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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/22476-8.txt b/22476-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c01f5eb --- /dev/null +++ b/22476-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1487 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tale Of Mr. Peter Brown - Chelsea +Justice, by V. Sackville West + +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 Tale Of Mr. Peter Brown - Chelsea Justice + From "The New Decameron", Volume III. + +Author: V. Sackville West + +Release Date: August 31, 2007 [EBook #22476] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF MR. PETER BROWN *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +THE TALE OF MR. PETER BROWN--CHELSEA JUSTICE + +From "The New Decameron"--Volume III. + +By V. Sackville West + +THE first thing which attracted my attention to the man was the shock +of white hair above the lean young face. But for this, I should not +have looked twice at him: long, spare, and stooping, a shabby figure, +he crouched over a cup of coffee in a corner of the dingy restaurant, +at fretful enmity with the world; typical, I should have said, of the +furtive London nondescript. But that white hair startled me; it gleamed +out, unnaturally cleanly in those not overclean surroundings, and +although I had propped my book up against the water-bottle at my own +table, where I sat over my solitary dinner, I found my eyes straying +from the printed page to the human face which gave the promise of +greater interest. Before very long he became conscious of my glances, +and returned them when he thought I was not observing him. Inevitably, +however, the moment came when our eyes met. We both looked away as +though taken in fault, but when, having finished his coffee and laid out +the coppers in payment on his table, he rose to make his way out between +the tables, he let his gaze dwell on me as he passed; let it dwell on me +quite perceptibly, quite definitely, with an air of curious speculation, +a hesitation, almost an appeal, and I thought he was about to speak, but +instead of that he crushed his hat, an old black wideawake, down +over his strange white hair, and hurrying resolutely on towards the +swing-doors of the restaurant, he passed out and was lost in the London +night. + +I was uncomfortably haunted, after that evening, by a sense of guilt. I +was quite certain, with unjustifiable certainty born of instinct, that +the man had wanted to speak to me, and that the smallest response on +my part would have encouraged him to do so. Why hadn't I given the +response? A smile would have sufficed; a smile wasn't much to demand +by one human being of another. I thought it very pitiable that the +conventions of our social system should persuade one to withhold so +small a thing from a fellow-creature who, perhaps, stood in need of it. +That smile, which I might have given, but had withheld, became for me +a sort of symbol. I grew superstitious about it; built up around it all +kinds of extravagant ideas; pictured to myself the splash of a body into +the river; and then, recovering my sense of proportion, told myself that +one really couldn't go about London smiling at people. Yet I didn't get +the man's face out of my head. It was not only the white hair that +had made an impression on my mind, but the unhappy eyes, the timidly +beseeching look. The man was lonely, I was quite sure of that; utterly +lonely. And I had refused a smile. + +I don't know whether to say with more pride than shame, or more shame +than pride, that I went back to the restaurant a week later. I had +been kept late at my work, and there were few diners; but he was there, +sitting at the same table, hunched up as before over a cup of coffee. +Did the man live on coffee? He was thin enough, in all conscience, +rather like a long, sallow bird, with a snowy crest. And he had no +occupation, no book to read; nothing better to do than to bend his long +curves over the little table and to stab at the sugar in his coffee with +his spoon. He glanced up when I came in, casually, at the small stir I +made; then by his suddenly startled look I saw that he had recognised +me. I didn't nod to him, but I returned his look so steadily that it +amounted to a greeting. You know those moments, when understanding +flickers between people? Well, that was one of those moments. + +I sat down at a table, placing myself so that I should face him, and +very ostentatiously I took a newspaper out of my pocket, unfolded it, +and began to read. But through my reading I was aware of him, and I knew +that he was aware of me. At the same time I couldn't help being touched +by what I knew I should read in his face: the same hostility, towards +the world at large, and towards myself the same appeal, half fearful, +half beseeching. It was as though he said, aloud and distinctly, "Let me +talk! For God's sake let me talk it out!" And this time I was determined +that he should; yes, I was quite grim over my determination. I was going +to get at the secret that lay behind those hunted eyes. + +I was in a queer mood myself; rather a cruel mood, although the +starting-point of my intention had been kind. I knew that my mood had +something of cruelty in it, because I discovered that I was purposely +dawdling over my dinner, in order to keep the man longer than necessary +on the rack. Queer, the complexities one unearths in oneself. But +probably if I had been an ordinary straightforward kind of fellow, I +should never have had the sensibility to recognise in the first instance +that the man wanted to talk to me. It's the reverse of the medal, I +suppose. + +He had finished his coffee, of course, long before I had finished my +dinner; he had squeezed the last drop out of the little coffee-pot, and +I wondered with amusement whether he would have the moral courage to +remain where he was now that his ostensible pretext was gone and that +the waiter was beginning to loiter round his table as a hint that he +ought to go. Poor devil, I could see that he was growing uneasy; he +shuffled his feet, and the glances he threw at me became yet more +furtive and reproachful. Still I gave no sign; I don't know what spirit +of sarcasm and teasing possessed me. He stood it for some time, then he +shoved back his chair, reached for his hat, and stood up. It was a +sort of defiance that he was throwing at me, an ultimatum that I should +either end my cat-and-mouse game, or let him go. As he was about to pass +my table on the way out, I spoke to him. + +"Care for a look at the evening paper?" + +Absurd--isn't it?--that one should have to cloak one's interest in a +stranger's soul under such a convention as the offer of a paper. Why +couldn't I have said to him straight out, "Look here, what's the matter +with you?" But our affairs are not so conducted. He accepted my offer, +and stood awkwardly reading the _City News_, which I thought a sure +indication of his confusion, as by no stretch of fancy could I imagine +him the possessor of stocks or shares. "Sit down," I said, "while you +read." + +He sat down, with a mumble of thanks, laying his old black wideawake +beside him on my table. I think he was glad of the paper, for it gave +him something to do with his hands and his eyes. I observed him, and he +must have known I was observing him. Underneath the thick, snow-white +hair the face was young, although so sunken and so sallow, the face of a +man of perhaps twenty-seven or eight, sensitive, not at all the face of +a criminal escaping from justice, in spite of that hunted look which +had been so vividly present to me during the past week. An artist, I +thought; perhaps a writer; a romantic face; not blatantly romantic; +no, but after you had delved into the eyes and traced the quiver of the +mouth you discovered the certain signs of the romantic idealist. + +"I saw you here last week," he muttered suddenly. + +The little restaurant was by now almost empty; many of the lights had +been turned down, and at most of the tables the chairs had been tipped +forward. Being privileged as an old and regular customer, I beckoned to +the proprietor, and in a whisper begged that I might not be disturbed, +as I had to hold a business conversation of some importance with my +companion. At the same time I poured out for the stranger a glass of +wine from my own bottle, remarking that the wine here was better +than their coffee. This seemed to unloose his tongue a little, for he +exclaimed that coffee was very bad for the nerves, especially strong, +black coffee, as he drank it; and after this short outburst relapsed +again into silence, taking refuge in the paper. + +I tried him once more. + +"I don't remember seeing you here before last week?" + +He shot me a quick look, and said, "I haven't been in London." + +"Travelling, perhaps?" I hazarded negligently. + +He gave a harsh shout of laughter, succeeded by the same abrupt silence. +Would all our conversation, I wondered, be conducted on this spasmodic +system? He certainly didn't second my efforts at small-talk. Was what he +had to say too vital, too oppressive? + +"I say," I resumed, leaning forward, "have I seen you anywhere else? +I think your face is familiar...." It was a lie; I knew perfectly well +that I had never seen him anywhere; his was not an appearance to be +lightly forgotten. + +"And yet," I added, as he stared at me without speaking, "I am sure I +should remember; one would remember this contrast"--and I touched first +my face and then my hair. + +"It has only been like that for a fortnight." + +He brought out the words, scowling and lowering at me, and then the +fierce look died away, to be replaced by a look of apology and pain; a +cowed look, like that of a dog who has been ill-treated. "That is what +made you notice me," he exclaimed; "it brands me, doesn't it? Yes. +A freak. One might as well be piebald." He spoke with extraordinary +vehemence, and, taking a handful of his hair, he tugged at it in a rage +of despair; then sinking his face between his hands, he sat shaking his +head mournfully from side to side. + +"Listen," I said, "have you any friends?" + +He raised his head. + +"I had a few stray acquaintances. Nothing would tempt me to go near them +now." + +"Anyone to talk to?" + +"Not a soul. I haven't spoken to a soul since--since I came back." + +"Fire ahead, then," I said, "talk to me. You don't know my name, I +don't know yours. You're quite safe. Say whatever you like. Go on. I'm +waiting." + +He began, talking in a voice low, rapid, and restrained. He spoke so +fluently that I knew he must often have rehearsed the phrases over to +himself, muttering them, against the day when he should be granted +expression. "I had two friends. They were very good to me. I was +homeless, and they told me to look on their home as my own. I hope I +didn't trespass too much on their hospitality, but I fell into the habit +of wandering into their house every evening after dinner, and staying +there till it was time to go to bed. I really don't know which I cared +for most, in those early days, the man or the woman. It had been with +him that I first made acquaintance; we were both engaged on journalistic +work, reporting, you know, on different papers--and we came across each +other once or twice in that way. He was a saturnine, queer-tempered +fellow, taciturn at times, and at other times possessed by a wry sense +of humour which made him excellent company, though it kept one in a +state of alert disquiet. He would say things with that particular twist +to them which made one look up, startled, wondering whether his remark +was really intended to be facetious or obscurely sinister. Thanks to +this ambiguity he had gained quite a reputation in Fleet Street. You can +imagine, therefore, that I was flattered when he singled me out; I +listened to all his remarks with a respect I was too proud to betray; +although I adopted an off-hand manner towards him, I didn't lose many +opportunities of letting the other fellows know, in a casual way, that I +had been practically given the run of his house; and I was never sorry +to be seen when we strolled off with his arm in mine. + +"They lived, he and his wife, in a tiny house at the end of Cheyne +Walk. On misty evenings we used to sit, all three, on the sill of the +bow-window, watching the big barges float by, while our legs swung +dangling from the high sill, and we talked of many things in the +desultory way born of easy intimacy, and I used silently to marvel +at the sharpness of his mind and the gentleness of hers. She was +very gentle. It even irritated me, faintly, to observe her complete +submission to him. Not that he bullied her, not exactly. But he had a +way of taking submission for granted, and so, I suppose, most people +accorded it to him. It irritated me to see how his wife had subdued her +personality to his, she who was of so tender and delicate a fibre, and +who more than anyone wanted cherishing, instead of being ridden down, in +that debonair, rough-shod way of his, that, although often exasperating, +still had something attractive about it. She and I used to discuss it +sometimes, in the evenings, when he was kept out late at his job--it's +an uncertain business, reporting--we used to discuss it with the +tolerance of fond people, and smile over his weaknesses, and say that he +was incorrigible. All the same, it continued to irritate me. Sometimes I +could see that he hurt her, when in his impatient way he swung round +to devastate her opinions with those sly and unanswerable phrases that +placed everything once and for always in a ridiculous light. What a +devilish gift he had, that man, of humiliating one! And he did it always +in so smiling and friendly a fashion that one could neither take offence +nor retaliate. In fact, one didn't realise that one had been attacked +until one felt the blood running warm from one's wounds, while he had +already danced away upon some other quest. + +"I can hardly trace the steps by which my admiration of him grew to +affection, my affection to uneasiness, and my uneasiness to resentment. +I only know that I took to flushing scarlet when I saw her wince, and to +making about him, when I was alone with her, remarks that were less and +less tolerant and more and more critical. My temper grew readier to bite +out at him, my amusement less easily beguiled. I don't know whether he +noticed it. Most probably he did, for he always noticed everything. +If he did, then he gave no sign. His friendliness towards me continued +unvarying, and there were times when I thought he really bestirred +himself to impress me, to seduce me, he who was usually so contemptuous, +and seemed to enjoy stirring up people's dislike. It wasn't difficult +for him to impress me, if that was what he wanted, for he had, of +course, a far better brain than my own; the sort of brain that compelled +one's startled admiration, even when one least wanted to accord it. +By Jove, how well he used to talk, on those evenings, when we sat and +dangled our legs from the window-sill, looking out at the barges! The +best talk I ever heard. You could have taken it all down in shorthand, +and not a word to alter. + +"Then he got a regular job which kept him out for three evenings a week, +but he told me that mustn't make any difference to my habits: I was to +drop in just the same, whenever I wanted to; and since I hadn't anywhere +else to go, and since the house had become a home to me, I took him +at his word. In a way I missed him, on the evenings he wasn't there; +although I could no longer pretend to myself that I was fond of him, he +was a perpetual interest and stimulation to me, an angry stimulation, +if you can understand what I mean, and I missed his presence, if only +because it deprived me of the occupation of picking holes in him, and of +making mental pounces for my own satisfaction upon everything he said. +Not upon its intellectual value. That was above reproach. Only