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diff --git a/21964-0.txt b/21964-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..149f880 --- /dev/null +++ b/21964-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8439 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 21964 *** + + + + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON IRVING] + +THE SHORT-STORY + +With +Introduction and Notes + +BY + +W. PATTERSON ATKINSON, A.M. + +VICE-PRINCIPAL OF THE LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL +JERSEY CITY + +ALLYN AND BACON + +Boston New York Chicago + +COPYRIGHT, 1916, +BY ALLYN AND BACON. + +Norwood Press +J. S. Cushing Co.--Berwick & Smith Co. +Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. + + + + +FOREWORD + + +This book is the result of actual work with first year High School +pupils. Furthermore, the completed text has been tried out with them. +Their difficulties, standards of reading, and the average development of +their minds and taste have constantly been remembered. Whatever teaching +quality the book may possess is due to their criticisms. + +Hearty thanks are due Messrs. G. P. Putnam's Sons, Messrs. Charles +Scribner's Sons, The Thomas Y. Crowell Company, and The Houghton Mifflin +Company for gracious permission to use copyrighted material. + +CONTENTS + + PAGE + +PORTRAITS OF AUTHORS vii + +INTRODUCTION + +I. Definition and Development ix + +II. Forms xvi + +III. The Short-story as Narration xvii + +IV. Representative Short-stories xxi + +V. Bibliography xxv + +WASHINGTON IRVING: Rip Van Winkle (1820) 1 + +EDGAR ALLAN POE: The Gold Bug (1842) 23 + +The Purloined Letter (1845) 69 + +NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE: Howe's Masquerade (1838) 93 + +The Birthmark (1843) 112 + +FRANCIS BRET HARTE: The Outcasts of Poker Flat (1869) 134 + +ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON: The Sire de Malétroit's Door (1878) 148 + +Markheim (1885) 174 + +RUDYARD KIPLING: Wee Willie Winkie (1888) 196 + +NOTES 211 + +LIST OF PORTRAITS + + +WASHINGTON IRVING _Frontispiece_ + + FACING PAGE + +EDGAR ALLAN POE 23 + +NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE 93 + +FRANCIS BRET HARTE 134 + +ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON 148 + +RUDYARD KIPLING 196 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +I + +DEFINITION AND DEVELOPMENT + +Mankind has always loved to tell stories and to listen to them. The most +primitive and unlettered peoples and tribes have always shown and still +show this universal characteristic. As far back as written records go we +find stories; even before that time, they were handed down from remote +generations by oral tradition. The wandering minstrel followed a very +ancient profession. Before him was his prototype--the man with the gift +of telling stories over the fire at night, perhaps at the mouth of a +cave. The Greeks, who ever loved to hear some new thing, were merely +typical of the ready listeners. + +In the course of time the story passed through many forms and many +phases--the myth, e.g. _The Labors of Hercules_; the legend, e.g. _St. +George and the Dragon_; the fairy tale, e.g. _Cinderella_; the fable, +e.g. _The Fox and the Grapes_; the allegory, e.g. Addison's _The Vision +of Mirza_; the parable, e.g. _The Prodigal Son_. Sometimes it was merely +to amuse, sometimes to instruct. With this process are intimately +connected famous books, such as "The Gesta Romanorum" (which, by the +way, has nothing to do with the Romans) and famous writers like +Boccaccio. + +Gradually there grew a body of rules and a technique, and men began to +write about the way stories should be composed, as is seen in +Aristotle's statement that a story should have a beginning, a middle, +and an end. Definitions were made and the elements named. In the +fullness of time story-telling became an art. + +Similar stories are to be found in many different literatures because +human nature is fundamentally the same the world over; that is, people +are swayed by the same motives, such as love, hate, fear, and the like. +Another reason for this similarity is the fact that nations borrowed +stories from other nations, changing the names and circumstances. +Writers of power took old and crude stories and made of them matchless +tales which endure in their new form, e.g. Hawthorne's _Rappaccini's +Daughter_. Finally the present day dawned and with it what we call the +short-story. + +The short-story--Prof. Brander Matthews has suggested the hyphen to +differentiate it from the story which is merely short and to indicate +that it is a new species[1]--is a narrative which is short and has +unity, compression, originality, and ingenuity, each in a high +degree.[2] The notion of shortness as used in this definition may be +inexactly though easily grasped by considering the length of the average +magazine story. Compression means that nothing must be included that can +be left out. Clayton Hamilton expresses this idea by the convenient +phrase "economy of means."[3] By originality is meant something new in +plot, point, outcome, or character. (See Introduction III for a +discussion of these terms.) Ingenuity suggests cleverness in handling +the theme. The short-story also is impressionistic because it leaves to +the reader the reconstruction from hints of much of the setting and +details. + +[Footnote 1: _The Philosophy of the Short-Story in Pen and Ink_, page +72. (Longmans, Green & Co., 1888.)] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._] + +[Footnote 3: _Materials of Fiction_, page 175. (Doubleday, Page & Co., +1912.)] + +Mr. Hamilton has also constructed another useful definition. He says: +"The aim of a short-story is to produce a single narrative effect with +the greatest economy of means that is consistent with the utmost +emphasis."[4] + +[Footnote 4: _Materials of Fiction_, page 173. (Doubleday, Page & Co., +1912.)] + +However, years before, in 1842, in his celebrated review of Hawthorne's +_Tales_[5] Edgar Allan Poe had laid down the same theory, in which he +emphasizes what he elsewhere calls, after Schlegel, the unity or +totality of interest, _i.e._ unity of impression, effect, and economy. +Stevenson, too, has written critically of the short-story, laying stress +on this essential unity, pointing out how each effect leads to the next, +and how the end is part of the beginning.[6] + +[Footnote 5: _Graham's Magazine_, May, 1842.] + +[Footnote 6: _Vailima Letters_, I, page 147.] + +America may justly lay claim to this new species of short narrative. +Beginning in the early part of the nineteenth century there had begun to +appear in this country stories showing variations from the English type +of story which "still bore upon it marks of its origin; it was either a +hard, formal, didactic treatise, derived from the moral apologue or +fable; or it was a sentimental love-tale derived from the artificial +love-romance that followed the romance of chivalry."[7] The first one to +stand out prominently is Washington Irving's _Rip Van Winkle_, which was +published in 1820. This story, while more leisurely and less condensed +than the completely developed form of the short-story, had the important +element of humor, as well as freshness, grace, and restraint, nothing +being said that should not be said. + +[Footnote 7: Krapp's _Irving's Tales of a Traveller_, etc. Introduction. +(Scott, Foresman & Co.)] + +The next writer in the order of development is Edgar Allan Poe, whose +_Berenice_ appeared in 1835. With it the short-story took definite form. +Poe's contribution is structure and technique; that is, he definitely +introduced the characteristics noted in the definition--unity, +compression, originality, and ingenuity. With almost mathematical +precision he sets out to obtain an effect. To quote from his +before-mentioned review of Hawthorne his own words which are so definite +as almost to compose a formula of his way of writing a short-story and +are so thoughtful as to be nearly the summary of any discussion of the +subject: "A skillful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise, he +has not fashioned his thoughts to accommodate his incidents; but having +conceived, with deliberate care, a certain unique or single effect to be +wrought out, he then invents such incidents--he then combines such +events--as may best aid him in establishing this preconceived effect. If +his very initial sentence tend not to the out-bringing of this effect, +then he has failed in his first step. In the whole composition there +should be no word written of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is +not to the one preëstablished design. And by such means, with such care +and skill, a picture is at length painted which leaves in the mind of +him who contemplates it with a kindred art a sense of the fullest +satisfaction. The idea of the tale has been presented unblemished +because undisturbed; and this is an end unattainable by the novel." It +is to be noted that Poe roused interest in his effect by the method of +suspense, that is, by holding back the solution of the plot, by putting +off telling what the reader wants to know, though he continually +aggravates the desire to know by constant hints, the full significance +of which is only realized when the story is done. His stories are of two +main classes: what have been called stories of "impressionistic terror," +that is, stories of great fear induced in a character by a mass of +rather vague and unusual incidents, such as _The Fall of the House of +Usher_ (1839) and _The Pit and the Pendulum_ (1843); and stories of +"ratiocination," that is, of the ingenious thinking out of a problem, as +_The Mystery of Marie Rogêt_ (1843). In the latter type he is the +originator of the detective story. + +The writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne exhibit the next stage of +development. While lacking some of the technical excellence of Poe by +often not knowing how to begin or how to end a story, by sacrificing +economy or compression, yet he presented something new in making a story +of situation, that is, by putting a character in certain circumstances +and working out the results, as _The Birthmark_ (1843). His stories also +fall into two groups, the imaginative, like _Howe's Masquerade_ (1838), +and the moralizing introspective, or, as they have been called, the +"moral-philosophic," that is, stories which look within the human mind +and soul and deal with great questions of conduct, such as _The +Ambitious Guest_ (1837). Hawthorne was the descendant of Puritans, men +given to serious thought and sternly religious. It is this strain of his +inheritance which is evidenced in the second group. In all his writing +there is some outward symbol of the circumstances or the state of mind. +It is seen, for example, in _The Minister's Black Veil_ (1835). + +In 1868 was published _Luck of Roaring Camp_, by Bret Harte. In this +story and those that immediately followed, the author advanced the +development of the short-story yet another step by introducing local +color. Local color means the peculiar customs, scenery, or surroundings +of any kind, which mark off one place from another. In a literary sense +he discovered California of the days of the early rush for gold. +Furthermore, he made the story more definite. He confined it to one +situation and one effect, thus approaching more to what may be +considered the normal form. + +With the form of the short-story fairly worked out, the next development +is to be noted in the tone and subject matter. Local color became +particularly evident, humor became constantly more prominent, and then +the analysis of the working of the human mind, psychologic analysis, +held the interest of some foremost writers. Stories of these various +kinds came to the front about the third quarter of the last century. +"Mark Twain" (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), Thomas Bailey Aldrich, and +Frank R. Stockton preëminently and admirably present the humor so +peculiarly an American trait. Local color had its exponents in George W. +Cable, who presented Louisiana; "Charles Egbert Craddock" (Miss M. N. +Murfree), who wrote of Tennessee; Thomas Nelson Page, who gave us +Virginia; and Miss M. E. Wilkins (Mrs. Charles M. Freeman), who wrote of +New England, to mention only the most notable. With psychologic analysis +the name of Henry James is indissolubly linked. _The Passionate Pilgrim_ +(1875) may be taken as an excellent example of his work. + +By this time the American short-story had crossed to England and found +in Robert Louis Stevenson an artist who could handle it with consummate +skill. He passed it on a more finished and polished article than when +he received it, because by a long course of self-training he had become +a master in the use of words. His stories remind one of Hawthorne +because there is generally in them some underlying moral question, some +question of human action, something concerning right and wrong. But they +also have another characteristic which is more obvious to the average +reader--their frank romance. By romance is meant happenings either out +of the usual course of events, such as the climax of _Lochinvar_, or +events that cannot occur. + +The latest stage in the development of the short-story is due to Rudyard +Kipling, who has made it generally more terse, has filled it with +interest in the highest degree, has found new local color, chiefly in +India, and has given it virility and power. His subject matter is, in +the main, interesting to all kinds of readers. His stories likewise +fulfill all the requirements of the definition. Being a living genius he +is constantly showing new sides of his ability, his later stories being +psychologic. His writings fall into numerous groups--soldier tales; +tales of machinery; of animals; of the supernatural; of native Indian +life; of history; of adventure;--the list could be prolonged. Sometimes +they are frankly tracts, sometimes acute analyses of the working of the +human mind. + +So in the course of a little less than a century there has grown to +maturity a new kind of short narrative identified with American +Literature and the American people, exhibiting the foremost traits of +the American character, and written by a large number of authors of +different rank whose work, of a surprisingly high average of technical +excellence, appears chiefly in the magazines. + + +II + +FORMS + +Though the short-story has achieved a normal or general form of +straightforward narrative, as in Kipling's _An Habitation Enforced_ or +Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews' _Amici_, yet it exhibits many variations +in presentation. Sometimes it is a series of letters as in James' _A +Bundle of Letters_, sometimes a group of narrative, letters, and +telegrams as in Thomas Bailey Aldrich's _Marjorie Daw_; again, a letter +and a paragraph as in Henry Cuyler Bunner's _A Letter and a Paragraph_, +or a gathering of letters, telegrams, newspaper clippings, and +advertisements as Bunner and Matthews' _Documents in the Case_. + +Again it may be told in the first person as in Stevenson's _Pavilion on +the Links_, or in the third person as in Kipling's _The Bridge +Builders_. Yet again it may be a conundrum as Stockton's famous _The +Lady or the Tiger_! + +But besides the forms due to the manner of presentation there are other +forms due to the emphasis placed on one of the three elements of a +narrative---action, character, and setting. Consequently using this +principle of classification we have three forms which may be exemplified +by Kipling's _William the Conqueror_, wherein action is emphasized; his +_Tomb of His Ancestors_, wherein character is emphasized; and his _An +Error in the Fourth Dimension_, wherein setting is emphasized. + +Using yet another principle of classification--material--we obtain: +stories of dramatic interest, that is, of some striking happening that +would hold the audience of a play in a highly excited state, as +Stevenson's _Sire de Malétroit's Door_; of love, as Bunner's _Love in +Old Cloathes_; of romantic adventure, as Kipling's _Man Who Would Be +King_; of terror, as Poe's _Pit and the Pendulum_; of the supernatural, +as Crawford's _The Upper Berth_; of humor, as humor, as Mary Raymond +Shipman Andrews' _A Good Samaritan_; of animals, as Kipling's +_Rikki-tikki-tavi_; of psychological analysis, as James' _Madonna of the +Future_; and so on. + + +III + +THE SHORT-STORY AS NARRATION + +All the previous discussion must not obscure the fact that the +short-story is a form of narration and subject to all that pertains +thereto. Now what is narration and what does it imply? + +Narration is that form of discourse which presents a series of events in +the order of time. Events or action presuppose actors, or characters as +they are generally called, and a place where the action may take place; +likewise time and circumstances within which the actors act. These +three, which may be conveniently spoken of as actors, action, and +environment, are three of the elements of narration. But there is a +fourth. To make an interesting story there must be something for the +chief character, technically called the protagonist, to overcome, such +as an adversary, a situation, or an idea, which thing is called the +obstacle. Furthermore, there must be something in the story near the +beginning which brings the protagonist into conflict with the obstacle. +Often this conflict, technically the collision, is brought about by +another character. But it may be some happening. Whatever it is, it is +called the complicating force. Then again, toward the end of the story, +there is something else which either helps the protagonist to overcome +the obstacle, or the obstacle to overcome the protagonist. This is +called the resolving force. + +As these two forces work in different parts of the story, the action is +conveniently divided into parts to which names have been attached. First +comes the introduction or proposition, wherein the time, place, +circumstances, and protagonist are presented; then the entanglement, +wherein the protagonist is brought into collision with the obstacle by +the complicating force, and the interest begins to deepen. Next we have +the climax, in which the struggle, and consequently the interest, are at +their height; and this in turn is followed by the resolution, where the +resolving force works and the knot begins to be untied. Finally there is +the dénouement or conclusion. + +The career of each character may be conveniently spoken of as a line of +interest. When the lines of interest become entangled we have the plot. + +The following diagram illustrates to the eye the development of a story. +Of course it must be distinctly understood that no story is the result +of a mere substitution in a formula. Sometimes the various steps in the +working-out of a story overlap in such a manner that its development +according to a prescribed plan is not apparent. + +[Illustration] + +Small _c_ is sometimes called the crisis, being the point at which the +action is most intense and begins to turn toward the end. + + +IV + +LIST OF REPRESENTATIVE SHORT-STORIES + +1. ALDRICH: Marjorie Daw. + +2. Quite So. + +3. ANDREWS: Amici. + +4. The Glory of the Commonplace. + +5. A Good Samaritan. + +6. BUNNER: "As One Having Authority." + +7. Love in Old Cloathes. + +8. BUNNER AND MATTHEWS: Documents in the Case. + +9. CABLE: Posson Jone. + +10. CHILD: The Man in the Shadow. + +11. CLEMENS: Jumping Frog. + +12. COBB: To the Editor of the Sun. + +13. COLCORD: The Game of Life and Death. + +14. DAVIS, R. H.: The Bar Sinister. + +15. Gallegher. + +16. The Lion and the Unicorn. + +17. DOYLE: The Red-Headed League. + +18. A Scandal in Bohemia. + +19. The Striped Chest. + +20. Through the Veil. + +21. GARLAND: The Return of a Private. + +22. GEROULD: On the Staircase. + +23. HALE: The Man without a Country. + +24. HARDY: The Three Strangers. + +25. HARRIS: The Wonderful Tar Baby. + +26. HARTE: Luck of Roaring Camp. + +27. Tennessee's Partner. + +28. HAWTHORNE: The Ambitious Guest. + +29. Ethan Brand. + +30. The Gray Champion. + +31. The Great Stone Face. + +32. "O. HENRY": Friends in San Rosario. + +33. Jimmie Hayes and Muriel. + +34. IRVING: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. + +35. The Spectre Bridegroom. + +36. JAMES: A Passionate Pilgrim. + +37. JANVIER: In the St. Peter's Set. + +38. The Passing of Thomas. + +39. JEWETT: A Native of Winby. + +40. KIPLING: The Brushwood Boy. + +41. An Habitation Enforced. + +42. The Maltese Cat. + +43. My Lord the Elephant. + +44. Rikki-tikki-tavi. + +45. They. + +46. The Tomb of His Ancestors. + +47. Wee Willie Winkie. + +48. William the Conqueror. + +49. LONDON: The White Silence. + +50. MORRIS: The Trap. + +51. MURFREE: The "Harnt" that Walks Chilhowee. + +52. PAGE: Marse Chan. + +53. Meh Lady. + +54. Polly. + +55. PARKER: The Stake and the Plumb Line. + +56. POE: The Fall of the House of Usher. + +57. The Murders in the Rue Morgue. + +58. The Pit and the Pendulum. + +59. ROBERTS: From the Teeth of the Tide. + +60. SPEARMAN: Jimmie the Wind. + +61. SMITH, F. H.: Colonel Carter of Cartersville. + +62. STEVENSON: The Bottle Imp. + +63. A Lodging for the Night. + +64. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. + +65. The Merry Men. + +66. The Pavilion on the Links. + +67. STOCKTON: The Lady or the Tiger? + +68. The Transferred Ghost. + +69. A Story of Seven Devils. + +70. VAN DYKE: The Blue Flower. + +71. WILKINS (FREEMAN): A New England Nun. + +72. The Revolt of Mother. + + +V + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + +BALDWIN, CHARLES SEARS. American Short-stories. _Longmans, Green, & Co., +1904._ + +CANBY, HENRY SEIDEL, A Study of the Short-story. _Henry Holt & Co., +1913._ + +DAWSON, W. J. AND CONINGSBY, The Great English Short-story Writers. +_Harper and Brothers, 1910._ + +HAMILTON, CLAYTON, Materials and Methods of Fiction (Chapters X and XI). +_Doubleday, Page & Co., 1908._ + +MATTHEWS, BRANDER, The Short-story. _American Book Co., 1907._ + +PERRY, BLISS, A Study of Prose Fiction (Chapter XII). _Houghton Mifflin +Co., 1902._ + +SMITH, C. ALPHONSO, The American Short-story. _Ginn & Co., 1912._ + + + + +THE SHORT-STORY + + +[The following Tale was found among the papers of the late Diedrich +Knickerbocker, an old gentleman of New York, who was very curious in the +Dutch history of the province, and the manners of the descendants from +its primitive settlers. His historical researches, however, did not lie +so much among books as among men; for the former are lamentably scanty +on his favorite topics; whereas he found the old burghers, and still +more their wives, rich in that legendary lore, so invaluable to true +history. Whenever, therefore, he happened upon a genuine Dutch family, +snugly shut up in its low-roofed farmhouse, under a spreading sycamore, +he looked upon it as a little clasped volume of black-letter, and +studied it with the zeal of a book-worm. + +The result of all these researches was a history of the province during +the reign of the Dutch governors, which he published some years since. +There have been various opinions as to the literary character of his +work, and, to tell the truth, it is not a whit better than it should be. +Its chief merit is its scrupulous accuracy, which indeed was a little +questioned on its first appearance, but has since been completely +established; and it is now admitted into all historical collections, as +a book of unquestionable authority. + +The old gentleman died shortly after the publication of his work, and +now that he is dead and gone, it cannot do much harm to his memory to +say that his time might have been much better employed in weightier +labors. He, however, was apt to ride his hobby his own way; and though +it did now and then kick up the dust a little in the eyes of his +neighbors, and grieve the spirit of some friends, for whom he felt the +truest deference and affection; yet his errors and follies are +remembered "more in sorrow than in anger," and it begins to be +suspected, that he never intended to injure or offend. But however his +memory may be appreciated by critics, it is still held dear by many +folks, whose good opinion is well worth having; particularly by certain +biscuit-bakers, who have gone so far as to imprint his likeness on their +new-year cakes; and have thus given him a chance for immortality, almost +equal to the being stamped on a Waterloo Medal, or a Queen Anne's +Farthing.] + + + + +RIP VAN WINKLE + +A POSTHUMOUS WRITING OF DIEDRICH KNICKERBOCKER + + By Woden, God of Saxons, + From whence comes Wensday, that is Wodensday, + Truth is a thing that ever I will keep + Unto thylke day in which I creep into + My sepulchre-- + +CARTWRIGHT. + + +Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson must remember the Kaatskill +mountains. They are a dismembered branch of the great Appalachian +family, and are seen away to the west of the river, swelling up to a +noble height, and lording it over the surrounding country. Every change +of season, every change of weather, indeed, every hour of the day, +produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of these mountains, +and they are regarded by all the good wives, far and near, as perfect +barometers. When the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in +blue and purple, and print their bold outlines on the clear evening sky; +but, sometimes, when the rest of the landscape is cloudless, they will +gather a hood of gray vapors about their summits, which, in the last +rays of the setting sun, will glow and light up like a crown of glory. + +At the foot of these fairy mountains, the voyager may have descried the +light smoke curling up from a village whose shingle-roofs gleam among +the trees, just where the blue tints of the upland melt away into the +fresh green of the nearer landscape. It is a little village of great +antiquity, having been founded by some of the Dutch colonists, in the +early times of the province, just about the beginning of the government +of the good Peter Stuyvesant, (may he rest in peace!) and there were +some of the houses of the original settlers standing within a few years, +built of small yellow bricks brought from Holland, having latticed +windows and gable fronts, surmounted with weather-cocks. + +In that same village, and in one of these very houses (which, to tell +the precise truth, was sadly time-worn and weather-beaten), there lived +many years since, while the country was yet a province of Great Britain, +a simple good-natured fellow of the name of Rip Van Winkle. He was a +descendant of the Van Winkles who figured so gallantly in the chivalrous +days of Peter Stuyvesant, and accompanied him to the siege of Fort +Christina. He inherited, however, but little of the martial character of +his ancestors. I have observed that he was a simple good-natured man; he +was, moreover, a kind neighbor, and an obedient hen-pecked husband. +Indeed, to the latter circumstance might be owing that meekness of +spirit which gained him such universal popularity; for those men are +most apt to be obsequious and conciliating abroad, who are under the +discipline of shrews at home. Their tempers, doubtless, are rendered +pliant and malleable in the fiery furnace of domestic tribulation; and a +curtain lecture is worth all the sermons in the world for teaching the +virtues of patience and long-suffering. A termagant wife may, therefore, +in some respects, be considered a tolerable blessing; and if so, Rip Van +Winkle was thrice blessed. + +Certain it is, that he was a great favorite among all the good wives of +the village, who, as usual with the amiable sex, took his part in all +family squabbles; and never failed, whenever they talked those matters +over in their evening gossipings, to lay all the blame on Dame Van +Winkle. The children of the village, too, would shout with joy whenever +he approached. He assisted at their sports, made their playthings, +taught them to fly kites and shoot marbles, and told them long stories +of ghosts, witches, and Indians. Whenever he went dodging about the +village, he was surrounded by a troop of them, hanging on his skirts, +clambering on his back, and playing a thousand tricks on him with +impunity; and not a dog would bark at him throughout the neighborhood. + +The great error in Rip's composition was an insuperable aversion to all +kinds of profitable labor. It could not be from the want of assiduity or +perseverance; for he would sit on a wet rock, with a rod as long and +heavy as a Tartar's lance, and fish all day without a murmur, even +though he should not be encouraged by a single nibble. He would carry a +fowling-piece on his shoulder for hours together, trudging through woods +and swamps, and up hill and down dale, to shoot a few squirrels or wild +pigeons. He would never refuse to assist a neighbor even in the roughest +toil, and was a foremost man at all country frolics for husking Indian +corn, or building stone-fences; the women of the village, too, used to +employ him to run their errands, and to do such little odd jobs as their +less obliging husbands would not do for them. In a word Rip was ready to +attend to anybody's business but his own; but as to doing family duty, +and keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible. + +In fact, he declared it was of no use to work on his farm; it was the +most pestilent little piece of ground in the whole country; everything +about it went wrong, and would go wrong, in spite of him. His fences +were continually falling to pieces; his cow would either go astray or +get among the cabbages; weeds were sure to grow quicker in his fields +than anywhere else; the rain always made a point of setting in just as +he had some out-door work to do, so that though his patrimonial estate +had dwindled away under his management, acre by acre, until there was +little more left than a mere patch of Indian corn and potatoes, yet it +was the worst conditioned farm in the neighborhood. + +His children, too, were as ragged and wild as if they belonged to +nobody. His son Rip, an urchin begotten in his own likeness, promised to +inherit the habits, with the old clothes of his father. He was generally +seen trooping like a colt at his mother's heels, equipped in a pair of +his father's cast-off galligaskins, which he had much ado to hold up +with one hand, as a fine lady does her train in bad weather. + +Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, +well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or +brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would +rather starve on a penny than work for a pound. If left to himself, he +would have whistled life away in perfect contentment; but his wife kept +continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, +and the ruin he was bringing on his family. Morning, noon, and night, +her tongue was incessantly going, and everything he said or did was sure +to produce a torrent of household eloquence. Rip had but one way of +replying to all lectures of the kind, and that, by frequent use, had +grown into a habit. He shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, cast up +his eyes, but said nothing. This, however, always provoked a fresh +volley from his wife; so that he was fain to draw off his forces, and +take to the outside of the house--the only side which, in truth, belongs +to a hen-pecked husband. + +Rip's sole domestic adherent was his dog Wolf, who was as much +hen-pecked as his master; for Dame Van Winkle regarded them as +companions in idleness, and even looked upon Wolf with an evil eye, as +the cause of his master's going so often astray. True it is, in all +points of spirit befitting an honorable dog, he was as courageous an +animal as ever scoured the woods--but what courage can withstand the +ever-during and all-besetting terrors of a woman's tongue? The moment +Wolf entered the house his crest fell, his tail drooped to the ground, +or curled between his legs, he sneaked about with a gallows air, casting +many a sidelong glance at Dame Van Winkle, and at the least flourish of +a broom-stick or ladle, he would fly to the door with yelping +precipitation. + +Times grew worse and worse with Rip Van Winkle as years of matrimony +rolled on; a tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is +the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use. For a long +while he used to console himself, when driven from home, by frequenting +a kind of perpetual club of the sages, philosophers, and other idle +personages of the village; which held its sessions on a bench before a +small inn, designated by a rubicund portrait of His Majesty George the +Third. Here they used to sit in the shade through a long lazy summer's +day, talking listlessly over village gossip, or telling endless sleepy +stories about nothing. But it would have been worth any statesman's +money to have heard the profound discussions that sometimes took place, +when by chance an old newspaper fell into their hands from some passing +traveller. How solemnly they would listen to the contents, as drawled +out by Derrick Van Bummel, the schoolmaster, a dapper learned little +man, who was not to be daunted by the most gigantic word in the +dictionary; and how sagely they would deliberate upon public events some +months after they had taken place. + +The opinions of this junto were completely controlled by Nicholas +Vedder, a patriarch of the village, and landlord of the inn, at the door +of which he took his seat from morning till night, just moving +sufficiently to avoid the sun and keep in the shade of a large tree; so +that the neighbors could tell the hour by his movements as accurately as +by a sun-dial. It is true he was rarely heard to speak, but smoked his +pipe incessantly. His adherents, however (for every great man has his +adherents), perfectly understood him, and knew how to gather his +opinions. When anything that was read or related displeased him, he was +observed to smoke his pipe vehemently, and to send forth short, frequent +and angry puffs; but when pleased, he would inhale the smoke slowly and +tranquilly, and emit it in light and placid clouds; and sometimes, +taking the pipe from his mouth, and letting the fragrant vapor curl +about his nose, would gravely nod his head in token of perfect +approbation. + +From even this stronghold the unlucky Rip was at length routed by his +termagant wife, who would suddenly break in upon the tranquillity of the +assemblage and call the members all to naught; nor was that august +personage, Nicholas Vedder himself, sacred from the daring tongue of +this terrible virago, who charged him outright with encouraging her +husband in habits of idleness. + +Poor Rip was at last reduced almost to despair; and his only +alternative, to escape from the labor of the farm and clamor of his +wife, was to take gun in hand and stroll away into the woods. Here he +would sometimes seat himself at the foot of a tree, and share the +contents of his wallet with Wolf, with whom he sympathized as a +fellow-sufferer in persecution. "Poor Wolf," he would say, "thy mistress +leads thee a dog's life of it; but never mind, my lad, whilst I live +thou shalt never want a friend to stand by thee!" Wolf would wag his +tail, look wistfully in his master's face, and if dogs can feel pity I +verily believe he reciprocated the sentiment with all his heart. + +In a long ramble of the kind on a fine autumnal day, Rip had +unconsciously scrambled to one of the highest parts of the Kaatskill +mountains. He was after his favorite sport of squirrel shooting, and the +still solitudes had echoed and re-echoed with the reports of his gun. +Panting and fatigued, he threw himself, late in the afternoon, on a +green knoll, covered with mountain herbage, that crowned the brow of a +precipice. From an opening between the trees he could overlook all the +lower country for many a mile of rich woodland. He saw at a distance the +lordly Hudson, far, far below him, moving on its silent but majestic +course, with the reflection of a purple cloud, or the sail of a lagging +bark, here and there sleeping on its glassy bosom, and at last losing +itself in the blue highlands. + +On the other side he looked down into a deep mountain glen, wild, +lonely, and shagged, the bottom filled with fragments from the impending +cliffs, and scarcely lighted by the reflected rays of the setting sun. +For some time Rip lay musing on this scene; evening was gradually +advancing; the mountains began to throw their long blue shadows over the +valleys; he saw that it would be dark long before he could reach the +village, and he heaved a heavy sigh when he thought of encountering the +terrors of Dame Van Winkle. + +As he was about to descend, he heard a voice from a distance, hallooing, +"Rip Van Winkle! Rip Van Winkle!" He looked round, but could see nothing +but a crow winging its solitary flight across the mountain. He thought +his fancy must have deceived him, and turned again to descend, when he +heard the same cry ring through the still evening air: "Rip Van Winkle! +Rip Van Winkle!"--at the same time Wolf bristled up his back, and giving +a low growl, skulked to his master's side, looking fearfully down into +the glen. Rip now felt a vague apprehension stealing over him; he looked +anxiously in the same direction, and perceived a strange figure slowly +toiling up the rocks, and bending under the weight of something he +carried on his back. He was surprised to see any human being in this +lonely and unfrequented place, but supposing it to be some one of the +neighborhood in need of his assistance, he hastened down to yield it. + +On nearer approach he was still more surprised at the singularity of the +stranger's appearance. He was a short square-built old fellow, with +thick bushy hair, and a grizzled beard. His dress was of the antique +Dutch fashion--a cloth jerkin strapped round the waist--several pair of +breeches, the outer one of ample volume, decorated with rows of buttons +down the sides, and bunches at the knees. He bore on his shoulder a +stout keg, that seemed full of liquor, and made signs for Rip to +approach and assist him with the load. Though rather shy and distrustful +of this new acquaintance, Rip complied with his usual alacrity; and +mutually relieving one another, they clambered up a narrow gully, +apparently the dry bed of a mountain torrent. As they ascended, Rip +every now and then heard long rolling peals, like distant thunder, that +seemed to issue out of a deep ravine, or rather cleft, between lofty +rocks, toward which their rugged path conducted. He paused for an +instant, but supposing it to be the muttering of one of those transient +thunder-showers which often take place in mountain heights, he +proceeded. Passing through the ravine, they came to a hollow, like a +small amphitheatre, surrounded by perpendicular precipices, over the +brinks of which impending trees shot their branches, so that you only +caught glimpses of the azure sky and the bright evening cloud. During +the whole time Rip and his companion had labored on in silence; for +though the former marvelled greatly what could be the object of carrying +a keg of liquor up this wild mountain, yet there was something strange +and incomprehensible about the unknown, that inspired awe and checked +familiarity. + +On entering the amphitheatre, new objects of wonder presented +themselves. On a level spot in the centre was a company of odd-looking +personages playing at nine-pins. They were dressed in a quaint +outlandish fashion; some wore short doublets, others jerkins, with long +knives in their belts, and most of them had enormous breeches, of +similar style with that of the guide's. Their visages, too, were +peculiar: one had a large beard, broad face, and small piggish eyes: the +face of another seemed to consist entirely of nose, and was surmounted +by a white sugar-loaf hat set off with a little red cock's tail. They +all had beards, of various shapes and colors. There was one who seemed +to be the commander. He was a stout old gentleman, with a weather-beaten +countenance; he wore a laced doublet, broad belt and hanger, +high-crowned hat and feather, red stockings, and high-heeled shoes, with +roses in them. The whole group reminded Rip of the figures in an old +Flemish painting, in the parlor of Dominie Van Shaick, the village +parson, and which had been brought over from Holland at the time of the +settlement. + +What seemed particularly odd to Rip was, that though these folks were +evidently amusing themselves, yet they maintained the gravest faces, the +most mysterious silence, and were, withal, the most melancholy party of +pleasure he had ever witnessed. Nothing interrupted the stillness of the +scene but the noise of the balls, which, whenever they were rolled, +echoed along the mountains like rumbling peals of thunder. + +As Rip and his companion approached them, they suddenly desisted from +their play, and stared at him with such fixed statue-like gaze, and such +strange, uncouth, lack-lustre countenances, that his heart turned within +him, and his knees smote together. His companion now emptied the +contents of the keg into large flagons, and made signs to him to wait +upon the company. He obeyed with fear and trembling; they quaffed the +liquor in profound silence, and then returned to their game. + +By degrees Rip's awe and apprehension subsided. He even ventured, when +no eye was fixed upon him, to taste the beverage, which he found had +much of the flavor of excellent Hollands. He was naturally a thirsty +soul, and was soon tempted to repeat the draught. One taste provoked +another; and he reiterated his visits to the flagon so often that at +length his senses were overpowered, his eyes swam in his head, his head +gradually declined, and he fell into a deep sleep. + +On waking, he found himself on the green knoll whence he had first seen +the old man of the glen. He rubbed his eyes--it was a bright sunny +morning. The birds were hopping and twittering among the bushes, and the +eagle was wheeling aloft, and breasting the pure mountain breeze. +"Surely," thought Rip, "I have not slept here all night." He recalled +the occurrences before he fell asleep. The strange man with a keg of +liquor--the mountain ravine--the wild retreat among the rocks--the +woe-begone party at nine-pins--the flagon--"Oh! that flagon! that wicked +flagon!" thought Rip--"what excuse shall I make to Dame Van Winkle!" + +He looked round for his gun, but in place of the clean well-oiled +fowling-piece, he found an old firelock lying by him, the barrel +incrusted with rust, the lock falling off, and the stock worm-eaten. He +now suspected that the grave roysters of the mountain had put a trick +upon him, and, having dosed him with liquor, had robbed him of his gun. +Wolf, too, had disappeared, but he might have strayed away after a +squirrel or partridge. He whistled after him and shouted his name, but +all in vain; the echoes repeated his whistle and shout, but no dog was +to be seen. + +He determined to revisit the scene of the last evening's gambol, and if +he met with any of the party, to demand his dog and gun. As he rose to +walk, he found himself stiff in the joints, and wanting in his usual +activity. "These mountain beds do not agree with me," thought Rip, "and +if this frolic should lay me up with a fit of rheumatism, I shall have a +blessed time with Dame Van Winkle." With some difficulty he got down +into the glen: he found the gully up which he and his companion had +ascended the preceding evening; but to his astonishment a mountain +stream was now foaming down it, leaping from rock to rock, and filling +the glen with babbling murmurs. He, however, made shift to scramble up +its sides, working his toilsome way through thickets of birch, +sassafras, and witch-hazel, and sometimes tripped up or entangled by +the wild grapevines that twisted their coils or tendrils from tree to +tree, and spread a kind of network in his path. + +At length he reached to where the ravine had opened through the cliffs +to the amphitheatre; but no traces of such opening remained. The rocks +presented a high impenetrable wall over which the torrent came tumbling +in a sheet of feathery foam, and fell into a broad deep basin, black +from the shadows of the surrounding forest. Here, then, poor Rip was +brought to a stand. He again called and whistled after his dog; he was +only answered by the cawing of a flock of idle crows, sporting high in +air about a dry tree that overhung a sunny precipice; and who, secure in +their elevation, seemed to look down and scoff at the poor man's +perplexities. What was to be done? the morning was passing away, and Rip +felt famished for want of his breakfast. He grieved to give up his dog +and gun; he dreaded to meet his wife; but it would not do to starve +among the mountains. He shook his head, shouldered the rusty firelock, +and, with a heart full of trouble and anxiety, turned his steps +homeward. + +As he approached the village he met a number of people, but none whom he +knew, which somewhat surprised him, for he had thought himself +acquainted with every one in the country round. Their dress, too, was of +a different fashion from that to which he was accustomed. They all +stared at him with equal marks of surprise, and whenever they cast their +eyes upon him, invariably stroked their chins. The constant recurrence +of this gesture induced Rip, involuntarily, to do the same, when, to his +astonishment, he found his beard had grown a foot long! + +He had now entered the skirts of the village. A troop of strange +children ran at his heels, hooting after him, and pointing at his gray +beard. The dogs, too, not one of which he recognized for an old +acquaintance, barked at him as he passed. The very village was altered; +it was larger and more populous. There were rows of houses which he had +never seen before, and those which had been his familiar haunts had +disappeared. Strange names were over the doors--strange faces at the +windows--every thing was strange. His mind now misgave him; he began to +doubt whether both he and the world around him were not bewitched. +Surely this was his native village, which he had left but the day +before. There stood the Kaatskill mountains--there ran the silver Hudson +at a distance--there was every hill and dale precisely as it had always +been--Rip was sorely perplexed--"That flagon last night," thought he, +"has addled my poor head sadly!" + +It was with some difficulty that he found the way to his own house, +which he approached with silent awe, expecting every moment to hear the +shrill voice of Dame Van Winkle. He found the house gone to decay--the +roof fallen in, the windows shattered, and the doors off the hinges. A +half-starved dog that looked like Wolf was skulking about it. Rip called +him by name, but the cur snarled, showed his teeth, and passed on. This +was an unkind cut indeed--"My very dog," sighed poor Rip, "has forgotten +me!" + +He entered the house, which, to tell the truth, Dame Van Winkle had +always kept in neat order. It was empty, forlorn, and apparently +abandoned. This desolateness overcame all his connubial fears--he called +loudly for his wife and children--the lonely chambers rang for a moment +with his voice, and then all again was silence. + +He now hurried forth, and hastened to his old resort, the village +inn--but it too was gone. A large rickety wooden building stood in its +place, with great gaping windows, some of them broken and mended with +old hats and petticoats, and over the door was painted, "the Union +Hotel, by Jonathan Doolittle." Instead of the great tree that used to +shelter the quiet little Dutch inn of yore, there now was reared a tall +naked pole, with something on the top that looked like a red night-cap, +and from it was fluttering a flag, on which was a singular assemblage of +stars and stripes--all this was strange and incomprehensible. He +recognized on the sign, however, the ruby face of King George, under +which he had smoked so many a peaceful pipe; but even this was +singularly metamorphosed. The red coat was changed for one of blue and +buff, a sword was held in the hand instead of a sceptre, the head was +decorated with a cocked hat, and underneath was painted in large +characters, GENERAL WASHINGTON. + +There was, as usual, a crowd of folk about the door, but none that Rip +recollected. The very character of the people seemed changed. There was +a busy, bustling, disputatious tone about it, instead of the accustomed +phlegm and drowsy tranquillity. He looked in vain for the sage Nicholas +Vedder, with his broad face, double chin, and fair long pipe, uttering +clouds of tobacco-smoke instead of idle speeches; or Van Bummel, the +schoolmaster, doling forth the contents of an ancient newspaper. In place +of these, a lean, bilious-looking fellow, with his pockets full of +handbills, was haranguing vehemently about rights of +citizens--elections--members of congress--liberty--Bunker's Hill--heroes +of seventy-six--and other words, which were a perfect Babylonish jargon +to the bewildered Van Winkle. + +The appearance of Rip, with his long grizzled beard, his rusty +fowling-piece, his uncouth dress, and an army of women and children at +his heels, soon attracted the attention of the tavern politicians. They +crowded round him, eying him from head to foot with great curiosity. The +orator bustled up to him, and, drawing him partly aside, inquired "on +which side he voted?" Rip stared in vacant stupidity. Another short but +busy little fellow pulled him by the arm, and, rising on tiptoe, +inquired in his ear, "Whether he was Federal or Democrat?" Rip was +equally at a loss to comprehend the question; when a knowing, +self-important old gentleman, in a sharp cocked hat, made his way +through the crowd, putting them to the right and left with his elbows as +he passed, and planting himself before Van Winkle, with one arm akimbo, +the other resting on his cane, his keen eyes and sharp hat penetrating, +as it were, into his very soul, demanded in an austere tone, "what +brought him to the election with a gun on his shoulder, and a mob at his +heels, and whether he meant to breed a riot in the village?"--"Alas! +gentlemen," cried Rip, somewhat dismayed, "I am a poor quiet man, a +native of the place, and a loyal subject of the king, God bless him!" + +Here a general shout burst from the by-standers--"A tory! a tory! a spy! +a refugee! hustle him! away with him!" It was with great difficulty that +the self-important man in the cocked hat restored order; and, having +assumed a tenfold austerity of brow, demanded again of the unknown +culprit, what he came there for, and whom he was seeking? The poor man +humbly assured him that he meant no harm, but merely came there in +search of some of his neighbors, who used to keep about the tavern. + +"Well--who are they?--name them." + +Rip bethought himself a moment, and inquired, "Where's Nicholas Vedder?" + +There was a silence for a little while, when an old man replied, in a +thin piping voice, "Nicholas Vedder! why, he is dead and gone these +eighteen years! There was a wooden tombstone in the church-yard that +used to tell all about him, but that's rotten and gone too." + +"Where's Brom Dutcher?" + +"Oh, he went off to the army in the beginning of the war; some say he +was killed at the storming of Stony Point--others say he was drowned in +a squall at the foot of Antony's Nose. I don't know---he never came back +again." + +"Where's Van Bummel, the schoolmaster?" + +"He went off to the wars too, was a great militia general, and is now in +congress." + +Rip's heart died away at hearing of these sad changes in his home and +friends, and finding himself thus alone in the world. Every answer +puzzled him, too, by treating of such enormous lapses of time, and of +matters which he could not understand: war--congress--Stony Point;--he +had no courage to ask after any more friends, but cried out in despair, +"Does nobody here know Rip Van Winkle?" + +"Oh, Rip Van Winkle!" exclaimed two or three. "Oh, to be sure! that's +Rip Van Winkle yonder, leaning against the tree." + +Rip looked, and beheld a precise counterpart of himself, as he went up +the mountain; apparently as lazy, and certainly as ragged. The poor +fellow was now completely confounded. He doubted his own identity, and +whether he was himself or another man. In the midst of his bewilderment, +the man in the cocked hat demanded who he was, and what was his name? + +"God knows," exclaimed he, at his wit's end; "I'm not myself--I'm +somebody else--that's me yonder--no--that's somebody else got into my +shoes--I was myself last night, but I fell asleep on the mountain, and +they've changed my gun, and every thing's changed, and I'm changed, and +I can't tell what's my name, or who I am!" + +The by-standers began now to look at each other, nod, wink +significantly, and tap their fingers against their foreheads. There was +a whisper, also, about securing the gun, and keeping the old fellow from +doing mischief, at the very suggestion of which the self-important man +in the cocked hat retired with some precipitation. At this critical +moment a fresh comely woman pressed through the throng to get a peep at +the gray-bearded man. She had a chubby child in her arms, which, +frightened at his looks, began to cry. "Hush, Rip," cried she, "hush, +you little fool; the old man won't hurt you." The name of the child, the +air of the mother, the tone of her voice, all awakened a train of +recollections in his mind. "What is your name, my good woman?" asked he. + +"Judith Gardenier." + +"And your father's name?" + +"Ah, poor man, Rip Van Winkle was his name, but it's twenty years since +he went away from home with his gun, and never has been heard of +since--his dog came home without him; but whether he shot himself, or +was carried away by the Indians, nobody can tell. I was then but a +little girl." + +Rip had but one question more to ask; but he put it with a faltering +voice: + +"Where's your mother?" + +"Oh, she too had died but a short time since; she broke a blood-vessel +in a fit of passion at a New-England peddler." + +There was a drop of comfort, at least, in this intelligence. The honest +man could contain himself no longer. He caught his daughter and her +child in his arms. "I am your father!" cried he--"Young Rip Van Winkle +once--old Rip Van Winkle now!