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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/22811-0.txt b/22811-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b5fb479 --- /dev/null +++ b/22811-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1036 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Staircase At The Hearts Delight, by +Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + +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 Staircase At The Hearts Delight + 1894 + +Author: Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + +Release Date: September 29, 2007 [EBook #22811] +Last Updated: December 18, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STAIRCASE *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +THE STAIRCASE AT THE HEARTS DELIGHT. + +By Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + +Copyright, 1894, by Anna Katharine Green + + +AS TOLD BY MR. GRYCE. + +“In the spring of 1840, the attention of the New York police was +attracted by the many cases of well-known men found drowned in the +various waters surrounding the lower portion of our great city. Among +these may be mentioned the name of Elwood Henderson, the noted tea +merchant, whose remains were washed ashore at Redhook Point; and of +Christopher Bigelow, who was picked up off Governor’s Island after +having been in the water for five days, and of another well-known +millionaire whose name I cannot now recall, but who, I remember, was +seen to walk towards the East River one March evening, and was not met +with again till the 5th of April, when his body floated into one of the +docks near Peck Slip. + +“As it seemed highly improbable that there should have been a concerted +action among so many wealthy and distinguished men to end their +lives within a few weeks of each other, and all by the same method of +drowning, we soon became suspicious that a more serious verdict than +that of suicide should have been rendered in the case of Henderson, +Bigelow and the other gentleman I have mentioned. Yet one fact, common +to all these cases, pointed so conclusively to deliberate intention on +the part of the sufferers that we hesitated to take action. + +“This was, that upon the body of each of the above-mentioned persons +there were found, not only valuables in the shape of money and jewelry, +but papers and memoranda of a nature calculated to fix the identity +of the drowned man, in case the water should rob him of his personal +characteristics. Consequently, we could not ascribe these deaths to a +desire for plunder on the part of some unknown person. + +“I was a young man in those days, and full of ambition. So, though I +said nothing, I did not let this matter drop when the others did, but +kept my mind persistently upon it and waited, with odd results as you +will hear, for another victim to be reported at police headquarters. + +“Meantime I sought to discover some bond or connection between the +several men who had been found drowned, which would serve to explain +their similar fate. But all my efforts in this direction were fruitless. +There was no bond between them, and the matter remained for a while an +unsolved mystery. + +“Suddenly one morning a clew was placed, not in my hands, but in those +of a superior official who at that time exerted a great influence over +the whole force. He was sitting in his private room, when there +was ushered into his presence a young man of a dissipated but not +unprepossessing appearance, who, after a pause of marked embarrassment, +entered upon the following story: + +“I don’t know whether or no, I should offer an excuse for the +communication I am about to make; but the matter I have to relate is +simply this: Being hard up last night (for though a rich man’s son I +often lack money), I went to a certain pawn-shop in the Bowery where I +had been told I could raise money on my prospects. This place--you +may see it sometime, so I will not enlarge upon it--did not strike me +favorably; but, being very anxious for a certain definite sum of money, +I wrote my name in a book which was brought to me from some unknown +quarter, and proceeded to follow the young woman who attended me into +what she was pleased to call her good master’s private office. He may +have been a good master, but he was anything but a good man, In short, +sir, when he found out who I was, and how much I needed money, he +suggested that I should make an appointment with my father at a place he +called Judah’s in Grand Street, where, said he, ‘your little affair will +be arranged, and you made a rich man within thirty days. That is,’ he +slyly added, ‘unless your father has already made a will, disinheriting +you.’ + +“I was shocked, sir, shocked beyond all my powers of concealment, not so +much at his words, which I hardly understood, as at his looks, which had +a world of evil suggestion in them; so I raised my fist and would have +knocked him down, only that I found two young fellows at my elbows, who +held me quiet for five minutes, while the old fellow talked to me. He +asked me if I came to him on a fool’s errand or really to get money; +and when I admitted that I had cherished hopes of obtaining a clear two +thousand dollars from him, he coolly replied that he knew of but one +way in which I could hope to get such an amount, and that if I was too +squeamish to adopt it, I had made a mistake in coming to his shop, which +was no missionary institution, etc., etc. Not wishing to irritate him, +for there was menace in his eye, I asked, with a certain weak show of +being sorry for my former heat, whereabouts in Grand Street I should +find this Judah. The retort was quick, ‘Judah is not his name,’ said he, +‘and Grand Street is not where you are to go to find him. I threw out a +bait to see if you would snap at it, but I find you timid, and therefore +advise you to drop the matter entirely.’ I was quite willing to do so, +and answered him to this effect; whereupon, with a side glance I did +not understand but which made me more or less uneasy in regard to his +intentions towards me, he motioned to the men who held my arms to let go +their hold, which they at once did. + +“‘We have your signature,’ growled the old man as I went out. ‘If you +peach on us or trouble us in any way we will show it to your father and +that will put an end to all your hopes of future fortune.’ Then raising +his voice he shouted to the girl in the outer office, ‘Let the young man +see what he has signed.’ She smiled and again brought forward the book +in which I had so recklessly placed my name, and there at the top of the +page I read these words: ‘For moneys received, I agree to notify Levi +Solomon, within the month, of the death of my father, that he may +recover from me, without loss of time, the sum of ten thousand dollars +from the amount I am bound to receive as my father’s heir.’ The sight +of these lines knocked me hollow. But I am less of a coward morally than +physically, and I determined to acquaint my father at once with what I +had done, and get his advice as to whether or not I should inform the +police of my adventure. He heard me with more consideration than I +expected, but insisted that I should immediately make known to you my +experience in this Bowery pawnbroker’s shop. + +“The officer, highly interested, took down the young man’s statement +in writing, and, after getting a more accurate description of the Jew’s +house, allowed his visitor to go. + +“Fortunately for me I was in the building at the time, and was able to +respond when a man was called up to investigate this matter. Thinking +that I saw a connection between it and the various mysterious deaths +of which I have previously spoken, I entered into the affair with much +spirit. But, wishing to be sure that my possibly unwarranted conclusions +were correct, I took pains to inquire, before proceeding upon my errand, +into the character of the heirs who had inherited the property of Elwood +Henderson and Christopher Bigelow, and found that in each case there was +one among the rest who was well known for his profligacy and reckless +expenditure. It was a significant discovery, and increased, if possible, +my interest in running down this nefarious trafficker in the lives of +wealthy men. + +“Knowing that I could hope for no success in my character of detective, +I made an arrangement with the father of the young gentleman before +alluded to, by which I was to enter the pawn-shop as an emissary of the +latter. I accordingly appeared there, one dull November afternoon, in +the garb of a certain western sporting man, who, for a consideration, +allowed me the temporary use of his name and credentials. + +“Entering beneath the three golden balls, with, the swagger and general +air of ownership I thought most likely to impose upon the self-satisfied +female who presided over the desk, I asked to see her boss. + +“‘On your own business?’ she queried, glancing with suspicion at my +short coat, which was rather more showy than elegant. + +“‘No,’ I returned, ‘not on my own business, but on that of a young +gent----’ + +“‘Anyone whose name is written here?’ she interposed, reaching towards +me the famous book, over the top of which, however, she was careful to +lay her arm. + +“I glanced down the page she had opened and instantly detected that +of the young gentleman on whose behalf I was supposed to be there, and +nodded ‘Yes,’ with all the assurance of which I was capable. + +“‘Very well, then,’ said she, ‘come!’ and she ushered me without much +ado into a den of discomfort where sat a man, with a great beard and +such heavy overhanging eyebrows that I could hardly detect the twinkle +of his eyes, keen and incisive as they were. + +“Smiling upon him, but not in the same way I had upon the girl, I +glanced behind me at the open door, and above me at the partitions, +which failed to reach the ceiling. Then I shook my head and drew a step +nearer. + +“‘I have come,’ I insinuatingly whispered, ‘on behalf of a certain party +who left this place in a huff a day or so ago, but who since then has +had time to think the matter over, and has sent me with an apology which +he hopes’--here I put on a diabolical smile, copied, I declare to you, +from the one I saw at that moment on his own lips--‘you will accept.’ + +“The old wretch regarded me for full two minutes in a way to unmask +me had I possessed less confidence in my disguise and in my ability to +support it. + +“‘And what is this young gentleman’s name?’ he finally asked. + +“For reply, I handed him a slip of paper. He took it and read the few +lines written on it, after which he began to rub his palms together with +a snaky unction eminently in keeping with the stray glints of light that +now and then found their way through his’ bushy eyebrows. + +“‘And so the young gentleman had not the courage to come again himself?’ +he softly suggested, with just the suspicion of an ironical laugh. +‘Thought, perhaps, I would exact too much commission; or make him pay +too roundly for his impertinent assurance.’ + +“I shrugged my shoulders, but vouchsafed no immediate reply, and he saw +that he had to open the business himself. He did it warily and with many +an incisive question which would have tripped me up if I had not been +very much on my guard; but it all ended, as such matters usually do, +in mutual understanding, and a promise that if the young gentleman was +willing to sign a certain paper, which, by the way, was not shown me, +he would in exchange give him an address which, if made proper use of, +would lead to my patron finding himself an independent man within a very +few days. + +“As this address was the thing above all others which I most desired, I +professed myself satisfied with the arrangement, and proceeded to hunt +up my patron, as he was called. Informing him of the result of my visit, +I asked if his interest in ferreting out these criminals was strong +enough to lead him to sign the vile document which the Jew would +probably have in readiness for him on the morrow; and being told it was, +we separated for that day, with the understanding that we were to meet +the next morning at the spot chosen by the Jew for the completion of his +nefarious bargain. + +“Being certain that I was being followed in all my movements by the +agents of this adept in villainy, I took care, upon leaving Mr. L----, +to repair to the hotel of the sporting man I was personifying. Making +myself square with the proprietor, I took up my quarters in the room +of my sporting friend, and, the better to deceive any spy who might be +lurking about, I received his letters and sent out his telegrams, which, +if they did not create confusion in the affairs of ‘The Plunger,’ must +at least have occasioned him no little work the next day. + +“Promptly at ten o’clock on the following morning I met my patron at the +place of rendezvous appointed by the old Jew; and when I tell you that +this was no other than the old cemetery of which a portion is still to +be seen off Chatham Square, you will understand the uncanny nature of +this whole adventure, and the lurking sense there was in it of brooding +death and horror. The scene, which in these days is disturbed by +elevated railroad trains and the flapping of long lines of parti-colored +clothes strung high up across the quiet tombstones, was at that time one +of peaceful rest, in the midst of a quarter devoted to everything for +which that rest is the fitting and desirable end; and as we paused among +the mossy stones, we found it hard to realize that in a few minutes +there would be standing beside us the concentrated essence of all that +was evil and despicable in human nature. + +“He arrived with a smile on his countenance that completed his ugliness, +and would have frightened any honest man from his side at once. Merely +glancing my way, he shuffled up to my companion, and leading him aside, +drew out a paper which he laid on a flat tombstone with a gesture +significant of his desire that the other should affix to it the required +signature. + +“Meantime I stood guard, and while attempting to whistle a light air, +was carelessly taking in the surroundings, and conjecturing, as best I +might, the reasons which had induced the old ghoul to make use of this +spot for his diabolical business, and had about decided that it was +because he was a ghoul, and thus felt at home among the symbols of +mortality, when I caught sight of two or three young fellows, who were +lounging on the other side of the fence. + +“These were so evidently accomplices that I wondered if the two sly boys +I had engaged to stand by me through this affair had spotted them, and +would know enough to follow them back to their haunts. + +“A few minutes later, the old rascal came sneaking towards me, with a +gleam of satisfaction in his half-closed eyes. + +“‘You are not wanted any longer,’ he grunted. ‘The young gentleman told +me to say that he could look out for himself now.’ + +“‘The young gentleman had better pay me the round fifty he promised +me,’ I grumbled in return, with that sudden change from indifference +to menace which I thought best calculated to further my plans; and +shouldering the miserable wretch aside, I stepped up to my companion, +who was still lingering in a state of hesitation among the gravestones. + +“‘Quick! Tell me the number and street which he has given you! +‘I whispered, in a tone strangely in contrast with the angry and +reproachful air I had assumed. + +“He was about to answer, when the old fellow came sidling up behind us. +Instantly the young man before me rose to the occasion, and putting on +an air of conciliation said in a soothing tone: + +“‘There, there, don’t bluster. Do one thing more for me, and I will +add another fifty to those I promised you. Conjure up an anonymous +letter--you know how--and send it to my father, saying that if he wants +to know where his son loses his hundreds, he must go to the place on the +dock, opposite 5 South Street, some night shortly after nine. It would +not work with most men, but it will with my father, and when he has been +in and out of that place, and I succeed to the fortune he will leave me, +then I will remember you, and----’ + +“‘Say, too,’ a sinister voice here added in my ear, ‘that if he wishes +to effect an entrance into the gambling den which his son haunts, +he must take the precaution of tying a bit of blue ribbon in his +button-hole. It is a signal meaning business, and must not be +forgotten,’ chuckled the old fellow, evidently deceived at last into +thinking I was really one of his own kind. + +“I answered by a wink, and taking care to attempt no further +communication with my patron, I left the two, as soon as possible, +and went back to the hotel, where I dropped ‘the sport,’ and assumed a +character and dress which enabled me to make my way undetected to the +house of my young patron, where for two days I lay low, waiting for +a suitable time in which to make my final attempt to penetrate this +mystery. + +“I knew that for the adventure I was now contemplating considerable +courage was required. But I did not hesitate. The time had come for me +to show my mettle. In the few communications I was enabled to hold with +my superiors I told them of my progress and arranged with them my +plan of work. As we all agreed that I was about to encounter no common +villainy, these plans naturally partook of finesse, as you will see if +you will follow my narrative to the end. + +“Early in the evening of a cool November night I sallied forth into the +streets, dressed in the habiliments and wearing the guise of the wealthy +old gentleman whose secret guest I had been for the last few days. As he +was old and portly, and I young and spare, this disguise had cost me no +little thought and labor. But assisted as I was by the darkness, I had +but little fear of betraying myself to any chance spy who might be upon +the watch, especially as Mr. L---- had a peculiar walk, which, in my +short stay with him, I had learned to imitate perfectly. In the lapel of +my overcoat I had tied a tag of blue ribbon, and, though for all I knew +this was a signal devoting me to a secret and mysterious death, I walked +along in a buoyant condition of mind, attributable, no doubt, to the +excitement of the venture and to my desire to test my powers, even at +the risk of my life. + +“It was nine o’clock when I reached South Street. It was no new region +to me, nor was I ignorant of the specified drinking den on the dock to +which I had been directed. I remembered it as a bright spot in a mass +of ship-prows and bow-rigging, and was possessed, besides, of a vague +consciousness that there was something odd in connection with it which +had aroused my curiosity sufficiently in the past for me to have once +formed the resolution of seeing it again under circumstances which +would allow me to give, it some attention. But I never thought that +the circumstances would involve my own life, impossible as it is for a +detective to reckon upon the future or to foresee the events into which +he will be hurried by the next crime which may be reported at police +headquarters. + +“There were but few persons in the street when I crossed to The Heart’s +Delight,--so named from the heart-shaped opening in the framework of the +door, through which shone a light, inviting enough to one chilled by the +keen November air and oppressed by the desolate appearance of the almost +deserted street. But amongst those persons I thought I recognized more +than one familiar form, and felt reassured as to the watch which had +been set upon the house. The night was dark and the river especially so, +but in the gloomy space beyond the dock I detected a shadow blacker than +the rest, which I took for the police-boat they had promised to have +in readiness in case I needed rescue from the water-side. Otherwise the +surroundings were as usual, and saving the gruff singing of some drunken +sailor coming from a narrow side street near by, no sound disturbed the +somewhat lugubrious silence of this weird and forsaken spot. + +“Pausing an instant before entering, I glanced up at the building, which +was about three stories high, and endeavored to see what there was about +it which had once arrested my attention, and came to the conclusion that +it was its exceptional situation on the dock, and the ghostly effect of +the hoisting-beam projecting from the upper story like a gibbet. And yet +this beam was common to many a warehouse in the vicinity, though in none +of them were there any such signs of life as proceeded from the curious +mixture of sail loft, boat shop and drinking saloon, now before me. +Could it be that the ban of criminality was upon the house, and that I +had been conscious of this without being able to realize the cause of my +interest? + +“Not stopping to solve my sensations further, I tried the door, and, +finding it yield easily to my touch, turned the knob and entered. For +a moment I was blinded by the smoky glare of the heated atmosphere +into which I stepped, but presently I was able to distinguish the vague +outlines of an oyster bar in the distance, and the motionless figures +of some half dozen men, whose movements had been arrested by my sudden +entrance. For an instant this picture remained; then the drinking and +card-playing were resumed, and I stood, as it were, alone on the sanded +floor near the door. Improving the opportunity for a closer inspection +of the place, I was struck by its picturesqueness. It had evidently been +once used as a ship chandlery, and on the walls, which were but partly +plastered, there still hung old bits of marlin, rusty rings and such +other evidences of former traffic as did not interfere with the present +more lucrative business. + +“Below were the two bars, one at the right of the door, and the other +at the lower end of the room near a window, through whose small, square +panes I caught a glimpse of the colored lights of a couple of ferry +boats, passing each other in midstream. + +“At a table near me sat two men, grumbling at each other over a game of +cards. They were large and powerful figures in the contracted space +of this long and narrow room, and my heart gave a bound of joy as I +recognized on them certain marks by which I was to know friend from foe +in this possible den of thieves and murderers. + +“Two sailors at the bar were bona fide habitués of the place, and so +I judged to be the one or two other specimens of water-side character +whose backs I could faintly discern in one of the dim corners. Meantime +a man was approaching me. + +“Let me see if I can describe him. He was about thirty, and had the +complexion and figure of a consumptive, but his eye shone with the +yellow glare of a beast of prey, and in the cadaverous hollows of his +ashen cheeks and amid the lines about his thin drawn lips there lay for +all his conciliatory smile, an expression so cold and yet so ferocious +that I spotted him at once as the man to whose genius we were indebted +for the new scheme of murder which I was jeopardizing my life to +understand. But I allowed none of the repugnance with which he inspired +me to appear in my manner, and, greeting him with half a nod, waited +for him to speak. His voice had that smooth quality which betrays the +hypocrite. + +“‘Has the gentleman an appointment here?’ he asked, letting his glance +fall for the merest instant on the lapel of my coat. + +“I returned a decided affirmative. Or rather, I went on, with a meaning +look he evidently comprehended, ‘my son has, and I have made up my mind +to know just what deviltry he is up to these days. You see I can make it +worth your while to give me the opportunity.’ + +“‘O, I see,’ he assented with a glance at the pocketbook I had just +drawn out. ‘You want a private room from which you can watch the young +scapegrace. I understand, I understand. But the private rooms are above. +Gentlemen are not comfortable here.’ + +“‘I should say not,’ I murmured, and drew from the pocketbook a bill +which I slid quietly into his hand. ‘Now take me where I shall be +safe,’ I suggested, ‘and yet in full sight of the room where the young +gentlemen play. I wish to catch him at his tricks. Afterwards----’ + +“‘All will be well,’ he finished smoothly, with another glance at my +blue ribbon. ‘You see I do not ask you the young gentleman’s name. +I take your money and leave all the rest to you. Only don’t make a +scandal, I pray, for my house has the name of being quiet.’ + +“‘Yes,’ thought I, ‘too quiet!’ and for an instant felt my spirits fail +me. But it was only for an instant. I had friends about me and a +pistol at half cock in the pocket of my overcoat. Why should I fear any +surprise, prepared as I was for every emergency? + +“‘I will show you up in a moment,’ said he; and left me to put up a +heavy board-shutter over the window opening on the river. Was this a +signal or a precaution? I glanced towards my two friends playing cards, +took another note of their broad shoulders and brawny arms, and prepared +to follow my host, who now stood bowing at the other end of the room, +before a covered staircase which was manifestly the sole means of +reaching the floor above. + +“The staircase was quite a feature in the room. It ran from back to +front, and was boarded all the way up to the ceiling. On these boards +hung a few useless bits of chain, wire and knotted ends of tarred ropes, +which swung to and fro as the sharp November blast struck the building, +giving out a weird and strangely muffled sound. Why did this sound, so +easily to be accounted for, ring in my ears like a note of warning? I +understand now, but I did not then, full of expectation as I was for +developments out of the ordinary. + +“Crossing the room, I entered upon the staircase, in the wake of my +companion. Though the two men at cards did not look up as I passed them, +I noticed that they were alert and ready for any signal I might choose +to give them. But I was not ready to give one yet. I must see danger +before I summoned help, and there was no token of danger yet. + +“When we were about half-way up the stairs the faint light which had +illuminated us from below suddenly vanished, and we found ourselves in +total darkness. The door at the foot had been closed by a careful hand, +and I felt, rather than heard, the stealthy pushing of a bolt across it. + +“My first impulse was to forsake my guide and rush back, but I +subdued the unworthy impulse and stood quite still, while my companion +exclaiming, ‘Damn that fellow! What does he mean by shutting the door +before we’re half-way up!’ struck a match and lit a gas jet in the room +above, which poured a flood of light upon the staircase. Drawing my hand +from the pocket in which I had put my revolver, I hastened after him +into the small landing at the top of the stairs. An open door was before +me, in which he stood bowing, with the half-burnt match in his hand. +‘This is the place, sir,’ he announced, motioning me in. + +“I entered and he remained by the door, while I passed quickly about the +room, which was bare of every article of furniture save a solitary table +and chair. There was not even a window in it, with the exception of one +small light situated so high up in the corner made by the jutting-up +staircase that I wondered at its use, and was only relieved of extreme +apprehension at the prison-like appearance of the place by the gleam +of light which came through this dusty pane, showing that I was not +entirely removed from the presence of my foes if I was from that of my +friends. + +“‘Ah, you have spied the window,’ remarked my host, advancing toward me +with a countenance he vainly endeavored to make reassuring and friendly. +‘That is your post of observation, sir,’ he whispered, with a great show +of mystery. ‘By mounting on the table you can peer into the room where +my young friends sit securely at play.’ + +“As it was not part of my scheme to show any special mistrust, I merely +smiled a little grimly, and cast a glance at the table on which stood a +bottle of brandy and one glass. + +“‘Very good brandy,’ he whispered, ‘Not such stuff as we give those +fellows down-stairs.’ + +“I shrugged my shoulders and he slowly backed towards the door. + +“‘The young men you bid me watch are very quiet,’ I suggested, with a +careless wave of my hand towards the room he had mentioned. + +“‘Oh, there is no one there yet. They begin to straggle in about ten +o’clock.’ + +“‘Ah,’ was my quiet rejoinder, ‘I am likely, then, to have use for your +brandy.’ + +“He smiled again and made a swift motion towards the door. + +“‘If you want anything,’ said he, ‘just step to the foot of the +staircase and let me know. The whole establishment is at your service.’ +And with one final grin that remains in my mind as the most threatening +and diabolical I have ever witnessed, he laid his hand on the knob of +the door and slid quickly out. + +“It was done with such an air of final farewell, that I felt my +apprehensions take a positive form. Rushing towards the door through +which he had just vanished, I listened and heard, as I thought, his +stealthy feet descend the stair. But when I sought to follow, I found +myself for the second time overwhelmed by darkness. The gas jet, which +had hitherto burned with great brightness in the small room, had been +turned off from below, and beyond the faint glimmer which found its way +through the small window of which I have spoken, not a ray of light now +disturbed the heavy gloom of this gruesome apartment. + +“I had thought of every contingency but this, and for a few minutes +my spirits were dashed. But I soon recovered some remnants of +self-possession, and began feeling for the knob I could no longer see. +Finding it after a few futile attempts, I was relieved to discover that +this door at least was not locked; and, opening it with a careful hand, +I listened intently, but could hear nothing save the smothered sound of +men talking in the room below. + +“Should I signal for my companions? No, for the secret was not yet mine +as to how men passed from this room into the watery grave which was the +evident goal for all wearers of the blue ribbon. + +“Stepping back into the middle of the room, I carefully pondered my +situation, but could get no further than the fact that I was somehow, +and in some way, in mortal peril. Would it come in the form of a bullet, +or a deadly thrust from an unseen knife? I did not think so. For, to say +nothing of the darkness, there was one reassuring fact which recurred +constantly to my mind in connection with the murders I was endeavoring +to trace to this den of iniquity. + +“None of the gentlemen who had been found drowned had shown any marks of +violence on their bodies, so it was not attack I was to fear, but some +mysterious, underhanded treachery which would rob me of consciousness +and make the precipitation of my body into the water both safe and easy. +Perhaps it was in the bottle of brandy that the peril lay; perhaps--but +why speculate further! I would watch till midnight and then, if nothing +happened, signal my companions to raid the house. + +“Meantime a peep into the next room might help me towards solving the +mystery. Setting the bottle and glass aside, I dragged the table across +the floor, placed it under the lighted window, mounted, and was about to +peer through, when the light in that apartment was put out also. Angry +and overwhelmed, I leapt down, and, stretching out my hands till they +touched the wainscoting, I followed the wall around till I came to the +knob of the door, which I frantically clutched. But I did not turn it +immediately, I was too anxious to catch these villains at work. Would I +be conscious of the harm they meditated against me, or would I +imperceptibly yield to some influence of which I was not yet conscious, +and drop to the floor before I could draw my revolver or put to my mouth +the whistle upon which I de-pended for assistance and safety? It was +hard to tell, but I determined to cling to my first intention a little +longer, and so stood waiting and counting the minutes, while wondering +if the captain of the police boat was not getting impatient, and whether +I had not more to fear from the anxiety of my friends than the cupidity +of my foes. + +“You see I had anticipated communicating with the men in this boat by +certain signals and tokens which had been arranged between us. But the +lack of windows in the room had made all such arrangements futile, so I +knew as little of their actions as they of my sufferings; all of which +did not tend to add to the cheerfulness of my position. + +“I, however, held out for a half-hour, listening, waiting and watching +in a darkness which, like that of Egypt, could be felt, and when the +suspense grew intolerable I struck a match and let its blue flame +flicker for a moment over the face of my watch. But the matches soon +gave out and with them my patience, if not my courage, and I determined +to end the suspense by knocking at the door beneath. + +“This resolution taken, I pulled open the door before me and stepped +out. Though I could see nothing, I remembered the narrow landing at the +top of the stairs, and, stretching out my arms, I felt for the boarding +on either hand, guilding myself by it, and began to descend, when +something rising, as it were, out of the cavernous darkness before me +made me halt and draw back in mingled dread and horror. + +“But the impression, strong as it was, was only momentary, and, resolved +to be done with the matter, I precipitated myself downward, when +suddenly, at about the middle of the staircase, my feet slipped and I +slid forward, plunging and reaching out with hands whose frenzied grasp +found nothing to cling to, down a steep inclined plane--or what to my +bewildered senses appeared such,--till I struck a yielding surface and +passed with one sickening plunge into the icy waters of the river which +in another moment had closed dark and benumbing above my head. + +“It was all so rapid I did not think of uttering a cry. But happily for +me the splash I made told the story, and I was rescued before I could +sink a second time. + +“It was a full half hour before I had sufficiently recovered from the +shock to relate my story. But when once I had made it known, you can +imagine the gusto with which the police prepared to enter the house +and confound the obliging host with a sight of my dripping garments and +accusing face. And indeed in all my professional experience I have never +beheld a more sudden merging of the bully into a coward than was to be +seen in this slick villain’s face, when I was suddenly pulled from the +crowd and placed before him, with the old man’s wig gone from my head, +and the tag of blue ribbon still clinging to my wet coat. + +“His game was up, and he saw it; and Ebenezer Gryce’s career had begun. + +“Like all destructive things the device by which I had been run into the +river was simple enough when understood. In the first place it had been +constructed to serve the purpose of a stairway and chute. The latter was +in plain sight when it was used by the sailmakers to run the finished +sails into the waiting yawls below. At the time of my adventure, and for +some time before, the possibilities of the place had been discovered by +mine host, who had ingeniously put a partition up the entire stairway, +dividing the steps from the smooth runway. At the upper part of the +runway he had built a few steps, wherewith to lure the unwary far enough +down to insure a fatal descent. To make sure of his game he had likewise +ceiled the upper room all around, including the enclosure of the stairs. +The door to the chute and the door to the stairs were side by side, and +being made of the same boards as the wainscoting, were scarcely visible +when closed, while the single knob that was used, being transferable +from one to the other, naturally gave the impression that there was but +one door. When this adroit villain called my attention to the little +window around the corner, he no doubt removed the knob from the stairs’ +door and quickly placed it in the one opening upon the chute. Another +door, connecting the two similar landings without, explains how he got +from the chute staircase into which he passed, on leaving me, to the one +communicating with the room below. + +“The mystery was solved, and my footing on the force secured; but to +this day--and I am an old man now--I have not forgotten the horror of +the moment when my feet slipped from under me, and I felt myself sliding +downward, without hope of rescue, into a pit of heaving waters, where so +many men of conspicuous virtue had already ended their valuable lives. + +“Myriad thoughts flashed through my brain in that brief interval, and +among them the whole method of operating this death-trap, together with +every detail of evidence that would secure the conviction of the entire +gang.” + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Staircase At The Hearts Delight, by +Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STAIRCASE *** + +***** This file should be named 22811-0.txt or 22811-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/8/1/22811/ + +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. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/22811-0.zip b/22811-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5cc2c0a --- /dev/null +++ b/22811-0.zip diff --git a/22811-8.txt b/22811-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..718f9df --- /dev/null +++ b/22811-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1035 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Staircase At The Hearts Delight, by +Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + +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 Staircase At The Hearts Delight + 1894 + +Author: Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + +Release Date: September 29, 2007 [EBook #22811] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STAIRCASE *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +THE STAIRCASE AT THE HEARTS DELIGHT. + +By Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + +Copyright, 1894, by Anna Katharine Green + + +AS TOLD BY MR. GRYCE. + +"In the spring of 1840, the attention of the New York police was +attracted by the many cases of well-known men found drowned in the +various waters surrounding the lower portion of our great city. Among +these may be mentioned the name of Elwood Henderson, the noted tea +merchant, whose remains were washed ashore at Redhook Point; and of +Christopher Bigelow, who was picked up off Governor's Island after +having been in the water for five days, and of another well-known +millionaire whose name I cannot now recall, but who, I remember, was +seen to walk towards the East River one March evening, and was not met +with again till the 5th of April, when his body floated into one of the +docks near Peck Slip. + +"As it seemed highly improbable that there should have been a concerted +action among so many wealthy and distinguished men to end their +lives within a few weeks of each other, and all by the same method of +drowning, we soon became suspicious that a more serious verdict than +that of suicide should have been rendered in the case of Henderson, +Bigelow and the other gentleman I have mentioned. Yet one fact, common +to all these cases, pointed so conclusively to deliberate intention on +the part of the sufferers that we hesitated to take action. + +"This was, that upon the body of each of the above-mentioned persons +there were found, not only valuables in the shape of money and jewelry, +but papers and memoranda of a nature calculated to fix the identity +of the drowned man, in case the water should rob him of his personal +characteristics. Consequently, we could not ascribe these deaths to a +desire for plunder on the part of some unknown person. + +"I was a young man in those days, and full of ambition. So, though I +said nothing, I did not let this matter drop when the others did, but +kept my mind persistently upon it and waited, with odd results as you +will hear, for another victim to be reported at police headquarters. + +"Meantime I sought to discover some bond or connection between the +several men who had been found drowned, which would serve to explain +their similar fate. But all my efforts in this direction were fruitless. +There was no bond between them, and the matter remained for a while an +unsolved mystery. + +"Suddenly one morning a clew was placed, not in my hands, but in those +of a superior official who at that time exerted a great influence over +the whole force. He was sitting in his private room, when there +was ushered into his presence a young man of a dissipated but not +unprepossessing appearance, who, after a pause of marked embarrassment, +entered upon the following story: + +"I don't know whether or no, I should offer an excuse for the +communication I am about to make; but the matter I have to relate is +simply this: Being hard up last night (for though a rich man's son I +often lack money), I went to a certain pawn-shop in the Bowery where I +had been told I could raise money on my prospects. This place--you +may see it sometime, so I will not enlarge upon it--did not strike me +favorably; but, being very anxious for a certain definite sum of money, +I wrote my name in a book which was brought to me from some unknown +quarter, and proceeded to follow the young woman who attended me into +what she was pleased to call her good master's private office. He may +have been a good master, but he was anything but a good man, In short, +sir, when he found out who I was, and how much I needed money, he +suggested that I should make an appointment with my father at a place he +called Judah's in Grand Street, where, said he, 'your little affair will +be arranged, and you made a rich man within thirty days. That is,' he +slyly added, 'unless your father has already made a will, disinheriting +you.' + +"I was shocked, sir, shocked beyond all my powers of concealment, not so +much at his words, which I hardly understood, as at his looks, which had +a world of evil suggestion in them; so I raised my fist and would have +knocked him down, only that I found two young fellows at my elbows, who +held me quiet for five minutes, while the old fellow talked to me. He +asked me if I came to him on a fool's errand or really to get money; +and when I admitted that I had cherished hopes of obtaining a clear two +thousand dollars from him, he coolly replied that he knew of but one +way in which I could hope to get such an amount, and that if I was too +squeamish to adopt it, I had made a mistake in coming to his shop, which +was no missionary institution, etc., etc. Not wishing to irritate him, +for there was menace in his eye, I asked, with a certain weak show of +being sorry for my former heat, whereabouts in Grand Street I should +find this Judah. The retort was quick, 'Judah is not his name,' said he, +'and Grand Street is not where you are to go to find him. I threw out a +bait to see if you would snap at it, but I find you timid, and therefore +advise you to drop the matter entirely.' I was quite willing to do so, +and answered him to this effect; whereupon, with a side glance I did +not understand but which made me more or less uneasy in regard to his +intentions towards me, he motioned to the men who held my arms to let go +their hold, which they at once did. + +"'We have your signature,' growled the old man as I went out. 'If you +peach on us or trouble us in any way we will show it to your father and +that will put an end to all your hopes of future fortune.' Then raising +his voice he shouted to the girl in the outer office, 'Let the young man +see what he has signed.' She smiled and again brought forward the book +in which I had so recklessly placed my name, and there at the top of the +page I read these words: 'For moneys received, I agree to notify Levi +Solomon, within the month, of the death of my father, that he may +recover from me, without loss of time, the sum of ten thousand dollars +from the amount I am bound to receive as my father's heir.' The sight +of these lines knocked me hollow. But I am less of a coward morally than +physically, and I determined to acquaint my father at once with what I +had done, and get his advice as to whether or not I should inform the +police of my adventure. He heard me with more consideration than I +expected, but insisted that I should immediately make known to you my +experience in this Bowery pawnbroker's shop. + +"The officer, highly interested, took down the young man's statement +in writing, and, after getting a more accurate description of the Jew's +house, allowed his visitor to go. + +"Fortunately for me I was in the building at the time, and was able to +respond when a man was called up to investigate this matter. Thinking +that I saw a connection between it and the various mysterious deaths +of which I have previously spoken, I entered into the affair with much +spirit. But, wishing to be sure that my possibly unwarranted conclusions +were correct, I took pains to inquire, before proceeding upon my errand, +into the character of the heirs who had inherited the property of Elwood +Henderson and Christopher Bigelow, and found that in each case there was +one among the rest who was well known for his profligacy and reckless +expenditure. It was a significant discovery, and increased, if possible, +my interest in running down this nefarious trafficker in the lives of +wealthy men. + +"Knowing that I could hope for no success in my character of detective, +I made an arrangement with the father of the young gentleman before +alluded to, by which I was to enter the pawn-shop as an emissary of the +latter. I accordingly appeared there, one dull November afternoon, in +the garb of a certain western sporting man, who, for a consideration, +allowed me the temporary use of his name and credentials. + +"Entering beneath the three golden balls, with, the swagger and general +air of ownership I thought most likely to impose upon the self-satisfied +female who presided over the desk, I asked to see her boss. + +"'On your own business?' she queried, glancing with suspicion at my +short coat, which was rather more showy than elegant. + +"'No,' I returned, 'not on my own business, but on that of a young +gent----' + +"'Anyone whose name is written here?' she interposed, reaching towards +me the famous book, over the top of which, however, she was careful to +lay her arm. + +"I glanced down the page she had opened and instantly detected that +of the young gentleman on whose behalf I was supposed to be there, and +nodded 'Yes,' with all the assurance of which I was capable. + +"'Very well, then,' said she, 'come!' and she ushered me without much +ado into a den of discomfort where sat a man, with a great beard and +such heavy overhanging eyebrows that I could hardly detect the twinkle +of his eyes, keen and incisive as they were. + +"Smiling upon him, but not in the same way I had upon the girl, I +glanced behind me at the open door, and above me at the partitions, +which failed to reach the ceiling. Then I shook my head and drew a step +nearer. + +"'I have come,' I insinuatingly whispered, 'on behalf of a certain party +who left this