upon it +as a signpost to his character. I took a delight in silently finding +fault with him. But presently this desire passed from me, and I came +to prefer the repose of the evenings I spent alone with his wife to the +strenuousness of the evenings when we were all three together. We talked +very little, his wife and I, when he was not there. She had about her an +amazing quality of restfulness, of which I quickly got into the habit of +taking advantage, after the vulgar, competitive days of a journalist's +existence. You can't imagine what it meant to me, to drift into the +seclusion of that little Chelsea room, with the mistiness of the trees +and the river outside the window, to be greeted by her smile, and to +sink into my familiar arm-chair, where I might lounge sucking at my pipe +and watching the cool glimmer of her beautiful hands over the rhythm of +her needle. Can you wonder that we didn't talk much? And can you wonder +that our silence became heavy with the things we hadn't said? + +"Not at first. Our love-affair ran a course contrary to the usual +ordering of such things. If it indeed ended in all the fever and pain of +passion, it certainly began with all the calm of the hearth; yes, I went +through a long phase of accepting that room as my home, and that gentle +woman as my natural companion therein. I don't think I examined the +situation at all closely at that time. I was more than content to let so +pleasant an acquiescence take possession of me; for the first time in my +life, you understand, I was neither lonely nor unhappy. The only thing +that jarred was _his_ presence. The evenings when _he_ was there were +all out of tune. All out of tune." + +The man with the white hair paused to pour himself out another glass of +wine; and his voice, losing the dreamy note of reminiscence, sharpened +to a more rapid utterance--a crescendo for which I had been waiting. + +"I haven't an attractive character," he resumed; "I don't want you to +think that I have, and so accord me more sympathy than I deserve. +Please be quite impartial. Please realise that, according to ordinary +standards, I played the part of a cad. Think: there was a man, +ostensibly my friend, who had given me the run of his house; I accept +his hospitality and his friendship, and then take advantage of his +absences to make love to his wife. Not a pretty story, although a +commonplace one. Please be quite harsh towards me, and let me be quite +harsh towards myself. I did none of the things I ought to have done +under the circumstances; I neither went quietly abroad without making +a fuss, nor did I attempt to conceal my feelings from her. If you knew +her," he said, with an anguish of longing that lit up the whole story +for me better than any words of his could have done, "if you knew her, +you would realise at once that she wasn't a woman from whom one could +conceal one's feelings. There was that calm gentleness about her which +made all hypocrisy a shame and a sham. Also, deceiving her would have +been like deceiving a child; hurting her was like hurting a child. +(That was what enraged me when _he_ hurt her, and I had to stand by, and +listen.) She was so simple, and direct, and defenceless. So, you see, as +soon as I realised what had happened, I told her. It wasn't a dramatic +avowal, and it had no very immediately dramatic consequences. In fact, +for a while its only effect was to bring me across the room from my +habitual arm-chair, to sit on the floor near her with my head against +her knee; and so we would remain for hours, not moving, scarcely +speaking, for there was such harmony and such content between us that we +seemed to know everything that passed in each other's minds. + +"Of course, that couldn't last. We were young and human, you see; and +standing in the background, overshadowing the perfection of our solitary +hours, was his long, sarcastic figure--her husband and my friend. An +impossible situation, when you come to consider it. The evenings that he +spent at home very soon became intolerable, from every point of view. I +grew so nervous with the strain of keeping a hold on myself, that even +her tenderness could no longer soothe me. He didn't seem to notice +anything amiss, and, you know, the funny, horrible, contradictory part +was that, much as I now hated him, I was still conscious of his charm. +And so, I think, was she. Can't you picture the trio in that little +Chelsea room, while the barges floated by, and she and I sat on opposite +sides of the fireplace, so terribly aware of one another, and _he_ lay +on the sofa, his long legs trailing over the end, discoursing in his +admirable and varied way on life, politics, and letters? I wonder in +how many London drawing-rooms that situation was being simultaneously +reproduced? + +"Why do I bore you with a recital so commonplace?" he exclaimed, +bringing his fist down on the table; "are you beginning to ask yourself +that? What have you to do with journalistic adulteries? Only wait: you +shan't complain that the sequel is commonplace, and perhaps, one day, +when you read in the papers the sequel to the sequel, you will remember +and be entertained. He caught us red-handed, you see. It was one evening +when we hadn't expected him home until after midnight, and at ten +o'clock the door opened and he stood suddenly in the room. Squalid +enough, isn't it? To this day I don't know whether he had laid a trap +for us, or whether he was as surprised as we were. He stood there +stock still, and I sprang up and stood too, and we glared across at +one another. After a moment he said, 'Paolo and Francesca? this scene +acquires quite a classic dignity, doesn't it, from frequent repetition?' +And then he said the most astonishing thing; he said, 'Don't let me +disturb you, and above all remember that _I don't mind_,' and with that +he went out of the room and shut the door. + +"After that," said the man with the white hair, "I didn't go near the +house for a week. This was at her request, and of course I couldn't +refuse her. During that week she telephoned to me daily, once in the +morning and once in the evening, always with the same story: she had +seen nothing of him. He had not even been home to collect any of his +clothes. You may imagine the state of anxiety I lived in during that +week, which his disappearance did nothing to palliate, but rather +heightened by leaving everything so mysterious and uncertain. She was +evidently terrified--I could hear it in her voice--but implored me to +keep away, for her sake, if not for mine. At the end of the week he +appeared without warning in the office of the paper where I worked, and, +greeting me without making any allusion to what had happened, invited me +to come for two days' sailing in a small boat which had been lent him by +a friend. + +"I was startled enough by this incongruous suggestion, but naturally +I accepted: you couldn't refuse such an invitation from a man who, you +suspected, intended to have such a matter out with you on the open sea. +We started immediately, and all the way down in the train for Cornwall +he talked in his usual manner, undeterred by the fact that I never +answered him. We got out at Penzance, the time then being, I suppose, +about six o'clock in the evening. I had never been to Penzance before, +but he seemed to know his way about, walking me briskly down to the +harbour, where a fishing-smack under the charge of a rough-looking +sailor was waiting for him. By now I was quite certain that he meant to +have it out with me, and for my part, after the long uncertainty of the +week, I asked nothing better than to get to grips with him. All I prayed +for was a hand-to-hand struggle in which I might have the luck to tip +him overboard, so I was rather dismayed when I saw that the sailor was +to accompany us. + +"We started without any delay, getting clear of the port just as the +darkness fell and the first stars came out in a pale green sky. I had +never been with him anywhere but in London, and it crossed my mind that +it was odd to be with him so far away, off this rocky coast, in the +solitude of waters; and I looked at the green sky above the red-brown +sails of the fishing-smack, and thought of the barges floating down the +river at Chelsea. They were ships, and this was a ship; they carried +men, and this one also carried men. I looked at my companion, who sat in +the stern holding the tiller. There was a breeze, which drove us along +at quite a smart pace. 'Cornwall,' I said to myself, staring +slowly round the bay and at the black mass of St. Michael's Mount,' +Cornwall...' + +"I don't know how many hours we sailed that night, but I know that when +the day broke we were out of sight of land. All that while we had not +spoken a word, though to all practical purposes we were alone, the +sailor having gone to sleep for'ard on a heap of nets, in the bottom of +the boat. He was a rough, handsome, foreign-looking fellow, of a type I +believe often to be found in that part of England. I couldn't understand +the object of this sailing expedition at all. It seemed to me an +unnecessarily elaborate introduction to the discussion of a subject +which could as well have been thrashed out in London. Still, as the +other man was the aggrieved party, I supposed that he was entitled to +the choice of weapons; I supposed that his devilish sense of humour +was at the bottom of all this, and I was determined not to give him the +chance of saying I wouldn't play up. But why couldn't he tell me what +was in his mind? How far did he mean to take me out to sea first? These +questions and others raced through my mind during the whole of that +night, while I sat back leaning against the sides of the boat, watching +the stars pass overhead and listening to the gentle sip, sip of the +water. + +"At dawn my companion rose, and, shading his eyes with one hand while +with the other he still held the tiller, he stood up scanning the +surface of the waters. I watched him, resolved that it would not be me +who spoke first. After a while he appeared to find what he was looking +for, for he said, 'Nearly there.' I could see nothing to break the whole +pale opal stretch of sunrise-flushing sea but a small black speck which +I took to be a buoy, and the faint echo of its bell was borne to me +through the clear air. He sat down again beside the tiller, and we +sailed on in the same silence, into the loveliness of the morning. I was +quite certain that he had some sinister purpose, though what it was +I could not yet imagine. What did he mean by that 'Nearly there +'? Although he did not actually stir, he gave me the impression of +concentration now, and at a word from him the sailor awoke and shot a +rapid glance at me, as though doubtful whether he would find me still in +the boat. I was beginning to wonder whether I should be a match for the +two of them, when my companion, leaving the tiller, made a step towards +me with a handkerchief he had drawn from his pocket; the sailor pinioned +my arms from behind, and no sooner had I recognised the peculiar smell +of chloroform than I was insensible and inert between them. + +"It was very neatly done. I might have trusted him to carry out neatly +whatever he undertook. Even over that he compelled my angry admiration. +So neat! the fiend, the devil, he had got the better of me before I had +had the chance to put up even the feeblest struggle. I curse myself now +for my silly bravado in accompanying him when he asked me. I might have +known I wasn't a match for him. But I'll be even with him yet," he said, +his nervous hands fumbling at his collar, "I'll be even with him yet; +I'll bide my time," and never was vindictiveness more savage in human +eyes. + +"He didn't allow me to come to my senses until he had carried out his +purpose. When I opened my eyes I was _inside_ the cage of the buoy, with +the bell swinging gently to and fro above my head. + +"Have you ever seen one of those buoys? They consist of a pear-shaped +iron cage fixed on to a sort of platform, like the keel of a dinghy, and +the bell hangs between four clappers at the top of the cage, and as the +thing rocks up and down on the swell of the sea the clappers hit against +the bell. There was just room for me to sit on the platform, crouched +up inside the cage. One section of the cage was hinged to open, and the +door thus formed was secured by a padlock; how he had got the key of it +Heaven alone knows. I have tried to convey to you--haven't I?--that he +was a very able and successful fellow. + +"When I came to, he was circling slowly round and round the buoy in his +sailing-boat, lounging indifferently beside the tiller, and watching me +with an expression of mockery I can't reproduce in words. I lost my head +then; I leapt up and shook the bars of my cage and screamed to him +to let me out. I can hear now in my ears the futility of my own voice +screaming across the placid emptiness of the water. I must have looked +like a trapped ape--the kind of ape that is most like a man. I shook +the iron bars so violently that the whole of my floating prison jumped +about, and the b ell began to ring loudly. He only lounged and smiled. +No doubt he had looked forward extremely to the moment. His amused +impassivity was the thing best calculated to restore my self-control, +and I try to salve my vanity by thinking that I should never so have +gratified him but for the bewildering effects of the anaesthetic. I +calmed myself down, I tried to reason with him. + +"I exhorted him to settle up his wrongs in a more civilised manner. Then, +seeing that every plea was to him a source of fresh delight, I ceased to +argue, and became silent, holding on to the bars of my cage and watching +him as he cruised slowly round and round the buoy. Presently he talked +to me. They were like neat incisions in my flesh, his words. Oh, +he spared me nothing, I assure you; there wasn't a phrase without a +beautifully tempered edge to it. I recalled his words when he had caught +us together, 'Don't let me disturb you, and above all remember that '_I +don't mind_,' and even in the midst of my rage and hatred I couldn't +help respecting him for that irony. + +"I learnt now the full extent to which he had minded. Quite coldly he +told me. He had spent the week wondering whether it should be himself or +me that should be put out of the way. So much had he minded, you see. +I think he had been hurt in his pride, even more than in his affection +for... for her. I hadn't suspected that he was so sensitive over what he +considered his honour--dense of me, perhaps--but there was no mistaking +that this sensitiveness now tied the extra lash on to the whip of his +tongue. When he had finished talking, when he had said all that he +wanted to say, and all without once losing his temper or his damned +insolent dexterity, he nodded to me for all the world as though we had +been talking shop in Fleet Street, and were separating to go about our +various businesses. That nod remains with me; I'll never forget it or +forgive it; it seemed to me the last crowning insult; it seemed to sum +up all that I most hated in the man. + +"He put his boat about, she heeled over a little as the breeze took her, +and that slight slant of her sail was pencilled against the pale sky as +she glided away across the water. I can't resist the journalistic touch, +you see," he added, with an outburst of extraordinary bitterness. + +"It was not until his boat had dwindled to a tiny black dot far away +that I began fully to realise the situation. There was I, alone in +the middle of a great circle of sea and sky, alone and confined, and +ludicrously helpless. At first it was upon the ludicrous aspect that I +chiefly dwelt, the anger of it, the absurdity, and the humiliation. Then +little by little the horror of it crept over me, and I was aghast; there +was, of course, the gleam of hope that I might attract the attention of +a passing ship, but the Channel at that point must be fairly