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+Project Gutenberg's Cruel As The Grave, by Mrs. Emma D. E. N. Southworth
+
+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: Cruel As The Grave
+
+Author: Mrs. Emma D. E. N. Southworth
+
+Release Date: December 9, 2007 [EBook #23789]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CRUEL AS THE GRAVE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                           CRUEL AS THE GRAVE
+
+                                 A NOVEL.
+
+                    BY MRS. EMMA D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH.
+  AUTHOR OF "SELF-MADE," "ISHMAEL," "SELF-RAISED," "FAIR PLAY," "VIVIA,"
+  "MISSING BRIDE," "A BEAUTIFUL FIEND," "CHANGED BRIDES," "RETRIBUTION,"
+    "HOW HE WON HER," "A NOBLE LORD," "BRIDE'S FATE," "FALLEN PRIDE,"
+        "LADY OF THE ISLE," "THE MAIDEN WIDOW," "ALLWORTH ABBEY,"
+       "GYPSY'S PROPHECY," "LOST HEIRESS," "WIDOW'S SON," "INDIA,"
+          "THREE BEAUTIES," "BRIDE OF LLEWELLYN," "BRIDAL EVE,"
+           "DISCARDED DAUGHTER," "FATAL SECRET," "TWO SISTERS,"
+                "CURSE OF CLIFTON," "TRIED FOR HER LIFE,"
+                  "PHANTOM WEDDING," "LOVE'S LABOR WON,"
+                   "FORTUNE SEEKER," "FATAL MARRIAGE,"
+                   "MOTHER-IN-LAW," "CHRISTMAS GUEST,"
+                    "FAMILY DOOM," "WIFE'S VICTORY."
+
+
+                        "He to whom
+               I gave my heart, with all its wealth of love,
+               Forsakes me for another."--MEDEA.
+
+               "And we saw Medea burning
+               At her nature's-planted stake."--BROWNING.
+
+
+                               NEW YORK:
+                  THE F. M. LUPTON PUBLISHING COMPANY,
+                       Nos. 72-76 Walker Street.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+                            Copyright, 1888,
+                     By T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS.
+                          Cruel as the Grave.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+                             CONTENTS.
+
+   Chapter                                                  Page
+
+         I.--THE BERNERS OF THE BURNING HEARTS                21
+
+        II.--JOHN LYON HOWE                                   26
+
+       III.--SYBIL BERNERS                                    32
+
+        IV.--THE BEAUTIFUL STRANGER                           45
+
+         V.--THE LANDLORD'S STORY                             48
+
+        VI.--ROSA BLONDELLE                                   59
+
+       VII.--DOWN IN THE DARK VALE                            71
+
+      VIII.--BLACK HALL                                       76
+
+        IX.--THE GUEST-CHAMBERS                               84
+
+         X.--THE JEALOUS BRIDE                                91
+
+        XI.--LOVE AND JEALOUSY                               104
+
+       XII.--"CRUEL AS THE GRAVE"                            112
+
+      XIII.--MORE THAN THE BITTERNESS OF DEATH               126
+
+       XIV.--THE FIRST FATAL HALLOW EVE                      132
+
+        XV.--THE MASQUERADE BALL                             142
+
+       XVI.--ON THE WATCH                                    147
+
+      XVII.--DRIVEN TO DESPERATION                           154
+
+     XVIII.--LYING IN WAIT                                   175
+
+       XIX.--SWOOPING DOWN                                   188
+
+        XX.--THE SEARCH                                      191
+
+       XXI.--SYBIL'S FLIGHT                                  198
+
+      XXII.--THE HAUNTED CHAPEL                              207
+
+     XXIII.--THE SOLITUDE IS INVADED                         218
+
+      XXIV.--THE VERDICT AND THE VISITOR                     225
+
+       XXV.--THE FALL OF THE DUBARRYS                        238
+
+      XXVI.--THE SPECTRE                                     250
+
+     XXVII.--FEARFUL WAITING                                 264
+
+    XXVIII.--A GHASTLY PROCESSION                            273
+
+      XXIX.--GHOSTLY AND MYSTERIOUS                          292
+
+       XXX.--FLIGHT AND PURSUIT                              306
+
+      XXXI.--THE ARREST                                      324
+
+     XXXII.--A DESPERATE VENTURE                             334
+
+    XXXIII.--A FATAL CRISIS                                  344
+
+     XXXIV.--THE PURSUIT                                     354
+
+      XXXV.--THE FUGITIVES                                   363
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                           CRUEL AS THE GRAVE
+
+                               CHAPTER I.
+
+                   THE BERNERS OF THE BURNING HEARTS.
+
+
+                 "Their love was like the lava flood
+                  That burns in Etna's breast of flame."
+
+
+Near the end of a dark autumn-day, not many years ago, a young couple,
+returning from their bridal tour arrived by steamer at the old city of
+Norfolk; and, taking a hack, drove directly to the best inn.
+
+They were attended by the gentleman's valet and the lady's maid, and
+encumbered besides with a great amount of baggage, so that altogether
+their appearance was so promising that the landlord of the "Anchor" came
+forward in person to receive them and bow them into the best parlor.
+
+The gentleman registered himself and his party as Mr. and Mrs. Lyon
+Berners, of Black Hall, Virginia, and two servants.
+
+"We shall need a private parlor and chamber communicating for our own
+use, and a couple of bedrooms for our servants," said Mr. Berners, as he
+handed his hat and cane to the bowing waiter.
+
+"They shall be prepared immediately," answered the polite landlord.
+
+"We shall remain here only for the night, and go on in the morning, and
+should like to have two inside and two outside places secured in the
+Staunton stage-coach for to-morrow."
+
+"I will send and take them at once, sir."
+
+"Thanks. We should also like tea got ready as soon as possible in our
+private parlor."
+
+"Certainly, sir. What would you like for tea?"
+
+"Oh, anything you please, so that it is nice and neatly served," said
+Mr. Berners, with a slightly impatient wave of his hand as if he would
+have been rid of his obsequious host.
+
+"Ah-ha! anything I please! It is easy to see what ails him. He lives
+upon love just now; but he'll care more about his bill of fare a few
+weeks hence," chuckled the landlord, as he left the public parlor to
+execute his guest's orders.
+
+The bridegroom was no sooner left alone with his bride than he seated
+her in the easiest arm-chair, and began with affectionate zeal to untie
+her bonnet-strings and unclasp her mantle.
+
+"You make my maid a useless appendage, dear Lyon," said the little lady,
+smiling up in his eyes.
+
+"Because I like to do everything for you myself, sweet Sybil; because I
+am jealous of every hand that touches your dear person, except my own,"
+he murmured tenderly as he removed her bonnet, and with all his
+worshipping soul glowing through his eyes, gazed upon her beautiful and
+beaming face.
+
+"You love me so much, dear Lyon! You love me so much! Yet not too much
+either! for oh! if you should ever cease to love me, or even if you were
+ever to love me _less_,--I--I dare not think what I should do!" she
+muttered in a long, deep, shuddering tone.
+
+"Sweet Sybil," he breathed, drawing her to his bosom and pressing warm
+kisses on her crimson lips--"sweetest Sybil, it is not possible for the
+human heart to love _more_ than I do, but I can never love you less!"
+
+"I do believe you, dearest Lyon! With all my heart I do!--Yet--yet--"
+
+"Yet what, sweet love?"
+
+She lifted her face from his bosom and gazing intently in his eyes,
+said:
+
+"Yet, Lyon, if you knew the prayer that I never fail to put up, day and
+night! What do you think it is for, dear Lyon?"
+
+"I know; it is for Heaven's blessing to rest upon our wedded lives."
+
+"Yes, my prayer is for that always, of course! but that is not what I
+mean now! That is not the stronger, stronger prayer which I offer up
+from the deeps of my spirit in almost an agony of supplication!"
+
+"And what is that prayer, so awful in its earnestness, dear love?"
+
+"Oh, Lyon! it is _that you may never love me less than now, or if you
+should, that I may never live to know it_," she breathed with an
+intensity of suppressed emotion that drew all the glowing color from her
+crimson cheeks and lips and left them pale as marble.
+
+"Why, you beautiful mad creature! You are a true daughter of your house!
+A Berners of the burning heart! A Berners of the boiling blood! A
+Berners of whom it has been said, that it is almost as fatal to be
+loved, as to be hated, by one of them! Dear Sybil! never doubt my love;
+never be jealous of me, if you would not destroy us both," he earnestly
+implored.
+
+"I do not doubt you, dearest Lyon; I am not jealous of you! What cause,
+indeed, have I to be so? But--but----"
+
+"But what, my darling?"
+
+"--Ever since I have been in this house, a darkness and coldness and
+weight has fallen upon my spirits, that I cannot shake off--a burden, as
+of some impending calamity! And as there is no calamity that can
+possibly affect me so much as the lessening of your love, I naturally
+think most of that," she answered, with a heavy sigh.
+
+"Dear love! this depression is only reaction! fatigue! the effect of
+this damp, dull, dreary room! We will change all this!" said Lyon
+Berners, cheerfully, as he pulled the bell-cord and rang a peal that
+presently brought the waiter to his presence.
+
+"Are our rooms ready?" shortly demanded Mr. Berners.
+
+"Just this moment ready, sir," answered the man, with a bow.
+
+"Gather up these articles, then, and show us to our rooms," said Mr.
+Berners, pointing to a collection of outer garments and travelling bags
+that occupied a centre-table.
+
+With another bow the man loaded himself with the personal effects of the
+guests and led the way up-stairs.
+
+Mr. Berners, drawing his wife's arm through his own, followed the waiter
+to a cheerful little private parlor, where the bright red carpet on the
+floor, the bright red curtains at the windows, the bright red covers of
+the chairs and sofas, the glowing coal fire in the grate, and above all
+the neatly spread tea table, with its snowy damask table-cloth, and its
+service of pure French china, invited the hungry and weary travellers to
+refreshment and repose.
+
+Through a pair of partly drawn sliding doors a vista was opened to a
+clean and quiet chamber, furnished to match the parlor, with the same
+bright-red carpet, window curtains, and chair covers, but also with a
+white-draperied tent-bedstead, with bed-pillows and coverings white and
+soft as swan's down. In the glow of the coal fire in the inner room sat
+and waited a pretty mulatto girl, Delia, or Dilly, the dressing maid of
+Mrs. Berners.
+
+On seeing her mistress enter the parlor, Dilly quickly arose and met
+her, and handed a chair and relieved the waiter of his burden of
+portable personal property, which she hastened to carry into the chamber
+to put away.
+
+"Bring in the tea immediately and send my own man Hannibal here to
+attend us," said the guest to the waiter, who promptly left the room to
+execute the orders.
+
+"Come, my darling! Take this easy-chair in the corner and make yourself
+comfortable! Here is a scene to inspire the saddest heart with
+cheerfulness," said the bridegroom cordially, as he drew forward the
+easy arm-chair and led his bride to it.
+
+She sank into the soft seat and smiled her satisfaction.
+
+In a few moments the waiters of the inn entered and arranged a delicious
+little repast upon the table and then withdrew, leaving Hannibal, the
+faithful servant of the bridegroom, to attend his master and mistress at
+their tea.
+
+The young pair sat down to the table. And in that quiet and cheerful
+scene of enjoyment, the young bride recovered her spirits. The transient
+shadow that had for a moment darkened the splendor of her joy, even as a
+passing cloud for an instant obscures the glory of the sun, had
+vanished, leaving her all smiles and gayety.
+
+To say that these wedded lovers were very happy, would scarcely express
+the delirium of pure joy in which they had dreamed away their days and
+nights for the last few weeks--joy that both were too young and untried
+to know could not last for ever, could not indeed even last long--joy so
+elevated in its insanity as almost to tempt some thunderbolt of
+malignant fate to fall upon it with destroying force, even as the highly
+rarefied air sometimes draws on the whirlwind and the storm.
+
+But then the story of their loves was rare and strange, and almost
+justified the intensity of their mutual devotion, and that story is
+briefly this:
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II.
+
+                            JOHN LYON HOWE.
+
+
+                "A brow half martial and half diplomatic,
+                 An eye upsoaring like an eagle's wing."
+
+
+John Lyon Howe was the younger son of a planter, residing in one of the
+wildest mountain regions in central Virginia. The elder Howe was blessed
+with a large family, and cursed with a heavily mortgaged estate--a
+combination of circumstances not unusual among the warm-hearted,
+generous and extravagant people of the Old Dominion.
+
+John Lyon Howe had been educated in the Law School of the University of
+Virginia, where, at the age of twenty-three, he graduated with the
+highest honors.
+
+Then, instead of commencing his professional life in one of the great
+Eastern cities, or striking out for the broad fields of enterprise
+opened in the Far West, young Howe, to the astonishment of all who were
+acquainted with the talents and ambition of the new lawyer, returned to
+his native county and opened his law office in Blackville, a small
+hamlet lying at the foot of the Black Valley, and enjoying the honor and
+profit of being the county-seat.
+
+But the young lawyer had strong motives for his actions. He had great
+talent, an intense passion for politics, and quite as much State pride
+as personal ambition. He wished to distinguish himself; yes, but not in
+Massachusetts or Minnesota, nor in any other place except in his native
+State, his dear old Virginia.
+
+Sometime to represent her in the National Congress, and to do her
+service and credit there, was the highest goal of his youthful
+aspirations.
+
+For this cause, he settled in the obscure hamlet of Blackville, and
+opened his law office in one of the basement rooms of the county
+court-house.
+
+While the courts were in session he attended them regularly, and did a
+good deal of business in the way of gratuitous counselling and pleading;
+advocating and defending with great ability and success the cause of the
+poor and oppressed, and winning much honor and praise, but very little
+money, not enough, indeed, to pay his office rent, or renew his napless
+hat and thread-bare coat.
+
+Besides his unprofitable professional labors, he engaged in equally
+unprofitable political contests.
+
+He took the liberal view of State craft, and sought to open the minds of
+his fellow-citizen to a just and wise policy, or what he, in his young
+enthusiasm, conceived to be such. He wrote stirring leaders for the
+local papers, and made rousing speeches at the political meetings.
+
+He was everywhere spoken of as a rising young man, who was sure to reach
+a high position some day. Yes! some day; but that desired day seemed
+very far distant to the desponding young lawyer.
+
+And to make his probation still more painful, he was in love! not as men
+are who are taken with a new face every year of their lives, but as the
+heroes of old used to be--for once and forever! profoundly,
+passionately, desperately in love, almost despairingly in love, since
+she whom he loved was at once the richest heiress, the greatest beauty,
+and the proudest lady in the whole community--Sybil Berners! Miss
+Berners, of Black Hall!--in social position as far above the briefless
+young lawyer as the sun above the earth; at least so said those who
+observed this presumptuous passion, and predicted for the young lover,
+should he ever really aspire to her hand, the fate of Phaeton, to be
+consumed in the splendor of her sphere, and cast down blackened to his
+native earth.
+
+Had they who cavilled at his high-placed love but known the truth; how
+she whom he so worshipped, on her part, adored him? But this he himself
+did not know, or even suspect. Had he possessed much less of a fine,
+high-toned sense of honor, he might, by wooing the lady, have found this
+out for himself; but he, an almost penniless young man, was much too
+proud to ask the hand of the wealthy heiress. Or had he possessed a
+little more personal vanity, he might have suspected the truth; for
+certainly there was not a handsomer man in the whole county than was
+this briefless young lawyer with the napless hat and thread-bare coat.
+His person was of that medium height and just proportions necessary to
+give perfect elegance of form and grace of motion. His features were
+classic, with the straight forehead, hooked nose, short upper lip, and
+pointed chin of the strong old Roman type. His complexion was fair, his
+eyes blue, and his hair and beard a golden auburn. Added to these
+attractions, there was an intense magnetic power in the gaze of his dark
+eyes, and in the tone of his deep voice, a power that few could resist,
+and certainly not Sybil Berners.
+
+But who and what besides heiress and beauty was Sybil Berners? To tell
+you all she was. I must first tell you something about her family, the
+"Berners of Black Hall."
+
+Theirs was an old family, and a historical name interwoven with the
+destinies of the two hemispheres. Their house was older than the history
+of the new world, and almost as ancient as the fables of the old world.
+
+They were among the first lords of the manor in Colonial Virginia, and
+they claimed descent from a ducal house whose patent of nobility dated
+back to the first months of the Norman Conquest of England.
+
+They had been great in history and in story; great in the field and the
+forum; great in the old country and in the new. They had been a brave,
+fierce, cruel, and despotic race, equally feared and hated at home and
+abroad, equally loved and trusted as well; for never were such dangerous
+foes or such devoted friends as were these Berners; no one ever loved
+as these Berners loved, or hated as they hated. In the intensity of
+their love or their hate they were capable of suffering or inflicting
+death; these Berners, whose friendship was almost as fatal as their
+enmity; these Berners, who "never spared man in their hate or woman in
+their love;" these Berners of the burning heart; these Berners of the
+boiling blood; these Berners of Black Hall; and whose sole
+representative now was Sybil, the last daughter of their line, who
+concentrated in her own ardent, intense nature all the most beautiful,
+all the most terrible attributes of her strong and fiery race.
+
+I said that she was the richest heiress as well as the most beautiful
+girl of the country.
+
+She was the inheritor of the famous Black Valley manor, holding besides
+its own home plantation, several of the most productive and valuable
+farms in the neighborhood.
+
+There is not in all the mountain region of Virginia a wilder, darker,
+gloomier glade than that forming the home manor of the Berners family,
+and known as the Black Valley. It is a long, deep, narrow vale, lying
+between high, steep ridges of iron-gray rock, half covered with a growth
+of deep-green stunted cedars.
+
+At the head or northern extremity of the vale springs a cascade, called,
+for the darkness of its color, the Black Torrent. It rushes, roaring,
+down the side of the precipice, now hiding under a heavy growth of
+evergreen, now bursting into light as it foams over the face of some
+rock, until at length it tumbles down to the foot of the mountain and
+flows along through the bottom of the Valley, until about half way down
+its length, it widens into a little lake, called, from its hue, the
+Black Water, or the Black Pond; then narrowing again, it flows on down
+past the little hamlet of Blackville, situated at the foot or southern
+extremity of the Black Valley.
+
+The ancient manor house, known as the Black Hall, stands on a rising
+ground on the west side of the Black Water with its old pleasure gardens
+running down to the very edge of the lake.
+
+It is a large, rambling, irregularly-formed old house, built of the iron
+gray rocks dug from the home quarries; and it is scarcely to be
+distinguished from the iron-gray precipices that tower all around it.
+
+The manor had been in the possession of the same family from the time of
+King James the First, who made a grant of the land to Reginald Berners,
+the first Lord of the Manor.
+
+Bertram Berners was the seventh in descent from Reginald. He married
+first a lady of high rank, the daughter of the colonial governor of
+Virginia. This union, which was neither fruitful nor happy, lasted more
+than thirty years, after which the high-born wife died.
+
+Finding himself at the age of sixty a childless widower and the last of
+his name, he resolved to marry again in the hope of having heirs. He
+chose for his second wife a young lady of good but impoverished family,
+the orphan niece of a neighboring planter.
+
+But the new wife only half fulfilled her husband's hopes, when, a year
+after their marriage, she presented him with one fair daughter, the
+Sybil of our story.
+
+Even this gift cost the delicate mother her life; for although she did
+not die immediately, yet from the day of Sybil's birth, she fell into a
+long and lingering decline which finally terminated in death.
+
+Old Bertram Berners was nearly seventy years of age, when he laid his
+young wife in her early grave. Although he had been grievously
+disappointed in his hopes of a male heir, yet he was not mad enough, at
+his advanced period of life, to try matrimony again. He wisely
+determined to devote the few remaining days of his life to the rearing
+of his little daughter, then a child seven years of age.
+
+Old Bertram loved and spoiled the infant as none but an old man can
+love or spoil his only child, who is besides the offspring of his age.
+He would not part with her to send her to school; but he himself became
+her instructor until she was more than ten years old.
+
+After that, as she began to approach womanhood, he engaged a succession
+of governesses, each one of whom excessively annoyed him by persistently
+trying to marry him for his money, and who consequently got herself
+politely dismissed.
+
+Next he tried a succession of tutors, but this second plan worked even
+worse than the first; for each one of the tutors in his turn tried to
+marry the heiress for the fortune, and, naturally enough, got himself
+kicked out of the house.
+
+So the plan of home education prospered badly. Perhaps old Bertram had
+been singularly unfortunate in his selection of teachers. It must have
+been so indeed, since he had been accustomed to say that "they all were
+as bad as they could be; and each one was worse than all the rest."
+
+Thus the literary training of the heiress had been carried on in the
+most capricious, fitful and irregular manner, the worst suited to her,
+who more than most girls required the discipline of a firm and steady
+rule.
+
+The educational result to her was a very superficial knowledge of
+literature, arts, and sciences, and a very imperfect acquaintance with
+ancient and modern languages.
+
+She was in the habit of saying sarcastically, that "she had an utter
+confusion of ideas on the subjects of algebra, astronomy, and all the
+other branches of a polite education;" that, for instance, she never
+could remember whether the "Pons Asinorum" were a plant or a problem, or
+if it was Napoleon Bonaparte that discovered America and Christopher
+Columbus who lost the battle of Waterloo, or _vice versa_.
+
+And after all, this was but a trifling exaggeration of the neglected
+condition of her mind.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER III.
+
+                             SYBIL BERNERS.
+
+
+                    "All that's best of dark and bright
+                     Meet in her aspect and her eye."
+
+
+Sybil Berners was at this time about eighteen years of age--a beautiful,
+black-haired, bright-eyed little brunette, full of fire, spirit,
+strength, and self-will. She was a law to herself. No one, not even her
+aged father, had the slightest control over her except through her
+affections, when they could be gained, or her passions, when they could
+be aroused; but this last means was seldom tried, for no one cared to
+raise the storm that none could quell.
+
+Her father was now nearly eighty years old. And fondly, jealously,
+selfishly as he loved this darling daughter of his age, he wished to see
+her safely married before he should be called from the earth.
+
+And certainly the beautiful heiress had suitors enough to select
+from--suitors drawn no less by her personal charms than by her great
+fortune. But one and all were politely refused by the fastidious maiden,
+who every one said was so very hard to please.
+
+But even if Sybil Berners had accepted any one among the numerous
+suitors for her hand, the conditions of her father's consent would have
+been made rather difficult. The husband of the heiress would have been
+required to assume the name and arms of Berners in order to perpetuate
+the family patronymic, and to live with his wife at the old manor house
+in order not to separate the only child from her aged father. And it was
+not every proud young Virginian who would have given up his own family
+name either for a fortune or a beauty. But none of her suitors were put
+to the test, for Sybil promptly and unconditionally refused all offers
+of marriage.
+
+And the reason of all this was, that Miss Berners of Black Hall loved a
+poor, briefless young lawyer, who had nothing but his handsome person,
+his brilliant mind, and his noble heart to recommend him. When, or
+where, or how her love for him began, she herself could never have told.
+Since his return from the university she had seen him every Sunday at
+church, and had grown to look and to long for his appearance there,
+until it came to this pass with her soul, that the very house of God
+seemed empty until _his_ place was filled. And besides this, she often
+saw him and heard him speak at political and other public meetings,
+which she always attended only to beam in the sunshine of his presence,
+only to drink in the music of his voice. She took in all the local
+papers only to read his leaders and dream over his thoughts.
+
+Moreover, she felt by a sure instinct that he passionately adored her,
+even while ignorant of her love for him, and silent upon the subject of
+his own passion.
+
+This state of affairs exasperated the fiery and self-willed little
+beauty almost to phrensy. She had never in her life been contradicted or
+opposed. No desire of her heart had ever been left for a moment
+unsatisfied. She never knew until now the meaning of suspense or
+disappointment. And now here was a man whom she wildly loved, and who
+worshipped her, but who, from some delicate pride in his poverty,
+_would_ not speak, while she, of course, _could_ not.
+
+Yet Sybil Berners was no weak "Viola," who would
+
+    "Let concealment, like a worm i' the bud,
+     Feed on her damask cheek, and pine in thought."
+
+She was rather a strong "Helena," who would dare all and bear all to
+gain her lover.
+
+Sybil did all that a young lady of her rank could do in the premises.
+She made her doting father give dinner parties and invite her lover to
+them. But the briefless young lawyer in the napless hat and thread-bare
+coat never accepted one of these invitations, for the very simple
+reason that he had no evening dress in which to appear.
+
+Under these circumstances, where any other young girl might have grown
+languid and sorrowful, Sybil became excitable and violent. She had
+always had the fiery temper of her race, but it had very seldom been
+kindled by a breath of provocation. Now, however, it frequently broke
+out without the slightest apparent cause. No one in the house could
+account for this accession of ill-temper--not her anxious father, nor
+Miss Tabitha Winterose, the housekeeper, not Joseph Joy, the house
+steward, nor any of the maids or men-servants under them.
+
+"She's possessed of the devil," said Miss Winterose, to her confidant,
+the house steward.
+
+"That's nothing new. All the Berners is possessed of _that_ possession.
+It's entailed family property, and can't be got rid of," grimly
+responded Joe.
+
+"Something has crossed her; something has crossed her very much,"
+muttered her old father to himself, as he sat alone in his arm-chair in
+the warm chimney-corner of his favorite sitting-room.
+
+Yes, indeed, everything crossed her. She was unhappy for the first time
+in her life, and she thought it was clearly the duty of her father or
+some other one of her slaves to make her happy. She was kept waiting,
+and it was everybody's fault, and everybody should be made to suffer for
+it. It was no use to reason with Sybil Berners. One might as well have
+reasoned with a conflagration.
+
+It was about this time, too, that her aged father began to feel symptoms
+that warned him of the approach of that sudden death by congestion of
+the brain, which had terminated the existence of so many of his
+ancestors.
+
+More than ever he desired to see his motherless daughter well married
+before he should be called away from her. So, one evening, he sent for
+Sybil to come into his sitting-room, and when she obeyed his summons,
+and came and sat down on a low ottoman beside his arm-chair, he said,
+laying his hand lovingly on her black, curly head:
+
+"My darling, I am very old, and may be taken from you any day, any hour,
+and I would like to see you well married before I go."
+
+"Dear father, don't talk so. You may live twenty years yet," answered
+the daughter, with a blending of affectionate solicitude and angry
+impatience in her tones and looks, for Sybil was very fond of the old
+man, and also very intolerant of unpleasant subjects.
+
+"Well, well, my dear, since you prefer it, I will live twenty years
+longer to please you--_if I can_. But whether I live or die, my
+daughter, I wish to see you well married."
+
+"Ah, father, why can you not leave me free?"
+
+"Because, my darling, if anything should happen to me, you would be left
+utterly without protection; your hand would become the aim of every
+adventurer in the county; you would become the prey of some one among
+them who would squander your fortune, abuse your person, and break your
+heart."
+
+"You know very well, father, that I should break such a villain's head
+first. _I_ a victim--_I_ the prey of a fortune-hunter, or the slave of a
+brute! I look as if I was likely to be--do I not? Father, you insult
+your daughter by the thought," exclaimed Sybil, with flushing cheeks and
+flashing eyes.
+
+"There, there, my dear! don't flame up!" said the old man, laying his
+hand upon the fiery creature's head; "be quiet as you can, Sybil--I
+cannot bear excitement now, child."
+
+"Forgive me, dear father, and forbear, if you love me, from such talk as
+this. I never could become an ill-used, suffering, snivelling wife. I
+_detest_ the picture as I utterly despise all weak and whimpering women.
+I have no sympathy whatever for your abused wives--even for your
+dethroned or beheaded queens. Why should a wife permit herself to be
+abused, or a queen suffer herself to be dethroned or beheaded, without
+first having done something to redeem herself from the contemptible role
+of a victim, even if it was to change it for the awful one of
+criminal--"
+
+"--Hush, Sybil, hush! You know not what you say. The Saviour of the
+world--"
+
+"----Was a divine martyr, father," said Sybil, reverently bowing her
+head--"was a divine martyr, not a victim. All who suffer and die in a
+great cause are martyrs; but those who suffer and die for nothing but of
+their own weakness are victims, with whom I have no sympathy. I never
+could be a _victim_, father."
+
+"Heaven help you, Sybil!"
+
+"You need not fear for me, father. I can take care of myself as well as
+if I were a son, instead of a daughter of the House of Berners," said
+Sybil, haughtily.
+
+"You may be able to protect yourself from all others, but can you always
+protect yourself _from yourself_?" sighed the old man.
+
+Sybil did not answer.
+
+"But, to come back to the point from which you started, like the fiery
+young filly that you are--Sybil, I greatly desire to see you married to
+some worthy young gentleman whom you can love and I approve."
+
+"Where can you find such an one, father?" murmured Sybil, with a quick,
+strange, wild hope springing up in her heart.
+
+What if he should speak of the young lawyer? But that was not likely. He
+spoke of some one else.
+
+"There is Ernest Godfree. No better match for you in the county. And I'm
+sure he worships the very ground you walk on."
+
+Sybil made an angry gesture, exclaiming:
+
+"Then I wish he would have respect enough for the ground he worships to
+keep himself off it altogether! I hate that man!"
+
+"Well, well, hate is a poor return for love! But we'll say no more of
+him. But there's Captain Pendleton, a brave young officer."
+
+"I wish his bravery were better employed in fighting the Indians on the
+frontier instead of besieging our house. I cannot endure that man!"
+
+"Let him pass then! Next there is Charles Hanbury--"
+
+"Ugh! the ugly little wretch."
+
+"But he is so good, so wise, for so young a man. And he is your devoted
+slave."
+
+"Then I wish my slave would obey his owner's orders, and keep out of her
+sight."
+
+"Sybil, you are incorrigible," sighed the old man, but he did not yield
+his main point.
+
+One after another he proposed for her consideration all the eligible
+young bachelors of the neighborhood, who, he knew, were ready upon the
+slightest encouragement to renew their once rejected suits for the hand
+of the beauty and heiress.
+
+But one after another Sybil, with some sarcastic word, dismissed.
+
+"Sybil, you are a strange, wayward girl! It seems to me that for any man
+to love you is to take a sure road to your hatred! And yet, oh, my dear!
+I wish to see you safely married. Is there not one among those whom you
+might prefer to all the rest?"
+
+"No, my father, not one whom I could endure for an instant as a lover."
+
+"And oh! when I feel this fatal rising of the heart and fulness of the
+head--this Wave of Death that is sure to bear me off sooner or later to
+the Ocean of Eternity--Oh, then, my Sybil, how my soul travails for
+you!" groaned the old man.
+
+"Father! do you so much wish to see me married?"
+
+"I wish it more than anything else in the world, my child."
+
+"Father, you have named every young man in the neighborhood whom you
+would like as a son-in-law?"
+
+"Every one, my daughter."
+
+"Are you sure?"
+
+"Quite sure, my love. Why do you ask?"
+
+She slid down from her low ottoman to the floor, and laid her arms upon
+his knees and her beautiful black ringleted head upon her folded hands,
+and whispered:
+
+"Because, dear father, there is one whom you have forgotten to name: one
+who loves me, and is altogether well worthy to be called your son."
+
+"Ah!" cried the old man fiercely, under his breath--"a fortune-hunter,
+on my life! the danger is nearer than I had even apprehended!"
+
+"No, father, no! He is as far as possible from being what you say!"
+fervently exclaimed Sybil.
+
+"He is wealthy, then?"
+
+"No, no, no! he is poor in everything but in goodness and wisdom!"
+
+"Oh, no doubt you think him rich in these! But who is he, unhappy child?
+What is his name?"
+
+Very subdued came the answer. Old Bertram was obliged to bend his gray
+head to his daughter's lips, and put his shrivelled hand behind his ear
+to catch the sound of her low voice.
+
+"He is the young lawyer newly settled in Blackville, whose praise is on
+everybody's lips."
+
+"JOHN LYON HOWE!" exclaimed the old man, throwing up his head in
+astonishment.
+
+"Yes, father," breathed the girl.
+
+"And he loves you?"
+
+She nodded.
+
+"And you love him?"
+
+She nodded again.
+
+"A briefless young lawyer, with a long list of impoverished brothers and
+sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins! Bad enough; but not as it might
+have been. She can gain nothing by that connection! But then she need
+not lose anything either," murmured the old man to himself. After
+reflecting for a few moments, with his head upon his breast, he suddenly
+raised his eyes and exclaimed:
+
+"But I have never seen the young man at this house!"
+
+"No, father!"
+
+"Nor at any other house where we visit."
+
+"No, father; for although he receives many invitations to visit his
+friends, he accepts none. Father, I think he cannot afford to do so."
+
+"Cannot afford to visit! Why?"
+
+"Visiting requires dress, and dress money. And he does so much
+gratuitous work now in the beginning of his career that he has but
+little money; and his father will not help him at all, because they
+differ in politics."
+
+"Yes, I know they do; but the young man is quite right. I agree with his
+views perfectly. He will make his mark in the world some of these days,
+and then his father will be proud of him."
+
+Sybil blushed with delight to hear her lover so praised by one in whose
+hands their happiness rested.
+
+"But, my child, he was wrong and you were wrong to have entered into any
+engagement without my sanction," said the old man very gravely.
+
+"There is no engagement, father," gently answered Sybil.
+
+"Ah! no engagement? that is well! By my soul, though, it was not right
+for him even to have wooed you without my consent! Nor can I conceive
+what opportunity he has ever had to do so. He never comes here."
+
+"He has never wooed me, dear father."
+
+"EH!"
+
+"He has never sought my hand."
+
+"But I thought you gave me to understand that you love each other!"
+
+"So we do, father."
+
+"Then, if he loves you, why don't he come and tell me so like an
+honorable man?"
+
+"Father, he has never even told _me_ so."
+
+"EH!"
+
+"He has never breathed a word of love to me."
+
+"Then how the deuce do you know that he loves you, girl?"
+
+"Oh, by every glance of his eyes, by every tone of his voice, and by my
+own heart! Oh, father, do you think I would bear to tell you this, if I
+were not sure of it."
+
+"Umph, umph! But why don't he speak?--that's what I want to know! Why
+don't he speak?"
+
+"Dear father, can you not comprehend that he is too proud to do so?"
+
+"Too proud! By my word! It is a new hearing that a Howe should be too
+proud to seek an alliance with a Berners!" exclaimed old Bertram hotly,
+rising from his chair.
+
+    "Old age ne'er cooled the Douglas blood,"
+
+and it had not cooled his.
+
+Sybil smiled to see how utterly he had misunderstood her, and making him
+sit down again, she said,
+
+"You dear old darling, it is not that! It is the very opposite to that.
+It is because he is poor and we are rich, and he is too proud to be
+called a fortune-hunter."
+
+"Oh, I understand! I understand!
+
+    'Among the rest young Edwin bowed,
+     But never told his love.
+     Wisdom, and worth were all he had.'"
+
+"Yes, dear father, that is just the truth. You wish me to marry; but,
+dear, dear father, I can never bring myself to marry any one but _him_;
+and he loves me truly, but does not seek me?" she breathed in a low and
+tremulous tone, half smothered also by the hands with which she covered
+her blushing face.
+
+"Now what am I to do in this case? I have nothing against the young man
+whatever, except his poverty and big long line of poor relations, that
+will be sure to be a burden to him!" grumbled old Bertram to himself.
+
+"But, father, we are so rich! We have enough for so many people,"
+pleaded Sybil.
+
+"Not enough to enrich all the Howes, my dear! But I like the young man,
+I really do like him, and if he had more money, and less relations, I
+should prefer him to any young man in the neighborhood for a
+son-in-law."
+
+"O father, dear father, thank you, thank you for saying that," exclaimed
+Sybil, fervently kissing his hands.
+
+"And now that you have told me your mind, what do you want me to do, my
+darling?" he inquired, returning her caresses.
+
+"Oh, dear father! an old man like you must know! I do want you to give
+Lyon help and encouragement as you know best how to do it, without
+wounding his pride. You sympathize with his political principles; let
+him know that you do. You admire his character; let him feel that you
+do."
+
+"What else?"
+
+"This. Since old Mr. Godwin died you have had no agent for your large
+estate, and its accounts must be falling into disorder, Lyon is a
+lawyer, you know. Offer him the agency of your estate, with a liberal
+salary."
+
+"Upon my word, I never thought of that before. Here for three months I
+have been thinking whom I could get as an agent, and much as I esteemed
+that young man I never once thought of applying to him! But the fact is,
+I never looked upon him in the light of a business man, but only as a
+brilliant barrister, and eloquent pleader."
+
+"Yet, father, you know he _must_ be a good business man to have
+collected such great stores of statistics as he has always at command."
+
+"Well, my love, I will go to-day and offer him the agency. Now what
+next?"
+
+"He was too poor and too proud to come before, but as your agent, father,
+you must bring him often to the house on business."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"You must leave the rest to me."
+
+Thus it was that the young lawyer became the agent for the great Black
+Valley Manor. This agency included not only the management of the
+revenues from several rich farms, but also those from the stone
+quarries, iron mines, and the water mill at the head of the valley, and
+also from the real estate in the village at the foot, all of which was
+included in the Black Valley Manor.
+
+The new agent was frequently called to Black Hall, where he was always
+received with the utmost courtesy. And as the acquaintance between the
+proprietor and the agent ripened into intimacy, a deep and strong
+attachment grew between them.
+
+"Youth never showed itself wiser or better than in this young man,"
+murmured Mr. Berners to himself.
+
+"Age was never so venerable and beautiful as in this old man," thought
+John Lyon Howe to himself.
+
+The old man loaded the young one with many marks of his esteem and
+affection. The young man returned these with the warmest gratitude and
+highest reverence.
+
+When John Lyon Howe, with his heart filled with love for Sybil Berners,
+first entered Black Hall, it was without the slightest suspicion of her
+responsive love for him. But when they were thrown so much together, he
+was not very long in making the discovery so delightful to his soul,
+and yet--so trying too! for, as a man of good principles, there seemed
+to be but one course left open to him--the course of self-denial! He
+loved the great heiress, and had unintentionally won her love! Therefore
+he must fly from her presence, trying to forget her, hoping that she
+might forget him.
+
+He summoned up courage for the sacrifice, and went into the study of his
+employer and in a few words told him that he had come to say good-bye.
+
+The astonished old man looked up for an explanation.
+
+John Lyon Howe gave it to him.
+
+"And so you wish to leave me, never to return to the Hall, because you
+love my daughter."
+
+The young man bowed in silence; but could not conceal the misery it
+caused him to make this acknowledgment.
+
+"But why should that oblige you to leave the house?" inquired Mr.
+Berners.
+
+"Oh, sir! can you ask?" exclaimed Mr. Howe.
+
+"Oh, I see! the little witch has refused you!" exclaimed old Bertram
+with a twinkle in his eye. "Come, is it not so?"
+
+"Sir, I have never abused your confidence so far as to seek her hand! I
+could not make so base a return for your kindness to me."
+
+"Oh, you have never asked her to marry you! How in the world, then, can
+you know whether she will accept you or not? or, consequently, whether
+it will be necessary for you to leave or not?"
+
+"Oh, sir! what is it that you would say?" exclaimed the young man, in
+quick, broken tones, while his face turned pale with agitation.
+
+"Nonsense, my boy! When I was young a youth didn't require so much
+encouragement to woo a maiden. Before you make up your mind to leave me,
+go and ask Sybil's consent to the step."
+
+"Oh, sir! oh, Mr. Berners! do you mean this?" gasped the young man,
+catching at the back of the chair for support. He was inured to sorrow,
+but not to joy. And this joy was so sudden and overwhelming that he
+reeled under it.
+
+"I mean what I say, Mr. Howe. I esteem and respect you. I sanction your
+addresses to my daughter," said old Bertram, speaking with more gravity
+and dignity than he had before displayed.
+
+John Lyon fervently kissed his old friend's hand, and went immediately
+in search of Sybil. And that same night, old Bertram had the pleasure of
+joining their hands together in solemn betrothal.
+
+"And now I can die happy," said the old man, earnestly; "for it was not
+another great fortune, but a good husband that I coveted for my darling
+child."
+
+Ten days from this night, old Bertram Berners dropped into his last
+sleep. He was well and happy up to the last hour of his life. The "Wave
+of Death," found him in his arm-chair, and bore him off without a
+struggle to the "Ocean of Eternity." So old Bertram Berners was gathered
+to his fathers.
+
+The year of mourning was permitted to pass, and then John Lyon Howe,
+having, according to the conditions of the marriage contract, assumed
+the name and arms of Berners, was united in marriage to the beautiful
+Sybil. And they set out on their bridal tour as Mr. and Mrs. Lyon
+Berners.
+
+And now we will again look in upon them as they linger over their
+tea-table in the old inn at Norfolk, where we first introduced them to
+our readers.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV.
+
+                        THE BEAUTIFUL STRANGER.
+
+
+                      "From the glance of her eye
+                       Shun danger and fly,
+                       for fatal's the glance."
+
+
+Very happy were the married lovers as they sat over their tea, even
+though the scene of their domestic joy was just now but an inn-parlor.
+Both the young people had good appetites: gratified love had not
+deprived them of that.
+
+They talked of their homeward journey and how pleasant it would be in
+this glorious autumn weather, and of their home and how glad they would
+be to reach it--yes, how glad! For, paradoxical as it may seem to say
+so, there is no happiness so perfect as that which looks forward to
+something still more perfect, if such could be possible in the future.
+They talked of the Black Valley, and how beautiful even that would look
+in its gorgeous October livery.
+
+Suddenly in the midst of their sweet converse they heard the sound of
+weeping--low, deep, heart-broken weeping.
+
+Both paused, looked at each other and listened.
+
+The sound seemed to come from a room on the opposite side of the passage
+to their own apartment.
+
+"What is that?" inquired Sybil, looking up to her husband's face.
+
+"It seems to be some woman in distress," answered Lyon.
+
+"Oh! see what it is, dear, will you?" entreated Sybil.
+
+She was herself so happy, that it was really dreadful to be reminded
+just then that sorrow should exist in this world; at all.
+
+"Oh, go and see what is the matter. Do, dear," she insisted, seeing that
+he hesitated.
+
+"I would do so, dear, in a moment, but it might be indiscreet on my
+part. The lady may be a party to some little domestic misunderstanding,
+with which it would be impertinent in any stranger to interfere,"
+answered the more thoughtful husband.
+
+"A domestic misunderstanding! O, dear Lyon, that such things should be!
+Fancy you and I having a misunderstanding!" exclaimed Sybil, with a
+shiver.
+
+"I cannot fancy anything of the sort, my darling; Heaven forbid that I
+could!" said Lyon, fervently.
+
+"Amen to that! But listen! Ah! how she weeps and wails! Oh, Lyon, how I
+pity her! Oh, how I wish I could do something for her! Oh, Lyon, are you
+sure it would be improper for me to go and see if I can relieve her in
+any way?" pleaded Sybil.
+
+"Quite sure, my darling; I am quite sure that you must not interfere, at
+least at this stage. If this should be a case in which we can be of
+service, we shall be likely to know it when the waiter answers the bell
+that I rung some five minutes since," said Lyon, soothingly.
+
+But Sybil could not rest with the sound of that weeping and wailing in
+her ears. She left her chair and began to walk up and down the floor,
+and to pause occasionally at her door to listen.
+
+Suddenly a door on the opposite side of the passage opened, and the
+voice of the landlord was heard, apparently speaking to the weeping
+woman.
+
+"I beg you won't distress yourself, ma'am; I am sure I wouldn't do
+anything to distress you for the world. Keep up your spirits, ma'am.
+Something may turn up yet, you know," he said as he closed the opposite
+door again; and then crossing the passage, he knocked at the door of the
+Berners' apartments.
+
+"Come in," said Lyon Berners eagerly, while Sybil paused in her restless
+walk and gazed breathlessly at the door.
+
+Both were so interested, they could not have told why, in that weeping
+woman.
+
+The landlord entered and closed the door behind him, and advanced with a
+bow and an apology.
+
+"I am afraid that you and your good lady have been disturbed by the
+noise in the other room; but really I could not help it. I have done all
+I could to comfort the poor creature; but really you know, 'Rachel
+weeping for her children' was nothing to this woman. She's been going on
+in this way for the last three days, sir. I did hope she would be quiet
+this evening. I told her that I had guests in these rooms. But, Lord,
+sir! I might just as well try to reason with a thunderstorm as with her.
+I wish I had quieter rooms to put you in, sir."
+
+"Pray do not think of us. It is not the disturbance we mind on our own
+account; it is to hear a fellow creature in so much distress. A guest of
+the house?" inquired Mr. Berners.
+
+"Yes, sir; worse luck."
+
+"She has lost friends or--fortune?" continued Berners delicately
+investigating the case, while Sybil looked and listened with the deepest
+interest.
+
+"Both, sir! Both, sir! All, sir! Everything, sir! It is really a case of
+atrocious villainy, sir! And I may say, a case of extreme difficulty as
+well! A case in which I need counsel myself, sir," said the landlord,
+with every appearance of being as willing to give information as to take
+advice.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER V.
+
+                         THE LANDLORD'S STORY.
+
+
+                "What wit so sharp is found in youth or age
+                 That can distinguish truth from treachery?
+                 Falsehood puts on the face of simple truth,
+                 And masks i' th' habit of plain honesty,
+                 When she in heart intends most villany."
+
+
+"Sit down, Mr. Judson; sit down, and tell us all about this matter; and
+if we can aid either you or your distressed lodger in any way, we shall
+be glad to do so," said Mr. Berners, earnestly.
+
+"Yes, indeed," added Sybil, throwing herself down in her easy-chair,
+with a deep breath of relief and anticipation.
+
+"Well, sir, and madam," commenced the landlord, frankly accepting the
+offered seat, "the case is this: About ten days ago there arrived in
+this city, by the ship Banshee, from Cork, a lady, gentleman, and child,
+with two servants, who came directly to this house. The gentleman
+registered his party as Mr. and Mrs. Horace Blondelle, child, nurse, and
+valet, and he engaged the very best rooms in the house--the rooms
+corresponding to these on the opposite side of the passage, you know,
+madam."
+
+"Yes," assented Mrs. Berners.
+
+"Well, sir, and Mr. Horace Blondelle ordered, besides the best rooms,
+everything else that was best in the house, and, indeed, better than the
+house contained; for, for his supper that very night, I had to send by
+his directions, and procure Johanesberg, Moselle, and other rare and
+costly wines, such as are seldom or never called for here. But then you
+know, sir, he was a foreign gentleman."
+
+"Certainly," agreed Lyon, with a smile.
+
+"Next day, the finest horses and carriages from the livery stables. And
+so on in the highest scale of expense, until his week's bill ran up to
+seven hundred dollars. As a good deal of this was money paid out of my
+pocket for costly wines and costly horses, I sent in my account on the
+Saturday night. It is the usual thing, however, madam."
+
+"I know," answered Mrs. Berners.
+
+"Well, Mr. Horace Blondelle very promptly settled it by handing me a
+check on the local bank for the amount. It was too late then to cash my
+check, as the bank had been for some hours closed. But I resolved to
+take it to the bank the first thing on Monday morning to get the money;
+and I left Mr. Horace Blondelle's apartments with a secret feeling of
+commendation for his prudence in putting his ready money in the local
+bank, instead of keeping it about him in a crowded hotel like this. For,
+you know, sir, that the recent daring robbery at the Monroe House has
+proved to us that even the office safe is not _always_ 'safe.'"
+
+"Not always," echoed Mr. Berners.
+
+"Well, sir, and madam, I was so well pleased with my guest's promptitude
+in settling his bill, that I redoubled my attentions to his comfort and
+that of his party. On the Sunday he commenced the week's account by
+giving a large dinner-party, for he had made acquaintances in the town.
+And again the most expensive delicacies and the mostly costly wines were
+ordered, with the most lavish extravagance. And they kept up the
+festivities in rather a noisy manner through the whole night, which was
+painful to me, I being a Churchman. But then, you know, madam, a
+landlord can not interfere with his guests to that extent."
+
+"Certainly not," admitted Mrs. Berners.
+
+"Well, sir, the next morning after such a carousal, I naturally expected
+my guests to sleep late, so I was not surprised that the stillness of
+their rooms remained unbroken by any sound even up to ten o'clock. At
+that hour however, the bank opened, and I went myself to get my check
+cashed. There, sir, I got another check. Judge of my astonishment when
+the cashier, after examining Mr. Horace Blondelle's paper, declared that
+he knew no such person, and that there was no money deposited in that
+bank to the credit of that name."
+
+"It was a swindle!" exclaimed Mr. Berners, impulsively.
+
+"It was a swindle," admitted the landlord. "Yes, sir, a swindle of the
+basest sort, though I did not know it even then. I was inclined to be
+angry with the cashier, but I reflected that there was probably a
+mistake of some sort; so I hurried back home and inquired if Mr. Horace
+Blondelle had shown himself yet. I was told that he had not yet even
+rung his bell. Then I went to his private parlor, which had been the
+scene of last night's dinner giving and Sabbath breaking. The servants
+of the house had removed all signs of the carousal, and were moving
+noiselessly about the room while restoring it to order, so as not to
+disturb the rest of Mr. and Mrs. Horace Blondelle in the bedroom
+adjoining. I told my people that, as soon as Mr. Blondelle should awake,
+they must tell him that I begged leave to wait on him on a matter of
+business. It is as well to say, that while I lingered in the room, the
+nurse came in with the child, a pretty, fair-haired boy of five years
+old. They occupied a little chamber at the end of the passage, in easy
+reach of the child's mother. The nurse came in, hushing and cautioning
+the child not to make a noise, lest he should wake up poor mamma and
+papa, who were so tired. I mention this little domestic incident
+because, in some strange way that I cannot begin to understand, it
+quieted my misgivings, so that I went below and waited patiently for the
+rising of Mr. Horace Blondelle. Madam, I might have waited till this
+time!" said the landlord, pausing solemnly.
+
+"Why? go on and tell me!" impulsively exclaimed Mrs. Berners.
+
+"Why? I will soon let you know. I waited until long after noon. And
+still no sound from the bedroom. I walked in and out of the
+sitting-room, where the table was set for breakfast, and still no sound
+from the bedroom. And in the sitting-room no sound of occupation but
+the waiting breakfast-table in the middle of the floor, and the nurse
+seated at one of the windows with the impatient child at her knee.
+
+"'Your master and mistress sleep late,' I said.
+
+"'Yes, sir, they were up late last night,' she replied while twisting
+the child's golden ringlets around her fingers, in pure idleness, for
+they did not need curling.
+
+"I went away and staid away for about an hour, and then returned to the
+sitting-room. No sound from the bedroom yet. No change in the
+sitting-room, except that the nurse had taken a seat at the corner of
+the table with the child on her lap, and was feeding him from a bowl of
+milk and bread.
+
+"'Your master and mistress not up yet?' I ventured to say.
+
+"'No, sir, and no sign of them; I am giving little Crowy his supper, and
+am going to put him to bed. And if the bell don't ring by that time, I
+shall make bold to knock at the door and wake them up. Because, sir, I'm
+getting uneasy. Something might be the matter, though I don't know
+what,' said the girl, anxiously.
+
+"'So am I, I wish you would. And when your master has breakfasted, tell
+him I wish to be permitted to wait on him,' I said to the girl, and I
+left the room for the tenth time, I do suppose, that day."
+
+"Well!" eagerly exclaimed Sybil.
+
+"Well, madam, in less than an hour from that time, one of the waiters
+came to me with looks of alarm, and said that something must have
+happened in number 90, for that the lady's maid had been knocking and
+calling loudly at the door for the last ten minutes without being able
+to make herself heard within."
+
+"Oh!" breathed Sybil, clasping her hands.
+
+"Madam, I hurried to the spot. I joined my efforts to those of the
+terrified maid to arouse the sleepers within the chamber, but with no
+effect. The maid was almost crazy by this time, ma'am."
+
+"'Oh, sir, are they murdered in their bed?' she cried to me.
+
+"'Murdered? No, but something has happened, and we must force open the
+door, my good girl,' I said by way of calming her. You may well judge,
+sir, that I did not send for a locksmith; but with a crowbar, hastily
+procured from below, I hoisted the door from its hangings and effected
+an entrance."
+
+"And then? And then?" breathlessly inquired Sybil, perceiving that the
+landlord paused for a moment.
+
+"We found the room in the utmost confusion. Chests of drawers,
+clothes-presses, boxes, and so forth, stood wide open, with their
+contents scattered over the floor. We glanced at the bed, and the maid
+uttered a wild scream, and even I felt my blood run cold; for there lay
+the form of the lady, still, cold, pallid, livid, like that of a corpse
+many hours dead. No sign of Blondelle was to be seen about the chamber."
+
+"Oh! had he murdered her and fled?" gasped Sybil, with a half-suppressed
+hysterical sob.
+
+Mr. Berners passed his arm around her shoulders and drew her head down
+upon his breast, and signed for the landlord to proceed with his story.
+
+"Sir," continued Mr. Judson, "I went up to that bedside in the worst
+panic I ever felt in all my life. My heart was hammering at my ribs like
+a trip-hammer. First I took up the white hand that was hanging
+helplessly down by the side of the bed; and I was glad to find that it
+was limber, though cold as ice. Life might not be extinct. I ran down
+and dispatched several servants in different directions for physicians,
+being determined to insure the attendance of one, even at the risk of
+bringing a dozen, and having all their fees to pay."
+
+"You never thought of fees, I'll guarantee," said Mr. Berners.
+
+"Indeed I did not. I thought only of the lady. I sent my old mother to
+her bedside, with a request that she would keep everybody else out of
+the room until the arrival of a physician, and to let nothing be
+touched; for you see, sir, I did not know but what the attendance of a
+coroner would be called for as well."
+
+"Oh, how terrible!" murmured Sybil, from her shelter on her husband's
+breast.
+
+"Yes, madam, but not so terrible as we feared. Not to tire you with too
+long an account of this bad business, I will tell you at once the result
+of the physician's examination. It was, that this death-like sleep or
+coma of the lady was produced by some powerful narcotic, but by what or
+for what purpose administered, he could not discover. The maid was
+questioned as to whether her mistress was in the habit of using any form
+of opium, and answered that she certainly was not. Well, madam, the
+doctor left the lady under the care of my mother, with directions to
+watch her pulse, and on any indication of its failure, to summon him
+immediately."
+
+"She was in danger, then?"
+
+"Apparently. My mother watched beside her bed all that night; the lady
+did not awake until the next morning--that was the Tuesday; and the poor
+soul thought it was Monday! You see twenty-four hours had been lost to
+her consciousness."
+
+"And her infamous husband?" inquired Mr. Berners.
+
+"Neither he nor his valet were to be found. I had the police upon his
+track, you may be sure; though I did not, at the time of the lady's
+awakening, know the full extent of his atrocious villainy. I knew he
+had swindled me, but I did not know that he had robbed and forsaken his
+lovely young wife."
+
+"Robbed and forsaken his wife?" echoed Sybil, piteously.
+
+"Yes, madam, incredible as it seems. But I did not know this until the
+lady came to her senses. When she first awoke and found my mother seated
+by her bed, she expressed much surprise, at _her_ presence and at her
+own husband's absence. My mother, a plain spoken old lady, blurted out
+the truth--how Mr. Horace Blondelle, after imposing a worthless check
+upon me, in payment of my bill, had absconded with his valet, and been
+missing ever since the night of the dinner-party, and that she, Mrs.
+Blondelle, had slept profoundly through all these events.
+
+"Oh, what a dreadful tale for the poor young wife to hear!" sighed
+Sybil.
+
+"It was worse than anything I ever saw in my life, madam--her grief and
+shame and despair! She arose from her bed and began to examine her
+effects, to see what she might have left, and how far they would go
+towards settling my bill. She possessed some invaluable jewelry in
+diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. I know she did, for I had seen her wear
+them. She alluded to these, and said that they were worth many thousand
+dollars, and that she would sell some of them to satisfy my claims. She
+began to look for them, and then it was only by her broken exclamations
+of dismay that I came to know that he had robbed her."
+
+"The unnatural monster!" indignantly exclaimed Mr. Berners, while Sybil
+gazed in almost incredulous consternation.
+
+"Yes, sir, and madam, the truth was now apparent, even to the poor lady;
+and it was this--that on the night of the dinner-party he had heavily
+drugged her wine, so that when she retired to bed she fell into that
+deep, death-like sleep. Then he took advantage of her state to get
+possession of her keys, and to rifle her boxes and caskets, and make off
+with her money and jewels."
+
+"Poor, poor woman!" sighed Sybil.
+
+"This, madam," continued the landlord, turning to Mrs. Burners,
+"occurred four days ago. Since that time her base husband has been
+traced to New York, and there lost sight of."
+
+"And she?" inquired Sybil.
+
+"She, madam, has given herself up to the wildest grief and despair. She
+is as simple and as helpless as her own child. She has not the faintest
+notion of self-reliance. And here is where the trouble is with me. I
+have already lost several hundred dollars through this swindling
+villain. The wife and child he has left behind him are still occupying
+my best suite of apartments, for which, during their stay here, I shall
+not receive one penny of remuneration: therefore you see I cannot afford
+to keep this lady and her suite here, and neither can I find it in my
+heart to tell her to leave the house. For where, indeed, can she go? She
+has no friends or acquaintances in this country, no money, and no
+property that she can effectually turn into money."
+
+"Has she no one to pity her among the ladies in the house?" inquired
+Sybil.
+
+"There are no ladies staying in the house at present, madam. Our patrons
+are usually travellers, who seldom remain over one night."
+
+"But--the women of your family?" suggested Sybil.
+
+"There are no women in this family, except my old mother, who keeps
+house for me, and the female servants under her. I am a widower, madam,
+with half a dozen sons, but no daughters," returned the landlord.
+
+Sybil lifted her head from her husband's shoulder, where it had rested
+so long, and looked wistfully in her husband's eyes. He smiled, and
+nodded assent to what seemed to have been a silent interrogation. Then
+she took from her pocket a little gold-enamelled card-case, drew from it
+a card and a pencil, and wrote a few lines and handed it to the
+landlord, saying:
+
+"Mr. Judson, will you do me the favor to take this in to the unhappy
+lady at once, and see if she will receive me this evening? I feel as if
+I would like to try to comfort and serve her,"
+
+"I will with pleasure, madam; and I have no doubt that the mere
+expression of sympathy from another lady will be to her like a drop of
+water to a feverish palate," said the landlord, as he left the room.
+
+"Dear Lyon, I have a favor to ask of you," said Sybil, as soon as she
+was alone with her husband.
+
+"A favor! a right, my beloved! There is nothing that you can ask of me
+that is not your right to receive!"
+
+"No, no; a favor. I like to ask and receive favors from you, dear Lyon."
+
+"Call my service what you will, dear love! a right or a favor, it is
+always yours! What, then, is this favor, sweet Sybil?"
+
+"That you will give me a perfect _carte blanche_ in my manner of dealing
+with this poor little lady, even though my manner should seem foolish or
+extravagant."
+
+At these words from his ardent, generous, romantic wife, Lyon Berners
+looked very grave. What, indeed might Sybil, with her magnanimity and
+munificence _not_ think proper to do for this utter stranger--this
+possible adventuress? Lyon looked very solemn over this proposal from
+his wife. He hesitated for a moment; but her large, clear, honest eyes
+were fixed full upon him, waiting for his reply. Could he refuse her
+request? Did _he_ not owe everything to her, and to that very high-flown
+spirit of generosity which was not only a fault (if it were a fault) of
+Sybil, but a trait common to all her race.
+
+"As you will, my darling wife! I should be a cur, and worse than a
+cur--a thankless wretch--to wish to restrain you in anything!" he
+answered, sealing his agreement on her velvet lips.
+
+In another minute the landlord re-entered the room.
+
+"Mrs. Blondelle's thanks and compliments, and she will be very grateful
+for Mrs. Berners' visit, as soon as Mrs. Berners pleases to come," was
+the message that Mr. Judson brought.
+
+Sybil arose with a smile, kissed her hand playfully to her husband, and
+passed out of the room.
+
+The landlord went before her, rapped at the opposite door, then opened
+it, announced the visitor, and closed it behind her.
+
+Sybil advanced a step into the stranger's apartment, and then paused in
+involuntary admiration.
+
+She had heard and read of celebrated beauties, whose charms had
+conquered the wisest statesmen and the bravest warriors, who had
+governed monarchs and ministers, and raised or ruined kingdoms and
+empires. And often in poetic fancy she had tried to figure to herself
+one of these fairy forms and faces. But never, in her most romantic
+moods, had she imagined a creature so perfectly beautiful as this one
+that she saw before her.
+
+The stranger had a form of the just medium size, and of the most perfect
+proportions; a head of stately grace; features small, delicate, and
+clearly cut; a complexion at once fair and rosy, like the inside of an
+apple blossom; lips like opening rose-buds; eyes of dark azure blue,
+fringed with long dark eye-lashes, and over-arched by slender, dark
+eyebrows; and hair of a pale, glistening, golden hue that fell in soft,
+bright ringlets, like a halo around her angelic face. She wore a robe of
+soft, pale, blue silk, that opened over a white silk skirt.
+
+She arose with an exquisite grace to welcome her visitor.
+
+"It is very good of you, madam, to come to see me in my misery," she
+murmured, in a sweet, pathetic tone that went to her visitor's heart, as
+she sat a chair, and, by a graceful gesture invited her to be seated.
+
+Sybil was herself impulsive and confiding, as well as romantic and
+generous. She immediately drew her chair up to the side of the strange
+lady, took her hand affectionately, and tried to look up in her eyes, as
+she said:
+
+"We are personal strangers to each other; but we are the children of one
+Father, and sisters who should care for each other."
+
+"Ah! who would care to claim sisterhood with such a wretch as I am?"
+sighed the unhappy young creature.
+
+"_I_ would; but you must not call yourself ill-names. Misfortunes are
+not sins. I came here to comfort and help you--to comfort and help you
+not in words merely, but in deeds; and I have both the power and the
+will to do it, if you will please to let me try," said Sybil, gently.
+
+The young creature looked up, her lovely, tearful, blue eyes expanded
+with astonishment.
+
+"You offer to comfort and help me! _Me_--a perfect stranger, with a
+cloud of dishonor hanging over me! Oh, madam, if you knew _all_, you
+would certainly withdraw your kind offer," she said.
+
+"I will not withdraw it in any event. I _do_ know all that your landlord
+could tell me, and that awakens my deepest sympathy for you. But I do
+not know all that _you_ could tell me. Now, dear, I want you to confide
+in me as you could not confide either in your landlord, or even in his
+mother."
+
+"Oh, no, no! I could not tell either of them. They were kind; but--oh,
+so hard!"
+
+"Now, dear, then, look in my face, look well, and tell me whether you
+can confide in me," said Sybil, gently.
+
+"If I had never seen your heavenly countenance--if I had only heard
+your heavenly voice, I could confide in you, as in the holy mother of
+Christ," said the stranger fervently.
+
+"Tell me then, dear; tell me all you wish to tell; relieve your heart;
+lay all your burdens on my bosom; and then you shall feel how well I can
+comfort and help you," said Sybil, putting her hand around the fair neck
+and drawing the little golden-haired head upon her breast.
+
+Then and there the friendless young stranger--friendless now, no
+more--told her piteous story.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI.
+
+                            ROSA BLONDELLE.
+
+
+            Her form had all the softness of her sex,
+            Her face had all the sweetness of the devil
+            When he put on the cherub to perplex
+            Eve, and to pave, Heaven knows how, the road to evil.--BYRON.
+
+
+She had been the penniless orphan daughter of a noble, but impoverished
+Scotch family. She had been left, by the death of her parents, dependent
+upon harsh and cruel relatives. She had been given in marriage, at the
+age of fifteen, to a wealthy old gentleman, whose years quadrupled hers.
+But he had used her very kindly, and she had performed her simple duty
+of love and obedience as well as she knew how to do it. After two years
+of tranquil domestic happiness, the old man died, leaving her a young
+widow seventeen years of age, sole guardian to their infant son, between
+whom and herself he had divided his whole estate.
+
+After the death of her old husband, the youthful widow lived in strict
+seclusion for nearly two years, devoting herself exclusively to the care
+of her child.
+
+But in the third year the health of the little Cromartie required a
+change, and his mother, by her physician's advice, took the boy to
+Scarborough. That fashionable watering place was then at the height of
+its season, and filled with visitors.
+
+Thus it was impossible but that the wealthy young widow should attract
+much attention. She was inevitably drawn into the maelstrom of society,
+into which she rushed with all the impetuosity of a novice or an
+inexperienced recluse, to which all the scenes of the gay world were as
+delightful as they were novel.
+
+She had many suitors for her hand; but none found favor in her eyes but
+Mr. Horace Blondelle, a very handsome and attractive young gentleman,
+whose principal passport into good society seemed to be his distant
+relationship to the Duke of Marchmonte. _How_ he lived no one knew.
+_Where_ he lived everyone might see, for he always occupied the best
+suits of apartments in the best hotel of any town or city in which he
+might be for the time sojourning.
+
+We, every one of us know, or know _of_, Mr. Horace Blondelle. There are
+scores of him scattered about the great hotels of all the large cities
+in Europe and America. But the simplest maiden or the silliest widow in
+society, is seldom taken in by him.
+
+There, however, at Scarborough, was an inexperienced poor little
+creature from the Highlands, who had never in her life seen any one more
+attractive than the red-headed heroes of her native hills, and who,
+having aurific tresses of her own, was particularly prejudiced against
+that splendid hue, and fatally ensnared by the raven ringlets and dark
+eyes of this professional lady-killer.
+
+And thus it followed of course, that this beast of prey devoured the
+pretty little widow and all her substance with less hesitation or
+remorse than a cobra might have felt in swallowing a canary bird.
+
+So complete was her hallucination, so perfect her trust in him, that
+she took no precaution of having any part of her property settled upon
+herself; and, in marrying this man she gave him an absolute control over
+her own fortune, and a dangerous, if limited, influence over that of her
+infant son.
+
+This very imprudent marriage was followed by a few months of delusive
+happiness on the part of the bride; for the little fair beauty adored
+her dark-haired Apollo, who graciously accepted her adoration.
+
+But then came satiety and weariness and inconstancy on the part of the
+husband, who soon commenced the pleasing pastime of breaking the wife's
+heart.
+
+Yet still, for some little time longer, she, with a deplorable fatuity,
+believed in and loved him. After he had squandered her own fortune on
+gaming-tables and race-courses, he wished to get possession of the
+fortune of her son. To do this he persuaded her to sell out certain
+stock and entrust him with the proceeds, to be invested, as he convinced
+her, in railway shares in America, that would pay at least two hundred
+per cent. dividends, and in a few months double that money.
+
+Acting as her son's guardian and trustee, acting also, as she thought,
+in his best interests, the deluded mother did as her husband directed.
+She sold out the stocks, and confided the proceeds to him.
+
+Then it was that they made the voyage to America, ostensibly to purchase
+the railway shares in question. His real motive in bringing her to this
+country was, doubtless, to take her as far as possible from her native
+place and her old acquaintances, so as to prosecute the more safely and
+effectually his fraudulent designs.
+
+How they had arrived at Norfolk and taken rooms at the Anchor, and how
+he had robbed and deserted her there, has already been told.
+
+Sybil Berners listened to this sad and revolting story of woman's
+weakness and man's criminality with mingled emotions of pity and
+indignation.
+
+"Believe me," she said, tenderly taking the hand of the injured wife, "I
+feel the deepest sympathy with your misfortunes. I will do everything in
+my power to comfort and help you--not in words only, but in deeds; and I
+only grieve, dear, that I cannot give you back your husband in his honor
+and integrity as you once regarded him," added this loving and confiding
+wife, to whom no misery seemed so great as that caused by the default
+and desertion of a husband.
+
+"Oh, do not name him to me!" burst forth in pain from the lips of Rosa
+Blondelle; "oh, I hope, as long as I may live in this world, never to be
+wounded by the sound of his base name, or blasted with the sight of his
+false face again."
+
+Sybil Berners shrank in dismay from the excited woman, who continued,
+vehemently:
+
+"Do you wonder at this? I tell you, madam, it is possible for love to
+die a sudden and violent death, for mine has done so within the last
+three days."
+
+"I am deeply grieved to hear you say so, for it proves how much you must
+have suffered--how much more than even I had imagined. But try to take a
+little comfort. I and my own dear husband will be your friends, will be
+a sister and a brother to you," said Sybil earnestly, with all the
+impulsive, unlimited generosity of her youth and her race, awakened by
+her sympathy with the sorrows of this young stranger.
+
+"Oh, madam, you--" began Rosa, but her voice broke down in sobs.
+
+"Take comfort," continued Sybil, laying her little brown hand on that
+fair golden head, "take comfort. Think, you have not lost all. You have
+your child left."
+
+"Ah, my child!" cried Rosa, in a tone like a shriek of anguish, "my
+child, my wronged and ruined babe! The sight of him is a sword through
+my bosom! my child that _he_ robbed and made _me_ an accomplice in
+robbing--it is maddening to think of it."
+
+"Then do not think of it," said Sybil, gently, and still caressing the
+bowed head; "think of anything else--think of what I am going to say to
+you. Listen. While you remain in this crowded and noisy hotel, you can
+never recover calmness enough to act with any good effect. So I wish you
+to come home with me and my dear husband to our quiet country house, and
+be our cherished guest until you can communicate with your friends, or
+come to some satisfactory decision concerning your future course."
+
+While Sybil spoke these words, the young stranger raised her head and
+looked up with gradually dilating eyes.
+
+"Come, now; what say you? Will you be our dear and welcome guest this
+autumn?" smiled Sybil.
+
+"Oh, _do_ you mean this? _can_ you mean it?" exclaimed Rosa, in
+something like an ecstasy of surprise and gratitude.
+
+"In our secluded country house, with sympathizing friends around you,"
+continued Sybil, still caressing Rosa's little golden-haired head, and
+speaking all the more calmly because of Rosa's excitement, "you will
+have repose and leisure to collect your thoughts and to write to your
+friends in the old country, and to wait without hurry or anxiety to hear
+from them."
+
+"Oh, angels in Heaven, do you hear what this angel on earth is saying to
+me! Oh, was ever such divine goodness seen under the sun before! Oh,
+dear lady, you amaze, you confound me with your heavenly goodness!"
+exclaimed the young stranger, in strong emotion.
+
+Sybil took her hand, and still all the more gently for the increasing
+agitation of Rosa, she continued:
+
+"We are daughters of the Divine Father, sisters in one suffering
+humanity, and so we should care for each other. At present you are
+suffering, and I have some power to comfort you. In the future our
+positions may be reversed, and _I_ may be the sufferer and you the
+comforter. Who can tell?"
+
+"O, dear lady, Heaven forbid that great heart of yours should ever be
+called to suffer, or that you should ever need such poor help as mine.
+But this I know: so penetrated am I by your goodness, that, if ever you
+should lose your present happiness and my death would restore it, I
+would die to give it back to you," fervently exclaimed the stranger.
+
+And for the moment she felt as she had spoken, for she was most
+profoundly moved by a magnanimity she had never seen equalled.
+
+Sybil blushed like a child, and found nothing to say in reply to this
+excessive praise. She only left her hand in the clasp of the stranger,
+who covered it with kisses, and then continued:
+
+"When I first saw your little white card and the delicate tracery of
+your name and your kind words, I seemed to know it was a friend's
+writing. And when I first saw your sweet face and heard your tender
+tones, both so full of heavenly pity, I felt that the good Lord had not
+forsaken me, for He had sent one of his holy angels to visit me. Ah,
+lady, if you had only come and looked at me so and spoken to me so, and
+then passed out and away forever, still, still, that look and that tone
+would have remained with me, a comfort and a blessing for all time. But
+now--but now to hold out your hands to lead me to a place in your own
+home, by your own side--oh, it is too much! too much!"
+
+And tears of many mingled emotions flowed down the speaker's cheeks.
+
+"There, there!" said Sybil, utterly confused by this excessive, but most
+sincere adulation, yet still caressing the stranger's fair head, "there,
+dear, dry your eyes, and tell me if you can be ready to leave this place
+with us to-morrow morning."
+
+Again the foreign lady seized and kissed the hands of her new friend,
+exclaiming fervently:
+
+"Yes dear lady, yes! I am too deeply touched by your heavenly goodness
+not to be anxious to profit by it as soon as possible."
+
+"Then I will leave you to your preparations for the journey," said
+Sybil, rising.
+
+Rosa also stood up.
+
+"There will be much to be done in a short time. Will you let me send my
+maid to help yours?" inquired Sybil, with a hesitating smile.
+
+"Thanks, dear madam. I shall be much obliged," replied Rosa, with a bow.
+
+"And there is yet another request I have to make," added Mrs. Berners,
+pausing with her hand upon the latch of the door--"Will you kindly meet
+us at breakfast at eight o'clock to-morrow morning in our private
+sitting-room, so that I may make you acquainted with my husband before
+we all start on our journey together?"
+
+"With pleasure, dear lady! It is your will to load me with benefits, and
+you must be gratified," replied Rosa, with a faint smile.
+
+"Then I will come myself and fetch you, a little before the hour," added
+Sybil, playfully throwing a kiss as she darted through the door.
+
+When she re-entered her own apartment, she found her husband impatiently
+pacing up and down the floor.
+
+"How very long you have been, my darling Sybil," he said, with all the
+fondness of a newly-wedded lover, as he went to meet her.
+
+"Oh, I am so glad you thought it long!" she answered mischievously, as
+she took his hand and pulled him to the big easy-chair and pushed him
+down into it.
+
+"Sit down there, and listen to me," she said, with a pretty little air
+of authority. Then she drew an ottoman to his side and sunk down upon
+it, and leaned her arms upon his knees, and lifted her beautiful dark
+face, now all aglow with the delight of benevolence, and told him all
+that had passed in the interview between herself and Mrs. Blondelle.
+
+And Lyon Berners, with his arm over her graceful shoulders, his fingers
+stringing her silken black ringlets, and his eyes gazing with infinite
+tenderness and admiration down on her eloquent face, listened with
+attentive interest to the story. But at its close, great was his
+astonishment.
+
+"My dear, impulsive Sybil, what have you done!" he exclaimed.
+
+"What!" echoed Sybil, her crimson lips breathlessly apart--her dark eyes
+dilated.
+
+"Love, you have invited a perfect stranger, casually met at a hotel--a
+gambler's wife, even by her own showing, an adventuress by all other
+appearances, to come and take up her abode with us for an indefinite
+length of time!"
+
+Sybil's mouth opened, and her eyes dilated with an almost comical
+expression of dismay. She had not a word to say in self-defence!
+
+"Do not think I blame you, dear, warm, imprudent heart! I only wonder at
+you, and--adore you!" he said, earnestly pressing her to his bosom.
+
+"Oh, but you would have done as I did, if you had seen her distress!"
+pleaded Sybil, recovering her powers of speech.
+
+"But could you not have helped her without inviting her home with us?"
+
+"But how?" inquired Sybil.
+
+"Could you not have paid her board? or lent her money?"
+
+"Oh, Lyon! Lyon!" said Sybil, slowly shaking her head and looking up in
+his face with a heavenly benevolence beaming through her own. "Oh, Lyon!
+it was not a boarding-house she wanted, it was a _refuge_, a home with
+friends! But I am very sorry if this displeases you."
+
+"Dear, impetuous, self-forgetting child! I am not so impious as to find
+fault with you."
+
+"But you do not like the lady's coming."
+
+"I should not like any visitor coming to stay with us and prevent our
+_tête-à-tête_," said Lyon, gravely.
+
+"I thought of that too, dear, and with a pang of selfish regret; for of
+course I would much rather that you and I should have our dear old home
+to ourselves, than that any stranger should share it with us. But then,
+oh, dearest Lyon, I reflected that we are so rich and happy in our home
+and our love, and she is so poor and sorrowful in her exile and
+desertion, that we might afford to comfort her from the abundance of our
+blessings," said Sybil, earnestly.
+
+"My angel wife! you are worthier than I, and your will shall be done,"
+he gravely replied.
+
+"Not so, dear Lyon! But when you see this lady in her beauty and her
+sorrow, you also will admire and pity her, and you will be glad that she
+is coming to the refuge of our home."
+
+"I may be so," replied Mr. Berners with an arch smile, "but how will
+your proud neighbors receive this questionable stranger?"
+
+The stately little head was lifted in an instant, and--
+
+"My 'proud neighbors' well know that whom Sybil Berners protects with
+her friendship is peer with the proudest among them!" she said, with a
+hauteur not to be surpassed by the haughtiest in the Old Dominion.
+
+"Well said, my little wife! And now, as this matter is decided, I must
+see about taking additional places in the stage-coach. How many will be
+wanted? What retinue has this foreign princess in distress," inquired
+Lyon, rather sarcastically.
+
+"There will be three places required, for the lady, child and nurse."
+
+"Whe-ew! My dear Sybil, we are collecting a ready made family! Does the
+child squall? or the nurse drink?" inquired Lyon, with a laugh, as
+without waiting for a reply he rang the bell, and gave the order for
+three more places to be taken inside the Staunton coach for the morning.
+
+And soon after this the young pair retired to rest.
+
+Very early the next morning Sybil Berners came out of her chamber,
+looking fresh and bright as the new day itself. She wore a close-fitting
+travelling dress of crimson merino, that well became her elegant little
+figure and rich, dark complexion.
+
+She glanced around the room to see that everything was in order. Yes;
+the fire was bright, the hearth clean, the breakfast-table neatly set,
+and the morning sun shining through the red-curtained windows and
+glancing upon the silver tea-service.
+
+With a smile of satisfaction, she tossed back her raven-black ringlets,
+and passed from the room and through the hall, and rapped at the door of
+her new acquaintance.
+
+Mrs. Blondelle herself opened it, and stood there quite ready to
+accompany her friend to breakfast.
+
+Radiantly beautiful looked the fair young stranger this morning, in the
+dark, bright-blue cloth habit that so highly enhanced the dazzling
+splendor of her blooming complexion and the golden glory of her hair.
+
+An instant Sybil paused in involuntary admiration, and then recovered
+herself and greeted the lady with affectionate warmth.
+
+"It is nearly eight o'clock, dear, and breakfast is quite ready. Will
+you come now?" inquired Sybil, when these salutations were passed.
+
+Rosa assented with a sweet smile, and Sybil led the way into her own
+sitting-room.
+
+Mr. Berners had come in during his wife's short absence, and he now
+stood before the fire with the morning paper in his hand. He put it down
+on the table, and came forward to meet his wife, and to welcome her
+guest.
+
+"Mrs. Blondelle, Mr. Berners," said Sybil, introducing the parties to
+each other by the simplest formula.
+
+And while they were bowing together, Sybil was watching mischievously to
+see what effect the dazzling beauty of Rosa Blondelle would have upon
+Lyon Berners.
+
+She saw it!
+
+After bowing, they lifted their heads and looked at each other--he, at
+first, with the courtesy of a host--but she with a radiant and
+enchanting smile.
+
+Sybil was prepared to see Lyon's surprise at the first view of this
+peerless creature; but she was by no means prepared to witness the
+involuntary gaze of intense and breathless admiration and wonder that he
+fixed for a moment on her beautiful face. That gaze said as eloquently
+as words could have spoken:
+
+"This is the most wondrous, perfect creature that the world ever saw!
+This is the master-piece of nature."
+
+With the sunlight of her smile still shining on him, Rosa held out her
+hand, and said in the sweetest tones:
+
+"Sir, I have no words good enough to tell you how deeply I feel your
+kindness and that of your dear wife to me."
+
+"Dear lady, Mrs. Berners and myself do but gratify our own tastes in
+_trying_ to serve you; for it will be a great happiness to us if we
+succeed in doing so," replied Lyon Berners, with a look and tone that
+proved his perfect sincerity and earnestness.
+
+As thus they smiled and glanced, and spoke to each other, Sybil also
+glanced from the one to the other; a sudden pang shot through her heart,
+exciting a nameless dread in her mind. _"Even so quickly may one catch
+the plague!"_
+
+"Let me lead you to the table," said Mr. Berners, offering his arm to
+Mrs. Blondelle, and conducting her to her place.
+
+Above all, Sybil was a lady; for she was a Berners. So, with this
+strange wound in her heart, this vague warning in her mind, she took her
+seat at the head of her table and did its honors with her usual courtesy
+and grace.
+
+Mr. Berners seconded his wife in all hospitable attentions to their
+beautiful young guest.
+
+While they were all still seated at the table, a groom rapped at the
+door and reported the stage-coach ready.
+
+They all arose in a hurry, and began to make the last hasty preparations
+for departure.
+
+Mrs. Blondelle hurried into her own room, to have her luggage taken down
+stairs to be put on the coach, and also to summon her nurse with the
+child.
+
+When Sybil Berners found herself for a moment alone with her husband,
+she laid her hand upon his coat sleeve to stay him, in his haste, and
+she inquired:
+
+"What do you think of her now?"
+
+"I think, my darling Sybil, that you were right in your judgment of this
+lady. And I agree with you perfectly. I think, my only love, that in
+what you have done for this stranger, you have acted not only with the
+goodness, but with the wisdom of an angel," replied Lyon Berners,
+snatching her suddenly to his heart, and holding her closely there while
+he pressed kiss after kiss upon her crimson lip; and murmured:
+
+"I must steal a kiss from these sweet lips when and wherever I can, my
+own one, since we are not to be much alone together now."
+
+And then he released her, and hurried off to put on his overcoat.
+
+Sybil stood for a minute, smiling, where he had left her, and so happy
+that she forgot she had to get ready to go. The pain was gone from her
+heart, and the cloud from her brain.
+
+And as yet, so little did she know of herself or others, that she could
+not have told why the pain and the cloud ever came, or why they ever
+went away.
+
+As yet she did not know that her husband's admiring smiles given to a
+rival beauty had really caused her nameless suffering; or that it was
+his loving caresses, bestowed upon herself, that had soothed it.
+
+In a word, Sybil Berners, the young bride, did not dream that the
+bitter, bitter seed of JEALOUSY was germinating in her heart, to grow
+and spread perhaps into a deadly upas of the soul, destroying all moral
+life around it.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VII.
+
+                         DOWN IN THE DARK VALE.
+
+
+            Where rose the mountains, there for her were friends,
+             Where fell the valley, therein was her home;
+            Where the steep rock and dizzy peak ascends,
+             She had the passion and the power to roam.
+            The crag, the forest, cavern, torrent's foam,
+             Were unto her companions, and they spake
+            A natural language clearer than the tone
+             Of her best books, which she would oft forsake
+            For Nature's pages, lit by moonbeams on the lake.--BYRON.
+
+
+Jealousy, once called to life in any human heart, is not easily to be
+destroyed. Sybil Berners' almost unconscious jealousy suddenly called
+into existence, and as suddenly soothed to sleep, was awakened again by
+something that occurred just as the travellers were about to start.
+
+It was the merest trifle, yet one of those trifles which turn the course
+of fate just as surely as the little switch of the railroad controls the
+direction of the train.
+
+The travellers were just entering the stage-coach. Mr. Berners handed
+in first Mrs. Blondelle, then Mrs. Berners, and then he himself entered.
+
+"You sit down here in this right-hand corner, Lyon, dear, and I will sit
+in the middle next to you, and Mrs. Blondelle shall sit in the left-hand
+corner next to me," said Sybil, still standing while she pointed out
+their several places on the back seat; and she spoke perhaps under the
+influence of a latent jealousy, that instigated her to place herself
+between her husband and her guest, for that long journey.
+
+"No, no, my dear, not so; but if you will change places with me and take
+the right-hand corner-seat, while our fair friend occupies the left-hand
+one, I will sit between you two ladies, the proverbial 'thorn between
+two roses,'" replied Lyon Berners, gayly and gallantly, with perhaps on
+his side a latent desire to sit next the beautiful blonde, but also
+quite unconscious of how these words had disappointed and wounded her
+whom he would not have willingly wronged for the world.
+
+Sybil silently took her seat, leaving the others to follow her example.
+Mr. Berners politely put Mrs. Blondelle in the left-hand corner, and
+then seated himself in the middle seat, between his wife and her guest.
+
+In front of them, on the movable central seat, sat Mrs. Blondelle's
+child and nurse. Facing them on the front seat, with their backs to the
+horses, were the two negro servants, Mr. Berners' valet and Mrs.
+Berners' maid.
+
+Though the morning was a very fine one for travelling, there were no
+other passengers inside, or out. Mr. Berners and his party had the whole
+coach to themselves, at least, at starting.
+
+Sybil thought she had never seen her husband in gayer spirits. As the
+horses started and the coach rattled along over the stony streets of the
+city, Mr. Berners turned smilingly to Mrs. Blondelle, and said:
+
+"I know of few pleasanter things in this pleasant world than a journey
+through our native State of Virginia, taken at this delightful season of
+the year; and of all routes I know of none affording such a variety of
+beautiful and sublime scenery as this we are now starting upon."
+
+"How long will it take you to reach your beautiful home?" sweetly
+inquired Rosa Blondelle.
+
+"We might reach it in two days, if we were to travel day and night; but
+we shall be four days on the road, as we propose to put up at some
+roadside inn or village each night," answered Lyon Berners.
+
+Meanwhile the coach rattled out of the city and into the open country,
+where the landscape was fair, well-wooded, well-watered, but not
+striking.
+
+"You must not judge the scenery of our State by this flat country around
+our seaport," said Mr. Berners to his guest, with the air of a man
+making an apology.
+
+"Yet this is very pleasant to look upon," answered Rosa, sincerely.
+
+"Yes, very pleasant, as you say; but you will use stronger language when
+you see our vast forests, our high mountains, and deep valleys,"
+answered Lyon Berners with a smile.
+
+Sybil did not join in the conversation. She had not spoken since she had
+unwillingly taken that corner seat. And worse than all, to her
+apprehension, neither her husband nor her guest had noticed her silence.
+They were apparently quite absorbed in each other.
+
+Some hours of jolting over bad turnpike roads brought the coach to the
+interior of an old forest, where, at a wayside inn, the horses were
+changed, and the travellers dined. Here, on resuming their seats in the
+coach, they were joined by two other travellers, elderly country
+gentlemen, who took the two vacant places inside, and who would have
+made themselves very confidential with Mr. Berners on any subject
+within their knowledge, from crops to Congress, if he had not been too
+engaged with his fair guest to pay them much attention. Sybil continued
+silent, except when occasionally her husband would ask her if she was
+comfortable, or if he could do anything for her, when she would thank
+him and answer that she was quite comfortable; and that he could do
+nothing. And as far as bodily ease went, she spoke the truth. For the
+rest, Sybil could not then and there ask him to leave off devoting
+himself to their guest, and show _her_ more attention.
+
+A few more hours of more jolting over worse turnpike roads brought the
+coach to the foot of the Blue Ridge, and to the picturesque village of
+Underhill, where our party passed the night. Here, in the village inn,
+Sybil Berners, feeling that Rosa Blondelle, as her guest, was entitled
+to her courtesy, made an effort to forget the pain in her heart, the
+shadow on her mind, and to do the honors of the table with her usual
+affability and grace.
+
+After supper, which was pleasantly prolonged, the travellers separated,
+and were shown to their several bed-chambers.
+
+And now, after twelve hours, Sybil found herself once more alone with
+her husband. He had not perceived her silence and dejection during the
+journey, or if he had, he certainly had not ascribed it to the right
+cause. He was equally unconscious of having done a wrong, or inflicted a
+wound. And now his manner to his wife was as tender, loving, and devoted
+as it had ever been since their marriage. His very first words showed
+this. On entering the room and closing the door, he suddenly threw his
+arms around her, and clasped her to his bosom as a recovered treasure,
+exclaiming:
+
+"Now, my darling, we are alone together once more, with no one to divide
+us."
+
+"Thank Heaven!" breathed Sybil with all her heart; and her jealousy was
+lulled to rest again by the kisses that he pressed on her lips. She said
+to herself that all his devotion to Rosa Blondelle in the stage-coach
+was but the proper courtesy of a gentleman to a lady guest, who was,
+besides, a stranger in the country; and that she, his wife, ought to
+admire, rather than to blame him for it--ought to be pleased, rather
+than pained by it.
+
+Very early the next morning the travellers arose, in order to take the
+earliest coach, which, having left Norfolk at sunset, would reach
+Underhill at sunrise.
+
+Poor, ardent, impulsive Sybil! She had passed a very happy night; and
+this morning she met her guest with a gush of genuine affection,
+embracing and kissing her and her child, making them even more welcome
+than she had done before, and feeling that to-day she could not deal too
+kindly by Rosa, to atone for having yesterday thought so hardly of her.
+
+Under these pleasant auspices the travellers sat down to an excellent
+breakfast.
+
+But the warning horn blew, and they prepared to resume their journey.
+
+On entering the coach, they found the other passengers, three in number,
+already on the back seat. But they were gentlemen, who voluntarily and
+promptly gave up their seats to the two ladies and their escort. The
+coach started.
+
+Their route now lay through some of the wildest passes of the Blue
+Ridge. And here the enthusiasm of Rosa Blondelle burst forth. She said
+that she had seen grand mountains in Scotland, but nothing--no, nothing
+to equal these in grandeur and beauty!
+
+And Lyon Berners smiled to hear her speak so, as one might smile at the
+extravagant delight of a child, for as a child this lovely stranger
+often seemed to him and to others. And she, with her sweet, blue eyes,
+smiled back to him.
+
+And Sybil looked and listened, and felt again that strange wound
+deepening in her heart--that strange cloud darkening over her mind.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VIII.
+
+                               BLACK HALL.
+
+
+            Seest thou our home? 'tis where the woods are waving
+            In their dark richness to the autumn air;
+            Where yon blue stream its rocky banks are laving,
+            Leads down the hills a vein of light--'tis there.--HEMANS.
+
+
+At the close of that second day, they stopped at a hamlet on the summit
+of the Blue Ridge, from which they could view five counties. At the
+little hotel they were entertained very much in the same manner as at
+the inn of Underhill. Again Sybil's unspoken and unsuspected jealousy
+was soothed by the caresses of her husband.
+
+In the morning they resumed their journey in the early coach, that took
+them across the beautiful valley that lies between the Blue Ridge and
+the Allegheny Mountains. And again Lyon Berners' devotion to Rosa
+Blondelle deeply distressed Sybil. At nightfall they reached Staunton,
+where they slept.
+
+On the morning of the fourth and last day of their journey, they took
+the cross-country coach and changed their route, which now led them
+towards the wildest, dreariest, and loneliest passes of the Alleghenies.
+
+About mid-day the coach entered the dark defile known as the "Devils'
+Descent." And, in fact, it needed all the noon sunshine to light up the
+gloom of that fearful pass. Here the delight of the impressible young
+foreigner deepened into awe.
+
+"I have never seen anything like this in the old country," she breathed,
+in a low, hushed tone.
+
+And again Lyon Berners smiled most kindly and indulgently on her, and
+again Sybil Berners sickened at heart. Every time Lyon so smiled on
+Rosa, Sybil so sickened. She strove against this feeling, but she could
+not overcome it.
+
+As the day declined and the coach went on, wilder, drearier, and
+lonelier became the road, until, at nightfall, it entered a pass so
+gloomy, so savage, so terrific in its aspect, that the young stranger
+involuntarily caught her breath and clung for protection to the arm of
+Lyon Berners.
+
+"I have never _dreamed_ of a place like this," she gasped.
+
+"You think," he said indulgently, "that if the other pass was called the
+'Devil's Descent,' this should be the 'Gates of Hell.' Yet to us, it is
+the 'Gates of Heaven;' since it is the entrance to our Valley Home."
+
+And this affectionate mention of their mutual home almost consoled the
+wife for the smile he bestowed on their beautiful guest while speaking.
+
+Then all the women except Sybil held their breath in awe.
+
+It was indeed an awful pass! a road roughly hewn through the bottom of a
+deep, narrow, tortuous cleft in the mountains where, at some remote
+period, by some tremendous convulsions of nature, the solid rocks had
+been rent apart, leaving the ragged edges of the wound hanging at a
+dizzy height between heaven and earth! The dark iron-gray precipices
+that towered on each side were clothed in every cleft, from base to
+summit, with clumps of dark stunted evergreens as sombre as themselves.
+So tortuous, besides, was the pass, that the travellers could see but a
+few yards before them at any time. There was but one cheering sight in
+earth or sky, and that was the young crescent moon straight before them
+in the west, and shining down in tender light upon the rudest precipice
+of all.
+
+"It does remind one of Dante's descriptions of the 'Entrance into the
+Infernal Regions,' does it not?" inquired Lyon Berners.
+
+"All except the little moon! Without that, its gloom would be perfectly
+horrible! and it is horrible enough now," answered Rosa with a shudder.
+
+"But I love it! Even its gloom and horror have a weird fascination for
+me. It is my abode. I only seem to live my own life in my own Black
+Valley," said Sybil, in a low, deep voice that thrilled with emotion.
+
+They were suddenly silenced, for they were at the sharpest, steepest,
+most difficult and dangerous turn in that most dangerous pass; and to go
+down with any chance of safety required the utmost care and skill on the
+part of the coachman, whose anxiety was shared by all within the coach.
+Each passenger clung for support to what was nearest at hand, and might
+reasonably have expected every instant to be dashed to pieces on the
+rocks by the coach pitching over the horses' heads, as it tossed and
+tumbled and thundered down the falling road, more like a descending
+avalanche than a well-conducted four-wheeled vehicle.
+
+Our travellers only let go their holdings and loosed their tongues again
+at the foot of the precipice.
+
+"That was--that was--Oh, there is no word to express what it was. It was
+more than terrible! more than awful! And it is just a miracle that we
+have escaped with our lives!" gasped Rosa Blondelle, aghast with horror.
+
+"There has never yet been an accident on this road," observed Lyon
+Berners, soothingly.
+
+"Then there is a miracle performed every time a vehicle passes down it,"
+replied Rosa, with a shudder.
+
+"But look now, there is a very fine scene," said Mr. Berners, pointing
+through the window as the coach rolled on. Sybil was already gazing
+through the right-hand window, and so Rosa stretched her fair neck to
+look from the left-hand one.
+
+Yes, it was a fine scene. The young crescent moon with its tender beam
+had gone down; but the great stars were out in all their glory, and by
+their shining the travellers saw before them a beautiful little river,
+whose rippling surface reflected in fitful glimmers the cheerful lights
+of a village on its opposite bank.
+
+"This is the Black River. It rises in those distant mountains, which are
+called the Black Rocks, and which shut in our Black Valley. The village
+here is called Blackville," explained Lyon Berners.
+
+"What a deal of blackness!" replied Rosa Blondelle.
+
+"If you think so, I must tell you in the first place that we are not
+responsible for having named these places; and in the second, that the
+names are really appropriate. The stupendous height and dark iron-gray
+hue of the rocks that overshadow and darken the valley and the river,
+and also the situation of the village at the entrance of the dark
+valley, justify these names. And even if they did not, still we are not
+so irreverent as to interfere with the arrangements of those who have
+gone before us," laughed Lyon Berners.
+
+And as he spoke the stage-coach reached the banks of the river, and drew
+up before the little ferry-house. Here the travellers alighted, and had
+their baggage taken off. And the coach, waiting only long enough to
+change horses and to pick up passengers, all of whom, both man and
+beast, had been brought over from the village by the ferry-boat, went on
+its way, which lay along the east bank of the river.
+
+Mr. Berners had his luggage and that of his party put upon the
+ferry-boat, and then he led the ladies on board. He saw them comfortably
+seated, and the nurse and child in a safe place, and then he turned to
+the aged ferry-man with hearty good will, and inquired:
+
+"Well, old Charon! all right with you?"
+
+"Yes, sir, thank Heaven!" replied the old man, whose occupation,
+combined with his great age and flowing gray locks, yet stalworth form
+and unbroken strength, had conferred upon him the name of his infernal
+predecessor--the navigator of the River Styx.
+
+"All right in the village, and in the valley?" further inquired Mr.
+Berners.
+
+"All right in the willage, sir. And Joe, who has just arrove at the
+tavern, do report all right in the walley," was the satisfactory answer
+of the ferry-man.
+
+"Oh! then our carriage is waiting for us there?"
+
+"Yes, sir, which it arrove just about twenty minutes ago, punk-too-well
+to time!" replied the old man.
+
+The passage across the Black River is very short, and just as the
+ferry-man spoke, the boat touched the wharf immediately under the
+lighted windows of the hotel, before the doors of which they saw the
+Black Hall carriage and horses standing.
+
+Mr. Berners assisted the ladies of his party to land, and proposed that
+they should stop at the hotel and take supper before going on to Black
+Hall.
+
+"Oh, no! please don't, on any account! I feel sure that Miss Tabby has
+laid out all her talent on the supper that is awaiting us at home. And
+she would weep with disappointment and mortification if we should stop
+to supper here," eagerly objected Sybil.
+
+"Miss Tabby is our housekeeper; the best creature, but the greatest
+whimperer in existence. She is, in turn, Sybil's tyrant and Sybil's
+slave; for she is both despotic and devoted, and scolds and pets her
+alternately and unreasonably as a foolish mother does an only child,"
+explained Mr. Berners, turning to Mrs. Blondelle.
+
+"And her lady?" inquired Rosa, with an admiring glance toward Mrs.
+Berners.
+
+"Oh! Sybil turns the tables, you may be sure, and indulges or rebukes
+her housekeeper as the occasion may demand," laughed Lyon.
+
+"Come here, Joe!" called Mrs. Berners to her coachman, who was seen
+coming out of the tap-room.
+
+"Bress my two eyes, Miss Sybil! how glad dey is to see you, and you too,
+Marse Lyon!" exclaimed a very black, short, squarely built, good-humored
+looking negro coachman, as he came and bowed to his master and mistress.
+
+"Joe! you have been at your old tricks again. Joe! why can't you let
+bar-rooms alone? Joe! where _do_ you expect to go when you die?"
+solemnly inquired Sybil, shaking her finger at the delinquent.
+
+"I do 'spect to go straight to de debbil, miss, for sure! Dat's de
+reason why I wants to take a drap of comfort in dis worl', 'cause I
+nebber shall get none dere. But bress my two eyes, miss, how glad dey is
+to look on your putty face again."
+
+"My 'putty' face? I want to know if _that's_ a compliment? But, Joe,
+what has Miss Tabby got for supper?"
+
+"Lor bress your putty little mouf, Miss Sybil; it's easier to tell you
+what she hasn't got," exclaimed Joe, stretching his eyes. "Why, Miss
+Sybil, there an't a man nor a maid about the house, what ha'n't been on
+their feet all dis day a getting up of that there supper," he added.
+
+"There! I told you so!" said Sybil, turning to her husband.
+
+"Then let's go on and eat it, my love. We can leave our two servants
+here to follow in the wagon with the baggage," said Lyon Berners,
+leading his wife and his guest to the carriage, and placing them inside,
+with the child and nurse, while he himself mounted to the box beside the
+coachman.
+
+"Oh! I am very sorry Mr. Berners has been crowded out," regretfully
+exclaimed Rosa Blondelle, looking after him in surprise as he climbed to
+his roost.
+
+"Oh, he has not been crowded out! He has gone up there to drive; for the
+road is not very safe at night, and our coachman is rather too much
+exhilarated to be trusted," answered Sybil, touching very tenderly upon
+the weakness of her old servant.
+
+Their road lay along the bank of the river up the valley, between the
+two high mountain ridges; but it was so dark that nothing but these
+grander features of the landscape could be discerned.
+
+As the carriage rolled slowly and carefully along this rough road, the
+music of distant waters fell upon the listening ear, and from the
+faintest hum that could hardly be heard, it gradually swelled into a
+deafening roar that filled the valley.
+
+"What is that?" fearfully inquired Rosa.
+
+"What is what?" echoed Sybil.
+
+"That horrid noise!"
+
+"Oh! that is the Black Torrent, the head of our Black River," answered
+Sybil in a low, pleased tone; for the sound of her native waters,
+however dreadful it might be to strange ears, was delightful to hers.
+
+"Oh! more blackness!" shivered Rosa.
+
+"But it is a beautiful cascade! All beautiful things are not necessarily
+light, you know."
+
+"No, indeed," answered Rosa, "for the most beautiful woman I have ever
+seen in my life is very dark." And she raised and pressed the hand of
+her hostess, to give point to her words.
+
+Sybil did not like the implied flattery, delicately as it was conveyed.
+She drew her hand away; and then, to heal the little hurt she might have
+made in doing so, she opened the window and said, pleasantly:
+
+"Look, Mrs. Blondelle! You see the lights of our home now."
+
+Rosa leaned across Sybil to look in the direction indicated, and she saw
+scattered lights that seemed to be set in the side of the mountain. She
+saw no house, and she said so.
+
+"That is because the house is built of the very same dark iron-gray
+rocks that form the mountain; and being immediately at the foot of the
+mountain, and closely surrounded with trees, can not at night be
+distinguished from the mountain itself."
+
+Here the carriage road curved around an expansion of the river that
+might have been taken either for a very small lake, or a very large
+pond. And about midway of this curve, or semi-circle, the carriage drew
+up.
+
+On the left-hand was dimly seen the lake; on the right-hand the gate
+letting into the elm-tree avenue that led straight up to the house.
+
+"That is the Black Pond, and there is Black Hall. More 'blackness,' Mrs.
+Blondelle," smiled Sybil, who was so delighted to get home that she
+forgot her jealousy.
+
+The carriage waited only until the gates could be opened by the slow old
+porter, whom Sybil laughingly greeted as "Cerberus," although the name
+given him in baptism was that of the keeper of the keys of heaven, and
+not that of the guardian of the entrance to the other place.
+
+"Cerberus," or rather Peter, warmly welcomed his young mistress back,
+and widely stretched the gates for her carriage to pass.
+
+As the carriage rolled easily along the avenue, now thickly carpeted
+with forest leaves, and as it approached the house, the fine old
+building, with its many gable ends and curiously twisted chimneys, its
+steep roofs and latticed windows--all monuments of the old colonial
+days--came more and more distinctly into view from its background of
+mountains. Lights were gleaming from upper and lower and all sorts of
+windows, and the whole aspect of the grand old hospitable mansion
+proclaimed, "WELCOME."
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER IX.
+
+                          THE GUEST-CHAMBERS.
+
+
+                Deserted rooms of luxury and state,
+                Which old magnificence had rudely furnished
+                With pictures, cabinets of ancient date,
+                And carvings, gilt and burnished,--HOOD.
+
+
+The carriage drew up at the foot of a flight of stone steps, leading to
+the front entrance of the house. The double oak doors stood wide open,
+showing the lighted hall and a group of people waiting.
+
+Sybil looked eagerly from the carriage window.
+
+"I do declare," she exclaimed, "if there is not, not only Miss Tabby,
+but Miss Libby and Mrs. Winterose besides; Mrs. Winterose," she
+explained, turning to her guest, "is the widow of our late land steward.
+She is also my foster-mother, and the mother of the two maiden ladies,
+Miss Tabby, who is our housekeeper, and Miss Libby, who lives with the
+widowed parent at home. They have come to welcome us back. Heaven bless
+them!"
+
+As Sybil spoke, Mr. Berners dropped down from his perch on the
+coachman's box, and opened the carriage door.
+
+He assisted first his wife, and then their guest, to alight. And then he
+took the sleeping child from the nurse's arms, while she herself got
+out.
+
+"You know the way, dearest Sybil! Run on before, and I will take charge
+of our fair friend," said Mr. Berners, as he gave his arm to Mrs.
+Blondelle to lead her up the steps.
+
+But Sybil had not waited for this permission. Too eager to meet the dear
+old friends of her childhood to care for any one else just then, or even
+to feel a twinge of jealousy at the words and actions of her husband,
+she flew past him up the stairs and into the arms of her foster-mother,
+who folded the beautiful, impetuous creature to her bosom, and welcomed
+her home with heartfelt emotion.
+
+Miss Tabby and Miss Libby next took their turns to be embraced and
+kissed.
+
+And then the old servants crowded around to welcome their beloved young
+mistress; to every one of them she gave a cordial grasp of her hand, and
+loving words.
+
+"It is very delightful," she said, with tears of joy in her eyes, "it is
+very, very delightful to be so warmly welcomed home."
+
+"Everything as well as everybody welcomes you home, Miss Sybil! Even the
+Black Torrent! I never heard the cascade sing so loud and merry as it
+does to-night!" said Old Abe, or Father Abraham, as he was called, for
+being a full centenarian, and the oldest negro, by twenty years, of any
+on the estate.
+
+"Thank you, dear old Uncle Abe! I _know_ you all welcome me home! And I
+love to think that my torrent does too! And now, Miss Tabby, you got the
+letter I wrote from Underhill, asking you to have the spare rooms
+prepared for the visitors we were to bring with us?" inquired Sybil,
+turning to her housekeeper.
+
+"Yes, ma'am, and your orders is obeyed, and the rooms is all ready, as
+well as yourn and Mr. Berners', even to the kindling of the fires, which
+has been burning in the chimneys to air them rooms all this blessed
+day," answered Miss Tabby.
+
+"That is right, and I thank you; and now here comes our visitor," said
+Sybil, as her guest approached leaning on her husband's arm. They had
+certainly lingered a little on the way; but Sybil was too happy to
+notice that circumstance now. The jealous wife was for the time subdued
+within her, and all the hospitable hostess was in the ascendant.
+
+"You are welcome to Black Hall, my dear Mrs. Blondelle," she said,
+advancing to receive her guest. "And now, will you walk into our sitting
+parlor and rest awhile before taking off your wraps; or shall I show
+you at once to your rooms, which are quite ready for you?"
+
+"At once to my rooms, if you please, Mrs. Berners; for, you see, my poor
+little Cromartie is already fast asleep."
+
+"Come, then; you will not have far to go. It is on this floor," said
+Sybil, with a smile, as she led the way down the wide hall, past the
+great staircase, and then turned to the right and went down a long
+passage, until she came to a door, which she opened.
+
+"Here is your bed-chamber," said Sybil, inviting her guest to enter a
+large and richly furnished room; "and beyond this, and connected with
+it, is another and a smaller apartment, which is properly the
+dressing-room, but which I have had fitted up as a nursery for your
+child and his nurse."
+
+"Many thanks," replied Rosa Blondelle, as she followed her hostess into
+the room, and glanced around with the natural curiosity we all feel in
+entering a strange place.
+
+The room was very spacious, and had many doors and windows. Its
+furniture was all green, which would have seemed rather gloomy, but for
+the bright wood fire on the hearth, that lighted up all the scene with
+cheerfulness.
+
+Sybil drew an easy-chair to the chimney corner, and invited her guest to
+sit down.
+
+But Rosa was too curious about her surroundings to yield herself
+immediately to rest.
+
+"What an interesting old place!" she said, walking about the chamber and
+examining every thing.
+
+Meanwhile the nurse-maid, more practical than her mistress, had found
+the door of the adjoining nursery and passed into it to put her infant
+charge to bed.
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Rosa, who had drawn aside one of the green moreen window
+curtains and was looking out--"Oh! what a wild, beautiful place! But
+these windows open right upon the grounds, and there are no outside
+shutters! Is there no danger?"
+
+"No danger whatever, my dear Mrs. Blondelle. These windows open at the
+back of the house, upon the grounds, which run quite back to the foot of
+the mountain. These grounds are _very_ private, being quite
+inaccessible, except through the front grounds of the house," said
+Sybil, soothingly.
+
+"But oh!" whispered Mrs. Blondelle, nowise tranquilized by the answer of
+her hostess--"Oh! what are those white things that I see standing among
+the bushes at the foot of the mountain? They look like--tombstones!" she
+added, with a shudder.
+
+"They _are_ tombstones," replied Sybil in a low, grave voice; "that is
+our family burial-ground, and all the Berners, for seven generations,
+lie buried there."
+
+"Oh, good gracious!" gasped Rosa Blondelle, dropping the curtain and
+turning away.
+
+"Don't be alarmed," smiled Sybil. "The place is much farther off than it
+seems. And now, my dear Mrs. Blondelle, let me make you acquainted with
+the bearings of this green bedroom, and then you will like it better.
+You see it is in the right wing of the house, and that accounts for its
+having windows on three sides, back, front, and end, and doors that
+connect with the house and doors that lead to the grounds. _This_ door,"
+she said, opening one on the left-hand side of the fireplace--"this door
+leads up this little narrow staircase directly into my chamber, which
+is immediately above this, as my dressing-room is immediately above your
+nursery. So, my dear, if ever you should feel nervous or alarmed, all
+you have to do is to open this little door, and run up these stairs and
+knock loudly at the upper door, which is near the head of my bed. I
+shall hear you, and fly to your assistance."
+
+"Yes," laughed Rosa. "But suppose some robber were to get into these
+windows, and be right upon me before I could run, what should I do
+then?"
+
+"Call for assistance, and Mr. Berners and myself will run down to your
+rescue. But in order to make that practicable, you must always leave
+that lower stair door unfastened; and you may do it with perfect safety,
+as it leads nowhere but into my bedroom."
+
+"I will remember always to leave it unfastened," replied Rosa.
+
+"But, my dear, I assure you there is not the least shadow of a shade of
+danger. Our faithful negroes are all around us on the outside, and our
+faithful dumb guardians sleep on the mats in the large hall and the
+smaller passages. However, if you still feel nervous, I will have one of
+the maids sleep in your room, and one of the men sleep in the passage
+outside," said Sybil.
+
+"Oh, no, not for the world would I disturb the arrangements of the
+family. I am not at all nervous _now_," said Rosa Blondelle.
+
+"Then, dear, get ready for supper; for it has been ready for us for an
+hour past, and I am sure you must need it. I will, with your permission,
+go up to my own room by these stairs; and when I have changed my dress,
+I will come down the same way and take you in to supper," said Sybil,
+as, with a smile and a bow, she opened the door and slipped away up to
+her own room.
+
+Rosa Blondelle passed into the little adjoining nursery, to see after
+her child.
+
+The room, small as it was, had two windows, one west and one south, and
+a little fireplace north. The east side was only broken by the door
+that communicated with the bedroom. There were green curtains to the two
+windows, green carpet on the floor, and green covers to the
+rocking-chair and the child's chairs, which were the only ones in the
+room. There was a cot-bed for the nurse and a crib for the child. A
+well-supplied wash-stand completed the furniture. The child lay sleeping
+soundly in his crib, and the nurse sat by him, occupying herself with
+some white embroidery that she habitually carried in her pocket, to fill
+up spare moments profitably.
+
+"Crow is quite well, Janet?" inquired the young mother, approaching and
+looking at her rosy boy.
+
+"Yes, me leddy, and sleeping like an angel," answered the woman.
+
+"Those are very comfortable quarters, Janet."
+
+"Yes, me leddy, though the roaring of yon Black Torrent, as they ca' it,
+gars me grew. I wonder does it always roar sae loud."
+
+"Oh no, Janet. Mr. Berners says that it only sounds so when very much
+swollen by the rains. And Mr. Berners should know."
+
+"Aye, ma'am, and sae he suld! And a very fine gentleman is the laird!"
+
+"He is not a laird, Janet! There are no lairds in America."
+
+"And what will he be then, ma'am?"
+
+"Simply a gentleman--Mr. Berners."
+
+"It is a pity he is na a laird, ma'am, and a duke to the back of that! a
+princely gentleman he is, me leddy."
+
+"I quite agree with you, Janet. Well, leave your charge for a moment,
+and come and arrange my hair for me. Unluckily I can not change my
+dress, for my luggage was left behind at Blackville, and I don't suppose
+it has arrived here yet," said Rosa Blondelle, as she returned to her
+room attended by her maid. But there an agreeable surprise met her. She
+found her trunks set in order, ready for her.
+
+"I declare, there they are! And I suppose the servants who brought them,
+finding the door wide open and no one in the room, just put them in here
+and retired. Janet, open that trunk and get out my black velvet, and
+point lace set. I must not wear anything very light and gay on this
+first evening, after a fatiguing journey, when we all feel so tired as
+to be fit for nothing but bed," said Rosa Blondelle, throwing herself
+languidly into the green-covered easy-chair before the dressing-table.
+
+"And, 'deed, me leddy, there's nae dress ye look sae weell in as that
+bonny black velvet," said the maid.
+
+Rosa knew this well, and for this reason, perhaps, selected the dress.
+
+The maid quickly and skilfully arranged her mistress's hair in its
+natural golden ringlets, that needed no ornament whatever. And when her
+toilet was complete, Rosa Blondelle's fair beauty was even more
+resplendent than usual, from its contrast with the rich blackness of her
+dress.
+
+"'A star upon the brow of night!'" quoted Sybil, as she entered the room
+and stood for a moment in involuntary admiration. Then, with a smile,
+she drew the arm of her guest within her own and led her off to the
+supper-table, where they were joined by Mr. Berners.
+
+It was a warm wainscotted little room, with crimson carpet and crimson
+curtains, a good open fire of hickory wood, and a small, but luxuriously
+spread supper-table.
+
+Mr. Berners led their guest to her place at the board, and left his wife
+to follow. These courtesies were no doubt due the visitor, yet they made
+the wife's heart ache. She hated to miss the attentions her husband had
+always hitherto bestowed on her alone; and she hated more to see them
+lavished on another, and that other a beautiful, fascinating, and, as
+she half suspected, most dangerous woman. It was in vain she said to
+herself that these attentions were no more than any gentleman should
+show to the invited visitor of his wife. She could not argue away her
+heartache. She could not endure to see her husband touch the beauty's
+hand. It drove her almost out of her self-possession to see their eyes
+meet in that provoking mutual smile. Oh! how she repented ever having
+invited this fatal beauty to her house! And yet she pitied the
+friendless stranger too, and she struggled bravely against those
+feelings of jealousy and hatred that were creeping into her heart. And,
+in fact, from this time the whole inner life of Sybil Berners became one
+hard struggle between her passions and her reason. And this struggle
+soon manifested itself in a series of inconsistencies of conduct that
+were perfectly incomprehensible to both Lyon Berners and Rosa Blondelle.
+
+For instance, on this first night at home, while they sat at the
+supper-table. Sybil was silent, abstracted, and depressed. Her
+companions mentally ascribed her condition to fatigue; but Sybil then
+scarcely knew what fatigue meant. After supper she aroused herself by an
+effort, and offered to attend Mrs. Blondelle back again to that lady's
+chamber; and when they got there, even lingered a little while, and very
+kindly repeated her request that if Rosa should be frightened in the
+night, she should run up the communicating stairs and rap at Sybil's
+bedroom door for assistance. And then Sybil bade her visitor
+good-night, and vanished up the stairs.
+
+The travellers were all very tired, and so, notwithstanding Rosa's fears
+and Sybil's jealousy, they were all soon fast asleep.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER X.
+
+                           THE JEALOUS BRIDE.
+
+
+            Yea, she was jealous, though she did not show it,
+            For jealousy dislikes the world to know it.--BYRON.
+
+
+Rosa was the last to wake up in the morning. The nurse had already
+dressed the child and taken him from the room; so Rosa rang her bell to
+bring the truants back.
+
+Janet came alone.
+
+"Where is little Crow?" inquired Crow's mamma.
+
+"In the breakfast-room, me leddy, on the laird's knee," answered the
+girl.
+
+"I tell you there are no lairds in America, Janet!" said the lady,
+impatiently.
+
+"Well, on the gentleman's knee, ma'am."
+
+"Very well, now come help me to dress."
+
+Janet hastened to obey, and in half an hour Rosa Blondelle issued from
+her chamber, looking if possible even more beautiful than she had looked
+on the previous evening; for she wore an elegant morning robe of white
+cashmere, embroidered down the front and around the bodice, sleeves,
+and skirt with a border of blue bells, and she had her splendid hair
+dressed in the simple natural ringlets that were the most becoming to
+her.
+
+Janet walked before her mistress, to show the way. Far up the great
+hall, she opened a door on the left-hand side, admitting the lady to a
+delightful front room, whose front windows looked out upon the lake, the
+valley, and the opposite range of mountains.
+
+It was a golden October morning, and from a cloudless deep-blue sky the
+sun shone down in dazzling splendor upon the valley, kindling up into a
+conflagration of living light all the variegated foliage of the trees,
+upon the mountain sides and the river's banks, where the glowing crimson
+of the oak and the flaming orange of the elm mingled with the royal
+purple of the dogwood and the deep green of the cedar. And all this
+gorgeousness of coloring was reflected in the lake, whose waters seemed
+dyed with all the prismatic hues of the rainbow.
+
+"'Black Valley,' indeed!" said Rosa Blondelle, with a smile, as she
+entered the breakfast-room and glanced through the windows upon the
+magnificent scene; "'Black Valley,' call you this? I should rather call
+it 'Bright Valley.' Oh, what a glorious day and oh, what a glorious
+scene! Good-morning, Mrs. Berners. Good-morning, Mr. Berners. Little
+Crow, this kind gentleman is spoiling you," she said, as she advanced
+with smiling eyes and outstretched hands to greet her host and hostess,
+who had risen from their chairs to meet her.
+
+They both received her very kindly, even affectionately, and as they had
+waited only for her presence to have breakfast, Sybil now rang and
+ordered it to be brought in.
+
+Sybil's own little "high chair" had been rummaged out from its corner in
+the lumber-room and dusted, and brought in for the use of the baby-boy;
+who, in honor of his mother, was permitted to sit up to the table with
+the grown people.
+
+"But why, I repeat, should you call this glorious vale the 'Black
+Valley'?" inquired Rosa, as they all gathered around the board.
+
+"It was black enough last night, was it not?" asked Mr. Berners, with a
+smile.
+
+"Oh, it was black everywhere last night; but no blacker here than
+elsewhere, so I don't see the justice of calling this the Black Valley.
+I should call it rather the 'Valley of the Sun.'"
+
+"Would not the 'Valley of the Pyrotechnics' do as well?" inquired Lyon
+Berners, with dry humor.
+
+"I think it would," replied Rosa, quite seriously, "for certainly this
+morning, with this glorious sunshine and these glowing, sparkling woods
+and waters, the place is a perfect spectacle of fire-works!"
+
+"You view the scenery at its best and brightest. It is never so
+beautiful and brilliant as on a clear sunny autumn noon-day. At all
+other seasons, and at all other hours, it is gloomy enough. In a very
+few hours from this, when the sun gets behind the mountain, it will be
+quite black enough to justify its name," said Mr. Berners very gravely.
+
+The conversation had been carried on between Mr Berners and Mrs.
+Blondelle exclusively. Sybil had not volunteered a word; and it happened
+also that neither of her companions had addressed a word to her. She
+felt as if she were dropped out of their talk, and though bodily
+present, dropped out of their company as well. She felt that this was
+very hard; and once more she experienced the wild and vain regret that
+she had ever invited this too-alluring stranger to become an inmate of
+her house.
+
+Before now, when they had been together, Lyon Berners had been
+accustomed to think of, smile on, talk to, only her, his wife! Now his
+thoughts, smiles, conversation were all divided with another!--Oh no! Oh
+no! _not divided_, but almost entirely absorbed by that other! At least
+so suspected the jealous wife.
+
+"Is it possible, oh! is it possible that he loves me less than formerly?
+that he loves me not at all? that he loves this stranger?" thought
+Sybil, as she watched her husband and her friend, entirely taken up with
+each other, and entirely oblivious of her! And at this thought a
+sensation of sickness and faintness came over her, and she saved herself
+from falling, only by a great effort of self-command. They, talking to
+each other, smiling at each other, enjoying each other's exclusive
+attention, did not observe her emotion, although almost any casual
+spectator must have seen it in the deadly pallor of her face.
+
+In all this there was little to arouse her jealousy; and perhaps there
+was nothing at all. Her heart pang may have come of a false fear, or a
+true one; who could then tell?
+
+For my own part, looking towards this situation of affairs through the
+light of after knowledge, I think that her fears were, even then,
+well-founded; that even then it was a true instinct which warned her
+that her adored husband, he to whom her whole heart, soul, and spirit
+were entirely given, he for whom only she "lived and moved and had her
+being," he was becoming fascinated, for the time being at least, by
+this beautiful stranger, who was evidently also flattered by his
+attentions. And this in the very honeymoon of the bride to whom he owed
+so much!
+
+And yet indeed, I say, still speaking in the light of after knowledge,
+that at this time he was equally unconscious of his wife's jealousy, or
+of any wrong-doing on his own part, calculated to arouse it. Had Lyon
+Berners suspected that his attentions to their fair guest gave such deep
+pain to his high-spirited wife, he would at least have modified them to
+retain her confidence. But he suspected nothing. Sybil revealed nothing;
+her pride was even greater than her jealousy; for this last daughter of
+the House of Berners inherited all the pride of all her line. At this
+time, this pride quite enabled her to keep her pain to herself.
+
+At length the severe ordeal was, for the moment, over. She perceived
+that her companions had finished breakfast, and so she arose from the
+table, leaving her example to be followed by them.
+
+"Let me lead you to our pleasant morning parlor. It is just across the
+hall, and commands the same view of the lake and mountains that this
+room does--from the front windows I mean; but from the end windows you
+get a view _up_ the valley, and may catch glimpses of the Black Torrent
+as it rushes roaring down the side of the mountain," said Mr. Berners,
+as he offered his hand to Mrs. Blondelle and led her from the breakfast
+parlor.
+
+Sybil looked after them with pallid cheeks and darkening brows; then she
+rushed up into her own chamber, locked her door, threw herself upon her
+bed and gave way to a storm of sobs and tears. While she was still
+weeping vehemently, there came a knock at the door. She lifted up her
+head and listened; controlling her voice as well as she could, she
+inquired:
+
+"Who is there, and what is wanted?"
+
+"It is I, my dear, and I want to come in," answered the voice of her
+husband.
+
+"I have not even the privilege of shutting myself up to weep alone! for
+I belong to one who can invade my privacy or command my presence at his
+pleasure!" exclaimed Sybil in bitterness of spirit; and yet bitterness
+that was mingled with a strange, deep sweetness too! for she loved to
+feel that _she did_ belong to Lyon Berners; that _he had_ the privilege
+of invading her privacy, or commanding her presence at his pleasure. And
+ah! _that_ was a happiness Rosa Blondelle would not share!
+
+"Well, well, my darling! are you going to let me in?" inquired Mr.
+Berners, after a moment of patient waiting.
+
+"Yes, in an instant dear!" exclaimed Sybil, hastily wiping her eyes and
+trying to efface all signs of weeping from her countenance.
+
+Then she opened the door.
+
+Her husband entered, closed the door, and then turned around with some
+light, gay word; but at the sight of his wife's pale and agitated face,
+he started in surprise and distress, exclaiming:
+
+"Why, Sybil! Why, my darling! What on earth is the matter? What has
+happened?"
+
+At the sound of his anxious voice, at the sight of his troubled face,
+Sybil turned aside, sank upon the corner of the sofa, dropped her head
+upon its cushions, and yielded to a tempest of sobs and tears.
+
+He hurried to her side, sat down and drew her head upon his bosom, and
+in much alarm exclaimed again:
+
+"In the name of Heaven, Sybil! what is all this about? What has happened
+to distress you so deeply? Have you heard any bad news?" he inquired as
+he caressed and tried to soothe her.
+
+She did not repel his caresses; for, jealous as she was, she felt no
+anger towards him then. She laid her head upon his bosom, and sobbed
+aloud.
+
+"What bad news have you heard, dear Sybil?" repeated Mr. Berners.
+
+"Oh, none at all! What bad news _could_ I hear to make _me_ weep? I do
+not care as much as that for anything on earth, or anybody except you!"
+she answered, lifting her head from his bosom as she spoke, and then
+dropping it again when she had finished.
+
+"Then what is it that troubles you, my own dear wife? What cause can you
+have for weeping?" he inquired, tenderly caressing the beautiful,
+wayward creature.
+
+She lifted her head, and smiled through her tears as she answered:
+
+"None at all, I believe. What does Kotzebue say? 'To laugh or cry
+without a reason, is one of the few privileges women have.' I have no
+good reason to weep, dear Lyon! I know that I have not. But I am nervous
+and hysterical, I believe," she added; for, as before, his tender
+caresses dispelled her jealousy and restored her trust. With her head
+resting on his bosom; with his arms around her; with his eyes smiling
+down upon hers, she could not look in his face and retain her jealous
+doubts.
+
+"I have no reason in the world for weeping. I am just a nervous,
+hysterical woman--_like the rest_! It is no wonder men, who see the
+weakness of our sex, refuse to trust us with any power," she added, with
+a light laugh.
+
+"But I utterly deny this alleged 'weakness of your sex.' You bewray
+yourself and sex by repeating the slander, though even in jest, as I see
+you are. _You_ are not weak, my Sybil. Nor do you weep without a cause.
+You have some good and sufficient reason for your tears."
+
+"Indeed, no; I have none. I am only nervous and hysterical, and
+thoroughly ashamed of myself for being so," she answered, very
+sincerely, for she _was_ really thoroughly ashamed of her late jealousy,
+and anxious to conceal it from her husband.
+
+He looked at her so inquisitively, not to say so incredulously, that
+she hastened to add;
+
+"This is really nothing but nervous irritability, dear Lyon. Do not
+distress yourself about my moods."
+
+"But I must, my darling. Whether their cause is mental or physical, real
+or imaginary, I must trouble myself about your tears," answered Lyon
+Berners, with grave tenderness.
+
+"Then let it be about my _next_ ones; not these that are past and gone.
+And now to a pleasant topic. The ball that we are expected to give."
+
+"Yes, dear, that is _your_ affair. But I am ready to give you any
+assistance in my power. Your cards, I believe, are all printed?"
+
+"Yes; that was a happy idea to get the cards printed while we stopped in
+New York."
+
+"Now they only need filling up with names and dates."
+
+"And the addition of one little word, Lyon."
+
+"Well, and what is that?"
+
+"_Masks._"
+
+"MASKS!" echoed Mr. Berners, in surprise.
+
+"MASKS," reiterated Mrs. Berners, with a smile.
+
+"Why, my dear Sybil, what on earth do you mean?"
+
+"Why, that our party shall be a masked, fancy-dress ball. That will be
+something new in this old-fashioned neighborhood."
+
+"Yes, and something startling to our old-fashioned neighbors," said Mr.
+Berners, with a dubious shake of his head.
+
+"So much the better. They need startling, and I intend to startle them."
+
+"As you please, my dear, wayward Sybil. But when do you propose this
+affair to come off?"
+
+"On All-Hallow Eve."
+
+"Good. All-Hallow Eve is the proper sort of an eldritch night for such
+a piece of diablerie as a mask ball to be held," laughed Mr. Berners.
+
+"But now, seriously, Lyon; do you really dislike or disapprove this
+plan? If you do I will willingly modify it according to your judgment;
+or even, if you wish it, I will willingly drop it altogether," she said,
+very earnestly.
+
+"My dear impetuous Sybil, you should make no such sacrifices, even if I
+_did_ dislike or disapprove your plan; but I do neither. I dare say I
+shall enjoy the masquerade as much as any one; and that it will be very
+popular and quite a success. But now, dear Sybil, let me hear what
+fantastic shape you will assume at this witches' dance?"
+
+"I will tell _you_, Lyon; but mind, you must keep the secret."
+
+"Oh! inviolably," said Mr. Berners, with a laugh.
+
+"Oh! I mean only that you must not speak of it outside the family,
+because, you see, it is such a perfectly original character that if it
+was known it would be taken by half a dozen people at least."
+
+"I will never breathe its name," laughed Lyon.
+
+"Then the character I shall take is--"
+
+"What?"
+
+"Fire!"
+
+"Fire?"
+
+"Fire."
+
+"Ha! ha! ha! it will suit you admirably, my little Berners of the
+Burning Heart. But how on earth will you contrive to costume and
+impersonate the consuming element?"
+
+"It would take me a week to tell you, and then you would not understand.
+But you shall see."
+
+"I hope you will not set all your company in a flame; that is all, my
+dear."
+
+"But I shall _try_ to do so. And now, dear Lyon, if you wish to help me,
+sit down at my writing-table there, and fill out and direct the
+invitations, you will find the visiting list, printed cards, and blank
+envelopes all in a parcel in the desk."
+
+"But is it not early to send them?" inquired Mr. Berners, as he seated
+himself at the table.
+
+"No; not for a mask ball. This is the tenth. The ball is to come off on
+the thirty-first. If the cards are sent to-day, our friends will have
+just three weeks to get ready, which will not be too long to select
+their characters and contrive their costumes."
+
+"I suppose you know best, my dear," said Mr. Berners, as he referred to
+the visiting list and began to prepare for his task.
+
+Sybil went to her dressing-glass and began to arrange her somewhat
+disordered hair. While she stood there, she suddenly inquired:
+
+"Where did you leave Mrs. Blondelle?"
+
+"I did not leave her anywhere. She left me. She excused herself, and
+went--to her room, I suppose."
+
+"Ah!" sighed Sybil. She did not like this answer. She was sorry to know
+that her husband had remained with the beauty until the beauty had left
+him. She tortured herself with the thought that, if Mrs. Blondelle had
+remained in the morning room, Mr. Berners would have been there at her
+side.
+
+So morbid was now the condition of Sybil that a word was enough to
+arouse her jealousy, a caress sufficient to allay it. _She_ would not
+leave Lyon to himself, she thought. He should know the difference
+between his wife and his guest in that particular. So the guest, being
+now in her own room, where her hostess heartily wished she might spend
+the greater portion of the day, Sybil felt free from the pressing duties
+of hospitality, at least for the time being; and so she drew a chair to
+the corner of the same table occupied by her husband, and she began to
+help him in his task by directing the envelopes, while he filled out
+the cards. Thus sitting together, working in unison, and conversing
+occasionally, they passed the morning--a happier morning than Sybil had
+seen for several days.
+
+But of course they met their guest again at dinner, where Rosa Blondelle
+was as fascinating and Lyon Berners as much fascinated as before, and
+where Sybil's mental malady returned in full force.
+
+Oh, these transient fascinations, what eternal miseries they sometimes
+bring!
+
+But a greater trial awaited the jealous wife in the evening, when they
+were all gathered in the drawing-room, and Rosa Blondelle, beautifully
+dressed, seated herself at the grand piano, and began to sing and play
+some of the impassioned songs from the Italian operas; and Lyon Berners,
+a very great enthusiast in music, hung over the siren, doubly entranced
+by her beauty and her voice. Sybil, too, stood with the little group at
+the piano; but she stood back in the shade, where the expression of her
+agonized face could not be seen by the other two, even if they had been
+at leisure to observe her. She was suffering the fiercest tortures of
+jealousy.
+
+Sybil's education had been neglected, as I have told you. She had a fine
+contralto voice and a perfect ear, but these were both uncultivated; and
+so she could only sing and play the simplest ballads in the language.
+She had often regretted her want of power to please the fastidious
+musical taste of her husband; but never so bitterly as now, when she saw
+that power in the possession of another, and that other a beauty, a
+rival, and an inmate of her house. Oh, how deeply she now deplored her
+short-sightedness in bringing this siren to her home!
+
+At the most impassioned, most expressive passages of the music, Rosa
+Blondelle would lift her eloquent blue eyes to those of Lyon Berners,
+who responded to their language.
+
+And Sybil stood in the shadow near them, with pallid cheeks, compressed
+lips, and glittering eyes--mute, still, full of repressed anguish and
+restrained fury.
+
+Ah, Rosa Blondelle, take heed! Better that you should come between the
+lioness and her young than between Sybil Berners and her love!
+
+Yet again, on this evening, this jealous wife, this strange young
+creature, so full of contradictions and inconsistencies; so strong, yet
+so weak; so confiding, yet so suspicious; so magnanimous, yet so
+vindictive; once again, I say, successfully exerted her wonderful powers
+of self-control, and endured the ordeal of that evening in silence, and
+at its close bade her guest good-night without betraying the anguish of
+her heart.
+
+When she found herself alone with her husband in their chamber, her
+fortitude nearly forsook her, especially as he himself immediately
+opened the subject of their beautiful guest.
+
+"She is perfectly charming," said Mr. Berners. "Every day develops some
+new gift or grace of hers! My dear Sybil, you never did a better deed
+than in asking this lovely lady to our house. She will be an invaluable
+acquisition to our lonely fireside this winter."
+
+"You did not use to think our fireside was lonely! You used to be very
+jealous of our domestic privacy!" Sybil _thought_ to herself; but she
+gave no expression to this thought. On the contrary, controlling
+herself, and steadying her voice with an effort, she said smilingly:
+
+"If you had met this 'lovely lady' before you married me, and had found
+her also free, you would have made her your wife."
+
+"I! No, indeed!" impulsively and most sincerely answered Lyon Berners,
+as he raised his eyes in astonishment to the face of Sybil. But he could
+see nothing there. Her face was in deep shadow, where she purposely kept
+it to conceal its pallor and its tremor.
+
+"But why, if you had met her before you married me, and found her free,
+why should you not have made her your wife?" persisted Sybil.
+
+"'Why?'--what a question! Because, in the first place dear Sybil, I
+loved _you, you only_, long before I ever married you!" said Lyon
+Berners in increasing surprise.
+
+"But--if you had met her before you had ever seen me, you would have
+loved and married her."
+
+"No! On my honor, Sybil!"
+
+"Yet you admire her so much!"
+
+"Dear Sybil! I admire all things beautiful in nature and art, but I
+don't want to marry all!"
+
+"And are you sure that this beautiful Rosa Blondelle would not make you
+a more suitable companion than I do?" she inquired.
+
+His whole manner now changed. Turning towards her, he took both her
+hands in his own, and looking gravely and sweetly in her face, he
+answered:
+
+"My wife! such questions between you and me ought never to arise, even
+in jest. I hold the marriage relation always too sacred for such
+trifling! And _our_ relations towards each other seem to me dearer,
+sweeter, more sacred even, than those of most other married couples! No,
+my own Sybil! Soul of my soul! there is no woman that I ever did, or
+ever could prefer to you!" And he drew her to his bosom, and pressed her
+there in all good faith and true love. And his grave and tender rebuke
+did even more to tranquilize her jealousy than all his caresses had
+done.
+
+"I know it! I know it, my dear husband! But it is only when I feel how
+imperfect, how unworthy of you, I am, that I ever have doubts!" she
+murmured with a sigh of infinite relief.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI.
+
+                           LOVE AND JEALOUSY.
+
+            There was a time when bliss
+            Shone o'er her heart from every look of his;
+            When but to see him, hear him, breathe the air
+            In which he dwelt, was her soul's fondest prayer;
+            When round him hung such a perpetual spell,
+            Whate'er he did none ever did so well;
+            Yet now he comes, brighter than ever, far,
+            He beamed before; but ah! not bright for her.--MOORE.
+
+
+Fortunately for the fascinated husband and the jealous wife, the Circuit
+Court was now sitting at Blackville, and the lawyer's professional
+duties demanded all Mr. Berner's time.
+
+Only one year before this, when the struggling young lawyer depended
+upon his work for his bread, he could hardly get a paying client; now
+that he was entirely independent of his profession, he was overwhelmed
+with business. As the wealthy master of the Black Valley manor, with its
+rich dependencies of farms, quarries, mills, and hamlets, he might have
+led the easy life of a country gentleman. But in Lyon Berners'
+apprehension, work was duty; and so to work he went, as if he had had to
+get his living by it.
+
+Every day he left home at nine o'clock in the morning, in order to be
+present at the opening of the court at ten. He reached home again at
+four in the afternoon, and dined with Sybil and Rosa. After dinner he
+retired to his study, and spent the evening in working up his briefs and
+preparing for the next day's business.
+
+Thus he was entirely separated from his guest, who never saw him except
+at the table, with the breadth of the board between them, and almost
+entirely from his wife, who only had his company to herself at night.
+
+Yet Sybil was content. Her love, if, in some of its phases, it was a
+jealous and exacting passion, in others was a noble and generous
+principle. She would not spare a glance, a smile, a caress of his, to
+any other woman; yet she would give him wholly up to his duty, his
+profession, his country, or to any grand _impersonal_ object. And the
+few hours out of the twenty-four when she could enjoy his society apart
+from her dreaded rival, compensated her for the many when he was absent
+or engaged upon his professional duties.
+
+But ah! this could not last!
+
+It happened, very naturally, that while Mr. Lyon Berners spent his
+mornings in the court-house, Mrs. Lyon Berners spent hers in receiving
+the calls and congratulations of her friends, to whom she always
+presented her permanent visitor, Mrs. Blondelle.
+
+At length two unconnected events happened at the same time. The court
+adjourned, and the last visit of ceremony was paid.
+
+Sybil, at the instance of Mr. Berners, gave a dinner-party, and they
+entertained the judges and barristers of the court. And upon that
+occasion, Mrs. Blondelle of course was introduced, and equally of
+course, her beauty made a very great sensation. And Sybil was well
+pleased. She was perfectly willing that her protégé should outshine her
+in every company, if only she did not outrival her in her husband's
+admiration.
+
+But ah! whether it was that the long interruption of his conversations
+with the beautiful blonde had given a new zest to the pleasure he
+enjoyed in her society, or whether his admiration for her had been ever,
+under all circumstances, on the increase, or whether both these causes
+combined to influence his conduct, is not known; but it is certain that
+from this time, Lyon Berners became more and more blindly devoted to
+Rosa Blondelle. And yet, under and over and through all this, the
+husband loved his wife as he never did or could love any other woman.
+But Rosa Blondelle was one of those vain and shallow women who must and
+will have a sentimental flirtation or a platonic friendship with some
+man or boy, always on hand. She, like those of her mischievous class,
+really meant no harm, while doing a great deal of wrong. Such a woman
+will engage a husband's affections and break a wife's heart from mere
+vanity, and for mere pastime, without the slightest regard for either of
+her victims. And yet, because, they have not been grossly guilty, as
+well as deeply sinful, they retain their positions in society.
+
+Rosa Blondelle's whole life lay in these sentimental flirtations and
+platonic friendships. Without a lover, she did not care to live at all.
+Yet hers was a sham love, though her victims were not often sham lovers.
+With her fair and most innocent face, Rosa Blondelle was false and
+shallow. And Lyon Berners knew this; and even while yielding himself to
+the fascination of her smiles, he could not help comparing her, to her
+great disadvantage, with his own true, earnest, deep-hearted wife.
+
+But every morning, while Sybil was engaged in her domestic duties, which
+were now greatly increased by the preparations that were going on for
+the masquerade ball, Lyon Berners would be walking with Rosa Blondelle,
+exploring the romantic glens of the Black Valley, or wandering along the
+picturesque banks of the Black River. Or if the weather happened to be
+inclement, Mr. Berners and Mrs. Blondelle would sit in the library
+together, deep in German mysticism or French sentiment.
+
+Every evening Rosa sat at the grand piano, singing for him the most
+impassioned songs from the German and Italian operas; and Lyon hung over
+her chair turning her music, and enraptured with her beauty.
+
+Ah! Rosa Blondelle! vain and selfish and shallow coquette! Trifle, if
+you must, with any other man's love, with any other woman's peace; but
+you had better invade the lair of the lioness, and seize her cubs--you
+had better walk blindfold upon the abyss of Hades, than come between
+Sybil Berners and her husband!
+
+For Sybil saw it all! and not only as any other woman might have seen
+it, just as it was, but as the jealous wife did--with vast exaggerations
+and awful forebodings.
+
+They did not suspect how much she knew, or how much more she imagined.
+Before them the refined instincts of the lady still kept down the angry
+passions of the woman.
+
+Whenever her emotions were about to overcome her, she slipped away, not
+to her own room, where she was liable to interruption, but far up into
+the empty attics of the old house, where, in some corresponding chamber
+of desolation, she gave way to such storms of anguish and despair as
+leave the deepest
+
+    "Traces on heart and brain."
+
+And after an hour or two she would return to the drawing-room, whence
+she had never been missed by the pair of sentimentalists, who had been
+too much absorbed in each other, and in Mozart or Beethoven, to notice
+her absence.
+
+And while all unconscious of her, they continued their musical
+flirtation, she would sit with her back to the light, toying with her
+crochet-work and listening to Rosa's songs.
+
+She was still as a volcano before it bursts forth to bury cities under
+its burning lava flood!
+
+Why did she not, in the sacred privacy of their mutual apartment appeal
+to the better nature of her husband by telling him how much his
+flirtation with their guest pained her, his wife? Or else, why had she
+not spoken plainly with her guest?
+
+Why? Because Sybil Berners had too much pride and too little faith to do
+the one or the other. She could not stoop to plead with her husband for
+the love that she thought he had withdrawn from her; still less could
+she bend to tell her guest how much his defection troubled her. Nor did
+she believe her interference would do any good. For, to Sybil Berners
+earnest nature, all things seemed earnest, and this vain and shallow
+flirtation wore the aspect of a deep, impassioned attachment. And in her
+forbearance she acted from instinct rather than from reason, for she
+never even thought of interfering between these platonists. So,
+outwardly at least, she was calm. But this calmness could not last. Her
+heart was bleeding, burning, breaking! and its prisoned flood of fire
+and blood must burst forth at length. The volcano seems quiet; but the
+pent up lava in its bosom must at last give forth mutterings of its
+impending irruption, and swiftly upon these mutterings must follow
+flames and ruin!
+
+It happened thus with Sybil.
+
+One morning, when the weather was too threatening to permit any one to
+indulge in an outdoor walk, it chanced that Lyon and Sybil Berners were
+sitting together at a centre-table in the parlor--Lyon reading the
+morning paper; Sybil _trying_ to read a new magazine--when Rosa
+Blondelle, with her flowing, azure-hued robes and her floating golden
+locks, and her beaming smiles, entered the room and seated herself at
+the table, saying sweetly:
+
+"My dear Mrs. Berners, is it to-morrow that you and I have arranged to
+drive out and return the calls that were made upon us?"
+
+"Yes, madam," politely replied Sybil.
+
+"Then, dear Mr. Berners, I shall have to ask you to write a few
+visiting-cards for me. I have not an engraved one in the world. But you
+write such a beautiful hand, that your writing will look like
+copper-plate. You will oblige me?" she inquired, smiling, and placing a
+pack of blank cards before him.
+
+"With the greatest pleasure," answered Lyon Berners, promptly putting
+aside his paper.
+
+Rosa turned to leave the room.
+
+"Will you not remain with us?" courteously inquired Sybil.
+
+"No, dear; much as I should like to do so," replied Rosa.
+
+"But why?" inquired Lyon Berners, looking disappointed.
+
+"Oh! because I have my dress to see about. We are far from all
+fashionable modistes here; but I must try to do honor to madam's
+masquerade for all that," laughed Rosa, as she passed gracefully out of
+the room.
+
+With a sigh that seemed to his sorrowing wife to betray his regret for
+the beauty's departure, Lyon Berners drew the packet of blank cards
+before him, scattered them in a loose heap on his left hand, and then
+selecting one at a time, began to write. As he carefully wrote upon and
+finished each card, he as carefully laid it on his right hand, until a
+little heap grew there.
+
+Sybil, who gloried in all her husband's accomplishments, from the
+greatest to the least, admired very much his skill in ornamental
+chirography. She drew her chair closer to the table, and took up the
+topmost card, and began to decipher, rather than to read, the name in
+the beautiful old English characters, so tangled in a thicket of
+rose-buds and forget-me-nots as to be scarcely legible. She looked
+closely and more closely at the name on the card.
+
+What was there in it to drive all the color from her cheeks?
+
+She snatched up and scrutinized a second card, a third, a fourth; then,
+springing to her feet, she seized the whole mass, hurled them into the
+fire, and turned, and confronted her husband.
+
+Her teeth were clenched upon her bloodless lips, her face seemed marble,
+her eyes lambent flames.
+
+He rose to his feet in surprise and dismay.
+
+"SYBIL! what is all this? Why have you destroyed the cards?"
+
+"Why?" she gasped, pressing both hands upon her heart, as if to keep
+down its horrible throbbings. "Why? Because they are lies! _lies!_
+LIES!"
+
+"SYBIL! have you gone suddenly mad?" he cried, gazing at the "embodied
+storm" before him with increasing astonishment and consternation.
+
+"No! I have suddenly come to my senses!" she gasped between the catches
+of her breath, for she could scarcely speak.
+
+"You must calm yourself, and tell me what this means, my wife," said
+Lyon Berners, exerting a great control over himself, and pushing aside
+the last card he had written.
+
+But she snatched up that card, glanced at it fiercely, tore it in two,
+and threw the fragments far apart, exclaiming in bitter triumph:
+
+"Not yet! oh! not yet! I am not dead yet! Nor have the halls and acres
+of my fathers passed quite away from their daughter to the possession of
+a traitor and an ingrate."
+
+He gazed upon her now in amazement and alarm. _Had_ she gone suddenly
+mad?
+
+She stood there before him the incarnation of the fiercest and intensest
+passion he had ever seen or imagined.
+
+He went and took her in his arms, saying more gently than before:
+
+"Sybil, what is it?"
+
+She tried, harshly and cruelly, to break from him. But he held her in a
+fast, loving embrace, murmuring still:
+
+"Sybil, you must tell me what troubles you?"
+
+"What troubles me!" she furiously exclaimed. "Let me go, man! Your touch
+is a dishonor to me! Let me go!"
+
+"But, dearest Sybil."
+
+"Let me go, I say! What! will you use your _brute strength to hold me_?"
+
+He dropped his arms, and left her free.
+
+"No; I beg your pardon, Sybil. I thought you were my loving wife," he
+said.
+
+"You were mistaken. I am not Rosa Blondelle!" she cried.
+
+"Hush! hush! my dearest Sybil!" he muttered earnestly, as he went and
+closed and locked the parlor door, to save her from being seen by the
+servants in her present insane passion.
+
+But she swept past him like a storm, and laid her hand on the lock. She
+found it fast.
+
+"Open, and let me pass," she cried.
+
+"No, no, my dear Sybil. Remain here until you are calmer, and then tell
+me--"
+
+"Let me out, I say!"
+
+"But, dearest Sybil."
+
+"What! would you _keep me a prisoner--by force_?" she cried, with a
+cruel sneer.
+
+He unlocked the door and set it wide open.
+
+"No, even though you are a lunatic, as I do believe. Go, and expose your
+condition, if you must. I cannot restrain you by fair means, and I will
+not by foul."
+
+And Sybil swept from the room, but she did not expose herself. She fled
+away to that "chamber of desolation" where she had passed so many
+agonizing hours, and threw herself, face downwards, upon the floor, and
+lay there in the collapse of utter despair.
+
+Meanwhile Lyon Berners paced up and down the parlor floor.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XII.
+
+                         "CRUEL AS THE GRAVE."
+
+
+                Go, when the hunter's hand hath wrung
+                From forest cave her shrieking young,
+                And calm the raging lioness;
+                But soothe not--mock not my distress.--BYRON.
+
+
+Lyon Berners was utterly perplexed and troubled. He could not in any way
+explain to himself the sudden and furious passion of his wife.
+
+Suddenly it occurred to him that it was in some way connected with the
+cards she had thrown into the fire. They were not all burned up. Some
+few had fallen scorched upon the hearth. These he gathered up and
+examined; and as he looked at one after another, his face expressed, in
+turn, surprise, dismay, and amusement. Then he burst out laughing. He
+really could not help doing so, serious as the subject was; for upon
+every single card, instead of Rosa Blondelle, he had written:
+
+    Mrs. ROSA BERNERS.
+
+"Was there ever such a mischief of a mistake?" he exclaimed, as he
+ceased laughing and sat down by his table to consider what was to be
+done next.
+
+"Poor Sybil! poor, dear, fiery-hearted child, it is no wonder! And yet,
+Heaven truly knows it was because I was thinking of _you_, and not of
+the owner of the cards, that I wrote that name upon them unconsciously,"
+he said to himself, as he sat with his fine head bowed upon his hand,
+gravely reviewing the history of the last few days.