--Does nobody know poor Rip Van Winkle?" + +All stood amazed, until an old woman, tottering out from among the +crowd, put her hand to her brow, and peering under it in his face for a +moment, exclaimed, "Sure enough! it is Rip Van Winkle--it is himself! +Welcome home, again, old neighbor---Why, where have you been these +twenty long years?" + +Rip's story was soon told, for the whole twenty years had been to him +but as one night. The neighbors stared when they heard it; some were +seen to wink at each other, and put their tongues in their cheeks: and +the self-important man in the cocked hat, who, when the alarm was over, +had returned to the field, screwed down the corners of his mouth, and +shook his head--upon which there was a general shaking of the head +throughout the assemblage. + +It was determined, however, to take the opinion of old Peter Vanderdonk, +who was seen slowly advancing up the road. He was a descendant of the +historian of that name, who wrote one of the earliest accounts of the +province. Peter was the most ancient inhabitant of the village, and well +versed in all the wonderful events and traditions of the neighborhood. +He recollected Rip at once, and corroborated his story in the most +satisfactory manner. He assured the company that it was a fact, handed +down from his ancestor the historian, that the Kaatskill mountains had +always been haunted by strange beings. That it was affirmed that the +great Hendrick Hudson, the first discoverer of the river and country, +kept a kind of vigil there every twenty years, with his crew of the +Half-moon; being permitted in this way to revisit the scenes of his +enterprise, and keep a guardian eye upon the river, and the great city +called by his name. That his father had once seen them in their old +Dutch dresses playing at nine-pins in a hollow of the mountain; and that +he himself had heard, one summer afternoon, the sound of their balls, +like distant peals of thunder. + +To make a long story short, the company broke up, and returned to the +more important concerns of the election. Rip's daughter took him home to +live with her; she had a snug, well-furnished house, and a stout cheery +farmer for a husband, whom Rip recollected for one of the urchins that +used to climb upon his back. As to Rip's son and heir, who was the ditto +of himself, seen leaning against the tree, he was employed to work on +the farm; but evinced an hereditary disposition to attend to any thing +else but his business. + +Rip now resumed his old walks and habits; he soon found many of his +former cronies, though all rather the worse for the wear and tear of +time; and preferred making friends among the rising generation, with +whom he soon grew into great favor. + +Having nothing to do at home, and being arrived at that happy age when a +man can be idle with impunity, he took his place once more on the bench +at the inn door, and was reverenced as one of the patriarchs of the +village, and a chronicle of the old times "before the war." It was some +time before he could get into the regular track of gossip, or could be +made to comprehend the strange events that had taken place during his +torpor. How that there had been a revolutionary war--that the country +had thrown off the yoke of old England--and that, instead of being a +subject of his Majesty George the Third, he was now a free citizen of +the United States. Rip, in fact, was no politician; the changes of +states and empires made but little impression on him; but there was one +species of despotism under which he had long groaned, and that +was--petticoat government. Happily that was at an end; he had got his +neck out of the yoke of matrimony, and could go in and out whenever he +pleased, without dreading the tyranny of Dame Van Winkle. Whenever her +name was mentioned, however, he shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, +and cast up his eyes; which might pass either for an expression of +resignation to his fate, or joy at his deliverance. + +He used to tell his story to every stranger that arrived at Mr. +Doolittle's hotel. He was observed, at first, to vary on some points +every time he told it, which was, doubtless, owing to his having so +recently awaked. It at last settled down precisely to the tale I have +related, and not a man, woman, or child in the neighborhood, but knew it +by heart. Some always pretended to doubt the reality of it, and insisted +that Rip had been out of his head and that this was one point on which +he always remained flighty. The old Dutch inhabitants, however, almost +universally gave it full credit. Even to this day they never hear a +thunderstorm of a summer afternoon about the Kaatskill, but they say +Hendrick Hudson and his crew are at their game of nine-pins; and it is a +common wish of all hen-pecked husbands in the neighborhood, when life +hangs heavy on their hands, that they might have a quieting draught out +of Rip Van Winkle's flagon. + +NOTE + +The foregoing Tale, one would suspect, had been suggested to Mr. +Knickerbocker by a little German superstition about the Emperor +Frederick der Rothbart, and the Kypphaüser mountain: the subjoined note, +however, which he had appended to the tale, shows that it is an absolute +fact, narrated with his usual fidelity: + +"The story of Rip Van Winkle may seem incredible to many, but +nevertheless I give it my full belief, for I know the vicinity of our +old Dutch settlements to have been very subject to marvellous events and +appearances. Indeed, I have heard many stranger stories than this, in +the villages along the Hudson; all of which were too well authenticated +to admit of a doubt. I have even talked with Rip Van Winkle myself, who, +when last I saw him, was a very venerable old man, and so perfectly +rational and consistent on every other point, that I think no +conscientious person could refuse to take this into the bargain; nay, I +have seen a certificate on the subject taken before a country justice +and signed with a cross, in the justice's own handwriting. The story, +therefore, is beyond the possibility of doubt. D. K."--[AUTHOR'S NOTE.] + + +POSTSCRIPT + +The following are travelling notes from a memorandum-book of Mr. +Knickerbocker: + +The Kaatsberg, or Catskill mountains, have always been a region full of +fable. The Indians considered them the abode of spirits, who influenced +the weather, spreading sunshine or clouds over the landscape, and +sending good or bad hunting seasons. They were ruled by an old squaw +spirit, said to be their mother. She dwelt on the highest peak of the +Catskills, and had charge of the doors of day and night to open and shut +them at the proper hour. She hung up the new moons in the skies, and cut +up the old ones into stars. In times of drought, if properly +propitiated, she would spin light summer clouds out of cobwebs and +morning dew, and send them off from the crest of the mountain, flake +after flake, like flakes of carded cotton, to float in the air; until, +dissolved by the heat of the sun, they would fall in gentle showers, +causing the grass to spring, the fruits to ripen, and the corn to grow +an inch an hour. If displeased, however, she would brew up clouds black +as ink, sitting in the midst of them like a bottle-bellied spider in the +midst of its web; and when these clouds broke, woe betide the valleys. + +In old times, say the Indian traditions, there was a kind of Manitou or +Spirit, who kept about the wildest recesses of the Catskill Mountains, +and took a mischievous pleasure in wreaking all kinds of evils and +vexations upon the red men. Sometimes he would assume the form of a +bear, a panther, or a deer, lead the bewildered hunter a weary chase +through tangled forests and among ragged rocks; and then spring off with +a loud ho! ho! leaving him aghast on the brink of a beetling precipice +or raging torrent. + +The favorite abode of this Manitou is still shown. It is a great rock or +cliff on the loneliest part of the mountains, and, from the flowering +vines which clamber about it, and the wild flowers which abound in its +neighborhood, is known by the name of the Garden Rock. Near the foot of +it is a small lake, the haunt of the solitary bittern, with water-snakes +basking in the sun on the leaves of the pond-lilies which lie on the +surface. This place was held in great awe by the Indians, insomuch that +the boldest hunter would not pursue his game within its precincts. Once +upon a time, however, a hunter who had lost his way, penetrated to the +garden rock, where he beheld a number of gourds placed in the crotches +of trees. One of these he seized and made off with it, but in the hurry +of his retreat he let it fall among the rocks, when a great stream +gushed forth, which washed him away and swept him down precipices, where +he was dashed to pieces, and the stream made its way to the Hudson, and +continues to flow to the present day; being the identical stream known +by the name of the Kaaters-kill. + +[Illustration: EDGAR ALLAN POE] + + + + +THE GOLD BUG + + "What ho! what ho! this fellow is dancing mad! + He hath been bitten by the Tarantula." + _All in the Wrong._ + + +Many years ago I contracted an intimacy with a Mr. William Legrand. He +was of an ancient Huguenot family, and had once been wealthy; but a +series of misfortunes had reduced him to want. To avoid the +mortification consequent upon his disasters, he left New Orleans, the +city of his forefathers, and took up his residence at Sullivan's Island, +near Charleston, South Carolina. + +This island is a very singular one. It consists of little else than the +sea sand, and is about three miles long. Its breadth at no point exceeds +a quarter of a mile. It is separated from the main land by a scarcely +perceptible creek, oozing its way through a wilderness of reeds and +slime, a favorite resort of the marsh-hen. The vegetation, as might be +supposed, is scant, or at least dwarfish. No trees of any magnitude are +to be seen. Near the western extremity, where Fort Moultrie stands, and +where are some miserable frame buildings, tenanted during summer by the +fugitives from Charleston dust and fever, may be found, indeed, the +bristly palmetto; but the whole island, with the exception of the +western point, and a line of hard, white beach on the sea-coast, is +covered with a dense undergrowth of sweet myrtle, so much prized by the +horticulturalists of England. The shrub here often attains the height +of fifteen or twenty feet, and forms an almost impenetrable coppice, +burthening the air with its fragrance. + +In the inmost recesses of this coppice, not far from the eastern or more +remote end of the island, Legrand had built himself a small hut, which +he occupied when I first, by mere accident, made his acquaintance. This +soon ripened into friendship,--for there was much in the recluse to +excite interest and esteem. I found him well educated, with unusual +powers of mind, but infected with misanthropy, and subject to perverse +moods of alternate enthusiasm and melancholy. He had with him many +books, but rarely employed them. His chief amusements were gunning and +fishing, or sauntering along the beach and through the myrtles in quest +of shells or entomological specimens; his collection of the latter might +have been envied by a Swammerdam. In these excursions he was usually +accompanied by an old negro called Jupiter, who had been manumitted +before the reverses of the family, but who could be induced, neither by +threats nor by promises, to abandon what he considered his right of +attendance upon the footsteps of his young "Massa Will." It is not +improbable that the relatives of Legrand, conceiving him to be somewhat +unsettled in intellect, had contrived to instil this obstinacy into +Jupiter, with a view to the supervision and guardianship of the +wanderer. + +The winters in the latitude of Sullivan's Island are seldom very severe, +and in the fall of the year it is a rare event indeed when a fire is +considered necessary. About the middle of October, 18--, there occurred, +however, a day of remarkable chilliness. Just before sunset I scrambled +my way through the evergreens to the hut of my friend, whom I had not +visited for several weeks, my residence being at that time in +Charleston, a distance of nine miles from the island, while the +facilities of passage and re-passage were very far behind those of the +present day. Upon reaching the hut I rapped, as was my custom; and, +getting no reply, sought for the key where I knew it was secreted, +unlocked the door, and went in. A fine fire was blazing upon the hearth. +It was a novelty, and by no means an ungrateful one. I threw off an +overcoat, took an armchair by the crackling logs, and awaited patiently +the arrival of my hosts. + +Soon after dark they arrived, and gave me a most cordial welcome. +Jupiter, grinning from ear to ear, bustled about to prepare some +marsh-hens for supper. Legrand was in one of his fits--how else shall I +term them?--of enthusiasm. He had found an unknown bivalve, forming a +new genus; and, more than this, he had hunted down and secured, with +Jupiter's assistance, a scarabæus which he believed to be totally new, +but in respect to which he wished to have my opinion on the morrow. + +"And why not to-night?" I asked, rubbing my hands over the blaze, and +wishing the whole tribe of scarabæi at the devil. + +"Ah, if I had only known you were here!" said Legrand; "but it's so long +since I saw you, and how could I foresee that you would pay me a visit +this very night of all others? As I was coming home I met Lieutenant +G---- from the fort, and, very foolishly, I lent him the bug; so it will +be impossible for you to see it until the morning. Stay here to-night, +and I will send Jup down for it at sunrise. It is the loveliest thing in +creation!" + +"What--sunrise?" + +"Nonsense! no! the bug. It is of a brilliant gold color, about the size +of a large hickory nut, with two jet black spots near one extremity of +the back, another, somewhat longer, at the other. The _antennæ_ are"-- + +"Dey ain't _no_ tin in him, Massa Will, I keep a-telling on you," here +interrupted Jupiter; "de bug is a goole-bug, solid, ebery bit of him, +inside and all, sep him wing--neber feel half so hebby a bug in my +life." + +"Well, suppose it is, Jup," replied Legrand, somewhat more earnestly, it +seemed to me, than the case demanded, "is that any reason for you +letting the birds burn? The color"--here he turned to me--"is really +almost enough to warrant Jupiter's idea. You never saw a more brilliant +metallic lustre than the scales emit; but of this you cannot judge till +to-morrow. In the meantime I can give you some idea of the shape." +Saying this, he seated himself at a small table on which were a pen and +ink, but no paper. He looked for some in a drawer, but found none. + +"Never mind," said he at length, "this will answer;" and he drew from +his waistcoat pocket a scrap of what I took to be very dirty foolscap, +and made upon it a rough drawing with the pen. While he did this, I +retained my seat by the fire, for I was still chilly. When the design +was complete he handed it to me without rising. As I received it, a loud +growl was heard, succeeded by a scratching at the door. Jupiter opened +it, and a large Newfoundland, belonging to Legrand, rushed in, leaped +upon my shoulders and loaded me with caresses; for I had shown him much +attention during previous visits. When his gambols were over, I looked +at the paper, and, to speak the truth, found myself not a little puzzled +at what my friend had depicted. + +"Well!" I said, after contemplating it for some minutes, "this _is_ a +strange _scarabæus_, I must confess; new to me; never saw anything like +it before--unless it was a skull, or a death's-head--which it more +nearly resembles than anything else that has come under _my_ +observation." + +"A death's-head!" echoed Legrand. "Oh--yes--well, it has something of +that appearance upon paper, no doubt. The two upper black spots look +like eyes, eh? and the longer one at the bottom like a mouth--and then +the shape of the whole is oval." + +"Perhaps so," said I; "but, Legrand, I fear you are no artist. I must +wait until I see the beetle itself, if I am to form any idea of its +personal appearance." + +"Well, I don't know," said he, a little nettled, "I draw +tolerably--_should_ do it at least, have had good masters--and flatter +myself that I am not quite a blockhead." + +"But, my dear fellow, you are joking then," said I; "this is a very +passable _skull_--indeed, I may say that it is a very _excellent_ skull, +according to the vulgar notions about such specimens of physiology--and +your _scarabæus_ must be the queerest _scarabæus_ in the world if it +resembles it. Why, we may get up a very thrilling bit of superstition +upon this hint. I presume you will call the bug _scarabæus caput +hominis_, or something of that kind--there are many similar titles in +the Natural Histories. But where are the _antennæ_ you spoke of?" + +"The _antennæ_!" said Legrand, who seemed to be getting unaccountably +warm upon the subject; "I am sure you must see the _antennæ_. I made +them as distinct as they are in the original insect, and I presume that +is sufficient." + +"Well, well," I said, "perhaps you have--still I don't see them;" and I +handed him the paper without additional remark, not wishing to ruffle +his temper; but I was much surprised at the turn affairs had taken; his +ill-humor puzzled me--and, as for the drawing of the beetle, there were +positively _no antennæ_ visible, and the whole _did_ bear a very close +resemblance to the ordinary cuts of a death's-head. + +He received the paper very peevishly, and was about to crumple it, +apparently to throw it in the fire, when a casual glance at the design +seemed suddenly to rivet his attention. In an instant his face grew +violently red--in another as excessively pale. For some minutes he +continued to scrutinize the drawing minutely where he sat. At length he +arose, took a candle from the table, and proceeded to seat himself upon +a sea-chest in the farthest corner of the room. Here again he made an +anxious examination of the paper, turning it in all directions. He said +nothing, however, and his conduct greatly astonished me; yet I thought +it prudent not to exacerbate the growing moodiness of his temper by any +comment. Presently he took from his coat pocket a wallet, placed the +paper carefully in it, and deposited both in a writing-desk, which he +locked. He now grew more composed in his demeanor; but his original air +of enthusiasm had quite disappeared. Yet he seemed not so much sulky as +abstracted. As the evening wore away he became more and more absorbed in +revery, from which no sallies of mine could arouse him. It had been my +intention to pass the night at the hut, as I had frequently done before, +but, seeing my host in this mood, I deemed it proper to take leave. He +did not press me to remain, but, as I departed, he shook my hand with +even more than his usual cordiality. + +It was about a month after this (and during the interval I had seen +nothing of Legrand) when I received a visit, at Charleston, from his man +Jupiter. I had never seen the good old negro look so dispirited, and I +feared that some serious disaster had befallen my friend. + +"Well, Jup," said I, "what is the matter now?--how is your master?" + +"Why, to speak de troof, massa, him not so berry well as mought be." + +"Not well! I am truly sorry to hear it. What does he complain of?" + +"Dar! dat's it!--him never plain of notin--but him berry sick for all +dat." + +"_Very_ sick, Jupiter!--why didn't you say so at once? Is he confined to +bed?" + +"No, dat he aint!--he aint find nowhar--dat's just whar de shoe +pinch--my mind is got to be berry hebby bout poor Massa Will." + +"Jupiter, I should like to understand what it is you are talking about. +You say your master is sick. Hasn't he told you what ails him?" + +"Why, massa, taint worf while for to git mad about de matter--Massa Will +say noffin at all aint de matter wid him--but den what make him go about +looking dis here way, wid he head down and he soldiers up, and as white +as a gose? And den he keep a syphon all de time"-- + +"Keeps a what, Jupiter?" + +"Keeps a syphon wid de figgurs on de slate--de queerest figgurs I ebber +did see. Ise gittin to be skeered, I tell you. Hab for to keep mighty +tight eye pon him noovers. Todder day he gib me slip fore de sun up and +was gone de whole ob de blessed day. I had a big stick ready cut for to +gib him deuced good beating when he did come--but Ise sich a fool dat I +hadn't de heart arter all--he look so berry poorly." + +"Eh?--what?--ah, yes!--upon the whole I think you had better not be too +severe with the poor fellow--don't flog him, Jupiter--he can't very well +stand it--but can you form no idea of what has occasioned this illness, +or rather this change of conduct? Has anything unpleasant happened since +I saw you?" + +"No, massa, dey aint bin noffin onpleasant _since_ den--'twas _fore_ den +I'm feared--'twas de berry day you was dare." + +"How? what do you mean?" + +"Why, massa, I mean de bug--dare now." + +"The what?" + +"De bug--I'm berry sartain that Massa Will bin bit somewhere bout de +head by dat goole-bug." + +"And what cause have you, Jupiter, for such a supposition?" + +"Claws enuff, massa, and mouff too. I nebber did see sich a deuced +bug--he kick and he bite ebery ting what cum near him. Massa Will cotch +him fuss, but had for to let him go gin mighty quick, I tell you--den +was de time he must hab got de bite. I didn't like de look of de bug +mouff, myself, no how, so I wouldn't take hold ob him wid my finger, but +I cotch him wid a piece ob paper dat I found. I rap him up in de paper +and stuff piece ob it in he mouff--dad was de way." + +"And you think, then, that your master was really bitten by the beetle, +and that the bite made him sick?" + +"I don't tink noffin bout it--I nose it. What make him dream bout de +goole so much, if taint cause he bit by de goole-bug? Ise heerd bout dem +goole-bugs fore dis." + +"But how do you know he dreams about gold?" + +"How I know? why, cause he talk bout it in he sleep, dat's how I nose." + +"Well, Jup, perhaps you are right; but to what fortunate circumstance am +I to attribute the honor of a visit from you to-day?" + +"What de matter, massa?" + +"Did you bring any message from Mr. Legrand?" + +"No, massa, I bring dis here pissel;" and here Jupiter handed me a note +which ran thus:-- + +"MY DEAR ---- + +Why have I not seen you for so long a time? I hope you have not been so +foolish as to take offence at any little _brusquerie_ of mine; but no, +that is improbable. + +Since I saw you I have had great cause for anxiety. I have something to +tell you, yet scarcely know how to tell it, or whether I should tell it +at all. + +I have not been quite well for some days past, and poor old Jup annoys +me, almost beyond endurance, by his well-meant attentions. Would you +believe it?--he had prepared a huge stick, the other day, with which to +chastise me for giving him the slip, and spending the day, _solus_, +among the hills on the main land. I verily believe that my ill looks +alone saved me a flogging. + +I have made no addition to my cabinet since we met. + +If you can, in any way, make it convenient, come over with Jupiter. _Do_ +come. I wish to see you _to-night_, upon business of importance. I +assure you that it is of the _highest_ importance. + +Ever yours, + +WILLIAM LEGRAND." + +There was something in the tone of this note which gave me great +uneasiness. Its whole style differed materially from that of Legrand. +What could he be dreaming of? What new crotchet possessed his excitable +brain? What "business of the highest importance" could _he_ possibly +have to transact? Jupiter's account of him boded no good. I dreaded lest +the continued pressure of misfortune had, at length, fairly unsettled +the reason of my friend. Without a moment's hesitation, therefore, I +prepared to accompany the negro. + +Upon reaching the wharf, I noticed a scythe and three spades, all +apparently new, lying in the bottom of the boat in which we were to +embark. + +"What is the meaning of all this, Jup?" I inquired. + +"Him syfe, massa, and spade." + +"Very true; but what are they doing here?" + +"Him de syfe and de spade what Massa Will sis pon my buying for him in +de town, and de debbil's own lot of money I had to gib for em." + +"But what, in the name of all that is mysterious, is your 'Massa Will' +going to do with scythes and spades?" + +"Dat's more dan _I_ know, and debbil take me if I don't believe 'tis +more dan he know, too. But it's all cum ob de bug." + +Finding that no satisfaction was to be obtained of Jupiter, whose whole +intellect seemed to be absorbed by "de bug," I now stepped into the boat +and made sail. With a fair and strong breeze we soon ran into the little +cove to the northward of Fort Moultrie, and a walk of some two miles +brought us to the hut. It was about three in the afternoon when we +arrived. Legrand had been awaiting us in eager expectation. He grasped +my hand with a nervous _empressement_ which alarmed me, and strengthened +the suspicions already entertained. His countenance was pale even to +ghastliness, and his deep-set eyes glared with unnatural lustre. After +some inquiries respecting his health, I asked him, not knowing what +better to say, if he had yet obtained the _scarabæus_ from Lieutenant +G----. + +"Oh, yes," he replied, coloring violently; "I got it from him the next +morning. Nothing should tempt me to part with that _scarabæus_. Do you +know that Jupiter is quite right about it?" + +"In what way?" I asked, with a sad foreboding at heart. + +"In supposing it to be a bug of _real gold_." He said this with an air +of profound seriousness, and I felt inexpressibly shocked. + +"This bug is to make my fortune," he continued with a triumphant smile, +"to reinstate me in my family possessions. Is it any wonder, then, that +I prize it? Since Fortune has thought fit to bestow it upon me, I have +only to use it properly, and I shall arrive at the gold of which it is +the index. Jupiter, bring me that _scarabæus_!" + +"What, de bug, massa? I'd rudder not go fer trubble dat bug; you mus git +him for your own self." Hereupon Legrand arose, with a grave and stately +air, and brought me the beetle from a glass case in which it was +enclosed. It was a beautiful _scarabæus_, and, at that time, unknown to +naturalists--of course a great prize in a scientific point of view. +There were two round black spots near one extremity of the back, and a +long one near the other. The scales were exceedingly hard and glossy, +with all the appearance of burnished gold. The weight of the insect was +very remarkable, and, taking all things into consideration, I could +hardly blame Jupiter for his opinion respecting it; but what to make of +Legrand's concordance with that opinion, I could not, for the life of +me, tell. + +"I sent for you," said he, in a grandiloquent tone, when I had completed +my examination of the beetle, "I sent for you that I might have your +counsel and assistance in furthering the views of Fate and of the bug"-- + +"My dear Legrand," I cried interrupting him, "you are certainly unwell, +and had better use some little precautions. You shall go to bed, and I +will remain with you a few days until you get over this. You are +feverish and"-- + +"Feel my pulse," said he. + +I felt it, and, to say the truth, found not the slightest indication of +fever. + +"But you may be ill, and yet have no fever. Allow me this once to +prescribe for you. In the first place, go to bed. In the next"-- + +"You are mistaken," he interposed; "I am as well as I can expect to be +under the excitement which I suffer. If you really wish me well, you +will relieve this excitement." + +"And how is this to be done?" + +"Very easily. Jupiter and myself are going upon an expedition into the +hills upon the mainland; and in this expedition we shall need the aid of +some person in whom we can confide. You are the only one we can trust. +Whether we succeed or fail, the excitement which you now perceive in me +will be equally allayed." + +"I am anxious to oblige you in any way," I replied; "but do you mean to +say that this infernal beetle has any connection with your expedition +into the hills." + +"It has." + +"Then, Legrand, I can become a party to no such absurd proceeding." + +"I am sorry--very sorry--for we shall have to try it by ourselves." + +"Try it by yourselves! The man is surely mad! but stay, how long do you +propose to be absent?" + +"Probably all night. We shall start immediately, and be back, at all +events, by sunrise." + +"And will you promise me, upon your honor, that when this freak of +yours is over, and the bug business (good God!) settled to your +satisfaction, you will then return home and follow my advice implicitly, +as that of your physician?" + +"Yes, I promise; and now let us be off, for we have no time to lose." + +With a heavy heart I accompanied my friend. We started about four +o'clock--Legrand, Jupiter, the dog, and myself. Jupiter had with him the +scythe and spades, the whole of which he insisted upon carrying, more +through fear, it seemed to me, of trusting either of the implements +within reach of his master, than from any excess of industry or +complaisance. His demeanor was dogged in the extreme, and "dat deuced +bug" were the sole words which escaped his lips during the journey. For +my own part, I had charge of a couple of dark lanterns, while Legrand +contented himself with the _scarabæus_, which he carried attached to the +end of a bit of whip-cord; twirling it to and fro, with the air of a +conjurer, as he went. When I observed this last, plain evidence of my +friend's aberration of mind, I could scarcely refrain from tears. I +thought it best, however, to humor his fancy, at least for the present, +or until I could adopt some more energetic measures with a chance of +success. In the meantime I endeavored, but all in vain, to sound him in +regard to the object of the expedition. Having succeeded in inducing me +to accompany him, he seemed unwilling to hold conversation upon any +topic of minor importance, and to all my questions vouchsafed no other +reply than "we shall see!" + +We crossed the creek at the head of the island by means of a skiff, and, +ascending the high grounds on the shore of the mainland, proceeded in a +northwesterly direction, through a tract of country excessively wild +and desolate, where no trace of a human footstep was to be seen. +Legrand led the way with decision; pausing only for an instant, here and +there, to consult what appeared to be certain landmarks of his own +contrivance upon a former occasion. + +In this manner we journeyed for about two hours, and the sun was just +setting when we entered a region infinitely more dreary than any yet +seen. It was a species of tableland, near the summit of an almost +inaccessible hill, densely wooded from base to pinnacle, and +interspersed with huge crags that appeared to lie loosely upon the soil, +and in many cases were prevented from precipitating themselves into the +valleys below, merely by the support of the trees against which they +reclined. Deep ravines, in various directions, gave an air of still +sterner solemnity to the scene. + +The natural platform to which we had clambered was thickly overgrown +with brambles, through which we soon discovered that it would have been +impossible to force our way but for the scythe; and Jupiter, by +direction of his master, proceeded to clear for us a path to the foot of +an enormously tall tulip-tree, which stood, with some eight or ten oaks, +upon the level, and far surpassed them all, and all other trees which I +had then ever seen, in the beauty of its foliage and form, in the wide +spread of its branches, and in the general majesty of its appearance. +When we reached this tree, Legrand turned to Jupiter, and asked him if +he thought he could climb it. The old man seemed a little staggered by +the question, and for some moments made no reply. At length he +approached the huge trunk, walked slowly around it, and examined it with +minute attention. When he had completed his scrutiny, he merely said,-- + +"Yes, massa, Jup climb any tree he ebber see in he life." + +"Then up with you as soon as possible, for it will soon be too dark to +see what we are about." + +"How far mus go up, massa?" inquired Jupiter. + +"Get up the main trunk first, and then I will tell you which way to +go--and here--stop! take this beetle with you." + +"De bug, Massa Will!--de goole-bug!" cried the negro, drawing back in +dismay--"what for mus tote de bug way up the tree?--damn if I do!" + +"If you are afraid, Jup, a great big negro like you, to take hold of a +harmless little dead beetle, why you can carry it up by this +string--but, if you do not take it up with you in some way, I shall be +under the necessity of breaking your head with this shovel." + +"What de matter now, massa?" said Jup, evidently shamed into compliance; +"always want for to raise fuss wid old nigger. Was only funnin, any how. +_Me_ feered de bug! what I keer for de bug?" Here he took cautiously +hold of the extreme end of the string, and, maintaining the insect as +far from his person as circumstances would permit, prepared to ascend +the tree. + +In youth, the tulip-tree, or _Liriodendron Tulipiferum_, the most +magnificent of American foresters, has a trunk peculiarly smooth, and +often rises to a great height without lateral branches; but, in its +riper age, the bark becomes gnarled and uneven, while many short limbs +make their appearance on the stem. Thus the difficulty of ascension, in +the present case, lay more in semblance than in reality. Embracing the +huge cylinder as closely as possible with his arms and knees, seizing +with his hands some projections, and resting his naked toes upon +others, Jupiter, after one or two narrow escapes from falling, at +length wriggled himself into the first great fork, and seemed to +consider the whole business as virtually accomplished. The _risk_ of the +achievement was, in fact, now over, although the climber was some sixty +or seventy feet from the ground. + +"Which way mus go now, Massa Will?" he asked. + +"Keep up the largest branch--the one on this side," said Legrand. The +negro obeyed him promptly, and apparently with but little trouble, +ascending higher and higher, until no glimpse of his squat figure could +be obtained through the dense foliage which enveloped it. Presently his +voice was heard in a sort of halloo. + +"How much fudder is got for go?" + +"How high up are you?" asked Legrand. + +"Ebber so fur," replied the negro; "can see de sky fru de top ob de +tree." + +"Never mind the sky, but attend to what I say. Look down the trunk, and +count the limbs below you on this side. How many limbs have you passed?" + +"One, two, tree, four, fibe--I done pass fibe big limb, massa, pon dis +side." + +"Then go one limb higher." + +In a few minutes the voice was heard again, announcing that the seventh +limb was attained. + +"Now, Jup," cried Legrand, evidently much excited, "I want you to work +your way out upon that limb as far as you can. If you see anything +strange, let me know." + +By this time what little doubt I might have entertained of my poor +friend's insanity was put finally at rest. I had no alternative but to +conclude him stricken with lunacy, and I became seriously anxious about +getting him home. While I was pondering upon what was best to be done, +Jupiter's voice was again heard. + +"Mos feerd for to ventur pon dis limb berry far--'tis dead limb putty +much all de way." + +"Did you say it was a _dead_ limb, Jupiter?" cried Legrand in a +quivering voice. + +"Yes, massa; him dead as de door-nail; done up for sartain; done +departed dis here life." + +"What in the name of heaven shall I do?" asked Legrand, seemingly in the +greatest distress. + +"Do!" said I, glad of an opportunity to interpose a word, "why, come +home and go to bed. Come, now, that's a fine fellow! It's getting late, +and, besides, you remember your promise." + +"Jupiter," cried he, without heeding me in the least, "do you hear me?" + +"Yes, Massa Will, hear you ebber so plain." + +"Try the wood well, then, with your knife, and see if you think it is +_very_ rotten." + +"Him rotten, massa, sure nuff," replied the negro in a few moments; "but +not so berry rotten as mought be. Mought ventur out leetle way pon de +limb by myself, dat's true." + +"By yourself? what do you mean?" + +"Why, I mean de bug. 'Tis _berry_ hebby bug. Spose I drop him down fuss, +and den de limb won't break wid just de weight ob one nigger." + +"You infernal scoundrel!" cried Legrand, apparently much relieved; "what +do you mean by telling me such nonsense as that? As sure as you drop +that beetle I'll break your neck. Look here, Jupiter, do you hear me?" + +"Yes, massa; needn't hollo at poor nigger dat style." + +"Well, now listen. If you will venture out on the limb as far as you +think safe, and not let go the beetle, I'll make you a present of a +silver dollar as soon as you get down." + +"I'm gwine, Mass Will--deed I is," replied the negro, very +promptly--"mos out to the end now." + +"_Out to the end!_" here fairly screamed Legrand, "do you say you are +out to the end of that limb?" + +"Soon be to de eend, massa,--o-o-o-o-oh! Lor-gol-a-marcy! what _is_ dis +here pon de tree?" + +"Well!" cried Legrand, highly delighted, "what is it?" + +"Why, taint noffin but a skull--somebody bin lef him head up de tree, +and de crows done gobble ebery bit ob de meat off." + +"A skull, you say!--very well!--how is it fastened to the limb?--what +holds it on?" + +"Sure nuff, massa; mus look. Why, dis berry curous cumstance, pon my +word--dare's a great big nail in de skull what fastens ob it on to de +tree." + +"Well, now, Jupiter, do exactly as I tell you--do you hear?" + +"Yes, massa." + +"Pay attention, then!--find the left eye of the skull." + +"Hum! hoo! dat's good! why, dare aint no eye lef at all." + +"Curse your stupidity! do you know your right hand from your left?" + +"Yes, I nose dat--nose all bout dat--'tis my lef hand what I chops de +wood wid." + +"To be sure! you are left-handed; and your left eye is on the same side +as your left hand. Now, I suppose you can find the left eye of the +skull, or the place where the left eye has been. Have you found it?" + +Here was a long pause. At length the negro asked,-- + +"Is de lef eye ob de skull pon de same side as de lef hand ob de skull, +too?--cause de skull aint got not a bit ob a hand at all--nebber mind! I +got de lef eye now--here de lef eye! what mus do with it?" + +"Let the beetle drop through it, as far as the string will reach--but be +careful and not let go your hold of the string." + +"All dat done, Mass Will; mighty easy ting for to put de bug frue de +hole--look out for him dare below!" + +During this colloquy no portion of Jupiter's person could be seen; but +the beetle, which he had suffered to descend, was now visible at the end +of the string, and glistened, like a globe of burnished gold, in the +last rays of the setting sun, some of which still faintly illumined the +eminence upon which we stood. The _scarabæus_ hung quite clear of any +branches, and, if allowed to fall, would have fallen at our feet. +Legrand immediately took the scythe and cleared with it a circular +space, three or four yards in diameter, just beneath the insect, and, +having accomplished this, ordered Jupiter to let go the string and come +down from the tree. + +Driving a peg, with great nicety, into the ground, at the precise spot +where the beetle fell, my friend now produced from his pocket a +tape-measure. Fastening one end of this at that point of the trunk of +the tree which was nearest the peg, he unrolled it till it reached the +peg, and thence further unrolled it, in the direction already +established by the two points of the tree and the peg, for the distance +of fifty feet--Jupiter clearing away the brambles with the scythe. At +the spot thus attained a second peg was driven, and about this, as a +centre, a rude circle, about four feet in diameter, described. Taking +now a spade himself, and giving one to Jupiter and one to me, Legrand +begged us to set about digging as quickly as possible. + +To speak the truth, I had no special relish for such amusement at any time, +and, at that particular moment, would most willingly have declined it; for +the night was coming on, and I felt much fatigued with the exercise already +taken; but I saw no mode of escape, and was fearful of disturbing my poor +friend's equanimity by a refusal. Could I have depended, indeed, upon +Jupiter's aid, I would have had no hesitation in attempting to get the +lunatic home by force; but I was too well assured of the old negro's +disposition to hope that he would assist me, under any circumstances, in a +personal contest with his master. I made no doubt that the latter had been +infected with some of the innumerable Southern superstitions about money +buried, and that his fantasy had received confirmation by the finding of +the _scarabæus_, or, perhaps, by Jupiter's obstinacy in maintaining it to +be "a bug of real gold." A mind disposed to lunacy would readily be led +away by such suggestions--especially if chiming in with favorite +preconceived ideas--and then I called to mind the poor fellow's speech +about the beetle's being "the index of his fortune." Upon the whole, I was +sadly vexed and puzzled, but at length, I concluded to make a virtue of +necessity--to dig with a good will, and thus the sooner to convince the +visionary, by ocular demonstration, of the fallacy of the opinions he +entertained. + +The lanterns having been lit, we all fell to work with a zeal worthy a +more rational cause; and, as the glare fell upon our persons and +implements, I could not help thinking how picturesque a group we +composed, and how strange and suspicious our labors must have appeared +to any interloper who, by chance, might have stumbled upon our +whereabouts. + +We dug very steadily for two hours. Little was said; and our chief +embarrassment lay in the yelpings of the dog, who took exceeding +interest in our proceedings. He at length became so obstreperous that we +grew fearful of his giving alarm to some stragglers in the vicinity; or, +rather, this was the apprehension of Legrand; for myself, I should have +rejoiced at any interruption which might have enabled me to get the +wanderer home. The noise was at length very effectually silenced by +Jupiter, who, getting out of the hole with a dogged air of deliberation, +tied the brute's mouth up with one of his suspenders, and then returned, +with a grave chuckle, to his task. + +When the time mentioned had expired, we had reached a depth of five +feet, and yet no signs of any treasure became manifest. A general pause +ensued, and I began to hope that the farce was at an end. Legrand, +however, although evidently much disconcerted, wiped his brow +thoughtfully and recommenced. We had excavated the entire circle of four +feet diameter, and now we slightly enlarged the limit, and went to the +further depth of two feet. Still nothing appeared. The gold-seeker, whom +I sincerely pitied, at length clambered from the pit, with the bitterest +disappointment imprinted upon every feature, and proceeded, slowly and +reluctantly, to put on his coat, which he had thrown off at the +beginning of his labor. In the meantime I made no remark. Jupiter, at a +signal from his master, began to gather up his tools. This done, and the +dog having been unmuzzled, we turned in profound silence toward home. + +We had taken, perhaps, a dozen steps in this direction, when, with a +loud oath, Legrand strode up to Jupiter, and seized him by the collar. +The astonished negro opened his eyes and mouth to the fullest extent, +let fall the spades, and fell upon his knees. + +"You scoundrel," said Legrand, hissing out the syllables from between +his clinched teeth--"you infernal black villain!--speak, I tell +you!--answer me this instant, without prevarication!--which--which is +your left eye?" + +"Oh, my golly, Massa Will! aint dis here my lef eye for sartin?" roared +the terrified Jupiter, placing his hand upon his _right_ organ of +vision, and holding it there with a desperate pertinacity, as if in +immediate dread of his master's attempt at a gouge. + +"I thought so!--I knew it! hurrah!" vociferated Legrand, letting the +negro go and executing a series of curvets and caracoles, much to the +astonishment of his valet, who, arising from his knees, looked mutely +from his master to myself, and then from myself to his master. + +"Come! we must go back," said the latter, "the game's not up yet;" and +he again led the way to the tulip-tree. + +"Jupiter," said he, when we reached its foot, "come here; was the skull +nailed to the limb with the face outward, or with the face to the limb?" + +"De face was out, massa, so dat de crows could get at de eyes good, +widout any trouble." + +"Well, then, was it this eye or that through which you dropped the +beetle?"--here Legrand touched each of Jupiter's eyes. + +"'Twas dis eye, massa--de lef eye--jis as you tell me," and here it was +his right eye that the negro indicated. + +"That will do--we must try it again." + +Here my friend, about whose madness I now saw, or fancied that I saw, +certain indications of method, removed the peg which marked the spot +where the beetle fell, to a spot about three inches to the westward of +its former position. Taking, now, the tape-measure from the nearest +point of the trunk to the peg, as before, and continuing the extension +in a straight line to the distance of fifty feet, a spot was indicated, +removed, by several yards, from the point at which we had been digging. + +Around the new position a circle, somewhat larger than in the former +instance, was now described, and we again set to work with the spades. I +was dreadfully weary, but scarcely understanding what had occasioned the +change in my thoughts, I felt no longer any great aversion from the +labor imposed. I had become most unaccountably interested--nay, even +excited. Perhaps there was something, amid all the extravagant demeanor +of Legrand, some air of forethought, or of deliberation, which impressed +me. I dug eagerly, and now and then caught myself actually looking, with +something that very much resembled expectation, for the fancied +treasure, the vision of which had demented my unfortunate companion. At +a period when such vagaries of thought most fully possessed me, and when +we had been at work perhaps an hour and a half, we were again +interrupted by the violent howlings of the dog. His uneasiness, in the +first instance, had been, evidently, but the result of playfulness or +caprice, but he now assumed a bitter and serious tone. Upon Jupiter's +again attempting to muzzle him, he made furious resistance, and leaping +into the hole, tore up the mould frantically with his claws. In a few +seconds he had uncovered a mass of human bones, forming two complete +skeletons, intermingled with several buttons of metal, and what appeared +to be the dust of decayed woollen. One or two strokes of a spade +upturned the blade of a large Spanish knife, and, as we dug further, +three or four loose pieces of gold and silver coin came to light. + +At sight of these the joy of Jupiter could scarcely be restrained; but +the countenance of his master wore an air of extreme disappointment. He +urged us, however, to continue our exertions; and the words were hardly +uttered when I stumbled and fell forward, having caught the toe of my +boot in a large ring of iron that lay half buried in the loose earth. + +We now worked in earnest; and never did I pass ten minutes of more +intense excitement. During this interval we had fairly unearthed an +oblong chest of wood, which, from its perfect preservation and wonderful +hardness, had plainly been subjected to some mineralizing +process--perhaps that of the bichloride of mercury. This box was three +feet and a half long, three feet broad, and two and a half feet deep. It +was firmly secured by bands of wrought iron, riveted, and forming a kind +of open trelliswork over the whole. On each side of the chest, near the +top, were three rings of iron--six in all--by means of which a firm hold +could be obtained by six persons. Our utmost united endeavors served +only to disturb the coffer very slightly in its bed. We at once saw the +impossibility of removing so great a weight. Luckily, the sole +fastenings of the lid consisted of two sliding bolts. These we drew +back, trembling and panting with anxiety. In an instant a treasure of +incalculable value lay gleaming before us. As the rays of the lanterns +fell within the pit, there flashed upward a glow and a glare, from a +confused heap of gold and of jewels, that absolutely dazzled our eyes. + +I shall not pretend to describe the feelings with which I gazed. +Amazement was, of course, predominant. Legrand appeared exhausted with +excitement, and spoke very few words. Jupiter's countenance wore, for +some minutes, as deadly a pallor as it is possible, in the nature of +things, for any negro's visage to assume. He seemed stupefied, +thunderstricken. Presently he fell upon his knees in the pit, and, +burying his naked arms up to the elbows in gold, let them there remain, +as if enjoying the luxury of a bath. At length, with a deep sigh, he +exclaimed, as if in a soliloquy:-- + +"And dis all cum ob de goole-bug! de putty goole-bug! de poor little +goole-bug, what I boosed in dat sabage kind ob style! Ain't you ashamed +ob yourself, nigger? Answer me dat!" + +It became necessary at last that I should arouse both master and valet +to the expediency of removing the treasure. It was growing late, and it +behooved us to make exertion, that we might get everything housed before +daylight. It was difficult to say what should be done, and much time was +spent in deliberation, so confused were the ideas of all. We finally +lightened the box by removing two-thirds of its contents, when we were +enabled, with some trouble, to raise it from the hole. The articles +taken out were deposited among the brambles, and the dog left to guard +them, with strict orders from Jupiter, neither, upon any pretence, to +stir from the spot, nor to open his mouth until our return. We then +hurriedly made for home with the chest, reaching the hut in safety, but +after excessive toil, at one o'clock in the morning. Worn out as we +were, it was not in human nature to do more immediately. We rested until +two, and had supper, starting for the hills immediately afterward, armed +with three stout sacks, which, by good luck, were upon the premises. A +little before four we arrived at the pit, divided the remainder of the +booty as equally as might be among us; and, leaving the holes unfilled, +again set out for the hut, at which, for the second time, we deposited +our golden burthens, just as the first faint streaks of the dawn gleamed +from over the tree-tops in the east. + +We were now thoroughly broken down; but the intense excitement of the +time denied us repose. After an unquiet slumber of some three or four +hours' duration, we arose, as if by preconcert, to make examination of +our treasure. + +The chest had been full to the brim, and we spent the whole day, and the +greater part of the next night, in scrutiny of its contents. There had +been nothing like order or arrangement. Everything had been heaped in +promiscuously. Having assorted all with care, we found ourselves +possessed of even vaster wealth than we had at first supposed. In coin +there was rather more than four hundred and fifty thousand dollars, +estimating the value of the pieces as accurately as we could by the +tables of the period. There was not a particle of silver. All was gold +of antique date and of great variety,--French, Spanish, and German +money, with a few English guineas, and some counters, of which we had +never seen specimens before. There were several very large and heavy +coins, so worn that we could make nothing of their inscriptions. There +was no American money. + +The value of the jewels we found more difficulty in estimating. There +were diamonds, some of them exceedingly large and fine--a hundred and +ten in all, and not one of them small; eighteen rubies of remarkable +brilliancy; three hundred and ten emeralds, all very beautiful; and +twenty one sapphires, with an opal. These stones had all been broken +from their settings, and thrown loose in the chest. The settings +themselves, which we picked out from among the other gold, appeared to +have been beaten up with hammers, as if to prevent identification. +Besides all this, there was a vast quantity of solid gold ornaments; +nearly two hundred massive finger and ear rings; rich chains--thirty of +these, if I remember; eighty-three very large and heavy crucifixes; five +gold censers of great value; a prodigious golden punch-bowl, ornamented +with richly chased vine-leaves and bacchanalian figures; with two +sword-handles exquisitely embossed, and many other smaller articles +which I cannot recollect. + +The weight of these valuables exceeded three hundred and fifty pounds +avoirdupois; and in this estimate I have not included one hundred and +ninety-seven superb gold watches, three of the number being worth each +five hundred dollars, if one. Many of them were very old, and as +timekeepers valueless, the works having suffered more or less from +corrosion; but all were richly jewelled, and in cases of great worth. We +estimated the entire contents of the chest that night at a million and a +half of dollars; and upon the subsequent disposal of the trinkets and +jewels (a few being retained for our own use), it was found that we had +greatly undervalued the treasure. + +When at length we had concluded our examination, and the intense +excitement of the time had, in some measure, subsided, Legrand, who saw +that I was dying with impatience for a solution