place in a huff a day or so ago, but who since then has +had time to think the matter over, and has sent me with an apology which +he hopes'--here I put on a diabolical smile, copied, I declare to you, +from the one I saw at that moment on his own lips--'you will accept.' + +"The old wretch regarded me for full two minutes in a way to unmask +me had I possessed less confidence in my disguise and in my ability to +support it. + +"'And what is this young gentleman's name?' he finally asked. + +"For reply, I handed him a slip of paper. He took it and read the few +lines written on it, after which he began to rub his palms together with +a snaky unction eminently in keeping with the stray glints of light that +now and then found their way through his' bushy eyebrows. + +"'And so the young gentleman had not the courage to come again himself?' +he softly suggested, with just the suspicion of an ironical laugh. +'Thought, perhaps, I would exact too much commission; or make him pay +too roundly for his impertinent assurance.' + +"I shrugged my shoulders, but vouchsafed no immediate reply, and he saw +that he had to open the business himself. He did it warily and with many +an incisive question which would have tripped me up if I had not been +very much on my guard; but it all ended, as such matters usually do, +in mutual understanding, and a promise that if the young gentleman was +willing to sign a certain paper, which, by the way, was not shown me, +he would in exchange give him an address which, if made proper use of, +would lead to my patron finding himself an independent man within a very +few days. + +"As this address was the thing above all others which I most desired, I +professed myself satisfied with the arrangement, and proceeded to hunt +up my patron, as he was called. Informing him of the result of my visit, +I asked if his interest in ferreting out these criminals was strong +enough to lead him to sign the vile document which the Jew would +probably have in readiness for him on the morrow; and being told it was, +we separated for that day, with the understanding that we were to meet +the next morning at the spot chosen by the Jew for the completion of his +nefarious bargain. + +"Being certain that I was being followed in all my movements by the +agents of this adept in villainy, I took care, upon leaving Mr. L----, +to repair to the hotel of the sporting man I was personifying. Making +myself square with the proprietor, I took up my quarters in the room +of my sporting friend, and, the better to deceive any spy who might be +lurking about, I received his letters and sent out his telegrams, which, +if they did not create confusion in the affairs of 'The Plunger,' must +at least have occasioned him no little work the next day. + +"Promptly at ten o'clock on the following morning I met my patron at the +place of rendezvous appointed by the old Jew; and when I tell you that +this was no other than the old cemetery of which a portion is still to +be seen off Chatham Square, you will understand the uncanny nature of +this whole adventure, and the lurking sense there was in it of brooding +death and horror. The scene, which in these days is disturbed by +elevated railroad trains and the flapping of long lines of parti-colored +clothes strung high up across the quiet tombstones, was at that time one +of peaceful rest, in the midst of a quarter devoted to everything for +which that rest is the fitting and desirable end; and as we paused among +the mossy stones, we found it hard to realize that in a few minutes +there would be standing beside us the concentrated essence of all that +was evil and despicable in human nature. + +"He arrived with a smile on his countenance that completed his ugliness, +and would have frightened any honest man from his side at once. Merely +glancing my way, he shuffled up to my companion, and leading him aside, +drew out a paper which he laid on a flat tombstone with a gesture +significant of his desire that the other should affix to it the required +signature. + +"Meantime I stood guard, and while attempting to whistle a light air, +was carelessly taking in the surroundings, and conjecturing, as best I +might, the reasons which had induced the old ghoul to make use of this +spot for his diabolical business, and had about decided that it was +because he was a ghoul, and thus felt at home among the symbols of +mortality, when I caught sight of two or three young fellows, who were +lounging on the other side of the fence. + +"These were so evidently accomplices that I wondered if the two sly boys +I had engaged to stand by me through this affair had spotted them, and +would know enough to follow them back to their haunts. + +"A few minutes later, the old rascal came sneaking towards me, with a +gleam of satisfaction in his half-closed eyes. + +"'You are not wanted any longer,' he grunted. 'The young gentleman told +me to say that he could look out for himself now.' + +"'The young gentleman had better pay me the round fifty he promised +me,' I grumbled in return, with that sudden change from indifference +to menace which I thought best calculated to further my plans; and +shouldering the miserable wretch aside, I stepped up to my companion, +who was still lingering in a state of hesitation among the gravestones. + +"'Quick! Tell me the number and street which he has given you! +'I whispered, in a tone strangely in contrast with the angry and +reproachful air I had assumed. + +"He was about to answer, when the old fellow came sidling up behind us. +Instantly the young man before me rose to the occasion, and putting on +an air of conciliation said in a soothing tone: + +"'There, there, don't bluster. Do one thing more for me, and I will +add another fifty to those I promised you. Conjure up an anonymous +letter--you know how--and send it to my father, saying that if he wants +to know where his son loses his hundreds, he must go to the place on the +dock, opposite 5 South Street, some night shortly after nine. It would +not work with most men, but it will with my father, and when he has been +in and out of that place, and I succeed to the fortune he will leave me, +then I will remember you, and----' + +"'Say, too,' a sinister voice here added in my ear, 'that if he wishes +to effect an entrance into the gambling den which his son haunts, +he must take the precaution of tying a bit of blue ribbon in his +button-hole. It is a signal meaning business, and must not be +forgotten,' chuckled the old fellow, evidently deceived at last into +thinking I was really one of his own kind. + +"I answered by a wink, and taking care to attempt no further +communication with my patron, I left the two, as soon as possible, +and went back to the hotel, where I dropped 'the sport,' and assumed a +character and dress which enabled me to make my way undetected to the +house of my young patron, where for two days I lay low, waiting for +a suitable time in which to make my final attempt to penetrate this +mystery. + +"I knew that for the adventure I was now contemplating considerable +courage was required. But I did not hesitate. The time had come for me +to show my mettle. In the few communications I was enabled to hold with +my superiors I told them of my progress and arranged with them my +plan of work. As we all agreed that I was about to encounter no common +villainy, these plans naturally partook of finesse, as you will see if +you will follow my narrative to the end. + +"Early in the evening of a cool November night I sallied forth into the +streets, dressed in the habiliments and wearing the guise of the wealthy +old gentleman whose secret guest I had been for the last few days. As he +was old and portly, and I young and spare, this disguise had cost me no +little thought and labor. But assisted as I was by the darkness, I had +but little fear of betraying myself to any chance spy who might be upon +the watch, especially as Mr. L---- had a peculiar walk, which, in my +short stay with him, I had learned to imitate perfectly. In the lapel of +my overcoat I had tied a tag of blue ribbon, and, though for all I knew +this was a signal devoting me to a secret and mysterious death, I walked +along in a buoyant condition of mind, attributable, no doubt, to the +excitement of the venture and to my desire to test my powers, even at +the risk of my life. + +"It was nine o'clock when I reached South Street. It was no new region +to me, nor was I ignorant of the specified drinking den on the dock to +which I had been directed. I remembered it as a bright spot in a mass +of ship-prows and bow-rigging, and was possessed, besides, of a vague +consciousness that there was something odd in connection with it which +had aroused my curiosity sufficiently in the past for me to have once +formed the resolution of seeing it again under circumstances which +would allow me to give, it some attention. But I never thought that +the circumstances would involve my own life, impossible as it is for a +detective to reckon upon the future or to foresee the events into which +he will be hurried by the next crime which may be reported at police +headquarters. + +"There were but few persons in the street when I crossed to The Heart's +Delight,--so named from the heart-shaped opening in the framework of the +door, through which shone a light, inviting enough to one chilled by the +keen November air and oppressed by the desolate appearance of the almost +deserted street. But amongst those persons I thought I recognized more +than one familiar form, and felt reassured as to the watch which had +been set upon the house. The night was dark and the river especially so, +but in the gloomy space beyond the dock I detected a shadow blacker than +the rest, which I took for the police-boat they had promised to have +in readiness in case I needed rescue from the water-side. Otherwise the +surroundings were as usual, and saving the gruff singing of some drunken +sailor coming from a narrow side street near by, no sound disturbed the +somewhat lugubrious silence of this weird and forsaken spot. + +"Pausing an instant before entering, I glanced up at the building, which +was about three stories high, and endeavored to see what there was about +it which had once arrested my attention, and came to the conclusion that +it was its exceptional situation on the dock, and the ghostly effect of +the hoisting-beam projecting from the upper story like a gibbet. And yet +this beam was common to many a warehouse in the vicinity, though in none +of them were there any such signs of life as proceeded from the curious +mixture of sail loft, boat shop and drinking saloon, now before me. +Could it be that the ban of criminality was upon the house, and that I +had been conscious of this without being able to realize the cause of my +interest? + +"Not stopping to solve my sensations further, I tried the door, and, +finding it yield easily to my touch, turned the knob and entered. For +a moment I was blinded by the smoky glare of the heated atmosphere +into which I stepped, but presently I was able to distinguish the vague +outlines of an oyster bar in the distance, and the motionless figures +of some half dozen men, whose movements had been arrested by my sudden +entrance. For an instant this picture remained; then the drinking and +card-playing were resumed, and I stood, as it were, alone on the sanded +floor near the door. Improving the opportunity for a closer inspection +of the place, I was struck by its picturesqueness. It had evidently been +once used as a ship chandlery, and on the walls, which were but partly +plastered, there still hung old bits of marlin, rusty rings and such +other evidences of former traffic as did not interfere with the present +more lucrative business. + +"Below were the two bars, one at the right of the door, and the other +at the lower end of the room near a window, through whose small, square +panes I caught a glimpse of the colored lights of a couple of ferry +boats, passing each other in midstream. + +"At a table near me sat two men, grumbling at each other over a game of +cards. They were large and powerful figures in the contracted space +of this long and narrow room, and my heart gave a bound of joy as I +recognized on them certain marks by which I was to know friend from foe +in this possible den of thieves and murderers. + +"Two sailors at the bar were bona fide habitus of the place, and so +I judged to be the one or two other specimens of water-side character +whose backs I could faintly discern in one of the dim corners. Meantime +a man was approaching me. + +"Let me see if I can describe him. He was about thirty, and had the +complexion and figure of a consumptive, but his eye shone with the +yellow glare of a beast of prey, and in the cadaverous hollows of his +ashen cheeks and amid the lines about his thin drawn lips there lay for +all his conciliatory smile, an expression so cold and yet so ferocious +that I spotted him at once as the man to whose genius we were indebted +for the new scheme of murder which I was jeopardizing my life to +understand. But I allowed none of the repugnance with which he inspired +me to appear in my manner, and, greeting him with half a nod, waited +for him to speak. His voice had that smooth quality which betrays the +hypocrite. + +"'Has the gentleman an appointment here?' he asked, letting his glance +fall for the merest instant on the lapel of my coat. + +"I returned a decided affirmative. Or rather, I went on, with a meaning +look he evidently comprehended, 'my son has, and I have made up my mind +to know just what deviltry he is up to these days. You see I can make it +worth your while to give me the opportunity.' + +"'O, I see,' he assented with a glance at the pocketbook I had just +drawn out. 'You want a private room from which you can watch the young +scapegrace. I understand, I understand. But the private rooms are above. +Gentlemen are not comfortable here.' + +"'I should say not,' I murmured, and drew from the pocketbook a bill +which I slid quietly into his hand. 'Now take me where I shall be +safe,' I suggested, 'and yet in full sight of the room where the young +gentlemen play. I wish to catch him at his tricks. Afterwards----' + +"'All will be well,' he finished smoothly, with another glance at my +blue ribbon. 'You see I do not ask you the young gentleman's name. +I take your money and leave all the rest to you. Only don't make a +scandal, I pray, for my house has the name of being quiet.' + +"'Yes,' thought I, 'too quiet!' and for an instant felt my spirits fail +me. But it was only for an instant. I had friends about me and a +pistol at half cock in the pocket of my overcoat. Why should I fear any +surprise, prepared as I was for every emergency? + +"'I will show you up in a moment,' said he; and left me to put up a +heavy board-shutter over the window opening on the river. Was this a +signal or a precaution? I glanced towards my two friends playing cards, +took another note of their broad shoulders and brawny arms, and prepared +to follow my host, who now stood bowing at the other end of the room, +before a covered staircase which was manifestly the sole means of +reaching the floor above. + +"The staircase was quite a feature in the room. It ran from back to +front, and was boarded all the way up to the ceiling. On these boards +hung a few useless bits of chain, wire and knotted ends of tarred ropes, +which swung to and fro as the sharp November blast struck the building, +giving out a weird and strangely muffled sound. Why did this sound, so +easily to be accounted for, ring in my ears like a note of warning? I +understand now, but I did not then, full of expectation as I was for +developments out of the ordinary. + +"Crossing the room, I entered upon the staircase, in the wake of my +companion. Though the two men at cards did not look up as I passed them, +I noticed that they were alert and ready for any signal I might choose +to give them. But I was not ready to give one yet. I must see danger +before I summoned help, and there was no token of danger yet. + +"When we were about half-way up the stairs the faint light which had +illuminated us from below suddenly vanished, and we found ourselves in +total darkness. The door at the foot had been closed by a careful hand, +and I felt, rather than heard, the stealthy pushing of a bolt across it. + +"My first impulse was to forsake my guide and rush back, but I +subdued the unworthy impulse and stood quite still, while my companion +exclaiming, 'Damn that fellow! What does he mean by shutting the door +before we're half-way up!' struck a match and lit a gas jet in the room +above, which poured a flood of light upon the staircase. Drawing my hand +from the pocket in which I had put my revolver, I hastened after him +into the small landing at the top of the stairs. An open door was before +me, in which he stood bowing, with the half-burnt match in his hand. +'This is the place, sir,' he announced, motioning me in. + +"I entered and he remained by the door, while I passed quickly about the +room, which was bare of every article of furniture save a solitary table +and chair. There was not even a window in it, with the exception of one +small light situated so high up in the corner made by the jutting-up +staircase that I wondered at its use, and was only relieved of extreme +apprehension at the prison-like appearance of the place by the gleam +of light which came through this dusty pane, showing that I was not +entirely removed from the presence of my foes if I was from that of my +friends. + +"'Ah, you have spied the window,' remarked my host, advancing toward me +with a countenance he vainly endeavored to make reassuring and friendly. +'That is your post of observation, sir,' he whispered, with a great show +of mystery. 'By mounting on the table you can peer into the room where +my young friends sit securely at play.' + +"As it was not part of my scheme to show any special mistrust, I merely +smiled a little grimly, and cast a glance at the table on which stood a +bottle of brandy and one glass. + +"'Very good brandy,' he whispered, 'Not such stuff as we give those +fellows down-stairs.' + +"I shrugged my shoulders and he slowly backed towards the door. + +"'The young men you bid me watch are very quiet,' I suggested, with a +careless wave of my hand towards the room he had mentioned. + +"'Oh, there is no one there yet. They begin to straggle in about ten +o'clock.' + +"'Ah,' was my quiet rejoinder, 'I am likely, then, to have use for your +brandy.' + +"He smiled again and made a swift motion towards the door. + +"'If you want anything,' said he, 'just step to the foot of the +staircase and let me know. The whole establishment is at your service.' +And with one final grin that remains in my mind as the most threatening +and diabolical I have ever witnessed, he laid his hand on the knob of +the door and slid quickly out. + +"It was done with such an air of final farewell, that I felt my +apprehensions take a positive form. Rushing towards the door through +which he had just vanished, I listened and heard, as I thought, his +stealthy feet descend the stair. But when I sought to follow, I found +myself for the second time overwhelmed by darkness. The gas jet, which +had hitherto burned with great brightness in the small room, had been +turned off from below, and beyond the faint glimmer which found its way +through the small window of which I have spoken, not a ray of light now +disturbed the heavy gloom of this gruesome apartment. + +"I had thought of every contingency but this, and for a few minutes +my spirits were dashed. But I soon recovered some remnants of +self-possession, and began feeling for the knob I could no longer see. +Finding it after a few futile attempts, I was relieved to discover that +this door at least was not locked; and, opening it with a careful hand, +I listened intently, but could hear nothing save the smothered sound of +men talking in the room below. + +"Should I signal for my companions? No, for the secret was not yet mine +as to how men passed from this room into the watery grave which was the +evident goal for all wearers of the blue ribbon. + +"Stepping back into the middle of the room, I carefully pondered my +situation, but could get no further than the fact that I was somehow, +and in some way, in mortal peril. Would it come in the form of a bullet, +or a deadly thrust from an unseen knife? I did not think so. For, to say +nothing of the darkness, there was one reassuring fact which recurred +constantly to my mind in connection with the murders I was endeavoring +to trace to this den of iniquity. + +"None of the gentlemen who had been found drowned had shown any marks of +violence on their bodies, so it was not attack I was to fear, but some +mysterious, underhanded treachery which would rob me of consciousness +and make the precipitation of my body into the water both safe and easy. +Perhaps it was in the bottle of brandy that the peril lay; perhaps--but +why speculate further! I would watch till midnight and then, if nothing +happened, signal my companions to raid the house. + +"Meantime a peep into the next room might help me towards solving the +mystery. Setting the bottle and glass aside, I dragged the table across +the floor, placed it under the lighted window, mounted, and was about to +peer through, when the light in that apartment was put out also. Angry +and overwhelmed, I leapt down, and, stretching out my hands till they +touched the wainscoting, I followed the wall around till I came to the +knob of the door, which I frantically clutched. But I did not turn it +immediately, I was too anxious to catch these villains at work. Would I +be conscious of the harm they meditated against me, or would I +imperceptibly yield to some influence of which I was not yet conscious, +and drop to the floor before I could draw my revolver or put to my mouth +the whistle upon which I de-pended for assistance and safety? It was +hard to tell, but I determined to cling to my first intention a little +longer, and so stood waiting and counting the minutes, while wondering +if the captain of the police boat was not getting impatient, and whether +I had not more to fear from the anxiety of my friends than the cupidity +of my foes. + +"You see I had anticipated communicating with the men in this boat by +certain signals and tokens which had been arranged between us. But the +lack of windows in the room had made all such arrangements futile, so I +knew as little of their actions as they of my sufferings; all of which +did not tend to add to the cheerfulness of my position. + +"I, however, held out for a half-hour, listening, waiting and watching +in a darkness which, like that of Egypt, could be felt, and when the +suspense grew intolerable I struck a match and let its blue flame +flicker for a moment over the face of my watch. But the matches soon +gave out and with them my patience, if not my courage, and I determined +to end the suspense by knocking at the door beneath. + +"This resolution taken, I pulled open the door before me and stepped +out. Though I could see nothing, I remembered the narrow landing at the +top of the stairs, and, stretching out my arms, I felt for the boarding +on either hand, guilding myself by it, and began to descend, when +something rising, as it were, out of the cavernous darkness before me +made me halt and draw back in mingled dread and horror. + +"But the impression, strong as it was, was only momentary, and, resolved +to be done with the matter, I precipitated myself downward, when +suddenly, at about the middle of the staircase, my feet slipped and I +slid forward, plunging and reaching out with hands whose frenzied grasp +found nothing to cling to, down a steep inclined plane--or what to my +bewildered senses appeared such,--till I struck a yielding surface and +passed with one sickening plunge into the icy waters of the river which +in another moment had closed dark and benumbing above my head. + +"It was all so rapid I did not think of uttering a cry. But happily for +me the splash I made told the story, and I was rescued before I could +sink a second time. + +"It was a full half hour before I had sufficiently recovered from the +shock to relate my story. But when once I had made it known, you can +imagine the gusto with which the police prepared to enter the house +and confound the obliging host with a sight of my dripping garments and +accusing face. And indeed in all my professional experience I have never +beheld a more sudden merging of the bully into a coward than was to be +seen in this slick villain's face, when I was suddenly pulled from the +crowd and placed before him, with the old man's wig gone from my head, +and the tag of blue ribbon still clinging to my wet coat. + +"His game was up, and he saw it; and Ebenezer Gryce's career had begun. + +"Like all destructive things the device by which I had been run into the +river was simple enough when understood. In the first place it had been +constructed to serve the purpose of a stairway and chute. The latter was +in plain sight when it was used by the sailmakers to run the finished +sails into the waiting yawls below. At the time of my adventure, and for +some time before, the possibilities of the place had been discovered by +mine host, who had ingeniously put a partition up the entire stairway, +dividing the steps from the smooth runway. At the upper part of the +runway he had built a few steps, wherewith to lure the unwary far enough +down to insure a fatal descent. To make sure of his game he had likewise +ceiled the upper room all around, including the enclosure of the stairs. +The door to the chute and the door to the stairs were side by side, and +being made of the same boards as the wainscoting, were scarcely visible +when closed, while the single knob that was used, being transferable +from one to the other, naturally gave the impression that there was but +one door. When this adroit villain called my attention to the little +window around the corner, he no doubt removed the knob from the stairs' +door and quickly placed it in the one opening upon the chute. Another +door, connecting the two similar landings without, explains how he got +from the chute staircase into which he passed, on leaving me, to the one +communicating with the room below. + +"The mystery was solved, and my footing on the force secured; but to +this day--and I am an old man now--I have not forgotten the horror of +the moment when my feet slipped from under me, and I felt myself sliding +downward, without hope of rescue, into a pit of heaving waters, where so +many men of conspicuous virtue had already ended their valuable lives. + +"Myriad thoughts flashed through my brain in that brief interval, and +among them the whole method of operating this death-trap, together with +every detail of evidence that would secure the conviction of the entire +gang." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Staircase At The Hearts Delight, by +Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STAIRCASE *** + +***** This file should be named 22811-8.txt or 22811-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/8/1/22811/ + +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. 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Charles + Rohlfs) + </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 Staircase At The Hearts Delight, by +Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + +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 Staircase At The Hearts Delight + 1894 + +Author: Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + +Release Date: September 29, 2007 [EBook #22811] +Last Updated: December 18, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STAIRCASE *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE STAIRCASE AT THE HEARTS DELIGHT. + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Copyright, 1894, by Anna Katharine Green + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> AS TOLD BY MR. GRYCE. + </p> + <p> + “In the spring of 1840, the attention of the New York police was attracted + by the many cases of well-known men found drowned in the various waters + surrounding the lower portion of our great city. Among these may be + mentioned the name of Elwood Henderson, the noted tea merchant, whose + remains were washed ashore at Redhook Point; and of Christopher Bigelow, + who was picked up off Governor’s Island after having been in the water for + five days, and of another well-known millionaire whose name I cannot now + recall, but who, I remember, was seen to walk towards the East River one + March evening, and was not met with again till the 5th of April, when his + body floated into one of the docks near Peck Slip. + </p> + <p> + “As it seemed highly improbable that there should have been a concerted + action among so many wealthy and distinguished men to end their lives + within a few weeks of each other, and all by the same method of drowning, + we soon became suspicious that a more serious verdict than that of suicide + should have been rendered in the case of Henderson, Bigelow and the other + gentleman I have mentioned. Yet one fact, common to all these cases, + pointed so conclusively to deliberate intention on the part of the + sufferers that we hesitated to take action. + </p> + <p> + “This was, that upon the body of each of the above-mentioned persons there + were found, not only valuables in the shape of money and jewelry, but + papers and memoranda of a nature calculated to fix the identity of the + drowned man, in case the water should rob him of his personal + characteristics. Consequently, we could not ascribe these deaths to a + desire for plunder on the part of some unknown person. + </p> + <p> + “I was a young man in those days, and full of ambition. So, though I said + nothing, I did not let this matter drop when the others did, but kept my + mind persistently upon it and waited, with odd results as you will hear, + for another victim to be reported at police headquarters. + </p> + <p> + “Meantime I sought to discover some bond or connection between the several + men who had been found drowned, which would serve to explain their similar + fate. But all my efforts in this direction were fruitless. There was no + bond between them, and the matter remained for a while an unsolved + mystery. + </p> + <p> + “Suddenly one morning a clew was placed, not in my hands, but in those of + a superior official who at that time exerted a great influence over the + whole force. He was sitting in his private room, when there was ushered + into his presence a young man of a dissipated but not unprepossessing + appearance, who, after a pause of marked embarrassment, entered upon the + following story: + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know whether or no, I should offer an excuse for the + communication I am about to make; but the matter I have to relate is + simply this: Being hard up last night (for though a rich man’s son I often + lack money), I went to a certain pawn-shop in the Bowery where I had been + told I could raise money on my prospects. This place—you may see it + sometime, so I will not enlarge upon it—did not strike me favorably; + but, being very anxious for a certain definite sum of money, I wrote my + name in a book which was brought to me from some unknown quarter, and + proceeded to follow the young woman who attended me into what she was + pleased to call her good master’s private office. He may have been a good + master, but he was anything but a good man, In short, sir, when he found + out who I was, and how much I needed money, he suggested that I should + make an appointment with my father at a place he called Judah’s in Grand + Street, where, said he, ‘your little affair will be arranged, and you made + a rich man within thirty days. That is,’ he slyly added, ‘unless your + father has already made a will, disinheriting you.’ + </p> + <p> + “I was shocked, sir, shocked beyond all my powers of concealment, not so + much at his words, which I hardly understood, as at his looks, which had a + world of evil suggestion in them; so I raised my fist and would have + knocked him down, only that I found two young fellows at my elbows, who + held me quiet for five minutes, while the old fellow talked to me. He + asked me if I came to him on a fool’s errand or really to get money; and + when I admitted that I had cherished hopes of obtaining a clear two + thousand dollars from him, he coolly replied that he knew of but one way + in which I could hope to get such an amount, and that if I was too + squeamish to adopt it, I had made a mistake in coming to his shop, which + was no missionary institution, etc., etc. Not wishing to irritate him, for + there was menace in his eye, I asked, with a certain weak show of being + sorry for my former heat, whereabouts in Grand Street I should find this + Judah. The retort was quick, ‘Judah is not his name,’ said he, ‘and Grand + Street is not where you are to go to find him. I threw out a bait to see + if you would snap at it, but I find you timid, and therefore advise you to + drop the matter entirely.’ I was quite willing to do so, and answered him + to this effect; whereupon, with a side glance I did not understand but + which made me more or less uneasy in regard to his intentions towards me, + he motioned to the men who held my arms to let go their hold, which they + at once did. + </p> + <p> + “‘We have your signature,’ growled the old man as I went out. ‘If you + peach on us or trouble us in any way we will show it to your father and + that will put an end to all your hopes of future fortune.’ Then raising + his voice he shouted to the girl in the outer office, ‘Let the young man + see what he has signed.’ She smiled and again brought forward the book in + which I had so recklessly placed my name, and there at the top of the page + I read these words: ‘For moneys received, I agree to notify Levi Solomon, + within the month, of the death of my father, that he may recover from me, + without loss of time, the sum of ten thousand dollars from the amount I am + bound to receive as my father’s heir.’ The sight of these lines knocked me + hollow. But I am less of a coward morally than physically, and I + determined to acquaint my father at once with what I had done, and get his + advice as to whether or not I should inform the police of my adventure. He + heard me with more consideration than I expected, but insisted that I + should immediately make known to you my experience in this Bowery + pawnbroker’s shop. + </p> + <p> + “The officer, highly interested, took down the young man’s statement in + writing, and, after getting a more accurate description of the Jew’s + house, allowed his visitor to go. + </p> + <p> + “Fortunately for me I was in the building at the time, and was able to + respond when a man was called up to investigate this matter. Thinking that + I saw a connection between it and the various mysterious deaths of which I + have previously spoken, I entered into the affair with much spirit. But, + wishing to be sure that my possibly unwarranted conclusions were correct, + I took pains to inquire, before proceeding upon my errand, into the + character of the heirs who had inherited the property of Elwood Henderson + and Christopher Bigelow, and found that in each case there was one among + the rest who was well known for his profligacy and reckless expenditure. + It was a significant discovery, and increased, if possible, my interest in + running down this nefarious trafficker in the lives of wealthy men. + </p> + <p> + “Knowing that I could hope for no success in my character of detective, I + made an arrangement with the father of the young gentleman before alluded + to, by which I was to enter the pawn-shop as an emissary of the latter. I + accordingly appeared there, one dull November afternoon, in the garb of a + certain western sporting man, who, for a consideration, allowed me the + temporary use of his name and credentials. + </p> + <p> + “Entering beneath the three golden balls, with, the swagger and general + air of ownership I thought most likely to impose upon the self-satisfied + female who presided over the desk, I asked to see her boss. + </p> + <p> + “‘On your own business?’ she queried, glancing with suspicion at my short + coat, which was rather more showy than elegant. + </p> + <p> + “‘No,’ I returned, ‘not on my own business, but on that of a young gent——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Anyone whose name is written here?’ she interposed, reaching towards me + the famous book, over the top of which, however, she was careful to lay + her arm. + </p> + <p> + “I glanced down the page she had opened and instantly detected that of the + young gentleman on whose behalf I was supposed to be there, and nodded + ‘Yes,’ with all the assurance of which I was capable. + </p> + <p> + “‘Very well, then,’ said she, ‘come!’ and she ushered me without much ado + into a den of discomfort where sat a man, with a great beard and such + heavy overhanging eyebrows that I could hardly detect the twinkle of his + eyes, keen and incisive as they were. + </p> + <p> + “Smiling upon him, but not in the same way I had upon the girl, I glanced + behind me at the open door, and above me at the partitions, which failed + to reach the ceiling. Then I shook my head and drew a step nearer. + </p> + <p> + “‘I have come,’ I insinuatingly whispered, ‘on behalf of a certain party + who left this place in a huff a day or so ago, but who since then has had + time to think the matter over, and has sent me with an apology which he + hopes’—here I put on a diabolical smile, copied, I declare to you, + from the one I saw at that moment on his own lips—‘you will accept.’ + </p> + <p> + “The old wretch regarded me for full two minutes in a way to unmask me had + I possessed less confidence in my disguise and in my ability to support + it. + </p> + <p> + “‘And what is this young gentleman’s name?’ he finally asked. + </p> + <p> + “For reply, I handed him a slip of paper. He took it and read the few + lines written on it, after which he began to rub his palms together with a + snaky unction eminently in keeping with the stray glints of light that now + and then found their way through his’ bushy eyebrows. + </p> + <p> + “‘And so the young gentleman had not the courage to come again himself?’ + he softly suggested, with just the suspicion of an ironical laugh. + ‘Thought, perhaps, I would exact too much commission; or make him pay too + roundly for his impertinent assurance.’ + </p> + <p> + “I shrugged my shoulders, but vouchsafed no immediate reply, and he saw + that he had to open the business himself. He did it warily and with many + an incisive question which would have tripped me up if I had not been very + much on my guard; but it all ended, as such matters usually do, in mutual + understanding, and a promise that if the young gentleman was willing to + sign a certain paper, which, by the way, was not shown me, he would in + exchange give him an address which, if made proper use of, would lead to + my patron finding himself an independent man within a very few days. + </p> + <p> + “As this address was the thing above all others which I most desired, I + professed myself satisfied with the arrangement, and proceeded to hunt up + my patron, as he was called. Informing him of the result of my visit, I + asked if his interest in ferreting out these criminals was strong enough + to lead him to sign the vile document which the Jew would probably have in + readiness for him on the morrow; and being told it was, we separated for + that day, with the understanding that we were to meet the next morning at + the spot chosen by the Jew for the completion of his nefarious bargain. + </p> + <p> + “Being certain that I was being followed in all my movements by the agents + of this adept in villainy, I took care, upon leaving Mr. L——, + to repair to the hotel of the sporting man I was personifying. Making + myself square with the proprietor, I took up my quarters in the room of my + sporting friend, and, the better to deceive any spy who might be lurking + about, I received his letters and sent out his telegrams, which, if they + did not create confusion in the affairs of ‘The Plunger,’ must at least + have occasioned him no little work the next day. + </p> + <p> + “Promptly at ten o’clock on the following morning I met my patron at the + place of rendezvous appointed by the old Jew; and when I tell you that + this was no other than the old cemetery of which a portion is still to be + seen off Chatham Square, you will understand the uncanny nature of this + whole adventure, and the lurking sense there was in it of brooding death + and horror. The scene, which in these days is disturbed by elevated + railroad trains and the flapping of long lines of parti-colored clothes + strung high up across the quiet tombstones, was at that time one of + peaceful rest, in the midst of a quarter devoted to everything for which + that rest is the fitting and desirable end; and as we paused among the + mossy stones, we found it hard to realize that in a few minutes there + would be standing beside us the concentrated essence of all that was evil + and despicable in human nature. + </p> + <p> + “He arrived with a smile on his countenance that completed his ugliness, + and would have frightened any honest man from his side at once. Merely + glancing my way, he shuffled up to my companion, and leading him aside, + drew out a paper which he laid on a flat tombstone with a gesture + significant of his desire that the other should affix to it the required + signature. + </p> + <p> + “Meantime I stood guard, and while attempting to whistle a light air, was + carelessly taking in the surroundings, and conjecturing, as best I might, + the reasons which had induced the old ghoul to make use of this spot for + his diabolical business, and had about decided that it was because he was + a ghoul, and thus felt at home among the symbols of mortality, when I + caught sight of two or three young fellows, who were lounging on the other + side of the fence. + </p> + <p> + “These were so evidently accomplices that I wondered if the two sly boys I + had engaged to stand by me through this affair had spotted them, and would + know enough to follow them back to their haunts. + </p> + <p> + “A few minutes later, the old rascal came sneaking towards me, with a + gleam of satisfaction in his half-closed eyes. + </p> + <p> + “‘You are not wanted any longer,’ he grunted. ‘The young gentleman told me + to say that he could look out for himself now.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘The young gentleman had better pay me the round fifty he promised me,’ I + grumbled in return, with that sudden change from indifference to menace + which I thought best calculated to further my plans; and shouldering the + miserable wretch aside, I stepped up to my companion, who was still + lingering in a state of hesitation among the gravestones. + </p> + <p> + “‘Quick! Tell me the number and street which he has given you! ‘I + whispered, in a tone strangely in contrast with the angry and reproachful + air I had assumed. + </p> + <p> + “He was about to answer, when the old fellow came sidling up behind us. + Instantly the young man before me rose to the occasion, and putting on an + air of conciliation said in a soothing tone: + </p> + <p> + “‘There, there, don’t bluster. Do one thing more for me, and I will add + another fifty to those I promised you. Conjure up an anonymous letter—you + know how—and send it to my father, saying that if he wants to know + where his son loses his hundreds, he must go to the place on the dock, + opposite 5 South Street, some night shortly after nine. It would not work + with most men, but it will with my father, and when he has been in and out + of that place, and I succeed to the fortune he will leave me, then I will + remember you, and——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Say, too,’ a sinister voice here added in my ear, ‘that if he wishes to + effect an entrance into the gambling den which his son haunts, he must + take the precaution of tying a bit of blue ribbon in his button-hole. It + is a signal meaning business, and must not be forgotten,’ chuckled the old + fellow, evidently deceived at last into thinking I was really one of his + own kind. + </p> + <p> + “I answered by a wink, and taking care to attempt no further communication + with my patron, I left the two, as soon as possible, and went back to the + hotel, where I dropped ‘the sport,’ and assumed a character and dress + which enabled me to make my way undetected to the house of my young + patron, where for two days I lay low, waiting for a suitable time in which + to make my final attempt to penetrate this mystery. + </p> + <p> + “I knew that for the adventure I was now contemplating considerable + courage was required. But I did not hesitate. The time had come for me to + show my mettle. In the few communications I was enabled to hold with my + superiors I told them of my progress and arranged with them my plan of + work. As we all agreed that I was about to encounter no common villainy, + these plans naturally partook of finesse, as you will see if you will + follow my narrative to the end. + </p> + <p> + “Early in the evening of a cool November night I sallied forth into the + streets, dressed in the habiliments and wearing the guise of the wealthy + old gentleman whose secret guest I had been for the last few days. As he + was old and portly, and I young and spare, this disguise had cost me no + little thought and labor. But assisted as I was by the darkness, I had but + little fear of betraying myself to any chance spy who might be upon the + watch, especially as Mr. L—— had a peculiar walk, which, in my + short stay with him, I had learned to imitate perfectly. In the lapel of + my overcoat I had tied a tag of blue ribbon, and, though for all I knew + this was a signal devoting me to a secret and mysterious death, I walked + along in a buoyant condition of mind, attributable, no doubt, to the + excitement of the venture and to my desire to test my powers, even at the + risk of my life. + </p> + <p> + “It was nine o’clock when I reached South Street. It was no new region to + me, nor was I ignorant of the specified drinking den on the dock to which + I had been directed. I remembered it as a bright spot in a mass of + ship-prows and bow-rigging, and was possessed, besides, of a vague + consciousness that there was something odd in connection with it which had + aroused my curiosity sufficiently in the past for me to have once formed + the resolution of seeing it again under circumstances which would allow me + to give, it some attention. But I never thought that the circumstances + would involve my own life, impossible as it is for a detective to reckon + upon the future or to foresee the events into which he will be hurried by + the next crime which may be reported at police headquarters. + </p> + <p> + “There were but few persons in the street when I crossed to The Heart’s + Delight,—so named from the heart-shaped opening in the framework of + the door, through which shone a light, inviting enough to one chilled by + the keen November air and