on the way +to becoming the Atlantic, and I dared not delude myself too boldly lest +I be disappointed. He wasn't coming back for me; he had made that quite +clear. He had left beside me on the bottom of the buoy a parcel of food +and a bottle of water, enough, he had said, to keep me for a week if I +used it sparingly. He had said, with a grin, that I would be all right +for a week if the weather kept calm. If not, he was afraid I might be +inconvenienced. But he would like me to have a week, because that was +exactly the length of time that he had had. Those had been his last +words before he nodded and said, 'So long.' + +"The whole of that day passed in a dead calm. I sat on the floor with my +arms clasped round my knees, because there wasn't room to stretch out my +legs, and when I became too cramped in that position I stood up, which I +could just manage to do if I stooped my head. Later on I found out that +I could stand upright by putting my head inside the bell, but I couldn't +bear that for very long because of the intolerable noise of the clappers +hitting the bell so near my ears. I tried holding the clappers still, +but that was no good, as there were four of them. So I held the bell +itself, which at least deadened the sound. No, I couldn't unhook the +clappers; they were a fixture. Anyhow, that first day I wasn't much +troubled by the noise of the bell, as the buoy rocked very slightly +on an oily swell; I was more troubled by the dazzle of the sun on the +water, not daring to shut my eyes for long lest I should miss a possible +ship, and also I was divided between the gnawing of my thoughts and +the boredom of those interminable hours from sunrise to sunset. I don't +suppose it is given to many men to have nothing better to do than watch +the sun travel across the heavens from the moment it emerges above one +horizon to the moment it dips below the rim of the other. That was what +I watched--the delicacy of dawn, the blood-red of sunset, and the grand +golden sweep of the journey in between the two. + +"Never had I felt so abandoned or so insignificant. Can your imagination +enter into it at all? To do so, you must keep the sense of the enormous +circle of sea always present in your mind, the hard round edge of the +horizon, and the buoy in the centre like a speck of dust in the centre +of a plate. I felt I was in a tiny prison in the middle of an enormous +prison. And after the sun had gone it was worse; it is true that I +could no longer see that huge hard circle, but I knew that, although +invisible, it was still there, and now in addition I had a black vault +over me, and it grew cold, and a loneliness closed down on me such as I +had not experienced while I had the sun and his warmth for companions. +I dared not contemplate the prospect of many such days and nights; I +simply dared not let myself think. I tried to sleep, but was too cold. A +breeze sprang up at about midnight, and the buoy rocked more noticeably; +again, I dared not picture my discomfort should the weather change. I +called it discomfort; I didn't know then, I hadn't yet begun to learn. + +"Two days passed like that. Two whole days. Have you ever tried to spend +two days, or even one day, or even twelve hours, doing absolutely and +literally nothing? If not, try it, especially if you happen to be an +active man. I could only sit there, my knees drawn up and my hands +either clasped round my knees or hanging between them. I was confronted +all the time by the thought of what the end was to be. Starvation and +death from thirst? I could see very little other prospect. For the first +day I had been comparatively sanguine that a ship would come along, but +hourly this hope dwindled, till there was no real hope left, but only +the old obscure and unreasoning human obstinacy. So on the second day I +suffered from my thoughts; I hadn't, as yet, undergone any real physical +suffering. + +"The morning of the third day broke with dark clouds over a grey sea. It +was indescribably dreary. All that water, all that mass of grey water! +I huddled my knees up against my chest for warmth. A shower fell, and I +minded that because it meant more water, not only because it chilled me; +don't think I exaggerate: the quantity and the monotony of so much water +was getting on my nerves. They were in a pretty bad state by then, so +bad that the dread of ultimate madness had already crossed my mind. I +was weakened, too, by insufficient food, for I knew I must economise my +resources. Once or twice steamers passed, a very long way off. I shouted +till my throat was hoarse, but quite in vain. Each time they passed out +of sight, I sobbed. Forgive me. + +"The wind held, driving the masses of low clouds across the sky, and +chopping the sea into little waves, white-topped amongst the grey, which +tumbled and tossed the buoy till I was sickened and wearied. I fancied +that the pulp of my brain was being shaken to and fro inside my head; it +felt like that. I prayed for the wind to go down, but it only gained in +strength. I felt I should go mad; I was so impotent, you see. And the +bell clanged above my head--I was condemned to unceasing movement and +unceasing noise." + +He stared round him with tormented eyes, as though afraid that the whole +restaurant would begin rocking and vibrating. + +"And there were other things, ridiculous and humiliating," he resumed, +"that robbed me even of the small consolation of tragedy. How can I tell +you? I shall lose all dignity in your eyes--if indeed I ever had any to +lose--as I lost it in my own. The terrible sickness, you understand.... +That, and the din of the bell, and being flung up and down, backwards +and forwards. No rest, not for a moment. I prayed, I tried to fight my +way out of the buoy, between the bars, to throw myself into the sea. +The sea was rising visibly, and the spray of the waves broke over me, +drenching me; the salt dried upon my face, stiffening my skin. There +were moments when I thought I could endure the rest, if I might have a +respite from the movement; other moments, if I might have a respite from +the sickness; and yet others, if I might have a respite from the clang +of the bell. In the intervals of the sickness, with such strength as +remained to me, I tore strips from my soaking shirt and tried to bind up +the clappers; it muffled the noise a little, but not much. I wept from +weariness and despair. + +"It pursues me," he said, again putting his head between his hands and +shaking it with the same tired mournfulness; "at nights I think that my +bed is flung up and down, and when I spring out the room reels round +me as though I were drunk. There was no escape. It was no use trying to +bend the bars of the cage, or to pull up the planks of the bottom. And +the sickness, the sickness! It tore me, it shattered me, but never for a +moment did I lose consciousness of the supreme humiliation it brought +on me, and I supposed that he had foreseen this; surely he had foreseen +every detail. Secure in London, by now, he was surely rubbing his hands +together as he thought of the derelict ceaselessly tossing up and down +at sea." He gave a kind of snarl. "I pictured him, as no doubt he was +picturing me. + +"The real storm came next day, and I had to cling to the bars of the +cage with both hands to save myself from being flung from side to side +and broken against the iron. There were periods, I think, when I fainted +from exhaustion, emerging incredibly bruised, and instantly in the grip +of the sickness again. The buoy was hurled about, down into the grey +valleys between the waves, drenched over and over with masses of water, +as though some giant were flinging down enormous pailfuls; indeed, it +remains a mystery to me why I wasn't drowned. No doubt I would have been +if the light platform hadn't floated like a cork. The bell was ringing +wildly all the time. Every time I went down with the buoy I saw the sky +tilting impossibly over my head, and the wave curling up above me before +it smashed and fell, burying me beneath it." + +He became silent, and sat for a long while heavily brooding to himself. +Once or twice he closed his eyes, as though his thoughts were causing +him intolerable pain. I knew that he was living again through all that +racket and nightmare. I didn't say anything; the thunder of the storm +roared too loudly in my head for me to upraise my small voice against +it, or to offer my tiny sympathy to that man whose endurance had been +measured against the elements, and whose standard must be for ever after +raised to the summit of their standard. + +He let fall one or two phrases that seemed to open a rift down into the +mirk of his experience, so that I thought I looked for a moment into the +very night that he described: + +"I had simply given up hope. I was so weak, you understand. By the time +that night came I was just letting myself be thrown about, anyhow, quite +limp, my head rolling and my arms flacking; I must have looked like +a man in a fit. Whenever I opened my eyes I saw the moon between the +clouds rushing furiously down the sky, and rushing back the other way +as another wave took me up again on its crest. The light of the moon was +just sufficient to light up the rough and tumble of the inky hills of +water. I remember thinking quite stupidly to myself that the moon was a +dead world, and that I envied her for being dead. All this happened to +me," he said, frowning across the table with sudden intentness, "the +week before last." + +This mention of human time brought me back with a shock from the +fantastic world to which he had transported me. + +"Hallo!" I said, starting as one awakened, and making in my confusion a +ridiculous remark, "it must be getting very late." + +Only the ceiling light burnt in the little restaurant, which but for +ourselves was deserted. The stranger leant over towards me, and a shiver +passed over me at the nearness of this man whom I did not know, and to +whose extraordinary experience I had, so to speak, by my own doing, been +made a party. I wanted to put an end to it now, I wanted to say, "Yes, I +have been very much interested. Thank you very much for telling me," and +then to get up and go away. But at my first movement he detained me. + +"Listen a little longer. I'm not mad, you know, and you needn't be +afraid that I shall ever bother you afterwards. You don't know what +good this has done me. I've been alone with this thing for a fortnight, +nearly, thinking about it. The storm.... It lasted for two days; that +made four days since I had been on the buoy. I think another day of +storm would have killed me, There wasn't much life left in me by the +time the sea began to go down. Two days of storm...." + +His voice trailed away. I think he felt, as I did, that the moment was +over when he had really held all my attention and all my imagination. +It was no good trying to revive it. I was tired, as though I had lived +through some brief but violent mental stress. + +"Two days of storm," he muttered vaguely. + +"And how did you get away?" I asked; it was a perfunctory question. + +"How did I get away.--Oh.--Yes, of course. A ship, on the seventh day. +Yes, there were three days of calm after the storm; comparative calm, +but for the swell. So I had the week he had intended for me to have, +to the full. The ship's carpenter came alongside in a dinghy, and filed +through one of the bars. I never told them how I came to be there. I +said it was for a bet, and that I was to have been fetched by my friends +the next day. When I got on board I collapsed. I'd just come out of +hospital the day you first saw me here." He rose wearily. "Well, I +mustn't keep you. Thank you more than I can say, for having listened." + +It seemed strange that _he_ should be thanking _me_. + +We walked towards the door of the restaurant together; outside, the +London street was empty under a melancholy drizzle of rain. + +"You had better give me your name and your address," I said, pricked on +to it by a curiously conventional conscience. + +"No, no," he said, backing away from me. "You've been kind, you mustn't +ever be implicated." + +"Why, what are you going to do?" I cried. + +He turned, his old wideawake crammed down over his hair, and his face +half buried in the upturned collar of his coat, but I saw the sudden +gleam of his eyes by the light of a street lamp. + +"Think out something worse to do to him," he mumbled rapidly; "something +worse to do to _him_." + +* * * * * + +As he read the last words M. Lesueur's brow darkened. A mare's nest +indeed! An hour gone and nothing gained! Then his eye caught a footnote +to the last page of the translation he had just perused. + +"About the middle of this story" (the footnote said) "I found a few +words in brackets that seem to have no connection with the tale. They +are in French--foreigner's French and faulty--but they appear to mean: +'We are imprisoned in the garret under the leads of the long wing of the +château. Our food will last only another day.'" This laconic footnote +was initialled "H. F. (translator)." + +The Commissary's eye brightened. Here at last was something, and +something good. Rapidly he made his plans. He would start in twenty +minutes with six men; he would advise Toussaint by telephone to meet +him at the château with six more. The case would prove, perhaps, +vastly important. He saw decorations and Paris employment; he read +in imagination columns of praise in the great papers of the capital. +Quitting unwillingly the realm of ambitious fancy, he took up the +telephone, but before he could speak there came a sharp knock at the +door, and a gendarme stood awaiting permission to address his superior. + +"What is it?" demanded M. Lesueur. + +"A tramp, sir," replied the gendarme. + +"God in heaven, man! What do I care for a tramp? Is this a workhouse? +Send him away and go after him!" + +"He has found two Englishmen in a dungeon," observed the gendarme with +wooden persistence. + +"Let him join them!" snapped M. Lesueur, angrily. Then the next moment, +"What do you say? Englishmen? Where? What dungeon?" + +"He asks leave to make his deposition, sir. He is not an ordinary +tramp." + +For a moment the commissary hesitated. The memory of those words +interpolated in the third of the mysterious stories checked his +impatience. Never neglect possible information. + +"Bring him in," he said shortly, and replaced the telephone receiver +that, all this while and to the intense irritation of the exchange, he +had held vaguely in his hand. + +There was ushered in a lean, scarecrow figure at whose heels (despite +scuffling protests from the gendarme without) limped a black, untidy +dog. The tramp bowed and began at once to speak in the slow correct +French of a well-educated foreigner. He told of a dusty road along which +he had toiled; of a coppice and its tempting shade; of the drowsiness +of afternoon; of dream voices that were not, after all, of dream; of a +mound with a mysterious grating; of a subterranean cavern and its two +unusual and impatient prisoners. M. Lesueur listened in silence. The +story done, he took up the telephone once again. While waiting for his +connection, he addressed the senior gendarme of those present in the +room. + +"I want the two fastest cars brought round immediately. This fellow +shall take us to his mound and we will see how far he is lying and how +far telling us the truth. We will then proceed to the Château de +la Hourmerie. Six men will be required to accompany me. Make your +selection----'allô! 'allô!---- Toussaint?