of this most +extraordinary riddle, entered into a full detail of all the +circumstances connected with it. + +"You remember," said he, "the night when I handed you the rough sketch I +had made of the _scarabæus_. You recollect, also, that I became quite +vexed at you for insisting that my drawing resembled a death's-head. +When you first made this assertion, I thought you were jesting; but +afterward I called to mind the peculiar spots on the back of the insect, +and admitted to myself that your remark had some little foundation in +fact. Still the sneer at my graphic powers irritated me--for I am +considered a good artist; and therefore, when you handed me the scrap of +parchment, I was about to crumple it up and throw it angrily into the +fire." + +"The scrap of paper, you mean," said I. + +"No; it had much the appearance of paper, and at first I supposed it to +be such; but when I came to draw upon it, I discovered it at once to be +a piece of very thin parchment. It was quite dirty, you remember. Well, +as I was in the very act of crumpling it up, my glance fell upon the +sketch at which you had been looking; and you may imagine my +astonishment when I perceived, in fact, the figure of a death's-head +just where, it seemed to me, I had made the drawing of the beetle. For a +moment I was too much amazed to think with accuracy. I knew that my +design was very different in detail from this, although there was a +certain similarity in general outline. Presently I took a candle, and, +seating myself at the other end of the room, proceeded to scrutinize the +parchment more closely. Upon turning it over, I saw my own sketch upon +the reverse, just as I had made it. My first idea now was mere surprise +at the really remarkable similarity of outline--at the singular +coincidence involved in the fact that, unknown to me, there should have +been a skull upon the other side of the parchment, immediately beneath +my figure of the _scarabæus_, and that this skull, not only in outline, +but in size, should so closely resemble my drawing. I say the +singularity of this coincidence absolutely stupefied me for a time. + +"This is the usual effect of such coincidences. The mind struggles to +establish a connection, a sequence of cause and effect; and, being +unable to do so, suffers a species of temporary paralysis. But when I +recovered from this stupor, there dawned upon me gradually a conviction +which startled me even far more than the coincidence. I began +distinctly, positively, to remember that there had been _no_ drawing +upon the parchment when I made my sketch of the _scarabæus_. I became +perfectly certain of this; for I recollected turning up first one side +and then the other, in search of the cleanest spot. Had the skull been +then there, of course I could not have failed to notice it. Here was +indeed a mystery which I felt it impossible to explain; but, even at +that early moment, there seemed to glimmer faintly within the most +remote and secret chambers of my intellect a glowworm-like conception of +that truth which last night's adventure brought to so magnificent a +demonstration. I arose at once, and, putting the parchment securely +away, dismissed all further reflection until I should be alone. + +"When you had gone, and when Jupiter was fast asleep, I betook myself to +a more methodical investigation of the affair. In the first place I +considered the manner in which the parchment had come into my +possession. The spot where we discovered the _scarabæus_ was on the +coast of the main land, about a mile eastward of the island, and but a +short distance above high-water mark. Upon my taking hold of it, it gave +me a sharp bite, which caused me to let it drop. Jupiter, with his +accustomed caution, before seizing the insect, which had flown towards +him, looked about him for a leaf, or something of that nature, by which +to take hold of it. It was at this moment that his eyes, and mine also, +fell upon the scrap of parchment, which I then supposed to be paper. It +was lying half buried in the sand, a corner sticking up. Near the spot +where we found it, I observed the remnant of the hull of what appeared +to have been a ship's long boat. The wreck seemed to have been there for +a very great while; for the resemblance to boat timbers could scarcely +be traced. + +"Well, Jupiter picked up the parchment, wrapped the beetle in it, and +gave it to me. Soon afterwards we turned to go home, and on the way met +Lieutenant G----. I showed him the insect, and he begged me to let him +take it to the fort. Upon my consenting, he thrust it forthwith into his +waistcoat pocket, without the parchment in which it had been wrapped, +and which I had continued to hold in my hand during his inspection. +Perhaps he dreaded my changing my mind, and thought it best to make sure +of the prize at once--you know how enthusiastic he is on all subjects +connected with Natural History. At the same time, without being +conscious of it, I must have deposited the parchment in my own pocket. + +"You remember that when I went to the table, for the purpose of making a +sketch of the beetle, I found no paper where it was usually kept. I +looked in the drawer and found none there. I searched my pockets, hoping +to find an old letter, when my hand fell upon the parchment. I thus +detail the precise mode in which it came into my possession; for the +circumstances impressed me with peculiar force. + +"No doubt you will think me fanciful--but I had already established a +kind of _connection_. I had put together two links of a great chain. +There was a boat lying upon a sea-coast, and not far from the boat was a +parchment--_not a paper_--with a skull depicted upon it. You will, of +course, ask, 'where is the connection?' I reply that the skull, or +death's-head, is the well-known emblem of the pirate. The flag of the +death's-head is hoisted in all engagements. + +"I have said that the scrap was parchment, and not paper. Parchment is +durable--almost imperishable. Matters of little moment are rarely +consigned to parchment; since for the mere ordinary purposes of drawing +or writing it is not nearly so well adapted as paper. This reflection +suggested some meaning--some relevancy--in the death's-head. I did not +fail to observe, also, the _form_ of the parchment. Although one of its +corners had been, by some accident, destroyed, it could be seen that the +original form was oblong. It was just a slip, indeed, as might have been +chosen for a memorandum--for a record of something to be long remembered +and carefully preserved." + +"But," I interposed, "you say that the skull was _not_ upon the +parchment when you made the drawing of the beetle. How then do you trace +any connection between the boat and the skull--since this latter, +according to your own admission, must have been designed (God only knows +how or by whom) at some period subsequent to your sketching the +_scarabæus_?" + +"Ah, hereupon turns the whole mystery; although the secret, at this +point, I had comparatively little difficulty in solving. My steps were +sure, and could afford but a single result. I reasoned, for example, +thus: When I drew the _scarabæus_, there was no skull apparent upon the +parchment. When I had completed the drawing I gave it to you and +observed you narrowly until you returned it. _You_, therefore, did not +design the skull, and no one else was present to do it. Then it was not +done by human agency. And nevertheless it was done. + +"At this stage of my reflections I endeavored to remember, and _did_ +remember, with entire distinctness, every incident which occurred about +the period in question. The weather was chilly (oh, rare and happy +accident!), and a fire was blazing upon the hearth. I was heated with +exercise and sat near the table. You, however, had drawn a chair close +to the chimney. Just as I placed the parchment in your hand, and you +were in the act of inspecting it, Wolf, the Newfoundland, entered, and +leaped upon your shoulders. With your left hand you caressed him and +kept him off, while your right, holding the parchment, was permitted to +fall listlessly between your knees, and in close proximity to the fire. +At one moment I thought the blaze had caught it, and was about to +caution you, but, before I could speak, you had withdrawn it, and were +engaged in its examination. When I considered all these particulars, I +doubted not for a moment that _heat_ had been the agent in bringing to +light, upon the parchment, the skull which I saw designed upon it. You +are well aware that chemical preparations exist, and have existed time +out of mind, by means of which it is possible to write upon either paper +or vellum, so that the characters shall become visible only when +subjected to the action of fire. Zaffre, digested in _aqua regia_, and +diluted with four times its weight of water, is sometimes employed; a +green tint results. The regulus of cobalt, dissolved in spirit of nitre, +gives a red. These colors disappear at longer or shorter intervals after +the material written upon cools, but again become apparent upon the +reapplication of heat. + +"I now scrutinized the death's-head with care. Its outer edges--the +edges of the drawing nearest the edge of the vellum--were far more +_distinct_ than the others. It was clear that the action of the caloric +had been imperfect or unequal. I immediately kindled a fire, and +subjected every portion of the parchment to a glowing heat. At first, +the only effect was the strengthening of the faint lines in the skull; +but, upon persevering in the experiment, there became visible, at the +corner of the slip, diagonally opposite to the spot in which the +death's-head was delineated, the figure of what I at first supposed to +be a goat. A closer scrutiny, however, satisfied me that it was intended +for a kid." + +"Ha! ha!" said I, "to be sure I have no right to laugh at you--a million +and a half of money is too serious a matter for mirth--but you are not +about to establish a third link in your chain--you will not find any +special connection between your pirates and a goat--pirates, you know, +have nothing to do with goats; they appertain to the farming interest." + +"But I have just said that the figure was _not_ that of a goat." + +"Well, a kid then--pretty much the same thing." + +"Pretty much, but not altogether," said Legrand. "You may have heard of +one _Captain_ Kidd. I at once looked upon the figure of the animal as a +kind of punning or hieroglyphical signature. I say signature, because +its position on the vellum suggested this idea. The death's-head at the +corner diagonally opposite, had, in the same manner, the air of a stamp, +or seal. But I was sorely put out by the absence of all else--of the +body to my imagined instrument--of the text for my context." + +"I presume you expected to find a letter between the stamp and the +signature." + +"Something of that kind. The fact is, I felt irresistibly impressed with +a presentiment of some vast good fortune impending. I can scarcely say +why. Perhaps, after all, it was rather a desire than an actual belief; +but do you know that Jupiter's silly words, about the bug being of solid +gold, had a remarkable effect upon my fancy? And then the series of +accidents and coincidences--these were so _very_ extraordinary. Do you +observe how mere an accident it was that these events should have +occurred upon the _sole_ day of all the year in which it has been, or +may be, sufficiently cool for fire, and that without the fire, or +without the intervention of the dog at the precise moment in which he +appeared, I should never have become aware of the death's-head, and so +never the possessor of the treasure?" + +"But proceed, I am all impatience." + +"Well, you have heard, of course, the many stories current, the thousand +vague rumors afloat, about money buried, somewhere upon the Atlantic +coast, by Kidd and his associates. These rumors must have some +foundation in fact. And that the rumors have existed so long and so +continuous, could have resulted, it appeared to me, only from the +circumstance of the buried treasure still _remaining_ entombed. Had Kidd +concealed his plunder for a time, and afterward reclaimed it, the rumors +would scarcely have reached us in their present unvarying form. You will +observe that the stories told are all about money-seekers, not about +money-finders. Had the pirate recovered his money, there the affair +would have dropped. It seemed to me that some accident--say the loss of +a memorandum indicating its locality--had deprived him of the means of +recovering it, and that this accident had become known to his followers, +who otherwise might never have heard that treasure had been concealed at +all, and who, busying themselves in vain, because unguided, attempts to +regain it, had given first birth, and then universal currency, to the +reports which are now so common. Have you ever heard of any important +treasure being unearthed along the coast?" + +"Never." + +"But that Kidd's accumulations were immense, is well known. I took it +for granted, therefore, that the earth still held them; and you will +scarcely be surprised when I tell you that I felt a hope, nearly +amounting to certainty, that the parchment so strangely found, involved +a lost record of the place of deposit." + +"But how did you proceed?" + +"I held the vellum again to the fire, after increasing the heat, but +nothing appeared. I now thought it possible that the coating of dirt +might have something to do with the failure; so I carefully rinsed the +parchment by pouring warm water over it, and having done this, I placed +it in a tin pan, with the skull downward, and put the pan upon a furnace +of lighted charcoal. In a few minutes, the pan having become thoroughly +heated, I removed the slip, and to my inexpressible joy, found it +spotted in several places, with what appeared to be figures arranged in +lines. Again I placed it in the pan, and suffered it to remain another +minute. Upon taking it off, the whole was just as you see it now." + +Here Legrand, having re-heated the parchment, submitted it to my +inspection. The following characters were rudely traced, in a red tint, +between the death's-head and the goat:-- + +53##+305))6*;4826)4#.)4#);806*;48+8¶60))85;;]8*;:#*8+83(88)5*+;46(;88*96* +?;8)*#(;485);5*+2:*#(;4956*2(5*-4)8¶8*;4069285);)6+8)4##;1(#9;48081;8:8#1 +;48+85;4)485+528806*81(#9;48;(88;4(#?34;48)4#;161;:188;#?; + +"But," said I, returning him the slip, "I am as much in the dark as +ever. Were all the jewels of Golconda awaiting me upon my solution of +this enigma, I am quite sure that I should be unable to earn them." + +"And yet," said Legrand, "the solution is by no means so difficult as +you might be led to imagine from the first hasty inspection of the +characters. These characters, as any one might readily guess, form a +cipher--that is to say, they convey a meaning; but then, from what is +known of Kidd, I could not suppose him capable of constructing any of +the more abstruse cryptographs. I made up my mind at once that this was +of a simple species--such, however, as would appear to the crude +intellect of the sailor absolutely insoluble without the key." + +"And you really solved it?" + +"Readily; I have solved others of an abstruseness ten thousand times +greater. Circumstances, and a certain bias of mind, have led me to take +interest in such riddles, and it may well be doubted whether human +ingenuity can construct an enigma of the kind which human ingenuity may +not, by proper application, resolve. In fact, having once established +connected and legible characters, I scarcely gave a thought to the mere +difficulty of developing their import. + +"In the present case--indeed in all cases of secret writing--the +question regards the _language_ of the cipher; for the principles of +solution, so far especially as the more simple ciphers are concerned, +depend upon, and are varied by, the genius of the particular idiom. In +general, there is no alternative but experiment (directed by +probabilities) of every tongue known to him who attempts the solution, +until the true one be attained. But, with the cipher now before us, all +difficulty was removed by the signature. The pun upon the word 'Kidd' +is appreciable in no other language than the English. But for this +consideration I should have begun my attempts with the Spanish and +French, as the tongues in which a secret of this kind would most +naturally have been written by a pirate of the Spanish main. As it was, +I assumed the cryptograph to be English. + +"You observe there are no divisions between the words. Had there been +divisions, the task would have been comparatively easy. In such cases I +should have commenced with a collation and analysis of the shorter +words, and, had a word of a single letter occurred, as it is most likely +(_a_ or _I_, for example), I should have considered the solution as +assured. But, there being no division, my first step was to ascertain +the predominant letters, as well as the least frequent. Counting all, I +constructed a table thus:-- + +Of the character 8 there are 33 + ; " 26 + 4 " 19 + #) " 16 + * " 13 + 5 " 12 + 6 " 11 + ( " 10 + +1 " 8 + 0 " 6 + 92 " 5 + :3 " 4 + ? " 3 + ¶ " 2 + ]--. " 1 + +"Now, in English, the letter which most frequently occurs is _e_. +Afterward, the succession runs thus: _a o i d h n r s t u y c f g l m w +b k p q x z_. _E_ predominates so remarkably that an individual sentence +of any length is rarely seen in which it is not the prevailing +character. + +"Here, then, we have, in the very beginning, the groundwork for +something more than a mere guess. The general use which may be made of +the table is obvious, but, in this particular cipher, we shall only very +partially require its aid. As our predominant character is 8, we will +commence by assuming it as the _e_ of the natural alphabet. To verify +the supposition, let us observe if the 8 be seen often in couples--for +_e_ is doubled with great frequency in English--in such words, for +example, as 'meet,' 'fleet,' 'speed,' 'seen,' 'been,' 'agree,' etc. In +the present instance we see it doubled no less than five times, although +the cryptograph is brief. + +"Let us assume 8, then, as _e_. Now, of all the _words_ in the language, +'the' is most usual; let us see, therefore, whether there are not +repetitions of any three characters, in the same order of collocation, +the last of them being 8. If we discover repetitions of such letters, so +arranged, they will most probably represent the word 'the.' Upon +inspection, we find no less than seven such arrangements, the characters +being;48. We may, therefore, assume that; represents _t_, 4 represents +_h_, and 8 represents _e_--the last being now well confirmed. Thus a +great step has been taken. + +"But, having established a single word, we are enabled to establish a +vastly important point; that is to say, several commencements and +terminations of other words. Let us refer, for example, to the last +instance but one, in which the combination ;48 occurs--not far from the +end of the cipher. We know that the; immediately ensuing is the +commencement of a word, and of the six characters succeeding this +'the,' we are cognizant of no less than five. Let us set these +characters down, thus, by the letters we know them to represent, leaving +a space for the unknown:-- + + t eeth. + +"Here we are enabled, at once, to discard the '_th_,' as forming no +portion of the word commencing with the first _t_; since, by experiment +of the entire alphabet for a letter adapted to the vacancy, we perceive +that no word can be formed of which this _th_ can be a part. We are thus +narrowed into-- + + t ee, + +and, going through the alphabet, if necessary, as before, we arrive at +the word 'tree' as the sole possible reading. We thus gain another +letter, _r_, represented by (, with the words 'the tree,' in +juxtaposition. + +"Looking beyond these words, for a short distance, we again see the +combination;48, and employ it by way of _termination_ to what +immediately precedes. We have thus this arrangement:-- + + the tree; 4(#?34 the, + +or, substituting the natural letters, where known, it reads thus:-- + + the tree thr#?3h the. + +"Now, if, in place of the unknown characters, we leave blank spaces, or +substitute dots, we read thus:-- + + the tree thr...h the, + +when the word '_through_' makes itself evident at once. But this +discovery gives us three new letters, _o, u, g_, represented by # ? and +3. + +"Looking now, narrowly, through the cipher for combinations of known +characters, we find, not very far from the beginning, this +arrangement:-- + + 83(88, or egree, + +which plainly is the conclusion of the word 'degree,' and gives us +another letter _d_, represented by +. + +"Four letters beyond the word 'degree,' we perceive the combination:-- + + ;46(;88. + +"Translating the known characters, and representing the unknown by dots, +as before, we read thus:-- + + th rtee, + +an arrangement immediately suggestive of the word 'thirteen,' and again +furnishing us with two new characters _i_ and _n_, represented by 6 and +*. + +"Referring, now, to the beginning of the cryptograph, we find the +combination:-- + + 53##+ + +"Translating as before, we obtain:-- + + .good, + +which assures us that the first letter is _A_, and that the first two +words are 'A good.' + +"It is now time that we arrange our key, as far as discovered, in a +tabular form, to avoid confusion. It will stand thus:-- + + 5 represents a + + " d + 8 " e + 3 " g + 4 " h + 6 " i + * " n + # " o + ( " r + ; " t + +have, therefore, no less than ten of the most important letters +represented, and it will be unnecessary to proceed with the details of +the solution. I have said enough to convince you that ciphers of this +nature are readily soluble, and to give you some insight into the +_rationale_ of their development. But be assured that the specimen +before us appertains to the very simplest species of cryptograph. It now +only remains to give you the full translation of the characters upon the +parchment, as unriddled. Here it is:-- + + "'A good glass in the bishop's hostel in the devil's seat forty-one + degrees and thirteen minutes north-east and by north main branch + seventh limb east side shoot from the left eye of the death's-head a + bee-line from the tree through the shot fifty feet out.'" + +"But," said I, "the enigma seems still in as bad a condition as ever. +How is it possible to extort a meaning from all this jargon about +'devil's seats,' 'death's-heads,' and 'bishop's hotels'?" + +"I confess," replied Legrand, "that the matter still wears a serious +aspect when regarded with a casual glance. My first endeavor was to +divide the sentence into the natural division intended by the +cryptographist." + +"You mean, to punctuate it?" + +"Something of that kind." + +"I reflected that it had been a _point_ with the writer to run his words +together without division, so as to increase the difficulty of solution. +Now, a not over-acute man, in pursuing such an object, would be nearly +certain to overdo the matter. When, in the course of his composition, he +arrived at a break in his subject which would naturally require a pause, +or a point, he would be exceedingly apt to run his characters, at this +place, more than usually close together. If you will observe the MS., +in the present instance, you will easily detect five such cases of +unusual crowding. Acting upon this hint, I made the division thus:-- + + "'A good glass in the Bishop's hostel in the Devil's seat--forty-one + degrees and thirteen minutes--north-east and by north--main branch + seventh limb east side--shoot from the left eye of the + death's-head--a bee-line from the tree through the shot fifty feet + out.'" + +"Even this division," said I, "leaves me still in the dark." + +"It left me also in the dark," replied Legrand, "for a few days; during +which I made diligent inquiry, in the neighborhood of Sullivan's Island, +for any building which went by the name of the 'Bishop's Hotel'; for of +course I dropped the obsolete word 'hostel.' Gaining no information on +the subject, I was on the point of extending my sphere of search, and +proceeding in a more systematic manner, when one morning it entered into +my head, quite suddenly, that this 'Bishop's Hostel' might have some +reference to an old family of the name of Bessop, which, time out of +mind, had held possession of an ancient manor-house, about four miles to +the northward of the Island. I accordingly went over to the plantation, +and re-instituted my inquiries among the older negroes of the place. At +length one of the most aged of the women said that she had heard of such +a place as _Bessop's Castle_, and thought that she could guide me to it, +but that it was not a castle, nor a tavern, but a high rock. + +"I offered to pay her well for her trouble, and, after some demur, she +consented to accompany me to the spot. We found it without much +difficulty, when, dismissing her, I proceeded to examine the place. The +'castle' consisted of an irregular assemblage of cliffs and rocks--one +of the latter being quite remarkable for its height as well as for its +insulated and artificial appearance. I clambered to its apex, and then +felt much at a loss as to what should be next done. + +"While I was busied in reflection, my eyes fell upon a narrow ledge in +the eastern face of the rock, perhaps a yard below the summit upon which +I stood. This ledge projected about eighteen inches, and was not more +than a foot wide, while a niche in the cliff just above it, gave it a +rude resemblance to one of the hollow-backed chairs used by our +ancestors. I made no doubt that here was the 'devil's seat' alluded to +in the MS., and now I seemed to grasp the full secret of the riddle. + +"The 'good glass' I knew could have reference to nothing but a +telescope; for the word 'glass' is rarely employed in any other sense by +seamen. Now here, I at once saw a telescope to be used, and a definite +point of view, _admitting no variation_, from which to use it. Nor did I +hesitate to believe that the phrases, 'forty-one degrees and thirteen +minutes,' and 'north-east and by north,' were intended as directions for +the levelling of the glass. Greatly excited by these discoveries, I +hurried home, procured a telescope, and returned to the rock. + +"I let myself down to the ledge, and found that it was impossible to +retain a seat upon it except in one particular position. This fact +confirmed my preconceived idea. I proceeded to use the glass. Of course, +the 'forty-one degrees and thirteen minutes' could allude to nothing but +elevation above the visible horizon, since the horizontal direction was +clearly indicated by the words, 'north-east and by north.' This latter +direction I at once established by means of a pocket-compass; then, +pointing the glass as nearly at an angle of forty-one degrees of +elevation as I could do it by guess, I moved it cautiously up or down, +until my attention was arrested by a circular rift or opening in the +foliage of a large tree that overtopped its fellows in the distance. In +the centre of this rift I perceived a white spot, but could not, at +first, distinguish what it was. Adjusting the focus of the telescope, I +again looked, "Upon this discovery I was so sanguine as to consider the +enigma solved; for the phrase 'main branch, seventh limb, east side,' +could refer only to the position of the skull upon the tree, while +'shoot from the left eye of the death's-head' admitted, also, of but one +interpretation, in regard to a search for buried treasure. I perceived +that the design was to drop a bullet from the left eye of the skull, and +that a bee-line, or, in other words, a straight line, drawn from the +nearest point of the trunk through 'the shot' (or the spot where the +bullet fell) and thence extended to a distance of fifty feet, would +indicate a definite point--and beneath this point I thought it at least +_possible_ that a deposit of value lay concealed." + +"All this," I said, "is exceedingly clear, and, although ingenious, +still simple and explicit. When you left the Bishop's Hotel, what then?" + +"Why, having carefully taken the bearings of the tree, I turned +homewards. The instant that I left the 'devil's seat,' however, the +circular rift vanished; nor could I get a glimpse of it afterwards, turn +as I would. What seems to me the chief ingenuity in this whole business +is the fact (for repeated experiment has convinced me it _is_ a fact) +that the circular opening in question is visible from no other +attainable point of view than that afforded by the narrow ledge on the +face of the rock. + +"In this expedition to the 'Bishop's Hotel' I had been attended by +Jupiter, who had no doubt observed for some weeks past the abstraction +of my demeanor, and took especial care not to leave me alone. But, on +the next day, getting up very early, I contrived to give him the slip, +and went into the hills in search of the tree. After much toil I found +it. When I came home at night my valet proposed to give me a flogging. +With the rest of the adventure I believe you are as well acquainted as +myself." + +"I suppose," said I, "you missed the spot, in the first attempt at +digging, through Jupiter's stupidity in letting the bug fall through the +right instead of through the left eye of the skull." + +"Precisely. This mistake made a difference of about two inches and a +half in the 'shot,' that is to say, in the position of the peg nearest +the tree; and had the treasure been _beneath_ the 'shot,' the error +would have been of little moment; but 'the shot,' together with the +nearest point of the tree, were merely two points for the establishment +of a line of direction; of course the error, however trivial in the +beginning, increased as we proceeded with the line, and by the time we +had gone fifty feet, threw us quite off the scent. But for my +deep-seated impression that treasure was here somewhere actually buried, +we might have had all our labor in vain." + +"I presume the fancy of _the skull_--of letting fall a bullet through +the skull's eye--was suggested to Kidd by the piratical flag. No doubt +he felt a kind of poetical consistency in recovering his money through +this ominous insignium." + +"Perhaps so; still, I cannot help thinking that common-sense had quite +as much to do with the matter as poetical consistency. To be visible +from the Devil's seat, it was necessary that the object, if small, +should be _white_: and there is nothing like your human skull for +retaining and even increasing its whiteness under exposure to all +vicissitudes of weather." + +"But your grandiloquence, and your conduct in swinging the beetle--how +excessively odd! I was sure you were mad. And why did you insist upon +letting fall the bug, instead of a bullet, from the skull?" + +"Why, to be frank, I felt somewhat annoyed by your evident suspicions +touching my sanity, and so resolved to punish you quietly, in my own +way, by a little bit of sober mystification. For this reason I swung the +beetle, and for this reason I let it fall from the tree. An observation +of yours about its great weight suggested the latter idea." + +"Yes, I perceive; and now there is only one point which puzzles me. What +are we to make of the skeletons found in the hole?" + +"That is a question I am no more able to answer than yourself. There +seems, however, only one plausible way of accounting for them, and yet +it is dreadful to believe in such atrocity as my suggestion would imply. +It is clear that Kidd--if Kidd indeed secreted this treasure, which I +doubt not--it is clear that he must have had assistance in the labor. +But this labor concluded, he may have thought it expedient to remove all +participants in his secret. Perhaps a couple of blows with a mattock +were sufficient, while his coadjutors were busy in the pit; perhaps it +required a dozen--who shall tell?" + +[Transcribers Note: In the above story the "dagger" and "double dagger" +symbols were used in the cipher. Neither symbols are capable of being +replicated in ascii, therefore they have been replaced with "+" and +"#" respectively.] + + + + +THE PURLOINED LETTER + + _Nil sapientiæ odiosius acumine nimio._ + + SENECA. + + +At Paris, just after dark one gusty evening in the autumn of 18--, I was +enjoying the twofold luxury of meditation and a meerschaum, in company +with my friend, C. Auguste Dupin, in his little back library, or +book-closet, _au troisième, No. 33, Rue Dunôt, Faubourg Saint Germain_. +For one hour at least we had maintained a profound silence; while each, +to any casual observer, might have seemed intently and exclusively +occupied with the curling eddies of smoke that oppressed the atmosphere +of the chamber. For myself, however, I was mentally discussing certain +topics which had formed matter for conversation between us at an earlier +period of the evening; I mean the affair of the Rue Morgue, and the +mystery attending the murder of Marie Rogêt. I looked upon it, +therefore, as something of a coincidence, when the door of our apartment +was thrown open and admitted our old acquaintance, Monsieur G----, the +Prefect of the Parisian police. + +We gave him a hearty welcome; for there was nearly half as much of the +entertaining as of the contemptible about the man, and we had not seen +him for several years. We had been sitting in the dark, and Dupin now +arose for the purpose of lighting a lamp, but sat down again without +doing so, upon G----'s saying that he had called to consult us, or +rather to ask the opinion of my friend, about some official business +which had occasioned a great deal of trouble. + +"If it is any point requiring reflection," observed Dupin, as he +forebore to enkindle the wick, "we shall examine it to better purpose in +the dark." + +"This is another of your odd notions," said the Prefect, who had a +fashion of calling everything "odd" that was beyond his comprehension, +and thus lived amid an absolute legion of "oddities." + +"Very true," said Dupin, as he supplied his visitor with a pipe, and +rolled towards him a comfortable chair. + +"And what is the difficulty now?" I asked. "Nothing more in the +assassination way, I hope?" + +"Oh, no; nothing of that nature. The fact is, the business is _very_ +simple indeed, and I make no doubt that we can manage it sufficiently +well ourselves; but then I thought Dupin would like to hear the details +of it, because it is so excessively _odd_." + +"Simple and odd," said Dupin. + +"Why, yes; and not exactly that, either. The fact is, we have all been a +good deal puzzled because the affair _is_ so simple, and yet baffles us +altogether." + +"Perhaps it is the very simplicity of the thing which puts you at +fault," said my friend. + +"What nonsense you _do_ talk!" said the Prefect, laughing heartily. + +"Perhaps the mystery is a little _too_ plain," said Dupin. + +"Oh, good heavens! who ever heard of such an idea?" + +"A little _too_ self-evident." + +"Ha! ha! ha!--ha! ha! ha!--ho! ho! ho!" roared our visitor, profoundly +amused, "O Dupin, you will be the death of me yet!" + +"And what, after all, _is_ the matter on hand?" I asked. + +"Why, I will tell you," replied the Prefect, as he gave a long, steady, +and contemplative puff, and settled himself in his chair. "I will tell +you in a few words; but, before I begin, let me caution you that this is +an affair demanding the greatest secrecy, and that I should most +probably lose the position I now hold, were it known that I had confided +it to any one." + +"Proceed," said I. + +"Or not," said Dupin. + +"Well, then; I have received personal information, from a very high +quarter, that a certain document of the last importance has been +purloined from the royal apartments. The individual who purloined it is +known; this beyond a doubt; he was seen to take it. It is known, also, +that it still remains in his possession." + +"How is this known?" asked Dupin. + +"It is clearly inferred," replied the Prefect, "from the nature of the +document, and from the non-appearance of certain results which would at +once arise from its passing _out_ of the robber's possession;--that is +to say, from his employing it as he must design in the end to employ +it." + +"Be a little more explicit," I said. + +"Well, I may venture so far as to say that the paper gives its holder a +certain power in a certain quarter where such power is immensely +valuable." The Prefect was fond of the cant of diplomacy. + +"Still I do not quite understand," said Dupin. + +"No? Well; the disclosure of the document to a third person, who shall +be nameless, would bring in question the honor of a personage of most +exalted station; and this fact gives the holder of the document an +ascendency over the illustrious personage whose honor and peace are so +jeopardized." + +"But this ascendency," I interposed, "would depend upon the robber's +knowledge of the loser's knowledge of the robber. Who would dare--" + +"The thief," said G----, "is the minister D----, who dares all things, +those unbecoming as well as those becoming a man. The method of the +theft was not less ingenious than bold. The document in question--a +letter, to be frank--had been received by the personage robbed while +alone in the royal _boudoir_. During its perusal she was suddenly +interrupted by the entrance of the other exalted personage, from whom +especially it was her wish to conceal it. After a hurried and vain +endeavor to thrust it in a drawer, she was forced to place it, open as +it was, upon a table. The address, however, was uppermost, and, the +contents thus unexposed, the letter escaped notice. At this juncture +enters the minister D----. His lynx eye immediately perceives the paper, +recognizes the handwriting of the address, observes the confusion of the +personage addressed, and fathoms her secret. After some business +transactions, hurried through in his ordinary manner, he produces a +letter somewhat similar to the one in question, opens it, pretends to +read it, and then places it in close juxtaposition to the other. Again +he converses for some fifteen minutes upon the public affairs. At +length, in taking leave, he takes also from the table the letter to +which he had no claim. Its rightful owner saw, but, of course, dared not +call attention to the act, in the presence of the third personage, who +stood at her elbow. The minister decamped, leaving his own letter--one +of no importance--upon the table." + +"Here, then," said Dupin to me, "you have precisely what you demand to +make the ascendency complete--the robber's knowledge of the loser's +knowledge of the robber." + +"Yes," replied the Prefect; "and the power thus attained has for some +months past been wielded, for political purposes, to a very dangerous +extent. The personage robbed is more thoroughly convinced every day of +the necessity of reclaiming her letter. But this, of course, cannot be +done openly. In fine, driven to despair, she has committed the matter to +me." + +"Than whom," said Dupin, amid a perfect whirlwind of smoke, "no more +sagacious agent could, I suppose, be desired, or even imagined." + +"You flatter me," replied the Prefect; "but it is possible that some +such opinion may have been entertained." + +"It is clear," said I, "as you observe, that the letter is still in +possession of the minister; since it is this possession, and not any +employment of the letter, which bestows the power. With the employment +the power departs." + +"True," said G----; "and upon this conviction I proceeded. My first care +was to make thorough search of the minister's hôtel; and here my chief +embarrassment lay in the necessity of searching without his knowledge. +Beyond all things, I have been warned of the danger which would result +from giving him reason to suspect our design." + +"But," said I, "you are quite _au fait_ in these investigations. The +Parisian police have done this thing often before." + +"Oh yes; and for this reason I did not despair. The habits of the +minister gave me, too, a great advantage. He is frequently absent from +home all night. His servants are by no means numerous. They sleep at a +distance from their master's apartment, and, being chiefly Neapolitans, +are readily made drunk. I have keys, as you know, with which I can open +any chamber or cabinet in Paris. For three months a night has not +passed, during the greater part of which I have not been engaged, +personally, in ransacking the D---- Hôtel. My honor is interested, and, +to mention a great secret, the reward is enormous. So I did not abandon +the search until I had become fully satisfied that the thief is a more +astute man than myself. I fancy that I have investigated every nook and +corner of the premises in which it is possible that the paper can be +concealed." + +"But is it not possible," I suggested, "that although the letter may be +in possession of the minister, as it unquestionably is, he may have +concealed it elsewhere than upon his own premises?" + +"This is barely possible," said Dupin. "The present peculiar condition +of affairs at court, and especially of those intrigues in which D---- is +known to be involved, would render the instant availability of the +document--its susceptibility of being produced at a moment's notice--a +point of nearly equal importance with its possession." + +"Its susceptibility of being produced?" said I. + +"That is to say, of being _destroyed_," said Dupin. + +"True," I observed; "the paper is clearly then upon the premises. As for +its being upon the person of the minister, we may consider that as out +of the question." + +"Entirely," said the Prefect. "He has been twice waylaid, as if by +footpads, and his person rigorously searched under my own inspection." + +"You might have spared yourself the trouble," said Dupin. "D----, I +presume, is not altogether a fool, and, if not, must have anticipated +these waylayings, as a matter of course." + +"Not _altogether_ a fool," said G----; "but then he's a poet, which I +take to be only one remove from a fool." + +"True," said Dupin, after a long and thoughtful whiff from his +meerschaum, "although I have been guilty of certain doggerel myself." + +"Suppose you detail," said I, "the particulars of your search." + +"Why, the fact is, we took our time, and we searched _everywhere_. I +have had long experience in these affairs. I took the entire building, +room by room, devoting the nights of a whole week to each. We examined, +first, the furniture of each apartment. We opened every possible drawer; +and I presume you know that, to a properly trained police agent, such a +thing as a _secret_ drawer is impossible. Any man is a dolt who permits +a 'secret' drawer to escape him in a search of this kind. The thing is +_so_ plain. There is a certain amount of bulk--of space--to be accounted +for in every cabinet. Then we have accurate rules. The fiftieth part of +a line could not escape us. After the cabinets we took the chairs. The +cushions we probed with the fine long needles you have seen me employ. +From the tables we removed the tops." + +"Why so?" + +"Sometimes the top of a table or other similarly arranged piece of +furniture is removed by the person wishing to conceal an article; then +the leg is excavated, the article deposited within the cavity, and the +top replaced. The bottoms and tops of bed-posts are employed in the same +way." + +"But could not the cavity be detected by sounding?" I asked. + +"By no means, if, when the article is deposited, a sufficient wadding of +cotton be placed around it. Besides, in our case we were obliged to +proceed without noise." + +"But you could not have removed--you could not have taken to pieces +_all_ articles of furniture in which it would have been possible to make +a deposit in the manner you mention. A letter may be compressed into a +thin spiral roll, not differing much in shape or bulk from a large +knitting-needle, and in this form it might be inserted into the rung of +a chair, for example. You did not take to pieces all the chairs?" + +"Certainly not; but we did better--we examined the rungs of every chair +in the hôtel, and indeed, the jointings of every description of +furniture, by the aid of a most powerful microscope. Had there been any +traces of recent disturbance we should not have failed to detect it +instantly. A single grain of gimlet-dust, for example, would have been +as obvious as an apple. Any disorder in the gluing, any unusual gaping +in the joints, would have sufficed to insure detection." + +"I presume you looked to the mirrors, between the boards and the plates, +and you probed the beds and the bedclothes, as well as the curtains and +carpets." + +"That, of course; and when we had absolutely completed every article of +furniture in this way, then we examined the house itself. We divided its +entire surface into compartments, which we numbered, so that none might +be missed; then we scrutinized each individual square inch throughout +the premises, including the two houses immediately adjoining, with the +microscope, as before." + +"The two houses adjoining!" I exclaimed; "you must have had a great deal +of trouble." + +"We had; but the reward offered is prodigious." + +"You include the _grounds_ about the houses?" + +"All the grounds are paved with brick. They gave us comparatively +little trouble. We examined the moss between the bricks, and found it +undisturbed." + +"You looked among D----'s papers, of course, and into the books of the +library?" + +"Certainly, we opened every package and parcel; we not only opened every +book, but we turned over every leaf in each volume, not contenting +ourselves with a mere shake, according to the fashion of some of our +police officers. We also measured the thickness of every book-_cover_, +with the most accurate admeasurement, and applied to each the most +jealous scrutiny of the microscope. Had any of the bindings been +recently meddled with, it would have been utterly impossible that the +fact should have escaped observation. Some five or six volumes, just +from the hands of the binder, we carefully probed, longitudinally, with +the needles." + +"You explored the floors beneath the carpets?" + +"Beyond doubt. We removed every carpet, and examined the boards with the +microscope." + +"And the paper on the walls?" + +"Yes." + +"You looked into the cellars?" + +"We did." + +"Then," I said, "you have been making a miscalculation, and the letter +is _not_ upon the premises, as you suppose." + +"I fear you are right there," said the Prefect. "And now, Dupin, what +would you advise me to do?" + +"To make a thorough of the premises." + +"That is absolutely needless," replied G----. "I am not more sure that I +breathe than I am that the letter is not at the hôtel." + +"I have no better advice to give you," said Dupin. "You have, of +course, an accurate description of the letter?" + +"Oh, yes." And here the Prefect, producing a memorandum-book, proceeded +to read aloud a minute account of the internal, and especially of the +external appearance of the missing document. Soon after finishing the +perusal of this description, he took his departure, more entirely +depressed in spirits than I had ever known the good gentleman before. + +In about a month afterward he paid us another visit, and found us +occupied very nearly as before. He took a pipe and a chair, and entered +into some ordinary conversation. At length I said:-- + +"Well, but G----, what of the purloined letter? I presume you have at +last made up your mind that there is no such thing as overreaching the +minister?" + +"Confound him, say I--yes; I made the re-examination, however, as Dupin +suggested; but it was all labor lost, as I knew it would be." + +"How much was the reward offered, did you say?" asked Dupin. + +"Why, a very great deal--a _very_ liberal reward--I don't like to say +how much precisely; but one thing I _will_ say, that I wouldn't mind +giving my individual check for fifty thousand francs to any one who +obtains me that letter. The fact is, it is becoming of more and more +importance every day; and the reward has been lately doubled. If it were +trebled, however, I could do no more than I have done." + +"Why, yes," said Dupin drawlingly, between the whiffs of his meerschaum, +"I really--think, G----, you have not exerted yourself--to the utmost in +this matter. You might do a little more, I think, eh?" + +"How? in what way?" + +"Why, [puff, puff] you might [puff, puff] employ counsel in the matter, +eh? [puff, puff, puff]. Do you remember the story they tell of +Abernethy?" + +"No; hang Abernethy!" + +"To be sure! hang him and welcome. But, once upon a time, a certain rich +miser conceived the design of sponging upon this Abernethy for a medical +opinion. Getting up, for this purpose, an ordinary conversation in a +private company, he insinuated his case to the physician, as that of an +imaginary individual. + +"'We will suppose,' said the miser, 'that his symptoms are such and +such; now, doctor, what would _you_ have directed him to take?' + +"'Take!' said Abernethy, 'why, take _advice_, to be sure.'" + +"But," said the Prefect, a little discomposed, "_I_ am _perfectly_ +willing to take advice, and to pay for it. I would _really_ give fifty +thousand francs to any one who would aid me in the matter." + +"In that case," replied Dupin, opening a drawer, and producing a +check-book, "you may as well fill me up a check for the amount +mentioned. When you have signed it, I will hand you the letter." + +I was astounded. The Prefect appeared absolutely thunderstricken. For +some minutes he remained speechless and motionless, looking +incredulously at my friend with open mouth, and eyes that seemed +starting from their sockets; then, apparently recovering himself in some +measure, he seized a pen, and, after several pauses and vacant stares, +finally filled up and signed a check for fifty thousand francs, and +handed it across the table to Dupin. The latter examined it carefully, +and deposited it in his pocket-book; then, unlocking an _escritoire_, +took thence a letter and gave it to the Prefect. This functionary +grasped it in a perfect agony of joy, opened it with a trembling hand, +cast a rapid glance at its contents, and then, scrambling and struggling +to the door, rushed at length unceremoniously from the room and from the +house, without having offered a syllable since Dupin had requested him +to fill up the check. + +When he had gone, my friend entered into some explanations. + +"The Parisian police," he said, "are exceedingly able in their way. They +are persevering, ingenious, cunning, and thoroughly versed in the +knowledge which their duties seem chiefly to demand. Thus, when +G---- detailed to us his mode of searching the premises of the Hôtel +D----, I felt entire confidence in his having made a satisfactory +investigation--so far as his labors extended." + +"So far as his labors extended?" said I. + +"Yes," said Dupin. "The measures adopted were not only the best of their +kind, but carried out to absolute perfection. Had the letter been +deposited within the range of their search, these fellows would, beyond +a question, have found it." + +I merely laughed, but he seemed quite serious in all that he said. + +"The measures, then," he continued, "were good in their kind, and well +executed; their defect lay in their being inapplicable to the case and +to the man. A certain set of highly ingenious resources are, with the +Prefect, a sort of Procrustean bed, to which he forcibly adapts his +designs. But he perpetually errs by being too deep or too shallow, for +the matter in hand; and many a schoolboy is a better reasoner than he. +I knew one about eight years of age, whose success at guessing in the +game of 'even and odd' attracted universal admiration. This game is +simple, and is played with marbles. One player holds in his hand a +number of these toys, and demands of another whether that number is even +or odd. If the guess is right, the guesser wins one; if wrong, he loses +one. The boy to whom I allude won all the marbles of the school. Of +course he had some principle of guessing; and this lay in mere +observation and admeasurement of the astuteness of his opponents. For +example, an arrant simpleton is his opponent, and, holding up his closed +hand asks, 'Are they even or odd?' Our schoolboy replies, 'Odd,' and +loses; but upon the second trial he wins, for he then says to himself, +'The simpleton had them even upon the first trial, and his amount of +cunning is just sufficient to make him have them odd upon the second; I +will therefore guess odd;' he guesses odd, and wins. Now, with a +simpleton a degree above the first he would have reasoned thus: 'This +fellow finds that in the first instance I guessed odd, and in the second +he will propose to himself, upon the first impulse, a simple variation +from even to odd, as did the first simpleton; but then a second thought +will suggest that this is too simple a variation, and finally he will +decide upon putting it even as before. I will therefore guess even;' he +guesses even, and wins. Now, this mode of reasoning in the schoolboy, +whom his fellows term 'lucky,' what, in its last analysis, is it?" + +"It is merely," I said, "an identification of the reasoner's intellect +with that of his opponent." + +"It is," said Dupin; "and, upon inquiring of the boy by what means he +effected the _thorough_ identification in which his success consisted, I +received answer as follows: 'When I wish to find out how wise, or how +stupid, or how good, or how wicked is any one, or what are his thoughts +at the moment, I fashion the expression of my face, as accurately as +possible, in accordance with the expression of his, and then wait to see +what thoughts or sentiments arise in my mind or heart, as if to match or +correspond with the expression.' This response of the schoolboy lies at +the bottom of all the spurious profundity which has been attributed to +Rochefoucauld, to La Bougive, to Machiavelli, and to Campanella." + +"And the identification," I said, "of the reasoner's intellect with that +of his opponent depends, if I understand you aright, upon the accuracy +with which the opponent's intellect is admeasured." + +"For its practical value it depends upon this," replied Dupin; "and the +Prefect and his cohort fail so frequently, first, by default of this +identification, and secondly, by ill-admeasurement, or rather through +non-admeasurement, of the intellect with which they are engaged. They +consider only their _own_ ideas of ingenuity; and, in searching for +anything hidden, advert only to the modes in which _they_ would have +hidden it. They are right in this much--that their own ingenuity is a +faithful representative of that of _the mass_; but when the cunning of +the individual felon is diverse in character from their own, the felon +foils them, of course. This always happens when it is above their own, +and very usually when it is below. They have no variation of principle +in their investigations; at best, when urged by some unusual +emergency--by some extraordinary reward--they extend or exaggerate their +old modes of _practice_, without touching their principles. What, for +example, in this case of D----, has been done to vary the principle of +action? What is all this boring, and probing, and sounding, and +scrutinizing with the microscope, and dividing the surface of the +building into registered square inches--what is it all but an +exaggeration _of the application_ of the one principle or set of +principles of search, which are based upon the one set of notions +regarding human ingenuity, to which the Prefect, in the long routine of +his duty, has been accustomed? Do you not see he has taken it for +granted that _all_ men proceed to conceal a letter--not exactly in a +gimlet-hole bored in a chair-leg--but, at least, in _some_ +out-of-the-way hole or corner suggested by the same tenor of thought +which would urge a man to secrete a letter in a gimlet-hole bored in a +chair leg? And do you not see also, that such _recherché_ nooks for +concealment are adapted only for ordinary occasions, and would be +adopted only by ordinary intellects?