oppressed by the desolate appearance of the + almost deserted street. But amongst those persons I thought I recognized + more than one familiar form, and felt reassured as to the watch which had + been set upon the house. The night was dark and the river especially so, + but in the gloomy space beyond the dock I detected a shadow blacker than + the rest, which I took for the police-boat they had promised to have in + readiness in case I needed rescue from the water-side. Otherwise the + surroundings were as usual, and saving the gruff singing of some drunken + sailor coming from a narrow side street near by, no sound disturbed the + somewhat lugubrious silence of this weird and forsaken spot. + </p> + <p> + “Pausing an instant before entering, I glanced up at the building, which + was about three stories high, and endeavored to see what there was about + it which had once arrested my attention, and came to the conclusion that + it was its exceptional situation on the dock, and the ghostly effect of + the hoisting-beam projecting from the upper story like a gibbet. And yet + this beam was common to many a warehouse in the vicinity, though in none + of them were there any such signs of life as proceeded from the curious + mixture of sail loft, boat shop and drinking saloon, now before me. Could + it be that the ban of criminality was upon the house, and that I had been + conscious of this without being able to realize the cause of my interest? + </p> + <p> + “Not stopping to solve my sensations further, I tried the door, and, + finding it yield easily to my touch, turned the knob and entered. For a + moment I was blinded by the smoky glare of the heated atmosphere into + which I stepped, but presently I was able to distinguish the vague + outlines of an oyster bar in the distance, and the motionless figures of + some half dozen men, whose movements had been arrested by my sudden + entrance. For an instant this picture remained; then the drinking and + card-playing were resumed, and I stood, as it were, alone on the sanded + floor near the door. Improving the opportunity for a closer inspection of + the place, I was struck by its picturesqueness. It had evidently been once + used as a ship chandlery, and on the walls, which were but partly + plastered, there still hung old bits of marlin, rusty rings and such other + evidences of former traffic as did not interfere with the present more + lucrative business. + </p> + <p> + “Below were the two bars, one at the right of the door, and the other at + the lower end of the room near a window, through whose small, square panes + I caught a glimpse of the colored lights of a couple of ferry boats, + passing each other in midstream. + </p> + <p> + “At a table near me sat two men, grumbling at each other over a game of + cards. They were large and powerful figures in the contracted space of + this long and narrow room, and my heart gave a bound of joy as I + recognized on them certain marks by which I was to know friend from foe in + this possible den of thieves and murderers. + </p> + <p> + “Two sailors at the bar were bona fide habitués of the place, and so I + judged to be the one or two other specimens of water-side character whose + backs I could faintly discern in one of the dim corners. Meantime a man + was approaching me. + </p> + <p> + “Let me see if I can describe him. He was about thirty, and had the + complexion and figure of a consumptive, but his eye shone with the yellow + glare of a beast of prey, and in the cadaverous hollows of his ashen + cheeks and amid the lines about his thin drawn lips there lay for all his + conciliatory smile, an expression so cold and yet so ferocious that I + spotted him at once as the man to whose genius we were indebted for the + new scheme of murder which I was jeopardizing my life to understand. But I + allowed none of the repugnance with which he inspired me to appear in my + manner, and, greeting him with half a nod, waited for him to speak. His + voice had that smooth quality which betrays the hypocrite. + </p> + <p> + “‘Has the gentleman an appointment here?’ he asked, letting his glance + fall for the merest instant on the lapel of my coat. + </p> + <p> + “I returned a decided affirmative. Or rather, I went on, with a meaning + look he evidently comprehended, ‘my son has, and I have made up my mind to + know just what deviltry he is up to these days. You see I can make it + worth your while to give me the opportunity.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘O, I see,’ he assented with a glance at the pocketbook I had just drawn + out. ‘You want a private room from which you can watch the young + scapegrace. I understand, I understand. But the private rooms are above. + Gentlemen are not comfortable here.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘I should say not,’ I murmured, and drew from the pocketbook a bill which + I slid quietly into his hand. ‘Now take me where I shall be safe,’ I + suggested, ‘and yet in full sight of the room where the young gentlemen + play. I wish to catch him at his tricks. Afterwards——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘All will be well,’ he finished smoothly, with another glance at my blue + ribbon. ‘You see I do not ask you the young gentleman’s name. I take your + money and leave all the rest to you. Only don’t make a scandal, I pray, + for my house has the name of being quiet.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes,’ thought I, ‘too quiet!’ and for an instant felt my spirits fail + me. But it was only for an instant. I had friends about me and a pistol at + half cock in the pocket of my overcoat. Why should I fear any surprise, + prepared as I was for every emergency? + </p> + <p> + “‘I will show you up in a moment,’ said he; and left me to put up a heavy + board-shutter over the window opening on the river. Was this a signal or a + precaution? I glanced towards my two friends playing cards, took another + note of their broad shoulders and brawny arms, and prepared to follow my + host, who now stood bowing at the other end of the room, before a covered + staircase which was manifestly the sole means of reaching the floor above. + </p> + <p> + “The staircase was quite a feature in the room. It ran from back to front, + and was boarded all the way up to the ceiling. On these boards hung a few + useless bits of chain, wire and knotted ends of tarred ropes, which swung + to and fro as the sharp November blast struck the building, giving out a + weird and strangely muffled sound. Why did this sound, so easily to be + accounted for, ring in my ears like a note of warning? I understand now, + but I did not then, full of expectation as I was for developments out of + the ordinary. + </p> + <p> + “Crossing the room, I entered upon the staircase, in the wake of my + companion. Though the two men at cards did not look up as I passed them, I + noticed that they were alert and ready for any signal I might choose to + give them. But I was not ready to give one yet. I must see danger before I + summoned help, and there was no token of danger yet. + </p> + <p> + “When we were about half-way up the stairs the faint light which had + illuminated us from below suddenly vanished, and we found ourselves in + total darkness. The door at the foot had been closed by a careful hand, + and I felt, rather than heard, the stealthy pushing of a bolt across it. + </p> + <p> + “My first impulse was to forsake my guide and rush back, but I subdued the + unworthy impulse and stood quite still, while my companion exclaiming, + ‘Damn that fellow! What does he mean by shutting the door before we’re + half-way up!’ struck a match and lit a gas jet in the room above, which + poured a flood of light upon the staircase. Drawing my hand from the + pocket in which I had put my revolver, I hastened after him into the small + landing at the top of the stairs. An open door was before me, in which he + stood bowing, with the half-burnt match in his hand. ‘This is the place, + sir,’ he announced, motioning me in. + </p> + <p> + “I entered and he remained by the door, while I passed quickly about the + room, which was bare of every article of furniture save a solitary table + and chair. There was not even a window in it, with the exception of one + small light situated so high up in the corner made by the jutting-up + staircase that I wondered at its use, and was only relieved of extreme + apprehension at the prison-like appearance of the place by the gleam of + light which came through this dusty pane, showing that I was not entirely + removed from the presence of my foes if I was from that of my friends. + </p> + <p> + “‘Ah, you have spied the window,’ remarked my host, advancing toward me + with a countenance he vainly endeavored to make reassuring and friendly. + ‘That is your post of observation, sir,’ he whispered, with a great show + of mystery. ‘By mounting on the table you can peer into the room where my + young friends sit securely at play.’ + </p> + <p> + “As it was not part of my scheme to show any special mistrust, I merely + smiled a little grimly, and cast a glance at the table on which stood a + bottle of brandy and one glass. + </p> + <p> + “‘Very good brandy,’ he whispered, ‘Not such stuff as we give those + fellows down-stairs.’ + </p> + <p> + “I shrugged my shoulders and he slowly backed towards the door. + </p> + <p> + “‘The young men you bid me watch are very quiet,’ I suggested, with a + careless wave of my hand towards the room he had mentioned. + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh, there is no one there yet. They begin to straggle in about ten + o’clock.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Ah,’ was my quiet rejoinder, ‘I am likely, then, to have use for your + brandy.’ + </p> + <p> + “He smiled again and made a swift motion towards the door. + </p> + <p> + “‘If you want anything,’ said he, ‘just step to the foot of the staircase + and let me know. The whole establishment is at your service.’ And with one + final grin that remains in my mind as the most threatening and diabolical + I have ever witnessed, he laid his hand on the knob of the door and slid + quickly out. + </p> + <p> + “It was done with such an air of final farewell, that I felt my + apprehensions take a positive form. Rushing towards the door through which + he had just vanished, I listened and heard, as I thought, his stealthy + feet descend the stair. But when I sought to follow, I found myself for + the second time overwhelmed by darkness. The gas jet, which had hitherto + burned with great brightness in the small room, had been turned off from + below, and beyond the faint glimmer which found its way through the small + window of which I have spoken, not a ray of light now disturbed the heavy + gloom of this gruesome apartment. + </p> + <p> + “I had thought of every contingency but this, and for a few minutes my + spirits were dashed. But I soon recovered some remnants of + self-possession, and began feeling for the knob I could no longer see. + Finding it after a few futile attempts, I was relieved to discover that + this door at least was not locked; and, opening it with a careful hand, I + listened intently, but could hear nothing save the smothered sound of men + talking in the room below. + </p> + <p> + “Should I signal for my companions? No, for the secret was not yet mine as + to how men passed from this room into the watery grave which was the + evident goal for all wearers of the blue ribbon. + </p> + <p> + “Stepping back into the middle of the room, I carefully pondered my + situation, but could get no further than the fact that I was somehow, and + in some way, in mortal peril. Would it come in the form of a bullet, or a + deadly thrust from an unseen knife? I did not think so. For, to say + nothing of the darkness, there was one reassuring fact which recurred + constantly to my mind in connection with the murders I was endeavoring to + trace to this den of iniquity. + </p> + <p> + “None of the gentlemen who had been found drowned had shown any marks of + violence on their bodies, so it was not attack I was to fear, but some + mysterious, underhanded treachery which would rob me of consciousness and + make the precipitation of my body into the water both safe and easy. + Perhaps it was in the bottle of brandy that the peril lay; perhaps—but + why speculate further! I would watch till midnight and then, if nothing + happened, signal my companions to raid the house. + </p> + <p> + “Meantime a peep into the next room might help me towards solving the + mystery. Setting the bottle and glass aside, I dragged the table across + the floor, placed it under the lighted window, mounted, and was about to + peer through, when the light in that apartment was put out also. Angry and + overwhelmed, I leapt down, and, stretching out my hands till they touched + the wainscoting, I followed the wall around till I came to the knob of the + door, which I frantically clutched. But I did not turn it immediately, I + was too anxious to catch these villains at work. Would I be conscious of + the harm they meditated against me, or would I imperceptibly yield to some + influence of which I was not yet conscious, and drop to the floor before I + could draw my revolver or put to my mouth the whistle upon which I + de-pended for assistance and safety? It was hard to tell, but I determined + to cling to my first intention a little longer, and so stood waiting and + counting the minutes, while wondering if the captain of the police boat + was not getting impatient, and whether I had not more to fear from the + anxiety of my friends than the cupidity of my foes. + </p> + <p> + “You see I had anticipated communicating with the men in this boat by + certain signals and tokens which had been arranged between us. But the + lack of windows in the room had made all such arrangements futile, so I + knew as little of their actions as they of my sufferings; all of which did + not tend to add to the cheerfulness of my position. + </p> + <p> + “I, however, held out for a half-hour, listening, waiting and watching in + a darkness which, like that of Egypt, could be felt, and when the suspense + grew intolerable I struck a match and let its blue flame flicker for a + moment over the face of my watch. But the matches soon gave out and with + them my patience, if not my courage, and I determined to end the suspense + by knocking at the door beneath. + </p> + <p> + “This resolution taken, I pulled open the door before me and stepped out. + Though I could see nothing, I remembered the narrow landing at the top of + the stairs, and, stretching out my arms, I felt for the boarding on either + hand, guilding myself by it, and began to descend, when something rising, + as it were, out of the cavernous darkness before me made me halt and draw + back in mingled dread and horror. + </p> + <p> + “But the impression, strong as it was, was only momentary, and, resolved + to be done with the matter, I precipitated myself downward, when suddenly, + at about the middle of the staircase, my feet slipped and I slid forward, + plunging and reaching out with hands whose frenzied grasp found nothing to + cling to, down a steep inclined plane—or what to my bewildered + senses appeared such,—till I struck a yielding surface and passed + with one sickening plunge into the icy waters of the river which in + another moment had closed dark and benumbing above my head. + </p> + <p> + “It was all so rapid I did not think of uttering a cry. But happily for me + the splash I made told the story, and I was rescued before I could sink a + second time. + </p> + <p> + “It was a full half hour before I had sufficiently recovered from the + shock to relate my story. But when once I had made it known, you can + imagine the gusto with which the police prepared to enter the house and + confound the obliging host with a sight of my dripping garments and + accusing face. And indeed in all my professional experience I have never + beheld a more sudden merging of the bully into a coward than was to be + seen in this slick villain’s face, when I was suddenly pulled from the + crowd and placed before him, with the old man’s wig gone from my head, and + the tag of blue ribbon still clinging to my wet coat. + </p> + <p> + “His game was up, and he saw it; and Ebenezer Gryce’s career had begun. + </p> + <p> + “Like all destructive things the device by which I had been run into the + river was simple enough when understood. In the first place it had been + constructed to serve the purpose of a stairway and chute. The latter was + in plain sight when it was used by the sailmakers to run the finished + sails into the waiting yawls below. At the time of my adventure, and for + some time before, the possibilities of the place had been discovered by + mine host, who had ingeniously put a partition up the entire stairway, + dividing the steps from the smooth runway. At the upper part of the runway + he had built a few steps, wherewith to lure the unwary far enough down to + insure a fatal descent. To make sure of his game he had likewise ceiled + the upper room all around, including the enclosure of the stairs. The door + to the chute and the door to the stairs were side by side, and being made + of the same boards as the wainscoting, were scarcely visible when closed, + while the single knob that was used, being transferable from one to the + other, naturally gave the impression that there was but one door. When + this adroit villain called my attention to the little window around the + corner, he no doubt removed the knob from the stairs’ door and quickly + placed it in the one opening upon the chute. Another door, connecting the + two similar landings without, explains how he got from the chute staircase + into which he passed, on leaving me, to the one communicating with the + room below. + </p> + <p> + “The mystery was solved, and my footing on the force secured; but to this + day—and I am an old man now—I have not forgotten the horror of + the moment when my feet slipped from under me, and I felt myself sliding + downward, without hope of rescue, into a pit of heaving waters, where so + many men of conspicuous virtue had already ended their valuable lives. + </p> + <p> + “Myriad thoughts flashed through my brain in that brief interval, and + among them the whole method of operating this death-trap, together with + every detail of evidence that would secure the conviction of the entire + gang.” + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Staircase At The Hearts Delight, by +Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STAIRCASE *** + +***** This file should be named 22811-h.htm or 22811-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/8/1/22811/ + +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. 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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 Staircase At The Hearts Delight + 1894 + +Author: Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + +Release Date: September 29, 2007 [EBook #22811] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STAIRCASE *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +THE STAIRCASE AT THE HEARTS DELIGHT. + +By Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + +Copyright, 1894, by Anna Katharine Green + + +AS TOLD BY MR. GRYCE. + +"In the spring of 1840, the attention of the New York police was +attracted by the many cases of well-known men found drowned in the +various waters surrounding the lower portion of our great city. Among +these may be mentioned the name of Elwood Henderson, the noted tea +merchant, whose remains were washed ashore at Redhook Point; and of +Christopher Bigelow, who was picked up off Governor's Island after +having been in the water for five days, and of another well-known +millionaire whose name I cannot now recall, but who, I remember, was +seen to walk towards the East River one March evening, and was not met +with again till the 5th of April, when his body floated into one of the +docks near Peck Slip. + +"As it seemed highly improbable that there should have been a concerted +action among so many wealthy and distinguished men to end their +lives within a few weeks of each other, and all by the same method of +drowning, we soon became suspicious that a more serious verdict than +that of suicide should have been rendered in the case of Henderson, +Bigelow and the other gentleman I have mentioned. Yet one fact, common +to all these cases, pointed so conclusively to deliberate intention on +the part of the sufferers that we hesitated to take action. + +"This was, that upon the body of each of the above-mentioned persons +there were found, not only valuables in the shape of money and jewelry, +but papers and memoranda of a nature calculated to fix the identity +of the drowned man, in case the water should rob him of his personal +characteristics. Consequently, we could not ascribe these deaths to a +desire for plunder on the part of some unknown person. + +"I was a young man in those days, and full of ambition. So, though I +said nothing, I did not let this matter drop when the others did, but +kept my mind persistently upon it and waited, with odd results as you +will hear, for another victim to be reported at police headquarters. + +"Meantime I sought to discover some bond or connection between the +several men who had been found drowned, which would serve to explain +their similar fate. But all my efforts in this direction were fruitless. +There was no bond between them, and the matter remained for a while an +unsolved mystery. + +"Suddenly one morning a clew was placed, not in my hands, but in those +of a superior official who at that time exerted a great influence over +the whole force. He was sitting in his private room, when there +was ushered into his presence a young man of a dissipated but not +unprepossessing appearance, who, after a pause of marked embarrassment, +entered upon the following story: + +"I don't know whether or no, I should offer an excuse for the +communication I am about to make; but the matter I have to relate is +simply this: Being hard up last night (for though a rich man's son I +often lack money), I went to a certain pawn-shop in the Bowery where I +had been told I could raise money on my prospects. This place--you +may see it sometime, so I will not enlarge upon it--did not strike me +favorably; but, being very anxious for a certain definite sum of money, +I wrote my name in a book which was brought to me from some unknown +quarter, and proceeded to follow the young woman who attended me into +what she was pleased to call her good master's private office. He may +have been a good master, but he was anything but a good man, In short, +sir, when he found out who I was, and how much I needed money, he +suggested that I should make an appointment with my father at a place he +called Judah's in Grand Street, where, said he, 'your little affair will +be arranged, and you made a rich man within thirty days. That is,' he +slyly added, 'unless your father has already made a will, disinheriting +you.' + +"I was shocked, sir, shocked beyond all my powers of concealment, not so +much at his words, which I hardly understood, as at his looks, which had +a world of evil suggestion in them; so I raised my fist and would have +knocked him down, only that I found two young fellows at my elbows, who +held me quiet for five minutes, while the old fellow talked to me. He +asked me if I came to him on a fool's errand or really to get money; +and when I admitted that I had cherished hopes of obtaining a clear two +thousand dollars from him, he coolly replied that he knew of but one +way in which I could hope to get such an amount, and that if I was too +squeamish to adopt it, I had made a mistake in coming to his shop, which +was no missionary institution, etc., etc. Not wishing to irritate him, +for there was menace in his eye, I asked, with a certain weak show of +being sorry for my former heat, whereabouts in Grand Street I should +find this Judah. The retort was quick, 'Judah is not his name,' said he, +'and Grand Street is not where you are to go to find him. I threw out a +bait to see if you would snap at it, but I find you timid, and therefore +advise you to drop the matter entirely.' I was quite willing to do so, +and answered him to this effect; whereupon, with a side glance I did +not understand but which made me more or less uneasy in regard to his +intentions towards me, he motioned to the men who held my arms to let go +their hold, which they at once did. + +"'We have your signature,' growled the old man as I went out. 