---- Is that you, Toussaint?" + +And he outlined with curt efficiency the instructions laid down for his +subordinate. + +"In an hour," he concluded, "we meet at the Château de la Hourmerie. One +hour, mind you! One hour from now." Smartly and with finality he hung up +the receiver. + +The Commissary was already struggling into his dust coat when there came +yet a second interruption. The sound of many agitated feet in the +outer office prepared the occupants of M. Lesueur's private room for +threatened but not for actual invasion of their retired sanctuary. +Wherefore they regarded with speechless amazement the tempestuous entry +of two elegantly gowned women, one clutching the other firmly by the +arm, while in close and uncomfortable attendance followed two men, one +tall, white-whiskered, and conspicuous in a buff alpaca suit, the other +short, stout, and shining with the sweat-drops of embarrassment. + +The female invaders lost no time in stating their business, but as they +both spoke at once and shrilly, the unfortunate Commissary learnt little +of the matter at issue between them. Not until the united efforts of all +the men present had silenced feminine vociferation was it possible to +understand what in the world the pother was about. The old gentleman, +to whom in courtesy priority of speech was accorded, made the following +statement: + +"About an hour and a half ago I entered the Casino in company with the +young lady whom now you observe in the grip of--er--the other lady. My +companion, whose name is Amélie, was anxious at once to join the crowd +at the tables. + +"We contrived to edge ourselves to a convenient front seat, and for +some while played quietly and with varying success. I then observed that +new-comers were seeking to force a way to the front row of players, and, +in order to give others their turn, stepped behind my companion, leaving +vacant the spot I had previously occupied. It was filled forthwith +by the second of the two ladies now before you, who thanked me with +a charming smile for my courtesy, and was on the point of turning her +interest wholly to the game when her eyes fell on Amélie. Instantly she +flushed with excitement, paled again and flushed once more, and I was +the next moment aware of a rapid movement of her arm as she snatched +from the neck of Amélie an ornament that hung there from a thin gold +chain. + +"You can imagine the excited confusion that ensued, the outcome of which +is my attendance here to account, so far as I may, for the disturbance +in which I have been involved." + +M. Lesueur acknowledged die straightforward simplicity of the old +gentleman's story with a slight bow. + +"Your name, sir?" he asked. + +"Widiershaw. I am an Englishman." + +"Did you know any of these persons before this afternoon?" + +"Yes and no. Yes--because the lady who assaulted Amélie in the Casino +turns out to be the widow of a relative of mine, and her name, although +not her person, is quite familiar to me. No--because my acquaintance +with Mdlle Amélie predated by an hour only our visit to the Casino. This +gentleman I have never seen before." + +The Commissary suddenly recalled his waiting motor-cars, his telephoned +appointment, his sensational prospects at the Château de la Hourmerie. +Between him and the door of his room was an excited and perspiring +crowd, not the least awesome members of which were the two angry ladies. +By ill-luck his second in command was ill and away from work. Next in +seniority came an official, competent enough to deal with ordinary cases +of theft, disturbance, or general misdemeanour, but hardly to be trusted +with an affair deserving of delicate and cautious management. M. Lesueur +felt obscurely that the present was an affair of that kind. The parties +to it were not only well dressed, but (with the possible exception of +Amélie, whose social complacency the evidence of Mr. Withershaw appeared +to have established) suggestive of good breeding, or at least of +normal good behaviour. It would not do, thanks to the inexperience of +a subordinate, to involve the Commissariat of St. Hilaire in +unpleasantness with foreigners of influence and distinction. + +With a sigh of impatience M. Lesueur turned again to his chair and sat +down. He gave an order to the gendarme at his elbow: + +"Telephone Toussaint that I am delayed, that I will be at La Hourmerie +half an hour later than I said. Perhaps forty minutes. The cars can +wait." + +He spoke in a low voice, but not so low that the quick ear of Amélie did +not catch the words "La Hourmerie." She compressed her lips, cast a look +of spiteful triumph at her antagonist (who still held her arm as in a +vice), and awaited developments in vengeful silence. + +"Now!" said the Commissary briskly. "Your names, please. M. +Withershaw--prénom? Thank you. M. _James_ Withershaw. Yours, madame? +Pardon? Spell it, please." + +"D-A-N-E--trait d'union--V-E-R-E-K-E-R," said the captor lady, with +precision and a very passable accent. + +"Amélie Vildrac." + +"Hector Turpin." + +A clerk made the necessary entries. Mrs. Dane-Vereker was asked to give +her version of the afternoon's events. + +"They are few and easy to relate," she said. "This woman was my maid. +Two days ago she stole, among other things, a valuable and valued cameo +belonging to me, and disappeared. This afternoon, and by the merest +hazard, I found myself next to her at the tables. With an effrontery +natural to women of her type she was wearing the very ornament she had +stolen. Naturally I charged her with the theft, and attempted to seize +my property. That is all I have to say." + +"And you, Mdlle Vildrac?" + +Amélie shrugged insolent shoulders. + +"Things have an air so different from different points of view," she +observed. "Madame tells her story. I tell mine. Which will you believe? +Here are the real facts. It is true, as Madame has said, that until two +days ago I was Madame's maid. It is also true in effect that two days +ago I left her. But not clandestinely, oh no! nor with stolen valuables. +Rather at her bidding, and with a small trinket that she gave to me at +parting. 'Amélie,' she said to me, 'I have planned to leave these people +we are with'--you must understand, Monsieur, that Madame and I were +members of a touring party under the charge of M. Hector Turpin yonder. +Mon Dieu, how strange some of that party! English, all of them, and so +strange!---- But I was saying that Madame had planned to leave them. 'I +am going away with M. Turpin,' she said to me, 'and these stupid people +must extricate themselves as best they may from the trap into which my +clever Turpin has led them. You will not betray me? Go you to Paris +or to St. Hilaire and seek your fortune. Here is money and here is the +cameo you have so often admired. Wear it in memory of me, and for its +sake keep silence.' + +"Voila!" Mdlle Amélie spread out emphatic hands. "Am I a thief? Is it +theft to take gifts from another woman? And finally, M. le Commissaire, +seeing that you are bound for La Hourmerie, I ask you to observe that +this precious elopement took place from that very spot, and that in the +Château de la Hourmerie were staying those other unfortunates, now +abandoned to their fate by the selfish passion of Madame for her +cicerone turned paramour!" + +It may be imagined that Amélie's scandalous declaration let loose Babel +once again in the office of the unhappy Commissary. Mrs. Dane-Vereker, +Turpin, Amélie, and Mr. Withershaw vociferated simultaneously and with +prolonged fervour. The patience of M. Lesueur came finally to an end. + +"Silence!" he roared, banging the desk in frenzy. And then to the +attendant gendarmes, who, by now, numbered some twelve highly edified +stalwarts, he shouted an order for the instant incarceration of these +pestilent folk. Their fate should be decided on the morrow. + +"As for you, Mademoiselle," he said to Amélie, "I know your type well, +and I ask you to note that I am indeed bound for La Hourmerie. I shall +not forget your story. Between this moment and to-morrow you will have +time to think of the various embellishments of which it is susceptible." + +And he hurried from the room toward the outer door, followed by six +gendarmes, and, between two of them, the tramp, while from the office +they had left came a confused turmoil of bitter feminine insult, of +French official determination, of furious Anglo-Saxon protest. Baba, the +black dog, bundled in his master's wake. + +* * * * * + +On the terrace of the Château de la Hourmerie clustered a motley and +excited group. In the centre M. Lesueur, his face alight with the +satisfaction of a quest worthily fulfilled, gazed almost fondly at the +body of rescuers and rescued that bore witness to his triumph. First was +the tramp, impassive as ever, his whole bearing a slouch of uninterested +fatigue. By his side--unshaven, a little dusty, but otherwise no whit +the worse--stood the Professor and the Bureaucrat, salved from their +underground prison by the crowbars of the six muscular policemen who +formed at the present impressivejuncture a stolid back-drop to the scene. +Close by, also unshaven and weary-looking, but happy in the moment of +release, were a priest, a poet, and a nondescript young man of amiable +aspect and engaging mien, whose name was Peter Brown. M. Lesueur had +just completed his narrative of events at the Commissariat of Police. + +"Good Lord!" said the Bureaucrat. "Fancy Mrs. Dane bolting with old +Turps!" + +"I shall never write another story on wallpaper," remarked Peter Brown. +"It's worse than marking handkerchiefs. But we could make no one hear, +and thought, if we hurled out of the window a bundle of paper with a +message hidden somewhere in the middle of apparently harmless text, +there was just a chance of its being picked up. The lane runs fairly +near to yonder corner of the house. You can imagine how thrilled we were +when the old envelope--weighted with Father Anthony's pocket knife and +my pipe stop--fell plump into a passing cart." + +"The chance was indeed providential," commented the Priest gravely, +"but let us not forget that we owe to our zealous and sharp-eyed friends +among the police the actual discovery of our queer message hidden in the +grass of the crossroads." + +"Where are the others of the party?" broke in the Bureaucrat. "We know +that Turpin and Mrs. Dane and that minx Amélie are in jail. But where +are Miss Pogson and Doctor Pennock and Mr. Scott, and where's old +what's-his-name, the Master Printer?..." + +* * * * * + +The reply was unexpected. Somewhere at the back of the château a clock +struck noisily. In their basket chairs on the terrace of the Château +de la Hourmerie the members of Mr. Hector Turpin's first Continental +touring party sat spellbound at the force of a chime hitherto +unnoticed. They had counted twelve strokes. To their horrified +amazement, the chime rang out once more--and they realised that the +tall windows of the house no longer threw comforting light upon the +flagstones, that behind them, as before, lay utter darkness. + +Seven voices spoke as one: + +"Did you hear it? The clock struck thirteen!" + +And again: + +"Did you see, the way the lights went out?" + +For a moment there was profound silence. Then from the last chair of the +line came a long-drawn, chuckling laugh, a laugh of pride, of amusement, +of relief, + +"Well, upon my word!" said in quiet, incisive tones the voice of Henry +Scott (of the Psychical Research Society). "I hardly dared to hope for +so complete a triumph! My good friends, it is one a.m. As the clock +struck twelve you sank into hypnotic trance; on the point of its +striking one, you emerged. The hour of interval was telescoped in your +waking consciousness to a few seconds. As for the lights--at half-past +twelve Doctor Pennock went to bed. She turned them out as she passed +through the house. I asked her to. I will relight them now." + +And he walked to the nearest window, crossed the room within and +switched on every lamp. + +The bemused wits of the victims of Mr. Scott's hypnotic joke could not +immediately respond to this sudden revelation of the truth. Also their +eyes blinked in the new brilliance of projected light. Mrs. Dane-Vereker +was the first to recover speech. + +"But where is that wretch Amélie?" she gasped. + +"And the Commissary?" demanded Father Anthony. + +"And the Old Gentleman?" echoed the Courier. + +"Turpin, by the lord Harry!" shouted the Bureaucrat. "But you've eloped +with Mrs. Dane!" + +"The guile of an enemy detained me in a damp and poorly ventilated +cave," complained the Professor. + +"There was a tramp here with a dog!" moaned the poet. + +"The terrace was crowded with police!" cried Peter Brown, "and it was +still daylight!..." + +Mr. Scott enjoyed their bewilderment with the cruel calm of the true +psychological investigator. + +"You will never see any of those people again," he observed quietly. +"Except poor Amélie, who is in bed this three hours, I invented them +all. Not a bad set of creations, were they?" + +A snore from the shadow drew attention to the stertorous oblivion of Mr. +Buck, the retired master printer. + +"Buck was my only failure," said the psychical researcher. "He was fast +asleep when I started in. I say nothing of Doctor Pennock; she was too +much for me; but then she knows the game. Nevertheless, she had the +sportsmanship to leave me at it." + +By this time signs of considerable indignation were visible among the +dupes of Mr. Scott's inventive skill. The Lady of Fashion recalled +with blushing fury her supposed escapade with the absurd Courier. The +Bureaucrat re-lived his angry helplessness behind the iron grille. +Before, however, anger could break out, the tension gave way to the +irrepressible humour of Peter Brown. Suddenly he began to laugh, and +each moment he laughed more loudly and more shamelessly. One by one the +others joined, until by the healthy wind of merriment every trailing +wisp of irritation was dispelled and blown away. Mr. Scott rose to his +feet. + +"You are admirable folk," he said, "the whole collection of you! I am +proud to be associated with so unselfish and humorous an assembly. Let +me make some slight amends for my impertinence. In the first place, I +would ask your pardon for subjecting you without warning or permission +to a most interesting experiment. In the second place, let me tell you a +tale against myself, a tale that shows me in the light of a bewildered, +blundering fool. I had never, until the complete success of the +unwarrantable trick I have just played upon you excellent people, really +recovered from the depression of this adventure. It will discipline +my vanity to tell the story, for I can hardly think of it without +nervousness. Surely, by the time it has been made verbally public, I +shall be chastened as befits simple humanity." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tale Of Mr. Peter Brown - Chelsea +Justice, by V. Sackville West + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF MR. PETER BROWN *** + +***** This file should be named 22476-8.txt or 22476-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/4/7/22476/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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Sackville West + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tale Of Mr. Peter Brown - Chelsea +Justice, by V. Sackville West + +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 Tale Of Mr. Peter Brown - Chelsea Justice + From "The New Decameron", Volume III. + +Author: V. Sackville West + +Release Date: August 31, 2007 [EBook #22476] +Last Updated: February 7, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF MR. PETER BROWN *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE TALE OF MR. PETER BROWN<br /><br /> <i>CHELSEA JUSTICE</i> + </h1> + <h3> + From "The New Decameron"—Volume III. + </h3> + <h2> + By V. Sackville West + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + THE first thing which attracted my attention to the man was the shock of + white hair above the lean young face. But for this, I should not have + looked twice at him: long, spare, and stooping, a shabby figure, he + crouched over a cup of coffee in a corner of the dingy restaurant, at + fretful enmity with the world; typical, I should have said, of the furtive + London nondescript. But that white hair startled me; it gleamed out, + unnaturally cleanly in those not overclean surroundings, and although I + had propped my book up against the water-bottle at my own table, where I + sat over my solitary dinner, I found my eyes straying from the printed + page to the human face which gave the promise of greater interest. Before + very long he became conscious of my glances, and returned them when he + thought I was not observing him. Inevitably, however, the moment came when + our eyes met. We both looked away as though taken in fault, but when, + having finished his coffee and laid out the coppers in payment on his + table, he rose to make his way out between the tables, he let his gaze + dwell on me as he passed; let it dwell on me quite perceptibly, quite + definitely, with an air of curious speculation, a hesitation, almost an + appeal, and I thought he was about to speak, but instead of that he + crushed his hat, an old black wideawake, down over his strange white hair, + and hurrying resolutely on towards the swing-doors of the restaurant, he + passed out and was lost in the London night. + </p> + <p> + I was uncomfortably haunted, after that evening, by a sense of guilt. I + was quite certain, with unjustifiable certainty born of instinct, that the + man had wanted to speak to me, and that the smallest response on my part + would have encouraged him to do so. Why hadn't I given the response? A + smile would have sufficed; a smile wasn't much to demand by one human + being of another. I thought it very pitiable that the conventions of our + social system should persuade one to withhold so small a thing from a + fellow-creature who, perhaps, stood in need of it. That smile, which I + might have given, but had withheld, became for me a sort of symbol. I grew + superstitious about it; built up around it all kinds of extravagant ideas; + pictured to myself the splash of a body into the river; and then, + recovering my sense of proportion, told myself that one really couldn't go + about London smiling at people. Yet I didn't get the man's face out of my + head. It was not only the white hair that had made an impression on my + mind, but the unhappy eyes, the timidly beseeching look. The man was + lonely, I was quite sure of that; utterly lonely. And I had refused a + smile. + </p> + <p> + I don't know whether to say with more pride than shame, or more shame than + pride, that I went back to the restaurant a week later. I had been kept + late at my work, and there were few diners; but he was there, sitting at + the same table, hunched up as before over a cup of coffee. Did the man + live on coffee? He was thin enough, in all conscience, rather like a long, + sallow bird, with a snowy crest. And he had no occupation, no book to + read; nothing better to do than to bend his long curves over the little + table and to stab at the sugar in his coffee with his spoon. He glanced up + when I came in, casually, at the small stir I made; then by his suddenly + startled look I saw that he had recognised me. I didn't nod to him, but I + returned his look so steadily that it amounted to a greeting. You know + those moments, when understanding flickers between people? Well, that was + one of those moments. + </p> + <p> + I sat down at a table, placing myself so that I should face him, and very + ostentatiously I took a newspaper out of my pocket, unfolded it, and began + to read. But through my reading I was aware of him, and I knew that he was + aware of me. At the same time I couldn't help being touched by what I knew + I should read in his face: the same hostility, towards the world at large, + and towards myself the same appeal, half fearful, half beseeching. It was + as though he said, aloud and distinctly, "Let me talk! For God's sake let + me talk it out!" And this time I was determined that he should; yes, I was + quite grim over my determination. I was going to get at the secret that + lay behind those hunted eyes. + </p> + <p> + I was in a queer mood myself; rather a cruel mood, although the + starting-point of my intention had been kind. I knew that my mood had + something of cruelty in it, because I discovered that I was purposely + dawdling over my dinner, in order to keep the man longer than necessary on + the rack. Queer, the complexities one unearths in oneself. But probably if + I had been an ordinary straightforward kind of fellow, I should never have + had the sensibility to recognise in the first instance that the man wanted + to talk to me. It's the reverse of the medal, I suppose. + </p> + <p> + He had finished his coffee, of course, long before I had finished my + dinner; he had squeezed the last drop out of the little coffee-pot, and I + wondered with amusement whether he would have the moral courage to remain + where he was now that his ostensible pretext was gone and that the waiter + was beginning to loiter round his table as a hint that he ought to go. + Poor devil, I could see that he was growing uneasy; he shuffled his feet, + and the glances he threw at me became yet more furtive and reproachful. + Still I gave no sign; I don't know what spirit of sarcasm and teasing + possessed me. He stood it for some time, then he shoved back his chair, + reached for his hat, and stood up. It was a sort of defiance that he was + throwing at me, an ultimatum that I should either end my cat-and-mouse + game, or let him go. As he was about to pass my table on the way out, I + spoke to him. + </p> + <p> + "Care for a look at the evening paper?" + </p> + <p> + Absurd—isn't it?—that one should have to cloak one's interest + in a stranger's soul under such a convention as the offer of a paper. Why + couldn't I have said to him straight out, "Look here, what's the matter + with you?" But our affairs are not so conducted. He accepted my offer, and + stood awkwardly reading the <i>City News</i>, which I thought a sure + indication of his confusion, as by no stretch of fancy could I imagine him + the possessor of stocks or shares. "Sit down," I said, "while you read." + </p> + <p> + He sat down, with a mumble of thanks, laying his old black wideawake + beside him on my table. I think he was glad of the paper, for it gave him + something to do with his hands and his eyes. I observed him, and he must + have known I was observing him. Underneath the thick, snow-white hair the + face was young, although so sunken and so sallow, the face of a man of + perhaps twenty-seven or eight, sensitive, not at all the face of a + criminal escaping from justice, in spite of that hunted look which had + been so vividly present to me during the past week. An artist, I thought; + perhaps a writer; a romantic face; not blatantly romantic; no, but after + you had delved into the eyes and traced the quiver of the mouth you + discovered the certain signs of the romantic idealist. + </p> + <p> + "I saw you here last week," he muttered suddenly. + </p> + <p> + The little restaurant was by now almost empty; many of the lights had been + turned down, and at most of the tables the chairs had been tipped forward. + Being privileged as an old and regular customer, I beckoned to the + proprietor, and in a whisper begged that I might not be disturbed, as I + had to hold a business conversation of some importance with my companion. + At the same time I poured out for the stranger a glass of wine from my own + bottle, remarking that the wine here was better than their coffee. This + seemed to unloose his tongue a little, for he exclaimed that coffee was + very bad for the nerves, especially strong, black coffee, as he drank it; + and after this short outburst relapsed again into silence, taking refuge + in the paper. + </p> + <p> + I tried him once more. + </p> + <p> + "I don't remember seeing you here before last week?" + </p> + <p> + He shot me a quick look, and said, "I haven't been in London." + </p> + <p> + "Travelling, perhaps?" I hazarded negligently. + </p> + <p> + He gave a harsh shout of laughter, succeeded by the same abrupt silence. + Would all our conversation, I wondered, be conducted on this spasmodic + system? He certainly didn't second my efforts at small-talk. Was what he + had to say too vital, too oppressive? + </p> + <p> + "I say," I resumed, leaning forward, "have I seen you anywhere else? I + think your face is familiar...." It was a lie; I knew perfectly well that + I had never seen him anywhere; his was not an appearance to be lightly + forgotten. + </p> + <p> + "And yet," I added, as he stared at me without speaking, "I am sure I + should remember; one would remember this contrast"—and I touched + first my face and then my hair. + </p> + <p> + "It has only been like that for a fortnight." + </p> + <p> + He brought out the words, scowling and lowering at me, and then the fierce + look died away, to be replaced by a look of apology and pain; a cowed + look, like that of a dog who has been ill-treated. "That is what made you + notice me," he exclaimed; "it brands me, doesn't it? Yes. A freak. One + might as well be piebald." He spoke with extraordinary vehemence, and, + taking a handful of his hair, he tugged at it in a rage of despair; then + sinking his face between his hands, he sat shaking his head mournfully + from side to side. + </p> + <p> + "Listen," I said, "have you any friends?" + </p> + <p> + He raised his head. + </p> + <p> + "I had a few stray acquaintances. Nothing would tempt me to go near them + now." + </p> + <p> + "Anyone to talk to?" + </p> + <p> + "Not a soul. I haven't spoken to a soul since—since I came back." + </p> + <p> + "Fire ahead, then," I said, "talk to me. You don't know my name, I don't + know yours. You're quite safe. Say whatever you like. Go on. I'm waiting." + </p> + <p> + He began, talking in a voice low, rapid, and restrained. He spoke so + fluently that I knew he must often have rehearsed the phrases over to + himself, muttering them, against the day when he should be granted + expression. "I had two friends. They were very good to me. I was homeless, + and they told me to look on their home as my own. I hope I didn't trespass + too much on their hospitality, but I fell into the habit of wandering into + their house every evening after dinner, and staying there till it was time + to go to bed. I really don't know which I cared for most, in those early + days, the man or the woman. It had been with him that I first made + acquaintance; we were both engaged on journalistic work, reporting, you + know, on different papers—and we came across each other once or + twice in that way. He was a saturnine, queer-tempered fellow, taciturn at + times, and at other times possessed by a wry sense of humour which made + him excellent company, though it kept one in a state of alert disquiet. He + would say things with that particular twist to them which made one look + up, startled, wondering whether his remark was really intended to be + facetious or obscurely sinister. Thanks to this ambiguity he had gained + quite a reputation in Fleet Street. You can imagine, therefore, that I was + flattered when he singled me out; I listened to all his remarks with a + respect I was too proud to betray; although I adopted an off-hand manner + towards him, I didn't lose many opportunities of letting the other fellows + know, in a casual way, that I had been practically given the run of his + house; and I was never sorry to be seen when we strolled off with his arm + in mine. + </p> + <p> + "They lived, he and his wife, in a tiny house at the end of Cheyne Walk. + On misty evenings we used to sit, all three, on the sill of the + bow-window, watching the big barges float by, while our legs swung + dangling from the high sill, and we talked of many things in the desultory + way born of easy intimacy, and I used silently to marvel at the sharpness + of his mind and the gentleness of hers. She was very gentle. It even + irritated me, faintly, to observe her complete submission to him. Not that + he bullied her, not exactly. But he had a way of taking submission for + granted, and so, I suppose, most people accorded it to him. It irritated + me to see how his wife had subdued her personality to his, she who was of + so tender and delicate a fibre, and who more than anyone wanted + cherishing, instead of being ridden down, in that debonair, rough-shod way + of his, that, although often exasperating, still had something attractive + about it. She and I used to discuss it sometimes, in the evenings, when he + was kept out late at his job—it's an uncertain business, reporting—we + used to discuss it with the tolerance of fond people, and smile over his + weaknesses, and say that he was incorrigible. All the same, it continued + to irritate me. Sometimes I could see that he hurt her, when in his + impatient way he swung round to devastate her opinions with those sly and + unanswerable phrases that placed everything once and for always in a + ridiculous light. What a devilish gift he had, that man, of humiliating + one! And he did it always in so smiling and friendly a fashion that one + could neither take offence nor retaliate. In fact, one didn't realise that + one had been attacked until one felt the blood running warm from one's + wounds, while he had already danced away upon some other quest. + </p> + <p> + "I can hardly trace the steps by which my admiration of him grew to + affection, my affection to uneasiness, and my uneasiness to resentment. I + only know that I took to flushing scarlet when I saw her wince, and to + making about him, when I was alone with her, remarks that were less and + less tolerant and more and more critical. My temper grew readier to bite + out at him, my amusement less easily beguiled. I don't know whether he + noticed it. Most probably he did, for he always noticed everything. If he + did, then he gave no sign. His friendliness towards me continued + unvarying, and there were times when I thought he really bestirred himself + to impress me, to seduce me, he who was usually so contemptuous, and + seemed to enjoy stirring up people's dislike. It wasn't difficult for him + to impress me, if that was what he wanted, for he had, of course, a far + better brain than my own; the sort of brain that compelled one's startled + admiration, even when one least wanted to accord it. By Jove, how well he + used to talk, on those evenings, when we sat and dangled our legs from the + window-sill, looking out at the barges! The best talk I ever heard. You + could have taken it all down in shorthand, and not a word to alter. + </p> + <p> + "Then he got a regular job which kept him out for three evenings a week, + but he told me that mustn't make any difference to my habits: I was to + drop in just the same, whenever I wanted to; and since I hadn't anywhere + else to go, and since the house had become a home to me, I took him at his + word. In a way I missed him, on the evenings he wasn't there; although I + could no longer pretend to myself that I was fond of him, he was a + perpetual interest and stimulation to me, an angry stimulation, if you can + understand what I mean, and I missed his presence, if only because it + deprived me of the occupation of picking holes in him, and of making + mental pounces for my own satisfaction upon everything he said. Not upon + its intellectual value. That was above reproach. Only upon it as a + signpost to his character. I took a delight in silently finding fault with + him. But presently this desire passed from me, and I came to prefer the + repose of the evenings I spent alone with his wife to the strenuousness of + the evenings when we were all three together. We talked very little, his + wife and I, when he was not there. She had about her an amazing quality of + restfulness, of which I quickly got into the habit of taking advantage, + after the vulgar, competitive days of a journalist's existence. You can't + imagine what it meant to me, to drift into the seclusion of that little + Chelsea room, with the mistiness of the trees and the river outside the + window, to be greeted by her smile, and to sink into my