--for, in all cases of concealment, +a disposal of the article concealed--a disposal of it in this +_recherché_ manner, is, in the very first instance, presumable and +presumed; and thus its discovery depends, not at all upon the acumen, +but altogether upon the mere care, patience, and determination of the +seekers; and where the case is of importance--or, what amounts to the +same thing in the policial eyes, when the reward is of magnitude--the +qualities in question have _never_ been known to fail. You will now +understand what I meant in suggesting that, had the purloined letter +been hidden anywhere within the limits of the Prefect's examination--in +other words, had the principle of its concealment been comprehended +within the principles of the Prefect--its discovery would have been a +matter altogether beyond question. This functionary, however, has been +thoroughly mystified; and the remote source of his defeat lies in the +supposition that the minister is a fool, because he has acquired renown +as a poet. All fools are poets; this the Prefect _feels_; and he is +merely guilty of a _non distributio medii_ in thence inferring that all +poets are fools." + +"But is this really the poet?" I asked. "There are two brothers, I know; +and both have attained reputation in letters. The minister, I believe, +has written learnedly on the Differential Calculus. He is a +mathematician, and no poet." + +"You are mistaken; I know him well; he is both. As poet _and_ +mathematician he would reason well; as mere mathematician he could not +have reasoned at all, and thus would have been at the mercy of the +Prefect." + +"You surprise me," I said, "by these opinions, which have been +contradicted by the voice of the world. You do not mean to set at naught +the well-digested idea of centuries. The mathematical reason has long +been regarded as _the_ reason _par excellence_." + +"'_Il y a à parier_,'" replied Dupin, quoting from Chamfort, "'_que +toute idée publique, toute convention reçue, est une sottise, car elle a +convenue au plus grande nombre_.' The mathematicians, I grant you, have +done their best to promulgate the popular error to which you allude, and +which is none the less an error for its promulgation as truth. With an +art worthy a better cause, for example, they have insinuated the term +'analysis' into application to algebra. The French are the originators +of this practical deception; but if the term is of any importance--if +words derive any value from applicability--then 'analysis' conveys, in +algebra, about as much as, in Latin, '_ambitus_' implies 'ambition,' +'_religio_,' 'religion,' or '_homines honesti_,' 'a set of _honorable_ +men.'" + +"You have a quarrel on hand, I see," said I, "with some of the +algebraists of Paris; but proceed." + +"I dispute the availability, and thus the value, of that reason which is +cultivated in any especial form other than the abstractly logical. I +dispute, in particular, the reason educed by mathematical study. The +mathematics are the science of form and quantity; mathematical reasoning +is merely logic applied to observation upon form and quantity. The great +error lies in supposing that even the truths of what is called _pure_ +algebra are abstract or general truths. And this error is so egregious +that I am confounded at the universality with which it has been +received. Mathematical axioms are _not_ axioms of general truth. What is +true of _relation_, of form and quantity, is often grossly false in +regard to morals, for example. In this latter science it is very +unusually _untrue_ that the aggregated parts are equal to the whole. In +chemistry, also, the axiom fails. In the consideration of motive it +fails; for two motives, each of a given value, have not, necessarily, a +value, when united, equal to the sum of their values apart. There are +numerous other mathematical truths which are only truths within the +limits of _relation_. But the mathematician argues, from his _finite +truths_, through habit, as if they were of an absolutely general +applicability--as the world indeed imagines them to be. Bryant, in his +very learned 'Mythology,' mentions an analogous source of error, when he +says that 'although the Pagan fables are not believed, yet we forget +ourselves continually, and make inferences from them as existing +realities.' With the algebraists, however, who are Pagans themselves, +the 'Pagan fables' _are_ believed; and the inferences are made, not so +much through lapse of memory, as through an unaccountable addling of the +brains. In short, I never yet encountered the mere mathematician who +could be trusted out of equal roots, or one who did not clandestinely +hold it as a point of his faith that _x_^2 + _px_ was absolutely and +unconditionally equal to _q_. Say to one of these gentlemen, by way of +experiment if you please, that you believe occasions may occur where +_x_^2 + _px_ is not altogether equal to _q_, and, having made him +understand what you mean, get out of his reach as speedily as +convenient, for, beyond doubt, he will endeavor to knock you down. + +"I mean to say," continued Dupin, while I merely laughed at his last +observations, "that if the minister had been no more than a +mathematician, the Prefect would have been under no necessity of giving +me this check. I knew him, however, as both mathematician and poet; and +my measures were adapted to his capacity, with reference to the +circumstances by which he was surrounded. I know him as courtier, too, +and as a bold _intrigant_. Such a man, I consider, could not fail to be +aware of the ordinary political modes of action. He could not have +failed to anticipate--and events have proved that he did not fail to +anticipate--the waylayings to which he was subjected. He must have +foreseen, I reflected, the secret investigations of his premises. His +frequent absences from home at night, which were hailed by the Prefect +as certain aids to his success, I regarded only as _ruses_, to afford +opportunity for thorough search to the police, and thus the sooner to +impress them with the conviction to which G----, in fact, did finally +arrive--the conviction that the letter was not upon the premises. I +felt, also, that the whole train of thought, which I was at some pains +in detailing to you just now, concerning the invariable principle of +policial action in searches for articles concealed, I felt that this +whole train of thought would necessarily pass through the mind of the +minister. It would imperatively lead him to despise all the ordinary +_nooks_ of concealment. _He_ could not, I reflected, be so weak as not +to see that the most intricate and remote recess of his hôtel would be +as open as his commonest closets to the eyes, to the probes, to the +gimlets, and to the microscopes of the Prefect. I saw, in fine, that he +would be driven, as a matter of course, to _simplicity_, if not +deliberately induced to it as a matter of choice. You will remember, +perhaps, how desperately the Prefect laughed when I suggested, upon our +first interview, that it was just possible this mystery troubled him so +much on account of its being so _very_ self-evident." + +"Yes," said I, "I remember his merriment well. I really thought he would +have fallen into convulsions." + +"The material world," continued Dupin, "abounds with very strict +analogies to the immaterial; and thus some color of truth has been given +to the rhetorical dogma, that metaphor, or simile, may be made to +strengthen an argument, as well as to embellish a description. The +principle of the _vis inertiæ_, for example, seems to be identical in +physics and metaphysics. It is not more true in the former, that a large +body is with more difficulty set in motion than a smaller one, and that +its subsequent _momentum_ is commensurate with this difficulty, that it +is in the latter, that intellects of the vaster capacity, while more +forcible, more constant, and more eventful in their movements than those +of inferior grade, are yet the less readily moved, and more embarrassed +and full of hesitation in the first few steps of their progress. Again; +have you ever noticed which of the street signs over the shop doors are +the most attractive of attention?" + +"I have never given the matter a thought," I said. + +"There is a game of puzzles," he resumed, "which is played upon a map. +One party playing requires another to find a given word--the name of +town, river, state, or empire--any word, in short, upon the motley and +perplexed surface of the chart. A novice in the game generally seeks to +embarrass his opponents by giving them the most minutely lettered names; +but the adept selects such words as stretch, in large characters, from +one end of the chart to the other. These, like the over-largely lettered +signs and placards of the street, escape observation by dint of being +excessively obvious; and here the physical oversight is precisely +analogous with the moral inapprehension by which the intellect suffers +to pass unnoticed those considerations which are too obtrusively and too +palpably self-evident. But this is a point, it appears, somewhat above +or beneath the understanding of the Prefect. He never once thought it +probable, or possible, that the minister had deposited the letter +immediately beneath the nose of the whole world, by way of best +preventing any portion of that world from perceiving it. + +"But the more I reflected upon the daring, dashing, and discriminating +ingenuity of D----; upon the fact that the document must always have +been _at hand_, if he intended to use it to good purpose; and upon the +decisive evidence, obtained by the Prefect, that it was not hidden +within the limits of that dignitary's ordinary search--the more +satisfied I became that, to conceal this letter, the minister had +resorted to the comprehensive and sagacious expedient of not attempting +to conceal it at all. + +"Full of these ideas, I prepared myself with a pair of green spectacles, +and called one fine morning, quite by accident, at the ministerial +hôtel. I found D---- at home, yawning, lounging, and dawdling, as usual, +and pretending to be in the last extremity of _ennui_. He is, perhaps, +the most really energetic human being now alive--but that is only when +nobody sees him. + +"To be even with him, I complained of my weak eyes, and lamented the +necessity of the spectacles, under cover of which I cautiously and +thoroughly surveyed the whole apartment, while seemingly intent only +upon the conversation of my host. + +"I paid especial attention to a large writing-table near which he sat, +and upon which lay confusedly some miscellaneous letters and other +papers, with one or two musical instruments and a few books. Here, +however, after a long and very deliberate scrutiny, I saw nothing to +excite particular suspicion. + +"At length my eyes, in going the circuit of the room, fell upon a +trumpery filigree card-rack of paste-board, that hung dangling by a +dirty blue ribbon, from a little brass knob just beneath the middle of +the mantel-piece. In this rack, which had three or four compartments, +were five or six visiting cards and a solitary letter. This last was +much soiled and crumpled. It was torn nearly in two, across the +middle--as if a design, in the first instance, to tear it entirely up as +worthless, had been altered, or stayed, in the second. It had a large +black seal, bearing the D---- cipher _very_ conspicuously, and was +addressed, in a diminutive female hand, to D----, the minister himself. +It was thrust carelessly, and even, as it seemed, contemptuously, into +one of the uppermost divisions of the rack. + +"No sooner had I glanced at this letter, than I concluded it to be that +of which I was in search. To be sure, it was, to all appearance, +radically different from the one of which the Prefect had read us so +minute a description. Here the seal was large and black, with the +D----cipher; there it was small and red, with the ducal arms of the +S----family. Here the address, to the minister, was diminutive and +feminine; there the superscription, to a certain royal personage, was +markedly bold and decided; the size alone formed a point of +correspondence. But, then, the _radicalness_ of these differences, which +was excessive; the dirt, the soiled and torn condition of the paper, so +inconsistent with the _true_ methodical habits of D----, and so +suggestive of a design to delude the beholder into an idea of the +worthlessness of the document; these things, together with the +hyper-obtrusive situation of this document, full in the view of every +visitor, and thus exactly in accordance with the conclusions to which I +had previously arrived--these things, I say, were strongly corroborative +of suspicion, in one who came with the intention to suspect. + +"I protracted my visit as long as possible; and while I maintained a +most animated discussion with the minister, upon a topic which I knew +well had never failed to interest and excite him, I kept my attention +really riveted upon the letter. In this examination, I committed to +memory its external appearance and arrangement in the rack; and also +fell, at length, upon a discovery which set at rest whatever trivial +doubt I might have entertained. In scrutinizing the edges of the paper, +I observed them to be more _chafed_ than seemed necessary. They +presented the _broken_ appearance which is manifested when a stiff +paper, having been once folded and pressed with a folder, is refolded in +a reversed direction, in the same creases or edges which had formed the +original fold. This discovery was sufficient. It was clear to me that +the letter had been turned, as a glove, inside out, redirected, and +re-sealed. I bade the minister good-morning, and took my departure at +once, leaving a gold snuff-box upon the table. + +"The next morning I called for the snuff-box, when we resumed, quite +eagerly, the conversation of the preceding day. While thus engaged, +however, a loud report, as if of a pistol, was heard immediately beneath +the windows of the hotel, and was succeeded by a series of fearful +screams, and the shoutings of a terrified mob. D----rushed to a +casement, threw it open, and looked out. In the meantime, I stepped to +the card-rack, took the letter, put it in my pocket, and replaced it by +a _fac-simile_ (so far as regards externals) which I had carefully +prepared at my lodgings--imitating the D---- cipher very readily by +means of a seal formed of bread. + +"The disturbance in the street had been occasioned by the frantic +behavior of a man with a musket. He had fired it among a crowd of women +and children. It proved, however, to have been without ball, and the +fellow was suffered to go his way as a lunatic or a drunkard. When he +had gone, D---- came from the window, whither I had followed him +immediately upon securing the object in view. Soon afterward I bade him +farewell. The pretended lunatic was a man in my own pay." + +"But what purpose had you," I asked, "in replacing the letter by a +_fac-simile_? Would it not have been better, at the first visit, to have +seized it openly, and departed?" + +"D----," replied Dupin, "is a desperate man, and a man of nerve. His +hôtel, too, is not without attendants devoted to his interest. Had I +made the wild attempt you suggest, I might never have left the +ministerial presence alive. The good people of Paris might have heard of +me no more. But I had an object apart from these considerations. You +know my political prepossessions. In this matter I act as a partisan of +the lady concerned. For eighteen months the minister has had her in his +power. She has now him in hers--since, being unaware that the letter is +not in his possession, he will proceed with his exactions as if it was. +Thus will he inevitably commit himself, at once, to his political +destruction. His downfall, too, will not be more precipitate than +awkward. It is all very well to talk about the _facilis descensus +Averni_; but in all kinds of climbing, as Catalani said of singing, it +is far more easy to get up than to come down. In the present instance I +have no sympathy--at least no pity--for him who descends. He is that +_monstrum horrendum_, an unprincipled man of genius. I confess, however, +that I should like very well to know the precise character of his +thoughts, when, being defied by her whom the Prefect terms 'a certain +personage,' he is reduced to opening the letter which I left for him in +the card-rack." + +"How? did you put anything particular in it?" + +"Why, it did not seem altogether right to leave the interior blank--that +would have been insulting. D----, at Vienna once, did me an evil turn, +which I told him, quite good-humoredly, that I should remember. So, as I +knew he would feel some curiosity in regard to the identity of the +person who had outwitted him, I thought it a pity not to give him a +clew. He is well acquainted with my MS.; and I just copied into the +middle of the blank sheet the words-- + + "'_----Un dessein si funeste, + S'il n'est digne d'Atrée, est digne de Thyeste._' + +They are to be found in Crébillon's _Atrée_." + +[Illustration: NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE] + + + + +HOWE'S MASQUERADE + + +One afternoon, last summer, while walking along Washington Street, my +eye was attracted by a signboard protruding over a narrow archway, +nearly opposite the Old South Church. The sign represented the front of +a stately edifice, which was designated as the "OLD PROVINCE HOUSE, kept +by Thomas Waite." I was glad to be thus reminded of a purpose, long +entertained, of visiting and rambling over the mansion of the old royal +governors of Massachusetts; and entering the arched passage, which +penetrated through the middle of a brick row of shops, a few steps +transported me from the busy heart of modern Boston into a small and +secluded court-yard. One side of this space was occupied by the square +front of the Province House, three stories high, and surmounted by a +cupola, on the top of which a gilded Indian was discernible, with his +bow bent and his arrow on the string, as if aiming at the weathercock on +the spire of the Old South. The figure has kept this attitude for +seventy years or more, ever since good Deacon Drowne, a cunning carver +of wood, first stationed him on his long sentinel's watch over the city. + +The Province House is constructed of brick, which seems recently to have +been overlaid with a coat of light-colored paint. A flight of red +freestone steps, fenced in by a balustrade of curiously wrought iron, +ascends from the court-yard to the spacious porch, over which is a +balcony, with an iron balustrade of similar pattern and workmanship to +that beneath. These letters and figures--16 P. S. 79--are wrought into +the iron work of the balcony, and probably express the date of the +edifice, with the initials of its founder's name. A wide door with +double leaves admitted me into the hall or entry, on the right of which +is the entrance to the bar-room. + +It was in this apartment, I presume, that the ancient governors held +their levees, with vice-regal pomp, surrounded by the military men, the +councillors, the judges, and other officers of the crown, while all the +loyalty of the province thronged to do them honor. But the room, in its +present condition, cannot boast even of faded magnificence. The panelled +wainscot is covered with dingy paint, and acquires a duskier hue from +the deep shadow into which the Province House is thrown by the brick +block that shuts it in from Washington Street. A ray of sunshine never +visits this apartment any more than the glare of the festal torches, +which have been extinguished from the era of the Revolution. The most +venerable and ornamental object is a chimneypiece set round with Dutch +tiles of blue-figured China, representing scenes from Scripture; and, +for aught I know, the lady of Pownall or Bernard may have sat beside +this fire-place, and told her children the story of each blue tile. A +bar in modern style, well replenished with decanters, bottles, cigar +boxes, and network bags of lemons, and provided with a beer pump and a +soda fount, extends along one side of the room. At my entrance, an +elderly person was smacking his lips with a zest which satisfied me that +the cellars of the Province House still hold good liquor, though +doubtless of other vintages than were quaffed by the old governors. +After sipping a glass of port sangaree, prepared by the skilful hands of +Mr. Thomas Waite, I besought that worthy successor and representative +of so many historic personages to conduct me over their time honored +mansion. + +He readily complied; but, to confess the truth, I was forced to draw +strenuously upon my imagination, in order to find aught that was +interesting in a house which, without its historic associations, would +have seemed merely such a tavern as is usually favored by the custom of +decent city boarders, and old-fashioned country gentlemen. The chambers, +which were probably spacious in former times, are now cut up by +partitions, and subdivided into little nooks, each affording scanty room +for the narrow bed and chair and dressing-table of a single lodger. The +great staircase, however, may be termed, without much hyperbole, a +feature of grandeur and magnificence. It winds through the midst of the +house by flights of broad steps, each flight terminating in a square +landing-place, whence the ascent is continued towards the cupola. A +carved balustrade, freshly painted in the lower stories, but growing +dingier as we ascend, borders the staircase with its quaintly twisted +and intertwined pillars, from top to bottom. Up these stairs the +military boots, or perchance the gouty shoes, of many a governor have +trodden, as the wearers mounted to the cupola, which afforded them so +wide a view over their metropolis and the surrounding country. The +cupola is an octagon, with several windows, and a door opening upon the +roof. From this station, as I pleased myself with imagining, Gage may +have beheld his disastrous victory on Bunker Hill (unless one of the +tri-mountains intervened), and Howe have marked the approaches of +Washington's besieging army; although the buildings since erected in the +vicinity have shut out almost every object, save the steeple of the Old +South, which seems almost within arm's length. Descending from the +cupola, I paused in the garret to observe the ponderous white-oak +framework, so much more massive than the frames of modern houses, and +thereby resembling an antique skeleton. The brick walls, the materials +of which were imported from Holland, and the timbers of the mansion, are +still as sound as ever; but the floors and other interior parts being +greatly decayed, it is contemplated to gut the whole, and build a new +house within the ancient frame and brick work. Among other +inconveniences of the present edifice, mine host mentioned that any jar +or motion was apt to shake down the dust of ages out of the ceiling of +one chamber upon the floor of that beneath it. + +We stepped forth from the great front window into the balcony, where, in +old times, it was doubtless the custom of the king's representative to +show himself to a loyal populace, requiting their huzzas and tossed-up +hats with stately bendings of his dignified person. In those days the +front of the Province House looked upon the street; and the whole site +now occupied by the brick range of stores, as well as the present +court-yard, was laid out in grass plats, overshadowed by trees and +bordered by a wrought-iron fence. Now, the old aristocratic edifice +hides its time-worn visage behind an upstart modern building; at one of +the back windows I observed some pretty tailoresses, sewing and chatting +and laughing, with now and then a careless glance towards the balcony. +Descending thence, we again entered the bar-room, where the elderly +gentleman above mentioned, the smack of whose lips had spoken so +favorably for Mr. Waite's good liquor, was still lounging in his chair. +He seemed to be, if not a lodger, at least a familiar visitor of the +house, who might be supposed to have his regular score at the bar, his +summer seat at the open window, and his prescriptive corner at the +winter's fireside. Being of a sociable aspect, I ventured to address him +with a remark calculated to draw forth his historical reminiscences, if +any such were in his mind; and it gratified me to discover, that, +between memory and tradition, the old gentleman was really possessed of +some very pleasant gossip about the Province House. The portion of his +talk which chiefly interested me was the outline of the following +legend. He professed to have received it at one or two removes from an +eye-witness; but this derivation, together with the lapse of time, must +have afforded opportunities for many variations of the narrative; so +that despairing of literal and absolute truth, I have not scrupled to +make such further changes as seemed conducive to the reader's profit and +delight. + + * * * * * + +At one of the entertainments given at the Province House, during the +latter part of the siege of Boston, there passed a scene which has never +yet been satisfactorily explained. The officers of the British army, and +the loyal gentry of the province, most of whom were collected within the +beleaguered town, had been invited to a masked ball; for it was the +policy of Sir William Howe to hide the distress and danger of the +period, and the desperate aspect of the siege, under an ostentation of +festivity. The spectacle of this evening, if the oldest members of the +provincial court circle might be believed, was the most gay and gorgeous +affair that had occurred in the annals of the government. The +brilliantly-lighted apartments were thronged with figures that seemed to +have stepped from the dark canvas of historic portraits, or to have +flitted forth from the magic pages of romance, or at least to have +flown hither from one of the London theatres, without a change of +garments. Steeled knights of the Conquest, bearded statesmen of Queen +Elizabeth, and high-ruffled ladies of her court, were mingled with +characters of comedy, such as a party-colored Merry Andrew, jingling his +cap and bells; a Falstaff, almost as provocative of laughter as his +prototype; and a Don Quixote, with a bean pole for a lance, and a pot +lid for a shield. + +But the broadest merriment was excited by a group of figures +ridiculously dressed in old regimentals, which seemed to have been +purchased at a military rag fair, or pilfered from some receptacle of +the cast-off clothes of both the French and British armies. Portions of +their attire had probably been worn at the siege of Louisburg, and the +coats of most recent cut might have been rent and tattered by sword, +ball, or bayonet, as long ago as Wolfe's victory. One of these +worthies--a tall, lank figure, brandishing a rusty sword of immense +longitude--purported to be no less a personage than General George +Washington; and the other principal officers of the American army, such +as Gates, Lee, Putnam, Schuyler, Ward and Heath, were represented by +similar scarecrows. An interview in the mock heroic style, between the +rebel warriors and the British commander-in-chief, was received with +immense applause, which came loudest of all from the loyalists of the +colony. There was one of the guests, however, who stood apart, eyeing +these antics sternly and scornfully, at once with a frown and a bitter +smile. + +It was an old man, formerly of high station and great repute in the +province, and who had been a very famous soldier in his day. Some +surprise had been expressed that a person of Colonel Joliffe's known +whig principles, though now too old to take an active part in the +contest, should have remained in Boston during the siege, and especially +that he should consent to show himself in the mansion of Sir William +Howe. But thither he had come, with a fair granddaughter under his arm; +and there, amid all the mirth and buffoonery, stood this stern old +figure, the best sustained character in the masquerade, because so well +representing the antique spirit of his native land. The other guests +affirmed that Colonel Joliffe's black puritanical scowl threw a shadow +round about him; although in spite of his sombre influence their gayety +continued to blaze higher, like--(an ominous comparison)--the flickering +brilliancy of a lamp which has but a little while to burn. Eleven +strokes, full half an hour ago, had pealed from the clock of the Old +South, when a rumor was circulated among the company that some new +spectacle or pageant was about to be exhibited, which should put a +fitting close to the splendid festivities of the night. + +"What new jest has your Excellency in hand?" asked the Rev. Mather +Byles, whose Presbyterian scruples had not kept him from the +entertainment. "Trust me, sir, I have already laughed more than beseems +my cloth at your Homeric confabulation with yonder ragamuffin General of +the rebels. One other such fit of merriment, and I must throw off my +clerical wig and band." + +"Not so, good Doctor Byles," answered Sir William Howe; "if mirth were a +crime, you had never gained your doctorate in divinity. As to this new +foolery, I know no more about it than yourself; perhaps not so much. +Honestly now, Doctor, have you not stirred up the sober brains of some +of your countrymen to enact a scene in our masquerade?" + +"Perhaps," slyly remarked the granddaughter of Colonel Joliffe, whose +high spirit had been stung by many taunts against New England,--"perhaps +we are to have a mask of allegorical figures. Victory, with trophies +from Lexington and Bunker Hill--Plenty, with her overflowing horn, to +typify the present abundance in this good town--and Glory, with a wreath +for his Excellency's brow." + +Sir William Howe smiled at words which he would have answered with one +of his darkest frowns had they been uttered by lips that wore a beard. +He was spared the necessity of a retort, by a singular interruption. A +sound of music was heard without the house, as if proceeding from a full +band of military instruments stationed in the street, playing not such a +festal strain as was suited to the occasion, but a slow funeral march. +The drums appeared to be muffled, and the trumpets poured forth a +wailing breath, which at once hushed the merriment of the auditors, +filling all with wonder, and some with apprehension. The idea occurred +to many that either the funeral procession of some great personage had +halted in front of the Province House, or that a corpse, in a +velvet-covered and gorgeously-decorated coffin, was about to be borne +from the portal. After listening a moment, Sir William Howe called, in a +stern voice, to the leader of the musicians, who had hitherto enlivened +the entertainment with gay and lightsome melodies. The man was +drum-major to one of the British regiments. + +"Dighton," demanded the General, "what means this foolery? Bid your band +silence that dead march--or, by my word, they shall have sufficient +cause for their lugubrious strains! Silence it, sirrah!" + +"Please your honor," answered the drum-major, whose rubicund visage had +lost all its color, "the fault is none of mine. I and my band are all +here together, and I question whether there be a man of us that could +play that march without book. I never heard it but once before, and that +was at the funeral of his late Majesty, King George the Second." + +"Well, well!" said Sir William Howe, recovering his composure--"it is +the prelude to some masquerading antic. Let it pass." + +A figure now presented itself, but among the many fantastic masks that +were dispersed through the apartments none could tell precisely from +whence it came. It was a man in an old-fashioned dress of black serge, +and having the aspect of a steward or principal domestic in the +household of a nobleman or great English landholder. This figure +advanced to the outer door of the mansion, and throwing both its leaves +wide open, withdrew a little to one side and looked back towards the +grand staircase as if expecting some person to descend. At the same time +the music in the street sounded a loud and doleful summons. The eyes of +Sir William Howe and his guests being directed to the staircase, there +appeared, on the uppermost landing-place that was discernible from the +bottom, several personages descending towards the door. The foremost was +a man of stern visage, wearing a steeple-crowned hat and a skull-cap +beneath it; a dark cloak, and huge wrinkled boots that came half-way up +his legs. Under his arm was a rolled-up banner, which seemed to be the +banner of England, but strangely rent and torn; he had a sword in his +right hand, and grasped a Bible in his left. The next figure was of +milder aspect, yet full of dignity, wearing a broad ruff, over which +descended a beard, a gown of wrought velvet, and a doublet and hose of +black satin. He carried a roll of manuscript in his hand. Close behind +these two came a young man of very striking countenance and demeanor, +with deep thought and contemplation on his brow, and perhaps a flash of +enthusiasm in his eye. His garb, like that of his predecessors, was of +an antique fashion, and there was a stain of blood upon his ruff. In the +same group with these were three or four others, all men of dignity and +evident command, and bearing themselves like personages who were +accustomed to the gaze of the multitude. It was the idea of the +beholders that these figures went to join the mysterious funeral that +had halted in front of the Province House; yet that supposition seemed +to be contradicted by the air of triumph with which they waved their +hands, as they crossed the threshold and vanished through the portal. + +"In the devil's name what is this?" muttered Sir William Howe to a +gentleman beside him; "a procession of the regicide judges of King +Charles the martyr?" + +"These," said Colonel Joliffe, breaking silence almost for the first +time that evening,--"these, if I interpret them aright, are the Puritan +governors--the rulers of the old original Democracy of Massachusetts. +Endicott, with the banner from which he had torn the symbol of +subjection, and Winthrop, and Sir Henry Vane, and Dudley, Haynes, +Bellingham, and Leverett." + +"Why had that young man a stain of blood upon his ruff?" asked Miss +Joliffe. + +"Because, in after years," answered her grandfather, "he laid down the +wisest head in England upon the block for the principles of liberty." + +"Will not your Excellency order out the guard?" whispered Lord Percy, +who, with other British officers, had now assembled round the General. +"There may be a plot under this mummery." + +"Tush! we have nothing to fear," carelessly replied Sir William Howe. +"There can be no worse treason in the matter than a jest, and that +somewhat of the dullest. Even were it a sharp and bitter one, our best +policy would be to laugh it off. See--here comes more of these gentry." + +Another group of characters had now partly descended the staircase. The +first was a venerable and white-bearded patriarch, who cautiously felt +his way downward with a staff. Treading hastily behind him, and +stretching forth his gauntleted hand as if to grasp the old man's +shoulder, came a tall, soldier-like figure, equipped with a plumed cap +of steel, a bright breast-plate, and a long sword, which rattled against +the stairs. Next was seen a stout man, dressed in rich and courtly +attire, but not of courtly demeanor; his gait had the swinging motion of +a seaman's walk; and chancing to stumble on the staircase, he suddenly +grew wrathful, and was heard to mutter an oath. He was followed by a +noble-looking personage in a curled wig, such as are represented in the +portraits of Queen Anne's time and earlier; and the breast of his coat +was decorated with an embroidered star. While advancing to the door, he +bowed to the right hand and to the left, in a very gracious and +insinuating style; but as he crossed the threshold, unlike the early +Puritan governors, he seemed to wring his hands with sorrow. + +"Prithee, play the part of a chorus, good Doctor Byles," said Sir +William Howe. "What worthies are these?" + +"If it please your Excellency they lived somewhat before my day," +answered the doctor; "but doubtless our friend, the Colonel, has been +hand and glove with them." + +"Their living faces I never looked upon," said Colonel Joliffe, gravely; +"although I have spoken face to face with many rulers of this land, and +shall greet yet another with an old man's blessing ere I die. But we +talk of these figures. I take the venerable patriarch to be Bradstreet, +the last of the Puritans, who was governor at ninety, or thereabouts. +The next is Sir Edmund Andros, a tyrant, as any New England schoolboy +will tell you; and therefore the people cast him down from his high seat +into a dungeon. Then comes Sir William Phipps, shepherd, cooper, +sea-captain, and governor--may many of his countrymen rise as high from +as low an origin! Lastly, you saw the gracious Earl of Bellamont, who +ruled us under King William." + +"But what is the meaning of it all?" asked Lord Percy. + +"Now, were I a rebel," said Miss Joliffe, half aloud, "I might fancy +that the ghosts of these ancient governors had been summoned to form the +funeral procession of royal authority in New England." + +Several other figures were now seen at the turn of the staircase. The +one in advance had a thoughtful, anxious, and somewhat crafty expression +of face, and in spite of his loftiness of manner, which was evidently +the result both of an ambitious spirit and of long continuance in high +stations, he seemed not incapable of cringing to a greater than himself. +A few steps behind came an officer in a scarlet and embroidered uniform, +cut in a fashion old enough to have been worn by the Duke of +Marlborough. His nose had a rubicund tinge, which, together with the +twinkle of his eye, might have marked him as a lover of the wine cup and +good fellowship; notwithstanding which tokens he appeared ill at ease, +and often glanced around him as if apprehensive of some secret +mischief. Next came a portly gentleman, wearing a coat of shaggy cloth, +lined with silken velvet; he had sense, shrewdness, and humor in his +face, and a folio volume under his arm; but his aspect was that of a man +vexed and tormented beyond all patience, and harassed almost to death. +He went hastily down, and was followed by a dignified person, dressed in +a purple velvet suit, with very rich embroidery; his demeanor would have +possessed much stateliness, only that a grievous fit of the gout +compelled him to hobble from stair to stair, with contortions of face +and body. When Doctor Byles beheld this figure on the staircase, he +shivered as with an ague, but continued to watch him steadfastly, until +the gouty gentleman had reached the threshold, made a gesture of anguish +and despair, and vanished into the outer gloom, whither the funeral +music summoned him. + +"Governor Belcher!--my old patron!--in his very shape and dress!" gasped +Doctor Byles. "This is an awful mockery!" + +"A tedious foolery, rather," said Sir William Howe, with an air of +indifference. "But who were the three that preceded him?" + +"Governor Dudley, a cunning politician--yet his craft once brought him +to a prison," replied Colonel Joliffe. "Governor Shute, formerly a +Colonel under Marlborough, and whom the people frightened out of the +province; and learned Governor Burnet, whom the legislature tormented +into a mortal fever." + +"Methinks they were miserable men, these royal governors of +Massachusetts," observed Miss Joliffe. "Heavens, how dim the light +grows!" + +It was certainly a fact that the large lamp which illuminated the +staircase now burned dim and duskily: so that several figures, which +passed hastily down the stairs and went forth from the porch, appeared +rather like shadows than persons of fleshly substance. Sir William Howe +and his guests stood at the doors of the contiguous apartments, watching +the progress of this singular pageant, with various emotions of anger, +contempt, or half-acknowledged fear, but still with an anxious +curiosity. The shapes which now seemed hastening to join the mysterious +procession were recognized rather by striking peculiarities of dress, of +broad characteristics of manner, than by any perceptible resemblance of +features to their prototypes. Their faces, indeed, were invariably kept +in deep shadow. But Doctor Byles, and other gentlemen who had long been +familiar with the successive rulers of the province, were heard to +whisper the names of Shirley, of Pownall, of Sir Francis Bernard, and of +the well-remembered Hutchinson; thereby confessing that the actors, +whoever they might be, in this spectral march of governors, had +succeeded in putting on some distant portraiture of the real personages. +As they vanished from the door, still did these shadows toss their arms +into the gloom of night, with a dread expression of woe. Following the +mimic representative of Hutchinson came a military figure, holding +before his face the cocked hat which he had taken from his powdered +head; but his epaulettes and other insignia of rank were those of a +general officer, and something in his mien reminded the beholders of one +who had recently been master of the Province House, and chief of all the +land. + +"The shape of Gage, as true as in a looking-glass," exclaimed Lord +Percy, turning pale. + +"No, surely," cried Miss Joliffe, laughing hysterically; "it could not +be Gage, or Sir William would have greeted his old comrade in arms! +Perhaps he will not suffer the next to pass unchallenged." + +"Of that be assured, young lady," answered Sir William Howe, fixing his +eyes, with a very marked expression, upon the immovable visage of her +grandfather. "I have long enough delayed to pay the ceremonies of a host +to these departing guests. The next that takes his leave shall receive +due courtesy." + +A wild and dreary burst of music came through the open door. It seemed +as if the procession, which had been gradually filling up its ranks, +were now about to move, and that this loud peal of the wailing trumpets, +and roll of the muffled drums, were a call to some loiterer to make +haste. Many eyes, by an irresistible impulse, were turned upon Sir +William Howe, as if it were he whom the dreary music summoned to the +funeral of the departed power. + +"See!--here comes the last!" whispered Miss Joliffe, pointing her +tremulous finger to the staircase. + +A figure had come into view as if descending the stairs; although so +dusky was the region whence it emerged, some of the spectators fancied +that they had seen this human shape suddenly moulding itself amid the +gloom. Downward the figure came, with a stately and martial tread, and +reaching the lowest stair was observed to be a tall man, booted and +wrapped in a military cloak, which was drawn up around the face so as to +meet the flapped brim of a laced hat. The features, therefore, were +completely hidden. But the British officers deemed that they had seen +that military cloak before, and even recognized the frayed embroidery on +the collar, as well as the gilded scabbard of a sword which protruded +from the folds of the cloak, and glittered in a vivid gleam of light. +Apart from these trifling particulars, there were characteristics of +gait and bearing which impelled the wondering guests to glance from the +shrouded figure to Sir William Howe, as if to satisfy themselves that +their host had not suddenly vanished from the midst of them. + +With a dark flush of wrath upon his brow they saw the General draw his +sword and advance to meet the figure in the cloak before the latter had +stepped one pace upon the floor. + +"Villain, unmuffle yourself!" cried he. "You pass no farther!" + +The figure, without blenching a hair's breadth from the sword which was +pointed at his breast, made a solemn pause and lowered the cape of the +cloak from about his face, yet not sufficiently for the spectators to +catch a glimpse of it. But Sir William Howe had evidently seen enough. +The sternness of his countenance gave place to a look of wild amazement, +if not horror, while he recoiled several steps from the figure, and let +fall his sword upon the floor. The martial shape again drew the cloak +about his features and passed on; but reaching the threshold, with his +back towards the spectators, he was seen to stamp his foot and shake his +clinched hands in the air. It was afterwards affirmed that Sir William +Howe had repeated that selfsame gesture of rage and sorrow, when, for +the last time, and as the last royal governor, he passed through the +portal of the Province House. + +"Hark!--the procession moves," said Miss Joliffe. + +The music was dying away along the street, and its dismal strains were +mingled with the knell of midnight from the steeple of the Old South, +and with the roar of artillery, which announced that the beleaguering +army of Washington had intrenched itself upon a nearer height than +before. As the deep boom of the cannon smote upon his ear, Colonel +Joliffe raised himself to the full height of his aged form, and smiled +sternly on the British General. + +"Would your Excellency inquire further into the mystery of the pageant?" +said he. + +"Take care of your gray head!" cried Sir William Howe, fiercely, though +with a quivering lip. "It has stood too long on a traitor's shoulders!" + +"You must make haste to chop it off, then," calmly replied the Colonel; +"for a few hours longer, and not all the power of Sir William Howe, nor +of his master, shall cause one of these gray hairs to fall. The empire +of Britain in this ancient province is at its last gasp +to-night;--almost while I speak it is a dead corpse;--and methinks the +shadows of the old governors are fit mourners at its funeral!" + +With these words Colonel Joliffe threw on his cloak, and drawing his +granddaughter's arm within his own, retired from the last festival that +a British ruler ever held in the old province of Massachusetts Bay. It +was supposed that the Colonel and the young lady possessed some secret +intelligence in regard to the mysterious pageant of that night. However +this might be, such knowledge has never become general. The actors in +the scene have vanished into deeper obscurity than even that wild Indian +band who scattered the cargoes of the tea ships on the waves, and gained +a place in history, yet left no names. But superstition, among other +legends of this mansion, repeats the wondrous tale, that on the +anniversary night of Britain's discomfiture the ghosts of the ancient +governors of Massachusetts still glide through the portal of the +Province House. And, last of all, comes a figure shrouded in a military +cloak, tossing his clinched hands into the air, and stamping his +iron-shod boots upon the broad freestone steps, with a semblance of +feverish despair, but without the sound of a foot-tramp. + + * * * * * + +When the truth-telling accents of the elderly gentleman were hushed, I +drew a long breath and looked round the room, striving, with the best +energy of my imagination, to throw a tinge of romance and historic +grandeur over the realities of the scene. But my nostrils snuffed up a +scent of cigar smoke, clouds of which the narrator had emitted by way of +visible emblem, I suppose, of the nebulous obscurity of his tale. +Moreover, my gorgeous fantasies were wofully disturbed by the rattling +of the spoon in a tumbler of whiskey punch, which Mr. Thomas Waite was +mingling for a customer. Nor did it add to the picturesque appearance of +the panelled walls that the slate of the Brookline stage was suspended +against them, instead of the armorial escutcheon of some far-descended +governor. A stage-driver sat at one of the windows, reading a penny +paper of the day--the Boston Times--and presenting a figure which could +nowise be brought into any picture of "Times in Boston" seventy or a +hundred years ago. On the window seat lay a bundle, neatly done up in +brown paper, the direction of which I had the idle curiosity to read. +"MISS SUSAN HUGGINS, at the PROVINCE HOUSE." A pretty chambermaid, no +doubt. In truth, it is desperately hard work, when we attempt to throw +the spell of hoar antiquity over localities with which the living world, +and the day that is passing over us, have aught to do. Yet, as I glanced +at the stately staircase down which the procession of the old governors +had descended, and as I emerged through the venerable portal whence +their figures had preceded me, it gladdened me to be conscious of a +thrill of awe. Then, diving through the narrow archway, a few strides +transported me into the densest throng of Washington Street. + + + + +THE BIRTHMARK + + +In the latter part of the last century there lived a man of science, an +eminent proficient in every branch of natural philosophy, who not long +before our story opens had made experience of a spiritual affinity more +attractive than any chemical one. He had left his laboratory to the care +of an assistant, cleared his fine countenance from the furnace smoke, +washed the stain of acids from his fingers, and persuaded a beautiful +woman to become his wife. In those days when the comparatively recent +discovery of electricity and other kindred mysteries of Nature seemed to +open paths into the region of miracle, it was not unusual for the love +of science to rival the love of woman in its depth and absorbing energy. +The higher intellect, the imagination, the spirit, and even the heart +might all find their congenial aliment in pursuits which, as some of +their ardent votaries believed, would ascend from one step of powerful +intelligence to another, until the philosopher should lay his hand on +the secret of creative force and perhaps make new worlds for himself. We +know not whether Aylmer possessed this degree of faith in man's ultimate +control over Nature. He had devoted himself, however, too unreservedly +to scientific studies ever to be weaned from them by any second passion. +His love for his young wife might prove the stronger of the two; but it +could only be by intertwining itself with his love of science, and +uniting the strength of the latter to his own. + +Such a union accordingly took place, and was attended with truly +remarkable consequences and a deeply impressive moral. One day, very +soon after their marriage, Aylmer sat gazing at his wife with a trouble +in his countenance that grew stronger until he spoke. + +"Georgiana," said he, "has it never occurred to you that the mark on +your cheek might be removed?" + +"No, indeed," said she, smiling; but perceiving the seriousness of his +manner, she blushed deeply. "To tell you the truth it has been so often +called a charm that I was simple enough to imagine it might be so." + +"Ah, upon another face perhaps it might," replied her husband; "but +never on yours. No, dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from +the hand of Nature that this slightest possible defect, which we +hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the +visible mark of earthly imperfection." + +"Shocks you, my husband!" cried Georgiana, deeply hurt; at first +reddening with momentary anger, but then bursting into tears. "Then why +did you take me from my mother's side? You cannot love what shocks you!" + +To explain this conversation it must be mentioned that in the centre of +Georgiana's left cheek there was a singular mark, deeply interwoven, as +it were, with the texture and substance of her face. In the usual state +of her complexion--a healthy though delicate bloom--the mark wore a tint +of deeper crimson, which imperfectly defined its shape amid the +surrounding rosiness. When she blushed it gradually became more +indistinct, and finally vanished amid the triumphant rush of blood that +bathed the whole cheek with its brilliant glow. But if any shifting +motion caused her to turn pale there was the mark again, a crimson stain +upon the snow, in what Aylmer sometimes deemed an almost fearful +distinctness. Its shape bore not a little similarity to the human hand, +though of the smallest pygmy size. Georgiana's lovers were wont to say +that some fairy at her birth hour had laid her tiny hand upon the +infant's cheek, and left this impress there in token of the magic +endowments that were to give her such sway over all hearts. Many a +desperate swain would have risked life for the privilege of pressing his +lips to the mysterious hand. It must not be concealed, however, that the +impression wrought by this fairy sign manual varied exceedingly, +according to the difference of temperament in the beholders. Some +fastidious persons--but they were exclusively of her own sex--affirmed +that the bloody hand, as they chose to call it, quite destroyed the +effect of Georgiana's beauty, and rendered her countenance even hideous. +But it would be as reasonable to say that one of those small blue stains +which sometimes occur in the purest statuary marble would convert the +Eve of Powers to a monster. Masculine observers, if the birthmark did +not heighten their admiration, contented themselves with wishing it +away, that the world might possess one living specimen of ideal +loveliness without the semblance of a flaw. After his marriage,--for he +thought little or nothing of the matter before,--Aylmer discovered that +this was the case with himself. + +Had she been less beautiful,--if Envy's self could have found aught else +to sneer at,--he might have felt his affection heightened by the +prettiness of this mimic hand, now vaguely portrayed, now lost, now +stealing forth again and glimmering to and fro with every pulse of +emotion that throbbed within her heart; but seeing her otherwise so +perfect, he found this one defect grow more and more intolerable with +every moment of their united lives. It was the fatal flaw of humanity +which Nature, in one shape or another, stamps ineffaceably on all her +productions, either to imply that they are temporary and finite, or that +their perfection must be wrought by toil and pain. The crimson hand +expressed the ineludible gripe in which mortality clutches the highest +and purest of earthly mould, degrading them into kindred with the +lowest, and even with the very brutes, like whom their visible frames +return to dust. In this manner, selecting it as the symbol of his wife's +liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death, Aylmer's sombre imagination +was not long in rendering the birthmark a frightful object, causing him +more trouble and horror than ever Georgiana's beauty, whether of soul or +sense, had given him delight. + +At all the seasons which should have been their happiest, he invariably +and without intending it, nay, in spite of a purpose to the contrary, +reverted to this one disastrous topic. Trifling as it at first appeared, +it so connected itself with innumerable trains of thought and modes of +feeling that it became the central point of all. With the morning +twilight Aylmer opened his eyes upon his wife's face and recognized the +symbol of imperfection; and when they sat together at the evening hearth +his eyes wandered stealthily to her cheek, and beheld, flickering with +the blaze of the wood fire, the spectral hand that wrote mortality where +he would fain have worshipped. Georgiana soon learned to shudder at his +gaze. It needed but a glance with the peculiar expression that his face +often wore to change the roses of her cheek into a deathlike paleness, +amid which the crimson hand was brought strongly out, like a bas-relief +of ruby on the whitest marble. + +Late one night when the lights were growing dim, so as hardly to betray +the stain on the poor wife's cheek, she, herself, for the first time, +voluntarily took up the subject. + +"Do you remember, my dear Aylmer," said she, with a feeble attempt at a +smile, "have you any recollection of a dream last night about this +odious hand?" + +"None! none whatever!" replied Aylmer, starting; but then he added, in a +dry, cold tone, affected for the sake of concealing the real depth of +his emotion, "I might well dream of it; for before I fell asleep it had +taken a pretty firm hold of my fancy." + +"And you did dream of it?" continued Georgiana, hastily; for she dreaded +lest a gush of tears should interrupt what she had to say. "A terrible +dream! I wonder that you can forget it. Is it possible to forget this +one expression?