+
+His eyes were opened now--not only to his wife's jealousy, but to his
+own thoughtless conduct in doing anything to arouse it.
+
+In the innermost of his own soul he was so sure of the perfect integrity
+of his love for his wife, that it had never before occurred to him that
+_she_ could doubt it--that any unconscious act or thoughtless gallantry
+on his part could cause her to doubt it.
+
+Now, however, he remembered with remorse that, of late, since the rising
+of the court, all his mornings and evenings had been spent exclusively
+in the company of the beautiful blonde. Any wife under such
+circumstances might have been jealous; but few could have suffered such
+agonies of wounded love as wrung the bosom of Sybil Berners,--of Sybil
+Berners, the last of a race in whose nature more of the divine and more
+of the infernal met than in almost any other race that ever lived on
+earth.
+
+Her husband thought of all this now. He remembered what lovers and what
+haters the men and women of her house had been.
+
+He recalled how, in one generation, a certain Reginald Berners, who was
+engaged to be married to a very lovely young lady, on one occasion found
+his betrothed and an imaginary rival sitting side by side, amusing
+themselves with what they might have considered a very harmless
+flirtation, when, transported with jealous fury, he slew the man before
+the very eyes of the girl. For this crime Reginald was tried, but for
+some inexplicable reason, acquitted; and he lived to marry the girl for
+whose sake he had imbrued his hands in a fellow-man's blood.
+
+He recalled how, in another generation, one Agatha Berners, in a frenzy
+of jealousy, had stabbed her rival, and then thrown herself into the
+Black Lake. Fortunately neither of the attempted crimes had been
+consummated, for the wounded woman recovered, and the would-be suicide
+lived to wear out her days in a convent.
+
+Reflecting upon these terrible outbursts of the family passion, Lyon
+Berners became very much alarmed for Sybil.
+
+He started up and went in search of her. He looked successively through
+the drawing-room, the dining-room, and library. Not finding her in any
+of these rooms, he ascended to the second floor and sought her in their
+own apartment. Still not finding her, his alarm became agony.
+
+"I will search every square yard within these walls," he said, as he
+hurried through all the empty chambers of that floor, and then went up
+into the attic.
+
+There, in the lumber-room--the chamber of desolation--he found his wife,
+lying with her face downwards on the floor. He hastened towards her,
+fearing that she was in a swoon. But no; she was only exhausted by the
+violence of her emotions.
+
+Without saying a word, he lifted her in his arms as if she had been a
+child. She was too faint now to resist him. He carried her down stairs
+to her own chamber and laid her on the sofa, and while he gently
+smoothed the damp dark hair from her pale brow, he whispered softly:
+
+"My wife, I know now what has troubled you. It was a great error, my own
+dear Sybil. You have no cause to doubt me, or to distress yourself."
+
+She did not reply, but with a tearless sob, turned her face to the wall.
+
+"It was of _you_ that I was thinking, my beloved, when I wrote that name
+on the cards," he continued, as he still smoothed her hair with his
+light mesmeric touch. She did not repel his caresses, but neither did
+she reply to his words. And he saw, by the heaving of her bosom and the
+quivering of her lips, that the storm had not yet subsided.
+
+He essayed once more to reassure her.
+
+"Dear wife," he earnestly commenced, "you believe that my affections are
+inconstant, and that they have wandered from you?"
+
+She answered by a nod and another tearless sob, but she did not look
+around or speak to him.
+
+"Yet withal you believe me to be a man of truthful words?"
+
+Again she nodded acquiescence.
+
+"Then, dear Sybil, you must believe my words when I assure you, on my
+sacred truth and honor, that your suspicions of me are utterly
+erroneous."
+
+Now she turned her head, opened her large dark eyes in astonishment, and
+gazed into his earnest face.
+
+"As Heaven hears me, my own dear wife, I love no other woman in the
+world but you."
+
+"But--you are almost always with _her_!" at length replied Sybil, with
+another dry sob.
+
+"I confess that, dear; but it was because you were almost always absent
+on your domestic affairs."
+
+"You hang enraptured over her, when she sings and plays!"
+
+"Enraptured with her music, darling, not with her. To me she is a prima
+donna, whose performances I must admire and applaud--nothing more."
+
+"Then I wish I was a prima donna too," said Sybil, bitterly.
+
+"My wife!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Yes, I do! I would be all in all to you, Lyon, as you are everything to
+me," she cried, her face quivering, her bosom heaving with emotion.
+
+"My own dear Sybil, you _are_ all in all to me. Do you not know, dear,
+that you are unique? that there is not another like you in the world;
+and that I value you and love you accordingly? What is this
+shallow-hearted blonde beauty to me? This woman, who, in a week, could
+forget the man who had robbed and deserted her, and give herself up to
+amusement! No, dear wife. I may be pleased with her good-natured efforts
+to please me; I may admire her beauty and delight in her music; but I
+care so little for herself, that were she to die to-day, I should only
+say, 'Poor thing,' and immediately forget her! While, if _you_ were to
+die, dear wife, life would be a living death, and the world a sepulchre
+to me!"
+
+"Is this true? Oh! is this indeed true?" exclaimed Sybil, in deep
+emotion.
+
+"As I am a man of truth, it is, as true as Heaven!" answered Lyon
+Berners, earnestly.
+
+And Sybil turned and threw herself in his arms, weeping for joy.
+
+"You shall have no more cause for distress, dear, warm-hearted wife. This
+lady must find other audience for her music. For, as to me, I shall not
+indulge in her society at such a cost to your feelings," said Lyon
+Berners earnestly, as he returned her warm caress.
+
+"No, no, no, no," exclaimed Sybil, generously. "You shall deny yourself
+no pleasure, for my sake, dear, dear Lyon! I am not such a churl as to
+require such a sacrifice. Only let me feel sure of your love, and then
+you may read with her all the morning, and play and sing with her all
+the evening, and I shall not care. I shall even be pleased, because you
+are so. But only let me feel sure of your love. For, oh! dear Lyon! I
+live only in your heart, and if any woman were to thrust me thence, I
+should die!"
+
+"Nor man, nor woman, nor angel, nor devil, shall ever do that, dear
+Sybil," he earnestly answered.
+
+The reconciliation between the husband and the wife was perfect. And
+Sybil was so happy that, in the lightness of her heart, she became
+kinder to Mrs. Blondelle than she had been for many days past.
+
+But as for Mr. Berners, from this time he carefully avoided Mrs.
+Blondelle. He was as courteous to her as ever, even more courteous than
+ever when his wife was present, but as soon as Sybil would leave the
+room, Lyon would make some excuse and follow her. This went on for some
+days, during which Mrs. Blondelle, being cut short in her platonic
+flirtation, first wondered and then moped, and then resolved to win back
+her fancied slave. So she whitened her face with bismuth, to make it
+look pale and interesting, and she arranged her golden locks and flowing
+robes with the most studied air of graceful neglect, and she affected
+silence, pensiveness, and abstraction; and thus she utterly imposed on
+Lyon Berners, whose sympathies were awakened by her.
+
+"Is it possible, that this pretty little fool can really be pleased with
+me, and pained by my neglect?" he inquired of himself. And then, human
+being like, he flattered himself and pitied her.
+
+When this course of conduct had been kept up for a week, it happened one
+day that Sybil went alone to Blackville to purchase some articles for
+her approaching mask ball.
+
+Lyon Berners was reclining on the sofa in the drawing-room, with the
+last number of the "North American Review" in his hands.
+
+Suddenly a soft hand stole into his, and a soft voice murmured in his
+ear:
+
+"Mr. Berners, how have I been so unhappy as to offend you?"
+
+He looked up in surprise to see Rosa Blondelle standing by him. Her
+lovely face was very pale, her beautiful hair in disorder, her blue eyes
+full of tears, her tender voice tremulous with emotion.
+
+As Lyon Berners met her appealing gaze, his heart smote him for his late
+coldness to her.
+
+"In what manner have I been so unhappy as to offend you, Mr. Berners?"
+she repeated, tearfully.
+
+"In no manner at all, dear. How could one so gentle as yourself offend
+any one?" exclaimed Lyon Berners, rising, and taking both her
+unresisting hands in his own; and feeling for the first time a sentiment
+of _tenderness_, as well as of admiration, for her.
+
+"But I thought I had offended you. You have been so changed to me of
+late," murmured Rosa, with her blue eyes full of tears.
+
+"No, no, dear, not really changed, indeed. Only--absorbed by other
+engagements," answered Lyon Berners, evasively.
+
+"You are the only friend I have in the whole world. And if _you_ should
+desert me, I should perish," murmured Rosa, pathetically.
+
+"But I will never desert you, dear. Nor am I the only friend you have in
+the world. My wife is surely your friend," said Lyon Berners, earnestly.
+
+Slowly and sorrowfully Rosa Blondelle shook her head, murmuring sadly:
+
+"No woman ever was my friend. I know not why."
+
+"_I_ can easily imagine why. But in regard to my dear wife, you are
+mistaken. Surely she has proved herself your friend."
+
+"She is a noble lady, and I honor her. She is my benefactress, and I
+thank her. But she is not my friend, and so I do not love her."
+
+"I am sorry to hear you say so, dear."
+
+"And I am sorry to be obliged to say so. But it is true. _You_ are my
+only friend, Mr. Berners. The only friend I have in the wide, wide
+world."
+
+"And do you love me?" inquired Lyon Berners, taking the siren's hand,
+and utterly yielding to her allurements; "say, fair one, do you love
+me?"
+
+"Hush! hush!" breathed Rosa, drawing away her hand and covering her
+face--"hush! that is a question you must not ask, nor I answer."
+
+"But--as a _brother_, I mean?" whispered Lyon.
+
+"Oh! yes, yes, yes! as a dear brother, I love you dearly," fervently
+exclaimed Rosa.
+
+"And as a dear sister you shall share my love and care always,"
+earnestly answered Mr. Berners.
+
+"And you will not be cold to me any longer?"
+
+"No, dear."
+
+"And you will come and listen to my poor little songs this evening, and
+let me do my best to amuse you?"
+
+"Yes, dear, I will throw over all other engagements, and delight myself
+in your heavenly strains to-night," answered Lyon Berners.
+
+"Oh! I am so happy to hear you promise that! Of late I have had no heart
+to open the piano. But to-night I will awaken for you its most glorious
+chords!"
+
+He raised her hand to his lips, and thanked her warmly.
+
+And just at that very instant Miss Tabitha Winterose appeared in the
+doorway, her tall, thin form drawn up to its utmost height, her pale,
+pinched face lengthened, and her dim blue eyes and skinny hands lifted
+up in surprise and disapprobation.
+
+"Well!" simultaneously exclaimed Mr. Berners and Mrs. Blondelle, as they
+instinctively drew away from each other.
+
+But Miss Tabitha could not easily recover her composure. She was shocked
+and scandalized to see a gentleman and lady, who were not related to
+each other, sitting so close together, while the gentleman kissed the
+lady's hand!
+
+"Did you want anything?" inquired Mr. Berners, rather impatiently.
+
+"No, I didn't. Yes, I did," answered Miss Winterose, crossly and
+confusedly. "I came after that lady there to tell her that I think her
+child is going to be very sick, and I want her to come and look after
+him. That is, if she an't more pleasanter engaged!" added Miss Tabitha,
+scornfully.
+
+"Please excuse me, Mr. Berners," murmured Rosa, sweetly, as she got up
+to go out with the housekeeper "_Old Cat!_" she muttered, under her
+breath, as soon as she was out of Lyon's hearing.
+
+When Mr Berners was left alone, he did not resume the reading of his
+review. His heart became the prey of bitter-sweet reflections, made up
+of gratified self-love and of severe self-reproach.
+
+"That beautiful creature _does_ care for me, and is pained by my
+coldness! Ah! but I hope and trust she loves me _only_ as a sister loves
+a brother! She has no brother, poor child! And her heart must have some
+one to lean on! I must be that one, for she has chosen me, and I will
+not be so recreant to humanity as to reject her trust."
+
+Then his conscience smote him. And he felt that he had shown more
+tenderness for this lady than the occasion called for, or than his duty
+warranted. He had called her "dear;" he had kissed her hand; he had
+asked her if she loved him! And this in the face of all his late
+protestations to his wife!
+
+Lyon Berners was an honorable man and devotedly attached to his wife,
+and he was shocked now at the recollection of how far he had been drawn
+away from the strict line of duty by this lovely blonde!
+
+But then he said to himself that he had only caressed and soothed Rosa
+in a brotherly way; and that it was a great pity Sybil should be of such
+a jealous and exacting nature, as to wish to prevent him from showing a
+little brotherly love to this lovely and lonely lady.
+
+And worried by these opposing thoughts and feelings, Lyon Berners left
+his sofa and began to pace up and down the length of the drawing-room
+floor.
+
+In truth now, for the first time, the mischief was done! The siren had
+at last ensnared him, in her distress and dishabille, with her tears and
+tenderness, as she never had done in the full blaze of her adorned
+beauty, or by the most entrancing strains of divine melody.
+
+While Lyon Berners paced up and down the drawing-room floor, he seemed
+to see again the tender, tearful gaze of her soft blue eyes upon him;
+seemed to hear again the melting tones of her melodious voice pleading
+with him: "How have I been so unhappy as to offend you, Mr. Berners?"
+What a contrast this sweet humility of friendship with the fiery pride
+of Sybil's love!
+
+While he was almost involuntarily drawing this comparison, he heard the
+wheels of the carriage that brought Sybil home roll up to the door and
+stop.
+
+From her morning drive through the bright and frosty air, Sybil entered
+the drawing-room blooming, and glowing with health and happiness. For
+since that full explanation with her husband, she had been very happy.
+
+Lyon Berners hastened to meet her. And perhaps it was his secret and
+painful consciousness of that little episode with Rosa, that caused him
+to throw into his manner even more than his usual show of affection, as
+he drew her to his bosom and kissed her fondly.
+
+"Why!" exclaimed Sybil, laughing and pleased, "you meet me as if I had
+been gone a month, instead of a morning!"
+
+"Your absence always seems long to me, dear wife, however short it may
+really be," he answered earnestly. And he spoke the truth; for
+notwithstanding his admiration of Rosa, and the invidious comparison he
+had just drawn between her and Sybil, in his heart of hearts he still
+loved his wife truly.
+
+She threw off her bonnet and shawl, and sat down beside him and began to
+rattle away like a happy girl, telling him all the little incidents of
+her morning's drive--whom she had seen, what she had purchased, and how
+excited everybody was on the subject of her approaching fancy ball.
+
+"The first one ever given in this neighborhood, you know. Lyon," she
+added.
+
+And having told him all the news, she snatched up her bonnet and shawl
+and ran up-stairs to her own room, where she found her thin housekeeper
+engaged in sorting out laces and snivelling.
+
+"Why, what's the matter now, Miss Tabby?" cheerfully inquired Sybil.
+
+"Well, then, to tell you the truth, ma'am, I am dreadfully exercised
+into my own mind," answered Miss Winterose, wiping a tear from the tip
+of her nose.
+
+"What about, now?" gayly demanded Sybil, who felt not the slightest
+degree of alarm on account of Miss Tabby, knowing that lady to be a
+constitutional and habitual whimperer.
+
+"Then, it's all along of the wickedness and artfulness and deceitfulness
+of this here world."
+
+"Well, never mind, Miss Tabby; you'll not have to answer for it all. But
+what particular instance of wickedness frets your soul now?" laughed
+Sybil.
+
+"Why, now, there's where it is! I don't know whether I ought to tell, or
+whether I ought'n to; nor whether, if I was to tell, I would be looked
+upon into the light of a mischief-maker, or into the light of a true
+friend!" whimpered Miss Winterose.
+
+"I can soon settle that question of ethics for you," laughed Sybil, all
+unsuspicious of what was coming.
+
+"Do just as your conscience directs you, Miss Tabby, no matter how
+people may look upon you."
+
+"Very well, then, ma'am; for my conscience do order me to speak! Oh,
+Miss Sybil! I have knowed you ever since you was a baby in my arms, and
+I can't bear to have you so deceived and imposed upon by that there
+treacherous, ungrateful White Cat!"
+
+"White Cat?" echoed Sybil, in perplexity.
+
+"Yes, Miss Sybil, that red-headed, false-hearted White Cat, as you took
+into your house and home, for to beguile and corrupt your own true
+husband!"
+
+With a gasp and a suppressed cry, Sybil sank into her seat.
+
+Miss Tabby, too full of her subject to notice Sybil's agitation,
+continued:
+
+"No sooner had your carriage left the door this morning, Miss Sybil,
+than that there White Cat comes tipping on her tiptoes out of her room,
+in a long loose dressing-gown, with her hair all down, in a way as no
+real lady would ever be seen out of her own chamber, and she tips, tips,
+tips into the drawing-room, where she knows Mr. Berners is alone, and
+laying on the sofa!"
+
+With a powerful effort Sybil controlled her violent emotion, held
+herself still, and listened.
+
+"And that was bad enough, Miss Sybil! but that was nothing to what
+followed!" sighed Miss Tabby, wiping another tear from the end of her
+nose.
+
+"What followed?" echoed Sybil, in an expiring voice.
+
+"What followed, ma'am, was this: but to make you understand, I must tell
+you what I ought to a told you at the start, which is how it happened as
+I seen her tip, tip, tip, on her tiptoes to the drawing-room, just for
+all the world like a cat after cream. Well, I was up here, in this very
+room where I am now, a sorting out of your fine things as come up from
+the wash, and I found one o' _her_ lace handkerchers among yourn, fotch
+up by mistake. So I jes took it and went down them back stairs as leads
+from this room down to hern, to give her back her handkercher; when jes
+as I got into her room, I seen her slip outen the other door leading
+into the hall. So after her I goes, to give her her handkercher--which I
+thought it was best to give it intor her own hands, than to put it
+anywhere in her room, because I didn't know nothing about this forring
+nuss o' hern; and you know yourself, ma'am, as we ought to be cautious
+in dealing with strangers."
+
+"Yes, yes! Go on! go on!" gasped Sybil.
+
+"Well, ma'am, she flitted through them passages too fast for me, jes as
+if she was afraid o' being caught afore she got out o' sight! I jes seen
+her slip into the drawing-room, where I knowed as Mr. Berners was a
+lying onto the sofa, and then I turns back and runs away."
+
+"Oh, why didn't you follow her in?" groaned Sybil.
+
+"Yes, why didn't I, ma'am; which I wish I had, and would a done if it
+hadn't a been for that forring nuss a coming outen _her_ room, and a
+screeching after me:
+
+"'Missus Winterblossom! Missus Winterblossom!' which I allus told that
+huzzy as I wasn't a 'missus,' but a 'miss,' nor likewise a 'blossom,'
+but a 'rose.' Howsever, there she was, a yelling at the top of her
+voice, 'Missus Winterblossom! Missus Winterblossom!' until I had to run
+to her, only to stop her mouth!"
+
+"Ah! the wretch! she was the accomplice of her mistress, and wished to
+bring you away," breathed Sybil more to herself than to her housekeeper,
+and in a tone too low to reach the ears of Miss Tabby, who continued:
+
+"It was the baby, as had been eating of new chestnuts, and got the
+cramp. So the forring nuss, as wasn't worth her salt, comes screaming
+after me to come and do something for the baby. Of course I went and did
+what was right and proper for the poor little suffering creetur; and
+when I had put him to sleep, I thinks about his neglectful mother, and
+so I ups and goes after her. And when I opens the drawing-room door,
+ma'am--well, I sees a sight as strikes me intor a statty o' stone, or a
+pillar o' salt, like Lot's wife."
+
+"What? what?" panted Sybil.
+
+"I seen 'em both, him and her, a sitting close together and a going on
+jes like two lovyers as was going to be married to-morrow, or a bride
+and groom as was married yesterday."
+
+"How? how?"
+
+"Well, ma'am, if her head wasn't a leaning on his shoulder, it was so
+nigh it as it made no difference! And her hand was squeezed inter
+hizzen, and her eyes was rolled up inter hizzen in the most be-devilling
+way as ever I see in my life--for all the world as if she was a loving
+of him, and a worshipping of him, and a praising of him, and a praying
+to him, all in one gaze!"
+
+"And he!--and he!"
+
+"Oh, my dear honey! what can you expect of a poor, weak, _he-man_? He
+looks down on her as if he enjoyed being loved and worshipped and
+praised and prayed to, and he squeezes of her hand up to his mouth as if
+he'd like to have eaten it!"
+
+"_Oh, my heart! my heart!_" moaned Sybil, turning deadly pale.
+
+Still, Miss Tabby, full of her own subject, scarcely noticed the pain
+she was inflicting, so she continued:
+
+"And jes that minute they happened either to see or to hear me, I don't
+know which. Anyways, they looks up, and--whew! they jumps apart as if a
+fire-cracker had gone off between 'em! Well, I tells my lady as her
+child is sick, and she jumps up, impatient like, to go and look after
+him. And I comes away too. And that was just about ten minutes before
+you got home yourself."
+
+"Deceived! Betrayed! Scorned! Laughed at!" bitterly exclaimed Sybil.
+
+"And that's all. And now look here, honey! Don't you go to taking on
+about this here piece o' business! And don't you get mad long o' your
+husband on any woman's account, whatever you do! Come down on the woman!
+That's what you do. It is all _her_ fault, not hizzen! _He_ couldn't
+help himself, poor innocent creetur! Lor! honey, I don't know much about
+married life, bein' of a single woman myself; but I have heard my mother
+say as men are mons'rous weak-minded poor creeturs, and need to be
+guided by their wives; and if they an't ruled by their wives, they are
+sure to be by some other woman! And it stands to reason it is more
+respectable to be ruled by their wives! And so, honey, my advice to you
+is, to send that bad woman about her business, and take that innocent
+man firmly in hand."
+
+And so Miss Tabby babbled on, no longer heeded by Sybil, who soon
+slipped away and hid herself in one of the empty spare rooms.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIII.
+
+                   MORE THAN THE BITTERNESS OF DEATH.
+
+
+                                         He to whom
+            I gave my heart with all its wealth of love,
+            Forsakes me for another.--MEDEA.
+
+
+"Oh my heart! my heart!" moaned Sybil, as she sank down upon the floor
+of that spare-room, the door of which she had bolted, to secure herself
+from intrusion.
+
+"Oh, my heart! my heart!" she wailed, pressing her hand to her side like
+one who had just received a mortal wound.
+
+"Oh, my heart! my heart!" she groaned, as one who complains of an
+insupportable agony. And for some moments she could do no more than
+this. Then at length the stream of utterance flowed forth, and--
+
+"He loves me no longer! my husband loves me no longer!" she cried in
+more than the bitterness of death. "He loves that false siren in place
+of me, his true wife. He gives her all the tender words, all the warm
+caresses he used to lavish on me. His heart is won from me. I am
+desolate! I am desolate, and I shall die! I shall die! But oh, how much
+I must suffer before I can die, for I am so strong to suffer! Ah, how I
+wish I might die at once, or that suicide were no sin!"
+
+But suddenly, out of this deep abasement of grief, blazed up a fierce
+and fiery anger. She started from her recumbent position, and began to
+walk wildly up and down the floor, beating her hands together, and
+exclaiming distractedly:
+
+"But why should I die in my youth, and go down to the dark grave, to
+make room for _her_, the traitress! to make room in the heart of my
+husband and the home of my fathers for her, the--! Oh! there is no word
+bad enough to express what she is! And shall _she_ live to bloom and
+smile and brighten in the sunshine of his love, while I moulder away in
+the earth? Oh!" she cried, striking her hands violently together, "there
+is madness and more than madness in the thought! I will not die alone;
+no, no, no, no, so help me, just Heaven! I will not die alone. Oh,
+Samson was a brave man as well as a strong one when he lifted the
+pillars of the temple, and willingly fell beneath its crumbling ruins,
+crushing all his foes. I will be another sort of Samson; and when I
+fall, I too will pull down destruction upon the heads of all who have
+wronged me!"
+
+These and many more wild and wicked words she uttered as she walked
+fiercely up and down the room, her eyes blazing, her cheeks burning, her
+whole aspect full of frenzy.
+
+At length, again her mood changed; the fire died out of her eyes, the
+color faded from her cheeks; her frenzy subsided, and gave place to a
+stillness more awful than any excitement could possibly be. She sank
+down upon a low ottoman, and rested her elbows upon her knees and her
+chin upon the palms of her hands, and gazed straight before her into
+vacancy. Her face was deadly pale; her lips bloodless and compressed;
+her eyes contracted and glittering with a cold, black, baleful light;
+her hair unloosed in her agitation, streamed down each side, and fell
+upon her bosom like the ends of a long black scarf. At times she
+muttered to herself like any maniac:
+
+"And oh, how deeply deceitful they have both been with me, affecting a
+mutual indifference while I was by; falling to caressing each other just
+as soon as my back was turned! She--she only acted out her false and
+treacherous nature. But he--oh, he! in whose pure truth I had such
+pride. Ah, Heaven! how low she must have drawn him before he could have
+gained his own consent to deceive me so! before he could come fresh from
+her side and her caresses, and meet and embrace me! What stupendous
+duplicity! Well, well!" she continued, nodding grimly; "well, well,
+since deceit is the fashion of the day, I too will be in the fashion; I
+too will wear a mask of smiles! But behind that mask I will watch!--Oh,
+how I will watch! Not at my fancy-ball alone will I play a part, but
+before it, and perhaps, _after it_! None shall ever know how I watch,
+what I see, until I descend with the fell swoop of the eagle. And
+henceforth let me remember that I am a daughter of the house of Berners,
+who never failed a friend or spared a foe. And oh, let the spirit of my
+fathers support me, for I must ENDURE until I can AVENGE!" she said, as
+she got up with a grim calmness and paced up and down the floor to
+recover full self-command.
+
+At length, when she felt sufficiently composed, she went to her own
+chamber, where she made a more elaborate and beautiful toilet than
+usual, preparatory to joining her husband and their guest at the
+dinner-table.
+
+"Now smile, eyes! smile, lips! flatter, tongue! Be a siren among the
+sirens, Sybil! Be a serpent among the serpents!" she hissed, as she
+glided down the stairs and entered the dining-room.
+
+_They_ were there! They were standing close together, in the recess of
+the west window, gazing out at the sun, which was just setting behind
+the mountain. They started, and turned towards her as she advanced. But
+Sybil, true to her tactics, spoke pleasantly, saying:
+
+"You get a beautiful view of the sunset from that window, Mrs.
+Blondelle."
+
+"Yes, dear," answered Rosa, sweetly. "I was just drawing Mr. Berners'
+attention to it, and telling him that I really believe use has blinded
+him to its beauty."
+
+"Possession is a great disenchanter," answered Sybil.
+
+Both the others looked up to see if she had any hidden meaning under her
+words. But apparently she had not. She was smiling very gayly as she
+took her place at the head of the table and invited her companions to
+take their seats.
+
+Throughout the dinner-hour Sybil seemed in very high spirits; she was
+full of anecdote and wit; she talked and laughed freely. Her companions
+noticed her unusual gayety; but they ascribed it to the exhilarating
+effects of her morning drive, and to the anticipations of her mask ball,
+which now formed the principal subject of conversation at the table.
+
+After dinner, they went into the drawing-room, where Sybil soon left her
+husband and her guest alone together; or rather, she pretended to leave
+them so; but really, with that insanity of jealousy which made her
+forget her womanhood, she merely went out and around the hall into the
+library, and placed herself behind the folding doors communicating with
+the drawing room, where she could hear and see all that might be going
+on between her husband and her rival.
+
+It is proverbial that "listeners never hear any good of themselves."
+
+Sybil's case was no exception to this rule. This is what she heard of
+_herself_.
+
+"What ever could have ailed Mrs. Berners," inquired Mrs. Blondelle, with
+a pretty lisp.
+
+"What could have ailed Sybil? Why, nothing, that I noticed. What
+_should_ have ailed her?" on his side inquired Mr. Berners.
+
+"She was very much excited!" exclaimed Mrs. Blondelle, with a
+significant shrug of her shoulders.
+
+"Oh! that was from her exhilarating morning ride, which raised her
+spirits."
+
+"Which excited her excessively, I should say, if it really _was_ the
+ride."
+
+"Of course it was the ride. And I admit that she was very gay," laughed
+Mr. Berners.
+
+"Gay?" echoed Rosa, raising her eyebrows--"Gay? Why, she was almost
+delirious, my friend."
+
+"Oh! well; Sybil gives full vent to her feelings; always did, always
+will. My little wife is in many respects a mere child, you know," said
+Mr. Berners, tenderly.
+
+"Ah! what a happy child, to have her faults so kindly indulged! I wish I
+were that child!" sighed Rosa.
+
+"But why should you wish to be anything else but yourself, being so
+charming as you are?" he softly inquired.
+
+"Do you really like me, just as I am, Mr. Berners?" she meekly inquired,
+dropping her eyes.
+
+"I really do. I have told you so, Rosa," he answered, approaching her,
+and taking her hand.
+
+She sighed and turned away her head; but she left her hand in his clasp.
+
+"Dear Rosa! dear child!" he murmured. "You are not happy."
+
+"No, not happy," she echoed, in a broken voice.
+
+"Dear Rosa! what can I do to make you happy?" he tenderly inquired.
+
+"You? What can you do? Oh!--But I forget myself! I know not what I say!
+I must leave you, Mr. Berners!" she exclaimed, in well-acted alarm, as
+she snatched her hand from his grasp and fled from the room.
+
+Mr. Berners looked after her, sighed heavily, and then began to walk
+thoughtfully up and down the room.
+
+Sybil, from her covert, watched him, and grimly nodded her head. Then
+she also slipped away.
+
+An hour later than this, the three, Mr. and Mrs. Berners and Mrs.
+Blondelle, were in the drawing-room together.
+
+"You promised me some music," whispered Lyon to Rosa.
+
+"Oh yes; and I will give you some. I am so glad you like my poor songs.
+I am so happy when I can do anything at all to please you," she murmured
+in reply, lifting her humid blue eyes to his face.
+
+"Everything you do pleases me," he answered, in a very low voice.
+
+Sybil was not standing very near them, yet, with ears sharpened by
+jealousy, she overheard the whole of that short colloquy, and--treasured
+it up.
+
+Lyon Berners led Rosa Blondelle to the piano, arranged her music-stool,
+and placed the music sheets before her. She turned to one of Byron's
+impassioned songs, and while he hung enraptured over her, she sang the
+words, and ever she raised her eyes to his, to give eloquent expression
+and point to the sentiment. And then _his_ eyes answered, if his voice
+and his heart did not.
+
+That song was finished, and many more songs were sung, each more
+impassioned than the other, until at last, Rosa, growing weary and
+becoming slightly hoarse, arose from the piano, and with a
+half-suppressed sigh sank into an easy-chair.
+
+Then Sybil--who had watched them through the evening, and noted every
+look and word and smile and sigh that passed between them, and who now
+found her powers of self-command waning--Sybil, I say, rang for the
+bedroom candles. And when they were brought, the little party separated
+and retired for the night.
+
+From this time forth, in the insanity of her jealousy, and with a
+secretiveness only possible to the morally insane, Sybil completely
+concealed her suspicions and her sufferings from her husband and her
+guest. She was affectionate with Lyon, pleasant with Rosa, and confiding
+in her manners towards both.
+
+And they were completely deceived, and never more fatally so than when
+they imagined themselves alone together.
+
+_They were never alone._
+
+There was never a tender glance, a fluttering sigh, a soft smile, a
+low-toned, thrilling word passed between the false flirt and the
+fascinated husband, that was not seen and heard by the heart-broken,
+brain-crazed young wife!
+
+And oh! could these triflers with sacred love--these wanderers on the
+brink of a fearful abyss--have seen the look of her face then, they
+would have fled from each other for ever, rather than to have dared the
+desperation of her roused soul.
+
+But they saw nothing, knew nothing, suspected nothing! They were, like
+children playing with deadly poisons, with edge tools, or with fire,
+ignorant of the fatal toys they handled.
+
+And, moreover they meant nothing. Theirs was the shallowest pretence of
+love that ever went by the name of a flirtation. On the woman's side, it
+was but a love of admiration and an affectation of sentiment. On the
+man's side, it was pity and gratified self-love. So little did Rosa
+Blondelle really care for Lyon Berners, and so truly did she estimate
+the value of her very luxurious home at Black Hall, that had she known
+the state of Sybil's mind, she would very quickly have put an end to her
+flirtation with the husband, and done all that she could to recover the
+confidence of the wife, and then--looked out among the attractive young
+men of the neighborhood for another party to that sentimental,
+meaningless love-making, which was yet a necessity to her shallow life.
+
+And as for Mr. Berners, had he dreamed of the real depth of anguish this
+trifling with the blonde beauty caused his true-hearted wife, he would
+have been the first to propose the immediate departure of their guest.
+
+Had Sybil been frank with either or both the offenders, much misery
+might have been saved. But the young wife, wounded to the quick in her
+pride and in her love, hid her sufferings and kept her secret.
+
+And thus the three drifted towards the awful brink of ruin.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIV.
+
+                      THE FIRST FATAL HALLOW EVE.
+
+
+            AMBROSE--Where be these maskers, fool?
+            COLLIN--Everywhere, sage! But chiefly there
+                Where least they seem to mask!
+                                   JONSON--THE CARNIVAL.
+
+It was All-Hallow Eve, a night long anticipated with delight by the
+whole neighborhood, and much longer still remembered with horror by the
+whole country.
+
+It was the occasion of Sybil Berners' mask ball; and Black Hall, the
+Black Valley, and the town of Blackville were all in a state of
+unprecedented excitement; for this was the first entertainment of the
+kind that had ever been given in the locality, and the gentry of three
+contiguous counties had been invited to assist at it.
+
+Far distant from large cities and professional costumers as the rural
+belles and beaux of the neighborhood were, you will wonder what they did
+for fancy dresses.
+
+They did very well. They ransacked the old cedar chests of their
+great-grandparents, and exhumed the rich brocades, cloths of gold and
+silvers, lutestrings, lamas, fardingdales, hair-cushions, and all the
+gorgeous paraphernalia and regalia of the ante-revolutionary queens of
+fashion. And they referred to old family portraits, and to pictures in
+old plays and novels, and upon the whole they got up their dresses with
+more fidelity to fact than most costumers do.
+
+Some also went to the trouble and expense of a journey to New York to
+procure outfits, and these were commissioned to buy masks for all their
+friends and acquaintances who were invited to the ball.
+
+These preparations had occupied nearly the whole month of October. And
+now the eventful day had come, and the whole community was on tiptoe
+with expectation.
+
+First, at Black Hall all was in readiness, not only for the ball and the
+supper, but for the accommodation of those lady friends of the hostess
+who, coming from a great distance, would expect to take a bed there.
+
+And all was in readiness at the village hotel at Blackville, where
+gentlemen, coming from a distance to attend the ball, had engaged rooms
+in advance.
+
+Nevertheless the landlord of the hotel was in a "stew," for there were
+more people already arrived, on horseback and in carriages of every
+description, from the heavy family coach crammed with young ladies and
+gentlemen, to the one-horse gig with a pair of college chums. And the
+distracted landlord had neither beds for the human beings nor stalls for
+the horses. But he sent out among his neighbors, and tried to get
+"accommodations for man and beast" in private houses and stables.
+
+"And the coach be come in, sir, and what be we to do with the
+passengers?" inquired the head waiter.
+
+"Blast the coach! I wish it had tumbled down the 'Devil's Descent' into
+the bottomless pit!" exclaimed the frantic host, seizing his gray locks
+with both hands, and running away from before the face of his
+tormentor--and jumping from the frying-pan into the fire, when he came
+full upon his daughter Bessie, who stopped him with:
+
+"Pop, you must come right into the parlor. There's a gentleman there as
+come by the coach, and says he _must_ have a bed here to-night, no
+matter how full you may be, or how much it may cost."
+
+"Impossible, Bessie! Clean impossible! Don't drive me stark mad!" cried
+the landlord, jerking at his gray hair.
+
+"Well, but, Pop, you must come and tell the gentleman so, or he'll sit
+there all night," remonstrated the girl.
+
+"Blow the fellow to blazes! Where is he?"
+
+"In the parlor, Pop."
+
+The landlord trotted into the parlor and gave a little start, for, at
+first sight, he thought the gentleman's head was on fire! But a second
+glance showed him that the gentleman only had the reddest hair he had
+ever seen in his life, and that the level rays of the setting sun,
+shining through the western window, and falling fall upon this head, set
+this red hair in a harmless blaze of light.
+
+Recovering from his little shock, he advanced to the gentleman, bowed,
+and said:
+
+"Well, sir, I am the landlord, and I understand you wish to see me."
+
+"Yes; I wish to engage a room here to-night."
+
+"Very sorry, sir; but it is out of the question. Every room in the house
+is engaged; even my room and my daughter's room, and the servants'
+rooms. And not only that, sir, but every sofa is engaged, and every rug;
+so you see it is clean impossible."
+
+"Impossible is it?" inquired the stranger.
+
+"Clean impossible, sir! utterly impossible!" returned the host.
+
+"All right; then it shall be done."
+
+"Sir!"
+
+"I say, because it is impossible, it shall be done."
+
+"Eh!"
+
+"Here is a hundred dollars," said the stranger, laying down two
+bank-notes of fifty dollars each. "I will give you this money if you can
+induce any of your guests to give up a room for me to-night."
+
+"Why, really, sir, I should be delighted to accommodate such a very
+liberal gentleman, but--"
+
+"You must decide at once. Now, or never," said the stranger, firmly, for
+he saw the game was now in his own hands.
+
+"Well, yes, sir; I will find you a room. The two young college gents
+who took a room between them may be induced to give it up."
+
+"_Must_ give it up, you mean," amended the stranger.
+
+"Well, yes, sir; just as you say, sir."
+
+"And I must have it in fifteen minutes."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And supper served there in half an hour."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And your company at supper, as I want to have a little talk with you."
+
+"All right, sir."
+
+"And now, you can go and see about the room."
+
+"Just so, sir," said the landlord, gathering up the two fifty-dollar
+bills that had bought him, body and soul, and then bowing himself out of
+the room.
+
+"'Money makes the mare go,' and the horse too. I wonder what he'll think
+when he finds out his bank bills are not worth the paper they are
+printed on," mused the stranger, as he paced thoughtfully up and down
+the room.
+
+Fortunately for the landlord's speculation, bad as it ultimately proved,
+the two collegians who had engaged his best front bedroom had not yet
+arrived to take possession of it. Therefore the business of turning it
+over to a more profitable party was the more immediately practicable.
+All the landlord had to do was to see that a fire was kindled in the
+fireplace, and the table was set for supper.
+
+Then he returned to the parlor, to conduct, in person, such a wealthy
+and munificent patron to his apartment.
+
+"Ah! this is cosy!" said the stranger, sinking into an arm-chair, and
+spreading his hands over the blazing fire, whose beams were caught and
+reflected by his red hair, until it shone like a rival conflagration.
+
+"Glad you like your quarters, sir," said the landlord, putting his hand
+upon the pocket that contained the purse with the two fifty-dollar bills
+to see that they were safe.
+
+"Ah! here comes the supper. Now, landlord, I want you to join me, that
+we may have that little chat I spoke of," said the stranger, wheeling
+his arm-chair around to the table, while the waiter arranged the dishes,
+and stared at the flaming red head of the guest.
+
+"What name might I have the honor of entering on my books, sir, if you
+please?" inquired the host, as he obligingly took his seat opposite his
+guest.
+
+"What name might you have the honor of entering on your books?" repeated
+the stranger, helping himself to a huge slice of ham. "Well, you _might_
+have the honor of entering quite a variety of names on your books, as I
+dare say you do; but for the sake of brevity, which is the soul of wit,
+you may put down Smith--John Smith of New York city. Common name, eh,
+landlord, and from a big city? Can't help that--fault of my forefathers
+and godfathers. Whenever I have to sign a check the bankers make me
+write myself down as 'John Smith of John.' Can't do any better than that
+if it were to avert a financial crisis. All my ancestors have been John
+Smiths, from the days of William Rufus, when his chief armorer John,
+surnamed the 'Smiter,' for his lusty blows, founded the family. So you
+may set me down as 'John Smith of John, New York city.' And now send the
+waiter away, and fall to and tell me some of your neighborhood news."
+
+Nothing but the consciousness of the possession of those two big bills
+would have given the landlord courage to have left his business below
+stairs to take care of itself even for the half hour to which he
+mentally resolved to limit his interview with the stranger. However, he
+dismissed the waiter with some extra charges, and then placed himself at
+the service of his guest, and even took the initiative of the
+_tête-à-tête_ by asking:
+
+"You are quite a stranger in this neighborhood, sir?"
+
+"Quite."
+
+"Travelling on business, or for pleasure?"
+
+"Pleasure."
+
+"A delightful season this, to travel in, sir; neither too warm, nor too
+cold. And the country never looks so rich and beautiful as in its autumn
+foliage."
+
+"True," answered the stranger, briefly, and then he added, "I didn't ask
+you to come here to catechize me, my good friend; but to submit to be
+catechized yourself, and to amuse me with the gossip of the
+neighborhood."
+
+Again nothing but the consciousness of a heavy fee would have induced
+the host of the "Antlers" to put up with this traveller's "nonsense," as
+he termed his general assumption of superiority.
+
+"What would you like to hear about, then, sir?" growled the landlord.
+
+"First, what important families have you in this part of the country?"
+
+"Well, sir, the most principlest is the Bernerses of Black Hall, which
+have returned from their bridal tour about a month ago and taken up
+their abode there in the old ancestral home."
+
+"The Berners! Who are they?" inquired the traveller, carelessly trifling
+with the wing of a pheasant.
+
+"You must be a stranger indeed, sir, not to know the Bernerses of Black
+Hall," said the landlord, with an expression of strong disapprobation.
+
+"Well, as I don't know them, and as they seem to be persons of the
+highest distinction, perhaps you will tell me all about them," said the
+traveller.
+
+And the landlord not unwillingly gave the guest the full history of the
+Berners of Black Hall, down to the marriage of the last heiress, at
+which the bridegroom took the name of the bride's family. And then he
+described the situation of the Hall and the way in which it might be
+reached, and ended by saying:
+
+"And if you think of making any stay in this neighborhood, sir, and
+will send your card to Mr. and Mrs. Berners, they will be sure to call
+on you and show you every attention in their power, sir; invite you to
+their house, introduce you to the neighbors, make parties for you, and
+make you generally welcome among us."
+
+"They are very hospitable, then?"
+
+"Hospitable! Why, sir, even when they were on their bridal tour, they
+fell in with a lovely lady in distress, and what do they do but pay her
+bills at the hotel, and fetch her and her child and her servant, all,
+bag and baggage, home with themselves, to stay at Black Hall as long as
+ever she likes?"
+
+"Indeed! That was a very unusual stretch of hospitality. And this lady
+is still with them?" inquired the stranger.
+
+"She is that, sir; although the word do go around that it would be well
+if she was to go away."
+
+"Ah! why so?"
+
+"Well, sir--but, lord, it is all servants' gossip, and there may be
+nothing in it; but they do say that the master of the house is too fond
+of the visitor, and likewise she of him; and that this do make the
+mistress of the house very unhappy."
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the stranger, in a half-suppressed voice.
+
+"They do say, sir, that whenever the mistress turns her back, they
+two--the master and the guest--do go on like any pair of sweethearts,
+which is a great scandal, if it's true."
+
+"Ah ha!" muttered the stranger, clenching and grinding his teeth.
+
+"Howsever, sir, if the master is in love with the visitor, and the
+mistress is made unhappy thereby, that is no reason why they should put
+off their mask ball and disappoint the whole community, I suppose they
+think; so they have not done so; but they have their ball this evening,
+just as if they were the happiest household in the country."
+
+"Oh, a mask ball have they, this evening! And what sort of an affair is
+it to be?"
+
+"Well, sir, the ball is to be like other balls, I believe, only that the
+guests are to appear in fancy dresses, or in loose gowns called
+dominoes, and to wear false faces until supper-time, when they unmask
+and reveal themselves to each other."
+
+"Yes, that is just like other mask balls," said the stranger, and then
+he seemed to fall into thought for a few minutes; and then, rousing
+himself, he said:
+
+"Landlord, you told me that your house is very full to-night, and so you
+must have a great deal of business on your hands."
+
+"I just have, sir," replied the impatient host.
+
+"Then I will not detain you any longer from your other guests. Pray send
+the waiter to remove this service immediately. And then, I think, as I
+am very much fatigued by my stage-coach journey over your beastly roads,
+I will retire to bed," said the stranger.
+
+And the landlord, glad to be relieved, got up and bowed himself out.
+
+His exit was soon followed by the entrance of the waiter who quickly
+cleared the table and also retired.
+
+The next proceedings of the stranger were rather singular.
+
+As soon as he found himself quite alone, he locked his door, to secure
+himself from any possibility of interruption, and hung a towel over the
+key-hole, to guard his movements from observation, and then he unlocked
+his portmanteau, and took from it a strange and horrible disguise, that
+I will try to describe, so as to make it plain to the reader.
+
+It was a tight-fitting suit, the pantaloons and jacket being made all
+in one piece, and of such elastic material as to fit close to the form.
+The ground of this dress was black; but upon it was painted, in strong
+relief of white, the blanched bones of a skeleton--thus: down the legs
+of the pantaloons were traced the long bare leg bones, with the large
+joints of the hips, knees, and ankles; across the body was traced the
+white ribs, breast-bone, and collar-bone; and down the sleeves were
+traced the long bones of the arms, with the large shoulder-blades,
+elbow-joints, and wrists; the bones of the hands were traced in white
+upon tight-fitting black gloves, and those of the feet upon
+tight-fitting black socks: a round scull-cap was to be drawn over the
+head; this was all white, to represent the skull, and had its skeleton
+features marked out with black.
+
+The stranger having divested himself of his upper garments then put on
+this horrible dress. When he had finished his revolting toilet, even to
+the drawing on of the skull-cap, he surveyed himself in the mirror that
+reflected as ghastly a figure of "Death," as Milton, Danté, or even
+Gustav Doré, ever conceived.
+
+He laughed sardonically, as he exclaimed:
+
+"Ah ha! they will not expect 'Death' to be a guest at their ball!"
+
+Then over this grim costume he threw a large travelling cloak, and upon
+his head he placed a broad-brimmed black felt hat. And now, being all
+ready, he prepared to leave the room.
+
+First he put out the light, and then he cautiously unlocked the door,
+and, secure from observation himself, he looked out to see if the coast
+was clear.
+
+The passage was dark, but soon he saw a door on the opposite side open,
+and two young men come out in masquerade dresses, and hasten, laughing
+and talking, down the stairs. They were evidently on their way to the
+mask ball.
+
+The next instant, the door on the same side with his own opened, and a
+lady and gentleman, both in black dominoes and masks, came out and
+passed down stairs.
+
+"Good!" said the stranger to himself. "If I am met at all, I shall be
+mistaken for one of the invited guests of the ball, and pass out without
+being recognized." And so saying, he softly drew the key from the inside
+of the lock, and closed and locked the door, and taking the key with
+him, glided down the stairs and out of the house, and took the road to
+Black Hall.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XV.
+
+                          THE MASQUERADE BALL.
+
+
+            Light up the mansion, spread the festive board;
+              Welcome the gay, the noble, and the fair!
+            Through the bright hall in joyous concert poured,
+              Let mirth and music sound the dirge of care!
+            But ask thou not if happiness be there,
+              If the loud laugh disguise convulsive throe,
+            Or if the brow the heart's true livery wear;
+              Lift not the festal mask!--enough to know
+            No scene of mortal life but teems with mortal woe!
+                                                 --WALTER SCOTT.
+
+
+The whole front of Black Hall blazed with festive lights; and these
+lights were all reflected in the dark waters of the lake, and by the
+glowing foliage of the trees that clothed the mountains, and by the
+sparkling spray of the cascades that sprung from the rocks on the other
+side.
+
+The space immediately before the house was crowded with carriages of
+every description, from the splendid open barouche to the comfortable
+family coach and the plain gig.
+
+The portico and passages in front of the house were thronged with
+arriving guests and waiting attendants ready to show them to the
+dressing-rooms, which were lighted and warmed, and supplied with every
+convenience for the completion of the toilets.
+
+The drawing-room and dancing saloon brilliantly lighted by chandeliers,
+and beautifully decorated with festoons of dark bright evergreens and
+wreaths of gorgeous autumn leaves and bouquets of splendid autumn
+flowers, stood ready with wide open doors to welcome the company.
+
+At the hall door, at the head of the servants, stood Mr. Joseph Joy the
+house steward, and Miss Tabitha Winterose the housekeeper, both
+disgusted with the heathenish costumes, distracted with the confusion,
+disapproving of the whole proceedings, yet determined to do their duty.
+
+Their duty was to see that the men and maids did _theirs_, in showing
+the gentlemen and ladies to their dressing-rooms. They had both in turn
+been astonished, scandalized, and appalled by the grotesque figures that
+had passed them. But their manner of expressing their sentiments was
+quite different.
+
+Joseph Joy stared, wondered, and shook his head.
+
+Miss Tabby sighed, whimpered, and moralized.
+
+"I feel as if I had been drinking for a week, and had a lively sort of a
+nightmare! Here comes another ghoul, in a false face and black gown and
+hood! Now, how is anybody to tell what it is? Whether it is a tall woman
+or a short man? Gentleman, or lady, if your honor pleases?" said Joseph
+Joy, addressing himself to a black domino that just then came up.
+
+"Gentleman," answered the unknown.
+
+"Pass to the right, then, if you please, sir! Here Alick, show this
+gentleman in the black shroud to the gentlemen's dressing-room."
+
+A trembling darky came forward and took charge of this terrific
+personage.
+
+"Ah, my goodness! no good will ever come of this!" sighed Miss Tabby.
+
+"No good? Yes there will too!" answered Joseph Joy, who was fond of
+contradiction. "All these bare-necked, bare-armed, and bare-legged
+people will get the pleurisy and be laid on the flat of their backs for
+three months, when they will have the opportunity of meditating on the
+iniquity of their ways! And won't that be good?"
+
+"Yes, it will; and I hope it will be sanctified to their souls," sighed
+Miss Tabitha.
+
+"And now here comes another bogie! Gentleman, or lady, please?" politely
+inquired the usher, as a red domino approached.
+
+"Lady," softly murmured the domino.
+
+"Pass the lady on to your maids, Miss Winterose! And here's another that
+certainly belongs to your department too! And another, and another, and
+a whole dozen of them!" exclaimed Mr. Joy, as a troupe of bayaderes,
+gipsies, peasants, court ladies, et cætera, filed up.
+
+All these Miss Winterose passed on to Delia, with directions to show
+them to the ladies' dressing-rooms. And then she turned to Mr. Joy with
+a deep sigh, whimpering:
+
+"Ah! Joseph, where do all these people expect to die when they go to?
+I--I mean, to go to when they die?"
+
+"They don't trouble themselves about that, I reckon," said contradictory
+Joe.
+
+"Ah! but it is written that we shall not make to ourselves the likeness
+of anything that is in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or in
+the waters under the earth. And here are all these people making of
+themselves--" Miss Tabby stopped and snivelled, and then stopped again
+to wipe a tear from the tip of her nose.
+
+"Well, what?" demanded antagonistic Joe. "What are these people making
+of themselves? Nothing that breaks the first commandment, for surely you
+don't mean to say that they make of themselves the image of anything in
+the heavens above, the earth below, or the waters under the earth, do
+you?"
+
+"No, Joseph; but I was mistrusting as they had made themselves up into
+images of something in t' other place."
+
+"With the Evil One for a pattern, eh? And here he comes, sure enough.
+Talk of the d---- and you know what happens," muttered Joe Joy, as a
+most appalling apparition approached. It was a tall, thin figure, clad
+in a tight-fitting black suit, that clung close to the skin from the
+crown of the head to the soles of the feet and the palms of the hands;
+skull-cap, mask, jacket, sleeves, trousers, shoes and gloves seeming to
+be knit all of one piece, or else very artistically joined together.
+Crowning the black brows were two tall white horns; tipping the black
+fingers were long white talons; terminating the black feet were cloven
+white hoofs. Crimson glass goggles over the eyes gave the look of
+burning coals; and by some "devilish cantrap strange," some trick in
+chemistry, at least, little jets of flame appeared to issue from the
+mouth and nostrils of the mask.
+
+"Heaven save us! There's no mistaking his sex, or identity either,"
+gasped Mr. Joe, backing himself away from this diabolical figure until
+he was stopped by the wall, from which he cried out, "Here, Jerry, show
+the--Enemy--into the gentleman's dressing-room."
+
+The shuddering boy, shaking in every limb, shrank away and merely
+pointed out the door of the dressing-room.
+
+Miss Tabby had merely time to raise her hands and eyes in mute appeal to
+heaven, before a shoal of new arrivals--"flower girls," "strawberry
+girls," "match girls," "morning stars," "evening stars," "springs,"
+"summers," "nuns," "bacchantes," etc., claimed her attention; while a
+troupe of "brigands," "monks," "troubadours," "clowns," "harlequin,"
+"kings," "crusaders," et cætera, demanded the guidance of Mr. Joy.
+
+And after this thicker and faster they came, crowding one group behind
+another, until the ushers were nearly demented. When drove after drove
+had divided and passed to the right or the left, that is, to the ladies'
+or gentlemen's dressing-rooms, and the stream began to slacken a little,
+so that they could distinguish individuals, Mr. Joy in turn received
+and passed a "puritan preacher," a "cavalier soldier," a "Highlander," a
+"knight," a "minstrel," the "vailed prophet," a "Switzer," a "Chinese
+mandarin," a "Russian serf," and black, white, and gray, red, yellow,
+and blue dominoes, he suddenly exclaimed:
+
+"Good Lord deliver us! What's _that_?"
+
+Miss Tabby, who, to her infinite disgust, had been receiving and passing
+any number of "fairies," "fisher girls," "soubrettes," "sultanas,"
+et cætera, turned around, and in a quavering voice, inquired:
+
+"What's _what_?"
+
+"Why, _that_!" shuddered Joe, pointing to a ghastly figure that was
+standing quite still, a few paces from where they stood, trembling.
+
+"It's a skeleton! Oh, my goodness! how did ever IT get here?"
+
+"Yes, it _is_ a skeleton! Oh, this is too horrible!" gasped Joe,
+shrinking up against the wall. And his female companion clung close to
+him.
+
+Meanwhile the "skeleton" stalked towards them.
+
+We, reader, have seen the figure before. But so distinctly was the
+skeleton of the human body painted in white upon that tight-fitting
+black suit, that the illusion was perfect; and the wonder was not great
+that the two poor ignorant servants trembled and gasped, and shrank
+back.
+
+"Why, if you were not afraid of the Devil, why should you shrink from
+Death?" demanded the stranger:
+
+            "Grinning horribly a ghastly smile."
+
+"I--was not--afraid; only it gives one such a turn!" replied Joe, with
+chattering teeth.
+
+"Then direct me to a dressing-room," ordered the stranger.
+
+"But--are you--a gentleman's skeleton, or a lady's?" gasped Joe.
+
+"I am neither. I am Death," curtly replied the stranger.
+
+"Lord save us!" ejaculated Miss Tabby.
+
+"Are you going to direct me to a dressing-room?"
+
+"Yes, sure, as soon as I know what sort of a one you want. Are you a
+gentleman's death, or a lady's?" faltered Joe, who could by no means
+command his nerves.
+
+"I am a lady's death!" replied the stranger, in a tone so grim that Miss
+Tabby ejaculated:
+
+"Heaven have mercy on us!"
+
+Joe was about to direct the stranger to the ladies' dressing-rooms, when
+his attention was suddenly diverted by the arrival of a crowd of
+"knights," "Indians," "Welsh bards," "grisettes," "Greek slaves,"
+et cætera, who demanded immediate service. The usher divided them according
+to their sexes, and then noticed that the ghastly figure of "Death"
+joined the gentlemen's party and accompanied them to their
+dressing-room.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVI.
+
+                              ON THE WATCH.
+
+
+        False--from the head's crown to the foot's sole--false!
+        To think I never knew it until now,
+        Nor saw thro' him e'en when I saw him smile;
+        Saw that he meant this when he wed me,
+        When he caressed me! Yes, when he kissed my lips!--BROWNING
+
+
+While this busy scene was being enacted below stairs, equally important,
+if quieter dramas were being performed in the dressing-rooms up-stairs,
+where the maskers were putting the last finishing touches to their
+toilets.
+
+In Mrs. Berners' dressing-room, Sybil, the queen of the festival, was
+alone. Mr. Berners, who had assumed the character of "Harold, the last
+of the Saxon Kings," had already completed his toilet and gone below
+stairs, as he said, to take his place near the door to welcome his
+guests as they should enter the drawing-room.
+
+So Sybil was alone in her apartment. She also had just completed her
+toilet, and now she stood before the large cheval mirror, surveying the
+reflection of her figure from its clear surface, where it looked like a
+framed picture.
+
+Ah! far the most beautiful, far the most terrible figure in the
+pageantry of the evening would be that of Sybil Berners! She had chosen
+for her character the unprecedented part of the impersonation of the
+Spirit of Fire. It suited well with her whole nature. She was a true
+child of the sun--a fervent Fire Worshipper, if ever there lived one in
+a Christian community. And now her costume was but the outward sign of
+the inward fervor. Let me try to describe it.
+
+She wore a robe of chameleon-hued satin, so artfully woven, with a warp
+of golden thread and woof of crimson silk, that, as with every change of
+light and shade, it glowed in ruby coals or blazed in amber flames; and
+as with every motion of her graceful form it flashed around her, she
+seemed to be clothed in living fire.
+
+She wore a burning garnet, like a live coal on her bosom; and on her
+brow a golden circle set with garnets, and having golden points set with
+amber and topaz, and tipped with diamonds, and flashing like little
+tongues of flame from a circle of fire.
+
+Her mask was of golden gauze, perfectly moulded to her beautiful
+features.
+
+Never had Sybil Berners worn a dress so perfectly expressive of herself
+as this, for she herself was Fire!
+
+She had confided the secret of her costume to no one but to her husband,
+not even to her guest--courtesy did not oblige her to do that; and in
+order to preserve the secret inviolate, she had on this occasion dressed
+herself without the assistance of her maid.
+
+Being now ready to join the maskers, she slipped a large dark cloak
+over her dress, opened the chamber door cautiously to see that the hall
+was clear, found it to be so at that moment, and slipped out, glided
+down the front stairs, elbowing crowds that were pushing up, and so
+passed down to the lower hall, and stole through the multitude that
+filled it up, back to the rear door. She passed around the outside of
+the house to the front door, and entered with the swarm of new arrivals.
+Would the ushers, Joe Joy and Miss Tabby, recognize their lady? That was
+the question, and that was the test. She passed up with the rest,
+letting her black cloak slip down to reveal her robe and crown of fire.
+
+"Heaven save us! who comes here? It must be a mermaid from the 'lake
+that burneth with fire and brimstone for ever and ever.' It's a she,
+anyhow, and belongs to your department, thanks be to goodness!"
+whispered Joseph Joy, to his companion in duty.
+
+"This way, ma'am, if you please. Delia, pass this lady on to the ladies'
+dressing-room," said unconscious Miss Tabby, courtesying and pointing.
+
+And Sybil passed on, smiling to herself to perceive that not even her
+old family domestics had recognized her face or form. So, keeping up her
+stratagem of being one of the masked guests of the ball, she entered the
+large chamber that had been chosen for the ladies' dressing-room and
+fitted up with a dozen small dressing-tables and mirrors. Her entrance
+created a sensation even among that fantastic crowd, each individual of
+which was a wonder in him or herself.
+
+"Oh! look there!" simultaneously whispered twenty masks to forty others,
+as they caught sight of her.
+
+"What a marvellous dress! What a splendid creature!"
+
+"What a dazzling costume!"
+
+"She throws us all in the shade."
+
+These were a few of the impulsive ejaculations of admiration that were
+passed from one to another, as Sybil flashed through the throng and
+stopped before a dressing-table, where she made a pretence of putting a
+few finishing touches to her dress.
+
+Then, certain of not having been recognized, and wishing to escape such
+close scrutiny in such confined quarters, she joined a group of ladies
+who, having completed their own toilets, were just then passing out of
+the chamber door into the upper hall, where they were met by their
+gentleman escorts.
+
+There was no one to meet Sybil; a circumstance that was not of much
+importance, since there were one or two other ladies of the same party,
+who, having no escort of their own, had to follow in the wake of others.
+Nor would Sybil have minded this at all, had she not looked over the
+balustrades and seen issuing from the little passage leading from Mrs.
+Blondelle's room, two figures--a gentleman and a lady. The gentleman she
+instantly recognized as her husband, by his dress as "Harold, the last
+of the Saxon Kings." The lady she felt certain must be Rosa Blondelle,
+as she wore the dress of "Edith the Fair," the favorite of the King.
+
+For an instant Sybil reeled under this shock; and then she recovered
+herself, re-gathered all her strength, and sternly crushing down all
+this weakness, passed on as a guest among her guests to the door of the
+drawing-room.
+
+There they were received by a very venerable mask with a long and
+flowing white beard, and dressed in a gold 'broidered black velvet
+tunic, white hose, white gauntlets, and red buskins, and holding a long
+brazen wand. This was no other than "Father Abe," the oldest man on the
+manor, personating my "Lord Polonius," that prince of gentlemen ushers
+and gold sticks in waiting.
+
+While Sybil stood behind the group, she saw her husband and her rival
+precede every one to the door.
+
+"Names, if you please, sir?" inquired the usher with a bow.
+
+"Harold the Saxon and Edith the Fair," answered Mr. Berners in a low
+voice.
+
+"Mr. Harry Claxton and Miss Esther Clair!" shouted poor old Abe at the
+top of his voice as he opened wider the door to admit his unknown master
+and the lady.
+
+"Name, sir, please?" he continued, addressing the next party.
+
+"Rob Roy Macgregor."
+
+"Mr. Robert McCracker!" shouted the usher, passing in this mask, and
+passing immediately to the next with, "Name, missus, please?"
+
+"Fenella the dumb girl," murmured a very shy little maiden, whom the
+usher immediately announced as "An Ell of a dumb girl!" And so on, he
+went, making the most absurd as well as the most awful blunders with
+ladies' and gentlemen's names, as announcing the "Grand Turk" as Miss
+Ann Burke; for which last mistake the poor old man was not much to
+blame, as the subject was but a little fellow in a turban and long gown,
+whom Polonius naturally took to be a woman in a rather fantastic female
+dress. But when he thundered forth a "Musketeer" as a "mosquito," and a
+"Crusader" as a "curiosity," and "Joan of Arc" as "Master Johnny Dark,"
+he was quite unpardonable.
+
+Meanwhile Sybil had entered the room, which was blazing with light and
+resounding with music. As the guests were now nearly all assembled, the
+gentlemen selected partners and opened the ball with a grand promenade
+to the music of the grand march in "Faust."
+
+Introductions are of course unnecessary at private masquerades, as well
+as impracticable at all such festivals; so when the ghastly mask "Death"
+came up and offered his skeleton arm to Sybil for the promenade, she
+unhesitatingly accepted it, supposing him all the while to be one of her
+invited guests.
+
+But in joining the promenaders, he entered the circle at a point
+immediately in the rear of Harold the Saxon, and Edith the Fair. Death
+kept his eye on the two, and speaking in a low voice, inquired of his
+companion;
+
+"Beautiful mask! though we may not yet discover ourselves to each other,
+yet we are at liberty to form a guess of the identity of our friends
+here?"
+
+"Yes," answered Sybil, in a low voice. She scarcely understood what she
+had been asked, or what she had answered; for her whole attention was
+absorbed in watching her husband and her rival, who were walking
+immediately before her--so close, yet so unconscious of her presence; so
+near in person, yet so far in spirit!
+
+"--As, for instance, lovely mask," continued Death, "I think I know this
+'Fair Edith' as the beautiful blonde who is staying here with our
+hostess. Am I not right?"
+
+"Yes," answered Sybil, in the same absent and unconscious manner; for
+she really had not the slightest idea of what he had been talking about,
+but only a half-conscious instinct that the best and shortest, as well
+as the most courteous, way, in which to be rid of him was to agree with
+all he said. Her whole attention was still painfully absorbed by the
+pair before her.
+
+"But as for the gentleman, Saxon Harold, I do not recognize him at all!
+However, he seems to be quite devoted to his fair Edith, as is most
+natural! Fair Edith was his best beloved! best beloved? Yes, beloved far
+beyond his queen!"
+
+Sybil knew what he was saying now! She was listening to him with her
+ears, while she was watching the pair before her with her eyes.
+
+"When Harold's dead body was found on the battle-field, it was not the
+queen, but Fair Edith, who was sent for to identify it, and to her it
+was given," continued the stranger.
+
+A half-suppressed cry broke from Sybil's lips.
+
+"What is the matter? Are they treading on your feet?" inquired the mask.
+
+"_Some_ one is treading on me," murmured Sybil, with a sad double
+meaning.
+
+"Do not press on us so, if you please, sir!" said Death, turning and
+staring angrily at the unoffending little Grand Turk, and Fenella the
+dumb girl, who happened to be immediately in the rear. Having thus
+brow-beaten the imaginary enemy, Death turned to his companion and said:
+
+"King Harold and Fair Edith were lovers, and these who assume their
+parts are also lovers, and they take their related parts from a
+sentimental motive! You are tired! let me lead you to a seat!" suddenly
+exclaimed the stranger, feeling his partner's form drooping heavily from
+his side.
+
+She was almost fainting, she was almost sinking into a swoon. She
+permitted her escort to take her to a chair, and to fetch her a glass of
+water. And then she thanked him and requested him to select another
+partner, as she was too much fatigued to go upon the floor again for an
+hour, and that she preferred to sit where she was, and to watch the
+masquerade march on before her.
+
+But Death politely declared that he preferred to stand there by her and
+share her pastime, if she would permit him to do so.
+
+She bowed assent, and Death took up his position at her side.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVII.
+
+                         DRIVEN TO DESPERATION.
+
+            For only this night, as they whispered, I brought
+            My own eyes to bear on her so, that I thought,
+            Could I keep them one half-minute fixed--she would fall
+            Shrivelled!--She fell not; yes, this does it all.--BROWNING
+
+
+As the circle revolved before them, Sybil saw no one but Lyon Berners
+and Rosa Blondelle, and these she saw always--with her eyes, when they
+were before them; with her spirit, when they had revolved away from
+them. She saw him hold close to his heart the arm that leaned on his
+arm; she saw him press her hand, and play with her fingers, and look
+love in the glances of his eyes, and speak love in the tones of his
+voice, although no _word_ of love had been uttered as yet.
+
+At last--oh! deliverance from torture!--the music ceased, the
+promenaders dispersed to their seats.
+
+The relief was but short! The band soon struck up a popular quadrille,
+and the gentlemen again selected their partners and formed sets. Lyon
+Berners, who had conducted his fair companion to a distant seat, now led
+her forth again, and stood with her at the head of one of the sets.
+
+"There! you see! they _are_ lovers! I wonder who _he_ is?" whispered
+Death, leaning to Sybil's ear.
+
+Sybil bit her lip and answered nothing.
+
+"Ah! you do not know, or will not tell! Well, will you honor me with
+your hand in this quadrille?" requested the stranger, with a bow.
+
+Scarcely knowing what she did, for her eyes and thoughts were still
+following her husband and her rival, Sybil bowed assent, and arose from
+her seat.
+
+Death took her hand and led her up to the same quadrille, at the head
+of which Harold the Saxon and Edith the Fair stood, and he placed
+himself and his partner exactly opposite to, and facing them.
+
+Thus Lyon Berners for the first time in the evening was obliged to see
+his wife, for of course he knew her by her dress, as she knew him by his
+dress. She saw him stoop and whisper to his partner, and she surmised
+that he gave her a hint as to who was their _vis-a-vis_, and gave it as
+a warning. She fancied here that her confidence had been betrayed in
+small matters as well as in great, and even in this very small item of
+divulging the secret of her costume to her rival. And at that moment she
+took a resolution, which later in the evening she carried out. Now,
+however, from behind her golden mask she continued to watch her husband
+and her rival. She noticed, that from the instant her husband had
+observed his wife's presence, he modified his manner towards his
+partner, until there seemed nothing but indifference in it.
+
+But this change, instead of being satisfactory to Sybil, was simply
+disgusting to her, who saw in it only the effect of her own presence,
+inducing hypocrisy and deception in them. And the resolution that she
+had formed was strengthened.
+
+Meanwhile the only couple that was wanted to complete the quadrille now
+came up, and the dance began.
+
+Sybil noticed, in an absent-minded sort of a way, how very gracefully
+her grim partner danced. And the thought passed carelessly through her
+mind, that if in that most ghastly disguise his manner and address were
+so elegant and polished, how very refined, how perfect they must be in
+his plain dress. And she wondered and conjectured who, among her
+numerous friends and acquaintances, this gentleman could be; and she
+admired and marvelled at the tact and skill with which he so completely
+and successfully concealed his identity.
+
+She noticed too, in the superficial sort of manner in which she noticed
+everything except the objects of her agonizing jealousy, that her
+strange partner watched Rosa as closely as she herself watched Lyon--and
+she even asked herself:
+
+"Does he know Rosa, and is he jealous?"
+
+Meanwhile the mazy dance went merrily on, heying and setting, whirling
+and twisting to the inspiring sound of music. And Sybil acted her part,
+scarcely conscious that she did it, until the set was ended, and she was
+led back to her seat by her partner, who, as he placed her in it, bowed
+gracefully, thanked her for the honor she had done him, and inquired if
+he could have the pleasure of bringing her a glass of water, lemonade,
+or anything else.
+
+But she politely declined all refreshment.
+
+He then expressed a hope of having the honor of dancing with her again
+during the evening, and with a final bow he withdrew.
+
+But he did but make way for a succession of suitors, who, in low and
+pleading tones, besought the honor of her hand in the waltz that was
+about to begin. But to each of these in turn she excused herself, upon
+the plea that she never waltzed.
+
+Next she was besieged by candidates for the delight of dancing with her
+in the quadrille that was immediately to follow the waltz. And she
+mechanically bowed assent to the first applicant, and excused herself to
+all others, upon the plea of her previous engagement.
+
+That Sybil consented to dance at all, under the painful circumstances of
+her position, was due to the instinctive courtesy of her nature, which
+taught her, that on such an occasion as this, the hostess must not
+indulge her private feelings, however importunate they might be, but
+that she must mingle in the amusements of her guests; for she forgot
+that a masquerade ball was different from all other entertainments in
+this, that her masquerade dress put her on an equality with all her
+guests, and emancipated her from all the duties of a hostess as long as
+she should wear her mask.
+
+Meanwhile she was looking for her husband and her rival, who had both
+disappeared. And presently her vigilance was rewarded. They reappeared,
+locked in each other's arms, and whirling around in the bewildering
+waltz. And she watched them, all unconscious that she herself was the
+"observed of all observers," the "cynosure of eyes," the star of that
+"goodlie company." All who were not waltzing, and many who were
+waltzing, were talking of Sybil.
+
+"Who is she? What is she? Where did she come from? Does any one know
+her?" were some of the questions that were asked on all sides.
+
+"She outshines every one in the room," whispered a "Crusader" to a
+"Quaker."
+
+"I have heard of 'making sunshine in a shady place,' but _she_ 'makes
+sunshine' even in a lighted place!" observed Tecumseh.
+
+"Who, then, is she?" inquired William Penn.
+
+"No one knows," answered Richard Coeur de Lion.
+
+"But what character does she take?" asked Lucretia Borgia.
+
+"I should think it was a 'Priestess of the sun,'" surmised Rebecca the
+Jewess.
+
+"No! I should think she has taken the character of the 'Princess
+Creusa,' the daughter of Creon, King of Corinth, and the victim of Medea
+the Sorceress. Creusa perished, you know, in the robe of magic presented
+to her as a wedding gift from Medea, and designed to burn the wearer to
+ashes! Yes, decidedly it is Creusa, in her death robe of fire!"
+persisted the 'gentle Desdemona,' who had just joined the motley group.
+
+"You are every one of you mistaken. I heard her announced when she
+entered--the 'Spirit of Fire,'" said Pocahontas, with an air of
+authority.
+
+"That is her assumed character! Now to find out her real one."
+
+"Shall I whisper my opinion? Mind, it is _only_ an opinion, with no data
+for a foundation," put in Charlemagne.
+
+"Yes; do tell us who you take her to be," was the unanimous request of
+the circle.
+
+"Then I think she is our fair hostess!"
+
+"Oh-h-h!" exclaimed all the ladies.
+
+"Why do you think so?" inquired several of the gentlemen.
+
+"Because the _correspondence_ is so perfect that it strikes me at once,
+as it ought to strike everybody."
+
+"How? how?"
+
+"The correspondence between her nature and her costume, I mean! The
+outward glow expresses the inward heat. Believe me, Sybil Berners has
+been masquerading all her life, and now for the first time appears in
+her true character--a 'Fire Queen!'"
+
+Such gossip as this was going on all over the room, but only in this
+circle was the secret of Sybil's character discovered. But soon this
+discovery found its way through the crowd, and in half an hour after the
+secret was first revealed, every one in the room knew of it, except the
+person most concerned. Sybil was surrounded by a circle of admirers,
+each one of whom, even by the slightest change of tone or manner,
+revealed their knowledge, for it would have been as much against the
+laws of etiquette and courtesy to recognize her before she was willing
+to be recognized, as it would have been to have unmasked her before she
+was ready to unmask. So they were very guarded in their manners--even
+more guarded than they needed to be, for Sybil was not critical, she was
+indeed scarcely observant of them. She was too deeply absorbed in
+watching her adored husband and her abhorred rival, as, twined in each
+other's embrace, they swam around and around in the dizzy waltz,
+appearing, disappearing, and reappearing as they made the grand circle
+of the saloon.
+
+At first they did not see Sybil, entrenched as she was behind her group
+of admirers; but the moment that they did see her--and Sybil knew that
+very moment--they modified their manners towards each other. And again
+Sybil was more disgusted than pleased at what she thought confirmed her
+worst suspicions of them.
+
+At length the waltz was over. Lyon Berners led his fair partner to a
+seat, left her there and came to speak to his wife. But it was not until
+her group of admirers had separated to go in search of partners for the
+ensuing quadrille, that he had an opportunity of speaking to her
+privately.
+
+"How are you enjoying yourself?" he inquired, on general principles.
+
+"I am looking on. I am really interested in all these fooleries,"
+answered Sybil evasively, but truly.
+
+"Why were you not waltzing?"
+
+"Why? Because I did not choose and could not have borne to have had my
+waist encircled by any other man's arm than yours, Lyon," answered his
+wife, very gravely.
+
+"My darling Sybil, that comes of your old-fashioned notions and country
+training; and it deprives you of giving and receiving much pleasure,"
+answered Mr. Berners.
+
+And before Sybil could reply to that, the Black Prince came up to claim
+her promised hand in the quadrilles that were then forming.
+
+Again, as she flashed like fire through and through the mazes of the
+dance, her elegant figure, her graceful motions, and her dazzling,
+flame-like dress was the general subject of enthusiastic admiration.
+
+It was impossible but that some of this praise should reach the ears of
+its object. And equally impossible that her own name should not be
+coupled with it. So Sybil at length discovered that her identity was
+known, to some persons certainly--to how many she could not even
+conjecture.
+
+Suddenly she resolved to try an experiment. She turned to her partner
+and inquired:
+
+"Do you know me?"
+
+"Not until you permit me to do so, Madam," answered the Black Prince,
+very courteously.
+
+"Your reply was worthy of a knight and prince! So I permit you to
+recognize me," said Sybil.
+
+"Then you are our beautiful hostess; and I am happy to greet you by your
+real name, Mrs. Berners," said the Black Prince.
+
+"Thanks," answered Sybil. "I saw that many persons knew me, and I wished
+to ascertain whether you were among their number, and how you and others
+found me out."
+
+"Some diviner of spirits," laughed the Black Prince, "divined you, not
+only _through_ but _by_ your costume, in its correspondence with your
+character. And as soon as he made this discovery he hastened to
+promulgate it. Then I, for one, perceived at once that the splendid
+'Fire Queen' could be no other than a daughter of 'Berners of the
+Burning Heart.' And now, Madam! am I permitted to introduce myself by
+the name I bear in this humdrum world of reality, or has your
+penetration already rendered such an introduction unnecessary?"
+
+"It is unnecessary. I have just recognized--Captain Pendleton," replied
+Sybil.
+
+The captain bowed low. And then, to the "forward two" of the leader of
+the band, he led his partner up to meet their _vis-a-vis_, to "balance,"
+"pass," "change," and go through all the figures of the dance.
+
+And so the dances succeeded each other to the end of the set. And then
+Captain Pendleton led his beautiful partner back to her seat, and stood
+talking with her until the music for the waltz commenced.
+
+Then, having solicited her hand for that dance, and having ascertained
+that she never waltzed, he bowed and withdrew to find a partner
+elsewhere.
+
+Very soon Sybil saw him whirling around the room with some one of the
+many unknown flower girls that constituted so large a portion of the
+company.
+
+Soon after this she saw both her husband and her rival among the
+waltzers; but they were not waltzing together. Edith the Fair was
+whirling around and around the room in the arms of a hermit, while
+Harold the Saxon was engaged with a pretty nun.
+
+"They know me! they are cautious!" muttered Sybil, biting her lips with
+suppressed fury; for their forbearance, which she called duplicity,
+enraged her more than all their flirting had done.
+
+And now she immediately put in execution the resolution that she had
+formed in the earlier part of the evening. Seeing her new acquaintance
+Death standing unemployed, she beckoned him to approach.
+
+He came promptly.
+
+"King of Terrors!" she said with assumed levity, "I do not waltz, but I
+am tired of sitting here. Give me your arm to the other end of the room,
+and even all around the room, perhaps."
+
+"Spirit of Fire! it will not be the first time that I have had the honor
+of waiting on you or following in your track," said Death, gallantly.
+
+"True; Fire has often preceded Death as his agent," assented Sybil.
+
+"Say rather, that Death has often followed Fire as her servant."
+
+"Enough of this. We seem to be well paired, at least. Let us get up and
+walk."
+
+Death bowed and offered his arm, and Fire arose and took it. And they
+walked around the room, keeping outside the circle of the waltzers and
+near the seats by the walls. But as they walked, many exclamations of
+admiration, wonder, and awe struck their ears.
+
+"Splendid creature! She moves like a spirit or a flame," exclaimed one.
+
+"What a contrast to her companion! She all life and light, he all
+darkness and death."
+
+"It looks, as they walk side by side, as if she had burned him up and
+consumed him to a skeleton of charred bones," said another.
+
+"Horrible! Hush!" imperatively commanded a young lady, whose will, if it
+did not enforce silence, modified expression.
+
+Meanwhile Fire and Death went three times around the room. Then Fire
+paused near a little corner _tête-à-tête_ sofa, on which a young girl,
+dressed as Janet Foster the little Puritan, was seated quite alone; and
+turning to her escort, she said:
+
+"I am tired and thirsty. I will take this vacant seat for a while and
+trouble you to go and fetch me a glass of lemonade."
+
+"With pleasure!" gallantly assented Death, starting off promptly and
+zealously to execute her commands.
+
+Sybil seated herself beside the young girl on the sofa, and laying her
+hand upon her shoulder, whispered:
+
+"Trix."
+
+"There!" exclaimed the girl, starting. "Every one knows me, even you."
+
+"Well, everybody knows me also, even you," said Sybil.
+
+"It is very provoking."
+
+"Very."
+
+"When I had taken so much pains to disguise myself too."
+
+"Yes, and I also."
+
+"_You?_ Why you took the very means to reveal your self, wearing a dress
+so perfectly adapted to your nature. Anybody might have known you,"
+pouted Trix.
+
+"Yes, anybody _might_ have known me; but I do not think that anybody
+_would_ have done so, if it had not been for a certain 'expert' who,
+detecting the 'correspondences,' as he calls them, divulged the secret
+to the whole room," explained Sybil.
+
+"Well, somebody found you out, and did it by the fitness of your costume
+too. But as for me, nothing could be more opposite in character than
+Janet Foster the Puritan maiden, and Beatrix Pendleton the wild
+huntress. We are about as much alike as sage tea and sparkling hock.
+Why, see here, Sybil; in order to throw every one off the track of me, I
+took a character as unlike mine as it was possible to find, and yet I
+have not succeeded in concealing my identity. And this has provoked me
+to such an extent that I have left the dance."
+
+"And so I find you sulking here. Well, Trix, I will tell you how they
+found you out. You and I are known to be the two smallest women in the
+whole neighborhood. After having found me out, through the divination of
+a magician, it was easy to see that the other small woman must be you."
+
+"Oh, I see; but it is perfectly exasperating!"
+
+"So it is; but you may get some fun out of it yet, Trix, by turning the
+tables upon them all."
+
+"How? Tell me! I'll do anything to get the better of them."
+
+"I cannot tell you now, for here comes my escort with my lemonade, and
+this matter must remain a secret between you and me. But listen: in
+fifteen minutes from this time slip away and go to my bedroom. You know
+the way, and you will find it empty. I will join you there, and tell you
+my plan," said Sybil, in a very low tone.
+
+At that moment her escort arrived with the glass of lemonade.
+
+Sybil received it from him with many thanks, and having offered it first
+to her companion, who politely declined it, she drank it, sat the empty
+glass upon the corner of the mantle-piece and then said:
+
+"I will trouble you now, if you please, to take me back to my former
+seat."
+
+Death bowed and offered his arm. Fire arose, nodded to the little
+Puritan on the sofa, took the arm of her escort, and walked away.
+
+When she reached her old seat she dismissed her escort, and in a few
+minutes, finding herself for the instant unobserved, she quietly slipped
+away to her bed-chamber, where she found Beatrix Pendleton already
+awaiting her.
+
+First of all Sybil locked the door, to insure herself and her companion
+from interruption. Then she went to the glass and took off her crown of
+flame and her mask of gold gauze, and drew a long breath of relief as
+she turned towards her companion, who started violently, exclaiming:
+
+"Good Heaven, Sybil! how ghastly pale you look! You are ill!"
+
+"Oh, no; only very weary," sighed Sybil, adding then, in explanation,
+"You know these affairs are very fatiguing."
+
+"Yes, I know, but not to that extent, when you have a house full of
+trained servants to do everything. Why Sybil, you look as if your fiery
+dress had burned you to a form of ashes, leaving only a shape that might
+be blown away with a breath."
+
+"Like another Creusa," answered Sybil, coldly. Then changing her tone,
+she said, with assumed lightness, "Come, Trix, you want to see some fun,
+and you shall see it. You and I are of about one size. We will therefore
+exchange dresses. You shall be the Fire Queen and I will be the Puritan
+maid. You can sustain the part you will take admirably, and upon
+occasion can disguise your own voice or imitate mine. I shall do my best
+to enact the little Puritan. But with all we can do to support the
+characters, we shall puzzle people to the end of their wits. They will
+not feel quite so sure now as they were an hour ago that I am the Fire
+Queen, or you the Puritan maid. But they will not know who we are. Come,
+what have you to say to this?"
+
+"Why, that it is enchanting. I agree to your plan at once."
+
+"All right, then. We have no time to lose. It is half-past ten o'clock
+now. At twelve supper will be served, when all the guests will lay aside
+their masks. So you see that we have but an hour and a half to effect
+our change of dress and hoax our wise companions. Just before supper we
+must slip up here again and change back, so that we may unmask at supper
+in our proper disguises."
+
+"All right!" exclaimed Trix, delighted with the plan.
+
+"And there is one more caution I must give you. Keep out of the way of
+my husband. He knows my character of Fire Queen, and if he should see
+you near him in that dress, he would be sure to speak to you for me; and
+if you should attempt to reply, no matter how well you might imitate my
+voice, your speech would certainly betray you."
+
+"All right! I will keep away from your husband, if I can; but how shall
+I know him?"
+
+"He is dressed as Harold the last of the Saxon Kings!"
+
+"Oh! is _that_ Mr. Berners? And I never suspected it! I thought _that_
+was some single man, desperately smitten with the charms of Edith the
+Fair," continued Beatrix.
+
+"Oh, yes, I dare say you thought, but you were mistaken. Edith the Fair
+is our guest, Mrs. Blondelle. And she took the character of Edith to
+support Mr. Berners in Harold, and to be true to these characters they
+must act as they do; for Harold and Edith were lovers in history,"
+explained Sybil, speaking calmly, though every word uttered by her
+companion had seemed like a separate stab to her already deeply wounded
+bosom.
+
+"'Lovers in history' were they? I should take them to be lovers in
+mystery now, if I did not know them to be Mr. Berners and Mrs.
+Blondelle," persisted Beatrix, all unconscious of the blows she was
+raining upon Sybil's overburdened heart. "However," she added, "I shall
+keep out of the way of both, for if _he_ knew your disguise, be sure
+that _she_ knew it also; and of course both, in daily intercourse with
+you, know your voice equally well. And if either of them should take me
+for you and speak to me for you, and I should attempt to reply, I should
+be sure to betray myself. So I will keep away from both, if I can. If
+not, if they should come suddenly upon me and speak to me, I shall not
+answer, but shall turn around and walk silently away as if I were
+offended with them."
+
+"Yes, do that; that will be excellent," assented Sybil.
+
+"And now, how are you going to support my character, or rather my
+disguise?" inquired Beatrix.
+
+"By being very silent and demure as Janet Foster; or, if need should be,
+by carrying on your mood of sullenness as Beatrix Pendleton, masked."
+
+"That will do," agreed Beatrix, with a smile.
+
+All the while they had been speaking, they had also been taking off
+their fancy dresses. No time was lost, and the exchange of costume was
+quickly effected.
+
+"Now," said Sybil, "another favor."
+
+"Name it."
+
+"Let me go down first. Then do you wait ten minutes here before you
+follow me. And when you enter the room keep away from me, as well as
+from my husband and my guest."
+
+"Very well. I will do so. Anything else?"
+
+"Nothing now, thank you," said Sybil, kissing her hand as she left the
+room.
+
+And Sybil, dressed now in the plain, close-fitting camlet gown and prim
+white linen cap, cuffs, and collar of the Puritan maid, and with a pale,
+young looking mask on her face, reëntered the saloon to try her
+experiment.
+
+She looked around, and soon saw her husband and her rival sitting
+side-by-side, on the little retired sofa in the corner. They were
+absorbed in each other's attractions, and did not see her. She glided
+cautiously into a seat near them.
+
+They were sitting very close together, talking in a very low tone. Her
+hand rested in his. At length, Sybil heard her inquire:
+
+"Where is your wife? I have not seen her for some time."
+
+"She has left the room, I believe," answered Mr. Berners.
+
+"Oh, that is such a relief! Do you know that I am really afraid of her?"
+
+"Afraid of her! why? With me you are always perfectly safe. Safe!" he
+repeated, with a light laugh--"why, of course you are! Besides, what
+could harm you? Of whom are you afraid? Your friend, my wife, Sybil? She
+is your friend, and would do you only good."
+
+Rosa Blondelle slowly shook her head, murmuring:
+
+"No, Lyon, your wife is not my friend--she is my deadly enemy. She is
+fiercely jealous of your affection for me, though it is the only
+happiness of my unhappy life. And she will make you throw me off yet."
+
+"Never! no one, not even my wife, shall ever do that! I swear it by all
+my hopes of--"
+
+"Hush! do not swear, for she will make you break your oath. She is your
+wife. She will make you forsake me, or--she will do me a fatal mischief.
+Oh, I shiver whenever she comes near me. Ah, if you had seen her eyes
+as I saw them through her mask to-night. They were lambent flames! How
+they glared on me, those terrible eyes!"
+
+"It was your fancy, dear Rosa; no more than that. Come, shake off all
+this gloom and terror from your spirit, and be your lovely and sprightly
+self!"
+
+"But I cannot! oh, I cannot! I feel the burning of her terrible eyes
+upon me now."
+
+"But she is not even in the room."
+
+(Here Sybil slipped away to a short distance, and joined a group of
+masks as if she belonged to them.)
+
+"But I shiver as if she were near me now."
+
+Lyon Berners suddenly looked around and then laughed, saying:
+
+"But there is no one near you, dear Rosa, except Death."
+
+"Death!" she echoed with a start and a shudder.
+
+"Why, how excessively nervous you are, dear Rosa," said Lyon Berners
+laying his hand soothingly upon her shoulder.
+
+"Oh, but just reflect what you have just said to me. 'No one near me but
+Death!' Death near me!" she repeated, trembling.
+
+"Poor child, are you superstitious as well as nervous? It was the mask I
+meant. The mask that was Sybil's partner in the quadrille which we
+danced with them," laughed Lyon Berners.
+
+"Oh, yes, I know. And they stood opposite to us. So that we danced with
+them more than with any one else! And my own hand turned cold every time
+it had to touch his. What a ghastly mask!"
+
+"Yes, indeed. I wonder any man should choose such a one," added Lyon.
+
+"Who is he? Who is that mask?"
+
+"Indeed I do not know. Some one among our invited guests, of course.
+But he maintains his incognito so successfully, that even I, who have
+discovered most people in the room, have not been able to detect his
+identity. However, at supper all will unmask, and we shall see who he
+is."
+
+"Look, is he still near me?" inquired Rosa, shaking as if with an ague.
+
+Mr. Berners turned his head, and then answered:
+
+"Yes, just to your left."
+
+"Oh! please ask him to go away! I freeze and burn, all in one minute,
+while he is near!"
+
+That was enough for Lyon Berners. He arose and went to Death, and said:
+
+"Excuse me, friend. No offence is meant; but your rather ghastly costume
+is too much for the nerves of the lady who is with me. I do not ask you
+to withdraw to some other part of the room; but I ask you whether you
+will do so, or whether I shall take the lady away from her
+resting-place?"
+
+"Oh! I will withdraw! I know that my presence is not ever welcome,
+though I am not always so easily got rid of!" answered Death as, with a
+low inclination of his head, he went away.
+
+"Oh! I breathe again! I live again!" murmured Rosa, with a sigh of
+relief.
+
+"And now you are sufficiently rested, the music is striking up for a
+lively quadrille, and so, if you please, we will join the dancers and
+dance away dull care!" said Lyon Berners, rising and offering his arm to
+Rosa Blondelle.
+
+She arose and took his arm.
+
+(Sybil, in her little Puritan's dress moved after them.)
+
+He led her to the head of a set that was about to be formed.
+
+"Oh! there she is!" suddenly exclaimed Rosa.
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Sybil."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"There!"
+
+And Rosa pointed to one of the doors, at which Beatrix Pendleton, in
+Sybil's disguise, was just entering the room.
+
+"No matter! See! she has taken another direction from this, and will not
+be near you, dear child; so be at rest," said Lyon Berners soothingly.
+
+"Oh! I am so glad! You don't know how I fear that woman," replied Rosa.
+
+"But you did not use to do so!"
+
+"No! not until to-night! To-night when I met her terrible eyes," said
+Rosa.
+
+"Come, come, dear! Cheer up," smiled Mr. Berners, encouragingly, as he
+took her hand and led her to the order--"Forward four!"
+
+The dance began, and Sybil heard no more; but she had heard enough to
+convince her, if she had not been convinced before, of her guest's
+treachery and her husband's enthrallment.
+
+She went and sat down quietly in a remote corner, and "bided her time."
+And waltz succeeded quadrille, and quadrille waltz. At the beginning of
+every new dance, some one would come up and ask for the honor of her
+hand, which she always politely refused--taking good care to speak in a
+low tone, and disguised voice. At length Captain Pendleton came up, and
+mistaking her for his sister, said:
+
+"Sulking still, Trix?"
+
+Not venturing to speak to him, lest he should discover his mistake, she
+shrugged her shoulders and turned away.
+
+"All right! sulk as long as you please. It hurts no one but yourself, my
+dear," exclaimed the Captain, sauntering off.
+
+She saw Beatrix Pendleton, in her dress, moving merrily through the
+quadrille, or floating around in the waltz. She heard a gentleman near
+her say:
+
+"I thought that lady never waltzed. I know she refused me and several
+others upon the plea that she never did."
+
+And she heard the other lightly answer:
+
+"Oh, well, ladies are privileged to change their minds."
+
+The waltz of which they were speaking came now to an end. Sybil saw
+Beatrix led to a seat near her own. She also saw her partner bow and
+leave her. She seized the opportunity and glided up to Beatrix, and
+whispered:
+
+"There will be but one more quadrille, and then supper will be served. I
+am going to my room. Do not dance in the next quadrille, but follow me,
+that we may change our dresses again. We have to be ready to unmask at
+supper, you know."
+
+"Very well! I will be punctual. I really have enjoyed myself in your
+dress. And you?"
+
+"As much as I expected to. I am satisfied."
+
+At this moment the music for the quadrille struck up, and gentlemen
+began to select their partners. Two or three were coming towards Sybil
+and Beatrix. So with a parting caution to Beatrix to be careful, Sybil
+left the saloon.
+
+She glided up to her chamber, where she was soon joined by Beatrix.
+
+They began rapidly to take off their dresses, to exchange them.
+
+"Oh, I have had so much amusement!" exclaimed Beatrix, laughing.
+"Everybody took me for you. And oh, I have received so many flattering
+compliments intended for you; and I have heard so much wholesome abuse
+of myself! That I was fast; that I was eccentric; that I was more than
+half-crazy; that I had a dreadful temper. And you?"
+
+"I also received some sweet flattery intended for the pretty little
+Puritan maiden, and learned some bitter truths about myself," answered
+Sybil.
+
+"How hollow your voice is, Sybil! Bosh! who cares for such
+double-dealing wretches, who flatter us before our faces and abuse us
+behind our backs?" exclaimed Beatrix, as she quickly finished her
+Puritan toilet, and announced herself ready.
+
+Sybil was also dressed, and they went down stairs and entered the
+drawing-room together.
+
+The last quadrille before supper was over, the supper-rooms were thrown
+open, and the company were marching in.
+
+Captain Pendleton hastened to meet Sybil, and another gentleman offered
+his arm to Beatrix, and thus escorted, they fell in the line of march
+with others.
+
+As each couple passed into the supper-room, they took off their masks,
+and handed them to attendants, placed for that purpose, to the right and
+left of the door. Thus, when the company filled the rooms, every face
+was shown.
+
+There were the usual surprises, the usual gay recognitions.
+
+Among the rest, "Harold the Saxon" and "Edith the Fair" stood confessed
+as Mr. Berners and Mrs. Blondelle, and much silent surprise as well as
+much whispered suspicion was the result.
+
+"Is it possible?" muttered one. "I took them for a pair of lovers, they
+were so much together."
+
+"I thought they were a newly married pair, who took advantage of their
+masks to be more together than etiquette allows," murmured a second.
+
+"I think it was very improper; don't you?" inquired a third.
+
+"Improper! It was disgraceful," indignantly answered a fourth, who was
+no other than Beatrix Pendleton, who now completely understood why it
+was that Sybil Berners wished to change dresses with her, and also how
+it was that Sybil's voice was so hollow, as she spoke in the
+bed-chamber. "She wished to put on my dress that she might watch them
+unsuspected, and she was right. She detected them in their sinful
+trifling, and she was wretched," said Beatrix to herself. And she looked
+around to catch a glimpse of Sybil's face. Sybil was sitting too near
+her to be seen. Sybil was on the same side with herself, and only two or
+three seats off. But Beatrix saw Mr. Berners and Mrs. Blondelle sitting
+immediately opposite to herself, and with a recklessness that savored of
+fatuity, still carrying on their sentimental flirtation.
+
+Yes! Rosa was still throwing up her eyes to his eyes, and cooing "soft
+nonsense" in his ears; and Lyon was still dwelling on her glances and
+her tones with lover-like devotion. Suddenly assuming a gay tone, she
+asked him:
+
+"Where is our ghastly friend, Death! I do not see him anywhere in the
+room, and I was _so_ anxious to see him unmasked, that I might find out
+who he is. Where is he? Do you see him anywhere?"
+
+"No; he is not here yet; but doubtless he will make his appearance
+presently," answered Mr. Berners.
+
+"Do you really not know who he is?"
+
+"Not in the least; nor does any one else here know," replied Mr.
+Berners.
+
+Suddenly Rosa looked up, started, and with a suppressed cry, muttered:
+
+"Good heavens! Look at Sybil!"
+
+Mr. Berners followed the direction of her gaze across the table, and
+even he started at the sight of Sybil's face.
+
+That face wore a look of anguish, despair, and desperation that seemed
+fixed there forever; for in all its agony of passion that tortured and
+writhen face was as still, cold, hard, and lifeless as marble, except
+that from its eyes streamed glances as from orbs of fire.
+
+Mr. Berners suddenly turned his eyes from her, and looked up and down
+the table. Fortunately now every one was too busily engaged in eating,
+drinking, laughing, talking, flirting, and gossiping to attend to the
+looks of their hostess.
+
+"I must go and speak to her," said Lyon Berners in extreme anxiety and
+displeasure, as he left Rosa's side, and made his way around the table,
+until he stood immediately behind his wife. He touched her on her
+shoulder to attract her attention. She started as if an adder had stung
+her, but she never looked around.
+
+"Sybil, my dearest, you are ill. What is the matter?" he whispered,
+trying to avoid being overheard by others.
+
+"Do NOT touch me! _Do not_ speak to me, unless you wish to see me drop
+dead or go mad before you!" she answered in tones so full of suppressed
+energy, that he impulsively drew back.
+
+He waited for a moment in dire dread lest the assembled company should
+see the state of his wife, and then he ventured to renew his efforts.
+
+"Sybil, my darling, you are really not well. Let me lead you out of this
+crowded room," he whispered, very gently, laying his hand upon her
+shoulder.
+
+She dashed it off as if it had been some venomous reptile, and turned
+upon him a look flaming with fiery wrath.
+
+"Sybil you will certainly draw the attention of our guests," he
+persisted, with much less gentleness than he had before spoken.
+
+"If you touch me, or speak to me but once more--if you do not leave me
+on the instant, I _will_ draw the attention of our guests, and draw it
+with a vengeance too!" she fiercely retorted, never once removing from
+him her flaming eyes.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+                             LYING IN WAIT.
+
+
+        "He is with her; and they know that I know
+        Where they are, and what they do; they believe my tears flow
+        While they laugh, laugh at me, at me left in the drear
+        Empty hall to lament in, for them!--I am here."--BROWNING.
+
+
+"You are a lunatic, and fit only for a lunatic asylum!" was the angry
+comment of Lyon Berners, as he turned upon his heel and left his wife.
+
+It was the first time in his life that he had ever spoken angrily to
+Sybil, or even felt angry with her.
+
+Hitherto he had borne her fierce outbursts of jealousy with "a great
+patience," feeling, perhaps, that they flamed up from the depths of her
+burning love for him; feeling, also, that his own thoughtless conduct
+had caused them.
+
+Now, however, he was thoroughly incensed by the deportment of his wife,
+and deeply mortified at the effect it might have upon their company.
+
+He went around to the opposite side of the table. He did not again join
+Rosa, for he dreaded a scene, and even a catastrophe; but he mingled
+with the crowd, and stood where he could see Sybil, without being seen
+by her.
+
+Her face remained the same--awful in the marble-like stillness of her
+agonized features; terrible in the fierceness of her flaming eyes!
+
+This was at length observed by some of the guests, who whispered their
+comments or enquiries to others. And the hum of voices and the burden of
+their low-toned talk at length reached the ears or excited the
+suspicions of Lyon Berners. The ordeal of the supper-table was a
+frightful trial to him. He longed for it to be over.
+
+At length the longing was gratified--the torture was over. The guests,
+by twos and by fours, by small groups and large parties, left the
+supper-room for the saloon, where the musicians struck up a grand march,
+and the greater portion of the company formed into a leisurely promenade
+as a gentle exercise after eating, and a prudent prelude to more
+dancing.
+
+Some among the guests, however, preferred to seat themselves on the
+sofas that lined the walls, and to rest.
+
+Among these last was Rosa Blondelle, who sat on a corner sofa, and
+sulked and looked sad and sentimental because Lyon Berners had not
+spoken to her, or even approached her since he had seen that look on
+Sybil's face. To the vain and shallow coquette, it was gall and
+bitterness to perceive that Sybil had still the power, of whatever sort,
+to keep her own husband and _her_ admirer from her side. So Rosa sat and
+sorrowed, or seemed to sorrow, on the corner sofa, from which nobody
+invited her to rise, for there was a very general feeling of
+disapprobation against the beautiful blonde.
+
+Sybil also sank upon a side seat, where she sat with that same look of
+agony turned to marble, on her face. Some one came up and invited her to
+join in the promenade. Scarcely recognizing the speaker, or
+comprehending what he said, she arose, more like an automaton than a
+living woman, and let herself be led away to join the march.
+
+But her looks had now attracted very general attention, and occasioned
+much comment. More than one indiscreet friend or acquaintance had
+remarked to Mr. Berners:
+
+"Mrs. Berners looks quite ill. I fear the fatigue of this masquerade has
+been too much for her," or words to that effect.
+
+"Yes," Lyon Berners invariably replied, "she is quite indisposed this
+evening, suffering indeed; and I have begged her to retire, but I cannot
+induce her to do so."
+
+"She is too unselfish; she exerts herself too much for the entertainment
+of her guests," suggested another.
+
+And so the rumor went around the room that Mrs. Berners was suffering
+from severe illness. And this explanation of her appearance was very
+generally received; for the outward and silent manifestations of mental
+anguish are not unlike those of physical agony.
+
+And so, after another quadrille and another waltz, and the final
+Virginia reel, the company, in consideration of their hostess, began to
+break up and depart. Some few intimate friends of the family, who had
+come from a distance to the ball, were to stay all night at Black Hall.
+These upon their first arrival had been shown to the chambers they were
+to occupy, and now they knew where to find them. And so, when the last
+of the departing guests had taken leave of their hostess, and had gone
+away, these also bade her good-night and retired.
+
+And Sybil remained alone in the deserted drawing-room.
+
+It is sometimes interesting and curious to consider the relative
+position of the parties concerned, just before the enactment of some
+terrible tragedy.
+
+The situation at Black Hall was this: The guests were in their chambers,
+preparing to retire to bed. The servants were engaged in fastening up
+the house and putting out the lights, only they refrained from
+interfering with three rooms, where three members of the family still
+lingered.
+
+In the first of these was the mistress of the house, who, as I said,
+remained alone in the deserted drawing-room. Sybil stood as if turned to
+stone, and fixed to the spot--motionless in form and face, except that
+her lips moved and a hollow monotone issued from them, more like the
+moan of a lost soul, than the voice of a living woman.
+
+"So all is lost, and nothing left but these--REVENGE and DEATH!" she
+muttered.
+
+The awful spirit of her race overshadowed her and possessed her. She
+felt that, to destroy the destroyer of her peace, she would be willing
+to meet and suffer all that man could inflict upon her body, or devil
+do to her soul! And so she brooded, until suddenly out of this
+trance-like state she started, as if a serpent had stung her.
+
+"I linger here," she cried, "while they--Where are they, the traitor and
+his temptress? I will seek them through the house; I will tear them
+asunder, and confront them in their treachery."
+
+Meanwhile where were they, the false friend and the fascinated husband?
+
+Lyon Berners, much relieved from anxiety by the departure of the last
+guests, but still deeply displeased with his wife, had retired to the
+little morning parlor to collect himself. He stood now upon the rug,
+with his back to the smouldering fire, absorbed in sombre thought. He
+loved his wife, bitterly angry as he had been with her this evening, and
+prone as he was to fall under the spell of the fair siren who was now
+his temptress. He loved his wife, and he wished to insure her peace. He
+resolved to break off, at once and forever, the foolish flirtation with
+a shallow coquette which his deep-hearted Sybil had taken so earnestly.
+How to do this, occupied his thoughts now. He knew that it would be
+difficult, or impossible to do it, as long as Rosa Blondelle remained in
+the same house with himself. He felt that he could not ask her to go and
+find another home; for to do so would be rude, inhospitable, and even
+cruel to the homeless and friendless young stranger.
+
+What should he do, then?
+
+It occurred to him that he might make some fair excuse to take Sybil to
+the city, and spend the ensuing winter there with her, leaving Rosa
+Blondelle in full possession of Black Hall until she should choose to
+make arrangements to return to her own country. This or something else
+must be done, for the flirtation with Rosa must never be resumed. In the
+midst of these good resolutions he was interrupted.
+
+Meanwhile, Rosa Blondelle had been as deeply mortified and enraged by
+the sudden desertion and continued coolness of Lyon Berners, as it was
+in her shallow nature to be. She went to her own room, but she could not
+remain there. She came out into the long narrow passage leading to the
+front hall, and she paced up and down with the angry restlessness of a
+ruffled cat, muttering to herself:
+
+"She shall not take him from me, even if he is her husband! I _will_ not
+be outrivalled by another woman, even if she is his wife!"
+
+Over and over again she ground these words through her teeth, or other
+words of the same sort. Suddenly she passed out of the narrow passage
+into the broad ball, where she noticed that the parlor door was ajar, a
+light burning within the room, and the shadow of a man thrown across the
+carpet. She stole to the door, peeped in, and saw Lyon Berners still
+standing on the rug with his back to the smouldering fire, absorbed in
+sombre thought.
+
+She slipped in, and dropped her head upon his shoulder and sobbed.
+
+Startled and very much annoyed, he gently tried to raise her head and
+put her away.
+
+But she only clung the closer, and sobbed the more.
+
+"Rosa! don't! don't, child! Let us have no more of this! It is sinful
+and dangerous! For your own sake, Rosa, retire to your room!" he gently
+expostulated.
+
+"Oh! you love me no longer! You love me no longer!" vehemently exclaimed
+the siren. "That cruel woman has compelled you to forsake me! I told you
+she would do it, and now she has done it."
+
+"'That woman,' Rosa, is my beloved wife, entitled to my whole faith; yet
+not even for her will I forsake you; but I will continue to care for
+you, as a brother for a sister. But, Rosa, this must cease," he gravely
+added.
+
+"Oh, do not say that! do not! do not fling off the poor lonely heart
+that you have once gathered to your own!" and she clung to him as
+closely and wept as wildly as if she had been in earnest.
+
+"Rosa! Rosa!" he whispered eagerly, and in great embarrassment, "my
+child! be reasonable! Reflect! you have a husband!"
+
+"Ah! name him not! He robbed and left me, and I hate him," she cried.
+
+"And I have a dear and honored wife whose happiness I must guard. Thus
+you see we can be nothing to each other but brother and sister. A
+brother's love and care is all that I can offer you, or that you should
+be willing to accept from me," he continued, as he gently smoothed her
+fair hair.
+
+"Then give me a brother's kiss," she sighed. "That is not much to ask,
+and I have no one to kiss me now! So give me a brother's kiss, and let
+me go!" she pleaded, plaintively.
+
+He hesitated for a moment, and then bending over her, he said:
+
+"It is the _first_, and for your own sake it must be the _last_, Rosa!"
+he pressed his lips to hers.
+
+It _was_ the last as well as the first; for at the meeting of their
+lips, they were stricken asunder as by the fall of a thunderbolt!
+
+And Sybil, blazing with wrath, like a spirit from the Lake of Fire,
+stood between them!
+
+Yes! for she looked not human--with her ashen cheeks, and darkened brow,
+and flaming eyes--with her whole face and form heaving, palpitating,
+flashing forth the lightnings of anger!
+
+"SYBIL!" exclaimed her husband, thunderstruck, appalled.
+
+She waved her hand towards him, as if to implore or command silence.
+
+"I have nothing to say to you," she muttered, in low and husky tones,
+as if ashes were in her throat. "But to YOU!" she said, and her voice
+rose clear and strong as she turned and stretched out her arm towards
+Rosa, who was leaning in a fainting condition against the wall--"TO YOU,
+viper, who has stung to death the bosom that warmed you to life--TO YOU,
+traitress, who has come between the true husband and his wife--TO YOU,
+thief! who has stolen from your benefactress the sole treasure of her
+life--TO YOU I have this to say: I will not drive you forth in dishonor
+from my door this night, nor will I publish your infamy to the world
+to-morrow, though you have deserved nothing less than these from my
+hands; but in the morning you must leave the house you have desecrated!
+for if you do not, or if ever I find your false face here again, I will
+tread down and crush out your life with less remorse than ever I set
+heel upon a spider! I will, as I am a Berners! And now, begone, and
+never let me see your form again!"
+
+Rosa Blondelle, who had stood spell-bound by the terrible gaze and
+overwhelming words of Sybil, the wronged wife, now suddenly threw up her
+hands, and with a low cry, fled from the room.
+
+And Sybil dropped her arm and her voice at the same instant, and stood
+dumb and motionless.
+
+And now, at length, Lyon Berners spoke again.
+
+"Sybil! you have uttered words that nothing on the part of that poor
+lady should have provoked from you--words that I fear may never be
+forgotten or forgiven! But--I know that she has a gentle and easy
+nature. When you are cooler and more rational, I wish you to go to her
+and be reconciled with her."
+
+"With _her_! I am a Berners!" answered Sybil, haughtily.
+
+"But you bitterly wrong that lady in your thoughts!"
+
+"Bah! I caught her in your arms! on your breast! her lips clinging to
+yours!"
+
+"The first and last kiss! I swear it by all my hopes of Heaven,
+Sybil--a brother's kiss!"
+
+Sybil made a gesture of scorn and disgust.
+
+"If I were not past laughing, I should have to laugh now," she said.
+
+"And you will not believe this?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"And you will not be reconciled to this injured young stranger?"
+
+"I! I am a lady--'or long have dreamed so,'" answered Sybil, haughtily.
+"At least the daughter of an honest mother. And I will not even permit
+such a woman as that to live under the same roof with me another day.
+She leaves in the morning."
+
+"The house is yours! You must do as you please! But this I tell you:
+that in the same hour which sees that poor and friendless young creature
+driven from the shelter of this roof, I leave it too, and leave it for
+ever."
+
+If Lyon Berners really meant this, or thought to bring his fiery-hearted
+wife to terms by the threat, he was mistaken in her character.
+
+"Oh, go!" she answered bitterly--"go! I _will_ not harbor _her_. And why
+should I seek to detain you? Your heart has left me already; why should
+I wish to retain its empty case? Go as soon as you like, Lyon Berners.
+Good-night, and--good-bye," she said, and with a wave of her hand she
+passed from the room.
+
+He was mad to have spoken as he did; madder still to let her leave him
+so! how mad, he was soon to learn.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIX.
+
+                             SWOOPING DOWN.
+
+                Twice it called, so loudly called
+            With horrid strength beyond the pitch of nature;
+            And murder! murder! was the dreadful cry.
+            A third time it returned with feeble strength,
+            But o' the sudden ceased; as though the words
+            Were smothered rudely in the grappled throat.
+            And all was still again, save the wild blast
+            Which at a distance growled--
+            Oh, it will never from the heart depart!
+            That dreadful cry all in the instant stilled.--BAILLIE.
+
+
+Lyon Berners remained walking up and down the room some time longer. The
+lights were all out, and the servants gone to bed. Yet still he
+continued to pace up and down the parlor floor, until suddenly piercing
+shrieks smote his ear.
+
+In great terror he started forward and instinctively rushed towards
+Rosa's room, when the door was suddenly thrown open by Rosa herself,
+pale, bleeding from a wound in her breast.
+
+"Great Heaven! What is this?" he cried, as, aghast with amazement and
+sorrow, he supported the ghastly and dying form, and laid it on the
+sofa, and then sunk on his knees beside it.
+
+"Who, who has done this?" he wildly demanded, as, almost paralyzed with
+horror, he knelt beside her, and tried to stanch the gushing wound from
+which her life-blood was fast welling.
+
+"Who, who has done this fiendish deed?" he reiterated in anguish, as he
+gazed upon her.
+
+She raised her beautiful violet eyes, now fading in death; she opened
+her bloodless lips, now paling in death, and she gasped forth the words:
+
+"She--Sybil--your wife. I told you she would do it, and she has done it.
+Sybil Berners has murdered me," she whispered. Then raising herself
+with a last dying effort, she cried aloud, "Hear, all! Sybil Berners has
+murdered me." And with this charge upon her lips, she fell back DEAD.
+
+Even in that supreme moment Lyon Berners' first thought, almost his only
+thought, was for his wife. He looked up to see who was there--who had
+heard this awful, this fatal charge.
+
+_All_ were there! guests and servants, men and women, drawn there by the
+dreadful shrieks. All had heard the horrible accusation.
+
+And all stood panic-stricken, as they shrank away from one who stood in
+their midst.
+
+It was she, Sybil, the accused, whose very aspect accused her more
+loudly than the dying woman had done; for she stood there, still in her
+fiery masquerade dress, her face pallid, her eyes blazing, her wild
+black hair loose and streaming, her crimsoned hand raised and grasping a
+bloodstained dagger.
+
+"Oh, wretched woman! most wretched woman! What is this that you have
+done?" groaned Lyon Berners, in unutterable agony--agony not for the
+dead beauty before him, but for the living wife, whom he felt that he
+had driven to this deed of desperation. "Oh, Sybil! Sybil! what have you
+done?" he cried, grinding his hands together.
+
+"I? I have done nothing!" faltered his wife, with pale and tremulous
+lips.
+
+"Oh, Sybil! Sybil! would to Heaven you had died before this night! Or
+that I could now give my life for this life that you have madly taken!"
+moaned Lyon.
+
+"I have taken no life! What do you mean? This is horrible!" exclaimed
+Sybil, dropping the dagger, and looking around upon her husband and
+friends, who all shrank from her. "I have taken no life! I am no
+assassin! Who dares to accuse me?" she demanded, standing up pale and
+haughty among them.
+
+And then she saw that every lowered eye, every compressed lip, every
+shuddering and shrinking form, silently accused her.
+
+Mr. Berners had turned again to the dead woman. His hand was eagerly
+searching for some pulsation at the heart. Soon he ceased his efforts,
+and arose.
+
+"Vain! vain!" he said, "all is still and lifeless, and growing cold and
+stiff in death. Oh! my wretched wife!"
+
+"The lady may not be dead! This may be a swoon from loss of blood. In
+such a swoon she would be pulseless and breathless, or seem so! let me
+try! I have seen many a swoon from loss of blood, as well as many a
+death from the same cause, in my military experience," said Captain
+Pendleton, pushing forward and kneeling by the sofa, and beginning his
+tests, guided by experience.
+
+His words and actions unbound the spell of horror that had till then
+held the assembled company still and mute, and now all pressed forward
+towards the sofa, and bent over the little group there.
+
+"Air! air! friends, if you please! Stand farther off. And some one open
+a window!" exclaimed Captain Pendleton, peremptorily.
+
+And he was immediately obeyed by the falling off of the crowd, one of
+whom threw open a window.
+
+"Some one should fetch a physician!" suggested Beatrix Pendleton, whose
+palsied tongue was now at length unloosed.
+
+And half a dozen gentlemen immediately started for the stables to
+dispatch a messenger for the village doctor from Blackville.
+
+"And while they are fetching the physician, they should summon the
+coroner also," suggested a voice from the crowd.
+
+"No! no! not until we have ascertained that life is actually extinct,"
+exclaimed Captain Pendleton, hastily; at the same time seeking and
+meeting the eyes of Mr. Berners, with a meaning gaze said:
+
+"If we cannot restore the dead woman to life, we must at least try to
+save the living woman from unspeakable horrors!"
+
+Mr. Berners turned away his head, with a deep groan.
+
+And Captain Pendleton continued his seeming efforts to restore
+consciousness to the prostrate form before him, until he heard the
+galloping of the horse that took the messenger away for the doctor, and
+felt sure that the man could not now receive orders to fetch the coroner
+also.
+
+Then Captain Pendleton arose and beckoned Miss Tabby Winterose to come
+towards him. That lady came forward, whimpering as usual, but with an
+immeasurably greater cause than she had ever possessed before.
+
+"Close her eyes, straighten her limbs, arrange her dress. She is quite
+dead," said the Captain.
+
+Miss Tabby's voice was lifted up in weeping.
+
+But wilder yet arose the sound of wailing, as the Scotch girl, with the
+child in her arms, broke through the crowd and cast herself down beside
+her dead mistress, crying:
+
+"Oh! and is it gone ye are, my bonny leddy? Dead and gone fra us, a' sae
+suddenly! Oh, bairnie! look down on your puir mither, wham they have
+murthered--the born deevils."
+
+The poor child, frightened as much by the wild wailing of the nurse as
+by the sight of his mother's ghastly form, began to scream and to hide
+his head on Janet's bosom.
+
+"Woman, this is barbarous. Take the boy away from this sight," exclaimed
+Captain Pendleton, imperatively.
+
+But Janet kept her ground, and continued to weep and wail and
+apostrophize the dead mother, or appeal to the orphan child. And all the
+women in the crowd whose tongues had hitherto been paralyzed with
+horror, now broke forth in tears and sobs, and cries of sympathy and
+compassion, and--
+
+"Oh, poor murdered young mother! Oh, poor orphaned babe!" or
+lamentations to the same effect, broke forth on all sides.
+
+"Mr. Berners, you are master of the house. I earnestly exhort you to
+clear the room of all here, except Miss Winterose and ourselves," said
+Captain Pendleton in an almost commanding tone.
+
+"Friends and neighbors," cried Lyon Berners, lifting up his voice, so
+that it could be heard all over the room, "I implore you to withdraw to
+your own apartments. Your presence here only serves to distress
+yourselves and embarrass us. And we have a duty to do to the dead."
+
+The crowd began to disperse and move toward the doors when suddenly
+Sybil Berners lifted her hand on high and called, in a commanding tone:
+
+"STOP!"
+
+And all stopped and turned their eyes on her.
+
+She was still very pale, but now also very calm; the most self-collected
+one in that room of death.
+
+"I have somewhat to say to you," she continued. "You all heard the dying
+words of that poor dead woman, in which she accused me of having
+murdered her; and your own averted eyes accuse me quite as strongly, and
+my own aspect, perhaps, more strongly than either."
+
+She paused and glanced at her crimsoned hand, and then looked around and
+saw that her nearest neighbors and oldest friends, who had known her
+longest and loved her best, now turned away their heads, or dropped
+their eyes. She resumed:
+
+"The dead woman was mistaken; you are misled; and my very appearance is
+deceptive. I will not deny that the woman was my enemy. Driven to
+desperation, and in boiling blood, I might have been capable of doing
+her a deadly mischief, but bravely and openly, as the sons and daughters
+of my fiery race have done such things before this. But to go to her
+chamber in the dead of night, and in darkness and secrecy--! No! I could
+not have done that, if she had been ten times the enemy she was. Is
+there one here who believes that the daughter of Bertram Berners could
+be guilty of that or any other base deed?" she demanded, as her proud
+glance swept around upon the faces of her assembled friends and
+neighbors.
+
+But their averted eyes too sorrowfully answered her question.
+
+Then she turned to her husband and lowered her voice to an almost
+imploring tone as she inquired:
+
+"Lyon Berners, do YOU believe me guilty?"
+
+He looked up, and their eyes met. If he had really believed her guilty
+he did not now. He answered briefly and firmly:
+
+"No, Sybil! Heaven knows that I do not. But oh! my dear wife! explain,
+if you can, how that dagger came into your possession, how that blood
+came upon your hands; and, above all, why this most unhappy lady should
+have charged you with having murdered her."
+
+"At your desire, and for the satisfaction of the few dear old friends
+whom I see among this unbelieving crowd, the friends who would deeply
+grieve if I should either do or suffer wrong, _I will_ speak. But if it
+were not for you and for them, I would die before I would deign to
+defend myself from a charge that is at once so atrocious and so
+preposterous--so monstrous," said Sybil, turning a gaze full of haughty
+defiance upon those who stood there before her face, and dared to
+believe her guilty.
+
+A stern voice spoke up from that crowd.
+
+"Mr. Lyon Berners, attend to this. A lady lies murdered in your house.
+By whom she has been so murdered we do not know. But I tell you that
+every moment in which you delay in sending for the officers of justice
+to investigate this affair, compromises you and me and all who stand by
+and silently submit to this delay, as accessories, after the fact."
+
+Lyon Berners turned towards the speaker, a grave and stern old man of
+nearly eighty years, a retired judge, who had come to the mask ball
+escorting his grand-daughters.
+
+"An instant, Judge Basham. Pardon us, if in this dismay some things are
+forgotten. The coroner shall be summoned immediately. Captain Pendleton,
+will you oblige me by despatching a messenger to Coroner Taylor at
+Blackville?" he then inquired, turning to the only friend upon whose
+discretion he felt he could rely.
+
+Captain Pendleton nodded acquiescence and intelligence, and left the
+room, as if for the purpose specified.
+
+"Now, dear Sybil, with Judge Basham's permission, give our friends the
+explanation that you have promised them," said Lyon Berners
+affectionately, and confidingly taking her hand and placing himself
+beside her.
+
+For all his anger as well as all her jealousy had been swept away in the
+terrible tornado of this evening's events.
+
+"The explanation that I promised _you_, and those who wish me well," she
+said emphatically. And then her voice arose clear, firm, and distinct,
+as she continued:
+
+"I was in my chamber, which is immediately above that occupied by Mrs.
+Blondelle. My chamber is approached by two ways, first by the front
+passage and stairs, and secondly by a narrow staircase running up from
+Mrs. Blondelle's room. And the door leading from her room up this
+staircase and into mine, she has been in the habit of leaving open.
+To-night, as I said, I was sitting in my chamber; from causes not
+necessary to explain now and here, I was too much disturbed in mind to
+think of retiring to rest, or even of undressing. I do not know how long
+I had sat there, when I heard a piercing shriek from some one in the
+room below. Instinctively I rushed down the communicating stairs and
+into Mrs. Blondelle's room, and up to her bed, where I saw by the light
+of the taper she was lying. Her eyes were closed, and I thought at first
+that she had fainted from some fright until, almost at the same instant,
+I saw this dagger--" here Sybil stooped and picked up the dagger that
+she had dropped a few minutes before--"driven to its haft in her chest.
+I drew it out. Instantly the blood from the opened wound spirted up,
+covering my hand and sleeve with the accusing stains you see! With the
+flowing of the blood her eyes flew wildly open! She gazed affrightedly
+at me for an instant, and then with the last effort of her life, for
+which terror lent her strength, she started up and fled shrieking to
+this room. I, still holding the dagger that I had drawn from her bosom,
+followed her here. And--you know the rest," said Sybil; and overcome
+with excitement, she sank upon the nearest chair to rest.
+
+Lyon Berners still held her hand.
+
+Her story had evidently made a very great impression upon the company
+present. But Lyon Berners suddenly exclaimed:
+
+"Good Heavens! that lady's mistaken charge has put us all off the scent,
+and allowed the murderer to escape. But it may not yet be too late! Some
+clue may be left in her room by which we may trace the criminal! Come,
+neighbors, and let us search the premises."
+
+And Lyon Berners, leaving the shuddering women of the party in the room
+with Sybil and the dead, and followed by all the men, went to search the
+house and ground for traces of the assassin.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XX.
+
+                               THE SEARCH.
+
+            My friends, I care not, (so much I am happy
+            Above a number,) if my actions
+            Were tried by every tongue, every eye saw them,
+            Envy and base opinion set against them,
+            To know my life so even.--SHAKSPEARE.
+
+
+And first they went to Mrs. Blondelle's room, and carefully examined
+every part of it, especially the fastenings of the doors and windows.
+They all seemed to be right.
+
+"I have a theory of this murder now!" said Mr. Berners, standing in the
+middle of the room and speaking to the men who were with him.
+
+"Humph! what is it?" coldly inquired old Judge Basham.
+
+"It is this; that as Mrs. Blondelle was known to have possessed jewels
+of great value, some miscreant came here with the intention to rob her
+of them."
+
+"Well, and what then?" asked the Judge.
+
+"That this miscreant entered either by the outer door, or by one of
+these windows, approached the bed of his victim, who, being awake and
+seeing him, shrieked, either before or at the moment of receiving the
+death wound, and then fainted."
+
+"Humph! what next?" grunted the Judge.
+
+"That first shriek brought my wife running to the rescue. At the sound
+of her approach, of course the murderer turned and fled, escaping
+through the outer door or window."
+
+"An ingenious story, and a plausible explanation, Mr. Berners; but one,
+I fear, that will never convince a jury, or satisfy the public,"
+remarked Judge Basham.
+
+"Nay, and it will na satisfy mysel' neither! It'll na do, gentlemen! The
+murderer didna come through the outer door, nor the windows either! For
+mysel' fastened them a' before I went to my bed! And yesel's found them
+fastened when ye cam!" said the Scotch girl Janet, who had now entered
+the room with the child in her arms.
+
+"But he may have come through the door, my good girl," suggested Mr.
+Berners, whose very blood seemed to freeze at this testimony of the
+maid.
+
+"Nay, nay, laird! that will na do either. The murderer could na hae come
+by the outer door, for mysel' bolted it before I went to bed! And it was
+still bolted when my puir leddy--Oh, my puir bonny leddy! oh! my puir
+dear murdered mistress!" broke forth from the girl in sudden and violent
+lamentations.
+
+"Compose yourself, and tell us all about the bolted door," said Judge
+Basham.
+
+"Aweel, sir, the door was bolted by mysel', and bolted it stayed until
+that puir leddy started out of her bed and tore the bolt back, and fled
+away from before the face of her murderer! too late! oh, too late! for
+she carried her death wound with her."
+
+"So you see, Mr. Berners, your theory of the murder falls to pieces.
+This girl's testimony proves that the murderer could not have entered
+the room, from this floor," said Judge Basham.
+
+"Then he _must_ have been concealed in the room," exclaimed Lyon,
+desperately.
+
+"Nay, nay! that will na do either, laird. Na mon was hid in the room.
+Mysel' looked into all the closets, and under the bed, and up the
+chimney, as I always do before I go to sleep. I could na sleep else.
+Nay, nay, laird! The murderer came in neither by outer door nor window,
+nor yet lay hidden in the room; for mysel' had fastened the outer door
+and window, and searched the room before I slept. Nay, nay, laird! The
+murderer cam by the only way left open--left open because we thought it
+was safe--the way leading from Mistress Berners' room down to the
+little stairs, and through this door which was not bolted," persisted
+the Scotch girl.
+
+Lyon Berners' heart seemed turned to ice by these last words.
+Nevertheless he summoned fortitude to say:
+
+"We must examine and see if there has been a robbery committed. If there
+_has_ been one, then, of course, in the face of all this woman's
+evidence, it will prove that the robber has done this foul deed."
+
+"I do not see clearly that it will," objected Judge Basham. "However, we
+will make the examination."
+
+"Your honors need na tak the trouble. Mysel' saw to that too. See, the
+bureau drawers and wardrobes are all fast locked as me leddy saw me lock
+them hersel'. And the keys are safe in the pocket of my gown. Nay, nay,
+lairds, naething is stolen," said Janet.
+
+Nevertheless, Mr. Berners insisted on making the examination. So Janet
+produced the keys and opened all the bureau drawers, boxes, wardrobes,
+etc. All things were found in order. In the upper bureau drawer, caskets
+of jewels, boxes of laces, rolls of bank-notes and other valuables were
+found untouched. Nothing was missing.
+
+In a word, no clue was found to the supposed murderer and robber; but,
+on the other hand, every circumstance combined to fix the deed on Sybil.
+
+Lyon Berners felt a faintness like death coming over him, and subduing
+all his manhood. Unblenchingly, in his own person, he would have braved
+any fate. But that his wife--his pure, high-toned, magnanimous Sybil,
+should be caught up and ground to pieces by this horrible machinery of
+circumstance and destiny! Was this a nightmare? His brain was reeling.
+He felt that he might go mad. Like the drowning man, he caught at
+straws. Turning to the Scotch girl, he demanded somewhat sternly:
+
+"And where were you when your mistress was being murdered? where were
+you, that you did not hasten to her assistance? You could not have been
+far off--you must in fact have been in that little adjoining nursery."
+
+"And sae I was, laird; and her first screech waked me up and garred me
+grew sae till I couldna move, and didna move till I heard her screech
+again and again, and saw her rin acrass the floor, and tear back the
+bolt and flecht fra the room, followed close behind by Mistress Berners.
+And thin mysel' sprang up wi' the bairn in me arms and rin after them,
+thinking the de'il was behind me. Oh, me puir leddy! oh, me puir, bonny
+leddy! oh! oh! oh!" wept and wailed the girl, dropping down on the floor
+and throwing her apron over her head.
+
+But the cries of the child from the adjoining nursery caused her to
+start up, and run in there to comfort him.
+
+The searchers left that room, and pursued their investigations
+elsewhere. They went all through the house without finding any clue to
+the mystery. They attempted to search the grounds, but the night was
+pitch-dark, and the rain was falling fast. Finally, they returned to the
+room of death.
+
+All the ladies and all the servants had gone away. No one remained in it
+but Sybil and Miss Tabby, watching the dead.
+
+Sybil sat near the head of the body, and Miss Tabby near the feet.
+
+At the sight of his doomed young wife, Lyon Berners senses reeled again.
+
+"She is so inexperienced in all the ways of the world, so ignorant of
+the ways of the law! Oh, does she know--does she even dream of the awful
+position, the deadly danger in which she stands? No; she is unconscious
+of all peril. She evidently believes that the explanation she gave us
+here, and which satisfies her friends, will convince all others. Oh,
+Sybil! Sybil! an hour ago so safe in your domestic sanctity, and
+now--now momentarily exposed to--Heaven! I cannot bear it!" he groaned,
+as he struggled for self-command and went towards her.
+
+She was sitting with her hands clasped, as in prayer, and her eyes, full
+of the deepest regret and pity, fixed upon the face of the dead. There
+was sorrow, sympathy, awe--anything but fear or distrust in her
+countenance. At the approach of her husband, she turned and whispered
+gravely:
+
+"She was my rival where I could least bear rivalry; and I thought she
+had been a successful one. I do not think so now; and now I have no
+feeling towards her but one of the deepest compassion. Oh, Lyon, we must
+adopt her poor child, and rear it for our own. Oh! who has done this
+deed? Some one whose aim was robbery, no doubt. Has any trace been
+discovered of the murderer?" she inquired.
+
+"None, Sybil," he answered, with difficulty.
+
+"Oh, Lyon, such awful thoughts have visited me since I have sat here and
+forced myself to look upon this sight! For I see in it that which I
+might have done, had my madness become frenzy; but even then, not as
+this was done. Oh, no, no, no! May God forgive me and change my heart,
+for I have been standing on the edge of an abyss!"
+
+Mr. Berners could not speak. He was suffocating with the feeling that
+she now stood upon the brink of ruin yawning to receive her.
+
+"Heaven help you, Sybil!" was the silent prayer of his spirit as he
+gazed on his unconscious wife.
+
+Miss Tabby, who sat whimpering at the feet of the dead, now spoke up:
+
+"I think," she said, wiping the tear-drop from the end of her nose, "I
+_do_ think as we ought not to leave it a-lying here, cramped up onto
+this sofy, where we can't stretch it straight. We ought to have it taken
+to her room and laid out on her bed, decent and in order."
+
+"It is true; but oh, in a shock like this, how much is forgotten!" said
+Mr. Berners. Then turning to old Judge Basham, who had sank into an
+easy-chair to rest, but seemed to consider himself still on the bench,
+since he assumed so much authority, Lyon inquired, "Do you see any
+objection to the body being removed to a bedroom before the coroner's
+arrival?"
+
+"Certainly not. This is not the scene of the murder. You had best take
+it back to the bed on which she received her death," answered the old
+Judge.
+
+"Friends," said Mr. Berners, turning to the gentlemen, who had all
+solemnly and silently seated themselves as at a funeral, "will one of
+you assist me in this?"
+
+Captain Pendleton, who had just reëntered the room, came promptly up.
+
+"By the way, did you send for the coroner, sir?" demanded the old Judge,
+intercepting him.
+
+"Yes, sir, I did," curtly answered the Captain.
+
+"Then I shall sit here until his arrival," observed the Judge settling
+himself for a nap in his easy-chair.
+
+"That old fellow is in his dotage!" growled Captain Pendleton to
+himself, as he tenderly lifted the head and shoulders of all that
+remained of poor Rosa Blondelle. But at the touch of her cold form, the
+sight of her still face, tears of pity sprang into the young soldier's
+eyes. Rosa had been a fine woman, and her body was now no light weight.
+It took the united strength of Captain Pendleton and Mr. Berners to bear
+it properly from the parlor to the chamber, where they laid it on the
+bed, and left it to the care of Sybil and Miss Tabby, who had followed
+them.
+
+Mr. Berners then pulled the Captain into an empty room and whispered
+hoarsely:
+
+"Did I understand you to tell the Judge that you had sent a messenger
+for the coroner?"
+
+"Yes; but mind, I sent an old man on an old mule. It will be many hours
+before he reaches Blackville; many more before the coroner gets here.
+Good Heaven! Berners, I _had_ to do that! Don't you see the awful danger
+of your innocent wife?" exclaimed Captain Pendleton, in an agitated
+voice.
+
+"_Don't_ I see it? I am not mad, or blind. But you, in the face of this
+overwhelming evidence--you believe her to be innocent?" demanded Lyon
+Berners, in a tone of agonized entreaty.
+
+"I _know_ her to be innocent! I have known her from her infancy. She
+might have flown at a rival, and torn her to pieces, in a frenzy of
+passion; but she could never have struck a secret blow," answered
+Captain Pendleton, emphatically.
+
+"Thanks! Oh, thanks for your faith in her!" exclaimed Lyon Berners,
+earnestly.
+
+"But now! _Do_ you not see what is to be done? She must be got out of
+the house before the coroner or any officer of justice arrives," said
+Captain Pendleton, earnestly.
+
+"Oh, this is so sudden and terrible! It is an avalanche--an earthquake!
+It crushes me. It deprives me of reason!" groaned Lyon Berners, sinking
+into a chair, and covering his face with his hands.
+
+"Lyon, my friend, arouse yourself! Rise above this agony of despair, if
+you would save your imperilled wife! She must fly from this house within
+an hour, and you must accompany her," urged Captain Pendleton.
+
+"I know it! I know it! But oh, Heaven! the anguish of my heart! the
+chaos of my thoughts! Pendleton, think for me; act for me; tell me what
+to do!" cried the strong man, utterly overwhelmed and powerless.
+
+Captain Pendleton hurried into the supper-room, the scene of the late
+revels, and brought from there a glass of brandy, which he forced his
+friend to swallow.
+
+"Now listen to me, Berners. Go and call your wife, take her to your
+mutual room, tell her the necessity of instant flight. She is strong,
+and will be equal to the occasion. Then, quickly as you can collect all
+your money and jewels, and conceal them about your person. Dress
+yourself, and tell her to dress in plain stout weather-proof
+riding-habits. Do this at once. Meanwhile, I will go myself to the
+stables, and saddle two of the swiftest horses, and bring them around to
+the back door, so that no servant need to be taken into our confidence
+to-night. When I meet you with the horses, I will direct you to a
+temporary retreat where you will be perfectly safe for the present;
+afterwards we can think of a permanent place of security. Now, then,
+courage, and hurry!"
+
+"My friend in need!" fervently exclaimed Lyon Berners, as they parted.
+
+"I have further suggestions to make when we meet again. I have thought
+of everything," Captain Pendleton called after him.
+
+Lyon Berners went in search of Sybil, to the chamber of death, which was
+now restored to order, and dimly lighted.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXI.
+
+                            SYBIL'S FLIGHT.
+
+                'Tis well--my soul shakes off its load of care;
+                'Tis only the obscure is terrible;
+                Imagination frames events unknown,
+                In wild, fantastic shapes of hideous ruin,
+                And what its fears creates.--HANNAH MORE.
+
+
+Upon the snow-white bed the form of Rosa Blondelle, wrapped in pure
+white raiment, was laid out. Very peaceful and beautiful she looked, her
+fair face, framed in its pale gold hair, wearing no sign of the violent
+death by which she died.
+
+At her head sat Sybil, looking very pale, and shedding silent tears.
+
+At her feet sat Miss Tabby, whimpering and muttering.
+
+Within the little nursery, beyond the chamber, the Scotch girl sat,
+crying and sobbing.
+
+Lyon Berners softly approached the bed, and whispered to Sybil.
+
+"Dearest, come out, I wish to speak to you."
+
+She silently arose and followed him. He was silent until they had
+reached their own room.
+
+"Sit down, Sybil," he then said, as calmly as he could force himself to
+speak.
+
+She sank into a seat and looked at him inquiringly, but fearlessly.
+
+He stood before her unable to proceed. It was terrible to him to witness
+her utter unconsciousness of her own position--more terrible still to be
+obliged to arouse her from it.
+
+She continued to regard him with curiosity, but without anxiety, waiting
+silently for what he should say to her.
+
+"Sybil," he said at length, as soon as he was able to speak--"Sybil, you
+are a brave and strong spirit! You can meet a sudden calamity without
+sinking under it."
+
+"What is it?" inquired his wife, in a low tone.
+
+"Sybil, dearest Sybil! there is no time to break the bad news to you;
+brace yourself to hear it abruptly."
+
+"Yes! tell me."
+
+"Sybil, listen, and comprehend. The circumstances that surround this
+mysterious murder are of a character to compromise you so seriously,
+that you may only find safety in immediate flight."
+
+"Me!--flight!" exclaimed Mrs. Berners, dilating her dark eyes in
+amazement.
+
+Mr. Berners groaned in the spirit, as he replied:
+
+"Yes, Sybil, yes! Oh! my dearest, attend and understand, and be strong!
+Sybil, hear. The quarrel you were known to have had with this poor
+woman; the threats you used on that occasion; the dagger in your hand;
+the blood oh your wrist, and above all the words of the dying woman
+charging you with her death. All these form a chain of circumstantial
+and even direct evidence that will drag you down--I cannot say it!"
+burst forth Lyon in an accession of agony.
+
+Sybil's dark eyes opened wider and wider in amazement, but still without
+the least alarm.
+
+"It is enough, oh, Sybil, to repeat to you that your only safety is in
+instant flight," he exclaimed, dropping his face upon his hands.
+
+"Flight!" echoed Sybil, staring at him. "Why should I take refuge in
+flight? I have done nothing criminal, nor will I do anything so
+ignominious as to fly from my home, Lyon," she added, proudly.
+
+"But, Sybil--Oh, Sybil! the circumstantial evidence--."
+
+"Why, I explained all that!" replied Mrs. Berners naïvely. "I told you
+all how it was: that when I heard her scream, I ran to see what was the
+matter and I drew the dagger from her bosom, and then the blood spirted
+up and sprinkled me! It was terrible enough to see and bear that,
+without having to hear and endure such a preposterous suspicion! And it
+is all easy enough for any honest mind to understand my explanation."
+
+"Oh, Sybil! Sybil! that indeed--I mean your presence at her death, with
+all its concurrent circumstances might be explained away! But the dying
+woman's last solemn declaration, charging you as her murderess, that was
+the most direct testimony! Oh, Heaven, Sybil! Sybil! prepare for your
+flight; for in that is your only hope of safety! Prepare at once, for
+there is not an instant to be lost!"
+
+"Stop!" said Sybil, suddenly and solemnly--"Lyon Berners, do _you_
+believe that dying declaration to have been true?"
+
+"No! as the Lord hears me, I do not, Sybil! I know you were incapable
+of doing the deed she charged upon you! No! I am sure she spoke in the
+delirium of sudden death and terror," said Lyon Berners earnestly.
+
+"Nor will any one else who knows me, believe it! So be tranquil. I am
+not guilty, nor will I run away like a guilty one. I will stay here and
+tell the truth," said Sybil composedly.
+
+"But, oh, good Heavens! telling the truth will not help you! The law
+deals with _facts_, not _truths_! and judges of facts as if they were
+truths. And oh! my dear Sybil! the lying facts of this case involve you
+in such a net of circumstantial evidence and direct testimony as renders
+you liable to arrest--nay, certain to be arrested and imprisoned upon
+the charge of murder! Oh, my dear, most innocent wife! my free, wild,
+high-spirited Sybil! even the sense of innocence could not save you from
+imprisonment, or support you during its degrading tortures! _You_ could
+not bear--_I_ could not bear for you, such loss of liberty and honor for
+one hour--even if nothing worse should follow! But, Sybil, worse may,
+worse _must_ follow! Yes, the _very worst_! Your only safety is in
+flight--instant flight! And oh! Heaven! how the time is speeding away!"
+exclaimed the husband, beside himself with distress.
+
+During the latter part of his speech the wife had started to her feet,
+and now she stood staring at him, amazed, incredulous, yet firm and
+brave.
+
+"Rouse yourself to the occasion, Sybil! Oh! for my sake, for Heaven's
+sake, collect your faculties and prepare for flight," he passionately
+urged.
+
+"I am innocent, and yet I must fly like the guilty! Lyon, for your sake,
+and only for yours, I will do it," she answered gravely, and sadly.
+
+"We must not call assistance, nor stop to compliment each other. Pack
+quickly up what you will most need for yourself, in a travelling bag,
+and I will do the same for myself," explained Lyon Berners, suiting the
+action to the word by shoving into his valise some valuable papers,
+money, razors, a few articles of clothing, etc.
+
+Sybil showed more promptitude and presence of mind than might have been
+expected of her. She quickly collected her costly jewels and ready
+money, a change of under clothing, combs, and brushes, and packed them
+in a small travelling bag.
+
+"We go on horseback," quickly explained Lyon Berners, as he locked his
+valise.
+
+Swiftly and silently Sybil threw off her masquerading dress, that she
+had unconsciously worn until now, and dropped it on the floor, where it
+lay glowing like a smouldering bonfire. She then put on a water-proof
+riding habit, and announced herself ready.
+
+"Come, then," said Lyon Berners, taking up both bags, and beckoning her
+to follow him silently.
+
+They slipped down the dark stairs and through the deserted halls, and
+reached the back door, where, under the shelter of a large hemlock-tree,
+Captain Pendleton held the horses. It was dark as pitch, and drizzling
+rain. They could see nothing, they could only know the whereabouts of
+their "friend in need," and their horses, by hearing Captain Pendleton's
+voice speaking through the mist in cautious tones, and whispering:
+
+"Lock the door after you, Berners, so as to secure us from intrusion
+from within. And then stop there under the porch until I come and talk
+to you."
+
+Mr. Berners did as he was requested to do, and then stood waiting for
+his friend, who soon came up.
+
+"You have got all you will need on your journey, have you not?" inquired
+the Captain.
+
+Mr. Berners replied by telling his friend exactly what he had brought.
+
+"All that is very well, but people require to eat and drink once in a
+while. So I have put some sandwiches, and a bottle of wine from the
+supper-table, into your saddle-bags. And now, in the hurry, have you
+decided upon your route?"
+
+"Yes; we shall endeavor to reach the nearest seaport, Norfolk probably,
+and embark for some foreign country, no matter what, for in no place but
+in a foreign country can my unhappy wife hope for safety," mournfully
+replied Lyon Berners.
+
+"Endeavor to reach Norfolk! That will never succeed. You will be sure to
+be overtaken and brought back before you go a score of miles on that
+road," declared Captain Pendleton, shaking his head.
+
+"Then, in the name of Heaven, what _will_ do?" demanded Mr. Berners, in
+a tone of desperation.
+
+"You must find a place of concealment, and then take time to disguise
+yourself and your wife, so that neither of you can be recognized, before
+you venture upon the road to Norfolk. You see, Lyon, you are the better
+lawyer, but I am the better strategist! I graduated among the warpaths
+and the ambushes of the Redskins on the frontier."
+
+"But where shall I find such a place of concealment?"
+
+"I have thought of that."
+
+"You think of everything."
+
+"Ah! it is easy to show presence of mind in other people's confusion!
+Almost as easy at it is to bear other people's troubles!" said the
+Captain, attempting a jest, only to raise his friend's drooping spirits.
+"But now to the point, for we must be quick. You know the 'Haunted
+Chapel?'"
+
+"The old ruined church in the cleft on the other side of the Black
+Mountain?"
+
+"Yes; that is the place. Its deep solitude and total abandonment, with
+its ghostly reputation, will be sure to secure your safety. Go there;
+conceal yourselves and your horses as well as you can. In the course of
+to-morrow, or to-morrow night, I will come to you with such news and
+such help as I may be able to bring."
+
+"Thank you. Oh, thank you. But what are words? You are a man of deeds.
+Your presence of mind has saved us both!" said Lyon Berners earnestly.
+
+"And now to horse," said Captain Pendleton, taking Mrs. Berners under
+his guidance, while Mr. Berners brought on the valise and travelling
+bag.
+
+Captain Pendleton placed Sybil in her saddle, whispering encouragingly,
+
+"Be strong and hopeful. This necessary flight is a temporary evil,
+intended to save you from a permanent, and even perhaps a fatal wrong.
+Be patient, and time shall vindicate you and bring you back."
+
+"But oh! to leave my home, and the home of my fathers! to leave it like
+a criminal, when I am innocent! to leave it in haste, and not to know if
+I may ever return," cried Sybil, in a voice of anguish.
+
+"It is a fearful trial. I will not mock you by denying that it is. Yes,
+it is a terrible ordeal! but one, Mrs. Berners, that you have heroism
+enough to bear," replied Captain Pendleton, as he bowed over her
+extended hand and gave her the reins.
+
+Lyon Berners was also mounted. They were ready to start. With a mutual
+"God bless you," the friends parted.
+
+Lyon and Sybil took the dark road.
+
+Captain Pendleton unlocked the door that had been locked by Mr. Berners,
+but as he pushed to open it he felt an obstruction, and instantly
+afterwards heard some one run away.
+
+"A listener," he thought, in dismay as he pursued the fugitive. But he
+only caught a glimpse of a figure disappearing through the front door
+and into the darkness without, in which it was lost.
+
+"An eavesdropper!" he exclaimed, in despair. "An eavesdropper! Who now
+can be assured of her safety? Oh, Sybil! you rejected my hand, and very
+nearly ruined my life. But this night I would die to save you," he
+sighed, as he went and joined the gentlemen who were sitting up
+watching, or rather dozing, in the parlor, while waiting for the
+physician's or the coroner's arrival.
+
+"Where is Mrs. Berners?" inquired the old Judge, rousing himself up.
+
+"She retired to her chamber about an hour ago," answered Captain
+Pendleton, telling the truth, but not the whole truth, as you will
+perceive.
+
+"Hum, ha, yes; well, and where is her husband?"
+
+"He followed her there," answered the Captain, shortly.
+
+"Ha, hum, yes, well. The coroner is long in coming," grumbled the Judge.
+
+"It is some distance to Blackville, sir, and the roads are rough and the
+night is dark," observed the Captain.
+
+"Well, yes, true," agreed the old man, subsiding into his chair and into
+his doze.
+
+Captain Pendleton threw himself into a seat, but had not sat long before
+the parlor door opened, and his sister appeared at it and called to him
+in a low voice.
+
+He arose, and went to her.
+
+"Come out into the hall here; I want to speak to you, Clement," said
+Miss Pendleton.
+
+He went out.
+
+Then his sister inquired, in a voice full of anxious entreaty:
+
+"Clement, _where_ is Sybil?"
+
+"She went to her room a little more than an hour ago," answered the
+brother, giving his sister the same answer that he had given the Judge.
+
+"Clement, I must go to her, and throw my arms around her neck and kiss
+her. I must not tell her in so many words that I know she is innocent,
+for to do that would be to affront her almost as much as if I should
+accuse her of being guilty; for she will rightly enough think that her
+innocence should not be called into question, but should be taken for
+granted. So I must not say a word on that subject, but I _must_ find her
+and embrace her, and make her feel that I know she is innocent. Who is
+with her?"