familiar + arm-chair, where I might lounge sucking at my pipe and watching the cool + glimmer of her beautiful hands over the rhythm of her needle. Can you + wonder that we didn't talk much? And can you wonder that our silence + became heavy with the things we hadn't said? + </p> + <p> + "Not at first. Our love-affair ran a course contrary to the usual ordering + of such things. If it indeed ended in all the fever and pain of passion, + it certainly began with all the calm of the hearth; yes, I went through a + long phase of accepting that room as my home, and that gentle woman as my + natural companion therein. I don't think I examined the situation at all + closely at that time. I was more than content to let so pleasant an + acquiescence take possession of me; for the first time in my life, you + understand, I was neither lonely nor unhappy. The only thing that jarred + was <i>his</i> presence. The evenings when <i>he</i> was there were all + out of tune. All out of tune." + </p> + <p> + The man with the white hair paused to pour himself out another glass of + wine; and his voice, losing the dreamy note of reminiscence, sharpened to + a more rapid utterance—a crescendo for which I had been waiting. + </p> + <p> + "I haven't an attractive character," he resumed; "I don't want you to + think that I have, and so accord me more sympathy than I deserve. Please + be quite impartial. Please realise that, according to ordinary standards, + I played the part of a cad. Think: there was a man, ostensibly my friend, + who had given me the run of his house; I accept his hospitality and his + friendship, and then take advantage of his absences to make love to his + wife. Not a pretty story, although a commonplace one. Please be quite + harsh towards me, and let me be quite harsh towards myself. I did none of + the things I ought to have done under the circumstances; I neither went + quietly abroad without making a fuss, nor did I attempt to conceal my + feelings from her. If you knew her," he said, with an anguish of longing + that lit up the whole story for me better than any words of his could have + done, "if you knew her, you would realise at once that she wasn't a woman + from whom one could conceal one's feelings. There was that calm gentleness + about her which made all hypocrisy a shame and a sham. Also, deceiving her + would have been like deceiving a child; hurting her was like hurting a + child. (That was what enraged me when <i>he</i> hurt her, and I had to + stand by, and listen.) She was so simple, and direct, and defenceless. So, + you see, as soon as I realised what had happened, I told her. It wasn't a + dramatic avowal, and it had no very immediately dramatic consequences. In + fact, for a while its only effect was to bring me across the room from my + habitual arm-chair, to sit on the floor near her with my head against her + knee; and so we would remain for hours, not moving, scarcely speaking, for + there was such harmony and such content between us that we seemed to know + everything that passed in each other's minds. + </p> + <p> + "Of course, that couldn't last. We were young and human, you see; and + standing in the background, overshadowing the perfection of our solitary + hours, was his long, sarcastic figure—her husband and my friend. An + impossible situation, when you come to consider it. The evenings that he + spent at home very soon became intolerable, from every point of view. I + grew so nervous with the strain of keeping a hold on myself, that even her + tenderness could no longer soothe me. He didn't seem to notice anything + amiss, and, you know, the funny, horrible, contradictory part was that, + much as I now hated him, I was still conscious of his charm. And so, I + think, was she. Can't you picture the trio in that little Chelsea room, + while the barges floated by, and she and I sat on opposite sides of the + fireplace, so terribly aware of one another, and <i>he</i> lay on the + sofa, his long legs trailing over the end, discoursing in his admirable + and varied way on life, politics, and letters? I wonder in how many London + drawing-rooms that situation was being simultaneously reproduced? + </p> + <p> + "Why do I bore you with a recital so commonplace?" he exclaimed, bringing + his fist down on the table; "are you beginning to ask yourself that? What + have you to do with journalistic adulteries? Only wait: you shan't + complain that the sequel is commonplace, and perhaps, one day, when you + read in the papers the sequel to the sequel, you will remember and be + entertained. He caught us red-handed, you see. It was one evening when we + hadn't expected him home until after midnight, and at ten o'clock the door + opened and he stood suddenly in the room. Squalid enough, isn't it? To + this day I don't know whether he had laid a trap for us, or whether he was + as surprised as we were. He stood there stock still, and I sprang up and + stood too, and we glared across at one another. After a moment he said, + 'Paolo and Francesca? this scene acquires quite a classic dignity, doesn't + it, from frequent repetition?' And then he said the most astonishing + thing; he said, 'Don't let me disturb you, and above all remember that <i>I + don't mind</i>,' and with that he went out of the room and shut the door. + </p> + <p> + "After that," said the man with the white hair, "I didn't go near the + house for a week. This was at her request, and of course I couldn't refuse + her. During that week she telephoned to me daily, once in the morning and + once in the evening, always with the same story: she had seen nothing of + him. He had not even been home to collect any of his clothes. You may + imagine the state of anxiety I lived in during that week, which his + disappearance did nothing to palliate, but rather heightened by leaving + everything so mysterious and uncertain. She was evidently terrified—I + could hear it in her voice—but implored me to keep away, for her + sake, if not for mine. At the end of the week he appeared without warning + in the office of the paper where I worked, and, greeting me without making + any allusion to what had happened, invited me to come for two days' + sailing in a small boat which had been lent him by a friend. + </p> + <p> + "I was startled enough by this incongruous suggestion, but naturally I + accepted: you couldn't refuse such an invitation from a man who, you + suspected, intended to have such a matter out with you on the open sea. We + started immediately, and all the way down in the train for Cornwall he + talked in his usual manner, undeterred by the fact that I never answered + him. We got out at Penzance, the time then being, I suppose, about six + o'clock in the evening. I had never been to Penzance before, but he seemed + to know his way about, walking me briskly down to the harbour, where a + fishing-smack under the charge of a rough-looking sailor was waiting for + him. By now I was quite certain that he meant to have it out with me, and + for my part, after the long uncertainty of the week, I asked nothing + better than to get to grips with him. All I prayed for was a hand-to-hand + struggle in which I might have the luck to tip him overboard, so I was + rather dismayed when I saw that the sailor was to accompany us. + </p> + <p> + "We started without any delay, getting clear of the port just as the + darkness fell and the first stars came out in a pale green sky. I had + never been with him anywhere but in London, and it crossed my mind that it + was odd to be with him so far away, off this rocky coast, in the solitude + of waters; and I looked at the green sky above the red-brown sails of the + fishing-smack, and thought of the barges floating down the river at + Chelsea. They were ships, and this was a ship; they carried men, and this + one also carried men. I looked at my companion, who sat in the stern + holding the tiller. There was a breeze, which drove us along at quite a + smart pace. 'Cornwall,' I said to myself, staring slowly round the bay and + at the black mass of St. Michael's Mount,' Cornwall...' + </p> + <p> + "I don't know how many hours we sailed that night, but I know that when + the day broke we were out of sight of land. All that while we had not + spoken a word, though to all practical purposes we were alone, the sailor + having gone to sleep for'ard on a heap of nets, in the bottom of the boat. + He was a rough, handsome, foreign-looking fellow, of a type I believe + often to be found in that part of England. I couldn't understand the + object of this sailing expedition at all. It seemed to me an unnecessarily + elaborate introduction to the discussion of a subject which could as well + have been thrashed out in London. Still, as the other man was the + aggrieved party, I supposed that he was entitled to the choice of weapons; + I supposed that his devilish sense of humour was at the bottom of all + this, and I was determined not to give him the chance of saying I wouldn't + play up. But why couldn't he tell me what was in his mind? How far did he + mean to take me out to sea first? These questions and others raced through + my mind during the whole of that night, while I sat back leaning against + the sides of the boat, watching the stars pass overhead and listening to + the gentle sip, sip of the water. + </p> + <p> + "At dawn my companion rose, and, shading his eyes with one hand while with + the other he still held the tiller, he stood up scanning the surface of + the waters. I watched him, resolved that it would not be me who spoke + first. After a while he appeared to find what he was looking for, for he + said, 'Nearly there.' I could see nothing to break the whole pale opal + stretch of sunrise-flushing sea but a small black speck which I took to be + a buoy, and the faint echo of its bell was borne to me through the clear + air. He sat down again beside the tiller, and we sailed on in the same + silence, into the loveliness of the morning. I was quite certain that he + had some sinister purpose, though what it was I could not yet imagine. + What did he mean by that 'Nearly there '? Although he did not actually + stir, he gave me the impression of concentration now, and at a word from + him the sailor awoke and shot a rapid glance at me, as though doubtful + whether he would find me still in the boat. I was beginning to wonder + whether I should be a match for the two of them, when my companion, + leaving the tiller, made a step towards me with a handkerchief he had + drawn from his pocket; the sailor pinioned my arms from behind, and no + sooner had I recognised the peculiar smell of chloroform than I was + insensible and inert between them. + </p> + <p> + "It was very neatly done. I might have trusted him to carry out neatly + whatever he undertook. Even over that he compelled my angry admiration. So + neat! the fiend, the devil, he had got the better of me before I had had + the chance to put up even the feeblest struggle. I curse myself now for my + silly bravado in accompanying him when he asked me. I might have known I + wasn't a match for him. But I'll be even with him yet," he said, his + nervous hands fumbling at his collar, "I'll be even with him yet; I'll + bide my time," and never was vindictiveness more savage in human eyes. + </p> + <p> + "He didn't allow me to come to my senses until he had carried out his + purpose. When I opened my eyes I was <i>inside</i> the cage of the buoy, + with the bell swinging gently to and fro above my head. + </p> + <p> + "Have you ever seen one of those buoys? They consist of a pear-shaped iron + cage fixed on to a sort of platform, like the keel of a dinghy, and the + bell hangs between four clappers at the top of the cage, and as the thing + rocks up and down on the swell of the sea the clappers hit against the + bell. There was just room for me to sit on the platform, crouched up + inside the cage. One section of the cage was hinged to open, and the door + thus formed was secured by a padlock; how he had got the key of it Heaven + alone knows. I have tried to convey to you—haven't I?—that he + was a very able and successful fellow. + </p> + <p> + "When I came to, he was circling slowly round and round the buoy in his + sailing-boat, lounging indifferently beside the tiller, and watching me + with an expression of mockery I can't reproduce in words. I lost my head + then; I leapt up and shook the bars of my cage and screamed to him to let + me out. I can hear now in my ears the futility of my own voice screaming + across the placid emptiness of the water. I must have looked like a + trapped ape—the kind of ape that is most like a man. I shook the + iron bars so violently that the whole of my floating prison jumped about, + and the b ell began to ring loudly. He only lounged and smiled. No doubt + he had looked forward extremely to the moment. His amused impassivity was + the thing best calculated to restore my self-control, and I try to salve + my vanity by thinking that I should never so have gratified him but for + the bewildering effects of the anaesthetic. I calmed myself down, I tried + to reason with him. + </p> + <p> + "I exhorted him to settle up his wrongs in a more civilised manner. Then, + seeing that every plea was to him a source of fresh delight, I ceased to + argue, and became silent, holding on to the bars of my cage and watching + him as he cruised slowly round and round the buoy. Presently he talked to + me. They were like neat incisions in my flesh, his words. Oh, he spared me + nothing, I assure you; there wasn't a phrase without a beautifully + tempered edge to it. I recalled his words when he had caught us together, + 'Don't let me disturb you, and above all remember that '<i>I don't mind</i>,' + and even in the midst of my rage and hatred I couldn't help respecting him + for that irony. + </p> + <p> + "I learnt now the full extent to which he had minded. Quite coldly he told + me. He had spent the week wondering whether it should be himself or me + that should be put out of the way. So much had he minded, you see. I think + he had been hurt in his pride, even more than in his affection for... for + her. I hadn't suspected that he was so sensitive over what he considered + his honour—dense of me, perhaps—but there was no mistaking + that this sensitiveness now tied the extra lash on to the whip of his + tongue. When he had finished talking, when he had said all that he wanted + to say, and all without once losing his temper or his damned insolent + dexterity, he nodded to me for all the world as though we had been talking + shop in Fleet Street, and were separating to go about our various + businesses. That nod remains with me; I'll never forget it or forgive it; + it seemed to me the last crowning insult; it seemed to sum up all that I + most hated in the man. + </p> + <p> + "He put his boat about, she heeled over a little as the breeze took her, + and that slight slant of her sail was pencilled against the pale sky as + she glided away across the water. I can't resist the journalistic touch, + you see," he added, with an outburst of extraordinary bitterness. + </p> + <p> + "It was not until his boat had dwindled to a tiny black dot far away that + I began fully to realise the situation. There was I, alone in the middle + of a great circle of sea and sky, alone and confined, and ludicrously + helpless. At first it was upon the ludicrous aspect that I chiefly dwelt, + the anger of it, the absurdity, and the humiliation. Then little by little + the horror of it crept over me, and I was aghast; there was, of course, + the gleam of hope that I might attract the attention of a passing ship, + but the Channel at that point must be fairly on the way to becoming the + Atlantic, and I dared not delude myself too boldly lest I be disappointed. + He wasn't coming back for me; he had made that quite clear. He had left + beside me on the bottom of the buoy a parcel of food and a bottle of + water, enough, he had said, to keep me for a week if I used it