--'It is in her heart now; we must have it out!' Reflect, +my husband; for by all means I would have you recall that dream." + +The mind is in a sad state when Sleep, the all-involving, cannot confine +her spectres within the dim region of her sway, but suffers them to +break forth, affrighting this actual life with secrets that perchance +belong to a deeper one. Aylmer now remembered his dream. He had fancied +himself with his servant Aminadab, attempting an operation for the +removal of the birthmark; but the deeper went the knife, the deeper sank +the hand, until at length its tiny grasp appeared to have caught hold of +Georgiana's heart; whence, however, her husband was inexorably resolved +to cut or wrench it away. + +When the dream had shaped itself perfectly in his memory, Aylmer sat in +his wife's presence with a guilty feeling. Truth often finds its way to +the mind close muffled in robes of sleep, and then speaks with +uncompromising directness of matters in regard to which we practise an +unconscious self-deception during our waking moments. Until now he had +not been aware of the tyrannizing influence acquired by one idea over +his mind, and of the lengths which he might find in his heart to go for +the sake of giving himself peace. + +"Aylmer," resumed Georgiana, solemnly, "I know not what may be the cost +to both of us to rid me of this fatal birthmark. Perhaps its removal may +cause cureless deformity; or it may be the stain goes as deep as life +itself. Again: do we know that there is a possibility, on any terms, of +unclasping the firm gripe of this little hand which was laid upon me +before I came into the world?" + +"Dearest Georgiana, I have spent much thought upon the subject," hastily +interrupted Aylmer. "I am convinced of the perfect practicability of its +removal." + +"If there be the remotest possibility of it," continued Georgiana, "let +the attempt be made at whatever risk. Danger is nothing to me; for life, +while this hateful mark makes me the object of your horror and +disgust,--life is a burden which I would fling down with joy. Either +remove this dreadful hand, or take my wretched life! You have deep +science. All the world bears witness of it. You have achieved great +wonders. Cannot you remove this little, little mark, which I cover with +the tips of two small fingers? Is this beyond your power, for the sake +of your own peace, and to save your poor wife from madness?" + +"Noblest, dearest, tenderest wife," cried Aylmer, rapturously, "doubt +not my power. I have already given this matter the deepest +thought--thought which might almost have enlightened me to create a +being less perfect than yourself. Georgiana, you have led me deeper than +ever into the heart of science. I feel myself fully competent to render +this dear cheek as faultless as its fellow; and then, most beloved, what +will be my triumph when I shall have corrected what Nature left +imperfect in her fairest work! Even Pygmalion, when his sculptured woman +assumed life, felt not greater ecstasy than mine will be." + +"It is resolved, then," said Georgiana, faintly smiling. "And, Aylmer, +spare me not, though you should find the birthmark take refuge in my +heart at last." + +Her husband tenderly kissed her cheek--her right cheek--not that which +bore the impress of the crimson hand. + +The next day Aylmer apprised his wife of a plan that he had formed +whereby he might have opportunity for the intense thought and constant +watchfulness which the proposed operation would require; while +Georgiana, likewise, would enjoy the perfect repose essential to its +success. They were to seclude themselves in the extensive apartments +occupied by Aylmer as a laboratory, and where, during his toilsome +youth, he had made discoveries in the elemental powers of Nature that +had roused the admiration of all the learned societies in Europe. Seated +calmly in this laboratory, the pale philosopher had investigated the +secrets of the highest cloud region and of the profoundest mines; he had +satisfied himself of the causes that kindled and kept alive the fires of +the volcano; and had explained the mystery of fountains, and how it is +that they gush forth, some so bright and pure, and others with such rich +medicinal virtues, from the dark bosom of the earth. Here, too, at an +earlier period, he had studied the wonders of the human frame, and +attempted to fathom the very process by which Nature assimilates all her +precious influences from earth and air, and from the spiritual world, to +create and foster man, her masterpiece. The latter pursuit, however, +Aylmer had long laid aside in unwilling recognition of the +truth--against which all seekers sooner or later stumble--that our great +creative Mother, while she amuses us with apparently working in the +broadest sunshine, is yet severely careful to keep her own secrets, and, +in spite of her pretended openness, shows us nothing but results. She +permits us, indeed, to mar, but seldom to mend, and, like a jealous +patentee, on no account to make. Now, however, Aylmer resumed these +half-forgotten investigations; not, of course, with such hopes or wishes +as first suggested them; but because they involved much physiological +truth and lay in the path of his proposed scheme for the treatment of +Georgiana. + +As he led her over the threshold of the laboratory, Georgiana was cold +and tremulous. Aylmer looked cheerfully into her face, with intent to +reassure her, but was so startled with the intense glow of the birthmark +upon the whiteness of her cheek that he could not restrain a strong +convulsive shudder. His wife fainted. + +"Aminadab! Aminadab!" shouted Aylmer, stamping violently on the floor. + +Forthwith there issued from an inner apartment a man of low stature, but +bulky frame, with shaggy hair hanging about his visage, which was grimed +with the vapors of the furnace. This personage had been Aylmer's +under-worker during his whole scientific career, and was admirably +fitted for that office by his great mechanical readiness, and the skill +with which, while incapable of comprehending a single principle, he +executed all the details of his master's experiments. With his vast +strength, his shaggy hair, his smoky aspect, and the indescribable +earthiness that incrusted him, he seemed to represent man's physical +nature; while Aylmer's slender figure, and pale, intellectual face, were +no less apt a type of the spiritual element. + +"Throw open the door of the boudoir, Aminadab," said Aylmer, "and burn a +pastil." + +"Yes, master," answered Aminadab, looking intently at the lifeless form +of Georgiana; and then he muttered to himself, "If she were my wife, I'd +never part with that birthmark." + +When Georgiana recovered consciousness she found herself breathing an +atmosphere of penetrating fragrance, the gentle potency of which had +recalled her from her deathlike faintness. The scene around her looked +like enchantment. Aylmer had converted those smoky, dingy, sombre rooms, +where he had spent his brightest years in recondite pursuits, into a +series of beautiful apartments not unfit to be the secluded abode of a +lovely woman. The walls were hung with gorgeous curtains, which imparted +the combination of grandeur and grace that no other species of adornment +can achieve; and as they fell from the ceiling to the floor, their rich +and ponderous folds, concealing all angles and straight lines, appeared +to shut in the scene from infinite space. For aught Georgiana knew, it +might be a pavilion among the clouds. And Aylmer, excluding the +sunshine, which would have interfered with his chemical processes, had +supplied its place with perfumed lamps, emitting flames of various hue, +but all uniting in a soft, impurpled radiance. He now knelt by his +wife's side, watching her earnestly, but without alarm; for he was +confident in his science, and felt that he could draw a magic circle +round her within which no evil might intrude. + +"Where am I? Ah, I remember," said Georgiana, faintly; and she placed +her hand over her cheek to hide the terrible mark from her husband's +eyes. + +"Fear not, dearest!" exclaimed he. "Do not shrink from me! Believe me, +Georgiana, I even rejoice in this single imperfection, since it will be +such a rapture to remove it." + +"Oh, spare me!" sadly replied his wife. "Pray do not look at it again. I +never can forget that convulsive shudder." + +In order to soothe Georgiana, and, as it were, to release her mind from +the burden of actual things, Aylmer now put in practice some of the +light and playful secrets which science had taught him among its +profounder lore. Airy figures, absolutely bodiless ideas, and forms of +unsubstantial beauty came and danced before her, imprinting their +momentary footsteps on beams of light. Though she had some indistinct +idea of the method of these optical phenomena, still the illusion was +almost perfect enough to warrant the belief that her husband possessed +sway over the spiritual world. Then again, when she felt a wish to look +forth from her seclusion, immediately, as if her thoughts were answered, +the possession of external existence flitted across a screen. The +scenery and the figures of actual life were perfectly represented, but +with that bewitching, yet indescribable difference which always makes a +picture, an image, or a shadow so much more attractive than the +original. When wearied of this, Aylmer bade her cast her eyes upon a +vessel containing a quantity of earth. She did so, with little interest +at first; but was soon startled to perceive the germ of a plant shooting +upward from the soil. Then came the slender stalk; the leaves gradually +unfolded themselves; and amid them was a perfect and lovely flower. + +"It is magical!" cried Georgiana. "I dare not touch it." + +"Nay, pluck it," answered Aylmer,--"pluck it, and inhale its brief +perfume while you may. The flower will wither in a few moments and leave +nothing save its brown seed vessels; but thence may be perpetuated a +race as ephemeral as itself." + +But Georgiana had no sooner touched the flower than the whole plant +suffered a blight, its leaves turning coal-black as if by the agency of +fire. + +"There was too powerful a stimulus," said Aylmer, thoughtfully. + +To make up for this abortive experiment, he proposed to take her +portrait by a scientific process of his own invention. It was to be +effected by rays of light striking upon a polished plate of metal. +Georgiana assented; but, on looking at the result, was affrighted to +find the features of the portrait blurred and indefinable; while the +minute figure of a hand appeared where the cheek should have been. +Aylmer snatched the metallic plate and threw it into a jar of corrosive +acid. + +Soon, however, he forgot these mortifying failures. In the intervals of +study and chemical experiment he came to her flushed and exhausted, but +seemed invigorated by her presence, and spoke in glowing language of the +resources of his art. He gave a history of the long dynasty of the +alchemists, who spent so many ages in quest of the universal solvent by +which the golden principle might be elicited from all things vile and +base. Aylmer appeared to believe that, by the plainest scientific logic, +it was altogether within the limits of possibility to discover this +long-sought medium; "but," he added, "a philosopher who should go deep +enough to acquire the power would attain too lofty a wisdom to stoop to +the exercise of it." Not less singular were his opinions in regard to +the elixir vitæ. He more than intimated that it was at his option to +concoct a liquid that should prolong life for years, perhaps +interminably; but that it would produce a discord in Nature which all +the world, and chiefly the quaffer of the immortal nostrum, would find +cause to curse. + +"Aylmer, are you in earnest?" asked Georgiana, looking at him with +amazement and fear. "It is terrible to possess such power, or even to +dream of possessing it." + +"Oh, do not tremble, my love," said her husband. "I would not wrong +either you or myself by working such inharmonious effects upon our +lives; but I would have you consider how trifling, in comparison, is the +skill requisite to remove this little hand." + +At the mention of the birthmark, Georgiana, as usual, shrank as if a +red-hot iron had touched her cheek. + +Again Aylmer applied himself to his labors. She could hear his voice in +the distant furnace room giving directions to Aminadab, whose harsh, +uncouth, misshapen tones were audible in response, more like the grunt +or growl of a brute than human speech. After hours of absence, Aylmer +reappeared and proposed that she should now examine his cabinet of +chemical products and natural treasures of the earth. Among the former +he showed her a small vial, in which, he remarked, was contained a +gentle yet most powerful fragrance, capable of impregnating all the +breezes that blow across the kingdom. They were of inestimable value, +the contents of that little vial; and, as he said so, he threw some of +the perfume into the air and filled the room with piercing and +invigorating delight. + +"And what is this?" asked Georgiana, pointing to a small crystal globe +containing a gold-colored liquid. "It is so beautiful to the eye that I +could imagine it the elixir of life." + +"In one sense it is," replied Aylmer; "or, rather, the elixir of +immortality. It is the most precious poison that ever was concocted in +this world. By its aid I could apportion the lifetime of any mortal at +whom you might point your finger. The strength of the dose would +determine whether he were to linger out years, or drop dead in the midst +of a breath. No king on his guarded throne could keep his life if I, in +my private station, should deem that the welfare of millions justified +me in depriving him of it." + +"Why do you keep such a terrific drug?" inquired Georgiana in horror. + +"Do not mistrust me, dearest," said her husband, smiling; "its virtuous +potency is yet greater than its harmful one. But see! here is a powerful +cosmetic. With a few drops of this in a vase of water, freckles may be +washed away as easily as the hands are cleansed. A stronger infusion +would take the blood out of the cheek, and leave the rosiest beauty a +pale ghost." + +"Is it with this lotion that you intend to bathe my cheek?" asked +Georgiana, anxiously. + +"Oh, no," hastily replied her husband; "this is merely superficial. Your +case demands a remedy that shall go deeper." + +In his interviews with Georgiana, Aylmer generally made minute inquiries +as to her sensations and whether the confinement of the rooms and the +temperature of the atmosphere agreed with her. These questions had such +a particular drift that Georgiana began to conjecture that she was +already subjected to certain physical influences, either breathed in +with the fragrant air or taken with her food. She fancied likewise, but +it might be altogether fancy, that there was a stirring up of her +system--a strange, indefinite sensation creeping through her veins, and +tingling, half painfully, half pleasurably, at her heart. Still, +whenever she dared to look into the mirror, there she beheld herself +pale as a white rose and with the crimson birthmark stamped upon her +cheek. Not even Aylmer now hated it so much as she. + +To dispel the tedium of the hours which her husband found it necessary +to devote to the processes of combination and analysis, Georgiana turned +over the volumes of his scientific library. In many dark old tomes she +met with chapters full of romance and poetry. They were the works of the +philosophers of the middle ages, such as Albertus Magnus, Cornelius +Agrippa, Paracelsus, and the famous friar who created the prophetic +Brazen Head. All these antique naturalists stood in advance of their +centuries, yet were imbued with some of their credulity, and therefore +were believed, and perhaps imagined themselves to have acquired from the +investigation of Nature a power above Nature, and from physics a sway +over the spiritual world. Hardly less curious and imaginative were the +early volumes of the Transactions of the Royal Society, in which the +members, knowing little of the limits of natural possibility, were +continually recording wonders or proposing methods whereby wonders might +be wrought. + +But to Georgiana the most engrossing volume was a large folio from her +husband's own hand, in which he had recorded every experiment of his +scientific career, its original aim, the methods adopted for its +development, and its final success or failure, with the circumstances to +which either event was attributable. The book, in truth, was both the +history and emblem of his ardent, ambitious, imaginative, yet practical +and laborious life. He handled physical details as if there were nothing +beyond them; yet spiritualized them all, and redeemed himself from +materialism by his strong and eager aspiration towards the infinite. In +his grasp the veriest clod of earth assumed a soul. Georgiana, as she +read, reverenced Aylmer and loved him more profoundly than ever, but +with a less entire dependence on his judgment than heretofore. Much as +he had accomplished, she could not but observe that his most splendid +successes were almost invariably failures, if compared with the ideal at +which he aimed. His brightest diamonds were the merest pebbles, and felt +to be so by himself, in comparison with the inestimable gems which lay +hidden beyond his reach. The volume, rich with achievements that had won +renown for its author, was yet as melancholy a record as ever mortal +hand had penned. It was the sad confession and continual exemplification +of the shortcomings of the composite man, the spirit burdened with clay +and working in matter, and of the despair that assails the higher nature +at finding itself so miserably thwarted by the earthly part. Perhaps +every man of genius in whatever sphere might recognize the image of his +own experience in Aylmer's journal. + +So deeply did these reflections affect Georgiana that she laid her face +upon the open volume and burst into tears. In this situation she was +found by her husband. + +"It is dangerous to read in a sorcerer's books," said he with a smile, +though his countenance was uneasy and displeased. "Georgiana, there are +pages in that volume which I can scarcely glance over and keep my +senses. Take heed less it prove as detrimental to you." + +"It has made me worship you more than ever," said she. + +"Ah, wait for this one success," rejoined he, "then worship me if you +will. I shall deem myself hardly unworthy of it. But come, I have sought +you for the luxury of your voice. Sing to me, dearest." + +So she poured out the liquid music of her voice to quench the thirst of +his spirit. He then took his leave with a boyish exuberance of gayety, +assuring her that her seclusion would endure but a little longer, and +that the result was already certain. Scarcely had he departed when +Georgiana felt irresistibly impelled to follow him. She had forgotten to +inform Aylmer of a symptom which for two or three hours past had begun +to excite her attention. It was a sensation in the fatal birthmark, not +painful, but which induced a restlessness throughout her system. +Hastening after her husband, she intruded for the first time into the +laboratory. + +The first thing that struck her eye was the furnace, that hot and +feverish worker, with the intense glow of its fire, which by the +quantities of soot clustered above it seemed to have been burning for +ages. There was a distilling apparatus in full operation. Around the +room were retorts, tubes, cylinders, crucibles, and other apparatus of +chemical research. An electrical machine stood ready for immediate use. +The atmosphere felt oppressively close, and was tainted with gaseous +odors which had been tormented forth by the processes of science. The +severe and homely simplicity of the apartment, with its naked walls and +brick pavement, looked strange, accustomed as Georgiana had become to +the fantastic elegance of her boudoir. But what chiefly, indeed almost +solely, drew her attention, was the aspect of Aylmer himself. + +He was pale as death, anxious and absorbed, and hung over the furnace as +if it depended upon his utmost watchfulness whether the liquid which it +was distilling should be the draught of immortal happiness or misery. +How different from the sanguine and joyous mien that he had assumed for +Georgiana's encouragement! + +"Carefully now, Aminadab; carefully, thou human machine; carefully, thou +man of clay!" muttered Aylmer, more to himself than to his assistant. +"Now, if there be a thought too much or too little, it is all over." + +"Ho! ho!" mumbled Aminadab. "Look, master! look!" + +Aylmer raised his eyes hastily, and at first reddened, then grew paler +than ever, on beholding Georgiana. He rushed towards her and seized her +arm with a gripe that left the print of his fingers upon it. + +"Why do you come hither? Have you no trust in your husband?" cried he, +impetuously. "Would you throw the blight of that fatal birthmark over my +labors? It is not well done. Go, prying woman, go!" + +"Nay, Aylmer," said Georgiana with the firmness of which she possessed +no stinted endowment, "it is not you that have a right to complain. You +mistrust your wife; you have concealed the anxiety with which you watch +the development of this experiment. Think not so unworthily of me, my +husband. Tell me all the risk we run, and fear not that I shall shrink; +for my share in it is far less than your own." + +"No, no, Georgiana!" said Aylmer, impatiently; "it must not be." + +"I submit," replied she calmly. "And, Aylmer, I shall quaff whatever +draught you bring me; but it will be on the same principle that would +induce me to take a dose of poison if offered by your hand." + +"My noble wife," said Aylmer, deeply moved, "I knew not the height and +depth of your nature until now. Nothing shall be concealed. Know, then, +that this crimson hand, superficial as it seems, has clutched its grasp +into your being with a strength of which I had no previous conception. I +have already administered agents powerful enough to do aught except to +change your entire physical system. Only one thing remains to be tried. +If that fail us we are ruined." + +"Why did you hesitate to tell me this?" asked she. + +"Because, Georgiana," said Aylmer, in a low voice, "there is danger." + +"Danger? There is but one danger--that this horrible stigma shall be +left upon my cheek!" cried Georgiana. "Remove it, remove it, whatever be +the cost, or we shall both go mad!" + +"Heaven knows your words are too true," said Aylmer, sadly. "And now, +dearest, return to your boudoir. In a little while all will be tested." + +He conducted her back and took leave of her with a solemn tenderness +which spoke far more than his words how much was now at stake. After his +departure Georgiana became rapt in musings. She considered the character +of Aylmer, and did it completer justice than at any previous moment. Her +heart exalted, while it trembled, at his honorable love--so pure and +lofty that it would accept nothing less than perfection nor miserably +make itself contented with an earthlier nature than he had dreamed of. +She felt how much more precious was such a sentiment than that meaner +kind which would have borne with the imperfection for her sake, and have +been guilty of treason to holy love by degrading its perfect idea to the +level of the actual; and with her whole spirit she prayed that, for a +single moment, she might satisfy his highest and deepest conception. +Longer than one moment she well knew it could not be; for his spirit +was ever on the march, ever ascending, and each instant required +something that was beyond the scope of the instant before. + +The sound of her husband's footsteps aroused her. He bore a crystal +goblet containing a liquor colorless as water, but bright enough to be +the draught of immortality. Aylmer was pale; but it seemed rather the +consequence of a highly-wrought state of mind and tension of spirit than +of fear or doubt. + +"The concoction of the draught has been perfect," said he, in answer to +Georgiana's look. "Unless all my science have deceived me, it cannot +fail." + +"Save on your account, my dearest Aylmer," observed his wife, "I might +wish to put off this birthmark of mortality by relinquishing mortality +itself in preference to any other mode. Life is but a sad possession to +those who have attained precisely the degree of moral advancement at +which I stand. Were I weaker and blinder it might be happiness. Were I +stronger, it might be endured hopefully. But, being what I find myself, +methinks I am of all mortals the most fit to die." + +"You are fit for heaven without tasting death!" replied her husband. +"But why do we speak of dying? The draught cannot fail. Behold its +effect upon this plant." + +On the window seat there stood a geranium diseased with yellow blotches, +which had overspread all its leaves. Aylmer poured a small quantity of +the liquid upon the soil in which it grew. In a little time, when the +roots of the plant had taken up the moisture, the unsightly blotches +began to be extinguished in a living verdure. + +"There needed no proof," said Georgiana, quietly. "Give me the goblet. I +joyfully stake all upon your word." + +"Drink, then, thou lofty creature!" exclaimed Aylmer, with fervid +admiration. "There is no taint of imperfection on thy spirit. Thy +sensible frame, too, shall soon be all perfect." + +She quaffed the liquid and returned the goblet to his hand. + +"It is grateful," said she with a placid smile. "Methinks it is like +water from a heavenly fountain; for it contains I know not what of +unobtrusive fragrance and deliciousness. It allays a feverish thirst +that had parched me for many days. Now, dearest, let me sleep. My +earthly senses are closing over my spirit like the leaves around the +heart of a rose at sunset." + +She spoke the last words with a gentle reluctance, as if it required +almost more energy than she could command to pronounce the faint and +lingering syllables. Scarcely had they loitered through her lips ere she +was lost in slumber. Aylmer sat by her side, watching her aspect with +the emotions proper to a man the whole value of whose existence was +involved in the process now to be tested. Mingled with this mood, +however, was the philosophic investigation characteristic of the man of +science. Not the minutest symptom escaped him. A heightened flush of the +cheek, a slight irregularity of breath, a quiver of the eyelid, a hardly +perceptible tremor through the frame,--such were the details which, as +the moments passed, he wrote down in his folio volume. Intense thought +had set its stamp upon every previous page of that volume, but the +thoughts of years were all concentrated upon the last. + +While thus employed, he failed not to gaze often at the fatal hand, and +not without a shudder. Yet once, by a strange and unaccountable impulse, +he pressed it with his lips. His spirit recoiled, however, in the very +act; and Georgiana, out of the midst of her deep sleep, moved uneasily +and murmured as if in remonstrance. Again Aylmer resumed his watch. Nor +was it without avail. The crimson hand, which at first had been strongly +visible upon the marble paleness of Georgiana's cheek, now grew more +faintly outlined. She remained not less pale than ever; but the +birthmark, with every breath that came and went, lost somewhat of its +former distinctness. Its presence had been awful; its departure was more +awful still. Watch the stain of the rainbow fading out of the sky, and +you will know how that mysterious symbol passed away. + +"By Heaven! it is well nigh gone!" said Aylmer to himself, in almost +irrepressible ecstasy. "I can scarcely trace it now. Success! success! +And now it is like the faintest rose color. The lightest flush of blood +across her cheek would overcome it. But she is so pale!" + +He drew aside the window curtain and suffered the light of natural day +to fall into the room and rest upon her cheek. At the same time he heard +a gross, hoarse chuckle, which he had long known as his servant +Aminadab's expression of delight. + +"Ah, clod! ah, earthly mass!" cried Aylmer, laughing in a sort of +frenzy, "you have served me well! Matter and spirit--earth and +heaven--have both done their part in this! Laugh, thing of the senses! +You have earned the right to laugh." + +These exclamations broke Georgiana's sleep. She slowly unclosed her eyes +and gazed into the mirror which her husband had arranged for that +purpose. A faint smile flitted over her lips when she recognized how +barely perceptible was now that crimson hand which had once blazed forth +with such disastrous brilliancy as to scare away all their happiness. +But then her eyes sought Aylmer's face with a trouble and anxiety that +he could by no means account for. + +"My poor Aylmer!" murmured she. + +"Poor? Nay, richest, happiest, most favored!" exclaimed he. "My peerless +bride, it is successful! You are perfect!" + +"My poor Aylmer," she repeated, with a more than human tenderness. "You +have aimed loftily; you have done nobly. Do not repent that with so high +and pure a feeling, you have rejected the best the earth could offer. +Aylmer, dearest Aylmer, I am dying!" + +Alas! it was too true! The fatal hand had grappled with the mystery of +life, and was the bond by which an angelic spirit kept itself in union +with a mortal frame. As the last crimson tint of the birthmark--that +sole token of human imperfection--faded from her cheek, the parting +breath of the now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere, and her +soul, lingering a moment near her husband, took its heavenward flight. +Then a hoarse, chuckling laugh was heard again! Thus ever does the gross +fatality of earth exult in its invariable triumph over the immortal +essence which, in this dim sphere of half development, demands the +completeness of a higher state. Yet, had Aylmer reached a profounder +wisdom, he need not thus have flung away the happiness which would have +woven his mortal life of the selfsame texture with the celestial. The +momentary circumstance was too strong for him; he failed to look beyond +the shadowy scope of time, and living once for all in eternity, to find +the perfect future in the present. + + + + +THE OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT + + +As Mr. John Oakhurst, gambler, stepped into the main street of Poker +Flat on the morning of the 23d of November, 1850, he was conscious of a +change in its moral atmosphere since the preceding night. Two or three +men, conversing earnestly together, ceased as he approached, and +exchanged significant glances. There was a Sabbath lull in the air, +which, in a settlement unused to Sabbath influences, looked ominous. + +Mr. Oakhurst's calm, handsome face betrayed small concern in these +indications. Whether he was conscious of any predisposing cause was +another question. "I reckon they're after somebody," he reflected; +"likely it's me." He returned to his pocket the handkerchief with which +he had been whipping away the red dust of Poker Flat from his neat +boots, and quietly discharged his mind of any further conjecture. + +In point of fact, Poker Flat was "after somebody." It had lately +suffered the loss of several thousand dollars, two valuable horses, and +a prominent citizen. It was experiencing a spasm of virtuous reaction, +quite as lawless and ungovernable as any of the acts that had provoked +it. A secret committee had determined to rid the town of all improper +persons. This was done permanently in regard of two men who were then +hanging from the boughs of a sycamore in the gulch, and temporarily in +the banishment of certain other objectionable characters. I regret to +say that some of these were ladies. It is but due to the sex, +however, to state that their impropriety was professional, and it was +only in such easily established standards of evil that Poker Flat +ventured to sit in judgment. + +[Illustration: BRET HARTE] + +Mr. Oakhurst was right in supposing that he was included in this +category. A few of the committee had urged hanging him as a possible +example and a sure method of reimbursing themselves from his pockets of +the sums he had won from them. "It's agin justice," said Jim Wheeler, +"to let this yer young man from Roaring Camp--an entire stranger--carry +away our money." But a crude sentiment of equity residing in the breasts +of those who had been fortunate enough to win from Mr. Oakhurst +overruled this narrower local prejudice. + +Mr. Oakhurst received his sentence with philosophic calmness, none the +less coolly that he was aware of the hesitation of his judges. He was +too much of a gambler not to accept fate. With him life was at best an +uncertain game, and he recognized the usual percentage in favor of the +dealer. + +A body of armed men accompanied the deported wickedness of Poker Flat to +the outskirts of the settlement. Besides Mr. Oakhurst, who was known to +be a coolly desperate man, and for whose intimidation the armed escort +was intended, the expatriated party consisted of a young woman +familiarly known as "The Duchess;" another who had won the title of +"Mother Shipton;" and "Uncle Billy," a suspected sluice-robber and +confirmed drunkard. The cavalcade provoked no comments from the +spectators, nor was any word uttered by the escort. Only when the gulch +which marked the uttermost limit of Poker Flat was reached, the leader +spoke briefly and to the point. The exiles were forbidden to return at +the peril of their lives. + +As the escort disappeared, their pent-up feelings found vent in a few +hysterical tears from the Duchess, some bad language from Mother +Shipton, and a Parthian volley of expletives from Uncle Billy. The +philosophic Oakhurst alone remained silent. He listened calmly to Mother +Shipton's desire to cut somebody's heart out, to the repeated statements +of the Duchess that she would die in the road, and to the alarming oaths +that seemed to be bumped out of Uncle Billy as he rode forward. With the +easy good humor characteristic of his class, he insisted upon exchanging +his own riding-horse, "Five-Spot," for the sorry mule which the Duchess +rode. But even this act did not draw the party into any closer sympathy. +The young woman readjusted her somewhat draggled plumes with a feeble, +faded coquetry; Mother Shipton eyed the possessor of "Five-Spot" with +malevolence, and Uncle Billy included the whole party in one sweeping +anathema. + +The road to Sandy Bar--a camp that, not having as yet experienced the +regenerating influences of Poker Flat, consequently seemed to offer some +invitation to the emigrants--lay over a steep mountain range. It was +distant a day's severe travel. In that advanced season the party soon +passed out of the moist, temperate regions of the foothills into the +dry, cold, bracing air of the Sierras. The trail was narrow and +difficult. At noon the Duchess, rolling out of her saddle upon the +ground, declared her intention of going no farther, and the party +halted. + +The spot was singularly wild and impressive. A wooded amphitheatre, +surrounded on three sides by precipitous cliffs of naked granite, sloped +gently toward the crest of another precipice that overlooked the valley. +It was, undoubtedly, the most suitable spot for a camp, had camping +been advisable. But Mr. Oakhurst knew that scarcely half the journey to +Sandy Bar was accomplished, and the party were not equipped or +provisioned for delay. This fact he pointed out to his companions +curtly, with a philosophic commentary on the folly of "throwing up their +hand before the game was played out." But they were furnished with +liquor, which in this emergency stood them in place of food, fuel, rest, +and prescience. In spite of his remonstrances, it was not long before +they were more or less under its influence. Uncle Billy passed rapidly +from a bellicose state into one of stupor, the Duchess became maudlin, +and Mother Shipton snored. Mr. Oakhurst alone remained erect, leaning +against a rock, calmly surveying them. + +Mr. Oakhurst did not drink. It interfered with a profession which +required coolness, impassiveness, and presence of mind, and, in his own +language, he "couldn't afford it." As he gazed at his recumbent fellow +exiles, the loneliness begotten of his pariah trade, his habits of life, +his very vices, for the first time seriously oppressed him. He bestirred +himself in dusting his black clothes, washing his hands and face, and +other acts characteristic of his studiously neat habits, and for a +moment forgot his annoyance. The thought of deserting his weaker and +more pitiable companions never perhaps occurred to him. Yet he could not +help feeling the want of that excitement which, singularly enough, was +most conducive to that calm equanimity for which he was notorious. He +looked at the gloomy walls that rose a thousand feet sheer above the +circling pines around him, at the sky ominously clouded, at the valley +below, already deepening into shadow; and, doing so, suddenly he heard +his own name called. + +A horseman slowly ascended the trail. In the fresh, open face of the +newcomer Mr. Oakhurst recognized Tom Simson, otherwise known as "The +Innocent," of Sandy Bar. He had met him some months before over a +"little game," and had, with perfect equanimity, won the entire +fortune--amounting to some forty dollars--of that guileless youth. After +the game was finished, Mr. Oakhurst drew the youthful speculator behind +the door and thus addressed him: "Tommy, you're a good little man, but +you can't gamble worth a cent. Don't try it over again." He then handed +him his money back, pushed him gently from the room, and so made a +devoted slave of Tom Simson. + + * * * * * + +There was a remembrance of this in his boyish and enthusiastic greeting +of Mr. Oakhurst. He had started, he said, to go to Poker Flat to seek +his fortune. "Alone?" No, not exactly alone; in fact (a giggle), he had +run away with Piney Woods. Didn't Mr. Oakhurst remember Piney? She that +used to wait on the table at the Temperance House? They had been engaged +a long time, but old Jake Woods had objected, and so they had run away, +and were going to Poker Flat to be married, and here they were. And they +were tired out, and how lucky it was they had found a place to camp, and +company. All this the Innocent delivered rapidly, while Piney, a stout, +comely damsel of fifteen, emerged from behind the pine-tree, where she +had been blushing unseen, and rode to the side of her lover. + +Mr. Oakhurst seldom troubled himself with sentiment, still less with +propriety; but he had a vague idea that the situation was not fortunate. +He retained, however, his presence of mind sufficiently to kick Uncle +Billy, who was about to say something, and Uncle Billy was sober enough +to recognize in Mr. Oakhurst's kick a superior power that would not bear +trifling. He then endeavored to dissuade Tom Simson from delaying +further, but in vain. He even pointed out the fact that there was no +provision, nor means of making a camp. But, unluckily, the Innocent met +this objection by assuring the party that he was provided with an extra +mule loaded with provisions, and by the discovery of a rude attempt at a +log house near the trail. "Piney can stay with Mrs. Oakhurst," said the +Innocent, pointing to the Duchess, "and I can shift for myself." + +Nothing but Mr. Oakhurst's admonishing foot saved Uncle Billy from +bursting into a roar of laughter. As it was, he felt compelled to retire +up the cañon until he could recover his gravity. There he confided the +joke to the tall pine-trees, with many slaps of his leg, contortions of +his face, and the usual profanity. But when he returned to the party, he +found them seated by a fire--for the air had grown strangely chill and +the sky overcast--in apparently amicable conversation. Piney was +actually talking in an impulsive girlish fashion to the Duchess, who was +listening with an interest and animation she had not shown for many +days. The Innocent was holding forth, apparently with equal effect, to +Mr. Oakhurst and Mother Shipton, who was actually relaxing into +amiability. "Is this yer a d----d picnic?" said Uncle Billy, with inward +scorn, as he surveyed the sylvan group, the glancing firelight, and the +tethered animals in the foreground. Suddenly an idea mingled with the +alcoholic fumes that disturbed his brain. It was apparently of a jocular +nature, for he felt impelled to slap his leg again and cram his fist +into his mouth. + +As the shadows crept slowly up the mountain, a slight breeze rocked the +tops of the pine-trees and moaned through their long and gloomy aisles. +The ruined cabin, patched and covered with pine boughs, was set apart +for the ladies. As the lovers parted, they unaffectedly exchanged a +kiss, so honest and sincere that it might have been heard above the +swaying pines. The frail Duchess and the malevolent Mother Shipton were +probably too stunned to remark upon this last evidence of simplicity, +and so turned without a word to the hut. The fire was replenished, the +men lay down before the door, and in a few minutes were asleep. + +Mr. Oakhurst was a light sleeper. Toward morning he awoke benumbed and +cold. As he stirred the dying fire, the wind, which was now blowing +strongly, brought to his cheek that which caused the blood to leave +it,--snow! + +He started to his feet with the intention of awakening the sleepers, for +there was no time to lose. But turning to where Uncle Billy had been +lying, he found him gone. A suspicion leaped to his brain, and a curse +to his lips. He ran to the spot where the mules had been tethered--they +were no longer there. The tracks were already rapidly disappearing in +the snow. + +The momentary excitement brought Mr. Oakhurst back to the fire with his +usual calm. He did not waken the sleepers. The Innocent slumbered +peacefully, with a smile on his good-humored, freckled face; the virgin +Piney slept beside her frailer sisters as sweetly as though attended by +celestial guardians; and Mr. Oakhurst, drawing his blanket over his +shoulders, stroked his mustaches and waited for the dawn. It came slowly +in a whirling mist of snowflakes that dazzled and confused the eye. +What could be seen of the landscape appeared magically changed. He +looked over the valley, and summed up the present and future in two +words, "Snowed in!" + +A careful inventory of the provisions, which, fortunately for the party, +had been stored within the hut, and so escaped the felonious fingers of +Uncle Billy, disclosed the fact that with care and prudence they might +last ten days longer. "That is," said Mr. Oakhurst _sotto voce_ to the +Innocent, "if you're willing to board us. If you ain't--and perhaps +you'd better not--you can wait till Uncle Billy gets back with +provisions." For some occult reason, Mr. Oakhurst could not bring +himself to disclose Uncle Billy's rascality, and so offered the +hypothesis that he had wandered from the camp and had accidentally +stampeded the animals. He dropped a warning to the Duchess and Mother +Shipton, who of course knew the facts of their associate's defection. +"They'll find out the truth about us _all_ when they find out anything," +he added significantly, "and there's no good frightening them now." + +Tom Simson not only put all his worldly store at the disposal of Mr. +Oakhurst, but seemed to enjoy the prospect of their enforced seclusion. +"We'll have a good camp for a week, and then the snow'll melt, and we'll +all go back together." The cheerful gayety of the young man and Mr. +Oakhurst's calm infected the others. The Innocent, with the aid of pine +boughs, extemporized a thatch for the roofless cabin, and the Duchess +directed Piney in the rearrangement of the interior with a taste and +tact that opened the blue eyes of that provincial maiden to their +fullest extent. "I reckon now you're used to fine things at Poker Flat," +said Piney. The Duchess turned away sharply to conceal something that +reddened her cheeks through their professional tint, and Mother Shipton +requested Piney not to "chatter." But when Mr. Oakhurst returned from a +weary search for the trail, he heard the sound of happy laughter echoed +from the rocks. He stopped in some alarm, and his thoughts first +naturally reverted to the whiskey, which he had prudently cachéd. "And +yet it don't somehow sound like whiskey," said the gambler. It was not +until he caught sight of the blazing fire through the still blinding +storm, and the group around it, that he settled to the conviction that +it was "square fun." + +Whether Mr. Oakhurst had cachéd his cards with the whiskey as something +debarred the free access of the community, I cannot say. It was certain +that, in Mother Shipton's words, he "didn't say 'cards' once" during +that evening. Haply the time was beguiled by an accordion, produced +somewhat ostentatiously by Tom Simson from his pack. Notwithstanding +some difficulties attending the manipulation of this instrument, Piney +Woods managed to pluck several reluctant melodies from its keys, to an +accompaniment by the Innocent on a pair of bone castanets. But the +crowning festivity of the evening was reached in a rude camp-meeting +hymn, which the lovers, joining hands, sang with great earnestness and +vociferation. I fear that a certain defiant tone and Covenanter's swing +to its chorus, rather than any devotional quality, caused it speedily to +infect the others, who at last joined in the refrain:-- + + "I'm proud to live in the service of the Lord, + And I'm bound to die in His army." + +The pines rocked, the storm eddied and whirled above the miserable +group, and the flames of their altar leaped heavenward, as if in token +of the vow. + +At midnight the storm abated, the rolling clouds parted, and the stars +glittered keenly above the sleeping camp. Mr. Oakhurst, whose +professional habits had enabled him to live on the smallest possible +amount of sleep, in dividing the watch with Tom Simson somehow managed +to take upon himself the greater part of that duty. He excused himself +to the Innocent by saying that he had "often been a week without sleep." +"Doing what?" asked Tom. "Poker!" replied Oakhurst sententiously. "When +a man gets a streak of luck,--nigger-luck,--he don't get tired. The luck +gives in first. Luck," continued the gambler reflectively, "is a mighty +queer thing. All you know about it for certain is that it's bound to +change. And it's finding out when it's going to change that makes you. +We've had a streak of bad luck since we left Poker Flat,--you come +along, and slap you get into it, too. If you can hold your cards right +along you're all right. For," added the gambler, with cheerful +irrelevance-- + + "'I'm proud to live in the service of the Lord, + And I'm bound to die in His army.'" + +The third day came, and the sun, looking through the white-curtained +valley, saw the outcasts divide their slowly decreasing store of +provisions for the morning meal. It was one of the peculiarities of that +mountain climate that its rays diffused a kindly warmth over the wintry +landscape, as if in regretful commiseration of the past. But it revealed +drift on drift of snow piled high around the hut,--a hopeless, +uncharted, trackless sea of white lying below the rocky shores to which +the castaways still clung. Through the marvelously clear air the smoke +of the pastoral village of Poker Flat rose miles away. Mother Shipton +saw it, and from a remote pinnacle of her rocky fastness hurled in that +direction a final malediction. It was her last vituperative attempt, and +perhaps for that reason was invested with a certain degree of +sublimity. It did her good, she privately informed the Duchess. "Just +you go out there and cuss, and see." She then set herself to the task of +amusing "the child," as she and the Duchess were pleased to call Piney. +Piney was no chicken, but it was a soothing and original theory of the +pair thus to account for the fact that she didn't swear and wasn't +improper. + +When night crept up again through the gorges, the reedy notes of the +accordion rose and fell in fitful spasms and long-drawn gasps by the +flickering campfire. But music failed to fill entirely the aching void +left by insufficient food, and a new diversion was proposed by +Piney,--story-telling. Neither Mr. Oakhurst nor his female companions +caring to relate their personal experiences, this plan would have failed +too, but for the Innocent. Some months before he had chanced upon a +stray copy of Mr. Pope's ingenious translation of the Iliad. He now +proposed to narrate the principal incidents of that poem--having +thoroughly mastered the argument and fairly forgotten the words--in the +current vernacular of Sandy Bar. And so for the rest of that night the +Homeric demi-gods again walked the earth. Trojan bully and wily Greek +wrestled in the winds, and the great pines in the cañon seemed to bow to +the wrath of the son of Peleus. Mr. Oakhurst listened with quiet +satisfaction. Most especially was he interested in the fate of +"Ash-heels," as the Innocent persisted in denominating the "swift-footed +Achilles." + +So, with small food and much of Homer and the accordion, a week passed +over the heads of the outcasts. The sun again forsook them, and again +from leaden skies the snowflakes were sifted over the land. Day by day +closer around them drew the snowy circle, until at last they looked from +their prison over drifted walls of dazzling white, that towered twenty +feet above their heads. It became more and more difficult to replenish +their fires, even from the fallen trees beside them, now half hidden in +the drifts. And yet no one complained. The lovers turned from the dreary +prospect and looked into each other's eyes, and were happy. Mr. Oakhurst +settled himself coolly to the losing game before him. The Duchess, more +cheerful than she had been, assumed