'If you +peach on us or trouble us in any way we will show it to your father and +that will put an end to all your hopes of future fortune.' Then raising +his voice he shouted to the girl in the outer office, 'Let the young man +see what he has signed.' She smiled and again brought forward the book +in which I had so recklessly placed my name, and there at the top of the +page I read these words: 'For moneys received, I agree to notify Levi +Solomon, within the month, of the death of my father, that he may +recover from me, without loss of time, the sum of ten thousand dollars +from the amount I am bound to receive as my father's heir.' The sight +of these lines knocked me hollow. But I am less of a coward morally than +physically, and I determined to acquaint my father at once with what I +had done, and get his advice as to whether or not I should inform the +police of my adventure. He heard me with more consideration than I +expected, but insisted that I should immediately make known to you my +experience in this Bowery pawnbroker's shop. + +"The officer, highly interested, took down the young man's statement +in writing, and, after getting a more accurate description of the Jew's +house, allowed his visitor to go. + +"Fortunately for me I was in the building at the time, and was able to +respond when a man was called up to investigate this matter. Thinking +that I saw a connection between it and the various mysterious deaths +of which I have previously spoken, I entered into the affair with much +spirit. But, wishing to be sure that my possibly unwarranted conclusions +were correct, I took pains to inquire, before proceeding upon my errand, +into the character of the heirs who had inherited the property of Elwood +Henderson and Christopher Bigelow, and found that in each case there was +one among the rest who was well known for his profligacy and reckless +expenditure. It was a significant discovery, and increased, if possible, +my interest in running down this nefarious trafficker in the lives of +wealthy men. + +"Knowing that I could hope for no success in my character of detective, +I made an arrangement with the father of the young gentleman before +alluded to, by which I was to enter the pawn-shop as an emissary of the +latter. I accordingly appeared there, one dull November afternoon, in +the garb of a certain western sporting man, who, for a consideration, +allowed me the temporary use of his name and credentials. + +"Entering beneath the three golden balls, with, the swagger and general +air of ownership I thought most likely to impose upon the self-satisfied +female who presided over the desk, I asked to see her boss. + +"'On your own business?' she queried, glancing with suspicion at my +short coat, which was rather more showy than elegant. + +"'No,' I returned, 'not on my own business, but on that of a young +gent----' + +"'Anyone whose name is written here?' she interposed, reaching towards +me the famous book, over the top of which, however, she was careful to +lay her arm. + +"I glanced down the page she had opened and instantly detected that +of the young gentleman on whose behalf I was supposed to be there, and +nodded 'Yes,' with all the assurance of which I was capable. + +"'Very well, then,' said she, 'come!' and she ushered me without much +ado into a den of discomfort where sat a man, with a great beard and +such heavy overhanging eyebrows that I could hardly detect the twinkle +of his eyes, keen and incisive as they were. + +"Smiling upon him, but not in the same way I had upon the girl, I +glanced behind me at the open door, and above me at the partitions, +which failed to reach the ceiling. Then I shook my head and drew a step +nearer. + +"'I have come,' I insinuatingly whispered, 'on behalf of a certain party +who left this place in a huff a day or so ago, but who since then has +had time to think the matter over, and has sent me with an apology which +he hopes'--here I put on a diabolical smile, copied, I declare to you, +from the one I saw at that moment on his own lips--'you will accept.' + +"The old wretch regarded me for full two minutes in a way to unmask +me had I possessed less confidence in my disguise and in my ability to +support it. + +"'And what is this young gentleman's name?' he finally asked. + +"For reply, I handed him a slip of paper. He took it and read the few +lines written on it, after which he began to rub his palms together with +a snaky unction eminently in keeping with the stray glints of light that +now and then found their way through his' bushy eyebrows. + +"'And so the young gentleman had not the courage to come again himself?' +he softly suggested, with just the suspicion of an ironical laugh. +'Thought, perhaps, I would exact too much commission; or make him pay +too roundly for his impertinent assurance.' + +"I shrugged my shoulders, but vouchsafed no immediate reply, and he saw +that he had to open the business himself. He did it warily and with many +an incisive question which would have tripped me up if I had not been +very much on my guard; but it all ended, as such matters usually do, +in mutual understanding, and a promise that if the young gentleman was +willing to sign a certain paper, which, by the way, was not shown me, +he would in exchange give him an address which, if made proper use of, +would lead to my patron finding himself an independent man within a very +few days. + +"As this address was the thing above all others which I most desired, I +professed myself satisfied with the arrangement, and proceeded to hunt +up my patron, as he was called. Informing him of the result of my visit, +I asked if his interest in ferreting out these criminals was strong +enough to lead him to sign the vile document which the Jew would +probably have in readiness for him on the morrow; and being told it was, +we separated for that day, with the understanding that we were to meet +the next morning at the spot chosen by the Jew for the completion of his +nefarious bargain. + +"Being certain that I was being followed in all my movements by the +agents of this adept in villainy, I took care, upon leaving Mr. L----, +to repair to the hotel of the sporting man I was personifying. Making +myself square with the proprietor, I took up my quarters in the room +of my sporting friend, and, the better to deceive any spy who might be +lurking about, I received his letters and sent out his telegrams, which, +if they did not create confusion in the affairs of 'The Plunger,' must +at least have occasioned him no little work the next day. + +"Promptly at ten o'clock on the following morning I met my patron at the +place of rendezvous appointed by the old Jew; and when I tell you that +this was no other than the old cemetery of which a portion is still to +be seen off Chatham Square, you will understand the uncanny nature of +this whole adventure, and the lurking sense there was in it of brooding +death and horror. The scene, which in these days is disturbed by +elevated railroad trains and the flapping of long lines of parti-colored +clothes strung high up across the quiet tombstones, was at that time one +of peaceful rest, in the midst of a quarter devoted to everything for +which that rest is the fitting and desirable end; and as we paused among +the mossy stones, we found it hard to realize that in a few minutes +there would be standing beside us the concentrated essence of all that +was evil and despicable in human nature. + +"He arrived with a smile on his countenance that completed his ugliness, +and would have frightened any honest man from his side at once. Merely +glancing my way, he shuffled up to my companion, and leading him aside, +drew out a paper which he laid on a flat tombstone with a gesture +significant of his desire that the other should affix to it the required +signature. + +"Meantime I stood guard, and while attempting to whistle a light air, +was carelessly taking in the surroundings, and conjecturing, as best I +might, the reasons which had induced the old ghoul to make use of this +spot for his diabolical business, and had about decided that it was +because he was a ghoul, and thus felt at home among the symbols of +mortality, when I caught sight of two or three young fellows, who were +lounging on the other side of the fence. + +"These were so evidently accomplices that I wondered if the two sly boys +I had engaged to stand by me through this affair had spotted them, and +would know enough to follow them back to their haunts. + +"A few minutes later, the old rascal came sneaking towards me, with a +gleam of satisfaction in his half-closed eyes. + +"'You are not wanted any longer,' he grunted. 'The young gentleman told +me to say that he could look out for himself now.' + +"'The young gentleman had better pay me the round fifty he promised +me,' I grumbled in return, with that sudden change from indifference +to menace which I thought best calculated to further my plans; and +shouldering the miserable wretch aside, I stepped up to my companion, +who was still lingering in a state of hesitation among the gravestones. + +"'Quick! Tell me the number and street which he has given you! +'I whispered, in a tone strangely in contrast with the angry and +reproachful air I had assumed. + +"He was about to answer, when the old fellow came sidling up behind us. +Instantly the young man before me rose to the occasion, and putting on +an air of conciliation said in a soothing tone: + +"'There, there, don't bluster. Do one thing more for me, and I will +add another fifty to those I promised you. Conjure up an anonymous +letter--you know how--and send it to my father, saying that if he wants +to know where his son loses his hundreds, he must go to the place on the +dock, opposite 5 South Street, some night shortly after nine. It would +not work with most men, but it will with my father, and when he has been +in and out of that place, and I succeed to the fortune he will leave me, +then I will remember you, and----' + +"'Say, too,' a sinister voice here added in my ear, 'that if he wishes +to effect an entrance into the gambling den which his son haunts, +he must take the precaution of tying a bit of blue ribbon in his +button-hole. It is a signal meaning business, and must not be +forgotten,' chuckled the old fellow, evidently deceived at last into +thinking I was really one of his own kind. + +"I answered by a wink, and taking care to attempt no further +communication with my patron, I left the two, as soon as possible, +and went back to the hotel, where I dropped 'the sport,' and assumed a +character and dress which enabled me to make my way undetected to the +house of my young patron, where for two days I lay low, waiting for +a suitable time in which to make my final attempt to penetrate this +mystery. + +"I knew that for the adventure I was now contemplating considerable +courage was required. But I did not hesitate. The time had come for me +to show my mettle. In the few communications I was enabled to hold with +my superiors I told them of my progress and arranged with them my +plan of work. As we all agreed that I was about to encounter no common +villainy, these plans naturally partook of finesse, as you will see if +you will follow my narrative to the end. + +"Early in the evening of a cool November night I sallied forth into the +streets, dressed in the habiliments and wearing the guise of the wealthy +old gentleman whose secret guest I had been for the last few days. As he +was old and portly, and I young and spare, this disguise had cost me no +little thought and labor. But assisted as I was by the darkness, I had +but little fear of betraying myself to any chance spy who might be upon +the watch, especially as Mr. L---- had a peculiar walk, which, in my +short stay with him, I had learned to imitate perfectly. In the lapel of +my overcoat I had tied a tag of blue ribbon, and, though for all I knew +this was a signal devoting me to a secret and mysterious death, I walked +along in a buoyant condition of mind, attributable, no doubt, to the +excitement of the venture and to my desire to test my powers, even at +the risk of my life. + +"It was nine o'clock when I reached South Street. It was no new region +to me, nor was I ignorant of the specified drinking den on the dock to +which I had been directed. I remembered it as a bright spot in a mass +of ship-prows and bow-rigging, and was possessed, besides, of a vague +consciousness that there was something odd in connection with it which +had aroused my curiosity sufficiently in the past for me to have once +formed the resolution of seeing it again under circumstances which +would allow me to give, it some attention. But I never thought that +the circumstances would involve my own life, impossible as it is for a +detective to reckon upon the future or to foresee the events into which +he will be hurried by the next crime which may be reported at police +headquarters. + +"There were but few persons in the street when I crossed to The Heart's +Delight,--so named from the heart-shaped opening in the framework of the +door, through which shone a light, inviting enough to one chilled by the +keen November air and oppressed by the desolate appearance of the almost +deserted street. But amongst those persons I thought I recognized more +than one familiar form, and felt reassured as to the watch which had +been set upon the house. The night was dark and the river especially so, +but in the gloomy space beyond the dock I detected a shadow blacker than +the rest, which I took for the police-boat they had promised to have +in readiness in case I needed rescue from the water-side. Otherwise the +surroundings were as usual, and saving the gruff singing of some drunken +sailor coming from a narrow side street near by, no sound disturbed the +somewhat lugubrious silence of this weird and forsaken spot. + +"Pausing an instant before entering, I glanced up at the building, which +was about three stories high, and endeavored to see what there was about +it which had once arrested my attention, and came to the conclusion that +it was its exceptional situation on the dock, and the ghostly effect of +the hoisting-beam projecting from the upper story like a gibbet. And yet +this beam was common to many a warehouse in the vicinity, though in none +of them were there any such signs of life as proceeded from the curious +mixture of sail loft, boat shop and drinking saloon, now before me. +Could it be that the ban of criminality was upon the house, and that I +had been conscious of this without being able to realize the cause of my +interest? + +"Not stopping to solve my sensations further, I tried the door, and, +finding it yield easily to my touch, turned the knob and entered. For +a moment I was blinded by the smoky glare of the heated atmosphere +into which I stepped, but presently I was able to distinguish the vague +outlines of an oyster bar in the distance, and the motionless figures +of some half dozen men, whose movements had been arrested by my sudden +entrance. For an instant this picture remained; then the drinking and +card-playing were resumed, and I stood, as it were, alone on the sanded +floor near the door. Improving the opportunity for a closer inspection +of the place, I was struck by its picturesqueness. It had evidently been +once used as a ship chandlery, and on the walls, which were but partly +plastered, there still hung old bits of marlin, rusty rings and such +other evidences of former traffic as did not interfere with the present +more lucrative business. + +"Below were the two bars, one at the right of the door, and the other +at the lower end of the room near a window, through whose small, square +panes I caught a glimpse of the colored lights of a couple of ferry +boats, passing each other in midstream. + +"At a table near me sat two men, grumbling at each other over a game of +cards. They were large and powerful figures in the contracted space +of this long and narrow room, and my heart gave a bound of joy as I +recognized on them certain marks by which I was to know friend from foe +in this possible den of thieves and murderers. + +"Two sailors at the bar were bona fide habitues of the place, and so +I judged to be the one or two other specimens of water-side character +whose backs I could faintly discern in one of the dim corners. Meantime +a man was approaching me. + +"Let me see if I can describe him. He was about thirty, and had the +complexion and figure of a consumptive, but his eye shone with the +yellow glare of a beast of prey, and in the cadaverous hollows of his +ashen cheeks and amid the lines about his thin drawn lips there lay for +all his conciliatory smile, an expression so cold and yet so ferocious +that I spotted him at once as the man to whose genius we were indebted +for the new scheme of murder which I was jeopardizing my life to +understand. But I allowed none of the repugnance with which he inspired +me to appear in my manner, and, greeting him with half a nod, waited +for him to speak. His voice had that smooth quality which betrays the +hypocrite. + +"'Has the gentleman an appointment here?' he asked, letting his glance +fall for the merest instant on the lapel of my coat. + +"I returned a decided affirmative. Or rather, I went on, with a meaning +look he evidently comprehended, 'my son has, and I have made up my mind +to know just what deviltry he is up to these days. You see I can make it +worth your while to give me the opportunity.' + +"'O, I see,' he assented with a glance at the pocketbook I had just +drawn out. 'You want a private room from which you can watch the young +scapegrace. I understand, I understand. But the private rooms are above. +Gentlemen are not comfortable here.' + +"'I should say not,' I murmured, and drew from the pocketbook a bill +which I slid quietly into his hand. 'Now take me where I shall be +safe,' I suggested, 'and yet in full sight of the room where the young +gentlemen play. I wish to catch him at his tricks. Afterwards----' + +"'All will be well,' he finished smoothly, with another glance at my +blue ribbon. 'You see I do not ask you the young gentleman's name. +I take your money and leave all the rest to you. Only don't make a +scandal, I pray, for my house has the name of being quiet.' + +"'Yes,' thought I, 'too quiet!' and for an instant felt my spirits fail +me. But it was only for an instant. I had friends about me and a +pistol at half cock in the pocket of my overcoat. Why should I fear any +surprise, prepared as I was for every emergency? + +"'I will show you up in a moment,' said he; and left me to put up a +heavy board-shutter over the window opening on the river. Was this a +signal or a precaution? I glanced towards my two friends playing cards, +took another note of their broad shoulders and brawny arms, and prepared +to follow my host, who now stood bowing at the other end of the room, +before a covered staircase which was manifestly the sole means of +reaching the floor above. + +"The staircase was quite a feature in the room. It ran from back to +front, and was boarded all the way up to the ceiling. On these boards +hung a few useless bits of chain, wire and knotted ends of tarred ropes, +which swung to and fro as the sharp November blast struck the building, +giving out a weird and strangely muffled sound. Why did this sound, so +easily to be accounted for, ring in my ears like a note of warning? I +understand now, but I did not then, full of expectation as I was for +developments out of the ordinary. + +"Crossing the room, I entered upon the staircase, in the wake of my +companion. Though the two men at cards did not look up as I passed them, +I noticed that they were alert and ready for any signal I might choose +to give them. But I was not ready to give one yet. I must see danger +before I summoned help, and there was no token of danger yet. + +"When we were about half-way up the stairs the faint light which had +illuminated us from below suddenly vanished, and we found ourselves in +total darkness. The door at the foot had been closed by a careful hand, +and I felt, rather than heard, the stealthy pushing of a bolt across it. + +"My first impulse was to forsake my guide and rush back, but I +subdued the unworthy impulse and stood quite still, while my companion +exclaiming, 'Damn that fellow! What does he mean by shutting the door +before we're half-way up!' struck a match and lit a gas jet in the room +above, which poured a flood of light upon the staircase. Drawing my hand +from the pocket in which I had put my revolver, I hastened after him +into the small landing at the top of the stairs. An open door was before +me, in which he stood bowing, with the half-burnt match in his hand. +'This is the place, sir,' he announced, motioning me in. + +"I entered and he remained by the door, while I passed quickly about the +room, which was bare of every article of furniture save a solitary table +and chair. There was not even a window in it, with the exception of one +small light situated so high up in the corner made by the jutting-up +staircase that I wondered at its use, and was only relieved of extreme +apprehension at the prison-like appearance of the place by the gleam +of light which came through this dusty pane, showing that I was not +entirely removed from the presence of my foes if I was from that of my +friends. + +"'Ah, you have spied the window,' remarked my host, advancing toward me +with a countenance he vainly endeavored to make reassuring and friendly. +'That is your post of observation, sir,' he whispered, with a great show +of mystery. 