+
+"Her husband is with her, Beatrix, and so you can not of course go to
+her now."
+
+"Oh, but I am so anxious to do so. Look here, Clement. I stood there
+among the crowd this evening, gazing upon that bleeding and dying woman,
+until the sight of her ghastly form and face seemed to affect me as the
+Medusa's head was said to have affected the beholder, and turn me into
+stone. Clement, I was so petrified that I could not move or speak, even
+when she appealed to us all to know whether any among us could believe
+her to be capable of such an act. I could not speak; I could not move.
+She must have thought that I too condemned her, and I cannot bear to
+rest under that suspicion of hers. I must go to her now, Clement."
+
+"Indeed you must not, Trix. Wait till she makes her appearance: that
+will be time enough," answered her brother.
+
+"Oh, this is a horrible night; I wish it were over. I cannot go to bed;
+nobody can. The ladies are all sitting huddled together in the
+dressing-room, although the fire has gone out; and the servants are all
+gathered in the kitchen, too panic-stricken to do anything. Oh, an awful
+night! I wish it were morning."
+
+"It will soon be daylight now, dear Beatrix. You had better go and
+rejoin your companions."
+
+And so the brother and sister separated for the night; Beatrix going to
+sit and shudder with the other ladies in the dressing-room, and Clement
+returning to the parlor to lounge and doze among the gentlemen.
+
+Only his anxiety for Sybil's safety so much disturbed his repose, that
+if he did but drop into an instant's slumber he started from it in a
+vague fright. So the small hours of the morning wore on and brought the
+dull, drizzly, wintry daylight.
+
+Meanwhile Lyon and Sybil Berners rode on through mist and rain.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXII.
+
+                          THE HAUNTED CHAPEL.
+
+
+                "The chapel was a ruin old,
+                That stood so low, in lonely glen.
+                The gothic windows high and dark
+                Were hung with ivy, brier, and yew."
+
+
+The Haunted Chapel to which Mr. and Mrs. Berners were going was in a
+dark and lonely gorge on the other side of the mountain across Black
+River, but near its rise in the Black Torrent. To reach the chapel, they
+would have to ride three miles up the shore and ford the river, and then
+pass over the opposite mountain. The road was as difficult and dangerous
+as it was lonely and unfrequented.
+
+Lyon and Sybil rode on together in silence, bending their heads before
+the driving mist, and keeping close to the banks of the river until they
+should reach the fording place.
+
+At length Sybil's anguish broke forth in words.
+
+"Oh! Lyon, is this nightmare? Or is it true that I am so suddenly cast
+down from my secure place, as to become in one hour a fugitive from my
+home, a fugitive from justice! Oh! Lyon, speak to me. Break the spell
+that binds my senses. Wake me up. Wake me up," she wildly exclaimed.
+
+"Dear Sybil, be patient, calm, and firm. This is a terrible calamity.
+But to meet calamity bravely, is the test of a true high soul. You are
+compelled to seek safety in flight, to conceal yourself for the present,
+to avoid a train of unmerited humiliations that even the consciousness
+of innocence would not enable you to bear. But you have only to be
+patient, and a few days or weeks must bring the truth to light, and
+restore you to your home."
+
+"But flight itself looks like guilt; will be taken as additional
+evidence of guilt," groaned Sybil.
+
+"Not so. Not when it is understood that the overwhelming weight of
+deceptive circumstantial evidence and deceptive direct testimony had so
+compromised you as to render flight your only means of salvation. Be
+brave, my own Sybil. And now, here we are at the ford. Take care of
+yourself. Let me lead your horse."
+
+"No, no; that would embarrass you, without helping me. Go on before, and
+I will follow."
+
+Lyon Berners plunged into the stream. Sybil drew up her long skirts and
+dashed in after him. And they were both soon splashing through the Black
+River, blacker now than ever with the double darkness of night and mist.
+A few minutes of brave effort on the part of horses and riders brought
+them all in safety to the opposite bank, up which they successfully
+struggled, and found themselves upon firm ground.
+
+"The worst part of the journey is over, dear Sybil. Now I will ride in
+advance and find the pass, and do you keep close behind me," said Lyon
+Berners, riding slowly along the foot of the mountain until he came to a
+dark opening, which he entered, calling Sybil to follow him.
+
+It was one of those fearful passes so frequently to be found in the
+Allegheny Mountains, and which I have described so often that I may be
+excused from describing this. They went in, cautiously picking their way
+through this deeper darkness, and trusting much to the instinct of their
+mountain-trained steeds to take them safely through. An hour's slow,
+careful, breathless riding brought them out upon the other side of the
+mountain.
+
+As they emerged from the dark labyrinth, Lyon Berners pulled up his
+horse to breathe, and to look about him. Sybil followed his example.
+
+Day was now dawning over the broken and precipitous country.
+
+"Where is that chapel of which you speak? I have heard of it all my
+life, but I have never seen it; and beyond the fact that it is on this
+side of the mountain, and not far from the Black Torrent, I know nothing
+about it," said Sybil.
+
+"It is near the Black Torrent; almost under the bed of the cascade, in
+fact. And we shall have to turn our horses' heads up stream again to
+reach it," answered Lyon Berners.
+
+"You know exactly where it is; you have been there, perhaps?" inquired
+Sybil.
+
+"I have seen it but once in my life. But I can easily find it. It is not
+a frequented place of resort, dear Sybil. But that makes it all the
+safer as a place of concealment for you," said Lyon Berners, as he
+started his horse and rode on.
+
+Sybil followed him closely.
+
+Day was broadening over the mountains, and bringing out a thousand
+prismatic colors from the autumn foliage of the trees, gemmed now with
+the rain drops that had fallen during the night.
+
+"It will be quite clear when the sun rises," said Lyon, encouragingly to
+Sybil, as they went on.
+
+He was right. Sunrise in the mountains is sometimes almost as sudden in
+its effects as sunrise at sea. The eastern horizon had been ruddy for
+sometime, but when the sun suddenly came up from behind the mountain,
+the mist lifted itself, rolled into soft white wreaths and crowned the
+summits, while all the land below broke out into an effulgence of light,
+color, and glory.
+
+But people who are flying for life do not pause to enjoy scenery, even
+of the finest. Lyon and Sybil rode on towards the upper banks of the
+Black River, hearing at every step the thunder of the Black Torrent, as
+it leaped from rock to rock in its passionate descent to the valley.
+
+At length they came to a narrow opening in the side of the mountain.
+
+"Here is a path I know," said Mr. Berners, "though its entrance is so
+concealed by undergrowth as to be almost impossible to discover."
+
+Lyon Berners dismounted, and began to grope for the entrance in a
+thicket of wild-rose bushes, that were now closely covered with scarlet
+seed-pods that glowed, and raindrops that sparkled, in the rays of the
+morning sun.
+
+At length he found the path, and then he returned to his wife, and said:
+
+"We cannot take our horses through the thicket, dear Sybil. You will
+have to dismount and remain concealed in here until I lead them back
+across the river, where I will turn them loose. There will be a great
+advantage gained by that move. Our horses being found on the other side,
+will mislead our pursuers on a false scent."
+
+While Lyon Berners spoke, he assisted his wife to alight from her
+saddle, and guided her to the entrance of the thicket.
+
+"This path has not been trodden for a score of years, I can well
+believe. Just go far enough to be out of sight of any chance spy, and
+there remain until I return. I shall not be absent over half an hour,"
+said Mr. Berners, as he took leave of Sybil.
+
+She sank wearily down upon a fragment of a rock, and prepared to await
+his return.
+
+He mounted his own horse, and led hers, and so went his way down the
+stream to the fording place.
+
+He successfully accomplished the difficult task of taking both horses
+over the river to the opposite bank, where he turned them loose.
+
+Next with a strong pocket jack-knife he cut a leaping pole from a
+sapling near, and went still farther up the stream to the rapids, where,
+by a skilful use of his pole and dexterous leaping from rock to rock, he
+was enabled to recross the river almost dry-shod.
+
+He rejoined Sybil, whom he found just where he had left her.
+
+She was sitting on a piece of rock, with her head bowed upon her hands.
+
+"Have I been gone long? Were you anxious or lonely, dearest?" he
+inquired, as he gave her his hand to assist her in rising.
+
+"Oh, no! I take no note of time! But oh! Lyon, _when shall I wake?_" she
+exclaimed in wild despair.
+
+"What is it you say, dear Sybil?" he gently asked.
+
+"When shall I wake--wake from this ghastly nightmare, in which I seem to
+myself to be a fugitive from justice! an exile from my home! a
+houseless, hunted stranger in the land! It _is_ a nightmare! It can
+_not_ be real, you know! Oh, that I could wake!"
+
+"Dear Sybil, collect your faculties. Do not let despair drive you to
+distraction. Be mistress of yourself in this trying situation," said
+Lyon Berners, gravely.
+
+"But oh, Heaven! the crushing weight and stunning suddenness of this
+blow! It is like death! like perdition!" exclaimed Sybil, pressing her
+hands to her head.
+
+Lyon Berners could only gaze on her with infinite compassion, expressed
+in every lineament of his eloquent countenance.
+
+She observed this, and quickly, with a great effort, from a strong
+resolution, throwing her hands apart like one who disperses a cloud, and
+casts off a weight, she said:
+
+"It is over! I will not be nervous or hysterical again. I have brought
+trouble on you as well as on myself, dear Lyon; but I will show you that
+I can bear it. I will look this calamity firmly in the face, and come
+what may, I will not drag you down by sinking under it."
+
+And so saying, she gave him her hand, and arose and followed him as he
+pushed on before, breaking down or bearing aside the branches that
+overhung and obstructed the path.
+
+Half an hour of this difficult and tedious travelling brought them down
+into a deep dark dell, in the midst of which stood the "Haunted Chapel."
+
+It was an old colonial church, a monument of the earliest settlement in
+the valley. It was now a wild and beautiful ruin, with its surroundings
+all glowing with color and sparkling with light. In itself it was a
+small Gothic edifice, built of the dark iron-grey rock dug from the
+mountain quarries. Its walls, window-frames, and roof were all still
+standing, and were almost entirely covered by creepers, among which the
+wild rose vine, now full of scarlet berries, was conspicuous.
+
+A broken stonewall overgrown with brambles enclosed the old church-yard,
+where a few fallen and mouldering gravestones, half sunk among the dead
+leaves, still remained.
+
+All around the church, on the bottom of the dell, and up the sides of
+the steeps, were thickly clustered forest-trees, now glowing refulgent
+in their gorgeous autumn livery of crimson and gold, scarlet and purple.
+
+A little rill, an offspring of the Black Torrent, tumbled down the side
+of the mountain behind the church, and ran frolicking irreverently
+through the old graveyard. The great cascade was out of sight, though
+very near for its thunder filled the air.
+
+"See," said Sybil, pointing to the little singing rill; "Nature is
+unsympathetic. She can laugh and frolic over the dead, and, besides, the
+suffering."
+
+"It would seem, then, that Nature is wiser as well as gladder than we
+are; since she, who is transitory, rejoices while we, who are immortal,
+pine," answered Lyon Berners, pleased that any thought should win her
+from the contemplation of her misfortune.
+
+He then led the way into the old ruined church through the door frames,
+from which the doors had long been lost. The stone floor, and the stone
+altar still remained; all else within the building was gone.
+
+Lyon Berners looked all around, up and down the interior, from the
+arched ceiling to the side-walls with their window spaces and the
+flagstone floor with its mouldy seams. The wild creeping vines nearly
+filled the window spaces, and shaded the interior more beautifully than
+carved shutters, velvet curtains, or even stained glass could have done.
+The flagstone floor was strewn with fallen leaves that had drifted in.
+Up and down, in every nook and corner of the roof and windows, last
+year's empty birds nests perched. And here and there along the walls,
+the humble "mason's" little clay house stuck.
+
+But there seemed no resting place for the weary travellers, until Sybil,
+with a serious smile, went up to the altar and sank upon the lowest
+step, and beckoned Lyon to join her, saying:
+
+"At the foot of the altar, dear Lyon, there was sanctuary in the olden
+times. We seem to realize the idea now."
+
+"You are cold. Your clothes are all damp. Stop! I must try to raise a
+fire. But you, in the meantime, must walk briskly up and down, to keep
+from being chilled to death," answered Lyon Berners very practically, as
+he proceeded to gather dry leaves and twigs that had drifted into the
+interior of the old church.
+
+He piled them up in the centre of the floor, just under the break in
+the roof, and then he went out and gathered sticks and brushwood, and
+built up a little mound. Lastly he took a box of matches from his pocket
+and struck a light, and kindled the fire.
+
+The dried leaves and twigs crackled and blazed, and the smoke ascended
+in a straight column to the hole in the roof through which it escaped.
+
+"Come, dear Sybil, and walk around the fire until your clothes are dry,
+and then sit down by it. This fire, with its smoke ascending and
+escaping through that aperture, is just such a fire as our forefathers
+in the old, old times enjoyed, as the best thing of the kind they knew
+anything about. Kings had no better," said Lyon Berners, cheerfully.
+
+Sybil approached the fire, but instead of walking around it, she sat
+down on the flagstones before it. She looked very weary, thoroughly
+prostrated in body, soul, and spirit.
+
+"What are we waiting for, in this horrible pause?" she inquired at
+length.
+
+"We are waiting for Pendleton. He is to bring us news, as soon as he can
+slip away and steal to us without fear of detection," answered Lyon
+Berners.
+
+"Oh, Heaven! what words have crept into our conversation about ourselves
+and friends too! 'Steal,' 'fear,' 'detection!' Oh, Lyon!--But there, I
+will say no more. I will _not_ revert to the horror and degradation of
+this position again, if I can help it," groaned Sybil.
+
+"My wife, you are very faint. Try to take some nourishment," urged Lyon,
+as he began to open the small parcel of refreshments thoughtfully
+provided by Captain Pendleton.
+
+"No, no, I cannot swallow a morsel. My throat is parched and
+constricted," she answered.
+
+"If I only had a little coffee for you," said Lyon.
+
+"If we only had liberty to go home again," sighed Sybil, "then we
+should have all things. But there; indeed I will not backslide into weak
+complaints again," she added, compunctuously.
+
+"Modify your grief, dear Sybil, but do not attempt entirely to suppress
+it. Nature is not to be so restrained," said Lyon Berners, kindly.
+
+There was silence between them for a little while, during which Sybil
+still sat down upon the flagstones, with her elbows resting on her
+knees, and her head bowed upon the palms of her hands; and Lyon stood up
+near her with an attitude and expression of grave and sad reflection and
+self-control.
+
+At length Sybil spoke:
+
+"Oh, Lyon! who could have murdered that poor woman, and brought us into
+such a horrible position?"
+
+"My theory of the tragedy is this, dear Sybil: that some robber, during
+the confusion of the fancy ball, found an opportunity of entering and
+concealing himself in Mrs. Blondelle's room; that his first purpose
+might have been simple robbery, but that, being discovered by Mrs.
+Blondelle, and being alarmed lest her shrieks should bring the house
+upon him and occasion his capture, he impulsively sought to stop her
+cries by death; and then that, hearing your swift approach down the
+stairs leading into her room, he made his escape through the window."
+
+"But then the windows were all found, as they had been left, fastened,"
+objected Sybil.
+
+"But, dearest, you must remember that these windows, having spring
+bolts, may be fastened by being pushed to from the outside. It is quite
+possible for a robber, escaping through them, to close them in this
+manner to conceal his flight."
+
+"That must have been the case in this instance. Everybody must see now
+that that was the manner in which the miscreant escaped. Oh, Lyon! I
+think we were wrong to have left home."
+
+"No, dear Sybil, we were not. Our only hope is in the discovery of the
+real murderer, and that may be a work of time; meanwhile we wish to be
+free, even at the price of being called fugitives from justice."
+
+"Lyon, that poor child! If we ever go home again, we must adopt and
+educate him."
+
+"We will do so, Sybil."
+
+"For, oh! Lyon, although I am entirely innocent of that most heinous
+crime, and entirely incapable of it, yet, when I remember how my rage
+burned against that poor woman only an hour before her death, I feel--I
+feel as if I were half guilty of it! as if--Heaven pardon me!--I might,
+in some moment of madness, have been wholly guilty of it! Lyon, I
+shudder at myself!" cried Sybil, growing very pale.
+
+"You should thank Heaven that you have been saved from such mortal sin,
+dear wife, and also pray Heaven always to save you from your own fierce
+passions," said Mr. Berners, very gravely.
+
+"I have breathed that thanksgiving and that prayer with every breath I
+have drawn. And I will continue to do so. But, oh! Lyon, all my
+passions, all my sufferings grew out of my great love for you."
+
+"I can well believe it, dear wife. And I myself have not been free from
+blame; though in reality your jealousy was very causeless, Sybil."
+
+"I know that now," said Sybil, sadly.
+
+"And now, dearest, I would like to make 'a clean breast of it,' as the
+sinners say, and tell you all--the whole 'head and front of my
+offending' with that poor dead woman," said Mr. Berners, seating himself
+on the floor beside his wife.
+
+Sybil did not repel his offered confidence, for though her jealousy had
+died a violent death, she was still very much interested in hearing his
+confession.
+
+Then Lyon Berners told her everything, up to the very last moment when
+she had surprised them in the first and last kiss that had ever passed
+between them.
+
+"But in all, and through all, my heart, dear wife, was loyal in its love
+to you," he concluded.
+
+"I know that, dearest Lyon--I know that well," replied Sybil.
+
+And with that tenderness towards the faults of the dead, which all
+magnanimous natures share, she forbore to say, or even to think, how
+utterly unprincipled had been the course of Rosa Blondelle from the
+first to the last of their acquaintance with that vain and frivolous
+coquette.
+
+Sybil was now almost sinking with weariness. Lyon perceived her
+condition, and said:
+
+"Remain here, dear Sybil, while I go and try to collect some boughs and
+leaves to make you a couch. The sun must have dried up the moisture by
+this time."
+
+And he went out and soon returned with his arms full of boughs, which he
+spread upon the flagstones. Then he took off his own overcoat and
+covered them with it.
+
+"Now, dear Sybil," he said, "if you will divest yourself of your long
+riding skirt, you may turn that into a blanket to cover with, and so
+sleep quite comfortably."
+
+With a grave smile Sybil followed his advice, and then she laid herself
+down on the rude couch he had spread for her. No sooner had her head
+touched it, than she sank into that deep sleep of prostration which is
+more like a swoon than a slumber.
+
+Lyon Berners covered her carefully with the long riding skirt, and stood
+watching her for some minutes. But she neither spoke nor stirred;
+indeed, she scarcely breathed.
+
+Then, after still more carefully tucking the covering around her, he
+left her, and walked out to explore the surroundings of the chapel.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+                        THE SOLITUDE IS INVADED.
+
+
+            Oh, might we here
+            In solitude live savage, in some glade
+            Obscured, where highest woods impenetrable
+            To star, or sunlight, spread their umbrage broad
+            And brown as evening; cover us, ye pines
+            Ye cedars with innumerable boughs
+            Hide us where we may ne'er be seen again.--BYRON.
+
+
+Nothing could be more lonely and desolate than this place. It was
+abandoned to Nature and Nature's wild children. Of the birds that
+perched so near his hand; of the squirrels that peeped at him from their
+holes under the gravestones, he might have said with Alexander Selkirk
+on Juan Fernandez,
+
+"Their tameness is shocking to me."
+
+There was a great consolation to be derived from these circumstances,
+however; for they proved how completely deserted by human beings, and
+how perfectly safe for the refugees, was this old "Haunted Chapel."
+
+Too deeply troubled in mind to take any repose of body; Lyon Berners
+continued to ramble about among the gravestones, which were now so worn
+with age that no vestige of their original inscriptions remained to
+gratify the curiosity of a chance inspector.
+
+Above him was the glorious autumn sky, now hazy with the golden mist of
+Indian summer. Around him lay a vast wilderness of hill and dell covered
+with luxuriant forests, now gorgeous with the glowing autumn colors of
+their foliage.
+
+But his thoughts were not with this magnificent landscape. They
+wandered to the past days of peace and joy before the coming of the
+coquette had "made confusion" with the wedded pair. They wandered to the
+future, trying to penetrate the gloom and horror of its shadows. They
+flew to Black Hall, picturing the people, prevising the possibilities
+there.
+
+How he longed for, yet dreaded the arrival of Captain Pendleton! Would
+there be danger in his coming through the open daylight? What news would
+he bring?
+
+The verdict of the coroners jury? Against whom must this verdict be
+given? Lyon Berners shuddered away from answering this question. But it
+was also possible that before this the murderer might have been
+discovered and arrested. Should this surmise prove to be a fact, oh,
+what relief from anguish, what a happy return home for Sybil! If not--if
+the verdict should be rendered against _her_,--nothing but flight and
+exile remained to them.
+
+While Lyon Berners wandered up and down like a restless ghost among the
+gravestones, his attention was suddenly arrested by the sound of a
+crackling tread breaking through the bushes. He turned quickly,
+expecting to see Captain Pendleton, but he saw his own servant instead.
+
+"Joe!" he exclaimed, in a tone of surprise.
+
+"Marser!" responded the man, in a voice of grief.
+
+"You come from Captain Pendleton? What message does he send? How is it
+at the house? Has the coroner come? And oh! has any clue been found to
+the murderer?" anxiously inquired Mr. Berners.
+
+"No, marser, no clue an't been found to no murderer. But the house up
+there is full of crowners and constables, as if it was the county court
+house, and Cappin Pendulum managing everything."
+
+"He sent you to me?"
+
+"No, marser, nor likewise knowed I come."
+
+"Joe! _who_ has sent you here?" inquired Mr. Berners.
+
+"No one hasn't, marser," answered Joe, dashing the tears from his eyes,
+and then proceeding to unstrap a large hamper that he carried upon his
+shoulders.
+
+"No one! Then how came you here?" demanded Mr. Berners, uneasily.
+
+Now, instead of answering his master's question, Joe sat down upon his
+hamper, and wept aloud.
+
+"What is the matter with you?" inquired Mr. Berners.
+
+"You axed me how I comed here," sobbed Joe, "just as if I could keep
+away when she and you was here in trouble, and a-wanting some one to
+look arter you."
+
+"But how did you know we were here?" anxiously questioned Mr. Berners.
+
+"I wa'n't a listening at key-holes, nor likewise a-eaves-dropping, which
+I considers beneath a gentleman to do; but I was a-looking to the back
+shutters, to see as they was all safe arter the fright we got, and I
+hearn somebody a-talking, which I was sure was more bugglers; so I made
+free to wait and hear what they said."
+
+"It was Captain Pendleton and myself, I suppose," said Mr. Berners, much
+annoyed.
+
+"Jes so, sir; it wer Capping Pendulum and yourself, which it hurt me to
+the heart as you should have trusted into Capping Pendulum and not into
+me--a old and valleyed servant of the family."
+
+"And so, Joe, you overheard the whole matter?"
+
+"Which I did, sir, and shocked I was to think as any false charges
+should cause my dear young missus to run away from home in the
+night-time, like a fusible slave. And hurt I was to think you didn't
+trust into me instead of into he."
+
+"Well, Joe, it appears to me that you were resolved to take our trust,
+if we did not give it to you. What brought you here this morning?"
+
+"Coffee, sir," gravely answered Joe, getting up off the hamper and
+beginning to untie its fastenings.
+
+"_What?_" demanded Mr. Berners, gathering his brows into a frown.
+
+"COFFEE!" reiterated Joe, as he took from the hamper a small silver
+coffee-pot, a pair of cups and saucers, spoons, plates, and knives and
+forks, a bottle of cream, and several small packets containing all that
+was needful for breakfast.
+
+"Joe! this was very kind and thoughtful of you; but was it quite safe
+for you to come here with a hamper on your back in open day?" inquired
+Mr. Berners.
+
+"Lord bless you, sir! safe as safe! I took by-paths, and didn't see a
+creetur, not one! Why, lord, sir, you had better a-trusted into me from
+the beginning, than into Capping Pendulum. Bress your soul, marser,
+there an't that white man going, nor yet that red injun, that can aiqual
+a colored gentleman into hiding and seeking!"
+
+"I can well believe that."
+
+"Why, marser!--but you don't 'member that time I got mad long o' old
+Marse Bertram Berners, 'bout blaming of me for the sorrell horse falling
+lame; and I run away?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Well, I was gone three months, and not five miles from home all that
+time! And all the constables looking arter me for law and order; and all
+the poor white trash, hunting of me for the reward; and not one of 'em
+all ever struck upon my trail, and me so nigh home all the while!"
+
+"Well, but you were found at last," suggested Mr. Berners.
+
+"Who, _me_? No, _sir_! And I don't think as I should a-been found yet;
+'cause it was a funny kind of life, that run-a-way life, a dodging of
+the man-hunters; but you see, marser, I sort o' pined arter the
+child--meaning Miss Sybil, who was then about four years old. And,
+moreover, it was fotch to me by a secret friend o' mine, as the child
+was likewise a pining arter me. So I up and went straight home, and
+walked right up before old marse, and took off my hat and told him as
+how _I_ was willin' to forgive and forget, and let by-gones be by-gones
+like a Christian gentleman, if he would do the same."
+
+"And of course your master at once accepted such magnanimous terms."
+
+"Who, _he_? Why, Marse Lyon! he looked jes as if he'd a-knocked me down!
+Only, you see, the child--meaning Miss Sybil--was a sitting on his knee,
+which, soon as ever she saw me, she ran to me, and clasped me round one
+leg, and tried to climb up in my arms; which I took her up at once; and
+old marster, he couldn't knock me down then, if it had been to have
+saved his life."
+
+"So peace was ratified."
+
+"Yes, Marse Lyon! which I telled you all this here nonsense jes to let
+you know how good I was at hiding and seeking. And, Marse! the horses
+come home all right."
+
+"They did! I am glad of that."
+
+"This was the way of it being all right, sir! You see I knowed, when I
+heard you were going to ride to this old church, as you couldn't get the
+horses through this thicket, but would have to turn them loose, to find
+their way home. And I knowed how if any other eyes 'cept mine saw them,
+it would set people to axing questions. So I goes out to the road, and
+watches till I sees 'em coming; when I takes charge of 'em, and gets 'em
+into the stable quiet, and no one the wiser."
+
+"Well done, Joe! But tell me, my good man, are we missed yet? Has any
+one inquired for us?"
+
+"Plenty has axed arter you both, Marse! But as no one but me and Capping
+Pendulum knowed where you was gone, and as I locked your door, and took
+the key, most of the folks still think as how Miss Sybil has gone to
+bed, overcome by the ewents of the night, and as how you is a watching
+by her, and a taking care of her."
+
+"That also is well."
+
+"But, Marse, how is Miss Sybil, and where is she?" inquired the faithful
+servant, looking about himself.
+
+"She is very much prostrated by fatigue and excitement, and is now
+sleeping in the church."
+
+"Thanks be to the Divine Marster as she _can_ sleep," said Joe,
+reverently.
+
+"And now," he continued, as he replaced it on his head, "I will kindle a
+fire and make the coffee, and may be she may wake up by the time it is
+ready."
+
+"Kindle a fire out here, Joe! Will not the smoke be seen, and lead to
+our discovery?" inquired Lyon Berners, glancing at the slender column of
+smoke from the fire in the church, that he himself had kindled, and now
+for the first time struck with the sense of the danger of discovery to
+which it might have exposed Sybil.
+
+"Lord, Marse!" replied Joe, showing his teeth, "we are too far off from
+any human being for any eye to see our smoke. And even if it wasn't so,
+bless you, there are so many mists rising from the valley this morning,
+that one smoke more or less wouldn't be noticed."
+
+"That is true," admitted Mr. Berners.
+
+Meanwhile Joe busied himself with lighting a fire. When it was burning
+freely, he took the kettle and filled it from the little stream that
+flowed through the church-yard.
+
+"Now, Marse Lyon, in about ten minutes I will set you down to as good a
+breakfast, almost, as you could have got at home," said Joe, as he
+raised three cross-sticks over the fire, and hung the kettle over the
+blaze, gipsy fashion.
+
+While Joe was at work, Mr. Berners went into the church to look after
+Sybil.
+
+She was still sleeping the heavy sleep of utter mental and bodily
+prostration. For a few minutes he stood contemplating her with an
+expression of countenance full of love and pity, and then after
+adjusting the covering over her, and collecting together the brands of
+the expiring fire to light up again, he left the church.
+
+On going outside, he found that Joe had spread a cloth and arranged a
+rude sort of picnic breakfast upon the ground.
+
+"The coffee is ready, Marse Lyon; but how about the Missis?" inquired
+the man, as he stirred down the grounds from the top of the pot.
+
+"She is still sleeping, and must not be disturbed," answered Mr.
+Berners.
+
+"Well, Marse Lyon, I reckon as how you can relish a cup of coffee as
+well as she; so please to let me wait on you, sir."
+
+Mr. Berners thanked Joe, and threw himself down upon the ground, and
+made such a breakfast as a hungry man _can_ make, even under the most
+deplorable circumstances.
+
+"Now you know, sir, when the Missus wakes up, be it longer or shorter, I
+can make fresh coffee for her in ten minutes," said Joe, cheerfully.
+
+"But you cannot stay here very long. You'll be missed from the house,"
+objected Mr. Berners.
+
+"Please, sir, I have so well provided for all that, that I can stay till
+night. Bless you, sir, I told my fellow-servants as I was going to take
+some corn to the mill to be ground, and was agoin' to wait all day to
+fetch it home; and so I really did take the corn, and told the miller I
+should come arter it this evening, and so I shall, and take it home all
+right, accordin' to my word."
+
+"That was a very politic proceeding, Joe; but how could you account to
+them for the hamper you brought away, and which must have excited
+suspicion, if not inquiry?"
+
+"Bless you, sir, I wasn't fool enough to let them see the hamper. All
+they saw was the two bags of corn as I rode out of the gate with. I had
+filled the hamper on the sly, and hid it in the bushes by the road,
+until I went by and picked it up."
+
+"Still better, Joe! But your horse? what horse did you ride, and what
+have you done with him?"
+
+"I rode Dick, which I have tied him fast in the deep woods on the other
+side of the river. I crossed over the rapids with the help of a pole,"
+explained Joe.
+
+While they were speaking, a step was heard crushing through the dried
+brushwood, and in another moment Captain Pendleton, pale, sad, and
+weary, stood before them.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+                      THE VERDICT AND THE VISITOR.
+
+
+                Can such things be,
+                And overcome us like a summer cloud
+                Without our special wonder?--Shakespeare.
+
+
+"Pendleton! oh! Heaven, Pendleton! What news?" exclaimed Lyon Berners,
+starting up to greet him.
+
+"Good heaven! Berners! How is this? Another--a servant taken into your
+confidence, and trusted with the secret of your retreat!" cried Captain
+Pendleton in dismay.
+
+"He is trustworthy! I will vouch for his fidelity! But oh! Pendleton!
+What news? what news?" exclaimed Lyon Berners in an agony of impatience.
+
+"The worst that you can anticipate!" cried Captain Pendleton in a voice
+full of sorrow.
+
+"Oh! my unhappy wife! The coroner's jury have found their verdict then?"
+groaned Lyon.
+
+Captain Pendleton bowed his head. He was unable to reply in words.
+
+"And that verdict is--Oh! speak I let me hear the worst!--that verdict
+is--"
+
+"Wilful Murder!" muttered Pendleton in a hoarse and choking voice.
+
+"Against--against--whom?" gasped Lyon Berners white as death.
+
+"Oh Heaven! _You know!_ Do not ask me to sully her name with the words!"
+cried Captain Pendleton, utterly overcome by his emotions.
+
+"Oh, my unhappy wife! Oh, my lost Sybil!" exclaimed Lyon Berners,
+reeling under the blow, half-expected though it might have been.
+
+There was silence for a few minutes. Pendleton was the first to recover
+himself. He went up to his friend, touched him on the shoulder, and
+said:
+
+"Berners, rouse yourself; the position requires the exertion of your
+utmost powers of mind and body. Calm yourself, and collect all your
+faculties. Come now let us sit down here and talk over the situation."
+
+Lyon permitted the captain to draw him away to a little distance, where
+they both sat down side by side, on a fallen tombstone.
+
+"In the first place, how is your wife, and how does she sustain herself
+under this overwhelming disaster?" inquired Captain Pendleton, forcing
+himself to speak composedly.
+
+"I do not think my dear innocent Sybil was able fully to appreciate the
+danger of her position, even as she stood before the rendering of that
+false and fatal verdict, she was so strong in her sense of innocence.
+She seemed to suffer most from the lesser evils involved in her exile
+from home."
+
+"Where is she, then?"
+
+"Sleeping heavily in the church there; sleeping very heavily, from the
+united effects of mental and bodily fatigue and excitement."
+
+"Heaven grant that she may sleep long and well. And now, Berners, to our
+plans. You must know that I kept a horse saddled and tied in the woods
+down by the river, and as soon as that lying verdict was rendered, I
+hurried off, leaped into my saddle and galloped here. I forded the
+river, and have left my horse just below here, at the entrance of this
+thicket. I must soon mount and away again on your service."
+
+"Oh, my dear Pendleton, how shall I ever repay you?"
+
+"By keeping up a stout heart until this storm-cloud blows over, as it
+must, in a few days or weeks. But now to business. How came this man Joe
+here?"
+
+Mr. Berners explained how Joe had overheard all their conversation while
+they were making their arrangements, and taken pains to co-operate with
+them, and had followed them here with some necessary provisions. And he,
+Mr. Berners, closed with a eulogy on Joe's fidelity and discretion.
+
+"I am very glad to hear what you tell me, for it relieves my mind of a
+very great weight. I knew that there had been a listener to our
+conversation, for I almost ran against him as I went into the house; but
+as he made his escape before I could identify him, I was very anxious on
+the subject. So you may judge what a burden is lifted from my mind by
+the discovery that he was no other than honest Joe, whom Providence sent
+in the way. But why he ran from me, I cannot imagine.
+
+"He was a little jealous, a little sulky, and somewhat fearful of being
+blamed, I suppose. But tell me, Pendleton, has our flight been
+discovered yet?" inquired Mr. Berners, anxiously.
+
+"No, nor even suspected; at least, not up to the time that I left Black
+Hall. Mrs. Berners was supposed to be in her chamber. I warned all the
+men, and requested my sister to caution all the women, against knocking
+at her door."
+
+"And I, who must have been expected to be on the spot?" asked Lyon.
+
+"You were often asked for. Fortunately for you, there is a well-known
+weakness in human nature to pretend to know all about everything that
+may be inquired into. And so, every time you chanced to be inquired for
+by one party, you were accounted for by another. Some said you were with
+Mrs. Berners; others that you had gone to Blackville on pressing
+business connected with the tragedy. And these last authorities came to
+be believed; so that when I slipped away I left the people momentarily
+expecting your return."
+
+"Whom did you leave there?"
+
+"Everybody--the coroner's jury and all the guests of the house, who had
+been detained as witnesses."
+
+"Then all our friends heard the fatal verdict?"
+
+"All."
+
+"Was there--a warrant issued?" gasped Lyon Berners, scarcely able to
+utter the words.
+
+"Ah, yes; the issue of the warrant was the first intimation I had of the
+fatal nature of the verdict. It was put in the hands of an officer, with
+orders to be on the watch and serve it as soon as Mrs. Berners should
+come out of her chamber, but not to knock at the door, or molest her
+while she remained in it."
+
+Lyon Berners groaned deeply, and buried his face in his hands.
+
+"Come, come! bear up, that you may sustain _her_!" said Captain
+Pendleton. "And now listen: Your flight, as I told you, was not
+suspected up to the time I left Black Hall. It will not be discovered
+probably until late this evening, when it will be too late for the
+authorities to take any immediate measures of pursuit. We have,
+therefore, this afternoon and to-night to perfect our plans. Only you
+need to bring steady nerves and a clear head to the task."
+
+"What do you suggest, Pendleton?"
+
+"First of all, that during this night, which is ours, all necessary
+conveniences be brought here to support your life for a few days, for
+you must not leave this safe refuge immediately--to do so would be to
+fall into the hands of the law."
+
+"I see that," sighed Mr. Berners.
+
+"I, then, with the help of this faithful Joe, will bring to you here
+to-night such things as you and Mrs. Berners will actually need, for the
+few days that you must remain. As to all your affairs at the Hall, I
+counsel you to give me a written authority to act for you in your
+absence. I have brought writing materials for the purpose; and when you
+have written it, I will myself take it and drop it secretly into the
+post-office at Blackville, so that it may reach me regularly through the
+mail, and help to mislead everybody to whom I shall show it, into the
+idea that you have gone away through Blackville. Will you write it now?"
+inquired Captain Pendleton, drawing from his pocket a rolled
+writing-case, containing all that was requisite for the work.
+
+"A thousand thanks, Pendleton. I do not see how in the name of Heaven we
+could have managed without you," replied Berners, as he took the case,
+unrolled it on his knee, and proceeded to write the required "power of
+attorney."
+
+"And now," said the Captain, when he received the document, "now we must
+be getting back. The sun is quite low, and we have much to do. Come,
+Joe, are you ready?"
+
+"Yes, Massa Capping; ready and waitin' on you too. I ought to be at the
+mill now, 'fore the miller shuts it up."
+
+Captain Pendleton then shook hands with Mr. Berners, and Joe pulled his
+front lock of wool by way of a deferential adieu, and both left the spot
+and disappeared in the thicket.
+
+But it was not until the last sound of their retreating steps, crashing
+through the dried bushes, had died away, that Lyon Berners turned and
+went into the church.
+
+As he entered, a singular phenomenon, almost enough to confirm the
+reputation of the place as "haunted ground," met his view.
+
+All in one instant his eyes took in these things: First, Sybil covered
+over with the dark riding skirt, and still sleeping by the smouldering
+fire; but sleeping uneasily, and muttering in her sleep. Secondly, the
+four prints of the western windows laid in sunshine on the floor.
+Thirdly, a _shadow_ that slipped swiftly athwart this sunshine, and
+disappeared as if it had sunk into the floor on the right of the altar.
+And in the same moment Sybil, with a half-suppressed shriek, started up,
+and stared wildly around, exclaiming:
+
+"Oh! what is this? Where am I? Who was she?" Lyon Berners hastened to
+his wife, saying soothingly:
+
+"Sybil, wake up, darling; you have been dreaming."
+
+"But what does all this mean? Where are we? What strange place is this?"
+she cried, throwing back her long dark hair, and shading her eyes with
+her hands, as she gazed around.
+
+"Dearest wife, take time to compose yourself, and you will remember all.
+A sudden and terrible catastrophe has driven us from our home. You have
+had a heavy sleep since that, and you find it difficult to awake to the
+truth," said Lyon Berners tenderly, as he sat down by her side, and
+sought to soothe her.
+
+"Oh! I know now! I remember all now! my fatal fancy ball! Rosa
+Blondelle's mysterious murder! Our sudden flight! All! O! Heavens, all!"
+cried Sybil, dropping her face upon her hands.
+
+Lyon Berners put his arm around her, and drew her to his bosom. But he
+did not speak; he thought it better to leave her to collect herself in
+silence.
+
+After a few moments, she looked up again, and looked all around the
+church, and then gazed into her husband's eyes, and inquired:
+
+"But Lyon, who was _she_? and where has she gone?"
+
+"Who was who, dear Sybil? I don't understand," answered Mr. Berners, in
+surprise.
+
+"That gipsy-like girl in the red cloak; who was bending over me, and
+staring into my face, just as you came in?"
+
+"There was no such girl near you, or even in the church, my dear," said
+Mr. Berners.
+
+"But indeed there was; she started away just as I woke up."
+
+"My dearest Sybil, you have been dreaming."
+
+"Indeed no; I saw her as plainly as I see you now: a girl in a red
+cloak, with such an elfin face I shall never forget it; such small
+piercing black eyes; such black eyebrows, depressed towards the nose,
+and raised high towards the temples, giving such an eldritch,
+mischievous, even dangerous expression to the whole dark countenance;
+and such wild black hair streaming around her shoulders."
+
+"A very vivid dream you have had, dear wife, and that is all."
+
+"I tell you no! she was bending over me; looking at me; and she fled
+away just as I woke up."
+
+"My darling, I will convince you out of your own mouth. She ran away,
+you say, just as you woke up; therefore you did not see her after you
+were awake, but only while you slept, in your dreams. Besides, dear, I
+was here when you woke up, and I saw no one near you, or even in the
+building," persisted Lyon Berners--though at that moment he did recall
+to mind _the shadow_ that he had seen slip past all the sunshine on the
+floor, and disappear as if it had sunk under the slabs on the right side
+of the altar.
+
+"Lyon," said Sybil, solemnly, "I do not like to contradict you, but as I
+hope to be saved, I saw that girl, not in a dream, but in reality; and
+since you do not know anything about her, I begin to think the
+apparition mysterious and alarming. Let me tell you all about it."
+
+"Well, tell me, dear, if to do so will do you any good," said Mr.
+Berners indulgently, but incredulously.
+
+"Listen, then. I was in a _dead sleep_, oh, such a deep dead sleep,
+that I seemed to be away down in the bottom of some deep cave, when I
+felt a heavy breathing or panting over my face, and was conscious of
+somebody leaning over me, and looking at me. I tried to wake, but could
+not, I could not lift myself up out of that deep dark cave of sleep. But
+at last I felt a hand near my throat, trying to unfasten this golden
+locket that contains your miniature. Then I struggled, and succeeded in
+throwing off the spell and waking up. As soon as I opened my eyes I saw
+the wild eldritch face, with its keen bright black eyes and queer
+eyebrows, and snake-like black locks, running down over the red cloak.
+The instant I saw this, I cried out, and the girl fled, and you hurried
+up. Now call that a dream if you can, for I tell you I saw that figure
+start up and run away from me as plainly as I saw you come up. One event
+was as real as the other," concluded Sybil.
+
+Lyon Berners did not at once reply, for he thought again of the flitting
+_shadow_ he had seen cross the sunshine, and disappear as if it had sunk
+into the flagstones on the right side of the altar. And he mentally
+admitted the bare possibility that some intruder had entered the church
+and looked upon Sybil in her sleep, and fled at her awakening. But fled
+whither? The windows were very high, the wall was smooth beneath them;
+no one could have climbed to them, for there was no foothold or handhold
+to assist one in the ascent, and there was but the one door by which he
+himself had entered, at the same moment the strange visitor was said to
+have fled, and he was quite sure that no one had passed him. Besides,
+the shadow that he had seen vanished beside the altar, at the upper end
+of the church. Lyon Berners knew not what to think of all that he had
+seen and heard within the last quarter of an hour. But one thing was
+quite certain, that it was absolutely necessary to Sybil's safety to
+ascertain whether any stranger had really entered the church, or even
+come upon the premises.
+
+"Well," inquired Sybil, seeing that he still remained silent, "what do
+you think now, Lyon?"
+
+"I think," he answered promptly, "that I will search the church."
+
+"There is not a hiding-place for anything bigger than a rat or a bird,"
+said his wife, glancing around upon the bare walls, floor, and ceiling.
+
+Nevertheless Lyon Berners walked up to the side of the altar where he
+had seen the shadow disappear. Sybil followed close behind him. He
+examined the altar all around. It was built of stonework like the
+church; that was the reason it had stood so long. But he experienced a
+great surprise when he looked at the side where the shadow had vanished;
+for there he found a small iron-grated door, through which he dimly
+discerned the head of a flight of stone steps, the continuation of which
+was lost in the darkness below. Glancing over the top of the door, he
+read, in iron letters, the inscription:
+
+"DUBARRY. 1650."
+
+"What is it, dear Lyon?" inquired Sybil, anxiously looking over his
+shoulder.
+
+"Good Heaven! It is the family vault of the wicked old Dubarrys, who
+once owned all the land hereabouts, except the Black Valley Manor, and
+who built this chapel for their sins; for of them it might not be said
+with truth, that 'all their sons were true, and all their daughters
+pure,' but just exactly the reverse. However, they are well forgotten
+now!"
+
+"And this is their family vault?"
+
+"Yes; but I had almost forgotten its existence here."
+
+"Lyon, can my mysterious visitor have hidden herself in that vault?"
+
+"I can search it, at any rate," answered Mr. Berners, wrenching away at
+the grated door.
+
+But it resisted all his efforts, as if its iron bars had been bedded in
+the solid masonry.
+
+"No," he answered; "your visitor, if you had one, could not possibly
+have entered here. See how fast the door is."
+
+"Lyon," whispered Sybil, in a deep and solemn voice, "Lyon, could she
+possibly have come out from there?"
+
+"Nonsense, dear! Are you thinking of ghosts?"
+
+"This is the 'Haunted Chapel,' you know," whispered Sybil.
+
+"Bosh, my dear; you are not silly enough to believe that!"
+
+"But my strange visitor?"
+
+"You had no visitor, dear Sybil; you had a dream, and your dream had
+every feature of nightmare in it--the deep, death-like, yet
+half-conscious and much disturbed sleep; the sense of heavy oppression;
+the apparition hanging over you; the inability to awake; even the
+grappling at your throat, and the swift disappearance of the vision
+immediately upon your full awakening--all well-known features of
+incubus," replied Mr. Berners. But again he thought of the shadow he had
+seen; now, however, only to dismiss the subject as an optical illusion.
+
+Sybil sighed deeply.
+
+"It is hard," she said, "that you won't trust to my senses in this
+affair."
+
+"Sweet wife, I would rather convince you how completely your senses have
+deceived you. Your imagination has been excited while your nerves were
+depressed. You have heard the legend of the Haunted Chapel, and while
+sleeping within it you conjured up the heroine of the story in your
+dream where she immediately took the form of incubus."
+
+"I!--the legend! What are you talking of, Lyon? I have heard the church
+called the Haunted Chapel indeed, but I never even knew that there was
+any story connected with it," exclaimed Sybil, in surprise.
+
+"Really? Never heard the legend of 'Dubarry's Fall'?" inquired Mr.
+Berners, with equal surprise.
+
+"Never, upon my word."
+
+"Well, it is an old tradition; forgotten like the family with whom it
+was connected. I heard it in my childhood; but it had slipped my memory
+until your graphic description of the gipsy girl in the red cloak
+recalled it to my mind, and led me to believe that your knowledge of the
+legend had so impressed your imagination as to make it conjure up the
+heroine of the legend."
+
+"What is the legend? Do tell me, Lyon."
+
+"Not now, dearest. You must first have some coffee, which a faithful
+friend has provided for us."
+
+"Captain Pendleton?" eagerly inquired Sybil.
+
+"No, dear, our servant Joe. I do not expect to see Captain Pendleton
+until nightfall," added Lyon Berners, for he tried to anticipate and
+prevent any troublesome questions that Sybil might ask, as he wished to
+save her from needless additional pain as long as he possibly could.
+
+"And Joe is here with us?" inquired Sybil, cheerfully.
+
+"No, dear; he has returned home; but will come again to-night."
+
+"But what news did he bring?"
+
+"None. We will hear from Captain Pendleton to-night. Now you must have
+some coffee; and then I will tell you the 'Legend of the Haunted
+Chapel'; for that legend, Sybil, may well account for your vision,
+whether we look on it from my point of view or from yours--as illusion
+or reality," said Lyon Berners.
+
+"Or, stay," he added, reflectively; "it is too cold for you to sup in
+the open air. I will bring the things in here."
+
+"Well, let me go with you, to help to bring them in, at least," pleaded
+Sybil.
+
+"What! are you really afraid to stay here alone?" inquired Lyon,
+smiling, with an attempt at pleasantry.
+
+"No, indeed; but all smells mouldy inside this old church. At least it
+does since the sun set, and I would like to go out and get a breath of
+fresh air," replied Sybil, quite seriously.
+
+"Come, then," said Lyon.
+
+They went out together.
+
+The fire that had been built by Joe was now burnt down to embers; but
+the coffee-pot sat upon these embers, and the coffee was hot.
+
+Lyon Berners took it up, while Sybil loaded herself with crockery ware
+and cutlery.
+
+They had turned to go back to the church, when Sybil uttered a
+half-suppressed cry, and nearly dropped her burden.
+
+"What's the matter?" cried Mr. Berners.
+
+"Look!" exclaimed Sybil.
+
+"Where?"
+
+"At the east window."
+
+Mr. Berners raised his eyes just in time to see a weird young face, with
+wild black hair, and a bright red mantle, flash downward from the
+window, as if it had dropped to the floor.
+
+There was no dream now; not even an optical illusion. The reality of the
+vision was unquestionable.
+
+"This is most strange," exclaimed Mr. Berners.
+
+"It is the same face that bent over me, and woke me up," answered Sybil,
+with a shudder.
+
+"It is some one who is concealed in the church, and whom we shall be
+sure to discover, for there is but one exit, by the front door; and if
+she comes out of that, we shall see her; or if she remains in the
+building, we shall be sure to find her there. Since I saw the face drop
+from the window, I have carefully watched the door. Do you also watch
+it, my dear Sybil; so that the creature, whatever it is, may not pass
+us," said Mr. Berners, as he strode on rapidly towards the church,
+followed by his wife.
+
+They entered together, and looked eagerly around.
+
+Though the sun had set some ten minutes before, yet the "after glow"
+shone in through the six tall gothic window spaces, and revealed clearly
+every nook and corner of the interior. Their strange inmate or visitor,
+whichever she might be, was nowhere to be seen.
+
+With an impatient gesture, Mr. Berners set down the coffee-pot, and
+hurried towards the door of the vault, and looked through the iron
+grating. But he could see nothing but the top of those stairs, the
+bottom of which disappeared in the darkness.
+
+He then shook the door; but it firmly resisted all his strength. The
+bars appeared to be built into the solid masonry.
+
+"This is really confounding to all one's intelligence," exclaimed Lyon
+Berners, gazing around in perplexity.
+
+"It is, indeed. But it is well that you have seen this mystery with your
+own eyes, for if you had not done so, you never would have believed in
+it," said Sybil, gravely shaking her head.
+
+"Nor do I believe in it, now that I have seen it."
+
+"Then you will not trust the united evidence of your own eyes and mine."
+
+"No, Sybil; not for a prodigy so out of nature as that would be,"
+replied Lyon Berners, firmly.
+
+"Well, then, tell me the legend of the Haunted Chapel, for you hinted
+that that legend must have some connection with this apparition."
+
+"A seeming connection, at the very least; but I cannot tell it to you
+now--not until you take something to eat and drink, for you have not
+broken your fast since morning."
+
+"Nor have I hungered since morning," replied Sybil, with a sigh.
+
+Mr. Berners went up to the smouldering embers of the fire that he had
+lighted in the morning on the stone floor of the church; and he drew
+together the dying brands, put fresh fuel on them, and soon rekindled
+the flame.
+
+And the husband and wife sat down beside it; and while Sybil ate and
+drank with what appetite she could bring to the repast, Lyon Berners, to
+pass off the heavy time, related to her the legend of the Haunted
+Chapel.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXV.
+
+                       THE FALL OF THE DUBARRYS.
+
+
+                But, soft! behold, lo, where it comes again!
+                I'll cross it, though it blast me.--Stay, illusion!
+                If thou hast any sound, or use of voice,
+                Speak to me!--SHAKESPEARE.
+
+
+"The Dubarrys," he began, "were a French Roman Catholic family of
+distinction. A cadet of that family came over to Virginia among the
+earliest English settlers of the colony.
+
+"As in the case of the more important among his anglican comrades, he
+obtained a very large tract of land by Royal patent. He built his hut
+and fixed his abode here, not a hundred yards from the spot where this
+church now stands.
+
+"He took an Indian girl for a wife, and continued to live a wild
+huntsman sort of life in the wilderness; only breaking it sometimes by
+going down to Jamestown, twice a year, to buy such necessaries of
+civilized life as the wilderness could not furnish, and to hear news
+from any ship that might have come in from the old country; and above
+all, to take a holiday among civilized pleasure-seekers--for such
+existed even in the primitive settlement of Jamestown.
+
+"In due course of time, a family of half-breed sons and daughters grew
+up around him, and the little primitive hut gave place to a substantial
+stone lodge.
+
+"And the country around was becoming settled. The Berners had got a
+grant of the Black Valley, and had built the first part of Black Hall,
+which has since been added to in every generation, until it has grown to
+its present dimensions.
+
+"About this time also, Charles Dubarry was inspired with a certain
+ambition for his eldest son, a densely ignorant, half-Indian youth of
+nineteen; and hearing that the two young sons of Richard Berners of
+Black Hall were to be sent to England to be educated, he proposed that
+his own 'black boy,' as he called his handsome dark-eyed heir, should go
+with them. And as the three lads had been forest companions for some
+years, the proposal of old Dubarry was gladly accepted, and the three
+young men sailed in company for England.
+
+"They spent ten years in the old world, and returned, as as they had set
+out, together. It was after their return that the close friendship of a
+young lifetime was turned to the deadliest enmity. It happened in this
+manner:
+
+"The country, during their absence, had grown a great deal in
+population. Every rich valley among these mountains had its white
+proprietor. In the Valley of the Roses--so named, because at the time it
+was taken possession of by its first proprietor, it was fairly carpeted
+and festooned all around and about with the wild-rose vine--dwelt one
+Gabriel Mayo, a gentleman of fortune, taste, and culture. He had a
+family of fair daughters, of whom old Charles Dubarry, with his national
+gallantry and proneness to exaggeration, had said, that 'they were all
+the most beautiful girls in the world, and each one more beautiful than
+all the others.'
+
+"Be that as it may, it is certain that there were five lovely maidens,
+ranging from fifteen years to twenty-one, to choose from. Yet who can
+account for human caprice, especially in such matters? The three young
+men--Louis Dubarry, and John and William Berners--all fixed their
+affections upon Florette Mayo, the youngest beauty.
+
+"Fierce and bitter was the rivalry between the lovers. But the young
+girl returned the love of John Berners, and married him, and became your
+ancestress, as you know, Sybil.
+
+"And from that time to the time of the extinction of the American branch
+of the Dubarry family, a feud, as fierce and bitter, if not as warlike,
+as any that ever raged between rival barons of the middle ages,
+prevailed between the Berners and the Dubarrys.
+
+"I come now to the period just before the breaking out of the Old French
+War, when the first rude stone lodges in these valleys had given place
+to handsome and spacious manor houses, and when the then proprietor of
+the Dubarry estate had erected a magnificent dwelling on the site of his
+first rough cottage. He called the mansion the Chateau Dubarry, a name
+which the country people quickly changed into Shut-up Dubarry.
+
+"The last name was not inappropriate, for a more morose, solitary, and
+misanthropical man never lived than Henry Dubarry, the builder of that
+house. He neither visited nor received visits, but remained selfishly
+'shut-up' in the paradise of art and letters that he had created within
+his dwelling.
+
+"He had a wife, a son, and two daughters, all of whom suffered more or
+less from this isolation from their fellow-beings. So it was a great
+relief to the son when he was sent, first to the William and Mary
+College of Williamsburg for five years, and afterwards to Oxford for
+five more.
+
+"After the departure of the son and brother, the mother and sisters
+suffered more and more seriously from the gloom and horror of their
+isolation, and in the course of years utterly succumbed to it. First the
+mother died, then the elder sister; and then the younger sister, left
+alone with her recluse father in that awful house, became a maniac.
+
+"Under these circumstances, the father wrote to his son to come home.
+But selfishness, not love, ruled that young man, as it had ruled his
+fathers. He had graduated with honors, and won a 'fellowship' at the
+University, and he was about to start for the fashionable European tour.
+He wrote home to this effect, and went on his farther way.
+
+"He remained abroad until summoned home by two events--the deaths of his
+father and sister, and the necessity of raising money for himself.
+
+"He came home, but not alone. He brought with him a gipsy girl of
+singular beauty, who seemed to be passionately attached to him, and whom
+he loved as much as it was in his selfish nature to love anything.
+
+"He placed her at the head of his household, and his simple servants
+obeyed her as their mistress; and his sociable neighbors, willing to
+forgive old rebuffs, called upon the young pair.
+
+"But their visits were not kindly received, and not in any case
+returned. And the report went around the neighborhood, that Philip
+Dubarry was as morose and selfish as his father had been before him. And
+so the house was abandoned, as it had been in the days of the old man
+and the idiot girl.
+
+"But by and by other rumors, darker and more dishonorable to the master
+and mistress of Shut-up Dubarry, crept out among the people. These
+rumors were started by the Dubarry servants, in their gossipping with
+other family servants in the chance meeting in church or village. They
+were to the effect that Philip Dubarry often quarrelled fiercely with
+his gipsy wife, and even threatened to send her back to her native
+county, and that Gentiliska, or Iska, as she was more commonly called,
+wept and raved and tore her black hair by turns.
+
+"It is the old sad tale, dear Sybil. At length the cultivated scholar
+and unprincipled villain grew tired of his beautiful but ignorant gipsy
+wife, who was a wife only in justice and not in law. He frequently left
+home for long absences. He spent his winters in the cities, and his
+summers in a round of visits to hospitable country houses, leaving her
+at all seasons to pine and weep, or rage and tear her hair in the gloomy
+solitude of Shut-up Dubarry. But for all this, whenever he did
+condescend to visit his home, she received him with an eagerness of
+welcome--a perfect self-abandonment to joy, that knew no bounds. And
+when he left her again, her despair was but the deeper, her anguish the
+fiercer. And all this was duly reported by that indefatigable corps of
+reporters, the domestics of the house.
+
+"At last came the crisis. Philip Dubarry sent down an agent who opened
+the doors of Shut-up Dubarry, and brought into it an army of workmen, to
+repair, refurnish and decorate the mansion-house. In vain Gentiliska
+asked questions; the workmen either could not or would not give her any
+satisfaction. 'It was the master's orders,' they said, and nothing more.
+To no one in the world were 'the master's' orders more sacred than to
+his loyal gipsy wife. She bowed in submission, and let the workmen do
+their will. All the summer season was occupied with the work. But by the
+first of October the house was thoroughly renewed, within and without,
+so that it seemed like a palace in the midst of Paradise; and the gipsy
+wife wandered through the house and grounds in a delight that was only
+damped by the long-continued absence of her husband.
+
+"At length, near the middle of the month, at the height of the hunting
+season, Philip Dubarry arrived. But the eager welcome of his wife was
+met with coldness and petulance, that wounded and enraged her. She gave
+way to a storm of grief and fury. She wept and raved and tore her hair,
+as was her way when fiercely excited. But now he had not the least
+patience with her, or the least mercy on her. He had ceased to love her
+and to want her, and so, in acting out his selfish and demoniac nature,
+he did not hesitate to treat her with cruel scorn and ignominy. He told
+her that she was not his wife, and never had been so. He called her ill
+names, and bade her pack up and go, he cared not where, so it was out of
+his sight, for he hated her; and out of his house also, for she
+dishonored it; and that, after being repaired and refurnished, it must
+also be purified of _her_ presence, before he could bring into it the
+fair maiden whom he was about to make his wife.
+
+"Then all her fury suddenly subsided, and she became calm and resolute
+unto death. She assured him that she never would leave the house; that
+she was his wife, and the house's mistress; and she had the right to
+remain, and would remain. Whereupon he broke out into furious oaths,
+swearing that if she did not go, he would put her out by force. Then she
+answered, in these memorable words, that have come down to us in
+tradition:
+
+"'My body you may thrust forth from my home, but my spirit never! Living
+or dead, in the flesh or the spirit, I will stay in this house as long
+as its walls shall stand! Nay, though you were to pull this house down
+to eject me, in the flesh or the spirit, I would enter in and possess
+the next house you should build! And should you venture to bring here,
+or there, a bride to supplant me, in the flesh or the spirit I will
+blast and destroy her. So help me the gods of my people.'
+
+"For a moment the ruthless and dauntless man stood appalled by the awful
+spirit he had raised in that slight form. But when he did recover
+himself it was to fall into a transport of fury, in which he seized the
+girl and hurled her violently through the open window. Fortunately they
+were on the ground floor, so the fall was not great, and she was,
+besides, light in form and agile as a cat. She fell on her hands and
+feet upon a thick carpet of the dead leaves that strewed the lawn.
+
+"For a moment she lay where she had fallen, breathless from the shock;
+then she lifted herself slowly up. One arm hung useless by her side; it
+was dislocated at the shoulder joint; but the other was raised to
+heaven, and she muttered some words in her native tongue, and then
+turned and walked away until she disappeared in the woods.
+
+"'I hope she'll drown herself according to rule, and there will be an
+end,' the fiendish wretch was heard to mutter. No one was allowed to
+follow her. She probably _did_ drown herself, but that was by no means
+the end. Well, the gipsy girl is said to have kept her word.
+
+"The third day thereafter, as a boy in search of eagle's eggs was
+climbing the highest fastnesses of the Black Mountain, his eyes were
+attracted by the glow of something scarlet lying on a ledge of rocks
+about half way down the course of the Black Torrent. Agile as any
+chamois hunter of the Alps, the boy let himself down, from point to
+point, until he reached the ledge, upon which the dead body of the gipsy
+girl was found. It was crushed by the fall, and sodden by the white foam
+of the cascade that continually rolled over it.
+
+"The boy hastened away to spread the news. With the greatest difficulty
+the body was recovered, and conveyed to Shut-up Dubarry. The inquest
+that sat upon it rendered the simple verdict, 'Found Dead'; for whether
+the death were accidental or suicidal, or whether it resulted from the
+fall upon the rocks, or from the waters of the cascade, the Dogberries
+of that jury could not decide.
+
+"The gipsy girl was buried; and her brutal protector coarsely professed
+himself to be greatly relieved by her death. And he assembled all his
+servants before him, and forbade them, under the penalty of his heaviest
+displeasure, ever to mention the name of Gentiliska to the lady he was
+about to bring home as his wife. These slaves knew their master, and in
+great fear and trembling they each and all solemnly promised to obey
+him. Then he left home for the eastern part of the State from which he
+was to bring his bride. On this occasion he was gone a month.
+
+"It was in the middle of the month of November that he returned to
+Shut-up Dubarry, bringing with him his fair young bride. She was a
+Fairfax, from the county that was named after her family. She was
+unquestionably a lady of the highest and purest order, and the
+neighboring gentry, ever pleased to welcome such an one among them,
+called on her, invited her to their houses, and gave dinner or supper
+parties in her honor.
+
+"Philip Dubarry, who had recently fretted at the galling 'ban' under
+which, for the transient love of the gipsy girl, he had voluntarily
+placed himself, now rejoiced at being delivered from it, and entered
+with all the zest of novelty into the social pleasures of the place. He
+loved his beautiful and high-born wife with both passion and pride, and
+she loved some imaginary hero in his form, and was happy in the
+illusion. Thus all went merry as a marriage bell until one dark and
+dismal day in December, when the rain fell in floods and the wind raved
+around the house, and the state of the weather kept the newly married
+couple closely confined within doors, his bride turned to him, and
+inquired quietly:
+
+"'Who is that little dark-haired girl with the piercing black eyes, and
+in the short red cloak, that I see so often around the house?'
+
+"'What did you say?' inquired Philip Dubarry, in a quavering voice.
+
+"'Who is that little girl in the red cloak, who seems so much at home in
+the house? Is she deaf and dumb? I speak to her, but she never answers
+me; generally indeed, she goes away as soon as she perceives that I
+notice her. Who is she, Phil?' and the young wife looked at her husband
+for an answer. But his face was that of a corpse, and his form was
+shaking with an ague fit, for the guilty are ever cowardly.
+
+"But his wife mistook the cause of his agitation. Forgotten in an
+instant was the question she had asked, and upon which, she had placed
+no sort of importance; and she went to her husband and took his hand,
+and gazed into his face, and asked him, for Heaven's sake, to tell her
+what was the matter.
+
+"He told her a lie. He faltered out between his chattering teeth, that
+he feared he was struck with a congestive chill; that the sudden and
+severe change in the weather had affected him;--and more to the same
+effect.
+
+"She hurried out and prepared a hot drink of brandy, boiling water, and
+spices, and she brought it to him and made him drink it.
+
+"Under this powerful stimulant he revived. But she had, in the fear and
+excitement of the hour, utterly forgotten the inquiry she had put to
+him, and no more would have been said of it, had not he, in fearful
+interest, resumed the subject.
+
+"'You were asking me about--one of the servants, were you not?' he
+inquired.
+
+"'Oh, yes. But never mind! sit still, and keep your feet to the fire
+until you get warm. Never mind about gratifying my foolish curiosity
+now,' she answered, thoughtfully.
+
+"'My chill is already gone, thanks to your skilful nursing! What chill
+could resist your warm draughts? But now about your question. What was
+it?'
+
+"'Oh, nothing much! I only asked you who was the little girl with the
+red cloak, who is so silent and shy that she never answers me when I
+speak to her, and always shrinks away whenever she finds herself
+observed.'
+
+"The trembling wretch was ready with his falsehood. He answered:
+
+"'Oh! she is the child of a poor couple on the mountain, and comes to
+the house for cold victuals; but she is as you have observed, very shy;
+so I think you had better leave her to herself.'
+
+"'Yes, but are you sure she is to be trusted? For shy as she is in
+other matters, she is bold enough to intrude into the most private parts
+of the house, and at the most untimely hours of the night,' remarked the
+lady.
+
+"'Indeed!' muttered the guilty man, in a sepulchral tone.
+
+"'Indeed and indeed! Why, only last night, when we came home at
+midnight, from Mrs. Judge Mayo's ball, when you lingered below stairs to
+speak to the butler, and I ran up into my own room alone, I saw this
+strange looking little creature, with the streaming black hair and the
+red cloak, standing before my dressing-glass! Now what do you think of
+that?'
+
+"'She--she--she has been a sort of a pet of the family, and has had the
+run of the house, coming in and out of all the rooms at all hours, like
+any little dog,' answered the conscious criminal, in a quavering voice.
+
+"'_That_ must be reformed at once!' said the Fairfax bride, drawing
+herself up with much dignity, and also perhaps with some jealous
+suspicion.
+
+"'It shall, by my soul! I will give orders to that effect,' quavered
+Philip Dubarry.
+
+"'Nay, do not take that trouble. It is _my_ prerogative to order my
+household, and I shall do it,' proudly answered the lady.
+
+"And here the matter might have ended, but for that interest Philip
+Dubarry felt in the subject. He remembered the most awful threat of his
+betrayed gipsy wife: 'In the flesh or in the spirit, to dwell in the
+house as long as its walls should stand! In the flesh or in the spirit,
+to blast and destroy the bride he should bring there to take her place.'
+Up to this time he had never had any reason to suppose that the gipsy
+girl had kept her word. He had never seen nor heard of anything unusual
+about the house. But now when his wife spoke of this silent inmate in
+the red cloak, he recognized the portrait all but too well, and his
+guilty soul quaked with fear. And yet he was not superstitious. He was a
+son of the eighteenth century, which was much more incredulous of the
+supernatural than the nineteenth, with all its mysterious spiritual
+manifestations, can be. He was a scientific and practical man. Yet he
+shuddered with awe as he listened to the description given by his
+unconscious wife of this strange visitant. And he could not forbear to
+question her.
+
+"'Did you speak to the girl when you found her in your room at
+midnight?' he inquired.
+
+"'Yes, certainly; I asked her how she came to be there so late. But
+instead of answering my question, she glided silently away.'
+
+"'Have you spoken to any of the servants of this girl's intrusion into
+parts of the house where she has no business to come?'
+
+"'No, not until this morning; for I never really felt interest enough in
+the little creature that I only casually met in the passages of the
+house, until I found her in my bedroom at midnight. So this morning I
+described her to the housekeeper, and asked who she was, and who gave
+her liberty to intrude into my bedroom so late. And what do you think
+old Monica answered?'
+
+"'I'm sure I don't know.'
+
+"'She crossed herself, and cried out, 'Lord have mercy on all our souls!
+You have seen her!' I inquired, 'Seen who?' But she answered, 'Nothing.
+Nobody. I don't know what I'm talking about. My head's wool-gathering,
+I believe.' Nor could any further questioning of mine draw from her any
+more satisfactory answer. And so I came to you for an explanation. And
+you tell me that she is Milly Jones, the child of poor parents, living
+on the mountain, and that she comes here for broken victuals and old
+clothes. Very well. In future I shall pension the poor family on the
+mountain, for I would not have any fellow-creature in my reach to suffer
+want; but I shall do it on condition that Miss Milly Jones stays home,
+and helps her mother with the family cooking and washing, instead of
+losing her time by day and her sleep by night in wandering through all
+the rooms of a gentleman's house, and taking possession of a lady's
+bed-chamber.'
+
+"You see this bride never imagined a ghost, but strongly suspected a
+sweetheart, and so she was a little surprised when her husband answered:
+
+"'Do so, my dear; and may Heaven grant that you may get rid of this
+unpleasant visitor at once and forever.'
+
+"And as he said this, Philip Dubarry arose and went into his library and
+rung the bell, and to the servant who answered it, he said:
+
+"'Send Monica the housekeeper here.'
+
+"In a few minutes Monica entered the room.
+
+"'Did I not order you, on pain of my heaviest displeasure, never to
+annoy Mrs. Dubarry by so much as the mention of the gipsy girl's name to
+her?' sternly demanded Philip Dubarry.
+
+"The old woman fell down upon her knees, and lifted up both her hands,
+and exclaimed:
+
+"'And no more I haven't, master, not once! But that don't do no good,
+for _she walks_!'
+
+"'Who walks, you old fool?'
+
+"'_She_, the gipsy girl, master. _She walks_, and the missis sees her as
+well as we do!'
+
+"'We? Whom do you call "we," you insupportable idiot?'
+
+"'Me and Ben the man-servant, and Betty the chambermaid, and Peggy the
+parlormaid. All sees her, master. We never, none of us, see her before
+the missis was brought home; but ever since that, we sees her every day;
+we sees just as much of her as we used to see when she was alive!'
+answered the woman, grovelling and weeping.
+
+"'_Where_ do you see her, or fancy you see her, lunatic?' fiercely
+demanded Philip Dubarry.
+
+"'Everywhere, master! We meets her on the stairs; we sees her sitting at
+the head of the table, as soon as the meal is ready, and before the
+mistress comes to take the place; and we sees her lying in the unmade
+beds of a morning; but always, as soon as we screams, as scream we must,
+at such an object, master, she vanishes away!' answered the housekeeper.
+
+"Philip Dubarry was awed and almost silenced,--_almost_, but not quite,
+for he was the very sort of hero to browbeat others the most fiercely
+when he was himself the most frightened. He rallied himself.
+
+"'Look you here!' he furiously exclaimed; 'all this that you have just
+told me is the most wicked and abominable falsehood and absurdity! And
+now take notice! IF EVER I hear of one more word being uttered on this
+subject in this house, or out of it, by any one of you, under any
+circumstances whatever, by my blood, I will make you all wish that you
+had never been born! Repeat this to your fellow-servants', and order
+them from me to govern their tongues accordingly. Now go!' he thundered
+at the poor old woman, who hastily picked herself up, and hurried out of
+the room."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+                              THE SPECTRE.
+
+
+                It was about to speak
+                And then it started like a guilty thing.
+                Upon a fearful summons.--SHAKESPEARE.
+
+
+"Philip Dubarry remained walking up and down the door, foaming with
+impotent rage, as well as trembling with a vague and awful terror. He
+had a practical and scientific mind, and could understand everything
+that might be governed by known laws. But he could not understand this
+unwelcome visitant, that had appeared to every one else in the house but
+himself. He was an arbitrary and despotic man who enforced his will upon
+all connected with him, and ruled all flesh with a rod of iron. But he
+could not rule the spirit, and he knew it. He could not lay this ghost
+of his guilt.
+
+"There was one grain of truth in the ton of falsehood that he had told
+to his unconscious wife, to account for the apparition seen by her.
+There really was a Milly Jones, the daughter of a poor family on the
+mountains, and she really did come occasionally to the house to ask for
+broken victuals and old clothes; but instead of being a beautiful
+black-eyed and black-haired little gipsy, in the picturesque red cloak,
+she was a pale-faced, light-haired, poor-spirited looking creature, in a
+faded calico frock, and an old plaid shawl; and instead of being the
+family pet, with the run of the house, she was the family nuisance,
+strictly prohibited from passing the bounds of the servants' hall.
+
+"So when that day, being a rainy day, and therefore highly favorable for
+attention to domestic matters, Mistress Alicia Dubarry called the
+house-steward to her presence, and ordered him to send a small pension
+of two dollars a week to the Jones family, with an intimation that Miss
+Milly need not come to collect it, the order was promptly executed, to
+the satisfaction of all the domestics; and poor Milly, glad to be
+relieved from her fatiguing journey and degrading mendicity, was seen no
+more at Shut-up Dubarry.
+
+"But Mrs. Dubarry did not therefore get rid of her visitor. Not more
+than three days had elapsed since the issuing of her order, when, one
+evening between the lights, she entered her own bedroom, and saw the
+girl in the red cloak sitting quietly in the easy-chair beside the fire.
+
+"'How dare you come here, after the message I sent you? Get up and
+begone, and let me never catch you here again,' angrily demanded the
+lady.
+
+"The apparition melted into air; but as it disappeared, the words came,
+like a sigh borne upon the breeze:
+
+"'_I wait._'
+
+"The lady was about to dress for an evening party, and so she paid no
+attention to any chance sound.
+
+"But the next morning she met the girl in the hall, and the next evening
+in the parlor; again she passed the figure on the stairs, or encountered
+it in the drawing-room. The lady lost patience, and sent for the
+house-steward in her presence.
+
+"'Did I not command that that girl should not come here again?' she
+sternly demanded.
+
+"'Yes, my lady,' respectfully answered the man.
+
+"'Then how is it that she comes here as much as ever?'
+
+"'My dear lady, she have never entered the house since your ladyship
+gave the order that she was not so to do.'
+
+"'But she has. I have seen her here at least a half a dozen times.'
+
+"'Dear lady, I dare not contradict you; but poor Milly Jones has been
+down with the pleurisy for these two weeks past, and could not have got
+out of her bed, even if your ladyship had ordered her to come.'
+
+"'Isaac, is this true?'
+
+"'True as truth, your ladyship, which you can find it out for yourself
+by riding up to the hut and seeing the poor girl, which it would be a
+charity so to do.'
+
+"'And you say she has not been here for a fortnight?'
+
+"'No, madam.'
+
+"'Then, in the name of Heaven, _who_ is it that I meet so often?' slowly
+and sternly demanded Mrs. Dubarry.
+
+"Old Isaac solemnly shook his gray head, and answered never a word.
+
+"'What do you mean by that? Speak! I will have an answer. Who is this
+silent girl in the red cloak, I ask?' repeated the lady.
+
+"'Madam, I don't know. And that is what I meant when I shook my head,'
+replied the old man, trembling.
+
+"'You don't know! do you dare to mock me?'
+
+"'Far from it, my lady; but goodness knows I don't know.'
+
+"'But you have seen her?'
+
+"'Dear, my lady, I don't know who she is, nor dare I speak of her; the
+master has forbidden us so to do. Dear madam, ask the master; but oh,
+for pity sake, do not ask me further,' pleaded the old man, very humbly.
+
+"The lady turned white with jealousy. There was but one interpretation
+she could put upon this mystery.
+
+"'Go and say to your master that I would feel much obliged if he would
+come to me here,' she said, grimly seating herself.
+
+"The trembling old man went to the kennels, where Mr. Dubarry was busy
+doctoring a favorite setter, and delivered his message. Dubarry was
+still enough in love with his three months wife to come quickly at her
+call.
+
+"'Philip!' exclaimed the lady, as soon as she saw him enter the room,
+'once for all, I wish to know who is this girl in the red cloak; and why
+I am daily insulted with her presence in this house?'
+
+"Dubarry went pale, as usual at the mention of the apparition; but he
+faltered out with what composure he could command:
+
+"'I--I told you who she is--Milly Jones.'
+
+"'No; begging your pardon, she is _not_ Milly Jones. Milly Jones has
+been ill with pleurisy, at home on the mountain, for the last two weeks;
+and I have sent her a pension of two dollars a week. No; this is no
+Milly Jones, and I insist on knowing who she is!'
+
+"'Then, if she is not Milly Jones, she is a creature of your own
+imagination, for no other living girl comes to the house,' answered
+Dubarry doggedly.
+
+"'You will not tell me who she is? Very well. When next I see her, _she_
+shall tell me, silent as she is,' said the lady grimly setting her
+teeth.
+
+"Dubarry arose with a sigh, and went back to his ailing setter; but his
+thoughts brooded over the subject of the apparition.
+
+"The lady kept her word at a fearful cost. For the remainder of the day,
+her conduct towards her husband was so cold and repelling as to wound
+and offend him. So it happened that when the hour for retiring came that
+night, she went up to her chamber alone. She had but time to reach the
+room, when all the household was startled by a piercing shriek and a
+heavy fall.
+
+"Mr. Dubarry, soon followed by all the servants, rushed up stairs to
+Mrs. Dubarry's bedroom. They found the lady extended on the floor, in a
+deep swoon. She was raised and laid upon the bed, and proper means taken
+to revive her. When at length she opened her eyes, and recognized her
+husband, she signed for every one else to leave the room; and when they
+had done so, she turned and took his hand and kissed it, and fixed her
+wild and frightened eyes upon him and whispered in an awe-struck tone:
+
+"'Phil, dear, I wronged you. I took that creature in the red cloak to be
+a sweetheart of yours, Phil, but it was not; it was--_a spectre_!'
+
+"There was silence between them for a minute, during which she never
+took her scared eyes from his pale face. He was the first to speak.
+Summoning up as much resolution as he could muster, he affected a light
+laugh, and answered:
+
+"'Spectre! My sweet wife, there is no such thing.'
+
+"'Ah, but--but--if you could have seen what I saw, _felt what I felt_!'
+
+"'Nonsense, dear one. You were the subject of an optical illusion.'
+
+"'No, I was not. Hush! Let me tell you what happened. I came up into
+this room. It was warm and ruddy with the fire light and the lamp light;
+and in the glow I saw the girl standing between the hearth and the bed.
+I spoke to her, asking her how she dared intrude into my most sacred
+privacy; and then she silently glided from the spot. But I told her she
+should not leave the room until she had given some account of herself.
+And I put forth my hand to stop her, but the moment I did so I received
+a shock as from some powerful galvanic battery! a tremendous shock that
+threw me down upon my face. I knew no more until I came to my senses and
+found myself here, with you watching over me. Now, Philip, tell me that
+was an optical illusion, if you dare,' said the lady, solemnly.
+
+"'Yes, love, I dare. I tell you that what you saw _was_ an optical
+illusion.'
+
+"'--But what I felt?'
+
+"'--Was a slight--a very slight attack of catalepsy. Both the vision and
+the fit, dear, took their rise in some abnormal state of the nervous
+system,' said Philip Dubarry; and feeling almost pleased with his own
+explanation of the mystery, he tried to persuade himself that it was the
+true one."
+
+"But his wife turned her face to the wall, saying, however.
+
+"'Well, at any rate, I am glad that the girl in the red cloak is not
+flesh and blood, Phil. I would rather she should be an 'optical
+illusion' or a fit of 'catalepsy,' or even a 'spectre,' than a
+sweetheart of yours, as I first took, her to be.
+
+"'Be not afraid. You have no living rival, Alicia,' answered her husband.
+
+"And the reconciliation between the husband and the wife was complete
+from that time forth.
+
+"But somehow the condition of the lady was worse than before.
+
+"_She was haunted_.
+
+"She knew herself to be haunted; but whether by a spectral illusion or a
+real spectre, she could not know. In the glow of the fire light, in the
+shadow of the bed-curtains in the illuminated drawing-room, on the dark
+staircase, wherever and whenever she found herself alone, the vision of
+the girl in the red cloak crossed her path. She did not speak to it, or
+try to stop it again. She did not wish to risk another such an electric
+shock as should 'cast her shuddering on her face.' But her health wasted
+under the trial. Her nerves failed. She grew fearful of being left alone
+for an instant; nothing would induce her to go into any room in the
+house without an attendant. She contracted a habit of looking fearfully
+over her shoulder, and sometimes suddenly screaming.
+
+"Nor was the mistress of the house the only sufferer from this 'abnormal
+state of the nervous system,' as the master of the house preferred to
+call the mystery. The servants grew so much afraid to move about the
+building alone, that their usefulness was much impaired. And at length
+one after another ran away, and took to the woods and mountain caves,
+preferring to starve or beg rather than live in luxury in the haunted
+house. New servants were procured to supply the places of the old ones,
+until the latter could be brought back; but none of them stayed long;
+nothing could induce them to remain in the 'haunted house.' The story of
+the gipsy girl's ghost got around in the neighborhood. Not all the
+despotic power of Mr. Dubarry could prevent this. The house came to be
+pointed out and avoided by the ignorant and superstitious, as a haunted
+and accursed spot. Even the more intelligent and enlightened portion of
+the community gradually forsook it; for it was not very agreeable to
+visit a family where the mistress was so full of 'flaws and starts'
+that, even at the head of her own table, she would often startle the
+whole company by suddenly looking over her right shoulder and uttering a
+piercing scream.
+
+"And so the house was abandoned by high and low, rich and poor alike.
+And the worthy gossips of the neighborhood wisely nodded over their
+tea-cups, and declared that the deserted condition of the house was but
+a just retribution for the sins of its master.
+
+"And in the meantime the health of the mistress grew worse and worse.
+The most serious fears were entertained for her life and reason, death
+or insanity seeming to be the most probable issue of her malady. Medical
+advice was called in. The doctor, either in complaisance or sincerity,
+agreed with Mr. Dubarry's theory of the patient's condition, ascribing
+her illness to an 'abnormal state of the nervous system,' and he advised
+change of air and scene, and he held forth good hopes that within a very
+few months, when the young wife should become a mother, her health might
+be perfectly reëstablished.
+
+"Under these circumstances, early in the new year, Mr. Dubarry took his
+wife to Williamsburg, to spend the winter among the gayeties of the
+colonial Governor's court.
+
+"The haunted house was shut up, and left to itself. Not a man or woman
+could be found to live in it, for love or money.
+
+"In the glories of the colonial capital, Mrs. Dubarry completely
+recovered from her nervous malady. She was visited by no more 'optical
+illusions' or 'cataleptic' fits. She even grew to regard her former
+visitations in the same way in which her husband pretended to view
+them--as mere nervous phenomena. And as the fashionable season at
+Williamsburg closed, and as the spring opened, Mrs. Dubarry expressed an
+ardent desire to return to 'Shut-up Dubarry' for her confinement. 'The
+heir of the manor should be born on the manor,' she said.
+
+"Mr. Dubarry had great doubts about the safety of this measure, and
+attempted to dissuade his wife from it; but she was firm in her purpose,
+and so she carried it.
+
+"It was early in the royal month of June that the young wife was taken
+back to her country home. Shut-up Dubarry looked as little like a
+'haunted house' as any house could look: waving woods, sparkling waters,
+blossoming trees, blooming flowers, singing birds--all the richness,
+beauty and splendor of summer turned it into a paradise. Besides, Mrs.
+Dubarry brought down half a dozen young cousins of both sexes with her,
+and they filled the house with youthful life. Under these circumstances,
+the old servants were tempted back. And all went on very well until one
+day one of the young girls suddenly spoke out at the full
+breakfast-table, and asked:
+
+"'Alicia, who is that strange, silent girl, in the red cloak, that is
+always following you about?'
+
+"Mrs. Dubarry grew deadly pale, sat down the cup that she had held in
+her hand, but she did not attempt to speak.
+
+"'Have I said anything wrong? I did not mean to do so. I am sure I beg
+pardon, if I have,' faltered the young cousin, looking from the pale
+face of Mrs. Dubarry to the troubled countenance of Mr. Dubarry.
+
+"'I am very sorry if I have said anything wrong,' repeated the little
+cousin, in dismay.
+
+"'No, no, you have said nothing amiss; but it is a very painful subject;
+let us drop it,' replied Mr. Dubarry rather inconsistently. And every
+one around the table silently wondered what the matter could be.
+
+"When breakfast was over, and the husband and wife found themselves
+alone together, Mrs. Dubarry seized his arm, and whispered:
+
+"'Oh, Philip! the spectre has not gone!'
+
+"'My dearest Alicia! you have not fancied that you have seen it
+lately?'
+
+"'No, no; but _she_ has seen it! Kitty has seen it _always following
+me_! She took it for a real girl, as I did at first!'
+
+"What could Philip Dubarry say to all this? Only one thing:
+
+"'My darling, I cannot have your nerves shaken in this manner. You had
+no such visitations as these while we stayed at Williamsburg. And so to
+Williamsburg we will return immediately. Tell your maid to pack up this
+afternoon, and we will set out to-morrow. No objections, Alicia! for I
+tell you we must go.'
+
+"She saw that his resolution was fixed, and she made no opposition to
+it. She rang for her maid, and gave the necessary directions. And then,
+feeling very unwell, she sent down an excuse to her company, and retired
+to bed.
+
+"At twelve o'clock that night, while the young people were enjoying
+themselves in some round game in the drawing-room, and Mr. Dubarry was
+doing all that he could to promote their entertainment, the whole party
+was startled by a terrific cry coming from Mrs. Dubarry's chamber. All
+paused for a breathless instant, and then rushed tumultuously up the
+stairs. At the door of the bed-chamber, Mr. Dubarry turned around and
+waved them all back. Then he entered the chamber alone. All seemed quiet
+there then. The moonlight came flickering through the vine leaves on the
+outside of the open window, and fell fitfully upon the face and form of
+Alicia Dubarry, who was sitting up in bed, staring straight before her.
+
+"Mr. Dubarry locked the door before he approached the bed.
+
+"'Alicia,' he said, 'my dear Alicia, what is the matter?'
+
+"'It is doom! It is doom!' she answered in an awful voice, without
+removing her eyes from some object between the foot of the bed and the
+moonlit window.
+
+"'Compose yourself, dear wife, and tell me what has happened.'
+
+"'Look! Look! for yourself!' she cried, her finger extended, and
+following the direction of her eyes.
+
+"'My sweet Alicia, there is nothing there but the tremulous shadow of
+the vine leaves cast by the moonlight,' said Mr. Dubarry, persuasively,
+as he went and drew the curtain before the window, and then struck a
+match and lighted a lamp.
+
+"But her eyes were never removed from the spot where she had gazed.
+
+"'It is there yet!' she cried.
+
+"'What is there, good Alicia? there is nothing there, indeed!'
+
+"'Yes, the dead woman and dead child! Do you not see them?'
+
+"'See! no! you are in one of your nervous attacks; but to-morrow we will
+leave this place, and you will have no more of them.'
+
+"'Hush! No! I shall never leave this place again.'
+
+"'You shall start by sunrise to-morrow.'
+
+"'Hush! listen! I will tell you what happened. I was sleeping well, very
+well, when suddenly I was awakened with a tremendous shock. I started up
+in bed and saw _her_--the terrible girl! She was standing at the foot of
+the bed looking at me, and pointing to something that lay upon the
+floor. I looked and saw--there it is yet!--the dead woman, with the dead
+babe on her bosom! I shrieked aloud, for I knew the woman was myself,
+and the babe was my own! And as I shrieked, she vanished, as she always
+does; but the dead woman and child remained! And there they are yet! Oh!
+cover them over, Philip! cover them over! Cover them from my sight, for
+I have no power to withdraw my eyes from them,' she exclaimed in wild
+excitement.
+
+"Almost beside himself with distress, Philip Dubarry seized a large
+table cover and threw it down over the spot upon which her eyes were
+fixed.
+
+"'Ah! it is of no use! it is of no use! I see them still! they rise
+above the covering! they lie upon it!' she cried, in terrific emotion,
+shaking as if with an ague fit.
+
+"'Lie down,' said Philip Dubarry, compelling himself to be calm, for the
+sake of trying to calm her. And he took her and laid her back upon the
+pillow. But still she raved, like one in high fever and delirium.
+
+"'I have received my sentence! I am doomed! I am doomed! I have seen my
+own corpse, and the corpse of my child!' she cried. And then a violent
+convulsion seized her.
+
+"Nearly maddened by terror and despair, Philip Dubarry rushed from the
+room and loudly called for assistance. The chamber was soon filled with
+the members of the household, not one of whom knew what to do, until the
+entrance of the old housekeeper, who sent everybody out, and requested
+Mr. Dubarry to dispatch a carriage for the family physician.
+
+"Before morning the doctor arrived. But the convulsions and the delirium
+of the lady increased in violence until just at the dawn of day, when
+she gave birth to an infant boy, who breathed and died.
+
+"Then, just before her own death, she recovered her senses and grew very
+calm. She asked to see her child. When the nurse brought it, she kissed
+its cold face, and bade her lay it by her side. Then the lady called her
+husband, and whispered so faintly that he had to lean his ear to her
+lips to hear her words. She said:
+
+"'The vision is realized in the dead mother and the dead babe! But,
+Philip! _for whose sin do we die?_'
+
+"Before he could make a reply, if any reply had been possible, she was
+gone.
+
+"The mother and babe were buried together. The company at Shut-up
+Dubarry broke up in the greatest consternation. The story of the vision,
+real or imaginary, that had caused the lady's death, got out. All the
+neighborhood talked of it, and connected it with the fate of the hardly
+used gipsy girl, whose spirit was said to haunt the house.
+
+"Mr. Dubarry became a prey to the most poignant grief and remorse. He
+shut himself up in his desolate house, where he was abandoned by all his
+neighbors, and by all his servants, with the exception of the old
+housekeeper and house-steward, whose devotion to the family they had
+served so long, retained them still in the service of its last and most
+unhappy representative.
+
+"But awful stories crept out from that house of gloom. 'Twas said that
+the master was always followed by the spectre of the gipsy girl--that he
+could be heard in the dead of night walking up and down the hall outside
+of his chamber door, raving in frenzy, or expostulating with some
+unknown and unseen being, who was said to be the spectre that haunted
+the house.
+
+"At length, unable to endure the misery of solitude and superstitious
+terrors, Mr. Dubarry took an aged Catholic priest to share his home.
+Under the influence of Father Ingleman, Philip Dubarry became a penitent
+and a devotee. At that time this church was but a rude chapel, erected
+over the old family vault. But now, by the advice of the old priest, Mr.
+Dubarry rebuilt and enlarged the chapel, for the accommodation of all
+the Catholics in the neighborhood. He also added a priest's house. And
+Father Ingleman said mass every Sunday, while waiting for another priest
+to be appointed to the charge.
+
+"This rebuilding and remodelling amused the miserable master of the
+manor, during the latter part of the summer and the autumn following his
+wife's death. But with the coming of the winter, returned all his gloom
+and horror. And the good old priest, so far from being able to help his
+patron, was himself so much affected in health and spirits by this
+condition of the house, that he begged and obtained leave to retire to
+the little dwelling beside the church.
+
+"The awful winter passed away.
+
+"But on one stormy night in March, the mansion house took fire. It was
+said that the haunted master of the house, in a fit of desperation,
+actually set it on fire, with the purpose of burning out the ghost. At
+all events, it seems certain that he would permit nothing to be done to
+stop the flames.
+
+"The house was burned to the ground. The houseless master took refuge
+with Father Ingleman, in the priest's dwelling by the church. But there
+also the spectre followed him, nor could all the exorcisms of Father
+Ingleman with 'candle, bell, and book,' avail to lay the disturbed
+spirit.
+
+"Philip Dubarry, half a maniac by this time, sent away the priest,
+pulled down the priest's house, and took up his abode in the body of the
+church itself, which was thenceforward deserted by all others. But here
+also the spectre was supposed to have followed him. At length he
+disappeared. No one knew whither he went. Some said that he had gathered
+together his money and departed for a foreign country; others, that he
+had drowned himself in the Black River, though his body never was found.
+Some said that he had cast himself down headlong from some mountain
+crest, and his bones were bleaching in some inaccessible ravine; while
+others, again, did not hesitate to say that the devil had flown away
+with him bodily.
+
+"The fate of the last of the Dubarrys is unknown. The estate, unclaimed,
+is held in abeyance. The house, burned to the ground, has never been
+restored. The church, thereafter known as the Haunted Chapel, has
+crumbled into the ruin that you see. And such, dear Sybil, is the story
+of the 'Fall of the Dubarrys.'"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+                            FEARFUL WAITING.
+
+
+                    Still the wood is dim and lonely,
+                    Still the plashing fountains play,
+                    But the past with all its beauty,
+                    Whither has it fled away?
+                    Hark! the mournful echoes say,
+                    Fled away!--A.A. PROCTOR.
+
+
+"And the apparition that we both saw was like that of the gipsy girl in
+the ghostly legend," said Sybil, musingly.
+
+"Yes; in the matter of the red cloak--a very common garment, dear Sybil.
+Such a resemblance reminds us of Paganini's portrait which the child
+said was like him, 'about the fiddle,'" replied Lyon Berners, with an
+effort towards pleasantry, which was very far indeed from his heart; for
+he was oppressed with grief and dread. He was anxiously looking forward
+to the arrival of Captain Pendleton; and fearing for the effect his
+disclosures must have upon his beloved Sybil, who seemed still so
+utterly unable to realize her position. She seemed almost satisfied now,
+so that Lyon was near her, and she was the only object of his care. So
+disengaged was her mind, at this hour, from all real appreciation of her
+situation, that she had leisure to feel interested in the tale that Lyon
+had told her. She again reverted to it.
+
+"But the likeness was not only in the red cloak, it was in the whole
+gipsy style. I spoke of that, even before you had told me anything about
+the gipsy girl," persisted Sybil.
+
+Before Lyon could answer her, steps were heard approaching.
+
+"There is Pendleton," exclaimed Mr. Berners, and he arose and hurried
+forward to meet the visitor.
+
+"Hush! come out here a moment," he whispered, drawing Captain Pendleton
+outside the chapel. "Sybil knows nothing of that verdict as yet. I wish
+to keep it from her knowledge as long as possible--for ever, if
+possible. So if you have any more bad news to tell, tell it now, and
+here, to me," he added.
+
+"Berners," began the Captain--but then he paused in pity.
+
+"Go on," said Lyon.
+
+"My friend, the flight of your wife and yourself if not absolutely
+ascertained, is strongly suspected. An officer watches your closed
+chamber door. Two others have been dispatched to Blackville, to watch
+the ferry. By to-morrow morning the flight, so strongly suspected now,
+will be fully discovered. This is all I have to say in private. And now,
+perhaps we had better not linger any longer here, lest Mrs. Berners may
+suspect something, if possible, even more alarming than the truth," said
+Captain Pendleton.
+
+"You are quite right," admitted Lyon Berners, and they entered the
+chapel together.
+
+Sybil sprang up to meet them.
+
+"What news, Captain? Is the murderer discovered? May we return home?"
+she eagerly inquired.
+
+"No, madam; the murderer has not yet been discovered, nor do I think it
+would be prudent in you yet to return home," replied the Captain,
+feeling relieved that her questions had taken forms that enabled him to
+reply truly to them without divulging the alarming intelligence of the
+verdict of the coroner's jury.
+
+He unstrapped a portmanteau from his shoulders and threw it down near
+the fire, and seated himself upon it. Then turning to Mr. Berners, he
+said:
+
+"I have made arrangements with your faithful Joe to bring certain
+necessaries to this place to-night. They cannot, you know, be brought to
+this spot by the same direct route that we took in coming here. But as
+soon as the moon goes down, which will be about one o'clock, Joe will
+launch a boat just below Black Hall and come across the river with all
+that is most needed. There he will find a cart and horse waiting for
+him. He will load the cart and drive it up here to the entrance of the
+thicket."
+
+"But that cart, Pendleton?"
+
+"Yes! you will wonder how I got it there without exciting suspicion. It
+was done in this way. I ordered Joe to bring it boldly up in front of
+the house, and to put in it the boxes containing my own and my sister's
+masquerade dresses, and to take them over to our place. Joe understood
+and obeyed me, and drove the cart to Blackville, and crossed the river
+at the ferry, under the very eyes of the constable stationed there to
+watch. He brought the cart down this bank, and left it concealed in a
+clearing of the wood. He will watch his opportunity, as soon as it is
+dark enough to swim across the river, and launch the boat and fill it
+with the necessaries that he will secretly obtain from Black Hall. It is
+a business that will require considerable tact and discretion; or at
+least, great secretiveness and cautiousness," added Captain Pendleton.
+
+"And these, Joe, like all his race, possesses in excess," observed Lyon
+Berners.
+
+"Are the guests all gone away from the house?" inquired Sybil.
+
+"Nearly all. My sister remains there for the present to watch your
+interests, Mrs. Berners. The old Judge also, to superintend legal
+processes; but even he will go away in the morning, I think."
+
+While they spoke, a loud sneeze and then a cough was heard outside, and
+then Joe walked in, with a doubled up mattress on his head.
+
+"This here is moving under difficulties, Master," he panted, as he laid
+the mattress down on the stone floor.
+
+"How ever did you get that along the narrow path through the thicket,
+Joe?" inquired Sybil.
+
+"You may well ax that, Missis. I had to lay it down endways, and drag
+it. Howsever, I has got all the things through the worst part of the way
+now, and they's all out in the church-yard," answered Joe, recovering
+his breath, and starting for the remaining goods.
+
+He soon returned, bringing in a small assortment of bedding, clothing,
+and so forth. And in another trip he brought in a small supply of food
+and a few cooking utensils.
+
+"That's all. And now, Miss Sybil, if you would only let me live here
+along o' you and Marse Lyon, and wait on to you bofe, I could make
+myself very much satisfied into my own mind," he said, as he laid down
+the last articles, and stood to rest himself.
+
+"But you know, Joe, that you can serve us better by remaining at Black
+Hall," said Sybil, kindly.
+
+"Now, Marser Capping Pendulum, I hope them there fineries in the boxes,
+as you told me to bring away, for a blind from our place, won't take no
+harm along of being left out in the woods all night, for it was there
+underneaf of a pile of leaves and bushes as I was obligated for to leave
+them."
+
+"They'll not take cold, at all events, Joe," said Captain Pendleton,
+good-naturedly.
+
+By this time, the fire on the stone floor had become so low that it was
+quite dark in the chapel. But among the little necessities of life
+brought by Joe, was a small silver candlestick and a few slim wax
+candles. One of these was lighted, and gleamed faintly around, striking
+strangely upon the faces of the group gathered near the smouldering
+fire.
+
+The friends sat and talked together, and arranged as far as they could
+their plans for future movements. It was not until near day that Captain
+Pendleton arose to depart, saying:
+
+"Well, Berners, I do dislike to leave you and Mrs. Berners here alone
+again, especially as I fear that you will not go to sleep, as you ought
+to do. I see that Mrs. Berners' eyes are still wide open--"
+
+"I slept so long in the afternoon," put in Sybil.
+
+"But, at all events, I am forced to leave you before light. It is not
+quite safe now to be seen in open daylight, travelling this road so
+often. To-night I will come again, and bring you further news, and
+perhaps more comfort. Come, Joe."
+
+Joe, who had fallen asleep over the fire, now slowly woke up and lifted
+himself from the floor.
+
+The Captain shook hands with his friends, and followed by Joe, left the
+Chapel.
+
+Sybil then went and spread out the mattress, and put the pillows and
+covering upon it, and persuaded Lyon to lie down and try to sleep, as he
+had not slept for two nights past. She said that she herself could not
+sleep, but that she would sit close by him, so as to be ready to arouse
+him, on the slightest indication of danger.
+
+Very reluctantly he yielded to her pleadings, and stretched himself upon
+the mattress. She went and gathered the smouldering coals and brands
+together, so that the fire might not go entirely out, and then she
+returned and sat down beside her husband.
+
+He took her hand in his, and clasping it protectingly, he closed his
+eyes and fell asleep.
+
+She sat watching the little fire, and brooding almost to insanity over
+the strange revolution that a few hours had made in her life, driving
+her so suddenly from her own hereditary manor-house, her home of wealth
+and honor and safety, out into the perilous wilderness, a fugitive from
+the law.
+
+Yet not once did Sybil's imagination take in the extreme horror of her
+position. She thought that she had been brought away by her husband to
+be saved from the affront of an arrest, and the humiliation of a few
+days imprisonment. That anything worse than this could happen to her,
+she never even dreamed. But even this to the pure, proud Sybil would
+have been almost insupportable mortification and misery. To escape all
+this she was almost willing to incur the charge of having fled from
+justice, and to endure the hardships of a fugitive's life.
+
+And oh! through all there was one consolation so great, that it was
+enough to compensate for all the wretchedness of her position. She was
+assured of her husband's love, beyond all possibility of future doubt.
+He was by her side, never to leave her more!
+
+This was enough! She closed her hand around the beloved hand that held
+hers, and felt a strange peace and joy, even in the midst of her exile
+and danger.
+
+Perhaps in this stillness she slumbered a while, for when she lifted her
+head, the chapel, that had been dark before, but for the gleaming of the
+little fire, was now dimly filled with the gray light of dawn.
+
+She saw the shapes of the pointed windows against the background of
+heavy shadows and pale lights, and she knew that day was coming. She did
+not stir from the spot, lest she should wake her husband, whose hand
+held hers. All was still in the chapel, so still that even the faint
+sweet sounds of wakening nature could be heard--the stirring of the
+partridge in her cover, the creeping of the squirrel from her hole, the
+murmur of the little brook, the rustle of the leaves, and, farther off,
+the deep thunder of the cascade, and the detonating echoes of the
+mountains.
+
+Sybil sat motionless, and almost breathless, lest she should disturb her
+beloved sleeper. But the next moment she could scarcely forbear
+screaming aloud; for there passed along the wall before her a figure
+that, even in the dim light, she recognized as the strange visitant of
+the preceding day. It came from the direction of the altar, and glided
+past each of the four windows and vanished through the door. When Sybil
+had repressed her first impulse to scream, self-control was easy, so she
+sat quietly holding her husband's hand, though much amazed by what she
+had again seen.
+
+Day broadened, and soon the rays of the rising sun, striking through the
+east windows, and lighting on the face of the sleeper, awoke him.
+
+He looked into the face of his wife, and then along the walls of the
+chapel, with a bewildered expression of countenance. This had been his
+first sleep for two nights, and it had been so deep that he had utterly
+forgotten the terrible drama of the two last preceding days, and could
+not at once remember what had happened, or where he was. But as he again
+turned and looked into Sybil's face, full memory of all flashed back
+upon him. But he did not allude to the past; he merely said to Sybil:
+
+"You have not slept, love."
+
+"I have not wished to do so," she answered.
+
+"This is a very primitive sort of life we are living, love," he said,
+with a smile, as he arose from the mattress.
+
+"But it is not at all an unhappy one," answered Sybil; "for, oh, since
+you are with me, I do not care much about anything else. Destiny may do
+what she pleases, so that she does not part us. I can bear exile,
+hunger, cold, fatigue, pain--anything but parting, Lyon!"
+
+"Do not fear that, love; we will never part for a single day, if I can
+help it."
+
+"Then let anything else come. I can bear it cheerfully," smiled Sybil.
+While they talked they were working also. Sybil was folding up the
+bedclothes, and Lyon was looking about for a bucket, to fetch water from
+the fountain. He soon found one, and went upon his errand.
+
+Sybil followed him with two towels. They washed their hands and faces
+in the stream, and dried them on the towels. And then they went higher
+up the glen, and caught a bucketful of delightful water from the crystal
+spring that issued from the rocks.
+
+They returned to the chapel, and together they made the fire and
+prepared the breakfast.
+
+It was not until they were seated at their primitively arranged
+breakfast, which was laid upon the flagstones of the chapel floor--it
+was not, in fact, until they had nearly finished their simple meal, that
+Sybil told Lyon of the apparition she had seen in the early dawn, to
+come up as if from the floor to the right of the altar, and glide along
+the east wall of the chapel, past the four gothic windows, and disappear
+through the door.
+
+"It was a morning dream, dear Sybil; nothing more," said Lyon,
+sententiously; for in the broad daylight he believed in nothing
+supernatural, even upon the evidence of his own senses.
+
+"If that were a morning dream, then the sight that we saw together
+yesterday was but a dream, and you are but a dream, and life itself is
+but a dream," replied Sybil, earnestly.
+
+"Well, at all events, what we have both, either separately or together,
+seen and experienced, must be something perfectly natural and
+commonplace, although we may not either of us be able to understand or
+explain it. My private opinion and worse misgiving is, that there is
+some woman concealed about the place. If ever I find myself in arm's
+length of that little gipsy, I shall intercept her, even at the risk of
+receiving such a spiritual-shock as that which struck Mrs. Alicia
+Dubarry to the ground," said Lyon, facetiously; for he might well make a
+jest of this lighter affair of the chapel mystery to veil the deep
+anxiety he felt in the heavy matter of their affliction.
+
+The husband and wife passed this second day of hiding tediously enough.
+She made the little housekeeping corner of the chapel tidy, by folding
+up and putting aside all their bedclothes and garments, and by washing
+and arranging their few cooking utensils. He brought in wood and brush,
+which he broke up and piled in another corner, to have it near at hand
+to replenish the fire. Also, he brought water from the spring; and then
+with no other instrument than his pocket-knife, he made a trap and set
+it to catch rabbits.
+
+Then they rambled together through the wilderness around the chapel, and
+the better they grew acquainted with the wild neighborhood, the surer
+they felt of their safety in its profound solitude.
+
+Their only anxiety connected with their security in this place, was upon
+the subject of the mysterious visitant. It was incomprehensible by any
+known law of nature.
+
+They talked of this mystery. They reverted to all the so-called
+"authenticated ghost stories" that they had ever read or heard, and that
+they had hitherto set down to be either impostures or delusions.
+
+But now here was a fact in their own experience that utterly confounded
+their judgment, and the end of their discussion on the subject left them
+just where they had been at its commencement. They resolved, however, to
+divulge the whole matter to Captain Pendleton, to whom they had not yet
+even hinted it, and to ask his counsel; and they looked forward with
+impatience to the evening visit of this devoted friend.
+
+As it was growing cold towards the setting of the sun they turned their
+steps again towards the chapel. It was quite dark when they reached it.
+Their fire had nearly gone out, but he replenished it, and she began to
+prepare the evening meal.
+
+While she was still engaged in this work, the sound of approaching
+footsteps warned them that Captain Pendleton was near. Lyon Berners went
+out to meet him.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+                         A GHASTLY PROCESSION.
+
+
+             If charnel-houses and our graves must send
+             Those that we bury back, our monuments
+             Shall be the maws of kites.--SHAKESPEARE.
+
+
+"Well?" exclaimed Mr. Berners, eagerly.
+
+"Well, the flight is now discovered beyond all doubt. Search-warrants
+have been issued. My house is to be searched among the rest," replied
+Captain Pendleton.
+
+"What else?"
+
+"Arrangements are being made for the funeral of the dead woman. They
+will bury her the day after to-morrow in the church-yard at Blackville."
+
+"And what else?"
+
+"Nothing, but that I would not permit Joe to accompany me to-night. More
+precaution is now necessary to insure your safety."
+
+"And that is all?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then come in and see Sybil."
+
+They went in together, where Mrs. Berners greeted Captain Pendleton with
+her usual courtesy, and then immediately repeated her anxious questions.
+
+"Has the murderer been discovered? May we go home?"
+
+"Not yet, dear Madam!" answered Pendleton to both questions, as he sat
+down by the fire.
+
+"I have something to tell you, Pendleton, and to ask your advice about,"
+began Lyon Berners. And he related the mysterious vision that had thrice
+crossed their path.
+
+"Oh! it is a form of flesh and blood! We don't believe in apparitions at
+this age of the world! But this indeed must be looked to! If you have
+seen her here three times, of course she has seen you," said Captain
+Pendleton in much anxiety.
+
+"Most certainly she knows of our presence here, if she knows nothing
+else about us," replied Mr. Berners.
+
+"Then it is useless to attempt to conceal yourselves from her. She must
+be laid hold of, talked with, and won or bribed to keep our secret--to
+help us if possible. We must find out whether she will serve our
+purpose. If she will, it will be all quite right, and you may remain
+here until it is safe to depart; but if she will not, it will be all
+entirely wrong, and you must leave this place at all hazards," concluded
+Captain Pendleton.
+
+"Yes, it is very well for you to talk of intercepting her, but you had
+just as well try to intercept a shadow as it glides past you," put in
+Sybil, with a wise nod.
+
+"The attempt shall be made, at all events," determined Mr. Berners.
+
+Sybil was in the act of putting the supper--not on the table, for table
+there was none in the chapel--but on the cloth spread upon the
+flagstones, when Captain Pendleton, to give a lighter turn to their
+talk, said:
+
+"You may put a plate for me also, Mrs. Berners! I have not yet supped,
+and I'm glad I have got here in time to join you."
+
+"I am glad too! We are getting quite comfortably to housekeeping here,
+Captain. And Lyon has set his traps, and we shall soon have game to
+offer you when you come to visit us," replied Sybil quickly, responding
+to his gayety.
+
+"If I had only a gun, and could venture to use it, it would be a great
+relief, and we should be very well supplied," smiled Lyon.
+
+"Yes! if you had a gun, and should venture to use it, you would soon
+bring a _posse comitatus_ down upon you; We will have no reverberations
+of that sort, if you please, Lyon," recommended the Captain.
+
+And then they all sat down around the table-cloth, and Sybil poured out
+and served the coffee.
+
+Now, whether they were very thirsty, or whether the coffee was unusually
+good, or whether both these causes combined to tempt them to excess, is
+not known; but it is certain that the two gentlemen were intemperate in
+their abuse of this fragrant beverage; which proves that people can be
+intemperate in other drinks, as well as in alcoholic liquors. This
+coffee also got into their heads. Their spirits rose; they grew gay,
+talkative, inspired, brilliant. Even Sybil, who took but one cup of
+coffee, caught the infection, and laughed and talked and enjoyed herself
+as if she were at a picnic, instead of being in hiding for her life or
+liberty.
+
+In a word, some strange exhilaration, some wonderful intoxication
+pervaded the little party; but the most marvellous symptom of their case
+was, that they talked no nonsense--that while, under their adverse and
+perilous circumstances, such gayety was unnatural and irrational, yet
+their minds were clear and their utterances brilliant. And this abnormal
+exaltation of intellect and elevation of spirit continued for several
+hours, long into the night.
+
+Then the great reaction came. First Sybil grew very quiet, though not in
+the least degree sad; then Lyon Berners evinced a disposition rather to
+listen than to talk; and finally Captain Pendleton arose, and saying
+that this had been one of the strangest and pleasantest evenings he had
+ever passed in his, life, took leave of his friends and departed.
+
+Sybil was very sleepy, and as soon as their guest was gone she asked
+Lyon to help her with the mattress: that she was so drowsy she could
+scarcely move. He begged her to sit still, for that he himself would do
+all that was necessary. And with much good-will, but also much
+awkwardness, he spread the couch, and then went to tell Sybil it was
+ready. But he found her with her head upon her knees, apparently fast
+asleep. He lifted her gently in his arms, and carried her and laid her
+on the mattress. And then, feeling overcome with drowsiness, he threw
+himself down beside her, and fell into a profound sleep.
+
+But Sybil, as she afterwards told, did not sleep so deeply. It seemed,
+indeed, less sleep than stupor that overcame her. She was conscious when
+her husband raised her up in his arms and laid her on the bed; but she
+was too utterly oppressed with stupor and weariness to lift her eyes to
+look, or open her lips to speak, or, even after he had laid her down, to
+move a limb from the position into which it fell.
+
+So she lay like one dead, except in being clearly conscious of all that
+was going on around her. She knew when Lyon laid down, and when he went
+to sleep. And still she lay in that heavy state, which was at once a
+profound repose and a clear consciousness, for perhaps an hour longer,
+when suddenly the stillness of the scene was stirred by a sound so
+slight that it could only have been heard by one whose senses were, like
+hers at that time, preternaturally acute. The sound was of the slow,
+cautious turning of a door upon its hinges!
+
+Without moving hand or foot, she just languidly lifted her eyelids, and
+looked around upon the dim darkness.
+
+There was a faint glow from the smouldering fire on the flagstone floor,
+and there was a faint light from the starlit night coming through the
+windows. By the aid of these she saw, as in a dream, the door of the
+vault wide open!
+
+In her profound state of conscious repose there was no fear of danger,
+and no wish to move. So, still as in a dream, she witnessed what
+followed.
+
+First a dark, shrouded figure issued from the vault, and turned around
+and bent down towards it, as if speaking to some one within. But no word
+was heard. Then the figure backed a pace, drawing up from the steps of
+the vault what seemed to be a long narrow box. As this box came up, it
+was followed by another dark, shrouded figure, who supported its other
+end. And as the two mysterious apparitions now stood beside the altar,
+Sybil saw that the box that they held between them was a coffin!
+
+Nor was that all. While they moved a little down the side wall, they
+were followed by two other strange figures, issuing from the vault in
+the same order, and bearing between them, in the same manner, a second
+coffin; and as they, in their turn, filed down the side wall, they also
+were followed by still two others coming up out of the vault, and
+bringing with them a third coffin!
+
+And then a ghastly procession formed against the side wall. Three long
+shadowy coffins borne by six dark shrouded figures, filed past the
+gothic windows, and disappeared through the open chapel door.
+
+Sybil clearly saw all this, as in a nightmare from which she could not
+escape; she still lay motionless, speechless, and helpless, until she
+quite lost consciousness in a profound and dreamless sleep. So deep and
+heavy was this sleep, that she had no sense of existence for many hours.
+When at length she did awake, it seemed almost to a new life, so
+utterly, for a time, was all that had recently past forgotten. But as
+she arose and looked around, and collected her faculties, and remembered
+her position, she was astonished to see by the shining of the sun into
+the western windows, that it was late in the afternoon, and that they
+had slept nearly all day, for her husband was still sleeping heavily.
+
+Then she remembered the horrible vision of the night, and she looked
+anxiously towards the door of the vault. It seemed fast as ever. She got
+up and went to look at it. It _was_ fast, the bars firmly bedded in the
+solid masonry, as they had been before.
+
+What then had been the vision? She shuddered to think of it. Her first
+impulse was now to arouse her husband and tell him what had happened.
+But her tenderness for him pleaded with her to forbear.
+
+"He sleeps well, poor Lyon! let him sleep," she said, and she threw a
+shawl around her shoulders, and went out of the chapel to get a breath
+of the fresh morning air.
+
+She had to pass among the gray old gravestones lying deep in the
+bright-colored dew-spangled brushwood. As she picked her way past them,
+she suddenly stopped and screamed.
+
+Captain Pendleton was lying prostrate, like a dead man at the foot of an
+old tree!
+
+With a strong effort of the will, she controlled herself sufficiently to
+enable her to approach and examine him. He was not dead, as she had at
+first supposed; but he was in a very death-like sleep.
+
+She arose to her feet, and clasped her forehead with both hands while
+she tried to think. What could these things mean? The unnatural
+exhilaration of their little party on the previous evening; the powerful
+reaction that prostrated them all in heavy stupor or dreamless sleep,
+that had lasted some fifteen hours; the ghastly procession she had seen
+issue from the open door of the old vault, and march slowly down the
+east wall of the church, past all the gothic windows, and disappear
+through the front door; the spell that had so deeply bound her own
+faculties, that she had neither the power nor the will to call out;
+their visitor overtaken by sleep while on his way to mount his horse,
+and now lying prostrate among the gravestones? What could all these
+things mean?
+
+She could not imagine.
+
+However much she might have wished to spare her husband's rest up to
+this moment, she felt that she must arouse him now. She hurried back
+into the church, and went up to the little couch and looked at Lyon.
+
+He was moving restlessly, and muttering sadly in his sleep. And now she
+felt less reluctance to wake him from his troubled dream. She shook him
+gently, and called him.
+
+He opened his eyes, gazed at her, arose up in a sitting posture, and
+stared around for a moment, and then seeing his wife, exclaimed:
+
+"Oh! is it you, Sybil? What is this? the chapel seems to be turned
+around." And he gazed again at the western windows, where the sun was
+shining, and which he mistook for the eastern, supposing the time to be
+morning.
+
+"The chapel has not turned around, Lyon; but the sun has. It is late in
+the afternoon, and that is the declining and not the rising sun that you
+see."
+
+"Good gracious, Sybil! Have I slept so late as this? Why did you let
+me?"
+
+"Because I slept myself; we all slept; even to Captain Pendleton, who
+must have been overpowered by sleep on his way to his horse; for I have
+just found him lying among the gravestones."
+
+"What? Who? Pendleton asleep among the gravestones? Say that again. I
+don't understand."
+
+Sybil briefly repeated her statement.
+
+Lyon started up, shook himself as if to arouse all his faculties, and
+then went and douched his head and face with cold water, and finally, as
+he dried them, he turned to Sybil and said:
+
+"What is all this that you tell me? Where is Pendleton? Come and show
+me."
+
+Sybil led the way to the spot where their friend lay in his heavy sleep.
+
+"Good Heaven! He must have fallen down, or sunk down here, within three
+minutes of leaving the church!" exclaimed Lyon Berners, gazing on the
+sleeper.
+
+"Something must have happened to us all, dear Lyon. Do you remember how
+unreasonably gay we all were at supper last evening? We, too, who had
+every reason to be very grave and even sad? And do you remember the
+reaction? When we all grew so drowsy that we could hardly keep our eyes
+open? And then there was something else, which I will tell you of by and
+by. And now we have all slept fifteen or sixteen hours. Something
+strange has happened to us, Lyon," said Sybil, slowly.
+
+"Something has, indeed. But now we must arouse Pendleton. Good Heaven!
+he may have caught his death by sleeping out all night," exclaimed Mr.
+Berners, as he stooped down and shook the sleeper.
+
+But it was not without difficulty that Lyon succeeded in arousing
+Captain Pendleton, who, when he was fairly upon his feet, reeled like a
+drunken man.
+
+"Pendleton, Pendleton, wake up! What, man! what has happened to you?"
+exclaimed Lyon, trying to steady the other upon his feet.
+
+"Too late for roll-call. Bad example to the rank and file," murmured the
+Captain, with some remnant of a camp-dream lingering in his mind.
+
+Mr. Berners shook him roughly, while Sybil dipped up a double handful of
+water from a little spring at their feet, and threw it up into his face.
+
+This fairly aroused him.
+
+"Whew-ew! Phiz! What's that for? What the demon's all this? What's the
+matter?" he exclaimed, sneezing, coughing, and sputtering through the
+water that Sybil had flung into his face.
+
+"What's all this?" exclaimed Lyon Berners, echoing his question. "It is
+that we are all robbed and murdered, and carried into captivity, for all
+I know," he added, smiling, as he could not fail to do, at the droll
+figure cut by his friend.
+
+"How the deuce came I here?" demanded Pendleton, glaring around with his
+mouth and eyes wide open. "Is this enchantment?"
+
+"Something very like it, Pendleton. But come, man, this is no laughing
+matter. It is very serious. Therefore rouse yourself and collect your
+faculties. You will need them all, I assure you," gravely replied Lyon
+Berners.
+
+"But--how in thunder, came I here?" again demanded the Captain,
+shivering and staring around him.
+
+"We can not tell. My wife found you here about half an hour ago. You are
+supposed to have been overcome by drowsiness, while on your way to your
+horse, and to have sunk down here and slept from that time to this--some
+sixteen hours."
+
+"Good--! I remember taking leave of you both, after our lively supper of
+last evening, and starting for the thicket, and giving way just here to
+an irresistible feeling of drowsiness, and sinking down with the dreamy
+idea that I would not go to sleep, but would soon arise and pursue my
+journey. And I have lain here all night!" he exclaimed in astonishment.
+
+"Yes, and all day!" added Lyon, solemnly.
+
+"How is it that I was not awakened before?" demanded the Captain, with
+an injured look.
+
+"Because we ourselves were in the same condition. It is not more than
+fifteen minutes since my wife awakened me."
+
+"In the name of heaven, then, what has befallen us all?" demanded the
+Captain in amazement.
+
+"That is what we must try to find out. You must help us. I have been
+thinking rapidly while standing here, and the result is, that I judge we
+have all been drugged with opium; but whether by accident or with
+design, or if with design, by whom, or with what purpose, I cannot even
+imagine; though I do vaguely connect the fact with the mysterious
+visitant of the chapel," replied Mr. Berners.
+
+While he spoke they all turned their steps towards the chapel. And with
+his concluding words, they entered it in company.
+
+The "housekeeping corner" of the chapel was in a state of confusion very
+much at variance with the young housekeeper's fastidiously tidy habits.
+
+The supper dishes lay upon the table-cloth on the floor, where they had
+been uncared for by the drugged and drowsy pair. And the little bed
+remained unmade, as it had been left by them when they ran out to look
+after Captain Pendleton.
+
+Sybil saw all this at a glance, and with a flush; and forgetting for a
+moment everything else, she bade her husband and his guest stop where
+they were until she had put her "house" in order.
+
+In this limited manner of domestic economy, it took Sybil but ten
+minutes to make the bed and wash the dishes. And, meanwhile, Lyon
+Berners made up the fire, and Clement Pendleton brought a pail of fresh
+water from the fountain.
+
+Sybil began to prepare the breakfast, but none of the party felt like
+eating it.
+
+"And that is another sign of opium! We have no appetite," observed Lyon
+Berners, as they sat down around the table-cloth; and instead of
+discussing the viands before them, they discussed the events of the
+preceding day and night.
+
+Lyon Berners remembered that Sybil and himself had spent nearly the
+whole of the preceding afternoon in rambling through the woods; and he
+suggested as the only solution of the mystery that, during their absence
+some one had entered the chapel, and put opium in their food and drink.
+
+"'Some one;' but whom?" inquired Captain Pendleton, incredulously.
+
+"Most probably the girl whom we have seen here," answered Mr. Berners.
+
+"But for what purpose do you think she drugged your drink?"
+
+"To throw us into a deep sleep for many hours, which would enable her to
+come and go, to and from the chapel, undiscovered and unmolested."
+
+"But why should she wish to come back and forth to such a dreary, empty
+old place as this?"
+
+"Ah! that I cannot tell; at that point conjecture is utterly baffled,"
+answered Lyon.
+
+"Yes; because conjecture has been pursuing a phantom--a phantom that
+vanishes upon being nearly approached. I cannot accept your theory of
+the mystery, Berners; and what is worse, I cannot substitute one of my
+own," said Captain Pendleton, shaking his head.
+
+"And now I have something to reveal," said Sybil, solemnly.
+
+"Another morning dream?" inquired Lyon, while Pendleton looked up with
+interest.
+
+"No; a reality--a ghastly, horrible reality," she answered.
+
+And while both looked at her with strange, deep interest and curiosity,
+she related her sepulchral experiences of the night. When with pale
+cheeks and shuddering frame she described the six dark, shrouded forms
+that had come up out of the vault, bearing long shadowy coffins, which
+they carried in a slow procession down along the east wall, past the
+Gothic windows and out at the front door, her two listeners looked at
+her, and then at each other, in amazement and incredulity.
+
+"It was an opium dream," said Mr. Berners, in a positive manner.
+
+"It would be useless, dear Lyon, for me to tell you that I was rather
+wider awake then than I am now, yet I really was," said Sybil, with
+equal assurance.
+
+"And yet you did not lift hand or voice to call my attention to what was
+going on."
+
+"I did not wish to do it; my will seemed palsied. I could only gaze at
+the awful procession and think how ghastly it was, and thinking so, I
+sank into a dreamless sleep, and knew no more until I woke up this
+afternoon."
+
+"Meanwhile let us go and look at the door of the vault. You say the
+door was wide open?" inquired Captain Pendleton.
+
+"Of course it was wide open: that is, wide open last night when those
+horrible forms came up out of the vault; but this morning it was fast
+enough," answered Sybil.
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Mr. Berners.
+
+"I know what that 'oh!' means, Lyon. But I hope before we leave this
+chapel that you will find out that I can distinguish a dream from a
+dreadful reality," observed his wife.
+
+Meanwhile they had reached the iron door of the vault. It was fast.
+Pendleton took hold of the iron bars and tried to shake it; but the bars
+were bedded in solid stone, and the door was immovable. Then he looked
+through the grating down into the depths below, but he only saw the top
+of the staircase, the bottom of which disappeared in the darkness.
+
+"My dear Mrs. Berners," he then said, turning to Sybil, "I do not like
+to differ with a lady in a matter of her 'own experience'; but as we are
+in search of the truth, and the truth happens to be of the most vital
+importance to our safety, I feel constrained to assure you that this
+door, from its very appearance, assures us that it can not have been
+opened within half a century, and that consequently your 'own
+experience' of the last night cannot have been a reality, but must have
+been a dream."
+
+"I wish you could dream such a one, and then you would know something
+about it," answered Sybil.
+
+"I think you will have to come to my theory about the opium," put in Mr.
+Berners, "especially as I have pursued my 'phantom' one stage farther in
+her flight, and am able to assign a possible motive for her secret
+visits to the chapel."
+
+"Ah! do that, and we will think about agreeing with your views. Now then
+the motive," exclaimed Pendleton.
+
+"A lover."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+"Yes, a lover. She comes here to meet him; and not liking eye-witnesses
+to the courtship, she drugged us," said Mr. Berners, triumphantly.
+
+"That is the most violent and far-fetched theory of the mystery. Nothing
+but our desperate need of an elucidation could excuse its being put
+forward," said Captain Pendleton, drily. Then he spoke more earnestly:
+"Berners, whatever may be the true explanation of all that we have
+experienced here, one thing seems certain: that your retreat here is
+known to at least one person, who may or may not be inimical to your
+interests. Now my advice to you is still the same. Stop this girl the
+first time you see her again, and compel her to give an account of
+herself. Conceal your names and stations from her, if possible, and in
+any case bribe her to silence upon the subject of your abode here. If it
+were prudent, I should counsel you to leave this chapel for some other
+place of concealment; but really there seems now more danger in moving
+than in keeping still. So I reiterate my advice, that you shall enlist
+this strange girl in your interests."
+
+"But before cooking your hare, you must catch it," said Sybil. "We may
+see this visitant a dozen times more, but we will never be able to stop
+her. She appears and vanishes! Is seen and gone in an instant! But,
+Captain Pendleton, I will tell you what I wish you to do for me."
+
+"I will do anything in the world that you wish, except believe in
+ghosts."
+
+"Then you will bring me a crowbar, or whatever the tool or tools may be
+with which strong doors may be forced. I want that grated iron door
+forced open, that we may go down into that vault and see what it holds."
+
+"Good Heavens Mrs. Berners!" he exclaimed, striking a theatrical
+attitude.
+
+    "'Would'st bid me burst
+     The loathsome charnel-house, and
+     Spread a pestilence?'"
+
+"I want to see what is in it; and I _will_," persisted Sybil.
+
+"Bring the tools when you come again, Pendleton, and we will open the
+door, and examine the vault," added Mr. Berners.
+
+"Ugh! you will find it full of coffins and skeletons--
+
+    "'And mair o' horrible and awfu'
+     Whilk e'en to name wad be unlawfu'.'"
+
+"You are in a poetical mood, Pendleton."
+
+"And you are in a sepulchral one. Both effects of the opium, I suppose."
+
+While they talked the sun went down.
+
+Captain Pendleton remained with his friends until the twilight deepened
+into darkness; and then, promising to return the next night, and
+wondering where he should find his horse, or how he should get home, he
+took leave and departed.
+
+The strange life of the refugees in the Haunted Chapel seriously
+interfered with their hitherto regular and healthful habits. They had
+slept nearly all day, when they should have been awake. And now they
+intended to watch all night, partly because it was impossible for them
+to sleep any more then, and partly because they wished to stop their
+mysterious visitant, in the event of her reappearance.
+
+But the girl in the red cloak came not that night, no, nor even the next
+day; nor did any other mysterious visitor or unusual event disturb their
+repose, or excite their curiosity.
+
+Late that night their faithful friend returned, according to his
+promise. He told them that he had found his poor horse still in the
+thicket where he had left him, with water and grass in his reach. That
+he had got home in safety, where his absence had not excited any
+anxiety, because his sister had supposed him to be at Black Hall.
+
+He then described the funeral of Rosa Blondelle, which had taken place
+that day, and which had been attended not only by all the county gentry,
+who had gathered to show their respect and sympathy for the dead, but
+also by crowds of all sorts of people, who came in curiosity to the
+scene.
+
+And then, taking advantage of a few minutes during which Sybil was
+engaged in her housekeeping corner of the chapel, he told Mr. Berners
+that the search-warrants having failed to find the fugitives, a rumor
+had been spread that they had certainly left the neighborhood on the
+morning of the murder, and that they had been seen at Alexandria, by a
+gentleman who had just come from that city.
+
+"This story," added Captain Pendleton, "is so confidently reported and
+believed, that an officer with a warrant has been this day dispatched to
+Annapolis."
+
+"Oh! good Heaven! How zealously her old neighbors do hunt my poor
+guiltless Sybil," groaned Mr. Berners.
+
+"Take courage! This rumor, together with the journey of the officer to
+Annapolis, opens a way for your immediate escape. So I propose that you
+prepare to leave this place to-morrow night, and take a bee line to
+Norfolk. There you must take the first outward bound ship for Europe,
+and remain abroad until you can with safety return home."
+
+At this moment Sybil came up.
+
+Without mentioning to her the existence of the warrants which were out
+against her, and which was the only part of Captain Pendleton's
+communication that it was expedient to conceal from her, Lyon Berners,
+with a smile of encouragement, told her that they were to leave the
+Haunted Chapel the next night, to go to Norfolk.
+
+"And we cannot even yet go home?" sighed Sybil.
+
+"No, dear wife; it would scarcely yet be prudent to do so. But we can go
+to Europe, and travel over the Continent, and see the wonders of the
+Old World, leaving our friend here with a power of attorney to manage
+our estate and collect our revenues, and remit us money as we require
+it. We can stay abroad and enjoy ourselves until such time as justice
+shall be done, and we can return to our home, not only with safety, but
+in triumph," replied Lyon Berners, cheerfully.
+
+Sybil too caught the infection of his cheerful manner, whether that were
+real or assumed, and she too brightened up.
+
+The friends then discussed the details of the projected flight.
+
+"In the first place," began Captain Pendleton, "you must both be so well
+disguised as to seem the opposite of yourself in rank, age, and personal
+appearance. You, Lyon, must shave off your auburn beard, and cut close
+your auburn hair, and you must put on a gray wig and a gray beard--those
+worn by your old Peter, in his character of Polonius at your mask ball,
+will, with a little trimming, serve your purpose. Then you must wear a
+pair of spectacles and a broad-brimmed hat and an old man's loose
+fitting, shabby travelling suit. I can procure both the spectacles and
+the clothes from the wardrobe of my deceased father. Mrs. Berners, too,
+should cut her hair short, and wear a red wig and a plain dress. The wig
+you wore as Harold the Saxon will suit very well, with a little
+arrangement. Then I can procure the dress from my sister. You must
+travel as a poor old farmer, and your wife must go as your red-headed
+illiterate daughter. You are both excellent actors, and can sustain your
+parts very well."
+
+"Dear me!" said Sybil, half crying, half smiling; "I have been warned
+that it is never well to begin any enterprise of which one does not know
+the end. And I'm sure when I undertook to give a mask ball and take a
+character in it, I had not the slightest idea that the masquerade would
+last longer than a night, or that I should have to continue to act a
+character."
+
+"Never mind, darling; it is but for a season. Go on, Pendleton. You seem
+to have settled everything in your own mind for us. Let us hear the rest
+of your plan," said Mr. Berners.
+
+"It is this," continued the Captain. "I will bring these disguises to
+you to-morrow night. I will also have a covered cart, loaded with
+turnips, potatoes, apples, and so forth; I will have this cart driven by
+your faithful Joe down to the Blackville ferry-boat, in which of course
+he can cross the river with his load of produce unsuspected and
+unquestioned."
+
+"Or even if some inquisitive gossip should ask him where he might be
+going, Joe would be ready with his safe answer. He can beat us in
+baffling inquiry," put in Sybil.
+
+"Like all his race," laughed Lyon.
+
+"The chance you have mentioned is provided for. Joe is instructed to
+answer any haphazard questioner, that he is bringing the load to me,
+which will be the truth."
+
+"But proceed, dear Pendleton. Develop your whole plan," urged Mr.
+Berners.
+
+"Well, then, once safe on this side of the river, Joe will drive the
+cart to some convenient spot, to which I myself will guide you."
+
+"Ah, how much trouble you take for us, Pendleton!" sighed Lyon.
+
+"Not at all. As far as I am concerned, it is a piquant adventure. Try to
+look at it in that light. Well, to our subject. When you reach the cart
+you can put your wife inside, and then mount the driver's seat, and
+start upon your journey like a plain old farmer going to market to sell
+his produce. As you will have but the one pair of horses for the whole
+journey, you will see the necessity of making very short stages, in
+order to enable them to complete it."
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"And now listen! Because you must make these short stages and frequent
+stoppages, and because you must avoid the most travelled roads, it will
+be necessary for you to take a map of the State, and follow the most
+direct route to Norfolk."
+
+"Which is not the turnpike road used by the mail stagecoaches, for that
+diverges frequently five or ten miles to the right or left of the line,
+to take in the populous villages," put in Lyon Berners.
+
+"Yes; I see you comprehended me! Well, I should farther advise you, when
+you reach Norfolk, to put up at some obscure inn near the wharves, and
+to embark in the very first ship that sails for Europe, even if it
+should set sail within an hour after your arrival."
+
+"You may rest assured that we shall not loiter in Norfolk," said Mr.
+Berners.
+
+"As for the draught horses and cart, if you have time, you can sell
+them. If not, you can leave them at the livery stable, and on the day of
+sailing post me a letter containing an order to receive them."
+
+"You think of everything, dear Pendleton."
+
+"I can't think of anything else just now," replied Captain Pendleton.
+
+"Well, then, we will have some supper," said Sybil rising to prepare it.
+
+"I declare, I never in all my life supped out so frequently as I have
+done since you two have been housekeeping in this old Haunted Chapel!
+And by the way, talking of that, have you seen any more apparitions? any
+more spectral gipsy girls? or shrouded forms? or shadowy coffins? or
+open vaults? eh, Mrs. Berners?" laughingly inquired Captain Pendleton.
+
+"No, nothing unusual has disturbed us, either last night or to-day. But
+now, talking of open vaults, have you brought the crowbar to force the
+door, sir?" said Sybil, turning sharply to the Captain.
+
+"Yes, dear Mrs. Berners; since I promised to bring it, I felt bound to
+do so; though I hope you will not really have it put to use."
+
+"Just as soon as supper is over, I will have that door forced open. I
+will see what that mysterious vault holds," said Sybil, firmly.
+
+And she almost kept her word.
+
+As soon as they had finished the evening meal, she arose and called upon
+the gentlemen to go with her and force the door of the vault.
+
+And they went and inserted the crowbar between the grating and the
+stonework, and wrenched with all their united strength; but their
+efforts availed nothing, even to move the door.
+
+They gave over their exertions to recover their breath, and when they
+had got it they began again with renewed vigor; but with no better
+success. Again they stopped to breathe, and again they re-commenced the
+task with all their might; but after working as hard as they could for
+fifteen minutes longer, they again ceased from sheer exhaustion, leaving
+the door as fast as they had found it.
+
+"It is of no use to try longer, Sybil. We cannot force it," said Mr.
+Berners.
+
+"I see that you cannot. The vault keeps its secrets well," she answered,
+solemnly.
+
+And then they returned to their seats near the fire, and sat and talked
+over the projected journey until it was time for Captain Pendleton to
+go.
+
+When the husband and wife were left alone, they felt themselves tired
+enough to go to rest, with a prospect of getting a good night's sleep.
+
+"This is the last night that we shall spend in this place, dear Sybil,"
+said Lyon Berners, as he put the smouldering brands together to keep the
+fire up till morning.
+
+Sybil replied with a deep yawn.
+
+And in a few minutes they laid down to rest, and in a very few more they
+fell asleep.
+
+How long they had slept Sybil had no means of knowing, when she was
+awakened by an impression that some cold damp creature had laid down on
+the front of the mattress close beside her. She opened her eyes and
+strained them around in a vague dread, but the inside of the chapel was
+dark as pitch. The fire had gone entirely out; she could not even see
+the outlines of the Gothic windows; all was black as Tartarus. But
+still--oh, horror!--she felt the cold damp form pressing close beside
+her.
+
+A speechless, breathless awe possessed her. She could not scream, but
+she cautiously put out her hand to make sure whether she was dreaming,
+when--horror upon horror!--it touched a clammy face!
+
+Still she did not cry out, for some potent spell seemed to bind her
+which at once tied her tongue and moved her hand; for that hand passed
+down over the slender form and straight limbs, and then up again, until
+it reached the still bosom, when--climax of horror!--it was caught and
+clasped in the clay-cold hand of the--WHAT?
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+                         GHOSTLY AND MYSTERIOUS
+
+
+           On horror's head Horrors accumulate.--Thompson.
+
+
+An icy sweat of terror bathed Sybil's form. She tried to cry out, and
+did utter a low half-stifled scream. But the cold fingers of the ghastly
+creature closed tightly upon hers, and a thin, hollow voice murmured:
+
+"Hush; don't you make a noise; don't be frightened. I can't hurt you.
+I'm chilled almost to death. And you were so warm. I crept to your side
+to tell you something. You are in hiding here, and so--_Ah-h-h_!"
+
+The reed-like murmur ended in a terrific shriek. There was a silent
+movement, and Sybil felt the clammy form snatched up from her side and
+borne away in the darkness.
+
+And then the spell that had bound her faculties was unloosed, and she
+uttered scream after scream as she shook and awakened her husband.
+
+"In the name of Heaven, Sybil, what now?" he exclaimed, as he started up
+into a sitting posture.
+
+"Oh, Lyon! for the love of mercy, get up! Get a light! I shall go mad in
+this horrible place!" she cried in a perfect frenzy of terror.
+
+"Calm yourself, Sybil. There is nothing to fear. I am here with you. I
+will strike a light," answered Lyon Berners quietly, as he got up and
+groped about in the darkness for the tinder-box.
+
+Striking a light in those days was not the quick and easy matter that it
+is now. When the tinder-box was at length found, the flint and steel had
+to be struck together until a spark was elicited to set fire to the
+tinder. So it was full five minutes from the time Lyon was awakened, to
+the moment that he lit the candle and looked upon the pale and
+horror-stricken face of his wife.
+
+"Now then, Sybil, what is it?" he inquired.
+
+"Oh, what is it! This place is full of devils!" she cried, shaking as
+with an ague fit.
+
+"My dear wife!" he said, in surprise and concern to see her shudder so
+fearfully, to hear her speak so wildly.
+
+"It _is_, I tell you, full of devils, Lyon!" she repeated with
+chattering teeth.
+
+There chanced to be a little wine in their stores. He went and poured
+some into a glass and brought it to her, made her drink it.
+
+"Now then, tell me what has thrown you into this state? What has
+happened to terrify you so much? another dream, vision, apparition?
+what?" he inquired, as he took from her hand the empty glass.
+
+"Oh, no, no, no! no dream, no vision, nothing of that sort. It was too
+dark to see anything, you know; but oh! it was something so ghastly and
+horrible that I shall never, never get over it!" she exclaimed, while
+shudder after shudder shook her frame.
+
+"Tell me," he said soothingly.
+
+"Oh, it was a damp girl!" she cried.
+
+"A damp girl!" he echoed in amazement and alarm; for he almost feared
+his dear wife was going crazy.
+
+"Oh yes, a damp girl! A clay-cold, clammy, corpse-like form of a girl!"
+
+"Where? when? what about her?"
+
+"Oh, I woke up and felt her lying by my side! so close that she chilled
+and oppressed me! I put out my hand, and she caught it in her deathly
+fingers! I screamed, but she spoke to me! She was about to tell me
+something, when she was suddenly snatched up and torn away!"
+
+"My dear Sybil, this was nightmare again!"
+
+"Oh, no, no, no! I have had nightmare, and know what it is! It is not
+like this! All this was real, as real as you and I! This place is full
+of devils!"
+
+"My darling wife, have you lost your senses?"
+
+"Oh, no; but I shall lose them if I stay in this demon-haunted place a
+day longer!"
+
+"Thank Heaven! we will not have to stay here a day longer. We leave,
+this coming evening. And see! the morning is dawning, Sybil; and with
+the coming of the light, all these shadows of darkness and phantoms of
+fear will flee away," said Lyon with a smile.
+
+"Oh, you don't believe me. You never do believe me. But oh! let me tell
+you all about this ghastly thing, and then perhaps you will see that it
+is real," said Sybil.
+
+And still in much agitation of spirits, she told him all the
+particulars of her strange visitation.
+
+He still believed in his soul that she had been the victim of incubus,
+but he would not vex her by persisting in saying so. He only repeated
+that the morning was at hand, when all the terrors of the night would be
+dispersed; and added that they would not have to pass another night in
+the "demon-peopled place," as this would be the very last day of their
+stay.
+
+As soon as it was light enough, they dressed themselves, and set about
+their simple daily work. He made the fire, and brought the water; and
+she cleared up their housekeeping corner, and prepared the breakfast.
+
+When the sun arose and streamed in at the east windows, lighting up
+every nook about the interior of the old chapel, they saw that
+everything remained in the same condition in which they had left it when
+they had gone to rest on the evening previous.
+
+Lyon Berners felt more than ever convinced that his dear Sybil had been
+the victim of repeated nightmares; that all the seemingly supernatural
+phenomena of the Haunted Chapel had been only the creation of her own
+morbid imagination; that nothing connected with the mystery had been
+real, with the exception of the appearance of the girl in the red cloak,
+whom Mr. Berners decided to be an ordinary human habitué of the place.
+
+But the idea of this visitor made him only the more anxious for Sybil's
+sake, to get away.
+
+This last day of their sojourn in the Haunted Chapel was passed by the
+refugees in great impatience, but without any event worth recording.
+
+With the night came their untiring friend Captain Pendleton, attended by
+Joe, who bore upon his broad back a large pack containing the disguises.
+
+After the usual greetings, and while Sybil, with a woman's curiosity,
+was examining the contents of the pack which Joe opened and displayed
+before her, Pendleton found an opportunity of whispering to Lyon
+Berners:
+
+"The false rumor is as rife as false rumors usually are. Every one
+reports with confidence, and every one else believes with assurance,
+that you are both in Annapolis, and will certainly be found by the
+officers within a few days. This is good, as it will lead off all
+pursuit from your road to Norfolk."
+
+Lyon Berners nodded in reply. And Sybil came up to make some
+preparations for supper.
+
+"Well, Mrs. Berners," spoke the Captain, gayly, "any more supernatural
+phenomena?"
+
+"Oh, I wish you had not asked that question!" exclaimed Lyon Berners,
+while Sybil grew deadly pale, and shivered from head to foot.
+
+"Why, what's the matter now?" demanded the Captain, lifting his eyebrows
+in surprise.
+
+"Oh, the damp girl!" exclaimed Sybil, shuddering.
+
+"The damp girl!" echoed the Captain, in growing wonder.
+
+Lyon Berners shrugged his shoulders, while Sybil, in agitated tones,
+recounted her strange visitation of the night before.
+
+"As clearly defined a case of incubus as ever I heard in my life," was
+the prompt decision of Captain Pendleton.
+
+Sybil grew angry.
+
+"I only wish," she sharply answered, "that you would once experience the
+like, for then you could know that it could not be nightmare."
+
+"Then, my dear Mrs. Berners, if this was not incubus, what do you
+suppose it to have been?"
+
+"A _real_ visitation; but whether a natural or supernatural one, of
+course I can not tell," she answered.
+
+Sybil got the supper ready, and they all sat down to partake of that
+meal together, for the last time in the Haunted Chapel.
+
+After supper the final preparations for their departure were made.
+
+Sybil felt all the reluctance of a beauty to part with her splendid
+black hair. But on trying the experiment, she found that she could
+effectually conceal it, without cutting it off. She combed it straight
+back from her forehead, and let it hang down her shoulders under her
+sack. Then she covered her head and neck with the flowing red locks of
+Harold's wig.
+
+Lyon cut close his auburn hair, shaved off his moustache, and donned a
+gray wig and a gray beard, without the slightest remorse.
+
+A very few minutes sufficed to complete their disguise, and they stood
+forth--Lyon and Sybil transformed into a gray old farmer and a
+shock-headed country girl.
+
+"And now, about these housekeeping articles that we must leave here?
+They are of very little value in themselves; but they _may_ be found,
+and if so, may lead to our discovery," suggested Mr. Berners, uneasily.
+
+"Never you mind _them_, Master. I'll ondertake to get them away,
+onbeknowst to any body, sar," promised Joe.
+
+"And I will see that this is done," added Captain Pendleton in a low
+voice, for he did not wish to wound poor Joe's sensitive self-love.
+
+"And now, my dear Sybil, are you sure you have got all that you need in
+your bag?" inquired Mr. Berners.
+
+"All that I shall need until we get to Norfolk, Lyon. There, indeed, we
+must get a supply of necessary clothing," she answered.
+
+"That of course. And by the way, have you the money and jewels safe?"
+
+"All secure."
+
+"Oh Lyon! I brought this for you, and I had better give it to you at
+once, lest I should forget it," put in Captain Pendleton, passing over
+to Mr. Berners a large roll of gold coins.
+
+"But my dear Pendleton--"
+
+"Oh, nonsense! take them. I can reimburse myself from the revenues of
+Black Hall. Am I not to have the freedom of that fine estate?"
+
+"Very true," answered Mr. Berners, pocketing the money.
+
+"And now, are we ready?" inquired the Captain.
+
+"Quite," answered Mr. and Mrs. Berners at once.
+
+"Then let us start at once," advised the Captain, setting the example by
+taking up Sybil's large travelling bag.
+
+Lyon Berners carried his portmanteau on one arm, while he gave his other
+to his wife.
+
+Joe loaded himself with a great basket filled with provisions for the
+journey.
+
+And together they all set forth from the Haunted Chapel. It was a clear,
+cold, starlight night. The gravestones in the old church-yard glimmered
+gray among the brushwood, as the fugitives picked their way through it.
+
+When they reached the narrow path leading through the thicket, they had
+to walk in single file until they emerged from the wood and found
+themselves upon the old road running along the river bank. Here the
+wagon with a pair of draught horses was waiting them.
+
+Their luggage was put in on top of bags of potatoes, turnips, etc., with
+which the back part of the wagon was loaded. Then Captain Pendleton
+assisted Sybil to mount to a seat made by a low-backed chair with a
+woolen counterpane thrown over it. Lyon Berners got up into the driver's
+place. All being now ready for the start, Captain Pendleton and Joe come
+up to the side of the wagon to bid farewell to the travellers.
+
+"Heaven bless you, Pendleton, for your faithful friendship and zealous
+labors in our behalf," said Mr. Berners, warmly shaking the Captain's
+hand.
+
+"Amen, and Amen! We shall never forget, and never cease to thank and
+bless you, dear friend," added Sybil, with tears in her eyes, as she
+gave him her hand.
+
+"May the Lord grant you a safe journey and a quick return," said Clement
+Pendleton, as he pressed the lady's hand and relinquished it.
+
+"And I sez Amen to that! Oh, Marser! Oh, Missus! come back to your poor
+old Joe soon! His heart will snap into ten thousand flinders, if you
+don't!" sobbed the poor negro, as he shook hands with his young master
+and mistress.
+
+Then with a mutual "God be with you," the four friends parted.
+
+Captain Pendleton, sighing, and Joe, weeping, bent their steps up the
+banks of the river towards the fording place, where they would have to
+cross to find their horses on the other side.
+
+Lyon Berners cracked his long wagoner's whip, and started on the road
+leading away from the river towards the east.