the care of Piney. Only Mother +Shipton--once the strongest of the party--seemed to sicken and fade. At +midnight on the tenth day she called Oakhurst to her side. "I'm going," +she said, in a voice of querulous weakness, "but don't say anything +about it. Don't waken the kids. Take the bundle from under my head, and +open it." Mr. Oakhurst did so. It contained Mother Shipton's rations for +the last week, untouched. "Give 'em to the child," she said, pointing to +the sleeping Piney. "You've starved yourself," said the gambler. "That's +what they call it," said the woman querulously, as she lay down again, +and, turning her face to the wall, passed quietly away. + +The accordion and the bones were put aside that day, and Homer was +forgotten. When the body of Mother Shipton had been committed to the +snow, Mr. Oakhurst took the Innocent aside, and showed him a pair of +snow-shoes, which he had fashioned from the old pack-saddle. "There's +one chance in a hundred to save her yet," he said, pointing to Piney; +"but it's there," he added, pointing toward Poker Flat. "If you can +reach there in two days she's safe." "And you?" asked Tom Simson. "I'll +stay here," was the curt reply. + +The lovers parted with a long embrace. "You are not going, too?" said +the Duchess, as she saw Mr. Oakhurst apparently waiting to accompany +him. "As far as the cañon," he replied. He turned suddenly and kissed +the Duchess, leaving her pallid face aflame, and her trembling limbs +rigid with amazement. + +Night came, but not Mr. Oakhurst. It brought the storm again and the +whirling snow. Then the Duchess, feeding the fire, found that some one +had quietly piled beside the hut enough fuel to last a few days longer. +The tears rose to her eyes, but she hid them from Piney. + +The women slept but little. In the morning, looking into each other's +faces, they read their fate. Neither spoke, but Piney, accepting the +position of the stronger, drew near and placed her arm around the +Duchess's waist. They kept this attitude for the rest of the day. That +night the storm reached its greatest fury, and, rending asunder the +protecting vines, invaded the very hut. + +Toward morning they found themselves unable to feed the fire, which +gradually died away. As the embers slowly blackened, the Duchess crept +closer to Piney, and broke the silence of many hours: "Piney, can you +pray?" "No, dear," said Piney simply. The Duchess, without knowing +exactly why, felt relieved, and, putting her head upon Piney's shoulder, +spoke no more. And so reclining, the younger and purer pillowing the +head of her soiled sister upon her virgin breast, they fell asleep. + +The wind lulled as if it feared to waken them. Feathery drifts of snow, +shaken from the long pine boughs, flew like white winged birds, and +settled about them as they slept. The moon through the rifted clouds +looked down upon what had been the camp. But all human stain, all trace +of earthly travail, was hidden beneath the spotless mantle mercifully +flung from above. + +They slept all that day and the next, nor did they waken when voices and +footsteps broke the silence of the camp. And when pitying fingers +brushed the snow from their wan faces, you could scarcely have told from +the equal peace that dwelt upon them which was she that had sinned. Even +the law of Poker Flat recognized this, and turned away, leaving them +still locked in each other's arms. + +But at the head of the gulch, on one of the largest pine-trees, they +found the deuce of clubs pinned to the bark with a bowie-knife. It bore +the following, written in pencil in a firm hand:-- + + [Symbol: dagger] + + BENEATH THIS TREE + + LIES THE BODY + + OF + + JOHN OAKHURST, + + WHO STRUCK A STREAK OF BAD LUCK + + ON THE 23D OF NOVEMBER 1850, + + AND + + HANDED IN HIS CHECKS + + ON THE 7TH DECEMBER, 1850. + + [Symbol: reversed dagger] + +And pulseless and cold, with a Derringer by his side and a bullet in his +heart, though still calm as in life, beneath the snow lay he who was at +once the strongest and yet the weakest of the outcasts of Poker Flat. + + + + +THE SIRE DE MALÉTROIT'S DOOR + + +Denis de Beaulieu was not yet two-and-twenty, but he counted himself a +grown man, and a very accomplished cavalier into the bargain. Lads were +early formed in that rough, warfaring epoch; and when one has been in a +pitched battle and a dozen raids, has killed one's man in an honorable +fashion, and knows a thing or two of strategy and mankind, a certain +swagger in the gait is surely to be pardoned. He had put up his horse +with due care, and supped with due deliberation; and then, in a very +agreeable frame of mind, went out to pay a visit in the gray of the +evening. It was not a very wise proceeding on the young man's part. He +would have done better to remain beside the fire or go decently to bed. +For the town was full of the troops of Burgundy and England under a +mixed command; and though Denis was there on safe-conduct, his +safe-conduct was like to serve him little on a chance encounter. + +It was September, 1429; the weather had fallen sharp; a flighty piping +wind, laden with showers, beat about the township; and the dead leaves +ran riot along the streets. Here and there a window was already lighted +up; and the noise of men-at-arms making merry over supper within came +forth in fits and was swallowed up and carried away by the wind. The +night fell swiftly; the flag of England, fluttering on the spire top, +grew ever fainter and fainter against the flying clouds--a black speck +like a swallow in the tumultuous, leaden chaos of the sky. As the +night fell the wind rose, and began to hoot under archways and roar amid +the tree-tops in the valley below the town. + +[Illustration: ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON] + +Denis de Beaulieu walked fast and was soon knocking at his friend's +door; but though he promised himself to stay only a little while and +make an early return, his welcome was so pleasant, and he found so much +to delay him, that it was already long past midnight before he said +good-by upon the threshold. The wind had fallen again in the meanwhile; +the night was as black as the grave; not a star, nor a glimmer of +moonshine, slipped through the canopy of cloud. Denis was ill-acquainted +with the intricate lanes of Chateau Landon; even by daylight he had +found some trouble in picking his way; and in this absolute darkness he +soon lost it altogether. He was certain of one thing only--to keep +mounting the hill; for his friend's house lay at the lower end, or tail, +of Chateau Landon, while the inn was up at the head, under the great +church spire. With this clew to go upon he stumbled and groped forward, +now breathing more freely in the open places where there was a good +slice of sky overhead, now feeling along the wall in stifling closes. It +is an eerie and mysterious position to be thus submerged in opaque +blackness in an almost unknown town. The silence is terrifying in its +possibilities. The touch of cold window bars to the exploring hand +startles the man like the touch of a toad; the inequalities of the +pavement shake his heart into his mouth; a piece of denser darkness +threatens an ambuscade or a chasm in the pathway; and where the air is +brighter, the houses put on strange and bewildering appearances, as if +to lead him further from his way. For Denis, who had to regain his inn +without attracting notice, there was real danger as well as mere +discomfort in the walk; and he went warily and boldly at once, and at +every corner paused to make an observation. + +He had been for some time threading a lane so narrow that he could touch +a wall with either hand, when it began to open out and go sharply +downward. Plainly this lay no longer in the direction of his inn; but +the hope of a little more light tempted him forward to reconnoitre. The +lane ended in a terrace with a bartizan wall, which gave an outlook +between high houses, as out of an embrasure, into the valley lying dark +and formless several hundred feet below. Denis looked down, and could +discern a few tree-tops waving and a single speck of brightness where +the river ran across a weir. The weather was clearing up, and the sky +had lightened, so as to show the outline of the heavier clouds and the +dark margin of the hills. By the uncertain glimmer, the house on his +left hand should be a place of some pretensions; it was surmounted by +several pinnacles and turret-tops; the round stern of a chapel, with a +fringe of flying buttresses, projected boldly from the main block; and +the door was sheltered under a deep porch carved with figures and +overhung by two long gargoyles. The windows of the chapel gleamed +through their intricate tracery with a light as of many tapers, and +threw out the buttresses and the peaked roof in a more intense blackness +against the sky. It was plainly the hotel of some great family of the +neighborhood; and as it reminded Denis of a town house of his own at +Bourges, he stood for some time gazing up at it and mentally gauging the +skill of the architects and the consideration of the two families. + +There seemed to be no issue to the terrace but the lane by which he had +reached it; he could only retrace his steps, but he had gained some +notion of his whereabouts, and hoped by this means to hit the main +thoroughfare and speedily regain the inn. He was reckoning without that +chapter of accidents which was to make this night memorable above all +others in his career; for he had not gone back above a hundred yards +before he saw a light coming to meet him, and heard loud voices speaking +together in the echoing narrows of the lane. It was a party of +men-at-arms going the night round with torches. Denis assured himself +that they had all been making free with the wine bowl, and were in no +mood to be particular about safe-conducts or the niceties of chivalrous +war. It was as like as not that they would kill him like a dog and leave +him where he fell. The situation was inspiriting but nervous. Their own +torches would conceal him from sight, he reflected; and he hoped that +they would drown the noise of his footsteps with their own empty voices. +It he were but fleet and silent, he might evade their notice altogether. + +Unfortunately, as he turned to beat a retreat, his foot rolled upon a +pebble; he fell against the wall with an ejaculation, and his sword rang +loudly on the stones. Two or three voices demanded who went there--some +in French, some in English; but Denis made no reply, and ran the faster +down the lane. Once upon the terrace, he paused to look back. They still +kept calling after him, and just then began to double the pace in +pursuit, with a considerable clank of armor, and great tossing of the +torchlight to and fro in the narrow jaws of the passage. + +Denis cast a look around and darted into the porch. There he might +escape observation, or--if that were too much to expect--was in a +capital posture whether for parley or defence. So thinking, he drew his +sword and tried to set his back against the door. To his surprise it +yielded behind his weight; and though he turned in a moment, continued +to swing back on oiled and noiseless hinges until it stood wide open on +a black interior. When things fall out opportunely for the person +concerned, he is not apt to be critical about the how or why, his own +immediate personal convenience seeming a sufficient reason for the +strangest oddities and revolutions in our sublunary things; and so +Denis, without a moment's hesitation, stepped within and partly closed +the door behind him to conceal his place of refuge. Nothing was further +from his thoughts than to close it altogether; but for some inexplicable +reason--perhaps by a spring or a weight--the ponderous mass of oak +whipped itself out of his fingers and clanked to, with a formidable +rumble and a noise like the falling of an automatic bar. + +The round, at that very moment, debouched upon the terrace and proceeded +to summon him with shouts and curses. He heard them ferreting in the +dark corners; the stock of a lance even rattled along the outer surface +of the door behind which he stood; but these gentlemen were in too high +a humor to be long delayed, and soon made off down a corkscrew pathway +which had escaped Denis' observation, and passed out of sight and +hearing along the battlements of the town. + +Denis breathed again. He gave them a few minutes grace for fear of +accidents, and then groped about for some means of opening the door and +slipping forth again. The inner surface was quite smooth, not a handle, +not a moulding, not a projection of any sort. He got his finger nails +round the edges and pulled, but the mass was immovable. He shook it, it +was as firm as a rock. Denis de Beaulieu frowned and gave vent to a +little noiseless whistle. What ailed the door? he wondered. Why was it +open? How came it to shut so easily and so effectually after him? There +was something obscure and underhand about all this, that was little to +the young man's fancy. It looked like a snare, and yet who could suppose +a snare in such a quiet by-street and in a house of so prosperous and +even noble an exterior? And yet--snare or no snare, intentionally or +unintentionally--here he was, prettily trapped; and for the life of him +he could see no way out of it again. The darkness began to weigh upon +him. He gave ear; all was silent without, but within and close by he +seemed to catch a faint sighing, a faint sobbing rustle, a little +stealthy creak--as though many persons were at his side, holding +themselves quite still, and governing even their respiration with the +extreme of slyness. The idea went to his vitals with a shock, and he +faced about suddenly as if to defend his life. Then, for the first time, +he became aware of a light about the level of his eyes and at some +distance in the interior of the house--a vertical thread of light, +widening toward the bottom, such as might escape between two wings of +arras over a doorway. + +To see anything was a relief to Denis; it was like a piece of solid +ground to a man laboring in a morass; his mind seized upon it with +avidity; and he stood staring at it and trying to piece together some +logical conception of his surroundings. Plainly there was a flight of +steps ascending from his own level to that of this illuminated doorway, +and indeed he thought he could make out another thread of light, as fine +as a needle and as faint as phosphorescence, which might very well be +reflected along the polished wood of a handrail. Since he had begun to +suspect that he was not alone, his heart had continued to beat with +smothering violence, and an intolerable desire for action of any sort +had possessed itself of his spirit. He was in deadly peril, he believed. +What could be more natural than to mount the staircase, lift the +curtain, and confront his difficulty at once? At least he would be +dealing with something tangible; at least he would be no longer in the +dark. He stepped slowly forward with outstretched hands, until his foot +struck the bottom step; then he rapidly scaled the stairs, stood for a +moment to compose his expression, lifted the arras and went in. + +He found himself in a large apartment of polished stone. There were +three doors, one on each of three sides, all similarly curtained with +tapestry. The fourth side was occupied by two large windows and a great +stone chimneypiece, carved with the arms of the Malétroits. Denis +recognized the bearings, and was gratified to find himself in such good +hands. The room was strongly illuminated; but it contained little +furniture except a heavy table and a chair or two; the hearth was +innocent of fire, and the pavement was but sparsely strewn with rushes +clearly many days old. + +On a high chair beside the chimney, and directly facing Denis as he +entered, sat a little old gentleman in a fur tippet. He sat with his +legs crossed and his hands folded, and a cup of spiced wine stood by his +elbow on a bracket on the wall. His countenance had a strong masculine +cast; not properly human, but such as we see in the bull, the goat, or +the domestic boar; something equivocal and wheedling, something greedy, +brutal and dangerous. The upper lip was inordinately full, as though +swollen by a blow or a toothache; and the smile, the peaked eyebrows, +and the small, strong eyes were quaintly and almost comically evil in +expression. Beautiful white hair hung straight all round his head, like +a saint's and fell in a single curl upon the tippet. His beard and +mustache were the pink of venerable sweetness. Age, probably in +consequence of inordinate precautions, had left no mark upon his hands; +and the Malétroit hand was famous. It would be difficult to imagine +anything at once so fleshy and so delicate in design; the taper, sensual +fingers were like those of one of Leonardo's women; the fork of the +thumb made a dimpled protuberance when closed; the nails were perfectly +shaped, and of a dead, surprising whiteness. It rendered his aspect +tenfold more redoubtable, that a man with hands like these should keep +them devoutly folded like a virgin martyr--that a man with so intent and +startling an expression of face should sit patiently on his seat and +contemplate people with an unwinking stare, like a god, or a god's +statue. His quiescence seemed ironical and treacherous, it fitted so +poorly with his looks. + +Such was Alain, Sire de Malétroit. + +Denis and he looked silently at each other for a second or two. + +"Pray step in," said the Sire de Malétroit. "I have been expecting you +all the evening." + +He had not risen, but he accompanied his words with a smile and a slight +but courteous inclination of the head. Partly from the smile, partly +from the strange musical murmur with which the sire prefaced his +observation, Denis felt a strong shudder of disgust go through his +marrow. And what with disgust and honest confusion of mind, he could +scarcely get words together in reply. + +"I fear," he said, "that this is a double accident. I am not the person +you suppose me. It seems you were looking for a visit; but for my part, +nothing was further from my thoughts--nothing could be more contrary to +my wishes--than this intrusion." + +"Well, well," replied the old gentleman indulgently, "here you are, +which is the main point. Seat yourself, my friend, and put yourself +entirely at your ease. We shall arrange our little affairs presently." + +Denis perceived that the matter was still complicated with some +misconception, and he hastened to continue his explanation. + +"Your door," he began. + +"About my door?" asked the other raising his peaked eyebrows. "A little +piece of ingenuity." And he shrugged his shoulders. "A hospitable fancy! +By your own account, you were not desirous of making my acquaintance. We +old people look for such reluctance now and then; when it touches our +honor, we cast about until we find some way of overcoming it. You arrive +uninvited, but believe me, very welcome." + +"You persist in error, sir," said Denis. "There can be no question +between you and me. I am a stranger in this countryside. My name is +Denis, damoiseau de Beaulieu. If you see me in your house it is only--" + +"My young friend," interrupted the other, "you will permit me to have my +own ideas on that subject. They probably differ from yours at the +present moment," he added with a leer, "but time will show which of us +is in the right." + +Denis was convinced he had to do with a lunatic. He seated himself with +a shrug, content to wait the upshot; and a pause ensued, during which he +thought he could distinguish a hurried gabbling as of a prayer from +behind the arras immediately opposite him. Sometimes there seemed to be +but one person engaged, sometimes two; and the vehemence of the voice, +low as it was, seemed to indicate either great haste or an agony of +spirit. It occurred to him that this piece of tapestry covered the +entrance to the chapel he had noticed from without. + +The old gentleman meanwhile surveyed Denis from head to foot with a +smile, and from time to time emitted little noises like a bird or a +mouse, which seemed to indicate a high degree of satisfaction. This +state of matters became rapidly insupportable; and Denis, to put an end +to it, remarked politely that the wind had gone down. + +The old gentleman fell into a fit of silent laughter, so prolonged and +violent that he became quite red in the face. Denis got upon his feet at +once, and put on his hat with a flourish. + +"Sir," he said, "if you are in your wits, you have affronted me grossly. +If you are out of them, I flatter myself I can find better employment +for my brains than to talk with lunatics. My conscience is clear; you +have made a fool of me from the first moment; you have refused to hear +my explanations; and now there is no power under God will make me stay +here any longer; and if I cannot make my way out in a more decent +fashion, I will hack your door in pieces with my sword." + +The Sire de Malétroit raised his right hand and wagged it at Denis with +the fore and little fingers extended. + +"My dear nephew," he said, "sit down." + +"Nephew!" retorted Denis, "you lie in your throat;" and he snapped his +fingers in his face. + +"Sit down, you rogue!" cried the old gentleman, in a sudden, harsh voice +like the barking of a dog. "Do you fancy," he went on, "that when I had +made my little contrivance for the door I had stopped short with that? +If you prefer to be bound hand and foot till your bones ache, rise and +try to go away. If you choose to remain a free young buck, agreeably +conversing with an old gentleman--why, sit where you are in peace, and +God be with you." + +"Do you mean I am a prisoner?" demanded Denis. + +"I state the facts," replied the other. "I would rather leave the +conclusion to yourself." + +Denis sat down again. Externally he managed to keep pretty calm, but +within, he was now boiling with anger, now chilled with apprehension. He +no longer felt convinced that he was dealing with a madman. And if the +old gentleman was sane, what, in God's name, had he to look for? What +absurd or tragical adventure had befallen him? What countenance was he +to assume? + +While he was thus unpleasantly reflecting, the arras that overhung the +chapel door was raised, and a tall priest in his robes came forth, and, +giving a long, keen stare at Denis, said something in an undertone to +Sire de Malétroit. + +"She is in a better frame of spirit?" asked the latter. + +"She is more resigned, messire," replied the priest. + +"Now the Lord help her, she is hard to please!" sneered the old +gentleman. "A likely stripling--not ill-born--and of her own choosing, +too? Why, what more would the jade have?" + +"The situation is not usual for a young damsel," said the other, "and +somewhat trying to her blushes." + +"She should have thought of that before she began the dance! It was none +of my choosing, God knows that; but since she is in it, by our Lady, she +shall carry it to the end." And then addressing Denis, "Monsieur de +Beaulieu," he asked, "may I present you to my niece? She has been +waiting your arrival, I may say, with even greater impatience than +myself." + +Denis had resigned himself with a good grace--all he desired was to know +the worst of it as speedily as possible; so he rose at once, and bowed +in acquiescence. The Sire de Malétroit followed his example and limped, +with the assistance of the chaplain's arm, toward the chapel door. The +priest pulled aside the arras, and all three entered. The building had +considerable architectural pretensions. A light groining sprung from six +stout columns, and hung down in two rich pendants from the centre of the +vault. The place terminated behind the altar in a round end, embossed +and honeycombed with a superfluity of ornament in relief, and pierced by +many little windows shaped like stars, trefoils, or wheels. These +windows were imperfectly glazed, so that the night air circulated freely +in the chapel. The tapers, of which there must have been half a hundred +burning on the altar, were unmercifully blown about; and the light went +through many different phases of brilliancy and semi-eclipse. On the +steps in front of the altar knelt a young girl richly attired as a +bride. A chill settled over Denis as he observed her costume; he fought +with desperate energy against the conclusion that was being thrust upon +his mind; it could not--it should not--be as he feared. + +"Blanche," said the sire, in his most flute-like tones, "I have brought +a friend to see you, my little girl; turn round and give him your pretty +hand. It is good to be devout; but it is necessary to be polite, my +niece." + +The girl rose to her feet and turned toward the newcomers. She moved all +of a piece; and shame and exhaustion were expressed in every line of her +fresh young body; and she held her head down and kept her eyes upon the +pavement, as she came slowly forward. In the course of her advance her +eyes fell upon Denis de Beaulieu's feet--feet of which he was justly +vain, be it remarked, and wore in the most elegant accoutrement even +while travelling. She paused--started, as if his yellow boots had +conveyed some shocking meaning--and glanced suddenly up into the +wearer's countenance. Their eyes met: shame gave place to horror and +terror in her looks; the blood left her lips, with a piercing scream she +covered her face with her hands and sank upon the chapel floor. + +"That is not the man!" she cried. "My uncle, that is not the man!" + +The Sire de Malétroit chirped agreeably. "Of course not," he said; "I +expected as much. It was so unfortunate you could not remember his +name." + +"Indeed," she cried, "indeed, I have never seen this person till this +moment--I have never so much as set eyes upon him--I never wish to see +him again. Sir," she said, turning to Denis, "if you are a gentleman, +you will bear me out. Have I ever seen you--have you ever seen +me--before this accursed hour?" + +"To speak for myself, I have never had that pleasure," answered the +young man. "This is the first time, messire, that I have met with your +engaging niece." + +The old gentleman shrugged his shoulders. + +"I am distressed to hear it," he said. "But it is never too late to +begin. I had little more acquaintance with my own late lady ere I +married her; which proves," he added, with a grimace, "that these +impromptu marriages may often produce an excellent understanding in the +long run. As the bridegroom is to have a voice in the matter, I will +give him two hours to make up for lost time before we proceed with the +ceremony." And he turned toward the door, followed by the clergyman. + +The girl was on her feet in a moment. "My uncle, you cannot be in +earnest," she said. "I declare before God I will stab myself rather than +be forced on that young man. The heart rises at it; God forbids such +marriages; you dishonor your white hair. Oh, my uncle, pity me! There +is not a woman in all the world but would prefer death to such a +nuptial. Is it possible," she added, faltering--"is it possible that you +do not believe me--that you still think this" and she pointed at Denis +with a tremor of anger and contempt--"that you still think _this_ to be +the man?" + +"Frankly," said the old gentleman, pausing on the threshold, "I do. But +let me explain to you once for all, Blanche de Malétroit, my way of +thinking about this affair. When you took it into your head to dishonor +my family and the name that I have borne, in peace and war, for more +than threescore years, you forfeited, not only the right to question my +designs, but that of looking me in the face. If your father had been +alive, he would have spat on you and turned you out of doors. His was +the hand of iron. You may bless your God you have only to deal with the +hand of velvet, mademoiselle. It was my duty to get you married without +delay. Out of pure goodwill, I have tried to find your own gallant for +you. And I believe I have succeeded. But before God and all the holy +angels, Blanche de Malétroit, if I have not, I care not one jackstraw. +So let me recommend you to be polite to our young friend; for, upon my +word, your next groom may be less appetizing." + +And with that he went out, with the chaplain at his heels; and the arras +fell behind the pair. + +The girl turned upon Denis with flashing eyes. + +"And what, sir," she demanded, "may be the meaning of all this?" + +"God knows," returned Denis, gloomily. "I am a prisoner in this house, +which seems full of mad people. More I know not; and nothing do I +understand." + +"And pray how came you here?" she asked. + +He told her as briefly as he could. "For the rest," he added, "perhaps +you will follow my example, and tell me the answer to all these riddles, +and what, in God's name, is like to be the end of it." + +She stood silent for a little, and he could see her lips tremble and her +tearless eyes burn with a feverish lustre. Then she pressed her forehead +in both hands. + +"Alas, how my head aches!" she said, wearily--"to say nothing of my poor +heart! But it is due to you to know my story, unmaidenly as it must +seem. I am called Blanche de Malétroit; I have been without father or +mother for--oh! for as long as I can recollect, and indeed I have been +most unhappy all my life. Three months ago a young captain began to +stand near me every day in church. I could see that I pleased him; I am +much to blame, but I was so glad that any one should love me; and when +he passed me a letter, I took it home with me and read it with great +pleasure. Since that time he has written many. He was so anxious to +speak with me, poor fellow! and kept asking me to leave the door open +some evening that we might have two words upon the stair. For he knew +how much my uncle trusted me." She gave something like a sob at that, +and it was a moment before she could go on. "My uncle is a hard man, but +he is very shrewd," she said, at last. "He has performed many feats in +war, and was a great person at court, and much trusted by Queen Isabeau +in old days. How he came to suspect me I cannot tell; but it is hard to +keep anything from his knowledge; and this morning, as we came from +mass, he took my hand into his, forced it open, and read my little +billet, walking by my side all the while. + +"When he finished, he gave it back to me with great politeness. It +contained another request to have the door left open; and this has been +the ruin of us all. My uncle kept me strictly in my room until evening, +and then ordered me to dress myself as you see me--a hard mockery for a +young girl, do you not think so? I suppose, when he could not prevail +with me to tell him the young captain's name, he must have laid a trap +for him; into which, alas! you have fallen in the anger of God. I looked +for much confusion; for how could I tell whether he was willing to take +me for his wife on these sharp terms? He might have been trifling with +me from the first; or I might have made myself too cheap in his eyes. +But truly I had not looked for such a shameful punishment as this! I +could not think that God would let a girl be so disgraced before a young +man. And now I tell you all; and I can scarcely hope that you will not +despise me." + +Denis made her a respectful inclination. + +"Madam," he said, "you have honored me by your confidence. It remains +for me to prove that I am not unworthy of the honor. Is Messire de +Malétroit at hand?" + +"I believe he is writing in the _salle_ without," she answered. + +"May I lead you thither, madam?" asked Denis, offering his hand with his +most courtly bearing. + +She accepted it; and the pair passed out of the chapel, Blanche in a +very drooping and shamefast condition, but Denis strutting and ruffling +in the consciousness of a mission, and the boyish certainty of +accomplishing it with honor. + +The Sire Malétroit rose to meet them with an ironical obeisance. + +"Sir," said Denis, with the grandest possible air, "I believe I am to +have some say in the matter of this marriage; and let me tell you at +once, I will be no party to forcing the inclination of this young lady. +Had it been freely offered to me, I should have been proud to accept +her hand, for I perceive she is as good as she is beautiful; but as +things are, I have now the honor, messire, of refusing." + +Blanche looked at him with gratitude in her eyes; but the old gentleman +only smiled and smiled, until his smile grew positively sickening to +Denis. + +"I am afraid," he said, "Monsieur de Beaulieu, that you do not perfectly +understand the choice I have offered you. Follow me, I beseech you, to +this window." And he led the way to one of the large windows which stood +open on the night. "You observe," he went on, "there is an iron ring in +the upper masonry, and reeved through that, a very efficacious rope. +Now, mark my words: if you should find your disinclination to my niece's +person insurmountable, I shall have you hanged out of this window before +sunrise. I shall only proceed to such an extremity with the greatest +regret, you may believe me. For it is not at all your death that I +desire, but my niece's establishment in life. At the same time, it must +come to that if you prove obstinate. Your family, Monsieur de Beaulieu, +is very well in its way; but if you sprung from Charlemagne, you should +not refuse the hand of a Malétroit with impunity--not if she had been as +common as the Paris road--not if she was as hideous as the gargoyle over +my door. Neither my niece nor you, nor my own private feelings, move me +at all in this matter. The honor of my house has been compromised; I +believe you to be the guilty person, at least you are now in the secret; +and you can hardly wonder if I request you to wipe out the stain. If you +will not, your blood be on your own head! It will be no great +satisfaction to me to have your interesting relics kicking their heels +in the breeze below my windows, but half a loaf is better than no +bread, and if I cannot cure the dishonor, I shall at least stop the +scandal." + +There was a pause. + +"I believe there are other ways of settling such imbroglios among +gentlemen," said Denis. "You wear a sword, and I hear you have used it +with distinction." + +The Sire de Malétroit made a signal to the chaplain, who crossed the +room with long silent strides and raised the arras over the third of the +three doors. It was only a moment before he let it fall again; but Denis +had time to see a dusky passage full of armed men. + +"When I was a little younger, I should have been delighted to honor you, +Monsieur de Beaulieu," said Sire Alain; "but now I am too old. Faithful +retainers are the sinews of age, and I must employ the strength I have. +This is one of the hardest things to swallow as a man grows up in years; +but with a little patience, even this becomes habitual. You and the lady +seem to prefer the _salle_ for what remains of your two hours; and as I +have no desire to cross your preference, I shall resign it to your use +with all the pleasure in the world. No haste!" he added, holding up his +hand, as he saw a dangerous look come into Denis de Beaulieu's face. "If +your mind revolt against hanging, it will be time enough two hours hence +to throw yourself out of the window or upon the pikes of my retainers. +Two hours of life are always two hours. A great many things may turn up +in even as little a while as that. And, besides, if I understand her +appearance, my niece has something to say to you. You will not disfigure +your last hours by want of politeness to a lady?" + +Denis looked at Blanche, and she made him an imploring gesture. + +It is likely that the old gentleman was hugely pleased at this symptom +of an understanding; for he smiled on both, and added sweetly: "If you +will give me your word of honor, Monsieur de Beaulieu, to await my +return at the end of the two hours before attempting anything desperate, +I shall withdraw my retainers, and let you speak in greater privacy with +mademoiselle." + +Denis again glanced at the girl, who seemed to beseech him to agree. + +"I give you my word of honor," he said. + +Messire de Malétroit bowed, and proceeded to limp about the apartment, +clearing his throat the while with that odd musical chirp which had +already grown so irritating in the ears of Denis de Beaulieu. He first +possessed himself of some papers which lay upon the table; then he went +to the mouth of the passage and appeared to give an order to the men +behind the arras; and lastly he hobbled out through the door by which +Denis had come in, turning upon the threshold to address a last smiling +bow to the young couple, and followed by the chaplain with a hand lamp. + +No sooner were they alone than Blanche advanced toward Denis with her +hands extended. Her face was flushed and excited, and her eyes shone +with tears. + +"You shall not die!" she cried, "you shall marry me after all." + +"You seem to think, madam," replied Denis, "that I stand much in fear of +death." + +"Oh, no, no," she said, "I see you are no poltroon. It is for my own +sake--I could not bear to have you slain for such a scruple." + +"I am afraid," returned Denis, "that you underrate the difficulty, +madam. What you may be too generous to refuse, I may be too proud to +accept. In a moment of noble feeling toward me, you forget what you +perhaps owe to others." He had the decency to keep his eyes on the +floor as he said this, and after he had finished, so as not to spy upon +her confusion. She stood silent for a moment, then walked suddenly away, +and falling on her uncle's chair, fairly burst out sobbing. Denis was in +the acme of embarrassment. He looked round, as if to seek for +inspiration, and, seeing a stool, plumped down upon it for something to +do. There he sat, playing with the guard of his rapier, and wishing +himself dead a thousand times over, and buried in the nastiest +kitchen-heap in France. His eyes wandered round the apartment, but found +nothing to arrest them. There were such wide spaces between the +furniture, the light fell so badly and cheerlessly over all, the dark +outside air looked in so coldly through the windows, that he thought he +had never seen a church so vast, nor a tomb so melancholy. The regular +sobs of Blanche de Malétroit measured out the time like the ticking of a +clock. He read the device upon the shield over and over again, until his +eyes became obscured; he stared into shadowy corners until he imagined +they were swarming with horrible animals; and every now and again he +awoke with a start, to remember that his last two hours were running, +and death was on the march. + +Oftener and oftener, as the time went on, did his glance settle on the +girl herself. Her face was bowed forward and covered with her hands, and +she was shaken at intervals by the convulsive hiccough of grief. Even +thus she was not an unpleasant object to dwell upon, so plump and yet so +fine, with a warm brown skin, and the most beautiful hair, Denis +thought, in the whole world of womankind. Her hands were like her +uncle's: but they were more in place at the end of her young arms, and +looked infinitely soft and caressing. He remembered how her blue eyes +had shone upon him, full of anger, pity, and innocence. And the more he +dwelt on her perfections, the uglier death looked, and the more deeply +was he smitten with penitence at her continued tears. Now he felt that +no man could have the courage to leave a world which contained so +beautiful a creature; and now he would have given forty minutes of his +last hour to have unsaid his cruel speech. + +Suddenly a hoarse and ragged peal of cockcrow rose to their ears from +the dark valley below the windows. And this shattering noise in the +silence of all around was like a light in a dark place, and shook them +both out of their reflections. + +"Alas, can I do nothing to help you?" she said, looking up. + +"Madam," replied Denis, with a fine irrelevancy, "if I have said +anything to wound you, believe me, it was for your own sake and not for +mine." + +She thanked him with a tearful look. + +"I feel your position cruelly," he went on. "The world has been bitter +hard on you. Your uncle is a disgrace to mankind. Believe me, madam, +there is no young gentleman in all France but would be glad of my +opportunity, to die in doing you a momentary service." + +"I know already that you can be very brave and generous," she answered. +"What I _want_ to know is whether I can serve you--now or afterward," +she added, with a quaver. + +"Most certainly," he answered, with a smile. "Let me sit beside you as +if I were a friend, instead of a foolish intruder; try to forget how +awkwardly we are placed to one another; make my last moments go +pleasantly; and you will do me the chief service possible." + +"You are very gallant," she added, with a yet deeper sadness--"very +gallant--and it somehow pains me. But draw nearer, if you please; and +if you find anything to say to me, you will at least make certain of a +very friendly listener. Ah! Monsieur de Beaulieu," she broke forth--"ah! +Monsieur de Beaulieu, how can I look you in the face?" And she fell to +weeping again with a renewed effusion. + +"Madam," said Denis, taking her hand in both of his, "reflect on the +little time I have before me, and the great bitterness into which I am +cast by the sight of your distress. Spare me, in my last moments, the +spectacle of what I cannot cure even with the sacrifice of my life." + +"I am very selfish," answered Blanche. "I will be braver, Monsieur de +Beaulieu, for your sake. But think if I can do you no kindness in the +future--if you have no friends to whom I could carry your adieux. Charge +me as heavily as you can; every burden will lighten, by so little, the +invaluable gratitude I owe you. Put it in my power to do something more +for you than weep." + +"My mother is married again, and has a young family to care for. My +brother Guichard will inherit my fiefs; and if I am not in error, that +will content him amply for my death. Life is a little vapor that passeth +away, as we are told by those in holy orders. When a man is in a fair +way and sees all life open in front of him, he seems to himself to make +a very important figure in the world. His horse whinnies to him; the +trumpets blow and the girls look out of window as he rides into town +before his company; he receives many assurances of trust and +regard--sometimes by express in a letter--sometimes face to face, with +persons of great consequence falling on his neck. It is not wonderful if +his head is turned for a time. But once he is dead, were he as brave as +Hercules or as wise as Solomon, he is soon forgotten. It is not ten +years since my father fell, with many other knights around him, in a +very fierce encounter, and I do not think that any one of them, nor so +much as the name of the fight, is now remembered. No, no, madam, the +nearer you come to it, you see that death is a dark and dusty corner, +where a man gets into his tomb and has the door shut after him till the +judgment day. I have few friends just now, and once I am dead I shall +have none." + +"Ah, Monsieur de Beaulieu!" she exclaimed, "you forget Blanche de +Malétroit." + +"You have a sweet nature, madam, and you are pleased to estimate a +little service far beyond its worth." + +"It is not that," she answered. "You mistake me if you think I am easily +touched by my own concerns. I say so because you are the noblest man I +have ever met; because I recognize in you a spirit that would have made +even a common person famous in the land." + +"And yet here I die in a mousetrap--with no more noise about it than my +own squeaking," answered he. + +A look of pain crossed her face and she was silent for a little while. +Then a light came into her eyes, and with a smile she spoke again. + +"I cannot have my champion think meanly of himself. Anyone who gives his +life for another will be met in Paradise by all the heralds and angels +of the Lord God. And you have no such cause to hang your head. +For--Pray, do you think me beautiful?" she asked, with a deep flush. + +"Indeed, madam, I do," he said. + +"I am glad of that," she answered heartily. "Do you think there are many +men in France who have been asked in marriage by a beautiful +maiden--with her own lips--and who have refused her to her face? I know +you men would half despise such a triumph; but believe me, we women know +more of what is precious in love. There is nothing that should set a +person higher in his own esteem; and we women would prize nothing more +dearly." + +"You are very good," he said; "but you cannot make me forget that I was +asked in pity and not for love." + +"I am not so sure of that," she replied, holding down her head. "Hear me +to an end, Monsieur de Beaulieu. I know how you must despise me; I feel +you are right to do so; I am too poor a creature to occupy one thought +of your mind, although, alas! you must die for me this morning. But when +I asked you to marry me, indeed, and indeed, it was because I respected +and admired you, and loved you with my whole soul, from the very moment +that you took my part against my uncle. If you had seen yourself, and +how noble you looked, you would pity rather than despise me. And now," +she went on, hurriedly checking him with her hand, "although I have laid +aside all reserve and told you so much, remember that I know your +sentiments toward me already. I would not, believe me, being nobly born, +weary you with importunities into consent. I too have a pride of my own: +and I declare before the holy mother of God, if you should now go back +from your word already given, I would no more marry you than I would +marry my uncle's groom." + +Denis smiled a little bitterly. + +"It is a small love," he said, "that shies at a little pride." + +She made no answer, although she probably had her own thoughts. + +"Come hither to the window," he said with a sigh. "Here is the dawn." + +And indeed the dawn was already beginning. The hollow of the sky was +full of essential daylight, colorless and clean; and the valley +underneath was flooded with a gray reflection. A few thin vapors clung +in the coves of the forest or lay along the winding course of the river. +The scene disengaged a surprising effect of stillness, which was hardly +interrupted when the cocks began once more to crow among the steadings. +Perhaps the same fellow who had made so horrid a clangor in the darkness +not half an hour before, now sent up the merriest cheer to greet the +coming day. A little wind went bustling and eddying among the tree-tops +underneath the windows. And still the daylight kept flooding insensibly +out of the east, which was soon to grow incandescent and cast up that +red-hot cannon-ball, the rising sun. + +Denis looked out over all this with a bit of a shiver. He had taken her +hand, and retained it in his almost unconsciously. + +"Has the day begun already?" she said; and then illogically enough: "the +night has been so long! Alas! what shall we say to my uncle when he +returns?" + +"What you will," said Denis, and he pressed her fingers in his. + +She was silent. + +"Blanche," he said, with a swift, uncertain, passionate utterance, "you +have seen whether I fear death. You must know well enough that I would +as gladly leap out of that window into the empty air as to lay a finger +on you without your free and full consent. But if you care for me at all +do not let me lose my life in a misapprehension; for I love you better +than the whole world; and though I will die for you blithely, it would +be like all the joys of Paradise to live on and spend my life in your +service." + +As he stopped speaking, a bell began to ring loudly in the interior of +the house; and a clatter of armor in the corridor showed that the +retainers were returning to their post, and the two hours were at an +end. + +"After all that you have heard?" she whispered, leaning toward him with +her lips and eyes. + +"I have heard nothing," he replied. + +"The captain's name was Florimond de Champdivers," she said in his ear. + +"I did not hear it," he answered, taking her supple body in his arms, +and covering her wet face with kisses. + +A melodious chirping was audible behind, followed by a beautiful +chuckle, and the voice of Messire de Malétroit wished his new nephew a +good morning. + + + + +MARKHEIM + + +"Yes," said the dealer, "our windfalls are of various kinds. Some +customers are ignorant, and then I touch a dividend on my superior +knowledge. Some are dishonest," and here he held up the candle, so that +the light fell strongly on his visitor, "and in that case," he +continued, "I profit by my virtue." + +Markheim had but just entered from the daylight streets, and his eyes +had not yet grown familiar with the mingled shine and darkness in the +shop. At these pointed words, and before the near presence of the flame, +he blinked painfully and looked aside. + +The dealer chuckled. "You come to me on Christmas Day," he resumed, +"when you know that I am alone in my house, put up my shutters, and make +a point of refusing business. Well, you will have to pay for that; you +will have to pay for my loss of time, when I should be balancing my +books; you will have to pay, besides, for a kind of manner that I remark +in you to-day very strongly. I am the essence of discretion, and ask no +awkward questions; but when a customer cannot look me in the eye, he has +to pay for it." The dealer once more chuckled; and then, changing to his +usual business voice, though still with a note of irony, "You can give, +as usual, a clear account of how you came into the possession of the +object?" he continued. "Still your uncle's cabinet? A remarkable +collector, sir!" + +And the little pale, round-shouldered dealer stood almost on tiptoe, +looking over the top of his gold spectacles, and nodding his head with +every mark of disbelief. Markheim returned his gaze with one of infinite +pity, and a touch of horror. + +"This time," said he, "you are in error. I have not come to sell, but to +buy. I have no curios to dispose of; my uncle's cabinet is bare to the +wainscot; even were it still intact, I have done well on the Stock +Exchange, and should more likely add to it than otherwise, and my errand +to-day is simplicity itself. I seek a Christmas present for a lady," he +continued, waxing more fluent as he struck into the speech he had +prepared; "and certainly I owe you every excuse for thus disturbing you +upon so small a matter. But the thing was neglected yesterday; I must +produce my little compliment at dinner; and, as you very well know, a +rich marriage is not a thing to be neglected." + +There followed a pause, during which the dealer seemed to weigh this +statement incredulously. The ticking of many clocks among the curious +lumber of the shop, and the faint rushing of the cabs in a near +thoroughfare, filled up the interval of silence. + +"Well, sir," said the dealer, "be it so. You are an old customer after +all; and if, as you say, you have the chance of a good marriage, far be +it from me to be an obstacle. Here is a nice thing for a lady, now," he +went on, "this hand glass--fifteenth century, warranted; comes from a +good collection, too; but I reserve the name, in the interests of my +customer, who was just like yourself, my dear sir, the nephew and sole +heir of a remarkable collector." + +The dealer, while he thus ran on in his dry and biting voice, had +stooped to take the object from its place; and, as he had done so, a +shock had passed through Markheim, a start both of hand and foot, a +sudden leap of many tumultuous passions to the face. It passed as +swiftly as it came, and left no trace beyond a certain trembling of the +hand that now received the glass. + +"A glass," he said hoarsely, and then paused, and repeated it more +clearly. "A glass? For Christmas? Surely not." + +"And why not?" cried the dealer. "Why not a glass?" + +Markheim was looking upon him with an indefinable expression. "You ask +me why not?" he said. "Why, look here--look in it--look at yourself! Do +you like to see it? No! nor I--nor any man." + +The little man had jumped back when Markheim had so suddenly confronted +him with the mirror; but now, perceiving there was nothing worse on +hand, he chuckled. "Your future lady, sir, must be pretty hard favored," +said he. + +"I ask you," said Markheim, "for a Christmas present, and you give me +this--this damned reminder of years and sins and follies--this +hand-conscience! Did you mean it? Had you a thought in your mind? Tell +me. It will be better for you if you do. Come, tell me about yourself. I +hazard a guess now, that you are in secret a very charitable man?" + +The dealer looked closely at his companion. It was very odd, Markheim +did not appear to be laughing; there was something in his face like an +eager sparkle of hope, but nothing of mirth. + +"What are you driving at?" the dealer asked. + +"Not charitable?" returned the other, gloomily. "Not charitable; not +pious; not scrupulous; unloving; unbeloved; a hand to get money, a safe +to keep it. Is that all? Dear God, man, is that all?" + +"I will tell you what it is," began the dealer, with some sharpness, and +then broke off again into a chuckle. "But I see this is a love match of +yours, and you have been drinking the lady's health." + +"Ah!" cried Markheim, with a strange curiosity. "Ah, have you been in +love? Tell me about that." + +"I!" cried the dealer. "I in love! I never had the time, nor have I the +time to-day for all this nonsense. Will you take the glass?" + +"Where is the hurry?" returned Markheim. "It is very pleasant to stand +here talking; and life is so short and insecure that I would not hurry +away from any pleasure--no, not even from so mild a one as this. We +should rather cling, cling to what little we can get, like a man at a +cliff's edge. Every second is a cliff, if you think upon it--a cliff a +mile high--high enough, if we fall, to dash us out of every feature of +humanity. Hence it is best to talk pleasantly. Let us talk of each +other; why should we wear this mask? Let us be confidential. Who knows, +we might become friends?" + +"I have just one word to say to you," said the