sparingly. + He had said, with a grin, that I would be all right for a week if the + weather kept calm. If not, he was afraid I might be inconvenienced. But he + would like me to have a week, because that was exactly the length of time + that he had had. Those had been his last words before he nodded and said, + 'So long.' + </p> + <p> + "The whole of that day passed in a dead calm. I sat on the floor with my + arms clasped round my knees, because there wasn't room to stretch out my + legs, and when I became too cramped in that position I stood up, which I + could just manage to do if I stooped my head. Later on I found out that I + could stand upright by putting my head inside the bell, but I couldn't + bear that for very long because of the intolerable noise of the clappers + hitting the bell so near my ears. I tried holding the clappers still, but + that was no good, as there were four of them. So I held the bell itself, + which at least deadened the sound. No, I couldn't unhook the clappers; + they were a fixture. Anyhow, that first day I wasn't much troubled by the + noise of the bell, as the buoy rocked very slightly on an oily swell; I + was more troubled by the dazzle of the sun on the water, not daring to + shut my eyes for long lest I should miss a possible ship, and also I was + divided between the gnawing of my thoughts and the boredom of those + interminable hours from sunrise to sunset. I don't suppose it is given to + many men to have nothing better to do than watch the sun travel across the + heavens from the moment it emerges above one horizon to the moment it dips + below the rim of the other. That was what I watched—the delicacy of + dawn, the blood-red of sunset, and the grand golden sweep of the journey + in between the two. + </p> + <p> + "Never had I felt so abandoned or so insignificant. Can your imagination + enter into it at all? To do so, you must keep the sense of the enormous + circle of sea always present in your mind, the hard round edge of the + horizon, and the buoy in the centre like a speck of dust in the centre of + a plate. I felt I was in a tiny prison in the middle of an enormous + prison. And after the sun had gone it was worse; it is true that I could + no longer see that huge hard circle, but I knew that, although invisible, + it was still there, and now in addition I had a black vault over me, and + it grew cold, and a loneliness closed down on me such as I had not + experienced while I had the sun and his warmth for companions. I dared not + contemplate the prospect of many such days and nights; I simply dared not + let myself think. I tried to sleep, but was too cold. A breeze sprang up + at about midnight, and the buoy rocked more noticeably; again, I dared not + picture my discomfort should the weather change. I called it discomfort; I + didn't know then, I hadn't yet begun to learn. + </p> + <p> + "Two days passed like that. Two whole days. Have you ever tried to spend + two days, or even one day, or even twelve hours, doing absolutely and + literally nothing? If not, try it, especially if you happen to be an + active man. I could only sit there, my knees drawn up and my hands either + clasped round my knees or hanging between them. I was confronted all the + time by the thought of what the end was to be. Starvation and death from + thirst? I could see very little other prospect. For the first day I had + been comparatively sanguine that a ship would come along, but hourly this + hope dwindled, till there was no real hope left, but only the old obscure + and unreasoning human obstinacy. So on the second day I suffered from my + thoughts; I hadn't, as yet, undergone any real physical suffering. + </p> + <p> + "The morning of the third day broke with dark clouds over a grey sea. It + was indescribably dreary. All that water, all that mass of grey water! I + huddled my knees up against my chest for warmth. A shower fell, and I + minded that because it meant more water, not only because it chilled me; + don't think I exaggerate: the quantity and the monotony of so much water + was getting on my nerves. They were in a pretty bad state by then, so bad + that the dread of ultimate madness had already crossed my mind. I was + weakened, too, by insufficient food, for I knew I must economise my + resources. Once or twice steamers passed, a very long way off. I shouted + till my throat was hoarse, but quite in vain. Each time they passed out of + sight, I sobbed. Forgive me. + </p> + <p> + "The wind held, driving the masses of low clouds across the sky, and + chopping the sea into little waves, white-topped amongst the grey, which + tumbled and tossed the buoy till I was sickened and wearied. I fancied + that the pulp of my brain was being shaken to and fro inside my head; it + felt like that. I prayed for the wind to go down, but it only gained in + strength. I felt I should go mad; I was so impotent, you see. And the bell + clanged above my head—I was condemned to unceasing movement and + unceasing noise." + </p> + <p> + He stared round him with tormented eyes, as though afraid that the whole + restaurant would begin rocking and vibrating. + </p> + <p> + "And there were other things, ridiculous and humiliating," he resumed, + "that robbed me even of the small consolation of tragedy. How can I tell + you? I shall lose all dignity in your eyes—if indeed I ever had any + to lose—as I lost it in my own. The terrible sickness, you + understand.... That, and the din of the bell, and being flung up and down, + backwards and forwards. No rest, not for a moment. I prayed, I tried to + fight my way out of the buoy, between the bars, to throw myself into the + sea. The sea was rising visibly, and the spray of the waves broke over me, + drenching me; the salt dried upon my face, stiffening my skin. There were + moments when I thought I could endure the rest, if I might have a respite + from the movement; other moments, if I might have a respite from the + sickness; and yet others, if I might have a respite from the clang of the + bell. In the intervals of the sickness, with such strength as remained to + me, I tore strips from my soaking shirt and tried to bind up the clappers; + it muffled the noise a little, but not much. I wept from weariness and + despair. + </p> + <p> + "It pursues me," he said, again putting his head between his hands and + shaking it with the same tired mournfulness; "at nights I think that my + bed is flung up and down, and when I spring out the room reels round me as + though I were drunk. There was no escape. It was no use trying to bend the + bars of the cage, or to pull up the planks of the bottom. And the + sickness, the sickness! It tore me, it shattered me, but never for a + moment did I lose consciousness of the supreme humiliation it brought on + me, and I supposed that he had foreseen this; surely he had foreseen every + detail. Secure in London, by now, he was surely rubbing his hands together + as he thought of the derelict ceaselessly tossing up and down at sea." He + gave a kind of snarl. "I pictured him, as no doubt he was picturing me. + </p> + <p> + "The real storm came next day, and I had to cling to the bars of the cage + with both hands to save myself from being flung from side to side and + broken against the iron. There were periods, I think, when I fainted from + exhaustion, emerging incredibly bruised, and instantly in the grip of the + sickness again. The buoy was hurled about, down into the grey valleys + between the waves, drenched over and over with masses of water, as though + some giant were flinging down enormous pailfuls; indeed, it remains a + mystery to me why I wasn't drowned. No doubt I would have been if the + light platform hadn't floated like a cork. The bell was ringing wildly all + the time. Every time I went down with the buoy I saw the sky tilting + impossibly over my head, and the wave curling up above me before it + smashed and fell, burying me beneath it." + </p> + <p> + He became silent, and sat for a long while heavily brooding to himself. + Once or twice he closed his eyes, as though his thoughts were causing him + intolerable pain. I knew that he was living again through all that racket + and nightmare. I didn't say anything; the thunder of the storm roared too + loudly in my head for me to upraise my small voice against it, or to offer + my tiny sympathy to that man whose endurance had been measured against the + elements, and whose standard must be for ever after raised to the summit + of their standard. + </p> + <p> + He let fall one or two phrases that seemed to open a rift down into the + mirk of his experience, so that I thought I looked for a moment into the + very night that he described: + </p> + <p> + "I had simply given up hope. I was so weak, you understand. By the time + that night came I was just letting myself be thrown about, anyhow, quite + limp, my head rolling and my arms flacking; I must have looked like a man + in a fit. Whenever I opened my eyes I saw the moon between the clouds + rushing furiously down the sky, and rushing back the other way as another + wave took me up again on its crest. The light of the moon was just + sufficient to light up the rough and tumble of the inky hills of water. I + remember thinking quite stupidly to myself that the moon was a dead world, + and that I envied her for being dead. All this happened to me," he said, + frowning across the table with sudden intentness, "the week before last." + </p> + <p> + This mention of human time brought me back with a shock from the fantastic + world to which he had transported me. + </p> + <p> + "Hallo!" I said, starting as one awakened, and making in my confusion a + ridiculous remark, "it must be getting very late." + </p> + <p> + Only the ceiling light burnt in the little restaurant, which but for + ourselves was deserted. The stranger leant over towards me, and a shiver + passed over me at the nearness of this man whom I did not know, and to + whose extraordinary experience I had, so to speak, by my own doing, been + made a party. I wanted to put an end to it now, I wanted to say, "Yes, I + have been very much interested. Thank you very much for telling me," and + then to get up and go away. But at my first movement he detained me. + </p> + <p> + "Listen a little longer. I'm not mad, you know, and you needn't be afraid + that I shall ever bother you afterwards. You don't know what good this has + done me. I've been alone with this thing for a fortnight, nearly, thinking + about it. The storm.... It lasted for two days; that made four days since + I had been on the buoy. I think another day of storm would have killed me, + There wasn't much life left in me by the time the sea began to go down. + Two days of storm...." + </p> + <p> + His voice trailed away. I think he felt, as I did, that the moment was + over when he had really held all my attention and all my imagination. It + was no good trying to revive it. I was tired, as though I had lived + through some brief but violent mental stress. + </p> + <p> + "Two days of storm," he muttered vaguely. + </p> + <p> + "And how did you get away?" I asked; it was a perfunctory question. + </p> + <p> + "How did I get away.—Oh.—Yes, of course. A ship, on the + seventh day. Yes, there were three days of calm after the storm; + comparative calm, but for the swell. So I had the week he had intended for + me to have, to the full. The ship's carpenter came alongside in a dinghy, + and filed through one of the bars. I never told them how I came to be + there. I said it was for a bet, and that I was to have been fetched by my + friends the next day. When I got on board I collapsed. I'd just come out + of hospital the day you first saw me here." He rose wearily. "Well, I + mustn't keep you. Thank you more than I can say, for having listened." + </p> + <p> + It seemed strange that <i>he</i> should be thanking <i>me</i>. + </p> + <p> + We walked towards the door of the restaurant together; outside, the London + street was empty under a melancholy drizzle of rain. + </p> + <p> + "You had better give me your name and your address," I said, pricked on to + it by a curiously conventional conscience. + </p> + <p> + "No, no," he said, backing away from me. "You've been kind, you mustn't + ever be implicated." + </p> + <p> + "Why, what are you going to do?" I cried. + </p> + <p> + He turned, his old wideawake crammed down over his hair, and his face half + buried in the upturned collar of his coat, but I saw the sudden gleam of + his eyes by the light of a street lamp. + </p> + <p> + "Think out something worse to do to him," he mumbled rapidly; "something + worse to do to <i>him</i>." + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + As he read the last words M. Lesueur's brow darkened. A mare's nest + indeed! An hour gone and nothing gained! Then his eye caught a footnote to + the last page of the translation he had just perused. + </p> + <p> + "About the middle of this story" (the footnote said) "I found a few words + in brackets that seem to have no connection with the tale. They are in + French—foreigner's French and faulty—but they appear to mean: + 'We are imprisoned in the garret under the leads of the long wing of the + château. Our food will last only another day.'" This laconic footnote was + initialled "H. F. (translator)." + </p> + <p> + The Commissary's eye brightened. Here at last was something, and something + good. Rapidly he made his plans. He would start in twenty minutes with six + men; he would advise Toussaint by telephone to meet him at the château + with six more. The case would prove, perhaps, vastly important. He saw + decorations and Paris employment; he read in imagination columns of praise + in the great papers of the capital. Quitting unwillingly the realm of + ambitious fancy, he took up the telephone, but before he could speak there + came a sharp knock at the door, and a gendarme stood awaiting permission + to address his superior. + </p> + <p> + "What is it?" demanded M. Lesueur. + </p> + <p> + "A tramp, sir," replied the gendarme. + </p> + <p> + "God in heaven, man! What do I care for a tramp? Is this a workhouse? Send + him away and go after him!" + </p> + <p> + "He has found two Englishmen in a dungeon," observed the gendarme with + wooden persistence. + </p> + <p> + "Let him join them!" snapped M. Lesueur, angrily. Then the next moment, + "What do you say? Englishmen? Where? What dungeon?" + </p> + <p> + "He asks leave to make his deposition, sir. He is not an ordinary tramp." + </p> + <p> + For a moment the commissary hesitated. The memory of those words + interpolated in the third of the mysterious stories checked his + impatience. Never neglect possible information. + </p> + <p> + "Bring him in," he said shortly, and replaced the telephone receiver that, + all this while and to the intense irritation of the exchange, he had held + vaguely in his hand. + </p> + <p> + There was ushered in a lean, scarecrow figure at whose heels (despite + scuffling protests from the gendarme without) limped a black, untidy dog. + The tramp bowed and began at once to speak in the slow correct French of a + well-educated foreigner. He told of a dusty road along which he had + toiled; of a coppice and its tempting shade; of the drowsiness of + afternoon; of dream voices that were not, after all, of dream; of a mound + with a mysterious grating; of a subterranean cavern and its two unusual + and impatient prisoners. M. Lesueur listened in silence. The story done, + he took up the telephone once again. While waiting for his connection, he + addressed the senior gendarme of those present in the room. + </p> + <p> + "I want the two fastest cars brought round immediately. This fellow shall + take us to his mound and we will see how far he is lying and how far + telling us the truth. We will then proceed to the Château de la Hourmerie. + Six men will be required to accompany me. Make your selection——'allô! + 'allô!—— Toussaint?