+
+It was yet early in the autumn night, and but for the cause of the
+journey, the young pair would have enjoyed it very much.
+
+"It is a very pleasant evening for the season," said Lyon, cheerfully
+looking up at the clear, blue-black, star-spangled sky.
+
+"Yes, indeed," answered Sybil briskly.
+
+"Are you quite comfortable, darling?"
+
+"Very! Captain Pendleton, dear Captain Pendleton, arranged my seat so
+nicely. It is so soft and easy. I could go to sleep here, if I were
+sleepy."
+
+"You may have to sleep there, dear. We must travel all night, in order
+to get a good distance from this neighborhood before morning."
+
+"I can bear that very well, as comfortably as I am placed. But you,
+dear Lyon, you who are driving, you will be tired to death."
+
+"Not at all. My work to-night will not be more than many men frequently
+undertake for mere amusement."
+
+"And the horses?"
+
+"Strong draught horses like these can work eight or ten hours at a
+stretch, if they are well fed and rested between times."
+
+"Oh! I'm so glad I have got away from the Haunted Chapel and the
+ghosts!" suddenly exclaimed Sybil.
+
+"And especially from the 'damp girl,'" laughed Lyon Berners.
+
+"Oh, don't mention her!" shuddered Sybil.
+
+They were now entering one of those frequent mountain passes that
+diversified their road, and the care of driving required all Lyon's
+attention.
+
+They travelled all night as nearly in a direct line towards the far
+distant city as the nature of the ground would permit. At daylight they
+found themselves in the midst of a deep forest, some twenty miles east
+of Blackville. Here, as the road was naturally broad and the trees tall
+and sparse, and especially as a clear stream of water ran along on one
+side, the travellers decided to stop and rest, and refresh themselves
+and their horses until noon.
+
+Lyon Berners got out and, followed by Sybil, went a little way into the
+woods, where they found a small opening and a spring of clear water.
+
+Here Lyon gathered brushwood and made a fire, while Sybil returned to
+the wagon and brought back a basket of provisions. Among them was a
+bottle of coffee already made, and which she turned into a small tin
+coffee-pot, and set on the fire to be warmed.
+
+And while Lyon went back to the wagon to attend to the wants of his
+horses, Sybil spread a very good breakfast of coffee, bread, and ham,
+upon the ground near the fire.
+
+When they had given their horses time enough to rest they resumed their
+journey, still travelling towards the east.
+
+Lyon consulted his map and his pocket compass, and found that directly
+in their line lay the small village of Oakville, nestled in an
+unfrequented pass of the mountains.
+
+"We can reach the place at about ten o'clock this evening, and there we
+can get a regular supper and good sleep," he said to his wife.
+
+And they travelled all the remainder of that day, and at about half-past
+nine they arrived at Oakville. The village was off the public road, and
+consisted only of a sleepy old tavern, to which the neighboring farmers
+came to drink, smoke, and gossip; a post-office, to which the mail was
+brought once a week by a boy on horseback; and a blacksmith shop,
+patronized by the sparse population of the immediate neighborhood.
+
+Up before the stable of this old tavern Lyon Berners drove his wagon;
+and here he alighted, handed out Sybil, and led her over to the house
+and into the public parlor.
+
+A fat and lazy-looking hostess came to look at them.
+
+"I want accommodations for myself, my girl here, and my horses and
+wagon, which I left in the stable yard," said Mr. Berners, speaking
+coarsely, with two lumps of liquorice in his mouth, which he had taken
+to disguise his voice.
+
+"And what might your name be, farmer?" inquired the landlady.
+
+"My name's Howe," answered Lyon, truly, giving his own patronymic, now
+his middle name.
+
+"Well, farmer, I reckon we can accommodate you. Going to market?"
+
+"Yes, we're on our way to market."
+
+"You come from far?"
+
+"From the other side of the mountain."
+
+"Well, I reckon we can accommodate you. You must excuse me asking you
+so many questions; but the truth is you're a perfect stranger to me, and
+it is very late for you to come here, you know; which I wouldn't think
+so much of that nyther, only since that horrid murder at Black Hall I
+have mistrusted every stranger I see."
+
+Sybil's heart gave a bound, and then sank like lead in her bosom, at
+hearing this allusion. Lyon also felt an increased uneasiness. Luckily
+they were sitting with their backs to the light, so that the gossiping
+landlady could not read the expression of their faces, which indeed she
+was too much absorbed in her subject to attempt to do. So she went
+straight on without stopping to take breath:
+
+"Not that I mistrust you now, sir, which I see exactly what you are; and
+which likewise your having of your darter with you is a rickymindation;
+for men don't go about a taking of their darters with them when they are
+up to robbery and murder, do they now, sir?"
+
+"I should judge not, though I am not familiar enough with the habits of
+such gentry to give a decided opinion," said farmer Howe.
+
+"You'll excuse me, sir; but I'm a lone widow living here, and not used
+to seeing much of anybody but my old neighbors, which come occasionally
+to enjoy of themselves; and I do mistrust most strangers--though not
+you, sir, with your darter, as I said before--but most other strangers,
+because they _do_ say hereabouts that it was a stranger to the place, a
+red-headed man, as put up at the inn at Blackville that night, and never
+was seen afterwards, as did that murder at Black Hall."
+
+"Ah! do they say that? I thought they laid it on a lady," observed
+farmer Howe.
+
+"La, sir! the idee of a lady doing such a thing! and a rale high-born
+lady of quality like Mrs. Burns, or whatever her name was, and doing of
+it to one she had took in for charity too; 'tan't likely, sir."
+
+"But you know, I suppose, that they did accuse a lady?"
+
+"Oh, yes; I know they did, and that the poor lady had to ran away and go
+to Annapolis. But that was that Blackville set, that an't got no sense;
+but as for us, over this side, _we_ believe it was that red-headed
+stranger as did it."
+
+"There's no doubt of it in the world," said farmer Howe, recklessly,
+feeling that he was expected to say something.
+
+And at this moment he looked towards Sybil, and saw that she could not
+endure the subject of discussion for one moment longer, so he turned to
+the landlady, and said:
+
+"We have travelled some distance, and feel very tired and hungry. Would
+you oblige us with supper as soon as possible? We do not need much, only
+let it be nice and warm."
+
+"Surely, sir, it is late; but we will do the best we can for you," said
+the landlady, hurrying away.
+
+Mr. Berners stooped to whisper to his wife.
+
+"Sybil, darling, I hail this woman's faith as a good omen. Keep up your
+courage, and--remain in that shady corner until I come back. I am going
+out to the stable to see that our horses are properly attended to."
+
+And then Lyon left the room.
+
+By the time he returned a table was set in that parlor, and a good
+supper spread for the travellers.
+
+When it was over, the landlady showed them to a couple of communicating
+rooms up stairs, where they passed a very comfortable night.
+
+At daybreak the next morning they arose and breakfasted, and resumed
+their journey.
+
+Lyon Berners again consulted his map of the State and his pocket
+compass, and laid out his road. It lay for all that day up and down, in
+and out, among the wildest passes of the Allegheny Mountains. At noon
+they stopped for an hour, to rest and refresh themselves and their
+horses, and then again went forward. At night they reached another
+hamlet at the foot of the mountain range. They put up at this hamlet,
+which was called Dunville, and which boasted one tavern kept by an old
+Revolutionary pensioner called Purley.
+
+Here also Lyon Berners gave his name as Howe, and here again he and his
+wife were destined to be told all about the murder.
+
+"You see, sir, a little below us there, on the other side of the
+mountain, they do say as the murder was done by the woman's husband, as
+she had run away from; but they are a set of poor ignorant folks out
+there! Now it stand to reason, sir, it couldn't have been done by him,
+and it must have been done by some member of that band of burglars that
+they say is lurking somewhere there-a-way by Black Hall."
+
+"Band of burglars!" echoed Farmer Howe, in astonishment. And he was
+almost about to betray himself by saying that there could be no such
+band there, when he recollected his position, and held his tongue.
+
+Farmer Howe and his daughter spent a refreshing night at old Purley's
+tavern at Dunville, and at daybreak next morning, after a very early
+breakfast, they resumed their journey.
+
+And again, as usual, Lyon Berners consulted his map and his compass. He
+now found that his most direct route lay through a thick forest, between
+two mountain ridges.
+
+They travelled all the morning, and as usual stopped at noon for rest
+and food for themselves and their four-footed friends. In the afternoon
+they set forth again, and travelled until they reached Iceville, a
+considerable village situated high upon one of the table-lands of the
+Blue Ridge. In this town there were three taverns. Farmer Howe and his
+daughter put up at the most humble of the trio. And here too the talk of
+the hour was the homicide at Black Hall.
+
+"They say about here that it was one of the lady's admirers who killed
+her in a fit of desperation from love and jealousy; for the lady was
+well beknown to be a great coquette," said one village authority to
+another, in the presence of Farmer Howe.
+
+When our travellers found themselves alone that night, in one of the two
+small adjoining rooms that had been assigned to them, Lyon Berners
+turned to Sybil, and said;
+
+"You see, my dear Sybil, how it is: 'A prophet hath honor except in his
+own city.' No one out of the Black Valley thinks of accusing you."
+
+"All the world might accuse me, so that my own old friends and neighbors
+would justify me," said Sybil, sadly.
+
+They passed another night in peace, and the next morning, at daybreak as
+usual, they breakfasted, and then set out on their fourth and last day's
+journey.
+
+Again the map and the pocket compass was called into requisition, and
+Mr. Berners laid out their route for the day.
+
+Their way lay all that forenoon through the beautifully undulating,
+heavily wooded, and well-watered country lying east of the Blue Ridge.
+
+As before, they broke their journey by an hour's repose at noon, and
+then re-commenced it. And at twelve, midnight, they arrived safely at
+Norfolk.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXX
+
+                          FLIGHT AND PURSUIT.
+
+
+                 Oh, death were welcome!--COLERIDGE.
+
+
+On reaching Norfolk, Lyon Berners drove at once to an obscure tavern
+down by the wharves, and near the market. Here he found good stabling
+for his horses and wagon, and decent accommodation for himself and wife.
+
+"Come to market, I reckon, father?" suggested the landlord, taking the
+stump of an old pipe from his mouth for the purpose.
+
+"Yes," answered Lyon Berners, as "farmer Howe," taking off his
+broad-brimmed hat, handing it to Sybil, and then sinking slowly and
+heavily into a chair, like a very weary old man.
+
+"Your daughter, I reckon, farmer?" continued the landlord, pointing to
+Sybil with the stem of his pipe.
+
+"My only girl," answered Lyon Berners, evasively.
+
+"And no boys?" inquired the landlord.
+
+"No boys," replied Lyon.
+
+"That's a pity; on a farm too. But you must try to get a good husband
+for the girl, and that will be all one as a boy of your own! Never had
+any children but this, farmer, or did you have the misfortune to lose
+'em?"
+
+"I never had but this one girl," answered Lyon Berners still evasively.
+
+"Then you must be very fond of that girl, I reckon."
+
+"She is all the world to me," said Lyon, truly.
+
+"Then he ought to be all the world to you, honey."
+
+"And so I am," said Lyon, answering for Sybil, whom he could not yet
+trust to act a part; though he saw, the instant he glanced at her, that
+he might have done so; for Sybil, as soon as she saw attention drawn to
+herself, began to turn her head down upon one shoulder and simper shyly
+like an awkward rustic.
+
+"You must excuse _me_ for asking so many questions, farmer; but when I
+see a father and daughter together, like you and your girl, I think of
+myself, for I have an only daughter of my own. All the rest of my
+children--and I had a whole passel of boys and girls--are with their
+dear mother in heaven. So you see, farmer, I am a widower, with one gal
+like yourself--for I reckon, from what you said, you are a widower?"
+
+"My girl's mother has been dead many years," answered Lyon, with a drawl
+and a sigh.
+
+"Pappy, I'm so hungry and so sleepy I don't know what to do," said
+Sybil, in a low, fretful tone, frowning and pouting.
+
+"Yes, yes, honey; I reckon you are sure enough. So landlord, if you have
+got a couple of little rooms joining onto each other, I wish you'd let
+us have 'em. And we'd like a bit of supper besides," said Lyon Berners,
+with a sigh and a grunt.
+
+"To be sure. I'll go and call my girl directly, and she'll walk up to
+your rooms while I have the supper got ready. Where would you like to
+have it? down here, or in your room?" inquired the landlord.
+
+"In your room, Pappy. I hate a place like this a-smellin' of liquor and
+inyuns and things, and men coming in and out," said Sybil, digging her
+elbow into her "Pappy's" ribs, and turning up her nose at the little
+tavern sitting-room.
+
+"Well, then, honey, we'll have it up there. Up there, landlord, if it
+won't be putting of you to too much trouble."
+
+"Oh, not at all, farmer; it's all one to me. Now I'll go and call
+Rachel."
+
+And the inquisitive and communicative host went out, and soon returned
+with a young woman of about Sybil's own age.
+
+"This is my daughter, my Rachel, as I was telling you about, farmer.
+Rachel, honey, you just go long of the farmer and his daughter and show
+them where they've got to sleep, that's a good girl. Put 'em in the two
+little rooms over the bar, you know."
+
+"Yes, father. Come, sir; come, miss," said the landlord's daughter,
+leading the way from the smoky parlor.
+
+Lyon and Sybil followed her. Lyon walking slowly like a weary old man,
+and pausing at the head of the stairs, as if to recover his wind.
+
+"Pappy, you look tired to death," said Sybil, in a rough sympathetic
+voice.
+
+"Ay, ay; it is weary work for an old man to get up-stairs," grunted Lyon.
+
+"The stairs are very steep, but here you are," said the landlord's
+daughter, opening the door leading into two little communicating rooms.
+
+She entered, followed by Sybil and Lyon. She set the candle down on the
+top of the old chest of drawers, and turned around. And then the
+travellers noticed, for the first time, how beautiful the daughter of
+their host was.
+
+Rachel's face was of the purest type of beauty, combining the physical,
+intellectual, and spiritual. Her form was of medium height and perfect
+grace; her head was finely shaped, and covered with dark brown hair,
+parted in the middle and carried over the temples, and arranged in a
+knot behind; her forehead broad and full; her eyebrows were gently
+arched, her eyes dark luminous gray, with drooping lids and long
+fringes; her nose small and straight, her lips full, small, and plump,
+and her chin was round and well set. There were some flaws in this
+otherwise perfect beauty and grace of form and face; for her complexion
+was very pale, her expression pensive, and her walk slightly limping.
+
+While Sybil was observing her with both admiration and pity, and
+wondering whether she did not suffer from some hereditary malady that
+had carried off her mother and all her sisters and brothers, Rachel
+spoke:
+
+"I think you have everything here that you require; but if you should
+need anything else, please call, and I will come and attend to your
+wants."
+
+"Thanks!" answered Sybil, sweetly, forgetting her assumed character, and
+beginning to speak in her natural voice, for it seemed so difficult to
+act a part in the presence of this girl.
+
+But Lyon set his coarse boot upon Sybil's foot, and pressed it as a
+warning, and then answered for both, saying:
+
+"Thank y', honey, but I don't reckon we'll want anything but our supper,
+and the old man said how he'd send that up here himself."
+
+"Then I will leave you. Good night. I hope you will have a good sleep,"
+answered Rachel, bending her head.
+
+"What a fine face that girl has," said Lyon Berners, as she withdrew.
+
+"Yes; and what a sweet voice!" answered Sybil.
+
+"But she is very pale, and she limps as she walks; did you notice?"
+
+"Yes; I suppose she has ill health--probably the same malady that
+carried off her mother, and all her sisters and brothers."
+
+"Very likely."
+
+"Consumption?" suggested Sybil.
+
+"Scrofula," sententiously replied Lyon.
+
+"Oh, what a pity!" said Sybil, when their conversation was cut short by
+the entrance of the landlord, bringing a waiter with the plain supper
+service and a folded table-cloth, and followed by a young man bearing
+another waiter piled up with materials for a supper more substantial
+than delicate.
+
+The little table was quickly set, and the meal arranged and then the
+landlord, after asking if anything more was wanted, and being told there
+was not, left the room, followed by his attendant.
+
+Lyon and Sybil made a good supper, and then, as there were no bells in
+that primitive house of entertainment, he put his head out of the door
+and called for some one to come and take away the service.
+
+When the waiter had cleared the table, and the travellers were again
+left alone, Lyon said to Sybil:
+
+"I must leave you here, dear, while I go down to the water-side and
+inquire what ships are about to sail for Europe. You will not be afraid
+to stay here by yourself?"
+
+"Oh, no indeed! this is not the Haunted Chapel, thank Heaven!" answered
+his wife.
+
+"Nor Rachel, the damp girl," added Lyon.
+
+"No, poor child; but she may very soon become one," sighed Sybil.
+
+And Lyon put on his broad-brimmed hat and went out.
+
+Sybil locked the door, took off her red wig, and her coarse outer
+garment, and took from her travelling bag a soft woolen wrapper and a
+pair of slippers and put them on, and sat down before the fire to make
+herself comfortable. At first the sense of relief and rest and warmth
+was enough to satisfy her; but after an hour's waiting in idleness, the
+time hung heavily on her hands, and she grew homesick and lonesome. She
+thought of the well-stocked library of Black Hall; of her bright
+drawing-room, her birds, her flowers, her piano, her easel, her
+embroidery frame, her Skie terrier, her tortoise shell cat and kittens,
+her fond and faithful servant, the many grand rooms in the old hall; the
+negroes' cabins, the ancient trees, the river, the cascade, the
+mountains--the thousand means of occupation, amusement, and interest,
+within and around her patrimonial home, the ten thousand ties of
+association and affection that bound her to her old place, and she
+realized her exile as she had never done before. Her spirit grew very
+desolate, and her heart very heavy.
+
+But Sybil really was not a woman to give way to any weakness without an
+effort. She got up and tried to engage herself by examining the two
+little rooms that were to be her dwelling place for a day or a week, as
+chance might direct.
+
+There was not much to interest her. The furniture was poor and old, but
+neat and clean, as anything under the care of pale Rachel was sure to
+be. Then Sybil looked about to try to find some stray pamphlet or book,
+that she might read. But she found nothing but a treatise on tanning and
+an old almanac until, happening to look behind the glass on the chest of
+drawers in the inner room, she discovered a small volume which she took
+to be the New Testament. She drew it from its hiding-place and sat down
+to read it. But when she opened the book, she found it to
+be--"Celebrated Criminal Trials."
+
+At once it seemed to have a fearful interest for her, and this interest
+was terribly augmented when, on further examination, she discovered that
+a portion of the work was devoted to the "Fatal Errors of Circumstantial
+Evidence."
+
+To this part of the book she turned at once, and her attention soon
+became absorbed in its subject. Here she read the cases of Jonathan
+Bradford, Henry Jennings, and many others tried for murder, convicted
+under an overwhelming weight of circumstantial evidence, executed, and
+long afterwards discovered to be entirely innocent of the crimes for
+which they had been put to death. Sybil read on hour after hour. And as
+this evening, while sitting in solitude and idleness and thinking of her
+home and all its charms, she had first realized the bitterness of her
+exile, so now, in reading these instances of the fatal effects of
+circumstantial evidence upon guiltless parties, she also first realized
+the horrors of her own position.
+
+She closed the book and fell upon her knees, and weeping, prayed for
+pardon of those fierce outbursts of hereditary passion, that had so
+often tempted her to deeds of violence, and that now subjected her to
+the dread charge of crime. Yes, she prayed for forgiveness of this sin
+and deliverance from this sinfulness, even before she ventured to pray
+for a safe issue out of all her troubles.
+
+Relieved, as every one feels who approaches our Father in simplicity and
+faith, she arose from her knees, and sat down again before the fire to
+wait for the return of her husband.
+
+He came at length, looking really tired now, but speaking cheerfully as
+he entered the room.
+
+"I have been gone from you a long time, dear Sybil, but I could not help
+it. I had to go to Portsmouth in search of our ship," he said, as he put
+his hat on the floor, and sat down at the fire.
+
+"Then you found a ship?" she inquired, with so much more than usual
+anxiety in her expression, that he looked up in painful surprise as he
+replied to her question.
+
+"Yes, dear; I have found a ship that will suit us. It is the
+'Enterprise,' Captain Wright, bound for Liverpool within a few days."
+
+"Oh! I wish it were to-morrow," sighed Sybil.
+
+"Why, love, what is the matter?" tenderly inquired her husband, taking
+her hand, and looking into her face.
+
+"_That_ is the matter," replied Sybil, with a shudder, as she took the
+volume she had been reading from the chimney piece and put it in his
+hands.
+
+It was a work with which Lyon Berners, as a law student, had been very
+familiar.
+
+"Why, where did you get this?" he inquired in a tone of annoyance, for
+he felt at once what its effect upon Sybil's mind must be.
+
+"Oh, I found it behind the looking-glass in the other room."
+
+"Left by some traveller, I suppose. I am sorry, Sybil, that you have
+chanced upon this work; but you must not let its subject influence you
+to despondency."
+
+"Oh, Lyon! how can I help it? I was so strong and cheerful in my sense
+of innocence, I had no idea how guiltless people could be convicted and
+executed as criminals."
+
+"My darling Sybil, all these cases that you have read were tried in the
+last century, a period of judicial barbarism. Courts of justice are more
+enlightened and humane now, in our times. They do not sacrifice sacred
+life upon slight grounds. Come, take courage! be cheerful! trust in God,
+and all will be well."
+
+"I do trust in the Lord, and I know all will be well; but oh! I wish it
+were to-morrow that ship is to sail?" answered Sybil.
+
+"It will sail very soon, dear. And now we had better go to rest, and try
+to get some sleep. In my character of market farmer, I have to be up
+very early in the morning to attend to my business, you know," said Lyon
+with a smile.
+
+Sybil acquiesced, and the fugitive couple retired for the night.
+
+Bodily fatigue so much overcame mental anxiety, that they slept
+profoundly, and continued to sleep until near daylight, when they were
+both aroused by a loud knocking at the door.
+
+"Oh, for Heaven's sake, who is that?" gasped Sybil, starting up in
+affright, for every knock now, scared her with the thought of sheriff's
+officers armed with a warrant for her arrest, and excited a whole train
+of prospective horrors.
+
+"Hush, darling, hush; it is only one of the men about the place waking
+me up, according to orders, to be in time for the market. We must keep
+up our assumed characters, my dear Sybil," said Mr. Berners, as the
+knocking was repeated, accompanied by the calls of,
+
+"Farmer! farmer!"
+
+"Aye, aye! I hear you. You needn't batter down the doors. I'm a-going to
+get up, though it's very early, and I an't as young as I used to be
+twenty years ago, nyther," grumbled the "farmer," as with many a grunt
+and sigh, as of an old and weary man, he got up and began to dress
+himself.
+
+"Sybil," he whispered to his wife before leaving the room, "I shall have
+to take my breakfast at a stall in the market-house, and I shall not be
+back until the market is out, which will be about twelve o'clock. You
+can have your breakfast brought up here. And mind, my darling, don't
+forget to put on your wig, and keep up your character."
+
+"I shall be very careful, dear Lyon," she answered, as he kissed and
+left her.
+
+Lyon Berners went down stairs, where he found the landlord, who was an
+"early bird," waiting for him.
+
+"Morning, farmer. What is it that you've brought to market, anyways?"
+he said, greeting his guest.
+
+"Mostly garden truck," answered Lyon.
+
+"No poultry, eggs, nor butter?"
+
+"No."
+
+"'Cause, if you had, I might deal with you myself."
+
+"Well, you see, landlord, them kind of produce is ill convenient to
+bring a long ways in a wagon. And I came from a good ways down the
+country," explained Lyon, as he took his long leathern whip from the
+corner where he had left it, and went out to look after his team.
+
+He found it all right, and he mounted the seat and drove to the market
+space, and took a stand, and began to offer his produce as zealously as
+any farmer on the ground--taking care, in the mean time, to wear his
+spectacles and broad-brimmed hat, and to keep up his character in voice
+and manner; and, as the morning advanced, he began to drive a brisk
+business.
+
+Meantime Sybil, left alone in her poor room at the little inn, arose
+and locked the door after Lyon, to prevent intrusion before she should
+effect her disguise, and when she had thus insured her privacy, she
+began to dress.
+
+As soon as she had transformed herself, she opened the door and called
+for Rachel.
+
+The landlord's daughter entered, giving her guest good-morning, and
+kindly inquiring how she had slept.
+
+"I slept like a top! But I'm not well this morning neither. So I'd just
+like to have my victuals sent up here," answered Sybil.
+
+"Very well; what would you like?"
+
+"Fried fish, and pork-steaks, and bri'led chickings, and grilled bacon,
+and--let me see! Have you any oysters?"
+
+"Yes, very fine ones."
+
+"Well, then, I'll take some stewed oysters too, and some poached eggs,
+and preserved quinces, and fried potatoes, and corn pone, and hot rolls,
+and buckwheat cakes, and cold bread and butter, and some coffee, and
+buttermilk and sweet milk. And that's all, I believe; for, you see, I
+an't well, and I haven't come to my stomach yet; but if I can think of
+anything else, I will let you know.
+
+"Is your father going to eat his breakfast with you?"
+
+"Who? pappy? No; he's gone to market, and will get his victuals at the
+eating stall. Wouldn't it be good fun to keep a eating stall in a
+market?"
+
+"I don't think so."
+
+"Well, never mind whether you do, or not. Hurry up with my victuals."
+
+"Yes; but I'm afraid we haven't got all the things you want; but I will
+bring you up what we have," said the girl, who had opened her eyes
+widely at the bill of fare ordered by her sickly guest.
+
+"Well, go do it then, and don't stop to talk," said Sybil, shortly.
+
+Rachel went out, and in due time returned with a waiter containing
+Sybil's breakfast.
+
+"Why, there an't half--no, not a quarter of the things I told you to
+fetch me," said Sybil, turning up her nose at the waiter that Rachel
+placed upon the table.
+
+"I have brought you some of everything that we have cooked. I should be
+glad if I could bring you all you wish," replied Rachel.
+
+"Then I s'pose I must be half-starved in this poor place. And me so
+weakly, too! I'll tell pappy as soon as ever he comes. I want to go
+home--I do. We've got as much as ever we can eat at home," grumbled
+Sybil, doing her best to act her part, and perhaps overdoing it.
+
+But Rachel was not suspicious. She again apologized for not being able
+to fill her guest's order in its utmost extent, and she remained in the
+room and waited on Sybil until the breakfast was finished, and then she
+took away the service, wondering how little her guest had eaten, after
+having ordered such a vast amount of food.
+
+Again Rachel came back to the room, and made everything tidy in each
+chamber, and then finally left her guest alone.
+
+Sybil walked about and took up and put down every small object that lay
+about her humble apartments, and then looked out of each window upon the
+narrow crowded and noisy street below; and finally, she took the volume
+of "Celebrated Criminal Trials" that had a terrible attraction for her,
+in her present circumstances, and she sat down and read until her
+husband's return.
+
+Lyon Berners drove his empty wagon into the stable yard, at noon. He had
+sold out all his produce, and pretended to be in great glee at his
+success. The landlord congratulated him, and some chance loungers in the
+bar-room suggested that, under such circumstances, it would be the right
+thing for him to treat the company. Lyon thought so too; and in his
+character of farmer, he ordered pipes and glasses all around. And then
+he made his escape, and went up stairs to see Sybil.
+
+"Still moping over that depressing book. Put it away, Sybil, and get on
+your bonnet, and throw a thick veil over it, and come out with me for a
+walk; we have to buy something for our voyage, you know," said Lyon,
+cheerfully.
+
+Sybil with a sigh given to her fears, did as he requested her to do; and
+the two went down stairs together.
+
+"Going out for a walk, I reckon, farmer?" inquired the landlord, who
+stood at the bar-room door with a pipe in his mouth.
+
+"Aye, aye. You know these girls--when they find out that their pappies
+have made a little bit of money, there is no peace till it's spent. My
+girl is taking me out shopping, to buy gimcracks and things! I'll be
+glad when I get her home again," grumbled Lyon.
+
+"Well, well, she's your onliest one, and you mustn't be hard on her. My
+Rachel gets all she wants, and deserves it too. Dinner at two o'clock,
+sharp, farmer."
+
+"Aye, aye! I know. Men o' my age never forget their dinners," said Lyon,
+as he drew Sybil's arm within his own and led her out into the streets.
+
+They went only into the back streets, and the poor shops, and they
+bought only what was strictly necessary for their voyage; and having
+concluded their purchases, they returned to the inn in time for dinner.
+
+Sybil was very much depressed. She could not rally from the effect the
+reading of that book had had upon her mind. She frequently repeated her
+fervent aspiration:
+
+"Oh! that the ship would sail to-day!"
+
+Lyon encouraged her as much as he possibly could, but he had his own
+private subject of anxiety. He had not of course told any one of his
+intention to go abroad. Every one believed that, having sold out his
+load, he would return home; but he was obliged to stay in the city
+until the sailing of the ship, and he wanted a fair excuse to do so.
+
+That evening the weather changed, and the sky clouded over, and the next
+morning it rained, and it continued to rain for three days.
+
+"This here will make them there roads so bad that we shan't be able to
+travel for a week, even if it does clear up soon," grumbled and growled
+the self-styled farmer, feeling glad all the while of an excuse to stay
+until the ship should sail.
+
+"No, that you won't," echoed his friend the landlord, glad to retain a
+guest with whom he was pleased.
+
+On the third day of the rain, the sky showing signs of clearing, Lyon
+Berners went over to Portsmouth to hear at what precise time the
+Enterprise would sail for Liverpool. When he returned he had good news
+for Sybil.
+
+"The Ship will sail on Saturday! That is the day after to-morrow, dear
+Sybil. And we may go on board to-morrow night."
+
+"Oh! I am so glad!" exclaimed Sybil, clapping her hands for joy. And she
+began to pack up immediately.
+
+"Moreover, I have sold my wagon and horses to a party at Portsmouth. And
+so we can put our luggage into it and drive off as if we were going
+home; but we can go down to the river instead, and take it across in the
+ferry-boat. Then I can have our effects put upon shipboard, and then
+deliver the team to its purchaser and receive the price," added Lyon.
+
+"Oh, but I am so delighted with the bare fact of our getting away so
+soon, that all things else seem of no account to me!" joyously exclaimed
+Sybil, going on with her packing.
+
+The next morning Lyon went out alone to make a few more purchases for
+their voyage. While he was going around, he also bought all the daily
+papers that he could get hold of. He returned to Sybil at an early hour
+of the forenoon. He found her sitting down in idleness.
+
+"Got entirely through packing, my darling?" he inquired cheerfully.
+
+"Oh, yes, and I have nothing on earth to do now. How long this last day
+will seem! At what hour may we go on board, this evening?"
+
+"At sundown."
+
+"Oh, that it were now sundown! How shall we contrive to pass the time
+until then?"
+
+"This will help us to pass the day, dear wife," he answered, laying the
+pile of newspapers on the table between them.
+
+Each took up a paper and began to look over it.
+
+Lyon was deep in a political article, when a cry from Sybil startled
+him.
+
+"What is the matter?" he inquired, in alarm.
+
+She did not answer. Her face was pale as ashes, and her eyes were
+strained upon the paper.
+
+"What do you see there?" again inquired her husband.
+
+"Oh, Lyon! Lyon! we are lost! we are lost!" she cried in a voice of
+agony.
+
+In great anxiety he took the paper from her hand, and read the paragraph
+to which she pointed. It ran thus:
+
+"It is now certain that Sybil Berners, accused of the murder of Rosa
+Blondelle, is not in Annapolis, as was falsely reported; but that she
+has escaped in disguise, accompanied by her husband, who is also in
+disguise; and that both are in the city of Norfolk."
+
+Now it was Lyon's turn to grow pallid with fear, not for himself, but
+for one dearer to him than his own life. Still he tried to control his
+emotions, or at least to conceal them from her. He compelled himself to
+answer calmly:
+
+"Take courage, my darling! We are before them. In a few more hours we
+shall be on board the ship."
+
+Her hands were clasped tightly together; her eyes were fixed steadily
+upon his face; her own face was white as marble.
+
+"Oh, Lyon! save me! Oh, my husband, save me! You _know_ that I am
+guiltless!" she prayed.
+
+"Dearest wife, I will lay down my life for you, if necessary! Be
+comforted! See! it is now two o'clock! In two more hours we may be on
+shipboard!" he said.
+
+"Let us go now! Let us go now!" she prayed, clasping her hands closely,
+gazing in his eyes beseechingly.
+
+"Very well, we will go at once," he answered; and he took up his hat and
+hurried down stairs.
+
+He told the landlord that, as the weather was now good, he thought he
+would risk the roads, and try to make a half-day's journey that
+afternoon, at least. And then, without waiting to hear the host's
+expostulations, he just told him to make out the bill, and then he went
+to the stables to put the horses to the wagon.
+
+In half an hour all was ready for their departure--the bill paid, the
+wagon at the door, and the luggage piled into it. And Sybil and Lyon
+took leave of their temporary acquaintances; and Lyon handed Sybil up
+into her seat, climbed up after her, and started the horses at a brisk
+trot for the ferry-boat.
+
+They reached Portsmouth in safety. Lyon drove down at once to the wharf,
+engaged a rowboat, put Sybil and all their effects into it, and rowed
+her across the water to where the Enterprise lay at anchor.
+
+"Now I'm safe!" exclaimed Sybil, with a sigh of infinite relief, as she
+stepped upon the deck.
+
+The captain did not expect his passengers so soon, and he was busy; but
+he came forward and welcomed them, and showed them into the cabin,
+apologizing for its unready condition, consequent upon the bustle of
+their preparations for sailing.
+
+Lyon left his wife in the Captain's care, and went back to the shore to
+complete the sale of his wagon and horses.
+
+He was gone for nearly two hours, and when he returned he explained his
+long absence by saying that, after all, the hoped-for purchaser had
+refused to purchase, and that he had to leave his wagon and horses at a
+stable in Portsmouth, and to retire to a restaurant and write a letter
+to Captain Pendleton, and enclose an order for him to receive the
+property on paying the livery.
+
+Sybil was satisfied--nay, she was delighted. In company with Lyon she
+walked up and down the deck, looking so joyous that the men about the
+place could but remark upon it as they gossipped with each other.
+
+The new voyagers took supper in the Captain's cabin, and afterwards
+returned to the deck and remained on it until the sun set and the stars
+came out.
+
+"Oh, this sense of release from danger! Oh, this delightful sense of
+freedom! And the heavenly starlit sky, and the beautiful water, and the
+delicious breeze. Oh, the world is so lovely! Oh, life and liberty is so
+sweet, so sweet! Oh, dear Lyon, I am so happy! And I love you so much!"
+she exclaimed, almost delirious with joy at her great deliverance.
+
+It was very late before Lyon could persuade her to leave the deck.
+
+"I am too happy to sleep," she continually answered.
+
+At length, however, he coaxed her to let him lead her to their
+state-room.
+
+There, in the darkness and silence, she grew more composed, though not
+less happy. And in a few minutes after she had laid down, she fell
+asleep.
+
+She slept very soundly until morning, when she was awakened by the
+cheerful chants of the sailors getting ready to make sail.
+
+She lay a little while enjoying the joyous sounds that spoke to her so
+happily of liberty, and then she arose and dressed herself, and went up
+on deck, leaving Lyon still asleep.
+
+The sun was just rising, and the harbor was beautiful. She walked about,
+talking now to the captain, and now to one of the men, and exciting
+wonder among them all, at her happiness.
+
+At length she was joined by her husband, who had waked up the moment she
+had left him, and got up immediately, and dressed and followed her.
+
+"Oh, Lyon! is not this a beautiful morning? And the Captain says the
+wind is fair, and we shall sail in half an hour!" was her greeting.
+
+And Lyon pressed her hand in silence. A great weight of anxiety lay upon
+his heart; _he_ knew, if she did not, that she was not safe, even on
+shipboard, until the ship should really sail. And now his eyes were
+fixed upon a large rowboat that was rapidly crossing the water from the
+shore to the ship.
+
+"Do you expect any more passengers?" he inquired of the Captain.
+
+"Oh, lots!" answered the latter.
+
+"Are those some of your passengers coming in the boat?"
+
+The Captain threw a hasty glance at the approaching object and answered
+carelessly:
+
+"Of course they are! Don't you see they are making right for the ship?"
+
+The boat was very near. It was at the side of the ship. The oars were
+drawn in. The passengers were climbing up to the deck.
+
+"They look like nice people! I am sure they will make it still
+pleasanter for us on the voyage," said Sybil, who in her happy mood was
+inclined to be delighted with every event.
+
+The Captain went to meet the new-comers.
+
+Two gentlemen of the party spoke for a moment with him, and then
+advanced towards the spot where the husband and wife were standing.
+
+"They _are_ nice people," repeated Sybil, positively; but Lyon said
+nothing; he was pale as ashes. The two gentlemen came up and stood
+before Lyon and Sybil. The elder of the two took off his hat, and bowing
+gravely, said to Sybil:
+
+"You are Mrs. Sybil Berners of Black Hall?"
+
+Then all at once an agony of terror took possession of her; her heart
+sank, her brain reeled, her limbs tottered.
+
+"You are Mrs. Sybil Berners of Black Hall?" repeated the stranger,
+drawing from his pocket a folded paper.
+
+"Yes," faltered Sybil, in a dying voice.
+
+"Then, Madam, I have a most painful duty to perform. Sybil Berners, you
+are my prisoner," he said, and he laid his hand upon her shoulder.
+
+With an agonizing shriek she sprang from under his hand, and threw
+herself into the arms of her husband, wildly crying:
+
+"Save me, Lyon! Oh! don't let them force me away! Save me, my husband!
+Save me!"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+                              THE ARREST.
+
+
+                  Had it pleased Heaven
+            To try me with affliction; had He rained
+            All kinds of sores and shames on my bare head;
+            Steeped me in poverty to the very lips;
+            I could have found in some part of my soul
+            A drop of patience; but alas, to make me
+            A fixed figure for the time of scorn
+            To point his slow, unmoving finger at!--SHAKESPEARE.
+
+
+"Save me! Oh, save me!" she continued to cry, clinging wildly to her
+husband's bosom. "Save me from this deep degradation! This degradation
+worse than death!"
+
+And it is certain that if the immediate sacrifice of his own life could
+have saved her, Lyon Berners would have willingly died for Sybil; or
+even if the drowning of that law officer could have delivered her, he
+would have incontinently pitched the man overboard; but as neither of
+these violent-means could possibly have served her, he could only clasp
+her closer to his heart, and consider what was to be done.
+
+At length he looked up at the sheriff's officer, and said:
+
+"I wish to have a word alone with my wife, if you will permit me."
+
+The man hesitated.
+
+"You can do it with perfect safety. We cannot possibly escape from this
+ship, you know; and besides, you can keep us in sight," he added.
+
+Still the man hesitated, and at length inquired:
+
+"Why do you wish to speak with her alone?"
+
+"To try to soothe her spirits. I know it would be quite useless to tell
+you how entirely innocent this lady is of the heinous crime imputed to
+her; for even if you should believe her to be so, you would have to do
+your duty all the same."
+
+"Yes, certainly; and a most distressing duty," put in the officer.
+
+"This arrest has come upon her so suddenly, and when she is so utterly
+unprepared to meet it, that it has quite overcome her, as you see; but
+leave her alone with me for a few minutes, and I will try to calm her
+mind, and induce her to yield quietly to this necessity," added Lyon.
+
+"Well, sir, I am indeed very willing to do all in my power to make this
+sad affair as little distressing to the lady as possible," answered the
+officer as he touched his companion on the shoulder, and they both
+walked off to some little distance.
+
+As their retreating steps sounded upon the deck, Sybil raised her head
+from Lyon's breast and looked around with an expression half-frightened,
+half-relieved, and murmured:
+
+"They are gone! They are gone!"
+
+Then clasping her husband suddenly around the neck, and gazing wildly
+into his eyes, she exclaimed:
+
+"You can save me, Lyon, you can save me from this deep dishonor that no
+Berners ever suffered before! There is but one way, Lyon, and there is
+but one moment. You have a small penknife; but it is enough. Open it,
+and strike it _here_, Lyon. One blow will be enough, if it is firmly
+struck! Here--Lyon! here, strike here!" And she placed her hand on her
+throat, under her ear, and gazed wildly, prayerfully in his face.
+
+"_Oh, Sybil!_" he groaned, in an agony of despairing love.
+
+"Quick! quick! Lyon! We have but this moment! Strike here now--now, this
+instant! Strike first, and then kiss me! kiss me as I die!"
+
+"Sybil! Sybil, darling you wring my heart."
+
+"I am not afraid of death, Lyon; I am only afraid of shame. Kill me, to
+save me, Lyon! Be a Roman husband. Slay your wife, to save her from
+shame!" she cried, gazing on him with great bright dilated eyes, where
+the fires of frenzy, if not of insanity, blazed.
+
+"My best beloved! my only beloved! there can be no shame where there is
+no sin. I will save you, Sybil; I swear it by all my hopes of Heaven! I
+do not yet see clearly how; but I will do it," he said, solemnly, and
+pressing her again to his heart.
+
+"Do it this way! do it this way!" she wildly entreated, never removing
+her frenzied eyes from his face.
+
+"No, not that way, Sybil. But listen: there are safe means--sinless
+means that we may use for your deliverance. The journey back will be a
+long one, broken up by many stoppages at small hamlets and roadside
+inns. Escape from these will be comparatively easy. I have also about
+me, in money and notes, some five thousand dollars. With those I can
+purchase connivance or assistance. Besides, to farther our views, I
+shall offer our wagon and horses, which luckily were not sold, but
+remain at the livery-stable at Portsmouth--I shall offer them, I say, to
+the officer for his use, and try to persuade him to take us down to
+Blackville by that conveyance, which will be easier even for him, than
+by the public stage coach. Take courage, dear Sybil, and take patience;
+and above all, do not think of using any desperate means to escape this
+trouble. But trust in Divine Providence. And now, dear Sybil, we must
+not try the temper of these officers longer, especially as we have got
+to leave the ship before it sails."
+
+And so saying, Lyon Berners beckoned the bailiffs to approach.
+
+"I hope the lady feels better," said the elder one.
+
+"She is more composed, and will go quietly," answered Mr. Berners.
+
+"Then the captain says we must be in a hurry. So if there is anything
+you wish to have removed, you had better attend to it at once," said the
+man.
+
+"I do not wish to leave the side of my wife for an instant; so if you
+would be so kind as to speak to the captain and ask him to have our
+luggage removed from our state-room and put upon the boat, I should feel
+much obliged."
+
+Leaving his companion in charge of the prisoner, the senior officer went
+forward and gave his message. And the captain, with a seaman-like
+promptness, immediately executed the order.
+
+Then Sybil's hat and cloak were brought her from the cabin, and she put
+them on and suffered herself to be led by her husband, and helped down
+to the boat. The Sheriff's officers followed, and when all were seated,
+the two boatmen laid to their oars, and the boat was rowed swiftly
+towards shore.
+
+The husband and the wife sat side by side in the stern of the boat. His
+arm was wound around her waist, and her head was resting on his
+shoulder. No word was spoken between them in the presence of these
+strangers; but he was silently giving her all the support in his power,
+and she was really needing it all, for she was utterly overcome; not by
+the terrors of imprisonment or death, but by something infinitely worse,
+the horror of degradation.
+
+All this time too Lyon Berners was maturing in his own mind a plan for
+her deliverance, which he was determined to begin to carry out as soon
+as they should reach the shore.
+
+In a few minutes more the boat touched the wharf, and the party landed.
+
+"I must trouble you to take my arm, Mrs. Berners," said the Sheriff's
+officer, drawing Sybil's hand under his elbow.
+
+She would have shrunk back, but Lyon looked at her significantly, and
+she submitted.
+
+"Where do you mean to take us first?" inquired Mr. Berners, in a low
+tone.
+
+"I wish to make this matter as little painful to this lady as the
+circumstances will permit. So I shall take her for the present to a
+hotel, where she must of course be carefully guarded. To-night we shall
+start by the night coach for Staunton, en route for Blackville,"
+answered the elder officer, as with Sybil on his arm he led the way into
+the town. Mr. Berners walked on the other side of his wife, and the
+second officer followed close behind.
+
+"We thank you for your consideration, Mr.--Mr.--" began Lyon.
+
+"Purley," continued the elder officer. "My name is Purley."
+
+"I do not remember you among the officers of the Sheriff's staff,
+however."
+
+"No; I am a new appointment. I must tell you, sir, that so strong was
+the feeling of sympathy for this lady, that not one of the bailiffs
+could be induced to serve the warrant; they resigned one after another."
+
+"They all knew Sybil from her childhood up. I thank them, and will take
+care that they shall lose nothing in resigning their positions for her
+sake," said Lyon Berners with much warmth, while Sybil's heavy heart
+swelled with gratitude.
+
+"And to tell the whole truth, had I known this lady, I should have felt
+the same reluctance to serving this warrant that was experienced by my
+predecessors in office."
+
+"I can well believe you," answered Mr. Berners, gravely.
+
+"Now, however, having undertaken the painful duty, I must discharge it
+faithfully," added the officer.
+
+"Yes, Mr. Purley, but gently and considerately, I know. You will inflict
+as little of unmerited mortification as may be consistent with your
+duty."
+
+"Heaven knows I will."
+
+"Then I have a plan to propose, and a favor to ask of you."
+
+"If I can gratify you with safety to the custody of my charge, I will do
+so; but here we are at the hotel now, and you had better wait until we
+get into a private sitting-room. The people of the place need not know
+that we are officers in charge of an accused party; but may be left to
+suppose that we are ordinary travellers."
+
+"Oh, I thank you for that!" exclaimed Mr. Berners, warmly.
+
+They entered the hotel, a second-class house in a cross street, where
+the elder officer asked for a private sitting-room, to which they were
+immediately shown.
+
+As soon as the four were seated, Mr. Berners turned to the elder officer
+and broached his plan.
+
+"You spoke of taking the night coach for Staunton. Now, if another
+conveyance could be found--a private conveyance that would be more
+comfortable for all parties, and would also be entirely under your own
+control--would you not be willing that we should travel by it?"
+
+"Oh! if you are able and willing to furnish a private conveyance for the
+journey, and place it as you say at my own exclusive orders, I shall be
+happy to take the lady down that way, rather than expose her in a public
+stage coach."
+
+"Thanks. I have a wagon and horses here at livery. They can be put to
+use at a few minutes' notice. So, if you prefer, you can start at once
+upon this journey, and make some twenty-five or thirty miles before
+night."
+
+"Let us see the team first, and then we shall be able to judge," said
+the officer.
+
+And after a few minutes' conversation it was arranged that Sybil should
+be left in charge of the second officer, and that Mr. Purley should go
+with Mr. Berners to the livery stable to look at the horses and wagon.
+These two went out together, and Purley took the precaution to lock the
+door and put the key in his pocket.
+
+"Why have you done that?" inquired Lyon, reproachfully.
+
+"Because women are irrational and impulsive. I have always found them
+so! She might suddenly cut and run; and although it wouldn't be a bit
+of use, you know, because she would be sure to be retaken in an hour or
+less time; yet, you see, it would cause a fuss, and be very unpleasant
+to me and you and her and everybody."
+
+"I see," said Mr. Berners, with a sigh, acknowledging the truth of the
+position.
+
+Meanwhile Sybil sat, absorbed in despair, and guarded by the second
+officer. Suddenly she heard her name softly murmured, and she looked up.
+The young bailiff stood before her. He was a sturdy looking young
+fellow, swarthy skinned, black haired, and black bearded.
+
+"Miss Sybil, don't you know me? I beg your pardon! Mrs. Berners, don't
+you know me?" he inquired in a low tone, as if fearful of being heard.
+
+Sybil looked at him in surprise, and answered hesitatingly:
+
+"N-no.
+
+"You forget people that you have been good to; but they don't forget
+you. Try to recollect me, Miss Sybil--Mrs. Berners."
+
+"Your face seems familiar; but--"
+
+"But you don't recollect it? Well, may be you may remember names better
+than faces. Have you any memory of a poor boy you used to help, named
+Bob Munson?"
+
+"Bob Munson--oh, is it you? I know you now. But it has been so long
+since I saw you!" eagerly exclaimed Sybil.
+
+"Eight years, Mrs. Berners; and I have been fighting the Indians on the
+frontier all that time. But I got my discharge, and came back with
+Captain Pendleton. You know it was him as I went out with, when he was a
+third lieutenant in the infantry. I 'listed out of liking for him, and
+we was together from one fort to another all these years, until Captain
+Pendleton got a long leave, and come home. I couldn't get leave, but the
+Captain got my discharge. And when he goes back to his regiment, I mean
+to enlist again and go with him."
+
+"But how came you to be a sheriff's officer? and oh, above all, how
+_could_ you come to take _me?_" reproachfully inquired Sybil.
+
+"Oh, Miss--I mean, Madam,--can't you guess in your heart? When all the
+bailiffs throwed up their places rather than serve a warrant on you, and
+Mr. Purley, who was a stranger, got an appointment and kept it, they
+wanted another man. And then my captain said to me, 'Munson, apply for
+the place; I will back you. And then if you get it, you will have an
+opportunity of serving, and perhaps freeing, Mrs. Berners.' And a great
+deal more he said, to the same purpose, Ma'am; and so I did apply for
+the situation, and got it. And now, Madam, I am here to help you with my
+life, if necessary," added the young man, ardently.
+
+"Give me your hand. God bless you, Bob! Help me all you can. I _ought_
+to be helped, for I am innocent," said Sybil, earnestly.
+
+"Don't I know it? Don't everybody with any sense know it? Don't even old
+Purley know it, ever since he first clapped eyes on your face?"
+
+"Heaven grant that all may soon!" prayed Sybil.
+
+"They will be sure to, Miss--I mean Madam."
+
+"Bob tell me: how was it that we were found out?"
+
+"Well, you see, Miss--Ma'am--when you were at Dunville, where you was
+said to have staid all night, there was a fellow there who had a habit
+for which he ought to be hung--of looking through the key-holes and
+watching ladies when they thought themselves unseen. And this fellow saw
+you take off your red wig."
+
+"And so discovered and denounced me?"
+
+"No, he didn't, Ma'am; he didn't even suspect who you was. He took you
+for a circus woman. And as for reporting what he had seen to anybody in
+that house, it would have been as much as his life was worth. Old
+Colonel Purley--he's a uncle of our bailiff--old Colonel Purley would
+have peeled the skin offen his body, if he had a-known he had done such
+a mean thing in his tavern."
+
+"Then how--"
+
+"I'll tell you, Ma'am. It was this way. That fellow which, his name was
+Batkin, was on his way to Blackville. And all along the road he kept
+telling the yarn about the beautiful black-haired young lady he had
+seen, and who had disfigured herself by wearing of a red wig; and of
+course he raised suspicions there. And when he was questioned farther,
+he described the wagon and horses, and the man and the woman, so
+accurately that the authorities thought it worth while to take the
+description down; and old Purley has it in his pocket along with the
+warrant. And then, as I told you, the bailiffs all resigned rather than
+go after you; and old Purley had to be appointed. And I applied, and got
+appointed too, only to help you!"
+
+"Heaven reward you for the kind thought! But, Bob, there were some of
+the old set found who were willing to take me; for they went to
+Annapolis after me, armed with warrant for my arrest."
+
+"Yes; them two: Smith and Jones! Sink 'em! I've swore a oath to thrash
+'em both within an inch of their lives the first time I set eyes on
+them! Well, they didn't find you, Satan burn 'em! that's one comfort."
+
+"How was it that you found us?"
+
+"Oh, Miss Sybil--Mrs. Berners, I should say--we did it easy when we once
+had got the clue. We went first to Dunville to inquire after the
+gray-bearded man and his red-headed daughter, and we learned the road
+you had taken, and followed you from stage to stage until we got to
+Norfolk. There we inquired in the neighborhood of the market, and found
+where you had put up. Then, at the 'Farmers' Hotel,' we were told, you
+had left for home that afternoon. Of course we knew _that_ was a ruse.
+We knew that if you had left, it was for the deck of some outward bound
+ship. So we inquired, and found out that the Enterprise was to sail in
+the morning. And we staid at this house all night, and boarded the ship
+this morning as you saw."
+
+"Oh, Bob! if you could have delayed for a half hour, the ship would have
+sailed, and I should have been free!" sighed Sybil.
+
+"I did all I could to make a delay. I put laudanum in his coffee last
+night. I was afraid to put in too much for fear of killing him, so I
+suppose I didn't put in enough, for he laid wide awake all night."
+
+"Ah, yes! that would be the effect of an under-dose of laudanum."
+
+"Well then, Ma'am, I put back our watches a whole hour. But, bless you,
+he didn't go by the watches, he went by the sun; and as soon as it was
+light he was up, and he sent me down to order an early breakfast. And
+then I got a chance to put laudanum in his coffee again, and this time I
+overdid it and put in too much, for he tasted something wrong, and he
+said it was vile stuff, and he wouldn't drink it! No, Miss--Ma'am, I
+didn't neglect no means to let you get clean off. But you see it was no
+go this time; and I had to help old Purley to arrest you. I'm glad you
+didn't know me, hows'ever. And I would advise you not to know me at all
+whenever old Purley is about. Keep dark, Miss Sybil, and I'll find a way
+to get you off. I haven't been hiding and seeking and hunting among the
+red-skins these eight years for nothing. Hish-sh! Here they come,"
+whispered Bob Munson, creeping away to the other end of the room, and
+putting himself on guard.
+
+The elder officer unlocked the door, and entered, followed by Mr.
+Berners. He announced that the wagon was at the door, and that they
+were ready to start on the return journey. And then Purley gave his arm
+to Sybil, and led her to the wagon, and placed her on the back seat,
+while Mr. Berners and Bob Munson lingered behind, the former to gather
+up Sybil's little personal effects, and the latter to settle the hotel
+bill. But there was no opportunity, among the crowd of guests and
+servants, for Munson to make his friendly intentions known to Mr.
+Berners by any other means than a significant look and a pressure of the
+hand, which Lyon Berners could not more than half understand. He felt,
+however, that in his younger officer he and his unhappy wife had a
+friend. They went out together, followed closely by the hostler, who
+wanted his own fee; but both Mr. Berners and Bob Munson were too much
+annoyed by his presence to feel like rewarding his attendance.
+
+Lyon Berners mounted to the seat beside his wife, and Bob Munson to that
+beside Purley, who held the reins. And in this manner they set out on
+their return journey.
+
+They crossed the ferry without attracting particular attention.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+                          A DESPERATE VENTURE
+
+
+            I have set my life upon a cast.
+            And I will stand the hazard of the die.--SHAKESPEARE.
+
+
+It was yet so early in the morning that they drove ten miles out to a
+small village on the road before they thought of breakfast. There Mr.
+Berners reminded the officer in charge that Sybil had not yet broken her
+fast. Whereupon Purley drew up before the one little tavern of the
+place, alighted, and assisted his charge to alight, and then keeping
+fast hold of her arm, led her into the house, and ordered breakfast.
+
+While the meal was being got ready he kept his party of four well
+together in the sitting-room where they waited. And as soon as breakfast
+was over, they all reëntered the wagon and resumed their journey. They
+travelled twenty miles before stopping to dine at a lonely roadside
+tavern, where again Purley watched his charge with such vigilance that
+she had no opportunity to speak privately either to her husband or their
+friend. Still she hoped this opportunity would be afforded when they
+should stop for the night. After an hour's rest they went on again,
+travelling with moderate haste all the afternoon. They made fifteen more
+miles before sunset, and then, having driven forty-five miles that day,
+and finding their horses very tired, they determined to put up for the
+night at a small hamlet, whose comfortable little hotel promised rest
+and refreshment.
+
+Still Purley kept close to his charge. They all had supper in a private
+sitting-room. And when that meal was over and the hour for retirement
+arrived, Purley himself accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Berners to their
+bedroom to see that it was secure. It was a front chamber, on the upper
+floor, with two front windows overlooking the village street, and but
+one door, which opened upon the passage.
+
+"That is all safe," said Purley, casting a glance around. "So I may
+leave you two alone here together, where no doubt, you are glad enough
+to be. But I'm sorry to say I must turn the key on you; not that I have
+any right to lock you up, sir, without your consent; but of course you
+_will_ consent to that, for the sake of staying with your wife."
+
+"Of course I will; and thank you for the privilege," answered Mr.
+Berners.
+
+"All right then. Good-night to you both," said Purley, closing and
+locking the door, and withdrawing the key.
+
+And then he took a farther precaution for the security of his charge, by
+ordering a mattress to be brought and laid down before that chamber
+door. And there he and his companion stretched themselves to rest like a
+pair of watch dogs.
+
+As soon as Sybil found herself alone with her husband, she beckoned him
+to that end of the room which was farthest from the door, and when he
+was close beside her she whispered in the lowest tone:
+
+"Did you observe anything peculiar in the manner of that younger
+bailiff?"
+
+"I observed that he tried to attract my particular attention whenever we
+happened to be unnoticed for a moment. But as we were so very closely
+watched I had no opportunity of asking, or he of telling, what he
+meant," said Lyon Berners.
+
+"Then I will tell you all about it. When Mr. Purley went away with you,
+and left that young man guarding me, the first thing he did was to make
+himself known to me, and to place himself at my service even to the
+death!"
+
+"Who was he?"
+
+"Robert Munson; a boy that I was so fortunate as to be kind to in his
+childhood and mine. Afterwards he was a private soldier in Captain
+Pendleton's company, and served under him for eight years, fighting the
+Indians on the frontier. At Captain Pendleton's suggestion, and with his
+own hearty free will, he volunteered for this service of pursuing me,
+only that he might more effectually try to free me."
+
+"Sybil, what are you saying? Have we a friend in one of our captors?"
+exclaimed Lyon, in astonishment.
+
+"Yes; a friend who will serve us to the death! Listen, dear Lyon, and I
+will tell you all about it," answered Sybil.
+
+And she commenced, and related all the circumstances of her acquaintance
+with Robert Munson; of his motives for entering upon his present
+avocation, and of his discovery of himself to her in the hotel at
+Portsmouth.
+
+"Now may heaven grant that some day I may have an opportunity of
+rewarding that good fellow for his willing service, whether it ever
+avail us or not," said Lyon Berners, earnestly.
+
+"But dear Lyon, we must be very careful not to betray by any word or
+look that we have any acquaintance, much less understanding, with
+Munson, for to do so would be to ruin our only chance of escape," said
+Sybil.
+
+"Of course! of course! I understand that perfectly well!"
+
+"But watch your opportunity, and when you feel it to be perfectly safe,
+communicate with Robert Munson.
+
+"I understand, dear Sybil, and I shall be very prudent and very
+vigilant," answered Mr. Berners.
+
+And then they retired to rest.
+
+Very early the next morning they were aroused by their keeper who never
+left his post at their door until he saw them come out of their room.
+And then he drew Mrs. Berner's arm within his own and led her down to
+breakfast.
+
+After breakfast they resumed their journey.
+
+This first day and night on the road was a type of all that followed.
+The bailiff Purley never lost sight of his charge except at night, and
+then he first assured himself that her room was a secure prison, from
+which it would be impossible for her to escape; and then, to make
+assurance doubly sure, he always locked the door on the outside, put the
+key into his pocket, and stretched himself on a mattress across the
+threshold.
+
+There was no opportunity afforded to Sybil, Lyon and their new friend to
+speak together in private; and as day followed day and night succeeded
+night in this hopeless manner, their spirits fell from despondency even
+to despair.
+
+But as it is said to be darkest just before dawn, and that when things
+are at their worst they are sure to mend, so it proved in their case.
+
+On the evening of the fourth day of their tedious journey, they stopped
+to sup and sleep at a lonely farm-house, where for "a consideration,"
+the poor farmer consented, whenever he got the chance, to entertain
+travellers.
+
+Here their wagon and horses were comfortably stabled, and themselves
+were lodged and feasted.
+
+Here, as usual after supper, Mr. Purley accompanied his charge to her
+bedroom, which, to his perplexity, he found to have two doors; the one
+opening upon the upper hall, and the other communicating with an
+adjoining vacant chamber.
+
+After some consideration, he solved the difficulty of guarding his
+prisoner by saying to his assistant:
+
+"Well, Munson, all that can be done is this: one of us will have to
+sleep across one door, and the other across the other. And as I hav'n't
+slept in a room for three nights, I reckon I'll take the vacant room,
+and you may take the hall. But mind, don't forget to draw the key out of
+the door when you lock it, and put it into your pocket. And mind also,
+to be sure to pull your mattress quite up to the door and lay directly
+across it, so that if the lock should be picked, no one can pass without
+going right over your own body; and, last of all, mind to sleep only
+with one eye open, or all the other precautions will be of no use at
+all."
+
+"I will be very careful, sir," answered young Bailiff Munson, touching
+his hat to his superior officer in military style.
+
+"And now, as your legs are younger than mine, I wish you would run down
+stairs and ask the farmer to send me up a mug of that home-brewed bitter
+beer he was talking about."
+
+"Yes, sir," answered the young bailiff starting off with alacrity, while
+the elder remained on guard at the door of his charge.
+
+In five minutes or less time, Munson returned with a quart measure of
+the "home-brewed," which he handed to Purley.
+
+"Souls and bodies! but it is bitter, sure enough! I have heard of bitter
+beer, but this beats all for bitterness that ever I tasted! However, the
+bitterer the better, I suppose; and this is really refreshing," said
+Purley, as he drained the mug, and handed it empty to a negro boy, who
+had just brought in and laid down the mattress upon which Munson was to
+sleep.
+
+Munson smiled to himself.
+
+Then Purley reiterated all his cautions for the careful guarding of his
+charge, and at length bade his comrade good-night, and retired to the
+vacant chamber, to guard the door on that side.
+
+Munson drew his mattress across the hall-door as he had been directed to
+do, and laid himself down in all his clothes--not to sleep, but to
+listen and watch until the house should grow quiet; for on this night he
+was resolved to effect the deliverance of Sybil, or perish in the
+attempt.
+
+Meanwhile Mr. and Mrs. Berners had retired to their chamber--not to
+rest, but to wait for events; for on this night a sure presentiment
+informed them that Robert Munson, on guard there at their outer door,
+would be sure to use his opportunities for attempting a rescue. So they
+quietly coöperated with what they divined to be his intentions.
+
+First Sybil went and hung a towel over the knob of the lock, so as to
+darken the key-hole of the door guarded by Purley. Then she slipped the
+bolt, saying:
+
+"He may guard us if he must, but he shall neither look in upon us, nor
+intrude upon us, if I can help it."
+
+And then, instead of undressing for bed, they did the opposite thing,
+and quietly dressed for an escape. And lastly, they concealed their
+money and jewels about their persons, and threw a few of the most
+necessary articles for their journey into one travelling bag, and then
+sat down to listen and watch on the inside, as their friend was
+listening and watching on the outside.
+
+Then they heard Purley arranging and re-arranging his bed against his
+door, and tumbling down upon it, like a man utterly overcome by fatigue
+and drowsiness; after which all was silent, until the stertorous
+breathing of the bailiff assured them of the depth of his sleep. After
+that, not a sound was heard in the house. Lyon looked at his watch. It
+was but nine o'clock, though the whole house was at rest. In these
+remote country places, people go to roost with the fowls, or very soon
+after.
+
+Still for another hour of silent, breathless suspense they waited; and
+then they heard a faint tapping on the door that was guarded by Munson.
+
+Mr. Berners went up, and tapped gently in response.
+
+"Hist!" breathed the voice from without, through the key-hole.
+
+"Well!" murmured Lyon, through the same channel.
+
+"Take some of the melted tallow on the top of your candle, and grease
+the key-hole as well as you can, and then I will come in and talk to
+you, if you will let me."
+
+"Thanks; yes."
+
+And Mr. Berners did as he was requested to do, and Munson slipped his
+key into the lubricated key-hole, and silently unlocked the door.
+
+"Oh, our deliverer!" fervently exclaimed Sybil, as he softly entered the
+room and closed the door behind him, holding up his finger in warning to
+them to be silent.
+
+"And now sit close for a few minutes, while I tell you what I have done
+and am going to do," said Munson, drawing a stool and sitting himself
+upon it, before Mr. and Mrs. Berners.
+
+"Go on," muttered Lyon, fervently pressing the hand of his friend.
+
+"Oh, yes, go on, dear Bob!" eagerly whispered Sybil.
+
+"First I put nearly half an ounce of laudanum in old Purley's bitter
+beer, which made him think it so uncommon prime and bitter, that he
+drank the whole quart."
+
+"Good heaven! Munson, you have killed the man!" said Lyon, in dismay.
+
+"No, I have only doubled the dose I gave him before, which took no
+effect on him, so this will only put him to sleep for twelve hours or
+so. Lord, listen how he snores! A thunderstorm wouldn't wake him."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Next, as soon as he was asleep, I went into his room in my
+stocking-feet, and closed all the solid wooden shutters, to make him
+believe it is still night when he does awake and feel drowsy, as he will
+be sure to feel, so that he shall go to sleep again, and sleep until
+evening, and that will give you nearly twenty-four hours start of him."
+
+"Right! Quite right," said Mr. Berners.
+
+"Well, well; but go on, dear Bob," impatiently murmured Sybil.
+
+"I locked his door on the outside, and took away the key, to make the
+farmer or any of the family, if they should go into his room to see why
+he slept so long, think that he had locked himself in. For the rest I
+shall stay here and pretend to sleep very late myself. In fact I shall
+sleep until they wake me up, and then I shall be very angry, and tell
+them they had better not play that game on Mr. Purley, as he would be in
+a fury if his rest should be broken. And so I will guard these two rooms
+from intrusion, and your escape from being discovered, as long as I
+possibly can."
+
+"But when it shall be discovered, my poor fellow, will you not get
+yourself into trouble?" inquired Lyon.
+
+"Even if I should, what will my trouble be to this lady's? But at worst
+I shall only be cussed by old Purley, and turned out of my place by the
+sheriff; and as I'm used to being cussed, and don't like my place, it
+don't matter."
+
+"And in any case, you shall be well rewarded, dear Bob. Not that such a
+service as you are about to render us _can_ ever be adequately rewarded;
+but, as far as--"
+
+"Oh, dear Madam, don't speak of reward! I owe you a debt of gratitude,
+which I am glad to pay. I have told you what I _have_ done, and what I
+shall do, to relieve you of anxiety; and now we had better quietly leave
+the house. Are you ready?" inquired Munson.
+
+"We have been quite ready for these two hours, in anticipation of your
+help."
+
+"Come, then; but come very silently, though there is not the slightest
+danger, either, of our being heard. The farmer is a beer swiller, and
+sleeps heavily, and his women folks all sleep up in the garret. I saw
+them all go up myself; they passed with their candle, as I lay on the
+pallet," whispered Munson, as he quietly led the way out into the hall
+and softly closed and locked the door, and withdrew the key.
+
+"It is just as well to do this, to guard against the chance of any one
+opening the door while I am gone," he added, as he softly preceded the
+party down the stairs.
+
+He silently opened the front door, and they passed out into the free
+air.
+
+A watch-dog that lay upon the mat outside got up and wagged his tail,
+and laid down again, as if to express his willingness that any inmate
+might leave the house who wished to do so, though no stranger should
+enter it except over his dead body.
+
+"Sensible dog!" said Munson, as with more precaution he closed and
+locked the outer door, and took that key also with him.
+
+"You must not attempt to escape with your wagon; but must ride your
+horses, which will be much more efficacious both for swiftness and for
+their ability to go through places where you could not take a wagon,"
+said Munson, as they walked across the farm-yard.
+
+But when they drew near the stable, they were set upon by a couple of
+watch-dogs, who, barking furiously, barred their farther progress.
+
+"There is no other way!" exclaimed Munson, and drawing a double
+barrelled pistol from his pocket, he shot one dog dead, while the other
+ran howling away.
+
+Then with some difficulty they forced the door, and while Lyon remained
+on the outside with Sybil, young Munson entered the stable and led out
+their two horses.
+
+"Here are several bridles, and here is one side-saddle, which will suit
+Mrs. Berners, if you have no scruple about borrowing them," suggested
+Munson.
+
+"I should have no scruple about borrowing anything from anybody to aid
+my wife's escape. Besides, there is my wagon more than double the value
+of the things that we require; I will leave that in pledge," said Mr.
+Berners.
+
+"Just so," assented Munson.
+
+And all this time he had been arranging the side-saddle and bridle upon
+Sybil's horse. As soon as it was ready Mr. Berners came around to lift
+his wife into her seat.
+
+"One moment, dear Lyon," said Sybil, pausing to adjust her dress.
+
+While she did so, Munson again spoke to Mr. Berners.
+
+"You have your pocket compass?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then I advise you to use it as soon as it is light, to direct your
+course. And do not go toward the east, for old Purley will pursue you in
+that direction, under the impression that you will try to reach another
+seaport town, and get off in a ship. But make for the interior, for the
+West, and get away as fast and as far as you can. Be careful to keep as
+much as possible in the woods, even though your progress should be
+slower through them than it would be in the open country. And now excuse
+my presuming to give you so much counsel; but you know I have been upon
+the war path, out among the red-skins, and am up to hunting and
+flying."
+
+"I thank you--we both thank you from the depths of our souls. And we
+pray that the day may come when we shall be able to prove our
+gratitude," said Lyon, earnestly.
+
+"Never mind that! But put madam into her seat. She is ready now; and,
+indeed, the sooner you are off the better," answered Munson.
+
+Mr. Berners advanced towards Sybil, when the whole party was stopped by
+a terrible event.
+
+"No you don't, you infernal villain! I have caught you, have I? Stand!"
+exclaimed a voice of thunder, and the stout farmer stood before them, at
+the head of all his negroes, and with a loaded musket in his hand!
+
+Like lightning young Munson threw himself before Sybil, drew a pistol
+from his breast, and levelled it straight at the heart of their
+opponent, exclaiming:
+
+"Out of the way, you devil! and let her pass. Out of the way this
+instant, or, by my life, I will kill you! I will! I will kill you, and
+hang for her sake!"
+
+The man raised his musket, and aimed it at the head of him whose hand
+pointed the pistol to his own heart. And thus, like two duellists, they
+stood fatally eyeing each other!
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+                            A FATAL CRISIS.
+
+
+            Each at the life
+            Levelled his deadly aim; their fatal hands
+            No second stroke intended.--MILTON.
+
+
+"Hold! on your lives!" exclaimed Lyon Berners, rushing between the
+opponents, and with swift hands striking up the pistol of Robert Munson,
+and turning aside the musket of Farmer Nye. "Would you shed each
+other's blood so recklessly? Here is some mistake. Farmer, whom did you
+take us for?"
+
+"Who did I take you for, is it? For that cornsarned band of robbers as
+have been mislesting the country for miles round this month past."
+
+"Robbers?"
+
+"Yes, robbers! as has been tarryfying the whole country side ever since
+Hollow Eve!"
+
+"I never heard of them."
+
+"May be you didn't, but I took you for them all the same."
+
+"And aimed your musket at that lady! And might have shot her dead, had
+not this brave man thrown himself before her, with a loaded pistol in
+his hand, levelled at your heart."
+
+"How did I know it was a lady? How could I see in this dim light? I took
+her for one of you, and I took you all for robbers," said the farmer,
+sulkily.
+
+"Well, you see who we are now?"
+
+"Yes; I see as you are my new lodgers. Though why you should be out here
+at the stables after your beasts at this hour of the night, and wake me
+up with a row; or should take my darter's side-saddle, and kill my
+watch-dog, blame you, I _don't_ see!" growled the farmer.
+
+"Come, walk aside with me for a few minutes, and I will show you why,"
+said Mr. Berners, soothingly laying his hand on the farmer's shoulder.
+
+"Hands off, if you please! No! I don't think as I _will_ walk aside with
+you. You might do me a mischief."
+
+"Bosh! you are armed, and I am unarmed. How can I harm you? Come, and I
+will tell you something to your advantage," coaxed Mr. Berners.
+
+Partly urged by curiosity and partly by interest, Farmer Nye reluctantly
+consented to follow where Mr. Berners led him. When they had passed out
+of hearing of the negroes Mr. Berners stopped, and turned to his host,
+and said:
+
+"You know who we are?"
+
+"I know you are my new lodgers--that's all I know about you."
+
+"Yet you must have observed something out of the common about our
+party?"
+
+"Yes; I took notice as you and your wife must have been dreadful 'fraid
+of being robbed and murdered on your journey, when you kept two men to
+travel with you, and guard you all day long, and sleep outside of your
+doors like watch-dogs all night long. Which me and my darter made it out
+between us as you must have lots of money with you to make you so
+cautious. And which, if we had known you was going to be so mistrustful
+of _us_, we'd have seen you farther before we'd have took you in."
+
+"And so that is the way in which _you_ accounted for matters and things
+that you couldn't understand?"
+
+"To be sure it was; and very natural too."
+
+"Shall I tell him the whole truth?" inquired Lyon Berners of himself. "I
+will sound him first," he concluded. Then speaking up, he said:
+
+"Well, you cannot blame people for being cautious, after that horrible
+murder at Black Hall."
+
+"That's so too," admitted the farmer.
+
+"And yet," added Mr. Berners, "they _do_ say that it was no robber that
+did that murder, but the lady of the house who did it."
+
+"The lady of the house!" indignantly echoed the farmer, to Lyon's great
+astonishment. "Don't you go to say that; for if you do, devil burn me if
+I don't knock you down with the butt end of my gun!"
+
+"I do not say it. I only tell you what other people say."
+
+"They lie! the hounds! And I wish I could meet any of them venomous
+backbiters face to face. Satan fly away with me if I wouldn't tear
+their false tongues out of their throats, and throw them to the dogs!
+_You_ don't mean to say you believe she did it?" fiercely demanded
+Sybil's rough champion.
+
+"No; Heaven knows I do not! I believe her to be as guiltless as an
+angel."
+
+"I'm glad to hear you say that! I don't want to pitch into an unarmed
+man, but I should a' been strongly tempted to 'a done it if you'd said
+anything else."
+
+"You know this injured lady, then?"
+
+"Yes; I have knowed her ever since she was a little gal. Not as ever I
+met her face to face in my life, but I know her as every poor man and
+poor child and poor brute in the whole country knows her: as the
+kindest, gentlest, tenderest-hearted lady in the whole world--she who
+has been known to take the fur cloak off her own back, and lay it over
+the form of a sick beggar, while she went home in the cold to send her
+warm blankets. Yes, and known to have done scores of deeds as good and
+self-sacrificing as that. _She_ do the thing they accuse her of! Why,
+sir, she no more did it than I, or you, or your own sweet wife did it!
+And Satan burn _me_! when I hear of any man accusing her of it, if I
+don't feel just like knocking his dull brains out, and taking the
+consequences--that I do!" swore the farmer.
+
+"I will trust him," said Lyon Berners to himself.
+
+--"And to think that men who call themselves law officers, not to say
+Christians, should hunt that lovely lady through the country as if she
+was some wild beast or highway robber! I wish one of them hunters was to
+come my way. I'm blowed to flinders if I wouldn't set my whole pack of
+dogs on 'em till they would be torn to pieces. I'd give 'em hunting! But
+excuse _me_, Mr.--Mr.--What's-your-name; I've gone away from the pint,
+which I always do fly off at a tangent and lose my bearings whenever I
+hear that lady accused. Now, sir, what had you to tell me to my
+advantage?" inquired the farmer, drawing a handkerchief from his pocket
+and wiping his heated face.
+
+"I will tell him all," said Lyon Berners to himself; and then he spoke
+up:
+
+"First, good friend, let me assure you that you have not wandered a
+hair's breadth from the point at issue between us."
+
+"Oh yes, I have; for I have been raving about Mrs. Berners; but I
+couldn't help it."
+
+"Mrs. Berners is the lady who is with me," said Mr. Berners.
+
+Farmer Nye jumped three feet from the ground and came down again like a
+man that was shot, and then stood with open mouth and eyes staring at
+the speaker.
+
+"I am her husband, and the men who are guarding us are the officers who
+have her in custody."
+
+"WHAT? Say that again!" uttered the farmer, panting for breath.
+
+Mr. Berners repeated all that he had said, adding:
+
+"I had got her away from this neighborhood, and on shipboard. And she
+was rejoicing in her supposed safety and freedom, for the ship was
+within a half hour of sailing, when these officers came on board with a
+warrant and arrested her."
+
+"THEY DID! Wait till I get my niggers together. The boys will want no
+better fun than to tar and feather them devils, and set them afire and
+turn 'em loose. And blame me if I don't give the best feather-bed in my
+house to the service. Come along," exclaimed the farmer, starting off to
+commence the work.
+
+"Stop!" said Lyon Berners, laying his hand soothingly upon the shoulder
+of the excited man. "Above all, you wish to serve my unhappy wife, do you
+not!"
+
+"Yes! with my 'life, and fortune, and sacred honor' as the Declaration
+of Independence says."
+
+"Then you can not serve her by any violence done to the officers, who
+are only doing their duty."
+
+"Doing their duty! Duty! That's a matter of opinion! I consider I should
+be doing of _my_ duty if I was to order my niggers to take 'em out and
+tar and feather 'em. Yes, and set 'em afire afterwards--burn 'em!"
+
+"Yes; but that would be doing a great injustice to them, and also a
+great injury to Mrs. Berners. If you really wish to serve my dear wife,
+you can do so by helping her to escape."
+
+"I'll help her to escape, with all my heart and soul! And with all my
+heart and soul I'll shoot down anybody that dares to start from here in
+pursuit of her!" emphatically declared the farmer.
+
+"That is not necessary. You can cover our retreat by more peaceable
+means. And now I must advise you that both these officers have used us
+with the greatest kindness and consideration, concealing our identity
+and shielding us from the curiosity and intrusion of strangers, whenever
+they could do so, as is proved by your own experience, for you had no
+suspicion as to who we might be."
+
+"No, that I hadn't! And a good thing I hadn't too! for if I'd a known
+that lady had a been kept a prisoner here in my house, I'd a pitched her
+jailers neck and heels out o' the windows, and then set the dogs on
+'em!"
+
+"But that would have been very unjust to them, and injurious to the lady
+you wish to befriend. And especially it would have been the very
+greatest injustice to the younger officer, who has been our partisan
+from the first."
+
+"Eh! what? One of them jailers your partisan?"
+
+"Yes; let me explain," said Mr. Berners. And he commenced and detailed
+all the circumstances of their acquaintance and relations with Robert
+Munson.
+
+"And so, out of gratitude for the kindness this lady showed him in his
+childhood, he got himself put on this service o' purpose to watch his
+opportunity of reskying her."
+
+"Just so."
+
+"Well, he's an honest fellow, that he is!" said the farmer, approvingly.
+
+"Now, Mr. Nye, all you have to do, if you wish to help us, is just to
+let us go free. When we are gone, keep the house quiet, and let the
+elder officer sleep as long as possible, for the longer he sleeps the
+farther we shall get away from pursuit."
+
+"I'll lock him up and keep him prisoner for a month, if necessary."
+
+"But it is not necessary. A day's start is all that we shall need, and
+that, I think, you can secure to us, by simply letting the man sleep as
+long as he will. And furthermore, I may ask you to be cautious and not
+to betray our friend Robert Munson's agency in our escape."
+
+"I'll protect Robert Munson with my life."
+
+"A thousand thanks! And now, as we understand each other, let us go on
+to my wife, who is anxiously waiting the issue of this interview," said
+Lyon Berners, turning and leading the way towards the stables.
+
+"Now, squire, you may rely upon me, and rest easy in your mind. You
+sha'n't be followed in less than twenty-four hours," said the farmer, as
+they went along.
+
+"Again I thank you from my heart. And now I have something else to say
+to you," began Lyon Berners
+
+Then he paused, as finding a real difficulty in saying what he wished;
+for the truth is, that when Mr. Berners had called Mr. Nye aside for a
+private interview, he had intended to offer him a heavy bribe to connive
+at the escape of Sybil.
+
+Now, however, he found the farmer not exactly the sort of man to affront
+with the proffer of a bribe, or even scarcely of a reward; and yet he
+was a poor man who evidently needed money, and would probably always
+need it; for Farmer Nye, as has been shown in his championship of Sybil,
+was a man of impetuous emotions, hasty judgments, and reckless actions,
+and was always sure to be in troubles, social, domestic, and pecuniary.
+
+So Mr. Berners, while wishing to reward his services, felt a difficulty
+as to the manner of doing so.
+
+At length, however, he continued:
+
+"Mr. Nye, I said at the beginning of our talk, that I could tell you
+something to your advantage."
+
+"Well, and, bless my soul alive, haven't you done it? I wonder if I
+could hear of anything more to my advantage than the chance of helping
+to resky that lady as I have felt for so much?" warmly inquired the
+farmer.
+
+"You have a generous and noble nature to look upon it in that light."
+
+"No, I haven't; but I'm a man, I reckon, and not a beast nor a devil,
+and that's all about it."
+
+"Well, farmer, I confess that when I first spoke to you, I thought of
+offering you a heavy bribe to allow us to go free, and that was what I
+meant when I said I had something to propose to your advantage."
+
+"Then I'm glad you didn't do it--that's all."
+
+"I am glad too, for now I know your magnanimous heart would have led you
+to serve us without reward, and even at great loss."
+
+"Yes, that it would," naively assented the farmer.
+
+"And even so we accept and shall ever be grateful for your services,"
+added Lyon Berners, gravely. And all the while he was slily examining
+the contents of his pocketbook. At length he drew a five hundred dollar
+note from the compartment in which he knew he kept notes of that
+denomination, and he slipped it into a blank envelope, and held it ready
+in his hand.
+
+In another moment they were at the stable door, before which Sybil
+stood, leaning on the bowed neck of her own horse, while Robert Munson
+held the other horse.
+
+Before Lyon Berners could speak, Farmer Nye impetuously pushed past him,
+and rushed up to Sybil, pulled off his hat and put out his hand,
+exclaiming:
+
+"Give me your hand, lady. I beg your pardon ten thousand times over for
+all I said and did to affront you, not knowing who you was. But now,
+lady, here is a man who don't _believe_ you to be innocent, because he
+_knows_ that you are so, and who will fight for you as long as he has
+got a whole bone left in his body, and shed his blood for you as long as
+he has got a drop left in his veins."
+
+Overcome by this ardent testimonial to her innocence, Sybil burst into
+tears, and took the rough hand that had been held out to her, and wept
+over it, and pressed it warmly to her lips, and then to her heart.
+
+"Yes, that I will. I'll die before a hair of your head shall be hurt,"
+exclaimed the farmer, utterly overwhelmed and blubbering.
+
+Meanwhile Lyon Berners was explaining to Robert Munson that they had
+found a friend and helper in Farmer Nye; but advising Munson to try to
+infuse enough of discretion into the impetuous mind of Nye to modify his
+reckless actions.
+
+"And now, dear boy," added Mr. Berners, "I will not speak to you of
+reward for this great service; but this I _will_ say, that henceforth
+you shall be to me as a younger brother, and I shall take charge of your
+future fortunes even as though you were the son of my mother."
+
+"You are too generous, sir; and indeed I want no recompense whatever,"
+answered Robert Munson, sincerely.
+
+Then Mr. Berners went over to his wife and lifted her into her saddle;
+and when he had settled her comfortably in her seat, he mounted his own
+horse, and once more called Robert Munson to him.
+
+"Good-bye, and God bless you, Robert," he said, warmly shaking hands
+with the young man.
+
+"And you too, sir! and you too, sir!" feelingly responded Munson.
+
+And then Sybil called him.
+
+"Good-bye, dear Bob. I will remember you and love you as long as I live
+for this," she said.
+
+"And so will I you, ma'am," he answered, and turned away to hide his
+tears.
+
+Lastly Lyon Berners rode up to where Farmer Nye stood apart.
+
+"Farewell, Farmer Nye! And may you indeed fare as well as your great
+heart deserves all your life," said Lyon.
+
+"The same to you and your dear wife, sir, with all my soul in the
+prayer!" responded the farmer.
+
+"And here, Mr. Nye, is a testimonial--I mean a memorandum--that is to
+say, something I wish you to take for my sake."
+
+"A keepsake, sir?"
+
+"If you choose to consider it so, yes."
+
+"What might it be sir?" inquired the farmer, receiving from Mr. Berners
+the small envelope containing the large note.
+
+"It _might_ be a lock of my wife's hair, or it might be my miniature;
+but whatever it is, hold it tight, and do not look at it until you get
+back to the house."
+
+"All right, sir; but you have raised my curiosity," replied the farmer,
+as he carefully deposited his unsuspected little fortune into the pocket
+of his waistcoat.
+
+"Now direct me as to how I shall find the best and most private road
+westward," said Lyon, gathering the reins in his hands.
+
+"You are facing east now. Ride straight on for about a hundred yards,
+till you come to the cross-roads, then take the road to your left, and
+follow it for about an eighth of a mile until you come to another road
+still on your left; take that and follow it as far as you please, for it
+leads straight west."
+
+"Thank you again and again! We shall do very well now. Good-bye, all;
+and God bless you forever!" exclaimed Lyon Berners, waiving his hat in
+adieus to the friends he was leaving behind.
+
+Then, the husband and wife rode forth in the night together.
+
+Before we follow them, we will see how it fared with the faithful
+friends who had risked so much in their service.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+                              THE PURSUIT.
+
+
+              Horse! horse! * * * * and chase!--MARNION.
+
+
+Farmer Nye and Robert Munson remained standing with their heads
+uncovered, looking after the fugitives until the sound of their horses'
+hoofs died away in the distance, and then they turned towards each other
+and impulsively grasped each the other's hand, and shook hands as
+comrades.
+
+Next Farmer Nye turned to the negroes who were squatting about the
+stable-yard, wondering, no doubt, at all they had seen and heard; and he
+told them to disperse to their quarters, and keep still tongues in their
+heads, if they wished to keep their heads on their shoulders.
+
+"And now we'll go back to the house and get a drop of home-brewed, and
+go to bed," said the farmer, starting off at a brisk trot, and beckoning
+his young companion to follow him.
+
+"I mean to manage so as Old Purley shall be made to believe as the
+prisoner escaped through _his_ door," said Munson, as he came up.
+
+"That'll be bully!" said the farmer.
+
+They went back to the house, consulted the tall old-fashioned clock in
+the corner of the hall, found it was just eleven, and they took their
+drop of "home-brewed," and went to rest.
+
+Robert Munson, with design, threw himself down upon the mattress outside
+the carefully locked door of the chamber, from which he had helped his
+prisoners to escape. And being very much fatigued, he fell asleep, and
+slept long and late.
+
+The first persons up in the house were the farmer's daughter Kitty, and
+her old maiden aunt Molly.
+
+They came down from their attic chambers and walked on tiptoes past the
+sleeping Munson, so as not to wake him. They went down stairs and had
+breakfast got ready, but had to wait very long before either the farmer
+or the young man appeared. When they did come down, however, and
+apologized for their tardiness, the women inquired for the other guests,
+and were told that they must not be disturbed.
+
+The day passed slowly.
+
+It was late in the afternoon before old Purley awoke and finding the
+room quite dark, and feeling himself still very drowsy, he merely turned
+over and went to sleep again. And still overpowered by the combined
+action of the laudanum and the beer-opium and hops, he slept on until a
+very late hour of the night, when at length he awoke; but perceiving
+that all was quite dark and still, he lay quietly in bed, thinking this
+was about the longest night he had ever spent in his life. At last he
+got up, and opened the blinds to see if it was near day. And perceiving
+by a faint light streak along the horizon that the morning was at hand,
+he opened the other blinds, and began to dress himself as well as he
+could in the semi-darkness.
+
+By the time he had got on all his clothes, the day was a little lighter,
+and he went into the passage to see after the safety of his prisoner.
+
+He found young Munson stretched upon the mattress immediately before
+the door.
+
+"Quite correct," he thought; but he resolved to go up to the door to
+make a closer examination. First he saw that the key had been taken out
+of the lock.
+
+"All right," he said to himself. "Munson has obeyed orders, and put the
+key in his pocket."
+
+And then still farther to assure himself of the safety of his charge, he
+bent over the sleeping form of Munson and tried the lock, and found it
+fast.
+
+"Quite correct! Nothing has been neglected. He is a careful officer, and
+shall be well reported at head-quarters," he muttered, with much
+satisfaction.
+
+But to reach the lock at all, he had been obliged to bend so far over
+the sleeping body, that now, in trying to recover his perpendicular, he
+lost his balance, and fell heavily, nearly crushing and quite waking
+Munson, who, in struggling to throw off the burden, recognized old
+Purley, but pretending to mistake him for Mr. Berners, grappled him by
+the throat, exclaiming:
+
+"No you don't you villain! You don't get her out of this room except
+over my dead body!" And he shook him furiously.
+
+"It's me--me--me, Bob! Do-do-don't choke me to death!" gasped old
+Purley, as he struggled and freed his throat for an instant from the
+grasp of Robert's hands.
+
+But Munson throttled and shook him more furiously than before, singing
+out:
+
+"Help! murder! arson! Here's this man reskying of my prisoner!" And he
+shook him until his teeth rattled in his head.
+
+"Oh, my good lord! I shall be strangled with the best of intention,"
+sputtered the terrified and half-suffocated victim, as for an another
+instant he freed his throat from his assailant's clasp, and breathed
+again.
+
+"Help! murder! fire!" yelled Munson, renewing the attack.
+
+"Bob! Bob! It's me, I tell you!--Purley! Wake up and look at me! You're
+asleep yet! And oh, my lord! the man will murder me by mistake before I
+can make him know," panted the poor wretch, desperately striving to keep
+off the strangling hands of his assailant, and growing weak in the
+struggle.
+
+And meanwhile the household, aroused by the outcry, had hurried on their
+clothes, and now came pouring into the passage--the women down the
+garret stairs, and the men up the lower back stairs.
+
+"Now I've got you!" exclaimed Munson, triumphantly, as he knocked the
+feet from under Purley, and threw him down upon the floor. Then stooping
+to gaze at the fallen foe, he condescended at length to recognize him.
+
+"Oh! is it you, Mr. Purley? I really thought it was Mr. Berner, reskying
+of his wife!" said Munson, with provoking coolness.
+
+"Then I wish you would make surer another time, you stupid donkey!
+You've all but killed me!" panted the victim, wiping the perspiration
+from his face.
+
+"What is the matter?"
+
+"What's all this?"
+
+"Is anybody hurt?"
+
+Such were the hasty questions put by old Farmer Nye and his family, as
+they gathered around the scene of action.
+
+"Yes! I'm choked and shaken nearly to death!" gasped old Purley, in a
+fury.
+
+"It was done for the best," said Munson, soothingly.
+
+"Oh, for the best, indeed! Set fire to you, would you murder an innocent
+man out of kindness?" fiercely demanded Parley.
+
+"You see, he fell upon me, and woke me up. It was so dark here, with
+the window shutters closed, that I could not see well, so I mistook him
+for Mr. Berners broke loose and trying to carry off his wife," explained
+Robert Munson.
+
+"Oh! well, I reckon you're not hurt much; only startled and shaken a
+bit! Come and take a glass of morning bitters. That will set you up
+again, and give you an appetite for your breakfast besides," said the
+farmer, kindly.
+
+"Thank you. I'll take the bitters, if you will send them up here! I
+mustn't leave this floor until I see my charge out. And it's time for
+them to get up too!" replied Purley, rising and knocking loudly at the
+chamber door.
+
+Of course there was no response.
+
+He knocked again and again, more loudly than before, and he called to
+them in a high tone.
+
+But still there was no answer.
+
+"Good Lord, how sound they sleep! I will go around to the other door and
+rap there. It is near the head of their bed, and they will be sure to
+hear me."
+
+And so saying, old Purley went to the adjoining chamber, where he had
+slept, dragged his mattress away from the door, and drew the key from
+his pocket, when, to his astonishment and terror, he found the door
+unlocked!
+
+Without waiting an instant, from any scruples of politeness, he rushed
+into the room.
+
+To his horror and amazement, he found it empty!
+
+"They've gone! they've fled!" frantically exclaimed Purley, rushing back
+into the passage, where he found the other bailiff still on guard before
+the fast door, and the farmer waiting with the glass of bitters in his
+hand.
+
+"Fled!" echoed Munson. "How can that be? This door as fast as it is?"
+
+"Blast 'em! they've had the impudence to escape right through my door!
+and right over my body!" panted Purley.
+
+"Then you can't blame _me_!" naively put in Munson.
+
+"Who says I can?" angrily demanded Purley. "I can't blame anybody! And
+how the demon they managed to pick the lock and open the door, and climb
+over me, _I_ don't know! Nor have we time to inquire!"
+
+"Take your bitters, Mr. Purley," said the host, offering the glass.
+
+The bailiff quaffed the offered restorative at a draught, and then said:
+
+"Farmer, saddle a couple of horses for us, directly! We must pursue them
+without loss of time! They can not have got very far ahead of us in
+these few hours!" he added, being totally unconscious of the length of
+time he had slept, and the whole day he had lost.
+
+"My--my horses will be busy all day hauling wood," replied the farmer.
+
+"Don't care! I order you in the name of the Commonwealth of Virginia, to
+saddle those horses, and place them at our disposal to pursue our
+prisoner," said Purley, in a peremptory tone.
+
+The farmer was quite uncertain whether or not that was an order he was
+bound to obey; and besides, he was very unwilling that his horses should
+be taken off their work at all, and especially for the purpose of
+pursuing Sybil Berners. But still he felt that it would be safer for
+her, if not for himself, if he should yield to the demand of the
+sheriff's officer; he could put him on the wrong track, by counselling
+him to ride towards the east, while he knew that Sybil was far on her
+route to the west.
+
+So without further demur, he went out to execute the order.
+
+"And, farmer, when you have seen to that matter, I want you to gather
+all your men and maids into the breakfast room, that I may question them
+while I eat my breakfast, so as not now to lose a moment," he called
+after his retreating host.
+
+All this was done as he directed. And when the family and the house
+servants were assembled in the breakfast room, and Purley examined and
+cross-examined them as to whether they had seen or heard anything of the
+prisoner or her husband during the night, they could all answer with
+perfect truth, that they had not. So old Purley got no satisfaction from
+them.
+
+The bailiff hastily dispatched his breakfast, and the horses being
+ready, he called to his young assistant to follow him, and he went out
+and got into his saddle.
+
+"Where the deuce am I to go after them, when there are so many roads to
+choose from?" groaned old Purley, in sore perplexity of spirit.
+
+"Would they not be likely to make straight for the east and a seaport?"
+inquired farmer Nye suggestively.
+
+"To be sure they would," exclaimed Mr. Purley. "So now, Munson, we will
+go right back upon the road we came last night," he added, being still
+in ignorance as to the lost day.
+
+"And as the stable boy told me, they had taken the wagon horses to ride,
+and those horses were then fairly knocked up with fatigue, while ours
+are now quite fresh, we may very soon overtake them," put in Munson,
+artfully.
+
+And waving their hats in adieux to the farmer and his family, they rode
+off at full speed in pursuit of the fugitives. But they had not ridden
+more than a hundred yards, and had but just reached the four
+cross-roads, when they were both startled by a shrill--
+
+"Whist!"
+
+They drew their reins, and looked around just as the head of a negro boy
+emerged from the bushes, exclaiming
+
+"Hallo, Marster!"
+
+"Who are you? What do you want?" demanded Purley.
+
+"I'm Bill, and I don't want nothing. But I know what _you_ want!"
+
+"What do I want?"
+
+"To know which way the run-a-way lady and gemplan went."
+
+"I do know, they went this way," said Purley, pointing straight before
+him.
+
+"No, they didn't neyther! they was too sharp for that, they said how you
+would be sure to search for 'em on that road, just as you are a doing of
+now; so they would take another road."
+
+"That was likely too! Boy, do you know which road they took?"
+
+"Yes, sir_ree_."
+
+"Then tell me."
+
+"I will if you'll give me a quarter," was the moderate conditions of
+this treaty.
+
+"Here, take it!" exclaimed Mr. Parley, pitching the boy the silver coin
+in question.
+
+"Thanky, Marster," grinned the lad, picking up the treasure.
+
+"Now tell me."
+
+"Well, Marster, they went along that left han' road till they got to the
+next turning, and then they turned to the left ag'in and kept on that
+tact towards that gap in the mountain where you see the sun set in the
+arternoon."
+
+"How did you know all this, boy?"
+
+"I was out coon-hunting when I heerd them talking, and I listened and
+heerd all about it. And as I couldn't find any coons, I follyed arter
+them; and their horses was _tired_, as they kept on complainin' to each
+other. And so they went slow and I could keep up long of 'em."
+
+"How far did you follow them?"
+
+"Well, Marster! I couldn't help it! I follyed of 'em all night."
+
+"And they never discovered you?"
+
+"No, sar, they never did. I was barefooted and didn't make no noise,
+and keeped nigh the bushes on the roadside, and so they never found me
+out."
+
+"And where did you part from them?"
+
+"Well, Marster, I didn't part from 'em till I seed whar they stopped.
+And if you'll take me up behind you, I'll show you the way to the place
+where they are hiding. It an't fur from here, not so very fur, I mean."
+
+"Oh! ho! that is good! So, so, my run-a-ways! I shall nab you, shall I?"
+exclaimed Purley in triumph, as he beckoned the negro imp to jump up
+behind him.
+
+"But stop!" said Robert Munson, in an agony of terror for the safety of
+Sybil Berners. "Stop! What are you about to do? You are about to abduct
+Farmer Nye's slave!"
+
+"Do you belong to Farmer Nye, boy? Though it don't matter a bit who you
+belong to. I'll take anybody I can lay hold of to guide me to the
+hiding-place of my prisoner--in the name of the Commonwealth of
+Virginia," said this new bailiff, who seemed to think that formula of
+words, like an absolute monarch's signet ring, was warranty for every
+sort of proceeding.
+
+"But I don't belong to nobody. I's fee, and so's mammy. We an't got no
+master, and I an't got no daddy to lord it over me!" put in the boy.
+
+"That's right, jump up behind," said the elder bailiff. And as soon as
+little Bill was safely perched up in the rear of his patron, the latter
+put spurs to his horse and gallopped off at full speed.
+
+They went down the left hand, or south fork of the cross-roads, and
+gallopped on until they reached the branch road leading west. They
+turned into that road and pursued it mile after mile, through field and
+forest, mountain pass and valley plain, until, late in the afternoon,
+they reached another mountain range, and heard the roaring of a great
+torrent. They entered the black gap, and slowly and cautiously made
+their way through it. By the time they had emerged from the pass, the
+night was pitch dark.
+
+"How shall we ever find our way?" inquired Purley who, fatigued and half
+famished, was ready to sink with exhaustion.
+
+"Do you see that then gabble ind stickin' up through the trees?"
+inquired the boy.
+
+"Yes, I see it!"
+
+"Well, him and her is in there?"
+
+"Are you sure?" inquired Purley, anxiously.
+
+"Here I is, Marster! If him and her ar'n't in there, here I is in your
+power, and you may skin me alive!"
+
+"All right!" exclaimed Purley, and dismounting from his horse, he
+advanced towards the thicket, followed by Munson and the negro boy.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+                             THE FUGITIVES.
+
+
+        They may not set a foot within their fields,
+        They may not pull a sapling from their hills,
+        They may not enter their fair mansion house.--HOWITT.
+
+
+Lyon and Sybil had ridden on through the darkness, over that wild
+country road. Their horses had had a very hard day's work in the wagon
+harness, and had not recovered from their fatigue. They were still very
+tired, and all unaccustomed to the saddle. The road was also very rough,
+and the night very dark. Their progress was therefore difficult and
+slow.
+
+Unconscious of being followed and overheard, they talked freely of their
+plans. Their prospects of final escape were not now nearly so hopeful as
+they had been on their two former attempts. They were now undisguised,
+and unprovided for the journey, except with money and a change of
+clothing. For necessary food they would have to stop at houses, and thus
+incur some degree of danger. All this they discussed as their horses
+slowly toiled along the rugged road up hill and down, through woods and
+fields, until they came near that mountain pass that they had been dimly
+seeing before them all night long and that looked like a grey cleft in a
+black wall.
+
+"It must be near morning now. But I have not a very clear idea where we
+are. I shall be glad when it is light if it is only to consult my map
+and compass," said Lyon, uneasily.
+
+"I never was on this side of the mountain before, but it does seem to me
+that that must be a spur of the Black Ridge which we see before us,"
+suggested Sybil.
+
+"I was thinking the very same thing," added Lyon. "But if that is so, we
+must have wandered far out of our way."
+
+"And hush! Don't you hear something?" inquired Sybil, when they had
+ridden a little farther on.
+
+"No; what is it?"
+
+"Listen! I want to know if you recognize it," she said.
+
+"I hear a faint, distant roaring, as of a water-fall," he answered,
+stopping his horse to hear the better.
+
+"It is our Black Torrent!" exclaimed Sybil.
+
+"Good Heaven! Then we have wandered out of our way with a vengeance.
+However, there is no help for it now! We must go on, or stop here until
+it is light enough to consult the compass."
+
+"And at any rate, Lyon, no one will think of looking for us so near
+home," she added.
+
+"That is true," he admitted.
+
+And they rode on slowly, looking about as well as they could through
+the darkness, for a convenient place on which to dismount from the jaded
+steeds.
+
+Their path now lay through that deep mountain pass. Steep precipices
+arose on either side. They picked their way slowly and carefully through
+it, until they entered a crooked path leading down the side of a thickly
+wooded hill. Here they rode on, a little more at their ease, until they
+reached the bottom of the hill and the edge of the wood, and came out
+upon an old forsaken road, running along the shores of a deep and rapid
+river, with another mountain range behind.
+
+"Well, Heaven bless us! here we are!" exclaimed Lyon Berners, reining up
+his horse and looking around himself in a ludicrous state of mind, made
+up of surprise, dismay, and resignation.
+
+"Yes; on the shores of the Black River, at the head of our own Black
+Valley," chimed in Sybil, in a tone of voice in which there was more of
+satisfaction than of disappointment. Poor Sybil was sentimental and
+illogical, like all her sex.
+
+"But at a point at which, I may venture to say, that even you, its
+owner, never reached before," added Lyon, as he touched up his horse and
+led the way up the road, still looking about as well as he could through
+the darkness, for a place in which to stop and rest their horses.
+
+Suddenly, as they rode slowly onward, they heard approaching them from
+the opposite direction the sound of a wagon and horse, accompanied by a
+human voice, singing:
+
+    "Brothers and sisters there will meet,
+     Brothers and sisters there will meet,
+     Brothers and sisters there will meet--
+         Will meet, to part no more!"
+
+"Yes, bress de Lord! so dey will. And all departed friends will meet,
+and meet to part no more! GLORY!" rang out the voice of the singer, who
+seemed to be working himself up into enthusiasm.
+
+"It is only some negro with his team," said Lyon Berners, to soothe the
+spirits of Sybil, which always took the alarm at the approach of any
+stranger.
+
+"Yes; but what an hour for a negro, or for any one else but fugitives
+like ourselves, to be out," said Sybil, doubtingly.
+
+"Oh, he is making an early start for market perhaps. It _must_ be near
+morning."
+
+     "Oh, there will be glory--
+      Glory! glory! glory!--
+      Oh, there will be glory
+    Around the throne of God!"
+
+sang the unseen singer, making the mountain caves and glens ring with
+his melody.
+
+"Yes; bress Marster! there _will_ be Glories and Hallelujahs all through
+heaven," he added; "for--
+
+    "Saints and angels there will meet,
+     Saints and angels there will meet,
+     Saints and angels there will meet--
+       Will meet, to part no more."
+
+"And me and my young missis there will meet! And meet to part no more!
+GLORY!" added the singer, with a sudden shout.
+
+"Lyon, that's our Joe!" exclaimed Sybil, in joyful surprise.
+
+The cart and horses now loomed dimly through the darkness, being almost
+upon them.
+
+"Joe!" called out Sybil, in a gleeful voice--"Joe!"
+
+"Who dar?" answered the man, in affright.
+
+"It is I! Sybil, Joe!"
+
+"Oh, my good gracious Lord in heaven! it's her spirit as is calling me,
+and she must be dead!" gasped the man, in a quavering voice.
+
+By this time the two horses were beside the cart, upon the seat of
+which the driver sat in an extremity of terror.
+
+"Joe, don't be alarmed! It is Mrs. Berners herself who speaks to you,
+and I am with her," said Mr. Berners, soothingly.
+
+"Oh, Marse Lyon! Is it ralely and truly her herself and you yourself?"
+inquired the man, very doubtingly.
+
+"Really and truly Sybil and myself, Joe."
+
+"Oh! Lord! how you did scare me!"
+
+"Compose yourself, Joe, and tell me what you are doing here at this time
+of the morning."
+
+"Oh, Marse Lyon, sir, I came arter the housekeeping truck as you left
+here, which I couldn't get a chance to fetch it before, 'cause I was
+afraid o' 'citin' 'spicion."
+
+"And have you the things in that cart?"
+
+"Yes, Marse."
+
+"Then hold on for a moment, and spread the mattress on the bottom of the
+cart for your young mistress to lie down upon and rest, while you and I
+have a little talk."
+
+Joe promptly obeyed this order; and when the rude bed was ready, Lyon
+lifted Sybil from her seat and laid her upon it. The tired horses were
+then relieved from their saddles and turned loose for a while. And then
+Mr. Berners and Joe sat down by the roadside to consult.
+
+"And first I want you to tell me, Joe, whether our sojourn at the
+Haunted Chapel ever was found out," said Mr. Berners.
+
+"Lor, no, sir! it never were even suspicioned! quite contrary wise,
+indeed."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"Why, it was 'ported 'round as you was bofe at Marster Capping
+Pendulum's all the time, which when himself was taxed with it, he never
+let on as you wasn't there; quite contrary wise, as I said afore."
+
+"But how now?"
+
+"Well, he up and 'fied 'em all, and said his house was his cassil,
+which he would shelter any one he pleased, and specially a noble and
+injured lady."
+
+"High heart! I thank him!" exclaimed Mr. Berners.
+
+"Which 'fiance you see, sir, confarmed everybody in the faith that you
+was bofe hid in his house, so artfully as even the sarch-warranters as
+went there couldn't find you. And so, sir, nobody, from first to last,
+has once said 'Haunted Chapel.'"
+
+"Joe, how far are we from the Haunted Chapel?"
+
+"Not more 'n a mile, sir, from the little path that leads up to it."
+
+"Well, I think we had better go there again and rest to-day, and resume
+our journey to-night. There can be no safer place."
+
+"No whar in all the world, sir."
+
+"Then we will go at once. Throw the saddles into the cart, at your
+mistress' feet, so as not to crowd her. I will then drive the cart, and
+you may lead the two riding horses after us," said Mr. Berners, going at
+once to the side of the rude vehicle where Sybil lay in so deep a sleep
+that she did not wake, even when he mounted the seat and started the
+springless cart jolting along the rough road.
+
+Joe led the saddle horses close behind, and so they went on.
+
+"Joe," said Mr. Berners, "I hope that all things go on well at home."
+
+"As well as can be, sir, marser and missus being away. Capping Pendulum,
+he shows his powerful 'torney, and tends to the 'state. And Missus
+Winterose and her darters minds the house. Only they's in constant
+terrors all along o' that band o' bugglers."
+
+"Band of burglars, Joe?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and highway robbers as well."
+
+"Indeed! Joe, I have twice lately heard this band spoken of. Does such
+a one really exist?"
+
+"Well, sir, it _do_. The neighborhood never was so mislested with
+robbers since a neighborhood it has been. Why, sir, Mr. Morgan's new
+store, at Blackville was broke open and robbed of about twelve hundred
+dollars' worth of goods in one night."
+
+"And none of it recovered!"
+
+"No, sir. And, sir, Capping Pendulum's own house was entered and robbed
+of jewelry and plate to the tune of about two thousand dollars."
+
+"I am very sorry for that! And no clue to the robbers?"
+
+"Not the leastest in the world, sir! And no later'n last night, Judge
+Beresford was riding home from the village, where he had been at the
+tavern, playing cards with a lot of gentlemen, and had won a deal of
+money, which he had about him, when, in the middle of the long woods
+below his own house, he was stopped by two men; one who seized his
+bridle, and one who pinted a pistol at his head, and gave him his choice
+of his money or his life. The Judge he choose his life, and handed over
+his winnins."
+
+"I'm not sorry for him! A man who gains money in that way deserves to
+lose it. But I _am_ astounded at all that you have told me."
+
+"Yes, sir! and the old ladies in charge of Black Hall is more 'stounded
+than you are, sir; being 'stounded to that degree that they sleep with
+the dogs in the room; long of 'em."
+
+"This should be seen to. There should be a vigilance committee. But here
+we are at the path, Joe, and my wife is still in a deep sleep; and I do
+not wish to wake her; nor can we drive the cart through the thicket.
+Hold! I'll tell you what we can do. We can take the mattress by its four
+corners, and carry her on it to the chapel. If we are careful, we need
+not even wake her," said Mr. Berners, as he stopped the cart and got
+down from his seat.
+
+Joe tied the two saddle horses to one of the trees, and came around to
+the cart to help his master.
+
+Between them they cautiously lifted the mattress, and bore it along
+towards the opening of the path.
+
+On first being moved, Sybil sighed once and turned over and then she
+fell into a still deeper sleep, from which she did not again awake even
+when they bore her into the dreadful Haunted Chapel, and laid her down,
+still on the mattress, in the old place, to the right of the altar.
+
+"Poor child! She was so tired, so worn out in body and mind, that she
+could scarcely sit her horse. Yet she never once complained, nor should
+I have even surmised the extent of her prostration, were it not for this
+coma-like sleep. She will not wake now. We may safely leave her alone
+while we go back and bring our saddle horses here, for we must bring
+them in order to hide them to-day and use them to-night. And you, Joe,
+after you have helped me to bring the horses through the thicket, must
+go to Blackville and buy food and bring it to us to-night before we
+resume our journey."
+
+"Yes, sir; and meantimes, there is some crackers and cheese and
+sweetmeats, and likewise a bottle of port wine, in the cart, as you left
+in the chapel when you went away."
+
+"Oh, indeed! that will be a godsend, Joe! We must bring that back to the
+chapel with us when we come," said Mr. Berners, as with his servant he
+bent his steps back to the thicket path.
+
+Sybil, left alone in the interior of the haunted chapel, slept on
+soundly for some little time. She had not really been quite unconscious
+of her removal thither. She had half waked on being taken from the cart,
+but had immediately fallen asleep again; though she was still vaguely
+conscious of being borne along to some place of safety and repose, and
+that her devoted husband and her faithful servant were her
+bearers--vaguely conscious also of being laid down upon some level place
+of perfect rest, with a roof above her head; but beyond this she knew
+nothing, cared nothing, being too utterly prostrated in mind and body to
+rouse herself to any utterances, or even to save herself from sinking to
+sleep.
+
+How long she had slept she never could tell, when at length she was
+suddenly and fearfully aroused--aroused to a degree of wakefulness that
+neither the noisy jolting over the rocky road, nor the painful dragging
+through the thorny thicket had been able to effect.
+
+And yet it was but by a touch--the touch of an ice-cold little hand
+passing lightly over her face.
+
+She started up in a panic and glared around. All seemed black as pitch,
+and at first she could see nothing; but as she strained her eyes, she
+dimly discerned the shapes of the gothic windows, with the dark night
+sky and the ghostly trees beyond; and she recognized the Haunted Chapel!
+
+They had brought her here while she was sleeping; and now, "in the dead
+waste and middle of the night," she had waked up, alone in this
+demon-peopled place.
+
+She tried to cry out in her fear; but her voice died in her throat, and
+she sank back upon her mattress and closed her eyes, lest some shape of
+horror should blast them.
+
+Then again she felt hands at work about her person. They were creeping
+under her shoulders and under her limbs; they were lifting her from her
+mattress. Her eyes flared open in wild affright, and she saw two black
+shrouded forms, the one at her head the other at her feet.
+
+She tried to cry out in her agony of terror; but again her voice died
+away in her bosom, and all her powers seemed palsied. They raised her up
+and bore her on--great heaven! whither?
+
+To the open door of the vault, from whose haunted depths a spectral
+light gleamed!
+
+They bore her down the dreadful steps, and laid her on the deadly floor!
+
+The iron door clanged loudly to, resounding through the dismal arches.
+
+"We have her now!" muttered a hoarse voice. A hollow laugh responded.
+
+And Sybil swooned with horror!
+
+Sybil's further adventures will be related in the sequel to this work,
+to be immediately published, under the title of "Tried for Her Life."
+
+                                The End.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cruel As The Grave, by 
+Mrs. Emma D. E. N. Southworth
+
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+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Cruel As The Grave, by Mrs. Emma D. E. N. Southworth.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+        /*<![CDATA[  XML blockout */
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+Project Gutenberg's Cruel As The Grave, by Mrs. Emma D. E. N. Southworth
+
+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: Cruel As The Grave
+
+Author: Mrs. Emma D. E. N. Southworth
+
+Release Date: December 9, 2007 [EBook #23789]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CRUEL AS THE GRAVE ***
+
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+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
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+
+<p class="c" style="font-size:2.0em">CRUEL AS THE GRAVE</p>
+
+<p class="c xl">A NOVEL.</p>
+
+<p class="c xl">BY MRS. EMMA D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH.</p>
+
+<p class="c s">AUTHOR OF &#8220;SELF-MADE,&#8221; &#8220;ISHMAEL,&#8221; &#8220;SELF-RAISED,&#8221; &#8220;FAIR PLAY,&#8221; &#8220;VIVIA,&#8221;<br />
+&#8220;MISSING BRIDE,&#8221; &#8220;A BEAUTIFUL FIEND,&#8221; &#8220;CHANGED BRIDES,&#8221; &#8220;RETRIBUTION,&#8221;<br />
+&#8220;HOW HE WON HER,&#8221; &#8220;A NOBLE LORD,&#8221; &#8220;BRIDE&#8217;S FATE,&#8221; &#8220;FALLEN PRIDE,&#8221;<br />
+&#8220;LADY OF THE ISLE,&#8221; &#8220;THE MAIDEN WIDOW,&#8221; &#8220;ALLWORTH ABBEY,&#8221;<br />
+&#8220;GYPSY&#8217;S PROPHECY,&#8221; &#8220;LOST HEIRESS,&#8221; &#8220;WIDOW&#8217;S SON,&#8221; &#8220;INDIA,&#8221;<br />
+&#8220;THREE BEAUTIES,&#8221; &#8220;BRIDE OF LLEWELLYN,&#8221; &#8220;BRIDAL EVE,&#8221;<br />
+&#8220;DISCARDED DAUGHTER,&#8221; &#8220;FATAL SECRET,&#8221; &#8220;TWO SISTERS,&#8221;<br />
+&#8220;CURSE OF CLIFTON,&#8221; &#8220;TRIED FOR HER LIFE,&#8221;<br />
+&#8220;PHANTOM WEDDING,&#8221; &#8220;LOVE&#8217;S LABOR WON,&#8221;<br />
+&#8220;FORTUNE SEEKER,&#8221; &#8220;FATAL MARRIAGE,&#8221;<br />
+&#8220;MOTHER-IN-LAW,&#8221; &#8220;CHRISTMAS GUEST,&#8221;<br />
+&#8220;FAMILY DOOM,&#8221; &#8220;WIFE&#8217;S VICTORY.&#8221;</p>
+
+<table summary="" style="margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;">
+<tr><td align="left">
+<p class="s" style="text-align:left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&#8220;He to whom<br />
+I gave my heart, with all its wealth of love,<br />
+Forsakes me for another.&#8221;&mdash;<span class="sc">Medea</span>.<br /><br />
+&#8220;And we saw Medea burning<br />
+&nbsp;At her nature&#8217;s-planted stake.&#8221;&mdash;<span class="sc">Browning</span>.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p class="c s sc">NEW YORK:<br />THE F. M. LUPTON PUBLISHING COMPANY,<br />Nos. 72-76 Walker Street.</p>
+
+<hr class="dashed" />
+
+<p class="c sc s nm">Copyright, 1888,</p>
+<p class="c s nm">By T. B. PETERSON &amp; BROTHERS.</p>
+<hr style="width:10%" />
+<p class="c s nm">Cruel as the Grave.</p>
+
+<hr class="dashed" />
+
+<h2 class="toc"><a name="Contents" id="Contents"></a>CONTENTS</h2>
+<table border="0" width="500" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto">
+<col style="width:15%;" />
+<col style="width:5%;"  />
+<col style="width:70%;" />
+<col style="width:10%;" />
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">I.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Berners of the Burning Hearts.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_BERNERS_OF_THE_BURNING_HEARTS_105">21</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">II.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">John Lyon Howe.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#JOHN_LYON_HOWE_290">26</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">III.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Sybil Berners.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#SYBIL_BERNERS_516">32</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">IV.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Beautiful Stranger.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_BEAUTIFUL_STRANGER_1051">45</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">V.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Landlord&#8217;s Story.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_LANDLORDS_STORY_1172">48</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">VI.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Rosa Blondelle.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#ROSA_BLONDELLE_1598">59</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">VII.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Down in the Dark Vale.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#DOWN_IN_THE_DARK_VALE_2065">71</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">VIII.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Black Hall.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#BLACK_HALL_2242">76</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">IX.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Guest-Chambers.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_GUESTCHAMBERS_2545">83</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">X.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Jealous Bride.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_JEALOUS_BRIDE_2839">91</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XI.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Love and Jealousy.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#LOVE_AND_JEALOUSY_3321">103</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XII.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">&#8220;Cruel As the Grave.&#8221;</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#CRUEL_AS_THE_GRAVE_3631">112</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XIII.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">More Than the Bitterness of Death.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#MORE_THAN_THE_BITTERNESS_OF_DEATH_4180">126</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XIV.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The First Fatal Hallow Eve.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_FIRST_FATAL_HALLOW_EVE_4450">133</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XV.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Masquerade Ball.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_MASQUERADE_BALL_4824">142</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XVI.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">On the Watch.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#ON_THE_WATCH_5041">147</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XVII.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Driven to Desperation.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#DRIVEN_TO_DESPERATION_5283">154</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XVIII.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Lying in Wait.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#LYING_IN_WAIT_6113">175</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XIX.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Swooping Down.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#SWOOPING_DOWN_6419">183</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XX.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Search.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_SEARCH_6725">191</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXI.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Sybil&#8217;s Flight.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#SYBILS_FLIGHT_7020">198</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXII.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Haunted Chapel.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_HAUNTED_CHAPEL_7367">207</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXIII.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Solitude is Invaded.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_SOLITUDE_IS_INVADED_7784">218</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXIV.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Verdict and the Visitor.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_VERDICT_AND_THE_VISITOR_8082">225</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXV.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Fall of the Dubarrys.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_FALL_OF_THE_DUBARRYS_8603">238</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXVI.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Spectre.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_SPECTRE_9054">250</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXVII.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Fearful Waiting.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#FEARFUL_WAITING_9555">264</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXVIII.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">A Ghastly Procession.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#A_GHASTLY_PROCESSION_9898">273</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXIX.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Ghostly and Mysterious</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#GHOSTLY_AND_MYSTERIOUS_10655">292</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXX.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Flight and Pursuit.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#FLIGHT_AND_PURSUIT_11184">306</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXXI.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Arrest.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_ARREST_11894">323</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXXII.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">A Desperate Venture</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#A_DESPERATE_VENTURE_12301">334</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXXIII.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">A Fatal Crisis.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#A_FATAL_CRISIS_12708">344</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXXIV.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Pursuit.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#PURSUIT_82068">344</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXXV.</td>
+  <td>&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Fugitives.</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_FUGITIVES_13483">363</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class="dashed" />
+
+<h1>CRUEL AS THE GRAVE</h1>
+
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_21" id="pg_21">21</a></span>
+<a name="THE_BERNERS_OF_THE_BURNING_HEARTS_105" id="THE_BERNERS_OF_THE_BURNING_HEARTS_105"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+<h3>THE BERNERS OF THE BURNING HEARTS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">&#8220;Their love was like the lava flood<br />
+&nbsp;That burns in Etna&#8217;s breast of flame.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Near the end of a dark autumn-day, not many years ago, a young couple,
+returning from their bridal tour arrived by steamer at the old city of
+Norfolk; and, taking a hack, drove directly to the best inn.</p>
+
+<p>They were attended by the gentleman&#8217;s valet and the lady&#8217;s maid, and
+encumbered besides with a great amount of baggage, so that altogether
+their appearance was so promising that the landlord of the &#8220;Anchor&#8221; came
+forward in person to receive them and bow them into the best parlor.</p>
+
+<p>The gentleman registered himself and his party as Mr. and Mrs. Lyon
+Berners, of Black Hall, Virginia, and two servants.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We shall need a private parlor and chamber communicating for our own
+use, and a couple of bedrooms for our servants,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, as he
+handed his hat and cane to the bowing waiter.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They shall be prepared immediately,&#8221; answered the polite landlord.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We shall remain here only for the night, and go on in <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_22" id="pg_22">22</a></span>the morning, and
+should like to have two inside and two outside places secured in the
+Staunton stage-coach for to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will send and take them at once, sir.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thanks. We should also like tea got ready as soon as possible in our
+private parlor.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Certainly, sir. What would you like for tea?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, anything you please, so that it is nice and neatly served,&#8221; said
+Mr. Berners, with a slightly impatient wave of his hand as if he would
+have been rid of his obsequious host.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah-ha! anything I please! It is easy to see what ails him. He lives
+upon love just now; but he&#8217;ll care more about his bill of fare a few
+weeks hence,&#8221; chuckled the landlord, as he left the public parlor to
+execute his guest&#8217;s orders.</p>
+
+<p>The bridegroom was no sooner left alone with his bride than he seated
+her in the easiest arm-chair, and began with affectionate zeal to untie
+her bonnet-strings and unclasp her mantle.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You make my maid a useless appendage, dear Lyon,&#8221; said the little lady,
+smiling up in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because I like to do everything for you myself, sweet Sybil; because I
+am jealous of every hand that touches your dear person, except my own,&#8221;
+he murmured tenderly as he removed her bonnet, and with all his
+worshipping soul glowing through his eyes, gazed upon her beautiful and
+beaming face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You love me so much, dear Lyon! You love me so much! Yet not too much
+either! for oh! if you should ever cease to love me, or even if you were
+ever to love me <i>less</i>,&mdash;I&mdash;I dare not think what I should do!&#8221; she
+muttered in a long, deep, shuddering tone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sweet Sybil,&#8221; he breathed, drawing her to his bosom and pressing warm
+kisses on her crimson lips&mdash;&#8220;sweetest <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_23" id="pg_23">23</a></span>Sybil, it is not possible for the
+human heart to love <i>more</i> than I do, but I can never love you less!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do believe you, dearest Lyon! With all my heart I do!&mdash;Yet&mdash;yet&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yet what, sweet love?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She lifted her face from his bosom and gazing intently in his eyes,
+said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yet, Lyon, if you knew the prayer that I never fail to put up, day and
+night! What do you think it is for, dear Lyon?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I know; it is for Heaven&#8217;s blessing to rest upon our wedded lives.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, my prayer is for that always, of course! but that is not what I
+mean now! That is not the stronger, stronger prayer which I offer up
+from the deeps of my spirit in almost an agony of supplication!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And what is that prayer, so awful in its earnestness, dear love?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Lyon! it is <i>that you may never love me less than now, or if you
+should, that I may never live to know it</i>,&#8221; she breathed with an
+intensity of suppressed emotion that drew all the glowing color from her
+crimson cheeks and lips and left them pale as marble.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, you beautiful mad creature! You are a true daughter of your house!
+A Berners of the burning heart! A Berners of the boiling blood! A
+Berners of whom it has been said, that it is almost as fatal to be
+loved, as to be hated, by one of them! Dear Sybil! never doubt my love;
+never be jealous of me, if you would not destroy us both,&#8221; he earnestly
+implored.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do not doubt you, dearest Lyon; I am not jealous of you! What cause,
+indeed, have I to be so? But&mdash;but&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But what, my darling?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&mdash;Ever since I have been in this house, a darkness and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_24" id="pg_24">24</a></span>coldness and
+weight has fallen upon my spirits, that I cannot shake off&mdash;a burden, as
+of some impending calamity! And as there is no calamity that can
+possibly affect me so much as the lessening of your love, I naturally
+think most of that,&#8221; she answered, with a heavy sigh.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear love! this depression is only reaction! fatigue! the effect of
+this damp, dull, dreary room! We will change all this!&#8221; said Lyon
+Berners, cheerfully, as he pulled the bell-cord and rang a peal that
+presently brought the waiter to his presence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Are our rooms ready?&#8221; shortly demanded Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Just this moment ready, sir,&#8221; answered the man, with a bow.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Gather up these articles, then, and show us to our rooms,&#8221; said Mr.
+Berners, pointing to a collection of outer garments and travelling bags
+that occupied a centre-table.</p>
+
+<p>With another bow the man loaded himself with the personal effects of the
+guests and led the way up-stairs.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners, drawing his wife&#8217;s arm through his own, followed the waiter
+to a cheerful little private parlor, where the bright red carpet on the
+floor, the bright red curtains at the windows, the bright red covers of
+the chairs and sofas, the glowing coal fire in the grate, and above all
+the neatly spread tea table, with its snowy damask table-cloth, and its
+service of pure French china, invited the hungry and weary travellers to
+refreshment and repose.</p>
+
+<p>Through a pair of partly drawn sliding doors a vista was opened to a
+clean and quiet chamber, furnished to match the parlor, with the same
+bright-red carpet, window curtains, and chair covers, but also with a
+white-draperied tent-bedstead, with bed-pillows and coverings white and
+soft as swan&#8217;s down. In the glow of the coal fire in the inner room sat
+and waited a pretty mulatto girl, Delia, or Dilly, the dressing maid of
+Mrs. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>On seeing her mistress enter the parlor, Dilly quickly <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_25" id="pg_25">25</a></span>arose and met
+her, and handed a chair and relieved the waiter of his burden of
+portable personal property, which she hastened to carry into the chamber
+to put away.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bring in the tea immediately and send my own man Hannibal here to
+attend us,&#8221; said the guest to the waiter, who promptly left the room to
+execute the orders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come, my darling! Take this easy-chair in the corner and make yourself
+comfortable! Here is a scene to inspire the saddest heart with
+cheerfulness,&#8221; said the bridegroom cordially, as he drew forward the
+easy arm-chair and led his bride to it.</p>
+
+<p>She sank into the soft seat and smiled her satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments the waiters of the inn entered and arranged a delicious
+little repast upon the table and then withdrew, leaving Hannibal, the
+faithful servant of the bridegroom, to attend his master and mistress at
+their tea.</p>
+
+<p>The young pair sat down to the table. And in that quiet and cheerful
+scene of enjoyment, the young bride recovered her spirits. The transient
+shadow that had for a moment darkened the splendor of her joy, even as a
+passing cloud for an instant obscures the glory of the sun, had
+vanished, leaving her all smiles and gayety.</p>
+
+<p>To say that these wedded lovers were very happy, would scarcely express
+the delirium of pure joy in which they had dreamed away their days and
+nights for the last few weeks&mdash;joy that both were too young and untried
+to know could not last for ever, could not indeed even last long&mdash;joy so
+elevated in its insanity as almost to tempt some thunderbolt of
+malignant fate to fall upon it with destroying force, even as the highly
+rarefied air sometimes draws on the whirlwind and the storm.</p>
+
+<p>But then the story of their loves was rare and strange, and almost
+justified the intensity of their mutual devotion, and that story is
+briefly this:</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_26" id="pg_26">26</a></span>
+<a name="JOHN_LYON_HOWE_290" id="JOHN_LYON_HOWE_290"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+<h3>JOHN LYON HOWE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">&#8220;A brow half martial and half diplomatic,<br />&nbsp;An eye upsoaring like an eagle&#8217;s wing.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>John Lyon Howe was the younger son of a planter, residing in one of the
+wildest mountain regions in central Virginia. The elder Howe was blessed
+with a large family, and cursed with a heavily mortgaged estate&mdash;a
+combination of circumstances not unusual among the warm-hearted,
+generous and extravagant people of the Old Dominion.</p>
+
+<p>John Lyon Howe had been educated in the Law School of the University of
+Virginia, where, at the age of twenty-three, he graduated with the
+highest honors.</p>
+
+<p>Then, instead of commencing his professional life in one of the great
+Eastern cities, or striking out for the broad fields of enterprise
+opened in the Far West, young Howe, to the astonishment of all who were
+acquainted with the talents and ambition of the new lawyer, returned to
+his native county and opened his law office in Blackville, a small
+hamlet lying at the foot of the Black Valley, and enjoying the honor and
+profit of being the county-seat.</p>
+
+<p>But the young lawyer had strong motives for his actions. He had great
+talent, an intense passion for politics, and quite as much State pride
+as personal ambition. He wished to distinguish himself; yes, but not in
+Massachusetts or Minnesota, nor in any other place except in his native
+State, his dear old Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>Sometime to represent her in the National Congress, and to do her
+service and credit there, was the highest goal of his youthful
+aspirations.</p>
+
+<p>For this cause, he settled in the obscure hamlet of Blackville, and
+opened his law office in one of the basement rooms of the county
+court-house.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_27" id="pg_27">27</a></span>While the courts were in session he attended them regularly, and did a
+good deal of business in the way of gratuitous counselling and pleading;
+advocating and defending with great ability and success the cause of the
+poor and oppressed, and winning much honor and praise, but very little
+money, not enough, indeed, to pay his office rent, or renew his napless
+hat and thread-bare coat.</p>
+
+<p>Besides his unprofitable professional labors, he engaged in equally
+unprofitable political contests.</p>
+
+<p>He took the liberal view of State craft, and sought to open the minds of
+his fellow-citizen to a just and wise policy, or what he, in his young
+enthusiasm, conceived to be such. He wrote stirring leaders for the
+local papers, and made rousing speeches at the political meetings.</p>
+
+<p>He was everywhere spoken of as a rising young man, who was sure to reach
+a high position some day. Yes! some day; but that desired day seemed
+very far distant to the desponding young lawyer.</p>
+
+<p>And to make his probation still more painful, he was in love! not as men
+are who are taken with a new face every year of their lives, but as the
+heroes of old used to be&mdash;for once and forever! profoundly,
+passionately, desperately in love, almost despairingly in love, since
+she whom he loved was at once the richest heiress, the greatest beauty,
+and the proudest lady in the whole community&mdash;Sybil Berners! Miss
+Berners, of Black Hall!&mdash;in social position as far above the briefless
+young lawyer as the sun above the earth; at least so said those who
+observed this presumptuous passion, and predicted for the young lover,
+should he ever really aspire to her hand, the fate of Phaeton, to be
+consumed in the splendor of her sphere, and cast down blackened to his
+native earth.</p>
+
+<p>Had they who cavilled at his high-placed love but known the truth; how
+she whom he so worshipped, on her part, adored him? But this he himself
+did not know, or even <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_28" id="pg_28">28</a></span>suspect. Had he possessed much less of a fine,
+high-toned sense of honor, he might, by wooing the lady, have found this
+out for himself; but he, an almost penniless young man, was much too
+proud to ask the hand of the wealthy heiress. Or had he possessed a
+little more personal vanity, he might have suspected the truth; for
+certainly there was not a handsomer man in the whole county than was
+this briefless young lawyer with the napless hat and thread-bare coat.
+His person was of that medium height and just proportions necessary to
+give perfect elegance of form and grace of motion. His features were
+classic, with the straight forehead, hooked nose, short upper lip, and
+pointed chin of the strong old Roman type. His complexion was fair, his
+eyes blue, and his hair and beard a golden auburn. Added to these
+attractions, there was an intense magnetic power in the gaze of his dark
+eyes, and in the tone of his deep voice, a power that few could resist,
+and certainly not Sybil Berners.</p>
+
+<p>But who and what besides heiress and beauty was Sybil Berners? To tell
+you all she was. I must first tell you something about her family, the
+&#8220;Berners of Black Hall.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Theirs was an old family, and a historical name interwoven with the
+destinies of the two hemispheres. Their house was older than the history
+of the new world, and almost as ancient as the fables of the old world.</p>
+
+<p>They were among the first lords of the manor in Colonial Virginia, and
+they claimed descent from a ducal house whose patent of nobility dated
+back to the first months of the Norman Conquest of England.</p>
+
+<p>They had been great in history and in story; great in the field and the
+forum; great in the old country and in the new. They had been a brave,
+fierce, cruel, and despotic race, equally feared and hated at home and
+abroad, equally loved and trusted as well; for never were such dangerous
+foes or such devoted friends as were these Berners; no one <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_29" id="pg_29">29</a></span>ever loved
+as these Berners loved, or hated as they hated. In the intensity of
+their love or their hate they were capable of suffering or inflicting
+death; these Berners, whose friendship was almost as fatal as their
+enmity; these Berners, who &#8220;never spared man in their hate or woman in
+their love;&#8221; these Berners of the burning heart; these Berners of the
+boiling blood; these Berners of Black Hall; and whose sole
+representative now was Sybil, the last daughter of their line, who
+concentrated in her own ardent, intense nature all the most beautiful,
+all the most terrible attributes of her strong and fiery race.</p>
+
+<p>I said that she was the richest heiress as well as the most beautiful
+girl of the country.</p>
+
+<p>She was the inheritor of the famous Black Valley manor, holding besides
+its own home plantation, several of the most productive and valuable
+farms in the neighborhood.</p>
+
+<p>There is not in all the mountain region of Virginia a wilder, darker,
+gloomier glade than that forming the home manor of the Berners family,
+and known as the Black Valley. It is a long, deep, narrow vale, lying
+between high, steep ridges of iron-gray rock, half covered with a growth
+of deep-green stunted cedars.</p>
+
+<p>At the head or northern extremity of the vale springs a cascade, called,
+for the darkness of its color, the Black Torrent. It rushes, roaring,
+down the side of the precipice, now hiding under a heavy growth of
+evergreen, now bursting into light as it foams over the face of some
+rock, until at length it tumbles down to the foot of the mountain and
+flows along through the bottom of the Valley, until about half way down
+its length, it widens into a little lake, called, from its hue, the
+Black Water, or the Black Pond; then narrowing again, it flows on down
+past the little hamlet of Blackville, situated at the foot or southern
+extremity of the Black Valley.</p>
+
+<p>The ancient manor house, known as the Black Hall, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_30" id="pg_30">30</a></span>stands on a rising
+ground on the west side of the Black Water with its old pleasure gardens
+running down to the very edge of the lake.</p>
+
+<p>It is a large, rambling, irregularly-formed old house, built of the iron
+gray rocks dug from the home quarries; and it is scarcely to be
+distinguished from the iron-gray precipices that tower all around it.</p>
+
+<p>The manor had been in the possession of the same family from the time of
+King James the First, who made a grant of the land to Reginald Berners,
+the first Lord of the Manor.</p>
+
+<p>Bertram Berners was the seventh in descent from Reginald. He married
+first a lady of high rank, the daughter of the colonial governor of
+Virginia. This union, which was neither fruitful nor happy, lasted more
+than thirty years, after which the high-born wife died.</p>
+
+<p>Finding himself at the age of sixty a childless widower and the last of
+his name, he resolved to marry again in the hope of having heirs. He
+chose for his second wife a young lady of good but impoverished family,
+the orphan niece of a neighboring planter.</p>
+
+<p>But the new wife only half fulfilled her husband&#8217;s hopes, when, a year
+after their marriage, she presented him with one fair daughter, the
+Sybil of our story.</p>
+
+<p>Even this gift cost the delicate mother her life; for although she did
+not die immediately, yet from the day of Sybil&#8217;s birth, she fell into a
+long and lingering decline which finally terminated in death.</p>
+
+<p>Old Bertram Berners was nearly seventy years of age, when he laid his
+young wife in her early grave. Although he had been grievously
+disappointed in his hopes of a male heir, yet he was not mad enough, at
+his advanced period of life, to try matrimony again. He wisely
+determined to devote the few remaining days of his life to the rearing
+of his little daughter, then a child seven years of age.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_31" id="pg_31">31</a></span>Old Bertram loved and spoiled the infant as none but an old man can
+love or spoil his only child, who is besides the offspring of his age.
+He would not part with her to send her to school; but he himself became
+her instructor until she was more than ten years old.</p>
+
+<p>After that, as she began to approach womanhood, he engaged a succession
+of governesses, each one of whom excessively annoyed him by persistently
+trying to marry him for his money, and who consequently got herself
+politely dismissed.</p>
+
+<p>Next he tried a succession of tutors, but this second plan worked even
+worse than the first; for each one of the tutors in his turn tried to
+marry the heiress for the fortune, and, naturally enough, got himself
+kicked out of the house.</p>
+
+<p>So the plan of home education prospered badly. Perhaps old Bertram had
+been singularly unfortunate in his selection of teachers. It must have
+been so indeed, since he had been accustomed to say that &#8220;they all were
+as bad as they could be; and each one was worse than all the rest.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Thus the literary training of the heiress had been carried on in the
+most capricious, fitful and irregular manner, the worst suited to her,
+who more than most girls required the discipline of a firm and steady
+rule.</p>
+
+<p>The educational result to her was a very superficial knowledge of
+literature, arts, and sciences, and a very imperfect acquaintance with
+ancient and modern languages.</p>
+
+<p>She was in the habit of saying sarcastically, that &#8220;she had an utter
+confusion of ideas on the subjects of algebra, astronomy, and all the
+other branches of a polite education;&#8221; that, for instance, she never
+could remember whether the &#8220;Pons Asinorum&#8221; were a plant or a problem, or
+if it was Napoleon Bonaparte that discovered America and Christopher
+Columbus who lost the battle of Waterloo, or <i>vice versa</i>.</p>
+
+<p>And after all, this was but a trifling exaggeration of the neglected
+condition of her mind.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_32" id="pg_32">32</a></span>
+<a name="SYBIL_BERNERS_516" id="SYBIL_BERNERS_516"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+<h3>SYBIL BERNERS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">&#8220;All that&#8217;s best of dark and bright<br />&nbsp;Meet in her aspect and her eye.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>Sybil Berners was at this time about eighteen years of age&mdash;a beautiful,
+black-haired, bright-eyed little brunette, full of fire, spirit,
+strength, and self-will. She was a law to herself. No one, not even her
+aged father, had the slightest control over her except through her
+affections, when they could be gained, or her passions, when they could
+be aroused; but this last means was seldom tried, for no one cared to
+raise the storm that none could quell.</p>
+
+<p>Her father was now nearly eighty years old. And fondly, jealously,
+selfishly as he loved this darling daughter of his age, he wished to see
+her safely married before he should be called from the earth.</p>
+
+<p>And certainly the beautiful heiress had suitors enough to select
+from&mdash;suitors drawn no less by her personal charms than by her great
+fortune. But one and all were politely refused by the fastidious maiden,
+who every one said was so very hard to please.</p>
+
+<p>But even if Sybil Berners had accepted any one among the numerous
+suitors for her hand, the conditions of her father&#8217;s consent would have
+been made rather difficult. The husband of the heiress would have been
+required to assume the name and arms of Berners in order to perpetuate
+the family patronymic, and to live with his wife at the old manor house
+in order not to separate the only child from her aged father. And it was
+not every proud young Virginian who would have given up his own family
+name either for a fortune or a beauty. But none of her suitors were put
+to the test, for Sybil promptly and unconditionally refused all offers
+of marriage.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_33" id="pg_33">33</a></span>And the reason of all this was, that Miss Berners of Black Hall loved a
+poor, briefless young lawyer, who had nothing but his handsome person,
+his brilliant mind, and his noble heart to recommend him. When, or
+where, or how her love for him began, she herself could never have told.
+Since his return from the university she had seen him every Sunday at
+church, and had grown to look and to long for his appearance there,
+until it came to this pass with her soul, that the very house of God
+seemed empty until <i>his</i> place was filled. And besides this, she often
+saw him and heard him speak at political and other public meetings,
+which she always attended only to beam in the sunshine of his presence,
+only to drink in the music of his voice. She took in all the local
+papers only to read his leaders and dream over his thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, she felt by a sure instinct that he passionately adored her,
+even while ignorant of her love for him, and silent upon the subject of
+his own passion.</p>
+
+<p>This state of affairs exasperated the fiery and self-willed little
+beauty almost to phrensy. She had never in her life been contradicted or
+opposed. No desire of her heart had ever been left for a moment
+unsatisfied. She never knew until now the meaning of suspense or
+disappointment. And now here was a man whom she wildly loved, and who
+worshipped her, but who, from some delicate pride in his poverty,
+<i>would</i> not speak, while she, of course, <i>could</i> not.</p>
+
+<p>Yet Sybil Berners was no weak &#8220;Viola,&#8221; who would</p>
+
+<table summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">&#8220;Let concealment, like a worm i&#8217; the bud,<br />
+Feed on her damask cheek, and pine in thought.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>She was rather a strong &#8220;Helena,&#8221; who would dare all and bear all to
+gain her lover.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil did all that a young lady of her rank could do in the premises.
+She made her doting father give dinner parties and invite her lover to
+them. But the briefless young lawyer in the napless hat and thread-bare
+coat never <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_34" id="pg_34">34</a></span>accepted one of these invitations, for the very simple
+reason that he had no evening dress in which to appear.</p>
+
+<p>Under these circumstances, where any other young girl might have grown
+languid and sorrowful, Sybil became excitable and violent. She had
+always had the fiery temper of her race, but it had very seldom been
+kindled by a breath of provocation. Now, however, it frequently broke
+out without the slightest apparent cause. No one in the house could
+account for this accession of ill-temper&mdash;not her anxious father, nor
+Miss Tabitha Winterose, the housekeeper, not Joseph Joy, the house
+steward, nor any of the maids or men-servants under them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s possessed of the devil,&#8221; said Miss Winterose, to her confidant,
+the house steward.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s nothing new. All the Berners is possessed of <i>that</i> possession.
+It&#8217;s entailed family property, and can&#8217;t be got rid of,&#8221; grimly
+responded Joe.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Something has crossed her; something has crossed her very much,&#8221;
+muttered her old father to himself, as he sat alone in his arm-chair in
+the warm chimney-corner of his favorite sitting-room.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, indeed, everything crossed her. She was unhappy for the first time
+in her life, and she thought it was clearly the duty of her father or
+some other one of her slaves to make her happy. She was kept waiting,
+and it was everybody&#8217;s fault, and everybody should be made to suffer for
+it. It was no use to reason with Sybil Berners. One might as well have
+reasoned with a conflagration.</p>
+
+<p>It was about this time, too, that her aged father began to feel symptoms
+that warned him of the approach of that sudden death by congestion of
+the brain, which had terminated the existence of so many of his
+ancestors.</p>
+
+<p>More than ever he desired to see his motherless daughter well married
+before he should be called away from her. So, one evening, he sent for
+Sybil to come into his sitting-room, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_35" id="pg_35">35</a></span>and when she obeyed his summons,
+and came and sat down on a low ottoman beside his arm-chair, he said,
+laying his hand lovingly on her black, curly head:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My darling, I am very old, and may be taken from you any day, any hour,
+and I would like to see you well married before I go.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear father, don&#8217;t talk so. You may live twenty years yet,&#8221; answered
+the daughter, with a blending of affectionate solicitude and angry
+impatience in her tones and looks, for Sybil was very fond of the old
+man, and also very intolerant of unpleasant subjects.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, well, my dear, since you prefer it, I will live twenty years
+longer to please you&mdash;<i>if I can</i>. But whether I live or die, my
+daughter, I wish to see you well married.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah, father, why can you not leave me free?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because, my darling, if anything should happen to me, you would be left
+utterly without protection; your hand would become the aim of every
+adventurer in the county; you would become the prey of some one among
+them who would squander your fortune, abuse your person, and break your
+heart.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You know very well, father, that I should break such a villain&#8217;s head
+first. <i>I</i> a victim&mdash;<i>I</i> the prey of a fortune-hunter, or the slave of a
+brute! I look as if I was likely to be&mdash;do I not? Father, you insult
+your daughter by the thought,&#8221; exclaimed Sybil, with flushing cheeks and
+flashing eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There, there, my dear! don&#8217;t flame up!&#8221; said the old man, laying his
+hand upon the fiery creature&#8217;s head; &#8220;be quiet as you can, Sybil&mdash;I
+cannot bear excitement now, child.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Forgive me, dear father, and forbear, if you love me, from such talk as
+this. I never could become an ill-used, suffering, snivelling wife. I
+<i>detest</i> the picture as I utterly despise all weak and whimpering women.
+I have no sympathy <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_36" id="pg_36">36</a></span>whatever for your abused wives&mdash;even for your
+dethroned or beheaded queens. Why should a wife permit herself to be
+abused, or a queen suffer herself to be dethroned or beheaded, without
+first having done something to redeem herself from the contemptible role
+of a victim, even if it was to change it for the awful one of
+criminal&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&mdash;Hush, Sybil, hush! You know not what you say. The Saviour of the
+world&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&mdash;&mdash;Was a divine martyr, father,&#8221; said Sybil, reverently bowing her
+head&mdash;&#8220;was a divine martyr, not a victim. All who suffer and die in a
+great cause are martyrs; but those who suffer and die for nothing but of
+their own weakness are victims, with whom I have no sympathy. I never
+could be a <i>victim</i>, father.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Heaven help you, Sybil!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You need not fear for me, father. I can take care of myself as well as
+if I were a son, instead of a daughter of the House of Berners,&#8221; said
+Sybil, haughtily.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You may be able to protect yourself from all others, but can you always
+protect yourself <i>from yourself</i>?&#8221; sighed the old man.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil did not answer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But, to come back to the point from which you started, like the fiery
+young filly that you are&mdash;Sybil, I greatly desire to see you married to
+some worthy young gentleman whom you can love and I approve.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where can you find such an one, father?&#8221; murmured Sybil, with a quick,
+strange, wild hope springing up in her heart.</p>
+
+<p>What if he should speak of the young lawyer? But that was not likely. He
+spoke of some one else.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is Ernest Godfree. No better match for you in the county. And I&#8217;m
+sure he worships the very ground you walk on.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sybil made an angry gesture, exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_37" id="pg_37">37</a></span>&#8220;Then I wish he would have respect enough for the ground he worships to
+keep himself off it altogether! I hate that man!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, well, hate is a poor return for love! But we&#8217;ll say no more of
+him. But there&#8217;s Captain Pendleton, a brave young officer.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wish his bravery were better employed in fighting the Indians on the
+frontier instead of besieging our house. I cannot endure that man!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let him pass then! Next there is Charles Hanbury&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ugh! the ugly little wretch.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But he is so good, so wise, for so young a man. And he is your devoted
+slave.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I wish my slave would obey his owner&#8217;s orders, and keep out of her
+sight.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sybil, you are incorrigible,&#8221; sighed the old man, but he did not yield
+his main point.</p>
+
+<p>One after another he proposed for her consideration all the eligible
+young bachelors of the neighborhood, who, he knew, were ready upon the
+slightest encouragement to renew their once rejected suits for the hand
+of the beauty and heiress.</p>
+
+<p>But one after another Sybil, with some sarcastic word, dismissed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sybil, you are a strange, wayward girl! It seems to me that for any man
+to love you is to take a sure road to your hatred! And yet, oh, my dear!
