marked the measure with their heels. +Round and round, and faster and faster, went the chain, with its +constantly changing links. The musicians, playing the same strains +over and over again, became frenzied by the repetition, and doubled +the time without knowing it. Legs that had entered slow and stately +upon the interminable maze, became, without the knowledge or +consent of their owners, nimble and gymnastics.</p> +<p>It was a delightful peculiarity of this wonderful dance, that +couples could withdraw without breaking up the figure. The bride +and groom, acting upon this privilege, slipped out of the flying +circle, and sought, unaccompanied, the solitude of the vine-covered +piazza behind the house, there to commune for a moment upon their +new-found happiness.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<p>The night was calm. A faint breeze from the south stirred up +secret odors in the hearts of dew-covered flowers, and musically +sighed through the leaves and vines. The heavens were dark, but +unclouded; and, as the lips of the lovers met in one clinging kiss, +the host of stars beamed down upon them, and proclaimed an ETERNITY +OF LOVE.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="N_CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>FIVE YEARS.</h3> +<br> +<p>Five years are an eventful space in the history of blocks, as of +men. Within that period, they may be burnt down, blown down, or +torn down to make room for grander blocks. In quick-growing +American cities, the average life of blocks is less than that of +the human generation that tenants them. First wood, then brick, +then brownstone or marble--these are the successive forms of block +life, before anything like stability is reached. Marble is the only +real type of the permanent in American architecture. Nobody pulls +down marble.</p> +<p>But five years had made little change in the exterior of our +block. It was situated at a point in the city from which the ebb +tide of Fashion was slowly receding, and which the flood tide of +Trade had not yet touched. There was not a new house on the block, +or an old one materially altered. A little paint, and a diligent +application of broom and Croton water, had kept the block quite +fresh and jaunty. On the south side there were some slight external +modifications, in the shape of oblong black signs, fastened near +basement doors, and bearing names of doctors. Ten of these signs +had been added to the south side within five years. There were only +two houses upon that side, now, to which you could come amiss in +pursuit of medical advice.</p> +<p>One of these was old Van Quintem's. Five years had passed over +the old house and the old man lightly (both had been made to last, +and were well taken care of), and gave to them only a mellower and +riper look. The old man's long white hair had not commenced falling +out; and his cheeks still bloomed with a ruddiness that does not +belong to second childhood. He could still read his dear old +books--and carefully chosen new ones--without spectacles; though he +often preferred to hear them read in a soft, sweet tone, by a dear +girl whom he always called Pet, and who would sit for hours at the +old man's feet, giving to the noble thoughts of poet, novelist, or +philosopher, the added charm of a sympathetic voice. At such times, +a fine fellow, who was still known as Bog, would look on and +listen, with rapt attention, and the happiest smile on his face. +Sometimes these tranquil scenes would be pleasantly broken in upon, +and the meaning of the author profitably obscured, by the entrance +of a certain little Helen, whom the old man would kiss, and call +"Grandpop's sugarp'um," and "Sweety peety." Bog would then catch it +up, and toss it aloft, all whirling with curls, laces, and blue +ribbons, and would say, "Cud-je-wod-je now, cud-je-wod-je now, +cud-je-wod-je now," at each tossing; and the child, with the +marvellous instinct of eighteen months, would understand this +mysterious dialect, and then would smile through large blue eyes +that looked like its mother's.</p> +<p>To this house, Myndert Van Quintem, jr., had never returned; and +no authentic intelligence of him had ever come. Fayette Overtop, +Esq., while on a professional visit to St. Paul, Minnesota, to +settle a large land claim, had heard of a notorious Van Benton, who +had kept a gambling house there several years, and was finally +killed by a spendthrift whom he had cleaned out of his last cent +one night. The best description which he could get of this man, +tallied precisely with that of Myndert Van Quintem, jr. But +Overtop, with that discretion which was continually enlarging his +circle of paying practice, said nothing of this to the old +gentleman. Among the reports that Overtop had heard of this Van +Benton, was one, that he had forged his father's signature to large +amounts in New York city, and had fled to the West, and there +changed his name to avoid the arrest and punishment which his +father had promised him. Had the old gentleman been informed of +this circumstance, he would at once have identified Van Benton as +his son; for it was known to him alone, that young Myndert had +repeatedly forged his name (evidences of which had been found in +the desk where Marcus Wilkeson had often seen the young man busily +writing--evidences which the forger had accidentally omitted to +burn), and that he had been induced to leave the city through fear +that his father would give him up to justice at last. On the +memorable night in the milliner's shop in Greenpoint, the young +profligate had seen that his father was terribly in earnest, and +had quailed in the presence of that outraged and indignant +soul.