—— Is that you, Toussaint?" + </p> + <p> + And he outlined with curt efficiency the instructions laid down for his + subordinate. + </p> + <p> + "In an hour," he concluded, "we meet at the Château de la Hourmerie. One + hour, mind you! One hour from now." Smartly and with finality he hung up + the receiver. + </p> + <p> + The Commissary was already struggling into his dust coat when there came + yet a second interruption. The sound of many agitated feet in the outer + office prepared the occupants of M. Lesueur's private room for threatened + but not for actual invasion of their retired sanctuary. Wherefore they + regarded with speechless amazement the tempestuous entry of two elegantly + gowned women, one clutching the other firmly by the arm, while in close + and uncomfortable attendance followed two men, one tall, white-whiskered, + and conspicuous in a buff alpaca suit, the other short, stout, and shining + with the sweat-drops of embarrassment. + </p> + <p> + The female invaders lost no time in stating their business, but as they + both spoke at once and shrilly, the unfortunate Commissary learnt little + of the matter at issue between them. Not until the united efforts of all + the men present had silenced feminine vociferation was it possible to + understand what in the world the pother was about. The old gentleman, to + whom in courtesy priority of speech was accorded, made the following + statement: + </p> + <p> + "About an hour and a half ago I entered the Casino in company with the + young lady whom now you observe in the grip of—er—the other + lady. My companion, whose name is Amélie, was anxious at once to join the + crowd at the tables. + </p> + <p> + "We contrived to edge ourselves to a convenient front seat, and for some + while played quietly and with varying success. I then observed that + new-comers were seeking to force a way to the front row of players, and, + in order to give others their turn, stepped behind my companion, leaving + vacant the spot I had previously occupied. It was filled forthwith by the + second of the two ladies now before you, who thanked me with a charming + smile for my courtesy, and was on the point of turning her interest wholly + to the game when her eyes fell on Amélie. Instantly she flushed with + excitement, paled again and flushed once more, and I was the next moment + aware of a rapid movement of her arm as she snatched from the neck of + Amélie an ornament that hung there from a thin gold chain. + </p> + <p> + "You can imagine the excited confusion that ensued, the outcome of which + is my attendance here to account, so far as I may, for the disturbance in + which I have been involved." + </p> + <p> + M. Lesueur acknowledged die straightforward simplicity of the old + gentleman's story with a slight bow. + </p> + <p> + "Your name, sir?" he asked. + </p> + <p> + "Widiershaw. I am an Englishman." + </p> + <p> + "Did you know any of these persons before this afternoon?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes and no. Yes—because the lady who assaulted Amélie in the Casino + turns out to be the widow of a relative of mine, and her name, although + not her person, is quite familiar to me. No—because my acquaintance + with Mdlle Amélie predated by an hour only our visit to the Casino. This + gentleman I have never seen before." + </p> + <p> + The Commissary suddenly recalled his waiting motor-cars, his telephoned + appointment, his sensational prospects at the Château de la Hourmerie. + Between him and the door of his room was an excited and perspiring crowd, + not the least awesome members of which were the two angry ladies. By + ill-luck his second in command was ill and away from work. Next in + seniority came an official, competent enough to deal with ordinary cases + of theft, disturbance, or general misdemeanour, but hardly to be trusted + with an affair deserving of delicate and cautious management. M. Lesueur + felt obscurely that the present was an affair of that kind. The parties to + it were not only well dressed, but (with the possible exception of Amélie, + whose social complacency the evidence of Mr. Withershaw appeared to have + established) suggestive of good breeding, or at least of normal good + behaviour. It would not do, thanks to the inexperience of a subordinate, + to involve the Commissariat of St. Hilaire in unpleasantness with + foreigners of influence and distinction. + </p> + <p> + With a sigh of impatience M. Lesueur turned again to his chair and sat + down. He gave an order to the gendarme at his elbow: + </p> + <p> + "Telephone Toussaint that I am delayed, that I will be at La Hourmerie + half an hour later than I said. Perhaps forty minutes. The cars can wait." + </p> + <p> + He spoke in a low voice, but not so low that the quick ear of Amélie did + not catch the words "La Hourmerie." She compressed her lips, cast a look + of spiteful triumph at her antagonist (who still held her arm as in a + vice), and awaited developments in vengeful silence. + </p> + <p> + "Now!" said the Commissary briskly. "Your names, please. M. Withershaw—prénom? + Thank you. M. <i>James</i> Withershaw. Yours, madame? Pardon? Spell it, + please." + </p> + <p> + "D-A-N-E—trait d'union—V-E-R-E-K-E-R," said the captor lady, + with precision and a very passable accent. + </p> + <p> + "Amélie Vildrac." + </p> + <p> + "Hector Turpin." + </p> + <p> + A clerk made the necessary entries. Mrs. Dane-Vereker was asked to give + her version of the afternoon's events. + </p> + <p> + "They are few and easy to relate," she said. "This woman was my maid. Two + days ago she stole, among other things, a valuable and valued cameo + belonging to me, and disappeared. This afternoon, and by the merest + hazard, I found myself next to her at the tables. With an effrontery + natural to women of her type she was wearing the very ornament she had + stolen. Naturally I charged her with the theft, and attempted to seize my + property. That is all I have to say." + </p> + <p> + "And you, Mdlle Vildrac?" + </p> + <p> + Amélie shrugged insolent shoulders. + </p> + <p> + "Things have an air so different from different points of view," she + observed. "Madame tells her story. I tell mine. Which will you believe? + Here are the real facts. It is true, as Madame has said, that until two + days ago I was Madame's maid. It is also true in effect that two days ago + I left her. But not clandestinely, oh no! nor with stolen valuables. + Rather at her bidding, and with a small trinket that she gave to me at + parting. 'Amélie,' she said to me, 'I have planned to leave these people + we are with'—you must understand, Monsieur, that Madame and I were + members of a touring party under the charge of M. Hector Turpin yonder. + Mon Dieu, how strange some of that party! English, all of them, and so + strange!—— But I was saying that Madame had planned to leave + them. 'I am going away with M. Turpin,' she said to me, 'and these stupid + people must extricate themselves as best they may from the trap into which + my clever Turpin has led them. You will not betray me? Go you to Paris or + to St. Hilaire and seek your fortune. Here is money and here is the cameo + you have so often admired. Wear it in memory of me, and for its sake keep + silence.' + </p> + <p> + "Voila!" Mdlle Amélie spread out emphatic hands. "Am I a thief? Is it + theft to take gifts from another woman? And finally, M. le Commissaire, + seeing that you are bound for La Hourmerie, I ask you to observe that this + precious elopement took place from that very spot, and that in the Château + de la Hourmerie were staying those other unfortunates, now abandoned to + their fate by the selfish passion of Madame for her cicerone turned + paramour!" + </p> + <p> + It may be imagined that Amélie's scandalous declaration let loose Babel + once again in the office of the unhappy Commissary. Mrs. Dane-Vereker, + Turpin, Amélie, and Mr. Withershaw vociferated simultaneously and with + prolonged fervour. The patience of M. Lesueur came finally to an end. + </p> + <p> + "Silence!" he roared, banging the desk in frenzy. And then to the + attendant gendarmes, who, by now, numbered some twelve highly edified + stalwarts, he shouted an order for the instant incarceration of these + pestilent folk. Their fate should be decided on the morrow. + </p> + <p> + "As for you, Mademoiselle," he said to Amélie, "I know your type well, and + I ask you to note that I am indeed bound for La Hourmerie. I shall not + forget your story. Between this moment and to-morrow you will have time to + think of the various embellishments of which it is susceptible." + </p> + <p> + And he hurried from the room toward the outer door, followed by six + gendarmes, and, between two of them, the tramp, while from the office they + had left came a confused turmoil of bitter feminine insult, of French + official determination, of furious Anglo-Saxon protest. Baba, the black + dog, bundled in his master's wake. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + On the terrace of the Château de la Hourmerie clustered a motley and + excited group. In the centre M. Lesueur, his face alight with the + satisfaction of a quest worthily fulfilled, gazed almost fondly at the + body of rescuers and rescued that bore witness to his triumph. First was + the tramp, impassive as ever, his whole bearing a slouch of uninterested + fatigue. By his side—unshaven, a little dusty, but otherwise no whit + the worse—stood the Professor and the Bureaucrat, salved from their + underground prison by the crowbars of the six muscular policemen who + formed at the present impressivejuncture a stolid back-drop to the scene. + Close by, also unshaven and weary-looking, but happy in the moment of + release, were a priest, a poet, and a nondescript young man of amiable + aspect and engaging mien, whose name was Peter Brown. M. Lesueur had just + completed his narrative of events at the Commissariat of Police. + </p> + <p> + "Good Lord!" said the Bureaucrat. "Fancy Mrs. Dane bolting with old + Turps!" + </p> + <p> + "I shall never write another story on wallpaper," remarked Peter Brown. + "It's worse than marking handkerchiefs. But we could make no one hear, and + thought, if we hurled out of the window a bundle of paper with a message + hidden somewhere in the middle of apparently harmless text, there was just + a chance of its being picked up. The lane runs fairly near to yonder + corner of the house. You can imagine how thrilled we were when the old + envelope—weighted with Father Anthony's pocket knife and my pipe + stop—fell plump into a passing cart." + </p> + <p> + "The chance was indeed providential," commented the Priest gravely, "but + let us not forget that we owe to our zealous and sharp-eyed friends among + the police the actual discovery of our queer message hidden in the grass + of the crossroads." + </p> + <p> + "Where are the others of the party?" broke in the Bureaucrat. "We know + that Turpin and Mrs. Dane and that minx Amélie are in jail. But where are + Miss Pogson and Doctor Pennock and Mr. Scott, and where's old + what's-his-name, the Master Printer?..." + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The reply was unexpected. Somewhere at the back of the château a clock + struck noisily. In their basket chairs on the terrace of the Château de la + Hourmerie the members of Mr. Hector Turpin's first Continental touring + party sat spellbound at the force of a chime hitherto unnoticed. They had + counted twelve strokes. To their horrified amazement, the chime rang out + once more—and they realised that the tall windows of the house no + longer threw comforting light upon the flagstones, that behind them, as + before, lay utter darkness. + </p> + <p> + Seven voices spoke as one: + </p> + <p> + "Did you hear it? The clock struck thirteen!" + </p> + <p> + And again: + </p> + <p> + "Did you see, the way the lights went out?" + </p> + <p> + For a moment there was profound silence. Then from the last chair of the + line came a long-drawn, chuckling laugh, a laugh of pride, of amusement, + of relief, + </p> + <p> + "Well, upon my word!" said in quiet, incisive tones the voice of Henry + Scott (of the Psychical Research Society). "I hardly dared to hope for so + complete a triumph! My good friends, it is one a.m. As the clock struck + twelve you sank into hypnotic trance; on the point of its striking one, + you emerged. The hour of interval was telescoped in your waking + consciousness to a few seconds. As for the lights—at half-past + twelve Doctor Pennock went to bed. She turned them out as she passed + through the house. I asked her to. I will relight them now." + </p> + <p> + And he walked to the nearest window, crossed the room within and switched + on every lamp. + </p> + <p> + The bemused wits of the victims of Mr. Scott's hypnotic joke could not + immediately respond to this sudden revelation of the truth. Also their + eyes blinked in the new brilliance of projected light. Mrs. Dane-Vereker + was the first to recover speech. + </p> + <p> + "But where is that wretch Amélie?" she gasped. + </p> + <p> + "And the Commissary?" demanded Father Anthony. + </p> + <p> + "And the Old Gentleman?" echoed the Courier. + </p> + <p> + "Turpin, by the lord Harry!" shouted the Bureaucrat. "But you've eloped + with Mrs. Dane!" + </p> + <p> + "The guile of an enemy detained me in a damp and poorly ventilated cave," + complained the Professor. + </p> + <p> + "There was a tramp here with a dog!" moaned the poet. + </p> + <p> + "The terrace was crowded with police!" cried Peter Brown, "and it was + still daylight!..." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Scott enjoyed their bewilderment with the cruel calm of the true + psychological investigator. + </p> + <p> + "You will never see any of those people again," he observed quietly. + "Except poor Amélie, who is in bed this three hours, I invented them all. + Not a bad set of creations, were they?" + </p> + <p> + A snore from the shadow drew attention to the stertorous oblivion of Mr. + Buck, the retired master printer. + </p> + <p> + "Buck was my only failure," said the psychical researcher. "He was fast + asleep when I started in. I say nothing of Doctor Pennock; she was too + much for me; but then she knows the game. Nevertheless, she had the + sportsmanship to leave me at it." + </p> + <p> + By this time signs of considerable indignation were visible among the + dupes of Mr. Scott's inventive skill. The Lady of Fashion recalled with + blushing fury her supposed escapade with the absurd Courier. The + Bureaucrat re-lived his angry helplessness behind the iron grille. Before, + however, anger could break out, the tension gave way to the irrepressible + humour of Peter Brown. Suddenly he began to laugh, and each moment he + laughed more loudly and more shamelessly. One by one the others joined, + until by the healthy wind of merriment every trailing wisp of irritation + was dispelled and blown away. Mr. Scott rose to his feet. + </p> + <p> + "You are admirable folk," he said, "the whole collection of you! I am + proud to be associated with so unselfish and humorous an assembly. Let me + make some slight amends for my impertinence. In the first place, I would + ask your pardon for subjecting you without warning or permission to a most + interesting experiment. In the second place, let me tell you a tale + against myself, a tale that shows me in the light of a bewildered, + blundering fool. I had never, until the complete success of the + unwarrantable trick I have just played upon you excellent people, really + recovered from the depression of this adventure. It will discipline my + vanity to tell the story, for I can hardly think of it without + nervousness. Surely, by the time it has been made verbally public, I shall + be chastened as befits simple humanity." + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tale Of Mr. Peter Brown - Chelsea +Justice, by V. Sackville West + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF MR. 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