+I wish to see you safely married. Is there not one among those whom you
+might prefer to all the rest?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, my father, not one whom I could endure for an instant as a lover.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And oh! when I feel this fatal rising of the heart and fulness of the
+head&mdash;this Wave of Death that is sure to bear me off sooner or later to
+the Ocean of Eternity&mdash;Oh, then, my Sybil, how my soul travails for
+you!&#8221; groaned the old man.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_38" id="pg_38">38</a></span>&#8220;Father! do you so much wish to see me married?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wish it more than anything else in the world, my child.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Father, you have named every young man in the neighborhood whom you
+would like as a son-in-law?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Every one, my daughter.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Are you sure?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Quite sure, my love. Why do you ask?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She slid down from her low ottoman to the floor, and laid her arms upon
+his knees and her beautiful black ringleted head upon her folded hands,
+and whispered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because, dear father, there is one whom you have forgotten to name: one
+who loves me, and is altogether well worthy to be called your son.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; cried the old man fiercely, under his breath&mdash;&#8220;a fortune-hunter,
+on my life! the danger is nearer than I had even apprehended!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, father, no! He is as far as possible from being what you say!&#8221;
+fervently exclaimed Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He is wealthy, then?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, no, no! he is poor in everything but in goodness and wisdom!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no doubt you think him rich in these! But who is he, unhappy child?
+What is his name?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Very subdued came the answer. Old Bertram was obliged to bend his gray
+head to his daughter&#8217;s lips, and put his shrivelled hand behind his ear
+to catch the sound of her low voice.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He is the young lawyer newly settled in Blackville, whose praise is on
+everybody&#8217;s lips.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="sc">John Lyon Howe</span>!&#8221; exclaimed the old man, throwing up his head in
+astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, father,&#8221; breathed the girl.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And he loves you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She nodded.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_39" id="pg_39">39</a></span>&#8220;And you love him?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She nodded again.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A briefless young lawyer, with a long list of impoverished brothers and
+sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins! Bad enough; but not as it might
+have been. She can gain nothing by that connection! But then she need
+not lose anything either,&#8221; murmured the old man to himself. After
+reflecting for a few moments, with his head upon his breast, he suddenly
+raised his eyes and exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I have never seen the young man at this house!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, father!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nor at any other house where we visit.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, father; for although he receives many invitations to visit his
+friends, he accepts none. Father, I think he cannot afford to do so.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Cannot afford to visit! Why?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Visiting requires dress, and dress money. And he does so much
+gratuitous work now in the beginning of his career that he has but
+little money; and his father will not help him at all, because they
+differ in politics.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I know they do; but the young man is quite right. I agree with his
+views perfectly. He will make his mark in the world some of these days,
+and then his father will be proud of him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sybil blushed with delight to hear her lover so praised by one in whose
+hands their happiness rested.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But, my child, he was wrong and you were wrong to have entered into any
+engagement without my sanction,&#8221; said the old man very gravely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is no engagement, father,&#8221; gently answered Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah! no engagement? that is well! By my soul, though, it was not right
+for him even to have wooed you without my consent! Nor can I conceive
+what opportunity he has ever had to do so. He never comes here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_40" id="pg_40">40</a></span>&#8220;He has never wooed me, dear father.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="sc">Eh</span>!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He has never sought my hand.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I thought you gave me to understand that you love each other!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So we do, father.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then, if he loves you, why don&#8217;t he come and tell me so like an
+honorable man?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Father, he has never even told <i>me</i> so.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="sc">Eh</span>!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He has never breathed a word of love to me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then how the deuce do you know that he loves you, girl?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, by every glance of his eyes, by every tone of his voice, and by my
+own heart! Oh, father, do you think I would bear to tell you this, if I
+were not sure of it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Umph, umph! But why don&#8217;t he speak?&mdash;that&#8217;s what I want to know! Why
+don&#8217;t he speak?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear father, can you not comprehend that he is too proud to do so?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Too proud! By my word! It is a new hearing that a Howe should be too
+proud to seek an alliance with a Berners!&#8221; exclaimed old Bertram hotly,
+rising from his chair.</p>
+
+<p class="c">&#8220;Old age ne&#8217;er cooled the Douglas blood,&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>and it had not cooled his.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil smiled to see how utterly he had misunderstood her, and making him
+sit down again, she said,</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You dear old darling, it is not that! It is the very opposite to that.
+It is because he is poor and we are rich, and he is too proud to be
+called a fortune-hunter.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I understand! I understand!</p>
+
+<table summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">&#8216;Among the rest young Edwin bowed,<br />
+&nbsp;But never told his love.<br />
+&nbsp;Wisdom, and worth were all he had.&#8217;&#8220;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_41" id="pg_41">41</a></span>&#8220;Yes, dear father, that is just the truth. You wish me to marry; but,
+dear, dear father, I can never bring myself to marry any one but <i>him</i>;
+and he loves me truly, but does not seek me?&#8221; she breathed in a low and
+tremulous tone, half smothered also by the hands with which she covered
+her blushing face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now what am I to do in this case? I have nothing against the young man
+whatever, except his poverty and big long line of poor relations, that
+will be sure to be a burden to him!&#8221; grumbled old Bertram to himself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But, father, we are so rich! We have enough for so many people,&#8221;
+pleaded Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not enough to enrich all the Howes, my dear! But I like the young man,
+I really do like him, and if he had more money, and less relations, I
+should prefer him to any young man in the neighborhood for a
+son-in-law.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;O father, dear father, thank you, thank you for saying that,&#8221; exclaimed
+Sybil, fervently kissing his hands.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now that you have told me your mind, what do you want me to do, my
+darling?&#8221; he inquired, returning her caresses.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear father! an old man like you must know! I do want you to give
+Lyon help and encouragement as you know best how to do it, without
+wounding his pride. You sympathize with his political principles; let
+him know that you do. You admire his character; let him feel that you
+do.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What else?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This. Since old Mr. Godwin died you have had no agent for your large
+estate, and its accounts must be falling into disorder, Lyon is a
+lawyer, you know. Offer him the agency of your estate, with a liberal
+salary.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Upon my word, I never thought of that before. Here for three months I
+have been thinking whom I could get as an agent, and much as I esteemed
+that young man I never once thought of applying to him! But the fact is,
+I <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_42" id="pg_42">42</a></span>never looked upon him in the light of a business man, but only as a
+brilliant barrister, and eloquent pleader.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yet, father, you know he <i>must</i> be a good business man to have
+collected such great stores of statistics as he has always at command.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, my love, I will go to-day and offer him the agency. Now what
+next?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He was too poor and too proud to come before, but as your agent, father,
+you must bring him often to the house on business.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And then?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must leave the rest to me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Thus it was that the young lawyer became the agent for the great Black
+Valley Manor. This agency included not only the management of the
+revenues from several rich farms, but also those from the stone
+quarries, iron mines, and the water mill at the head of the valley, and
+also from the real estate in the village at the foot, all of which was
+included in the Black Valley Manor.</p>
+
+<p>The new agent was frequently called to Black Hall, where he was always
+received with the utmost courtesy. And as the acquaintance between the
+proprietor and the agent ripened into intimacy, a deep and strong
+attachment grew between them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Youth never showed itself wiser or better than in this young man,&#8221;
+murmured Mr. Berners to himself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Age was never so venerable and beautiful as in this old man,&#8221; thought
+John Lyon Howe to himself.</p>
+
+<p>The old man loaded the young one with many marks of his esteem and
+affection. The young man returned these with the warmest gratitude and
+highest reverence.</p>
+
+<p>When John Lyon Howe, with his heart filled with love for Sybil Berners,
+first entered Black Hall, it was without the slightest suspicion of her
+responsive love for him. But when they were thrown so much together, he
+was not very <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_43" id="pg_43">43</a></span>long in making the discovery so delightful to his soul,
+and yet&mdash;so trying too! for, as a man of good principles, there seemed
+to be but one course left open to him&mdash;the course of self-denial! He
+loved the great heiress, and had unintentionally won her love! Therefore
+he must fly from her presence, trying to forget her, hoping that she
+might forget him.</p>
+
+<p>He summoned up courage for the sacrifice, and went into the study of his
+employer and in a few words told him that he had come to say good-bye.</p>
+
+<p>The astonished old man looked up for an explanation.</p>
+
+<p>John Lyon Howe gave it to him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And so you wish to leave me, never to return to the Hall, because you
+love my daughter.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The young man bowed in silence; but could not conceal the misery it
+caused him to make this acknowledgment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But why should that oblige you to leave the house?&#8221; inquired Mr.
+Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, sir! can you ask?&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Howe.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I see! the little witch has refused you!&#8221; exclaimed old Bertram
+with a twinkle in his eye. &#8220;Come, is it not so?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sir, I have never abused your confidence so far as to seek her hand! I
+could not make so base a return for your kindness to me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you have never asked her to marry you! How in the world, then, can
+you know whether she will accept you or not? or, consequently, whether
+it will be necessary for you to leave or not?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, sir! what is it that you would say?&#8221; exclaimed the young man, in
+quick, broken tones, while his face turned pale with agitation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nonsense, my boy! When I was young a youth didn&#8217;t require so much
+encouragement to woo a maiden. Before you make up your mind to leave me,
+go and ask Sybil&#8217;s consent to the step.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_44" id="pg_44">44</a></span>&#8220;Oh, sir! oh, Mr. Berners! do you mean this?&#8221; gasped the young man,
+catching at the back of the chair for support. He was inured to sorrow,
+but not to joy. And this joy was so sudden and overwhelming that he
+reeled under it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I mean what I say, Mr. Howe. I esteem and respect you. I sanction your
+addresses to my daughter,&#8221; said old Bertram, speaking with more gravity
+and dignity than he had before displayed.</p>
+
+<p>John Lyon fervently kissed his old friend&#8217;s hand, and went immediately
+in search of Sybil. And that same night, old Bertram had the pleasure of
+joining their hands together in solemn betrothal.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now I can die happy,&#8221; said the old man, earnestly; &#8220;for it was not
+another great fortune, but a good husband that I coveted for my darling
+child.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ten days from this night, old Bertram Berners dropped into his last
+sleep. He was well and happy up to the last hour of his life. The &#8220;Wave
+of Death,&#8221; found him in his arm-chair, and bore him off without a
+struggle to the &#8220;Ocean of Eternity.&#8221; So old Bertram Berners was gathered
+to his fathers.</p>
+
+<p>The year of mourning was permitted to pass, and then John Lyon Howe,
+having, according to the conditions of the marriage contract, assumed
+the name and arms of Berners, was united in marriage to the beautiful
+Sybil. And they set out on their bridal tour as Mr. and Mrs. Lyon
+Berners.</p>
+
+<p>And now we will again look in upon them as they linger over their
+tea-table in the old inn at Norfolk, where we first introduced them to
+our readers.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_45" id="pg_45">45</a></span>
+<a name="THE_BEAUTIFUL_STRANGER_1051" id="THE_BEAUTIFUL_STRANGER_1051"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+<h3>THE BEAUTIFUL STRANGER.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">&#8220;From the glance of her eye<br />
+&nbsp;Shun danger and fly,<br />
+&nbsp;For fatal &#8217;s the glance.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>Very happy were the married lovers as they sat over their tea, even
+though the scene of their domestic joy was just now but an inn-parlor.
+Both the young people had good appetites: gratified love had not
+deprived them of that.</p>
+
+<p>They talked of their homeward journey and how pleasant it would be in
+this glorious autumn weather, and of their home and how glad they would
+be to reach it&mdash;yes, how glad! For, paradoxical as it may seem to say
+so, there is no happiness so perfect as that which looks forward to
+something still more perfect, if such could be possible in the future.
+They talked of the Black Valley, and how beautiful even that would look
+in its gorgeous October livery.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly in the midst of their sweet converse they heard the sound of
+weeping&mdash;low, deep, heart-broken weeping.</p>
+
+<p>Both paused, looked at each other and listened.</p>
+
+<p>The sound seemed to come from a room on the opposite side of the passage
+to their own apartment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is that?&#8221; inquired Sybil, looking up to her husband&#8217;s face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It seems to be some woman in distress,&#8221; answered Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! see what it is, dear, will you?&#8221; entreated Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>She was herself so happy, that it was really dreadful to be reminded
+just then that sorrow should exist in this world; at all.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, go and see what is the matter. Do, dear,&#8221; she insisted, seeing that
+he hesitated.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_46" id="pg_46">46</a></span>&#8220;I would do so, dear, in a moment, but it might be indiscreet on my
+part. The lady may be a party to some little domestic misunderstanding,
+with which it would be impertinent in any stranger to interfere,&#8221;
+answered the more thoughtful husband.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A domestic misunderstanding! O, dear Lyon, that such things should be!
+Fancy you and I having a misunderstanding!&#8221; exclaimed Sybil, with a
+shiver.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I cannot fancy anything of the sort, my darling; Heaven forbid that I
+could!&#8221; said Lyon, fervently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Amen to that! But listen! Ah! how she weeps and wails! Oh, Lyon, how I
+pity her! Oh, how I wish I could do something for her! Oh, Lyon, are you
+sure it would be improper for me to go and see if I can relieve her in
+any way?&#8221; pleaded Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Quite sure, my darling; I am quite sure that you must not interfere, at
+least at this stage. If this should be a case in which we can be of
+service, we shall be likely to know it when the waiter answers the bell
+that I rung some five minutes since,&#8221; said Lyon, soothingly.</p>
+
+<p>But Sybil could not rest with the sound of that weeping and wailing in
+her ears. She left her chair and began to walk up and down the floor,
+and to pause occasionally at her door to listen.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly a door on the opposite side of the passage opened, and the
+voice of the landlord was heard, apparently speaking to the weeping
+woman.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I beg you won&#8217;t distress yourself, ma&#8217;am; I am sure I wouldn&#8217;t do
+anything to distress you for the world. Keep up your spirits, ma&#8217;am.
+Something may turn up yet, you know,&#8221; he said as he closed the opposite
+door again; and then crossing the passage, he knocked at the door of the
+Berners&#8217; apartments.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come in,&#8221; said Lyon Berners eagerly, while Sybil paused in her restless
+walk and gazed breathlessly at the door.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_47" id="pg_47">47</a></span>Both were so interested, they could not have told why, in that weeping
+woman.</p>
+
+<p>The landlord entered and closed the door behind him, and advanced with a
+bow and an apology.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid that you and your good lady have been disturbed by the
+noise in the other room; but really I could not help it. I have done all
+I could to comfort the poor creature; but really you know, &#8216;Rachel
+weeping for her children&#8217; was nothing to this woman. She&#8217;s been going on
+in this way for the last three days, sir. I did hope she would be quiet
+this evening. I told her that I had guests in these rooms. But, Lord,
+sir! I might just as well try to reason with a thunderstorm as with her.
+I wish I had quieter rooms to put you in, sir.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pray do not think of us. It is not the disturbance we mind on our own
+account; it is to hear a fellow creature in so much distress. A guest of
+the house?&#8221; inquired Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir; worse luck.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She has lost friends or&mdash;fortune?&#8221; continued Berners delicately
+investigating the case, while Sybil looked and listened with the deepest
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Both, sir! Both, sir! All, sir! Everything, sir! It is really a case of
+atrocious villainy, sir! And I may say, a case of extreme difficulty as
+well! A case in which I need counsel myself, sir,&#8221; said the landlord,
+with every appearance of being as willing to give information as to take
+advice.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_48" id="pg_48">48</a></span>
+<a name="THE_LANDLORDS_STORY_1172" id="THE_LANDLORDS_STORY_1172"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+<h3>THE LANDLORD&#8217;S STORY.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">&#8220;What wit so sharp is found in youth or age<br />
+&nbsp;That can distinguish truth from treachery?<br />
+&nbsp;Falsehood puts on the face of simple truth,<br />
+&nbsp;And masks i&#8217; th&#8217; habit of plain honesty,<br />
+&nbsp;When she in heart intends most villany.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sit down, Mr. Judson; sit down, and tell us all about this matter; and
+if we can aid either you or your distressed lodger in any way, we shall
+be glad to do so,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, indeed,&#8221; added Sybil, throwing herself down in her easy-chair,
+with a deep breath of relief and anticipation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, sir, and madam,&#8221; commenced the landlord, frankly accepting the
+offered seat, &#8220;the case is this: About ten days ago there arrived in
+this city, by the ship Banshee, from Cork, a lady, gentleman, and child,
+with two servants, who came directly to this house. The gentleman
+registered his party as Mr. and Mrs. Horace Blondelle, child, nurse, and
+valet, and he engaged the very best rooms in the house&mdash;the rooms
+corresponding to these on the opposite side of the passage, you know,
+madam.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; assented Mrs. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, sir, and Mr. Horace Blondelle ordered, besides the best rooms,
+everything else that was best in the house, and, indeed, better than the
+house contained; for, for his supper that very night, I had to send by
+his directions, and procure Johanesberg, Moselle, and other rare and
+costly wines, such as are seldom or never called for here. But then you
+know, sir, he was a foreign gentleman.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Certainly,&#8221; agreed Lyon, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Next day, the finest horses and carriages from the livery stables. And
+so on in the highest scale of expense, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_49" id="pg_49">49</a></span>until his week&#8217;s bill ran up to
+seven hundred dollars. As a good deal of this was money paid out of my
+pocket for costly wines and costly horses, I sent in my account on the
+Saturday night. It is the usual thing, however, madam.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I know,&#8221; answered Mrs. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, Mr. Horace Blondelle very promptly settled it by handing me a
+check on the local bank for the amount. It was too late then to cash my
+check, as the bank had been for some hours closed. But I resolved to
+take it to the bank the first thing on Monday morning to get the money;
+and I left Mr. Horace Blondelle&#8217;s apartments with a secret feeling of
+commendation for his prudence in putting his ready money in the local
+bank, instead of keeping it about him in a crowded hotel like this. For,
+you know, sir, that the recent daring robbery at the Monroe House has
+proved to us that even the office safe is not <i>always</i> &#8216;safe.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not always,&#8221; echoed Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, sir, and madam, I was so well pleased with my guest&#8217;s promptitude
+in settling his bill, that I redoubled my attentions to his comfort and
+that of his party. On the Sunday he commenced the week&#8217;s account by
+giving a large dinner-party, for he had made acquaintances in the town.
+And again the most expensive delicacies and the mostly costly wines were
+ordered, with the most lavish extravagance. And they kept up the
+festivities in rather a noisy manner through the whole night, which was
+painful to me, I being a Churchman. But then, you know, madam, a
+landlord can not interfere with his guests to that extent.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Certainly not,&#8221; admitted Mrs. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, sir, the next morning after such a carousal, I naturally expected
+my guests to sleep late, so I was not surprised that the stillness of
+their rooms remained unbroken by any sound even up to ten o&#8217;clock. At
+that hour however, the bank opened, and I went myself to get my <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_50" id="pg_50">50</a></span>check
+cashed. There, sir, I got another check. Judge of my astonishment when
+the cashier, after examining Mr. Horace Blondelle&#8217;s paper, declared that
+he knew no such person, and that there was no money deposited in that
+bank to the credit of that name.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was a swindle!&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Berners, impulsively.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was a swindle,&#8221; admitted the landlord. &#8220;Yes, sir, a swindle of the
+basest sort, though I did not know it even then. I was inclined to be
+angry with the cashier, but I reflected that there was probably a
+mistake of some sort; so I hurried back home and inquired if Mr. Horace
+Blondelle had shown himself yet. I was told that he had not yet even
+rung his bell. Then I went to his private parlor, which had been the
+scene of last night&#8217;s dinner giving and Sabbath breaking. The servants
+of the house had removed all signs of the carousal, and were moving
+noiselessly about the room while restoring it to order, so as not to
+disturb the rest of Mr. and Mrs. Horace Blondelle in the bedroom
+adjoining. I told my people that, as soon as Mr. Blondelle should awake,
+they must tell him that I begged leave to wait on him on a matter of
+business. It is as well to say, that while I lingered in the room, the
+nurse came in with the child, a pretty, fair-haired boy of five years
+old. They occupied a little chamber at the end of the passage, in easy
+reach of the child&#8217;s mother. The nurse came in, hushing and cautioning
+the child not to make a noise, lest he should wake up poor mamma and
+papa, who were so tired. I mention this little domestic incident
+because, in some strange way that I cannot begin to understand, it
+quieted my misgivings, so that I went below and waited patiently for the
+rising of Mr. Horace Blondelle. Madam, I might have waited till this
+time!&#8221; said the landlord, pausing solemnly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why? go on and tell me!&#8221; impulsively exclaimed Mrs. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why? I will soon let you know. I waited until long <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_51" id="pg_51">51</a></span>after noon. And
+still no sound from the bedroom. I walked in and out of the
+sitting-room, where the table was set for breakfast, and still no sound
+from the bedroom. And in the sitting-room no sound of occupation but
+the waiting breakfast-table in the middle of the floor, and the nurse
+seated at one of the windows with the impatient child at her knee.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Your master and mistress sleep late,&#8217; I said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Yes, sir, they were up late last night,&#8217; she replied while twisting
+the child&#8217;s golden ringlets around her fingers, in pure idleness, for
+they did not need curling.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I went away and staid away for about an hour, and then returned to the
+sitting-room. No sound from the bedroom yet. No change in the
+sitting-room, except that the nurse had taken a seat at the corner of
+the table with the child on her lap, and was feeding him from a bowl of
+milk and bread.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Your master and mistress not up yet?&#8217; I ventured to say.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;No, sir, and no sign of them; I am giving little Crowy his supper, and
+am going to put him to bed. And if the bell don&#8217;t ring by that time, I
+shall make bold to knock at the door and wake them up. Because, sir, I&#8217;m
+getting uneasy. Something might be the matter, though I don&#8217;t know
+what,&#8217; said the girl, anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;So am I, I wish you would. And when your master has breakfasted, tell
+him I wish to be permitted to wait on him,&#8217; I said to the girl, and I
+left the room for the tenth time, I do suppose, that day.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well!&#8221; eagerly exclaimed Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, madam, in less than an hour from that time, one of the waiters
+came to me with looks of alarm, and said that something must have
+happened in number 90, for that the lady&#8217;s maid had been knocking and
+calling loudly at the door for the last ten minutes without being able
+to make herself heard within.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_52" id="pg_52">52</a></span>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; breathed Sybil, clasping her hands.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Madam, I hurried to the spot. I joined my efforts to those of the
+terrified maid to arouse the sleepers within the chamber, but with no
+effect. The maid was almost crazy by this time, ma&#8217;am.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Oh, sir, are they murdered in their bed?&#8217; she cried to me.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Murdered? No, but something has happened, and we must force open the
+door, my good girl,&#8217; I said by way of calming her. You may well judge,
+sir, that I did not send for a locksmith; but with a crowbar, hastily
+procured from below, I hoisted the door from its hangings and effected
+an entrance.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And then? And then?&#8221; breathlessly inquired Sybil, perceiving that the
+landlord paused for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We found the room in the utmost confusion. Chests of drawers,
+clothes-presses, boxes, and so forth, stood wide open, with their
+contents scattered over the floor. We glanced at the bed, and the maid
+uttered a wild scream, and even I felt my blood run cold; for there lay
+the form of the lady, still, cold, pallid, livid, like that of a corpse
+many hours dead. No sign of Blondelle was to be seen about the chamber.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! had he murdered her and fled?&#8221; gasped Sybil, with a half-suppressed
+hysterical sob.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners passed his arm around her shoulders and drew her head down
+upon his breast, and signed for the landlord to proceed with his story.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sir,&#8221; continued Mr. Judson, &#8220;I went up to that bedside in the worst
+panic I ever felt in all my life. My heart was hammering at my ribs like
+a trip-hammer. First I took up the white hand that was hanging
+helplessly down by the side of the bed; and I was glad to find that it
+was limber, though cold as ice. Life might not be extinct. I ran down
+and dispatched several servants in different <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_53" id="pg_53">53</a></span>directions for physicians,
+being determined to insure the attendance of one, even at the risk of
+bringing a dozen, and having all their fees to pay.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You never thought of fees, I&#8217;ll guarantee,&#8221; said Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Indeed I did not. I thought only of the lady. I sent my old mother to
+her bedside, with a request that she would keep everybody else out of
+the room until the arrival of a physician, and to let nothing be
+touched; for you see, sir, I did not know but what the attendance of a
+coroner would be called for as well.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, how terrible!&#8221; murmured Sybil, from her shelter on her husband&#8217;s
+breast.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, madam, but not so terrible as we feared. Not to tire you with too
+long an account of this bad business, I will tell you at once the result
+of the physician&#8217;s examination. It was, that this death-like sleep or
+coma of the lady was produced by some powerful narcotic, but by what or
+for what purpose administered, he could not discover. The maid was
+questioned as to whether her mistress was in the habit of using any form
+of opium, and answered that she certainly was not. Well, madam, the
+doctor left the lady under the care of my mother, with directions to
+watch her pulse, and on any indication of its failure, to summon him
+immediately.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She was in danger, then?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Apparently. My mother watched beside her bed all that night; the lady
+did not awake until the next morning&mdash;that was the Tuesday; and the poor
+soul thought it was Monday! You see twenty-four hours had been lost to
+her consciousness.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And her infamous husband?&#8221; inquired Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Neither he nor his valet were to be found. I had the police upon his
+track, you may be sure; though I did not, at the time of the lady&#8217;s
+awakening, know the full extent <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_54" id="pg_54">54</a></span>of his atrocious villainy. I knew he
+had swindled me, but I did not know that he had robbed and forsaken his
+lovely young wife.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Robbed and forsaken his wife?&#8221; echoed Sybil, piteously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, madam, incredible as it seems. But I did not know this until the
+lady came to her senses. When she first awoke and found my mother seated
+by her bed, she expressed much surprise, at <i>her</i> presence and at her
+own husband&#8217;s absence. My mother, a plain spoken old lady, blurted out
+the truth&mdash;how Mr. Horace Blondelle, after imposing a worthless check
+upon me, in payment of my bill, had absconded with his valet, and been
+missing ever since the night of the dinner-party, and that she, Mrs.
+Blondelle, had slept profoundly through all these events.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, what a dreadful tale for the poor young wife to hear!&#8221; sighed
+Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was worse than anything I ever saw in my life, madam&mdash;her grief and
+shame and despair! She arose from her bed and began to examine her
+effects, to see what she might have left, and how far they would go
+towards settling my bill. She possessed some invaluable jewelry in
+diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. I know she did, for I had seen her wear
+them. She alluded to these, and said that they were worth many thousand
+dollars, and that she would sell some of them to satisfy my claims. She
+began to look for them, and then it was only by her broken exclamations
+of dismay that I came to know that he had robbed her.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The unnatural monster!&#8221; indignantly exclaimed Mr. Berners, while Sybil
+gazed in almost incredulous consternation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir, and madam, the truth was now apparent, even to the poor lady;
+and it was this&mdash;that on the night of the dinner-party he had heavily
+drugged her wine, so that when she retired to bed she fell into that
+deep, death-like <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_55" id="pg_55">55</a></span>sleep. Then he took advantage of her state to get
+possession of her keys, and to rifle her boxes and caskets, and make off
+with her money and jewels.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Poor, poor woman!&#8221; sighed Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This, madam,&#8221; continued the landlord, turning to Mrs. Burners,
+&#8220;occurred four days ago. Since that time her base husband has been
+traced to New York, and there lost sight of.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And she?&#8221; inquired Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She, madam, has given herself up to the wildest grief and despair. She
+is as simple and as helpless as her own child. She has not the faintest
+notion of self-reliance. And here is where the trouble is with me. I
+have already lost several hundred dollars through this swindling
+villain. The wife and child he has left behind him are still occupying
+my best suite of apartments, for which, during their stay here, I shall
+not receive one penny of remuneration: therefore you see I cannot afford
+to keep this lady and her suite here, and neither can I find it in my
+heart to tell her to leave the house. For where, indeed, can she go? She
+has no friends or acquaintances in this country, no money, and no
+property that she can effectually turn into money.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Has she no one to pity her among the ladies in the house?&#8221; inquired
+Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There are no ladies staying in the house at present, madam. Our patrons
+are usually travellers, who seldom remain over one night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But&mdash;the women of your family?&#8221; suggested Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There are no women in this family, except my old mother, who keeps
+house for me, and the female servants under her. I am a widower, madam,
+with half a dozen sons, but no daughters,&#8221; returned the landlord.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil lifted her head from her husband&#8217;s shoulder, where it had rested
+so long, and looked wistfully in her husband&#8217;s eyes. He smiled, and
+nodded assent to what seemed to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_56" id="pg_56">56</a></span>have been a silent interrogation. Then
+she took from her pocket a little gold-enamelled card-case, drew from it
+a card and a pencil, and wrote a few lines and handed it to the
+landlord, saying:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Judson, will you do me the favor to take this in to the unhappy
+lady at once, and see if she will receive me this evening? I feel as if
+I would like to try to comfort and serve her,&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will with pleasure, madam; and I have no doubt that the mere
+expression of sympathy from another lady will be to her like a drop of
+water to a feverish palate,&#8221; said the landlord, as he left the room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear Lyon, I have a favor to ask of you,&#8221; said Sybil, as soon as she
+was alone with her husband.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A favor! a right, my beloved! There is nothing that you can ask of me
+that is not your right to receive!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, no; a favor. I like to ask and receive favors from you, dear Lyon.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Call my service what you will, dear love! a right or a favor, it is
+always yours! What, then, is this favor, sweet Sybil?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That you will give me a perfect <i>carte blanche</i> in my manner of dealing
+with this poor little lady, even though my manner should seem foolish or
+extravagant.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At these words from his ardent, generous, romantic wife, Lyon Berners
+looked very grave. What, indeed might Sybil, with her magnanimity and
+munificence <i>not</i> think proper to do for this utter stranger&mdash;this
+possible adventuress? Lyon looked very solemn over this proposal from
+his wife. He hesitated for a moment; but her large, clear, honest eyes
+were fixed full upon him, waiting for his reply. Could he refuse her
+request? Did <i>he</i> not owe everything to her, and to that very high-flown
+spirit of generosity which was not only a fault (if it were a fault) of
+Sybil, but a trait common to all her race.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_57" id="pg_57">57</a></span>&#8220;As you will, my darling wife! I should be a cur, and worse than a
+cur&mdash;a thankless wretch&mdash;to wish to restrain you in anything!&#8221; he
+answered, sealing his agreement on her velvet lips.</p>
+
+<p>In another minute the landlord re-entered the room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Blondelle&#8217;s thanks and compliments, and she will be very grateful
+for Mrs. Berners&#8217; visit, as soon as Mrs. Berners pleases to come,&#8221; was
+the message that Mr. Judson brought.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil arose with a smile, kissed her hand playfully to her husband, and
+passed out of the room.</p>
+
+<p>The landlord went before her, rapped at the opposite door, then opened
+it, announced the visitor, and closed it behind her.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil advanced a step into the stranger&#8217;s apartment, and then paused in
+involuntary admiration.</p>
+
+<p>She had heard and read of celebrated beauties, whose charms had
+conquered the wisest statesmen and the bravest warriors, who had
+governed monarchs and ministers, and raised or ruined kingdoms and
+empires. And often in poetic fancy she had tried to figure to herself
+one of these fairy forms and faces. But never, in her most romantic
+moods, had she imagined a creature so perfectly beautiful as this one
+that she saw before her.</p>
+
+<p>The stranger had a form of the just medium size, and of the most perfect
+proportions; a head of stately grace; features small, delicate, and
+clearly cut; a complexion at once fair and rosy, like the inside of an
+apple blossom; lips like opening rose-buds; eyes of dark azure blue,
+fringed with long dark eye-lashes, and over-arched by slender, dark
+eyebrows; and hair of a pale, glistening, golden hue that fell in soft,
+bright ringlets, like a halo around her angelic face. She wore a robe of
+soft, pale, blue silk, that opened over a white silk skirt.</p>
+
+<p>She arose with an exquisite grace to welcome her visitor.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_58" id="pg_58">58</a></span>&#8220;It is very good of you, madam, to come to see me in my misery,&#8221; she
+murmured, in a sweet, pathetic tone that went to her visitor&#8217;s heart, as
+she sat a chair, and, by a graceful gesture invited her to be seated.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil was herself impulsive and confiding, as well as romantic and
+generous. She immediately drew her chair up to the side of the strange
+lady, took her hand affectionately, and tried to look up in her eyes, as
+she said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We are personal strangers to each other; but we are the children of one
+Father, and sisters who should care for each other.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah! who would care to claim sisterhood with such a wretch as I am?&#8221;
+sighed the unhappy young creature.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>I</i> would; but you must not call yourself ill-names. Misfortunes are
+not sins. I came here to comfort and help you&mdash;to comfort and help you
+not in words merely, but in deeds; and I have both the power and the
+will to do it, if you will please to let me try,&#8221; said Sybil, gently.</p>
+
+<p>The young creature looked up, her lovely, tearful, blue eyes expanded
+with astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You offer to comfort and help me! <i>Me</i>&mdash;a perfect stranger, with a
+cloud of dishonor hanging over me! Oh, madam, if you knew <i>all</i>, you
+would certainly withdraw your kind offer,&#8221; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will not withdraw it in any event. I <i>do</i> know all that your landlord
+could tell me, and that awakens my deepest sympathy for you. But I do
+not know all that <i>you</i> could tell me. Now, dear, I want you to confide
+in me as you could not confide either in your landlord, or even in his
+mother.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no, no! I could not tell either of them. They were kind; but&mdash;oh,
+so hard!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, dear, then, look in my face, look well, and tell me whether you
+can confide in me,&#8221; said Sybil, gently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If I had never seen your heavenly countenance&mdash;if I <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_59" id="pg_59">59</a></span>had only heard
+your heavenly voice, I could confide in you, as in the holy mother of
+Christ,&#8221; said the stranger fervently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Tell me then, dear; tell me all you wish to tell; relieve your heart;
+lay all your burdens on my bosom; and then you shall feel how well I can
+comfort and help you,&#8221; said Sybil, putting her hand around the fair neck
+and drawing the little golden-haired head upon her breast.</p>
+
+<p>Then and there the friendless young stranger&mdash;friendless now, no
+more&mdash;told her piteous story.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="ROSA_BLONDELLE_1598" id="ROSA_BLONDELLE_1598"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+<h3>ROSA BLONDELLE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">Her form had all the softness of her sex,<br />
+Her face had all the sweetness of the devil<br />
+When he put on the cherub to perplex<br />
+Eve, and to pave, Heaven knows how, the road to evil.&mdash;<span class="sc">Byron.</span></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>She had been the penniless orphan daughter of a noble, but impoverished
+Scotch family. She had been left, by the death of her parents, dependent
+upon harsh and cruel relatives. She had been given in marriage, at the
+age of fifteen, to a wealthy old gentleman, whose years quadrupled hers.
+But he had used her very kindly, and she had performed her simple duty
+of love and obedience as well as she knew how to do it. After two years
+of tranquil domestic happiness, the old man died, leaving her a young
+widow seventeen years of age, sole guardian to their infant son, between
+whom and herself he had divided his whole estate.</p>
+
+<p>After the death of her old husband, the youthful widow lived in strict
+seclusion for nearly two years, devoting herself exclusively to the care
+of her child.</p>
+
+<p>But in the third year the health of the little Cromartie <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_60" id="pg_60">60</a></span>required a
+change, and his mother, by her physician&#8217;s advice, took the boy to
+Scarborough. That fashionable watering place was then at the height of
+its season, and filled with visitors.</p>
+
+<p>Thus it was impossible but that the wealthy young widow should attract
+much attention. She was inevitably drawn into the maelstrom of society,
+into which she rushed with all the impetuosity of a novice or an
+inexperienced recluse, to which all the scenes of the gay world were as
+delightful as they were novel.</p>
+
+<p>She had many suitors for her hand; but none found favor in her eyes but
+Mr. Horace Blondelle, a very handsome and attractive young gentleman,
+whose principal passport into good society seemed to be his distant
+relationship to the Duke of Marchmonte. <i>How</i> he lived no one knew.
+<i>Where</i> he lived everyone might see, for he always occupied the best
+suits of apartments in the best hotel of any town or city in which he
+might be for the time sojourning.</p>
+
+<p>We, every one of us know, or know <i>of</i>, Mr. Horace Blondelle. There are
+scores of him scattered about the great hotels of all the large cities
+in Europe and America. But the simplest maiden or the silliest widow in
+society, is seldom taken in by him.</p>
+
+<p>There, however, at Scarborough, was an inexperienced poor little
+creature from the Highlands, who had never in her life seen any one more
+attractive than the red-headed heroes of her native hills, and who,
+having aurific tresses of her own, was particularly prejudiced against
+that splendid hue, and fatally ensnared by the raven ringlets and dark
+eyes of this professional lady-killer.</p>
+
+<p>And thus it followed of course, that this beast of prey devoured the
+pretty little widow and all her substance with less hesitation or
+remorse than a cobra might have felt in swallowing a canary bird.</p>
+
+<p>So complete was her hallucination, so perfect her trust in <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_61" id="pg_61">61</a></span>him, that
+she took no precaution of having any part of her property settled upon
+herself; and, in marrying this man she gave him an absolute control over
+her own fortune, and a dangerous, if limited, influence over that of her
+infant son.</p>
+
+<p>This very imprudent marriage was followed by a few months of delusive
+happiness on the part of the bride; for the little fair beauty adored
+her dark-haired Apollo, who graciously accepted her adoration.</p>
+
+<p>But then came satiety and weariness and inconstancy on the part of the
+husband, who soon commenced the pleasing pastime of breaking the wife&#8217;s
+heart.</p>
+
+<p>Yet still, for some little time longer, she, with a deplorable fatuity,
+believed in and loved him. After he had squandered her own fortune on
+gaming-tables and race-courses, he wished to get possession of the
+fortune of her son. To do this he persuaded her to sell out certain
+stock and entrust him with the proceeds, to be invested, as he convinced
+her, in railway shares in America, that would pay at least two hundred
+per cent. dividends, and in a few months double that money.</p>
+
+<p>Acting as her son&#8217;s guardian and trustee, acting also, as she thought,
+in his best interests, the deluded mother did as her husband directed.
+She sold out the stocks, and confided the proceeds to him.</p>
+
+<p>Then it was that they made the voyage to America, ostensibly to purchase
+the railway shares in question. His real motive in bringing her to this
+country was, doubtless, to take her as far as possible from her native
+place and her old acquaintances, so as to prosecute the more safely and
+effectually his fraudulent designs.</p>
+
+<p>How they had arrived at Norfolk and taken rooms at the Anchor, and how
+he had robbed and deserted her there, has already been told.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil Berners listened to this sad and revolting story of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_62" id="pg_62">62</a></span>woman&#8217;s
+weakness and man&#8217;s criminality with mingled emotions of pity and
+indignation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Believe me,&#8221; she said, tenderly taking the hand of the injured wife, &#8220;I
+feel the deepest sympathy with your misfortunes. I will do everything in
+my power to comfort and help you&mdash;not in words only, but in deeds; and I
+only grieve, dear, that I cannot give you back your husband in his honor
+and integrity as you once regarded him,&#8221; added this loving and confiding
+wife, to whom no misery seemed so great as that caused by the default
+and desertion of a husband.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, do not name him to me!&#8221; burst forth in pain from the lips of Rosa
+Blondelle; &#8220;oh, I hope, as long as I may live in this world, never to be
+wounded by the sound of his base name, or blasted with the sight of his
+false face again.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sybil Berners shrank in dismay from the excited woman, who continued,
+vehemently:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you wonder at this? I tell you, madam, it is possible for love to
+die a sudden and violent death, for mine has done so within the last
+three days.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am deeply grieved to hear you say so, for it proves how much you must
+have suffered&mdash;how much more than even I had imagined. But try to take a
+little comfort. I and my own dear husband will be your friends, will be
+a sister and a brother to you,&#8221; said Sybil earnestly, with all the
+impulsive, unlimited generosity of her youth and her race, awakened by
+her sympathy with the sorrows of this young stranger.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, madam, you&mdash;&#8221; began Rosa, but her voice broke down in sobs.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Take comfort,&#8221; continued Sybil, laying her little brown hand on that
+fair golden head, &#8220;take comfort. Think, you have not lost all. You have
+your child left.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah, my child!&#8221; cried Rosa, in a tone like a shriek of anguish, &#8220;my
+child, my wronged and ruined babe! The <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_63" id="pg_63">63</a></span>sight of him is a sword through
+my bosom! my child that <i>he</i> robbed and made <i>me</i> an accomplice in
+robbing&mdash;it is maddening to think of it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then do not think of it,&#8221; said Sybil, gently, and still caressing the
+bowed head; &#8220;think of anything else&mdash;think of what I am going to say to
+you. Listen. While you remain in this crowded and noisy hotel, you can
+never recover calmness enough to act with any good effect. So I wish you
+to come home with me and my dear husband to our quiet country house, and
+be our cherished guest until you can communicate with your friends, or
+come to some satisfactory decision concerning your future course.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>While Sybil spoke these words, the young stranger raised her head and
+looked up with gradually dilating eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come, now; what say you? Will you be our dear and welcome guest this
+autumn?&#8221; smiled Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, <i>do</i> you mean this? <i>can</i> you mean it?&#8221; exclaimed Rosa, in
+something like an ecstasy of surprise and gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In our secluded country house, with sympathizing friends around you,&#8221;
+continued Sybil, still caressing Rosa&#8217;s little golden-haired head, and
+speaking all the more calmly because of Rosa&#8217;s excitement, &#8220;you will
+have repose and leisure to collect your thoughts and to write to your
+friends in the old country, and to wait without hurry or anxiety to hear
+from them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, angels in Heaven, do you hear what this angel on earth is saying to
+me! Oh, was ever such divine goodness seen under the sun before! Oh,
+dear lady, you amaze, you confound me with your heavenly goodness!&#8221;
+exclaimed the young stranger, in strong emotion.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil took her hand, and still all the more gently for the increasing
+agitation of Rosa, she continued:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We are daughters of the Divine Father, sisters in one suffering
+humanity, and so we should care for each other. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_64" id="pg_64">64</a></span>At present you are
+suffering, and I have some power to comfort you. In the future our
+positions may be reversed, and <i>I</i> may be the sufferer and you the
+comforter. Who can tell?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;O, dear lady, Heaven forbid that great heart of yours should ever be
+called to suffer, or that you should ever need such poor help as mine.
+But this I know: so penetrated am I by your goodness, that, if ever you
+should lose your present happiness and my death would restore it, I
+would die to give it back to you,&#8221; fervently exclaimed the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>And for the moment she felt as she had spoken, for she was most
+profoundly moved by a magnanimity she had never seen equalled.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil blushed like a child, and found nothing to say in reply to this
+excessive praise. She only left her hand in the clasp of the stranger,
+who covered it with kisses, and then continued:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;When I first saw your little white card and the delicate tracery of
+your name and your kind words, I seemed to know it was a friend&#8217;s
+writing. And when I first saw your sweet face and heard your tender
+tones, both so full of heavenly pity, I felt that the good Lord had not
+forsaken me, for He had sent one of his holy angels to visit me. Ah,
+lady, if you had only come and looked at me so and spoken to me so, and
+then passed out and away forever, still, still, that look and that tone
+would have remained with me, a comfort and a blessing for all time. But
+now&mdash;but now to hold out your hands to lead me to a place in your own
+home, by your own side&mdash;oh, it is too much! too much!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And tears of many mingled emotions flowed down the speaker&#8217;s cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There, there!&#8221; said Sybil, utterly confused by this excessive, but most
+sincere adulation, yet still caressing the stranger&#8217;s fair head, &#8220;there,
+dear, dry your eyes, and tell me if you can be ready to leave this place
+with us to-morrow morning.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_65" id="pg_65">65</a></span>Again the foreign lady seized and kissed the hands of her new friend,
+exclaiming fervently:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes dear lady, yes! I am too deeply touched by your heavenly goodness
+not to be anxious to profit by it as soon as possible.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I will leave you to your preparations for the journey,&#8221; said
+Sybil, rising.</p>
+
+<p>Rosa also stood up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There will be much to be done in a short time. Will you let me send my
+maid to help yours?&#8221; inquired Sybil, with a hesitating smile.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thanks, dear madam. I shall be much obliged,&#8221; replied Rosa, with a bow.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And there is yet another request I have to make,&#8221; added Mrs. Berners,
+pausing with her hand upon the latch of the door&mdash;&#8220;Will you kindly meet
+us at breakfast at eight o&#8217;clock to-morrow morning in our private
+sitting-room, so that I may make you acquainted with my husband before
+we all start on our journey together?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With pleasure, dear lady! It is your will to load me with benefits, and
+you must be gratified,&#8221; replied Rosa, with a faint smile.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I will come myself and fetch you, a little before the hour,&#8221; added
+Sybil, playfully throwing a kiss as she darted through the door.</p>
+
+<p>When she re-entered her own apartment, she found her husband impatiently
+pacing up and down the floor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How very long you have been, my darling Sybil,&#8221; he said, with all the
+fondness of a newly-wedded lover, as he went to meet her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I am so glad you thought it long!&#8221; she answered mischievously, as
+she took his hand and pulled him to the big easy-chair and pushed him
+down into it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sit down there, and listen to me,&#8221; she said, with a pretty little air
+of authority. Then she drew an ottoman <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_66" id="pg_66">66</a></span>to his side and sunk down upon
+it, and leaned her arms upon his knees, and lifted her beautiful dark
+face, now all aglow with the delight of benevolence, and told him all
+that had passed in the interview between herself and Mrs. Blondelle.</p>
+
+<p>And Lyon Berners, with his arm over her graceful shoulders, his fingers
+stringing her silken black ringlets, and his eyes gazing with infinite
+tenderness and admiration down on her eloquent face, listened with
+attentive interest to the story. But at its close, great was his
+astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear, impulsive Sybil, what have you done!&#8221; he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What!&#8221; echoed Sybil, her crimson lips breathlessly apart&mdash;her dark eyes
+dilated.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Love, you have invited a perfect stranger, casually met at a hotel&mdash;a
+gambler&#8217;s wife, even by her own showing, an adventuress by all other
+appearances, to come and take up her abode with us for an indefinite
+length of time!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sybil&#8217;s mouth opened, and her eyes dilated with an almost comical
+expression of dismay. She had not a word to say in self-defence!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do not think I blame you, dear, warm, imprudent heart! I only wonder at
+you, and&mdash;adore you!&#8221; he said, earnestly pressing her to his bosom.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, but you would have done as I did, if you had seen her distress!&#8221;
+pleaded Sybil, recovering her powers of speech.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But could you not have helped her without inviting her home with us?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But how?&#8221; inquired Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Could you not have paid her board? or lent her money?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Lyon! Lyon!&#8221; said Sybil, slowly shaking her head and looking up in
+his face with a heavenly benevolence beaming through her own. &#8220;Oh, Lyon!
+it was not a <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_67" id="pg_67">67</a></span>boarding-house she wanted, it was a <i>refuge</i>, a home with
+friends! But I am very sorry if this displeases you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear, impetuous, self-forgetting child! I am not so impious as to find
+fault with you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But you do not like the lady&#8217;s coming.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I should not like any visitor coming to stay with us and prevent our
+<i>t&ecirc;te-&agrave;-t&ecirc;te</i>,&#8221; said Lyon, gravely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I thought of that too, dear, and with a pang of selfish regret; for of
+course I would much rather that you and I should have our dear old home
+to ourselves, than that any stranger should share it with us. But then,
+oh, dearest Lyon, I reflected that we are so rich and happy in our home
+and our love, and she is so poor and sorrowful in her exile and
+desertion, that we might afford to comfort her from the abundance of our
+blessings,&#8221; said Sybil, earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My angel wife! you are worthier than I, and your will shall be done,&#8221;
+he gravely replied.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not so, dear Lyon! But when you see this lady in her beauty and her
+sorrow, you also will admire and pity her, and you will be glad that she
+is coming to the refuge of our home.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I may be so,&#8221; replied Mr. Berners with an arch smile, &#8220;but how will
+your proud neighbors receive this questionable stranger?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The stately little head was lifted in an instant, and&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My &#8216;proud neighbors&#8217; well know that whom Sybil Berners protects with
+her friendship is peer with the proudest among them!&#8221; she said, with a
+hauteur not to be surpassed by the haughtiest in the Old Dominion.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well said, my little wife! And now, as this matter is decided, I must
+see about taking additional places in the stage-coach. How many will be
+wanted? What retinue has this foreign princess in distress,&#8221; inquired
+Lyon, rather sarcastically.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_68" id="pg_68">68</a></span>&#8220;There will be three places required, for the lady, child and nurse.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Whe-ew! My dear Sybil, we are collecting a ready made family! Does the
+child squall? or the nurse drink?&#8221; inquired Lyon, with a laugh, as
+without waiting for a reply he rang the bell, and gave the order for
+three more places to be taken inside the Staunton coach for the morning.</p>
+
+<p>And soon after this the young pair retired to rest.</p>
+
+<p>Very early the next morning Sybil Berners came out of her chamber,
+looking fresh and bright as the new day itself. She wore a close-fitting
+travelling dress of crimson merino, that well became her elegant little
+figure and rich, dark complexion.</p>
+
+<p>She glanced around the room to see that everything was in order. Yes;
+the fire was bright, the hearth clean, the breakfast-table neatly set,
+and the morning sun shining through the red-curtained windows and
+glancing upon the silver tea-service.</p>
+
+<p>With a smile of satisfaction, she tossed back her raven-black ringlets,
+and passed from the room and through the hall, and rapped at the door of
+her new acquaintance.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Blondelle herself opened it, and stood there quite ready to
+accompany her friend to breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>Radiantly beautiful looked the fair young stranger this morning, in the
+dark, bright-blue cloth habit that so highly enhanced the dazzling
+splendor of her blooming complexion and the golden glory of her hair.</p>
+
+<p>An instant Sybil paused in involuntary admiration, and then recovered
+herself and greeted the lady with affectionate warmth.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is nearly eight o&#8217;clock, dear, and breakfast is quite ready. Will
+you come now?&#8221; inquired Sybil, when these salutations were passed.</p>
+
+<p>Rosa assented with a sweet smile, and Sybil led the way into her own
+sitting-room.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_69" id="pg_69">69</a></span>Mr. Berners had come in during his wife&#8217;s short absence, and he now
+stood before the fire with the morning paper in his hand. He put it down
+on the table, and came forward to meet his wife, and to welcome her
+guest.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Blondelle, Mr. Berners,&#8221; said Sybil, introducing the parties to
+each other by the simplest formula.</p>
+
+<p>And while they were bowing together, Sybil was watching mischievously to
+see what effect the dazzling beauty of Rosa Blondelle would have upon
+Lyon Berners.</p>
+
+<p>She saw it!</p>
+
+<p>After bowing, they lifted their heads and looked at each other&mdash;he, at
+first, with the courtesy of a host&mdash;but she with a radiant and
+enchanting smile.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil was prepared to see Lyon&#8217;s surprise at the first view of this
+peerless creature; but she was by no means prepared to witness the
+involuntary gaze of intense and breathless admiration and wonder that he
+fixed for a moment on her beautiful face. That gaze said as eloquently
+as words could have spoken:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This is the most wondrous, perfect creature that the world ever saw!
+This is the master-piece of nature.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With the sunlight of her smile still shining on him, Rosa held out her
+hand, and said in the sweetest tones:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sir, I have no words good enough to tell you how deeply I feel your
+kindness and that of your dear wife to me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear lady, Mrs. Berners and myself do but gratify our own tastes in
+<i>trying</i> to serve you; for it will be a great happiness to us if we
+succeed in doing so,&#8221; replied Lyon Berners, with a look and tone that
+proved his perfect sincerity and earnestness.</p>
+
+<p>As thus they smiled and glanced, and spoke to each other, Sybil also
+glanced from the one to the other; a sudden pang shot through her heart,
+exciting a nameless dread in her mind. <i>&#8220;Even so quickly may one catch
+the plague!&#8221;</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_70" id="pg_70">70</a></span>&#8220;Let me lead you to the table,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, offering his arm to
+Mrs. Blondelle, and conducting her to her place.</p>
+
+<p>Above all, Sybil was a lady; for she was a Berners. So, with this
+strange wound in her heart, this vague warning in her mind, she took her
+seat at the head of her table and did its honors with her usual courtesy
+and grace.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners seconded his wife in all hospitable attentions to their
+beautiful young guest.</p>
+
+<p>While they were all still seated at the table, a groom rapped at the
+door and reported the stage-coach ready.</p>
+
+<p>They all arose in a hurry, and began to make the last hasty preparations
+for departure.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Blondelle hurried into her own room, to have her luggage taken down
+stairs to be put on the coach, and also to summon her nurse with the
+child.</p>
+
+<p>When Sybil Berners found herself for a moment alone with her husband,
+she laid her hand upon his coat sleeve to stay him, in his haste, and
+she inquired:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What do you think of her now?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think, my darling Sybil, that you were right in your judgment of this
+lady. And I agree with you perfectly. I think, my only love, that in
+what you have done for this stranger, you have acted not only with the
+goodness, but with the wisdom of an angel,&#8221; replied Lyon Berners,
+snatching her suddenly to his heart, and holding her closely there while
+he pressed kiss after kiss upon her crimson lip; and murmured:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I must steal a kiss from these sweet lips when and wherever I can, my
+own one, since we are not to be much alone together now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And then he released her, and hurried off to put on his overcoat.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil stood for a minute, smiling, where he had left her, and so happy
+that she forgot she had to get ready to go. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_71" id="pg_71">71</a></span>The pain was gone from her
+heart, and the cloud from her brain.</p>
+
+<p>And as yet, so little did she know of herself or others, that she could
+not have told why the pain and the cloud ever came, or why they ever
+went away.</p>
+
+<p>As yet she did not know that her husband&#8217;s admiring smiles given to a
+rival beauty had really caused her nameless suffering; or that it was
+his loving caresses, bestowed upon herself, that had soothed it.</p>
+
+<p>In a word, Sybil Berners, the young bride, did not dream that the
+bitter, bitter seed of <span class="sc">jealousy</span> was germinating in her heart, to grow
+and spread perhaps into a deadly upas of the soul, destroying all moral
+life around it.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="DOWN_IN_THE_DARK_VALE_2065" id="DOWN_IN_THE_DARK_VALE_2065"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+<h3>DOWN IN THE DARK VALE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">Where rose the mountains, there for her were friends,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Where fell the valley, therein was her home;</span><br />
+Where the steep rock and dizzy peak ascends,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">She had the passion and the power to roam.</span><br />
+The crag, the forest, cavern, torrent&#8217;s foam,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Were unto her companions, and they spake</span><br />
+A natural language clearer than the tone<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of her best books, which she would oft forsake</span><br />
+For Nature&#8217;s pages, lit by moonbeams on the lake.&mdash;<span class="sc">Byron</span>.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Jealousy, once called to life in any human heart, is not easily to be
+destroyed. Sybil Berners&#8217; almost unconscious jealousy suddenly called
+into existence, and as suddenly soothed to sleep, was awakened again by
+something that occurred just as the travellers were about to start.</p>
+
+<p>It was the merest trifle, yet one of those trifles which turn the course
+of fate just as surely as the little switch of the railroad controls the
+direction of the train.</p>
+
+<p>The travellers were just entering the stage-coach. Mr. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_72" id="pg_72">72</a></span>Berners handed
+in first Mrs. Blondelle, then Mrs. Berners, and then he himself entered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You sit down here in this right-hand corner, Lyon, dear, and I will sit
+in the middle next to you, and Mrs. Blondelle shall sit in the left-hand
+corner next to me,&#8221; said Sybil, still standing while she pointed out
+their several places on the back seat; and she spoke perhaps under the
+influence of a latent jealousy, that instigated her to place herself
+between her husband and her guest, for that long journey.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, no, my dear, not so; but if you will change places with me and take
+the right-hand corner-seat, while our fair friend occupies the left-hand
+one, I will sit between you two ladies, the proverbial &#8216;thorn between
+two roses,&#8217;&#8221; replied Lyon Berners, gayly and gallantly, with perhaps on
+his side a latent desire to sit next the beautiful blonde, but also
+quite unconscious of how these words had disappointed and wounded her
+whom he would not have willingly wronged for the world.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil silently took her seat, leaving the others to follow her example.
+Mr. Berners politely put Mrs. Blondelle in the left-hand corner, and
+then seated himself in the middle seat, between his wife and her guest.</p>
+
+<p>In front of them, on the movable central seat, sat Mrs. Blondelle&#8217;s
+child and nurse. Facing them on the front seat, with their backs to the
+horses, were the two negro servants, Mr. Berners&#8217; valet and Mrs.
+Berners&#8217; maid.</p>
+
+<p>Though the morning was a very fine one for travelling, there were no
+other passengers inside, or out. Mr. Berners and his party had the whole
+coach to themselves, at least, at starting.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil thought she had never seen her husband in gayer spirits. As the
+horses started and the coach rattled along over the stony streets of the
+city, Mr. Berners turned smilingly to Mrs. Blondelle, and said:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_73" id="pg_73">73</a></span>&#8220;I know of few pleasanter things in this pleasant world than a journey
+through our native State of Virginia, taken at this delightful season of
+the year; and of all routes I know of none affording such a variety of
+beautiful and sublime scenery as this we are now starting upon.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How long will it take you to reach your beautiful home?&#8221; sweetly
+inquired Rosa Blondelle.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We might reach it in two days, if we were to travel day and night; but
+we shall be four days on the road, as we propose to put up at some
+roadside inn or village each night,&#8221; answered Lyon Berners.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the coach rattled out of the city and into the open country,
+where the landscape was fair, well-wooded, well-watered, but not
+striking.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must not judge the scenery of our State by this flat country around
+our seaport,&#8221; said Mr. Berners to his guest, with the air of a man
+making an apology.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yet this is very pleasant to look upon,&#8221; answered Rosa, sincerely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, very pleasant, as you say; but you will use stronger language when
+you see our vast forests, our high mountains, and deep valleys,&#8221;
+answered Lyon Berners with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil did not join in the conversation. She had not spoken since she had
+unwillingly taken that corner seat. And worse than all, to her
+apprehension, neither her husband nor her guest had noticed her silence.
+They were apparently quite absorbed in each other.</p>
+
+<p>Some hours of jolting over bad turnpike roads brought the coach to the
+interior of an old forest, where, at a wayside inn, the horses were
+changed, and the travellers dined. Here, on resuming their seats in the
+coach, they were joined by two other travellers, elderly country
+gentlemen, who took the two vacant places inside, and who would have
+made themselves very confidential with Mr. Berners on <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_74" id="pg_74">74</a></span>any subject
+within their knowledge, from crops to Congress, if he had not been too
+engaged with his fair guest to pay them much attention. Sybil continued
+silent, except when occasionally her husband would ask her if she was
+comfortable, or if he could do anything for her, when she would thank
+him and answer that she was quite comfortable; and that he could do
+nothing. And as far as bodily ease went, she spoke the truth. For the
+rest, Sybil could not then and there ask him to leave off devoting
+himself to their guest, and show <i>her</i> more attention.</p>
+
+<p>A few more hours of more jolting over worse turnpike roads brought the
+coach to the foot of the Blue Ridge, and to the picturesque village of
+Underhill, where our party passed the night. Here, in the village inn,
+Sybil Berners, feeling that Rosa Blondelle, as her guest, was entitled
+to her courtesy, made an effort to forget the pain in her heart, the
+shadow on her mind, and to do the honors of the table with her usual
+affability and grace.</p>
+
+<p>After supper, which was pleasantly prolonged, the travellers separated,
+and were shown to their several bed-chambers.</p>
+
+<p>And now, after twelve hours, Sybil found herself once more alone with
+her husband. He had not perceived her silence and dejection during the
+journey, or if he had, he certainly had not ascribed it to the right
+cause. He was equally unconscious of having done a wrong, or inflicted a
+wound. And now his manner to his wife was as tender, loving, and devoted
+as it had ever been since their marriage. His very first words showed
+this. On entering the room and closing the door, he suddenly threw his
+arms around her, and clasped her to his bosom as a recovered treasure,
+exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, my darling, we are alone together once more, with no one to divide
+us.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank Heaven!&#8221; breathed Sybil with all her heart; <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_75" id="pg_75">75</a></span>and her jealousy was
+lulled to rest again by the kisses that he pressed on her lips. She said
+to herself that all his devotion to Rosa Blondelle in the stage-coach
+was but the proper courtesy of a gentleman to a lady guest, who was,
+besides, a stranger in the country; and that she, his wife, ought to
+admire, rather than to blame him for it&mdash;ought to be pleased, rather
+than pained by it.</p>
+
+<p>Very early the next morning the travellers arose, in order to take the
+earliest coach, which, having left Norfolk at sunset, would reach
+Underhill at sunrise.</p>
+
+<p>Poor, ardent, impulsive Sybil! She had passed a very happy night; and
+this morning she met her guest with a gush of genuine affection,
+embracing and kissing her and her child, making them even more welcome
+than she had done before, and feeling that to-day she could not deal too
+kindly by Rosa, to atone for having yesterday thought so hardly of her.</p>
+
+<p>Under these pleasant auspices the travellers sat down to an excellent
+breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>But the warning horn blew, and they prepared to resume their journey.</p>
+
+<p>On entering the coach, they found the other passengers, three in number,
+already on the back seat. But they were gentlemen, who voluntarily and
+promptly gave up their seats to the two ladies and their escort. The
+coach started.</p>
+
+<p>Their route now lay through some of the wildest passes of the Blue
+Ridge. And here the enthusiasm of Rosa Blondelle burst forth. She said
+that she had seen grand mountains in Scotland, but nothing&mdash;no, nothing
+to equal these in grandeur and beauty!</p>
+
+<p>And Lyon Berners smiled to hear her speak so, as one might smile at the
+extravagant delight of a child, for as a child this lovely stranger
+often seemed to him and to others. And she, with her sweet, blue eyes,
+smiled back to him.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_76" id="pg_76">76</a></span>And Sybil looked and listened, and felt again that strange wound
+deepening in her heart&mdash;that strange cloud darkening over her mind.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="BLACK_HALL_2242" id="BLACK_HALL_2242"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+<h3>BLACK HALL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">Seest thou our home? &#8217;tis where the woods are waving<br />
+<span style="margin-left:1em;">In their dark richness to the autumn air;</span><br />
+Where yon blue stream its rocky banks are laving,<br />
+<span style="margin-left:1em;">Leads down the hills a vein of light&mdash;&#8217;tis there.&mdash;<span class="sc">Hemans</span>.</span></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>At the close of that second day, they stopped at a hamlet on the summit
+of the Blue Ridge, from which they could view five counties. At the
+little hotel they were entertained very much in the same manner as at
+the inn of Underhill. Again Sybil&#8217;s unspoken and unsuspected jealousy
+was soothed by the caresses of her husband.</p>
+
+<p>In the morning they resumed their journey in the early coach, that took
+them across the beautiful valley that lies between the Blue Ridge and
+the Allegheny Mountains. And again Lyon Berners&#8217; devotion to Rosa
+Blondelle deeply distressed Sybil. At nightfall they reached Staunton,
+where they slept.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning of the fourth and last day of their journey, they took
+the cross-country coach and changed their route, which now led them
+towards the wildest, dreariest, and loneliest passes of the Alleghenies.</p>
+
+<p>About mid-day the coach entered the dark defile known as the &#8220;Devils&#8217;
+Descent.&#8221; And, in fact, it needed all the noon sunshine to light up the
+gloom of that fearful pass. Here the delight of the impressible young
+foreigner deepened into awe.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have never seen anything like this in the old country,&#8221; she breathed,
+in a low, hushed tone.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_77" id="pg_77">77</a></span>And again Lyon Berners smiled most kindly and indulgently on her, and
+again Sybil Berners sickened at heart. Every time Lyon so smiled on
+Rosa, Sybil so sickened. She strove against this feeling, but she could
+not overcome it.</p>
+
+<p>As the day declined and the coach went on, wilder, drearier, and
+lonelier became the road, until, at nightfall, it entered a pass so
+gloomy, so savage, so terrific in its aspect, that the young stranger
+involuntarily caught her breath and clung for protection to the arm of
+Lyon Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have never <i>dreamed</i> of a place like this,&#8221; she gasped.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You think,&#8221; he said indulgently, &#8220;that if the other pass was called the
+&#8216;Devil&#8217;s Descent,&#8217; this should be the &#8216;Gates of Hell.&#8217; Yet to us, it is
+the &#8216;Gates of Heaven;&#8217; since it is the entrance to our Valley Home.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And this affectionate mention of their mutual home almost consoled the
+wife for the smile he bestowed on their beautiful guest while speaking.</p>
+
+<p>Then all the women except Sybil held their breath in awe.</p>
+
+<p>It was indeed an awful pass! a road roughly hewn through the bottom of a
+deep, narrow, tortuous cleft in the mountains where, at some remote
+period, by some tremendous convulsions of nature, the solid rocks had
+been rent apart, leaving the ragged edges of the wound hanging at a
+dizzy height between heaven and earth! The dark iron-gray precipices
+that towered on each side were clothed in every cleft, from base to
+summit, with clumps of dark stunted evergreens as sombre as themselves.
+So tortuous, besides, was the pass, that the travellers could see but a
+few yards before them at any time. There was but one cheering sight in
+earth or sky, and that was the young crescent moon straight before them
+in the west, and shining down in tender light upon the rudest precipice
+of all.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It does remind one of Dante&#8217;s descriptions of the &#8216;Entrance into the
+Infernal Regions,&#8217; does it not?&#8221; inquired Lyon Berners.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_78" id="pg_78">78</a></span>&#8220;All except the little moon! Without that, its gloom would be perfectly
+horrible! and it is horrible enough now,&#8221; answered Rosa with a shudder.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I love it! Even its gloom and horror have a weird fascination for
+me. It is my abode. I only seem to live my own life in my own Black
+Valley,&#8221; said Sybil, in a low, deep voice that thrilled with emotion.</p>
+
+<p>They were suddenly silenced, for they were at the sharpest, steepest,
+most difficult and dangerous turn in that most dangerous pass; and to go
+down with any chance of safety required the utmost care and skill on the
+part of the coachman, whose anxiety was shared by all within the coach.
+Each passenger clung for support to what was nearest at hand, and might
+reasonably have expected every instant to be dashed to pieces on the
+rocks by the coach pitching over the horses&#8217; heads, as it tossed and
+tumbled and thundered down the falling road, more like a descending
+avalanche than a well-conducted four-wheeled vehicle.</p>
+
+<p>Our travellers only let go their holdings and loosed their tongues again
+at the foot of the precipice.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That was&mdash;that was&mdash;Oh, there is no word to express what it was. It was
+more than terrible! more than awful! And it is just a miracle that we
+have escaped with our lives!&#8221; gasped Rosa Blondelle, aghast with horror.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There has never yet been an accident on this road,&#8221; observed Lyon
+Berners, soothingly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then there is a miracle performed every time a vehicle passes down it,&#8221;
+replied Rosa, with a shudder.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But look now, there is a very fine scene,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, pointing
+through the window as the coach rolled on. Sybil was already gazing
+through the right-hand window, and so Rosa stretched her fair neck to
+look from the left-hand one.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, it was a fine scene. The young crescent moon with its tender beam
+had gone down; but the great stars were <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_79" id="pg_79">79</a></span>out in all their glory, and by
+their shining the travellers saw before them a beautiful little river,
+whose rippling surface reflected in fitful glimmers the cheerful lights
+of a village on its opposite bank.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This is the Black River. It rises in those distant mountains, which are
+called the Black Rocks, and which shut in our Black Valley. The village
+here is called Blackville,&#8221; explained Lyon Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What a deal of blackness!&#8221; replied Rosa Blondelle.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you think so, I must tell you in the first place that we are not
+responsible for having named these places; and in the second, that the
+names are really appropriate. The stupendous height and dark iron-gray
+hue of the rocks that overshadow and darken the valley and the river,
+and also the situation of the village at the entrance of the dark
+valley, justify these names. And even if they did not, still we are not
+so irreverent as to interfere with the arrangements of those who have
+gone before us,&#8221; laughed Lyon Berners.</p>
+
+<p>And as he spoke the stage-coach reached the banks of the river, and drew
+up before the little ferry-house. Here the travellers alighted, and had
+their baggage taken off. And the coach, waiting only long enough to
+change horses and to pick up passengers, all of whom, both man and
+beast, had been brought over from the village by the ferry-boat, went on
+its way, which lay along the east bank of the river.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners had his luggage and that of his party put upon the
+ferry-boat, and then he led the ladies on board. He saw them comfortably
+seated, and the nurse and child in a safe place, and then he turned to
+the aged ferry-man with hearty good will, and inquired:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, old Charon! all right with you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir, thank Heaven!&#8221; replied the old man, whose occupation,
+combined with his great age and flowing gray <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_80" id="pg_80">80</a></span>locks, yet stalworth form
+and unbroken strength, had conferred upon him the name of his infernal
+predecessor&mdash;the navigator of the River Styx.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right in the village, and in the valley?&#8221; further inquired Mr.
+Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right in the willage, sir. And Joe, who has just arrove at the
+tavern, do report all right in the walley,&#8221; was the satisfactory answer
+of the ferry-man.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! then our carriage is waiting for us there?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir, which it arrove just about twenty minutes ago, punk-too-well
+to time!&#8221; replied the old man.</p>
+
+<p>The passage across the Black River is very short, and just as the
+ferry-man spoke, the boat touched the wharf immediately under the
+lighted windows of the hotel, before the doors of which they saw the
+Black Hall carriage and horses standing.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners assisted the ladies of his party to land, and proposed that
+they should stop at the hotel and take supper before going on to Black
+Hall.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no! please don&#8217;t, on any account! I feel sure that Miss Tabby has
+laid out all her talent on the supper that is awaiting us at home. And
+she would weep with disappointment and mortification if we should stop
+to supper here,&#8221; eagerly objected Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Miss Tabby is our housekeeper; the best creature, but the greatest
+whimperer in existence. She is, in turn, Sybil&#8217;s tyrant and Sybil&#8217;s
+slave; for she is both despotic and devoted, and scolds and pets her
+alternately and unreasonably as a foolish mother does an only child,&#8221;
+explained Mr. Berners, turning to Mrs. Blondelle.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And her lady?&#8221; inquired Rosa, with an admiring glance toward Mrs.
+Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! Sybil turns the tables, you may be sure, and indulges or rebukes
+her housekeeper as the occasion may demand,&#8221; laughed Lyon.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_81" id="pg_81">81</a></span>&#8220;Come here, Joe!&#8221; called Mrs. Berners to her coachman, who was seen
+coming out of the tap-room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bress my two eyes, Miss Sybil! how glad dey is to see you, and you too,
+Marse Lyon!&#8221; exclaimed a very black, short, squarely built, good-humored
+looking negro coachman, as he came and bowed to his master and mistress.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Joe! you have been at your old tricks again. Joe! why can&#8217;t you let
+bar-rooms alone? Joe! where <i>do</i> you expect to go when you die?&#8221;
+solemnly inquired Sybil, shaking her finger at the delinquent.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do &#8217;spect to go straight to de debbil, miss, for sure! Dat&#8217;s de
+reason why I wants to take a drap of comfort in dis worl&#8217;, &#8217;cause I
+nebber shall get none dere. But bress my two eyes, miss, how glad dey is
+to look on your putty face again.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My &#8216;putty&#8217; face? I want to know if <i>that&#8217;s</i> a compliment? But, Joe,
+what has Miss Tabby got for supper?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lor bress your putty little mouf, Miss Sybil; it&#8217;s easier to tell you
+what she hasn&#8217;t got,&#8221; exclaimed Joe, stretching his eyes. &#8220;Why, Miss
+Sybil, there an&#8217;t a man nor a maid about the house, what ha&#8217;n&#8217;t been on
+their feet all dis day a getting up of that there supper,&#8221; he added.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There! I told you so!&#8221; said Sybil, turning to her husband.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then let&#8217;s go on and eat it, my love. We can leave our two servants
+here to follow in the wagon with the baggage,&#8221; said Lyon Berners,
+leading his wife and his guest to the carriage, and placing them inside,
+with the child and nurse, while he himself mounted to the box beside the
+coachman.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! I am very sorry Mr. Berners has been crowded out,&#8221; regretfully
+exclaimed Rosa Blondelle, looking after him in surprise as he climbed to
+his roost.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, he has not been crowded out! He has gone up there to drive; for the
+road is not very safe at night, and our coachman is rather too much
+exhilarated to be trusted,&#8221; <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_82" id="pg_82">82</a></span>answered Sybil, touching very tenderly upon
+the weakness of her old servant.</p>
+
+<p>Their road lay along the bank of the river up the valley, between the
+two high mountain ridges; but it was so dark that nothing but these
+grander features of the landscape could be discerned.</p>
+
+<p>As the carriage rolled slowly and carefully along this rough road, the
+music of distant waters fell upon the listening ear, and from the
+faintest hum that could hardly be heard, it gradually swelled into a
+deafening roar that filled the valley.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is that?&#8221; fearfully inquired Rosa.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is what?&#8221; echoed Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That horrid noise!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! that is the Black Torrent, the head of our Black River,&#8221; answered
+Sybil in a low, pleased tone; for the sound of her native waters,
+however dreadful it might be to strange ears, was delightful to hers.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! more blackness!&#8221; shivered Rosa.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But it is a beautiful cascade! All beautiful things are not necessarily
+light, you know.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, indeed,&#8221; answered Rosa, &#8220;for the most beautiful woman I have ever
+seen in my life is very dark.&#8221; And she raised and pressed the hand of
+her hostess, to give point to her words.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil did not like the implied flattery, delicately as it was conveyed.
+She drew her hand away; and then, to heal the little hurt she might have
+made in doing so, she opened the window and said, pleasantly:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Look, Mrs. Blondelle! You see the lights of our home now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Rosa leaned across Sybil to look in the direction indicated, and she saw
+scattered lights that seemed to be set in the side of the mountain. She
+saw no house, and she said so.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is because the house is built of the very same dark <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_83" id="pg_83">83</a></span>iron-gray
+rocks that form the mountain; and being immediately at the foot of the
+mountain, and closely surrounded with trees, can not at night be
+distinguished from the mountain itself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Here the carriage road curved around an expansion of the river that
+might have been taken either for a very small lake, or a very large
+pond. And about midway of this curve, or semi-circle, the carriage drew
+up.</p>
+
+<p>On the left-hand was dimly seen the lake; on the right-hand the gate
+letting into the elm-tree avenue that led straight up to the house.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is the Black Pond, and there is Black Hall. More &#8216;blackness,&#8217; Mrs.
+Blondelle,&#8221; smiled Sybil, who was so delighted to get home that she
+forgot her jealousy.</p>
+
+<p>The carriage waited only until the gates could be opened by the slow old
+porter, whom Sybil laughingly greeted as &#8220;Cerberus,&#8221; although the name
+given him in baptism was that of the keeper of the keys of heaven, and
+not that of the guardian of the entrance to the other place.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Cerberus,&#8221; or rather Peter, warmly welcomed his young mistress back,
+and widely stretched the gates for her carriage to pass.</p>
+
+<p>As the carriage rolled easily along the avenue, now thickly carpeted
+with forest leaves, and as it approached the house, the fine old
+building, with its many gable ends and curiously twisted chimneys, its
+steep roofs and latticed windows&mdash;all monuments of the old colonial
+days&mdash;came more and more distinctly into view from its background of
+mountains. Lights were gleaming from upper and lower and all sorts of
+windows, and the whole aspect of the grand old hospitable mansion
+proclaimed, &#8220;<span class="sc">welcome.</span>&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="THE_GUESTCHAMBERS_2545" id="THE_GUESTCHAMBERS_2545"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+<h3>THE GUEST-CHAMBERS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">Deserted rooms of luxury and state,<br />
+Which old magnificence had rudely furnished<br />
+With pictures, cabinets of ancient date,<br />
+And carvings, gilt and burnished,&mdash;<span class="sc">Hood</span>.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>The carriage drew up at the foot of a flight of stone steps, leading to
+the front entrance of the house. The double oak doors stood wide open,
+showing the lighted hall and a group of people waiting.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil looked eagerly from the carriage window.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do declare,&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;if there is not, not only Miss Tabby,
+but Miss Libby and Mrs. Winterose besides; Mrs. Winterose,&#8221; she
+explained, turning to her guest, &#8220;is the widow of our late land steward.
+She is also my foster-mother, and the mother of the two maiden ladies,
+Miss Tabby, who is our housekeeper, and Miss Libby, who lives with the
+widowed parent at home. They have come to welcome us back. Heaven bless
+them!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>As Sybil spoke, Mr. Berners dropped down from his perch on the
+coachman&#8217;s box, and opened the carriage door.</p>
+
+<p>He assisted first his wife, and then their guest, to alight. And then he
+took the sleeping child from the nurse&#8217;s arms, while she herself got
+out.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You know the way, dearest Sybil! Run on before, and I will take charge
+of our fair friend,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, as he gave his arm to Mrs.
+Blondelle to lead her up the steps.</p>
+
+<p>But Sybil had not waited for this permission. Too eager to meet the dear
+old friends of her childhood to care for any one else just then, or even
+to feel a twinge of jealousy at the words and actions of her husband,
+she flew past him up the stairs and into the arms of her foster-mother,
+who folded the beautiful, impetuous creature to her bosom, and welcomed
+her home with heartfelt emotion.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_85" id="pg_85">85</a></span>Miss Tabby and Miss Libby next took their turns to be embraced and
+kissed.</p>
+
+<p>And then the old servants crowded around to welcome their beloved young
+mistress; to every one of them she gave a cordial grasp of her hand, and
+loving words.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is very delightful,&#8221; she said, with tears of joy in her eyes, &#8220;it is
+very, very delightful to be so warmly welcomed home.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Everything as well as everybody welcomes you home, Miss Sybil! Even the
+Black Torrent! I never heard the cascade sing so loud and merry as it
+does to-night!&#8221; said Old Abe, or Father Abraham, as he was called, for
+being a full centenarian, and the oldest negro, by twenty years, of any
+on the estate.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, dear old Uncle Abe! I <i>know</i> you all welcome me home! And I
+love to think that my torrent does too! And now, Miss Tabby, you got the
+letter I wrote from Underhill, asking you to have the spare rooms
+prepared for the visitors we were to bring with us?&#8221; inquired Sybil,
+turning to her housekeeper.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, ma&#8217;am, and your orders is obeyed, and the rooms is all ready, as
+well as yourn and Mr. Berners&#8217;, even to the kindling of the fires, which
+has been burning in the chimneys to air them rooms all this blessed
+day,&#8221; answered Miss Tabby.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is right, and I thank you; and now here comes our visitor,&#8221; said
+Sybil, as her guest approached leaning on her husband&#8217;s arm. They had
+certainly lingered a little on the way; but Sybil was too happy to
+notice that circumstance now. The jealous wife was for the time subdued
+within her, and all the hospitable hostess was in the ascendant.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are welcome to Black Hall, my dear Mrs. Blondelle,&#8221; she said,
+advancing to receive her guest. &#8220;And now, will you walk into our sitting
+parlor and rest awhile <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_86" id="pg_86">86</a></span>before taking off your wraps; or shall I show
+you at once to your rooms, which are quite ready for you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At once to my rooms, if you please, Mrs. Berners; for, you see, my poor
+little Cromartie is already fast asleep.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come, then; you will not have far to go. It is on this floor,&#8221; said
+Sybil, with a smile, as she led the way down the wide hall, past the
+great staircase, and then turned to the right and went down a long
+passage, until she came to a door, which she opened.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Here is your bed-chamber,&#8221; said Sybil, inviting her guest to enter a
+large and richly furnished room; &#8220;and beyond this, and connected with
+it, is another and a smaller apartment, which is properly the
+dressing-room, but which I have had fitted up as a nursery for your
+child and his nurse.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Many thanks,&#8221; replied Rosa Blondelle, as she followed her hostess into
+the room, and glanced around with the natural curiosity we all feel in
+entering a strange place.</p>
+
+<p>The room was very spacious, and had many doors and windows. Its
+furniture was all green, which would have seemed rather gloomy, but for
+the bright wood fire on the hearth, that lighted up all the scene with
+cheerfulness.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil drew an easy-chair to the chimney corner, and invited her guest to
+sit down.</p>
+
+<p>But Rosa was too curious about her surroundings to yield herself
+immediately to rest.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What an interesting old place!&#8221; she said, walking about the chamber and
+examining every thing.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the nurse-maid, more practical than her mistress, had found
+the door of the adjoining nursery and passed into it to put her infant
+charge to bed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; exclaimed Rosa, who had drawn aside one of the green moreen window
+curtains and was looking out&mdash;&#8220;Oh! what a wild, beautiful place! But
+these windows open right upon the grounds, and there are no outside
+shutters! Is there no danger?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_87" id="pg_87">87</a></span>&#8220;No danger whatever, my dear Mrs. Blondelle. These windows open at the
+back of the house, upon the grounds, which run quite back to the foot of
+the mountain. These grounds are <i>very</i> private, being quite
+inaccessible, except through the front grounds of the house,&#8221; said
+Sybil, soothingly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But oh!&#8221; whispered Mrs. Blondelle, nowise tranquilized by the answer of
+her hostess&mdash;&#8220;Oh! what are those white things that I see standing among
+the bushes at the foot of the mountain? They look like&mdash;tombstones!&#8221; she
+added, with a shudder.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They <i>are</i> tombstones,&#8221; replied Sybil in a low, grave voice; &#8220;that is
+our family burial-ground, and all the Berners, for seven generations,
+lie buried there.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, good gracious!&#8221; gasped Rosa Blondelle, dropping the curtain and
+turning away.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t be alarmed,&#8221; smiled Sybil. &#8220;The place is much farther off than it
+seems. And now, my dear Mrs. Blondelle, let me make you acquainted with
+the bearings of this green bedroom, and then you will like it better.
+You see it is in the right wing of the house, and that accounts for its
+having windows on three sides, back, front, and end, and doors that
+connect with the house and doors that lead to the grounds. <i>This</i> door,&#8221;
+she said, opening one on the left-hand side of the fireplace&mdash;&#8220;this door
+leads up this little narrow staircase directly into my chamber, which
+is immediately above this, as my dressing-room is immediately above your
+nursery. So, my dear, if ever you should feel nervous or alarmed, all
+you have to do is to open this little door, and run up these stairs and
+knock loudly at the upper door, which is near the head of my bed. I
+shall hear you, and fly to your assistance.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; laughed Rosa. &#8220;But suppose some robber were to get into these
+windows, and be right upon me before I could run, what should I do
+then?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_88" id="pg_88">88</a></span>&#8220;Call for assistance, and Mr. Berners and myself will run down to your
+rescue. But in order to make that practicable, you must always leave
+that lower stair door unfastened; and you may do it with perfect safety,
+as it leads nowhere but into my bedroom.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will remember always to leave it unfastened,&#8221; replied Rosa.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But, my dear, I assure you there is not the least shadow of a shade of
+danger. Our faithful negroes are all around us on the outside, and our
+faithful dumb guardians sleep on the mats in the large hall and the
+smaller passages. However, if you still feel nervous, I will have one of
+the maids sleep in your room, and one of the men sleep in the passage
+outside,&#8221; said Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no, not for the world would I disturb the arrangements of the
+family. I am not at all nervous <i>now</i>,&#8221; said Rosa Blondelle.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then, dear, get ready for supper; for it has been ready for us for an
+hour past, and I am sure you must need it. I will, with your permission,
+go up to my own room by these stairs; and when I have changed my dress,
+I will come down the same way and take you in to supper,&#8221; said Sybil,
+as, with a smile and a bow, she opened the door and slipped away up to
+her own room.</p>
+
+<p>Rosa Blondelle passed into the little adjoining nursery, to see after
+her child.</p>
+
+<p>The room, small as it was, had two windows, one west and one south, and
+a little fireplace north. The east side was only broken by the door
+that communicated with the bedroom. There were green curtains to the two
+windows, green carpet on the floor, and green covers to the
+rocking-chair and the child&#8217;s chairs, which were the only ones in the
+room. There was a cot-bed for the nurse and a crib for the child. A
+well-supplied wash-stand completed the furniture. The child lay sleeping
+soundly in his crib, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_89" id="pg_89">89</a></span>and the nurse sat by him, occupying herself with
+some white embroidery that she habitually carried in her pocket, to fill
+up spare moments profitably.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Crow is quite well, Janet?&#8221; inquired the young mother, approaching and
+looking at her rosy boy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, me leddy, and sleeping like an angel,&#8221; answered the woman.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Those are very comfortable quarters, Janet.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, me leddy, though the roaring of yon Black Torrent, as they ca&#8217; it,
+gars me grew. I wonder does it always roar sae loud.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh no, Janet. Mr. Berners says that it only sounds so when very much
+swollen by the rains. And Mr. Berners should know.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Aye, ma&#8217;am, and sae he suld! And a very fine gentleman is the laird!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He is not a laird, Janet! There are no lairds in America.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And what will he be then, ma&#8217;am?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Simply a gentleman&mdash;Mr. Berners.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is a pity he is na a laird, ma&#8217;am, and a duke to the back of that! a
+princely gentleman he is, me leddy.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I quite agree with you, Janet. Well, leave your charge for a moment,
+and come and arrange my hair for me. Unluckily I can not change my
+dress, for my luggage was left behind at Blackville, and I don&#8217;t suppose
+it has arrived here yet,&#8221; said Rosa Blondelle, as she returned to her
+room attended by her maid. But there an agreeable surprise met her. She
+found her trunks set in order, ready for her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I declare, there they are! And I suppose the servants who brought them,
+finding the door wide open and no one in the room, just put them in here
+and retired. Janet, open that trunk and get out my black velvet, and
+point lace set. I must not wear anything very light and gay on this
+first evening, after a fatiguing journey, when we all feel so <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_90" id="pg_90">90</a></span>tired as
+to be fit for nothing but bed,&#8221; said Rosa Blondelle, throwing herself
+languidly into the green-covered easy-chair before the dressing-table.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And, &#8217;deed, me leddy, there&#8217;s nae dress ye look sae weell in as that
+bonny black velvet,&#8221; said the maid.</p>
+
+<p>Rosa knew this well, and for this reason, perhaps, selected the dress.</p>
+
+<p>The maid quickly and skilfully arranged her mistress&#8217;s hair in its
+natural golden ringlets, that needed no ornament whatever. And when her
+toilet was complete, Rosa Blondelle&#8217;s fair beauty was even more
+resplendent than usual, from its contrast with the rich blackness of her
+dress.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;A star upon the brow of night!&#8217;&#8221; quoted Sybil, as she entered the room
+and stood for a moment in involuntary admiration. Then, with a smile,
+she drew the arm of her guest within her own and led her off to the
+supper-table, where they were joined by Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>It was a warm wainscotted little room, with crimson carpet and crimson
+curtains, a good open fire of hickory wood, and a small, but luxuriously
+spread supper-table.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners led their guest to her place at the board, and left his wife
+to follow. These courtesies were no doubt due the visitor, yet they made
+the wife&#8217;s heart ache. She hated to miss the attentions her husband had
+always hitherto bestowed on her alone; and she hated more to see them
+lavished on another, and that other a beautiful, fascinating, and, as
+she half suspected, most dangerous woman. It was in vain she said to
+herself that these attentions were no more than any gentleman should
+show to the invited visitor of his wife. She could not argue away her
+heartache. She could not endure to see her husband touch the beauty&#8217;s
+hand. It drove her almost out of her self-possession to see their eyes
+meet in that provoking mutual smile. Oh! how she repented ever having
+invited this fatal beauty to her house! And yet she pitied the
+friendless <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_91" id="pg_91">91</a></span>stranger too, and she struggled bravely against those
+feelings of jealousy and hatred that were creeping into her heart. And,
+in fact, from this time the whole inner life of Sybil Berners became one
+hard struggle between her passions and her reason. And this struggle
+soon manifested itself in a series of inconsistencies of conduct that
+were perfectly incomprehensible to both Lyon Berners and Rosa Blondelle.</p>
+
+<p>For instance, on this first night at home, while they sat at the
+supper-table. Sybil was silent, abstracted, and depressed. Her
+companions mentally ascribed her condition to fatigue; but Sybil then
+scarcely knew what fatigue meant. After supper she aroused herself by an
+effort, and offered to attend Mrs. Blondelle back again to that lady&#8217;s
+chamber; and when they got there, even lingered a little while, and very
+kindly repeated her request that if Rosa should be frightened in the
+night, she should run up the communicating stairs and rap at Sybil&#8217;s
+bedroom door for assistance. And then Sybil bade her visitor
+good-night, and vanished up the stairs.</p>
+
+<p>The travellers were all very tired, and so, notwithstanding Rosa&#8217;s fears
+and Sybil&#8217;s jealousy, they were all soon fast asleep.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="THE_JEALOUS_BRIDE_2839" id="THE_JEALOUS_BRIDE_2839"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+<h3>THE JEALOUS BRIDE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">Yea, she was jealous, though she did not show it,<br />
+For jealousy dislikes the world to know it.&mdash;<span class="sc">Byron</span>.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Rosa was the last to wake up in the morning. The nurse had already
+dressed the child and taken him from the room; so Rosa rang her bell to
+bring the truants back.</p>
+
+<p>Janet came alone.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_92" id="pg_92">92</a></span>&#8220;Where is little Crow?&#8221; inquired Crow&#8217;s mamma.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In the breakfast-room, me leddy, on the laird&#8217;s knee,&#8221; answered the
+girl.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I tell you there are no lairds in America, Janet!&#8221; said the lady,
+impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, on the gentleman&#8217;s knee, ma&#8217;am.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well, now come help me to dress.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Janet hastened to obey, and in half an hour Rosa Blondelle issued from
+her chamber, looking if possible even more beautiful than she had looked
+on the previous evening; for she wore an elegant morning robe of white
+cashmere, embroidered down the front and around the bodice, sleeves,
+and skirt with a border of blue bells, and she had her splendid hair
+dressed in the simple natural ringlets that were the most becoming to
+her.</p>
+
+<p>Janet walked before her mistress, to show the way. Far up the great
+hall, she opened a door on the left-hand side, admitting the lady to a
+delightful front room, whose front windows looked out upon the lake, the
+valley, and the opposite range of mountains.</p>
+
+<p>It was a golden October morning, and from a cloudless deep-blue sky the
+sun shone down in dazzling splendor upon the valley, kindling up into a
+conflagration of living light all the variegated foliage of the trees,
+upon the mountain sides and the river&#8217;s banks, where the glowing crimson
+of the oak and the flaming orange of the elm mingled with the royal
+purple of the dogwood and the deep green of the cedar. And all this
+gorgeousness of coloring was reflected in the lake, whose waters seemed
+dyed with all the prismatic hues of the rainbow.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Black Valley,&#8217; indeed!&#8221; said Rosa Blondelle, with a smile, as she
+entered the breakfast-room and glanced through the windows upon the
+magnificent scene; &#8220;&#8216;Black Valley,&#8217; call you this? I should rather call
+it &#8216;Bright Valley.&#8217; Oh, what a glorious day and oh, what <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_93" id="pg_93">93</a></span>a glorious
+scene! Good-morning, Mrs. Berners. Good-morning, Mr. Berners. Little
+Crow, this kind gentleman is spoiling you,&#8221; she said, as she advanced
+with smiling eyes and outstretched hands to greet her host and hostess,
+who had risen from their chairs to meet her.</p>
+
+<p>They both received her very kindly, even affectionately, and as they had
+waited only for her presence to have breakfast, Sybil now rang and
+ordered it to be brought in.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil&#8217;s own little &#8220;high chair&#8221; had been rummaged out from its corner in
+the lumber-room and dusted, and brought in for the use of the baby-boy;
+who, in honor of his mother, was permitted to sit up to the table with
+the grown people.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But why, I repeat, should you call this glorious vale the &#8216;Black
+Valley&#8217;?&#8221; inquired Rosa, as they all gathered around the board.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was black enough last night, was it not?&#8221; asked Mr. Berners, with a
+smile.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, it was black everywhere last night; but no blacker here than
+elsewhere, so I don&#8217;t see the justice of calling this the Black Valley.
+I should call it rather the &#8216;Valley of the Sun.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Would not the &#8216;Valley of the Pyrotechnics&#8217; do as well?&#8221; inquired Lyon
+Berners, with dry humor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think it would,&#8221; replied Rosa, quite seriously, &#8220;for certainly this
+morning, with this glorious sunshine and these glowing, sparkling woods
+and waters, the place is a perfect spectacle of fire-works!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You view the scenery at its best and brightest. It is never so
+beautiful and brilliant as on a clear sunny autumn noon-day. At all
+other seasons, and at all other hours, it is gloomy enough. In a very
+few hours from this, when the sun gets behind the mountain, it will be
+quite black enough to justify its name,&#8221; said Mr. Berners very gravely.</p>
+
+<p>The conversation had been carried on between Mr Berners <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_94" id="pg_94">94</a></span>and Mrs.
+Blondelle exclusively. Sybil had not volunteered a word; and it happened
+also that neither of her companions had addressed a word to her. She
+felt as if she were dropped out of their talk, and though bodily
+present, dropped out of their company as well. She felt that this was
+very hard; and once more she experienced the wild and vain regret that
+she had ever invited this too-alluring stranger to become an inmate of
+her house.</p>
+
+<p>Before now, when they had been together, Lyon Berners had been
+accustomed to think of, smile on, talk to, only her, his wife! Now his
+thoughts, smiles, conversation were all divided with another!&mdash;Oh no! Oh
+no! <i>not divided</i>, but almost entirely absorbed by that other! At least
+so suspected the jealous wife.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is it possible, oh! is it possible that he loves me less than formerly?
+that he loves me not at all? that he loves this stranger?&#8221; thought
+Sybil, as she watched her husband and her friend, entirely taken up with
+each other, and entirely oblivious of her! And at this thought a
+sensation of sickness and faintness came over her, and she saved herself
+from falling, only by a great effort of self-command. They, talking to
+each other, smiling at each other, enjoying each other&#8217;s exclusive
+attention, did not observe her emotion, although almost any casual
+spectator must have seen it in the deadly pallor of her face.</p>
+
+<p>In all this there was little to arouse her jealousy; and perhaps there
+was nothing at all. Her heart pang may have come of a false fear, or a
+true one; who could then tell?</p>
+
+<p>For my own part, looking towards this situation of affairs through the
+light of after knowledge, I think that her fears were, even then,
+well-founded; that even then it was a true instinct which warned her
+that her adored husband, he to whom her whole heart, soul, and spirit
+were entirely given, he for whom only she &#8220;lived and moved and had her
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_95" id="pg_95">95</a></span>being,&#8221; he was becoming fascinated, for the time being at least, by
+this beautiful stranger, who was evidently also flattered by his
+attentions. And this in the very honeymoon of the bride to whom he owed
+so much!</p>
+
+<p>And yet indeed, I say, still speaking in the light of after knowledge,
+that at this time he was equally unconscious of his wife&#8217;s jealousy, or
+of any wrong-doing on his own part, calculated to arouse it. Had Lyon
+Berners suspected that his attentions to their fair guest gave such deep
+pain to his high-spirited wife, he would at least have modified them to
+retain her confidence. But he suspected nothing. Sybil revealed nothing;
+her pride was even greater than her jealousy; for this last daughter of
+the House of Berners inherited all the pride of all her line. At this
+time, this pride quite enabled her to keep her pain to herself.</p>
+
+<p>At length the severe ordeal was, for the moment, over. She perceived
+that her companions had finished breakfast, and so she arose from the
+table, leaving her example to be followed by them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let me lead you to our pleasant morning parlor. It is just across the
+hall, and commands the same view of the lake and mountains that this
+room does&mdash;from the front windows I mean; but from the end windows you
+get a view <i>up</i> the valley, and may catch glimpses of the Black Torrent
+as it rushes roaring down the side of the mountain,&#8221; said Mr. Berners,
+as he offered his hand to Mrs. Blondelle and led her from the breakfast
+parlor.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil looked after them with pallid cheeks and darkening brows; then she
+rushed up into her own chamber, locked her door, threw herself upon her
+bed and gave way to a storm of sobs and tears. While she was still
+weeping vehemently, there came a knock at the door. She lifted up her
+head and listened; controlling her voice as well as she could, she
+inquired:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who is there, and what is wanted?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_96" id="pg_96">96</a></span>&#8220;It is I, my dear, and I want to come in,&#8221; answered the voice of her
+husband.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have not even the privilege of shutting myself up to weep alone! for
+I belong to one who can invade my privacy or command my presence at his
+pleasure!&#8221; exclaimed Sybil in bitterness of spirit; and yet bitterness
+that was mingled with a strange, deep sweetness too! for she loved to
+feel that <i>she did</i> belong to Lyon Berners; that <i>he had</i> the privilege
+of invading her privacy, or commanding her presence at his pleasure. And
+ah! <i>that</i> was a happiness Rosa Blondelle would not share!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, well, my darling! are you going to let me in?&#8221; inquired Mr.
+Berners, after a moment of patient waiting.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, in an instant dear!&#8221; exclaimed Sybil, hastily wiping her eyes and
+trying to efface all signs of weeping from her countenance.</p>
+
+<p>Then she opened the door.</p>
+
+<p>Her husband entered, closed the door, and then turned around with some
+light, gay word; but at the sight of his wife&#8217;s pale and agitated face,
+he started in surprise and distress, exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, Sybil! Why, my darling! What on earth is the matter? What has
+happened?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At the sound of his anxious voice, at the sight of his troubled face,
+Sybil turned aside, sank upon the corner of the sofa, dropped her head
+upon its cushions, and yielded to a tempest of sobs and tears.</p>
+
+<p>He hurried to her side, sat down and drew her head upon his bosom, and
+in much alarm exclaimed again:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In the name of Heaven, Sybil! what is all this about? What has happened
+to distress you so deeply? Have you heard any bad news?&#8221; he inquired as
+he caressed and tried to soothe her.</p>
+
+<p>She did not repel his caresses; for, jealous as she was, she felt no
+anger towards him then. She laid her head upon his bosom, and sobbed
+aloud.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_97" id="pg_97">97</a></span>&#8220;What bad news have you heard, dear Sybil?&#8221; repeated Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, none at all! What bad news <i>could</i> I hear to make <i>me</i> weep? I do
+not care as much as that for anything on earth, or anybody except you!&#8221;
+she answered, lifting her head from his bosom as she spoke, and then
+dropping it again when she had finished.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then what is it that troubles you, my own dear wife? What cause can you
+have for weeping?&#8221; he inquired, tenderly caressing the beautiful,
+wayward creature.</p>
+
+<p>She lifted her head, and smiled through her tears as she answered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;None at all, I believe. What does Kotzebue say? &#8216;To laugh or cry
+without a reason, is one of the few privileges women have.&#8217; I have no
+good reason to weep, dear Lyon! I know that I have not. But I am nervous
+and hysterical, I believe,&#8221; she added; for, as before, his tender
+caresses dispelled her jealousy and restored her trust. With her head
+resting on his bosom; with his arms around her; with his eyes smiling
+down upon hers, she could not look in his face and retain her jealous
+doubts.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have no reason in the world for weeping. I am just a nervous,
+hysterical woman&mdash;<i>like the rest</i>! It is no wonder men, who see the
+weakness of our sex, refuse to trust us with any power,&#8221; she added, with
+a light laugh.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I utterly deny this alleged &#8216;weakness of your sex.&#8217; You bewray
+yourself and sex by repeating the slander, though even in jest, as I see
+you are. <i>You</i> are not weak, my Sybil. Nor do you weep without a cause.
+You have some good and sufficient reason for your tears.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Indeed, no; I have none. I am only nervous and hysterical, and
+thoroughly ashamed of myself for being so,&#8221; she answered, very
+sincerely, for she <i>was</i> really thoroughly ashamed of her late jealousy,
+and anxious to conceal it from her husband.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_98" id="pg_98">98</a></span>He looked at her so inquisitively, not to say so incredulously, that
+she hastened to add;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This is really nothing but nervous irritability, dear Lyon. Do not
+distress yourself about my moods.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I must, my darling. Whether their cause is mental or physical, real
+or imaginary, I must trouble myself about your tears,&#8221; answered Lyon
+Berners, with grave tenderness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then let it be about my <i>next</i> ones; not these that are past and gone.
+And now to a pleasant topic. The ball that we are expected to give.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, dear, that is <i>your</i> affair. But I am ready to give you any
+assistance in my power. Your cards, I believe, are all printed?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; that was a happy idea to get the cards printed while we stopped in
+New York.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now they only need filling up with names and dates.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And the addition of one little word, Lyon.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, and what is that?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>Masks.</i>&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="sc">Masks!</span>&#8221; echoed Mr. Berners, in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="sc">Masks</span>,&#8221; reiterated Mrs. Berners, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, my dear Sybil, what on earth do you mean?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, that our party shall be a masked, fancy-dress ball. That will be
+something new in this old-fashioned neighborhood.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, and something startling to our old-fashioned neighbors,&#8221; said Mr.
+Berners, with a dubious shake of his head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So much the better. They need startling, and I intend to startle them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As you please, my dear, wayward Sybil. But when do you propose this
+affair to come off?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;On All-Hallow Eve.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good. All-Hallow Eve is the proper sort of an eldritch <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_99" id="pg_99">99</a></span>night for such
+a piece of diablerie as a mask ball to be held,&#8221; laughed Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But now, seriously, Lyon; do you really dislike or disapprove this
+plan? If you do I will willingly modify it according to your judgment;
+or even, if you wish it, I will willingly drop it altogether,&#8221; she said,
+very earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear impetuous Sybil, you should make no such sacrifices, even if I
+<i>did</i> dislike or disapprove your plan; but I do neither. I dare say I
+shall enjoy the masquerade as much as any one; and that it will be very
+popular and quite a success. But now, dear Sybil, let me hear what
+fantastic shape you will assume at this witches&#8217; dance?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will tell <i>you</i>, Lyon; but mind, you must keep the secret.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! inviolably,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! I mean only that you must not speak of it outside the family,
+because, you see, it is such a perfectly original character that if it
+was known it would be taken by half a dozen people at least.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will never breathe its name,&#8221; laughed Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then the character I shall take is&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Fire!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Fire?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Fire.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ha! ha! ha! it will suit you admirably, my little Berners of the
+Burning Heart. But how on earth will you contrive to costume and
+impersonate the consuming element?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It would take me a week to tell you, and then you would not understand.
+But you shall see.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hope you will not set all your company in a flame; that is all, my
+dear.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I shall <i>try</i> to do so. And now, dear Lyon, if you wish to help me,
+sit down at my writing-table there, and fill <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_100" id="pg_100">100</a></span>out and direct the
+invitations, you will find the visiting list, printed cards, and blank
+envelopes all in a parcel in the desk.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But is it not early to send them?&#8221; inquired Mr. Berners, as he seated
+himself at the table.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No; not for a mask ball. This is the tenth. The ball is to come off on
+the thirty-first. If the cards are sent to-day, our friends will have
+just three weeks to get ready, which will not be too long to select
+their characters and contrive their costumes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I suppose you know best, my dear,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, as he referred to
+the visiting list and began to prepare for his task.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil went to her dressing-glass and began to arrange her somewhat
+disordered hair. While she stood there, she suddenly inquired:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where did you leave Mrs. Blondelle?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I did not leave her anywhere. She left me. She excused herself, and
+went&mdash;to her room, I suppose.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; sighed Sybil. She did not like this answer. She was sorry to know
+that her husband had remained with the beauty until the beauty had left
+him. She tortured herself with the thought that, if Mrs. Blondelle had
+remained in the morning room, Mr. Berners would have been there at her
+side.</p>
+
+<p>So morbid was now the condition of Sybil that a word was enough to
+arouse her jealousy, a caress sufficient to allay it. <i>She</i> would not
+leave Lyon to himself, she thought. He should know the difference
+between his wife and his guest in that particular. So the guest, being
+now in her own room, where her hostess heartily wished she might spend
+the greater portion of the day, Sybil felt free from the pressing duties
+of hospitality, at least for the time being; and so she drew a chair to
+the corner of the same table occupied by her husband, and she began to
+help him in his task by directing <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_101" id="pg_101">101</a></span>the envelopes, while he filled out
+the cards. Thus sitting together, working in unison, and conversing
+occasionally, they passed the morning&mdash;a happier morning than Sybil had
+seen for several days.</p>
+
+<p>But of course they met their guest again at dinner, where Rosa Blondelle
+was as fascinating and Lyon Berners as much fascinated as before, and
+where Sybil&#8217;s mental malady returned in full force.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, these transient fascinations, what eternal miseries they sometimes
+bring!</p>
+
+<p>But a greater trial awaited the jealous wife in the evening, when they
+were all gathered in the drawing-room, and Rosa Blondelle, beautifully
+dressed, seated herself at the grand piano, and began to sing and play
+some of the impassioned songs from the Italian operas; and Lyon Berners,
+a very great enthusiast in music, hung over the siren, doubly entranced
+by her beauty and her voice. Sybil, too, stood with the little group at
+the piano; but she stood back in the shade, where the expression of her
+agonized face could not be seen by the other two, even if they had been
+at leisure to observe her. She was suffering the fiercest tortures of
+jealousy.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil&#8217;s education had been neglected, as I have told you. She had a fine
+contralto voice and a perfect ear, but these were both uncultivated; and
+so she could only sing and play the simplest ballads in the language.
+She had often regretted her want of power to please the fastidious
+musical taste of her husband; but never so bitterly as now, when she saw
+that power in the possession of another, and that other a beauty, a
+rival, and an inmate of her house. Oh, how deeply she now deplored her
+short-sightedness in bringing this siren to her home!</p>
+
+<p>At the most impassioned, most expressive passages of the music, Rosa
+Blondelle would lift her eloquent blue eyes to those of Lyon Berners,
+who responded to their language.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_102" id="pg_102">102</a></span>And Sybil stood in the shadow near them, with pallid cheeks, compressed
+lips, and glittering eyes&mdash;mute, still, full of repressed anguish and
+restrained fury.</p>
+
+<p>Ah, Rosa Blondelle, take heed! Better that you should come between the
+lioness and her young than between Sybil Berners and her love!</p>
+
+<p>Yet again, on this evening, this jealous wife, this strange young
+creature, so full of contradictions and inconsistencies; so strong, yet
+so weak; so confiding, yet so suspicious; so magnanimous, yet so
+vindictive; once again, I say, successfully exerted her wonderful powers
+of self-control, and endured the ordeal of that evening in silence, and
+at its close bade her guest good-night without betraying the anguish of
+her heart.</p>
+
+<p>When she found herself alone with her husband in their chamber, her
+fortitude nearly forsook her, especially as he himself immediately
+opened the subject of their beautiful guest.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She is perfectly charming,&#8221; said Mr. Berners. &#8220;Every day develops some
+new gift or grace of hers! My dear Sybil, you never did a better deed
+than in asking this lovely lady to our house. She will be an invaluable
+acquisition to our lonely fireside this winter.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You did not use to think our fireside was lonely! You used to be very
+jealous of our domestic privacy!&#8221; Sybil <i>thought</i> to herself; but she
+gave no expression to this thought. On the contrary, controlling
+herself, and steadying her voice with an effort, she said smilingly:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you had met this &#8216;lovely lady&#8217; before you married me, and had found
+her also free, you would have made her your wife.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I! No, indeed!&#8221; impulsively and most sincerely answered Lyon Berners,
+as he raised his eyes in astonishment to the face of Sybil. But he could
+see nothing there. Her face was in deep shadow, where she purposely kept
+it to conceal its pallor and its tremor.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_103" id="pg_103">103</a></span>&#8220;But why, if you had met her before you married me, and found her free,
+why should you not have made her your wife?&#8221; persisted Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Why?&#8217;&mdash;what a question! Because, in the first place dear Sybil, I
+loved <i>you, you only</i>, long before I ever married you!&#8221; said Lyon
+Berners in increasing surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But&mdash;if you had met her before you had ever seen me, you would have
+loved and married her.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No! On my honor, Sybil!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yet you admire her so much!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear Sybil! I admire all things beautiful in nature and art, but I
+don&#8217;t want to marry all!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And are you sure that this beautiful Rosa Blondelle would not make you
+a more suitable companion than I do?&#8221; she inquired.</p>
+
+<p>His whole manner now changed. Turning towards her, he took both her
+hands in his own, and looking gravely and sweetly in her face, he
+answered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My wife! such questions between you and me ought never to arise, even
+in jest. I hold the marriage relation always too sacred for such
+trifling! And <i>our</i> relations towards each other seem to me dearer,
+sweeter, more sacred even, than those of most other married couples! No,
+my own Sybil! Soul of my soul! there is no woman that I ever did, or
+ever could prefer to you!&#8221; And he drew her to his bosom, and pressed her
+there in all good faith and true love. And his grave and tender rebuke
+did even more to tranquilize her jealousy than all his caresses had
+done.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I know it! I know it, my dear husband! But it is only when I feel how
+imperfect, how unworthy of you, I am, that I ever have doubts!&#8221; she
+murmured with a sigh of infinite relief.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="LOVE_AND_JEALOUSY_3321" id="LOVE_AND_JEALOUSY_3321"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+<h3>LOVE AND JEALOUSY.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left; text-indent: 2em;">There was a time when bliss<br />
+Shone o&#8217;er her heart from every look of his;<br />
+When but to see him, hear him, breathe the air<br />
+In which he dwelt, was her soul&#8217;s fondest prayer;<br />
+When round him hung such a perpetual spell,<br />
+Whate&#8217;er he did none ever did so well;<br />
+Yet now he comes, brighter than ever, far,<br />
+He beamed before; but ah! not bright for her.&mdash;<span class="sc">Moore</span>.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Fortunately for the fascinated husband and the jealous wife, the Circuit
+Court was now sitting at Blackville, and the lawyer&#8217;s professional
+duties demanded all Mr. Berner&#8217;s time.</p>
+
+<p>Only one year before this, when the struggling young lawyer depended
+upon his work for his bread, he could hardly get a paying client; now
+that he was entirely independent of his profession, he was overwhelmed
+with business. As the wealthy master of the Black Valley manor, with its
+rich dependencies of farms, quarries, mills, and hamlets, he might have
+led the easy life of a country gentleman. But in Lyon Berners&#8217;
+apprehension, work was duty; and so to work he went, as if he had had to
+get his living by it.</p>
+
+<p>Every day he left home at nine o&#8217;clock in the morning, in order to be
+present at the opening of the court at ten. He reached home again at
+four in the afternoon, and dined with Sybil and Rosa. After dinner he
+retired to his study, and spent the evening in working up his briefs and
+preparing for the next day&#8217;s business.</p>
+
+<p>Thus he was entirely separated from his guest, who never saw him except
+at the table, with the breadth of the board between them, and almost
+entirely from his wife, who only had his company to herself at night.</p>
+
+<p>Yet Sybil was content. Her love, if, in some of its <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_105" id="pg_105">105</a></span>phases, it was a
+jealous and exacting passion, in others was a noble and generous
+principle. She would not spare a glance, a smile, a caress of his, to
+any other woman; yet she would give him wholly up to his duty, his
+profession, his country, or to any grand <i>impersonal</i> object. And the
+few hours out of the twenty-four when she could enjoy his society apart
+from her dreaded rival, compensated her for the many when he was absent
+or engaged upon his professional duties.</p>
+
+<p>But ah! this could not last!</p>
+
+<p>It happened, very naturally, that while Mr. Lyon Berners spent his
+mornings in the court-house, Mrs. Lyon Berners spent hers in receiving
+the calls and congratulations of her friends, to whom she always
+presented her permanent visitor, Mrs. Blondelle.</p>
+
+<p>At length two unconnected events happened at the same time. The court
+adjourned, and the last visit of ceremony was paid.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil, at the instance of Mr. Berners, gave a dinner-party, and they
+entertained the judges and barristers of the court. And upon that
+occasion, Mrs. Blondelle of course was introduced, and equally of
+course, her beauty made a very great sensation. And Sybil was well
+pleased. She was perfectly willing that her prot&eacute;g&eacute; should outshine her
+in every company, if only she did not outrival her in her husband&#8217;s
+admiration.</p>
+
+<p>But ah! whether it was that the long interruption of his conversations
+with the beautiful blonde had given a new zest to the pleasure he
+enjoyed in her society, or whether his admiration for her had been ever,
+under all circumstances, on the increase, or whether both these causes
+combined to influence his conduct, is not known; but it is certain that
+from this time, Lyon Berners became more and more blindly devoted to
+Rosa Blondelle. And yet, under and over and through all this, the
+husband loved his wife as he <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_106" id="pg_106">106</a></span>never did or could love any other woman.
+But Rosa Blondelle was one of those vain and shallow women who must and
+will have a sentimental flirtation or a platonic friendship with some
+man or boy, always on hand. She, like those of her mischievous class,
+really meant no harm, while doing a great deal of wrong. Such a woman
+will engage a husband&#8217;s affections and break a wife&#8217;s heart from mere
+vanity, and for mere pastime, without the slightest regard for either of
+her victims. And yet, because, they have not been grossly guilty, as
+well as deeply sinful, they retain their positions in society.</p>
+
+<p>Rosa Blondelle&#8217;s whole life lay in these sentimental flirtations and
+platonic friendships. Without a lover, she did not care to live at all.
+Yet hers was a sham love, though her victims were not often sham lovers.
+With her fair and most innocent face, Rosa Blondelle was false and
+shallow. And Lyon Berners knew this; and even while yielding himself to
+the fascination of her smiles, he could not help comparing her, to her
+great disadvantage, with his own true, earnest, deep-hearted wife.</p>
+
+<p>But every morning, while Sybil was engaged in her domestic duties, which
+were now greatly increased by the preparations that were going on for
+the masquerade ball, Lyon Berners would be walking with Rosa Blondelle,
+exploring the romantic glens of the Black Valley, or wandering along the
+picturesque banks of the Black River. Or if the weather happened to be
+inclement, Mr. Berners and Mrs. Blondelle would sit in the library
+together, deep in German mysticism or French sentiment.</p>
+
+<p>Every evening Rosa sat at the grand piano, singing for him the most
+impassioned songs from the German and Italian operas; and Lyon hung over
+her chair turning her music, and enraptured with her beauty.</p>
+
+<p>Ah! Rosa Blondelle! vain and selfish and shallow coquette! Trifle, if
+you must, with any other man&#8217;s love, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_107" id="pg_107">107</a></span>with any other woman&#8217;s peace; but
+you had better invade the lair of the lioness, and seize her cubs&mdash;you
+had better walk blindfold upon the abyss of Hades, than come between
+Sybil Berners and her husband!</p>
+
+<p>For Sybil saw it all! and not only as any other woman might have seen
+it, just as it was, but as the jealous wife did&mdash;with vast exaggerations
+and awful forebodings.</p>
+
+<p>They did not suspect how much she knew, or how much more she imagined.
+Before them the refined instincts of the lady still kept down the angry
+passions of the woman.</p>
+
+<p>Whenever her emotions were about to overcome her, she slipped away, not
+to her own room, where she was liable to interruption, but far up into
+the empty attics of the old house, where, in some corresponding chamber
+of desolation, she gave way to such storms of anguish and despair as
+leave the deepest</p>
+
+<p class="c">&#8220;Traces on heart and brain.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And after an hour or two she would return to the drawing-room, whence
+she had never been missed by the pair of sentimentalists, who had been
+too much absorbed in each other, and in Mozart or Beethoven, to notice
+her absence.</p>
+
+<p>And while all unconscious of her, they continued their musical
+flirtation, she would sit with her back to the light, toying with her
+crochet-work and listening to Rosa&#8217;s songs.</p>
+
+<p>She was still as a volcano before it bursts forth to bury cities under
+its burning lava flood!</p>
+
+<p>Why did she not, in the sacred privacy of their mutual apartment appeal
+to the better nature of her husband by telling him how much his
+flirtation with their guest pained her, his wife? Or else, why had she
+not spoken plainly with her guest?</p>
+
+<p>Why? Because Sybil Berners had too much pride and too little faith to do
+the one or the other. She could not stoop to plead with her husband for
+the love that she thought <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_108" id="pg_108">108</a></span>he had withdrawn from her; still less could
+she bend to tell her guest how much his defection troubled her. Nor did
+she believe her interference would do any good. For, to Sybil Berners
+earnest nature, all things seemed earnest, and this vain and shallow
+flirtation wore the aspect of a deep, impassioned attachment. And in her
+forbearance she acted from instinct rather than from reason, for she
+never even thought of interfering between these platonists. So,
+outwardly at least, she was calm. But this calmness could not last. Her
+heart was bleeding, burning, breaking! and its prisoned flood of fire
+and blood must burst forth at length. The volcano seems quiet; but the
+pent up lava in its bosom must at last give forth mutterings of its
+impending irruption, and swiftly upon these mutterings must follow
+flames and ruin!</p>
+
+<p>It happened thus with Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>One morning, when the weather was too threatening to permit any one to
+indulge in an outdoor walk, it chanced that Lyon and Sybil Berners were
+sitting together at a centre-table in the parlor&mdash;Lyon reading the
+morning paper; Sybil <i>trying</i> to read a new magazine&mdash;when Rosa
+Blondelle, with her flowing, azure-hued robes and her floating golden
+locks, and her beaming smiles, entered the room and seated herself at
+the table, saying sweetly:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear Mrs. Berners, is it to-morrow that you and I have arranged to
+drive out and return the calls that were made upon us?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, madam,&#8221; politely replied Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then, dear Mr. Berners, I shall have to ask you to write a few
+visiting-cards for me. I have not an engraved one in the world. But you
+write such a beautiful hand, that your writing will look like
+copper-plate. You will oblige me?&#8221; she inquired, smiling, and placing a
+pack of blank cards before him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With the greatest pleasure,&#8221; answered Lyon Berners, promptly putting
+aside his paper.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_109" id="pg_109">109</a></span>Rosa turned to leave the room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Will you not remain with us?&#8221; courteously inquired Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, dear; much as I should like to do so,&#8221; replied Rosa.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But why?&#8221; inquired Lyon Berners, looking disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! because I have my dress to see about. We are far from all
+fashionable modistes here; but I must try to do honor to madam&#8217;s
+masquerade for all that,&#8221; laughed Rosa, as she passed gracefully out of
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>With a sigh that seemed to his sorrowing wife to betray his regret for
+the beauty&#8217;s departure, Lyon Berners drew the packet of blank cards
+before him, scattered them in a loose heap on his left hand, and then
+selecting one at a time, began to write. As he carefully wrote upon and
+finished each card, he as carefully laid it on his right hand, until a
+little heap grew there.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil, who gloried in all her husband&#8217;s accomplishments, from the
+greatest to the least, admired very much his skill in ornamental
+chirography. She drew her chair closer to the table, and took up the
+topmost card, and began to decipher, rather than to read, the name in
+the beautiful old English characters, so tangled in a thicket of
+rose-buds and forget-me-nots as to be scarcely legible. She looked
+closely and more closely at the name on the card.</p>
+
+<p>What was there in it to drive all the color from her cheeks?</p>
+
+<p>She snatched up and scrutinized a second card, a third, a fourth; then,
+springing to her feet, she seized the whole mass, hurled them into the
+fire, and turned, and confronted her husband.</p>
+
+<p>Her teeth were clenched upon her bloodless lips, her face seemed marble,
+her eyes lambent flames.</p>
+
+<p>He rose to his feet in surprise and dismay.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="sc">Sybil</span>! what is all this? Why have you destroyed the cards?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_110" id="pg_110">110</a></span>&#8220;Why?&#8221; she gasped, pressing both hands upon her heart, as if to keep
+down its horrible throbbings. &#8220;Why? Because they are lies! <i>lies!</i>
+<span class="sc">lies</span>!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="sc">Sybil</span>! have you gone suddenly mad?&#8221; he cried, gazing at the &#8220;embodied
+storm&#8221; before him with increasing astonishment and consternation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No! I have suddenly come to my senses!&#8221; she gasped between the catches
+of her breath, for she could scarcely speak.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must calm yourself, and tell me what this means, my wife,&#8221; said
+Lyon Berners, exerting a great control over himself, and pushing aside
+the last card he had written.</p>
+
+<p>But she snatched up that card, glanced at it fiercely, tore it in two,
+and threw the fragments far apart, exclaiming in bitter triumph:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not yet! oh! not yet! I am not dead yet! Nor have the halls and acres
+of my fathers passed quite away from their daughter to the possession of
+a traitor and an ingrate.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He gazed upon her now in amazement and alarm. <i>Had</i> she gone suddenly
+mad?</p>
+
+<p>She stood there before him the incarnation of the fiercest and intensest
+passion he had ever seen or imagined.</p>
+
+<p>He went and took her in his arms, saying more gently than before:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sybil, what is it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She tried, harshly and cruelly, to break from him. But he held her in a
+fast, loving embrace, murmuring still:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sybil, you must tell me what troubles you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What troubles me!&#8221; she furiously exclaimed. &#8220;Let me go, man! Your touch
+is a dishonor to me! Let me go!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But, dearest Sybil.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let me go, I say! What! will you use your <i>brute strength to hold me</i>?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_111" id="pg_111">111</a></span>He dropped his arms, and left her free.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No; I beg your pardon, Sybil. I thought you were my loving wife,&#8221; he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You were mistaken. I am not Rosa Blondelle!&#8221; she cried.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hush! hush! my dearest Sybil!&#8221; he muttered earnestly, as he went and
+closed and locked the parlor door, to save her from being seen by the
+servants in her present insane passion.</p>
+
+<p>But she swept past him like a storm, and laid her hand on the lock. She
+found it fast.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Open, and let me pass,&#8221; she cried.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, no, my dear Sybil. Remain here until you are calmer, and then tell
+me&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let me out, I say!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But, dearest Sybil.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What! would you <i>keep me a prisoner&mdash;by force</i>?&#8221; she cried, with a
+cruel sneer.</p>
+
+<p>He unlocked the door and set it wide open.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, even though you are a lunatic, as I do believe. Go, and expose your
+condition, if you must. I cannot restrain you by fair means, and I will
+not by foul.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And Sybil swept from the room, but she did not expose herself. She fled
+away to that &#8220;chamber of desolation&#8221; where she had passed so many
+agonizing hours, and threw herself, face downwards, upon the floor, and
+lay there in the collapse of utter despair.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Lyon Berners paced up and down the parlor floor.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_112" id="pg_112">112</a></span>
+<a name="CRUEL_AS_THE_GRAVE_3631" id="CRUEL_AS_THE_GRAVE_3631"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;CRUEL AS THE GRAVE.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">Go, when the hunter&#8217;s hand hath wrung<br />
+From forest cave her shrieking young,<br />
+And calm the raging lioness;<br />
+But soothe not&mdash;mock not my distress.&mdash;<span class="sc">Byron</span>.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners was utterly perplexed and troubled. He could not in any way
+explain to himself the sudden and furious passion of his wife.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly it occurred to him that it was in some way connected with the
+cards she had thrown into the fire. They were not all burned up. Some
+few had fallen scorched upon the hearth. These he gathered up and
+examined; and as he looked at one after another, his face expressed, in
+turn, surprise, dismay, and amusement. Then he burst out laughing. He
+really could not help doing so, serious as the subject was; for upon
+every single card, instead of Rosa Blondelle, he had written:</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. <span class="sc">Rosa Berners</span>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Was there ever such a mischief of a mistake?&#8221; he exclaimed, as he
+ceased laughing and sat down by his table to consider what was to be
+done next.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Poor Sybil! poor, dear, fiery-hearted child, it is no wonder! And yet,
+Heaven truly knows it was because I was thinking of <i>you</i>, and not of
+the owner of the cards, that I wrote that name upon them unconsciously,&#8221;
+he said to himself, as he sat with his fine head bowed upon his hand,
+gravely reviewing the history of the last few days.</p>
+
+<p>His eyes were opened now&mdash;not only to his wife&#8217;s jealousy, but to his
+own thoughtless conduct in doing anything to arouse it.</p>
+
+<p>In the innermost of his own soul he was so sure of the perfect integrity
+of his love for his wife, that it had never <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_113" id="pg_113">113</a></span>before occurred to him that
+<i>she</i> could doubt it&mdash;that any unconscious act or thoughtless gallantry
+on his part could cause her to doubt it.</p>
+
+<p>Now, however, he remembered with remorse that, of late, since the rising
+of the court, all his mornings and evenings had been spent exclusively
+in the company of the beautiful blonde. Any wife under such
+circumstances might have been jealous; but few could have suffered such
+agonies of wounded love as wrung the bosom of Sybil Berners,&mdash;of Sybil
+Berners, the last of a race in whose nature more of the divine and more
+of the infernal met than in almost any other race that ever lived on
+earth.</p>
+
+<p>Her husband thought of all this now. He remembered what lovers and what
+haters the men and women of her house had been.</p>
+
+<p>He recalled how, in one generation, a certain Reginald Berners, who was
+engaged to be married to a very lovely young lady, on one occasion found
+his betrothed and an imaginary rival sitting side by side, amusing
+themselves with what they might have considered a very harmless
+flirtation, when, transported with jealous fury, he slew the man before
+the very eyes of the girl. For this crime Reginald was tried, but for
+some inexplicable reason, acquitted; and he lived to marry the girl for
+whose sake he had imbrued his hands in a fellow-man&#8217;s blood.</p>
+
+<p>He recalled how, in another generation, one Agatha Berners, in a frenzy
+of jealousy, had stabbed her rival, and then thrown herself into the
+Black Lake. Fortunately neither of the attempted crimes had been
+consummated, for the wounded woman recovered, and the would-be suicide
+lived to wear out her days in a convent.</p>
+
+<p>Reflecting upon these terrible outbursts of the family passion, Lyon
+Berners became very much alarmed for Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>He started up and went in search of her. He looked <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_114" id="pg_114">114</a></span>successively through
+the drawing-room, the dining-room, and library. Not finding her in any
+of these rooms, he ascended to the second floor and sought her in their
+own apartment. Still not finding her, his alarm became agony.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will search every square yard within these walls,&#8221; he said, as he
+hurried through all the empty chambers of that floor, and then went up
+into the attic.</p>
+
+<p>There, in the lumber-room&mdash;the chamber of desolation&mdash;he found his wife,
+lying with her face downwards on the floor. He hastened towards her,
+fearing that she was in a swoon. But no; she was only exhausted by the
+violence of her emotions.</p>
+
+<p>Without saying a word, he lifted her in his arms as if she had been a
+child. She was too faint now to resist him. He carried her down stairs
+to her own chamber and laid her on the sofa, and while he gently
+smoothed the damp dark hair from her pale brow, he whispered softly:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My wife, I know now what has troubled you. It was a great error, my own
+dear Sybil. You have no cause to doubt me, or to distress yourself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She did not reply, but with a tearless sob, turned her face to the wall.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was of <i>you</i> that I was thinking, my beloved, when I wrote that name
+on the cards,&#8221; he continued, as he still smoothed her hair with his
+light mesmeric touch. She did not repel his caresses, but neither did
+she reply to his words. And he saw, by the heaving of her bosom and the
+quivering of her lips, that the storm had not yet subsided.</p>
+
+<p>He essayed once more to reassure her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear wife,&#8221; he earnestly commenced, &#8220;you believe that my affections are
+inconstant, and that they have wandered from you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She answered by a nod and another tearless sob, but she did not look
+around or speak to him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yet withal you believe me to be a man of truthful words?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_115" id="pg_115">115</a></span>Again she nodded acquiescence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then, dear Sybil, you must believe my words when I assure you, on my
+sacred truth and honor, that your suspicions of me are utterly
+erroneous.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Now she turned her head, opened her large dark eyes in astonishment, and
+gazed into his earnest face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As Heaven hears me, my own dear wife, I love no other woman in the
+world but you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But&mdash;you are almost always with <i>her</i>!&#8221; at length replied Sybil, with
+another dry sob.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I confess that, dear; but it was because you were almost always absent
+on your domestic affairs.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You hang enraptured over her, when she sings and plays!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Enraptured with her music, darling, not with her. To me she is a prima
+donna, whose performances I must admire and applaud&mdash;nothing more.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I wish I was a prima donna too,&#8221; said Sybil, bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My wife!&#8221; he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I do! I would be all in all to you, Lyon, as you are everything to
+me,&#8221; she cried, her face quivering, her bosom heaving with emotion.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My own dear Sybil, you <i>are</i> all in all to me. Do you not know, dear,
+that you are unique? that there is not another like you in the world;
+and that I value you and love you accordingly? What is this
+shallow-hearted blonde beauty to me? This woman, who, in a week, could
+forget the man who had robbed and deserted her, and give herself up to
+amusement! No, dear wife. I may be pleased with her good-natured efforts
+to please me; I may admire her beauty and delight in her music; but I
+care so little for herself, that were she to die to-day, I should only
+say, &#8216;Poor thing,&#8217; and immediately forget her! While, if <i>you</i> were to
+die, dear wife, life would be a living death, and the world a sepulchre
+to me!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_116" id="pg_116">116</a></span>&#8220;Is this true? Oh! is this indeed true?&#8221; exclaimed Sybil, in deep
+emotion.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As I am a man of truth, it is, as true as Heaven!&#8221; answered Lyon
+Berners, earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>And Sybil turned and threw herself in his arms, weeping for joy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You shall have no more cause for distress, dear, warm-hearted wife. This
+lady must find other audience for her music. For, as to me, I shall not
+indulge in her society at such a cost to your feelings,&#8221; said Lyon
+Berners earnestly, as he returned her warm caress.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, no, no, no,&#8221; exclaimed Sybil, generously. &#8220;You shall deny yourself
+no pleasure, for my sake, dear, dear Lyon! I am not such a churl as to
+require such a sacrifice. Only let me feel sure of your love, and then
+you may read with her all the morning, and play and sing with her all
+the evening, and I shall not care. I shall even be pleased, because you
+are so. But only let me feel sure of your love. For, oh! dear Lyon! I
+live only in your heart, and if any woman were to thrust me thence, I
+should die!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nor man, nor woman, nor angel, nor devil, shall ever do that, dear
+Sybil,&#8221; he earnestly answered.</p>
+
+<p>The reconciliation between the husband and the wife was perfect. And
+Sybil was so happy that, in the lightness of her heart, she became
+kinder to Mrs. Blondelle than she had been for many days past.</p>
+
+<p>But as for Mr. Berners, from this time he carefully avoided Mrs.
+Blondelle. He was as courteous to her as ever, even more courteous than
+ever when his wife was present, but as soon as Sybil would leave the
+room, Lyon would make some excuse and follow her. This went on for some
+days, during which Mrs. Blondelle, being cut short in her platonic
+flirtation, first wondered and then moped, and then resolved to win back
+her fancied slave. So she whitened <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_117" id="pg_117">117</a></span>her face with bismuth, to make it
+look pale and interesting, and she arranged her golden locks and flowing
+robes with the most studied air of graceful neglect, and she affected
+silence, pensiveness, and abstraction; and thus she utterly imposed on
+Lyon Berners, whose sympathies were awakened by her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is it possible, that this pretty little fool can really be pleased with
+me, and pained by my neglect?&#8221; he inquired of himself. And then, human
+being like, he flattered himself and pitied her.</p>
+
+<p>When this course of conduct had been kept up for a week, it happened one
+day that Sybil went alone to Blackville to purchase some articles for
+her approaching mask ball.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners was reclining on the sofa in the drawing-room, with the
+last number of the &#8220;North American Review&#8221; in his hands.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly a soft hand stole into his, and a soft voice murmured in his
+ear:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Berners, how have I been so unhappy as to offend you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He looked up in surprise to see Rosa Blondelle standing by him. Her
+lovely face was very pale, her beautiful hair in disorder, her blue eyes
+full of tears, her tender voice tremulous with emotion.</p>
+
+<p>As Lyon Berners met her appealing gaze, his heart smote him for his late
+coldness to her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In what manner have I been so unhappy as to offend you, Mr. Berners?&#8221;
+she repeated, tearfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In no manner at all, dear. How could one so gentle as yourself offend
+any one?&#8221; exclaimed Lyon Berners, rising, and taking both her
+unresisting hands in his own; and feeling for the first time a sentiment
+of <i>tenderness</i>, as well as of admiration, for her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I thought I had offended you. You have been so <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_118" id="pg_118">118</a></span>changed to me of
+late,&#8221; murmured Rosa, with her blue eyes full of tears.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, no, dear, not really changed, indeed. Only&mdash;absorbed by other
+engagements,&#8221; answered Lyon Berners, evasively.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are the only friend I have in the whole world. And if <i>you</i> should
+desert me, I should perish,&#8221; murmured Rosa, pathetically.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I will never desert you, dear. Nor am I the only friend you have in
+the world. My wife is surely your friend,&#8221; said Lyon Berners, earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly and sorrowfully Rosa Blondelle shook her head, murmuring sadly:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No woman ever was my friend. I know not why.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>I</i> can easily imagine why. But in regard to my dear wife, you are
+mistaken. Surely she has proved herself your friend.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She is a noble lady, and I honor her. She is my benefactress, and I
+thank her. But she is not my friend, and so I do not love her.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am sorry to hear you say so, dear.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And I am sorry to be obliged to say so. But it is true. <i>You</i> are my
+only friend, Mr. Berners. The only friend I have in the wide, wide
+world.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And do you love me?&#8221; inquired Lyon Berners, taking the siren&#8217;s hand,
+and utterly yielding to her allurements; &#8220;say, fair one, do you love
+me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hush! hush!&#8221; breathed Rosa, drawing away her hand and covering her
+face&mdash;&#8220;hush! that is a question you must not ask, nor I answer.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But&mdash;as a <i>brother</i>, I mean?&#8221; whispered Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! yes, yes, yes! as a dear brother, I love you dearly,&#8221; fervently
+exclaimed Rosa.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And as a dear sister you shall share my love and care always,&#8221;
+earnestly answered Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_119" id="pg_119">119</a></span>&#8220;And you will not be cold to me any longer?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, dear.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And you will come and listen to my poor little songs this evening, and
+let me do my best to amuse you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, dear, I will throw over all other engagements, and delight myself
+in your heavenly strains to-night,&#8221; answered Lyon Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! I am so happy to hear you promise that! Of late I have had no heart
+to open the piano. But to-night I will awaken for you its most glorious
+chords!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He raised her hand to his lips, and thanked her warmly.</p>
+
+<p>And just at that very instant Miss Tabitha Winterose appeared in the
+doorway, her tall, thin form drawn up to its utmost height, her pale,
+pinched face lengthened, and her dim blue eyes and skinny hands lifted
+up in surprise and disapprobation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well!&#8221; simultaneously exclaimed Mr. Berners and Mrs. Blondelle, as they
+instinctively drew away from each other.</p>
+
+<p>But Miss Tabitha could not easily recover her composure. She was shocked
+and scandalized to see a gentleman and lady, who were not related to
+each other, sitting so close together, while the gentleman kissed the
+lady&#8217;s hand!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Did you want anything?&#8221; inquired Mr. Berners, rather impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, I didn&#8217;t. Yes, I did,&#8221; answered Miss Winterose, crossly and
+confusedly. &#8220;I came after that lady there to tell her that I think her
+child is going to be very sick, and I want her to come and look after
+him. That is, if she an&#8217;t more pleasanter engaged!&#8221; added Miss Tabitha,
+scornfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Please excuse me, Mr. Berners,&#8221; murmured Rosa, sweetly, as she got up
+to go out with the housekeeper &#8220;<i>Old Cat!</i>&#8221; she muttered, under her
+breath, as soon as she was out of Lyon&#8217;s hearing.</p>
+
+<p>When Mr Berners was left alone, he did not resume the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_120" id="pg_120">120</a></span>reading of his
+review. His heart became the prey of bitter-sweet reflections, made up
+of gratified self-love and of severe self-reproach.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That beautiful creature <i>does</i> care for me, and is pained by my
+coldness! Ah! but I hope and trust she loves me <i>only</i> as a sister loves
+a brother! She has no brother, poor child! And her heart must have some
+one to lean on! I must be that one, for she has chosen me, and I will
+not be so recreant to humanity as to reject her trust.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Then his conscience smote him. And he felt that he had shown more
+tenderness for this lady than the occasion called for, or than his duty
+warranted. He had called her &#8220;dear;&#8221; he had kissed her hand; he had
+asked her if she loved him! And this in the face of all his late
+protestations to his wife!</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners was an honorable man and devotedly attached to his wife,
+and he was shocked now at the recollection of how far he had been drawn
+away from the strict line of duty by this lovely blonde!</p>
+
+<p>But then he said to himself that he had only caressed and soothed Rosa
+in a brotherly way; and that it was a great pity Sybil should be of such
+a jealous and exacting nature, as to wish to prevent him from showing a
+little brotherly love to this lovely and lonely lady.</p>
+
+<p>And worried by these opposing thoughts and feelings, Lyon Berners left
+his sofa and began to pace up and down the length of the drawing-room
+floor.</p>
+
+<p>In truth now, for the first time, the mischief was done! The siren had
+at last ensnared him, in her distress and dishabille, with her tears and
+tenderness, as she never had done in the full blaze of her adorned
+beauty, or by the most entrancing strains of divine melody.</p>
+
+<p>While Lyon Berners paced up and down the drawing-room floor, he seemed
+to see again the tender, tearful gaze of her soft blue eyes upon him;
+seemed to hear again the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_121" id="pg_121">121</a></span>melting tones of her melodious voice pleading
+with him: &#8220;How have I been so unhappy as to offend you, Mr. Berners?&#8221;
+What a contrast this sweet humility of friendship with the fiery pride
+of Sybil&#8217;s love!</p>
+
+<p>While he was almost involuntarily drawing this comparison, he heard the
+wheels of the carriage that brought Sybil home roll up to the door and
+stop.</p>
+
+<p>From her morning drive through the bright and frosty air, Sybil entered
+the drawing-room blooming, and glowing with health and happiness. For
+since that full explanation with her husband, she had been very happy.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners hastened to meet her. And perhaps it was his secret and
+painful consciousness of that little episode with Rosa, that caused him
+to throw into his manner even more than his usual show of affection, as
+he drew her to his bosom and kissed her fondly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why!&#8221; exclaimed Sybil, laughing and pleased, &#8220;you meet me as if I had
+been gone a month, instead of a morning!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your absence always seems long to me, dear wife, however short it may
+really be,&#8221; he answered earnestly. And he spoke the truth; for
+notwithstanding his admiration of Rosa, and the invidious comparison he
+had just drawn between her and Sybil, in his heart of hearts he still
+loved his wife truly.</p>
+
+<p>She threw off her bonnet and shawl, and sat down beside him and began to
+rattle away like a happy girl, telling him all the little incidents of
+her morning&#8217;s drive&mdash;whom she had seen, what she had purchased, and how
+excited everybody was on the subject of her approaching fancy ball.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The first one ever given in this neighborhood, you know. Lyon,&#8221; she
+added.</p>
+
+<p>And having told him all the news, she snatched up her bonnet and shawl
+and ran up-stairs to her own room, where she found her thin housekeeper
+engaged in sorting out laces and snivelling.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_122" id="pg_122">122</a></span>&#8220;Why, what&#8217;s the matter now, Miss Tabby?&#8221; cheerfully inquired Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, to tell you the truth, ma&#8217;am, I am dreadfully exercised
+into my own mind,&#8221; answered Miss Winterose, wiping a tear from the tip
+of her nose.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What about, now?&#8221; gayly demanded Sybil, who felt not the slightest
+degree of alarm on account of Miss Tabby, knowing that lady to be a
+constitutional and habitual whimperer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then, it&#8217;s all along of the wickedness and artfulness and deceitfulness
+of this here world.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, never mind, Miss Tabby; you&#8217;ll not have to answer for it all. But
+what particular instance of wickedness frets your soul now?&#8221; laughed
+Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, now, there&#8217;s where it is! I don&#8217;t know whether I ought to tell, or
+whether I ought&#8217;n to; nor whether, if I was to tell, I would be looked
+upon into the light of a mischief-maker, or into the light of a true
+friend!&#8221; whimpered Miss Winterose.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can soon settle that question of ethics for you,&#8221; laughed Sybil, all
+unsuspicious of what was coming.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do just as your conscience directs you, Miss Tabby, no matter how
+people may look upon you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well, then, ma&#8217;am; for my conscience do order me to speak! Oh,
+Miss Sybil! I have knowed you ever since you was a baby in my arms, and
+I can&#8217;t bear to have you so deceived and imposed upon by that there
+treacherous, ungrateful White Cat!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;White Cat?&#8221; echoed Sybil, in perplexity.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Miss Sybil, that red-headed, false-hearted White Cat, as you took
+into your house and home, for to beguile and corrupt your own true
+husband!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With a gasp and a suppressed cry, Sybil sank into her seat.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Tabby, too full of her subject to notice Sybil&#8217;s agitation,
+continued:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_123" id="pg_123">123</a></span>&#8220;No sooner had your carriage left the door this morning, Miss Sybil,
+than that there White Cat comes tipping on her tiptoes out of her room,
+in a long loose dressing-gown, with her hair all down, in a way as no
+real lady would ever be seen out of her own chamber, and she tips, tips,
+tips into the drawing-room, where she knows Mr. Berners is alone, and
+laying on the sofa!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With a powerful effort Sybil controlled her violent emotion, held
+herself still, and listened.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And that was bad enough, Miss Sybil! but that was nothing to what
+followed!&#8221; sighed Miss Tabby, wiping another tear from the end of her
+nose.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What followed?&#8221; echoed Sybil, in an expiring voice.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What followed, ma&#8217;am, was this: but to make you understand, I must tell
+you what I ought to a told you at the start, which is how it happened as
+I seen her tip, tip, tip, on her tiptoes to the drawing-room, just for
+all the world like a cat after cream. Well, I was up here, in this very
+room where I am now, a sorting out of your fine things as come up from
+the wash, and I found one o&#8217; <i>her</i> lace handkerchers among yourn, fotch
+up by mistake. So I jes took it and went down them back stairs as leads
+from this room down to hern, to give her back her handkercher; when jes
+as I got into her room, I seen her slip outen the other door leading
+into the hall. So after her I goes, to give her her handkercher&mdash;which I
+thought it was best to give it intor her own hands, than to put it
+anywhere in her room, because I didn&#8217;t know nothing about this forring
+nuss o&#8217; hern; and you know yourself, ma&#8217;am, as we ought to be cautious
+in dealing with strangers.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes! Go on! go on!&#8221; gasped Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, ma&#8217;am, she flitted through them passages too fast for me, jes as
+if she was afraid o&#8217; being caught afore she got out o&#8217; sight! I jes seen
+her slip into the drawing-room, where I knowed as Mr. Berners was a
+lying onto the sofa, and then I turns back and runs away.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_124" id="pg_124">124</a></span>&#8220;Oh, why didn&#8217;t you follow her in?&#8221; groaned Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, why didn&#8217;t I, ma&#8217;am; which I wish I had, and would a done if it
+hadn&#8217;t a been for that forring nuss a coming outen <i>her</i> room, and a
+screeching after me:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Missus Winterblossom! Missus Winterblossom!&#8217; which I allus told that
+huzzy as I wasn&#8217;t a &#8216;missus,&#8217; but a &#8216;miss,&#8217; nor likewise a &#8216;blossom,&#8217;
+but a &#8216;rose.&#8217; Howsever, there she was, a yelling at the top of her
+voice, &#8216;Missus Winterblossom! Missus Winterblossom!&#8217; until I had to run
+to her, only to stop her mouth!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah! the wretch! she was the accomplice of her mistress, and wished to
+bring you away,&#8221; breathed Sybil more to herself than to her housekeeper,
+and in a tone too low to reach the ears of Miss Tabby, who continued:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was the baby, as had been eating of new chestnuts, and got the
+cramp. So the forring nuss, as wasn&#8217;t worth her salt, comes screaming
+after me to come and do something for the baby. Of course I went and did
+what was right and proper for the poor little suffering creetur; and
+when I had put him to sleep, I thinks about his neglectful mother, and
+so I ups and goes after her. And when I opens the drawing-room door,
+ma&#8217;am&mdash;well, I sees a sight as strikes me intor a statty o&#8217; stone, or a
+pillar o&#8217; salt, like Lot&#8217;s wife.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What? what?&#8221; panted Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I seen &#8217;em both, him and her, a sitting close together and a going on
+jes like two lovyers as was going to be married to-morrow, or a bride
+and groom as was married yesterday.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How? how?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, ma&#8217;am, if her head wasn&#8217;t a leaning on his shoulder, it was so
+nigh it as it made no difference! And her hand was squeezed inter
+hizzen, and her eyes was rolled up inter hizzen in the most be-devilling
+way as ever I see in my life&mdash;for all the world as if she was a loving
+of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_125" id="pg_125">125</a></span>him, and a worshipping of him, and a praising of him, and a praying
+to him, all in one gaze!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And he!&mdash;and he!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my dear honey! what can you expect of a poor, weak, <i>he-man</i>? He
+looks down on her as if he enjoyed being loved and worshipped and
+praised and prayed to, and he squeezes of her hand up to his mouth as if
+he&#8217;d like to have eaten it!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>Oh, my heart! my heart!</i>&#8221; moaned Sybil, turning deadly pale.</p>
+
+<p>Still, Miss Tabby, full of her own subject, scarcely noticed the pain
+she was inflicting, so she continued:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And jes that minute they happened either to see or to hear me, I don&#8217;t
+know which. Anyways, they looks up, and&mdash;whew! they jumps apart as if a
+fire-cracker had gone off between &#8217;em! Well, I tells my lady as her
+child is sick, and she jumps up, impatient like, to go and look after
+him. And I comes away too. And that was just about ten minutes before
+you got home yourself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Deceived! Betrayed! Scorned! Laughed at!&#8221; bitterly exclaimed Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And that&#8217;s all. And now look here, honey! Don&#8217;t you go to taking on
+about this here piece o&#8217; business! And don&#8217;t you get mad long o&#8217; your
+husband on any woman&#8217;s account, whatever you do! Come down on the woman!