</p> +<p>The second house not ornamented by a doctor's sign, on the south +side of the block, was the old tenement building of which Mr. +Minford had occupied the upper story, five years before. The +tenants had all been changed two or three times; but the "Minford +tragedy" was still a current legend among them. Murders, or strange +homicides, are fixtures of houses where they occur. Nothing +obliterates their memory but tearing down the houses, and building +anew--which is the course of treatment that the proprietor was +proposing to himself, in consequence of the steady depreciation of +rents. Pet never passed that house, or dared to look at it even +from a distance.</p> +<p>Bachelors' Hall, on the north side of the block, was still +occupied by the three original tenants; and they liked it so well, +that they had bought it, and owned it on the Tontine plan--viz., +that, upon the death of one of the owners, his share shall go to +the survivors.</p> +<p>Five years had improved Marcus Wilkeson's relish for a good +book, an after-dinner pipe, and a chat with a friend. It was plain +to all his friends--even to those who were happiest in their wedded +lives--that Marcus was a great deal better off single than married. +His was the genial monkish nature, which thrives best in +celibacy.</p> +<p>Every afternoon Marcus visited his white-haired neighbor +opposite, and never forgot to take along a toy, or some candy, for +his grandniece Helen. He brought these offerings in lieu of baby +talk, which he could never master. This fact pointed him out, +beyond all question, as a predestined old bachelor.</p> +<p>The general supervision of the house was intrusted to Mrs. +Overtop; and most sensibly did she manage it. Knowing that a bar of +cast iron is more easily bent than the set habits of men of +twenty-five and upward, she attempted no changes in the domestic +regulations of the establishment. The three friends found that they +had not only all of their old freedom, but a charming female voice +to accompany them in their songs, and on the piano or guitar, and a +capital fourth hand at whist, and a beautiful reader, and an +ever-cheerful companion. "If I could find such a wife, now!" Marcus +and Maltboy would say. "But you can't," Overtop would answer. +"There's not another like her in this world." There was a little +Fayette Overtop, jr., two years old, a great pet of the bachelors, +and the far-off husband of little Helen, on the other side of the +block.</p> +<p>Matthew Maltboy weighed two hundred and twenty pounds. As +associate counsel of Overtop, he made an imposing show in court, +which was not fully borne out by his legal attainments. He was +always talking of matrimonial intentions--a sure sign that a man +never will be married. His last rebuff from Miss Trapper (now the +wife of a wealthy tanner and currier) had taught him to keep his +flirtations within narrower limits; but he openly professed, and +probably believed, that, when he really wanted to marry--without +joking, you know--he could take his pick from the wide and varied +ranges of female society. He smoked incessantly like a martyr, to +reduce his flesh, but no adipose matter ever vanished in that cloud +of sacrifice!</p> +<p>Mash, the cook, bestowed her honest hand and maiden heart upon +Patching, the artist, who had first seen her at the station house, +and there contracted an artistic admiration of her face and figure. +She would have preferred a pirate; but Patching's enormous hat gave +him a freebooterish appearance, which went far to reconcile her to +him. She was really a pretty woman--much handsomer than some of the +shadowy beauties Patching was wont to put on canvas--and she made +him a good and faithful wife--and cooked better dinners for him, at +a small expense, than he had ever eaten before--and sent him out +into the world clean and tidy every morning. Patching affected to +be ashamed of his wife, and snubbed her sometimes in the presence +of other people. But everybody who knew the couple, saw that he had +the best of the bargain. Mrs. Patching still took her favorite +weekly, and cried over the stories as copiously as ever.</p> +<p>Mrs. Crull continued to be the dearest and best friend of Pet +and Mrs. Overtop; and little Helen and little Fayette would never +know the great debt of gratitude that they owed to that excellent +lady. Whenever she called on Mrs. Overtop, she always began to be +extremely circumspect in her pronunciation and grammar, from force +of habit; but soon relapsed into those old errors which, happily, +were of the head, and not of the heart. Mrs. Crull made no mistakes +in her affections. She was in mourning for Mr. Crull, and truly +vowed that she would never marry again.</p> +<p>Mrs. Slapman had ceased to live on the block. Mr. Slapman had +basely defeated the beneficent decree of the law, by turning his +property into ready cash, and sailing for Europe. This deprived +Mrs. S. of her alimony the second year after their separation, and +compelled her to give up housekeeping, and the pursuit of TRUTH, in +New York. She is now living among a small colony of Jigbees, in an +obscure village of Connecticut, the pride of her family, the envy +of the neighbors, and the idol of two local poets and of the +professor of a High School in an adjoining town, who has learned +her history, and is now patiently waiting for Slapman to die before +offering her his hand in marriage.