dealer. "Either make your +purchase, or walk out of my shop." + +"True, true," said Markheim. "Enough fooling. To business. Show me +something else." + +The dealer stooped once more, this time to replace the glass upon the +shelf, his thin blond hair falling over his eyes as he did so. Markheim +moved a little nearer, with one hand in the pocket of his greatcoat; he +drew himself up and filled his lungs; at the same time many different +emotions were depicted together on his face--terror, horror, and +resolve, fascination, and a physical repulsion; and through a haggard +lift of his upper lip, his teeth looked out. + +"This, perhaps, may suit," observed the dealer; and then, as he began to +re-arise, Markheim bounded from behind upon his victim. The long, +skewer-like dagger flashed and fell. The dealer struggled like a hen, +striking his temple on the shelf, and then tumbled on the floor in a +heap. + +Time had some score of small voices in that shop, some stately and slow +as was becoming to their great age, others garrulous and hurried. All +these told out the seconds in an intricate chorus of tickings. Then the +passage of a lad's feet, heavily running on the pavement, broke in upon +these smaller voices and startled Markheim into the consciousness of his +surroundings. He looked about him awfully. The candle stood on the +counter, its flame solemnly wagging in a draught; and by that +inconsiderable movement, the whole room was filled with noiseless bustle +and kept heaving like a sea: the tall shadows nodding, the gross blots +of darkness swelling and dwindling as with respiration, the faces of the +portraits and the china gods changing and wavering like images in water. +The inner door stood ajar, and peered into that leaguer of shadows with +a long slit of daylight like a pointing finger. + +From these fear-stricken rovings, Markheim's eyes returned to the body +of his victim, where it lay both humped and sprawling, incredibly small +and strangely meaner than in life. In these poor, miserly clothes, in +that ungainly attitude, the dealer lay like so much sawdust. Markheim +had feared to see it, and, lo! it was nothing. And yet, as he gazed, +this bundle of old clothes and pool of blood began to find eloquent +voices. There it must lie; there was none to work the cunning hinges or +direct the miracle of locomotion--there it must lie till it was found. +Found! aye, and then? Then would this dead flesh lift up a cry that +would ring over England, and fill the world with the echoes of pursuit. +Ay, dead or not, this was still the enemy. "Time was that when the +brains were out," he thought; and the first word struck into his mind. +Time, now that the deed was accomplished--time, which had closed for the +victim, had become instant and momentous for the slayer. + +The thought was yet in his mind, when, first one and then another, with +every variety of pace and voice--one deep as the bell from a cathedral +turret, another ringing on its treble notes the prelude of a waltz--the +clocks began to strike the hour of three in the afternoon. + +The sudden outbreak of so many tongues in that dumb chamber staggered +him. He began to bestir himself, going to and fro with the candle, +beleaguered by moving shadows, and startled to the soul by chance +reflections. In many rich mirrors, some of home designs, some from +Venice or Amsterdam, he saw his face repeated and repeated, as it were +an army of spies; his own eyes met and detected him; and the sound of +his own steps, lightly as they fell, vexed the surrounding quiet. And +still as he continued to fill his pockets, his mind accused him, with a +sickening iteration, of the thousand faults of his design. He should +have chosen a more quiet hour; he should have prepared an alibi; he +should not have used a knife; he should have been more cautious, and +only bound and gagged the dealer, and not killed him; he should have +been more bold, and killed the servant also; he should have done all +things otherwise; poignant regrets, weary, incessant toiling of the mind +to change what was unchangeable, to plan what was now useless, to be the +architect of the irrevocable past. Meanwhile, and behind all this +activity, brute terrors, like the scurrying of rats in a deserted +attic, filled the more remote chambers of his brain with riot; the hand +of the constable would fall heavy on his shoulder, and his nerves would +jerk like a hooked fish; or he beheld, in galloping defile, the dock, +the prison, the gallows, and the black coffin. Terror of the people in +the street sat down before his mind like a besieging army. It was +impossible, he thought, but that some rumor of the struggle must have +reached their ears and set on edge their curiosity; and now, in all the +neighboring houses, he divined them sitting motionless and with uplifted +ear--solitary people, condemned to spend Christmas dwelling alone on +memories of the past, and now startlingly recalled from that tender +exercise; happy family parties, struck into silence round the table, the +mother still with raised finger: every degree and age and humor, but +all, by their own hearths, prying and hearkening and weaving the rope +that was to hang him. Sometimes it seemed to him he could not move too +softly; the clink of the tall Bohemian goblets rang out loudly like a +bell; and alarmed by the bigness of the ticking, he was tempted to stop +the clocks. And then, again, with a swift transition of his terrors, the +very silence of the place appeared a source of peril, and a thing to +strike and freeze the passer-by; and he would step more boldly, and +bustle aloud among the contents of the shop, and imitate, with elaborate +bravado, the movements of a busy man at ease in his own house. + +But he was now so pulled about by different alarms that, while one +portion of his mind was still alert and cunning, another trembled on the +brink of lunacy. One hallucination in particular took a strong hold on +his credulity. The neighbor hearkening with white face beside his +window, the passer-by arrested by a horrible surmise on the +pavement--these could at worst suspect, they could not know; through +the brick walls and shuttered windows only sounds could penetrate. But +here, within the house, was he alone? He knew he was; he had watched the +servant set forth sweethearting, in her poor best, "out for the day" +written in every ribbon and smile. Yes, he was alone, of course; and +yet, in the bulk of empty house about him, he could surely hear a stir +of delicate footing--he was surely conscious, inexplicably conscious, of +some presence. Ay, surely; to every room and corner of the house his +imagination followed it; and now it was a faceless thing, and yet had +eyes to see with; and again it was a shadow of himself; and yet again +behold the image of the dead dealer, reinspired with cunning and hatred. + +At times, with a strong effort, he would glance at the open door which +still seemed to repel his eyes. The house was tall, the skylight small +and dirty, the day blind with fog; and the light that filtered down to +the ground story was exceedingly faint, and showed dimly on the +threshold of the shop. And yet, in that strip of doubtful brightness, +did there not hang wavering a shadow? + +Suddenly, from the street outside, a very jovial gentleman began to beat +with a staff on the shop door, accompanying his blows with shouts and +railleries in which the dealer was continually called upon by name. +Markheim, smitten into ice, glanced at the dead man. But no! he lay +quite still; he was fled away far beyond earshot of these blows and +shoutings; he was sunk beneath seas of silence; and his name, which +would once have caught his notice above the howling of a storm, had +become an empty sound. And presently the jovial gentleman desisted from +his knocking and departed. + +Here was a broad hint to hurry what remained to be done, to get forth +from this accusing neighborhood, to plunge into a bath of London +multitudes, and to reach, on the other side of day, that haven of safety +and apparent innocence--his bed. One visitor had come: at any moment +another might follow and be more obstinate. To have done the deed, and +yet not to reap the profit, would be too abhorrent a failure. The money, +that was now Markheim's concern; and as a means to that, the keys. + +He glanced over his shoulder at the open door, where the shadow was +still lingering and shivering; and with no conscious repugnance of the +mind, yet with a tremor of the belly, he drew near the body of his +victim. The human character had quite departed. Like a suit half-stuffed +with bran, the limbs lay scattered, the trunk doubled, on the floor; and +yet the thing repelled him. Although so dingy and inconsiderable to the +eye, he feared it might have more significance to the touch. He took the +body by the shoulders, and turned it on its back. It was strangely light +and supple, and the limbs, as if they had been broken, fell into the +oddest postures. The face was robbed of all expression; but it was as +pale as wax, and shockingly smeared with blood about one temple. That +was, for Markheim, the one displeasing circumstance. It carried him +back, upon the instant, to a certain fair day in a fishers' village: a +gray day, a piping wind, a crowd upon the street, the blare of brasses, +the booming of drums, the nasal voice of a ballad singer; and a boy +going to and fro, buried over head in the crowd and divided between +interest and fear, until, coming out upon the chief place of concourse, +he beheld a booth and a great screen with pictures, dismally designed, +garishly colored: Brownrigg with her apprentice; the Mannings with their +murdered guest; Weare in the death grip of Thurtell; and a score besides +of famous crimes. The thing was as clear as an illusion; he was once +again that little boy; he was looking once again, and with the same +sense of physical revolt, at these vile pictures; he was still stunned +by the thumping of the drums. A bar of that day's music returned upon +his memory; and at that, for the first time, a qualm came over him, a +breath of nausea, a sudden weakness of the joints, which he must +instantly resist and conquer. + +He judged it more prudent to confront than to flee from these +considerations; looking the more hardily in the dead face, bending his +mind to realize the nature and greatness of his crime. So little a while +ago that face had moved with every change of sentiment, that pale mouth +had spoken, that body had been all on fire with governable energies; and +now, and by his act, that piece of life had been arrested, as the +horologist, with interjected finger, arrests the beating of the clock. +So he reasoned in vain; he could rise to no more remorseful +consciousness; the same heart which had shuddered before the painted +effigies of crime, looked on its reality unmoved. At best, he felt a +gleam of pity for one who had been endowed in vain with all those +faculties that can make the world a garden of enchantment, one who had +never lived and who was now dead. But of penitence, no, not a tremor. + +With that, shaking himself clear of these considerations, he found the +keys and advanced toward the open door of the shop. Outside, it had +begun to rain smartly; and the sound of the shower upon the roof had +banished silence. Like some dripping cavern, the chambers of the house +were haunted by an incessant echoing, which filled the ear and mingled +with the ticking of the clocks. And, as Markheim approached the door, he +seemed to hear, in answer to his own cautious tread, the steps of +another foot withdrawing up the stair. The shadow still palpitated +loosely on the threshold. He threw a ton's weight of resolve upon his +muscles, and drew back the door. + +The faint, foggy daylight glimmered dimly on the bare floor and stairs; +on the bright suit of armor posted, halbert in hand, upon the landing; +and on the dark wood carvings and framed pictures that hung against the +yellow panels of the wainscot. So loud was the beating of the rain +through all the house that, in Markheim's ears, it began to be +distinguished into many different sounds. Footsteps and sighs, the tread +of regiments marching in the distance, the chink of money in the +counting, and the creaking of doors held stealthily ajar, appeared to +mingle with the patter of the drops upon the cupola and the gushing of +the water in the pipes. The sense that he was not alone grew upon him to +the verge of madness. On every side he was haunted and begirt by +presences. He heard them moving in the upper chambers; from the shop, he +heard the dead man getting to his legs; and as he began with a great +effort to mount the stairs, feet fled quietly before him and followed +stealthily behind. If he were but deaf, he thought, how tranquilly he +would possess his soul! And then again, and hearkening with ever fresh +attention, he blessed himself for that unresting sense which held the +outposts and stood a trusty sentinel upon his life. His head turned +continually on his neck; his eyes, which seemed starting from their +orbits, scouted on every side, and on every side were half rewarded as +with the tail of something nameless vanishing. The four-and-twenty steps +to the first floor were four-and-twenty agonies. + +On that first story the doors stood ajar, three of them like three +ambushes, shaking his nerves like the throats of cannon. He could never +again, he felt, be sufficiently immured and fortified from men's +observing eyes; he longed to be home, girt in by walls, buried among +bedclothes, and invisible to all but God. And at that thought he +wondered a little, recollecting tales of other murderers and the fear +they were said to entertain of heavenly avengers. It was not so, at +least, with him. He feared the laws of nature, lest, in their callous +and immutable procedure, they should preserve some damning evidence of +his crime. He feared tenfold more, with a slavish, superstitious terror, +some scission in the continuity of man's experience, some wilful +illegality of nature. He played a game of skill, depending on the rules, +calculating consequence from cause; and what if nature, as the defeated +tyrant overthrew the chessboard, should break the mould of their +succession? The like had befallen Napoleon (so writers said) when the +winter changed the time of its appearance. The like might befall +Markheim: the solid walls might become transparent and reveal his doings +like those of bees in a glass hive; the stout planks might yield under +his foot like quicksands and detain him in their clutch; ay, and there +were soberer accidents that might destroy him: if, for instance, the +house should fall and imprison him beside the body of his victim; or the +house next door should fly on fire, and the firemen invade him from all +sides. These things he feared; and, in a sense, these things might be +called the hands of God reached forth against sin. But about God himself +he was at ease; his act was doubtless exceptional, but so were his +excuses, which God knew; it was there, and not among men, that he felt +sure of justice. + +When he got safe into the drawing-room, and shut the door behind him, he +was aware of a respite from alarms. The room was quite dismantled, +uncarpeted besides, and strewn with packing cases and incongruous +furniture; several great pier glasses, in which he beheld himself at +various angles, like an actor on a stage; many pictures, framed and +unframed, standing, with their faces to the wall; a fine Sheraton +sideboard, a cabinet of marquetry, and a great old bed, with tapestry +hangings. The windows opened to the floor; but by great good fortune the +lower part of the shutters had been closed, and this concealed him from +the neighbors. Here, then, Markheim drew in a packing case before the +cabinet, and began to search among the keys. It was a long business, for +there were many; and it was irksome, besides; for, after all, there +might be nothing in the cabinet, and time was on the wing. But the +closeness of the occupation sobered him. With the tail of his eye he saw +the door--even glanced at it from time to time directly, like a besieged +commander pleased to verify the good estate of his defences. But in +truth he was at peace. The rain falling in the street sounded natural +and pleasant. Presently, on the other side, the notes of a piano were +wakened to the music of a hymn, and the voices of many children took up +the air and words. How stately, how comfortable was the melody! How +fresh the youthful voices! Markheim gave ear to it smilingly, as he +sorted out the keys; and his mind was thronged with answerable ideas and +images; church-going children and the pealing of the high organ; +children afield, bathers by the brookside, ramblers on the brambly +common, kite-flyers in the windy and cloud-navigated sky; and then, at +another cadence of the hymn, back again to church, and the somnolence of +summer Sundays, and the high, genteel voice of the parson (which he +smiled a little to recall), and the painted Jacobean tombs, and the dim +lettering of the Ten Commandments in the chancel. + +And as he sat thus, at once busy and absent, he was startled to his +feet. A flash of ice, a flash of fire, a bursting gush of blood, went +over him, and then he stood transfixed and thrilling. A step mounted the +stair slowly and steadily, and presently a hand was laid upon the knob, +and the lock clicked, and the door opened. Fear held Markheim in a vice. +What to expect he knew not, whether the dead man walking, or the +official ministers of human justice, or some chance witness blindly +stumbling in to consign him to the gallows. But when a face was thrust +into the aperture, glanced round the room, looked at him, nodded and +smiled as if in friendly recognition, and then withdrew again, and the +door closed behind it, his fear broke loose from his control in a hoarse +cry. At the sound of this the visitant returned. + +"Did you call me?" he asked pleasantly, and with that he entered the +room and closed the door behind him. + +Markheim stood and gazed at him with all his eyes. Perhaps there was a +film upon his sight, but the outlines of the newcomer seemed to change +and waver like those of the idols in the wavering candlelight of the +shop: and at times he thought he knew him; and at times he thought he +bore a likeness to himself; and always, like a lump of living terror, +there lay in his bosom the conviction that this thing was not of the +earth and not of God. + +And yet the creature had a strange air of the commonplace, as he stood +looking on Markheim with a smile; and when he added: "You are looking +for the money, I believe?" it was in the tones of everyday politeness. + +Markheim made no answer. + +"I should warn you," resumed the other, "that the maid has left her +sweetheart earlier than usual and will soon be here. If Mr. Markheim be +found in this house, I need not describe to him the consequences." + +"You know me?" cried the murderer. + +The visitor smiled. "You have long been a favorite of mine," he said; +"and I have long observed and often sought to help you." + +"What are you?" cried Markheim: "the devil?" + +"What I may be," returned the other, "cannot affect the service I +propose to render you." + +"It can," cried Markheim; "it does! Be helped by you? No, never; not by +you! You do not know me yet; thank God, you do not know me!" + +"I know you," replied the visitant, with a sort of kind severity or +rather firmness. "I know you to the soul." + +"Know me!" cried Markheim. "Who can do so? My life is but a travesty and +slander on myself. I have lived to belie my nature. All men do; all men +are better than this disguise that grows about and stifles them. You see +each dragged away by life, like one whom bravos have seized and muffled +in a cloak. If they had their own control--if you could see their faces, +they would be altogether different, they would shine out for heroes and +saints! I am worse than most; myself is more overlaid; my excuse is +known to me and God. But, had I the time, I could disclose myself." + +"To me?" inquired the visitant. + +"To you before all," returned the murderer. "I supposed you were +intelligent. I thought--since you exist--you would prove a reader of the +heart. And yet you would propose to judge me by my acts! Think of it; my +acts! I was born and I have lived in a land of giants; giants have +dragged me by the wrists since I was born out of my mother--the giants +of circumstance. And you would judge me by my acts! But can you not look +within? Can you not understand that evil is hateful to me? Can you not +see within me the clear writing of conscience, never blurred by any +wilful sophistry although too often disregarded? Can you not read me for +a thing that surely must be common as humanity--the unwilling sinner?" + +"All this is very feelingly expressed," was the reply, "but it regards +me not. These points of consistency are beyond my province, and I care +not in the least by what compulsion you may have been dragged away, so +as you are but carried in the right direction. But time flies; the +servant delays, looking in the faces of the crowd and at the pictures on +the hoardings, but still she keeps moving nearer; and remember, it is as +if the gallows itself were striding toward you through the Christmas +streets! Shall I help you--I, who know all? Shall I tell you where to +find the money?" + +"For what price?" asked Markheim. + +"I offer you the service for a Christmas gift," returned the other. + +Markheim could not refrain from smiling with a kind of bitter triumph. +"No," said he, "I will take nothing at your hands; if I were dying of +thirst, and it was your hand that put the pitcher to my lips, I should +find the courage to refuse. It may be credulous, but I will do nothing +to commit myself to evil." + +"I have no objection to a death-bed repentance," observed the visitant. + +"Because you disbelieve their efficacy!" Markheim cried. + +"I do not say so," returned the other; "but I look on these things from +a different side, and when the life is done my interest falls. The man +has lived to serve me, to spread black looks under color of religion, or +to sow tares in the wheat field, as you do, in a course of weak +compliance with desire. Now that he draws so near to his deliverance, he +can add but one act of service--to repent, to die smiling, and thus to +build up in confidence and hope the more timorous of my surviving +followers. I am not so hard a master. Try me. Accept my help. Please +yourself in life as you have done hitherto; please yourself more amply, +spread your elbows at the board; and when the night begins to fall and +the curtains to be drawn, I tell you, for your greater comfort, that you +will find it even easy to compound your quarrel with your conscience, +and to make a truckling peace with God. I came but now from such a +death-bed, and the room was full of sincere mourners, listening to the +man's last words; and when I looked into that face, which had been set +as a flint against mercy, I found it smiling with hope." + +"And do you, then, suppose me such a creature?" asked Markheim. "Do you +think I have no more generous aspirations than to sin, and sin, and sin, +and, at last, sneak into heaven? My heart rises at the thought. Is this, +then, your experience of mankind? or is it because you find me with red +hands that you presume such baseness? and is this crime of murder indeed +so impious as to dry up the very springs of good?" + +"Murder is to me no special category," replied the other. "All sins are +murder, even all life is war. I behold your race, like starving mariners +on a raft, plucking crusts out of the hands of famine and feeding on +each other's lives. I follow sins beyond the moment of their acting; I +find in all that the last consequence is death; and to my eyes, the +pretty maid who thwarts her mother with such taking graces on a +question of a ball, drips no less visibly with human gore than such a +murderer as yourself. Do I say that I follow sins? I follow virtues +also; they differ not by the thickness of a nail, they are both scythes +for the reaping angel of Death. Evil, for which I live, consists not in +action but in character. The bad man is dear to me; not the bad act, +whose fruits, if we could follow them far enough down the hurtling +cataract of the ages, might yet be found more blessed than those of the +rarest virtues. And it is not because you have killed a dealer, but +because you are Markheim, that I offered to forward your escape." + +"I will lay my heart open to you," answered Markheim. "This crime on +which you find me is my last. On my way to it I have learned many +lessons; itself is a lesson, a momentous lesson. Hitherto I have been +driven with revolt to what I would not; I was a bondslave to poverty, +driven and scourged. There are robust virtues that can stand in these +temptations; mine was not so: I had a thirst of pleasure. But to-day, +and out of this deed, I pluck both warning and riches--both the power +and a fresh resolve to be myself. I become in all things a free actor in +the world; I begin to see myself all changed, these hands the agents of +good, this heart at peace. Something comes over me out of the past; +something of what I have dreamed on Sabbath evenings to the sound of the +church organ, of what I forecast when I shed tears over noble books, or +talked, an innocent child, with my mother. There lies my life; I have +wandered a few years, but now I see once more my city of destination." + +"You are to use this money on the Stock Exchange, I think?" remarked the +visitor; "and there, if I mistake not, you have already lost some +thousands?" + +"Ah," said Markheim, "but this time I have a sure thing." + +"This time, again, you will lose," replied the visitor, quietly. + +"Ah, but I keep back the half!" cried Markheim. + +"That also you will lose," said the other. + +The sweat started upon Markheim's brow. "Well, then, what matter?" he +exclaimed. "Say it be lost, say I am plunged again in poverty, shall one +part of me, and that the worse, continue until the end to override the +better? Evil and good run strong in me, hailing me both ways. I do not +love the one thing, I love all. I can conceive great deeds, +renunciations, martyrdoms; and though I be fallen to such a crime as +murder, pity is no stranger to my thoughts. I pity the poor; who knows +their trials better than myself? I pity and help them; I prize love, I +love honest laughter; there is no good thing nor true thing on earth but +I love it from my heart. And are my vices only to direct my life, and my +virtues to lie without effect, like some passive lumber of the mind? Not +so; good, also, is a spring of acts." + +But the visitant raised his finger. "For six-and-thirty years that you +have been in this world," said he, "through many changes of fortune and +varieties of humor, I have watched you steadily fall. Fifteen years ago +you would have started at a theft. Three years back you would have +blenched at the name of murder. Is there any crime, is there any cruelty +or meanness, from which you still recoil?--five years from now I shall +detect you in the fact! Downward, downward lies your way; nor can +anything but death avail to stop you." + +"It is true," Markheim said huskily, "I have in some degree complied +with evil. But it is so with all: the very saints, in the mere exercise +of living, grow less dainty, and take on the tone of their +surroundings." + +"I will propound to you one simple question," said the other; "and as +you answer, I shall read to you your moral horoscope. You have grown in +many things more lax; possibly you do right to be so; and at any +account, it is the same with all men. But granting that, are you in any +one particular, however trifling, more difficult to please with your own +conduct, or do you go in all things with a looser rein?" + +"In any one?" repeated Markheim, with an anguish of consideration. "No," +he added, with despair, "in none! I have gone down in all." + +"Then," said the visitor, "content yourself with what you are, for you +will never change; and the words of your part on this stage are +irrevocably written down." + +Markheim stood for a long while silent, and indeed it was the visitor +who first broke the silence. "That being so," he said, "shall I show you +the money?" + +"And grace?" cried Markheim. + +"Have you not tried it?" returned the other. "Two or three years ago, +did I not see you on the platform of revival meetings, and was not your +voice the loudest in the hymn?" + +"It is true," said Markheim; "and I see clearly what remains for me by +way of duty. I thank you for these lessons from my soul; my eyes are +opened, and I behold myself at last for what I am." + +At this moment, the sharp note of the door-bell rang through the house; +and the visitant, as though this were some concerted signal for which he +had been waiting, changed at once in his demeanor. + +"The maid!" he cried. "She has returned, as I forewarned you, and there +is now before you one more difficult passage. Her master, you must say, +is ill; you must let her in, with an assured but rather serious +countenance--no smiles, no overacting, and I promise you success! Once +the girl within, and the door closed, the same dexterity that has +already rid you of the dealer will relieve you of this last danger in +your path. Thenceforward you have the whole evening--the whole night, if +needful--to ransack the treasures of the house and to make good your +safety. This is help that comes to you with the mask of danger. Up!" he +cried: "up, friend; your life hangs trembling in the scales: up, and +act!" + +Markheim steadily regarded his counsellor. "If I be condemned to evil +acts," he said, "there is still one door of freedom open--I can cease +from action. If my life be an ill thing, I can lay it down. Though I be, +as you say truly, at the beck of every small temptation, I can yet, by +one decisive gesture, place myself beyond the reach of all. My love of +good is damned to barrenness; it may, and let it be! But I have still my +hatred of evil; and from that, to your galling disappointment, you shall +see that I can draw both energy and courage." + +The features of the visitor began to undergo a wonderful and lovely +change: they brightened and softened with a tender triumph; and, even as +they brightened, faded and dislimned. But Markheim did not pause to +watch or understand the transformation. He opened the door and went +downstairs very slowly, thinking to himself. His past went soberly +before him; he beheld it as it was, ugly and strenuous like a dream, +random as chance-medley--a scene of defeat. Life, as he thus reviewed +it, tempted him no longer; but on the farther side he perceived a quiet +haven for his bark. He paused in the passage, and looked into the shop, +where the candle still burned by the dead body. It was strangely silent. +Thoughts of the dealer swarmed into his mind, as he stood gazing. And +then the bell once more broke out into impatient clamor. + +He confronted the maid upon the threshold with something like a smile. + +"You had better go for the police," said he: "I have killed your +master." + + + + +WEE WILLIE WINKIE + + "An officer and a gentleman." + + +His full name was Percival William Williams, but he picked up the other +name in a nursery-book, and that was the end of the christened titles. +His mother's _ayah_ called him Willie-_Baba_, but as he never paid the +faintest attention to anything that the _ayah_ said, her wisdom did not +help matters. + +His father was the Colonel of the 195th, and as soon as Wee Willie +Winkie was old enough to understand what Military Discipline meant, +Colonel Williams put him under it. There was no other way of managing +the child. When he was good for a week, he drew good-conduct pay; and +when he was bad, he was deprived of his good-conduct stripe. Generally +he was bad, for India offers so many chances to little six-year-olds of +going wrong. + +Children resent familiarity from strangers, and Wee Willie Winkie was a +very particular child. Once he accepted an acquaintance, he was +graciously pleased to thaw. He accepted Brandis, a subaltern of the +195th, on sight. Brandis was having tea at the Colonel's, and Wee Willie +Winkie entered strong in the possession of a good-conduct badge won for +not chasing the hens round the compound. He regarded Brandis with +gravity for at least ten minutes, and then delivered himself of his +opinion. + +"I like you," said he, slowly, getting off his chair and coming over +to Brandis. "I like you. I shall call you Coppy, because of your hair. +Do you _mind_ being called Coppy? it is because of ve hair, you know." + +[Illustration: RUDYARD KIPLING] + +Here was one of the most embarrassing of Wee Willie Winkie's +peculiarities. He would look at a stranger for some time, and then, +without warning or explanation, would give him a name. And the name +stuck. No regimental penalties could break Wee Willie Winkie of this +habit. He lost his good-conduct badge for christening the Commissioner's +wife "Pobs"; but nothing that the Colonel could do made the Station +forego the nickname, and Mrs. Collen remained Mrs. "Pobs" till the end +of her stay. So Brandis was christened "Coppy," and rose, therefore, in +the estimation of the regiment. + +If Wee Willie Winkie took an interest in any one, the fortunate man was +envied alike by the mess and the rank and file. And in their envy lay no +suspicion of self-interest. "The Colonel's son" was idolized on his own +merits entirely. Yet Wee Willie Winkie was not lovely. His face was +permanently freckled, as his legs were permanently scratched, and in +spite of his mother's almost tearful remonstrances he had insisted upon +having his long yellow locks cut short in the military fashion. "I want +my hair like Sergeant Tummil's," said Wee Willie Winkie, and, his father +abetting, the sacrifice was accomplished. + +Three weeks after the bestowal of his youthful affections on Lieutenant +Brandis--henceforward to be called "Coppy" for the sake of brevity--Wee +Willie Winkie was destined to behold strange things and far beyond his +comprehension. + +Coppy returned his liking with interest. Coppy had let him wear for five +rapturous minutes his own big sword--just as tall as Wee Willie Winkie. +Coppy had promised him a terrier puppy; and Coppy had permitted him to +witness the miraculous operation of shaving. Nay, more--Coppy had said +that even he, Wee Willie Winkie, would rise in time to the ownership of +a box of shiny knives, a silver soap-box and a silver-handled +"sputter-brush," as Wee Willie Winkie called it. Decidedly, there was no +one except his father, who could give or take away good-conduct badges +at pleasure, half so wise, strong, and valiant as Coppy with the Afghan +and Egyptian medals on his breast. Why, then, should Coppy be guilty of +the unmanly weakness of kissing--vehemently kissing--a "big girl," Miss +Allardyce to wit? In the course of a morning ride, Wee Willie Winkie had +seen Coppy so doing, and, like the gentleman he was, had promptly +wheeled round and cantered back to his groom, lest the groom should also +see. + +Under ordinary circumstances he would have spoken to his father, but he +felt instinctively that this was a matter on which Coppy ought first to +be consulted. + +"Coppy," shouted Wee Willie Winkie, reining up outside that subaltern's +bungalow early one morning--"I want to see you, Coppy!" + +"Come in, young 'un," returned Coppy, who was at early breakfast in the +midst of his dogs. "What mischief have you been getting into now?" + +Wee Willie Winkie had done nothing notoriously bad for three days, and +so stood on a pinnacle of virtue. + +"I've been doing nothing bad," said he, curling himself into a long +chair with a studious affectation of the Colonel's languor after a hot +parade. He buried his freckled nose in a tea-cup and, with eyes staring +roundly over the rim, asked: "I say, Coppy, is it pwoper to kiss big +girls?" + +"By Jove! You're beginning early. Who do you want to kiss?" + +"No one. My muvver's always kissing me if I don't stop her. If it isn't +pwoper, how was you kissing Major Allardyce's big girl last morning, by +ve canal?" + +Coppy's brow wrinkled. He and Miss Allardyce had with great craft +managed to keep their engagement secret for a fortnight. There were +urgent and imperative reasons why Major Allardyce should not know how +matters stood for at least another month, and this small marplot had +discovered a great deal too much. + +"I saw you," said Wee Willie Winkie, calmly. "But ve groom didn't see. I +said, '_Hut jao_.'" + +"Oh, you had that much sense, you young Rip," groaned poor Coppy, half +amused and half angry. "And how many people may you have told about it?" + +"Only me myself. You didn't tell when I twied to wide ve buffalo ven my +pony was lame; and I fought you wouldn't like." + +"Winkie," said Coppy, enthusiastically, shaking the small hand, "you're +the best of good fellows. Look here, you can't understand all these +things. One of these days--hang it, how can I make you see it!--I'm +going to marry Miss Allardyce, and then she'll be Mrs. Coppy, as you +say. If your young mind is so scandalized at the idea of kissing big +girls, go and tell your father." + +"What will happen?" said Wee Willie Winkie, who firmly believed that his +father was omnipotent. + +"I shall get into trouble," said Coppy, playing his trump card with an +appealing look at the holder of the ace. + +"Ven I won't," said Wee Willie Winkie, briefly. "But my faver says it's +un-man-ly to be always kissing, and I didn't fink _you'd_ do vat, +Coppy." + +"I'm not always kissing, old chap. It's only now and then, and when +you're bigger you'll do it too. Your father meant it's not good for +little boys." + +"Ah!" said Wee Willie Winkie, now fully enlightened. "It's like ve +sputter-brush?" + +"Exactly," said Coppy, gravely. + +"But I don't fink I'll ever want to kiss big girls, nor no one, 'cept my +muvver. And I _must_ vat, you know." + +There was a long pause, broken by Wee Willie Winkie. + +"Are you fond of vis big girl, Coppy?" + +"Awfully!" said Coppy. + +"Fonder van you are of Bell or ve Butcha--or me?" + +"It's in a different way," said Coppy. "You see, one of these days Miss +Allardyce will belong to me, but you'll grow up and command the Regiment +and--all sorts of things. It's quite different, you see." + +"Very well," said Wee Willie Winkie, rising. "If you're fond of ve big +girl, I won't tell any one. I must go now." + +Coppy rose and escorted his small guest to the door, adding: "You're the +best of little fellows, Winkie. I tell you what. In thirty days from now +you can tell if you like--tell any one you like." + +Thus the secret of the Brandis-Allardyce engagement was dependent on a +little child's word. Coppy, who knew Wee Willie Winkie's idea of truth, +was at ease, for he felt that he would not break promises. Wee Willie +Winkie betrayed a special and unusual interest in Miss Allardyce, and, +slowly revolving round that embarrassed young lady, was used to regard +her gravely with unwinking eye. He was trying to discover why Coppy +should have kissed her. She was not half so nice as his own mother. On +the other hand, she was Coppy's property, and would in time belong to +him. Therefore it behooved him to treat her with as much respect as +Coppy's big sword or shiny pistol. + +The idea that he shared a great secret in common with Coppy kept Wee +Willie Winkie unusually virtuous for three weeks. Then the Old Adam +broke out, and he made what he called a "campfire" at the bottom of the +garden. How could he have foreseen that the flying sparks would have +lighted the Colonel's little hayrick and consumed a week's store for the +horses? Sudden and swift was the punishment--deprivation of the +good-conduct badge and, most sorrowful of all, two days' confinement to +barracks--the house and veranda--coupled with the withdrawal of the +light of his father's countenance. + +He took the sentence like the man he strove to be, drew himself up with +a quivering under-lip, saluted, and, once clear of the room, ran to weep +bitterly in his nursery--called by him "my quarters." Coppy came in the +afternoon and attempted to console the culprit. + +"I'm under awwest," said Wee Willie Winkie, mournfully, "and I didn't +ought to speak to you." + +Very early the next morning he climbed on to the roof of the house--that +was not forbidden--and beheld Miss Allardyce going for a ride. + +"Where are you going?" cried Wee Willie Winkie. + +"Across the river," she answered, and trotted forward. + +Now the cantonment in which the 195th lay was bounded on the north by a +river--dry in the winter. From his earliest years, Wee Willie Winkie had +been forbidden to go across the river, and had noted that even +Coppy--the almost almighty Coppy--had never set foot beyond it. Wee +Willie Winkie had once been read to, out of a big blue book, the history +of the Princess and the Goblins--a most wonderful tale of a land where +the Goblins were always warring with the children of men until they were +defeated by one Curdie. Ever since that date it seemed to him that the +bare black and purple hills across the river were inhabited by Goblins, +and, in truth, every one had said that there lived the Bad Men. Even in +his own house the lower halves of the windows were covered with green +paper on account of the Bad Men who might, if allowed clear view, fire +into peaceful drawing-rooms and comfortable bedrooms. Certainly, beyond +the river, which was the end of all the Earth, lived the Bad Men. And +here was Major Allardyce's big girl, Coppy's property, preparing to +venture into their borders! What would Coppy say if anything happened to +her? If the Goblins ran off with her as they did with Curdie's Princess? +She must at all hazards be turned back. + +The house was still. Wee Willie Winkie reflected for a moment on the +very terrible wrath of his father; and then--broke his arrest! It was a +crime unspeakable. The low sun threw his shadow, very large and very +black, on the trim garden-paths, as he went down to the stables and +ordered his pony. It seemed to him in the hush of the dawn that all the +big world had been bidden to stand still and look at Wee Willie Winkie +guilty of mutiny. The drowsy groom handed him his mount, and, since the +one great sin made all others insignificant, Wee Willie Winkie said that +he was going to ride over to Coppy Sahib, and went out at a foot-pace, +stepping on the soft mould of the flower-borders. + +The devastating track of the pony's feet was the last misdeed that cut +him off from all sympathy of Humanity. He turned into the road, leaned +forward, and rode as fast as the pony could put foot to the ground in +the direction of the river. + +But the liveliest of twelve-two ponies can do little against the long +canter of a Waler. Miss Allardyce was far ahead, had passed through the +crops, beyond the Police-post, when all the guards were asleep, and her +mount was scattering the pebbles of the river bed as Wee Willie Winkie +left the cantonment and British India behind him. Bowed forward and +still flogging, Wee Willie Winkie shot into Afghan territory, and could +just see Miss Allardyce a black speck, flickering across the stony +plain. The reason of her wandering was simple enough. Coppy, in a tone +of too-hastily-assumed authority, had told her overnight that she must +not ride out by the river. And she had gone to prove her own spirit and +teach Coppy a lesson. + +Almost at the foot of the inhospitable hills, Wee Willie Winkie saw the +Waler blunder and come down heavily. Miss Allardyce struggled clear, but +her ankle had been severely twisted, and she could not stand. Having +thus demonstrated her spirit, she wept copiously, and was surprised by +the apparition of a white, wide-eyed child in khaki, on a nearly spent +pony. + +"Are you badly, badly hurted?" shouted Wee Willie Winkie, as soon as he +was within range. "You didn't ought to be here." + +"I don't know," said Miss Allardyce, ruefully, ignoring the reproof. +"Good gracious, child, what are _you_ doing here?" + +"You said you was going acwoss ve wiver," panted Wee Willie Winkie, +throwing himself off his pony. "And nobody--not even Coppy--must go +acwoss ve wiver, and I came after you ever so hard, but you wouldn't +stop, and now you've hurted yourself, and Coppy will be angwy wiv me, +and--I've bwoken my awwest! I've bwoken my awwest!" + +The future Colonel of the 195th sat down and sobbed. In spite of the +pain in her ankle the girl was moved. + +"Have you ridden all the way from cantonments, little man? What for?" + +"You belonged to Coppy. Coppy told me so!" wailed Wee Willie Winkie, +disconsolately. "I saw him kissing you, and he said he was fonder of you +van Bell or ve Butcha or me. And so I came. You must get up and come +back. You didn't ought to be here. Vis is a bad place, and I've bwoken +my awwest." + +"I can't move, Winkie," said Miss Allardyce, with a groan. "I've hurt my +foot. What shall I do?" + +She showed a readiness to weep afresh, which steadied Wee Willie Winkie, +who had been brought up to believe that tears were the depth of +unmanliness. Still, when one is as great a sinner as Wee Willie Winkie, +even a man may be permitted to break down. + +"Winkie," said Miss Allardyce, "when you've rested a little, ride back +and tell them to send out something to carry me back in. It hurts +fearfully." + +The child sat still for a little time and Miss Allardyce closed her +eyes; the pain was nearly making her faint. She was roused by Wee Willie +Winkie tying up the reins on his pony's neck and setting it free with a +vicious cut of his whip that made it whicker. The little animal headed +toward the cantonments. + +"Oh, Winkie! What are you doing?" + +"Hush!" said Wee Willie Winkie. "Vere's a man coming--one of ve Bad Men. +I must stay wiv you. My faver says a man must _always_ look after a +girl. Jack will go home, and ven vey'll come and look for us. Vat's why +I let him go." + +Not one man but two or three had appeared from behind the rocks of the +hills, and the heart of Wee Willie Winkie sank within him, for just in +this manner were the Goblins wont to steal out and vex Curdie's soul. +Thus had they played in Curdie's garden, he had seen the picture, and +thus had they frightened the Princess's nurse. He heard them talking to +each other, and recognized with joy the bastard Pushto that he had +picked up from one of his father's grooms lately dismissed. People who +spoke that tongue could not be the Bad Men. They were only natives after +all. + +They came up to the boulders on which Miss Allardyce's horse had +blundered. + +Then rose from the rock Wee Willie Winkie, child of the Dominant Race, +aged six and three-quarters, and said briefly and emphatically "_Jao!