+That&#8217;s what you do. It is all <i>her</i> fault, not hizzen! <i>He</i> couldn&#8217;t
+help himself, poor innocent creetur! Lor! honey, I don&#8217;t know much about
+married life, bein&#8217; of a single woman myself; but I have heard my mother
+say as men are mons&#8217;rous weak-minded poor creeturs, and need to be
+guided by their wives; and if they an&#8217;t ruled by their wives, they are
+sure to be by some other woman! And it stands to reason it is more
+respectable to be ruled by their wives! And so, honey, my advice to you
+is, to send that bad woman about her business, and take that innocent
+man firmly in hand.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_126" id="pg_126">126</a></span>And so Miss Tabby babbled on, no longer heeded by Sybil, who soon
+slipped away and hid herself in one of the empty spare rooms.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="MORE_THAN_THE_BITTERNESS_OF_DEATH_4180" id="MORE_THAN_THE_BITTERNESS_OF_DEATH_4180"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+<h3>MORE THAN THE BITTERNESS OF DEATH.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left; text-indent:8em;">He to whom<br />
+I gave my heart with all its wealth of love,<br />
+Forsakes me for another.&mdash;<span class="sc">Medea.</span></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh my heart! my heart!&#8221; moaned Sybil, as she sank down upon the floor
+of that spare-room, the door of which she had bolted, to secure herself
+from intrusion.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my heart! my heart!&#8221; she wailed, pressing her hand to her side like
+one who had just received a mortal wound.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my heart! my heart!&#8221; she groaned, as one who complains of an
+insupportable agony. And for some moments she could do no more than
+this. Then at length the stream of utterance flowed forth, and&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He loves me no longer! my husband loves me no longer!&#8221; she cried in
+more than the bitterness of death. &#8220;He loves that false siren in place
+of me, his true wife. He gives her all the tender words, all the warm
+caresses he used to lavish on me. His heart is won from me. I am
+desolate! I am desolate, and I shall die! I shall die! But oh, how much
+I must suffer before I can die, for I am so strong to suffer! Ah, how I
+wish I might die at once, or that suicide were no sin!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But suddenly, out of this deep abasement of grief, blazed up a fierce
+and fiery anger. She started from her recumbent position, and began to
+walk wildly up and down the floor, beating her hands together, and
+exclaiming distractedly:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_127" id="pg_127">127</a></span>&#8220;But why should I die in my youth, and go down to the dark grave, to
+make room for <i>her</i>, the traitress! to make room in the heart of my
+husband and the home of my fathers for her, the&mdash;! Oh! there is no word
+bad enough to express what she is! And shall <i>she</i> live to bloom and
+smile and brighten in the sunshine of his love, while I moulder away in
+the earth? Oh!&#8221; she cried, striking her hands violently together, &#8220;there
+is madness and more than madness in the thought! I will not die alone;
+no, no, no, no, so help me, just Heaven! I will not die alone. Oh,
+Samson was a brave man as well as a strong one when he lifted the
+pillars of the temple, and willingly fell beneath its crumbling ruins,
+crushing all his foes. I will be another sort of Samson; and when I
+fall, I too will pull down destruction upon the heads of all who have
+wronged me!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>These and many more wild and wicked words she uttered as she walked
+fiercely up and down the room, her eyes blazing, her cheeks burning, her
+whole aspect full of frenzy.</p>
+
+<p>At length, again her mood changed; the fire died out of her eyes, the
+color faded from her cheeks; her frenzy subsided, and gave place to a
+stillness more awful than any excitement could possibly be. She sank
+down upon a low ottoman, and rested her elbows upon her knees and her
+chin upon the palms of her hands, and gazed straight before her into
+vacancy. Her face was deadly pale; her lips bloodless and compressed;
+her eyes contracted and glittering with a cold, black, baleful light;
+her hair unloosed in her agitation, streamed down each side, and fell
+upon her bosom like the ends of a long black scarf. At times she
+muttered to herself like any maniac:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And oh, how deeply deceitful they have both been with me, affecting a
+mutual indifference while I was by; falling to caressing each other just
+as soon as my back was turned! She&mdash;she only acted out her false and
+treacherous nature. But he&mdash;oh, he! in whose pure truth I had such
+pride. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_128" id="pg_128">128</a></span>Ah, Heaven! how low she must have drawn him before he could have
+gained his own consent to deceive me so! before he could come fresh from
+her side and her caresses, and meet and embrace me! What stupendous
+duplicity! Well, well!&#8221; she continued, nodding grimly; &#8220;well, well,
+since deceit is the fashion of the day, I too will be in the fashion; I
+too will wear a mask of smiles! But behind that mask I will watch!&mdash;Oh,
+how I will watch! Not at my fancy-ball alone will I play a part, but
+before it, and perhaps, <i>after it</i>! None shall ever know how I watch,
+what I see, until I descend with the fell swoop of the eagle. And
+henceforth let me remember that I am a daughter of the house of Berners,
+who never failed a friend or spared a foe. And oh, let the spirit of my
+fathers support me, for I must <span class="sc">ENDURE</span> until I can <span class="sc">AVENGE</span>!&#8221; she said, as
+she got up with a grim calmness and paced up and down the floor to
+recover full self-command.</p>
+
+<p>At length, when she felt sufficiently composed, she went to her own
+chamber, where she made a more elaborate and beautiful toilet than
+usual, preparatory to joining her husband and their guest at the
+dinner-table.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now smile, eyes! smile, lips! flatter, tongue! Be a siren among the
+sirens, Sybil! Be a serpent among the serpents!&#8221; she hissed, as she
+glided down the stairs and entered the dining-room.</p>
+
+<p><i>They</i> were there! They were standing close together, in the recess of
+the west window, gazing out at the sun, which was just setting behind
+the mountain. They started, and turned towards her as she advanced. But
+Sybil, true to her tactics, spoke pleasantly, saying:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You get a beautiful view of the sunset from that window, Mrs.
+Blondelle.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, dear,&#8221; answered Rosa, sweetly. &#8220;I was just drawing Mr. Berners&#8217;
+attention to it, and telling him that I really believe use has blinded
+him to its beauty.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_129" id="pg_129">129</a></span>&#8220;Possession is a great disenchanter,&#8221; answered Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>Both the others looked up to see if she had any hidden meaning under her
+words. But apparently she had not. She was smiling very gayly as she
+took her place at the head of the table and invited her companions to
+take their seats.</p>
+
+<p>Throughout the dinner-hour Sybil seemed in very high spirits; she was
+full of anecdote and wit; she talked and laughed freely. Her companions
+noticed her unusual gayety; but they ascribed it to the exhilarating
+effects of her morning drive, and to the anticipations of her mask ball,
+which now formed the principal subject of conversation at the table.</p>
+
+<p>After dinner, they went into the drawing-room, where Sybil soon left her
+husband and her guest alone together; or rather, she pretended to leave
+them so; but really, with that insanity of jealousy which made her
+forget her womanhood, she merely went out and around the hall into the
+library, and placed herself behind the folding doors communicating with
+the drawing room, where she could hear and see all that might be going
+on between her husband and her rival.</p>
+
+<p>It is proverbial that &#8220;listeners never hear any good of themselves.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sybil&#8217;s case was no exception to this rule. This is what she heard of
+<i>herself</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What ever could have ailed Mrs. Berners,&#8221; inquired Mrs. Blondelle, with
+a pretty lisp.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What could have ailed Sybil? Why, nothing, that I noticed. What
+<i>should</i> have ailed her?&#8221; on his side inquired Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She was very much excited!&#8221; exclaimed Mrs. Blondelle, with a
+significant shrug of her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! that was from her exhilarating morning ride, which raised her
+spirits.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_130" id="pg_130">130</a></span>&#8220;Which excited her excessively, I should say, if it really <i>was</i> the
+ride.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course it was the ride. And I admit that she was very gay,&#8221; laughed
+Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Gay?&#8221; echoed Rosa, raising her eyebrows&mdash;&#8220;Gay? Why, she was almost
+delirious, my friend.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! well; Sybil gives full vent to her feelings; always did, always
+will. My little wife is in many respects a mere child, you know,&#8221; said
+Mr. Berners, tenderly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah! what a happy child, to have her faults so kindly indulged! I wish I
+were that child!&#8221; sighed Rosa.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But why should you wish to be anything else but yourself, being so
+charming as you are?&#8221; he softly inquired.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you really like me, just as I am, Mr. Berners?&#8221; she meekly inquired,
+dropping her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I really do. I have told you so, Rosa,&#8221; he answered, approaching her,
+and taking her hand.</p>
+
+<p>She sighed and turned away her head; but she left her hand in his clasp.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear Rosa! dear child!&#8221; he murmured. &#8220;You are not happy.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, not happy,&#8221; she echoed, in a broken voice.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear Rosa! what can I do to make you happy?&#8221; he tenderly inquired.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You? What can you do? Oh!&mdash;But I forget myself! I know not what I say!
+I must leave you, Mr. Berners!&#8221; she exclaimed, in well-acted alarm, as
+she snatched her hand from his grasp and fled from the room.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners looked after her, sighed heavily, and then began to walk
+thoughtfully up and down the room.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil, from her covert, watched him, and grimly nodded her head. Then
+she also slipped away.</p>
+
+<p>An hour later than this, the three, Mr. and Mrs. Berners and Mrs.
+Blondelle, were in the drawing-room together.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You promised me some music,&#8221; whispered Lyon to Rosa.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_131" id="pg_131">131</a></span>&#8220;Oh yes; and I will give you some. I am so glad you like my poor songs.
+I am so happy when I can do anything at all to please you,&#8221; she murmured
+in reply, lifting her humid blue eyes to his face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Everything you do pleases me,&#8221; he answered, in a very low voice.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil was not standing very near them, yet, with ears sharpened by
+jealousy, she overheard the whole of that short colloquy, and&mdash;treasured
+it up.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners led Rosa Blondelle to the piano, arranged her music-stool,
+and placed the music sheets before her. She turned to one of Byron&#8217;s
+impassioned songs, and while he hung enraptured over her, she sang the
+words, and ever she raised her eyes to his, to give eloquent expression
+and point to the sentiment. And then <i>his</i> eyes answered, if his voice
+and his heart did not.</p>
+
+<p>That song was finished, and many more songs were sung, each more
+impassioned than the other, until at last, Rosa, growing weary and
+becoming slightly hoarse, arose from the piano, and with a
+half-suppressed sigh sank into an easy-chair.</p>
+
+<p>Then Sybil&mdash;who had watched them through the evening, and noted every
+look and word and smile and sigh that passed between them, and who now
+found her powers of self-command waning&mdash;Sybil, I say, rang for the
+bedroom candles. And when they were brought, the little party separated
+and retired for the night.</p>
+
+<p>From this time forth, in the insanity of her jealousy, and with a
+secretiveness only possible to the morally insane, Sybil completely
+concealed her suspicions and her sufferings from her husband and her
+guest. She was affectionate with Lyon, pleasant with Rosa, and confiding
+in her manners towards both.</p>
+
+<p>And they were completely deceived, and never more fatally so than when
+they imagined themselves alone together.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_132" id="pg_132">132</a></span><i>They were never alone</i>.</p>
+
+<p>There was never a tender glance, a fluttering sigh, a soft smile, a
+low-toned, thrilling word passed between the false flirt and the
+fascinated husband, that was not seen and heard by the heart-broken,
+brain-crazed young wife!</p>
+
+<p>And oh! could these triflers with sacred love&mdash;these wanderers on the
+brink of a fearful abyss&mdash;have seen the look of her face then, they
+would have fled from each other for ever, rather than to have dared the
+desperation of her roused soul.</p>
+
+<p>But they saw nothing, knew nothing, suspected nothing! They were, like
+children playing with deadly poisons, with edge tools, or with fire,
+ignorant of the fatal toys they handled.</p>
+
+<p>And, moreover they meant nothing. Theirs was the shallowest pretence of
+love that ever went by the name of a flirtation. On the woman&#8217;s side, it
+was but a love of admiration and an affectation of sentiment. On the
+man&#8217;s side, it was pity and gratified self-love. So little did Rosa
+Blondelle really care for Lyon Berners, and so truly did she estimate
+the value of her very luxurious home at Black Hall, that had she known
+the state of Sybil&#8217;s mind, she would very quickly have put an end to her
+flirtation with the husband, and done all that she could to recover the
+confidence of the wife, and then&mdash;looked out among the attractive young
+men of the neighborhood for another party to that sentimental,
+meaningless love-making, which was yet a necessity to her shallow life.</p>
+
+<p>And as for Mr. Berners, had he dreamed of the real depth of anguish this
+trifling with the blonde beauty caused his true-hearted wife, he would
+have been the first to propose the immediate departure of their guest.</p>
+
+<p>Had Sybil been frank with either or both the offenders, much misery
+might have been saved. But the young wife, wounded to the quick in her
+pride and in her love, hid her sufferings and kept her secret.</p>
+
+<p>And thus the three drifted towards the awful brink of ruin.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_133" id="pg_133">133</a></span>
+<a name="THE_FIRST_FATAL_HALLOW_EVE_4450" id="THE_FIRST_FATAL_HALLOW_EVE_4450"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+<h3>THE FIRST FATAL HALLOW EVE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left"><span class="sc">Ambrose</span>&mdash;Where be these maskers, fool?<br />
+<span class="sc">Collin</span>&mdash;Everywhere, sage! But chiefly there<br />
+<span style="margin-left:4em;">Where least they seem to mask!</span></p></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><span class="sc">Jonson&mdash;The Carnival.</span>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>It was All-Hallow Eve, a night long anticipated with delight by the
+whole neighborhood, and much longer still remembered with horror by the
+whole country.</p>
+
+<p>It was the occasion of Sybil Berners&#8217; mask ball; and Black Hall, the
+Black Valley, and the town of Blackville were all in a state of
+unprecedented excitement; for this was the first entertainment of the
+kind that had ever been given in the locality, and the gentry of three
+contiguous counties had been invited to assist at it.</p>
+
+<p>Far distant from large cities and professional costumers as the rural
+belles and beaux of the neighborhood were, you will wonder what they did
+for fancy dresses.</p>
+
+<p>They did very well. They ransacked the old cedar chests of their
+great-grandparents, and exhumed the rich brocades, cloths of gold and
+silvers, lutestrings, lamas, fardingdales, hair-cushions, and all the
+gorgeous paraphernalia and regalia of the ante-revolutionary queens of
+fashion. And they referred to old family portraits, and to pictures in
+old plays and novels, and upon the whole they got up their dresses with
+more fidelity to fact than most costumers do.</p>
+
+<p>Some also went to the trouble and expense of a journey to New York to
+procure outfits, and these were commissioned to buy masks for all their
+friends and acquaintances who were invited to the ball.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_134" id="pg_134">134</a></span>These preparations had occupied nearly the whole month of October. And
+now the eventful day had come, and the whole community was on tiptoe
+with expectation.</p>
+
+<p>First, at Black Hall all was in readiness, not only for the ball and the
+supper, but for the accommodation of those lady friends of the hostess
+who, coming from a great distance, would expect to take a bed there.</p>
+
+<p>And all was in readiness at the village hotel at Blackville, where
+gentlemen, coming from a distance to attend the ball, had engaged rooms
+in advance.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless the landlord of the hotel was in a &#8220;stew,&#8221; for there were
+more people already arrived, on horseback and in carriages of every
+description, from the heavy family coach crammed with young ladies and
+gentlemen, to the one-horse gig with a pair of college chums. And the
+distracted landlord had neither beds for the human beings nor stalls for
+the horses. But he sent out among his neighbors, and tried to get
+&#8220;accommodations for man and beast&#8221; in private houses and stables.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And the coach be come in, sir, and what be we to do with the
+passengers?&#8221; inquired the head waiter.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Blast the coach! I wish it had tumbled down the &#8216;Devil&#8217;s Descent&#8217; into
+the bottomless pit!&#8221; exclaimed the frantic host, seizing his gray locks
+with both hands, and running away from before the face of his
+tormentor&mdash;and jumping from the frying-pan into the fire, when he came
+full upon his daughter Bessie, who stopped him with:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pop, you must come right into the parlor. There&#8217;s a gentleman there as
+come by the coach, and says he <i>must</i> have a bed here to-night, no
+matter how full you maybe, or how much it may cost.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Impossible, Bessie! Clean impossible! Don&#8217;t drive me stark mad!&#8221; cried
+the landlord, jerking at his gray hair.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, but, Pop, you must come and tell the gentleman so, or he&#8217;ll sit
+there all night,&#8221; remonstrated the girl.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_135" id="pg_135">135</a></span>&#8220;Blow the fellow to blazes! Where is he?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In the parlor, Pop.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The landlord trotted into the parlor and gave a little start, for, at
+first sight, he thought the gentleman&#8217;s head was on fire! But a second
+glance showed him that the gentleman only had the reddest hair he had
+ever seen in his life, and that the level rays of the setting sun,
+shining through the western window, and falling fall upon this head, set
+this red hair in a harmless blaze of light.</p>
+
+<p>Recovering from his little shock, he advanced to the gentleman, bowed,
+and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, sir, I am the landlord, and I understand you wish to see me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; I wish to engage a room here to-night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very sorry, sir; but it is out of the question. Every room in the house
+is engaged; even my room and my daughter&#8217;s room, and the servants&#8217;
+rooms. And not only that, sir, but every sofa is engaged, and every rug;
+so you see it is clean impossible.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Impossible is it?&#8221; inquired the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Clean impossible, sir! utterly impossible!&#8221; returned the host.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right; then it shall be done.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sir!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I say, because it is impossible, it shall be done.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Eh!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Here is a hundred dollars,&#8221; said the stranger, laying down two
+bank-notes of fifty dollars each. &#8220;I will give you this money if you can
+induce any of your guests to give up a room for me to-night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, really, sir, I should be delighted to accommodate such a very
+liberal gentleman, but&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must decide at once. Now, or never,&#8221; said the stranger, firmly, for
+he saw the game was now in his own hands.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_136" id="pg_136">136</a></span>&#8220;Well, yes, sir; I will find you a room. The two young college gents
+who took a room between them may be induced to give it up.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>Must</i> give it up, you mean,&#8221; amended the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, yes, sir; just as you say, sir.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And I must have it in fifteen minutes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And supper served there in half an hour.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And your company at supper, as I want to have a little talk with you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right, sir.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now, you can go and see about the room.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Just so, sir,&#8221; said the landlord, gathering up the two fifty-dollar
+bills that had bought him, body and soul, and then bowing himself out of
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Money makes the mare go,&#8217; and the horse too. I wonder what he&#8217;ll think
+when he finds out his bank bills are not worth the paper they are
+printed on,&#8221; mused the stranger, as he paced thoughtfully up and down
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately for the landlord&#8217;s speculation, bad as it ultimately proved,
+the two collegians who had engaged his best front bedroom had not yet
+arrived to take possession of it. Therefore the business of turning it
+over to a more profitable party was the more immediately practicable.
+All the landlord had to do was to see that a fire was kindled in the
+fireplace, and the table was set for supper.</p>
+
+<p>Then he returned to the parlor, to conduct, in person, such a wealthy
+and munificent patron to his apartment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah! this is cosy!&#8221; said the stranger, sinking into an arm-chair, and
+spreading his hands over the blazing fire, whose beams were caught and
+reflected by his red hair, until it shone like a rival conflagration.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Glad you like your quarters, sir,&#8221; said the landlord, putting his hand
+upon the pocket that contained the purse with the two fifty-dollar bills
+to see that they were safe.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_137" id="pg_137">137</a></span>&#8220;Ah! here comes the supper. Now, landlord, I want you to join me, that
+we may have that little chat I spoke of,&#8221; said the stranger, wheeling
+his arm-chair around to the table, while the waiter arranged the dishes,
+and stared at the flaming red head of the guest.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What name might I have the honor of entering on my books, sir, if you
+please?&#8221; inquired the host, as he obligingly took his seat opposite his
+guest.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What name might you have the honor of entering on your books?&#8221; repeated
+the stranger, helping himself to a huge slice of ham. &#8220;Well, you <i>might</i>
+have the honor of entering quite a variety of names on your books, as I
+dare say you do; but for the sake of brevity, which is the soul of wit,
+you may put down Smith&mdash;John Smith of New York city. Common name, eh,
+landlord, and from a big city? Can&#8217;t help that&mdash;fault of my forefathers
+and godfathers. Whenever I have to sign a check the bankers make me
+write myself down as &#8216;John Smith of John.&#8217; Can&#8217;t do any better than that
+if it were to avert a financial crisis. All my ancestors have been John
+Smiths, from the days of William Rufus, when his chief armorer John,
+surnamed the &#8216;Smiter,&#8217; for his lusty blows, founded the family. So you
+may set me down as &#8216;John Smith of John, New York city.&#8217; And now send the
+waiter away, and fall to and tell me some of your neighborhood news.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Nothing but the consciousness of the possession of those two big bills
+would have given the landlord courage to have left his business below
+stairs to take care of itself even for the half hour to which he
+mentally resolved to limit his interview with the stranger. However, he
+dismissed the waiter with some extra charges, and then placed himself at
+the service of his guest, and even took the initiative of the
+<i>t&ecirc;te-&agrave;-t&ecirc;te</i> by asking:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are quite a stranger in this neighborhood, sir?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Quite.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_138" id="pg_138">138</a></span>&#8220;Travelling on business, or for pleasure?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pleasure.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A delightful season this, to travel in, sir; neither too warm, nor too
+cold. And the country never looks so rich and beautiful as in its autumn
+foliage.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;True,&#8221; answered the stranger, briefly, and then he added, &#8220;I didn&#8217;t ask
+you to come here to catechize me, my good friend; but to submit to be
+catechized yourself, and to amuse me with the gossip of the
+neighborhood.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again nothing but the consciousness of a heavy fee would have induced
+the host of the &#8220;Antlers&#8221; to put up with this traveller&#8217;s &#8220;nonsense,&#8221; as
+he termed his general assumption of superiority.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What would you like to hear about, then, sir?&#8221; growled the landlord.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;First, what important families have you in this part of the country?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, sir, the most principlest is the Bernerses of Black Hall, which
+have returned from their bridal tour about a month ago and taken up
+their abode there in the old ancestral home.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The Berners! Who are they?&#8221; inquired the traveller, carelessly trifling
+with the wing of a pheasant.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must be a stranger indeed, sir, not to know the Bernerses of Black
+Hall,&#8221; said the landlord, with an expression of strong disapprobation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, as I don&#8217;t know them, and as they seem to be persons of the
+highest distinction, perhaps you will tell me all about them,&#8221; said the
+traveller.</p>
+
+<p>And the landlord not unwillingly gave the guest the full history of the
+Berners of Black Hall, down to the marriage of the last heiress, at
+which the bridegroom took the name of the bride&#8217;s family. And then he
+described the situation of the Hall and the way in which it might be
+reached, and ended by saying:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_139" id="pg_139">139</a></span>&#8220;And if you think of making any stay in this neighborhood, sir, and
+will send your card to Mr. and Mrs. Berners, they will be sure to call
+on you and show you every attention in their power, sir; invite you to
+their house, introduce you to the neighbors, make parties for you, and
+make you generally welcome among us.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They are very hospitable, then?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hospitable! Why, sir, even when they were on their bridal tour, they
+fell in with a lovely lady in distress, and what do they do but pay her
+bills at the hotel, and fetch her and her child and her servant, all,
+bag and baggage, home with themselves, to stay at Black Hall as long as
+ever she likes?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Indeed! That was a very unusual stretch of hospitality. And this lady
+is still with them?&#8221; inquired the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She is that, sir; although the word do go around that it would be well
+if she was to go away.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah! why so?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, sir&mdash;but, lord, it is all servants&#8217; gossip, and there may be
+nothing in it; but they do say that the master of the house is too fond
+of the visitor, and likewise she of him; and that this do make the
+mistress of the house very unhappy.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; exclaimed the stranger, in a half-suppressed voice.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They do say, sir, that whenever the mistress turns her back, they
+two&mdash;the master and the guest&mdash;do go on like any pair of sweethearts,
+which is a great scandal, if it&#8217;s true.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah ha!&#8221; muttered the stranger, clenching and grinding his teeth.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Howsever, sir, if the master is in love with the visitor, and the
+mistress is made unhappy thereby, that is no reason why they should put
+off their mask ball and disappoint the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_140" id="pg_140">140</a></span>whole community, I suppose they
+think; so they have not done so; but they have their ball this evening,
+just as if they were the happiest household in the country.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, a mask ball have they, this evening! And what sort of an affair is
+it to be?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, sir, the ball is to be like other balls, I believe, only that the
+guests are to appear in fancy dresses, or in loose gowns called
+dominoes, and to wear false faces until supper-time, when they unmask
+and reveal themselves to each other.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, that is just like other mask balls,&#8221; said the stranger, and then
+he seemed to fall into thought for a few minutes; and then, rousing
+himself, he said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Landlord, you told me that your house is very full to-night, and so you
+must have a great deal of business on your hands.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I just have, sir,&#8221; replied the impatient host.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I will not detain you any longer from your other guests. Pray send
+the waiter to remove this service immediately. And then, I think, as I
+am very much fatigued by my stage-coach journey over your beastly roads,
+I will retire to bed,&#8221; said the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>And the landlord, glad to be relieved, got up and bowed himself out.</p>
+
+<p>His exit was soon followed by the entrance of the waiter who quickly
+cleared the table and also retired.</p>
+
+<p>The next proceedings of the stranger were rather singular.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as he found himself quite alone, he locked his door, to secure
+himself from any possibility of interruption, and hung a towel over the
+key-hole, to guard his movements from observation, and then he unlocked
+his portmanteau, and took from it a strange and horrible disguise, that
+I will try to describe, so as to make it plain to the reader.</p>
+
+<p>It was a tight-fitting suit, the pantaloons and jacket <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_141" id="pg_141">141</a></span>being made all
+in one piece, and of such elastic material as to fit close to the form.
+The ground of this dress was black; but upon it was painted, in strong
+relief of white, the blanched bones of a skeleton&mdash;thus: down the legs
+of the pantaloons were traced the long bare leg bones, with the large
+joints of the hips, knees, and ankles; across the body was traced the
+white ribs, breast-bone, and collar-bone; and down the sleeves were
+traced the long bones of the arms, with the large shoulder-blades,
+elbow-joints, and wrists; the bones of the hands were traced in white
+upon tight-fitting black gloves, and those of the feet upon
+tight-fitting black socks: a round scull-cap was to be drawn over the
+head; this was all white, to represent the skull, and had its skeleton
+features marked out with black.</p>
+
+<p>The stranger having divested himself of his upper garments then put on
+this horrible dress. When he had finished his revolting toilet, even to
+the drawing on of the skull-cap, he surveyed himself in the mirror that
+reflected as ghastly a figure of &#8220;Death,&#8221; as Milton, Dant&eacute;, or even
+Gustav Dor&eacute;, ever conceived.</p>
+
+<p>He laughed sardonically, as he exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah ha! they will not expect &#8216;Death&#8217; to be a guest at their ball!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Then over this grim costume he threw a large travelling cloak, and upon
+his head he placed a broad-brimmed black felt hat. And now, being all
+ready, he prepared to leave the room.</p>
+
+<p>First he put out the light, and then he cautiously unlocked the door,
+and, secure from observation himself, he looked out to see if the coast
+was clear.</p>
+
+<p>The passage was dark, but soon he saw a door on the opposite side open,
+and two young men come out in masquerade dresses, and hasten, laughing
+and talking, down the stairs. They were evidently on their way to the
+mask ball.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_142" id="pg_142">142</a></span>The next instant, the door on the same side with his own opened, and a
+lady and gentleman, both in black dominoes and masks, came out and
+passed down stairs.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good!&#8221; said the stranger to himself. &#8220;If I am met at all, I shall be
+mistaken for one of the invited guests of the ball, and pass out without
+being recognized.&#8221; And so saying, he softly drew the key from the inside
+of the lock, and closed and locked the door, and taking the key with
+him, glided down the stairs and out of the house, and took the road to
+Black Hall.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="THE_MASQUERADE_BALL_4824" id="THE_MASQUERADE_BALL_4824"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+<h3>THE MASQUERADE BALL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">Light up the mansion, spread the festive board;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Welcome the gay, the noble, and the fair!</span><br />
+Through the bright hall in joyous concert poured,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Let mirth and music sound the dirge of care!</span><br />
+But ask thou not if happiness be there,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">If the loud laugh disguise convulsive throe,</span><br />
+Or if the brow the heart&#8217;s true livery wear;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lift not the festal mask!&mdash;enough to know</span><br />
+No scene of mortal life but teems with mortal woe!</p>
+<p style="text-align: right">&mdash;<span class="sc">Walter Scott</span>.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>The whole front of Black Hall blazed with festive lights; and these
+lights were all reflected in the dark waters of the lake, and by the
+glowing foliage of the trees that clothed the mountains, and by the
+sparkling spray of the cascades that sprung from the rocks on the other
+side.</p>
+
+<p>The space immediately before the house was crowded with carriages of
+every description, from the splendid open barouche to the comfortable
+family coach and the plain gig.</p>
+
+<p>The portico and passages in front of the house were thronged with
+arriving guests and waiting attendants ready to show them to the
+dressing-rooms, which were lighted and warmed, and supplied with every
+convenience for the completion of the toilets.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_143" id="pg_143">143</a></span>The drawing-room and dancing saloon brilliantly lighted by chandeliers,
+and beautifully decorated with festoons of dark bright evergreens and
+wreaths of gorgeous autumn leaves and bouquets of splendid autumn
+flowers, stood ready with wide open doors to welcome the company.</p>
+
+<p>At the hall door, at the head of the servants, stood Mr. Joseph Joy the
+house steward, and Miss Tabitha Winterose the housekeeper, both
+disgusted with the heathenish costumes, distracted with the confusion,
+disapproving of the whole proceedings, yet determined to do their duty.</p>
+
+<p>Their duty was to see that the men and maids did <i>theirs</i>, in showing
+the gentlemen and ladies to their dressing-rooms. They had both in turn
+been astonished, scandalized, and appalled by the grotesque figures that
+had passed them. But their manner of expressing their sentiments was
+quite different.</p>
+
+<p>Joseph Joy stared, wondered, and shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Tabby sighed, whimpered, and moralized.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I feel as if I had been drinking for a week, and had a lively sort of a
+nightmare! Here comes another ghoul, in a false face and black gown and
+hood! Now, how is anybody to tell what it is? Whether it is a tall woman
+or a short man? Gentleman, or lady, if your honor pleases?&#8221; said Joseph
+Joy, addressing himself to a black domino that just then came up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Gentleman,&#8221; answered the unknown.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pass to the right, then, if you please, sir! Here Alick, show this
+gentleman in the black shroud to the gentlemen&#8217;s dressing-room.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A trembling darky came forward and took charge of this terrific
+personage.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah, my goodness! no good will ever come of this!&#8221; sighed Miss Tabby.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No good? Yes there will too!&#8221; answered Joseph Joy, who was fond of
+contradiction. &#8220;All these bare-necked, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_144" id="pg_144">144</a></span>bare-armed, and bare-legged
+people will get the pleurisy and be laid on the flat of their backs for
+three months, when they will have the opportunity of meditating on the
+iniquity of their ways! And won&#8217;t that be good?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, it will; and I hope it will be sanctified to their souls,&#8221; sighed
+Miss Tabitha.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now here comes another bogie! Gentleman, or lady, please?&#8221; politely
+inquired the usher, as a red domino approached.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lady,&#8221; softly murmured the domino.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pass the lady on to your maids, Miss Winterose! And here&#8217;s another that
+certainly belongs to your department too! And another, and another, and
+a whole dozen of them!&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Joy, as a troupe of bayaderes,
+gipsies, peasants, court ladies, et c&aelig;tera, filed up.</p>
+
+<p>All these Miss Winterose passed on to Delia, with directions to show
+them to the ladies&#8217; dressing-rooms. And then she turned to Mr. Joy with
+a deep sigh, whimpering:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah! Joseph, where do all these people expect to die when they go to?
+I&mdash;I mean, to go to when they die?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They don&#8217;t trouble themselves about that, I reckon,&#8221; said contradictory
+Joe.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah! but it is written that we shall not make to ourselves the likeness
+of anything that is in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or in
+the waters under the earth. And here are all these people making of
+themselves&mdash;&#8221; Miss Tabby stopped and snivelled, and then stopped again
+to wipe a tear from the tip of her nose.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, what?&#8221; demanded antagonistic Joe. &#8220;What are these people making
+of themselves? Nothing that breaks the first commandment, for surely you
+don&#8217;t mean to say that they make of themselves the image of anything in
+the heavens above, the earth below, or the waters under the earth, do
+you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, Joseph; but I was mistrusting as they had made themselves up into
+images of something in t&#8217; other place.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_145" id="pg_145">145</a></span>&#8220;With the Evil One for a pattern, eh? And here he comes, sure enough.
+Talk of the d&mdash;&mdash; and you know what happens,&#8221; muttered Joe Joy, as a
+most appalling apparition approached. It was a tall, thin figure, clad
+in a tight-fitting black suit, that clung close to the skin from the
+crown of the head to the soles of the feet and the palms of the hands;
+skull-cap, mask, jacket, sleeves, trousers, shoes and gloves seeming to
+be knit all of one piece, or else very artistically joined together.
+Crowning the black brows were two tall white horns; tipping the black
+fingers were long white talons; terminating the black feet were cloven
+white hoofs. Crimson glass goggles over the eyes gave the look of
+burning coals; and by some &#8220;devilish cantrap strange,&#8221; some trick in
+chemistry, at least, little jets of flame appeared to issue from the
+mouth and nostrils of the mask.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Heaven save us! There&#8217;s no mistaking his sex, or identity either,&#8221;
+gasped Mr. Joe, backing himself away from this diabolical figure until
+he was stopped by the wall, from which he cried out, &#8220;Here, Jerry, show
+the&mdash;Enemy&mdash;into the gentleman&#8217;s dressing-room.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The shuddering boy, shaking in every limb, shrank away and merely
+pointed out the door of the dressing-room.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Tabby had merely time to raise her hands and eyes in mute appeal to
+heaven, before a shoal of new arrivals&mdash;&#8220;flower girls,&#8221; &#8220;strawberry
+girls,&#8221; &#8220;match girls,&#8221; &#8220;morning stars,&#8221; &#8220;evening stars,&#8221; &#8220;springs,&#8221;
+&#8220;summers,&#8221; &#8220;nuns,&#8221; &#8220;bacchantes,&#8221; etc., claimed her attention; while a
+troupe of &#8220;brigands,&#8221; &#8220;monks,&#8221; &#8220;troubadours,&#8221; &#8220;clowns,&#8221; &#8220;harlequin,&#8221;
+&#8220;kings,&#8221; &#8220;crusaders,&#8221; et c&aelig;tera, demanded the guidance of Mr. Joy.</p>
+
+<p>And after this thicker and faster they came, crowding one group behind
+another, until the ushers were nearly demented. When drove after drove
+had divided and passed to the right or the left, that is, to the ladies&#8217;
+or gentlemen&#8217;s dressing-rooms, and the stream began to slacken a little,
+so <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_146" id="pg_146">146</a></span>that they could distinguish individuals, Mr. Joy in turn received
+and passed a &#8220;puritan preacher,&#8221; a &#8220;cavalier soldier,&#8221; a &#8220;Highlander,&#8221; a
+&#8220;knight,&#8221; a &#8220;minstrel,&#8221; the &#8220;vailed prophet,&#8221; a &#8220;Switzer,&#8221; a &#8220;Chinese
+mandarin,&#8221; a &#8220;Russian serf,&#8221; and black, white, and gray, red, yellow,
+and blue dominoes, he suddenly exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good Lord deliver us! What&#8217;s <i>that</i>?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Tabby, who, to her infinite disgust, had been receiving and passing
+any number of &#8220;fairies,&#8221; &#8220;fisher girls,&#8221; &#8220;soubrettes,&#8221; &#8220;sultanas,&#8221; et
+c&aelig;tera, turned around, and in a quavering voice, inquired:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s <i>what</i>?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, <i>that</i>!&#8221; shuddered Joe, pointing to a ghastly figure that was
+standing quite still, a few paces from where they stood, trembling.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a skeleton! Oh, my goodness! how did ever <span class="sc">it</span> get here?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, it <i>is</i> a skeleton! Oh, this is too horrible!&#8221; gasped Joe,
+shrinking up against the wall. And his female companion clung close to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the &#8220;skeleton&#8221; stalked towards them.</p>
+
+<p>We, reader, have seen the figure before. But so distinctly was the
+skeleton of the human body painted in white upon that tight-fitting
+black suit, that the illusion was perfect; and the wonder was not great
+that the two poor ignorant servants trembled and gasped, and shrank
+back.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, if you were not afraid of the Devil, why should you shrink from
+Death?&#8221; demanded the stranger:</p>
+
+<p class="c">&#8220;Grinning horribly a ghastly smile.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&mdash;was not&mdash;afraid; only it gives one such a turn!&#8221; replied Joe, with
+chattering teeth.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then direct me to a dressing-room,&#8221; ordered the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But&mdash;are you&mdash;a gentleman&#8217;s skeleton, or a lady&#8217;s?&#8221; gasped Joe.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_147" id="pg_147">147</a></span>&#8220;I am neither. I am Death,&#8221; curtly replied the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lord save us!&#8221; ejaculated Miss Tabby.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Are you going to direct me to a dressing-room?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sure, as soon as I know what sort of a one you want. Are you a
+gentleman&#8217;s death, or a lady&#8217;s?&#8221; faltered Joe, who could by no means
+command his nerves.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am a lady&#8217;s death!&#8221; replied the stranger, in a tone so grim that Miss
+Tabby ejaculated:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Heaven have mercy on us!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Joe was about to direct the stranger to the ladies&#8217; dressing-rooms, when
+his attention was suddenly diverted by the arrival of a crowd of
+&#8220;knights,&#8221; &#8220;Indians,&#8221; &#8220;Welsh bards,&#8221; &#8220;grisettes,&#8221; &#8220;Greek slaves,&#8221; et
+c&aelig;tera, who demanded immediate service. The usher divided them according
+to their sexes, and then noticed that the ghastly figure of &#8220;Death&#8221;
+joined the gentlemen&#8217;s party and accompanied them to their
+dressing-room.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="ON_THE_WATCH_5041" id="ON_THE_WATCH_5041"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+<h3>ON THE WATCH.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">False&mdash;from the head&#8217;s crown to the foot&#8217;s sole&mdash;false!<br />
+To think I never knew it until now,<br />
+Nor saw thro&#8217; him e&#8217;en when I saw him smile;<br />
+Saw that he meant this when he wed me,<br />
+When he caressed me! Yes, when he kissed my lips!&mdash;<span class="sc">Browning</span></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>While this busy scene was being enacted below stairs, equally important,
+if quieter dramas were being performed in the dressing-rooms up-stairs,
+where the maskers were putting the last finishing touches to their
+toilets.</p>
+
+<p>In Mrs. Berners&#8217; dressing-room, Sybil, the queen of the festival, was
+alone. Mr. Berners, who had assumed the character of &#8220;Harold, the last
+of the Saxon Kings,&#8221; had <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_148" id="pg_148">148</a></span>already completed his toilet and gone below
+stairs, as he said, to take his place near the door to welcome his
+guests as they should enter the drawing-room.</p>
+
+<p>So Sybil was alone in her apartment. She also had just completed her
+toilet, and now she stood before the large cheval mirror, surveying the
+reflection of her figure from its clear surface, where it looked like a
+framed picture.</p>
+
+<p>Ah! far the most beautiful, far the most terrible figure in the
+pageantry of the evening would be that of Sybil Berners! She had chosen
+for her character the unprecedented part of the impersonation of the
+Spirit of Fire. It suited well with her whole nature. She was a true
+child of the sun&mdash;a fervent Fire Worshipper, if ever there lived one in
+a Christian community. And now her costume was but the outward sign of
+the inward fervor. Let me try to describe it.</p>
+
+<p>She wore a robe of chameleon-hued satin, so artfully woven, with a warp
+of golden thread and woof of crimson silk, that, as with every change of
+light and shade, it glowed in ruby coals or blazed in amber flames; and
+as with every motion of her graceful form it flashed around her, she
+seemed to be clothed in living fire.</p>
+
+<p>She wore a burning garnet, like a live coal on her bosom; and on her
+brow a golden circle set with garnets, and having golden points set with
+amber and topaz, and tipped with diamonds, and flashing like little
+tongues of flame from a circle of fire.</p>
+
+<p>Her mask was of golden gauze, perfectly moulded to her beautiful
+features.</p>
+
+<p>Never had Sybil Berners worn a dress so perfectly expressive of herself
+as this, for she herself was Fire!</p>
+
+<p>She had confided the secret of her costume to no one but to her husband,
+not even to her guest&mdash;courtesy did not oblige her to do that; and in
+order to preserve the secret inviolate, she had on this occasion dressed
+herself without the assistance of her maid.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_149" id="pg_149">149</a></span>Being now ready to join the maskers, she slipped a large dark cloak
+over her dress, opened the chamber door cautiously to see that the hall
+was clear, found it to be so at that moment, and slipped out, glided
+down the front stairs, elbowing crowds that were pushing up, and so
+passed down to the lower hall, and stole through the multitude that
+filled it up, back to the rear door. She passed around the outside of
+the house to the front door, and entered with the swarm of new arrivals.
+Would the ushers, Joe Joy and Miss Tabby, recognize their lady? That was
+the question, and that was the test. She passed up with the rest,
+letting her black cloak slip down to reveal her robe and crown of fire.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Heaven save us! who comes here? It must be a mermaid from the &#8216;lake
+that burneth with fire and brimstone for ever and ever.&#8217; It&#8217;s a she,
+anyhow, and belongs to your department, thanks be to goodness!&#8221;
+whispered Joseph Joy, to his companion in duty.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This way, ma&#8217;am, if you please. Delia, pass this lady on to the ladies&#8217;
+dressing-room,&#8221; said unconscious Miss Tabby, courtesying and pointing.</p>
+
+<p>And Sybil passed on, smiling to herself to perceive that not even her
+old family domestics had recognized her face or form. So, keeping up her
+stratagem of being one of the masked guests of the ball, she entered the
+large chamber that had been chosen for the ladies&#8217; dressing-room and
+fitted up with a dozen small dressing-tables and mirrors. Her entrance
+created a sensation even among that fantastic crowd, each individual of
+which was a wonder in him or herself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! look there!&#8221; simultaneously whispered twenty masks to forty others,
+as they caught sight of her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What a marvellous dress! What a splendid creature!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What a dazzling costume!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_150" id="pg_150">150</a></span>&#8220;She throws us all in the shade.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>These were a few of the impulsive ejaculations of admiration that were
+passed from one to another, as Sybil flashed through the throng and
+stopped before a dressing-table, where she made a pretence of putting a
+few finishing touches to her dress.</p>
+
+<p>Then, certain of not having been recognized, and wishing to escape such
+close scrutiny in such confined quarters, she joined a group of ladies
+who, having completed their own toilets, were just then passing out of
+the chamber door into the upper hall, where they were met by their
+gentleman escorts.</p>
+
+<p>There was no one to meet Sybil; a circumstance that was not of much
+importance, since there were one or two other ladies of the same party,
+who, having no escort of their own, had to follow in the wake of others.
+Nor would Sybil have minded this at all, had she not looked over the
+balustrades and seen issuing from the little passage leading from Mrs.
+Blondelle&#8217;s room, two figures&mdash;a gentleman and a lady. The gentleman she
+instantly recognized as her husband, by his dress as &#8220;Harold, the last
+of the Saxon Kings.&#8221; The lady she felt certain must be Rosa Blondelle,
+as she wore the dress of &#8220;Edith the Fair,&#8221; the favorite of the King.</p>
+
+<p>For an instant Sybil reeled under this shock; and then she recovered
+herself, re-gathered all her strength, and sternly crushing down all
+this weakness, passed on as a guest among her guests to the door of the
+drawing-room.</p>
+
+<p>There they were received by a very venerable mask with a long and
+flowing white beard, and dressed in a gold &#8217;broidered black velvet
+tunic, white hose, white gauntlets, and red buskins, and holding a long
+brazen wand. This was no other than &#8220;Father Abe,&#8221; the oldest man on the
+manor, personating my &#8220;Lord Polonius,&#8221; that prince of gentlemen ushers
+and gold sticks in waiting.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_151" id="pg_151">151</a></span>While Sybil stood behind the group, she saw her husband and her rival
+precede every one to the door.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Names, if you please, sir?&#8221; inquired the usher with a bow.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Harold the Saxon and Edith the Fair,&#8221; answered Mr. Berners in a low
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Harry Claxton and Miss Esther Clair!&#8221; shouted poor old Abe at the
+top of his voice as he opened wider the door to admit his unknown master
+and the lady.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Name, sir, please?&#8221; he continued, addressing the next party.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Rob Roy Macgregor.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Robert McCracker!&#8221; shouted the usher, passing in this mask, and
+passing immediately to the next with, &#8220;Name, missus, please?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Fenella the dumb girl,&#8221; murmured a very shy little maiden, whom the
+usher immediately announced as &#8220;An Ell of a dumb girl!&#8221; And so on, he
+went, making the most absurd as well as the most awful blunders with
+ladies&#8217; and gentlemen&#8217;s names, as announcing the &#8220;Grand Turk&#8221; as Miss
+Ann Burke; for which last mistake the poor old man was not much to
+blame, as the subject was but a little fellow in a turban and long gown,
+whom Polonius naturally took to be a woman in a rather fantastic female
+dress. But when he thundered forth a &#8220;Musketeer&#8221; as a &#8220;mosquito,&#8221; and a
+&#8220;Crusader&#8221; as a &#8220;curiosity,&#8221; and &#8220;Joan of Arc&#8221; as &#8220;Master Johnny Dark,&#8221;
+he was quite unpardonable.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Sybil had entered the room, which was blazing with light and
+resounding with music. As the guests were now nearly all assembled, the
+gentlemen selected partners and opened the ball with a grand promenade
+to the music of the grand march in &#8220;Faust.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Introductions are of course unnecessary at private masquerades, as well
+as impracticable at all such festivals; so when the ghastly mask &#8220;Death&#8221;
+came up and offered his <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_152" id="pg_152">152</a></span>skeleton arm to Sybil for the promenade, she
+unhesitatingly accepted it, supposing him all the while to be one of her
+invited guests.</p>
+
+<p>But in joining the promenaders, he entered the circle at a point
+immediately in the rear of Harold the Saxon, and Edith the Fair. Death
+kept his eye on the two, and speaking in a low voice, inquired of his
+companion;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Beautiful mask! though we may not yet discover ourselves to each other,
+yet we are at liberty to form a guess of the identity of our friends
+here?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; answered Sybil, in a low voice. She scarcely understood what she
+had been asked, or what she had answered; for her whole attention was
+absorbed in watching her husband and her rival, who were walking
+immediately before her&mdash;so close, yet so unconscious of her presence; so
+near in person, yet so far in spirit!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&mdash;As, for instance, lovely mask,&#8221; continued Death, &#8220;I think I know this
+&#8216;Fair Edith&#8217; as the beautiful blonde who is staying here with our
+hostess. Am I not right?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; answered Sybil, in the same absent and unconscious manner; for
+she really had not the slightest idea of what he had been talking about,
+but only a half-conscious instinct that the best and shortest, as well
+as the most courteous, way, in which to be rid of him was to agree with
+all he said. Her whole attention was still painfully absorbed by the
+pair before her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But as for the gentleman, Saxon Harold, I do not recognize him at all!
+However, he seems to be quite devoted to his fair Edith, as is most
+natural! Fair Edith was his best beloved! best beloved? Yes, beloved far
+beyond his queen!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sybil knew what he was saying now! She was listening to him with her
+ears, while she was watching the pair before her with her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;When Harold&#8217;s dead body was found on the battle-field, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_153" id="pg_153">153</a></span>it was not the
+queen, but Fair Edith, who was sent for to identify it, and to her it
+was given,&#8221; continued the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>A half-suppressed cry broke from Sybil&#8217;s lips.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is the matter? Are they treading on your feet?&#8221; inquired the mask.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>Some</i> one is treading on me,&#8221; murmured Sybil, with a sad double
+meaning.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do not press on us so, if you please, sir!&#8221; said Death, turning and
+staring angrily at the unoffending little Grand Turk, and Fenella the
+dumb girl, who happened to be immediately in the rear. Having thus
+brow-beaten the imaginary enemy, Death turned to his companion and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;King Harold and Fair Edith were lovers, and these who assume their
+parts are also lovers, and they take their related parts from a
+sentimental motive! You are tired! let me lead you to a seat!&#8221; suddenly
+exclaimed the stranger, feeling his partner&#8217;s form drooping heavily from
+his side.</p>
+
+<p>She was almost fainting, she was almost sinking into a swoon. She
+permitted her escort to take her to a chair, and to fetch her a glass of
+water. And then she thanked him and requested him to select another
+partner, as she was too much fatigued to go upon the floor again for an
+hour, and that she preferred to sit where she was, and to watch the
+masquerade march on before her.</p>
+
+<p>But Death politely declared that he preferred to stand there by her and
+share her pastime, if she would permit him to do so.</p>
+
+<p>She bowed assent, and Death took up his position at her side.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_154" id="pg_154">154</a></span>
+<a name="DRIVEN_TO_DESPERATION_5283" id="DRIVEN_TO_DESPERATION_5283"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+<h3>DRIVEN TO DESPERATION.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">For only this night, as they whispered, I brought<br />
+My own eyes to bear on her so, that I thought,<br />
+Could I keep them one half-minute fixed&mdash;she would fall<br />
+Shrivelled!&mdash;She fell not; yes, this does it all.&mdash;<span class="sc">Browning</span></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>As the circle revolved before them, Sybil saw no one but Lyon Berners
+and Rosa Blondelle, and these she saw always&mdash;with her eyes, when they
+were before them; with her spirit, when they had revolved away from
+them. She saw him hold close to his heart the arm that leaned on his
+arm; she saw him press her hand, and play with her fingers, and look
+love in the glances of his eyes, and speak love in the tones of his
+voice, although no <i>word</i> of love had been uttered as yet.</p>
+
+<p>At last&mdash;oh! deliverance from torture!&mdash;the music ceased, the
+promenaders dispersed to their seats.</p>
+
+<p>The relief was but short! The band soon struck up a popular quadrille,
+and the gentlemen again selected their partners and formed sets. Lyon
+Berners, who had conducted his fair companion to a distant seat, now led
+her forth again, and stood with her at the head of one of the sets.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There! you see! they <i>are</i> lovers! I wonder who <i>he</i> is?&#8221; whispered
+Death, leaning to Sybil&#8217;s ear.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil bit her lip and answered nothing.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah! you do not know, or will not tell! Well, will you honor me with
+your hand in this quadrille?&#8221; requested the stranger, with a bow.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely knowing what she did, for her eyes and thoughts were still
+following her husband and her rival, Sybil bowed assent, and arose from
+her seat.</p>
+
+<p>Death took her hand and led her up to the same quadrille, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_155" id="pg_155">155</a></span>at the head
+of which Harold the Saxon and Edith the Fair stood, and he placed
+himself and his partner exactly opposite to, and facing them.</p>
+
+<p>Thus Lyon Berners for the first time in the evening was obliged to see
+his wife, for of course he knew her by her dress, as she knew him by his
+dress. She saw him stoop and whisper to his partner, and she surmised
+that he gave her a hint as to who was their <i>vis-a-vis</i>, and gave it as
+a warning. She fancied here that her confidence had been betrayed in
+small matters as well as in great, and even in this very small item of
+divulging the secret of her costume to her rival. And at that moment she
+took a resolution, which later in the evening she carried out. Now,
+however, from behind her golden mask she continued to watch her husband
+and her rival. She noticed, that from the instant her husband had
+observed his wife&#8217;s presence, he modified his manner towards his
+partner, until there seemed nothing but indifference in it.</p>
+
+<p>But this change, instead of being satisfactory to Sybil, was simply
+disgusting to her, who saw in it only the effect of her own presence,
+inducing hypocrisy and deception in them. And the resolution that she
+had formed was strengthened.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the only couple that was wanted to complete the quadrille now
+came up, and the dance began.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil noticed, in an absent-minded sort of a way, how very gracefully
+her grim partner danced. And the thought passed carelessly through her
+mind, that if in that most ghastly disguise his manner and address were
+so elegant and polished, how very refined, how perfect they must be in
+his plain dress. And she wondered and conjectured who, among her
+numerous friends and acquaintances, this gentleman could be; and she
+admired and marvelled at the tact and skill with which he so completely
+and successfully concealed his identity.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_156" id="pg_156">156</a></span>She noticed too, in the superficial sort of manner in which she noticed
+everything except the objects of her agonizing jealousy, that her
+strange partner watched Rosa as closely as she herself watched Lyon&mdash;and
+she even asked herself:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Does he know Rosa, and is he jealous?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the mazy dance went merrily on, heying and setting, whirling
+and twisting to the inspiring sound of music. And Sybil acted her part,
+scarcely conscious that she did it, until the set was ended, and she was
+led back to her seat by her partner, who, as he placed her in it, bowed
+gracefully, thanked her for the honor she had done him, and inquired if
+he could have the pleasure of bringing her a glass of water, lemonade,
+or anything else.</p>
+
+<p>But she politely declined all refreshment.</p>
+
+<p>He then expressed a hope of having the honor of dancing with her again
+during the evening, and with a final bow he withdrew.</p>
+
+<p>But he did but make way for a succession of suitors, who, in low and
+pleading tones, besought the honor of her hand in the waltz that was
+about to begin. But to each of these in turn she excused herself, upon
+the plea that she never waltzed.</p>
+
+<p>Next she was besieged by candidates for the delight of dancing with her
+in the quadrille that was immediately to follow the waltz. And she
+mechanically bowed assent to the first applicant, and excused herself to
+all others, upon the plea of her previous engagement.</p>
+
+<p>That Sybil consented to dance at all, under the painful circumstances of
+her position, was due to the instinctive courtesy of her nature, which
+taught her, that on such an occasion as this, the hostess must not
+indulge her private feelings, however importunate they might be, but
+that she must mingle in the amusements of her guests; for she forgot
+that a masquerade ball was different from all other entertainments <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_157" id="pg_157">157</a></span>in
+this, that her masquerade dress put her on an equality with all her
+guests, and emancipated her from all the duties of a hostess as long as
+she should wear her mask.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile she was looking for her husband and her rival, who had both
+disappeared. And presently her vigilance was rewarded. They reappeared,
+locked in each other&#8217;s arms, and whirling around in the bewildering
+waltz. And she watched them, all unconscious that she herself was the
+&#8220;observed of all observers,&#8221; the &#8220;cynosure of eyes,&#8221; the star of that
+&#8220;goodlie company.&#8221; All who were not waltzing, and many who were
+waltzing, were talking of Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who is she? What is she? Where did she come from? Does any one know
+her?&#8221; were some of the questions that were asked on all sides.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She outshines every one in the room,&#8221; whispered a &#8220;Crusader&#8221; to a
+&#8220;Quaker.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have heard of &#8216;making sunshine in a shady place,&#8217; but <i>she</i> &#8216;makes
+sunshine&#8217; even in a lighted place!&#8221; observed Tecumseh.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who, then, is she?&#8221; inquired William Penn.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No one knows,&#8221; answered Richard C&oelig;ur de Lion.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But what character does she take?&#8221; asked Lucretia Borgia.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I should think it was a &#8216;Priestess of the sun,&#8217;&#8221; surmised Rebecca the
+Jewess.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No! I should think she has taken the character of the &#8216;Princess
+Creusa,&#8217; the daughter of Creon, King of Corinth, and the victim of Medea
+the Sorceress. Creusa perished, you know, in the robe of magic presented
+to her as a wedding gift from Medea, and designed to burn the wearer to
+ashes! Yes, decidedly it is Creusa, in her death robe of fire!&#8221;
+persisted the &#8216;gentle Desdemona,&#8217; who had just joined the motley group.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are every one of you mistaken. I heard her announced when she
+entered&mdash;the &#8216;Spirit of Fire,&#8217;&#8221; said Pocahontas, with an air of
+authority.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_158" id="pg_158">158</a></span>&#8220;That is her assumed character! Now to find out her real one.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Shall I whisper my opinion? Mind, it is <i>only</i> an opinion, with no data
+for a foundation,&#8221; put in Charlemagne.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; do tell us who you take her to be,&#8221; was the unanimous request of
+the circle.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I think she is our fair hostess!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh-h-h!&#8221; exclaimed all the ladies.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why do you think so?&#8221; inquired several of the gentlemen.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because the <i>correspondence</i> is so perfect that it strikes me at once,
+as it ought to strike everybody.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How? how?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The correspondence between her nature and her costume, I mean! The
+outward glow expresses the inward heat. Believe me, Sybil Berners has
+been masquerading all her life, and now for the first time appears in
+her true character&mdash;a &#8216;Fire Queen!&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Such gossip as this was going on all over the room, but only in this
+circle was the secret of Sybil&#8217;s character discovered. But soon this
+discovery found its way through the crowd, and in half an hour after the
+secret was first revealed, every one in the room knew of it, except the
+person most concerned. Sybil was surrounded by a circle of admirers,
+each one of whom, even by the slightest change of tone or manner,
+revealed their knowledge, for it would have been as much against the
+laws of etiquette and courtesy to recognize her before she was willing
+to be recognized, as it would have been to have unmasked her before she
+was ready to unmask. So they were very guarded in their manners&mdash;even
+more guarded than they needed to be, for Sybil was not critical, she was
+indeed scarcely observant of them. She was too deeply absorbed in
+watching her adored husband and her abhorred rival, as, twined in each
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_159" id="pg_159">159</a></span>other&#8217;s embrace, they swam around and around in the dizzy waltz,
+appearing, disappearing, and reappearing as they made the grand circle
+of the saloon.</p>
+
+<p>At first they did not see Sybil, entrenched as she was behind her group
+of admirers; but the moment that they did see her&mdash;and Sybil knew that
+very moment&mdash;they modified their manners towards each other. And again
+Sybil was more disgusted than pleased at what she thought confirmed her
+worst suspicions of them.</p>
+
+<p>At length the waltz was over. Lyon Berners led his fair partner to a
+seat, left her there and came to speak to his wife. But it was not until
+her group of admirers had separated to go in search of partners for the
+ensuing quadrille, that he had an opportunity of speaking to her
+privately.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How are you enjoying yourself?&#8221; he inquired, on general principles.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am looking on. I am really interested in all these fooleries,&#8221;
+answered Sybil evasively, but truly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why were you not waltzing?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why? Because I did not choose and could not have borne to have had my
+waist encircled by any other man&#8217;s arm than yours, Lyon,&#8221; answered his
+wife, very gravely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My darling Sybil, that comes of your old-fashioned notions and country
+training; and it deprives you of giving and receiving much pleasure,&#8221;
+answered Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>And before Sybil could reply to that, the Black Prince came up to claim
+her promised hand in the quadrilles that were then forming.</p>
+
+<p>Again, as she flashed like fire through and through the mazes of the
+dance, her elegant figure, her graceful motions, and her dazzling,
+flame-like dress was the general subject of enthusiastic admiration.</p>
+
+<p>It was impossible but that some of this praise should reach the ears of
+its object. And equally impossible that <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_160" id="pg_160">160</a></span>her own name should not be
+coupled with it. So Sybil at length discovered that her identity was
+known, to some persons certainly&mdash;to how many she could not even
+conjecture.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly she resolved to try an experiment. She turned to her partner
+and inquired:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you know me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not until you permit me to do so, Madam,&#8221; answered the Black Prince,
+very courteously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your reply was worthy of a knight and prince! So I permit you to
+recognize me,&#8221; said Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then you are our beautiful hostess; and I am happy to greet you by your
+real name, Mrs. Berners,&#8221; said the Black Prince.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thanks,&#8221; answered Sybil. &#8220;I saw that many persons knew me, and I wished
+to ascertain whether you were among their number, and how you and others
+found me out.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Some diviner of spirits,&#8221; laughed the Black Prince, &#8220;divined you, not
+only <i>through</i> but <i>by</i> your costume, in its correspondence with your
+character. And as soon as he made this discovery he hastened to
+promulgate it. Then I, for one, perceived at once that the splendid
+&#8216;Fire Queen&#8217; could be no other than a daughter of &#8216;Berners of the
+Burning Heart.&#8217; And now, Madam! am I permitted to introduce myself by
+the name I bear in this humdrum world of reality, or has your
+penetration already rendered such an introduction unnecessary?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is unnecessary. I have just recognized&mdash;Captain Pendleton,&#8221; replied
+Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>The captain bowed low. And then, to the &#8220;forward two&#8221; of the leader of
+the band, he led his partner up to meet their <i>vis-a-vis</i>, to &#8220;balance,&#8221;
+&#8220;pass,&#8221; &#8220;change,&#8221; and go through all the figures of the dance.</p>
+
+<p>And so the dances succeeded each other to the end of the set. And then
+Captain Pendleton led his beautiful partner <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_161" id="pg_161">161</a></span>back to her seat, and stood
+talking with her until the music for the waltz commenced.</p>
+
+<p>Then, having solicited her hand for that dance, and having ascertained
+that she never waltzed, he bowed and withdrew to find a partner
+elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>Very soon Sybil saw him whirling around the room with some one of the
+many unknown flower girls that constituted so large a portion of the
+company.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after this she saw both her husband and her rival among the
+waltzers; but they were not waltzing together. Edith the Fair was
+whirling around and around the room in the arms of a hermit, while
+Harold the Saxon was engaged with a pretty nun.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They know me! they are cautious!&#8221; muttered Sybil, biting her lips with
+suppressed fury; for their forbearance, which she called duplicity,
+enraged her more than all their flirting had done.</p>
+
+<p>And now she immediately put in execution the resolution that she had
+formed in the earlier part of the evening. Seeing her new acquaintance
+Death standing unemployed, she beckoned him to approach.</p>
+
+<p>He came promptly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;King of Terrors!&#8221; she said with assumed levity, &#8220;I do not waltz, but I
+am tired of sitting here. Give me your arm to the other end of the room,
+and even all around the room, perhaps.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Spirit of Fire! it will not be the first time that I have had the honor
+of waiting on you or following in your track,&#8221; said Death, gallantly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;True; Fire has often preceded Death as his agent,&#8221; assented Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Say rather, that Death has often followed Fire as her servant.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Enough of this. We seem to be well paired, at least. Let us get up and
+walk.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_162" id="pg_162">162</a></span>Death bowed and offered his arm, and Fire arose and took it. And they
+walked around the room, keeping outside the circle of the waltzers and
+near the seats by the walls. But as they walked, many exclamations of
+admiration, wonder, and awe struck their ears.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Splendid creature! She moves like a spirit or a flame,&#8221; exclaimed one.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What a contrast to her companion! She all life and light, he all
+darkness and death.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It looks, as they walk side by side, as if she had burned him up and
+consumed him to a skeleton of charred bones,&#8221; said another.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Horrible! Hush!&#8221; imperatively commanded a young lady, whose will, if it
+did not enforce silence, modified expression.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Fire and Death went three times around the room. Then Fire
+paused near a little corner <i>t&ecirc;te-&agrave;-t&ecirc;te</i> sofa, on which a young girl,
+dressed as Janet Foster the little Puritan, was seated quite alone; and
+turning to her escort, she said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am tired and thirsty. I will take this vacant seat for a while and
+trouble you to go and fetch me a glass of lemonade.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With pleasure!&#8221; gallantly assented Death, starting off promptly and
+zealously to execute her commands.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil seated herself beside the young girl on the sofa, and laying her
+hand upon her shoulder, whispered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Trix.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There!&#8221; exclaimed the girl, starting. &#8220;Every one knows me, even you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, everybody knows me also, even you,&#8221; said Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is very provoking.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;When I had taken so much pains to disguise myself too.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_163" id="pg_163">163</a></span>&#8220;Yes, and I also.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>You?</i> Why you took the very means to reveal your self, wearing a dress
+so perfectly adapted to your nature. Anybody might have known you,&#8221;
+pouted Trix.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, anybody <i>might</i> have known me; but I do not think that anybody
+<i>would</i> have done so, if it had not been for a certain &#8216;expert&#8217; who,
+detecting the &#8216;correspondences,&#8217; as he calls them, divulged the secret
+to the whole room,&#8221; explained Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, somebody found you out, and did it by the fitness of your costume
+too. But as for me, nothing could be more opposite in character than
+Janet Foster the Puritan maiden, and Beatrix Pendleton the wild
+huntress. We are about as much alike as sage tea and sparkling hock.
+Why, see here, Sybil; in order to throw every one off the track of me, I
+took a character as unlike mine as it was possible to find, and yet I
+have not succeeded in concealing my identity. And this has provoked me
+to such an extent that I have left the dance.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And so I find you sulking here. Well, Trix, I will tell you how they
+found you out. You and I are known to be the two smallest women in the
+whole neighborhood. After having found me out, through the divination of
+a magician, it was easy to see that the other small woman must be you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I see; but it is perfectly exasperating!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So it is; but you may get some fun out of it yet, Trix, by turning the
+tables upon them all.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How? Tell me! I&#8217;ll do anything to get the better of them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I cannot tell you now, for here comes my escort with my lemonade, and
+this matter must remain a secret between you and me. But listen: in
+fifteen minutes from this time slip away and go to my bedroom. You know
+the way, and you will find it empty. I will join you there, and tell you
+my plan,&#8221; said Sybil, in a very low tone.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_164" id="pg_164">164</a></span>At that moment her escort arrived with the glass of lemonade.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil received it from him with many thanks, and having offered it first
+to her companion, who politely declined it, she drank it, sat the empty
+glass upon the corner of the mantle-piece and then said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will trouble you now, if you please, to take me back to my former
+seat.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Death bowed and offered his arm. Fire arose, nodded to the little
+Puritan on the sofa, took the arm of her escort, and walked away.</p>
+
+<p>When she reached her old seat she dismissed her escort, and in a few
+minutes, finding herself for the instant unobserved, she quietly slipped
+away to her bed-chamber, where she found Beatrix Pendleton already
+awaiting her.</p>
+
+<p>First of all Sybil locked the door, to insure herself and her companion
+from interruption. Then she went to the glass and took off her crown of
+flame and her mask of gold gauze, and drew a long breath of relief as
+she turned towards her companion, who started violently, exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good Heaven, Sybil! how ghastly pale you look! You are ill!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no; only very weary,&#8221; sighed Sybil, adding then, in explanation,
+&#8220;You know these affairs are very fatiguing.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I know, but not to that extent, when you have a house full of
+trained servants to do everything. Why Sybil, you look as if your fiery
+dress had burned you to a form of ashes, leaving only a shape that might
+be blown away with a breath.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Like another Creusa,&#8221; answered Sybil, coldly. Then changing her tone,
+she said, with assumed lightness, &#8220;Come, Trix, you want to see some fun,
+and you shall see it. You and I are of about one size. We will therefore
+exchange dresses. You shall be the Fire Queen and I will <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_165" id="pg_165">165</a></span>be the Puritan
+maid. You can sustain the part you will take admirably, and upon
+occasion can disguise your own voice or imitate mine. I shall do my best
+to enact the little Puritan. But with all we can do to support the
+characters, we shall puzzle people to the end of their wits. They will
+not feel quite so sure now as they were an hour ago that I am the Fire
+Queen, or you the Puritan maid. But they will not know who we are. Come,
+what have you to say to this?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, that it is enchanting. I agree to your plan at once.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right, then. We have no time to lose. It is half-past ten o&#8217;clock
+now. At twelve supper will be served, when all the guests will lay aside
+their masks. So you see that we have but an hour and a half to effect
+our change of dress and hoax our wise companions. Just before supper we
+must slip up here again and change back, so that we may unmask at supper
+in our proper disguises.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right!&#8221; exclaimed Trix, delighted with the plan.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And there is one more caution I must give you. Keep out of the way of
+my husband. He knows my character of Fire Queen, and if he should see
+you near him in that dress, he would be sure to speak to you for me; and
+if you should attempt to reply, no matter how well you might imitate my
+voice, your speech would certainly betray you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right! I will keep away from your husband, if I can; but how shall
+I know him?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He is dressed as Harold the last of the Saxon Kings!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! is <i>that</i> Mr. Berners? And I never suspected it! I thought <i>that</i>
+was some single man, desperately smitten with the charms of Edith the
+Fair,&#8221; continued Beatrix.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, I dare say you thought, but you were mistaken. Edith the Fair
+is our guest, Mrs. Blondelle. And she took the character of Edith to
+support Mr. Berners in Harold, and to be true to these characters they
+must act as they do; <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_166" id="pg_166">166</a></span>for Harold and Edith were lovers in history,&#8221;
+explained Sybil, speaking calmly, though every word uttered by her
+companion had seemed like a separate stab to her already deeply wounded
+bosom.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Lovers in history&#8217; were they? I should take them to be lovers in
+mystery now, if I did not know them to be Mr. Berners and Mrs.
+Blondelle,&#8221; persisted Beatrix, all unconscious of the blows she was
+raining upon Sybil&#8217;s overburdened heart. &#8220;However,&#8221; she added, &#8220;I shall
+keep out of the way of both, for if <i>he</i> knew your disguise, be sure
+that <i>she</i> knew it also; and of course both, in daily intercourse with
+you, know your voice equally well. And if either of them should take me
+for you and speak to me for you, and I should attempt to reply, I should
+be sure to betray myself. So I will keep away from both, if I can. If
+not, if they should come suddenly upon me and speak to me, I shall not
+answer, but shall turn around and walk silently away as if I were
+offended with them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, do that; that will be excellent,&#8221; assented Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now, how are you going to support my character, or rather my
+disguise?&#8221; inquired Beatrix.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;By being very silent and demure as Janet Foster; or, if need should be,
+by carrying on your mood of sullenness as Beatrix Pendleton, masked.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That will do,&#8221; agreed Beatrix, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>All the while they had been speaking, they had also been taking off
+their fancy dresses. No time was lost, and the exchange of costume was
+quickly effected.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; said Sybil, &#8220;another favor.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Name it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let me go down first. Then do you wait ten minutes here before you
+follow me. And when you enter the room keep away from me, as well as
+from my husband and my guest.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well. I will do so. Anything else?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_167" id="pg_167">167</a></span>&#8220;Nothing now, thank you,&#8221; said Sybil, kissing her hand as she left the
+room.</p>
+
+<p>And Sybil, dressed now in the plain, close-fitting camlet gown and prim
+white linen cap, cuffs, and collar of the Puritan maid, and with a pale,
+young looking mask on her face, re&euml;ntered the saloon to try her
+experiment.</p>
+
+<p>She looked around, and soon saw her husband and her rival sitting
+side-by-side, on the little retired sofa in the corner. They were
+absorbed in each other&#8217;s attractions, and did not see her. She glided
+cautiously into a seat near them.</p>
+
+<p>They were sitting very close together, talking in a very low tone. Her
+hand rested in his. At length, Sybil heard her inquire:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where is your wife? I have not seen her for some time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She has left the room, I believe,&#8221; answered Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that is such a relief! Do you know that I am really afraid of her?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Afraid of her! why? With me you are always perfectly safe. Safe!&#8221; he
+repeated, with a light laugh&mdash;&#8220;why, of course you are! Besides, what
+could harm you? Of whom are you afraid? Your friend, my wife, Sybil? She
+is your friend, and would do you only good.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Rosa Blondelle slowly shook her head, murmuring:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, Lyon, your wife is not my friend&mdash;she is my deadly enemy. She is
+fiercely jealous of your affection for me, though it is the only
+happiness of my unhappy life. And she will make you throw me off yet.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Never! no one, not even my wife, shall ever do that! I swear it by all
+my hopes of&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hush! do not swear, for she will make you break your oath. She is your
+wife. She will make you forsake me, or&mdash;she will do me a fatal mischief.
+Oh, I shiver whenever <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_168" id="pg_168">168</a></span>she comes near me. Ah, if you had seen her eyes
+as I saw them through her mask to-night. They were lambent flames! How
+they glared on me, those terrible eyes!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was your fancy, dear Rosa; no more than that. Come, shake off all
+this gloom and terror from your spirit, and be your lovely and sprightly
+self!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I cannot! oh, I cannot! I feel the burning of her terrible eyes
+upon me now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But she is not even in the room.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>(Here Sybil slipped away to a short distance, and joined a group of
+masks as if she belonged to them.)</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I shiver as if she were near me now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners suddenly looked around and then laughed, saying:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But there is no one near you, dear Rosa, except Death.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Death!&#8221; she echoed with a start and a shudder.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, how excessively nervous you are, dear Rosa,&#8221; said Lyon Berners
+laying his hand soothingly upon her shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, but just reflect what you have just said to me. &#8216;No one near me but
+Death!&#8217; Death near me!&#8221; she repeated, trembling.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Poor child, are you superstitious as well as nervous? It was the mask I
+meant. The mask that was Sybil&#8217;s partner in the quadrille which we
+danced with them,&#8221; laughed Lyon Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, I know. And they stood opposite to us. So that we danced with
+them more than with any one else! And my own hand turned cold every time
+it had to touch his. What a ghastly mask!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, indeed. I wonder any man should choose such a one,&#8221; added Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who is he? Who is that mask?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Indeed I do not know. Some one among our invited <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_169" id="pg_169">169</a></span>guests, of course.
+But he maintains his incognito so successfully, that even I, who have
+discovered most people in the room, have not been able to detect his
+identity. However, at supper all will unmask, and we shall see who he
+is.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Look, is he still near me?&#8221; inquired Rosa, shaking as if with an ague.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners turned his head, and then answered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, just to your left.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! please ask him to go away! I freeze and burn, all in one minute,
+while he is near!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>That was enough for Lyon Berners. He arose and went to Death, and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Excuse me, friend. No offence is meant; but your rather ghastly costume
+is too much for the nerves of the lady who is with me. I do not ask you
+to withdraw to some other part of the room; but I ask you whether you
+will do so, or whether I shall take the lady away from her
+resting-place?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! I will withdraw! I know that my presence is not ever welcome,
+though I am not always so easily got rid of!&#8221; answered Death as, with a
+low inclination of his head, he went away.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! I breathe again! I live again!&#8221; murmured Rosa, with a sigh of
+relief.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now you are sufficiently rested, the music is striking up for a
+lively quadrille, and so, if you please, we will join the dancers and
+dance away dull care!&#8221; said Lyon Berners, rising and offering his arm to
+Rosa Blondelle.</p>
+
+<p>She arose and took his arm.</p>
+
+<p>(Sybil, in her little Puritan&#8217;s dress moved after them.)</p>
+
+<p>He led her to the head of a set that was about to be formed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! there she is!&#8221; suddenly exclaimed Rosa.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sybil.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_170" id="pg_170">170</a></span>&#8220;Where?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And Rosa pointed to one of the doors, at which Beatrix Pendleton, in
+Sybil&#8217;s disguise, was just entering the room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No matter! See! she has taken another direction from this, and will not
+be near you, dear child; so be at rest,&#8221; said Lyon Berners soothingly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! I am so glad! You don&#8217;t know how I fear that woman,&#8221; replied Rosa.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But you did not use to do so!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No! not until to-night! To-night when I met her terrible eyes,&#8221; said
+Rosa.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come, come, dear! Cheer up,&#8221; smiled Mr. Berners, encouragingly, as he
+took her hand and led her to the order&mdash;&#8220;Forward four!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The dance began, and Sybil heard no more; but she had heard enough to
+convince her, if she had not been convinced before, of her guest&#8217;s
+treachery and her husband&#8217;s enthrallment.</p>
+
+<p>She went and sat down quietly in a remote corner, and &#8220;bided her time.&#8221;
+And waltz succeeded quadrille, and quadrille waltz. At the beginning of
+every new dance, some one would come up and ask for the honor of her
+hand, which she always politely refused&mdash;taking good care to speak in a
+low tone, and disguised voice. At length Captain Pendleton came up, and
+mistaking her for his sister, said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sulking still, Trix?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Not venturing to speak to him, lest he should discover his mistake, she
+shrugged her shoulders and turned away.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right! sulk as long as you please. It hurts no one but yourself, my
+dear,&#8221; exclaimed the Captain, sauntering off.</p>
+
+<p>She saw Beatrix Pendleton, in her dress, moving merrily through the
+quadrille, or floating around in the waltz. She heard a gentleman near
+her say:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_171" id="pg_171">171</a></span>&#8220;I thought that lady never waltzed. I know she refused me and several
+others upon the plea that she never did.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And she heard the other lightly answer:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, well, ladies are privileged to change their minds.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The waltz of which they were speaking came now to an end. Sybil saw
+Beatrix led to a seat near her own. She also saw her partner bow and
+leave her. She seized the opportunity and glided up to Beatrix, and
+whispered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There will be but one more quadrille, and then supper will be served. I
+am going to my room. Do not dance in the next quadrille, but follow me,
+that we may change our dresses again. We have to be ready to unmask at
+supper, you know.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well! I will be punctual. I really have enjoyed myself in your
+dress. And you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As much as I expected to. I am satisfied.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At this moment the music for the quadrille struck up, and gentlemen
+began to select their partners. Two or three were coming towards Sybil
+and Beatrix. So with a parting caution to Beatrix to be careful, Sybil
+left the saloon.</p>
+
+<p>She glided up to her chamber, where she was soon joined by Beatrix.</p>
+
+<p>They began rapidly to take off their dresses, to exchange them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I have had so much amusement!&#8221; exclaimed Beatrix, laughing.
+&#8220;Everybody took me for you. And oh, I have received so many flattering
+compliments intended for you; and I have heard so much wholesome abuse
+of myself! That I was fast; that I was eccentric; that I was more than
+half-crazy; that I had a dreadful temper. And you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I also received some sweet flattery intended for the pretty little
+Puritan maiden, and learned some bitter truths about myself,&#8221; answered
+Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How hollow your voice is, Sybil! Bosh! who cares for <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_172" id="pg_172">172</a></span>such
+double-dealing wretches, who flatter us before our faces and abuse us
+behind our backs?&#8221; exclaimed Beatrix, as she quickly finished her
+Puritan toilet, and announced herself ready.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil was also dressed, and they went down stairs and entered the
+drawing-room together.</p>
+
+<p>The last quadrille before supper was over, the supper-rooms were thrown
+open, and the company were marching in.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Pendleton hastened to meet Sybil, and another gentleman offered
+his arm to Beatrix, and thus escorted, they fell in the line of march
+with others.</p>
+
+<p>As each couple passed into the supper-room, they took off their masks,
+and handed them to attendants, placed for that purpose, to the right and
+left of the door. Thus, when the company filled the rooms, every face
+was shown.</p>
+
+<p>There were the usual surprises, the usual gay recognitions.</p>
+
+<p>Among the rest, &#8220;Harold the Saxon&#8221; and &#8220;Edith the Fair&#8221; stood confessed
+as Mr. Berners and Mrs. Blondelle, and much silent surprise as well as
+much whispered suspicion was the result.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is it possible?&#8221; muttered one. &#8220;I took them for a pair of lovers, they
+were so much together.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I thought they were a newly married pair, who took advantage of their
+masks to be more together than etiquette allows,&#8221; murmured a second.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think it was very improper; don&#8217;t you?&#8221; inquired a third.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Improper! It was disgraceful,&#8221; indignantly answered a fourth, who was
+no other than Beatrix Pendleton, who now completely understood why it
+was that Sybil Berners wished to change dresses with her, and also how
+it was that Sybil&#8217;s voice was so hollow, as she spoke in the
+bed-chamber. &#8220;She wished to put on my dress that she might watch them
+unsuspected, and she was right. She detected them in <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_173" id="pg_173">173</a></span>their sinful
+trifling, and she was wretched,&#8221; said Beatrix to herself. And she looked
+around to catch a glimpse of Sybil&#8217;s face. Sybil was sitting too near
+her to be seen. Sybil was on the same side with herself, and only two or
+three seats off. But Beatrix saw Mr. Berners and Mrs. Blondelle sitting
+immediately opposite to herself, and with a recklessness that savored of
+fatuity, still carrying on their sentimental flirtation.</p>
+
+<p>Yes! Rosa was still throwing up her eyes to his eyes, and cooing &#8220;soft
+nonsense&#8221; in his ears; and Lyon was still dwelling on her glances and
+her tones with lover-like devotion. Suddenly assuming a gay tone, she
+asked him:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where is our ghastly friend, Death! I do not see him anywhere in the
+room, and I was <i>so</i> anxious to see him unmasked, that I might find out
+who he is. Where is he? Do you see him anywhere?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No; he is not here yet; but doubtless he will make his appearance
+presently,&#8221; answered Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you really not know who he is?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not in the least; nor does any one else here know,&#8221; replied Mr.
+Berners.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Rosa looked up, started, and with a suppressed cry, muttered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good heavens! Look at Sybil!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners followed the direction of her gaze across the table, and
+even he started at the sight of Sybil&#8217;s face.</p>
+
+<p>That face wore a look of anguish, despair, and desperation that seemed
+fixed there forever; for in all its agony of passion that tortured and
+writhen face was as still, cold, hard, and lifeless as marble, except
+that from its eyes streamed glances as from orbs of fire.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners suddenly turned his eyes from her, and looked up and down
+the table. Fortunately now every one was too busily engaged in eating,
+drinking, laughing, talking, flirting, and gossiping to attend to the
+looks of their hostess.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_174" id="pg_174">174</a></span>&#8220;I must go and speak to her,&#8221; said Lyon Berners in extreme anxiety and
+displeasure, as he left Rosa&#8217;s side, and made his way around the table,
+until he stood immediately behind his wife. He touched her on her
+shoulder to attract her attention. She started as if an adder had stung
+her, but she never looked around.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sybil, my dearest, you are ill. What is the matter?&#8221; he whispered,
+trying to avoid being overheard by others.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do <span class="sc">not</span> touch me! <i>Do not</i> speak to me, unless you wish to see me drop
+dead or go mad before you!&#8221; she answered in tones so full of suppressed
+energy, that he impulsively drew back.</p>
+
+<p>He waited for a moment in dire dread lest the assembled company should
+see the state of his wife, and then he ventured to renew his efforts.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sybil, my darling, you are really not well. Let me lead you out of this
+crowded room,&#8221; he whispered, very gently, laying his hand upon her
+shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>She dashed it off as if it had been some venomous reptile, and turned
+upon him a look flaming with fiery wrath.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sybil you will certainly draw the attention of our guests,&#8221; he
+persisted, with much less gentleness than he had before spoken.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you touch me, or speak to me but once more&mdash;if you do not leave me
+on the instant, I <i>will</i> draw the attention of our guests, and draw it
+with a vengeance too!&#8221; she fiercely retorted, never once removing from
+him her flaming eyes.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_175" id="pg_175">175</a></span>
+<a name="LYING_IN_WAIT_6113" id="LYING_IN_WAIT_6113"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+<h3>LYING IN WAIT.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">&#8220;He is with her; and they know that I know<br />
+Where they are, and what they do; they believe my tears flow<br />
+While they laugh, laugh at me, at me left in the drear<br />
+Empty hall to lament in, for them!&mdash;I am here.&#8221;&mdash;<span class="sc">Browning</span>.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are a lunatic, and fit only for a lunatic asylum!&#8221; was the angry
+comment of Lyon Berners, as he turned upon his heel and left his wife.</p>
+
+<p>It was the first time in his life that he had ever spoken angrily to
+Sybil, or even felt angry with her.</p>
+
+<p>Hitherto he had borne her fierce outbursts of jealousy with &#8220;a great
+patience,&#8221; feeling, perhaps, that they flamed up from the depths of her
+burning love for him; feeling, also, that his own thoughtless conduct
+had caused them.</p>
+
+<p>Now, however, he was thoroughly incensed by the deportment of his wife,
+and deeply mortified at the effect it might have upon their company.</p>
+
+<p>He went around to the opposite side of the table. He did not again join
+Rosa, for he dreaded a scene, and even a catastrophe; but he mingled
+with the crowd, and stood where he could see Sybil, without being seen
+by her.</p>
+
+<p>Her face remained the same&mdash;awful in the marble-like stillness of her
+agonized features; terrible in the fierceness of her flaming eyes!</p>
+
+<p>This was at length observed by some of the guests, who whispered their
+comments or enquiries to others. And the hum of voices and the burden of
+their low-toned talk at length reached the ears or excited the
+suspicions of Lyon Berners. The ordeal of the supper-table was a
+frightful trial to him. He longed for it to be over.</p>
+
+<p>At length the longing was gratified&mdash;the torture was over. The guests,
+by twos and by fours, by small groups <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_176" id="pg_176">176</a></span>and large parties, left the
+supper-room for the saloon, where the musicians struck up a grand march,
+and the greater portion of the company formed into a leisurely promenade
+as a gentle exercise after eating, and a prudent prelude to more
+dancing.</p>
+
+<p>Some among the guests, however, preferred to seat themselves on the
+sofas that lined the walls, and to rest.</p>
+
+<p>Among these last was Rosa Blondelle, who sat on a corner sofa, and
+sulked and looked sad and sentimental because Lyon Berners had not
+spoken to her, or even approached her since he had seen that look on
+Sybil&#8217;s face. To the vain and shallow coquette, it was gall and
+bitterness to perceive that Sybil had still the power, of whatever sort,
+to keep her own husband and <i>her</i> admirer from her side. So Rosa sat and
+sorrowed, or seemed to sorrow, on the corner sofa, from which nobody
+invited her to rise, for there was a very general feeling of
+disapprobation against the beautiful blonde.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil also sank upon a side seat, where she sat with that same look of
+agony turned to marble, on her face. Some one came up and invited her to
+join in the promenade. Scarcely recognizing the speaker, or
+comprehending what he said, she arose, more like an automaton than a
+living woman, and let herself be led away to join the march.</p>
+
+<p>But her looks had now attracted very general attention, and occasioned
+much comment. More than one indiscreet friend or acquaintance had
+remarked to Mr. Berners:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Berners looks quite ill. I fear the fatigue of this masquerade has
+been too much for her,&#8221; or words to that effect.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; Lyon Berners invariably replied, &#8220;she is quite indisposed this
+evening, suffering indeed; and I have begged her to retire, but I cannot
+induce her to do so.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She is too unselfish; she exerts herself too much for the entertainment
+of her guests,&#8221; suggested another.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_177" id="pg_177">177</a></span>And so the rumor went around the room that Mrs. Berners was suffering
+from severe illness. And this explanation of her appearance was very
+generally received; for the outward and silent manifestations of mental
+anguish are not unlike those of physical agony.</p>
+
+<p>And so, after another quadrille and another waltz, and the final
+Virginia reel, the company, in consideration of their hostess, began to
+break up and depart. Some few intimate friends of the family, who had
+come from a distance to the ball, were to stay all night at Black Hall.
+These upon their first arrival had been shown to the chambers they were
+to occupy, and now they knew where to find them. And so, when the last
+of the departing guests had taken leave of their hostess, and had gone
+away, these also bade her good-night and retired.</p>
+
+<p>And Sybil remained alone in the deserted drawing-room.</p>
+
+<p>It is sometimes interesting and curious to consider the relative
+position of the parties concerned, just before the enactment of some
+terrible tragedy.</p>
+
+<p>The situation at Black Hall was this: The guests were in their chambers,
+preparing to retire to bed. The servants were engaged in fastening up
+the house and putting out the lights, only they refrained from
+interfering with three rooms, where three members of the family still
+lingered.</p>
+
+<p>In the first of these was the mistress of the house, who, as I said,
+remained alone in the deserted drawing-room. Sybil stood as if turned to
+stone, and fixed to the spot&mdash;motionless in form and face, except that
+her lips moved and a hollow monotone issued from them, more like the
+moan of a lost soul, than the voice of a living woman.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So all is lost, and nothing left but these&mdash;<span class="sc">revenge</span> and <span class="sc">death</span>!&#8221; she
+muttered.</p>
+
+<p>The awful spirit of her race overshadowed her and possessed her. She
+felt that, to destroy the destroyer of her peace, she would be willing
+to meet and suffer all that man <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_178" id="pg_178">178</a></span>could inflict upon her body, or devil
+do to her soul! And so she brooded, until suddenly out of this
+trance-like state she started, as if a serpent had stung her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I linger here,&#8221; she cried, &#8220;while they&mdash;Where are they, the traitor and
+his temptress? I will seek them through the house; I will tear them
+asunder, and confront them in their treachery.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile where were they, the false friend and the fascinated husband?</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners, much relieved from anxiety by the departure of the last
+guests, but still deeply displeased with his wife, had retired to the
+little morning parlor to collect himself. He stood now upon the rug,
+with his back to the smouldering fire, absorbed in sombre thought. He
+loved his wife, bitterly angry as he had been with her this evening, and
+prone as he was to fall under the spell of the fair siren who was now
+his temptress. He loved his wife, and he wished to insure her peace. He
+resolved to break off, at once and forever, the foolish flirtation with
+a shallow coquette which his deep-hearted Sybil had taken so earnestly.
+How to do this, occupied his thoughts now. He knew that it would be
+difficult, or impossible to do it, as long as Rosa Blondelle remained in
+the same house with himself. He felt that he could not ask her to go and
+find another home; for to do so would be rude, inhospitable, and even
+cruel to the homeless and friendless young stranger.</p>
+
+<p>What should he do, then?</p>
+
+<p>It occurred to him that he might make some fair excuse to take Sybil to
+the city, and spend the ensuing winter there with her, leaving Rosa
+Blondelle in full possession of Black Hall until she should choose to
+make arrangements to return to her own country. This or something else
+must be done, for the flirtation with Rosa must never be resumed. In the
+midst of these good resolutions he was interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, Rosa Blondelle had been as deeply mortified <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_179" id="pg_179">179</a></span>and enraged by
+the sudden desertion and continued coolness of Lyon Berners, as it was
+in her shallow nature to be. She went to her own room, but she could not
+remain there. She came out into the long narrow passage leading to the
+front hall, and she paced up and down with the angry restlessness of a
+ruffled cat, muttering to herself:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She shall not take him from me, even if he is her husband! I <i>will</i> not
+be outrivalled by another woman, even if she is his wife!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Over and over again she ground these words through her teeth, or other
+words of the same sort. Suddenly she passed out of the narrow passage
+into the broad ball, where she noticed that the parlor door was ajar, a
+light burning within the room, and the shadow of a man thrown across the
+carpet. She stole to the door, peeped in, and saw Lyon Berners still
+standing on the rug with his back to the smouldering fire, absorbed in
+sombre thought.</p>
+
+<p>She slipped in, and dropped her head upon his shoulder and sobbed.</p>
+
+<p>Startled and very much annoyed, he gently tried to raise her head and
+put her away.</p>
+
+<p>But she only clung the closer, and sobbed the more.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Rosa! don&#8217;t! don&#8217;t, child! Let us have no more of this! It is sinful
+and dangerous! For your own sake, Rosa, retire to your room!&#8221; he gently
+expostulated.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! you love me no longer! You love me no longer!&#8221; vehemently exclaimed
+the siren. &#8220;That cruel woman has compelled you to forsake me! I told you
+she would do it, and now she has done it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;That woman,&#8217; Rosa, is my beloved wife, entitled to my whole faith; yet
+not even for her will I forsake you; but I will continue to care for
+you, as a brother for a sister. But, Rosa, this must cease,&#8221; he gravely
+added.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, do not say that! do not! do not fling off the poor lonely heart
+that you have once gathered to your own!&#8221; <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_180" id="pg_180">180</a></span>and she clung to him as
+closely and wept as wildly as if she had been in earnest.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Rosa! Rosa!&#8221; he whispered eagerly, and in great embarrassment, &#8220;my
+child! be reasonable! Reflect! you have a husband!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah! name him not! He robbed and left me, and I hate him,&#8221; she cried.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And I have a dear and honored wife whose happiness I must guard. Thus
+you see we can be nothing to each other but brother and sister. A
+brother&#8217;s love and care is all that I can offer you, or that you should
+be willing to accept from me,&#8221; he continued, as he gently smoothed her
+fair hair.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then give me a brother&#8217;s kiss,&#8221; she sighed. &#8220;That is not much to ask,
+and I have no one to kiss me now! So give me a brother&#8217;s kiss, and let
+me go!&#8221; she pleaded, plaintively.</p>
+
+<p>He hesitated for a moment, and then bending over her, he said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is the <i>first</i>, and for your own sake it must be the <i>last</i>, Rosa!&#8221;
+he pressed his lips to hers.</p>
+
+<p>It <i>was</i> the last as well as the first; for at the meeting of their
+lips, they were stricken asunder as by the fall of a thunderbolt!</p>
+
+<p>And Sybil, blazing with wrath, like a spirit from the Lake of Fire,
+stood between them!</p>
+
+<p>Yes! for she looked not human&mdash;with her ashen cheeks, and darkened brow,
+and flaming eyes&mdash;with her whole face and form heaving, palpitating,
+flashing forth the lightnings of anger!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="sc">Sybil</span>!&#8221; exclaimed her husband, thunderstruck, appalled.</p>
+
+<p>She waved her hand towards him, as if to implore or command silence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have nothing to say to you,&#8221; she muttered, in low <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_181" id="pg_181">181</a></span>and husky tones,
+as if ashes were in her throat. &#8220;But to <span class="sc">you</span>!&#8221; she said, and her voice
+rose clear and strong as she turned and stretched out her arm towards
+Rosa, who was leaning in a fainting condition against the wall&mdash;&#8220;<span class="sc">to you</span>,
+viper, who has stung to death the bosom that warmed you to life&mdash;<span class="sc">to you</span>,
+traitress, who has come between the true husband and his wife&mdash;<span class="sc">to you</span>,
+thief! who has stolen from your benefactress the sole treasure of her
+life&mdash;<span class="sc">to you</span> I have this to say: I will not drive you forth in dishonor
+from my door this night, nor will I publish your infamy to the world
+to-morrow, though you have deserved nothing less than these from my
+hands; but in the morning you must leave the house you have desecrated!
+for if you do not, or if ever I find your false face here again, I will
+tread down and crush out your life with less remorse than ever I set
+heel upon a spider! I will, as I am a Berners! And now, begone, and
+never let me see your form again!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Rosa Blondelle, who had stood spell-bound by the terrible gaze and
+overwhelming words of Sybil, the wronged wife, now suddenly threw up her
+hands, and with a low cry, fled from the room.</p>
+
+<p>And Sybil dropped her arm and her voice at the same instant, and stood
+dumb and motionless.</p>
+
+<p>And now, at length, Lyon Berners spoke again.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sybil! you have uttered words that nothing on the part of that poor
+lady should have provoked from you&mdash;words that I fear may never be
+forgotten or forgiven! But&mdash;I know that she has a gentle and easy
+nature. When you are cooler and more rational, I wish you to go to her
+and be reconciled with her.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With <i>her</i>! I am a Berners!&#8221; answered Sybil, haughtily.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But you bitterly wrong that lady in your thoughts!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bah! I caught her in your arms! on your breast! her lips clinging to
+yours!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_182" id="pg_182">182</a></span>&#8220;The first and last kiss! I swear it by all my hopes of Heaven,
+Sybil&mdash;a brother&#8217;s kiss!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sybil made a gesture of scorn and disgust.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If I were not past laughing, I should have to laugh now,&#8221; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And you will not believe this?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And you will not be reconciled to this injured young stranger?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I! I am a lady&mdash;&#8216;or long have dreamed so,&#8217;&#8221; answered Sybil, haughtily.
+&#8220;At least the daughter of an honest mother. And I will not even permit
+such a woman as that to live under the same roof with me another day.
+She leaves in the morning.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The house is yours! You must do as you please! But this I tell you:
+that in the same hour which sees that poor and friendless young creature
+driven from the shelter of this roof, I leave it too, and leave it for
+ever.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>If Lyon Berners really meant this, or thought to bring his fiery-hearted
+wife to terms by the threat, he was mistaken in her character.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, go!&#8221; she answered bitterly&mdash;&#8220;go! I <i>will</i> not harbor <i>her</i>. And why
+should I seek to detain you? Your heart has left me already; why should
+I wish to retain its empty case? Go as soon as you like, Lyon Berners.
+Good-night, and&mdash;good-bye,&#8221; she said, and with a wave of her hand she
+passed from the room.</p>
+
+<p>He was mad to have spoken as he did; madder still to let her leave him
+so! how mad, he was soon to learn.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_183" id="pg_183">183</a></span>
+<a name="SWOOPING_DOWN_6419" id="SWOOPING_DOWN_6419"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
+<h3>SWOOPING DOWN.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left; text-indent:3em;">Twice it called, so loudly called<br />
+With horrid strength beyond the pitch of nature;<br />
+And murder! murder! was the dreadful cry.<br />
+A third time it returned with feeble strength,<br />
+But o&#8217; the sudden ceased; as though the words<br />
+Were smothered rudely in the grappled throat.<br />
+And all was still again, save the wild blast<br />
+Which at a distance growled&mdash;<br />
+Oh, it will never from the heart depart!<br />
+That dreadful cry all in the instant stilled.&mdash;<span class="sc">Baillie</span>.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners remained walking up and down the room some time longer. The
+lights were all out, and the servants gone to bed. Yet still he
+continued to pace up and down the parlor floor, until suddenly piercing
+shrieks smote his ear.</p>
+
+<p>In great terror he started forward and instinctively rushed towards
+Rosa&#8217;s room, when the door was suddenly thrown open by Rosa herself,
+pale, bleeding from a wound in her breast.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Great Heaven! What is this?&#8221; he cried, as, aghast with amazement and
+sorrow, he supported the ghastly and dying form, and laid it on the
+sofa, and then sunk on his knees beside it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who, who has done this?&#8221; he wildly demanded, as, almost paralyzed with
+horror, he knelt beside her, and tried to stanch the gushing wound from
+which her life-blood was fast welling.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who, who has done this fiendish deed?&#8221; he reiterated in anguish, as he
+gazed upon her.</p>
+
+<p>She raised her beautiful violet eyes, now fading in death; she opened
+her bloodless lips, now paling in death, and she gasped forth the words:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She&mdash;Sybil&mdash;your wife. I told you she would do it, and she has done it.
+Sybil Berners has murdered me,&#8221; <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_184" id="pg_184">184</a></span>she whispered. Then raising herself
+with a last dying effort, she cried aloud, &#8220;Hear, all! Sybil Berners has
+murdered me.&#8221; And with this charge upon her lips, she fell back <span class="sc">dead</span>.</p>
+
+<p>Even in that supreme moment Lyon Berners&#8217; first thought, almost his only
+thought, was for his wife. He looked up to see who was there&mdash;who had
+heard this awful, this fatal charge.</p>
+
+<p><i>All</i> were there! guests and servants, men and women, drawn there by the
+dreadful shrieks. All had heard the horrible accusation.</p>
+
+<p>And all stood panic-stricken, as they shrank away from one who stood in
+their midst.</p>
+
+<p>It was she, Sybil, the accused, whose very aspect accused her more
+loudly than the dying woman had done; for she stood there, still in her
+fiery masquerade dress, her face pallid, her eyes blazing, her wild
+black hair loose and streaming, her crimsoned hand raised and grasping a
+bloodstained dagger.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, wretched woman! most wretched woman! What is this that you have
+done?&#8221; groaned Lyon Berners, in unutterable agony&mdash;agony not for the
+dead beauty before him, but for the living wife, whom he felt that he
+had driven to this deed of desperation. &#8220;Oh, Sybil! Sybil! what have you
+done?&#8221; he cried, grinding his hands together.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I? I have done nothing!&#8221; faltered his wife, with pale and tremulous
+lips.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Sybil! Sybil! would to Heaven you had died before this night! Or
+that I could now give my life for this life that you have madly taken!&#8221;
+moaned Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have taken no life! What do you mean? This is horrible!&#8221; exclaimed
+Sybil, dropping the dagger, and looking around upon her husband and
+friends, who all shrank from her. &#8220;I have taken no life! I am no
+assassin! Who dares to accuse me?&#8221; she demanded, standing up pale and
+haughty among them.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_185" id="pg_185">185</a></span>And then she saw that every lowered eye, every compressed lip, every
+shuddering and shrinking form, silently accused her.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners had turned again to the dead woman. His hand was eagerly
+searching for some pulsation at the heart. Soon he ceased his efforts,
+and arose.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Vain! vain!&#8221; he said, &#8220;all is still and lifeless, and growing cold and
+stiff in death. Oh! my wretched wife!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The lady may not be dead! This may be a swoon from loss of blood. In
+such a swoon she would be pulseless and breathless, or seem so! let me
+try! I have seen many a swoon from loss of blood, as well as many a
+death from the same cause, in my military experience,&#8221; said Captain
+Pendleton, pushing forward and kneeling by the sofa, and beginning his
+tests, guided by experience.</p>
+
+<p>His words and actions unbound the spell of horror that had till then
+held the assembled company still and mute, and now all pressed forward
+towards the sofa, and bent over the little group there.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Air! air! friends, if you please! Stand farther off. And some one open
+a window!&#8221; exclaimed Captain Pendleton, peremptorily.</p>
+
+<p>And he was immediately obeyed by the falling off of the crowd, one of
+whom threw open a window.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Some one should fetch a physician!&#8221; suggested Beatrix Pendleton, whose
+palsied tongue was now at length unloosed.</p>
+
+<p>And half a dozen gentlemen immediately started for the stables to
+dispatch a messenger for the village doctor from Blackville.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And while they are fetching the physician, they should summon the
+coroner also,&#8221; suggested a voice from the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No! no! not until we have ascertained that life is actually extinct,&#8221;
+exclaimed Captain Pendleton, hastily; at <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_186" id="pg_186">186</a></span>the same time seeking and
+meeting the eyes of Mr. Berners, with a meaning gaze said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If we cannot restore the dead woman to life, we must at least try to
+save the living woman from unspeakable horrors!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners turned away his head, with a deep groan.</p>
+
+<p>And Captain Pendleton continued his seeming efforts to restore
+consciousness to the prostrate form before him, until he heard the
+galloping of the horse that took the messenger away for the doctor, and
+felt sure that the man could not now receive orders to fetch the coroner
+also.</p>
+
+<p>Then Captain Pendleton arose and beckoned Miss Tabby Winterose to come
+towards him. That lady came forward, whimpering as usual, but with an
+immeasurably greater cause than she had ever possessed before.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Close her eyes, straighten her limbs, arrange her dress. She is quite
+dead,&#8221; said the Captain.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Tabby&#8217;s voice was lifted up in weeping.</p>
+
+<p>But wilder yet arose the sound of wailing, as the Scotch girl, with the
+child in her arms, broke through the crowd and cast herself down beside
+her dead mistress, crying:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! and is it gone ye are, my bonny leddy? Dead and gone fra us, a&#8217; sae
+suddenly! Oh, bairnie! look down on your puir mither, wham they have
+murthered&mdash;the born deevils.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The poor child, frightened as much by the wild wailing of the nurse as
+by the sight of his mother&#8217;s ghastly form, began to scream and to hide
+his head on Janet&#8217;s bosom.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Woman, this is barbarous. Take the boy away from this sight,&#8221; exclaimed
+Captain Pendleton, imperatively.</p>
+
+<p>But Janet kept her ground, and continued to weep and wail and
+apostrophize the dead mother, or appeal to the orphan child. And all the
+women in the crowd whose tongues had hitherto been paralyzed with
+horror, now broke forth in tears and sobs, and cries of sympathy and
+compassion, and&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_187" id="pg_187">187</a></span>&#8220;Oh, poor murdered young mother! Oh, poor orphaned babe!&#8221; or
+lamentations to the same effect, broke forth on all sides.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Berners, you are master of the house. I earnestly exhort you to
+clear the room of all here, except Miss Winterose and ourselves,&#8221; said
+Captain Pendleton in an almost commanding tone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Friends and neighbors,&#8221; cried Lyon Berners, lifting up his voice, so
+that it could be heard all over the room, &#8220;I implore you to withdraw to
+your own apartments. Your presence here only serves to distress
+yourselves and embarrass us. And we have a duty to do to the dead.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The crowd began to disperse and move toward the doors when suddenly
+Sybil Berners lifted her hand on high and called, in a commanding tone:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="sc">Stop</span>!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And all stopped and turned their eyes on her.</p>
+
+<p>She was still very pale, but now also very calm; the most self-collected
+one in that room of death.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have somewhat to say to you,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;You all heard the dying
+words of that poor dead woman, in which she accused me of having
+murdered her; and your own averted eyes accuse me quite as strongly, and
+my own aspect, perhaps, more strongly than either.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She paused and glanced at her crimsoned hand, and then looked around and
+saw that her nearest neighbors and oldest friends, who had known her
+longest and loved her best, now turned away their heads, or dropped
+their eyes. She resumed:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The dead woman was mistaken; you are misled; and my very appearance is
+deceptive. I will not deny that the woman was my enemy. Driven to
+desperation, and in boiling blood, I might have been capable of doing
+her a deadly mischief, but bravely and openly, as the sons and daughters
+of my fiery race have done such things before this. But to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_188" id="pg_188">188</a></span>go to her
+chamber in the dead of night, and in darkness and secrecy&mdash;! No! I could
+not have done that, if she had been ten times the enemy she was. Is
+there one here who believes that the daughter of Bertram Berners could
+be guilty of that or any other base deed?&#8221; she demanded, as her proud
+glance swept around upon the faces of her assembled friends and
+neighbors.</p>
+
+<p>But their averted eyes too sorrowfully answered her question.</p>
+
+<p>Then she turned to her husband and lowered her voice to an almost
+imploring tone as she inquired:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lyon Berners, do <span class="sc">you</span> believe me guilty?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He looked up, and their eyes met. If he had really believed her guilty
+he did not now. He answered briefly and firmly:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, Sybil! Heaven knows that I do not. But oh! my dear wife! explain,
+if you can, how that dagger came into your possession, how that blood
+came upon your hands; and, above all, why this most unhappy lady should
+have charged you with having murdered her.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At your desire, and for the satisfaction of the few dear old friends
+whom I see among this unbelieving crowd, the friends who would deeply
+grieve if I should either do or suffer wrong, <i>I will</i> speak. But if it
+were not for you and for them, I would die before I would deign to
+defend myself from a charge that is at once so atrocious and so
+preposterous&mdash;so monstrous,&#8221; said Sybil, turning a gaze full of haughty
+defiance upon those who stood there before her face, and dared to
+believe her guilty.</p>
+
+<p>A stern voice spoke up from that crowd.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Lyon Berners, attend to this. A lady lies murdered in your house.
+By whom she has been so murdered we do not know. But I tell you that
+every moment in which you delay in sending for the officers of justice
+to investigate this affair, compromises you and me and all who stand by
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_189" id="pg_189">189</a></span>and silently submit to this delay, as accessories, after the fact.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners turned towards the speaker, a grave and stern old man of
+nearly eighty years, a retired judge, who had come to the mask ball
+escorting his grand-daughters.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An instant, Judge Basham. Pardon us, if in this dismay some things are
+forgotten. The coroner shall be summoned immediately. Captain Pendleton,
+will you oblige me by despatching a messenger to Coroner Taylor at
+Blackville?&#8221; he then inquired, turning to the only friend upon whose
+discretion he felt he could rely.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Pendleton nodded acquiescence and intelligence, and left the
+room, as if for the purpose specified.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, dear Sybil, with Judge Basham&#8217;s permission, give our friends the
+explanation that you have promised them,&#8221; said Lyon Berners
+affectionately, and confidingly taking her hand and placing himself
+beside her.</p>
+
+<p>For all his anger as well as all her jealousy had been swept away in the
+terrible tornado of this evening&#8217;s events.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The explanation that I promised <i>you</i>, and those who wish me well,&#8221; she
+said emphatically. And then her voice arose clear, firm, and distinct,
+as she continued:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I was in my chamber, which is immediately above that occupied by Mrs.
+Blondelle. My chamber is approached by two ways, first by the front
+passage and stairs, and secondly by a narrow staircase running up from
+Mrs. Blondelle&#8217;s room. And the door leading from her room up this
+staircase and into mine, she has been in the habit of leaving open.
+To-night, as I said, I was sitting in my chamber; from causes not
+necessary to explain now and here, I was too much disturbed in mind to
+think of retiring to rest, or even of undressing. I do not know how long
+I had sat there, when I heard a piercing shriek from some one in the
+room below. Instinctively I rushed down the communicating stairs and
+into Mrs. Blondelle&#8217;s room, and up to her <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_190" id="pg_190">190</a></span>bed, where I saw by the light
+of the taper she was lying. Her eyes were closed, and I thought at first
+that she had fainted from some fright until, almost at the same instant,
+I saw this dagger&mdash;&#8221; here Sybil stooped and picked up the dagger that
+she had dropped a few minutes before&mdash;&#8220;driven to its haft in her chest.
+I drew it out. Instantly the blood from the opened wound spirted up,
+covering my hand and sleeve with the accusing stains you see! With the
+flowing of the blood her eyes flew wildly open! She gazed affrightedly
+at me for an instant, and then with the last effort of her life, for
+which terror lent her strength, she started up and fled shrieking to
+this room. I, still holding the dagger that I had drawn from her bosom,
+followed her here. And&mdash;you know the rest,&#8221; said Sybil; and overcome
+with excitement, she sank upon the nearest chair to rest.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners still held her hand.</p>
+
+<p>Her story had evidently made a very great impression upon the company
+present. But Lyon Berners suddenly exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good Heavens! that lady&#8217;s mistaken charge has put us all off the scent,
+and allowed the murderer to escape. But it may not yet be too late! Some
+clue may be left in her room by which we may trace the criminal! Come,
+neighbors, and let us search the premises.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And Lyon Berners, leaving the shuddering women of the party in the room
+with Sybil and the dead, and followed by all the men, went to search the
+house and ground for traces of the assassin.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_191" id="pg_191">191</a></span>
+<a name="THE_SEARCH_6725" id="THE_SEARCH_6725"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2>
+<h3>THE SEARCH.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">My friends, I care not, (so much I am happy<br />
+Above a number,) if my actions<br />
+Were tried by every tongue, every eye saw them,<br />
+Envy and base opinion set against them,<br />
+To know my life so even.&mdash;<span class="sc">Shakspeare</span>.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>And first they went to Mrs. Blondelle&#8217;s room, and carefully examined
+every part of it, especially the fastenings of the doors and windows.
+They all seemed to be right.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have a theory of this murder now!&#8221; said Mr. Berners, standing in the
+middle of the room and speaking to the men who were with him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Humph! what is it?&#8221; coldly inquired old Judge Basham.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is this; that as Mrs. Blondelle was known to have possessed jewels
+of great value, some miscreant came here with the intention to rob her
+of them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, and what then?&#8221; asked the Judge.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That this miscreant entered either by the outer door, or by one of
+these windows, approached the bed of his victim, who, being awake and
+seeing him, shrieked, either before or at the moment of receiving the
+death wound, and then fainted.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Humph! what next?&#8221; grunted the Judge.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That first shriek brought my wife running to the rescue. At the sound
+of her approach, of course the murderer turned and fled, escaping
+through the outer door or window.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An ingenious story, and a plausible explanation, Mr. Berners; but one,
+I fear, that will never convince a jury, or satisfy the public,&#8221;
+remarked Judge Basham.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nay, and it will na satisfy mysel&#8217; neither! It&#8217;ll na do, gentlemen! The
+murderer didna come through the outer <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_192" id="pg_192">192</a></span>door, nor the windows either! For
+mysel&#8217; fastened them a&#8217; before I went to my bed! And yesel&#8217;s found them
+fastened when ye cam!&#8221; said the Scotch girl Janet, who had now entered
+the room with the child in her arms.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But he may have come through the door, my good girl,&#8221; suggested Mr.
+Berners, whose very blood seemed to freeze at this testimony of the
+maid.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nay, nay, laird! that will na do either. The murderer could na hae come
+by the outer door, for mysel&#8217; bolted it before I went to bed! And it was
+still bolted when my puir leddy&mdash;Oh, my puir bonny leddy! oh! my puir
+dear murdered mistress!&#8221; broke forth from the girl in sudden and violent
+lamentations.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Compose yourself, and tell us all about the bolted door,&#8221; said Judge
+Basham.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Aweel, sir, the door was bolted by mysel&#8217;, and bolted it stayed until
+that puir leddy started out of her bed and tore the bolt back, and fled
+away from before the face of her murderer! too late! oh, too late! for
+she carried her death wound with her.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So you see, Mr. Berners, your theory of the murder falls to pieces.
+This girl&#8217;s testimony proves that the murderer could not have entered
+the room, from this floor,&#8221; said Judge Basham.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then he <i>must</i> have been concealed in the room,&#8221; exclaimed Lyon,
+desperately.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nay, nay! that will na do either, laird. Na mon was hid in the room.
+Mysel&#8217; looked into all the closets, and under the bed, and up the
+chimney, as I always do before I go to sleep. I could na sleep else.
+Nay, nay, laird! The murderer came in neither by outer door nor window,
+nor yet lay hidden in the room; for mysel&#8217; had fastened the outer door
+and window, and searched the room before I slept. Nay, nay, laird! The
+murderer cam by the only way left open&mdash;left open because we thought it
+was safe&mdash;the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_193" id="pg_193">193</a></span>way leading from Mistress Berners&#8217; room down to the
+little stairs, and through this door which was not bolted,&#8221; persisted
+the Scotch girl.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners&#8217; heart seemed turned to ice by these last words.
+Nevertheless he summoned fortitude to say:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We must examine and see if there has been a robbery committed. If there
+<i>has</i> been one, then, of course, in the face of all this woman&#8217;s
+evidence, it will prove that the robber has done this foul deed.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do not see clearly that it will,&#8221; objected Judge Basham. &#8220;However, we
+will make the examination.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your honors need na tak the trouble. Mysel&#8217; saw to that too. See, the
+bureau drawers and wardrobes are all fast locked as me leddy saw me lock
+them hersel&#8217;. And the keys are safe in the pocket of my gown. Nay, nay,
+lairds, naething is stolen,&#8221; said Janet.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, Mr. Berners insisted on making the examination. So Janet
+produced the keys and opened all the bureau drawers, boxes, wardrobes,
+etc. All things were found in order. In the upper bureau drawer, caskets
+of jewels, boxes of laces, rolls of bank-notes and other valuables were
+found untouched. Nothing was missing.</p>
+
+<p>In a word, no clue was found to the supposed murderer and robber; but,
+on the other hand, every circumstance combined to fix the deed on Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners felt a faintness like death coming over him, and subduing
+all his manhood. Unblenchingly, in his own person, he would have braved
+any fate. But that his wife&mdash;his pure, high-toned, magnanimous Sybil,
+should be caught up and ground to pieces by this horrible machinery of
+circumstance and destiny! Was this a nightmare? His brain was reeling.
+He felt that he might go mad. Like the drowning man, he caught at
+straws. Turning to the Scotch girl, he demanded somewhat sternly:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And where were you when your mistress was being <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_194" id="pg_194">194</a></span>murdered? where were
+you, that you did not hasten to her assistance? You could not have been
+far off&mdash;you must in fact have been in that little adjoining nursery.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And sae I was, laird; and her first screech waked me up and garred me
+grew sae till I couldna move, and didna move till I heard her screech
+again and again, and saw her rin acrass the floor, and tear back the
+bolt and flecht fra the room, followed close behind by Mistress Berners.
+And thin mysel&#8217; sprang up wi&#8217; the bairn in me arms and rin after them,
+thinking the de&#8217;il was behind me. Oh, me puir leddy! oh, me puir, bonny
+leddy! oh! oh! oh!&#8221; wept and wailed the girl, dropping down on the floor
+and throwing her apron over her head.</p>
+
+<p>But the cries of the child from the adjoining nursery caused her to
+start up, and run in there to comfort him.</p>
+
+<p>The searchers left that room, and pursued their investigations
+elsewhere. They went all through the house without finding any clue to
+the mystery. They attempted to search the grounds, but the night was
+pitch-dark, and the rain was falling fast. Finally, they returned to the
+room of death.</p>
+
+<p>All the ladies and all the servants had gone away. No one remained in it
+but Sybil and Miss Tabby, watching the dead.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil sat near the head of the body, and Miss Tabby near the feet.</p>
+
+<p>At the sight of his doomed young wife, Lyon Berners senses reeled again.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She is so inexperienced in all the ways of the world, so ignorant of
+the ways of the law! Oh, does she know&mdash;does she even dream of the awful
+position, the deadly danger in which she stands? No; she is unconscious
+of all peril. She evidently believes that the explanation she gave us
+here, and which satisfies her friends, will convince all others. Oh,
+Sybil! Sybil! an hour ago so safe in your domestic <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_195" id="pg_195">195</a></span>sanctity, and
+now&mdash;now momentarily exposed to&mdash;Heaven! I cannot bear it!&#8221; he groaned,
+as he struggled for self-command and went towards her.</p>
+
+<p>She was sitting with her hands clasped, as in prayer, and her eyes, full
+of the deepest regret and pity, fixed upon the face of the dead. There
+was sorrow, sympathy, awe&mdash;anything but fear or distrust in her
+countenance. At the approach of her husband, she turned and whispered
+gravely:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She was my rival where I could least bear rivalry; and I thought she
+had been a successful one. I do not think so now; and now I have no
+feeling towards her but one of the deepest compassion. Oh, Lyon, we must
+adopt her poor child, and rear it for our own. Oh! who has done this
+deed? Some one whose aim was robbery, no doubt. Has any trace been
+discovered of the murderer?&#8221; she inquired.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;None, Sybil,&#8221; he answered, with difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Lyon, such awful thoughts have visited me since I have sat here and
+forced myself to look upon this sight! For I see in it that which I
+might have done, had my madness become frenzy; but even then, not as
+this was done. Oh, no, no, no! May God forgive me and change my heart,
+for I have been standing on the edge of an abyss!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners could not speak. He was suffocating with the feeling that
+she now stood upon the brink of ruin yawning to receive her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Heaven help you, Sybil!&#8221; was the silent prayer of his spirit as he
+gazed on his unconscious wife.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Tabby, who sat whimpering at the feet of the dead, now spoke up:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; she said, wiping the tear-drop from the end of her nose, &#8220;I
+<i>do</i> think as we ought not to leave it a-lying here, cramped up onto
+this sofy, where we can&#8217;t stretch it straight. We ought to have it taken
+to her room and laid out on her bed, decent and in order.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is true; but oh, in a shock like this, how much is <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_196" id="pg_196">196</a></span>forgotten!&#8221; said
+Mr. Berners. Then turning to old Judge Basham, who had sank into an
+easy-chair to rest, but seemed to consider himself still on the bench,
+since he assumed so much authority, Lyon inquired, &#8220;Do you see any
+objection to the body being removed to a bedroom before the coroner&#8217;s
+arrival?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Certainly not. This is not the scene of the murder. You had best take
+it back to the bed on which she received her death,&#8221; answered the old
+Judge.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Friends,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, turning to the gentlemen, who had all
+solemnly and silently seated themselves as at a funeral, &#8220;will one of
+you assist me in this?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Captain Pendleton, who had just re&euml;nt&eacute;red the room, came promptly up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;By the way, did you send for the coroner, sir?&#8221; demanded the old Judge,
+intercepting him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir, I did,&#8221; curtly answered the Captain.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I shall sit here until his arrival,&#8221; observed the Judge settling
+himself for a nap in his easy-chair.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That old fellow is in his dotage!&#8221; growled Captain Pendleton to
+himself, as he tenderly lifted the head and shoulders of all that
+remained of poor Rosa Blondelle. But at the touch of her cold form, the
+sight of her still face, tears of pity sprang into the young soldier&#8217;s
+eyes. Rosa had been a fine woman, and her body was now no light weight.
+It took the united strength of Captain Pendleton and Mr. Berners to bear
+it properly from the parlor to the chamber, where they laid it on the
+bed, and left it to the care of Sybil and Miss Tabby, who had followed
+them.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners then pulled the Captain into an empty room and whispered
+hoarsely:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Did I understand you to tell the Judge that you had sent a messenger
+for the coroner?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; but mind, I sent an old man on an old mule. It will be many hours
+before he reaches Blackville; many <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_197" id="pg_197">197</a></span>more before the coroner gets here.
+Good Heaven! Berners, I <i>had</i> to do that! Don&#8217;t you see the awful danger
+of your innocent wife?&#8221; exclaimed Captain Pendleton, in an agitated
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>Don&#8217;t</i> I see it? I am not mad, or blind. But you, in the face of this
+overwhelming evidence&mdash;you believe her to be innocent?&#8221; demanded Lyon
+Berners, in a tone of agonized entreaty.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I <i>know</i> her to be innocent! I have known her from her infancy. She
+might have flown at a rival, and torn her to pieces, in a frenzy of
+passion; but she could never have struck a secret blow,&#8221; answered
+Captain Pendleton, emphatically.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thanks! Oh, thanks for your faith in her!&#8221; exclaimed Lyon Berners,
+earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But now! <i>Do</i> you not see what is to be done? She must be got out of
+the house before the coroner or any officer of justice arrives,&#8221; said
+Captain Pendleton, earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, this is so sudden and terrible! It is an avalanche&mdash;an earthquake!
+It crushes me. It deprives me of reason!&#8221; groaned Lyon Berners, sinking
+into a chair, and covering his face with his hands.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lyon, my friend, arouse yourself! Rise above this agony of despair, if
+you would save your imperilled wife! She must fly from this house within
+an hour, and you must accompany her,&#8221; urged Captain Pendleton.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I know it! I know it! But oh, Heaven! the anguish of my heart! the
+chaos of my thoughts! Pendleton, think for me; act for me; tell me what
+to do!&#8221; cried the strong man, utterly overwhelmed and powerless.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Pendleton hurried into the supper-room, the scene of the late
+revels, and brought from there a glass of brandy, which he forced his
+friend to swallow.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now listen to me, Berners. Go and call your wife, take her to your
+mutual room, tell her the necessity of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_198" id="pg_198">198</a></span>instant flight. She is strong,
+and will be equal to the occasion. Then, quickly as you can collect all
+your money and jewels, and conceal them about your person. Dress
+yourself, and tell her to dress in plain stout weather-proof
+riding-habits. Do this at once. Meanwhile, I will go myself to the
+stables, and saddle two of the swiftest horses, and bring them around to
+the back door, so that no servant need to be taken into our confidence
+to-night. When I meet you with the horses, I will direct you to a
+temporary retreat where you will be perfectly safe for the present;
+afterwards we can think of a permanent place of security. Now, then,
+courage, and hurry!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My friend in need!&#8221; fervently exclaimed Lyon Berners, as they parted.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have further suggestions to make when we meet again. I have thought
+of everything,&#8221; Captain Pendleton called after him.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners went in search of Sybil, to the chamber of death, which was
+now restored to order, and dimly lighted.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="SYBILS_FLIGHT_7020" id="SYBILS_FLIGHT_7020"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2>
+<h3>SYBIL&#8217;S FLIGHT.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">&#8217;Tis well&mdash;my soul shakes off its load of care;<br />
+&#8217;Tis only the obscure is terrible;<br />
+Imagination frames events unknown,<br />
+In wild, fantastic shapes of hideous ruin,<br />
+And what its fears creates.&mdash;<span class="sc">Hannah More</span>.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Upon the snow-white bed the form of Rosa Blondelle, wrapped in pure
+white raiment, was laid out. Very peaceful and beautiful she looked, her
+fair face, framed in its pale gold hair, wearing no sign of the violent
+death by which she died.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_199" id="pg_199">199</a></span>At her head sat Sybil, looking very pale, and shedding silent tears.</p>
+
+<p>At her feet sat Miss Tabby, whimpering and muttering.</p>
+
+<p>Within the little nursery, beyond the chamber, the Scotch girl sat,
+crying and sobbing.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners softly approached the bed, and whispered to Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dearest, come out, I wish to speak to you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She silently arose and followed him. He was silent until they had
+reached their own room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sit down, Sybil,&#8221; he then said, as calmly as he could force himself to
+speak.</p>
+
+<p>She sank into a seat and looked at him inquiringly, but fearlessly.</p>
+
+<p>He stood before her unable to proceed. It was terrible to him to witness
+her utter unconsciousness of her own position&mdash;more terrible still to be
+obliged to arouse her from it.</p>
+
+<p>She continued to regard him with curiosity, but without anxiety, waiting
+silently for what he should say to her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sybil,&#8221; he said at length, as soon as he was able to speak&mdash;&#8220;Sybil, you
+are a brave and strong spirit! You can meet a sudden calamity without
+sinking under it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is it?&#8221; inquired his wife, in a low tone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sybil, dearest Sybil! there is no time to break the bad news to you;
+brace yourself to hear it abruptly.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes! tell me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sybil, listen, and comprehend. The circumstances that surround this
+mysterious murder are of a character to compromise you so seriously,
+that you may only find safety in immediate flight.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Me!&mdash;flight!&#8221; exclaimed Mrs. Berners, dilating her dark eyes in
+amazement.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners groaned in the spirit, as he replied:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Sybil, yes! Oh! my dearest, attend and understand, and be strong!
+Sybil, hear. The quarrel you were <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_200" id="pg_200">200</a></span>known to have had with this poor
+woman; the threats you used on that occasion; the dagger in your hand;
+the blood oh your wrist, and above all the words of the dying woman
+charging you with her death. All these form a chain of circumstantial
+and even direct evidence that will drag you down&mdash;I cannot say it!&#8221;
+burst forth Lyon in an accession of agony.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil&#8217;s dark eyes opened wider and wider in amazement, but still without
+the least alarm.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is enough, oh, Sybil, to repeat to you that your only safety is in
+instant flight,&#8221; he exclaimed, dropping his face upon his hands.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Flight!&#8221; echoed Sybil, staring at him. &#8220;Why should I take refuge in
+flight? I have done nothing criminal, nor will I do anything so
+ignominious as to fly from my home, Lyon,&#8221; she added, proudly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But, Sybil&mdash;Oh, Sybil! the circumstantial evidence&mdash;.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, I explained all that!&#8221; replied Mrs. Berners na&iuml;vely. &#8220;I told you
+all how it was: that when I heard her scream, I ran to see what was the
+matter and I drew the dagger from her bosom, and then the blood spirted
+up and sprinkled me! It was terrible enough to see and bear that,
+without having to hear and endure such a preposterous suspicion! And it
+is all easy enough for any honest mind to understand my explanation.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Sybil! Sybil! that indeed&mdash;I mean your presence at her death, with
+all its concurrent circumstances might be explained away! But the dying
+woman&#8217;s last solemn declaration, charging you as her murderess, that was
+the most direct testimony! Oh, Heaven, Sybil! Sybil! prepare for your
+flight; for in that is your only hope of safety! Prepare at once, for
+there is not an instant to be lost!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Stop!&#8221; said Sybil, suddenly and solemnly&mdash;&#8220;Lyon Berners, do <i>you</i>
+believe that dying declaration to have been true?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_201" id="pg_201">201</a></span>&#8220;No! as the Lord hears me, I do not, Sybil! I know you were incapable
+of doing the deed she charged upon you! No! I am sure she spoke in the
+delirium of sudden death and terror,&#8221; said Lyon Berners earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nor will any one else who knows me, believe it! So be tranquil. I am
+not guilty, nor will I run away like a guilty one. I will stay here and
+tell the truth,&#8221; said Sybil composedly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But, oh, good Heavens! telling the truth will not help you! The law
+deals with <i>facts</i>, not <i>truths</i>! and judges of facts as if they were
+truths. And oh! my dear Sybil! the lying facts of this case involve you
+in such a net of circumstantial evidence and direct testimony as renders
+you liable to arrest&mdash;nay, certain to be arrested and imprisoned upon
+the charge of murder! Oh, my dear, most innocent wife! my free, wild,
+high-spirited Sybil! even the sense of innocence could not save you from
+imprisonment, or support you during its degrading tortures! <i>You</i> could
+not bear&mdash;<i>I</i> could not bear for you, such loss of liberty and honor for
+one hour&mdash;even if nothing worse should follow! But, Sybil, worse may,
+worse <i>must</i> follow! Yes, the <i>very worst</i>! Your only safety is in
+flight&mdash;instant flight! And oh! Heaven! how the time is speeding away!&#8221;
+exclaimed the husband, beside himself with distress.</p>
+
+<p>During the latter part of his speech the wife had started to her feet,
+and now she stood staring at him, amazed, incredulous, yet firm and
+brave.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Rouse yourself to the occasion, Sybil! Oh! for my sake, for Heaven&#8217;s
+sake, collect your faculties and prepare for flight,&#8221; he passionately
+urged.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am innocent, and yet I must fly like the guilty! Lyon, for your sake,
+and only for yours, I will do it,&#8221; she answered gravely, and sadly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We must not call assistance, nor stop to compliment each other. Pack
+quickly up what you will most need for <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_202" id="pg_202">202</a></span>yourself, in a travelling bag,
+and I will do the same for myself,&#8221; explained Lyon Berners, suiting the
+action to the word by shoving into his valise some valuable papers,
+money, razors, a few articles of clothing, etc.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil showed more promptitude and presence of mind than might have been
+expected of her. She quickly collected her costly jewels and ready
+money, a change of under clothing, combs, and brushes, and packed them
+in a small travelling bag.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We go on horseback,&#8221; quickly explained Lyon Berners, as he locked his
+valise.</p>
+
+<p>Swiftly and silently Sybil threw off her masquerading dress, that she
+had unconsciously worn until now, and dropped it on the floor, where it
+lay glowing like a smouldering bonfire. She then put on a water-proof
+riding habit, and announced herself ready.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come, then,&#8221; said Lyon Berners, taking up both bags, and beckoning her
+to follow him silently.</p>
+
+<p>They slipped down the dark stairs and through the deserted halls, and
+reached the back door, where, under the shelter of a large hemlock-tree,
+Captain Pendleton held the horses. It was dark as pitch, and drizzling
+rain. They could see nothing, they could only know the whereabouts of
+their &#8220;friend in need,&#8221; and their horses, by hearing Captain Pendleton&#8217;s
+voice speaking through the mist in cautious tones, and whispering:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lock the door after you, Berners, so as to secure us from intrusion
+from within. And then stop there under the porch until I come and talk
+to you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners did as he was requested to do, and then stood waiting for
+his friend, who soon came up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have got all you will need on your journey, have you not?&#8221; inquired
+the Captain.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners replied by telling his friend exactly what he had brought.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_203" id="pg_203">203</a></span>&#8220;All that is very well, but people require to eat and drink once in a
+while. So I have put some sandwiches, and a bottle of wine from the
+supper-table, into your saddle-bags. And now, in the hurry, have you
+decided upon your route?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; we shall endeavor to reach the nearest seaport, Norfolk probably,
+and embark for some foreign country, no matter what, for in no place but
+in a foreign country can my unhappy wife hope for safety,&#8221; mournfully
+replied Lyon Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Endeavor to reach Norfolk! That will never succeed. You will be sure to
+be overtaken and brought back before you go a score of miles on that
+road,&#8221; declared Captain Pendleton, shaking his head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then, in the name of Heaven, what <i>will</i> do?&#8221; demanded Mr. Berners, in
+a tone of desperation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must find a place of concealment, and then take time to disguise
+yourself and your wife, so that neither of you can be recognized, before
+you venture upon the road to Norfolk. You see, Lyon, you are the better
+lawyer, but I am the better strategist! I graduated among the warpaths
+and the ambushes of the Redskins on the frontier.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But where shall I find such a place of concealment?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have thought of that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You think of everything.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah! it is easy to show presence of mind in other people&#8217;s confusion!
+Almost as easy at it is to bear other people&#8217;s troubles!&#8221; said the
+Captain, attempting a jest, only to raise his friend&#8217;s drooping spirits.
+&#8220;But now to the point, for we must be quick. You know the &#8216;Haunted
+Chapel?&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The old ruined church in the cleft on the other side of the Black
+Mountain?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; that is the place. Its deep solitude and total abandonment, with
+its ghostly reputation, will be sure to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_204" id="pg_204">204</a></span>secure your safety. Go there;
+conceal yourselves and your horses as well as you can. In the course of
+to-morrow, or to-morrow night, I will come to you with such news and
+such help as I may be able to bring.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank you. Oh, thank you. But what are words? You are a man of deeds.
+Your presence of mind has saved us both!&#8221; said Lyon Berners earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now to horse,&#8221; said Captain Pendleton, taking Mrs. Berners under
+his guidance, while Mr. Berners brought on the valise and travelling
+bag.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Pendleton placed Sybil in her saddle, whispering encouragingly,</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Be strong and hopeful. This necessary flight is a temporary evil,
+intended to save you from a permanent, and even perhaps a fatal wrong.
+Be patient, and time shall vindicate you and bring you back.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But oh! to leave my home, and the home of my fathers! to leave it like
+a criminal, when I am innocent! to leave it in haste, and not to know if
+I may ever return,&#8221; cried Sybil, in a voice of anguish.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is a fearful trial. I will not mock you by denying that it is. Yes,
+it is a terrible ordeal! but one, Mrs. Berners, that you have heroism
+enough to bear,&#8221; replied Captain Pendleton, as he bowed over her
+extended hand and gave her the reins.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners was also mounted. They were ready to start. With a mutual
+&#8220;God bless you,&#8221; the friends parted.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon and Sybil took the dark road.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Pendleton unlocked the door that had been locked by Mr. Berners,
+but as he pushed to open it he felt an obstruction, and instantly
+afterwards heard some one run away.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A listener,&#8221; he thought, in dismay as he pursued the fugitive. But he
+only caught a glimpse of a figure disappearing through the front door
+and into the darkness without, in which it was lost.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_205" id="pg_205">205</a></span>&#8220;An eavesdropper!&#8221; he exclaimed, in despair. &#8220;An eavesdropper! Who now
+can be assured of her safety? Oh, Sybil! you rejected my hand, and very
+nearly ruined my life. But this night I would die to save you,&#8221; he
+sighed, as he went and joined the gentlemen who were sitting up
+watching, or rather dozing, in the parlor, while waiting for the
+physician&#8217;s or the coroner&#8217;s arrival.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where is Mrs. Berners?&#8221; inquired the old Judge, rousing himself up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She retired to her chamber about an hour ago,&#8221; answered Captain
+Pendleton, telling the truth, but not the whole truth, as you will
+perceive.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hum, ha, yes; well, and where is her husband?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He followed her there,&#8221; answered the Captain, shortly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ha, hum, yes, well. The coroner is long in coming,&#8221; grumbled the Judge.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is some distance to Blackville, sir, and the roads are rough and the
+night is dark,&#8221; observed the Captain.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, yes, true,&#8221; agreed the old man, subsiding into his chair and into
+his doze.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Pendleton threw himself into a seat, but had not sat long before
+the parlor door opened, and his sister appeared at it and called to him
+in a low voice.</p>
+
+<p>He arose, and went to her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come out into the hall here; I want to speak to you, Clement,&#8221; said
+Miss Pendleton.</p>
+
+<p>He went out.</p>
+
+<p>Then his sister inquired, in a voice full of anxious entreaty:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Clement, <i>where</i> is Sybil?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She went to her room a little more than an hour ago,&#8221; answered the
+brother, giving his sister the same answer that he had given the Judge.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Clement, I must go to her, and throw my arms around her neck and kiss
+her. I must not tell her in so many <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_206" id="pg_206">206</a></span>words that I know she is innocent,
+for to do that would be to affront her almost as much as if I should
+accuse her of being guilty; for she will rightly enough think that her
+innocence should not be called into question, but should be taken for
+granted. So I must not say a word on that subject, but I <i>must</i> find her
+and embrace her, and make her feel that I know she is innocent. Who is
+with her?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Her husband is with her, Beatrix, and so you can not of course go to
+her now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, but I am so anxious to do so. Look here, Clement. I stood there
+among the crowd this evening, gazing upon that bleeding and dying woman,
+until the sight of her ghastly form and face seemed to affect me as the
+Medusa&#8217;s head was said to have affected the beholder, and turn me into
+stone. Clement, I was so petrified that I could not move or speak, even
+when she appealed to us all to know whether any among us could believe
+her to be capable of such an act. I could not speak; I could not move.
+She must have thought that I too condemned her, and I cannot bear to
+rest under that suspicion of hers. I must go to her now, Clement.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Indeed you must not, Trix. Wait till she makes her appearance: that
+will be time enough,&#8221; answered her brother.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, this is a horrible night; I wish it were over. I cannot go to bed;
+nobody can. The ladies are all sitting huddled together in the
+dressing-room, although the fire has gone out; and the servants are all
+gathered in the kitchen, too panic-stricken to do anything. Oh, an awful
+night! I wish it were morning.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It will soon be daylight now, dear Beatrix. You had better go and
+rejoin your companions.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And so the brother and sister separated for the night; Beatrix going to
+sit and shudder with the other ladies in the dressing-room, and Clement
+returning to the parlor to lounge and doze among the gentlemen.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_207" id="pg_207">207</a></span>Only his anxiety for Sybil&#8217;s safety so much disturbed his repose, that
+if he did but drop into an instant&#8217;s slumber he started from it in a
+vague fright. So the small hours of the morning wore on and brought the
+dull, drizzly, wintry daylight.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Lyon and Sybil Berners rode on through mist and rain.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="THE_HAUNTED_CHAPEL_7367" id="THE_HAUNTED_CHAPEL_7367"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXII.</h2>
+<h3>THE HAUNTED CHAPEL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">&#8220;The chapel was a ruin old,<br />
+&nbsp;That stood so low, in lonely glen.<br />
+&nbsp;The gothic windows high and dark<br />
+&nbsp;Were hung with ivy, brier, and yew.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>The Haunted Chapel to which Mr. and Mrs. Berners were going was in a
+dark and lonely gorge on the other side of the mountain across Black
+River, but near its rise in the Black Torrent. To reach the chapel, they
+would have to ride three miles up the shore and ford the river, and then
+pass over the opposite mountain. The road was as difficult and dangerous
+as it was lonely and unfrequented.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon and Sybil rode on together in silence, bending their heads before
+the driving mist, and keeping close to the banks of the river until they
+should reach the fording place.</p>
+
+<p>At length Sybil&#8217;s anguish broke forth in words.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! Lyon, is this nightmare? Or is it true that I am so suddenly cast
+down from my secure place, as to become in one hour a fugitive from my
+home, a fugitive from justice! Oh! Lyon, speak to me. Break the spell
+that binds my senses. Wake me up. Wake me up,&#8221; she wildly exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear Sybil, be patient, calm, and firm. This is a <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_208" id="pg_208">208</a></span>terrible calamity.
+But to meet calamity bravely, is the test of a true high soul. You are
+compelled to seek safety in flight, to conceal yourself for the present,
+to avoid a train of unmerited humiliations that even the consciousness
+of innocence would not enable you to bear. But you have only to be
+patient, and a few days or weeks must bring the truth to light, and
+restore you to your home.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But flight itself looks like guilt; will be taken as additional
+evidence of guilt,&#8221; groaned Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not so. Not when it is understood that the overwhelming weight of
+deceptive circumstantial evidence and deceptive direct testimony had so
+compromised you as to render flight your only means of salvation. Be
+brave, my own Sybil. And now, here we are at the ford. Take care of
+yourself. Let me lead your horse.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, no; that would embarrass you, without helping me. Go on before, and
+I will follow.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners plunged into the stream. Sybil drew up her long skirts and
+dashed in after him. And they were both soon splashing through the Black
+River, blacker now than ever with the double darkness of night and mist.
+A few minutes of brave effort on the part of horses and riders brought
+them all in safety to the opposite bank, up which they successfully
+struggled, and found themselves upon firm ground.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The worst part of the journey is over, dear Sybil. Now I will ride in
+advance and find the pass, and do you keep close behind me,&#8221; said Lyon
+Berners, riding slowly along the foot of the mountain until he came to a
+dark opening, which he entered, calling Sybil to follow him.</p>
+
+<p>It was one of those fearful passes so frequently to be found in the
+Allegheny Mountains, and which I have described so often that I may be
+excused from describing this. They went in, cautiously picking their way
+through this deeper darkness, and trusting much to the instinct of their
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_209" id="pg_209">209</a></span>mountain-trained steeds to take them safely through. An hour&#8217;s slow,
+careful, breathless riding brought them out upon the other side of the
+mountain.</p>
+
+<p>As they emerged from the dark labyrinth, Lyon Berners pulled up his
+horse to breathe, and to look about him. Sybil followed his example.</p>
+
+<p>Day was now dawning over the broken and precipitous country.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where is that chapel of which you speak? I have heard of it all my
+life, but I have never seen it; and beyond the fact that it is on this
+side of the mountain, and not far from the Black Torrent, I know nothing
+about it,&#8221; said Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is near the Black Torrent; almost under the bed of the cascade, in
+fact. And we shall have to turn our horses&#8217; heads up stream again to
+reach it,&#8221; answered Lyon Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You know exactly where it is; you have been there, perhaps?&#8221; inquired
+Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have seen it but once in my life. But I can easily find it. It is not
+a frequented place of resort, dear Sybil. But that makes it all the
+safer as a place of concealment for you,&#8221; said Lyon Berners, as he
+started his horse and rode on.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil followed him closely.</p>
+
+<p>Day was broadening over the mountains, and bringing out a thousand
+prismatic colors from the autumn foliage of the trees, gemmed now with
+the rain drops that had fallen during the night.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It will be quite clear when the sun rises,&#8221; said Lyon, encouragingly to
+Sybil, as they went on.</p>
+
+<p>He was right. Sunrise in the mountains is sometimes almost as sudden in
+its effects as sunrise at sea. The eastern horizon had been ruddy for
+sometime, but when the sun suddenly came up from behind the mountain,
+the mist <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_210" id="pg_210">210</a></span>lifted itself, rolled into soft white wreaths and crowned the
+summits, while all the land below broke out into an effulgence of light,
+color, and glory.</p>
+
+<p>But people who are flying for life do not pause to enjoy scenery, even
+of the finest. Lyon and Sybil rode on towards the upper banks of the
+Black River, hearing at every step the thunder of the Black Torrent, as
+it leaped from rock to rock in its passionate descent to the valley.</p>
+
+<p>At length they came to a narrow opening in the side of the mountain.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Here is a path I know,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, &#8220;though its entrance is so
+concealed by undergrowth as to be almost impossible to discover.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners dismounted, and began to grope for the entrance in a
+thicket of wild-rose bushes, that were now closely covered with scarlet
+seed-pods that glowed, and raindrops that sparkled, in the rays of the
+morning sun.</p>
+
+<p>At length he found the path, and then he returned to his wife, and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We cannot take our horses through the thicket, dear Sybil. You will
+have to dismount and remain concealed in here until I lead them back
+across the river, where I will turn them loose. There will be a great
+advantage gained by that move. Our horses being found on the other side,
+will mislead our pursuers on a false scent.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>While Lyon Berners spoke, he assisted his wife to alight from her
+saddle, and guided her to the entrance of the thicket.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This path has not been trodden for a score of years, I can well
+believe. Just go far enough to be out of sight of any chance spy, and
+there remain until I return. I shall not be absent over half an hour,&#8221;
+said Mr. Berners, as he took leave of Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>She sank wearily down upon a fragment of a rock, and prepared to await
+his return.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_211" id="pg_211">211</a></span>He mounted his own horse, and led hers, and so went his way down the
+stream to the fording place.</p>
+
+<p>He successfully accomplished the difficult task of taking both horses
+over the river to the opposite bank, where he turned them loose.</p>
+
+<p>Next with a strong pocket jack-knife he cut a leaping pole from a
+sapling near, and went still farther up the stream to the rapids, where,
+by a skilful use of his pole and dexterous leaping from rock to rock, he
+was enabled to recross the river almost dry-shod.</p>
+
+<p>He rejoined Sybil, whom he found just where he had left her.</p>
+
+<p>She was sitting on a piece of rock, with her head bowed upon her hands.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Have I been gone long? Were you anxious or lonely, dearest?&#8221; he
+inquired, as he gave her his hand to assist her in rising.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no! I take no note of time! But oh! Lyon, <i>when shall I wake?</i>&#8221; she
+exclaimed in wild despair.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is it you say, dear Sybil?&#8221; he gently asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;When shall I wake&mdash;wake from this ghastly nightmare, in which I seem to
+myself to be a fugitive from justice! an exile from my home! a
+houseless, hunted stranger in the land! It <i>is</i> a nightmare! It can
+<i>not</i> be real, you know! Oh, that I could wake!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear Sybil, collect your faculties. Do not let despair drive you to
+distraction. Be mistress of yourself in this trying situation,&#8221; said
+Lyon Berners, gravely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But oh, Heaven! the crushing weight and stunning suddenness of this
+blow! It is like death! like perdition!&#8221; exclaimed Sybil, pressing her
+hands to her head.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners could only gaze on her with infinite compassion, expressed
+in every lineament of his eloquent countenance.</p>
+
+<p>She observed this, and quickly, with a great effort, from <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_212" id="pg_212">212</a></span>a strong
+resolution, throwing her hands apart like one who disperses a cloud, and
+casts off a weight, she said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is over! I will not be nervous or hysterical again. I have brought
+trouble on you as well as on myself, dear Lyon; but I will show you that
+I can bear it. I will look this calamity firmly in the face, and come
+what may, I will not drag you down by sinking under it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And so saying, she gave him her hand, and arose and followed him as he
+pushed on before, breaking down or bearing aside the branches that
+overhung and obstructed the path.</p>
+
+<p>Half an hour of this difficult and tedious travelling brought them down
+into a deep dark dell, in the midst of which stood the &#8220;Haunted Chapel.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was an old colonial church, a monument of the earliest settlement in
+the valley. It was now a wild and beautiful ruin, with its surroundings
+all glowing with color and sparkling with light. In itself it was a
+small Gothic edifice, built of the dark iron-grey rock dug from the
+mountain quarries. Its walls, window-frames, and roof were all still
+standing, and were almost entirely covered by creepers, among which the
+wild rose vine, now full of scarlet berries, was conspicuous.</p>
+
+<p>A broken stonewall overgrown with brambles enclosed the old church-yard,
+where a few fallen and mouldering gravestones, half sunk among the dead
+leaves, still remained.</p>
+
+<p>All around the church, on the bottom of the dell, and up the sides of
+the steeps, were thickly clustered forest-trees, now glowing refulgent
+in their gorgeous autumn livery of crimson and gold, scarlet and purple.</p>
+
+<p>A little rill, an offspring of the Black Torrent, tumbled down the side
+of the mountain behind the church, and ran frolicking irreverently
+through the old graveyard. The great cascade was out of sight, though
+very near for its thunder filled the air.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_213" id="pg_213">213</a></span>&#8220;See,&#8221; said Sybil, pointing to the little singing rill; &#8220;Nature is
+unsympathetic. She can laugh and frolic over the dead, and, besides, the
+suffering.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It would seem, then, that Nature is wiser as well as gladder than we
+are; since she, who is transitory, rejoices while we, who are immortal,
+pine,&#8221; answered Lyon Berners, pleased that any thought should win her
+from the contemplation of her misfortune.</p>
+
+<p>He then led the way into the old ruined church through the door frames,
+from which the doors had long been lost. The stone floor, and the stone
+altar still remained; all else within the building was gone.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners looked all around, up and down the interior, from the
+arched ceiling to the side-walls with their window spaces and the
+flagstone floor with its mouldy seams. The wild creeping vines nearly
+filled the window spaces, and shaded the interior more beautifully than
+carved shutters, velvet curtains, or even stained glass could have done.
+The flagstone floor was strewn with fallen leaves that had drifted in.
+Up and down, in every nook and corner of the roof and windows, last
+year&#8217;s empty birds nests perched. And here and there along the walls,
+the humble &#8220;mason&#8217;s&#8221; little clay house stuck.</p>
+
+<p>But there seemed no resting place for the weary travellers, until Sybil,
+with a serious smile, went up to the altar and sank upon the lowest
+step, and beckoned Lyon to join her, saying:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At the foot of the altar, dear Lyon, there was sanctuary in the olden
+times. We seem to realize the idea now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are cold. Your clothes are all damp. Stop! I must try to raise a
+fire. But you, in the meantime, must walk briskly up and down, to keep
+from being chilled to death,&#8221; answered Lyon Berners very practically, as
+he proceeded to gather dry leaves and twigs that had drifted into the
+interior of the old church.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_214" id="pg_214">214</a></span>He piled them up in the centre of the floor, just under the break in
+the roof, and then he went out and gathered sticks and brushwood, and
+built up a little mound. Lastly he took a box of matches from his pocket
+and struck a light, and kindled the fire.</p>
+
+<p>The dried leaves and twigs crackled and blazed, and the smoke ascended
+in a straight column to the hole in the roof through which it escaped.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come, dear Sybil, and walk around the fire until your clothes are dry,
+and then sit down by it. This fire, with its smoke ascending and
+escaping through that aperture, is just such a fire as our forefathers
+in the old, old times enjoyed, as the best thing of the kind they knew
+anything about. Kings had no better,&#8221; said Lyon Berners, cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil approached the fire, but instead of walking around it, she sat
+down on the flagstones before it. She looked very weary, thoroughly
+prostrated in body, soul, and spirit.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What are we waiting for, in this horrible pause?&#8221; she inquired at
+length.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We are waiting for Pendleton. He is to bring us news, as soon as he can
+slip away and steal to us without fear of detection,&#8221; answered Lyon
+Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Heaven! what words have crept into our conversation about ourselves
+and friends too! &#8216;Steal,&#8217; &#8216;fear,&#8217; &#8216;detection!&#8217; Oh, Lyon!&mdash;But there, I
+will say no more. I will <i>not</i> revert to the horror and degradation of
+this position again, if I can help it,&#8221; groaned Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My wife, you are very faint. Try to take some nourishment,&#8221; urged Lyon,
+as he began to open the small parcel of refreshments thoughtfully
+provided by Captain Pendleton.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, no, I cannot swallow a morsel. My throat is parched and
+constricted,&#8221; she answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If I only had a little coffee for you,&#8221; said Lyon.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_215" id="pg_215">215</a></span>&#8220;If we only had liberty to go home again,&#8221; sighed Sybil, &#8220;then we
+should have all things. But there; indeed I will not backslide into weak
+complaints again,&#8221; she added, compunctuously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Modify your grief, dear Sybil, but do not attempt entirely to suppress
+it. Nature is not to be so restrained,&#8221; said Lyon Berners, kindly.</p>
+
+<p>There was silence between them for a little while, during which Sybil
+still sat down upon the flagstones, with her elbows resting on her
+knees, and her head bowed upon the palms of her hands; and Lyon stood up
+near her with an attitude and expression of grave and sad reflection and
+self-control.</p>
+
+<p>At length Sybil spoke:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Lyon! who could have murdered that poor woman, and brought us into
+such a horrible position?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My theory of the tragedy is this, dear Sybil: that some robber, during
+the confusion of the fancy ball, found an opportunity of entering and
+concealing himself in Mrs. Blondelle&#8217;s room; that his first purpose
+might have been simple robbery, but that, being discovered by Mrs.
