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diff --git a/21964-8.txt b/21964-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f0a8c26..0000000 --- a/21964-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8831 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Short-story, by William Patterson Atkinson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Short-story - -Author: William Patterson Atkinson - -Release Date: June 29, 2007 [EBook #21964] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SHORT-STORY *** - - - - -Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Graeme Mackreth and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - -[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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