</p> +<p>Uncle Ith rang the great bell in the high tower for a number of +years, with perfect satisfaction to himself and to the firemen. He +took a paper, and he read it, and he found its political arguments +so powerful, and so interesting, that he adopted them as his +own--as many another man of greater pretensions has done--and he +got into the bad habit of talking politics in a small way. It +happened, not long after, that there was an election for mayor; and +a mayor was chosen who held to a variety of politics quite the +opposite of that which was so ably inculcated in Uncle Ith's +favorite journal. About a month later, Uncle Ith turned to the +political column of his paper, and there read that he had been +turned out of office, and that one Schimmerfliming--a German +politician of the ----th Ward, who had been of great service in +compassing the election of the new mayor--had been appointed in his +place. The fact was, that Uncle Ith was highly acceptable to all +parties as a no-party man. But, when he turned politician, he made +himself amenable to the harsh laws of political warfare, and became +(as his paper phrased it) "the hoary-headed victim of the +unprincipled tyrant who, with the cunning of the serpent and the +vindictive ferocity of the hyena, weaves his spider's web of +mischief in his dark corner of the City Hall." Uncle Ith retired to +private life with a snug property, patiently saved up and +thoughtfully invested. But, as Adam went on eating apples, +notwithstanding the disaster which had come to him from that +species of fruit, so Uncle Ith took his newspaper, and paid for it +punctually, and devoured it daily to the last.</p> +<p>While Uncle Ith fell by politics, Coroner Bullfast rose by it. A +judicious distribution of money and liquors, a notoriety for street +fights, a singular talent for profanity, and an unstinted adulation +of the basest classes of the community, won for him, in succession, +some of the best prizes of the Municipal lottery. He has his small, +sunken eyes now fixed on one of the highest offices of the State; +and it will take a strong combination to defeat a candidate backed +by such powerful agencies and interests.</p> +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Frump lived happily on their country property. Mr. +Frump tried experiments in blackberry raising, which proved a +success, and was, at last accounts, concentrating his talents on +the development of a new strawberry seedling. Whenever he went to +town, he made a point of carrying back Matthew Maltboy, for whom +his regard was inexplicably strong; and nothing gave him greater +pleasure than to see his wife, gracefully mounted on the spirited +filly, and Matthew, heavily astride of the sober gray, starting off +for a morning's ride, while he stayed at home to push on the +seedling.</p> +<p>When Wesley Tiffles had spent ten thousand dollars in elegant +leisure, he arrived at the noble determination to "salt down," as +he called it, the remaining ten thousand dollars, in ten different +savings banks. He distributed it thus, in order that the failure of +one of the banks might not ruin him. The interest of this money, +drawn half-yearly, furnished him with a basis for operations of a +character requiring genius, pens, ink, and paper, rather than ready +cash. Whenever Tiffles's resources ran short, as they did +occasionally, he always borrowed, and paid on the next interest +day. In this policy he was inflexible; and he flattered himself on +the sternness of his self-denial.</p> +<p>Among the schemes which failed to receive the cordial +approbation of capitalists, were the following: "A process for +extracting green paint from green leaves;" ditto for "making +nutritious food from the direct combination of earth, air, and +water;" a plan (submitted to the unappreciating Government of +Naples) to "extinguish the volcano of Vesuvius, by pumping water +from the Bay into the crater, in consideration of the sum of one +million florins, and a monopoly of working the extinct volcano for +lava."</p> +<p>Wesley Tiffles, profiting, at a late day, by the lesson of the +"Cosmopolitan Window Fastener," finally invented and patented a +striking improvement in an apple-paring machine, and, at last +accounts, was clenching a good bargain for the sale of his +invention.</p> +<br> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12243 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/12243-h/images/001.png b/12243-h/images/001.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9eaae1c --- /dev/null +++ b/12243-h/images/001.png diff --git a/12243-h/images/047.png b/12243-h/images/047.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..44d76e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/12243-h/images/047.png diff --git a/12243-h/images/317.png b/12243-h/images/317.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2efaaef --- /dev/null +++ b/12243-h/images/317.png diff --git a/12243-h/images/400.png b/12243-h/images/400.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..789c8a5 --- /dev/null +++ b/12243-h/images/400.png |