+Blondelle, and being alarmed lest her shrieks should bring the house
+upon him and occasion his capture, he impulsively sought to stop her
+cries by death; and then that, hearing your swift approach down the
+stairs leading into her room, he made his escape through the window.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But then the windows were all found, as they had been left, fastened,&#8221;
+objected Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But, dearest, you must remember that these windows, having spring
+bolts, may be fastened by being pushed to from the outside. It is quite
+possible for a robber, escaping through them, to close them in this
+manner to conceal his flight.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That must have been the case in this instance. Everybody must see now
+that that was the manner in which the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_216" id="pg_216">216</a></span>miscreant escaped. Oh, Lyon! I
+think we were wrong to have left home.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, dear Sybil, we were not. Our only hope is in the discovery of the
+real murderer, and that may be a work of time; meanwhile we wish to be
+free, even at the price of being called fugitives from justice.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lyon, that poor child! If we ever go home again, we must adopt and
+educate him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We will do so, Sybil.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For, oh! Lyon, although I am entirely innocent of that most heinous
+crime, and entirely incapable of it, yet, when I remember how my rage
+burned against that poor woman only an hour before her death, I feel&mdash;I
+feel as if I were half guilty of it! as if&mdash;Heaven pardon me!&mdash;I might,
+in some moment of madness, have been wholly guilty of it! Lyon, I
+shudder at myself!&#8221; cried Sybil, growing very pale.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You should thank Heaven that you have been saved from such mortal sin,
+dear wife, and also pray Heaven always to save you from your own fierce
+passions,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, very gravely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have breathed that thanksgiving and that prayer with every breath I
+have drawn. And I will continue to do so. But, oh! Lyon, all my
+passions, all my sufferings grew out of my great love for you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can well believe it, dear wife. And I myself have not been free from
+blame; though in reality your jealousy was very causeless, Sybil.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I know that now,&#8221; said Sybil, sadly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now, dearest, I would like to make &#8216;a clean breast of it,&#8217; as the
+sinners say, and tell you all&mdash;the whole &#8216;head and front of my
+offending&#8217; with that poor dead woman,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, seating himself
+on the floor beside his wife.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil did not repel his offered confidence, for though her <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_217" id="pg_217">217</a></span>jealousy had
+died a violent death, she was still very much interested in hearing his
+confession.</p>
+
+<p>Then Lyon Berners told her everything, up to the very last moment when
+she had surprised them in the first and last kiss that had ever passed
+between them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But in all, and through all, my heart, dear wife, was loyal in its love
+to you,&#8221; he concluded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I know that, dearest Lyon&mdash;I know that well,&#8221; replied Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>And with that tenderness towards the faults of the dead, which all
+magnanimous natures share, she forbore to say, or even to think, how
+utterly unprincipled had been the course of Rosa Blondelle from the
+first to the last of their acquaintance with that vain and frivolous
+coquette.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil was now almost sinking with weariness. Lyon perceived her
+condition, and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Remain here, dear Sybil, while I go and try to collect some boughs and
+leaves to make you a couch. The sun must have dried up the moisture by
+this time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And he went out and soon returned with his arms full of boughs, which he
+spread upon the flagstones. Then he took off his own overcoat and
+covered them with it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, dear Sybil,&#8221; he said, &#8220;if you will divest yourself of your long
+riding skirt, you may turn that into a blanket to cover with, and so
+sleep quite comfortably.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With a grave smile Sybil followed his advice, and then she laid herself
+down on the rude couch he had spread for her. No sooner had her head
+touched it, than she sank into that deep sleep of prostration which is
+more like a swoon than a slumber.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners covered her carefully with the long riding skirt, and stood
+watching her for some minutes. But she neither spoke nor stirred;
+indeed, she scarcely breathed.</p>
+
+<p>Then, after still more carefully tucking the covering <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_218" id="pg_218">218</a></span>around her, he
+left her, and walked out to explore the surroundings of the chapel.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="THE_SOLITUDE_IS_INVADED_7784" id="THE_SOLITUDE_IS_INVADED_7784"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2>
+<h3>THE SOLITUDE IS INVADED.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left; text-indent:8em;">Oh, might we here<br />
+In solitude live savage, in some glade<br />
+Obscured, where highest woods impenetrable<br />
+To star, or sunlight, spread their umbrage broad<br />
+And brown as evening; cover us, ye pines<br />
+Ye cedars with innumerable boughs<br />
+Hide us where we may ne&#8217;er be seen again.&mdash;<span class="sc">Byron.</span></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Nothing could be more lonely and desolate than this place. It was
+abandoned to Nature and Nature&#8217;s wild children. Of the birds that
+perched so near his hand; of the squirrels that peeped at him from their
+holes under the gravestones, he might have said with Alexander Selkirk
+on Juan Fernandez,</p>
+
+<p class="c">&#8220;Their tameness is shocking to me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a great consolation to be derived from these circumstances,
+however; for they proved how completely deserted by human beings, and
+how perfectly safe for the refugees, was this old &#8220;Haunted Chapel.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Too deeply troubled in mind to take any repose of body; Lyon Berners
+continued to ramble about among the gravestones, which were now so worn
+with age that no vestige of their original inscriptions remained to
+gratify the curiosity of a chance inspector.</p>
+
+<p>Above him was the glorious autumn sky, now hazy with the golden mist of
+Indian summer. Around him lay a vast wilderness of hill and dell covered
+with luxuriant forests, now gorgeous with the glowing autumn colors of
+their foliage.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_219" id="pg_219">219</a></span>But his thoughts were not with this magnificent landscape. They
+wandered to the past days of peace and joy before the coming of the
+coquette had &#8220;made confusion&#8221; with the wedded pair. They wandered to the
+future, trying to penetrate the gloom and horror of its shadows. They
+flew to Black Hall, picturing the people, prevising the possibilities
+there.</p>
+
+<p>How he longed for, yet dreaded the arrival of Captain Pendleton! Would
+there be danger in his coming through the open daylight? What news would
+he bring?</p>
+
+<p>The verdict of the coroners jury? Against whom must this verdict be
+given? Lyon Berners shuddered away from answering this question. But it
+was also possible that before this the murderer might have been
+discovered and arrested. Should this surmise prove to be a fact, oh,
+what relief from anguish, what a happy return home for Sybil! If not&mdash;if
+the verdict should be rendered against <i>her</i>,&mdash;nothing but flight and
+exile remained to them.</p>
+
+<p>While Lyon Berners wandered up and down like a restless ghost among the
+gravestones, his attention was suddenly arrested by the sound of a
+crackling tread breaking through the bushes. He turned quickly,
+expecting to see Captain Pendleton, but he saw his own servant instead.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Joe!&#8221; he exclaimed, in a tone of surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Marser!&#8221; responded the man, in a voice of grief.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You come from Captain Pendleton? What message does he send? How is it
+at the house? Has the coroner come? And oh! has any clue been found to
+the murderer?&#8221; anxiously inquired Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, marser, no clue an&#8217;t been found to no murderer. But the house up
+there is full of crowners and constables, as if it was the county court
+house, and Cappin Pendulum managing everything.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He sent you to me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, marser, nor likewise knowed I come.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_220" id="pg_220">220</a></span>&#8220;Joe! <i>who</i> has sent you here?&#8221; inquired Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No one hasn&#8217;t, marser,&#8221; answered Joe, dashing the tears from his eyes,
+and then proceeding to unstrap a large hamper that he carried upon his
+shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No one! Then how came you here?&#8221; demanded Mr. Berners, uneasily.</p>
+
+<p>Now, instead of answering his master&#8217;s question, Joe sat down upon his
+hamper, and wept aloud.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is the matter with you?&#8221; inquired Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You axed me how I comed here,&#8221; sobbed Joe, &#8220;just as if I could keep
+away when she and you was here in trouble, and a-wanting some one to
+look arter you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But how did you know we were here?&#8221; anxiously questioned Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wa&#8217;n&#8217;t a listening at key-holes, nor likewise a-eaves-dropping, which
+I considers beneath a gentleman to do; but I was a-looking to the back
+shutters, to see as they was all safe arter the fright we got, and I
+hearn somebody a-talking, which I was sure was more bugglers; so I made
+free to wait and hear what they said.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was Captain Pendleton and myself, I suppose,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, much
+annoyed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Jes so, sir; it wer Capping Pendulum and yourself, which it hurt me to
+the heart as you should have trusted into Capping Pendulum and not into
+me&mdash;a old and valleyed servant of the family.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And so, Joe, you overheard the whole matter?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Which I did, sir, and shocked I was to think as any false charges
+should cause my dear young missus to run away from home in the
+night-time, like a fusible slave. And hurt I was to think you didn&#8217;t
+trust into me instead of into he.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, Joe, it appears to me that you were resolved to take our trust,
+if we did not give it to you. What brought you here this morning?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_221" id="pg_221">221</a></span>&#8220;Coffee, sir,&#8221; gravely answered Joe, getting up off the hamper and
+beginning to untie its fastenings.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>What?</i>&#8221; demanded Mr. Berners, gathering his brows into a frown.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="sc">Coffee!</span>&#8221; reiterated Joe, as he took from the hamper a small silver
+coffee-pot, a pair of cups and saucers, spoons, plates, and knives and
+forks, a bottle of cream, and several small packets containing all that
+was needful for breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Joe! this was very kind and thoughtful of you; but was it quite safe
+for you to come here with a hamper on your back in open day?&#8221; inquired
+Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lord bless you, sir! safe as safe! I took by-paths, and didn&#8217;t see a
+creetur, not one! Why, lord, sir, you had better a-trusted into me from
+the beginning, than into Capping Pendulum. Bress your soul, marser,
+there an&#8217;t that white man going, nor yet that red injun, that can aiqual
+a colored gentleman into hiding and seeking!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can well believe that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, marser!&mdash;but you don&#8217;t &#8217;member that time I got mad long o&#8217; old
+Marse Bertram Berners, &#8217;bout blaming of me for the sorrell horse falling
+lame; and I run away?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, I was gone three months, and not five miles from home all that
+time! And all the constables looking arter me for law and order; and all
+the poor white trash, hunting of me for the reward; and not one of &#8217;em
+all ever struck upon my trail, and me so nigh home all the while!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, but you were found at last,&#8221; suggested Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who, <i>me</i>? No, <i>sir</i>! And I don&#8217;t think as I should a-been found yet;
+&#8217;cause it was a funny kind of life, that run-a-way life, a dodging of
+the man-hunters; but you see, marser, I sort o&#8217; pined arter the
+child&mdash;meaning Miss Sybil, who was then about four years old. And,
+moreover, it was fotch to me by a secret friend o&#8217; mine, as the child
+was <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_222" id="pg_222">222</a></span>likewise a pining arter me. So I up and went straight home, and
+walked right up before old marse, and took off my hat and told him as
+how <i>I</i> was willin&#8217; to forgive and forget, and let by-gones be by-gones
+like a Christian gentleman, if he would do the same.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And of course your master at once accepted such magnanimous terms.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who, <i>he</i>? Why, Marse Lyon! he looked jes as if he&#8217;d a-knocked me down!
+Only, you see, the child&mdash;meaning Miss Sybil&mdash;was a sitting on his knee,
+which, soon as ever she saw me, she ran to me, and clasped me round one
+leg, and tried to climb up in my arms; which I took her up at once; and
+old marster, he couldn&#8217;t knock me down then, if it had been to have
+saved his life.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So peace was ratified.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Marse Lyon! which I telled you all this here nonsense jes to let
+you know how good I was at hiding and seeking. And, Marse! the horses
+come home all right.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They did! I am glad of that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This was the way of it being all right, sir! You see I knowed, when I
+heard you were going to ride to this old church, as you couldn&#8217;t get the
+horses through this thicket, but would have to turn them loose, to find
+their way home. And I knowed how if any other eyes &#8217;cept mine saw them,
+it would set people to axing questions. So I goes out to the road, and
+watches till I sees &#8217;em coming; when I takes charge of &#8217;em, and gets &#8217;em
+into the stable quiet, and no one the wiser.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well done, Joe! But tell me, my good man, are we missed yet? Has any
+one inquired for us?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Plenty has axed arter you both, Marse! But as no one but me and Capping
+Pendulum knowed where you was gone, and as I locked your door, and took
+the key, most of the folks still think as how Miss Sybil has gone to
+bed, overcome by the ewents of the night, and as how you is a watching
+by her, and a taking care of her.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_223" id="pg_223">223</a></span>&#8220;That also is well.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But, Marse, how is Miss Sybil, and where is she?&#8221; inquired the faithful
+servant, looking about himself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She is very much prostrated by fatigue and excitement, and is now
+sleeping in the church.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thanks be to the Divine Marster as she <i>can</i> sleep,&#8221; said Joe,
+reverently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now,&#8221; he continued, as he replaced it on his head, &#8220;I will kindle a
+fire and make the coffee, and may be she may wake up by the time it is
+ready.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Kindle a fire out here, Joe! Will not the smoke be seen, and lead to
+our discovery?&#8221; inquired Lyon Berners, glancing at the slender column of
+smoke from the fire in the church, that he himself had kindled, and now
+for the first time struck with the sense of the danger of discovery to
+which it might have exposed Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lord, Marse!&#8221; replied Joe, showing his teeth, &#8220;we are too far off from
+any human being for any eye to see our smoke. And even if it wasn&#8217;t so,
+bless you, there are so many mists rising from the valley this morning,
+that one smoke more or less wouldn&#8217;t be noticed.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is true,&#8221; admitted Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Joe busied himself with lighting a fire. When it was burning
+freely, he took the kettle and filled it from the little stream that
+flowed through the church-yard.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, Marse Lyon, in about ten minutes I will set you down to as good a
+breakfast, almost, as you could have got at home,&#8221; said Joe, as he
+raised three cross-sticks over the fire, and hung the kettle over the
+blaze, gipsy fashion.</p>
+
+<p>While Joe was at work, Mr. Berners went into the church to look after
+Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>She was still sleeping the heavy sleep of utter mental and bodily
+prostration. For a few minutes he stood contemplating her with an
+expression of countenance full of love and pity, and then after
+adjusting the covering over her, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_224" id="pg_224">224</a></span>collecting together the brands of
+the expiring fire to light up again, he left the church.</p>
+
+<p>On going outside, he found that Joe had spread a cloth and arranged a
+rude sort of picnic breakfast upon the ground.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The coffee is ready, Marse Lyon; but how about the Missis?&#8221; inquired
+the man, as he stirred down the grounds from the top of the pot.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She is still sleeping, and must not be disturbed,&#8221; answered Mr.
+Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, Marse Lyon, I reckon as how you can relish a cup of coffee as
+well as she; so please to let me wait on you, sir.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners thanked Joe, and threw himself down upon the ground, and
+made such a breakfast as a hungry man <i>can</i> make, even under the most
+deplorable circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now you know, sir, when the Missus wakes up, be it longer or shorter, I
+can make fresh coffee for her in ten minutes,&#8221; said Joe, cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But you cannot stay here very long. You&#8217;ll be missed from the house,&#8221;
+objected Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Please, sir, I have so well provided for all that, that I can stay till
+night. Bless you, sir, I told my fellow-servants as I was going to take
+some corn to the mill to be ground, and was agoin&#8217; to wait all day to
+fetch it home; and so I really did take the corn, and told the miller I
+should come arter it this evening, and so I shall, and take it home all
+right, accordin&#8217; to my word.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That was a very politic proceeding, Joe; but how could you account to
+them for the hamper you brought away, and which must have excited
+suspicion, if not inquiry?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bless you, sir, I wasn&#8217;t fool enough to let them see the hamper. All
+they saw was the two bags of corn as I rode out of the gate with. I had
+filled the hamper on the sly, and hid it in the bushes by the road,
+until I went by and picked it up.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_225" id="pg_225">225</a></span>&#8220;Still better, Joe! But your horse? what horse did you ride, and what
+have you done with him?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I rode Dick, which I have tied him fast in the deep woods on the other
+side of the river. I crossed over the rapids with the help of a pole,&#8221;
+explained Joe.</p>
+
+<p>While they were speaking, a step was heard crushing through the dried
+brushwood, and in another moment Captain Pendleton, pale, sad, and
+weary, stood before them.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="THE_VERDICT_AND_THE_VISITOR_8082" id="THE_VERDICT_AND_THE_VISITOR_8082"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2>
+<h3>THE VERDICT AND THE VISITOR.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left; text-indent: 4em;">Can such things be,<br />
+And overcome us like a summer cloud<br />
+Without our special wonder?&mdash;Shakespeare.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pendleton! oh! Heaven, Pendleton! What news?&#8221; exclaimed Lyon Berners,
+starting up to greet him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good heaven! Berners! How is this? Another&mdash;a servant taken into your
+confidence, and trusted with the secret of your retreat!&#8221; cried Captain
+Pendleton in dismay.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He is trustworthy! I will vouch for his fidelity! But oh! Pendleton!
+What news? what news?&#8221; exclaimed Lyon Berners in an agony of impatience.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The worst that you can anticipate!&#8221; cried Captain Pendleton in a voice
+full of sorrow.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! my unhappy wife! The coroner&#8217;s jury have found their verdict then?&#8221;
+groaned Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Pendleton bowed his head. He was unable to reply in words.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And that verdict is&mdash;Oh! speak I let me hear the worst!&mdash;that verdict
+is&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wilful Murder!&#8221; muttered Pendleton in a hoarse and choking voice.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_226" id="pg_226">226</a></span>&#8220;Against&mdash;against&mdash;whom?&#8221; gasped Lyon Berners white as death.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh Heaven! <i>You know!</i> Do not ask me to sully her name with the words!&#8221;
+cried Captain Pendleton, utterly overcome by his emotions.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my unhappy wife! Oh, my lost Sybil!&#8221; exclaimed Lyon Berners,
+reeling under the blow, half-expected though it might have been.</p>
+
+<p>There was silence for a few minutes. Pendleton was the first to recover
+himself. He went up to his friend, touched him on the shoulder, and
+said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Berners, rouse yourself; the position requires the exertion of your
+utmost powers of mind and body. Calm yourself, and collect all your
+faculties. Come now let us sit down here and talk over the situation.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lyon permitted the captain to draw him away to a little distance, where
+they both sat down side by side, on a fallen tombstone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In the first place, how is your wife, and how does she sustain herself
+under this overwhelming disaster?&#8221; inquired Captain Pendleton, forcing
+himself to speak composedly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do not think my dear innocent Sybil was able fully to appreciate the
+danger of her position, even as she stood before the rendering of that
+false and fatal verdict, she was so strong in her sense of innocence.
+She seemed to suffer most from the lesser evils involved in her exile
+from home.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where is she, then?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sleeping heavily in the church there; sleeping very heavily, from the
+united effects of mental and bodily fatigue and excitement.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Heaven grant that she may sleep long and well. And now, Berners, to our
+plans. You must know that I kept a horse saddled and tied in the woods
+down by the river, and as soon as that lying verdict was rendered, I
+hurried off, leaped into my saddle and galloped here. I forded the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_227" id="pg_227">227</a></span>river, and have left my horse just below here, at the entrance of this
+thicket. I must soon mount and away again on your service.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my dear Pendleton, how shall I ever repay you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;By keeping up a stout heart until this storm-cloud blows over, as it
+must, in a few days or weeks. But now to business. How came this man Joe
+here?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners explained how Joe had overheard all their conversation while
+they were making their arrangements, and taken pains to co-operate with
+them, and had followed them here with some necessary provisions. And he,
+Mr. Berners, closed with a eulogy on Joe&#8217;s fidelity and discretion.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am very glad to hear what you tell me, for it relieves my mind of a
+very great weight. I knew that there had been a listener to our
+conversation, for I almost ran against him as I went into the house; but
+as he made his escape before I could identify him, I was very anxious on
+the subject. So you may judge what a burden is lifted from my mind by
+the discovery that he was no other than honest Joe, whom Providence sent
+in the way. But why he ran from me, I cannot imagine.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He was a little jealous, a little sulky, and somewhat fearful of being
+blamed, I suppose. But tell me, Pendleton, has our flight been
+discovered yet?&#8221; inquired Mr. Berners, anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, nor even suspected; at least, not up to the time that I left Black
+Hall. Mrs. Berners was supposed to be in her chamber. I warned all the
+men, and requested my sister to caution all the women, against knocking
+at her door.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And I, who must have been expected to be on the spot?&#8221; asked Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You were often asked for. Fortunately for you, there is a well-known
+weakness in human nature to pretend to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_228" id="pg_228">228</a></span>know all about everything that
+may be inquired into. And so, every time you chanced to be inquired for
+by one party, you were accounted for by another. Some said you were with
+Mrs. Berners; others that you had gone to Blackville on pressing
+business connected with the tragedy. And these last authorities came to
+be believed; so that when I slipped away I left the people momentarily
+expecting your return.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Whom did you leave there?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Everybody&mdash;the coroner&#8217;s jury and all the guests of the house, who had
+been detained as witnesses.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then all our friends heard the fatal verdict?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Was there&mdash;a warrant issued?&#8221; gasped Lyon Berners, scarcely able to
+utter the words.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah, yes; the issue of the warrant was the first intimation I had of the
+fatal nature of the verdict. It was put in the hands of an officer, with
+orders to be on the watch and serve it as soon as Mrs. Berners should
+come out of her chamber, but not to knock at the door, or molest her
+while she remained in it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners groaned deeply, and buried his face in his hands.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come, come! bear up, that you may sustain <i>her</i>!&#8221; said Captain
+Pendleton. &#8220;And now listen: Your flight, as I told you, was not
+suspected up to the time I left Black Hall. It will not be discovered
+probably until late this evening, when it will be too late for the
+authorities to take any immediate measures of pursuit. We have,
+therefore, this afternoon and to-night to perfect our plans. Only you
+need to bring steady nerves and a clear head to the task.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What do you suggest, Pendleton?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;First of all, that during this night, which is ours, all necessary
+conveniences be brought here to support your life for a few days, for
+you must not leave this safe refuge <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_229" id="pg_229">229</a></span>immediately&mdash;to do so would be to
+fall into the hands of the law.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I see that,&#8221; sighed Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I, then, with the help of this faithful Joe, will bring to you here
+to-night such things as you and Mrs. Berners will actually need, for the
+few days that you must remain. As to all your affairs at the Hall, I
+counsel you to give me a written authority to act for you in your
+absence. I have brought writing materials for the purpose; and when you
+have written it, I will myself take it and drop it secretly into the
+post-office at Blackville, so that it may reach me regularly through the
+mail, and help to mislead everybody to whom I shall show it, into the
+idea that you have gone away through Blackville. Will you write it now?&#8221;
+inquired Captain Pendleton, drawing from his pocket a rolled
+writing-case, containing all that was requisite for the work.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A thousand thanks, Pendleton. I do not see how in the name of Heaven we
+could have managed without you,&#8221; replied Berners, as he took the case,
+unrolled it on his knee, and proceeded to write the required &#8220;power of
+attorney.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now,&#8221; said the Captain, when he received the document, &#8220;now we must
+be getting back. The sun is quite low, and we have much to do. Come,
+Joe, are you ready?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Massa Capping; ready and waitin&#8217; on you too. I ought to be at the
+mill now, &#8217;fore the miller shuts it up.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Captain Pendleton then shook hands with Mr. Berners, and Joe pulled his
+front lock of wool by way of a deferential adieu, and both left the spot
+and disappeared in the thicket.</p>
+
+<p>But it was not until the last sound of their retreating steps, crashing
+through the dried bushes, had died away, that Lyon Berners turned and
+went into the church.</p>
+
+<p>As he entered, a singular phenomenon, almost enough to confirm the
+reputation of the place as &#8220;haunted ground,&#8221; met his view.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_230" id="pg_230">230</a></span>All in one instant his eyes took in these things: First, Sybil covered
+over with the dark riding skirt, and still sleeping by the smouldering
+fire; but sleeping uneasily, and muttering in her sleep. Secondly, the
+four prints of the western windows laid in sunshine on the floor.
+Thirdly, a <i>shadow</i> that slipped swiftly athwart this sunshine, and
+disappeared as if it had sunk into the floor on the right of the altar.
+And in the same moment Sybil, with a half-suppressed shriek, started up,
+and stared wildly around, exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! what is this? Where am I? Who was she?&#8221; Lyon Berners hastened to
+his wife, saying soothingly:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sybil, wake up, darling; you have been dreaming.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But what does all this mean? Where are we? What strange place is this?&#8221;
+she cried, throwing back her long dark hair, and shading her eyes with
+her hands, as she gazed around.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dearest wife, take time to compose yourself, and you will remember all.
+A sudden and terrible catastrophe has driven us from our home. You have
+had a heavy sleep since that, and you find it difficult to awake to the
+truth,&#8221; said Lyon Berners tenderly, as he sat down by her side, and
+sought to soothe her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! I know now! I remember all now! my fatal fancy ball! Rosa
+Blondelle&#8217;s mysterious murder! Our sudden flight! All! O! Heavens, all!&#8221;
+cried Sybil, dropping her face upon her hands.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners put his arm around her, and drew her to his bosom. But he
+did not speak; he thought it better to leave her to collect herself in
+silence.</p>
+
+<p>After a few moments, she looked up again, and looked all around the
+church, and then gazed into her husband&#8217;s eyes, and inquired:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But Lyon, who was <i>she</i>? and where has she gone?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who was who, dear Sybil? I don&#8217;t understand,&#8221; answered Mr. Berners, in
+surprise.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_231" id="pg_231">231</a></span>&#8220;That gipsy-like girl in the red cloak; who was bending over me, and
+staring into my face, just as you came in?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There was no such girl near you, or even in the church, my dear,&#8221; said
+Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But indeed there was; she started away just as I woke up.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dearest Sybil, you have been dreaming.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Indeed no; I saw her as plainly as I see you now: a girl in a red
+cloak, with such an elfin face I shall never forget it; such small
+piercing black eyes; such black eyebrows, depressed towards the nose,
+and raised high towards the temples, giving such an eldritch,
+mischievous, even dangerous expression to the whole dark countenance;
+and such wild black hair streaming around her shoulders.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A very vivid dream you have had, dear wife, and that is all.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I tell you no! she was bending over me; looking at me; and she fled
+away just as I woke up.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My darling, I will convince you out of your own mouth. She ran away,
+you say, just as you woke up; therefore you did not see her after you
+were awake, but only while you slept, in your dreams. Besides, dear, I
+was here when you woke up, and I saw no one near you, or even in the
+building,&#8221; persisted Lyon Berners&mdash;though at that moment he did recall
+to mind <i>the shadow</i> that he had seen slip past all the sunshine on the
+floor, and disappear as if it had sunk under the slabs on the right side
+of the altar.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lyon,&#8221; said Sybil, solemnly, &#8220;I do not like to contradict you, but as I
+hope to be saved, I saw that girl, not in a dream, but in reality; and
+since you do not know anything about her, I begin to think the
+apparition mysterious and alarming. Let me tell you all about it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, tell me, dear, if to do so will do you any good,&#8221; said Mr.
+Berners indulgently, but incredulously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Listen, then. I was in a <i>dead sleep</i>, oh, such a deep <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_232" id="pg_232">232</a></span>dead sleep,
+that I seemed to be away down in the bottom of some deep cave, when I
+felt a heavy breathing or panting over my face, and was conscious of
+somebody leaning over me, and looking at me. I tried to wake, but could
+not, I could not lift myself up out of that deep dark cave of sleep. But
+at last I felt a hand near my throat, trying to unfasten this golden
+locket that contains your miniature. Then I struggled, and succeeded in
+throwing off the spell and waking up. As soon as I opened my eyes I saw
+the wild eldritch face, with its keen bright black eyes and queer
+eyebrows, and snake-like black locks, running down over the red cloak.
+The instant I saw this, I cried out, and the girl fled, and you hurried
+up. Now call that a dream if you can, for I tell you I saw that figure
+start up and run away from me as plainly as I saw you come up. One event
+was as real as the other,&#8221; concluded Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners did not at once reply, for he thought again of the flitting
+<i>shadow</i> he had seen cross the sunshine, and disappear as if it had sunk
+into the flagstones on the right side of the altar. And he mentally
+admitted the bare possibility that some intruder had entered the church
+and looked upon Sybil in her sleep, and fled at her awakening. But fled
+whither? The windows were very high, the wall was smooth beneath them;
+no one could have climbed to them, for there was no foothold or handhold
+to assist one in the ascent, and there was but the one door by which he
+himself had entered, at the same moment the strange visitor was said to
+have fled, and he was quite sure that no one had passed him. Besides,
+the shadow that he had seen vanished beside the altar, at the upper end
+of the church. Lyon Berners knew not what to think of all that he had
+seen and heard within the last quarter of an hour. But one thing was
+quite certain, that it was absolutely necessary to Sybil&#8217;s safety to
+ascertain whether any stranger had really entered the church, or even
+come upon the premises.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_233" id="pg_233">233</a></span>&#8220;Well,&#8221; inquired Sybil, seeing that he still remained silent, &#8220;what do
+you think now, Lyon?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; he answered promptly, &#8220;that I will search the church.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is not a hiding-place for anything bigger than a rat or a bird,&#8221;
+said his wife, glancing around upon the bare walls, floor, and ceiling.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless Lyon Berners walked up to the side of the altar where he
+had seen the shadow disappear. Sybil followed close behind him. He
+examined the altar all around. It was built of stonework like the
+church; that was the reason it had stood so long. But he experienced a
+great surprise when he looked at the side where the shadow had vanished;
+for there he found a small iron-grated door, through which he dimly
+discerned the head of a flight of stone steps, the continuation of which
+was lost in the darkness below. Glancing over the top of the door, he
+read, in iron letters, the inscription:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;DUBARRY. 1650.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is it, dear Lyon?&#8221; inquired Sybil, anxiously looking over his
+shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good Heaven! It is the family vault of the wicked old Dubarrys, who
+once owned all the land hereabouts, except the Black Valley Manor, and
+who built this chapel for their sins; for of them it might not be said
+with truth, that &#8216;all their sons were true, and all their daughters
+pure,&#8217; but just exactly the reverse. However, they are well forgotten
+now!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And this is their family vault?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; but I had almost forgotten its existence here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lyon, can my mysterious visitor have hidden herself in that vault?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can search it, at any rate,&#8221; answered Mr. Berners, wrenching away at
+the grated door.</p>
+
+<p>But it resisted all his efforts, as if its iron bars had been bedded in
+the solid masonry.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_234" id="pg_234">234</a></span>&#8220;No,&#8221; he answered; &#8220;your visitor, if you had one, could not possibly
+have entered here. See how fast the door is.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lyon,&#8221; whispered Sybil, in a deep and solemn voice, &#8220;Lyon, could she
+possibly have come out from there?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nonsense, dear! Are you thinking of ghosts?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This is the &#8216;Haunted Chapel,&#8217; you know,&#8221; whispered Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bosh, my dear; you are not silly enough to believe that!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But my strange visitor?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You had no visitor, dear Sybil; you had a dream, and your dream had
+every feature of nightmare in it&mdash;the deep, death-like, yet
+half-conscious and much disturbed sleep; the sense of heavy oppression;
+the apparition hanging over you; the inability to awake; even the
+grappling at your throat, and the swift disappearance of the vision
+immediately upon your full awakening&mdash;all well-known features of
+incubus,&#8221; replied Mr. Berners. But again he thought of the shadow he had
+seen; now, however, only to dismiss the subject as an optical illusion.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil sighed deeply.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is hard,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that you won&#8217;t trust to my senses in this
+affair.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sweet wife, I would rather convince you how completely your senses have
+deceived you. Your imagination has been excited while your nerves were
+depressed. You have heard the legend of the Haunted Chapel, and while
+sleeping within it you conjured up the heroine of the story in your
+dream where she immediately took the form of incubus.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I!&mdash;the legend! What are you talking of, Lyon? I have heard the church
+called the Haunted Chapel indeed, but I never even knew that there was
+any story connected with it,&#8221; exclaimed Sybil, in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Really? Never heard the legend of &#8216;Dubarry&#8217;s Fall&#8217;?&#8221; inquired Mr.
+Berners, with equal surprise.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_235" id="pg_235">235</a></span>&#8220;Never, upon my word.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, it is an old tradition; forgotten like the family with whom it
+was connected. I heard it in my childhood; but it had slipped my memory
+until your graphic description of the gipsy girl in the red cloak
+recalled it to my mind, and led me to believe that your knowledge of the
+legend had so impressed your imagination as to make it conjure up the
+heroine of the legend.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is the legend? Do tell me, Lyon.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not now, dearest. You must first have some coffee, which a faithful
+friend has provided for us.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Captain Pendleton?&#8221; eagerly inquired Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, dear, our servant Joe. I do not expect to see Captain Pendleton
+until nightfall,&#8221; added Lyon Berners, for he tried to anticipate and
+prevent any troublesome questions that Sybil might ask, as he wished to
+save her from needless additional pain as long as he possibly could.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And Joe is here with us?&#8221; inquired Sybil, cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, dear; he has returned home; but will come again to-night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But what news did he bring?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;None. We will hear from Captain Pendleton to-night. Now you must have
+some coffee; and then I will tell you the &#8216;Legend of the Haunted
+Chapel&#8217;; for that legend, Sybil, may well account for your vision,
+whether we look on it from my point of view or from yours&mdash;as illusion
+or reality,&#8221; said Lyon Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Or, stay,&#8221; he added, reflectively; &#8220;it is too cold for you to sup in
+the open air. I will bring the things in here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, let me go with you, to help to bring them in, at least,&#8221; pleaded
+Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What! are you really afraid to stay here alone?&#8221; inquired Lyon,
+smiling, with an attempt at pleasantry.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, indeed; but all smells mouldy inside this old church. At least it
+does since the sun set, and I would <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_236" id="pg_236">236</a></span>like to go out and get a breath of
+fresh air,&#8221; replied Sybil, quite seriously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come, then,&#8221; said Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>They went out together.</p>
+
+<p>The fire that had been built by Joe was now burnt down to embers; but
+the coffee-pot sat upon these embers, and the coffee was hot.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners took it up, while Sybil loaded herself with crockery ware
+and cutlery.</p>
+
+<p>They had turned to go back to the church, when Sybil uttered a
+half-suppressed cry, and nearly dropped her burden.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s the matter?&#8221; cried Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Look!&#8221; exclaimed Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At the east window.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners raised his eyes just in time to see a weird young face, with
+wild black hair, and a bright red mantle, flash downward from the
+window, as if it had dropped to the floor.</p>
+
+<p>There was no dream now; not even an optical illusion. The reality of the
+vision was unquestionable.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This is most strange,&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is the same face that bent over me, and woke me up,&#8221; answered Sybil,
+with a shudder.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is some one who is concealed in the church, and whom we shall be
+sure to discover, for there is but one exit, by the front door; and if
+she comes out of that, we shall see her; or if she remains in the
+building, we shall be sure to find her there. Since I saw the face drop
+from the window, I have carefully watched the door. Do you also watch
+it, my dear Sybil; so that the creature, whatever it is, may not pass
+us,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, as he strode on rapidly towards the church,
+followed by his wife.</p>
+
+<p>They entered together, and looked eagerly around.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_237" id="pg_237">237</a></span>Though the sun had set some ten minutes before, yet the &#8220;after glow&#8221;
+shone in through the six tall gothic window spaces, and revealed clearly
+every nook and corner of the interior. Their strange inmate or visitor,
+whichever she might be, was nowhere to be seen.</p>
+
+<p>With an impatient gesture, Mr. Berners set down the coffee-pot, and
+hurried towards the door of the vault, and looked through the iron
+grating. But he could see nothing but the top of those stairs, the
+bottom of which disappeared in the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>He then shook the door; but it firmly resisted all his strength. The
+bars appeared to be built into the solid masonry.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This is really confounding to all one&#8217;s intelligence,&#8221; exclaimed Lyon
+Berners, gazing around in perplexity.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is, indeed. But it is well that you have seen this mystery with your
+own eyes, for if you had not done so, you never would have believed in
+it,&#8221; said Sybil, gravely shaking her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nor do I believe in it, now that I have seen it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then you will not trust the united evidence of your own eyes and mine.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, Sybil; not for a prodigy so out of nature as that would be,&#8221;
+replied Lyon Berners, firmly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, tell me the legend of the Haunted Chapel, for you hinted
+that that legend must have some connection with this apparition.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A seeming connection, at the very least; but I cannot tell it to you
+now&mdash;not until you take something to eat and drink, for you have not
+broken your fast since morning.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nor have I hungered since morning,&#8221; replied Sybil, with a sigh.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners went up to the smouldering embers of the fire that he had
+lighted in the morning on the stone floor of the church; and he drew
+together the dying brands, put fresh fuel on them, and soon rekindled
+the flame.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_238" id="pg_238">238</a></span>And the husband and wife sat down beside it; and while Sybil ate and
+drank with what appetite she could bring to the repast, Lyon Berners, to
+pass off the heavy time, related to her the legend of the Haunted
+Chapel.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="THE_FALL_OF_THE_DUBARRYS_8603" id="THE_FALL_OF_THE_DUBARRYS_8603"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXV.</h2>
+<h3>THE FALL OF THE DUBARRYS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">But, soft! behold, lo, where it comes again!<br />
+I&#8217;ll cross it, though it blast me.&mdash;Stay, illusion!<br />
+If thou hast any sound, or use of voice,<br />
+Speak to me!&mdash;<span class="sc">Shakespeare</span>.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&#8220;The Dubarrys,&#8221; he began, &#8220;were a French Roman Catholic family of
+distinction. A cadet of that family came over to Virginia among the
+earliest English settlers of the colony.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As in the case of the more important among his anglican comrades, he
+obtained a very large tract of land by Royal patent. He built his hut
+and fixed his abode here, not a hundred yards from the spot where this
+church now stands.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He took an Indian girl for a wife, and continued to live a wild
+huntsman sort of life in the wilderness; only breaking it sometimes by
+going down to Jamestown, twice a year, to buy such necessaries of
+civilized life as the wilderness could not furnish, and to hear news
+from any ship that might have come in from the old country; and above
+all, to take a holiday among civilized pleasure-seekers&mdash;for such
+existed even in the primitive settlement of Jamestown.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In due course of time, a family of half-breed sons and daughters grew
+up around him, and the little primitive hut gave place to a substantial
+stone lodge.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And the country around was becoming settled. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_239" id="pg_239">239</a></span>Berners had got a
+grant of the Black Valley, and had built the first part of Black Hall,
+which has since been added to in every generation, until it has grown to
+its present dimensions.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;About this time also, Charles Dubarry was inspired with a certain
+ambition for his eldest son, a densely ignorant, half-Indian youth of
+nineteen; and hearing that the two young sons of Richard Berners of
+Black Hall were to be sent to England to be educated, he proposed that
+his own &#8216;black boy,&#8217; as he called his handsome dark-eyed heir, should go
+with them. And as the three lads had been forest companions for some
+years, the proposal of old Dubarry was gladly accepted, and the three
+young men sailed in company for England.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They spent ten years in the old world, and returned, as as they had set
+out, together. It was after their return that the close friendship of a
+young lifetime was turned to the deadliest enmity. It happened in this
+manner:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The country, during their absence, had grown a great deal in
+population. Every rich valley among these mountains had its white
+proprietor. In the Valley of the Roses&mdash;so named, because at the time it
+was taken possession of by its first proprietor, it was fairly carpeted
+and festooned all around and about with the wild-rose vine&mdash;dwelt one
+Gabriel Mayo, a gentleman of fortune, taste, and culture. He had a
+family of fair daughters, of whom old Charles Dubarry, with his national
+gallantry and proneness to exaggeration, had said, that &#8216;they were all
+the most beautiful girls in the world, and each one more beautiful than
+all the others.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Be that as it may, it is certain that there were five lovely maidens,
+ranging from fifteen years to twenty-one, to choose from. Yet who can
+account for human caprice, especially in such matters? The three young
+men&mdash;Louis Dubarry, and John and William Berners&mdash;all fixed their
+affections upon Florette Mayo, the youngest beauty.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_240" id="pg_240">240</a></span>&#8220;Fierce and bitter was the rivalry between the lovers. But the young
+girl returned the love of John Berners, and married him, and became your
+ancestress, as you know, Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And from that time to the time of the extinction of the American branch
+of the Dubarry family, a feud, as fierce and bitter, if not as warlike,
+as any that ever raged between rival barons of the middle ages,
+prevailed between the Berners and the Dubarrys.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I come now to the period just before the breaking out of the Old French
+War, when the first rude stone lodges in these valleys had given place
+to handsome and spacious manor houses, and when the then proprietor of
+the Dubarry estate had erected a magnificent dwelling on the site of his
+first rough cottage. He called the mansion the Chateau Dubarry, a name
+which the country people quickly changed into Shut-up Dubarry.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The last name was not inappropriate, for a more morose, solitary, and
+misanthropical man never lived than Henry Dubarry, the builder of that
+house. He neither visited nor received visits, but remained selfishly
+&#8216;shut-up&#8217; in the paradise of art and letters that he had created within
+his dwelling.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He had a wife, a son, and two daughters, all of whom suffered more or
+less from this isolation from their fellow-beings. So it was a great
+relief to the son when he was sent, first to the William and Mary
+College of Williamsburg for five years, and afterwards to Oxford for
+five more.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;After the departure of the son and brother, the mother and sisters
+suffered more and more seriously from the gloom and horror of their
+isolation, and in the course of years utterly succumbed to it. First the
+mother died, then the elder sister; and then the younger sister, left
+alone with her recluse father in that awful house, became a maniac.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Under these circumstances, the father wrote to his son <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_241" id="pg_241">241</a></span>to come home.
+But selfishness, not love, ruled that young man, as it had ruled his
+fathers. He had graduated with honors, and won a &#8216;fellowship&#8217; at the
+University, and he was about to start for the fashionable European tour.
+He wrote home to this effect, and went on his farther way.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He remained abroad until summoned home by two events&mdash;the deaths of his
+father and sister, and the necessity of raising money for himself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He came home, but not alone. He brought with him a gipsy girl of
+singular beauty, who seemed to be passionately attached to him, and whom
+he loved as much as it was in his selfish nature to love anything.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He placed her at the head of his household, and his simple servants
+obeyed her as their mistress; and his sociable neighbors, willing to
+forgive old rebuffs, called upon the young pair.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But their visits were not kindly received, and not in any case
+returned. And the report went around the neighborhood, that Philip
+Dubarry was as morose and selfish as his father had been before him. And
+so the house was abandoned, as it had been in the days of the old man
+and the idiot girl.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But by and by other rumors, darker and more dishonorable to the master
+and mistress of Shut-up Dubarry, crept out among the people. These
+rumors were started by the Dubarry servants, in their gossipping with
+other family servants in the chance meeting in church or village. They
+were to the effect that Philip Dubarry often quarrelled fiercely with
+his gipsy wife, and even threatened to send her back to her native
+county, and that Gentiliska, or Iska, as she was more commonly called,
+wept and raved and tore her black hair by turns.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is the old sad tale, dear Sybil. At length the cultivated scholar
+and unprincipled villain grew tired of his beautiful but ignorant gipsy
+wife, who was a wife only in <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_242" id="pg_242">242</a></span>justice and not in law. He frequently left
+home for long absences. He spent his winters in the cities, and his
+summers in a round of visits to hospitable country houses, leaving her
+at all seasons to pine and weep, or rage and tear her hair in the gloomy
+solitude of Shut-up Dubarry. But for all this, whenever he did
+condescend to visit his home, she received him with an eagerness of
+welcome&mdash;a perfect self-abandonment to joy, that knew no bounds. And
+when he left her again, her despair was but the deeper, her anguish the
+fiercer. And all this was duly reported by that indefatigable corps of
+reporters, the domestics of the house.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At last came the crisis. Philip Dubarry sent down an agent who opened
+the doors of Shut-up Dubarry, and brought into it an army of workmen, to
+repair, refurnish and decorate the mansion-house. In vain Gentiliska
+asked questions; the workmen either could not or would not give her any
+satisfaction. &#8216;It was the master&#8217;s orders,&#8217; they said, and nothing more.
+To no one in the world were &#8216;the master&#8217;s&#8217; orders more sacred than to
+his loyal gipsy wife. She bowed in submission, and let the workmen do
+their will. All the summer season was occupied with the work. But by the
+first of October the house was thoroughly renewed, within and without,
+so that it seemed like a palace in the midst of Paradise; and the gipsy
+wife wandered through the house and grounds in a delight that was only
+damped by the long-continued absence of her husband.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At length, near the middle of the month, at the height of the hunting
+season, Philip Dubarry arrived. But the eager welcome of his wife was
+met with coldness and petulance, that wounded and enraged her. She gave
+way to a storm of grief and fury. She wept and raved and tore her hair,
+as was her way when fiercely excited. But now he had not the least
+patience with her, or the least mercy on her. He had ceased to love her
+and to want her, and so, in acting out his selfish and demoniac nature,
+he did not hesitate <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_243" id="pg_243">243</a></span>to treat her with cruel scorn and ignominy. He told
+her that she was not his wife, and never had been so. He called her ill
+names, and bade her pack up and go, he cared not where, so it was out of
+his sight, for he hated her; and out of his house also, for she
+dishonored it; and that, after being repaired and refurnished, it must
+also be purified of <i>her</i> presence, before he could bring into it the
+fair maiden whom he was about to make his wife.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then all her fury suddenly subsided, and she became calm and resolute
+unto death. She assured him that she never would leave the house; that
+she was his wife, and the house&#8217;s mistress; and she had the right to
+remain, and would remain. Whereupon he broke out into furious oaths,
+swearing that if she did not go, he would put her out by force. Then she
+answered, in these memorable words, that have come down to us in
+tradition:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;My body you may thrust forth from my home, but my spirit never! Living
+or dead, in the flesh or the spirit, I will stay in this house as long
+as its walls shall stand! Nay, though you were to pull this house down
+to eject me, in the flesh or the spirit, I would enter in and possess
+the next house you should build! And should you venture to bring here,
+or there, a bride to supplant me, in the flesh or the spirit I will
+blast and destroy her. So help me the gods of my people.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For a moment the ruthless and dauntless man stood appalled by the awful
+spirit he had raised in that slight form. But when he did recover
+himself it was to fall into a transport of fury, in which he seized the
+girl and hurled her violently through the open window. Fortunately they
+were on the ground floor, so the fall was not great, and she was,
+besides, light in form and agile as a cat. She fell on her hands and
+feet upon a thick carpet of the dead leaves that strewed the lawn.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For a moment she lay where she had fallen, breathless <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_244" id="pg_244">244</a></span>from the shock;
+then she lifted herself slowly up. One arm hung useless by her side; it
+was dislocated at the shoulder joint; but the other was raised to
+heaven, and she muttered some words in her native tongue, and then
+turned and walked away until she disappeared in the woods.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I hope she&#8217;ll drown herself according to rule, and there will be an
+end,&#8217; the fiendish wretch was heard to mutter. No one was allowed to
+follow her. She probably <i>did</i> drown herself, but that was by no means
+the end. Well, the gipsy girl is said to have kept her word.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The third day thereafter, as a boy in search of eagle&#8217;s eggs was
+climbing the highest fastnesses of the Black Mountain, his eyes were
+attracted by the glow of something scarlet lying on a ledge of rocks
+about half way down the course of the Black Torrent. Agile as any
+chamois hunter of the Alps, the boy let himself down, from point to
+point, until he reached the ledge, upon which the dead body of the gipsy
+girl was found. It was crushed by the fall, and sodden by the white foam
+of the cascade that continually rolled over it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The boy hastened away to spread the news. With the greatest difficulty
+the body was recovered, and conveyed to Shut-up Dubarry. The inquest
+that sat upon it rendered the simple verdict, &#8216;Found Dead&#8217;; for whether
+the death were accidental or suicidal, or whether it resulted from the
+fall upon the rocks, or from the waters of the cascade, the Dogberries
+of that jury could not decide.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The gipsy girl was buried; and her brutal protector coarsely professed
+himself to be greatly relieved by her death. And he assembled all his
+servants before him, and forbade them, under the penalty of his heaviest
+displeasure, ever to mention the name of Gentiliska to the lady he was
+about to bring home as his wife. These slaves knew their master, and in
+great fear and trembling they each and all solemnly promised to obey
+him. Then he left home for the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_245" id="pg_245">245</a></span>eastern part of the State from which he
+was to bring his bride. On this occasion he was gone a month.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was in the middle of the month of November that he returned to
+Shut-up Dubarry, bringing with him his fair young bride. She was a
+Fairfax, from the county that was named after her family. She was
+unquestionably a lady of the highest and purest order, and the
+neighboring gentry, ever pleased to welcome such an one among them,
+called on her, invited her to their houses, and gave dinner or supper
+parties in her honor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Philip Dubarry, who had recently fretted at the galling &#8216;ban&#8217; under
+which, for the transient love of the gipsy girl, he had voluntarily
+placed himself, now rejoiced at being delivered from it, and entered
+with all the zest of novelty into the social pleasures of the place. He
+loved his beautiful and high-born wife with both passion and pride, and
+she loved some imaginary hero in his form, and was happy in the
+illusion. Thus all went merry as a marriage bell until one dark and
+dismal day in December, when the rain fell in floods and the wind raved
+around the house, and the state of the weather kept the newly married
+couple closely confined within doors, his bride turned to him, and
+inquired quietly:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Who is that little dark-haired girl with the piercing black eyes, and
+in the short red cloak, that I see so often around the house?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;What did you say?&#8217; inquired Philip Dubarry, in a quavering voice.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Who is that little girl in the red cloak, who seems so much at home in
+the house? Is she deaf and dumb? I speak to her, but she never answers
+me; generally indeed, she goes away as soon as she perceives that I
+notice her. Who is she, Phil?&#8217; and the young wife looked at her husband
+for an answer. But his face was that of a corpse, and his form was
+shaking with an ague fit, for the guilty are ever cowardly.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_246" id="pg_246">246</a></span>&#8220;But his wife mistook the cause of his agitation. Forgotten in an
+instant was the question she had asked, and upon which, she had placed
+no sort of importance; and she went to her husband and took his hand,
+and gazed into his face, and asked him, for Heaven&#8217;s sake, to tell her
+what was the matter.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He told her a lie. He faltered out between his chattering teeth, that
+he feared he was struck with a congestive chill; that the sudden and
+severe change in the weather had affected him;&mdash;and more to the same
+effect.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She hurried out and prepared a hot drink of brandy, boiling water, and
+spices, and she brought it to him and made him drink it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Under this powerful stimulant he revived. But she had, in the fear and
+excitement of the hour, utterly forgotten the inquiry she had put to
+him, and no more would have been said of it, had not he, in fearful
+interest, resumed the subject.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;You were asking me about&mdash;one of the servants, were you not?&#8217; he
+inquired.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Oh, yes. But never mind! sit still, and keep your feet to the fire
+until you get warm. Never mind about gratifying my foolish curiosity
+now,&#8217; she answered, thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;My chill is already gone, thanks to your skilful nursing! What chill
+could resist your warm draughts? But now about your question. What was
+it?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Oh, nothing much! I only asked you who was the little girl with the
+red cloak, who is so silent and shy that she never answers me when I
+speak to her, and always shrinks away whenever she finds herself
+observed.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The trembling wretch was ready with his falsehood. He answered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Oh! she is the child of a poor couple on the mountain, and comes to
+the house for cold victuals; but she is as you have observed, very shy;
+so I think you had better leave her to herself.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_247" id="pg_247">247</a></span>&#8220;&#8216;Yes, but are you sure she is to be trusted? For shy as she is in
+other matters, she is bold enough to intrude into the most private parts
+of the house, and at the most untimely hours of the night,&#8217; remarked the
+lady.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Indeed!&#8217; muttered the guilty man, in a sepulchral tone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Indeed and indeed! Why, only last night, when we came home at
+midnight, from Mrs. Judge Mayo&#8217;s ball, when you lingered below stairs to
+speak to the butler, and I ran up into my own room alone, I saw this
+strange looking little creature, with the streaming black hair and the
+red cloak, standing before my dressing-glass! Now what do you think of
+that?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;She&mdash;she&mdash;she has been a sort of a pet of the family, and has had the
+run of the house, coming in and out of all the rooms at all hours, like
+any little dog,&#8217; answered the conscious criminal, in a quavering voice.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;<i>That</i> must be reformed at once!&#8217; said the Fairfax bride, drawing
+herself up with much dignity, and also perhaps with some jealous
+suspicion.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;It shall, by my soul! I will give orders to that effect,&#8217; quavered
+Philip Dubarry.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Nay, do not take that trouble. It is <i>my</i> prerogative to order my
+household, and I shall do it,&#8217; proudly answered the lady.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And here the matter might have ended, but for that interest Philip
+Dubarry felt in the subject. He remembered the most awful threat of his
+betrayed gipsy wife: &#8216;In the flesh or in the spirit, to dwell in the
+house as long as its walls should stand! In the flesh or in the spirit,
+to blast and destroy the bride he should bring there to take her place.&#8217;
+Up to this time he had never had any reason to suppose that the gipsy
+girl had kept her word. He had never seen nor heard of anything unusual
+about the house. But now when his wife spoke of this silent inmate in
+the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_248" id="pg_248">248</a></span>red cloak, he recognized the portrait all but too well, and his
+guilty soul quaked with fear. And yet he was not superstitious. He was a
+son of the eighteenth century, which was much more incredulous of the
+supernatural than the nineteenth, with all its mysterious spiritual
+manifestations, can be. He was a scientific and practical man. Yet he
+shuddered with awe as he listened to the description given by his
+unconscious wife of this strange visitant. And he could not forbear to
+question her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Did you speak to the girl when you found her in your room at
+midnight?&#8217; he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Yes, certainly; I asked her how she came to be there so late. But
+instead of answering my question, she glided silently away.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Have you spoken to any of the servants of this girl&#8217;s intrusion into
+parts of the house where she has no business to come?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;No, not until this morning; for I never really felt interest enough in
+the little creature that I only casually met in the passages of the
+house, until I found her in my bedroom at midnight. So this morning I
+described her to the housekeeper, and asked who she was, and who gave
+her liberty to intrude into my bedroom so late. And what do you think
+old Monica answered?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I&#8217;m sure I don&#8217;t know.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;She crossed herself, and cried out, &#8220;Lord have mercy on all our souls!
+You have seen her!&#8221; I inquired, &#8216;Seen who?&#8217; But she answered, &#8216;Nothing.
+Nobody. I don&#8217;t know what I&#8217;m talking about. My head&#8217;s wool-gathering,
+I believe.&#8217; Nor could any further questioning of mine draw from her any
+more satisfactory answer. And so I came to you for an explanation. And
+you tell me that she is Milly Jones, the child of poor parents, living
+on the mountain, and that she comes here for broken victuals and old
+clothes. Very well. In future I shall pension the poor <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_249" id="pg_249">249</a></span>family on the
+mountain, for I would not have any fellow-creature in my reach to suffer
+want; but I shall do it on condition that Miss Milly Jones stays home,
+and helps her mother with the family cooking and washing, instead of
+losing her time by day and her sleep by night in wandering through all
+the rooms of a gentleman&#8217;s house, and taking possession of a lady&#8217;s
+bed-chamber.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You see this bride never imagined a ghost, but strongly suspected a
+sweetheart, and so she was a little surprised when her husband answered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Do so, my dear; and may Heaven grant that you may get rid of this
+unpleasant visitor at once and forever.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And as he said this, Philip Dubarry arose and went into his library and
+rung the bell, and to the servant who answered it, he said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Send Monica the housekeeper here.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In a few minutes Monica entered the room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Did I not order you, on pain of my heaviest displeasure, never to
+annoy Mrs. Dubarry by so much as the mention of the gipsy girl&#8217;s name to
+her?&#8217; sternly demanded Philip Dubarry.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The old woman fell down upon her knees, and lifted up both her hands,
+and exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;And no more I haven&#8217;t, master, not once! But that don&#8217;t do no good,
+for <i>she walks</i>!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Who walks, you old fool?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;<i>She</i>, the gipsy girl, master. <i>She walks</i>, and the missis sees her as
+well as we do!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;We? Whom do you call &#8220;we,&#8221; you insupportable idiot?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Me and Ben the man-servant, and Betty the chambermaid, and Peggy the
+parlormaid. All sees her, master. We never, none of us, see her before
+the missis was brought home; but ever since that, we sees her every day;
+we sees just as much of her as we used to see when she was alive!&#8217;
+answered the woman, grovelling and weeping.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_250" id="pg_250">250</a></span>&#8220;&#8216;<i>Where</i> do you see her, or fancy you see her, lunatic?&#8217; fiercely
+demanded Philip Dubarry.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Everywhere, master! We meets her on the stairs; we sees her sitting at
+the head of the table, as soon as the meal is ready, and before the
+mistress comes to take the place; and we sees her lying in the unmade
+beds of a morning; but always, as soon as we screams, as scream we must,
+at such an object, master, she vanishes away!&#8217; answered the housekeeper.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Philip Dubarry was awed and almost silenced,&mdash;<i>almost</i>, but not quite,
+for he was the very sort of hero to browbeat others the most fiercely
+when he was himself the most frightened. He rallied himself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Look you here!&#8217; he furiously exclaimed; &#8216;all this that you have just
+told me is the most wicked and abominable falsehood and absurdity! And
+now take notice! <span class="sc">If ever</span> I hear of one more word being uttered on this
+subject in this house, or out of it, by any one of you, under any
+circumstances whatever, by my blood, I will make you all wish that you
+had never been born! Repeat this to your fellow-servants&#8217;, and order
+them from me to govern their tongues accordingly. Now go!&#8217; he thundered
+at the poor old woman, who hastily picked herself up, and hurried out of
+the room.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="THE_SPECTRE_9054" id="THE_SPECTRE_9054"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2>
+<h3>THE SPECTRE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">It was about to speak<br />
+And then it started like a guilty thing.<br />
+Upon a fearful summons.&mdash;<span class="sc">Shakespeare</span>.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&#8220;Philip Dubarry remained walking up and down the door, foaming with
+impotent rage, as well as trembling with <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_251" id="pg_251">251</a></span>a vague and awful terror. He
+had a practical and scientific mind, and could understand everything
+that might be governed by known laws. But he could not understand this
+unwelcome visitant, that had appeared to every one else in the house but
+himself. He was an arbitrary and despotic man who enforced his will upon
+all connected with him, and ruled all flesh with a rod of iron. But he
+could not rule the spirit, and he knew it. He could not lay this ghost
+of his guilt.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There was one grain of truth in the ton of falsehood that he had told
+to his unconscious wife, to account for the apparition seen by her.
+There really was a Milly Jones, the daughter of a poor family on the
+mountains, and she really did come occasionally to the house to ask for
+broken victuals and old clothes; but instead of being a beautiful
+black-eyed and black-haired little gipsy, in the picturesque red cloak,
+she was a pale-faced, light-haired, poor-spirited looking creature, in a
+faded calico frock, and an old plaid shawl; and instead of being the
+family pet, with the run of the house, she was the family nuisance,
+strictly prohibited from passing the bounds of the servants&#8217; hall.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So when that day, being a rainy day, and therefore highly favorable for
+attention to domestic matters, Mistress Alicia Dubarry called the
+house-steward to her presence, and ordered him to send a small pension
+of two dollars a week to the Jones family, with an intimation that Miss
+Milly need not come to collect it, the order was promptly executed, to
+the satisfaction of all the domestics; and poor Milly, glad to be
+relieved from her fatiguing journey and degrading mendicity, was seen no
+more at Shut-up Dubarry.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But Mrs. Dubarry did not therefore get rid of her visitor. Not more
+than three days had elapsed since the issuing of her order, when, one
+evening between the lights, she entered her own bedroom, and saw the
+girl in the red cloak sitting quietly in the easy-chair beside the fire.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_252" id="pg_252">252</a></span>&#8220;&#8216;How dare you come here, after the message I sent you? Get up and
+begone, and let me never catch you here again,&#8217; angrily demanded the
+lady.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The apparition melted into air; but as it disappeared, the words came,
+like a sigh borne upon the breeze:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;<i>I wait.</i>&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The lady was about to dress for an evening party, and so she paid no
+attention to any chance sound.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But the next morning she met the girl in the hall, and the next evening
+in the parlor; again she passed the figure on the stairs, or encountered
+it in the drawing-room. The lady lost patience, and sent for the
+house-steward in her presence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Did I not command that that girl should not come here again?&#8217; she
+sternly demanded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Yes, my lady,&#8217; respectfully answered the man.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Then how is it that she comes here as much as ever?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;My dear lady, she have never entered the house since your ladyship
+gave the order that she was not so to do.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;But she has. I have seen her here at least a half a dozen times.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Dear lady, I dare not contradict you; but poor Milly Jones has been
+down with the pleurisy for these two weeks past, and could not have got
+out of her bed, even if your ladyship had ordered her to come.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Isaac, is this true?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;True as truth, your ladyship, which you can find it out for yourself
+by riding up to the hut and seeing the poor girl, which it would be a
+charity so to do.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;And you say she has not been here for a fortnight?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;No, madam.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Then, in the name of Heaven, <span class="sc">who</span> is it that I meet so often?&#8217; slowly
+and sternly demanded Mrs. Dubarry.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Old Isaac solemnly shook his gray head, and answered never a word.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_253" id="pg_253">253</a></span>&#8220;&#8216;What do you mean by that? Speak! I will have an answer. Who is this
+silent girl in the red cloak, I ask?&#8217; repeated the lady.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Madam, I don&#8217;t know. And that is what I meant when I shook my head,&#8217;
+replied the old man, trembling.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;You don&#8217;t know! do you dare to mock me?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Far from it, my lady; but goodness knows I don&#8217;t know.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;But you have seen her?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Dear, my lady, I don&#8217;t know who she is, nor dare I speak of her; the
+master has forbidden us so to do. Dear madam, ask the master; but oh,
+for pity sake, do not ask me further,&#8217; pleaded the old man, very humbly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The lady turned white with jealousy. There was but one interpretation
+she could put upon this mystery.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Go and say to your master that I would feel much obliged if he would
+come to me here,&#8217; she said, grimly seating herself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The trembling old man went to the kennels, where Mr. Dubarry was busy
+doctoring a favorite setter, and delivered his message. Dubarry was
+still enough in love with his three months wife to come quickly at her
+call.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Philip!&#8217; exclaimed the lady, as soon as she saw him enter the room,
+&#8216;once for all, I wish to know who is this girl in the red cloak; and why
+I am daily insulted with her presence in this house?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dubarry went pale, as usual at the mention of the apparition; but he
+faltered out with what composure he could command:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I&mdash;I told you who she is&mdash;Milly Jones.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;No; begging your pardon, she is <i>not</i> Milly Jones. Milly Jones has
+been ill with pleurisy, at home on the mountain, for the last two weeks;
+and I have sent her a pension of two dollars a week. No; this is no
+Milly Jones, and I insist on knowing who she is!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_254" id="pg_254">254</a></span>&#8220;&#8216;Then, if she is not Milly Jones, she is a creature of your own
+imagination, for no other living girl comes to the house,&#8217; answered
+Dubarry doggedly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;You will not tell me who she is? Very well. When next I see her, <i>she</i>
+shall tell me, silent as she is,&#8217; said the lady grimly setting her
+teeth.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dubarry arose with a sigh, and went back to his ailing setter; but his
+thoughts brooded over the subject of the apparition.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The lady kept her word at a fearful cost. For the remainder of the day,
+her conduct towards her husband was so cold and repelling as to wound
+and offend him. So it happened that when the hour for retiring came that
+night, she went up to her chamber alone. She had but time to reach the
+room, when all the household was startled by a piercing shriek and a
+heavy fall.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Dubarry, soon followed by all the servants, rushed up stairs to
+Mrs. Dubarry&#8217;s bedroom. They found the lady extended on the floor, in a
+deep swoon. She was raised and laid upon the bed, and proper means taken
+to revive her. When at length she opened her eyes, and recognized her
+husband, she signed for every one else to leave the room; and when they
+had done so, she turned and took his hand and kissed it, and fixed her
+wild and frightened eyes upon him and whispered in an awe-struck tone:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Phil, dear, I wronged you. I took that creature in the red cloak to be
+a sweetheart of yours, Phil, but it was not; it was&mdash;<i>a spectre</i>!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There was silence between them for a minute, during which she never
+took her scared eyes from his pale face. He was the first to speak.
+Summoning up as much resolution as he could muster, he affected a light
+laugh, and answered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Spectre! My sweet wife, there is no such thing.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ah, but&mdash;but&mdash;if you could have seen what I saw, <i>felt what I felt</i>!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_255" id="pg_255">255</a></span>&#8220;&#8216;Nonsense, dear one. You were the subject of an optical illusion.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;No, I was not. Hush! Let me tell you what happened. I came up into
+this room. It was warm and ruddy with the fire light and the lamp light;
+and in the glow I saw the girl standing between the hearth and the bed.
+I spoke to her, asking her how she dared intrude into my most sacred
+privacy; and then she silently glided from the spot. But I told her she
+should not leave the room until she had given some account of herself.
+And I put forth my hand to stop her, but the moment I did so I received
+a shock as from some powerful galvanic battery! a tremendous shock that
+threw me down upon my face. I knew no more until I came to my senses and
+found myself here, with you watching over me. Now, Philip, tell me that
+was an optical illusion, if you dare,&#8217; said the lady, solemnly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Yes, love, I dare. I tell you that what you saw <i>was</i> an optical
+illusion.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;&mdash;But what I felt?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;&mdash;Was a slight&mdash;a very slight attack of catalepsy. Both the vision and
+the fit, dear, took their rise in some abnormal state of the nervous
+system,&#8217; said Philip Dubarry; and feeling almost pleased with his own
+explanation of the mystery, he tried to persuade himself that it was the
+true one.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But his wife turned her face to the wall, saying, however.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Well, at any rate, I am glad that the girl in the red cloak is not
+flesh and blood, Phil. I would rather she should be an &#8220;optical
+illusion&#8221; or a fit of &#8220;catalepsy,&#8221; or even a &#8220;spectre,&#8221; than a
+sweetheart of yours, as I first took, her to be.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Be not afraid. You have no living rival, Alicia,&#8217; answered her husband.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And the reconciliation between the husband and the wife was complete
+from that time forth.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_256" id="pg_256">256</a></span>&#8220;But somehow the condition of the lady was worse than before.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>She was haunted</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She knew herself to be haunted; but whether by a spectral illusion or a
+real spectre, she could not know. In the glow of the fire light, in the
+shadow of the bed-curtains in the illuminated drawing-room, on the dark
+staircase, wherever and whenever she found herself alone, the vision of
+the girl in the red cloak crossed her path. She did not speak to it, or
+try to stop it again. She did not wish to risk another such an electric
+shock as should &#8216;cast her shuddering on her face.&#8217; But her health wasted
+under the trial. Her nerves failed. She grew fearful of being left alone
+for an instant; nothing would induce her to go into any room in the
+house without an attendant. She contracted a habit of looking fearfully
+over her shoulder, and sometimes suddenly screaming.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nor was the mistress of the house the only sufferer from this &#8216;abnormal
+state of the nervous system,&#8217; as the master of the house preferred to
+call the mystery. The servants grew so much afraid to move about the
+building alone, that their usefulness was much impaired. And at length
+one after another ran away, and took to the woods and mountain caves,
+preferring to starve or beg rather than live in luxury in the haunted
+house. New servants were procured to supply the places of the old ones,
+until the latter could be brought back; but none of them stayed long;
+nothing could induce them to remain in the &#8216;haunted house.&#8217; The story of
+the gipsy girl&#8217;s ghost got around in the neighborhood. Not all the
+despotic power of Mr. Dubarry could prevent this. The house came to be
+pointed out and avoided by the ignorant and superstitious, as a haunted
+and accursed spot. Even the more intelligent and enlightened portion of
+the community gradually forsook it; for it was not very agreeable to
+visit a family where the mistress was <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_257" id="pg_257">257</a></span>so full of &#8216;flaws and starts&#8217;
+that, even at the head of her own table, she would often startle the
+whole company by suddenly looking over her right shoulder and uttering a
+piercing scream.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And so the house was abandoned by high and low, rich and poor alike.
+And the worthy gossips of the neighborhood wisely nodded over their
+tea-cups, and declared that the deserted condition of the house was but
+a just retribution for the sins of its master.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And in the meantime the health of the mistress grew worse and worse.
+The most serious fears were entertained for her life and reason, death
+or insanity seeming to be the most probable issue of her malady. Medical
+advice was called in. The doctor, either in complaisance or sincerity,
+agreed with Mr. Dubarry&#8217;s theory of the patient&#8217;s condition, ascribing
+her illness to an &#8216;abnormal state of the nervous system,&#8217; and he advised
+change of air and scene, and he held forth good hopes that within a very
+few months, when the young wife should become a mother, her health might
+be perfectly re&euml;stablished.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Under these circumstances, early in the new year, Mr. Dubarry took his
+wife to Williamsburg, to spend the winter among the gayeties of the
+colonial Governor&#8217;s court.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The haunted house was shut up, and left to itself. Not a man or woman
+could be found to live in it, for love or money.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In the glories of the colonial capital, Mrs. Dubarry completely
+recovered from her nervous malady. She was visited by no more &#8216;optical
+illusions&#8217; or &#8216;cataleptic&#8217; fits. She even grew to regard her former
+visitations in the same way in which her husband pretended to view
+them&mdash;as mere nervous phenomena. And as the fashionable season at
+Williamsburg closed, and as the spring opened, Mrs. Dubarry expressed an
+ardent desire to return to &#8216;Shut-up Dubarry&#8217; <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_258" id="pg_258">258</a></span>for her confinement. &#8216;The
+heir of the manor should be born on the manor,&#8217; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Dubarry had great doubts about the safety of this measure, and
+attempted to dissuade his wife from it; but she was firm in her purpose,
+and so she carried it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was early in the royal month of June that the young wife was taken
+back to her country home. Shut-up Dubarry looked as little like a
+&#8216;haunted house&#8217; as any house could look: waving woods, sparkling waters,
+blossoming trees, blooming flowers, singing birds&mdash;all the richness,
+beauty and splendor of summer turned it into a paradise. Besides, Mrs.
+Dubarry brought down half a dozen young cousins of both sexes with her,
+and they filled the house with youthful life. Under these circumstances,
+the old servants were tempted back. And all went on very well until one
+day one of the young girls suddenly spoke out at the full
+breakfast-table, and asked:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Alicia, who is that strange, silent girl, in the red cloak, that is
+always following you about?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Dubarry grew deadly pale, sat down the cup that she had held in
+her hand, but she did not attempt to speak.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Have I said anything wrong? I did not mean to do so. I am sure I beg
+pardon, if I have,&#8217; faltered the young cousin, looking from the pale
+face of Mrs. Dubarry to the troubled countenance of Mr. Dubarry.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I am very sorry if I have said anything wrong,&#8217; repeated the little
+cousin, in dismay.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;No, no, you have said nothing amiss; but it is a very painful subject;
+let us drop it,&#8217; replied Mr. Dubarry rather inconsistently. And every
+one around the table silently wondered what the matter could be.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;When breakfast was over, and the husband and wife found themselves
+alone together, Mrs. Dubarry seized his arm, and whispered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Oh, Philip! the spectre has not gone!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_259" id="pg_259">259</a></span>&#8220;&#8216;My dearest Alicia! you have not fancied that you have seen it
+lately?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;No, no; but <i>she</i> has seen it! Kitty has seen it <i>always following
+me</i>! She took it for a real girl, as I did at first!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What could Philip Dubarry say to all this? Only one thing:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;My darling, I cannot have your nerves shaken in this manner. You had
+no such visitations as these while we stayed at Williamsburg. And so to
+Williamsburg we will return immediately. Tell your maid to pack up this
+afternoon, and we will set out to-morrow. No objections, Alicia! for I
+tell you we must go.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She saw that his resolution was fixed, and she made no opposition to
+it. She rang for her maid, and gave the necessary directions. And then,
+feeling very unwell, she sent down an excuse to her company, and retired
+to bed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At twelve o&#8217;clock that night, while the young people were enjoying
+themselves in some round game in the drawing-room, and Mr. Dubarry was
+doing all that he could to promote their entertainment, the whole party
+was startled by a terrific cry coming from Mrs. Dubarry&#8217;s chamber. All
+paused for a breathless instant, and then rushed tumultuously up the
+stairs. At the door of the bed-chamber, Mr. Dubarry turned around and
+waved them all back. Then he entered the chamber alone. All seemed quiet
+there then. The moonlight came flickering through the vine leaves on the
+outside of the open window, and fell fitfully upon the face and form of
+Alicia Dubarry, who was sitting up in bed, staring straight before her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Dubarry locked the door before he approached the bed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Alicia,&#8217; he said, &#8216;my dear Alicia, what is the matter?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;It is doom! It is doom!&#8217; she answered in an awful <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_260" id="pg_260">260</a></span>voice, without
+removing her eyes from some object between the foot of the bed and the
+moonlit window.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Compose yourself, dear wife, and tell me what has happened.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Look! Look! for yourself!&#8217; she cried, her finger extended, and
+following the direction of her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;My sweet Alicia, there is nothing there but the tremulous shadow of
+the vine leaves cast by the moonlight,&#8217; said Mr. Dubarry, persuasively,
+as he went and drew the curtain before the window, and then struck a
+match and lighted a lamp.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But her eyes were never removed from the spot where she had gazed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;It is there yet!&#8217; she cried.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;What is there, good Alicia? there is nothing there, indeed!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Yes, the dead woman and dead child! Do you not see them?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;See! no! you are in one of your nervous attacks; but to-morrow we will
+leave this place, and you will have no more of them.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Hush! No! I shall never leave this place again.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;You shall start by sunrise to-morrow.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Hush! listen! I will tell you what happened. I was sleeping well, very
+well, when suddenly I was awakened with a tremendous shock. I started up
+in bed and saw <i>her</i>&mdash;the terrible girl! She was standing at the foot of
+the bed looking at me, and pointing to something that lay upon the
+floor. I looked and saw&mdash;there it is yet!&mdash;the dead woman, with the dead
+babe on her bosom! I shrieked aloud, for I knew the woman was myself,
+and the babe was my own! And as I shrieked, she vanished, as she always
+does; but the dead woman and child remained! And there they are yet! Oh!
+cover them over, Philip! cover them over! Cover them from my sight, for
+I have no <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_261" id="pg_261">261</a></span>power to withdraw my eyes from them,&#8217; she exclaimed in wild
+excitement.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Almost beside himself with distress, Philip Dubarry seized a large
+table cover and threw it down over the spot upon which her eyes were
+fixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ah! it is of no use! it is of no use! I see them still! they rise
+above the covering! they lie upon it!&#8217; she cried, in terrific emotion,
+shaking as if with an ague fit.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Lie down,&#8217; said Philip Dubarry, compelling himself to be calm, for the
+sake of trying to calm her. And he took her and laid her back upon the
+pillow. But still she raved, like one in high fever and delirium.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I have received my sentence! I am doomed! I am doomed! I have seen my
+own corpse, and the corpse of my child!&#8217; she cried. And then a violent
+convulsion seized her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nearly maddened by terror and despair, Philip Dubarry rushed from the
+room and loudly called for assistance. The chamber was soon filled with
+the members of the household, not one of whom knew what to do, until the
+entrance of the old housekeeper, who sent everybody out, and requested
+Mr. Dubarry to dispatch a carriage for the family physician.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Before morning the doctor arrived. But the convulsions and the delirium
+of the lady increased in violence until just at the dawn of day, when
+she gave birth to an infant boy, who breathed and died.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then, just before her own death, she recovered her senses and grew very
+calm. She asked to see her child. When the nurse brought it, she kissed
+its cold face, and bade her lay it by her side. Then the lady called her
+husband, and whispered so faintly that he had to lean his ear to her
+lips to hear her words. She said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;The vision is realized in the dead mother and the dead babe! But,
+Philip! <i>for whose sin do we die?</i>&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Before he could make a reply, if any reply had been possible, she was
+gone.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_262" id="pg_262">262</a></span>&#8220;The mother and babe were buried together. The company at Shut-up
+Dubarry broke up in the greatest consternation. The story of the vision,
+real or imaginary, that had caused the lady&#8217;s death, got out. All the
+neighborhood talked of it, and connected it with the fate of the hardly
+used gipsy girl, whose spirit was said to haunt the house.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Dubarry became a prey to the most poignant grief and remorse. He
+shut himself up in his desolate house, where he was abandoned by all his
+neighbors, and by all his servants, with the exception of the old
+housekeeper and house-steward, whose devotion to the family they had
+served so long, retained them still in the service of its last and most
+unhappy representative.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But awful stories crept out from that house of gloom. &#8217;Twas said that
+the master was always followed by the spectre of the gipsy girl&mdash;that he
+could be heard in the dead of night walking up and down the hall outside
+of his chamber door, raving in frenzy, or expostulating with some
+unknown and unseen being, who was said to be the spectre that haunted
+the house.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At length, unable to endure the misery of solitude and superstitious
+terrors, Mr. Dubarry took an aged Catholic priest to share his home.
+Under the influence of Father Ingleman, Philip Dubarry became a penitent
+and a devotee. At that time this church was but a rude chapel, erected
+over the old family vault. But now, by the advice of the old priest, Mr.
+Dubarry rebuilt and enlarged the chapel, for the accommodation of all
+the Catholics in the neighborhood. He also added a priest&#8217;s house. And
+Father Ingleman said mass every Sunday, while waiting for another priest
+to be appointed to the charge.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This rebuilding and remodelling amused the miserable master of the
+manor, during the latter part of the summer and the autumn following his
+wife&#8217;s death. But with the coming of the winter, returned all his gloom
+and horror. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_263" id="pg_263">263</a></span>And the good old priest, so far from being able to help his
+patron, was himself so much affected in health and spirits by this
+condition of the house, that he begged and obtained leave to retire to
+the little dwelling beside the church.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The awful winter passed away.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But on one stormy night in March, the mansion house took fire. It was
+said that the haunted master of the house, in a fit of desperation,
+actually set it on fire, with the purpose of burning out the ghost. At
+all events, it seems certain that he would permit nothing to be done to
+stop the flames.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The house was burned to the ground. The houseless master took refuge
+with Father Ingleman, in the priest&#8217;s dwelling by the church. But there
+also the spectre followed him, nor could all the exorcisms of Father
+Ingleman with &#8216;candle, bell, and book,&#8217; avail to lay the disturbed
+spirit.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Philip Dubarry, half a maniac by this time, sent away the priest,
+pulled down the priest&#8217;s house, and took up his abode in the body of the
+church itself, which was thenceforward deserted by all others. But here
+also the spectre was supposed to have followed him. At length he
+disappeared. No one knew whither he went. Some said that he had gathered
+together his money and departed for a foreign country; others, that he
+had drowned himself in the Black River, though his body never was found.
+Some said that he had cast himself down headlong from some mountain
+crest, and his bones were bleaching in some inaccessible ravine; while
+others, again, did not hesitate to say that the devil had flown away
+with him bodily.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The fate of the last of the Dubarrys is unknown. The estate, unclaimed,
+is held in abeyance. The house, burned to the ground, has never been
+restored. The church, thereafter known as the Haunted Chapel, has
+crumbled into the ruin that you see. And such, dear Sybil, is the story
+of the &#8216;Fall of the Dubarrys.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_264" id="pg_264">264</a></span>
+<a name="FEARFUL_WAITING_9555" id="FEARFUL_WAITING_9555"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2>
+<h3>FEARFUL WAITING.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">Still the wood is dim and lonely,<br />
+<span style="margin-left:1em;">Still the plashing fountains play,</span><br />
+But the past with all its beauty,<br />
+<span style="margin-left:1em;">Whither has it fled away?<br />
+Hark! the mournful echoes say,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left:4em;">Fled away!&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&mdash;<span class="sc">A. A. Proctor.</span></span></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&#8220;And the apparition that we both saw was like that of the gipsy girl in
+the ghostly legend,&#8221; said Sybil, musingly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; in the matter of the red cloak&mdash;a very common garment, dear Sybil.
+Such a resemblance reminds us of Paganini&#8217;s portrait which the child
+said was like him, &#8216;about the fiddle,&#8217;&#8221; replied Lyon Berners, with an
+effort towards pleasantry, which was very far indeed from his heart; for
+he was oppressed with grief and dread. He was anxiously looking forward
+to the arrival of Captain Pendleton; and fearing for the effect his
+disclosures must have upon his beloved Sybil, who seemed still so
+utterly unable to realize her position. She seemed almost satisfied now,
+so that Lyon was near her, and she was the only object of his care. So
+disengaged was her mind, at this hour, from all real appreciation of her
+situation, that she had leisure to feel interested in the tale that Lyon
+had told her. She again reverted to it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But the likeness was not only in the red cloak, it was in the whole
+gipsy style. I spoke of that, even before you had told me anything about
+the gipsy girl,&#8221; persisted Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>Before Lyon could answer her, steps were heard approaching.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is Pendleton,&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Berners, and he arose and hurried
+forward to meet the visitor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hush! come out here a moment,&#8221; he whispered, drawing Captain Pendleton
+outside the chapel. &#8220;Sybil knows <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_265" id="pg_265">265</a></span>nothing of that verdict as yet. I wish
+to keep it from her knowledge as long as possible&mdash;for ever, if
+possible. So if you have any more bad news to tell, tell it now, and
+here, to me,&#8221; he added.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Berners,&#8221; began the Captain&mdash;but then he paused in pity.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Go on,&#8221; said Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My friend, the flight of your wife and yourself if not absolutely
+ascertained, is strongly suspected. An officer watches your closed
+chamber door. Two others have been dispatched to Blackville, to watch
+the ferry. By to-morrow morning the flight, so strongly suspected now,
+will be fully discovered. This is all I have to say in private. And now,
+perhaps we had better not linger any longer here, lest Mrs. Berners may
+suspect something, if possible, even more alarming than the truth,&#8221; said
+Captain Pendleton.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are quite right,&#8221; admitted Lyon Berners, and they entered the
+chapel together.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil sprang up to meet them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What news, Captain? Is the murderer discovered? May we return home?&#8221;
+she eagerly inquired.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, madam; the murderer has not yet been discovered, nor do I think it
+would be prudent in you yet to return home,&#8221; replied the Captain,
+feeling relieved that her questions had taken forms that enabled him to
+reply truly to them without divulging the alarming intelligence of the
+verdict of the coroner&#8217;s jury.</p>
+
+<p>He unstrapped a portmanteau from his shoulders and threw it down near
+the fire, and seated himself upon it. Then turning to Mr. Berners, he
+said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have made arrangements with your faithful Joe to bring certain
+necessaries to this place to-night. They cannot, you know, be brought to
+this spot by the same direct route that we took in coming here. But as
+soon as the moon goes down, which will be about one o&#8217;clock, Joe will
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_266" id="pg_266">266</a></span>launch a boat just below Black Hall and come across the river with all
+that is most needed. There he will find a cart and horse waiting for
+him. He will load the cart and drive it up here to the entrance of the
+thicket.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But that cart, Pendleton?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes! you will wonder how I got it there without exciting suspicion. It
+was done in this way. I ordered Joe to bring it boldly up in front of
+the house, and to put in it the boxes containing my own and my sister&#8217;s
+masquerade dresses, and to take them over to our place. Joe understood
+and obeyed me, and drove the cart to Blackville, and crossed the river
+at the ferry, under the very eyes of the constable stationed there to
+watch. He brought the cart down this bank, and left it concealed in a
+clearing of the wood. He will watch his opportunity, as soon as it is
+dark enough to swim across the river, and launch the boat and fill it
+with the necessaries that he will secretly obtain from Black Hall. It is
+a business that will require considerable tact and discretion; or at
+least, great secretiveness and cautiousness,&#8221; added Captain Pendleton.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And these, Joe, like all his race, possesses in excess,&#8221; observed Lyon
+Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Are the guests all gone away from the house?&#8221; inquired Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nearly all. My sister remains there for the present to watch your
+interests, Mrs. Berners. The old Judge also, to superintend legal
+processes; but even he will go away in the morning, I think.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>While they spoke, a loud sneeze and then a cough was heard outside, and
+then Joe walked in, with a doubled up mattress on his head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This here is moving under difficulties, Master,&#8221; he panted, as he laid
+the mattress down on the stone floor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How ever did you get that along the narrow path through the thicket,
+Joe?&#8221; inquired Sybil.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_267" id="pg_267">267</a></span>&#8220;You may well ax that, Missis. I had to lay it down endways, and drag
+it. Howsever, I has got all the things through the worst part of the way
+now, and they&#8217;s all out in the church-yard,&#8221; answered Joe, recovering
+his breath, and starting for the remaining goods.</p>
+
+<p>He soon returned, bringing in a small assortment of bedding, clothing,
+and so forth. And in another trip he brought in a small supply of food
+and a few cooking utensils.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s all. And now, Miss Sybil, if you would only let me live here
+along o&#8216; you and Marse Lyon, and wait on to you bofe, I could make
+myself very much satisfied into my own mind,&#8221; he said, as he laid down
+the last articles, and stood to rest himself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But you know, Joe, that you can serve us better by remaining at Black
+Hall,&#8221; said Sybil, kindly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, Marser Capping Pendulum, I hope them there fineries in the boxes,
+as you told me to bring away, for a blind from our place, won&#8217;t take no
+harm along of being left out in the woods all night, for it was there
+underneaf of a pile of leaves and bushes as I was obligated for to leave
+them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;ll not take cold, at all events, Joe,&#8221; said Captain Pendleton,
+good-naturedly.</p>
+
+<p>By this time, the fire on the stone floor had become so low that it was
+quite dark in the chapel. But among the little necessities of life
+brought by Joe, was a small silver candlestick and a few slim wax
+candles. One of these was lighted, and gleamed faintly around, striking
+strangely upon the faces of the group gathered near the smouldering
+fire.</p>
+
+<p>The friends sat and talked together, and arranged as far as they could
+their plans for future movements. It was not until near day that Captain
+Pendleton arose to depart, saying:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_268" id="pg_268">268</a></span>&#8220;Well, Berners, I do dislike to leave you and Mrs. Berners here alone
+again, especially as I fear that you will not go to sleep, as you ought
+to do. I see that Mrs. Berners&#8217; eyes are still wide open&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I slept so long in the afternoon,&#8221; put in Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But, at all events, I am forced to leave you before light. It is not
+quite safe now to be seen in open daylight, travelling this road so
+often. To-night I will come again, and bring you further news, and
+perhaps more comfort. Come, Joe.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Joe, who had fallen asleep over the fire, now slowly woke up and lifted
+himself from the floor.</p>
+
+<p>The Captain shook hands with his friends, and followed by Joe, left the
+Chapel.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil then went and spread out the mattress, and put the pillows and
+covering upon it, and persuaded Lyon to lie down and try to sleep, as he
+had not slept for two nights past. She said that she herself could not
+sleep, but that she would sit close by him, so as to be ready to arouse
+him, on the slightest indication of danger.</p>
+
+<p>Very reluctantly he yielded to her pleadings, and stretched himself upon
+the mattress. She went and gathered the smouldering coals and brands
+together, so that the fire might not go entirely out, and then she
+returned and sat down beside her husband.</p>
+
+<p>He took her hand in his, and clasping it protectingly, he closed his
+eyes and fell asleep.</p>
+
+<p>She sat watching the little fire, and brooding almost to insanity over
+the strange revolution that a few hours had made in her life, driving
+her so suddenly from her own hereditary manor-house, her home of wealth
+and honor and safety, out into the perilous wilderness, a fugitive from
+the law.</p>
+
+<p>Yet not once did Sybil&#8217;s imagination take in the extreme horror of her
+position. She thought that she had been <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_269" id="pg_269">269</a></span>brought away by her husband to
+be saved from the affront of an arrest, and the humiliation of a few
+days imprisonment. That anything worse than this could happen to her,
+she never even dreamed. But even this to the pure, proud Sybil would
+have been almost insupportable mortification and misery. To escape all
+this she was almost willing to incur the charge of having fled from
+justice, and to endure the hardships of a fugitive&#8217;s life.</p>
+
+<p>And oh! through all there was one consolation so great, that it was
+enough to compensate for all the wretchedness of her position. She was
+assured of her husband&#8217;s love, beyond all possibility of future doubt.
+He was by her side, never to leave her more!</p>
+
+<p>This was enough! She closed her hand around the beloved hand that held
+hers, and felt a strange peace and joy, even in the midst of her exile
+and danger.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps in this stillness she slumbered a while, for when she lifted her
+head, the chapel, that had been dark before, but for the gleaming of the
+little fire, was now dimly filled with the gray light of dawn.</p>
+
+<p>She saw the shapes of the pointed windows against the background of
+heavy shadows and pale lights, and she knew that day was coming. She did
+not stir from the spot, lest she should wake her husband, whose hand
+held hers. All was still in the chapel, so still that even the faint
+sweet sounds of wakening nature could be heard&mdash;the stirring of the
+partridge in her cover, the creeping of the squirrel from her hole, the
+murmur of the little brook, the rustle of the leaves, and, farther off,
+the deep thunder of the cascade, and the detonating echoes of the
+mountains.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil sat motionless, and almost breathless, lest she should disturb her
+beloved sleeper. But the next moment she could scarcely forbear
+screaming aloud; for there passed along the wall before her a figure
+that, even in the dim light, she recognized as the strange visitant of
+the preceding <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_270" id="pg_270">270</a></span>day. It came from the direction of the altar, and glided
+past each of the four windows and vanished through the door. When Sybil
+had repressed her first impulse to scream, self-control was easy, so she
+sat quietly holding her husband&#8217;s hand, though much amazed by what she
+had again seen.</p>
+
+<p>Day broadened, and soon the rays of the rising sun, striking through the
+east windows, and lighting on the face of the sleeper, awoke him.</p>
+
+<p>He looked into the face of his wife, and then along the walls of the
+chapel, with a bewildered expression of countenance. This had been his
+first sleep for two nights, and it had been so deep that he had utterly
+forgotten the terrible drama of the two last preceding days, and could
+not at once remember what had happened, or where he was. But as he again
+turned and looked into Sybil&#8217;s face, full memory of all flashed back
+upon him. But he did not allude to the past; he merely said to Sybil:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have not slept, love.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have not wished to do so,&#8221; she answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This is a very primitive sort of life we are living, love,&#8221; he said,
+with a smile, as he arose from the mattress.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But it is not at all an unhappy one,&#8221; answered Sybil; &#8220;for, oh, since
+you are with me, I do not care much about anything else. Destiny may do
+what she pleases, so that she does not part us. I can bear exile,
+hunger, cold, fatigue, pain&mdash;anything but parting, Lyon!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do not fear that, love; we will never part for a single day, if I can
+help it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then let anything else come. I can bear it cheerfully,&#8221; smiled Sybil.
+While they talked they were working also. Sybil was folding up the
+bedclothes, and Lyon was looking about for a bucket, to fetch water from
+the fountain. He soon found one, and went upon his errand.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil followed him with two towels. They washed their <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_271" id="pg_271">271</a></span>hands and faces
+in the stream, and dried them on the towels. And then they went higher
+up the glen, and caught a bucketful of delightful water from the crystal
+spring that issued from the rocks.</p>
+
+<p>They returned to the chapel, and together they made the fire and
+prepared the breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>It was not until they were seated at their primitively arranged
+breakfast, which was laid upon the flagstones of the chapel floor&mdash;it
+was not, in fact, until they had nearly finished their simple meal, that
+Sybil told Lyon of the apparition she had seen in the early dawn, to
+come up as if from the floor to the right of the altar, and glide along
+the east wall of the chapel, past the four gothic windows, and disappear
+through the door.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was a morning dream, dear Sybil; nothing more,&#8221; said Lyon,
+sententiously; for in the broad daylight he believed in nothing
+supernatural, even upon the evidence of his own senses.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If that were a morning dream, then the sight that we saw together
+yesterday was but a dream, and you are but a dream, and life itself is
+but a dream,&#8221; replied Sybil, earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, at all events, what we have both, either separately or together,
+seen and experienced, must be something perfectly natural and
+commonplace, although we may not either of us be able to understand or
+explain it. My private opinion and worse misgiving is, that there is
+some woman concealed about the place. If ever I find myself in arm&#8217;s
+length of that little gipsy, I shall intercept her, even at the risk of
+receiving such a spiritual-shock as that which struck Mrs. Alicia
+Dubarry to the ground,&#8221; said Lyon, facetiously; for he might well make a
+jest of this lighter affair of the chapel mystery to veil the deep
+anxiety he felt in the heavy matter of their affliction.</p>
+
+<p>The husband and wife passed this second day of hiding <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_272" id="pg_272">272</a></span>tediously enough.
+She made the little housekeeping corner of the chapel tidy, by folding
+up and putting aside all their bedclothes and garments, and by washing
+and arranging their few cooking utensils. He brought in wood and brush,
+which he broke up and piled in another corner, to have it near at hand
+to replenish the fire. Also, he brought water from the spring; and then
+with no other instrument than his pocket-knife, he made a trap and set
+it to catch rabbits.</p>
+
+<p>Then they rambled together through the wilderness around the chapel, and
+the better they grew acquainted with the wild neighborhood, the surer
+they felt of their safety in its profound solitude.</p>
+
+<p>Their only anxiety connected with their security in this place, was upon
+the subject of the mysterious visitant. It was incomprehensible by any
+known law of nature.</p>
+
+<p>They talked of this mystery. They reverted to all the so-called
+&#8220;authenticated ghost stories&#8221; that they had ever read or heard, and that
+they had hitherto set down to be either impostures or delusions.</p>
+
+<p>But now here was a fact in their own experience that utterly confounded
+their judgment, and the end of their discussion on the subject left them
+just where they had been at its commencement. They resolved, however, to
+divulge the whole matter to Captain Pendleton, to whom they had not yet
+even hinted it, and to ask his counsel; and they looked forward with
+impatience to the evening visit of this devoted friend.</p>
+
+<p>As it was growing cold towards the setting of the sun they turned their
+steps again towards the chapel. It was quite dark when they reached it.
+Their fire had nearly gone out, but he replenished it, and she began to
+prepare the evening meal.</p>
+
+<p>While she was still engaged in this work, the sound of approaching
+footsteps warned them that Captain Pendleton was near. Lyon Berners went
+out to meet him.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_273" id="pg_273">273</a></span>
+<a name="A_GHASTLY_PROCESSION_9898" id="A_GHASTLY_PROCESSION_9898"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2>
+<h3>A GHASTLY PROCESSION.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">If charnel-houses and our graves must send<br />
+Those that we bury back, our monuments<br />
+Shall be the maws of kites.&mdash;<span class="sc">Shakespeare</span>.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Berners, eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, the flight is now discovered beyond all doubt. Search-warrants
+have been issued. My house is to be searched among the rest,&#8221; replied
+Captain Pendleton.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What else?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Arrangements are being made for the funeral of the dead woman. They
+will bury her the day after to-morrow in the church-yard at Blackville.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And what else?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nothing, but that I would not permit Joe to accompany me to-night. More
+precaution is now necessary to insure your safety.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And that is all?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then come in and see Sybil.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They went in together, where Mrs. Berners greeted Captain Pendleton with
+her usual courtesy, and then immediately repeated her anxious questions.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Has the murderer been discovered? May we go home?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not yet, dear Madam!&#8221; answered Pendleton to both questions, as he sat
+down by the fire.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have something to tell you, Pendleton, and to ask your advice about,&#8221;
+began Lyon Berners. And he related the mysterious vision that had thrice
+crossed their path.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! it is a form of flesh and blood! We don&#8217;t believe in apparitions at
+this age of the world! But this indeed must be looked to! If you have
+seen her here three times, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_274" id="pg_274">274</a></span>of course she has seen you,&#8221; said Captain
+Pendleton in much anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Most certainly she knows of our presence here, if she knows nothing
+else about us,&#8221; replied Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then it is useless to attempt to conceal yourselves from her. She must
+be laid hold of, talked with, and won or bribed to keep our secret&mdash;to
+help us if possible. We must find out whether she will serve our
+purpose. If she will, it will be all quite right, and you may remain
+here until it is safe to depart; but if she will not, it will be all
+entirely wrong, and you must leave this place at all hazards,&#8221; concluded
+Captain Pendleton.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, it is very well for you to talk of intercepting her, but you had
+just as well try to intercept a shadow as it glides past you,&#8221; put in
+Sybil, with a wise nod.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The attempt shall be made, at all events,&#8221; determined Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil was in the act of putting the supper&mdash;not on the table, for table
+there was none in the chapel&mdash;but on the cloth spread upon the
+flagstones, when Captain Pendleton, to give a lighter turn to their
+talk, said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You may put a plate for me also, Mrs. Berners! I have not yet supped,
+and I&#8217;m glad I have got here in time to join you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am glad too! We are getting quite comfortably to housekeeping here,
+Captain. And Lyon has set his traps, and we shall soon have game to
+offer you when you come to visit us,&#8221; replied Sybil quickly, responding
+to his gayety.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If I had only a gun, and could venture to use it, it would be a great
+relief, and we should be very well supplied,&#8221; smiled Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes! if you had a gun, and should venture to use it, you would soon
+bring a <i>posse comitatus</i> down upon you; We will have no reverberations
+of that sort, if you please, Lyon,&#8221; recommended the Captain.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_275" id="pg_275">275</a></span>And then they all sat down around the table-cloth, and Sybil poured out
+and served the coffee.</p>
+
+<p>Now, whether they were very thirsty, or whether the coffee was unusually
+good, or whether both these causes combined to tempt them to excess, is
+not known; but it is certain that the two gentlemen were intemperate in
+their abuse of this fragrant beverage; which proves that people can be
+intemperate in other drinks, as well as in alcoholic liquors. This
+coffee also got into their heads. Their spirits rose; they grew gay,
+talkative, inspired, brilliant. Even Sybil, who took but one cup of
+coffee, caught the infection, and laughed and talked and enjoyed herself
+as if she were at a picnic, instead of being in hiding for her life or
+liberty.</p>
+
+<p>In a word, some strange exhilaration, some wonderful intoxication
+pervaded the little party; but the most marvellous symptom of their case
+was, that they talked no nonsense&mdash;that while, under their adverse and
+perilous circumstances, such gayety was unnatural and irrational, yet
+their minds were clear and their utterances brilliant. And this abnormal
+exaltation of intellect and elevation of spirit continued for several
+hours, long into the night.</p>
+
+<p>Then the great reaction came. First Sybil grew very quiet, though not in
+the least degree sad; then Lyon Berners evinced a disposition rather to
+listen than to talk; and finally Captain Pendleton arose, and saying
+that this had been one of the strangest and pleasantest evenings he had
+ever passed in his, life, took leave of his friends and departed.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil was very sleepy, and as soon as their guest was gone she asked
+Lyon to help her with the mattress: that she was so drowsy she could
+scarcely move. He begged her to sit still, for that he himself would do
+all that was necessary. And with much good-will, but also much
+awkwardness, he spread the couch, and then went to tell Sybil it was
+ready. But he found her with her head upon her <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_276" id="pg_276">276</a></span>knees, apparently fast
+asleep. He lifted her gently in his arms, and carried her and laid her
+on the mattress. And then, feeling overcome with drowsiness, he threw
+himself down beside her, and fell into a profound sleep.</p>
+
+<p>But Sybil, as she afterwards told, did not sleep so deeply. It seemed,
+indeed, less sleep than stupor that overcame her. She was conscious when
+her husband raised her up in his arms and laid her on the bed; but she
+was too utterly oppressed with stupor and weariness to lift her eyes to
+look, or open her lips to speak, or, even after he had laid her down, to
+move a limb from the position into which it fell.</p>
+
+<p>So she lay like one dead, except in being clearly conscious of all that
+was going on around her. She knew when Lyon laid down, and when he went
+to sleep. And still she lay in that heavy state, which was at once a
+profound repose and a clear consciousness, for perhaps an hour longer,
+when suddenly the stillness of the scene was stirred by a sound so
+slight that it could only have been heard by one whose senses were, like
+hers at that time, preternaturally acute. The sound was of the slow,
+cautious turning of a door upon its hinges!</p>
+
+<p>Without moving hand or foot, she just languidly lifted her eyelids, and
+looked around upon the dim darkness.</p>
+
+<p>There was a faint glow from the smouldering fire on the flagstone floor,
+and there was a faint light from the starlit night coming through the
+windows. By the aid of these she saw, as in a dream, the door of the
+vault wide open!</p>
+
+<p>In her profound state of conscious repose there was no fear of danger,
+and no wish to move. So, still as in a dream, she witnessed what
+followed.</p>
+
+<p>First a dark, shrouded figure issued from the vault, and turned around
+and bent down towards it, as if speaking to some one within. But no word
+was heard. Then the figure backed a pace, drawing up from the steps of
+the vault what seemed to be a long narrow box. As this box <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_277" id="pg_277">277</a></span>came up, it
+was followed by another dark, shrouded figure, who supported its other
+end. And as the two mysterious apparitions now stood beside the altar,
+Sybil saw that the box that they held between them was a coffin!</p>
+
+<p>Nor was that all. While they moved a little down the side wall, they
+were followed by two other strange figures, issuing from the vault in
+the same order, and bearing between them, in the same manner, a second
+coffin; and as they, in their turn, filed down the side wall, they also
+were followed by still two others coming up out of the vault, and
+bringing with them a third coffin!</p>
+
+<p>And then a ghastly procession formed against the side wall. Three long
+shadowy coffins borne by six dark shrouded figures, filed past the
+gothic windows, and disappeared through the open chapel door.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil clearly saw all this, as in a nightmare from which she could not
+escape; she still lay motionless, speechless, and helpless, until she
+quite lost consciousness in a profound and dreamless sleep. So deep and
+heavy was this sleep, that she had no sense of existence for many hours.
+When at length she did awake, it seemed almost to a new life, so
+utterly, for a time, was all that had recently past forgotten. But as
+she arose and looked around, and collected her faculties, and remembered
+her position, she was astonished to see by the shining of the sun into
+the western windows, that it was late in the afternoon, and that they
+had slept nearly all day, for her husband was still sleeping heavily.</p>
+
+<p>Then she remembered the horrible vision of the night, and she looked
+anxiously towards the door of the vault. It seemed fast as ever. She got
+up and went to look at it. It <i>was</i> fast, the bars firmly bedded in the
+solid masonry, as they had been before.</p>
+
+<p>What then had been the vision? She shuddered to think of it. Her first
+impulse was now to arouse her husband and tell him what had happened.
+But her tenderness for him pleaded with her to forbear.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_278" id="pg_278">278</a></span>&#8220;He sleeps well, poor Lyon! let him sleep,&#8221; she said, and she threw a
+shawl around her shoulders, and went out of the chapel to get a breath
+of the fresh morning air.</p>
+
+<p>She had to pass among the gray old gravestones lying deep in the
+bright-colored dew-spangled brushwood. As she picked her way past them,
+she suddenly stopped and screamed.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Pendleton was lying prostrate, like a dead man at the foot of an
+old tree!</p>
+
+<p>With a strong effort of the will, she controlled herself sufficiently to
+enable her to approach and examine him. He was not dead, as she had at
+first supposed; but he was in a very death-like sleep.</p>
+
+<p>She arose to her feet, and clasped her forehead with both hands while
+she tried to think. What could these things mean? The unnatural
+exhilaration of their little party on the previous evening; the powerful
+reaction that prostrated them all in heavy stupor or dreamless sleep,
+that had lasted some fifteen hours; the ghastly procession she had seen
+issue from the open door of the old vault, and march slowly down the
+east wall of the church, past all the gothic windows, and disappear
+through the front door; the spell that had so deeply bound her own
+faculties, that she had neither the power nor the will to call out;
+their visitor overtaken by sleep while on his way to mount his horse,
+and now lying prostrate among the gravestones? What could all these
+things mean?</p>
+
+<p>She could not imagine.</p>
+
+<p>However much she might have wished to spare her husband&#8217;s rest up to
+this moment, she felt that she must arouse him now. She hurried back
+into the church, and went up to the little couch and looked at Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>He was moving restlessly, and muttering sadly in his sleep. And now she
+felt less reluctance to wake him from his troubled dream. She shook him
+gently, and called him.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_279" id="pg_279">279</a></span>He opened his eyes, gazed at her, arose up in a sitting posture, and
+stared around for a moment, and then seeing his wife, exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! is it you, Sybil? What is this? the chapel seems to be turned
+around.&#8221; And he gazed again at the western windows, where the sun was
+shining, and which he mistook for the eastern, supposing the time to be
+morning.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The chapel has not turned around, Lyon; but the sun has. It is late in
+the afternoon, and that is the declining and not the rising sun that you
+see.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good gracious, Sybil! Have I slept so late as this? Why did you let
+me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because I slept myself; we all slept; even to Captain Pendleton, who
+must have been overpowered by sleep on his way to his horse; for I have
+just found him lying among the gravestones.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What? Who? Pendleton asleep among the gravestones? Say that again. I
+don&#8217;t understand.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sybil briefly repeated her statement.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon started up, shook himself as if to arouse all his faculties, and
+then went and douched his head and face with cold water, and finally, as
+he dried them, he turned to Sybil and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is all this that you tell me? Where is Pendleton? Come and show
+me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sybil led the way to the spot where their friend lay in his heavy sleep.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good Heaven! He must have fallen down, or sunk down here, within three
+minutes of leaving the church!&#8221; exclaimed Lyon Berners, gazing on the
+sleeper.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Something must have happened to us all, dear Lyon. Do you remember how
+unreasonably gay we all were at supper last evening? We, too, who had
+every reason to be very grave and even sad? And do you remember the
+reaction? When we all grew so drowsy that we could <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_280" id="pg_280">280</a></span>hardly keep our eyes
+open? And then there was something else, which I will tell you of by and
+by. And now we have all slept fifteen or sixteen hours. Something
+strange has happened to us, Lyon,&#8221; said Sybil, slowly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Something has, indeed. But now we must arouse Pendleton. Good Heaven!
+he may have caught his death by sleeping out all night,&#8221; exclaimed Mr.
+Berners, as he stooped down and shook the sleeper.</p>
+
+<p>But it was not without difficulty that Lyon succeeded in arousing
+Captain Pendleton, who, when he was fairly upon his feet, reeled like a
+drunken man.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pendleton, Pendleton, wake up! What, man! what has happened to you?&#8221;
+exclaimed Lyon, trying to steady the other upon his feet.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Too late for roll-call. Bad example to the rank and file,&#8221; murmured the
+Captain, with some remnant of a camp-dream lingering in his mind.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners shook him roughly, while Sybil dipped up a double handful of
+water from a little spring at their feet, and threw it up into his face.</p>
+
+<p>This fairly aroused him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Whew-ew! Phiz! What&#8217;s that for? What the demon&#8217;s all this? What&#8217;s the
+matter?&#8221; he exclaimed, sneezing, coughing, and sputtering through the
+water that Sybil had flung into his face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s all this?&#8221; exclaimed Lyon Berners, echoing his question. &#8220;It is
+that we are all robbed and murdered, and carried into captivity, for all
+I know,&#8221; he added, smiling, as he could not fail to do, at the droll
+figure cut by his friend.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How the deuce came I here?&#8221; demanded Pendleton, glaring around with his
+mouth and eyes wide open. &#8220;Is this enchantment?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Something very like it, Pendleton. But come, man, this is no laughing
+matter. It is very serious. Therefore rouse yourself and collect your
+faculties. You will need them all, I assure you,&#8221; gravely replied Lyon
+Berners.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_281" id="pg_281">281</a></span>&#8220;But&mdash;how in thunder, came I here?&#8221; again demanded the Captain,
+shivering and staring around him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We can not tell. My wife found you here about half an hour ago. You are
+supposed to have been overcome by drowsiness, while on your way to your
+horse, and to have sunk down here and slept from that time to this&mdash;some
+sixteen hours.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good&mdash;! I remember taking leave of you both, after our lively supper of
+last evening, and starting for the thicket, and giving way just here to
+an irresistible feeling of drowsiness, and sinking down with the dreamy
+idea that I would not go to sleep, but would soon arise and pursue my
+journey. And I have lain here all night!&#8221; he exclaimed in astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, and all day!&#8221; added Lyon, solemnly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How is it that I was not awakened before?&#8221; demanded the Captain, with
+an injured look.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because we ourselves were in the same condition. It is not more than
+fifteen minutes since my wife awakened me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In the name of heaven, then, what has befallen us all?&#8221; demanded the
+Captain in amazement.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is what we must try to find out. You must help us. I have been
+thinking rapidly while standing here, and the result is, that I judge we
+have all been drugged with opium; but whether by accident or with
+design, or if with design, by whom, or with what purpose, I cannot even
+imagine; though I do vaguely connect the fact with the mysterious
+visitant of the chapel,&#8221; replied Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>While he spoke they all turned their steps towards the chapel. And with
+his concluding words, they entered it in company.</p>
+
+<p>The &#8220;housekeeping corner&#8221; of the chapel was in a state of confusion very
+much at variance with the young housekeeper&#8217;s fastidiously tidy habits.</p>
+
+<p>The supper dishes lay upon the table-cloth on the floor, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_282" id="pg_282">282</a></span>where they had
+been uncared for by the drugged and drowsy pair. And the little bed
+remained unmade, as it had been left by them when they ran out to look
+after Captain Pendleton.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil saw all this at a glance, and with a flush; and forgetting for a
+moment everything else, she bade her husband and his guest stop where
+they were until she had put her &#8220;house&#8221; in order.</p>
+
+<p>In this limited manner of domestic economy, it took Sybil but ten
+minutes to make the bed and wash the dishes. And, meanwhile, Lyon
+Berners made up the fire, and Clement Pendleton brought a pail of fresh
+water from the fountain.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil began to prepare the breakfast, but none of the party felt like
+eating it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And that is another sign of opium! We have no appetite,&#8221; observed Lyon
+Berners, as they sat down around the table-cloth; and instead of
+discussing the viands before them, they discussed the events of the
+preceding day and night.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners remembered that Sybil and himself had spent nearly the
+whole of the preceding afternoon in rambling through the woods; and he
+suggested as the only solution of the mystery that, during their absence
+some one had entered the chapel, and put opium in their food and drink.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Some one;&#8217; but whom?&#8221; inquired Captain Pendleton, incredulously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Most probably the girl whom we have seen here,&#8221; answered Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But for what purpose do you think she drugged your drink?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To throw us into a deep sleep for many hours, which would enable her to
+come and go, to and from the chapel, undiscovered and unmolested.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_283" id="pg_283">283</a></span>&#8220;But why should she wish to come back and forth to such a dreary, empty
+old place as this?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah! that I cannot tell; at that point conjecture is utterly baffled,&#8221;
+answered Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; because conjecture has been pursuing a phantom&mdash;a phantom that
+vanishes upon being nearly approached. I cannot accept your theory of
+the mystery, Berners; and what is worse, I cannot substitute one of my
+own,&#8221; said Captain Pendleton, shaking his head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now I have something to reveal,&#8221; said Sybil, solemnly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Another morning dream?&#8221; inquired Lyon, while Pendleton looked up with
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No; a reality&mdash;a ghastly, horrible reality,&#8221; she answered.</p>
+
+<p>And while both looked at her with strange, deep interest and curiosity,
+she related her sepulchral experiences of the night. When with pale
+cheeks and shuddering frame she described the six dark, shrouded forms
+that had come up out of the vault, bearing long shadowy coffins, which
+they carried in a slow procession down along the east wall, past the
+Gothic windows and out at the front door, her two listeners looked at
+her, and then at each other, in amazement and incredulity.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was an opium dream,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, in a positive manner.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It would be useless, dear Lyon, for me to tell you that I was rather
+wider awake then than I am now, yet I really was,&#8221; said Sybil, with
+equal assurance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And yet you did not lift hand or voice to call my attention to what was
+going on.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I did not wish to do it; my will seemed palsied. I could only gaze at
+the awful procession and think how ghastly it was, and thinking so, I
+sank into a dreamless sleep, and knew no more until I woke up this
+afternoon.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_284" id="pg_284">284</a></span>&#8220;Meanwhile let us go and look at the door of the vault. You say the
+door was wide open?&#8221; inquired Captain Pendleton.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course it was wide open: that is, wide open last night when those
+horrible forms came up out of the vault; but this morning it was fast
+enough,&#8221; answered Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I know what that &#8216;oh!&#8217; means, Lyon. But I hope before we leave this
+chapel that you will find out that I can distinguish a dream from a
+dreadful reality,&#8221; observed his wife.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile they had reached the iron door of the vault. It was fast.
+Pendleton took hold of the iron bars and tried to shake it; but the bars
+were bedded in solid stone, and the door was immovable. Then he looked
+through the grating down into the depths below, but he only saw the top
+of the staircase, the bottom of which disappeared in the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear Mrs. Berners,&#8221; he then said, turning to Sybil, &#8220;I do not like
+to differ with a lady in a matter of her &#8216;own experience&#8217;; but as we are
+in search of the truth, and the truth happens to be of the most vital
+importance to our safety, I feel constrained to assure you that this
+door, from its very appearance, assures us that it can not have been
+opened within half a century, and that consequently your &#8216;own
+experience&#8217; of the last night cannot have been a reality, but must have
+been a dream.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wish you could dream such a one, and then you would know something
+about it,&#8221; answered Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think you will have to come to my theory about the opium,&#8221; put in Mr.
+Berners, &#8220;especially as I have pursued my &#8216;phantom&#8217; one stage farther in
+her flight, and am able to assign a possible motive for her secret
+visits to the chapel.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah! do that, and we will think about agreeing with your views. Now then
+the motive,&#8221; exclaimed Pendleton.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_285" id="pg_285">285</a></span>&#8220;A lover.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, a lover. She comes here to meet him; and not liking eye-witnesses
+to the courtship, she drugged us,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, triumphantly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is the most violent and far-fetched theory of the mystery. Nothing
+but our desperate need of an elucidation could excuse its being put
+forward,&#8221; said Captain Pendleton, drily. Then he spoke more earnestly:
+&#8220;Berners, whatever may be the true explanation of all that we have
+experienced here, one thing seems certain: that your retreat here is
+known to at least one person, who may or may not be inimical to your
+interests. Now my advice to you is still the same. Stop this girl the
+first time you see her again, and compel her to give an account of
+herself. Conceal your names and stations from her, if possible, and in
+any case bribe her to silence upon the subject of your abode here. If it
+were prudent, I should counsel you to leave this chapel for some other
+place of concealment; but really there seems now more danger in moving
+than in keeping still. So I reiterate my advice, that you shall enlist
+this strange girl in your interests.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But before cooking your hare, you must catch it,&#8221; said Sybil. &#8220;We may
+see this visitant a dozen times more, but we will never be able to stop
+her. She appears and vanishes! Is seen and gone in an instant! But,
+Captain Pendleton, I will tell you what I wish you to do for me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will do anything in the world that you wish, except believe in
+ghosts.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then you will bring me a crowbar, or whatever the tool or tools may be
+with which strong doors may be forced. I want that grated iron door
+forced open, that we may go down into that vault and see what it holds.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good Heavens Mrs. Berners!&#8221; he exclaimed, striking a theatrical
+attitude.</p>
+
+<table summary="">
+<tr><td><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_286" id="pg_286">286</a></span>
+<p style="text-align:left; text-indent:3em;">&#8220;&#8216;Would&#8217;st bid me burst<br />
+The loathsome charnel-house, and<br />
+Spread a pestilence?&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&#8220;I want to see what is in it; and I <i>will</i>,&#8221; persisted Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bring the tools when you come again, Pendleton, and we will open the
+door, and examine the vault,&#8221; added Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ugh! you will find it full of coffins and skeletons&mdash;</p>
+
+<table summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">&#8220;&#8216;And mair o&#8217; horrible and awfu&#8217;<br />
+Whilk e&#8217;en to name wad be unlawfu&#8217;.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are in a poetical mood, Pendleton.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And you are in a sepulchral one. Both effects of the opium, I suppose.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>While they talked the sun went down.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Pendleton remained with his friends until the twilight deepened
+into darkness; and then, promising to return the next night, and
+wondering where he should find his horse, or how he should get home, he
+took leave and departed.</p>
+
+<p>The strange life of the refugees in the Haunted Chapel seriously
+interfered with their hitherto regular and healthful habits. They had
+slept nearly all day, when they should have been awake. And now they
+intended to watch all night, partly because it was impossible for them
+to sleep any more then, and partly because they wished to stop their
+mysterious visitant, in the event of her reappearance.</p>
+
+<p>But the girl in the red cloak came not that night, no, nor even the next
+day; nor did any other mysterious visitor or unusual event disturb their
+repose, or excite their curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>Late that night their faithful friend returned, according to his
+promise. He told them that he had found his poor horse still in the
+thicket where he had left him, with water and grass in his reach. That
+he had got home in safety, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_287" id="pg_287">287</a></span>where his absence had not excited any
+anxiety, because his sister had supposed him to be at Black Hall.</p>
+
+<p>He then described the funeral of Rosa Blondelle, which had taken place
+that day, and which had been attended not only by all the county gentry,
+who had gathered to show their respect and sympathy for the dead, but
+also by crowds of all sorts of people, who came in curiosity to the
+scene.</p>
+
+<p>And then, taking advantage of a few minutes during which Sybil was
+engaged in her housekeeping corner of the chapel, he told Mr. Berners
+that the search-warrants having failed to find the fugitives, a rumor
+had been spread that they had certainly left the neighborhood on the
+morning of the murder, and that they had been seen at Alexandria, by a
+gentleman who had just come from that city.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This story,&#8221; added Captain Pendleton, &#8220;is so confidently reported and
+believed, that an officer with a warrant has been this day dispatched to
+Annapolis.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! good Heaven! How zealously her old neighbors do hunt my poor
+guiltless Sybil,&#8221; groaned Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Take courage! This rumor, together with the journey of the officer to
+Annapolis, opens a way for your immediate escape. So I propose that you
+prepare to leave this place to-morrow night, and take a bee line to
+Norfolk. There you must take the first outward bound ship for Europe,
+and remain abroad until you can with safety return home.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At this moment Sybil came up.</p>
+
+<p>Without mentioning to her the existence of the warrants which were out
+against her, and which was the only part of Captain Pendleton&#8217;s
+communication that it was expedient to conceal from her, Lyon Berners,
+with a smile of encouragement, told her that they were to leave the
+Haunted Chapel the next night, to go to Norfolk.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And we cannot even yet go home?&#8221; sighed Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, dear wife; it would scarcely yet be prudent to do so. But we can go
+to Europe, and travel over the Continent, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_288" id="pg_288">288</a></span>and see the wonders of the
+Old World, leaving our friend here with a power of attorney to manage
+our estate and collect our revenues, and remit us money as we require
+it. We can stay abroad and enjoy ourselves until such time as justice
+shall be done, and we can return to our home, not only with safety, but
+in triumph,&#8221; replied Lyon Berners, cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil too caught the infection of his cheerful manner, whether that were
+real or assumed, and she too brightened up.</p>
+
+<p>The friends then discussed the details of the projected flight.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In the first place,&#8221; began Captain Pendleton, &#8220;you must both be so well
+disguised as to seem the opposite of yourself in rank, age, and personal
+appearance. You, Lyon, must shave off your auburn beard, and cut close
+your auburn hair, and you must put on a gray wig and a gray beard&mdash;those
+worn by your old Peter, in his character of Polonius at your mask ball,
+will, with a little trimming, serve your purpose. Then you must wear a
+pair of spectacles and a broad-brimmed hat and an old man&#8217;s loose
+fitting, shabby travelling suit. I can procure both the spectacles and
+the clothes from the wardrobe of my deceased father. Mrs. Berners, too,
+should cut her hair short, and wear a red wig and a plain dress. The wig
+you wore as Harold the Saxon will suit very well, with a little
+arrangement. Then I can procure the dress from my sister. You must
+travel as a poor old farmer, and your wife must go as your red-headed
+illiterate daughter. You are both excellent actors, and can sustain your
+parts very well.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear me!&#8221; said Sybil, half crying, half smiling; &#8220;I have been warned
+that it is never well to begin any enterprise of which one does not know
+the end. And I&#8217;m sure when I undertook to give a mask ball and take a
+character in it, I had not the slightest idea that the masquerade <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_289" id="pg_289">289</a></span>would
+last longer than a night, or that I should have to continue to act a
+character.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Never mind, darling; it is but for a season. Go on, Pendleton. You seem
+to have settled everything in your own mind for us. Let us hear the rest
+of your plan,&#8221; said Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is this,&#8221; continued the Captain. &#8220;I will bring these disguises to
+you to-morrow night. I will also have a covered cart, loaded with
+turnips, potatoes, apples, and so forth; I will have this cart driven by
+your faithful Joe down to the Blackville ferry-boat, in which of course
+he can cross the river with his load of produce unsuspected and
+unquestioned.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Or even if some inquisitive gossip should ask him where he might be
+going, Joe would be ready with his safe answer. He can beat us in
+baffling inquiry,&#8221; put in Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Like all his race,&#8221; laughed Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The chance you have mentioned is provided for. Joe is instructed to
+answer any haphazard questioner, that he is bringing the load to me,
+which will be the truth.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But proceed, dear Pendleton. Develop your whole plan,&#8221; urged Mr.
+Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, once safe on this side of the river, Joe will drive the
+cart to some convenient spot, to which I myself will guide you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah, how much trouble you take for us, Pendleton!&#8221; sighed Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not at all. As far as I am concerned, it is a piquant adventure. Try to
+look at it in that light. Well, to our subject. When you reach the cart
+you can put your wife inside, and then mount the driver&#8217;s seat, and
+start upon your journey like a plain old farmer going to market to sell
+his produce. As you will have but the one pair of horses for the whole
+journey, you will see the necessity of making very short stages, in
+order to enable them to complete it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_290" id="pg_290">290</a></span>&#8220;Certainly.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now listen! Because you must make these short stages and frequent
+stoppages, and because you must avoid the most travelled roads, it will
+be necessary for you to take a map of the State, and follow the most
+direct route to Norfolk.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Which is not the turnpike road used by the mail stagecoaches, for that
+diverges frequently five or ten miles to the right or left of the line,
+to take in the populous villages,&#8221; put in Lyon Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; I see you comprehended me! Well, I should farther advise you, when
+you reach Norfolk, to put up at some obscure inn near the wharves, and
+to embark in the very first ship that sails for Europe, even if it
+should set sail within an hour after your arrival.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You may rest assured that we shall not loiter in Norfolk,&#8221; said Mr.
+Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As for the draught horses and cart, if you have time, you can sell
+them. If not, you can leave them at the livery stable, and on the day of
+sailing post me a letter containing an order to receive them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You think of everything, dear Pendleton.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t think of anything else just now,&#8221; replied Captain Pendleton.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, we will have some supper,&#8221; said Sybil rising to prepare it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I declare, I never in all my life supped out so frequently as I have
+done since you two have been housekeeping in this old Haunted Chapel!
+And by the way, talking of that, have you seen any more apparitions? any
+more spectral gipsy girls? or shrouded forms? or shadowy coffins? or
+open vaults? eh, Mrs. Berners?&#8221; laughingly inquired Captain Pendleton.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, nothing unusual has disturbed us, either last night or to-day. But
+now, talking of open vaults, have you <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_291" id="pg_291">291</a></span>brought the crowbar to force the
+door, sir?&#8221; said Sybil, turning sharply to the Captain.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, dear Mrs. Berners; since I promised to bring it, I felt bound to
+do so; though I hope you will not really have it put to use.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Just as soon as supper is over, I will have that door forced open. I
+will see what that mysterious vault holds,&#8221; said Sybil, firmly.</p>
+
+<p>And she almost kept her word.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as they had finished the evening meal, she arose and called upon
+the gentlemen to go with her and force the door of the vault.</p>
+
+<p>And they went and inserted the crowbar between the grating and the
+stonework, and wrenched with all their united strength; but their
+efforts availed nothing, even to move the door.</p>
+
+<p>They gave over their exertions to recover their breath, and when they
+had got it they began again with renewed vigor; but with no better
+success. Again they stopped to breathe, and again they re-commenced the
+task with all their might; but after working as hard as they could for
+fifteen minutes longer, they again ceased from sheer exhaustion, leaving
+the door as fast as they had found it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is of no use to try longer, Sybil. We cannot force it,&#8221; said Mr.
+Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I see that you cannot. The vault keeps its secrets well,&#8221; she answered,
+solemnly.</p>
+
+<p>And then they returned to their seats near the fire, and sat and talked
+over the projected journey until it was time for Captain Pendleton to
+go.</p>
+
+<p>When the husband and wife were left alone, they felt themselves tired
+enough to go to rest, with a prospect of getting a good night&#8217;s sleep.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This is the last night that we shall spend in this place, dear Sybil,&#8221;
+said Lyon Berners, as he put the smouldering brands together to keep the
+fire up till morning.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_292" id="pg_292">292</a></span>Sybil replied with a deep yawn.</p>
+
+<p>And in a few minutes they laid down to rest, and in a very few more they
+fell asleep.</p>
+
+<p>How long they had slept Sybil had no means of knowing, when she was
+awakened by an impression that some cold damp creature had laid down on
+the front of the mattress close beside her. She opened her eyes and
+strained them around in a vague dread, but the inside of the chapel was
+dark as pitch. The fire had gone entirely out; she could not even see
+the outlines of the Gothic windows; all was black as Tartarus. But
+still&mdash;oh, horror!&mdash;she felt the cold damp form pressing close beside
+her.</p>
+
+<p>A speechless, breathless awe possessed her. She could not scream, but
+she cautiously put out her hand to make sure whether she was dreaming,
+when&mdash;horror upon horror!&mdash;it touched a clammy face!</p>
+
+<p>Still she did not cry out, for some potent spell seemed to bind her
+which at once tied her tongue and moved her hand; for that hand passed
+down over the slender form and straight limbs, and then up again, until
+it reached the still bosom, when&mdash;climax of horror!&mdash;it was caught and
+clasped in the clay-cold hand of the&mdash;<span class="sc">WHAT</span>?</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="GHOSTLY_AND_MYSTERIOUS_10655" id="GHOSTLY_AND_MYSTERIOUS_10655"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2>
+<h3>GHOSTLY AND MYSTERIOUS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:center">On horror&#8217;s head<br />Horrors accumulate.&mdash;Thompson.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>An icy sweat of terror bathed Sybil&#8217;s form. She tried to cry out, and
+did utter a low half-stifled scream. But the cold fingers of the ghastly
+creature closed tightly upon hers, and a thin, hollow voice murmured:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_293" id="pg_293">293</a></span>&#8220;Hush; don&#8217;t you make a noise; don&#8217;t be frightened. I can&#8217;t hurt you.
+I&#8217;m chilled almost to death. And you were so warm. I crept to your side
+to tell you something. You are in hiding here, and so&mdash;<i>Ah-h-h</i>!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The reed-like murmur ended in a terrific shriek. There was a silent
+movement, and Sybil felt the clammy form snatched up from her side and
+borne away in the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>And then the spell that had bound her faculties was unloosed, and she
+uttered scream after scream as she shook and awakened her husband.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In the name of Heaven, Sybil, what now?&#8221; he exclaimed, as he started up
+into a sitting posture.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Lyon! for the love of mercy, get up! Get a light! I shall go mad in
+this horrible place!&#8221; she cried in a perfect frenzy of terror.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Calm yourself, Sybil. There is nothing to fear. I am here with you. I
+will strike a light,&#8221; answered Lyon Berners quietly, as he got up and
+groped about in the darkness for the tinder-box.</p>
+
+<p>Striking a light in those days was not the quick and easy matter that it
+is now. When the tinder-box was at length found, the flint and steel had
+to be struck together until a spark was elicited to set fire to the
+tinder. So it was full five minutes from the time Lyon was awakened, to
+the moment that he lit the candle and looked upon the pale and
+horror-stricken face of his wife.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now then, Sybil, what is it?&#8221; he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, what is it! This place is full of devils!&#8221; she cried, shaking as
+with an ague fit.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear wife!&#8221; he said, in surprise and concern to see her shudder so
+fearfully, to hear her speak so wildly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It <i>is</i>, I tell you, full of devils, Lyon!&#8221; she repeated with
+chattering teeth.</p>
+
+<p>There chanced to be a little wine in their stores. He went and poured
+some into a glass and brought it to her, made her drink it.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_294" id="pg_294">294</a></span>&#8220;Now then, tell me what has thrown you into this state? What has
+happened to terrify you so much? another dream, vision, apparition?
+what?&#8221; he inquired, as he took from her hand the empty glass.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no, no, no! no dream, no vision, nothing of that sort. It was too
+dark to see anything, you know; but oh! it was something so ghastly and
+horrible that I shall never, never get over it!&#8221; she exclaimed, while
+shudder after shudder shook her frame.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Tell me,&#8221; he said soothingly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, it was a damp girl!&#8221; she cried.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A damp girl!&#8221; he echoed in amazement and alarm; for he almost feared
+his dear wife was going crazy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes, a damp girl! A clay-cold, clammy, corpse-like form of a girl!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where? when? what about her?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I woke up and felt her lying by my side! so close that she chilled
+and oppressed me! I put out my hand, and she caught it in her deathly
+fingers! I screamed, but she spoke to me! She was about to tell me
+something, when she was suddenly snatched up and torn away!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear Sybil, this was nightmare again!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no, no, no! I have had nightmare, and know what it is! It is not
+like this! All this was real, as real as you and I! This place is full
+of devils!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My darling wife, have you lost your senses?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no; but I shall lose them if I stay in this demon-haunted place a
+day longer!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank Heaven! we will not have to stay here a day longer. We leave,
+this coming evening. And see! the morning is dawning, Sybil; and with
+the coming of the light, all these shadows of darkness and phantoms of
+fear will flee away,&#8221; said Lyon with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you don&#8217;t believe me. You never do believe me. But oh! let me tell
+you all about this ghastly thing, and then perhaps you will see that it
+is real,&#8221; said Sybil.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_295" id="pg_295">295</a></span>And still in much agitation of spirits, she told him all the
+particulars of her strange visitation.</p>
+
+<p>He still believed in his soul that she had been the victim of incubus,
+but he would not vex her by persisting in saying so. He only repeated
+that the morning was at hand, when all the terrors of the night would be
+dispersed; and added that they would not have to pass another night in
+the &#8220;demon-peopled place,&#8221; as this would be the very last day of their
+stay.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as it was light enough, they dressed themselves, and set about
+their simple daily work. He made the fire, and brought the water; and
+she cleared up their housekeeping corner, and prepared the breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>When the sun arose and streamed in at the east windows, lighting up
+every nook about the interior of the old chapel, they saw that
+everything remained in the same condition in which they had left it when
+they had gone to rest on the evening previous.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners felt more than ever convinced that his dear Sybil had been
+the victim of repeated nightmares; that all the seemingly supernatural
+phenomena of the Haunted Chapel had been only the creation of her own
+morbid imagination; that nothing connected with the mystery had been
+real, with the exception of the appearance of the girl in the red cloak,
+whom Mr. Berners decided to be an ordinary human habitu&eacute; of the place.</p>
+
+<p>But the idea of this visitor made him only the more anxious for Sybil&#8217;s
+sake, to get away.</p>
+
+<p>This last day of their sojourn in the Haunted Chapel was passed by the
+refugees in great impatience, but without any event worth recording.</p>
+
+<p>With the night came their untiring friend Captain Pendleton, attended by
+Joe, who bore upon his broad back a large pack containing the disguises.</p>
+
+<p>After the usual greetings, and while Sybil, with a <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_296" id="pg_296">296</a></span>woman&#8217;s curiosity,
+was examining the contents of the pack which Joe opened and displayed
+before her, Pendleton found an opportunity of whispering to Lyon
+Berners:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The false rumor is as rife as false rumors usually are. Every one
+reports with confidence, and every one else believes with assurance,
+that you are both in Annapolis, and will certainly be found by the
+officers within a few days. This is good, as it will lead off all
+pursuit from your road to Norfolk.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners nodded in reply. And Sybil came up to make some
+preparations for supper.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, Mrs. Berners,&#8221; spoke the Captain, gayly, &#8220;any more supernatural
+phenomena?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I wish you had not asked that question!&#8221; exclaimed Lyon Berners,
+while Sybil grew deadly pale, and shivered from head to foot.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, what&#8217;s the matter now?&#8221; demanded the Captain, lifting his eyebrows
+in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, the damp girl!&#8221; exclaimed Sybil, shuddering.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The damp girl!&#8221; echoed the Captain, in growing wonder.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners shrugged his shoulders, while Sybil, in agitated tones,
+recounted her strange visitation of the night before.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As clearly defined a case of incubus as ever I heard in my life,&#8221; was
+the prompt decision of Captain Pendleton.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil grew angry.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I only wish,&#8221; she sharply answered, &#8220;that you would once experience the
+like, for then you could know that it could not be nightmare.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then, my dear Mrs. Berners, if this was not incubus, what do you
+suppose it to have been?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A <i>real</i> visitation; but whether a natural or supernatural one, of
+course I can not tell,&#8221; she answered.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil got the supper ready, and they all sat down to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_297" id="pg_297">297</a></span>partake of that
+meal together, for the last time in the Haunted Chapel.</p>
+
+<p>After supper the final preparations for their departure were made.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil felt all the reluctance of a beauty to part with her splendid
+black hair. But on trying the experiment, she found that she could
+effectually conceal it, without cutting it off. She combed it straight
+back from her forehead, and let it hang down her shoulders under her
+sack. Then she covered her head and neck with the flowing red locks of
+Harold&#8217;s wig.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon cut close his auburn hair, shaved off his moustache, and donned a
+gray wig and a gray beard, without the slightest remorse.</p>
+
+<p>A very few minutes sufficed to complete their disguise, and they stood
+forth&mdash;Lyon and Sybil transformed into a gray old farmer and a
+shock-headed country girl.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now, about these housekeeping articles that we must leave here?
+They are of very little value in themselves; but they <i>may</i> be found,
+and if so, may lead to our discovery,&#8221; suggested Mr. Berners, uneasily.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Never you mind <i>them</i>, Master. I&#8217;ll ondertake to get them away,
+onbeknowst to any body, sar,&#8221; promised Joe.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And I will see that this is done,&#8221; added Captain Pendleton in a low
+voice, for he did not wish to wound poor Joe&#8217;s sensitive self-love.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now, my dear Sybil, are you sure you have got all that you need in
+your bag?&#8221; inquired Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All that I shall need until we get to Norfolk, Lyon. There, indeed, we
+must get a supply of necessary clothing,&#8221; she answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That of course. And by the way, have you the money and jewels safe?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All secure.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh Lyon! I brought this for you, and I had better <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_298" id="pg_298">298</a></span>give it to you at
+once, lest I should forget it,&#8221; put in Captain Pendleton, passing over
+to Mr. Berners a large roll of gold coins.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But my dear Pendleton&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, nonsense! take them. I can reimburse myself from the revenues of
+Black Hall. Am I not to have the freedom of that fine estate?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very true,&#8221; answered Mr. Berners, pocketing the money.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now, are we ready?&#8221; inquired the Captain.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Quite,&#8221; answered Mr. and Mrs. Berners at once.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then let us start at once,&#8221; advised the Captain, setting the example by
+taking up Sybil&#8217;s large travelling bag.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners carried his portmanteau on one arm, while he gave his other
+to his wife.</p>
+
+<p>Joe loaded himself with a great basket filled with provisions for the
+journey.</p>
+
+<p>And together they all set forth from the Haunted Chapel. It was a clear,
+cold, starlight night. The gravestones in the old church-yard glimmered
+gray among the brushwood, as the fugitives picked their way through it.</p>
+
+<p>When they reached the narrow path leading through the thicket, they had
+to walk in single file until they emerged from the wood and found
+themselves upon the old road running along the river bank. Here the
+wagon with a pair of draught horses was waiting them.</p>
+
+<p>Their luggage was put in on top of bags of potatoes, turnips, etc., with
+which the back part of the wagon was loaded. Then Captain Pendleton
+assisted Sybil to mount to a seat made by a low-backed chair with a
+woolen counterpane thrown over it. Lyon Berners got up into the driver&#8217;s
+place. All being now ready for the start, Captain Pendleton and Joe come
+up to the side of the wagon to bid farewell to the travellers.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Heaven bless you, Pendleton, for your faithful friendship <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_299" id="pg_299">299</a></span>and zealous
+labors in our behalf,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, warmly shaking the Captain&#8217;s
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Amen, and Amen! We shall never forget, and never cease to thank and
+bless you, dear friend,&#8221; added Sybil, with tears in her eyes, as she
+gave him her hand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;May the Lord grant you a safe journey and a quick return,&#8221; said Clement
+Pendleton, as he pressed the lady&#8217;s hand and relinquished it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And I sez Amen to that! Oh, Marser! Oh, Missus! come back to your poor
+old Joe soon! His heart will snap into ten thousand flinders, if you
+don&#8217;t!&#8221; sobbed the poor negro, as he shook hands with his young master
+and mistress.</p>
+
+<p>Then with a mutual &#8220;God be with you,&#8221; the four friends parted.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Pendleton, sighing, and Joe, weeping, bent their steps up the
+banks of the river towards the fording place, where they would have to
+cross to find their horses on the other side.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners cracked his long wagoner&#8217;s whip, and started on the road
+leading away from the river towards the east.</p>
+
+<p>It was yet early in the autumn night, and but for the cause of the
+journey, the young pair would have enjoyed it very much.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is a very pleasant evening for the season,&#8221; said Lyon, cheerfully
+looking up at the clear, blue-black, star-spangled sky.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, indeed,&#8221; answered Sybil briskly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Are you quite comfortable, darling?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very! Captain Pendleton, dear Captain Pendleton, arranged my seat so
+nicely. It is so soft and easy. I could go to sleep here, if I were
+sleepy.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You may have to sleep there, dear. We must travel all night, in order
+to get a good distance from this neighborhood before morning.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_300" id="pg_300">300</a></span>&#8220;I can bear that very well, as comfortably as I am placed. But you,
+dear Lyon, you who are driving, you will be tired to death.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not at all. My work to-night will not be more than many men frequently
+undertake for mere amusement.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And the horses?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Strong draught horses like these can work eight or ten hours at a
+stretch, if they are well fed and rested between times.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! I&#8217;m so glad I have got away from the Haunted Chapel and the
+ghosts!&#8221; suddenly exclaimed Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And especially from the &#8216;damp girl,&#8217;&#8221; laughed Lyon Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, don&#8217;t mention her!&#8221; shuddered Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>They were now entering one of those frequent mountain passes that
+diversified their road, and the care of driving required all Lyon&#8217;s
+attention.</p>
+
+<p>They travelled all night as nearly in a direct line towards the far
+distant city as the nature of the ground would permit. At daylight they
+found themselves in the midst of a deep forest, some twenty miles east
+of Blackville. Here, as the road was naturally broad and the trees tall
+and sparse, and especially as a clear stream of water ran along on one
+side, the travellers decided to stop and rest, and refresh themselves
+and their horses until noon.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners got out and, followed by Sybil, went a little way into the
+woods, where they found a small opening and a spring of clear water.</p>
+
+<p>Here Lyon gathered brushwood and made a fire, while Sybil returned to
+the wagon and brought back a basket of provisions. Among them was a
+bottle of coffee already made, and which she turned into a small tin
+coffee-pot, and set on the fire to be warmed.</p>
+
+<p>And while Lyon went back to the wagon to attend to the wants of his
+horses, Sybil spread a very good breakfast of coffee, bread, and ham,
+upon the ground near the fire.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_301" id="pg_301">301</a></span>When they had given their horses time enough to rest they resumed their
+journey, still travelling towards the east.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon consulted his map and his pocket compass, and found that directly
+in their line lay the small village of Oakville, nestled in an
+unfrequented pass of the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We can reach the place at about ten o&#8217;clock this evening, and there we
+can get a regular supper and good sleep,&#8221; he said to his wife.</p>
+
+<p>And they travelled all the remainder of that day, and at about half-past
+nine they arrived at Oakville. The village was off the public road, and
+consisted only of a sleepy old tavern, to which the neighboring farmers
+came to drink, smoke, and gossip; a post-office, to which the mail was
+brought once a week by a boy on horseback; and a blacksmith shop,
+patronized by the sparse population of the immediate neighborhood.</p>
+
+<p>Up before the stable of this old tavern Lyon Berners drove his wagon;
+and here he alighted, handed out Sybil, and led her over to the house
+and into the public parlor.</p>
+
+<p>A fat and lazy-looking hostess came to look at them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I want accommodations for myself, my girl here, and my horses and
+wagon, which I left in the stable yard,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, speaking
+coarsely, with two lumps of liquorice in his mouth, which he had taken
+to disguise his voice.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And what might your name be, farmer?&#8221; inquired the landlady.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My name&#8217;s Howe,&#8221; answered Lyon, truly, giving his own patronymic, now
+his middle name.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, farmer, I reckon we can accommodate you. Going to market?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, we&#8217;re on our way to market.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You come from far?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;From the other side of the mountain.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_302" id="pg_302">302</a></span>&#8220;Well, I reckon we can accommodate you. You must excuse me asking you
+so many questions; but the truth is you&#8217;re a perfect stranger to me, and
+it is very late for you to come here, you know; which I wouldn&#8217;t think
+so much of that nyther, only since that horrid murder at Black Hall I
+have mistrusted every stranger I see.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sybil&#8217;s heart gave a bound, and then sank like lead in her bosom, at
+hearing this allusion. Lyon also felt an increased uneasiness. Luckily
+they were sitting with their backs to the light, so that the gossiping
+landlady could not read the expression of their faces, which indeed she
+was too much absorbed in her subject to attempt to do. So she went
+straight on without stopping to take breath:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not that I mistrust you now, sir, which I see exactly what you are; and
+which likewise your having of your darter with you is a rickymindation;
+for men don&#8217;t go about a taking of their darters with them when they are
+up to robbery and murder, do they now, sir?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I should judge not, though I am not familiar enough with the habits of
+such gentry to give a decided opinion,&#8221; said farmer Howe.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll excuse me, sir; but I&#8217;m a lone widow living here, and not used
+to seeing much of anybody but my old neighbors, which come occasionally
+to enjoy of themselves; and I do mistrust most strangers&mdash;though not
+you, sir, with your darter, as I said before&mdash;but most other strangers,
+because they <i>do</i> say hereabouts that it was a stranger to the place, a
+red-headed man, as put up at the inn at Blackville that night, and never
+was seen afterwards, as did that murder at Black Hall.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah! do they say that? I thought they laid it on a lady,&#8221; observed
+farmer Howe.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;La, sir! the idee of a lady doing such a thing! and a rale high-born
+lady of quality like Mrs. Burns, or whatever her name was, and doing of
+it to one she had took in for charity too; &#8217;tan&#8217;t likely, sir.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_303" id="pg_303">303</a></span>&#8220;But you know, I suppose, that they did accuse a lady?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes; I know they did, and that the poor lady had to ran away and go
+to Annapolis. But that was that Blackville set, that an&#8217;t got no sense;
+but as for us, over this side, <i>we</i> believe it was that red-headed
+stranger as did it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no doubt of it in the world,&#8221; said farmer Howe, recklessly,
+feeling that he was expected to say something.</p>
+
+<p>And at this moment he looked towards Sybil, and saw that she could not
+endure the subject of discussion for one moment longer, so he turned to
+the landlady, and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We have travelled some distance, and feel very tired and hungry. Would
+you oblige us with supper as soon as possible? We do not need much, only
+let it be nice and warm.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Surely, sir, it is late; but we will do the best we can for you,&#8221; said
+the landlady, hurrying away.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners stooped to whisper to his wife.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sybil, darling, I hail this woman&#8217;s faith as a good omen. Keep up your
+courage, and&mdash;remain in that shady corner until I come back. I am going
+out to the stable to see that our horses are properly attended to.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And then Lyon left the room.</p>
+
+<p>By the time he returned a table was set in that parlor, and a good
+supper spread for the travellers.</p>
+
+<p>When it was over, the landlady showed them to a couple of communicating
+rooms up stairs, where they passed a very comfortable night.</p>
+
+<p>At daybreak the next morning they arose and breakfasted, and resumed
+their journey.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners again consulted his map of the State and his pocket
+compass, and laid out his road. It lay for all that day up and down, in
+and out, among the wildest passes <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_304" id="pg_304">304</a></span>of the Allegheny Mountains. At noon
+they stopped for an hour, to rest and refresh themselves and their
+horses, and then again went forward. At night they reached another
+hamlet at the foot of the mountain range. They put up at this hamlet,
+which was called Dunville, and which boasted one tavern kept by an old
+Revolutionary pensioner called Purley.</p>
+
+<p>Here also Lyon Berners gave his name as Howe, and here again he and his
+wife were destined to be told all about the murder.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You see, sir, a little below us there, on the other side of the
+mountain, they do say as the murder was done by the woman&#8217;s husband, as
+she had run away from; but they are a set of poor ignorant folks out
+there! Now it stand to reason, sir, it couldn&#8217;t have been done by him,
+and it must have been done by some member of that band of burglars that
+they say is lurking somewhere there-a-way by Black Hall.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Band of burglars!&#8221; echoed Farmer Howe, in astonishment. And he was
+almost about to betray himself by saying that there could be no such
+band there, when he recollected his position, and held his tongue.</p>
+
+<p>Farmer Howe and his daughter spent a refreshing night at old Purley&#8217;s
+tavern at Dunville, and at daybreak next morning, after a very early
+breakfast, they resumed their journey.</p>
+
+<p>And again, as usual, Lyon Berners consulted his map and his compass. He
+now found that his most direct route lay through a thick forest, between
+two mountain ridges.</p>
+
+<p>They travelled all the morning, and as usual stopped at noon for rest
+and food for themselves and their four-footed friends. In the afternoon
+they set forth again, and travelled until they reached Iceville, a
+considerable village situated high upon one of the table-lands of the
+Blue Ridge. In this town there were three taverns. Farmer <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_305" id="pg_305">305</a></span>Howe and his
+daughter put up at the most humble of the trio. And here too the talk of
+the hour was the homicide at Black Hall.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They say about here that it was one of the lady&#8217;s admirers who killed
+her in a fit of desperation from love and jealousy; for the lady was
+well beknown to be a great coquette,&#8221; said one village authority to
+another, in the presence of Farmer Howe.</p>
+
+<p>When our travellers found themselves alone that night, in one of the two
+small adjoining rooms that had been assigned to them, Lyon Berners
+turned to Sybil, and said;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You see, my dear Sybil, how it is: &#8216;A prophet hath honor except in his
+own city.&#8217; No one out of the Black Valley thinks of accusing you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All the world might accuse me, so that my own old friends and neighbors
+would justify me,&#8221; said Sybil, sadly.</p>
+
+<p>They passed another night in peace, and the next morning, at daybreak as
+usual, they breakfasted, and then set out on their fourth and last day&#8217;s
+journey.</p>
+
+<p>Again the map and the pocket compass was called into requisition, and
+Mr. Berners laid out their route for the day.</p>
+
+<p>Their way lay all that forenoon through the beautifully undulating,
+heavily wooded, and well-watered country lying east of the Blue Ridge.</p>
+
+<p>As before, they broke their journey by an hour&#8217;s repose at noon, and
+then re-commenced it. And at twelve, midnight, they arrived safely at
+Norfolk.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_306" id="pg_306">306</a></span>
+<a name="FLIGHT_AND_PURSUIT_11184" id="FLIGHT_AND_PURSUIT_11184"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXX.</h2>
+<h3>FLIGHT AND PURSUIT.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+    <p>Oh, death were welcome!&mdash;<span class="sc">Coleridge</span>.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>On reaching Norfolk, Lyon Berners drove at once to an obscure tavern
+down by the wharves, and near the market. Here he found good stabling
+for his horses and wagon, and decent accommodation for himself and wife.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come to market, I reckon, father?&#8221; suggested the landlord, taking the
+stump of an old pipe from his mouth for the purpose.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; answered Lyon Berners, as &#8220;farmer Howe,&#8221; taking off his
+broad-brimmed hat, handing it to Sybil, and then sinking slowly and
+heavily into a chair, like a very weary old man.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your daughter, I reckon, farmer?&#8221; continued the landlord, pointing to
+Sybil with the stem of his pipe.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My only girl,&#8221; answered Lyon Berners, evasively.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And no boys?&#8221; inquired the landlord.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No boys,&#8221; replied Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a pity; on a farm too. But you must try to get a good husband
+for the girl, and that will be all one as a boy of your own! Never had
+any children but this, farmer, or did you have the misfortune to lose
+&#8217;em?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I never had but this one girl,&#8221; answered Lyon Berners still evasively.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then you must be very fond of that girl, I reckon.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She is all the world to me,&#8221; said Lyon, truly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then he ought to be all the world to you, honey.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And so I am,&#8221; said Lyon, answering for Sybil, whom he could not yet
+trust to act a part; though he saw, the instant he glanced at her, that
+he might have done so; for Sybil, as soon as she saw attention drawn to
+herself, began <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_307" id="pg_307">307</a></span>to turn her head down upon one shoulder and simper shyly
+like an awkward rustic.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must excuse <i>me</i> for asking so many questions, farmer; but when I
+see a father and daughter together, like you and your girl, I think of
+myself, for I have an only daughter of my own. All the rest of my
+children&mdash;and I had a whole passel of boys and girls&mdash;are with their
+dear mother in heaven. So you see, farmer, I am a widower, with one gal
+like yourself&mdash;for I reckon, from what you said, you are a widower?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My girl&#8217;s mother has been dead many years,&#8221; answered Lyon, with a drawl
+and a sigh.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pappy, I&#8217;m so hungry and so sleepy I don&#8217;t know what to do,&#8221; said
+Sybil, in a low, fretful tone, frowning and pouting.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes, honey; I reckon you are sure enough. So landlord, if you have
+got a couple of little rooms joining onto each other, I wish you&#8217;d let
+us have &#8217;em. And we&#8217;d like a bit of supper besides,&#8221; said Lyon Berners,
+with a sigh and a grunt.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To be sure. I&#8217;ll go and call my girl directly, and she&#8217;ll walk up to
+your rooms while I have the supper got ready. Where would you like to
+have it? down here, or in your room?&#8221; inquired the landlord.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In your room, Pappy. I hate a place like this a-smellin&#8217; of liquor and
+inyuns and things, and men coming in and out,&#8221; said Sybil, digging her
+elbow into her &#8220;Pappy&#8217;s&#8221; ribs, and turning up her nose at the little
+tavern sitting-room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, honey, we&#8217;ll have it up there. Up there, landlord, if it
+won&#8217;t be putting of you to too much trouble.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, not at all, farmer; it&#8217;s all one to me. Now I&#8217;ll go and call
+Rachel.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And the inquisitive and communicative host went out, and soon returned
+with a young woman of about Sybil&#8217;s own age.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_308" id="pg_308">308</a></span>&#8220;This is my daughter, my Rachel, as I was telling you about, farmer.