'By mounting on the table you can peer into the room where +my young friends sit securely at play.' + +"As it was not part of my scheme to show any special mistrust, I merely +smiled a little grimly, and cast a glance at the table on which stood a +bottle of brandy and one glass. + +"'Very good brandy,' he whispered, 'Not such stuff as we give those +fellows down-stairs.' + +"I shrugged my shoulders and he slowly backed towards the door. + +"'The young men you bid me watch are very quiet,' I suggested, with a +careless wave of my hand towards the room he had mentioned. + +"'Oh, there is no one there yet. They begin to straggle in about ten +o'clock.' + +"'Ah,' was my quiet rejoinder, 'I am likely, then, to have use for your +brandy.' + +"He smiled again and made a swift motion towards the door. + +"'If you want anything,' said he, 'just step to the foot of the +staircase and let me know. The whole establishment is at your service.' +And with one final grin that remains in my mind as the most threatening +and diabolical I have ever witnessed, he laid his hand on the knob of +the door and slid quickly out. + +"It was done with such an air of final farewell, that I felt my +apprehensions take a positive form. Rushing towards the door through +which he had just vanished, I listened and heard, as I thought, his +stealthy feet descend the stair. But when I sought to follow, I found +myself for the second time overwhelmed by darkness. The gas jet, which +had hitherto burned with great brightness in the small room, had been +turned off from below, and beyond the faint glimmer which found its way +through the small window of which I have spoken, not a ray of light now +disturbed the heavy gloom of this gruesome apartment. + +"I had thought of every contingency but this, and for a few minutes +my spirits were dashed. But I soon recovered some remnants of +self-possession, and began feeling for the knob I could no longer see. +Finding it after a few futile attempts, I was relieved to discover that +this door at least was not locked; and, opening it with a careful hand, +I listened intently, but could hear nothing save the smothered sound of +men talking in the room below. + +"Should I signal for my companions? No, for the secret was not yet mine +as to how men passed from this room into the watery grave which was the +evident goal for all wearers of the blue ribbon. + +"Stepping back into the middle of the room, I carefully pondered my +situation, but could get no further than the fact that I was somehow, +and in some way, in mortal peril. Would it come in the form of a bullet, +or a deadly thrust from an unseen knife? I did not think so. For, to say +nothing of the darkness, there was one reassuring fact which recurred +constantly to my mind in connection with the murders I was endeavoring +to trace to this den of iniquity. + +"None of the gentlemen who had been found drowned had shown any marks of +violence on their bodies, so it was not attack I was to fear, but some +mysterious, underhanded treachery which would rob me of consciousness +and make the precipitation of my body into the water both safe and easy. +Perhaps it was in the bottle of brandy that the peril lay; perhaps--but +why speculate further! I would watch till midnight and then, if nothing +happened, signal my companions to raid the house. + +"Meantime a peep into the next room might help me towards solving the +mystery. Setting the bottle and glass aside, I dragged the table across +the floor, placed it under the lighted window, mounted, and was about to +peer through, when the light in that apartment was put out also. Angry +and overwhelmed, I leapt down, and, stretching out my hands till they +touched the wainscoting, I followed the wall around till I came to the +knob of the door, which I frantically clutched. But I did not turn it +immediately, I was too anxious to catch these villains at work. Would I +be conscious of the harm they meditated against me, or would I +imperceptibly yield to some influence of which I was not yet conscious, +and drop to the floor before I could draw my revolver or put to my mouth +the whistle upon which I de-pended for assistance and safety? It was +hard to tell, but I determined to cling to my first intention a little +longer, and so stood waiting and counting the minutes, while wondering +if the captain of the police boat was not getting impatient, and whether +I had not more to fear from the anxiety of my friends than the cupidity +of my foes. + +"You see I had anticipated communicating with the men in this boat by +certain signals and tokens which had been arranged between us. But the +lack of windows in the room had made all such arrangements futile, so I +knew as little of their actions as they of my sufferings; all of which +did not tend to add to the cheerfulness of my position. + +"I, however, held out for a half-hour, listening, waiting and watching +in a darkness which, like that of Egypt, could be felt, and when the +suspense grew intolerable I struck a match and let its blue flame +flicker for a moment over the face of my watch. But the matches soon +gave out and with them my patience, if not my courage, and I determined +to end the suspense by knocking at the door beneath. + +"This resolution taken, I pulled open the door before me and stepped +out. Though I could see nothing, I remembered the narrow landing at the +top of the stairs, and, stretching out my arms, I felt for the boarding +on either hand, guilding myself by it, and began to descend, when +something rising, as it were, out of the cavernous darkness before me +made me halt and draw back in mingled dread and horror. + +"But the impression, strong as it was, was only momentary, and, resolved +to be done with the matter, I precipitated myself downward, when +suddenly, at about the middle of the staircase, my feet slipped and I +slid forward, plunging and reaching out with hands whose frenzied grasp +found nothing to cling to, down a steep inclined plane--or what to my +bewildered senses appeared such,--till I struck a yielding surface and +passed with one sickening plunge into the icy waters of the river which +in another moment had closed dark and benumbing above my head. + +"It was all so rapid I did not think of uttering a cry. But happily for +me the splash I made told the story, and I was rescued before I could +sink a second time. + +"It was a full half hour before I had sufficiently recovered from the +shock to relate my story. But when once I had made it known, you can +imagine the gusto with which the police prepared to enter the house +and confound the obliging host with a sight of my dripping garments and +accusing face. And indeed in all my professional experience I have never +beheld a more sudden merging of the bully into a coward than was to be +seen in this slick villain's face, when I was suddenly pulled from the +crowd and placed before him, with the old man's wig gone from my head, +and the tag of blue ribbon still clinging to my wet coat. + +"His game was up, and he saw it; and Ebenezer Gryce's career had begun. + +"Like all destructive things the device by which I had been run into the +river was simple enough when understood. In the first place it had been +constructed to serve the purpose of a stairway and chute. The latter was +in plain sight when it was used by the sailmakers to run the finished +sails into the waiting yawls below. At the time of my adventure, and for +some time before, the possibilities of the place had been discovered by +mine host, who had ingeniously put a partition up the entire stairway, +dividing the steps from the smooth runway. At the upper part of the +runway he had built a few steps, wherewith to lure the unwary far enough +down to insure a fatal descent. To make sure of his game he had likewise +ceiled the upper room all around, including the enclosure of the stairs. +The door to the chute and the door to the stairs were side by side, and +being made of the same boards as the wainscoting, were scarcely visible +when closed, while the single knob that was used, being transferable +from one to the other, naturally gave the impression that there was but +one door. When this adroit villain called my attention to the little +window around the corner, he no doubt removed the knob from the stairs' +door and quickly placed it in the one opening upon the chute. Another +door, connecting the two similar landings without, explains how he got +from the chute staircase into which he passed, on leaving me, to the one +communicating with the room below. + +"The mystery was solved, and my footing on the force secured; but to +this day--and I am an old man now--I have not forgotten the horror of +the moment when my feet slipped from under me, and I felt myself sliding +downward, without hope of rescue, into a pit of heaving waters, where so +many men of conspicuous virtue had already ended their valuable lives. + +"Myriad thoughts flashed through my brain in that brief interval, and +among them the whole method of operating this death-trap, together with +every detail of evidence that would secure the conviction of the entire +gang." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Staircase At The Hearts Delight, by +Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STAIRCASE *** + +***** This file should be named 22811.txt or 22811.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/8/1/22811/ + +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. 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Charles + Rohlfs) + </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 Staircase At The Hearts Delight, by +Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + +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 Staircase At The Hearts Delight + 1894 + +Author: Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + +Release Date: September 29, 2007 [EBook #22811] +Last Updated: December 18, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STAIRCASE *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE STAIRCASE AT THE HEARTS DELIGHT. + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Copyright, 1894, by Anna Katharine Green + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> AS TOLD BY MR. GRYCE. + </p> + <p> + “In the spring of 1840, the attention of the New York police was attracted + by the many cases of well-known men found drowned in the various waters + surrounding the lower portion of our great city. Among these may be + mentioned the name of Elwood Henderson, the noted tea merchant, whose + remains were washed ashore at Redhook Point; and of Christopher Bigelow, + who was picked up off Governor’s Island after having been in the water for + five days, and of another well-known millionaire whose name I cannot now + recall, but who, I remember, was seen to walk towards the East River one + March evening, and was not met with again till the 5th of April, when his + body floated into one of the docks near Peck Slip. + </p> + <p> + “As it seemed highly improbable that there should have been a concerted + action among so many wealthy and distinguished men to end their lives + within a few weeks of each other, and all by the same method of drowning, + we soon became suspicious that a more serious verdict than that of suicide + should have been rendered in the case of Henderson, Bigelow and the other + gentleman I have mentioned. Yet one fact, common to all these cases, + pointed so conclusively to deliberate intention on the part of the + sufferers that we hesitated to take action. + </p> + <p> + “This was, that upon the body of each of the above-mentioned persons there + were found, not only valuables in the shape of money and jewelry, but + papers and memoranda of a nature calculated to fix the identity of the + drowned man, in case the water should rob him of his personal + characteristics. Consequently, we could not ascribe these deaths to a + desire for plunder on the part of some unknown person. + </p> + <p> + “I was a young man in those days, and full of ambition. So, though I said + nothing, I did not let this matter drop when the others did, but kept my + mind persistently upon it and waited, with odd results as you will hear, + for another victim to be reported at police headquarters. + </p> + <p> + “Meantime I sought to discover some bond or connection between the several + men who had been found drowned, which would serve to explain their similar + fate. But all my efforts in this direction were fruitless. There was no + bond between them, and the matter remained for a while an unsolved + mystery. + </p> + <p> + “Suddenly one morning a clew was placed, not in my hands, but in those of + a superior official who at that time exerted a great influence over the + whole force. He was sitting in his private room, when there was ushered + into his presence a young man of a dissipated but not unprepossessing + appearance, who, after a pause of marked embarrassment, entered upon the + following story: + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know whether or no, I should offer an excuse for the + communication I am about to make; but the matter I have to relate is + simply this: Being hard up last night (for though a rich man’s son I often + lack money), I went to a certain pawn-shop in the Bowery where I had been + told I could raise money on my prospects. This place—you may see it + sometime, so I will not enlarge upon it—did not strike me favorably; + but, being very anxious for a certain definite sum of money, I wrote my + name in a book which was brought to me from some unknown quarter, and + proceeded to follow the young woman who attended me into what she was + pleased to call her good master’s private office. He may have been a good + master, but he was anything but a good man, In short, sir, when he found + out who I was, and how much I needed money, he suggested that I should + make an appointment with my father at a place he called Judah’s in Grand + Street, where, said he, ‘your little affair will be arranged, and you made + a rich man within thirty days. That is,’ he slyly added, ‘unless your + father has already made a will, disinheriting you.’ + </p> + <p> + “I was shocked, sir, shocked beyond all my powers of concealment, not so + much at his words, which I hardly understood, as at his looks, which had a + world of evil suggestion in them; so I raised my fist and would have + knocked him down, only that I found two young fellows at my elbows, who + held me quiet for five minutes, while the old fellow talked to me. He + asked me if I came to him on a fool’s errand or really to get money; and + when I admitted that I had cherished hopes of obtaining a clear two + thousand dollars from him, he coolly replied that he knew of but one way + in which I could hope to get such an amount, and that if I was too + squeamish to adopt it, I had made a mistake in coming to his shop, which + was no missionary institution, etc., etc. Not wishing to irritate him, for + there was menace in his eye, I asked, with a certain weak show of being + sorry for my former heat, whereabouts in Grand Street I should find this + Judah. The retort was quick, ‘Judah is not his name,’ said he, ‘and Grand + Street is not where you are to go to find him. I threw out a bait to see + if you would snap at it, but I find you timid, and therefore advise you to + drop the matter entirely.’ I was quite willing to do so, and answered him + to this effect; whereupon, with a side glance I did not understand but + which made me more or less uneasy in regard to his intentions towards me, + he motioned to the men who held my arms to let go their hold, which they + at once did. + </p> + <p> + “‘We have your signature,’ growled the old man as I went out. ‘If you + peach on us or trouble us in any way we will show it to your father and + that will put an end to all your hopes of future fortune.’ Then raising + his voice he shouted to the girl in the outer office, ‘Let the young man + see what he has signed.’ She smiled and again brought forward the book in + which I had so recklessly placed my name, and there at the top of the page + I read these words: ‘For moneys received, I agree to notify Levi Solomon, + within the month, of the death of my father, that he may recover from me, + without loss of time, the sum of ten thousand dollars from the amount I am + bound to receive as my father’s heir.’ The sight of these lines knocked me + hollow. But I am less of a coward morally than physically, and I + determined to acquaint my father at once with what I had done, and get his + advice as to whether or not I should inform the police of my adventure. He + heard me with more consideration than I expected, but insisted that I + should immediately make known to you my experience in this Bowery + pawnbroker’s shop. + </p> + <p> + “The officer, highly interested, took down the young man’s statement in + writing, and, after getting a more accurate description of the Jew’s + house, allowed his visitor to go. + </p> + <p> + “Fortunately for me I was in the building at the time, and was able to + respond when a man was called up to investigate this matter. Thinking that + I saw a connection between it and the various mysterious deaths of which I + have previously spoken, I entered into the affair with much spirit. But, + wishing to be sure that my possibly unwarranted conclusions were correct, + I took pains to inquire, before proceeding upon my errand, into the + character of the heirs who had inherited the property of Elwood Henderson + and Christopher Bigelow, and found that in each case there was one among + the rest who was well known for his profligacy and reckless expenditure. + It was a significant discovery, and increased, if possible, my interest in + running down this nefarious trafficker in the lives of wealthy men. + </p> + <p> + “Knowing that I could hope for no success in my character of detective, I + made an arrangement with the father of the young gentleman before alluded + to, by which I was to enter the pawn-shop as an emissary of the latter. I + accordingly appeared there, one dull November afternoon, in the garb of a + certain western sporting man, who, for a consideration, allowed me the + temporary use of his name and credentials. + </p> + <p> + “Entering beneath the three golden balls, with, the swagger and general + air of ownership I thought most likely to impose upon the self-satisfied + female who presided over the desk, I asked to see her boss. + </p> + <p> + “‘On your own business?’ she queried, glancing with suspicion at my short + coat, which was rather more showy than elegant. + </p> + <p> + “‘No,’ I returned, ‘not on my own business, but on that of a young gent——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Anyone whose name is written here?’ she interposed, reaching towards me + the famous book, over the top of which, however, she was careful to lay + her arm. + </p> + <p> + “I glanced down the page she had opened and instantly detected that of the + young gentleman on whose behalf I was supposed to be there, and nodded + ‘Yes,’ with all the assurance of which I was capable. + </p> + <p> + “‘Very well, then,’ said she, ‘come!’ and she ushered me without much ado + into a den of discomfort where sat a man, with a great beard and such + heavy overhanging eyebrows that I could hardly detect the twinkle of his + eyes, keen and incisive as they were. + </p> + <p> + “Smiling upon him, but not in the same way I had upon the girl, I glanced + behind me at the open door, and above me at the partitions, which failed + to reach the ceiling. Then I shook my head and drew a step nearer. + </p> + <p> + “‘I have come,’ I insinuatingly whispered, ‘on behalf of a certain party + who left this place in a huff a day or so ago, but who since then has had + time to think the matter over, and has sent me with an apology which he + hopes’—here I put on a diabolical smile, copied, I declare to you, + from the one I saw at that moment on his own lips—‘you will accept.’ + </p> + <p> + “The old wretch regarded me for full two minutes in a way to unmask me had + I possessed less confidence in my disguise and in my ability to support + it. + </p> + <p> + “‘And what is this young gentleman’s name?’ he finally asked. + </p> + <p> + “For reply, I handed him a slip of paper. He took it and read the few + lines written on it, after which he began to rub his palms together with a + snaky unction eminently in keeping with the stray glints of light that now + and then found their way through his’ bushy eyebrows. + </p> + <p> + “‘And so the young gentleman had not the courage to come again himself?’ + he softly suggested, with just the suspicion of an ironical laugh. + ‘Thought, perhaps, I would exact too much commission; or make him pay too + roundly for his impertinent assurance.’ + </p> + <p> + “I shrugged my shoulders, but vouchsafed no immediate reply, and he saw + that he had to open the business himself. He did it warily and with many + an incisive question which would have tripped me up if I had not been very + much on my guard; but it all ended, as such matters usually do, in mutual + understanding, and a promise that if the young gentleman was willing to + sign a certain paper, which, by the way, was not shown me, he would in + exchange give him an address which, if made proper use of, would lead to + my patron finding himself an independent man within a very few days. + </p> + <p> + “As this address was the thing above all others which I most desired, I + professed myself satisfied with the arrangement, and proceeded to hunt up + my patron, as he was called. Informing him of the result of my visit, I + asked if his interest in ferreting out these criminals was strong enough + to lead him to sign the vile document which the Jew would probably have in + readiness for him on the morrow; and being told it was, we separated for + that day, with the understanding that we were to meet the next morning at + the spot chosen by the Jew for the completion of his nefarious bargain. + </p> + <p> + “Being certain that I was being followed in all my movements by the agents + of this adept in villainy, I took care, upon leaving Mr. L——, + to repair to the hotel of the sporting man I was personifying. Making + myself square with the proprietor, I took up my quarters in the room of my + sporting friend, and, the better to deceive any spy who might be lurking + about, I received his letters and sent out his telegrams, which, if they + did not create confusion in the affairs of ‘The Plunger,’ must at least + have occasioned him no little work the next day. + </p> + <p> + “Promptly at ten o’clock on the following morning I met my patron at the + place of rendezvous appointed by the old Jew; and when I tell you that + this was no other than the old cemetery of which a portion is still to be + seen off Chatham Square, you will understand the uncanny nature of this + whole adventure, and the lurking sense there was in it of brooding death + and horror. The scene, which in these days is disturbed by elevated + railroad trains and the flapping of long lines of parti-colored clothes + strung high up across the quiet tombstones, was at that time one of + peaceful rest, in the midst of a quarter devoted to everything for which + that rest is the fitting and desirable end; and as we paused among the + mossy stones, we found it hard to realize that in a few minutes there + would be standing beside us the concentrated essence of all that was evil + and despicable in human nature. + </p> + <p> + “He arrived with a smile on his countenance that completed his ugliness, + and would have frightened any honest man from his side at once. Merely + glancing my way, he shuffled up to my companion, and leading him aside, + drew out a paper which he laid on a flat tombstone with a gesture + significant of his desire that the other should affix to it the required + signature. + </p> + <p> + “Meantime I stood guard, and while attempting to whistle a light air, was + carelessly taking in the surroundings, and conjecturing, as best I might, + the reasons which had induced the old ghoul to make use of this spot for + his diabolical business, and had about decided that it was because he was + a ghoul, and thus felt at home among the symbols of mortality, when I + caught sight of two or three young fellows, who were lounging on the other + side of the fence. + </p> + <p> + “These were so evidently accomplices that I wondered if the two sly boys I + had engaged to stand by me through this affair had spotted them, and would + know enough to follow them back to their haunts. + </p> + <p> + “A few minutes later, the old rascal came sneaking towards me, with a + gleam of satisfaction in his half-closed eyes. + </p> + <p> + “‘You are not wanted any longer,’ he grunted. ‘The young gentleman told me + to say that he could look out for himself now.