_" +The pony had crossed the river-bed. + +The men laughed, and laughter from natives was the one thing Wee Willie +Winkie could not tolerate. He asked them what they wanted and why they +did not depart. Other men with most evil faces and crooked-stocked guns +crept out of the shadows of the hills, till, soon, Wee Willie Winkie was +face to face with an audience some twenty strong. Miss Allardyce +screamed. + +"Who are you?" said one of the men. + +"I am the Colonel Sahib's son, and my order is that you go at once. You +black men are frightening the Miss Sahib. One of you must run into +cantonments and take the news that Miss Sahib has hurt herself, and that +the Colonel's son is here with her." + +"Put our feet into the trap?" was the laughing reply. "Hear this boy's +speech!" + +"Say that I sent you--I, the Colonel's son. They will give you money." + +"What is the use of this talk? Take up the child and the girl, and we +can at least ask for the ransom. Ours are the villages on the heights," +said a voice in the background. + +These _were_ the Bad Men--worse than Goblins--and it needed all Wee +Willie Winkie's training to prevent him from bursting into tears. But he +felt that to cry before a native, excepting only his mother's _ayah_, +would be an infamy greater than any mutiny. Moreover, he as future +Colonel of the 195th, had that grim regiment at his back. + +"Are you going to carry us away?" said Wee Willie Winkie, very blanched +and uncomfortable. + +"Yes, my little _Sahib Bahadur_," said the tallest of the men, "and eat +you afterward." + +"That is child's talk," said Wee Willie Winkie. "Men do not eat men." + +A yell of laughter interrupted him, but he went on firmly,--"And if you +do carry us away, I tell you that all my regiment will come up in a day +and kill you all without leaving one. Who will take my message to the +Colonel Sahib?" + +Speech in any vernacular--and Wee Willie Winkie had a colloquial +acquaintance with three--was easy to the boy who could not yet manage +his "r's" and "th's" aright. + +Another man joined the conference, crying: "O foolish men! What this +babe says is true. He is the heart's heart of those white troops. For +the sake of peace let them go both, for if he be taken, the regiment +will break loose and gut the valley. _Our_ villages are in the valley, +and we shall not escape. That regiment are devils. They broke Khoda +Yar's breast-bone with kicks when he tried to take the rifles; and if we +touch this child they will fire and rape and plunder for a month, till +nothing remains. Better to send a man back to take the message and get a +reward. I say that this child is their God, and that they will spare +none of us, nor our women, if we harm him." + +It was Din Mahommed, the dismissed groom of the Colonel, who made the +diversion, and an angry and heated discussion followed. Wee Willie +Winkie standing over Miss Allardyce, waited the upshot. Surely his +"wegiment," his own "wegiment," would not desert him if they knew of his +extremity. + + * * * * * + +The riderless pony brought the news to the 195th, though there had been +consternation in the Colonel's household for an hour before. The little +beast came in through the parade ground in front of the main barracks, +where the men were settling down to play Spoil-five till the afternoon. +Devlin, the Color Sergeant of E Company, glanced at the empty saddle and +tumbled through the barrack-rooms, kicking up each Room Corporal as he +passed. "Up, ye beggars! There's something happened to the Colonel's +son," he shouted. + +"He couldn't fall off! S'elp me, 'e _couldn't_ fall off," blubbered a +drummer-boy. "Go an' hunt acrost the river. He's over there if he's +anywhere, an' maybe those Pathans have got 'im. For the love o' Gawd +don't look for 'im in the nullahs! Let's go over the river." + +"There's sense in Mott yet," said Devlin. "E Company, double out to the +river--sharp!" + +So E Company, in its shirt-sleeves mainly, doubled for the dear life, +and in the rear toiled the perspiring Sergeant, adjuring it to double +yet faster. The cantonment was alive with the men of the 195th hunting +for Wee Willie Winkie, and the Colonel finally overtook E Company, far +too exhausted to swear, struggling in the pebbles of the river-bed. + +Up the hill under which Wee Willie Winkie's Bad Men were discussing the +wisdom of carrying off the child and the girl, a look-out fired two +shots. + +"What have I said?" shouted Din Mahommed. "There is the warning! The +_pulton_ are out already and are coming across the plain! Get away! Let +us not be seen with the boy!" + +The men waited for an instant, and then, as another shot was fired, +withdrew into the hills, silently as they had appeared. + +"The wegiment is coming," said Wee Willie Winkie, confidently, to Miss +Allardyce, "and it's all wight. Don't cwy!" + +He needed the advice himself, for ten minutes later, when his father +came up, he was weeping bitterly with his head in Miss Allardyce's lap. + +And the men of the 195th carried him home with shouts and rejoicings; +and Coppy, who had ridden a horse into a lather, met him, and, to his +intense disgust, kissed him openly in the presence of the men. + +But there was balm for his dignity. His father assured him that not only +would the breaking of arrest be condoned, but that the good-conduct +badge would be restored as soon as his mother could sew it on his +blouse-sleeve. Miss Allardyce had told the Colonel a story that made him +proud of his son. + +"She belonged to you, Coppy," said Wee Willie Winkie, indicating Miss +Allardyce with a grimy forefinger. "I _knew_ she didn't ought to go +acwoss ve wiver, and I knew ve wegiment would come to me if I sent Jack +home." + +"You're a hero, Winkie," said Coppy--"a _pukka_ hero!" + +"I don't know what vat means," said Wee Willie Winkie, "but you mustn't +call me Winkie any no more. I'm Percival Will'am Will'ams." + +And in this manner did Wee Willie Winkie enter into his manhood. + + + + +NOTES + +WASHINGTON IRVING + + +Washington Irving, the son of a Scotch merchant, was born in New York, +April 3, 1783. As his health was delicate his education was desultory, +and at sixteen he began to study law but without much seriousness. He +spent most of the time in reading, being in this way really +self-educated. His health continuing a matter of concern, he took many +excursions up the state to the woods, with much physical benefit. In +many of the up-state towns he mingled in society to such a degree that +he was in danger of becoming a mere society man. However, all the time +he was doing some writing, a part of which appeared in _The Morning +Chronicle_ when he was but nineteen. + +In 1804, his health continuing poor, it was decided to send him to +Europe. There he stayed nearly two years, visiting France, England, and +Italy, being everywhere received by society and meeting the best people, +as he was a remarkably agreeable young man. The trip completely restored +his health. + +On his return to America in 1806, he again plunged into society, giving, +however, a hint of his future occupation in _Salmagundi_, a semi-monthly +periodical of short duration, on the model of _The Spectator_, written +in conjunction with two of his brothers in 1807-1808. In the meantime he +had been admitted to the bar. In 1809 appeared "The Knickerbocker +History of New York," a piece of humor and satire which made him famous. +At this time occurred the death of his fiancée, a loss from which he +never recovered. At the beginning of the War of 1812 he served for four +months on the staff of the Governor of New York. + +In 1815 he went again to Europe, this time on the business of his +brothers' firm, to which he had been admitted, and he stayed there +seventeen years. The firm failing in 1818, he turned to literature and +began the publication in 1819 of "The Sketch-Book," a collection of +sketches and narratives in the manner of _The Spectator_. This book +definitely established him as an author, being received both in America +and in England with delight. Besides being successful financially it +gave him an introduction to literary society. "Bracebridge Hall" and +"The Tales of a Traveller" appeared soon after, in 1822 and 1824 +respectively. Irving himself had been for years much of a traveller, +both from inclination and from the demands of his health. + +In 1826 Irving went to Spain to write his "Life and Voyages of +Columbus," which appeared in 1828. This residence in Spain, which lasted +till September, 1829, was a fruitful one, as Spanish subjects appealed +to his imagination. Besides the "Columbus," he wrote "The Conquest of +Granada," "The Companions of Columbus," and "The Alhambra." These books +were financially profitable in addition to being literary successes. +Throughout these years he enjoyed, as usual, the pleasures of charming +society. His stay in Spain was terminated by his unexpected appointment +as Secretary of Legation to the Court of St. James. + +Returning to England, he was received with honors, the Royal Society of +Literature awarding him in 1830 one of the two annual medals and the +University of Oxford making him an honorary D.C.L. In 1831 he resigned +and the next year returned to America. + +America greeted him with enthusiasm. After an extended tour of the South +and West he settled at Tarrytown, on the Hudson, a few miles north of +New York, to enjoy the domestic life afforded by numerous relatives, and +to do the writing which was more than ever necessary for the support of +the relatives who had become dependent on him. At Sunnyside, as his +place was named, he resolutely devoted himself to literary work, after +declining several offers of public office. He was a regular contributor +to _The Knickerbocker Magazine_ at an annual salary, and he wrote +several volumes, not now much read, while working on more ambitious +literary projects. + +In 1842 he received the unexpected and unsolicited honor of appointment +as Minister to Spain. For four years he continued in office, performing +his duties with tact and discretion. In 1846 he returned finally to his +home, where he devoted his last days to a long-contemplated "Life of +Washington," a task almost beyond his powers. On the 28th of November, +1850, he died, honored as no American man of letters had ever been. + +REFERENCES + +BIOGRAPHY: +WARNER: Washington Irving. +BOYNTON: Washington Irving. + +CRITISCM: +HOWELLS: My Literary Passions. +THACKERAY: Nil Nisi Bonum (Roundabout Papers). +RICHARDSON: American Literature. + + +NOTES TO "RIP VAN WINKLE" + +This story appeared with four other papers in the first number of "The +Sketch-Book," which was published in America in May, 1819, as the work +of one Geoffrey Crayon. + +PAGE 1. DIEDRICH KNICKERBOCKER: the supposed author of "The +Knickerbocker History of New York." All this prefatory matter is merely +to carry out the pretence, as do the Note and Postscript at the end. + +2. PETER STUYVESANT: last Dutch governor of New York, born in Holland in +1592, died in New York in 1672. A man of short temper and with a wooden +leg from the knee. FORT CHRISTINA: built by the Swedes on the Delaware +River near the present city of Wilmington. There was no fighting. + +15. FEDERAL OR DEMOCRAT: the two political parties after the close of +the Revolutionary War. TORY: name applied to all followers of the king +during the war. + +16. STONY POINT: this promontory on the west bank of the Hudson was +captured by the British, and later recaptured by the Americans under +General Anthony Wayne. ANTONY'S NOSE: a bold cliff, in the shape of a +nose, on the east bank of the river. The name is now usually spelled +with an _h_. + +18. HENDRICK HUDSON: really Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the employ of +the Dutch East India Company. He was on a voyage to discover a +north-east passage, when he explored the river which bears his name. The +_Half Moon_ was the name of his boat. + + +EDGAR ALLAN POE + +Edgar Allan Poe, the child of poor travelling actors, was born in +Boston, January 19, 1809. Left an orphan in his third year, he was taken +into the family of Mr. John Allan of Richmond, who gave him his name. +Soon he became a great pet of his foster-parents, who rather spoiled +him. In 1815 the Allans went to England, where the boy was in school at +Stoke Newington, a suburb of London, till June, 1820, when the family +returned to Richmond. His education was continued in private schools and +by the aid of tutors till he entered the University of Virginia, +February 14, 1826. At the University he developed a passion for drink +and gambling, which led Mr. Allan to place him in his own counting-room +at the end of the session in December, though he had done extremely well +in some of his studies. Not liking the irksomeness of this occupation, +Poe left to make his own way. + +He first went to Boston, where he succeeded in having some of his verses +published. His resources failing, he enlisted in the United States Army, +being assigned to the artillery and serving in different stations, among +them Fort Moultrie at Charleston, South Carolina. His conduct being +excellent, he was appointed Sergeant-major in 1829. Shortly afterward he +was reconciled to Mr. Allan, who secured him an appointment to West +Point. At the Academy he neglected his duty, was court-martialled, and +was dismissed March 7, 1831. + +Poe now settled in Baltimore, where he devoted himself to writing, +winning a prize of one hundred dollars for his tale, "A MS. Found in a +Bottle." He lived with his aunt, Mrs. Clemm, to whose daughter he became +engaged and whom he married in 1836 in Richmond, where he had gone to +become an assistant on _The Southern Literary Messenger_. + +His habits and unfortunate disposition made it impossible for him to +remain long in one position. After some drifting, he settled in +Philadelphia in 1838, where he did hack work until he became associate +editor of _Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and American Monthly Review_ in +July, 1839. In 1840 appeared a volume of his tales which attracted +favorable notice. In 1841 he became editor of _Graham's Magazine_, but +in this year, too, his wife became a hopeless invalid. Anxiety about her +had doubtless much to do with the subsequent condition of Poe's mind. In +the next year again he lost his position. At this time he fell into +wretched poverty. Then, as always, his aunt gave him the devotion of a +mother. The fortunate gaining of another hundred-dollar prize, this time +for "The Gold Bug," helped along together with some work on _Graham's_ +in a minor capacity. + +New York was his next location, where he was on _The Evening Mirror_. In +1845 his "Raven" was published and at once sprang into phenomenal favor. +Lecturing, magazine work, and the editing of _The Broadway Journal_ +occupied the next year. In 1846 he moved to Fordham. There ill-health +and poverty so oppressed him that money had to be raised to take care of +the family. In 1847 Mrs. Poe died. From this time till his own death, +October 7, 1849, his mind, long clouded and affected by his habits, +became hopelessly diseased. + +Poe was a genius of great analytical power and imagination, but unstable +and morbid. His ability has always received great recognition in Europe, +particularly in France, where a translation of his tales appeared in his +lifetime. + +REFERENCES + +BIOGRAPHY: +WOODBERRY: Edgar Allan Poe. +HARRISON: The Life and Letters of Edgar Allan Poe. + +CRITICISM: +STEDMAN: Poets of America. +GATES: Studies and Appreciations. +BROWNELL: American Prose Masters. + + +NOTES TO "THE GOLD BUG" + +This story, which is classed in the group entitled "Stories of +Ratiocination" (see Introduction), was first published in _The Dollar +Newspaper_ of Philadelphia in June, 1843, winning a prize of one hundred +dollars. + +PAGE 23. TARANTULA: the bite of this spider was once supposed to cause a +form of madness which made the victim dance. Compare the musical term +"tarantelle." HUGUENOT: French Protestant. Many fled to South Carolina +from persecutions in France. SULLIVAN'S ISLAND: Poe has been criticised +for his inaccuracies concerning this island. He should have known it +well, as he was stationed at Fort Moultrie in 1828 when a private in the +United States Artillery. + +24. SWAMMERDAMM: Jan Swammerdam--one final _m_ according to the Century +Dictionary--(1637-1680). A distinguished Dutch naturalist. + +27. SCARABÆUS CAPUT HOMINIS: (Latin) _a man's head beetle_. There is no +such species known. + +29. SYPHON: Negro dialect for ciphering, a colloquial word for +"reckoning in figures." Poe hardly seems successful in representing the +sounds of the speech of Negroes. Not much attention had been paid to the +subject in literature at that time. To-day, since the work of Joel +Chandler Harris in "Uncle Remus" and of Thomas Nelson Page in "In Ole +Virginia," we rather look down on these early crude attempts. NOOVERS: +Negro dialect for manoeuvres in the sense of movements. + +32. EMPRESSEMENT: (French) _eagerness_. + +44. CURVETS AND CARACOLES: the prancing and turning of a horse. + +45. VIOLENT HOWLINGS OF THE DOG: it is popularly supposed that a dog, +through its extraordinary sense of smell, can indicate the presence of +parts of a human body, though buried. + +48. COUNTER: obsolete term for pieces of money. + +49. SOLUTION OF THIS MOST EXTRAORDINARY RIDDLE: this story exemplifies +Poe's power in such work. He specialized on it in magazines. + +52. LONG BOAT: "The largest and strongest boat belonging to a sailing +ship."--_Century Dictionary_. + +54. AQUA REGIA: (Latin) _royal water_. A chemical compound so called +from its power of dissolving gold. REGULUS OF COBALT: early chemical +term referring to the metallic mass of an ore. + +55. CAPTAIN KIDD: William Kidd, about whose early life nothing is +positively known, was commissioned by the Governor of Massachusetts Bay +Colony in 1695 to put down piracy. With a good ship under him, however, +he himself turned pirate. On his return he was arrested, sent to +England, tried, and executed in London in 1701. Some of his buried +treasure was recovered by the colonial authorities in 1699. + +58. GOLCONDA: a place near Hyderabad, India, noted for its diamonds. +CRYPTOGRAPHS: from two Greek words meaning _hidden_ and _write_. The +commoner term is "cryptogram." + +59. SPANISH MAIN: the ocean near the coast of South America and the +adjacent parts of the Caribbean Sea over which the Spaniards exercised +power. + +67. INSIGNIUM: (Latin) _a sign_. + + +NOTES TO "THE PURLOINED LETTER" + +This detective story was published in "The Gift" for 1845. + +PAGE 69. NIL SAPIENTIÆ, etc.: (Latin) _Nothing is more hateful to wisdom +than too great acuteness_. C. AUGUSTE DUPIN: clever amateur who solves +the mysteries which baffle the police. Most writers of detective stories +follow this example set by Poe. AU TROISIÈME: (French) _on the third +floor_. FAUBOURG: (French) section of a city. SAINT GERMAIN: a section +of Paris on the south bank of the Seine, once the abode of the French +nobility. AFFAIR OF THE RUE MORGUE: a reference to the detective story, +"The Murders in the Rue Morgue." THE MURDER OF MARIE ROGÊT: a reference +to another detective story, "THE MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGÊT." The writer is +playing the same part as does Dr. Watson in the various Sherlock Holmes +stories by Conan Doyle. PREFECT: (French) _chief_. + +71. CANT OF DIPLOMACY: set phrases used in intercourse between +representatives of governments by which they hint at their meaning. + +73. HÔTEL: (French) _residence_. AU FAIT: (French) _expert_. + +76. MICROSCOPE: since Poe's time the microscope is, in stories, almost +an invariable part of a detective's outfit. + +79. ABERNETHY: John Abernethy (1764-1831). A celebrated London +physician. + +80. ESCRITOIRE: "A piece of furniture with conveniences for writing, as +an opening top or falling front panel, places for inkstand, pens, and +stationery, etc."--_Century Dictionary_. PROCRUSTEAN BED: In Greek +mythology, Procrustes (derivatively "the stretcher") was a giant who +tied those whom he caught on a bed, making them fit by stretching them +out if too short, and by cutting off their limbs if too long. + +82. ROCHE FOUCALD: François La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680). A French +moralist known for his "Maxims" published in 1665. LA BOUGIVE: In the +edition of Poe's works prepared by Edmund Clarence Stedman and Professor +George Edward Woodberry, this name is given as La Bruyère. Jean de La +Bruyère (1645-1696) was a French moralist. MACHIAVELLI: Nicolo +Machiavelli (1469-1527). A celebrated statesman and writer of Florence, +Italy, whose book "The Prince" is based on unscrupulous principles. +CAMPANELLA: Tomaso Campanella (1568-1639). An Italian writer. + +83. RECHERCHÉ: (French) _far-fetched_. POLITICAL: a rare word, meaning +"pertaining to the police." + +84. NON DISTRIBUTIO MEDII: (Latin) _a non-distribution of the middle, or +the undistributed middle_. This is a mistake in reasoning. When the +Prefect reasons that all fools are poets, therefore all poets are fools, +he has no middle term at all; that is, no class of which poets and fools +are both members. Correct reasoning is represented by this: all men are +mortal; John is a man; therefore John is mortal. Between mortal and +John, two terms, there is a middle term, men, of which both are members. +DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS a higher form of mathematics. PAR EXCELLENCE: +(French) _above all_. IL Y A, etc.: (French). _The odds are that every +public idea, every accepted convention, is a foolish trick, for it is +suitable for the greatest number._ CHAMFORT: Sebastian Roch Nicolas +Chamfort (1741-1794). A French writer of maxims. AMBITUS: (Latin) _a +going around_. Poe means by this example and by those that follow that +mere similarity of two words does not make them of the same meaning. + +85. BRYANT: Jacob Bryant (1715-1804). An English writer on mythology. + +86. INTRIGANT: (French) _intriger_. + +87. VIS INERTIÆ: (Latin) _the force of inertia_, the same as _inertia_, +a term of physics which denotes the tendency of a body to remain at rest +or in motion. + +88. MINISTERIAL HÔTEL: house of the minister or cabinet officer. + +92. FACILIS DESCENSUS AVERNI: a misquotation from Vergil's "Aeneid," +Book VI, line 126. It should be "facilis descensus Averno," _easy is +the descent to Avernus_. CATALANI: Angelica Catalani (1779-1849). An +Italian singer. MONSTRUM HORRENDUM: (Latin) _a horrible monster_, the +epithet applied to the one-eyed giant, Polyphemus, in Vergil's "Aeneid," +Book III, line 658. UN DESSEIN, etc.: (French). _A design so fatal, if +it is not worthy of Atrée, it is worthy of Thyeste_. CRÉBILLON'S +"ATRÉE": Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon (1674-1762). A French tragic poet. +His play, "Atrée et Thyeste," bears the date 1707. + + +NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE + +Nathaniel Hawthorne, or Hathorne, as it was spelled before he changed +it, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, July 4, 1804. His family, settled +in New England since 1630, had played its part in the activities of the +land in various capacities, including the persecution of so-called +witches. His father, a sea-captain, died on a voyage when the lad was +four years old. The excessive mourning then in vogue made the widow +practically seclude herself in her room, throwing a consequent gloom +over the household and affecting the boy's spirits. From this depressing +atmosphere he found relief in an early developed taste for reading. In +1818 the family moved to a lonely part of Maine, where in roaming the +lonely woods he gained a liking for solitude as well as for nature. He +returned to Salem in 1819 to prepare for Bowdoin College, which he +entered in 1821. After an undistinguished course he went back to his +native town, whither his mother had also returned. + +In Salem he remained for twelve years, a recluse in a family of +recluses, devoting himself to reading and writing. In 1828 his first +book, "Fanshawe," was published at his own expense. Its failure caused +him to destroy all the copies he could find. Some of the stories which +he wrote during this period were published in the annuals, then +fashionable, and in _The New England Magazine_, but without making much +impression. + +This hermit-like existence was healthily broken in 1836 by his becoming +the editor of an obscure magazine, though it was hack work and lasted +but a short time. The anonymity to which he had stubbornly clung was +also dispelled by one friend, and the publication of his "Twice-Told +Tales" was arranged for by another, his classmate, Horatio Bridge. These +two facts made him known and mark the beginning of the disappearance of +his solitary depression, which was ended by his engagement to Sophia +Peabody. + +In January, 1839, he became a weigher and gauger in the Boston Custom +House, a position which he lost in April, 1841, owing to a change in the +political administration. Then for a few months he was a member of the +Brook Farm Community, a group of reformers who tried to combine +agriculture and education. In the Custom House and at Brook Farm he +worked so hard as to have little energy for literature, publishing only +some children's books. On July 9, 1842, occurred his marriage. + +For the next three years Hawthorne resided in Concord at the Old Manse. +In this retired town, where such eminent people as Emerson and Thoreau +were to be met, he lived a very happy, quiet life, given to musing and +observation. But he had lost a considerable sum of money in the Brook +Farm experiment, the failure of _The Democratic Review_ prevented +payment for his contributions, and he began to feel the pinch of +poverty. At this juncture his college mates, Bridge and Pierce, came to +the rescue, and on March 23, 1846, he was appointed surveyor of the port +of Salem, that spot in which the Hawthorne family was so firmly rooted, +whither he had previously returned with his wife and daughter, Una, born +in Concord in 1844. + +Though happy for a short time at getting into the stir of actual life, +the routine and sordidness soon palled and he began to fret in the +harness. This mood kept him from composition till he forced from +himself, in 1848, the last of his short stories, including "The Great +Stone Face" and "Ethan Brand." Despite the effort, the stories rank +well. In 1849 he was dismissed from office by a change of political +administration, not because of inefficiency. He took this dismissal hard +because some of his townspeople had been opposed to him. Again he was in +money difficulties from which he was released by a donation from his +loyal friends. The leisure thus made possible was devoted to the +production of his greatest work, a novel, "The Scarlet Letter," which is +a study in the darker side of Puritanism. Its publication in April, +1850, brought him fame. In the same year he moved to the Berkshire +Hills. + +The year and a half in the hills was thoroughly happy. He had the +incentive of success, the tranquillity of mind due to sufficient means, +physical comfort, and a loving household now enlarged by the birth of a +second daughter, Rose. During this time he wrote and published (1851) +his novel, "The House of the Seven Gables," the study of an inherited +curse, made pleasing as a story by means of its realistic portrayal of +ordinary life. He also put many of the stories of classical mythology +into a form understandable by children, publishing the results in "A +Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys" (1852) and "Tanglewood Tales for Girls +and Boys" (1853). In 1852 appeared "The Snow Image and Other Twice-Told +Tales," containing hitherto uncollected contributions to various +magazines. + +Believing the Berkshire air rather enervating, Hawthorne moved in +November, 1851, to a temporary residence in West Newton, where he wrote +"The Blithedale Romance," which was published in 1852. This novel, +founded on his Brook Farm experience, is a study of the failure of the +typical reformer. In June, 1852, the family moved to a place of their +own, called "The Wayside" in Concord. Here the ideal family life +continued. In the summer he brought out "The Life of Franklin Pierce," +the biography of his old college mate, who was shortly after elected to +the presidency of the United States, and made Hawthorne United States +Consul at Liverpool in 1853. + +The holding of office was never a congenial occupation to Hawthorne, +though he was a good official. It always became irksome and dried up his +creative power. The consulship was no exception, and when he resigned in +1857 he felt much relief. By this time he had obtained a competence +which afforded him the gratification of paying back the money once +raised for him by his friends. When in England he had seen much of the +country; now he determined to see more of Europe. The family travelled +through France to Italy, which they greatly enjoyed, staying there till +1859. For some months they had occupied the old villa of Montauto, where +Hawthorne composed most of "The Marble Faun." The illness of Una +compelling them to seek a different climate, they returned to England, +where he finished the book, which was published the next year. "The +Marble Faun" is "an analytical study of evil"; but despite the subject, +the artistic effects and the interpretation of Italy lend it charm. + +In 1860 the family returned to Concord. Hawthorne's health had been +failing for some time, and now he became incapable of sustained work. +However, in 1863 was published "Our Old Home," the theme of which is +well expressed by the sub-title "A Series of English Sketches," which +had been composed previously. He continued to do some work, and even +promised a new novel to the press, but he came to realize that he would +never finish it. In 1864 he went on a carriage trip with his old friend +Pierce, during which he peacefully died in his sleep. + + +REFERENCES + +BIOGRAPHY: +WOODBERRY: Nathaniel Hawthorne. +JAMES: Nathaniel Hawthorne. + +CRITICISM: +HUTTON: Literary Essays. +STEPHEN: Hours in a Library. + + +NOTES ON "HOWE'S MASQUERADE" + +This story was first published in _The Democratic Review_ for May, 1838, +and was republished in 1842 in an enlarged edition of "Twice-Told +Tales." It exemplifies the work in which Hawthorne was the pioneer--that +of building a story about a situation. The idea of this particular one +is found in the following entry in "American Note-Books": "A phantom of +the old royal governors, or some such showy shadowy pageant, on the +night of the evacuation of Boston by the British." Hawthorne was +accustomed to jot down in his note-books hints for stories which often +can be traced in his developed writings. + +In "Howe's Masquerade" can be clearly seen the fact that he had not +mastered the method of writing the short-story as we have it to-day. +There is too much introduction and too much conclusion. He takes too +long to get the story into motion, and he spoils the effect by tacking +to the end a moral. These mistakes or crudities Poe did not make; +however, each writer contributed to the development of the short-story +some element of value, as has been pointed out in the Introduction. + +This story is one of "The Legends of the Province House," stories joined +together by the scheme of having an old inhabitant tell them to some +visitor. Such machinery with its prologues and end-links, more or less +elaborate, has been often used, as is seen in Chaucer's "Canterbury +Tales" and in Longfellow's "Tales of a Wayside Inn." The taste for this +method has largely passed, though it has been recently revived by +Alfred Noyes in "The Tales of the Mermaid Tavern." + +PAGE 93. WASHINGTON STREET: the scene is laid in Boston. OLD PROVINCE +HOUSE: the term Province House is used somewhat in the same sense as +State House. The building was erected when Massachusetts was a province +and served as the headquarters and dwelling of the royal governor. +Hawthorne represents it as having descended to the condition of an inn +or inferior hotel, the most important part of which was the bar for the +sale of liquor. + +94. LADY OF POWNALL: the wife of Thomas Pownall, a royal governor of +Massachusetts Bay Colony. BERNARD: Sir Thomas Bernard, another royal +governor. + +98. STEELED KNIGHTS OF THE CONQUEST: persons dressed as cavalrymen in +steel armor of 1066, when William the Conqueror became King of England. +PARTY-COLORED MERRY ANDREW: an old term for a clown dressed in garments +having several colors. FALSTAFF: an important character in several of +Shakespeare's plays. He is always represented as fat and ridiculous. DON +QUIXOTE: the chief character of the celebrated Spanish satire "Don +Quixote" (1605) by Cervantes. Don Quixote is a simple-minded man, whose +head has been turned by reading the extravagant romances of chivalry +then current, in which knights ride forth to redress wrongs. He feels +himself called to such a mission and, armed with various ridiculous +makeshifts and accompanied by a humorous squire, Sancho Panza, whose +sayings have achieved an immortality nearly equal to his master's +doings, he sallies out upon a course of adventures, which caused the +world to laugh the dying remnants of false chivalry into its grave. +COLONEL JOLIFFE: an imaginary character. WHIG PRINCIPLES: the people +belonging to the patriotic party in the colonies were called Whigs. + +99. REV. MATHER BYLES: an actual person (1706-1788). He was imprisoned +in 1777 as a Tory; that is, as an adherent of the king. WIG AND BAND: +Protestant clergymen of that day wore wigs and a strip of linen, called +a band, placed about the neck with the ends hanging down in front. + +102. REGICIDE JUDGES: in the first part of the seventeenth century the +people of England became dissatisfied with their king, Charles I, +because of his illegal acts. They revolted, captured the king, put him +on trial, and executed him, January 30, 1649. The judges are called +regicide, because they tried and condemned a king. The royal party spoke +of him as a martyr to the cause. + +110. WHEN THE TRUTH-TELLING ACCENTS, etc.: Hawthorne has tried in this +last paragraph to emphasize the contrast between the rather sordid real +and the imaginary. He is entirely too successful, because he spoils the +effect of the story--something for which Poe strove with such singleness +of purpose as to permit of no such ending. + + +NOTES TO "THE BIRTHMARK" + +This story was first published in the March, 1843, number of _The +Pioneer_, a magazine edited by James Russell Lowell, and was republished +in "Mosses from an Old Manse" in 1846. It belongs to the "moral +philosophic" group of Hawthorne's writings (see Introduction). + +PAGE 112. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY: an old term for physics. SPIRITUAL +AFFINITY: in chemistry certain elements show a tendency to combine with +others, so an attraction of one human spirit for another, leading +generally to marriage, is often called a spiritual affinity. + +114. EVE OF POWERS: Hiram Powers (1805-1873). An American sculptor whose +statue of Eve is one of his noted works. + +118. PYGMALION: in Greek mythology a sculptor who made such a beautiful +statue of a woman that he fell in love with it, whereupon in answer to +his prayer the goddess Aphrodite gave it life. + +121. OPTICAL PHENOMENA: sights which cheat the eye into believing them +real. + +122. CORROSIVE ACID: a powerful chemical which eats away substance. +DYNASTY OF THE ALCHEMISTS: the succession of the early investigators of +chemistry who spent most of their energy in seeking what was called the +"universal solvent" which would turn every substance into gold. These +men were sometimes legitimate investigators, but often cheats who made +money out of foolish people. At one time they became so numerous in +London that laws were passed against them, but it took Jonson's play +"The Alchemist" to laugh away their hold. + +123. ELIXIR VITÆ: (Arabic, _el iksir_, plus Latin, _vitæ_) literally, +_the philosopher's stone of life_. Another fad of the alchemists. + +125. ALBERTUS MAGNUS: "Albert the Great" (1193-1280), a member of the +Dominican order of monks. CORNELIUS AGRIPPA: (1486-1535) a student of +magic. PARACELSUS: Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus (1493-1541), a +physician and alchemist. FRIAR WHO CREATED THE PROPHETIC BRAZEN HEAD: +the legendary "Famous History of Friar Bacon" records the construction +of such a thing. TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY: the volumes +containing the discussions of the Royal Society and also the papers read +before it. This association was founded about 1660 for the advancement +of science. + + +BRET HARTE + +Francis Bret Harte, or as he later called himself Bret Harte, was born +in Albany, New York, August 25, 1836. He came of mixed English, Dutch, +and Hebrew stock. The family led a wandering life, full of privations, +till the death of the father, a schoolmaster, in 1845. In 1853 the widow +moved to California, where she married Colonel Andrew Williams. Thither +the son followed her in 1854. + +As tutor, express messenger, printer, drug clerk, miner, and editor he +spent the three years till 1857, when he settled in San Francisco, where +he became a printer in the office of _The Golden Era_. Soon he began to +contribute articles to the paper, and was promoted to the editorial +room. In 1862 he married Miss Anna Griswold, and in 1864 he was +appointed secretary of the California mint. He continued writing, and in +the same year was engaged on a weekly, _The Californian_. In 1867 the +first collection of his poems was published under the title of "The Lost +Galleon and Other Tales." When _The Overland Monthly_ was founded in the +next year Bret Harte became its first editor. To its second number he +contributed "Luck of Roaring Camp." Though received with much question +in California, it met a most enthusiastic reception in the East, the +columns of _The Atlantic Monthly_ being thrown open to him. This success +he followed six months later by another, "The Outcasts of Poker Flat." +His next great success was the poem "Plain Language from Truthful +James," which was in the September, 1870, number of the magazine. It +made him famous though he attached little importance to it. In this year +he was made Professor of Recent Literature in the University of +California. + +Debt, friction with the new owner of _The Overland_, and a growing lack +of sympathy with the late settlers, caused Bret Harte to leave +California in 1871. He came East and devoted himself entirely to +writing, his work being published for one year altogether in _The +Atlantic Monthly_. But his ever recurring financial difficulties +becoming acute, he did some lecturing in addition. In 1876 appeared his +only novel, "Gabriel Conroy," which was not a success. His money +difficulties continuing, his friends came to the rescue and secured his +appointment as United States Consul at Crefeld, Germany. Leaving his +wife, whom he never saw again, he sailed in 1878. At this post he +continued for two years, his life being varied by a lecture tour in +England. In 1880 he was transferred to the more lucrative consulship at +Glasgow. + +In Glasgow he remained for five years, writing, meeting some eminent +writers, and visiting different parts of the country. In 1885, a new +President having taken office, he was superseded in his consulship. He +then settled in London, devoting himself to writing with only an +occasional trip away, once as far as Switzerland. In 1901 he died. + + +REFERENCES + +BIOGRAPHY: +MERWIN: The Life of Bret Harte. +PEMBERTON: Life of Bret Harte. + +CRITICISM: +WOODBERRY: America in Literature. + + +NOTES TO "THE OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT" + +This story was first published in _The Overland Monthly_ of San +Francisco in 1869. + +PAGE 134. POKER FLAT: an actual place in Sierra County, California. The +name is typical of a large class of western geographic names bestowed by +rough uneducated men when the West was new. MORAL ATMOSPHERE: these +western mining towns in 1850 in a region which had just become a part of +the United States as a result of the War with Mexico, were largely +unorganized and without regularly constituted government. The bad +element did as it pleased until the better people got tired. Then a +"vigilance committee" would be organized, which would either drive out +the undesirables, as in this story, or would execute the entire lot. + +135. SLUICE ROBBER: one way of separating gold from the gravel and sand +in which it is found is to put the mixture into a slanting trough, +called a sluice, through which water is run. As these sluices were +sometimes of considerable length, it was not a difficult matter for a +man to rob one. + +136. PARTHIAN: the Parthians inhabited a part of ancient Persia. It was +their custom when retreating to continue to shoot arrows at their enemy. + +142. COVENANTER: one of that body of Scotchmen who had bound themselves +by a solemn covenant or agreement in the seventeenth century to uphold +the Presbyterian faith. This act required force of character, since it +was in defiance of King Charles I, and this force was shown in the vigor +of their hymns. + +144. ILIAD: the ancient Greek epic poem, ascribed to Homer, which tells +the story of the war of the Greeks against Troy. ALEXANDER POPE +(1688-1744), an English poet, who rather freely translated the poem. + +147. DERRINGER: a pistol, so called from the name of the inventor. + + +ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON + +Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson, the son of a man of some means, was born +in Edinburgh, November 30, 1850. The _Louis_ form of his second name was +merely a caprice in spelling adopted by the boy, and never altered the +pronunciation of the original by his family. An only child, afflicted +with poor health, he was an object of solicitude, notably to his nurse, +Alison Cunningham, to whose loving devotion the world owes an unpayable +debt. Stevenson's appreciation of her faithful ministrations is +beautifully voiced in the dedication of his "A Child's Garden of Verses" +(1885). After some schooling, made more or less desultory by ill-health, +he attended Edinburgh University. The family profession was lighthouse +engineering, and though he gave it enough attention to receive a medal +for a suggested improvement on a lighthouse lamp, his heart was not in +engineering, so he compromised with his father on law. He was called to +the Scottish bar and rode on circuit with the court, but, becoming +master of his destiny, he abandoned law for literature. + +Literature was the serious purpose of his life and to it he gave an +ardor of industry which is amazing. He worked at the mastery of its +technique for years, till he gained that felicity of expression which +has made his writings classical. His earliest publications were essays, +often inspired by his trips abroad in search of health. On one of these +in France in 1876 he met his future wife, Mrs. Osbourne, an American. +Other such trips are recorded in "An Inland Voyage" (1878) and in +"Travels with a Donkey" (1879). In 1879 he came to America, travelling +in a rough way to California, an experience made use of in his book "An +Amateur Emigrant." As a consequence of this trip, he fell desperately +ill in San Francisco, where he was nursed by Mrs. Osbourne, whom he +married in 1880. His convalescence in an abandoned mining camp is +recorded in "The Silverado Squatters" (1883). Returning to Scotland, +they found the climate impossible for his weak lungs, consequently they +tried various places on the Continent. Throughout his ill-health he +heroically kept at work, publishing from time to time books of essays +and short-stories, such as "Virginibus Puerisque" (1881) and "New +Arabian Nights" (1882), parts of which had already appeared in +magazines, and in 1883 his first popular success, "Treasure Island." + +In 1887 his father died and in the next year he came again to America, +sojourning at various places, among them Saranac Lake, and then voyaging +in a sailing vessel, _The Casco_, in the Pacific. It was not his +ill-health alone that kept him on the move, but an adventurous spirit as +well. Finally the family settled at Apia, Samoa, the climate of which he +found remarkably salubrious. There he could work even physically without +the long spells of illness to which he had been accustomed all his life. +He was able to take an intense interest in the unhappy politics of the +islands, endeavoring to alleviate the unfortunate condition of the +natives, who passionately returned his interest. They built for him to +his house a road to which they gave the significant name of "The Road of +the Loving Heart," and they celebrated his story-telling gift by the +name "Tusitala," the teller of tales. His efforts for Samoa resulted in +a book entitled "A Foot Note to History" (1893), which showed the +troubled condition of the islands. In this place, ruling over a large +retinue of servants like a Scottish chieftain over his clan, he lived +for three years, turning out much work and producing half of that most +wonderful novel, "Weir of Hermiston," which bid fair to be his greatest +achievement. Death came suddenly in 1894 from the bursting of a blood +vessel in the brain, thus cheating his lifelong enemy, tuberculosis. +Besides "Weir," he left almost completed another novel, "St. Ives," +which was concluded by Quiller-Couch and published in 1898. + +On a high peak of Vaea he lies beneath a stone bearing the epitaph +written by himself: + + "Under the wide and starry sky, + Dig the grave and let me lie. + Glad did I live and gladly die, + And I laid me down with a will. + This be the verse you grave for me: + _Here he lies where he longed to be; + Home is the sailor, home from the sea, + And the hunter home from the hill_." + + +REFERENCES + +BIOGRAPHY: +BALFOUR: Life of Robert Louis Stevenson. +RALEIGH: R. L. Stevenson. + +CRITICISM: +GENUNG: Stevenson's Attitude toward Life. +PHELPS: Modern Novelists. + + +NOTES ON "THE SIRE DE MALÉTROIT'S DOOR" + +This story of dramatic interest, which contains, moreover, much +psychologic interest, was first published in _Temple Bar_, January, +1878, and reprinted in the volume "New Arabian Nights" in 1882. + +PAGE 148. SIRE: obsolete French for sir. BURGUNDY: a section of eastern +France bordering on the river Rhone. The Count of Burgundy by a treaty +with the English recognized the claim of the English king, Henry VI, to +the throne of France. Their troops at the time of the story were +endeavoring to establish this claim by force of arms. Joan of Arc +figures in this war. SAFE-CONDUCT: a passport. As Denis had one, he must +have come from the French forces and consequently was among enemies. + +149. CHATEAU LANDON: an ancient town southeast of Paris. + +150. BOURGES: a city in the Department of Cher, west of Burgundy. + +154. RUSHES: In those days the floors of rooms were covered with rushes +into which people were accustomed to throw refuse. Cleaning was done by +removing the old rushes and putting a fresh supply in their place. + +155. LEONARDO: Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), a famous Italian painter +who did much portraiture, particularly of women. One of his best-known +works is the "Mona Lisa." + +156. DAMOISEAU: obsolete French word denoting rank. + +163. SALLE: (French) _hall_. + +164. CHARLEMAGNE: the French form of _Charles the Great_ (742-814), a +great king of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans. + +169. HERCULES: a great personage in Greek mythology, famous for his +strength. SOLOMON: king of Israel, 993-953 B.C., noted for his wisdom. + + +NOTES ON "MARKHEIM" + +This psychological study was written in 1884 and published in _Unwin's +Annual_ for 1885. + +PAGE 179. "TIME WAS THAT WHEN THE BRAINS WERE OUT": a misquotation from +Shakespeare's "Macbeth," Act III, scene iv, lines 78-79. In full this +most apposite reference runs: + + "The times have been, + That, when the brains were out, the man would die, + And there an end; but now they rise again, + With twenty mortal murders on their crowns, + And push us from our stools: this is more strange + Than such a murder is." + +180. BOHEMIAN GOBLETS: drinking glasses of glass made in Bohemia, the +most northern portion of the Empire of Austria-Hungary. Its glassware is +famous. + +182. BROWNRIGG: Elizabeth Brownrigg, a notorious English murderess of +the eighteenth century. Pictures of such persons were common at country +fairs. MANNINGS: other murderers, man and wife. THURTELL: another +murderer and his victim. + +185. OTHER MURDERERS: compare the agonies of Bill Sykes in "Oliver +Twist." + +186. SHERATON SIDEBOARD: Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) was a well-known +English furniture maker. JACOBEANTOMBS: graves of the times of the +English kings named James of the seventeenth century. + +187. A FACE WAS THRUST INTO THE APERTURE: This was not a real person but +one born of Markheim's troubled mind. The conversation shows the dual +nature of man, containing both good and bad, and how a man excuses his +wickedness. The subject was used again by Stevenson in "Dr. Jekyll and +Mr. Hyde." + + +RUDYARD KIPLING + +Rudyard Kipling is the son of John Lockwood Kipling, successively +Professor in the Bombay School of Art and Curator of the Government +Museum at Lahore, India, and of Alice Macdonald, the daughter of a +Wesleyan minister. He was born at Bombay, December 30, 1865. His given +name commemorates the meeting-place of his parents, a small lake in +Staffordshire. + +In accordance with the custom dictated by the needs of health and of +education in the case of white children born in India, he was taken in +1871 to England, where he stayed with a relative at Southsea, near +Portsmouth. The experiences of such little exiles from the home circle +are feelingly shown in "Baa, Baa, Black-sheep" and in the beginning of +"The Light that Failed." When thirteen he entered The United Services +College, Westward Ho, Bideford, North Devon. Here he stayed from 1878 to +1882, taking part in some at least of the happenings so well narrated in +"Stalky and Co." (1899). + +On leaving college in 1882 he went to Lahore, India, where he became +sub-editor of _The Civil and Military Gazette_. In 1887 he joined the +editorial staff of _The Allahabad Pioneer_. To these papers he +contributed many of the poems and short-stories soon collected in the +volumes named "Departmental Ditties" (1886) and "Plain Tales from the +Hills" (1888). All of these writings come near to actual occurrences, +and give a fascinating glimpse of conditions in India. In the same year +of 1888 he published in India six other volumes of tales. + +Leaving India in 1889, he returned to Europe via China, Japan, and the +United States, sending back to the two papers travel sketches which have +since been collected under the title of "From Sea to Sea" (1899). + +On reaching England he found himself a celebrated man. There he met in +1891 Wolcott Balestier, an American, to whom he dedicated "Barrack Room +Ballads" (1892) in an introductory poem filled with glowing tribute. In +the same year he made further journeys to South Africa, Australia, and +New Zealand. + +He married Caroline Balestier in 1892, the year of publication of "The +Naulahka," which had been written in collaboration with her brother. The +travelling continued till they settled in Brattleboro, Vermont, where +their unique house was named appropriately "The Naulahka." The fruit of +his American sojourn was, among other writings, "Captains Courageous" +(1897), a story of the Atlantic fishing banks, full of American +atmosphere and characters. In the meantime, in various periodicals had +appeared short-stories and poems, which were quickly put into books. One +of the stories is "A Walking Delegate," which is so wonderfully accurate +in the local color of Vermont as to be worthy of special mention. It +forms one of "The Day's Work" group (1898). In it is seen Kipling's +power of observation, which he possesses to such a remarkable degree. To +this period belong those famous collections, "The Jungle Book" (1894) +and "The Second Jungle Book" (1895), containing the beast stories which +seem so plausible, and a book of poems, "The Seven Seas" (1896). + +In 1896 the Kiplings returned to England, taking a house at Rottingdean. +While England has remained his permanent home, he has continued to take +journeys. During a trip in 1899 he was seriously ill in New York with +pneumonia. While ill, his condition was a constant source of anxiety to +all classes of people. He recovered, but his little daughter Josephine +died of the same disease. One cannot fail to note the intimate touches +reminiscent of her in "They," published in "Traffics and Discoveries" +(1904). Another trip, in 1900, was to South Africa, while the Boer War +was in progress. The results are to be found in many poems and stories +about the struggle. + +In late years honors have come to him. The Nobel Prize of Literature and +an honorary degree from Oxford were both awarded him in 1907. He has +taken some part in politics, but he continues to write, though not so +prolifically as before. His more recent books are: "Kim" (1902), a vivid +panorama of India; "Puck of Pook's Hill" (1906), and "Rewards and +Fairies" (1910), realistic reconstructions of English history; "Actions +and Reactions" (1909), a series of stories, among them "An Habitation +Enforced," a rare story of the charm of English country life; and "The +Fringes of the Fleet" (1916), relating to the European War. His son +John has had the misfortune to be captured in the present war. + +One book, "The Day's Work," deserves particular mention, as it contains +some of his best stories, such as "The Brushwood Boy," and exhibits +especially the three cardinal points of his philosophy of life--"Work," +"Don't whine," and "Don't be afraid." + + +REFERENCES + +BIOGRAPHY: +CLEMENS: A Ken of Kipling. +KNOWLES: A Kipling Primer. + +CRITICISM: +LE GALLIENNE: Rudyard Kipling, A Criticism. +FALLS: Rudyard Kipling, A Critical Study. +HOOKER: The Later Work of Rudyard Kipling, North American Review, May, +1911. + + +NOTES TO "WEE WILLIE WINKIE" + +PAGE 196. WEE WILLIE WINKIE: the name is taken from the Scotch poem of +William Miller (1810-1872). Below is given Whittier's familiar version +of the poem: + + Wee Willie Winkie + Runs through the town, + Upstairs and downstairs, + In his nightgown! + Tapping at the window, + Crying at the lock, + "Are the weans in their bed, + For it's now ten o'clock?" + + "Hey, Willie Winkie, + Are you coming then? + The cat's singing purrie + To the sleeping hen; + The dog is lying on the floor + And doesn't even peep; + But here's a wakeful laddie + That will not fall asleep." + + Anything but sleep, you rogue! + Glowering like the moon; + Rattling in an iron jug + With an iron spoon; + Rumbling, tumbling all about, + Crowing like a cock, + Screaming like I don't know what, + Waking sleeping folk. + + "Hey, Willie Winkie, + Can't you keep him still? + Wriggling off a body's knee + Like a very eel; + Pulling at the cat's ear, + As she drowsy hums; + Heigh, Willie Winkie! + See! there he comes!" + + Wearied is the mother + That has a restless wean, + A wee stumpy bairnie, + Heard whene'er he's seen-- + That has a battle aye with sleep + Before he'll close his e'e; + But a kiss from off his rosy lips + Gives strength anew to me. + +"AN OFFICER, etc.": this quotation refers to the time when the holders +of military rank also held social position. AYAH: Anglo-Indian for +"nurse." BABA: Oriental title of respect. SUBALTERN: a commissioned +officer of lower rank than captain, _i.e._ lieutenant. COMPOUND: an +enclosure, in the East, for a residence. + +197. COMMISSIONER: a civilian official having charge of a department. +STATION: a military post. MESS: a group of officers who eat together, +hence the officers. RANK AND FILE: the non-commissioned officers and +privates. + +198. AFGHAN AND EGYPTIAN MEDALS: it is customary for medals to be struck +off in commemoration of campaigns and for them to be called after the +places in which the campaigns occurred. + +199. HUT JAO: native expression equivalent to "go away at once." + +200. BELL, BUTCHA: dogs' names. _Butcha_ = butcher. + +201. OLD ADAM: it is a religious belief that Adam, supposedly the first +man, committed sin, the tendency to which he handed down to all men as +his descendants. Hence when one does wrong it is said that the Old Adam +comes out. QUARTERS: house or rooms of an officer. + +202. BAD MEN: childish name for hostile natives. BROKE HIS ARREST: an +officer under arrest is his own keeper. SAHIB: a term of respect, +equivalent to Mister, used by East Indians toward Europeans. + +203. TWELVE-TWO: the unit of measurement of the height of a horse is +called a hand, which is equal to four inches. Hence twelve-two means +twelve hands and two inches. WALER: a horse from New South Wales. + +205. PUSHTO: sometimes _Pushtu_, the language of the Afghans. + +206. SAHIB BAHADUR: Sahib = Mister. _Bahadur_, title of respect +equivalent to "gallant officer." + +207. SPOIL-FIVE: a game of cards. COLOR SERGEANT: in the British army, +he is a non-commissioned officer who ranks higher and receives better +pay than an ordinary sergeant, and, in addition to discharging the usual +duties of a sergeant, attends the colors (the flag) in the field or near +headquarters. PATHANS: (pronounced Pay-tán) an Afghan race settled in +Hindustan and in eastern Afghanistan. DOUBLE: to increase the pace to +twice the ordinary; double-quick. + +208. CANTONMENT: (in India pronounced can-tóne-ment) part of a town +assigned to soldiers. PULTON: native expression equivalent to "troops." + +209. PUKKA: native expression meaning "real," "thorough." + + + + +The Academy Classics + + +The works selected for this series are such as have gained a conspicuous +and enduring place in literature; nothing is admitted either trivial in +character or ephemeral in interest. Each volume is edited by a teacher +of reputation, whose name is a guaranty of sound and judicious +annotation. It is the aim of the notes to furnish assistance only where +it is absolutely needed, and, in general, to permit the author to be his +own interpreter. + +All the essays and speeches in the series (excepting Webster's Reply to +Hayne) are printed without abridgment. 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Watrous. Cloth, 30 cents. +The Ancient Mariner, Sohrab and Rustum, and Enoch Arden. +A feature of this book is a map, which makes plain the geography +of Sohrab and Rustum. + + * * * * * + +The Literature Note-Book + +By Professor F. N. SCOTT, of the University of Michigan, and F. E. +BRYANT, of the University of Kansas. Price, each, 6 cents; per dozen, 60 +cents; per hundred, $5.00. + +This is a blank-book for book reviews and reports on home reading. On +the front cover are seventeen numbered questions, each suggesting a +possible treatment for the book review. The purpose of these is to +enable the teacher with the least labor to prescribe the scope of the +essay he wishes the pupil to write. The teacher indicates a question, or +series of questions, by number, and the pupil understands that his +review is to answer these questions. There are directions for both +teacher and pupil. On the back cover is a list of books for home +reading. + +Journeys in Fiction + +By ALFRED M. HITCHCOCK, High School, Hartford, Conn. Paper, 42 pages. +Price, 10 cents. + + + + +Select Essays of Macaulay + + +Edited by SAMUEL THURBER. 12mo, cloth, 219 pages. Price, 50 cents. + +This selection comprises the essays on Milton, Bunyan, Johnson, +Goldsmith, and Madame D'Arblay, thus giving illustrations both of +Macaulay's earlier and of his later style. The subjects of the essays +are such as to bring them into close relation with the study of English +Literature. + +The notes are intended to help the pupil to help himself. When an +allusion is not easily understood, a note briefly explains it, or at +least indicates where an explanation may be found. In other cases the +pupil is expected to rely on his own efforts, and on such assistance as +his teacher may think it wise to give. + + + + +Historical Essays of Macaulay + + +Edited by SAMUEL THURBER. 12mo, cloth, 399 pages. Price, 60 cents. + +This selection includes the essays on Lord Clive, Warren Hastings, and +both the essays on the Earl of Chatham. The text in each case is given +entire. A map of India, giving the location of places named in the +essays, is included. + +These essays are annotated on the same principle that is followed in the +notes to the Select Essays. + + + + +Select Essays of Addison + + +With Macaulay's Essay on Addison. Edited by SAMUEL THURBER. 12mo, cloth, +340 pages. Price, 60 cents. + +The editor has aimed to bring together such papers from the _Spectator_, +the _Tatler_, the _Guardian_, and the _Freeholder_ as will prove most +readable to youth of high school age, and at the same time give +something like an adequate idea of the richness of Addison's vein. The +_De Coverley Papers_ are of course included. There are seventy +selections in all. They have to do with the Spectator Club, the Stage, +Manners, Politics, Morals, and Religion. There are selections from +Addison's Stories and his Hymns. The book contains also Macaulay's Essay +on Addison. + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 21964 *** |