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘The young gentleman had better pay me the round fifty he promised me,’ I + grumbled in return, with that sudden change from indifference to menace + which I thought best calculated to further my plans; and shouldering the + miserable wretch aside, I stepped up to my companion, who was still + lingering in a state of hesitation among the gravestones. + </p> + <p> + “‘Quick! Tell me the number and street which he has given you! ‘I + whispered, in a tone strangely in contrast with the angry and reproachful + air I had assumed. + </p> + <p> + “He was about to answer, when the old fellow came sidling up behind us. + Instantly the young man before me rose to the occasion, and putting on an + air of conciliation said in a soothing tone: + </p> + <p> + “‘There, there, don’t bluster. Do one thing more for me, and I will add + another fifty to those I promised you. Conjure up an anonymous letter—you + know how—and send it to my father, saying that if he wants to know + where his son loses his hundreds, he must go to the place on the dock, + opposite 5 South Street, some night shortly after nine. It would not work + with most men, but it will with my father, and when he has been in and out + of that place, and I succeed to the fortune he will leave me, then I will + remember you, and——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Say, too,’ a sinister voice here added in my ear, ‘that if he wishes to + effect an entrance into the gambling den which his son haunts, he must + take the precaution of tying a bit of blue ribbon in his button-hole. It + is a signal meaning business, and must not be forgotten,’ chuckled the old + fellow, evidently deceived at last into thinking I was really one of his + own kind. + </p> + <p> + “I answered by a wink, and taking care to attempt no further communication + with my patron, I left the two, as soon as possible, and went back to the + hotel, where I dropped ‘the sport,’ and assumed a character and dress + which enabled me to make my way undetected to the house of my young + patron, where for two days I lay low, waiting for a suitable time in which + to make my final attempt to penetrate this mystery. + </p> + <p> + “I knew that for the adventure I was now contemplating considerable + courage was required. But I did not hesitate. The time had come for me to + show my mettle. In the few communications I was enabled to hold with my + superiors I told them of my progress and arranged with them my plan of + work. As we all agreed that I was about to encounter no common villainy, + these plans naturally partook of finesse, as you will see if you will + follow my narrative to the end. + </p> + <p> + “Early in the evening of a cool November night I sallied forth into the + streets, dressed in the habiliments and wearing the guise of the wealthy + old gentleman whose secret guest I had been for the last few days. As he + was old and portly, and I young and spare, this disguise had cost me no + little thought and labor. But assisted as I was by the darkness, I had but + little fear of betraying myself to any chance spy who might be upon the + watch, especially as Mr. L—— had a peculiar walk, which, in my + short stay with him, I had learned to imitate perfectly. In the lapel of + my overcoat I had tied a tag of blue ribbon, and, though for all I knew + this was a signal devoting me to a secret and mysterious death, I walked + along in a buoyant condition of mind, attributable, no doubt, to the + excitement of the venture and to my desire to test my powers, even at the + risk of my life. + </p> + <p> + “It was nine o’clock when I reached South Street. It was no new region to + me, nor was I ignorant of the specified drinking den on the dock to which + I had been directed. I remembered it as a bright spot in a mass of + ship-prows and bow-rigging, and was possessed, besides, of a vague + consciousness that there was something odd in connection with it which had + aroused my curiosity sufficiently in the past for me to have once formed + the resolution of seeing it again under circumstances which would allow me + to give, it some attention. But I never thought that the circumstances + would involve my own life, impossible as it is for a detective to reckon + upon the future or to foresee the events into which he will be hurried by + the next crime which may be reported at police headquarters. + </p> + <p> + “There were but few persons in the street when I crossed to The Heart’s + Delight,—so named from the heart-shaped opening in the framework of + the door, through which shone a light, inviting enough to one chilled by + the keen November air and oppressed by the desolate appearance of the + almost deserted street. But amongst those persons I thought I recognized + more than one familiar form, and felt reassured as to the watch which had + been set upon the house. The night was dark and the river especially so, + but in the gloomy space beyond the dock I detected a shadow blacker than + the rest, which I took for the police-boat they had promised to have in + readiness in case I needed rescue from the water-side. Otherwise the + surroundings were as usual, and saving the gruff singing of some drunken + sailor coming from a narrow side street near by, no sound disturbed the + somewhat lugubrious silence of this weird and forsaken spot. + </p> + <p> + “Pausing an instant before entering, I glanced up at the building, which + was about three stories high, and endeavored to see what there was about + it which had once arrested my attention, and came to the conclusion that + it was its exceptional situation on the dock, and the ghostly effect of + the hoisting-beam projecting from the upper story like a gibbet. And yet + this beam was common to many a warehouse in the vicinity, though in none + of them were there any such signs of life as proceeded from the curious + mixture of sail loft, boat shop and drinking saloon, now before me. Could + it be that the ban of criminality was upon the house, and that I had been + conscious of this without being able to realize the cause of my interest? + </p> + <p> + “Not stopping to solve my sensations further, I tried the door, and, + finding it yield easily to my touch, turned the knob and entered. For a + moment I was blinded by the smoky glare of the heated atmosphere into + which I stepped, but presently I was able to distinguish the vague + outlines of an oyster bar in the distance, and the motionless figures of + some half dozen men, whose movements had been arrested by my sudden + entrance. For an instant this picture remained; then the drinking and + card-playing were resumed, and I stood, as it were, alone on the sanded + floor near the door. Improving the opportunity for a closer inspection of + the place, I was struck by its picturesqueness. It had evidently been once + used as a ship chandlery, and on the walls, which were but partly + plastered, there still hung old bits of marlin, rusty rings and such other + evidences of former traffic as did not interfere with the present more + lucrative business. + </p> + <p> + “Below were the two bars, one at the right of the door, and the other at + the lower end of the room near a window, through whose small, square panes + I caught a glimpse of the colored lights of a couple of ferry boats, + passing each other in midstream. + </p> + <p> + “At a table near me sat two men, grumbling at each other over a game of + cards. They were large and powerful figures in the contracted space of + this long and narrow room, and my heart gave a bound of joy as I + recognized on them certain marks by which I was to know friend from foe in + this possible den of thieves and murderers. + </p> + <p> + “Two sailors at the bar were bona fide habitués of the place, and so I + judged to be the one or two other specimens of water-side character whose + backs I could faintly discern in one of the dim corners. Meantime a man + was approaching me. + </p> + <p> + “Let me see if I can describe him. He was about thirty, and had the + complexion and figure of a consumptive, but his eye shone with the yellow + glare of a beast of prey, and in the cadaverous hollows of his ashen + cheeks and amid the lines about his thin drawn lips there lay for all his + conciliatory smile, an expression so cold and yet so ferocious that I + spotted him at once as the man to whose genius we were indebted for the + new scheme of murder which I was jeopardizing my life to understand. But I + allowed none of the repugnance with which he inspired me to appear in my + manner, and, greeting him with half a nod, waited for him to speak. His + voice had that smooth quality which betrays the hypocrite. + </p> + <p> + “‘Has the gentleman an appointment here?’ he asked, letting his glance + fall for the merest instant on the lapel of my coat. + </p> + <p> + “I returned a decided affirmative. Or rather, I went on, with a meaning + look he evidently comprehended, ‘my son has, and I have made up my mind to + know just what deviltry he is up to these days. You see I can make it + worth your while to give me the opportunity.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘O, I see,’ he assented with a glance at the pocketbook I had just drawn + out. ‘You want a private room from which you can watch the young + scapegrace. I understand, I understand. But the private rooms are above. + Gentlemen are not comfortable here.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘I should say not,’ I murmured, and drew from the pocketbook a bill which + I slid quietly into his hand. ‘Now take me where I shall be safe,’ I + suggested, ‘and yet in full sight of the room where the young gentlemen + play. I wish to catch him at his tricks. Afterwards——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘All will be well,’ he finished smoothly, with another glance at my blue + ribbon. ‘You see I do not ask you the young gentleman’s name. I take your + money and leave all the rest to you. Only don’t make a scandal, I pray, + for my house has the name of being quiet.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes,’ thought I, ‘too quiet!’ and for an instant felt my spirits fail + me. But it was only for an instant. I had friends about me and a pistol at + half cock in the pocket of my overcoat. Why should I fear any surprise, + prepared as I was for every emergency? + </p> + <p> + “‘I will show you up in a moment,’ said he; and left me to put up a heavy + board-shutter over the window opening on the river. Was this a signal or a + precaution? I glanced towards my two friends playing cards, took another + note of their broad shoulders and brawny arms, and prepared to follow my + host, who now stood bowing at the other end of the room, before a covered + staircase which was manifestly the sole means of reaching the floor above. + </p> + <p> + “The staircase was quite a feature in the room. It ran from back to front, + and was boarded all the way up to the ceiling. On these boards hung a few + useless bits of chain, wire and knotted ends of tarred ropes, which swung + to and fro as the sharp November blast struck the building, giving out a + weird and strangely muffled sound. Why did this sound, so easily to be + accounted for, ring in my ears like a note of warning? I understand now, + but I did not then, full of expectation as I was for developments out of + the ordinary. + </p> + <p> + “Crossing the room, I entered upon the staircase, in the wake of my + companion. Though the two men at cards did not look up as I passed them, I + noticed that they were alert and ready for any signal I might choose to + give them. But I was not ready to give one yet. I must see danger before I + summoned help, and there was no token of danger yet. + </p> + <p> + “When we were about half-way up the stairs the faint light which had + illuminated us from below suddenly vanished, and we found ourselves in + total darkness. The door at the foot had been closed by a careful hand, + and I felt, rather than heard, the stealthy pushing of a bolt across it. + </p> + <p> + “My first impulse was to forsake my guide and rush back, but I subdued the + unworthy impulse and stood quite still, while my companion exclaiming, + ‘Damn that fellow! What does he mean by shutting the door before we’re + half-way up!’ struck a match and lit a gas jet in the room above, which + poured a flood of light upon the staircase. Drawing my hand from the + pocket in which I had put my revolver, I hastened after him into the small + landing at the top of the stairs. An open door was before me, in which he + stood bowing, with the half-burnt match in his hand. ‘This is the place, + sir,’ he announced, motioning me in. + </p> + <p> + “I entered and he remained by the door, while I passed quickly about the + room, which was bare of every article of furniture save a solitary table + and chair. There was not even a window in it, with the exception of one + small light situated so high up in the corner made by the jutting-up + staircase that I wondered at its use, and was only relieved of extreme + apprehension at the prison-like appearance of the place by the gleam of + light which came through this dusty pane, showing that I was not entirely + removed from the presence of my foes if I was from that of my friends. + </p> + <p> + “‘Ah, you have spied the window,’ remarked my host, advancing toward me + with a countenance he vainly endeavored to make reassuring and friendly. + ‘That is your post of observation, sir,’ he whispered, with a great show + of mystery. ‘By mounting on the table you can peer into the room where my + young friends sit securely at play.’ + </p> + <p> + “As it was not part of my scheme to show any special mistrust, I merely + smiled a little grimly, and cast a glance at the table on which stood a + bottle of brandy and one glass. + </p> + <p> + “‘Very good brandy,’ he whispered, ‘Not such stuff as we give those + fellows down-stairs.’ + </p> + <p> + “I shrugged my shoulders and he slowly backed towards the door. + </p> + <p> + “‘The young men you bid me watch are very quiet,’ I suggested, with a + careless wave of my hand towards the room he had mentioned. + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh, there is no one there yet. They begin to straggle in about ten + o’clock.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Ah,’ was my quiet rejoinder, ‘I am likely, then, to have use for your + brandy.’ + </p> + <p> + “He smiled again and made a swift motion towards the door. + </p> + <p> + “‘If you want anything,’ said he, ‘just step to the foot of the staircase + and let me know. The whole establishment is at your service.’ And with one + final grin that remains in my mind as the most threatening and diabolical + I have ever witnessed, he laid his hand on the knob of the door and slid + quickly out. + </p> + <p> + “It was done with such an air of final farewell, that I felt my + apprehensions take a positive form. Rushing towards the door through which + he had just vanished, I listened and heard, as I thought, his stealthy + feet descend the stair. But when I sought to follow, I found myself for + the second time overwhelmed by darkness. The gas jet, which had hitherto + burned with great brightness in the small room, had been turned off from + below, and beyond the faint glimmer which found its way through the small + window of which I have spoken, not a ray of light now disturbed the heavy + gloom of this gruesome apartment. + </p> + <p> + “I had thought of every contingency but this, and for a few minutes my + spirits were dashed. But I soon recovered some remnants of + self-possession, and began feeling for the knob I could no longer see. + Finding it after a few futile attempts, I was relieved to discover that + this door at least was not locked; and, opening it with a careful hand, I + listened intently, but could hear nothing save the smothered sound of men + talking in the room below. + </p> + <p> + “Should I signal for my companions? No, for the secret was not yet mine as + to how men passed from this room into the watery grave which was the + evident goal for all wearers of the blue ribbon. + </p> + <p> + “Stepping back into the middle of the room, I carefully pondered my + situation, but could get no further than the fact that I was somehow, and + in some way, in mortal peril. Would it come in the form of a bullet, or a + deadly thrust from an unseen knife? I did not think so. For, to say + nothing of the darkness, there was one reassuring fact which recurred + constantly to my mind in connection with the murders I was endeavoring to + trace to this den of iniquity. + </p> + <p> + “None of the gentlemen who had been found drowned had shown any marks of + violence on their bodies, so it was not attack I was to fear, but some + mysterious, underhanded treachery which would rob me of consciousness and + make the precipitation of my body into the water both safe and easy. + Perhaps it was in the bottle of brandy that the peril lay; perhaps—but + why speculate further! I would watch till midnight and then, if nothing + happened, signal my companions to raid the house. + </p> + <p> + “Meantime a peep into the next room might help me towards solving the + mystery. Setting the bottle and glass aside, I dragged the table across + the floor, placed it under the lighted window, mounted, and was about to + peer through, when the light in that apartment was put out also. Angry and + overwhelmed, I leapt down, and, stretching out my hands till they touched + the wainscoting, I followed the wall around till I came to the knob of the + door, which I frantically clutched. But I did not turn it immediately, I + was too anxious to catch these villains at work. Would I be conscious of + the harm they meditated against me, or would I imperceptibly yield to some + influence of which I was not yet conscious, and drop to the floor before I + could draw my revolver or put to my mouth the whistle upon which I + de-pended for assistance and safety? It was hard to tell, but I determined + to cling to my first intention a little longer, and so stood waiting and + counting the minutes, while wondering if the captain of the police boat + was not getting impatient, and whether I had not more to fear from the + anxiety of my friends than the cupidity of my foes. + </p> + <p> + “You see I had anticipated communicating with the men in this boat by + certain signals and tokens which had been arranged between us. But the + lack of windows in the room had made all such arrangements futile, so I + knew as little of their actions as they of my sufferings; all of which did + not tend to add to the cheerfulness of my position. + </p> + <p> + “I, however, held out for a half-hour, listening, waiting and watching in + a darkness which, like that of Egypt, could be felt, and when the suspense + grew intolerable I struck a match and let its blue flame flicker for a + moment over the face of my watch. But the matches soon gave out and with + them my patience, if not my courage, and I determined to end the suspense + by knocking at the door beneath. + </p> + <p> + “This resolution taken, I pulled open the door before me and stepped out. + Though I could see nothing, I remembered the narrow landing at the top of + the stairs, and, stretching out my arms, I felt for the boarding on either + hand, guilding myself by it, and began to descend, when something rising, + as it were, out of the cavernous darkness before me made me halt and draw + back in mingled dread and horror. + </p> + <p> + “But the impression, strong as it was, was only momentary, and, resolved + to be done with the matter, I precipitated myself downward, when suddenly, + at about the middle of the staircase, my feet slipped and I slid forward, + plunging and reaching out with hands whose frenzied grasp found nothing to + cling to, down a steep inclined plane—or what to my bewildered + senses appeared such,—till I struck a yielding surface and passed + with one sickening plunge into the icy waters of the river which in + another moment had closed dark and benumbing above my head. + </p> + <p> + “It was all so rapid I did not think of uttering a cry. But happily for me + the splash I made told the story, and I was rescued before I could sink a + second time. + </p> + <p> + “It was a full half hour before I had sufficiently recovered from the + shock to relate my story. But when once I had made it known, you can + imagine the gusto with which the police prepared to enter the house and + confound the obliging host with a sight of my dripping garments and + accusing face. And indeed in all my professional experience I have never + beheld a more sudden merging of the bully into a coward than was to be + seen in this slick villain’s face, when I was suddenly pulled from the + crowd and placed before him, with the old man’s wig gone from my head, and + the tag of blue ribbon still clinging to my wet coat. + </p> + <p> + “His game was up, and he saw it; and Ebenezer Gryce’s career had begun. + </p> + <p> + “Like all destructive things the device by which I had been run into the + river was simple enough when understood. In the first place it had been + constructed to serve the purpose of a stairway and chute. The latter was + in plain sight when it was used by the sailmakers to run the finished + sails into the waiting yawls below. At the time of my adventure, and for + some time before, the possibilities of the place had been discovered by + mine host, who had ingeniously put a partition up the entire stairway, + dividing the steps from the smooth runway. At the upper part of the runway + he had built a few steps, wherewith to lure the unwary far enough down to + insure a fatal descent. To make sure of his game he had likewise ceiled + the upper room all around, including the enclosure of the stairs. The door + to the chute and the door to the stairs were side by side, and being made + of the same boards as the wainscoting, were scarcely visible when closed, + while the single knob that was used, being transferable from one to the + other, naturally gave the impression that there was but one door. When + this adroit villain called my attention to the little window around the + corner, he no doubt removed the knob from the stairs’ door and quickly + placed it in the one opening upon the chute. Another door, connecting the + two similar landings without, explains how he got from the chute staircase + into which he passed, on leaving me, to the one communicating with the + room below. + </p> + <p> + “The mystery was solved, and my footing on the force secured; but to this + day—and I am an old man now—I have not forgotten the horror of + the moment when my feet slipped from under me, and I felt myself sliding + downward, without hope of rescue, into a pit of heaving waters, where so + many men of conspicuous virtue had already ended their valuable lives. + </p> + <p> + “Myriad thoughts flashed through my brain in that brief interval, and + among them the whole method of operating this death-trap, together with + every detail of evidence that would secure the conviction of the entire + gang.” + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Staircase At The Hearts Delight, by +Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs) + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STAIRCASE *** + +***** This file should be named 22811-h.htm or 22811-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/8/1/22811/ + +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. 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