+Rachel, honey, you just go long of the farmer and his daughter and show
+them where they&#8217;ve got to sleep, that&#8217;s a good girl. Put &#8217;em in the two
+little rooms over the bar, you know.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, father. Come, sir; come, miss,&#8221; said the landlord&#8217;s daughter,
+leading the way from the smoky parlor.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon and Sybil followed her. Lyon walking slowly like a weary old man,
+and pausing at the head of the stairs, as if to recover his wind.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pappy, you look tired to death,&#8221; said Sybil, in a rough sympathetic
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ay, ay; it is weary work for an old man to get up-stairs,&#8221; grunted Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The stairs are very steep, but here you are,&#8221; said the landlord&#8217;s
+daughter, opening the door leading into two little communicating rooms.</p>
+
+<p>She entered, followed by Sybil and Lyon. She set the candle down on the
+top of the old chest of drawers, and turned around. And then the
+travellers noticed, for the first time, how beautiful the daughter of
+their host was.</p>
+
+<p>Rachel&#8217;s face was of the purest type of beauty, combining the physical,
+intellectual, and spiritual. Her form was of medium height and perfect
+grace; her head was finely shaped, and covered with dark brown hair,
+parted in the middle and carried over the temples, and arranged in a
+knot behind; her forehead broad and full; her eyebrows were gently
+arched, her eyes dark luminous gray, with drooping lids and long
+fringes; her nose small and straight, her lips full, small, and plump,
+and her chin was round and well set. There were some flaws in this
+otherwise perfect beauty and grace of form and face; for her complexion
+was very pale, her expression pensive, and her walk slightly limping.</p>
+
+<p>While Sybil was observing her with both admiration and pity, and
+wondering whether she did not suffer from some <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_309" id="pg_309">309</a></span>hereditary malady that
+had carried off her mother and all her sisters and brothers, Rachel
+spoke:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think you have everything here that you require; but if you should
+need anything else, please call, and I will come and attend to your
+wants.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thanks!&#8221; answered Sybil, sweetly, forgetting her assumed character, and
+beginning to speak in her natural voice, for it seemed so difficult to
+act a part in the presence of this girl.</p>
+
+<p>But Lyon set his coarse boot upon Sybil&#8217;s foot, and pressed it as a
+warning, and then answered for both, saying:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank y&#8217;, honey, but I don&#8217;t reckon we&#8217;ll want anything but our supper,
+and the old man said how he&#8217;d send that up here himself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I will leave you. Good night. I hope you will have a good sleep,&#8221;
+answered Rachel, bending her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What a fine face that girl has,&#8221; said Lyon Berners, as she withdrew.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; and what a sweet voice!&#8221; answered Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But she is very pale, and she limps as she walks; did you notice?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; I suppose she has ill health&mdash;probably the same malady that
+carried off her mother, and all her sisters and brothers.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very likely.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Consumption?&#8221; suggested Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Scrofula,&#8221; sententiously replied Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, what a pity!&#8221; said Sybil, when their conversation was cut short by
+the entrance of the landlord, bringing a waiter with the plain supper
+service and a folded table-cloth, and followed by a young man bearing
+another waiter piled up with materials for a supper more substantial
+than delicate.</p>
+
+<p>The little table was quickly set, and the meal arranged <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_310" id="pg_310">310</a></span>and then the
+landlord, after asking if anything more was wanted, and being told there
+was not, left the room, followed by his attendant.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon and Sybil made a good supper, and then, as there were no bells in
+that primitive house of entertainment, he put his head out of the door
+and called for some one to come and take away the service.</p>
+
+<p>When the waiter had cleared the table, and the travellers were again
+left alone, Lyon said to Sybil:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I must leave you here, dear, while I go down to the water-side and
+inquire what ships are about to sail for Europe. You will not be afraid
+to stay here by yourself?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no indeed! this is not the Haunted Chapel, thank Heaven!&#8221; answered
+his wife.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nor Rachel, the damp girl,&#8221; added Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, poor child; but she may very soon become one,&#8221; sighed Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>And Lyon put on his broad-brimmed hat and went out.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil locked the door, took off her red wig, and her coarse outer
+garment, and took from her travelling bag a soft woolen wrapper and a
+pair of slippers and put them on, and sat down before the fire to make
+herself comfortable. At first the sense of relief and rest and warmth
+was enough to satisfy her; but after an hour&#8217;s waiting in idleness, the
+time hung heavily on her hands, and she grew homesick and lonesome. She
+thought of the well-stocked library of Black Hall; of her bright
+drawing-room, her birds, her flowers, her piano, her easel, her
+embroidery frame, her Skie terrier, her tortoise shell cat and kittens,
+her fond and faithful servant, the many grand rooms in the old hall; the
+negroes&#8217; cabins, the ancient trees, the river, the cascade, the
+mountains&mdash;the thousand means of occupation, amusement, and interest,
+within and around her patrimonial home, the ten thousand ties of
+association and affection that bound her to her old place, and she
+realized her <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_311" id="pg_311">311</a></span>exile as she had never done before. Her spirit grew very
+desolate, and her heart very heavy.</p>
+
+<p>But Sybil really was not a woman to give way to any weakness without an
+effort. She got up and tried to engage herself by examining the two
+little rooms that were to be her dwelling place for a day or a week, as
+chance might direct.</p>
+
+<p>There was not much to interest her. The furniture was poor and old, but
+neat and clean, as anything under the care of pale Rachel was sure to
+be. Then Sybil looked about to try to find some stray pamphlet or book,
+that she might read. But she found nothing but a treatise on tanning and
+an old almanac until, happening to look behind the glass on the chest of
+drawers in the inner room, she discovered a small volume which she took
+to be the New Testament. She drew it from its hiding-place and sat down
+to read it. But when she opened the book, she found it to
+be&mdash;&#8220;Celebrated Criminal Trials.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At once it seemed to have a fearful interest for her, and this interest
+was terribly augmented when, on further examination, she discovered that
+a portion of the work was devoted to the &#8220;Fatal Errors of Circumstantial
+Evidence.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>To this part of the book she turned at once, and her attention soon
+became absorbed in its subject. Here she read the cases of Jonathan
+Bradford, Henry Jennings, and many others tried for murder, convicted
+under an overwhelming weight of circumstantial evidence, executed, and
+long afterwards discovered to be entirely innocent of the crimes for
+which they had been put to death. Sybil read on hour after hour. And as
+this evening, while sitting in solitude and idleness and thinking of her
+home and all its charms, she had first realized the bitterness of her
+exile, so now, in reading these instances of the fatal effects of
+circumstantial evidence upon guiltless parties, she also first realized
+the horrors of her own position.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_312" id="pg_312">312</a></span>She closed the book and fell upon her knees, and weeping, prayed for
+pardon of those fierce outbursts of hereditary passion, that had so
+often tempted her to deeds of violence, and that now subjected her to
+the dread charge of crime. Yes, she prayed for forgiveness of this sin
+and deliverance from this sinfulness, even before she ventured to pray
+for a safe issue out of all her troubles.</p>
+
+<p>Relieved, as every one feels who approaches our Father in simplicity and
+faith, she arose from her knees, and sat down again before the fire to
+wait for the return of her husband.</p>
+
+<p>He came at length, looking really tired now, but speaking cheerfully as
+he entered the room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have been gone from you a long time, dear Sybil, but I could not help
+it. I had to go to Portsmouth in search of our ship,&#8221; he said, as he put
+his hat on the floor, and sat down at the fire.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then you found a ship?&#8221; she inquired, with so much more than usual
+anxiety in her expression, that he looked up in painful surprise as he
+replied to her question.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, dear; I have found a ship that will suit us. It is the
+&#8216;Enterprise,&#8217; Captain Wright, bound for Liverpool within a few days.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! I wish it were to-morrow,&#8221; sighed Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, love, what is the matter?&#8221; tenderly inquired her husband, taking
+her hand, and looking into her face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>That</i> is the matter,&#8221; replied Sybil, with a shudder, as she took the
+volume she had been reading from the chimney piece and put it in his
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>It was a work with which Lyon Berners, as a law student, had been very
+familiar.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, where did you get this?&#8221; he inquired in a tone of annoyance, for
+he felt at once what its effect upon Sybil&#8217;s mind must be.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I found it behind the looking-glass in the other room.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_313" id="pg_313">313</a></span>&#8220;Left by some traveller, I suppose. I am sorry, Sybil, that you have
+chanced upon this work; but you must not let its subject influence you
+to despondency.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Lyon! how can I help it? I was so strong and cheerful in my sense
+of innocence, I had no idea how guiltless people could be convicted and
+executed as criminals.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My darling Sybil, all these cases that you have read were tried in the
+last century, a period of judicial barbarism. Courts of justice are more
+enlightened and humane now, in our times. They do not sacrifice sacred
+life upon slight grounds. Come, take courage! be cheerful! trust in God,
+and all will be well.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do trust in the Lord, and I know all will be well; but oh! I wish it
+were to-morrow that ship is to sail?&#8221; answered Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It will sail very soon, dear. And now we had better go to rest, and try
+to get some sleep. In my character of market farmer, I have to be up
+very early in the morning to attend to my business, you know,&#8221; said Lyon
+with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil acquiesced, and the fugitive couple retired for the night.</p>
+
+<p>Bodily fatigue so much overcame mental anxiety, that they slept
+profoundly, and continued to sleep until near daylight, when they were
+both aroused by a loud knocking at the door.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, for Heaven&#8217;s sake, who is that?&#8221; gasped Sybil, starting up in
+affright, for every knock now, scared her with the thought of sheriff&#8217;s
+officers armed with a warrant for her arrest, and excited a whole train
+of prospective horrors.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hush, darling, hush; it is only one of the men about the place waking
+me up, according to orders, to be in time for the market. We must keep
+up our assumed characters, my dear Sybil,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, as the
+knocking was repeated, accompanied by the calls of,</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_314" id="pg_314">314</a></span>&#8220;Farmer! farmer!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Aye, aye! I hear you. You needn&#8217;t batter down the doors. I&#8217;m a-going to
+get up, though it&#8217;s very early, and I an&#8217;t as young as I used to be
+twenty years ago, nyther,&#8221; grumbled the &#8220;farmer,&#8221; as with many a grunt
+and sigh, as of an old and weary man, he got up and began to dress
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sybil,&#8221; he whispered to his wife before leaving the room, &#8220;I shall have
+to take my breakfast at a stall in the market-house, and I shall not be
+back until the market is out, which will be about twelve o&#8217;clock. You
+can have your breakfast brought up here. And mind, my darling, don&#8217;t
+forget to put on your wig, and keep up your character.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I shall be very careful, dear Lyon,&#8221; she answered, as he kissed and
+left her.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners went down stairs, where he found the landlord, who was an
+&#8220;early bird,&#8221; waiting for him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Morning, farmer. What is it that you&#8217;ve brought to market, anyways?&#8221;
+he said, greeting his guest.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mostly garden truck,&#8221; answered Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No poultry, eggs, nor butter?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8217;Cause, if you had, I might deal with you myself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, you see, landlord, them kind of produce is ill convenient to
+bring a long ways in a wagon. And I came from a good ways down the
+country,&#8221; explained Lyon, as he took his long leathern whip from the
+corner where he had left it, and went out to look after his team.</p>
+
+<p>He found it all right, and he mounted the seat and drove to the market
+space, and took a stand, and began to offer his produce as zealously as
+any farmer on the ground&mdash;taking care, in the mean time, to wear his
+spectacles and broad-brimmed hat, and to keep up his character in voice
+and manner; and, as the morning advanced, he began to drive a brisk
+business.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_315" id="pg_315">315</a></span>Meantime Sybil, left alone in her poor room at the little inn, arose
+and locked the door after Lyon, to prevent intrusion before she should
+effect her disguise, and when she had thus insured her privacy, she
+began to dress.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as she had transformed herself, she opened the door and called
+for Rachel.</p>
+
+<p>The landlord&#8217;s daughter entered, giving her guest good-morning, and
+kindly inquiring how she had slept.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I slept like a top! But I&#8217;m not well this morning neither. So I&#8217;d just
+like to have my victuals sent up here,&#8221; answered Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well; what would you like?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Fried fish, and pork-steaks, and bri&#8217;led chickings, and grilled bacon,
+and&mdash;let me see! Have you any oysters?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, very fine ones.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, I&#8217;ll take some stewed oysters too, and some poached eggs,
+and preserved quinces, and fried potatoes, and corn pone, and hot rolls,
+and buckwheat cakes, and cold bread and butter, and some coffee, and
+buttermilk and sweet milk. And that&#8217;s all, I believe; for, you see, I
+an&#8217;t well, and I haven&#8217;t come to my stomach yet; but if I can think of
+anything else, I will let you know.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is your father going to eat his breakfast with you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who? pappy? No; he&#8217;s gone to market, and will get his victuals at the
+eating stall. Wouldn&#8217;t it be good fun to keep a eating stall in a
+market?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think so.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, never mind whether you do, or not. Hurry up with my victuals.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; but I&#8217;m afraid we haven&#8217;t got all the things you want; but I will
+bring you up what we have,&#8221; said the girl, who had opened her eyes
+widely at the bill of fare ordered by her sickly guest.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, go do it then, and don&#8217;t stop to talk,&#8221; said Sybil, shortly.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_316" id="pg_316">316</a></span>Rachel went out, and in due time returned with a waiter containing
+Sybil&#8217;s breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, there an&#8217;t half&mdash;no, not a quarter of the things I told you to
+fetch me,&#8221; said Sybil, turning up her nose at the waiter that Rachel
+placed upon the table.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have brought you some of everything that we have cooked. I should be
+glad if I could bring you all you wish,&#8221; replied Rachel.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I s&#8217;pose I must be half-starved in this poor place. And me so
+weakly, too! I&#8217;ll tell pappy as soon as ever he comes. I want to go
+home&mdash;I do. We&#8217;ve got as much as ever we can eat at home,&#8221; grumbled
+Sybil, doing her best to act her part, and perhaps overdoing it.</p>
+
+<p>But Rachel was not suspicious. She again apologized for not being able
+to fill her guest&#8217;s order in its utmost extent, and she remained in the
+room and waited on Sybil until the breakfast was finished, and then she
+took away the service, wondering how little her guest had eaten, after
+having ordered such a vast amount of food.</p>
+
+<p>Again Rachel came back to the room, and made everything tidy in each
+chamber, and then finally left her guest alone.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil walked about and took up and put down every small object that lay
+about her humble apartments, and then looked out of each window upon the
+narrow crowded and noisy street below; and finally, she took the volume
+of &#8220;Celebrated Criminal Trials&#8221; that had a terrible attraction for her,
+in her present circumstances, and she sat down and read until her
+husband&#8217;s return.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners drove his empty wagon into the stable yard, at noon. He had
+sold out all his produce, and pretended to be in great glee at his
+success. The landlord congratulated him, and some chance loungers in the
+bar-room suggested that, under such circumstances, it would be the right
+thing for him to treat the company. Lyon thought <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_317" id="pg_317">317</a></span>so too; and in his
+character of farmer, he ordered pipes and glasses all around. And then
+he made his escape, and went up stairs to see Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Still moping over that depressing book. Put it away, Sybil, and get on
+your bonnet, and throw a thick veil over it, and come out with me for a
+walk; we have to buy something for our voyage, you know,&#8221; said Lyon,
+cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil with a sigh given to her fears, did as he requested her to do; and
+the two went down stairs together.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Going out for a walk, I reckon, farmer?&#8221; inquired the landlord, who
+stood at the bar-room door with a pipe in his mouth.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Aye, aye. You know these girls&mdash;when they find out that their pappies
+have made a little bit of money, there is no peace till it&#8217;s spent. My
+girl is taking me out shopping, to buy gimcracks and things! I&#8217;ll be
+glad when I get her home again,&#8221; grumbled Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, well, she&#8217;s your onliest one, and you mustn&#8217;t be hard on her. My
+Rachel gets all she wants, and deserves it too. Dinner at two o&#8217;clock,
+sharp, farmer.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Aye, aye! I know. Men o&#8217; my age never forget their dinners,&#8221; said Lyon,
+as he drew Sybil&#8217;s arm within his own and led her out into the streets.</p>
+
+<p>They went only into the back streets, and the poor shops, and they
+bought only what was strictly necessary for their voyage; and having
+concluded their purchases, they returned to the inn in time for dinner.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil was very much depressed. She could not rally from the effect the
+reading of that book had had upon her mind. She frequently repeated her
+fervent aspiration:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! that the ship would sail to-day!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lyon encouraged her as much as he possibly could, but he had his own
+private subject of anxiety. He had not of course told any one of his
+intention to go abroad. Every one believed that, having sold out his
+load, he would return <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_318" id="pg_318">318</a></span>home; but he was obliged to stay in the city
+until the sailing of the ship, and he wanted a fair excuse to do so.</p>
+
+<p>That evening the weather changed, and the sky clouded over, and the next
+morning it rained, and it continued to rain for three days.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This here will make them there roads so bad that we shan&#8217;t be able to
+travel for a week, even if it does clear up soon,&#8221; grumbled and growled
+the self-styled farmer, feeling glad all the while of an excuse to stay
+until the ship should sail.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, that you won&#8217;t,&#8221; echoed his friend the landlord, glad to retain a
+guest with whom he was pleased.</p>
+
+<p>On the third day of the rain, the sky showing signs of clearing, Lyon
+Berners went over to Portsmouth to hear at what precise time the
+Enterprise would sail for Liverpool. When he returned he had good news
+for Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The Ship will sail on Saturday! That is the day after to-morrow, dear
+Sybil. And we may go on board to-morrow night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! I am so glad!&#8221; exclaimed Sybil, clapping her hands for joy. And she
+began to pack up immediately.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Moreover, I have sold my wagon and horses to a party at Portsmouth. And
+so we can put our luggage into it and drive off as if we were going
+home; but we can go down to the river instead, and take it across in the
+ferry-boat. Then I can have our effects put upon shipboard, and then
+deliver the team to its purchaser and receive the price,&#8221; added Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, but I am so delighted with the bare fact of our getting away so
+soon, that all things else seem of no account to me!&#8221; joyously exclaimed
+Sybil, going on with her packing.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning Lyon went out alone to make a few more purchases for
+their voyage. While he was going around, he also bought all the daily
+papers that he could <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_319" id="pg_319">319</a></span>get hold of. He returned to Sybil at an early hour
+of the forenoon. He found her sitting down in idleness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Got entirely through packing, my darling?&#8221; he inquired cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, and I have nothing on earth to do now. How long this last day
+will seem! At what hour may we go on board, this evening?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At sundown.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that it were now sundown! How shall we contrive to pass the time
+until then?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This will help us to pass the day, dear wife,&#8221; he answered, laying the
+pile of newspapers on the table between them.</p>
+
+<p>Each took up a paper and began to look over it.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon was deep in a political article, when a cry from Sybil startled
+him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is the matter?&#8221; he inquired, in alarm.</p>
+
+<p>She did not answer. Her face was pale as ashes, and her eyes were
+strained upon the paper.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What do you see there?&#8221; again inquired her husband.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Lyon! Lyon! we are lost! we are lost!&#8221; she cried in a voice of
+agony.</p>
+
+<p>In great anxiety he took the paper from her hand, and read the paragraph
+to which she pointed. It ran thus:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is now certain that Sybil Berners, accused of the murder of Rosa
+Blondelle, is not in Annapolis, as was falsely reported; but that she
+has escaped in disguise, accompanied by her husband, who is also in
+disguise; and that both are in the city of Norfolk.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Now it was Lyon&#8217;s turn to grow pallid with fear, not for himself, but
+for one dearer to him than his own life. Still he tried to control his
+emotions, or at least to conceal them from her. He compelled himself to
+answer calmly:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Take courage, my darling! We are before them. In a few more hours we
+shall be on board the ship.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_320" id="pg_320">320</a></span>Her hands were clasped tightly together; her eyes were fixed steadily
+upon his face; her own face was white as marble.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Lyon! save me! Oh, my husband, save me! You <i>know</i> that I am
+guiltless!&#8221; she prayed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dearest wife, I will lay down my life for you, if necessary! Be
+comforted! See! it is now two o&#8217;clock! In two more hours we may be on
+shipboard!&#8221; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let us go now! Let us go now!&#8221; she prayed, clasping her hands closely,
+gazing in his eyes beseechingly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well, we will go at once,&#8221; he answered; and he took up his hat and
+hurried down stairs.</p>
+
+<p>He told the landlord that, as the weather was now good, he thought he
+would risk the roads, and try to make a half-day&#8217;s journey that
+afternoon, at least. And then, without waiting to hear the host&#8217;s
+expostulations, he just told him to make out the bill, and then he went
+to the stables to put the horses to the wagon.</p>
+
+<p>In half an hour all was ready for their departure&mdash;the bill paid, the
+wagon at the door, and the luggage piled into it. And Sybil and Lyon
+took leave of their temporary acquaintances; and Lyon handed Sybil up
+into her seat, climbed up after her, and started the horses at a brisk
+trot for the ferry-boat.</p>
+
+<p>They reached Portsmouth in safety. Lyon drove down at once to the wharf,
+engaged a rowboat, put Sybil and all their effects into it, and rowed
+her across the water to where the Enterprise lay at anchor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now I&#8217;m safe!&#8221; exclaimed Sybil, with a sigh of infinite relief, as she
+stepped upon the deck.</p>
+
+<p>The captain did not expect his passengers so soon, and he was busy; but
+he came forward and welcomed them, and showed them into the cabin,
+apologizing for its unready condition, consequent upon the bustle of
+their preparations for sailing.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_321" id="pg_321">321</a></span>Lyon left his wife in the Captain&#8217;s care, and went back to the shore to
+complete the sale of his wagon and horses.</p>
+
+<p>He was gone for nearly two hours, and when he returned he explained his
+long absence by saying that, after all, the hoped-for purchaser had
+refused to purchase, and that he had to leave his wagon and horses at a
+stable in Portsmouth, and to retire to a restaurant and write a letter
+to Captain Pendleton, and enclose an order for him to receive the
+property on paying the livery.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil was satisfied&mdash;nay, she was delighted. In company with Lyon she
+walked up and down the deck, looking so joyous that the men about the
+place could but remark upon it as they gossipped with each other.</p>
+
+<p>The new voyagers took supper in the Captain&#8217;s cabin, and afterwards
+returned to the deck and remained on it until the sun set and the stars
+came out.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, this sense of release from danger! Oh, this delightful sense of
+freedom! And the heavenly starlit sky, and the beautiful water, and the
+delicious breeze. Oh, the world is so lovely! Oh, life and liberty is so
+sweet, so sweet! Oh, dear Lyon, I am so happy! And I love you so much!&#8221;
+she exclaimed, almost delirious with joy at her great deliverance.</p>
+
+<p>It was very late before Lyon could persuade her to leave the deck.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am too happy to sleep,&#8221; she continually answered.</p>
+
+<p>At length, however, he coaxed her to let him lead her to their
+state-room.</p>
+
+<p>There, in the darkness and silence, she grew more composed, though not
+less happy. And in a few minutes after she had laid down, she fell
+asleep.</p>
+
+<p>She slept very soundly until morning, when she was awakened by the
+cheerful chants of the sailors getting ready to make sail.</p>
+
+<p>She lay a little while enjoying the joyous sounds that <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_322" id="pg_322">322</a></span>spoke to her so
+happily of liberty, and then she arose and dressed herself, and went up
+on deck, leaving Lyon still asleep.</p>
+
+<p>The sun was just rising, and the harbor was beautiful. She walked about,
+talking now to the captain, and now to one of the men, and exciting
+wonder among them all, at her happiness.</p>
+
+<p>At length she was joined by her husband, who had waked up the moment she
+had left him, and got up immediately, and dressed and followed her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Lyon! is not this a beautiful morning? And the Captain says the
+wind is fair, and we shall sail in half an hour!&#8221; was her greeting.</p>
+
+<p>And Lyon pressed her hand in silence. A great weight of anxiety lay upon
+his heart; <i>he</i> knew, if she did not, that she was not safe, even on
+shipboard, until the ship should really sail. And now his eyes were
+fixed upon a large rowboat that was rapidly crossing the water from the
+shore to the ship.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you expect any more passengers?&#8221; he inquired of the Captain.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, lots!&#8221; answered the latter.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Are those some of your passengers coming in the boat?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The Captain threw a hasty glance at the approaching object and answered
+carelessly:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course they are! Don&#8217;t you see they are making right for the ship?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The boat was very near. It was at the side of the ship. The oars were
+drawn in. The passengers were climbing up to the deck.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They look like nice people! I am sure they will make it still
+pleasanter for us on the voyage,&#8221; said Sybil, who in her happy mood was
+inclined to be delighted with every event.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_323" id="pg_323">323</a></span>The Captain went to meet the new-comers.</p>
+
+<p>Two gentlemen of the party spoke for a moment with him, and then
+advanced towards the spot where the husband and wife were standing.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They <i>are</i> nice people,&#8221; repeated Sybil, positively; but Lyon said
+nothing; he was pale as ashes. The two gentlemen came up and stood
+before Lyon and Sybil. The elder of the two took off his hat, and bowing
+gravely, said to Sybil:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are Mrs. Sybil Berners of Black Hall?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Then all at once an agony of terror took possession of her; her heart
+sank, her brain reeled, her limbs tottered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are Mrs. Sybil Berners of Black Hall?&#8221; repeated the stranger,
+drawing from his pocket a folded paper.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; faltered Sybil, in a dying voice.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then, Madam, I have a most painful duty to perform. Sybil Berners, you
+are my prisoner,&#8221; he said, and he laid his hand upon her shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>With an agonizing shriek she sprang from under his hand, and threw
+herself into the arms of her husband, wildly crying:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Save me, Lyon! Oh! don&#8217;t let them force me away! Save me, my husband!
+Save me!&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="THE_ARREST_11894" id="THE_ARREST_11894"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2>
+<h3>THE ARREST.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left; text-indent:3em;">Had it pleased Heaven<br />
+To try me with affliction; had He rained<br />
+All kinds of sores and shames on my bare head;<br />
+Steeped me in poverty to the very lips;<br />
+I could have found in some part of my soul<br />
+A drop of patience; but alas, to make me<br />
+A fixed figure for the time of scorn<br />
+To point his slow, unmoving finger at!&mdash;<span class="sc">Shakespeare</span>.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&#8220;Save me! Oh, save me!&#8221; she continued to cry, clinging wildly to her
+husband&#8217;s bosom. &#8220;Save me from this deep degradation! This degradation
+worse than death!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And it is certain that if the immediate sacrifice of his own life could
+have saved her, Lyon Berners would have willingly died for Sybil; or
+even if the drowning of that law officer could have delivered her, he
+would have incontinently pitched the man overboard; but as neither of
+these violent-means could possibly have served her, he could only clasp
+her closer to his heart, and consider what was to be done.</p>
+
+<p>At length he looked up at the sheriff&#8217;s officer, and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wish to have a word alone with my wife, if you will permit me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The man hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You can do it with perfect safety. We cannot possibly escape from this
+ship, you know; and besides, you can keep us in sight,&#8221; he added.</p>
+
+<p>Still the man hesitated, and at length inquired:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why do you wish to speak with her alone?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To try to soothe her spirits. I know it would be quite useless to tell
+you how entirely innocent this lady is of the heinous crime imputed to
+her; for even if you should believe her to be so, you would have to do
+your duty all the same.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, certainly; and a most distressing duty,&#8221; put in the officer.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_325" id="pg_325">325</a></span>&#8220;This arrest has come upon her so suddenly, and when she is so utterly
+unprepared to meet it, that it has quite overcome her, as you see; but
+leave her alone with me for a few minutes, and I will try to calm her
+mind, and induce her to yield quietly to this necessity,&#8221; added Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, sir, I am indeed very willing to do all in my power to make this
+sad affair as little distressing to the lady as possible,&#8221; answered the
+officer as he touched his companion on the shoulder, and they both
+walked off to some little distance.</p>
+
+<p>As their retreating steps sounded upon the deck, Sybil raised her head
+from Lyon&#8217;s breast and looked around with an expression half-frightened,
+half-relieved, and murmured:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They are gone! They are gone!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Then clasping her husband suddenly around the neck, and gazing wildly
+into his eyes, she exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You can save me, Lyon, you can save me from this deep dishonor that no
+Berners ever suffered before! There is but one way, Lyon, and there is
+but one moment. You have a small penknife; but it is enough. Open it,
+and strike it <i>here</i>, Lyon. One blow will be enough, if it is firmly
+struck! Here&mdash;Lyon! here, strike here!&#8221; And she placed her hand on her
+throat, under her ear, and gazed wildly, prayerfully in his face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>Oh, Sybil!</i>&#8221; he groaned, in an agony of despairing love.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Quick! quick! Lyon! We have but this moment! Strike here now&mdash;now, this
+instant! Strike first, and then kiss me! kiss me as I die!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sybil! Sybil, darling you wring my heart.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am not afraid of death, Lyon; I am only afraid of shame. Kill me, to
+save me, Lyon! Be a Roman husband. Slay your wife, to save her from
+shame!&#8221; she cried, gazing on him with great bright dilated eyes, where
+the fires of frenzy, if not of insanity, blazed.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_326" id="pg_326">326</a></span>&#8220;My best beloved! my only beloved! there can be no shame where there is
+no sin. I will save you, Sybil; I swear it by all my hopes of Heaven! I
+do not yet see clearly how; but I will do it,&#8221; he said, solemnly, and
+pressing her again to his heart.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do it this way! do it this way!&#8221; she wildly entreated, never removing
+her frenzied eyes from his face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, not that way, Sybil. But listen: there are safe means&mdash;sinless
+means that we may use for your deliverance. The journey back will be a
+long one, broken up by many stoppages at small hamlets and roadside
+inns. Escape from these will be comparatively easy. I have also about
+me, in money and notes, some five thousand dollars. With those I can
+purchase connivance or assistance. Besides, to farther our views, I
+shall offer our wagon and horses, which luckily were not sold, but
+remain at the livery-stable at Portsmouth&mdash;I shall offer them, I say, to
+the officer for his use, and try to persuade him to take us down to
+Blackville by that conveyance, which will be easier even for him, than
+by the public stage coach. Take courage, dear Sybil, and take patience;
+and above all, do not think of using any desperate means to escape this
+trouble. But trust in Divine Providence. And now, dear Sybil, we must
+not try the temper of these officers longer, especially as we have got
+to leave the ship before it sails.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And so saying, Lyon Berners beckoned the bailiffs to approach.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hope the lady feels better,&#8221; said the elder one.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She is more composed, and will go quietly,&#8221; answered Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then the captain says we must be in a hurry. So if there is anything
+you wish to have removed, you had better attend to it at once,&#8221; said the
+man.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do not wish to leave the side of my wife for an instant; so if you
+would be so kind as to speak to the captain and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_327" id="pg_327">327</a></span>ask him to have our
+luggage removed from our state-room and put upon the boat, I should feel
+much obliged.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Leaving his companion in charge of the prisoner, the senior officer went
+forward and gave his message. And the captain, with a seaman-like
+promptness, immediately executed the order.</p>
+
+<p>Then Sybil&#8217;s hat and cloak were brought her from the cabin, and she put
+them on and suffered herself to be led by her husband, and helped down
+to the boat. The Sheriff&#8217;s officers followed, and when all were seated,
+the two boatmen laid to their oars, and the boat was rowed swiftly
+towards shore.</p>
+
+<p>The husband and the wife sat side by side in the stern of the boat. His
+arm was wound around her waist, and her head was resting on his
+shoulder. No word was spoken between them in the presence of these
+strangers; but he was silently giving her all the support in his power,
+and she was really needing it all, for she was utterly overcome; not by
+the terrors of imprisonment or death, but by something infinitely worse,
+the horror of degradation.</p>
+
+<p>All this time too Lyon Berners was maturing in his own mind a plan for
+her deliverance, which he was determined to begin to carry out as soon
+as they should reach the shore.</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes more the boat touched the wharf, and the party landed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I must trouble you to take my arm, Mrs. Berners,&#8221; said the Sheriff&#8217;s
+officer, drawing Sybil&#8217;s hand under his elbow.</p>
+
+<p>She would have shrunk back, but Lyon looked at her significantly, and
+she submitted.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where do you mean to take us first?&#8221; inquired Mr. Berners, in a low
+tone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wish to make this matter as little painful to this lady as the
+circumstances will permit. So I shall take her for the present to a
+hotel, where she must of course be carefully <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_328" id="pg_328">328</a></span>guarded. To-night we shall
+start by the night coach for Staunton, en route for Blackville,&#8221;
+answered the elder officer, as with Sybil on his arm he led the way into
+the town. Mr. Berners walked on the other side of his wife, and the
+second officer followed close behind.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We thank you for your consideration, Mr.&mdash;Mr.&mdash;&#8221; began Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Purley,&#8221; continued the elder officer. &#8220;My name is Purley.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do not remember you among the officers of the Sheriff&#8217;s staff,
+however.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No; I am a new appointment. I must tell you, sir, that so strong was
+the feeling of sympathy for this lady, that not one of the bailiffs
+could be induced to serve the warrant; they resigned one after another.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They all knew Sybil from her childhood up. I thank them, and will take
+care that they shall lose nothing in resigning their positions for her
+sake,&#8221; said Lyon Berners with much warmth, while Sybil&#8217;s heavy heart
+swelled with gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And to tell the whole truth, had I known this lady, I should have felt
+the same reluctance to serving this warrant that was experienced by my
+predecessors in office.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can well believe you,&#8221; answered Mr. Berners, gravely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, however, having undertaken the painful duty, I must discharge it
+faithfully,&#8221; added the officer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Mr. Purley, but gently and considerately, I know. You will inflict
+as little of unmerited mortification as may be consistent with your
+duty.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Heaven knows I will.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I have a plan to propose, and a favor to ask of you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If I can gratify you with safety to the custody of my charge, I will do
+so; but here we are at the hotel now, and you had better wait until we
+get into a private sitting-room. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_329" id="pg_329">329</a></span>The people of the place need not know
+that we are officers in charge of an accused party; but may be left to
+suppose that we are ordinary travellers.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I thank you for that!&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Berners, warmly.</p>
+
+<p>They entered the hotel, a second-class house in a cross street, where
+the elder officer asked for a private sitting-room, to which they were
+immediately shown.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the four were seated, Mr. Berners turned to the elder officer
+and broached his plan.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You spoke of taking the night coach for Staunton. Now, if another
+conveyance could be found&mdash;a private conveyance that would be more
+comfortable for all parties, and would also be entirely under your own
+control&mdash;would you not be willing that we should travel by it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! if you are able and willing to furnish a private conveyance for the
+journey, and place it as you say at my own exclusive orders, I shall be
+happy to take the lady down that way, rather than expose her in a public
+stage coach.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thanks. I have a wagon and horses here at livery. They can be put to
+use at a few minutes&#8217; notice. So, if you prefer, you can start at once
+upon this journey, and make some twenty-five or thirty miles before
+night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let us see the team first, and then we shall be able to judge,&#8221; said
+the officer.</p>
+
+<p>And after a few minutes&#8217; conversation it was arranged that Sybil should
+be left in charge of the second officer, and that Mr. Purley should go
+with Mr. Berners to the livery stable to look at the horses and wagon.
+These two went out together, and Purley took the precaution to lock the
+door and put the key in his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why have you done that?&#8221; inquired Lyon, reproachfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because women are irrational and impulsive. I have always found them
+so! She might suddenly cut and run; <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_330" id="pg_330">330</a></span>and although it wouldn&#8217;t be a bit
+of use, you know, because she would be sure to be retaken in an hour or
+less time; yet, you see, it would cause a fuss, and be very unpleasant
+to me and you and her and everybody.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I see,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, with a sigh, acknowledging the truth of the
+position.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Sybil sat, absorbed in despair, and guarded by the second
+officer. Suddenly she heard her name softly murmured, and she looked up.
+The young bailiff stood before her. He was a sturdy looking young
+fellow, swarthy skinned, black haired, and black bearded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Miss Sybil, don&#8217;t you know me? I beg your pardon! Mrs. Berners, don&#8217;t
+you know me?&#8221; he inquired in a low tone, as if fearful of being heard.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil looked at him in surprise, and answered hesitatingly:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;N-no.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You forget people that you have been good to; but they don&#8217;t forget
+you. Try to recollect me, Miss Sybil&mdash;Mrs. Berners.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your face seems familiar; but&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But you don&#8217;t recollect it? Well, may be you may remember names better
+than faces. Have you any memory of a poor boy you used to help, named
+Bob Munson?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bob Munson&mdash;oh, is it you? I know you now. But it has been so long
+since I saw you!&#8221; eagerly exclaimed Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Eight years, Mrs. Berners; and I have been fighting the Indians on the
+frontier all that time. But I got my discharge, and came back with
+Captain Pendleton. You know it was him as I went out with, when he was a
+third lieutenant in the infantry. I &#8217;listed out of liking for him, and
+we was together from one fort to another all these years, until Captain
+Pendleton got a long leave, and come home. I couldn&#8217;t get leave, but the
+Captain got my discharge. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_331" id="pg_331">331</a></span>And when he goes back to his regiment, I mean
+to enlist again and go with him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But how came you to be a sheriff&#8217;s officer? and oh, above all, how
+<i>could</i> you come to take <i>me?</i>&#8221; reproachfully inquired Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Miss&mdash;I mean, Madam,&mdash;can&#8217;t you guess in your heart? When all the
+bailiffs throwed up their places rather than serve a warrant on you, and
+Mr. Purley, who was a stranger, got an appointment and kept it, they
+wanted another man. And then my captain said to me, &#8216;Munson, apply for
+the place; I will back you. And then if you get it, you will have an
+opportunity of serving, and perhaps freeing, Mrs. Berners.&#8217; And a great
+deal more he said, to the same purpose, Ma&#8217;am; and so I did apply for
+the situation, and got it. And now, Madam, I am here to help you with my
+life, if necessary,&#8221; added the young man, ardently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Give me your hand. God bless you, Bob! Help me all you can. I <i>ought</i>
+to be helped, for I am innocent,&#8221; said Sybil, earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t I know it? Don&#8217;t everybody with any sense know it? Don&#8217;t even old
+Purley know it, ever since he first clapped eyes on your face?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Heaven grant that all may soon!&#8221; prayed Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They will be sure to, Miss&mdash;I mean Madam.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bob tell me: how was it that we were found out?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, you see, Miss&mdash;Ma&#8217;am&mdash;when you were at Dunville, where you was
+said to have staid all night, there was a fellow there who had a habit
+for which he ought to be hung&mdash;of looking through the key-holes and
+watching ladies when they thought themselves unseen. And this fellow saw
+you take off your red wig.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And so discovered and denounced me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, he didn&#8217;t, Ma&#8217;am; he didn&#8217;t even suspect who you was. He took you
+for a circus woman. And as for reporting what he had seen to anybody in
+that house, it would <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_332" id="pg_332">332</a></span>have been as much as his life was worth. Old
+Colonel Purley&mdash;he&#8217;s a uncle of our bailiff&mdash;old Colonel Purley would
+have peeled the skin offen his body, if he had a-known he had done such
+a mean thing in his tavern.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then how&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll tell you, Ma&#8217;am. It was this way. That fellow which, his name was
+Batkin, was on his way to Blackville. And all along the road he kept
+telling the yarn about the beautiful black-haired young lady he had
+seen, and who had disfigured herself by wearing of a red wig; and of
+course he raised suspicions there. And when he was questioned farther,
+he described the wagon and horses, and the man and the woman, so
+accurately that the authorities thought it worth while to take the
+description down; and old Purley has it in his pocket along with the
+warrant. And then, as I told you, the bailiffs all resigned rather than
+go after you; and old Purley had to be appointed. And I applied, and got
+appointed too, only to help you!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Heaven reward you for the kind thought! But, Bob, there were some of
+the old set found who were willing to take me; for they went to
+Annapolis after me, armed with warrant for my arrest.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; them two: Smith and Jones! Sink &#8217;em! I&#8217;ve swore a oath to thrash
+&#8217;em both within an inch of their lives the first time I set eyes on
+them! Well, they didn&#8217;t find you, Satan burn &#8217;em! that&#8217;s one comfort.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How was it that you found us?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Miss Sybil&mdash;Mrs. Berners, I should say&mdash;we did it easy when we once
+had got the clue. We went first to Dunville to inquire after the
+gray-bearded man and his red-headed daughter, and we learned the road
+you had taken, and followed you from stage to stage until we got to
+Norfolk. There we inquired in the neighborhood of the market, and found
+where you had put up. Then, at the &#8216;Farmers&#8217; Hotel,&#8217; we were told, you
+had left for home that <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_333" id="pg_333">333</a></span>afternoon. Of course we knew <i>that</i> was a ruse.
+We knew that if you had left, it was for the deck of some outward bound
+ship. So we inquired, and found out that the Enterprise was to sail in
+the morning. And we staid at this house all night, and boarded the ship
+this morning as you saw.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Bob! if you could have delayed for a half hour, the ship would have
+sailed, and I should have been free!&#8221; sighed Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I did all I could to make a delay. I put laudanum in his coffee last
+night. I was afraid to put in too much for fear of killing him, so I
+suppose I didn&#8217;t put in enough, for he laid wide awake all night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah, yes! that would be the effect of an under-dose of laudanum.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well then, Ma&#8217;am, I put back our watches a whole hour. But, bless you,
+he didn&#8217;t go by the watches, he went by the sun; and as soon as it was
+light he was up, and he sent me down to order an early breakfast. And
+then I got a chance to put laudanum in his coffee again, and this time I
+overdid it and put in too much, for he tasted something wrong, and he
+said it was vile stuff, and he wouldn&#8217;t drink it! No, Miss&mdash;Ma&#8217;am, I
+didn&#8217;t neglect no means to let you get clean off. But you see it was no
+go this time; and I had to help old Purley to arrest you. I&#8217;m glad you
+didn&#8217;t know me, hows&#8217;ever. And I would advise you not to know me at all
+whenever old Purley is about. Keep dark, Miss Sybil, and I&#8217;ll find a way
+to get you off. I haven&#8217;t been hiding and seeking and hunting among the
+red-skins these eight years for nothing. Hish-sh! Here they come,&#8221;
+whispered Bob Munson, creeping away to the other end of the room, and
+putting himself on guard.</p>
+
+<p>The elder officer unlocked the door, and entered, followed by Mr.
+Berners. He announced that the wagon was at the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_334" id="pg_334">334</a></span>door, and that they
+were ready to start on the return journey. And then Purley gave his arm
+to Sybil, and led her to the wagon, and placed her on the back seat,
+while Mr. Berners and Bob Munson lingered behind, the former to gather
+up Sybil&#8217;s little personal effects, and the latter to settle the hotel
+bill. But there was no opportunity, among the crowd of guests and
+servants, for Munson to make his friendly intentions known to Mr.
+Berners by any other means than a significant look and a pressure of the
+hand, which Lyon Berners could not more than half understand. He felt,
+however, that in his younger officer he and his unhappy wife had a
+friend. They went out together, followed closely by the hostler, who
+wanted his own fee; but both Mr. Berners and Bob Munson were too much
+annoyed by his presence to feel like rewarding his attendance.</p>
+
+<p>Lyon Berners mounted to the seat beside his wife, and Bob Munson to that
+beside Purley, who held the reins. And in this manner they set out on
+their return journey.</p>
+
+<p>They crossed the ferry without attracting particular attention.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="A_DESPERATE_VENTURE_12301" id="A_DESPERATE_VENTURE_12301"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXII.</h2>
+<h3>A DESPERATE VENTURE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">I have set my life upon a cast.<br />
+And I will stand the hazard of the die.&mdash;<span class="sc">Shakespeare</span>.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>It was yet so early in the morning that they drove ten miles out to a
+small village on the road before they thought of breakfast. There Mr.
+Berners reminded the officer in charge that Sybil had not yet broken her
+fast. Whereupon Purley drew up before the one little tavern of the
+place, alighted, and assisted his charge to alight, and then keeping
+fast hold of her arm, led her into the house, and ordered breakfast.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_335" id="pg_335">335</a></span>While the meal was being got ready he kept his party of four well
+together in the sitting-room where they waited. And as soon as breakfast
+was over, they all re&euml;ntered the wagon and resumed their journey. They
+travelled twenty miles before stopping to dine at a lonely roadside
+tavern, where again Purley watched his charge with such vigilance that
+she had no opportunity to speak privately either to her husband or their
+friend. Still she hoped this opportunity would be afforded when they
+should stop for the night. After an hour&#8217;s rest they went on again,
+travelling with moderate haste all the afternoon. They made fifteen more
+miles before sunset, and then, having driven forty-five miles that day,
+and finding their horses very tired, they determined to put up for the
+night at a small hamlet, whose comfortable little hotel promised rest
+and refreshment.</p>
+
+<p>Still Purley kept close to his charge. They all had supper in a private
+sitting-room. And when that meal was over and the hour for retirement
+arrived, Purley himself accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Berners to their
+bedroom to see that it was secure. It was a front chamber, on the upper
+floor, with two front windows overlooking the village street, and but
+one door, which opened upon the passage.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is all safe,&#8221; said Purley, casting a glance around. &#8220;So I may
+leave you two alone here together, where no doubt, you are glad enough
+to be. But I&#8217;m sorry to say I must turn the key on you; not that I have
+any right to lock you up, sir, without your consent; but of course you
+<i>will</i> consent to that, for the sake of staying with your wife.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course I will; and thank you for the privilege,&#8221; answered Mr.
+Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right then. Good-night to you both,&#8221; said Purley, closing and
+locking the door, and withdrawing the key.</p>
+
+<p>And then he took a farther precaution for the security of his charge, by
+ordering a mattress to be brought and laid <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_336" id="pg_336">336</a></span>down before that chamber
+door. And there he and his companion stretched themselves to rest like a
+pair of watch dogs.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Sybil found herself alone with her husband, she beckoned him
+to that end of the room which was farthest from the door, and when he
+was close beside her she whispered in the lowest tone:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Did you observe anything peculiar in the manner of that younger
+bailiff?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I observed that he tried to attract my particular attention whenever we
+happened to be unnoticed for a moment. But as we were so very closely
+watched I had no opportunity of asking, or he of telling, what he
+meant,&#8221; said Lyon Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I will tell you all about it. When Mr. Purley went away with you,
+and left that young man guarding me, the first thing he did was to make
+himself known to me, and to place himself at my service even to the
+death!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who was he?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Robert Munson; a boy that I was so fortunate as to be kind to in his
+childhood and mine. Afterwards he was a private soldier in Captain
+Pendleton&#8217;s company, and served under him for eight years, fighting the
+Indians on the frontier. At Captain Pendleton&#8217;s suggestion, and with his
+own hearty free will, he volunteered for this service of pursuing me,
+only that he might more effectually try to free me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sybil, what are you saying? Have we a friend in one of our captors?&#8221;
+exclaimed Lyon, in astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; a friend who will serve us to the death! Listen, dear Lyon, and I
+will tell you all about it,&#8221; answered Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>And she commenced, and related all the circumstances of her acquaintance
+with Robert Munson; of his motives for entering upon his present
+avocation, and of his discovery of himself to her in the hotel at
+Portsmouth.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_337" id="pg_337">337</a></span>&#8220;Now may heaven grant that some day I may have an opportunity of
+rewarding that good fellow for his willing service, whether it ever
+avail us or not,&#8221; said Lyon Berners, earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But dear Lyon, we must be very careful not to betray by any word or
+look that we have any acquaintance, much less understanding, with
+Munson, for to do so would be to ruin our only chance of escape,&#8221; said
+Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course! of course! I understand that perfectly well!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But watch your opportunity, and when you feel it to be perfectly safe,
+communicate with Robert Munson.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I understand, dear Sybil, and I shall be very prudent and very
+vigilant,&#8221; answered Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>And then they retired to rest.</p>
+
+<p>Very early the next morning they were aroused by their keeper who never
+left his post at their door until he saw them come out of their room.
+And then he drew Mrs. Berner&#8217;s arm within his own and led her down to
+breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>After breakfast they resumed their journey.</p>
+
+<p>This first day and night on the road was a type of all that followed.
+The bailiff Purley never lost sight of his charge except at night, and
+then he first assured himself that her room was a secure prison, from
+which it would be impossible for her to escape; and then, to make
+assurance doubly sure, he always locked the door on the outside, put the
+key into his pocket, and stretched himself on a mattress across the
+threshold.</p>
+
+<p>There was no opportunity afforded to Sybil, Lyon and their new friend to
+speak together in private; and as day followed day and night succeeded
+night in this hopeless manner, their spirits fell from despondency even
+to despair.</p>
+
+<p>But as it is said to be darkest just before dawn, and that <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_338" id="pg_338">338</a></span>when things
+are at their worst they are sure to mend, so it proved in their case.</p>
+
+<p>On the evening of the fourth day of their tedious journey, they stopped
+to sup and sleep at a lonely farm-house, where for &#8220;a consideration,&#8221;
+the poor farmer consented, whenever he got the chance, to entertain
+travellers.</p>
+
+<p>Here their wagon and horses were comfortably stabled, and themselves
+were lodged and feasted.</p>
+
+<p>Here, as usual after supper, Mr. Purley accompanied his charge to her
+bedroom, which, to his perplexity, he found to have two doors; the one
+opening upon the upper hall, and the other communicating with an
+adjoining vacant chamber.</p>
+
+<p>After some consideration, he solved the difficulty of guarding his
+prisoner by saying to his assistant:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, Munson, all that can be done is this: one of us will have to
+sleep across one door, and the other across the other. And as I hav&#8217;n&#8217;t
+slept in a room for three nights, I reckon I&#8217;ll take the vacant room,
+and you may take the hall. But mind, don&#8217;t forget to draw the key out of
+the door when you lock it, and put it into your pocket. And mind also,
+to be sure to pull your mattress quite up to the door and lay directly
+across it, so that if the lock should be picked, no one can pass without
+going right over your own body; and, last of all, mind to sleep only
+with one eye open, or all the other precautions will be of no use at
+all.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will be very careful, sir,&#8221; answered young Bailiff Munson, touching
+his hat to his superior officer in military style.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now, as your legs are younger than mine, I wish you would run down
+stairs and ask the farmer to send me up a mug of that home-brewed bitter
+beer he was talking about.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir,&#8221; answered the young bailiff starting off with alacrity, while
+the elder remained on guard at the door of his charge.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_339" id="pg_339">339</a></span>In five minutes or less time, Munson returned with a quart measure of
+the &#8220;home-brewed,&#8221; which he handed to Purley.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Souls and bodies! but it is bitter, sure enough! I have heard of bitter
+beer, but this beats all for bitterness that ever I tasted! However, the
+bitterer the better, I suppose; and this is really refreshing,&#8221; said
+Purley, as he drained the mug, and handed it empty to a negro boy, who
+had just brought in and laid down the mattress upon which Munson was to
+sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Munson smiled to himself.</p>
+
+<p>Then Purley reiterated all his cautions for the careful guarding of his
+charge, and at length bade his comrade good-night, and retired to the
+vacant chamber, to guard the door on that side.</p>
+
+<p>Munson drew his mattress across the hall-door as he had been directed to
+do, and laid himself down in all his clothes&mdash;not to sleep, but to
+listen and watch until the house should grow quiet; for on this night he
+was resolved to effect the deliverance of Sybil, or perish in the
+attempt.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Mr. and Mrs. Berners had retired to their chamber&mdash;not to
+rest, but to wait for events; for on this night a sure presentiment
+informed them that Robert Munson, on guard there at their outer door,
+would be sure to use his opportunities for attempting a rescue. So they
+quietly co&ouml;perated with what they divined to be his intentions.</p>
+
+<p>First Sybil went and hung a towel over the knob of the lock, so as to
+darken the key-hole of the door guarded by Purley. Then she slipped the
+bolt, saying:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He may guard us if he must, but he shall neither look in upon us, nor
+intrude upon us, if I can help it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And then, instead of undressing for bed, they did the opposite thing,
+and quietly dressed for an escape. And lastly, they concealed their
+money and jewels about their persons, and threw a few of the most
+necessary articles for <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_340" id="pg_340">340</a></span>their journey into one travelling bag, and then
+sat down to listen and watch on the inside, as their friend was
+listening and watching on the outside.</p>
+
+<p>Then they heard Purley arranging and re-arranging his bed against his
+door, and tumbling down upon it, like a man utterly overcome by fatigue
+and drowsiness; after which all was silent, until the stertorous
+breathing of the bailiff assured them of the depth of his sleep. After
+that, not a sound was heard in the house. Lyon looked at his watch. It
+was but nine o&#8217;clock, though the whole house was at rest. In these
+remote country places, people go to roost with the fowls, or very soon
+after.</p>
+
+<p>Still for another hour of silent, breathless suspense they waited; and
+then they heard a faint tapping on the door that was guarded by Munson.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners went up, and tapped gently in response.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hist!&#8221; breathed the voice from without, through the key-hole.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well!&#8221; murmured Lyon, through the same channel.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Take some of the melted tallow on the top of your candle, and grease
+the key-hole as well as you can, and then I will come in and talk to
+you, if you will let me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thanks; yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. Berners did as he was requested to do, and Munson slipped his
+key into the lubricated key-hole, and silently unlocked the door.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, our deliverer!&#8221; fervently exclaimed Sybil, as he softly entered the
+room and closed the door behind him, holding up his finger in warning to
+them to be silent.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now sit close for a few minutes, while I tell you what I have done
+and am going to do,&#8221; said Munson, drawing a stool and sitting himself
+upon it, before Mr. and Mrs. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Go on,&#8221; muttered Lyon, fervently pressing the hand of his friend.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, go on, dear Bob!&#8221; eagerly whispered Sybil.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_341" id="pg_341">341</a></span>&#8220;First I put nearly half an ounce of laudanum in old Purley&#8217;s bitter
+beer, which made him think it so uncommon prime and bitter, that he
+drank the whole quart.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good heaven! Munson, you have killed the man!&#8221; said Lyon, in dismay.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, I have only doubled the dose I gave him before, which took no
+effect on him, so this will only put him to sleep for twelve hours or
+so. Lord, listen how he snores! A thunderstorm wouldn&#8217;t wake him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Next, as soon as he was asleep, I went into his room in my
+stocking-feet, and closed all the solid wooden shutters, to make him
+believe it is still night when he does awake and feel drowsy, as he will
+be sure to feel, so that he shall go to sleep again, and sleep until
+evening, and that will give you nearly twenty-four hours start of him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Right! Quite right,&#8221; said Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, well; but go on, dear Bob,&#8221; impatiently murmured Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I locked his door on the outside, and took away the key, to make the
+farmer or any of the family, if they should go into his room to see why
+he slept so long, think that he had locked himself in. For the rest I
+shall stay here and pretend to sleep very late myself. In fact I shall
+sleep until they wake me up, and then I shall be very angry, and tell
+them they had better not play that game on Mr. Purley, as he would be in
+a fury if his rest should be broken. And so I will guard these two rooms
+from intrusion, and your escape from being discovered, as long as I
+possibly can.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But when it shall be discovered, my poor fellow, will you not get
+yourself into trouble?&#8221; inquired Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Even if I should, what will my trouble be to this lady&#8217;s? But at worst
+I shall only be cussed by old Purley, and turned out of my place by the
+sheriff; and as I&#8217;m used to being cussed, and don&#8217;t like my place, it
+don&#8217;t matter.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_342" id="pg_342">342</a></span>&#8220;And in any case, you shall be well rewarded, dear Bob. Not that such a
+service as you are about to render us <i>can</i> ever be adequately rewarded;
+but, as far as&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear Madam, don&#8217;t speak of reward! I owe you a debt of gratitude,
+which I am glad to pay. I have told you what I <i>have</i> done, and what I
+shall do, to relieve you of anxiety; and now we had better quietly leave
+the house. Are you ready?&#8221; inquired Munson.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We have been quite ready for these two hours, in anticipation of your
+help.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come, then; but come very silently, though there is not the slightest
+danger, either, of our being heard. The farmer is a beer swiller, and
+sleeps heavily, and his women folks all sleep up in the garret. I saw
+them all go up myself; they passed with their candle, as I lay on the
+pallet,&#8221; whispered Munson, as he quietly led the way out into the hall
+and softly closed and locked the door, and withdrew the key.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is just as well to do this, to guard against the chance of any one
+opening the door while I am gone,&#8221; he added, as he softly preceded the
+party down the stairs.</p>
+
+<p>He silently opened the front door, and they passed out into the free
+air.</p>
+
+<p>A watch-dog that lay upon the mat outside got up and wagged his tail,
+and laid down again, as if to express his willingness that any inmate
+might leave the house who wished to do so, though no stranger should
+enter it except over his dead body.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sensible dog!&#8221; said Munson, as with more precaution he closed and
+locked the outer door, and took that key also with him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must not attempt to escape with your wagon; but must ride your
+horses, which will be much more efficacious both for swiftness and for
+their ability to go through places where you could not take a wagon,&#8221;
+said Munson, as they walked across the farm-yard.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_343" id="pg_343">343</a></span>But when they drew near the stable, they were set upon by a couple of
+watch-dogs, who, barking furiously, barred their farther progress.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is no other way!&#8221; exclaimed Munson, and drawing a double
+barrelled pistol from his pocket, he shot one dog dead, while the other
+ran howling away.</p>
+
+<p>Then with some difficulty they forced the door, and while Lyon remained
+on the outside with Sybil, young Munson entered the stable and led out
+their two horses.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Here are several bridles, and here is one side-saddle, which will suit
+Mrs. Berners, if you have no scruple about borrowing them,&#8221; suggested
+Munson.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I should have no scruple about borrowing anything from anybody to aid
+my wife&#8217;s escape. Besides, there is my wagon more than double the value
+of the things that we require; I will leave that in pledge,&#8221; said Mr.
+Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Just so,&#8221; assented Munson.</p>
+
+<p>And all this time he had been arranging the side-saddle and bridle upon
+Sybil&#8217;s horse. As soon as it was ready Mr. Berners came around to lift
+his wife into her seat.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;One moment, dear Lyon,&#8221; said Sybil, pausing to adjust her dress.</p>
+
+<p>While she did so, Munson again spoke to Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have your pocket compass?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I advise you to use it as soon as it is light, to direct your
+course. And do not go toward the east, for old Purley will pursue you in
+that direction, under the impression that you will try to reach another
+seaport town, and get off in a ship. But make for the interior, for the
+West, and get away as fast and as far as you can. Be careful to keep as
+much as possible in the woods, even though your progress should be
+slower through them than it would be in the open country. And now excuse
+my presuming to give you so much counsel; but you know I have been upon
+the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_344" id="pg_344">344</a></span>war path, out among the red-skins, and am up to hunting and
+flying.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I thank you&mdash;we both thank you from the depths of our souls. And we
+pray that the day may come when we shall be able to prove our
+gratitude,&#8221; said Lyon, earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Never mind that! But put madam into her seat. She is ready now; and,
+indeed, the sooner you are off the better,&#8221; answered Munson.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners advanced towards Sybil, when the whole party was stopped by
+a terrible event.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No you don&#8217;t, you infernal villain! I have caught you, have I? Stand!&#8221;
+exclaimed a voice of thunder, and the stout farmer stood before them, at
+the head of all his negroes, and with a loaded musket in his hand!</p>
+
+<p>Like lightning young Munson threw himself before Sybil, drew a pistol
+from his breast, and levelled it straight at the heart of their
+opponent, exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Out of the way, you devil! and let her pass. Out of the way this
+instant, or, by my life, I will kill you! I will! I will kill you, and
+hang for her sake!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The man raised his musket, and aimed it at the head of him whose hand
+pointed the pistol to his own heart. And thus, like two duellists, they
+stood fatally eyeing each other!</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="A_FATAL_CRISIS_12708" id="A_FATAL_CRISIS_12708"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h2>
+<h3>A FATAL CRISIS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left; text-indent:7em;">Each at the life<br />
+Levelled his deadly aim; their fatal hands<br />
+No second stroke intended.&mdash;<span class="sc">Milton.</span></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hold! on your lives!&#8221; exclaimed Lyon Berners, rushing between the
+opponents, and with swift hands striking up the pistol of Robert Munson,
+and turning aside the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_345" id="pg_345">345</a></span>musket of Farmer Nye. &#8220;Would you shed each
+other&#8217;s blood so recklessly? Here is some mistake. Farmer, whom did you
+take us for?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who did I take you for, is it? For that cornsarned band of robbers as
+have been mislesting the country for miles round this month past.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Robbers?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, robbers! as has been tarryfying the whole country side ever since
+Hollow Eve!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I never heard of them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;May be you didn&#8217;t, but I took you for them all the same.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And aimed your musket at that lady! And might have shot her dead, had
+not this brave man thrown himself before her, with a loaded pistol in
+his hand, levelled at your heart.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How did I know it was a lady? How could I see in this dim light? I took
+her for one of you, and I took you all for robbers,&#8221; said the farmer,
+sulkily.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, you see who we are now?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; I see as you are my new lodgers. Though why you should be out here
+at the stables after your beasts at this hour of the night, and wake me
+up with a row; or should take my darter&#8217;s side-saddle, and kill my
+watch-dog, blame you, I <i>don&#8217;t</i> see!&#8221; growled the farmer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come, walk aside with me for a few minutes, and I will show you why,&#8221;
+said Mr. Berners, soothingly laying his hand on the farmer&#8217;s shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hands off, if you please! No! I don&#8217;t think as I <i>will</i> walk aside with
+you. You might do me a mischief.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bosh! you are armed, and I am unarmed. How can I harm you? Come, and I
+will tell you something to your advantage,&#8221; coaxed Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>Partly urged by curiosity and partly by interest, Farmer Nye reluctantly
+consented to follow where Mr. Berners led <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_346" id="pg_346">346</a></span>him. When they had passed out
+of hearing of the negroes Mr. Berners stopped, and turned to his host,
+and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You know who we are?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I know you are my new lodgers&mdash;that&#8217;s all I know about you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yet you must have observed something out of the common about our
+party?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; I took notice as you and your wife must have been dreadful &#8217;fraid
+of being robbed and murdered on your journey, when you kept two men to
+travel with you, and guard you all day long, and sleep outside of your
+doors like watch-dogs all night long. Which me and my darter made it out
+between us as you must have lots of money with you to make you so
+cautious. And which, if we had known you was going to be so mistrustful
+of <i>us</i>, we&#8217;d have seen you farther before we&#8217;d have took you in.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And so that is the way in which <i>you</i> accounted for matters and things
+that you couldn&#8217;t understand?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To be sure it was; and very natural too.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Shall I tell him the whole truth?&#8221; inquired Lyon Berners of himself. &#8220;I
+will sound him first,&#8221; he concluded. Then speaking up, he said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, you cannot blame people for being cautious, after that horrible
+murder at Black Hall.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s so too,&#8221; admitted the farmer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And yet,&#8221; added Mr. Berners, &#8220;they <i>do</i> say that it was no robber that
+did that murder, but the lady of the house who did it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The lady of the house!&#8221; indignantly echoed the farmer, to Lyon&#8217;s great
+astonishment. &#8220;Don&#8217;t you go to say that; for if you do, devil burn me if
+I don&#8217;t knock you down with the butt end of my gun!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do not say it. I only tell you what other people say.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They lie! the hounds! And I wish I could meet any of them venomous
+backbiters face to face. Satan fly away <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_347" id="pg_347">347</a></span>with me if I wouldn&#8217;t tear
+their false tongues out of their throats, and throw them to the dogs!
+<i>You</i> don&#8217;t mean to say you believe she did it?&#8221; fiercely demanded
+Sybil&#8217;s rough champion.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No; Heaven knows I do not! I believe her to be as guiltless as an
+angel.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m glad to hear you say that! I don&#8217;t want to pitch into an unarmed
+man, but I should a&#8217; been strongly tempted to &#8217;a done it if you&#8217;d said
+anything else.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You know this injured lady, then?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; I have knowed her ever since she was a little gal. Not as ever I
+met her face to face in my life, but I know her as every poor man and
+poor child and poor brute in the whole country knows her: as the
+kindest, gentlest, tenderest-hearted lady in the whole world&mdash;she who
+has been known to take the fur cloak off her own back, and lay it over
+the form of a sick beggar, while she went home in the cold to send her
+warm blankets. Yes, and known to have done scores of deeds as good and
+self-sacrificing as that. <i>She</i> do the thing they accuse her of! Why,
+sir, she no more did it than I, or you, or your own sweet wife did it!
+And Satan burn <i>me</i>! when I hear of any man accusing her of it, if I
+don&#8217;t feel just like knocking his dull brains out, and taking the
+consequences&mdash;that I do!&#8221; swore the farmer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will trust him,&#8221; said Lyon Berners to himself.</p>
+
+<p>&mdash;&#8220;And to think that men who call themselves law officers, not to say
+Christians, should hunt that lovely lady through the country as if she
+was some wild beast or highway robber! I wish one of them hunters was to
+come my way. I&#8217;m blowed to flinders if I wouldn&#8217;t set my whole pack of
+dogs on &#8217;em till they would be torn to pieces. I&#8217;d give &#8217;em hunting! But
+excuse <i>me</i>, Mr.&mdash;Mr.&mdash;What&#8217;s-your-name; I&#8217;ve gone away from the pint,
+which I always do fly off at a tangent and lose my bearings whenever I
+hear that lady accused. Now, sir, what had you to tell me to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_348" id="pg_348">348</a></span>my
+advantage?&#8221; inquired the farmer, drawing a handkerchief from his pocket
+and wiping his heated face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will tell him all,&#8221; said Lyon Berners to himself; and then he spoke
+up:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;First, good friend, let me assure you that you have not wandered a
+hair&#8217;s breadth from the point at issue between us.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes, I have; for I have been raving about Mrs. Berners; but I
+couldn&#8217;t help it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Berners is the lady who is with me,&#8221; said Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>Farmer Nye jumped three feet from the ground and came down again like a
+man that was shot, and then stood with open mouth and eyes staring at
+the speaker.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am her husband, and the men who are guarding us are the officers who
+have her in custody.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="sc">What?</span> Say that again!&#8221; uttered the farmer, panting for breath.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Berners repeated all that he had said, adding:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I had got her away from this neighborhood, and on shipboard. And she
+was rejoicing in her supposed safety and freedom, for the ship was
+within a half hour of sailing, when these officers came on board with a
+warrant and arrested her.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="sc">They did!</span> Wait till I get my niggers together. The boys will want no
+better fun than to tar and feather them devils, and set them afire and
+turn &#8217;em loose. And blame me if I don&#8217;t give the best feather-bed in my
+house to the service. Come along,&#8221; exclaimed the farmer, starting off to
+commence the work.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Stop!&#8221; said Lyon Berners, laying his hand soothingly upon the shoulder
+of the excited man. &#8220;Above all, you wish to serve my unhappy wife, do you
+not!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes! with my &#8216;life, and fortune, and sacred honor&#8217; as the Declaration
+of Independence says.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_349" id="pg_349">349</a></span>&#8220;Then you can not serve her by any violence done to the officers, who
+are only doing their duty.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Doing their duty! Duty! That&#8217;s a matter of opinion! I consider I should
+be doing of <i>my</i> duty if I was to order my niggers to take &#8217;em out and
+tar and feather &#8217;em. Yes, and set &#8217;em afire afterwards&mdash;burn &#8217;em!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; but that would be doing a great injustice to them, and also a
+great injury to Mrs. Berners. If you really wish to serve my dear wife,
+you can do so by helping her to escape.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll help her to escape, with all my heart and soul! And with all my
+heart and soul I&#8217;ll shoot down anybody that dares to start from here in
+pursuit of her!&#8221; emphatically declared the farmer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is not necessary. You can cover our retreat by more peaceable
+means. And now I must advise you that both these officers have used us
+with the greatest kindness and consideration, concealing our identity
+and shielding us from the curiosity and intrusion of strangers, whenever
+they could do so, as is proved by your own experience, for you had no
+suspicion as to who we might be.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, that I hadn&#8217;t! And a good thing I hadn&#8217;t too! for if I&#8217;d a known
+that lady had a been kept a prisoner here in my house, I&#8217;d a pitched her
+jailers neck and heels out o&#8217; the windows, and then set the dogs on
+&#8217;em!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But that would have been very unjust to them, and injurious to the lady
+you wish to befriend. And especially it would have been the very
+greatest injustice to the younger officer, who has been our partisan
+from the first.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Eh! what? One of them jailers your partisan?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; let me explain,&#8221; said Mr. Berners. And he commenced and detailed
+all the circumstances of their acquaintance and relations with Robert
+Munson.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And so, out of gratitude for the kindness this lady showed him in his
+childhood, he got himself put on this <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_350" id="pg_350">350</a></span>service o&#8217; purpose to watch his
+opportunity of reskying her.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Just so.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, he&#8217;s an honest fellow, that he is!&#8221; said the farmer, approvingly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, Mr. Nye, all you have to do, if you wish to help us, is just to
+let us go free. When we are gone, keep the house quiet, and let the
+elder officer sleep as long as possible, for the longer he sleeps the
+farther we shall get away from pursuit.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll lock him up and keep him prisoner for a month, if necessary.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But it is not necessary. A day&#8217;s start is all that we shall need, and
+that, I think, you can secure to us, by simply letting the man sleep as
+long as he will. And furthermore, I may ask you to be cautious and not
+to betray our friend Robert Munson&#8217;s agency in our escape.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll protect Robert Munson with my life.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A thousand thanks! And now, as we understand each other, let us go on
+to my wife, who is anxiously waiting the issue of this interview,&#8221; said
+Lyon Berners, turning and leading the way towards the stables.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, squire, you may rely upon me, and rest easy in your mind. You
+sha&#8217;n&#8217;t be followed in less than twenty-four hours,&#8221; said the farmer, as
+they went along.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Again I thank you from my heart. And now I have something else to say
+to you,&#8221; began Lyon Berners</p>
+
+<p>Then he paused, as finding a real difficulty in saying what he wished;
+for the truth is, that when Mr. Berners had called Mr. Nye aside for a
+private interview, he had intended to offer him a heavy bribe to connive
+at the escape of Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>Now, however, he found the farmer not exactly the sort of man to affront
+with the proffer of a bribe, or even scarcely of a reward; and yet he
+was a poor man who evidently needed <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_351" id="pg_351">351</a></span>money, and would probably always
+need it; for Farmer Nye, as has been shown in his championship of Sybil,
+was a man of impetuous emotions, hasty judgments, and reckless actions,
+and was always sure to be in troubles, social, domestic, and pecuniary.</p>
+
+<p>So Mr. Berners, while wishing to reward his services, felt a difficulty
+as to the manner of doing so.</p>
+
+<p>At length, however, he continued:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Nye, I said at the beginning of our talk, that I could tell you
+something to your advantage.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, and, bless my soul alive, haven&#8217;t you done it? I wonder if I
+could hear of anything more to my advantage than the chance of helping
+to resky that lady as I have felt for so much?&#8221; warmly inquired the
+farmer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have a generous and noble nature to look upon it in that light.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, I haven&#8217;t; but I&#8217;m a man, I reckon, and not a beast nor a devil,
+and that&#8217;s all about it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, farmer, I confess that when I first spoke to you, I thought of
+offering you a heavy bribe to allow us to go free, and that was what I
+meant when I said I had something to propose to your advantage.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I&#8217;m glad you didn&#8217;t do it&mdash;that&#8217;s all.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am glad too, for now I know your magnanimous heart would have led you
+to serve us without reward, and even at great loss.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, that it would,&#8221; naively assented the farmer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And even so we accept and shall ever be grateful for your services,&#8221;
+added Lyon Berners, gravely. And all the while he was slily examining
+the contents of his pocketbook. At length he drew a five hundred dollar
+note from the compartment in which he knew he kept notes of that
+denomination, and he slipped it into a blank envelope, and held it ready
+in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>In another moment they were at the stable door, before <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_352" id="pg_352">352</a></span>which Sybil
+stood, leaning on the bowed neck of her own horse, while Robert Munson
+held the other horse.</p>
+
+<p>Before Lyon Berners could speak, Farmer Nye impetuously pushed past him,
+and rushed up to Sybil, pulled off his hat and put out his hand,
+exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Give me your hand, lady. I beg your pardon ten thousand times over for
+all I said and did to affront you, not knowing who you was. But now,
+lady, here is a man who don&#8217;t <i>believe</i> you to be innocent, because he
+<i>knows</i> that you are so, and who will fight for you as long as he has
+got a whole bone left in his body, and shed his blood for you as long as
+he has got a drop left in his veins.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Overcome by this ardent testimonial to her innocence, Sybil burst into
+tears, and took the rough hand that had been held out to her, and wept
+over it, and pressed it warmly to her lips, and then to her heart.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, that I will. I&#8217;ll die before a hair of your head shall be hurt,&#8221;
+exclaimed the farmer, utterly overwhelmed and blubbering.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Lyon Berners was explaining to Robert Munson that they had
+found a friend and helper in Farmer Nye; but advising Munson to try to
+infuse enough of discretion into the impetuous mind of Nye to modify his
+reckless actions.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now, dear boy,&#8221; added Mr. Berners, &#8220;I will not speak to you of
+reward for this great service; but this I <i>will</i> say, that henceforth
+you shall be to me as a younger brother, and I shall take charge of your
+future fortunes even as though you were the son of my mother.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are too generous, sir; and indeed I want no recompense whatever,&#8221;
+answered Robert Munson, sincerely.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Berners went over to his wife and lifted her into her saddle;
+and when he had settled her comfortably in her seat, he mounted his own
+horse, and once more called Robert Munson to him.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_353" id="pg_353">353</a></span>&#8220;Good-bye, and God bless you, Robert,&#8221; he said, warmly shaking hands
+with the young man.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And you too, sir! and you too, sir!&#8221; feelingly responded Munson.</p>
+
+<p>And then Sybil called him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good-bye, dear Bob. I will remember you and love you as long as I live
+for this,&#8221; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And so will I you, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; he answered, and turned away to hide his
+tears.</p>
+
+<p>Lastly Lyon Berners rode up to where Farmer Nye stood apart.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Farewell, Farmer Nye! And may you indeed fare as well as your great
+heart deserves all your life,&#8221; said Lyon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The same to you and your dear wife, sir, with all my soul in the
+prayer!&#8221; responded the farmer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And here, Mr. Nye, is a testimonial&mdash;I mean a memorandum&mdash;that is to
+say, something I wish you to take for my sake.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A keepsake, sir?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you choose to consider it so, yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What might it be sir?&#8221; inquired the farmer, receiving from Mr. Berners
+the small envelope containing the large note.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It <i>might</i> be a lock of my wife&#8217;s hair, or it might be my miniature;
+but whatever it is, hold it tight, and do not look at it until you get
+back to the house.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right, sir; but you have raised my curiosity,&#8221; replied the farmer,
+as he carefully deposited his unsuspected little fortune into the pocket
+of his waistcoat.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now direct me as to how I shall find the best and most private road
+westward,&#8221; said Lyon, gathering the reins in his hands.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are facing east now. Ride straight on for about a hundred yards,
+till you come to the cross-roads, then take the road to your left, and
+follow it for about an eighth of a <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_354" id="pg_354">354</a></span>mile until you come to another road
+still on your left; take that and follow it as far as you please, for it
+leads straight west.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank you again and again! We shall do very well now. Good-bye, all;
+and God bless you forever!&#8221; exclaimed Lyon Berners, waiving his hat in
+adieus to the friends he was leaving behind.</p>
+
+<p>Then, the husband and wife rode forth in the night together.</p>
+
+<p>Before we follow them, we will see how it fared with the faithful
+friends who had risked so much in their service.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="PURSUIT_82068" id="PURSUIT_82068"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h2>
+<h3>THE PURSUIT.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">Horse! horse! * * * * and chase!&mdash;<span class="sc">Marnion.</span></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Farmer Nye and Robert Munson remained standing with their heads
+uncovered, looking after the fugitives until the sound of their horses&#8217;
+hoofs died away in the distance, and then they turned towards each other
+and impulsively grasped each the other&#8217;s hand, and shook hands as
+comrades.</p>
+
+<p>Next Farmer Nye turned to the negroes who were squatting about the
+stable-yard, wondering, no doubt, at all they had seen and heard; and he
+told them to disperse to their quarters, and keep still tongues in their
+heads, if they wished to keep their heads on their shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now we&#8217;ll go back to the house and get a drop of home-brewed, and
+go to bed,&#8221; said the farmer, starting off at a brisk trot, and beckoning
+his young companion to follow him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I mean to manage so as Old Purley shall be made to believe as the
+prisoner escaped through <i>his</i> door,&#8221; said Munson, as he came up.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_355" id="pg_355">355</a></span>&#8220;That&#8217;ll be bully!&#8221; said the farmer.</p>
+
+<p>They went back to the house, consulted the tall old-fashioned clock in
+the corner of the hall, found it was just eleven, and they took their
+drop of &#8220;home-brewed,&#8221; and went to rest.</p>
+
+<p>Robert Munson, with design, threw himself down upon the mattress outside
+the carefully locked door of the chamber, from which he had helped his
+prisoners to escape. And being very much fatigued, he fell asleep, and
+slept long and late.</p>
+
+<p>The first persons up in the house were the farmer&#8217;s daughter Kitty, and
+her old maiden aunt Molly.</p>
+
+<p>They came down from their attic chambers and walked on tiptoes past the
+sleeping Munson, so as not to wake him. They went down stairs and had
+breakfast got ready, but had to wait very long before either the farmer
+or the young man appeared. When they did come down, however, and
+apologized for their tardiness, the women inquired for the other guests,
+and were told that they must not be disturbed.</p>
+
+<p>The day passed slowly.</p>
+
+<p>It was late in the afternoon before old Purley awoke and finding the
+room quite dark, and feeling himself still very drowsy, he merely turned
+over and went to sleep again. And still overpowered by the combined
+action of the laudanum and the beer-opium and hops, he slept on until a
+very late hour of the night, when at length he awoke; but perceiving
+that all was quite dark and still, he lay quietly in bed, thinking this
+was about the longest night he had ever spent in his life. At last he
+got up, and opened the blinds to see if it was near day. And perceiving
+by a faint light streak along the horizon that the morning was at hand,
+he opened the other blinds, and began to dress himself as well as he
+could in the semi-darkness.</p>
+
+<p>By the time he had got on all his clothes, the day was a little lighter,
+and he went into the passage to see after the safety of his prisoner.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_356" id="pg_356">356</a></span>He found young Munson stretched upon the mattress immediately before
+the door.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Quite correct,&#8221; he thought; but he resolved to go up to the door to
+make a closer examination. First he saw that the key had been taken out
+of the lock.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; he said to himself. &#8220;Munson has obeyed orders, and put the
+key in his pocket.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And then still farther to assure himself of the safety of his charge, he
+bent over the sleeping form of Munson and tried the lock, and found it
+fast.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Quite correct! Nothing has been neglected. He is a careful officer, and
+shall be well reported at head-quarters,&#8221; he muttered, with much
+satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>But to reach the lock at all, he had been obliged to bend so far over
+the sleeping body, that now, in trying to recover his perpendicular, he
+lost his balance, and fell heavily, nearly crushing and quite waking
+Munson, who, in struggling to throw off the burden, recognized old
+Purley, but pretending to mistake him for Mr. Berners, grappled him by
+the throat, exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No you don&#8217;t you villain! You don&#8217;t get her out of this room except
+over my dead body!&#8221; And he shook him furiously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s me&mdash;me&mdash;me, Bob! Do-do-don&#8217;t choke me to death!&#8221; gasped old
+Purley, as he struggled and freed his throat for an instant from the
+grasp of Robert&#8217;s hands.</p>
+
+<p>But Munson throttled and shook him more furiously than before, singing
+out:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Help! murder! arson! Here&#8217;s this man reskying of my prisoner!&#8221; And he
+shook him until his teeth rattled in his head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my good lord! I shall be strangled with the best of intention,&#8221;
+sputtered the terrified and half-suffocated victim, as for an another
+instant he freed his throat from his assailant&#8217;s clasp, and breathed
+again.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_357" id="pg_357">357</a></span>&#8220;Help! murder! fire!&#8221; yelled Munson, renewing the attack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bob! Bob! It&#8217;s me, I tell you!&mdash;Purley! Wake up and look at me! You&#8217;re
+asleep yet! And oh, my lord! the man will murder me by mistake before I
+can make him know,&#8221; panted the poor wretch, desperately striving to keep
+off the strangling hands of his assailant, and growing weak in the
+struggle.</p>
+
+<p>And meanwhile the household, aroused by the outcry, had hurried on their
+clothes, and now came pouring into the passage&mdash;the women down the
+garret stairs, and the men up the lower back stairs.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now I&#8217;ve got you!&#8221; exclaimed Munson, triumphantly, as he knocked the
+feet from under Purley, and threw him down upon the floor. Then stooping
+to gaze at the fallen foe, he condescended at length to recognize him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! is it you, Mr. Purley? I really thought it was Mr. Berner, reskying
+of his wife!&#8221; said Munson, with provoking coolness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I wish you would make surer another time, you stupid donkey!
+You&#8217;ve all but killed me!&#8221; panted the victim, wiping the perspiration
+from his face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is the matter?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s all this?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is anybody hurt?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Such were the hasty questions put by old Farmer Nye and his family, as
+they gathered around the scene of action.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes! I&#8217;m choked and shaken nearly to death!&#8221; gasped old Purley, in a
+fury.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was done for the best,&#8221; said Munson, soothingly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, for the best, indeed! Set fire to you, would you murder an innocent
+man out of kindness?&#8221; fiercely demanded Parley.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You see, he fell upon me, and woke me up. It was so <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_358" id="pg_358">358</a></span>dark here, with
+the window shutters closed, that I could not see well, so I mistook him
+for Mr. Berners broke loose and trying to carry off his wife,&#8221; explained
+Robert Munson.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! well, I reckon you&#8217;re not hurt much; only startled and shaken a
+bit! Come and take a glass of morning bitters. That will set you up
+again, and give you an appetite for your breakfast besides,&#8221; said the
+farmer, kindly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank you. I&#8217;ll take the bitters, if you will send them up here! I
+mustn&#8217;t leave this floor until I see my charge out. And it&#8217;s time for
+them to get up too!&#8221; replied Purley, rising and knocking loudly at the
+chamber door.</p>
+
+<p>Of course there was no response.</p>
+
+<p>He knocked again and again, more loudly than before, and he called to
+them in a high tone.</p>
+
+<p>But still there was no answer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good Lord, how sound they sleep! I will go around to the other door and
+rap there. It is near the head of their bed, and they will be sure to
+hear me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And so saying, old Purley went to the adjoining chamber, where he had
+slept, dragged his mattress away from the door, and drew the key from
+his pocket, when, to his astonishment and terror, he found the door
+unlocked!</p>
+
+<p>Without waiting an instant, from any scruples of politeness, he rushed
+into the room.</p>
+
+<p>To his horror and amazement, he found it empty!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;ve gone! they&#8217;ve fled!&#8221; frantically exclaimed Purley, rushing back
+into the passage, where he found the other bailiff still on guard before
+the fast door, and the farmer waiting with the glass of bitters in his
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Fled!&#8221; echoed Munson. &#8220;How can that be? This door as fast as it is?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Blast &#8217;em! they&#8217;ve had the impudence to escape right through my door!
+and right over my body!&#8221; panted Purley.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_359" id="pg_359">359</a></span>&#8220;Then you can&#8217;t blame <i>me</i>!&#8221; naively put in Munson.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who says I can?&#8221; angrily demanded Purley. &#8220;I can&#8217;t blame anybody! And
+how the demon they managed to pick the lock and open the door, and climb
+over me, <i>I</i> don&#8217;t know! Nor have we time to inquire!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Take your bitters, Mr. Purley,&#8221; said the host, offering the glass.</p>
+
+<p>The bailiff quaffed the offered restorative at a draught, and then said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Farmer, saddle a couple of horses for us, directly! We must pursue them
+without loss of time! They can not have got very far ahead of us in
+these few hours!&#8221; he added, being totally unconscious of the length of
+time he had slept, and the whole day he had lost.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My&mdash;my horses will be busy all day hauling wood,&#8221; replied the farmer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t care! I order you in the name of the Commonwealth of Virginia, to
+saddle those horses, and place them at our disposal to pursue our
+prisoner,&#8221; said Purley, in a peremptory tone.</p>
+
+<p>The farmer was quite uncertain whether or not that was an order he was
+bound to obey; and besides, he was very unwilling that his horses should
+be taken off their work at all, and especially for the purpose of
+pursuing Sybil Berners. But still he felt that it would be safer for
+her, if not for himself, if he should yield to the demand of the
+sheriff&#8217;s officer; he could put him on the wrong track, by counselling
+him to ride towards the east, while he knew that Sybil was far on her
+route to the west.</p>
+
+<p>So without further demur, he went out to execute the order.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And, farmer, when you have seen to that matter, I want you to gather
+all your men and maids into the breakfast room, that I may question them
+while I eat my breakfast, so as not now to lose a moment,&#8221; he called
+after his retreating host.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_360" id="pg_360">360</a></span>All this was done as he directed. And when the family and the house
+servants were assembled in the breakfast room, and Purley examined and
+cross-examined them as to whether they had seen or heard anything of the
+prisoner or her husband during the night, they could all answer with
+perfect truth, that they had not. So old Purley got no satisfaction from
+them.</p>
+
+<p>The bailiff hastily dispatched his breakfast, and the horses being
+ready, he called to his young assistant to follow him, and he went out
+and got into his saddle.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where the deuce am I to go after them, when there are so many roads to
+choose from?&#8221; groaned old Purley, in sore perplexity of spirit.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Would they not be likely to make straight for the east and a seaport?&#8221;
+inquired farmer Nye suggestively.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To be sure they would,&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Purley. &#8220;So now, Munson, we will
+go right back upon the road we came last night,&#8221; he added, being still
+in ignorance as to the lost day.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And as the stable boy told me, they had taken the wagon horses to ride,
+and those horses were then fairly knocked up with fatigue, while ours
+are now quite fresh, we may very soon overtake them,&#8221; put in Munson,
+artfully.</p>
+
+<p>And waving their hats in adieux to the farmer and his family, they rode
+off at full speed in pursuit of the fugitives. But they had not ridden
+more than a hundred yards, and had but just reached the four
+cross-roads, when they were both startled by a shrill&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Whist!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They drew their reins, and looked around just as the head of a negro boy
+emerged from the bushes, exclaiming</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hallo, Marster!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who are you? What do you want?&#8221; demanded Purley.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m Bill, and I don&#8217;t want nothing. But I know what <i>you</i> want!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_361" id="pg_361">361</a></span>&#8220;What do I want?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To know which way the run-a-way lady and gemplan went.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do know, they went this way,&#8221; said Purley, pointing straight before
+him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, they didn&#8217;t neyther! they was too sharp for that, they said how you
+would be sure to search for &#8217;em on that road, just as you are a doing of
+now; so they would take another road.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That was likely too! Boy, do you know which road they took?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir<i>ree</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then tell me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will if you&#8217;ll give me a quarter,&#8221; was the moderate conditions of
+this treaty.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Here, take it!&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Parley, pitching the boy the silver coin
+in question.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thanky, Marster,&#8221; grinned the lad, picking up the treasure.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now tell me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, Marster, they went along that left han&#8217; road till they got to the
+next turning, and then they turned to the left ag&#8217;in and kept on that
+tact towards that gap in the mountain where you see the sun set in the
+arternoon.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How did you know all this, boy?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I was out coon-hunting when I heerd them talking, and I listened and
+heerd all about it. And as I couldn&#8217;t find any coons, I follyed arter
+them; and their horses was <i>tired</i>, as they kept on complainin&#8217; to each
+other. And so they went slow and I could keep up long of &#8217;em.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How far did you follow them?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, Marster! I couldn&#8217;t help it! I follyed of &#8217;em all night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And they never discovered you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, sar, they never did. I was barefooted and didn&#8217;t <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_362" id="pg_362">362</a></span>make no noise,
+and keeped nigh the bushes on the roadside, and so they never found me
+out.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And where did you part from them?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, Marster, I didn&#8217;t part from &#8217;em till I seed whar they stopped.
+And if you&#8217;ll take me up behind you, I&#8217;ll show you the way to the place
+where they are hiding. It an&#8217;t fur from here, not so very fur, I mean.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! ho! that is good! So, so, my run-a-ways! I shall nab you, shall I?&#8221;
+exclaimed Purley in triumph, as he beckoned the negro imp to jump up
+behind him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But stop!&#8221; said Robert Munson, in an agony of terror for the safety of
+Sybil Berners. &#8220;Stop! What are you about to do? You are about to abduct
+Farmer Nye&#8217;s slave!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you belong to Farmer Nye, boy? Though it don&#8217;t matter a bit who you
+belong to. I&#8217;ll take anybody I can lay hold of to guide me to the
+hiding-place of my prisoner&mdash;in the name of the Commonwealth of
+Virginia,&#8221; said this new bailiff, who seemed to think that formula of
+words, like an absolute monarch&#8217;s signet ring, was warranty for every
+sort of proceeding.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I don&#8217;t belong to nobody. I&#8217;s fee, and so&#8217;s mammy. We an&#8217;t got no
+master, and I an&#8217;t got no daddy to lord it over me!&#8221; put in the boy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s right, jump up behind,&#8221; said the elder bailiff. And as soon as
+little Bill was safely perched up in the rear of his patron, the latter
+put spurs to his horse and gallopped off at full speed.</p>
+
+<p>They went down the left hand, or south fork of the cross-roads, and
+gallopped on until they reached the branch road leading west. They
+turned into that road and pursued it mile after mile, through field and
+forest, mountain pass and valley plain, until, late in the afternoon,
+they reached another mountain range, and heard the roaring of a great
+torrent. They entered the black gap, and slowly and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_363" id="pg_363">363</a></span>cautiously made
+their way through it. By the time they had emerged from the pass, the
+night was pitch dark.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How shall we ever find our way?&#8221; inquired Purley who, fatigued and half
+famished, was ready to sink with exhaustion.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you see that then gabble ind stickin&#8217; up through the trees?&#8221;
+inquired the boy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I see it!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, him and her is in there?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Are you sure?&#8221; inquired Purley, anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Here I is, Marster! If him and her ar&#8217;n&#8217;t in there, here I is in your
+power, and you may skin me alive!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right!&#8221; exclaimed Purley, and dismounting from his horse, he
+advanced towards the thicket, followed by Munson and the negro boy.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<a name="THE_FUGITIVES_13483" id="THE_FUGITIVES_13483"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXV.</h2>
+<h3>THE FUGITIVES.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table style="margin: 0 auto 2em auto;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">They may not set a foot within their fields,<br />
+They may not pull a sapling from their hills,<br />
+They may not enter their fair mansion house.&mdash;<span class="sc">Howitt.</span></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Lyon and Sybil had ridden on through the darkness, over that wild
+country road. Their horses had had a very hard day&#8217;s work in the wagon
+harness, and had not recovered from their fatigue. They were still very
+tired, and all unaccustomed to the saddle. The road was also very rough,
+and the night very dark. Their progress was therefore difficult and
+slow.</p>
+
+<p>Unconscious of being followed and overheard, they talked freely of their
+plans. Their prospects of final escape were not now nearly so hopeful as
+they had been on their two <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_364" id="pg_364">364</a></span>former attempts. They were now undisguised,
+and unprovided for the journey, except with money and a change of
+clothing. For necessary food they would have to stop at houses, and thus
+incur some degree of danger. All this they discussed as their horses
+slowly toiled along the rugged road up hill and down, through woods and
+fields, until they came near that mountain pass that they had been dimly
+seeing before them all night long and that looked like a grey cleft in a
+black wall.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It must be near morning now. But I have not a very clear idea where we
+are. I shall be glad when it is light if it is only to consult my map
+and compass,&#8221; said Lyon, uneasily.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I never was on this side of the mountain before, but it does seem to me
+that that must be a spur of the Black Ridge which we see before us,&#8221;
+suggested Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I was thinking the very same thing,&#8221; added Lyon. &#8220;But if that is so, we
+must have wandered far out of our way.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And hush! Don&#8217;t you hear something?&#8221; inquired Sybil, when they had
+ridden a little farther on.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No; what is it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Listen! I want to know if you recognize it,&#8221; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hear a faint, distant roaring, as of a water-fall,&#8221; he answered,
+stopping his horse to hear the better.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is our Black Torrent!&#8221; exclaimed Sybil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good Heaven! Then we have wandered out of our way with a vengeance.
+However, there is no help for it now! We must go on, or stop here until
+it is light enough to consult the compass.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And at any rate, Lyon, no one will think of looking for us so near
+home,&#8221; she added.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is true,&#8221; he admitted.</p>
+
+<p>And they rode on slowly, looking about as well as they <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_365" id="pg_365">365</a></span>could through
+the darkness, for a convenient place on which to dismount from the jaded
+steeds.</p>
+
+<p>Their path now lay through that deep mountain pass. Steep precipices
+arose on either side. They picked their way slowly and carefully through
+it, until they entered a crooked path leading down the side of a thickly
+wooded hill. Here they rode on, a little more at their ease, until they
+reached the bottom of the hill and the edge of the wood, and came out
+upon an old forsaken road, running along the shores of a deep and rapid
+river, with another mountain range behind.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, Heaven bless us! here we are!&#8221; exclaimed Lyon Berners, reining up
+his horse and looking around himself in a ludicrous state of mind, made
+up of surprise, dismay, and resignation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; on the shores of the Black River, at the head of our own Black
+Valley,&#8221; chimed in Sybil, in a tone of voice in which there was more of
+satisfaction than of disappointment. Poor Sybil was sentimental and
+illogical, like all her sex.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But at a point at which, I may venture to say, that even you, its
+owner, never reached before,&#8221; added Lyon, as he touched up his horse and
+led the way up the road, still looking about as well as he could through
+the darkness, for a place in which to stop and rest their horses.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, as they rode slowly onward, they heard approaching them from
+the opposite direction the sound of a wagon and horse, accompanied by a
+human voice, singing:</p>
+
+<table summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left">&#8220;Brothers and sisters there will meet,<br />
+&nbsp;Brothers and sisters there will meet,<br />
+&nbsp;Brothers and sisters there will meet&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Will meet, to part no more!&#8221;</span></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, bress de Lord! so dey will. And all departed friends will meet,
+and meet to part no more! <span class="sc">Glory</span>!&#8221; <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_366" id="pg_366">366</a></span>rang out the voice of the singer, who
+seemed to be working himself up into enthusiasm.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is only some negro with his team,&#8221; said Lyon Berners, to soothe the
+spirits of Sybil, which always took the alarm at the approach of any
+stranger.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; but what an hour for a negro, or for any one else but fugitives
+like ourselves, to be out,&#8221; said Sybil, doubtingly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, he is making an early start for market perhaps. It <i>must</i> be near
+morning.&#8221;</p>
+
+<table summary=""><tr><td>
+<p><span style="margin-left: 0.5em; text-align: left;">&#8220;Oh, there will be glory&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;">Glory! glory! glory!&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;">Oh, there will be glory</span><br />
+Around the throne of God!&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>sang the unseen singer, making the mountain caves and glens ring with
+his melody.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; bress Marster! there <span class="sc">WILL</span> be Glories and Hallelujahs all through
+heaven,&#8221; he added; &#8220;for&mdash;</p>
+
+<table summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style="text-align:left; text-indent:-0.3em">&#8220;Saints and angels there will meet,<br />
+Saints and angels there will meet,<br />
+Saints and angels there will meet&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Will meet, to part no more.&#8221;</span></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&#8220;And me and my young missis there will meet! And meet to part no more!
+<span class="sc">Glory</span>!&#8221; added the singer, with a sudden shout.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lyon, that&#8217;s our Joe!&#8221; exclaimed Sybil, in joyful surprise.</p>
+
+<p>The cart and horses now loomed dimly through the darkness, being almost
+upon them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Joe!&#8221; called out Sybil, in a gleeful voice&mdash;&#8220;Joe!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who dar?&#8221; answered the man, in affright.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is I! Sybil, Joe!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my good gracious Lord in heaven! it&#8217;s her spirit as is calling me,
+and she must be dead!&#8221; gasped the man, in a quavering voice.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_367" id="pg_367">367</a></span>By this time the two horses were beside the cart, upon the seat of
+which the driver sat in an extremity of terror.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Joe, don&#8217;t be alarmed! It is Mrs. Berners herself who speaks to you,
+and I am with her,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, soothingly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Marse Lyon! Is it ralely and truly her herself and you yourself?&#8221;
+inquired the man, very doubtingly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Really and truly Sybil and myself, Joe.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! Lord! how you did scare me!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Compose yourself, Joe, and tell me what you are doing here at this time
+of the morning.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Marse Lyon, sir, I came arter the housekeeping truck as you left
+here, which I couldn&#8217;t get a chance to fetch it before, &#8217;cause I was
+afraid o&#8217; &#8217;citin&#8217; &#8217;spicion.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And have you the things in that cart?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Marse.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then hold on for a moment, and spread the mattress on the bottom of the
+cart for your young mistress to lie down upon and rest, while you and I
+have a little talk.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Joe promptly obeyed this order; and when the rude bed was ready, Lyon
+lifted Sybil from her seat and laid her upon it. The tired horses were
+then relieved from their saddles and turned loose for a while. And then
+Mr. Berners and Joe sat down by the roadside to consult.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And first I want you to tell me, Joe, whether our sojourn at the
+Haunted Chapel ever was found out,&#8221; said Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lor, no, sir! it never were even suspicioned! quite contrary wise,
+indeed.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How so?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, it was &#8217;ported &#8217;round as you was bofe at Marster Capping
+Pendulum&#8217;s all the time, which when himself was taxed with it, he never
+let on as you wasn&#8217;t there; quite contrary wise, as I said afore.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But how now?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_368" id="pg_368">368</a></span>&#8220;Well, he up and &#8217;fied &#8217;em all, and said his house was his cassil,
+which he would shelter any one he pleased, and specially a noble and
+injured lady.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;High heart! I thank him!&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Berners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Which &#8217;fiance you see, sir, confarmed everybody in the faith that you
+was bofe hid in his house, so artfully as even the sarch-warranters as
+went there couldn&#8217;t find you. And so, sir, nobody, from first to last,
+has once said &#8216;Haunted Chapel.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Joe, how far are we from the Haunted Chapel?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not more &#8217;n a mile, sir, from the little path that leads up to it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, I think we had better go there again and rest to-day, and resume
+our journey to-night. There can be no safer place.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No whar in all the world, sir.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then we will go at once. Throw the saddles into the cart, at your
+mistress&#8217; feet, so as not to crowd her. I will then drive the cart, and
+you may lead the two riding horses after us,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, going at
+once to the side of the rude vehicle where Sybil lay in so deep a sleep
+that she did not wake, even when he mounted the seat and started the
+springless cart jolting along the rough road.</p>
+
+<p>Joe led the saddle horses close behind, and so they went on.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Joe,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, &#8220;I hope that all things go on well at home.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As well as can be, sir, marser and missus being away. Capping Pendulum,
+he shows his powerful &#8217;torney, and tends to the &#8217;state. And Missus
+Winterose and her darters minds the house. Only they&#8217;s in constant
+terrors all along o&#8217; that band o&#8217; bugglers.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Band of burglars, Joe?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir, and highway robbers as well.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_369" id="pg_369">369</a></span>&#8220;Indeed! Joe, I have twice lately heard this band spoken of. Does such
+a one really exist?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, sir, it <i>do</i>. The neighborhood never was so mislested with
+robbers since a neighborhood it has been. Why, sir, Mr. Morgan&#8217;s new
+store, at Blackville was broke open and robbed of about twelve hundred
+dollars&#8217; worth of goods in one night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And none of it recovered!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, sir. And, sir, Capping Pendulum&#8217;s own house was entered and robbed
+of jewelry and plate to the tune of about two thousand dollars.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am very sorry for that! And no clue to the robbers?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not the leastest in the world, sir! And no later&#8217;n last night, Judge
+Beresford was riding home from the village, where he had been at the
+tavern, playing cards with a lot of gentlemen, and had won a deal of
+money, which he had about him, when, in the middle of the long woods
+below his own house, he was stopped by two men; one who seized his
+bridle, and one who pinted a pistol at his head, and gave him his choice
+of his money or his life. The Judge he choose his life, and handed over
+his winnins.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not sorry for him! A man who gains money in that way deserves to
+lose it. But I <i>am</i> astounded at all that you have told me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir! and the old ladies in charge of Black Hall is more &#8217;stounded
+than you are, sir; being &#8217;stounded to that degree that they sleep with
+the dogs in the room; long of &#8217;em.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This should be seen to. There should be a vigilance committee. But here
+we are at the path, Joe, and my wife is still in a deep sleep; and I do
+not wish to wake her; nor can we drive the cart through the thicket.
+Hold! I&#8217;ll tell you what we can do. We can take the mattress by its four
+corners, and carry her on it to the chapel. If we are careful, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_370" id="pg_370">370</a></span>we need
+not even wake her,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, as he stopped the cart and got
+down from his seat.</p>
+
+<p>Joe tied the two saddle horses to one of the trees, and came around to
+the cart to help his master.</p>
+
+<p>Between them they cautiously lifted the mattress, and bore it along
+towards the opening of the path.</p>
+
+<p>On first being moved, Sybil sighed once and turned over and then she
+fell into a still deeper sleep, from which she did not again awake even
+when they bore her into the dreadful Haunted Chapel, and laid her down,
+still on the mattress, in the old place, to the right of the altar.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Poor child! She was so tired, so worn out in body and mind, that she
+could scarcely sit her horse. Yet she never once complained, nor should
+I have even surmised the extent of her prostration, were it not for this
+coma-like sleep. She will not wake now. We may safely leave her alone
+while we go back and bring our saddle horses here, for we must bring
+them in order to hide them to-day and use them to-night. And you, Joe,
+after you have helped me to bring the horses through the thicket, must
+go to Blackville and buy food and bring it to us to-night before we
+resume our journey.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir; and meantimes, there is some crackers and cheese and
+sweetmeats, and likewise a bottle of port wine, in the cart, as you left
+in the chapel when you went away.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, indeed! that will be a godsend, Joe! We must bring that back to the
+chapel with us when we come,&#8221; said Mr. Berners, as with his servant he
+bent his steps back to the thicket path.</p>
+
+<p>Sybil, left alone in the interior of the haunted chapel, slept on
+soundly for some little time. She had not really been quite unconscious
+of her removal thither. She had half waked on being taken from the cart,
+but had immediately fallen asleep again; though she was still vaguely
+conscious of being borne along to some place of safety and repose, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_371" id="pg_371">371</a></span>and
+that her devoted husband and her faithful servant were her
+bearers&mdash;vaguely conscious also of being laid down upon some level place
+of perfect rest, with a roof above her head; but beyond this she knew
+nothing, cared nothing, being too utterly prostrated in mind and body to
+rouse herself to any utterances, or even to save herself from sinking to
+sleep.</p>
+
+<p>How long she had slept she never could tell, when at length she was
+suddenly and fearfully aroused&mdash;aroused to a degree of wakefulness that
+neither the noisy jolting over the rocky road, nor the painful dragging
+through the thorny thicket had been able to effect.</p>
+
+<p>And yet it was but by a touch&mdash;the touch of an ice-cold little hand
+passing lightly over her face.</p>
+
+<p>She started up in a panic and glared around. All seemed black as pitch,
+and at first she could see nothing; but as she strained her eyes, she
+dimly discerned the shapes of the gothic windows, with the dark night
+sky and the ghostly trees beyond; and she recognized the Haunted Chapel!</p>
+
+<p>They had brought her here while she was sleeping; and now, &#8220;in the dead
+waste and middle of the night,&#8221; she had waked up, alone in this
+demon-peopled place.</p>
+
+<p>She tried to cry out in her fear; but her voice died in her throat, and
+she sank back upon her mattress and closed her eyes, lest some shape of
+horror should blast them.</p>
+
+<p>Then again she felt hands at work about her person. They were creeping
+under her shoulders and under her limbs; they were lifting her from her
+mattress. Her eyes flared open in wild affright, and she saw two black
+shrouded forms, the one at her head the other at her feet.</p>
+
+<p>She tried to cry out in her agony of terror; but again her voice died
+away in her bosom, and all her powers seemed palsied. They raised her up
+and bore her on&mdash;great heaven! whither?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_372" id="pg_372">372</a></span>To the open door of the vault, from whose haunted depths a spectral
+light gleamed!</p>
+
+<p>They bore her down the dreadful steps, and laid her on the deadly floor!</p>
+
+<p>The iron door clanged loudly to, resounding through the dismal arches.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We have her now!&#8221; muttered a hoarse voice. A hollow laugh responded.</p>
+
+<p>And Sybil swooned with horror!</p>
+
+<p>Sybil&#8217;s further adventures will be related in the sequel to this work,
+to be immediately published, under the title of &#8220;<span class="sc">Tried For Her Life</span>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p style="margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:3em; text-align:center;">THE END</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cruel As The Grave, by 
+Mrs. Emma D. E. N. Southworth
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+Project Gutenberg's Cruel As The Grave, by Mrs. Emma D. E. N. Southworth
+
+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: Cruel As The Grave
+
+Author: Mrs. Emma D. E. N. Southworth
+
+Release Date: December 9, 2007 [EBook #23789]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CRUEL AS THE GRAVE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                           CRUEL AS THE GRAVE
+
+                                 A NOVEL.
+
+                    BY MRS. EMMA D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH.
+  AUTHOR OF "SELF-MADE," "ISHMAEL," "SELF-RAISED," "FAIR PLAY," "VIVIA,"
+  "MISSING BRIDE," "A BEAUTIFUL FIEND," "CHANGED BRIDES," "RETRIBUTION,"
+    "HOW HE WON HER," "A NOBLE LORD," "BRIDE'S FATE," "FALLEN PRIDE,"
+        "LADY OF THE ISLE," "THE MAIDEN WIDOW," "ALLWORTH ABBEY,"
+       "GYPSY'S PROPHECY," "LOST HEIRESS," "WIDOW'S SON," "INDIA,"
+          "THREE BEAUTIES," "BRIDE OF LLEWELLYN," "BRIDAL EVE,"
+           "DISCARDED DAUGHTER," "FATAL SECRET," "TWO SISTERS,"
+                "CURSE OF CLIFTON," "TRIED FOR HER LIFE,"
+                  "PHANTOM WEDDING," "LOVE'S LABOR WON,"
+                   "FORTUNE SEEKER," "FATAL MARRIAGE,"
+                   "MOTHER-IN-LAW," "CHRISTMAS GUEST,"
+                    "FAMILY DOOM," "WIFE'S VICTORY."
+
+
+                        "He to whom
+               I gave my heart, with all its wealth of love,
+               Forsakes me for another."--MEDEA.
+
+               "And we saw Medea burning
+               At her nature's-planted stake."--BROWNING.
+
+
+                               NEW YORK:
+                  THE F. M. LUPTON PUBLISHING COMPANY,
+                       Nos. 72-76 Walker Street.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+                            Copyright, 1888,
+                     By T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS.
+                          Cruel as the Grave.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+                             CONTENTS.
+
+   Chapter                                                  Page
+
+         I.--THE BERNERS OF THE BURNING HEARTS                21
+
+        II.--JOHN LYON HOWE                                   26
+
+       III.--SYBIL BERNERS                                    32
+
+        IV.--THE BEAUTIFUL STRANGER                           45
+
+         V.--THE LANDLORD'S STORY                             48
+
+        VI.--ROSA BLONDELLE                                   59
+
+       VII.--DOWN IN THE DARK VALE                            71
+
+      VIII.--BLACK HALL                                       76
+
+        IX.--THE GUEST-CHAMBERS                               84
+
+         X.--THE JEALOUS BRIDE                                91
+
+        XI.--LOVE AND JEALOUSY                               104
+
+       XII.--"CRUEL AS THE GRAVE"                            112
+
+      XIII.--MORE THAN THE BITTERNESS OF DEATH               126
+
+       XIV.--THE FIRST FATAL HALLOW EVE                      132
+
+        XV.--THE MASQUERADE BALL                             142
+
+       XVI.--ON THE WATCH                                    147
+
+      XVII.--DRIVEN TO DESPERATION                           154
+
+     XVIII.--LYING IN WAIT                                   175
+
+       XIX.--SWOOPING DOWN                                   188
+
+        XX.--THE SEARCH                                      191
+
+       XXI.--SYBIL'S FLIGHT                                  198
+
+      XXII.--THE HAUNTED CHAPEL                              207
+
+     XXIII.--THE SOLITUDE IS INVADED                         218
+
+      XXIV.--THE VERDICT AND THE VISITOR                     225
+
+       XXV.--THE FALL OF THE DUBARRYS                        238
+
+      XXVI.--THE SPECTRE                                     250
+
+     XXVII.--FEARFUL WAITING                                 264
+
+    XXVIII.--A GHASTLY PROCESSION                            273
+
+      XXIX.--GHOSTLY AND MYSTERIOUS                          292
+
+       XXX.--FLIGHT AND PURSUIT                              306
+
+      XXXI.--THE ARREST                                      324
+
+     XXXII.--A DESPERATE VENTURE                             334
+
+    XXXIII.--A FATAL CRISIS                                  344
+
+     XXXIV.--THE PURSUIT                                     354
+
+      XXXV.--THE FUGITIVES                                   363
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                           CRUEL AS THE GRAVE
+
+                               CHAPTER I.
+
+                   THE BERNERS OF THE BURNING HEARTS.
+
+
+                 "Their love was like the lava flood
+                  That burns in Etna's breast of flame."
+
+
+Near the end of a dark autumn-day, not many years ago, a young couple,
+returning from their bridal tour arrived by steamer at the old city of
+Norfolk; and, taking a hack, drove directly to the best inn.
+
+They were attended by the gentleman's valet and the lady's maid, and
+encumbered besides with a great amount of baggage, so that altogether
+their appearance was so promising that the landlord of the "Anchor" came
+forward in person to receive them and bow them into the best parlor.
+
+The gentleman registered himself and his party as Mr. and Mrs. Lyon
+Berners, of Black Hall, Virginia, and two servants.
+
+"We shall need a private parlor and chamber communicating for our own
+use, and a couple of bedrooms for our servants," said Mr. Berners, as he
+handed his hat and cane to the bowing waiter.
+
+"They shall be prepared immediately," answered the polite landlord.
+
+"We shall remain here only for the night, and go on in the morning, and
+should like to have two inside and two outside places secured in the
+Staunton stage-coach for to-morrow."
+
+"I will send and take them at once, sir."
+
+"Thanks. We should also like tea got ready as soon as possible in our
+private parlor."
+
+"Certainly, sir. What would you like for tea?"
+
+"Oh, anything you please, so that it is nice and neatly served," said
+Mr. Berners, with a slightly impatient wave of his hand as if he would
+have been rid of his obsequious host.
+
+"Ah-ha! anything I please! It is easy to see what ails him. He lives
+upon love just now; but he'll care more about his bill of fare a few
+weeks hence," chuckled the landlord, as he left the public parlor to
+execute his guest's orders.
+
+The bridegroom was no sooner left alone with his bride than he seated
+her in the easiest arm-chair, and began with affectionate zeal to untie
+her bonnet-strings and unclasp her mantle.
+
+"You make my maid a useless appendage, dear Lyon," said the little lady,
+smiling up in his eyes.
+
+"Because I like to do everything for you myself, sweet Sybil; because I
+am jealous of every hand that touches your dear person, except my own,"
+he murmured tenderly as he removed her bonnet, and with all his
+worshipping soul glowing through his eyes, gazed upon her beautiful and
+beaming face.
+
+"You love me so much, dear Lyon! You love me so much! Yet not too much
+either! for oh! if you should ever cease to love me, or even if you were
+ever to love me _less_,--I--I dare not think what I should do!" she
+muttered in a long, deep, shuddering tone.
+
+"Sweet Sybil," he breathed, drawing her to his bosom and pressing warm
+kisses on her crimson lips--"sweetest Sybil, it is not possible for the
+human heart to love _more_ than I do, but I can never love you less!"
+
+"I do believe you, dearest Lyon! With all my heart I do!--Yet--yet--"
+
+"Yet what, sweet love?"
+
+She lifted her face from his bosom and gazing intently in his eyes,
+said:
+
+"Yet, Lyon, if you knew the prayer that I never fail to put up, day and
+night! What do you think it is for, dear Lyon?"
+
+"I know; it is for Heaven's blessing to rest upon our wedded lives."
+
+"Yes, my prayer is for that always, of course! but that is not what I
+mean now! That is not the stronger, stronger prayer which I offer up
+from the deeps of my spirit in almost an agony of supplication!"
+
+"And what is that prayer, so awful in its earnestness, dear love?"
+
+"Oh, Lyon! it is _that you may never love me less than now, or if you
+should, that I may never live to know it_," she breathed with an
+intensity of suppressed emotion that drew all the glowing color from her
+crimson cheeks and lips and left them pale as marble.
+
+"Why, you beautiful mad creature! You are a true daughter of your house!
+A Berners of the burning heart! A Berners of the boiling blood! A
+Berners of whom it has been said, that it is almost as fatal to be
+loved, as to be hated, by one of them! Dear Sybil! never doubt my love;
+never be jealous of me, if you would not destroy us both," he earnestly
+implored.
+
+"I do not doubt you, dearest Lyon; I am not jealous of you! What cause,
+indeed, have I to be so? But--but----"
+
+"But what, my darling?"
+
+"--Ever since I have been in this house, a darkness and coldness and
+weight has fallen upon my spirits, that I cannot shake off--a burden, as
+of some impending calamity! And as there is no calamity that can
+possibly affect me so much as the lessening of your love, I naturally
+think most of that," she answered, with a heavy sigh.
+
+"Dear love! this depression is only reaction! fatigue! the effect of
+this damp, dull, dreary room! We will change all this!" said Lyon
+Berners, cheerfully, as he pulled the bell-cord and rang a peal that
+presently brought the waiter to his presence.
+
+"Are our rooms ready?" shortly demanded Mr. Berners.
+
+"Just this moment ready, sir," answered the man, with a bow.
+
+"Gather up these articles, then, and show us to our rooms," said Mr.
+Berners, pointing to a collection of outer garments and travelling bags
+that occupied a centre-table.
+
+With another bow the man loaded himself with the personal effects of the
+guests and led the way up-stairs.
+
+Mr. Berners, drawing his wife's arm through his own, followed the waiter
+to a cheerful little private parlor, where the bright red carpet on the
+floor, the bright red curtains at the windows, the bright red covers of
+the chairs and sofas, the glowing coal fire in the grate, and above all
+the neatly spread tea table, with its snowy damask table-cloth, and its
+service of pure French china, invited the hungry and weary travellers to
+refreshment and repose.
+
+Through a pair of partly drawn sliding doors a vista was opened to a
+clean and quiet chamber, furnished to match the parlor, with the same
+bright-red carpet, window curtains, and chair covers, but also with a
+white-draperied tent-bedstead, with bed-pillows and coverings white and
+soft as swan's down. In the glow of the coal fire in the inner room sat
+and waited a pretty mulatto girl, Delia, or Dilly, the dressing maid of
+Mrs. Berners.
+
+On seeing her mistress enter the parlor, Dilly quickly arose and met
+her, and handed a chair and relieved the waiter of his burden of
+portable personal property, which she hastened to carry into the chamber
+to put away.
+
+"Bring in the tea immediately and send my own man Hannibal here to
+attend us," said the guest to the waiter, who promptly left the room to
+execute the orders.
+
+"Come, my darling! Take this easy-chair in the corner and make yourself
+comfortable! Here is a scene to inspire the saddest heart with
+cheerfulness," said the bridegroom cordially, as he drew forward the
+easy arm-chair and led his bride to it.
+
+She sank into the soft seat and smiled her satisfaction.
+
+In a few moments the waiters of the inn entered and arranged a delicious
+little repast upon the table and then withdrew, leaving Hannibal, the
+faithful servant of the bridegroom, to attend his master and mistress at
+their tea.
+
+The young pair sat down to the table. And in that quiet and cheerful
+scene of enjoyment, the young bride recovered her spirits. The transient
+shadow that had for a moment darkened the splendor of her joy, even as a
+passing cloud for an instant obscures the glory of the sun, had
+vanished, leaving her all smiles and gayety.
+
+To say that these wedded lovers were very happy, would scarcely express
+the delirium of pure joy in which they had dreamed away their days and
+nights for the last few weeks--joy that both were too young and untried
+to know could not last for ever, could not indeed even last long--joy so
+elevated in its insanity as almost to tempt some thunderbolt of
+malignant fate to fall upon it with destroying force, even as the highly
+rarefied air sometimes draws on the whirlwind and the storm.
+
+But then the story of their loves was rare and strange, and almost
+justified the intensity of their mutual devotion, and that story is
+briefly this:
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II.
+
+                            JOHN LYON HOWE.
+
+
+                "A brow half martial and half diplomatic,
+                 An eye upsoaring like an eagle's wing."
+
+
+John Lyon Howe was the younger son of a planter, residing in one of the
+wildest mountain regions in central Virginia. The elder Howe was blessed
+with a large family, and cursed with a heavily mortgaged estate--a
+combination of circumstances not unusual among the warm-hearted,
+generous and extravagant people of the Old Dominion.
+
+John Lyon Howe had been educated in the Law School of the University of
+Virginia, where, at the age of twenty-three, he graduated with the
+highest honors.
+
+Then, instead of commencing his professional life in one of the great
+Eastern cities, or striking out for the broad fields of enterprise
+opened in the Far West, young Howe, to the astonishment of all who were
+acquainted with the talents and ambition of the new lawyer, returned to
+his native county and opened his law office in Blackville, a small
+hamlet lying at the foot of the Black Valley, and enjoying the honor and
+profit of being the county-seat.
+
+But the young lawyer had strong motives for his actions. He had great
+talent, an intense passion for politics, and quite as much State pride
+as personal ambition. He wished to distinguish himself; yes, but not in
+Massachusetts or Minnesota, nor in any other place except in his native
+State, his dear old Virginia.
+
+Sometime to represent her in the National Congress, and to do her
+service and credit there, was the highest goal of his youthful
+aspirations.
+
+For this cause, he settled in the obscure hamlet of Blackville, and
+opened his law office in one of the basement rooms of the county
+court-house.
+
+While the courts were in session he attended them regularly, and did a
+good deal of business in the way of gratuitous counselling and pleading;
+advocating and defending with great ability and success the cause of the
+poor and oppressed, and winning much honor and praise, but very little
+money, not enough, indeed, to pay his office rent, or renew his napless
+hat and thread-bare coat.
+
+Besides his unprofitable professional labors, he engaged in equally
+unprofitable political contests.
+
+He took the liberal view of State craft, and sought to open the minds of
+his fellow-citizen to a just and wise policy, or what he, in his young
+enthusiasm, conceived to be such. He wrote stirring leaders for the
+local papers, and made rousing speeches at the political meetings.
+
+He was everywhere spoken of as a rising young man, who was sure to reach
+a high position some day. Yes! some day; but that desired day seemed
+very far distant to the desponding young lawyer.
+
+And to make his probation still more painful, he was in love! not as men
+are who are taken with a new face every year of their lives, but as the
+heroes of old used to be--for once and forever! profoundly,
+passionately, desperately in love, almost despairingly in love, since
+she whom he loved was at once the richest heiress, the greatest beauty,
+and the proudest lady in the whole community--Sybil Berners! Miss
+Berners, of Black Hall!--in social position as far above the briefless
+young lawyer as the sun above the earth; at least so said those who
+observed this presumptuous passion, and predicted for the young lover,
+should he ever really aspire to her hand, the fate of Phaeton, to be
+consumed in the splendor of her sphere, and cast down blackened to his
+native earth.
+
+Had they who cavilled at his high-placed love but known the truth; how
+she whom he so worshipped, on her part, adored him? But this he himself
+did not know, or even suspect. Had he possessed much less of a fine,
+high-toned sense of honor, he might, by wooing the lady, have found this
+out for himself; but he, an almost penniless young man, was much too
+proud to ask the hand of the wealthy heiress. Or had he possessed a
+little more personal vanity, he might have suspected the truth; for
+certainly there was not a handsomer man in the whole county than was
+this briefless young lawyer with the napless hat and thread-bare coat.
+His person was of that medium height and just proportions necessary to
+give perfect elegance of form and grace of motion. His features were
+classic, with the straight forehead, hooked nose, short upper lip, and
+pointed chin of the strong old Roman type. His complexion was fair, his
+eyes blue, and his hair and beard a golden auburn. Added to these
+attractions, there was an intense magnetic power in the gaze of his dark
+eyes, and in the tone of his deep voice, a power that few could resist,
+and certainly not Sybil Berners.
+
+But who and what besides heiress and beauty was Sybil Berners? To tell
+you all she was. I must first tell you something about her family, the
+"Berners of Black Hall."
+
+Theirs was an old family, and a historical name interwoven with the
+destinies of the two hemispheres. Their house was older than the history
+of the new world, and almost as ancient as the fables of the old world.
+
+They were among the first lords of the manor in Colonial Virginia, and
+they claimed descent from a ducal house whose patent of nobility dated
+back to the first months of the Norman Conquest of England.
+
+They had been great in history and in story; great in the field and the
+forum; great in the old country and in the new. They had been a brave,
+fierce, cruel, and despotic race, equally feared and hated at home and
+abroad, equally loved and trusted as well; for never were such dangerous
+foes or such devoted friends as were these Berners; no one ever loved
+as these Berners loved, or hated as they hated. In the intensity of
+their love or their hate they were capable of suffering or inflicting
+death; these Berners, whose friendship was almost as fatal as their
+enmity; these Berners, who "never spared man in their hate or woman in
+their love;" these Berners of the burning heart; these Berners of the
+boiling blood; these Berners of Black Hall; and whose sole
+representative now was Sybil, the last daughter of their line, who
+concentrated in her own ardent, intense nature all the most beautiful,
+all the most terrible attributes of her strong and fiery race.
+
+I said that she was the richest heiress as well as the most beautiful
+girl of the country.
+
+She was the inheritor of the famous Black Valley manor, holding besides
+its own home plantation, several of the most productive and valuable
+farms in the neighborhood.
+
+There is not in all the mountain region of Virginia a wilder, darker,
+gloomier glade than that forming the home manor of the Berners family,
+and known as the Black Valley. It is a long, deep, narrow vale, lying
+between high, steep ridges of iron-gray rock, half covered with a growth
+of deep-green stunted cedars.
+
+At the head or northern extremity of the vale springs a cascade, called,
+for the darkness of its color, the Black Torrent. It rushes, roaring,
+down the side of the precipice, now hiding under a heavy growth of
+evergreen, now bursting into light as it foams over the face of some
+rock, until at length it tumbles down to the foot of the mountain and
+flows along through the bottom of the Valley, until about half way down
+its length, it widens into a little lake, called, from its hue, the
+Black Water, or the Black Pond; then narrowing again, it flows on down
+past the little hamlet of Blackville, situated at the foot or southern
+extremity of the Black Valley.
+
+The ancient manor house, known as the Black Hall, stands on a rising
+ground on the west side of the Black Water with its old pleasure gardens
+running down to the very edge of the lake.
+
+It is a large, rambling, irregularly-formed old house, built of the iron
+gray rocks dug from the home quarries; and it is scarcely to be
+distinguished from the iron-gray precipices that tower all around it.
+
+The manor had been in the possession of the same family from the time of
+King James the First, who made a grant of the land to Reginald Berners,
+the first Lord of the Manor.
+
+Bertram Berners was the seventh in descent from Reginald. He married
+first a lady of high rank, the daughter of the colonial governor of
+Virginia. This union, which was neither fruitful nor happy, lasted more
+than thirty years, after which the high-born wife died.
+
+Finding himself at the age of sixty a childless widower and the last of
+his name, he resolved to marry again in the hope of having heirs. He
+chose for his second wife a young lady of good but impoverished family,
+the orphan niece of a neighboring planter.
+
+But the new wife only half fulfilled her husband's hopes, when, a year
+after their marriage, she presented him with one fair daughter, the
+Sybil of our story.
+
+Even this gift cost the delicate mother her life; for although she did
+not die immediately, yet from the day of Sybil's birth, she fell into a
+long and lingering decline which finally terminated in death.
+
+Old Bertram Berners was nearly seventy years of age, when he laid his
+young wife in her early grave. Although he had been grievously
+disappointed in his hopes of a male heir, yet he was not mad enough, at
+his advanced period of life, to try matrimony again. He wisely
+determined to devote the few remaining days of his life to the rearing
+of his little daughter, then a child seven years of age.
+
+Old Bertram loved and spoiled the infant as none but an old man can
+love or spoil his only child, who is besides the offspring of his age.
+He would not part with her to send her to school; but he himself became
+her instructor until she was more than ten years old.
+
+After that, as she began to approach womanhood, he engaged a succession
+of governesses, each one of whom excessively annoyed him by persistently
+trying to marry him for his money, and who consequently got herself
+politely dismissed.
+
+Next he tried a succession of tutors, but this second plan worked even
+worse than the first; for each one of the tutors in his turn tried to
+marry the heiress for the fortune, and, naturally enough, got himself
+kicked out of the house.
+
+So the plan of home education prospered badly. Perhaps old Bertram had
+been singularly unfortunate in his selection of teachers. It must have
+been so indeed, since he had been accustomed to say that "they all were
+as bad as they could be; and each one was worse than all the rest."
+
+Thus the literary training of the heiress had been carried on in the
+most capricious, fitful and irregular manner, the worst suited to her,
+who more than most girls required the discipline of a firm and steady
+rule.
+
+The educational result to her was a very superficial knowledge of
+literature, arts, and sciences, and a very imperfect acquaintance with
+ancient and modern languages.
+
+She was in the habit of saying sarcastically, that "she had an utter
+confusion of ideas on the subjects of algebra, astronomy, and all the
+other branches of a polite education;" that, for instance, she never
+could remember whether the "Pons Asinorum" were a plant or a problem, or
+if it was Napoleon Bonaparte that discovered America and Christopher
+Columbus who lost the battle of Waterloo, or _vice versa_.
+
+And after all, this was but a trifling exaggeration of the neglected
+condition of her mind.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER III.
+
+                             SYBIL BERNERS.
+
+
+                    "All that's best of dark and bright
+                     Meet in her aspect and her eye."
+
+
+Sybil Berners was at this time about eighteen years of age--a beautiful,
+black-haired, bright-eyed little brunette, full of fire, spirit,
+strength, and self-will. She was a law to herself. No one, not even her
+aged father, had the slightest control over her except through her
+affections, when they could be gained, or her passions, when they could
+be aroused; but this last means was seldom tried, for no one cared to
+raise the storm that none could quell.
+
+Her father was now nearly eighty years old. And fondly, jealously,
+selfishly as he loved this darling daughter of his age, he wished to see
+her safely married before he should be called from the earth.
+
+And certainly the beautiful heiress had suitors enough to select
+from--suitors drawn no less by her personal charms than by her great
+fortune. But one and all were politely refused by the fastidious maiden,
+who every one said was so very hard to please.
+
+But even if Sybil Berners had accepted any one among the numerous
+suitors for her hand, the conditions of her father's consent would have
+been made rather difficult. The husband of the heiress would have been
+required to assume the name and arms of Berners in order to perpetuate
+the family patronymic, and to live with his wife at the old manor house
+in order not to separate the only child from her aged father. And it was
+not every proud young Virginian who would have given up his own family
+name either for a fortune or a beauty. But none of her suitors were put
+to the test, for Sybil promptly and unconditionally refused all offers
+of marriage.
+
+And the reason of all this was, that Miss Berners of Black Hall loved a
+poor, briefless young lawyer, who had nothing but his handsome person,
+his brilliant mind, and his noble heart to recommend him. When, or
+where, or how her love for him began, she herself could never have told.
+Since his return from the university she had seen him every Sunday at
+church, and had grown to look and to long for his appearance there,
+until it came to this pass with her soul, that the very house of God
+seemed empty until _his_ place was filled. And besides this, she often
+saw him and heard him speak at political and other public meetings,
+which she always attended only to beam in the sunshine of his presence,
+only to drink in the music of his voice. She took in all the local
+papers only to read his leaders and dream over his thoughts.
+
+Moreover, she felt by a sure instinct that he passionately adored her,
+even while ignorant of her love for him, and silent upon the subject of
+his own passion.
+
+This state of affairs exasperated the fiery and self-willed little
+beauty almost to phrensy. She had never in her life been contradicted or
+opposed. No desire of her heart had ever been left for a moment
+unsatisfied. She never knew until now the meaning of suspense or
+disappointment. And now here was a man whom she wildly loved, and who
+worshipped her, but who, from some delicate pride in his poverty,
+_would_ not speak, while she, of course, _could_ not.
+
+Yet Sybil Berners was no weak "Viola," who would
+
+    "Let concealment, like a worm i' the bud,
+     Feed on her damask cheek, and pine in thought."
+
+She was rather a strong "Helena," who would dare all and bear all to
+gain her lover.
+
+Sybil did all that a young lady of her rank could do in the premises.
+She made her doting father give dinner parties and invite her lover to
+them. But the briefless young lawyer in the napless hat and thread-bare
+coat never accepted one of these invitations, for the very simple
+reason that he had no evening dress in which to appear.
+
+Under these circumstances, where any other young girl might have grown
+languid and sorrowful, Sybil became excitable and violent. She had
+always had the fiery temper of her race, but it had very seldom been
+kindled by a breath of provocation. Now, however, it frequently broke
+out without the slightest apparent cause. No one in the house could
+account for this accession of ill-temper--not her anxious father, nor
+Miss Tabitha Winterose, the housekeeper, not Joseph Joy, the house
+steward, nor any of the maids or men-servants under them.
+
+"She's possessed of the devil," said Miss Winterose, to her confidant,
+the house steward.
+
+"That's nothing new. All the Berners is possessed of _that_ possession.
+It's entailed family property, and can't be got rid of," grimly
+responded Joe.
+
+"Something has crossed her; something has crossed her very much,"
+muttered her old father to himself, as he sat alone in his arm-chair in
+the warm chimney-corner of his favorite sitting-room.
+
+Yes, indeed, everything crossed her. She was unhappy for the first time
+in her life, and she thought it was clearly the duty of her father or
+some other one of her slaves to make her happy. She was kept waiting,
+and it was everybody's fault, and everybody should be made to suffer for
+it. It was no use to reason with Sybil Berners. One might as well have
+reasoned with a conflagration.
+
+It was about this time, too, that her aged father began to feel symptoms
+that warned him of the approach of that sudden death by congestion of
+the brain, which had terminated the existence of so many of his
+ancestors.
+
+More than ever he desired to see his motherless daughter well married
+before he should be called away from her. So, one evening, he sent for
+Sybil to come into his sitting-room, and when she obeyed his summons,
+and came and sat down on a low ottoman beside his arm-chair, he said,
+laying his hand lovingly on her black, curly head:
+
+"My darling, I am very old, and may be taken from you any day, any hour,
+and I would like to see you well married before I go."
+
+"Dear father, don't talk so. You may live twenty years yet," answered
+the daughter, with a blending of affectionate solicitude and angry
+impatience in her tones and looks, for Sybil was very fond of the old
+man, and also very intolerant of unpleasant subjects.
+
+"Well, well, my dear, since you prefer it, I will live twenty years
+longer to please you--_if I can_. But whether I live or die, my
+daughter, I wish to see you well married."
+
+"Ah, father, why can you not leave me free?"
+
+"Because, my darling, if anything should happen to me, you would be left
+utterly without protection; your hand would become the aim of every
+adventurer in the county; you would become the prey of some one among
+them who would squander your fortune, abuse your person, and break your
+heart."
+
+"You know very well, father, that I should break such a villain's head
+first. _I_ a victim--_I_ the prey of a fortune-hunter, or the slave of a
+brute! I look as if I was likely to be--do I not? Father, you insult
+your daughter by the thought," exclaimed Sybil, with flushing cheeks and
+flashing eyes.
+
+"There, there, my dear! don't flame up!" said the old man, laying his
+hand upon the fiery creature's head; "be quiet as you can, Sybil--I
+cannot bear excitement now, child."
+
+"Forgive me, dear father, and forbear, if you love me, from such talk as
+this. I never could become an ill-used, suffering, snivelling wife. I
+_detest_ the picture as I utterly despise all weak and whimpering women.
+I have no sympathy whatever for your abused wives--even for your
+dethroned or beheaded queens. Why should a wife permit herself to be
+abused, or a queen suffer herself to be dethroned or beheaded, without
+first having done something to redeem herself from the contemptible role
+of a victim, even if it was to change it for the awful one of
+criminal--"
+
+"--Hush, Sybil, hush! You know not what you say. The Saviour of the
+world--"
+
+"----Was a divine martyr, father," said Sybil, reverently bowing her
+head--"was a divine martyr, not a victim. All who suffer and die in a
+great cause are martyrs; but those who suffer and die for nothing but of
+their own weakness are victims, with whom I have no sympathy. I never
+could be a _victim_, father."
+
+"Heaven help you, Sybil!"
+
+"You need not fear for me, father. I can take care of myself as well as
+if I were a son, instead of a daughter of the House of Berners," said
+Sybil, haughtily.
+
+"You may be able to protect yourself from all others, but can you always
+protect yourself _from yourself_?" sighed the old man.
+
+Sybil did not answer.
+
+"But, to come back to the point from which you started, like the fiery
+young filly that you are--Sybil, I greatly desire to see you married to
+some worthy young gentleman whom you can love and I approve."
+
+"Where can you find such an one, father?" murmured Sybil, with a quick,
+strange, wild hope springing up in her heart.
+
+What if he should speak of the young lawyer? But that was not likely. He
+spoke of some one else.
+
+"There is Ernest Godfree. No better match for you in the county. And I'm
+sure he worships the very ground you walk on."
+
+Sybil made an angry gesture, exclaiming:
+
+"Then I wish he would have respect enough for the ground he worships to
+keep himself off it altogether! I hate that man!"
+
+"Well, well, hate is a poor return for love! But we'll say no more of
+him. But there's Captain Pendleton, a brave young officer."
+
+"I wish his bravery were better employed in fighting the Indians on the
+frontier instead of besieging our house. I cannot endure that man!"
+
+"Let him pass then! Next there is Charles Hanbury--"
+
+"Ugh! the ugly little wretch."
+
+"But he is so good, so wise, for so young a man. And he is your devoted
+slave."
+
+"Then I wish my slave would obey his owner's orders, and keep out of her
+sight."
+
+"Sybil, you are incorrigible," sighed the old man, but he did not yield
+his main point.
+
+One after another he proposed for her consideration all the eligible
+young bachelors of the neighborhood, who, he knew, were ready upon the
+slightest encouragement to renew their once rejected suits for the hand
+of the beauty and heiress.
+
+But one after another Sybil, with some sarcastic word, dismissed.
+
+"Sybil, you are a strange, wayward girl! It seems to me that for any man
+to love you is to take a sure road to your hatred! And yet, oh, my dear!
+I wish to see you safely married. Is there not one among those whom you
+might prefer to all the rest?"
+
+"No, my father, not one whom I could endure for an instant as a lover."
+
+"And oh! when I feel this fatal rising of the heart and fulness of the
+head--this Wave of Death that is sure to bear me off sooner or later to
+the Ocean of Eternity--Oh, then, my Sybil, how my soul travails for
+you!" groaned the old man.
+
+"Father! do you so much wish to see me married?"
+
+"I wish it more than anything else in the world, my child."
+
+"Father, you have named every young man in the neighborhood whom you
+would like as a son-in-law?"
+
+"Every one, my daughter."
+
+"Are you sure?"
+
+"Quite sure, my love. Why do you ask?"
+
+She slid down from her low ottoman to the floor, and laid her arms upon
+his knees and her beautiful black ringleted head upon her folded hands,
+and whispered:
+
+"Because, dear father, there is one whom you have forgotten to name: one
+who loves me, and is altogether well worthy to be called your son."
+
+"Ah!" cried the old man fiercely, under his breath--"a fortune-hunter,
+on my life! the danger is nearer than I had even apprehended!"
+
+"No, father, no! He is as far as possible from being what you say!"
+fervently exclaimed Sybil.
+
+"He is wealthy, then?"
+
+"No, no, no! he is poor in everything but in goodness and wisdom!"
+
+"Oh, no doubt you think him rich in these! But who is he, unhappy child?
+What is his name?"
+
+Very subdued came the answer. Old Bertram was obliged to bend his gray
+head to his daughter's lips, and put his shrivelled hand behind his ear
+to catch the sound of her low voice.
+
+"He is the young lawyer newly settled in Blackville, whose praise is on
+everybody's lips."
+
+"JOHN LYON HOWE!" exclaimed the old man, throwing up his head in
+astonishment.
+
+"Yes, father," breathed the girl.
+
+"And he loves you?"
+
+She nodded.
+
+"And you love him?"
+
+She nodded again.
+
+"A briefless young lawyer, with a long list of impoverished brothers and
+sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins! Bad enough; but not as it might
+have been. She can gain nothing by that connection! But then she need
+not lose anything either," murmured the old man to himself. After
+reflecting for a few moments, with his head upon his breast, he suddenly
+raised his eyes and exclaimed:
+
+"But I have never seen the young man at this house!"
+
+"No, father!"
+
+"Nor at any other house where we visit."
+
+"No, father; for although he receives many invitations to visit his
+friends, he accepts none. Father, I think he cannot afford to do so."
+
+"Cannot afford to visit! Why?"
+
+"Visiting requires dress, and dress money. And he does so much
+gratuitous work now in the beginning of his career that he has but
+little money; and his father will not help him at all, because they
+differ in politics."
+
+"Yes, I know they do; but the young man is quite right. I agree with his
+views perfectly. He will make his mark in the world some of these days,
+and then his father will be proud of him."
+
+Sybil blushed with delight to hear her lover so praised by one in whose
+hands their happiness rested.
+
+"But, my child, he was wrong and you were wrong to have entered into any
+engagement without my sanction," said the old man very gravely.
+
+"There is no engagement, father," gently answered Sybil.
+
+"Ah! no engagement? that is well! By my soul, though, it was not right
+for him even to have wooed you without my consent! Nor can I conceive
+what opportunity he has ever had to do so. He never comes here."
+
+"He has never wooed me, dear father."
+
+"EH!"
+
+"He has never sought my hand."
+
+"But I thought you gave me to understand that you love each other!"
+
+"So we do, father."
+
+"Then, if he loves you, why don't he come and tell me so like an
+honorable man?"
+
+"Father, he has never even told _me_ so."
+
+"EH!"
+
+"He has never breathed a word of love to me."
+
+"Then how the deuce do you know that he loves you, girl?"
+
+"Oh, by every glance of his eyes, by every tone of his voice, and by my
+own heart! Oh, father, do you think I would bear to tell you this, if I
+were not sure of it."
+
+"Umph, umph! But why don't he speak?--that's what I want to know! Why
+don't he speak?"
+
+"Dear father, can you not comprehend that he is too proud to do so?"
+
+"Too proud! By my word! It is a new hearing that a Howe should be too
+proud to seek an alliance with a Berners!" exclaimed old Bertram hotly,
+rising from his chair.
+
+    "Old age ne'er cooled the Douglas blood,"
+
+and it had not cooled his.
+
+Sybil smiled to see how utterly he had misunderstood her, and making him
+sit down again, she said,
+
+"You dear old darling, it is not that! It is the very opposite to that.
+It is because he is poor and we are rich, and he is too proud to be
+called a fortune-hunter."
+
+"Oh, I understand! I understand!
+
+    'Among the rest young Edwin bowed,
+     But never told his love.
+     Wisdom, and worth were all he had.'"
+
+"Yes, dear father, that is just the truth. You wish me to marry; but,
+dear, dear father, I can never bring myself to marry any one but _him_;
+and he loves me truly, but does not seek me?" she breathed in a low and
+tremulous tone, half smothered also by the hands with which she covered
+her blushing face.
+
+"Now what am I to do in this case? I have nothing against the young man
+whatever, except his poverty and big long line of poor relations, that
+will be sure to be a burden to him!" grumbled old Bertram to himself.
+
+"But, father, we are so rich! We have enough for so many people,"
+pleaded Sybil.
+
+"Not enough to enrich all the Howes, my dear! But I like the young man,
+I really do like him, and if he had more money, and less relations, I
+should prefer him to any young man in the neighborhood for a
+son-in-law."
+
+"O father, dear father, thank you, thank you for saying that," exclaimed
+Sybil, fervently kissing his hands.
+
+"And now that you have told me your mind, what do you want me to do, my
+darling?" he inquired, returning her caresses.
+
+"Oh, dear father! an old man like you must know! I do want you to give
+Lyon help and encouragement as you know best how to do it, without
+wounding his pride. You sympathize with his political principles; let
+him know that you do. You admire his character; let him feel that you
+do."
+
+"What else?"
+
+"This. Since old Mr. Godwin died you have had no agent for your large
+estate, and its accounts must be falling into disorder, Lyon is a
+lawyer, you know. Offer him the agency of your estate, with a liberal
+salary."
+
+"Upon my word, I never thought of that before. Here for three months I
+have been thinking whom I could get as an agent, and much as I esteemed
+that young man I never once thought of applying to him! But the fact is,
+I never looked upon him in the light of a business man, but only as a
+brilliant barrister, and eloquent pleader."
+
+"Yet, father, you know he _must_ be a good business man to have
+collected such great stores of statistics as he has always at command."
+
+"Well, my love, I will go to-day and offer him the agency. Now what
+next?"
+
+"He was too poor and too proud to come before, but as your agent, father,
+you must bring him often to the house on business."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"You must leave the rest to me."
+
+Thus it was that the young lawyer became the agent for the great Black
+Valley Manor. This agency included not only the management of the
+revenues from several rich farms, but also those from the stone
+quarries, iron mines, and the water mill at the head of the valley, and
+also from the real estate in the village at the foot, all of which was
+included in the Black Valley Manor.
+
+The new agent was frequently called to Black Hall, where he was always
+received with the utmost courtesy. And as the acquaintance between the
+proprietor and the agent ripened into intimacy, a deep and strong
+attachment grew between them.
+
+"Youth never showed itself wiser or better than in this young man,"
+murmured Mr. Berners to himself.
+
+"Age was never so venerable and beautiful as in this old man," thought
+John Lyon Howe to himself.
+
+The old man loaded the young one with many marks of his esteem and
+affection. The young man returned these with the warmest gratitude and
+highest reverence.
+
+When John Lyon Howe, with his heart filled with love for Sybil Berners,
+first entered Black Hall, it was without the slightest suspicion of her
+responsive love for him. But when they were thrown so much together, he
+was not very long in making the discovery so delightful to his soul,
+and yet--so trying too! for, as a man of good principles, there seemed
+to be but one course left open to him--the course of self-denial! He
+loved the great heiress, and had unintentionally won her love! Therefore
+he must fly from her presence, trying to forget her, hoping that she
+might forget him.
+
+He summoned up courage for the sacrifice, and went into the study of his
+employer and in a few words told him that he had come to say good-bye.
+
+The astonished old man looked up for an explanation.
+
+John Lyon Howe gave it to him.
+
+"And so you wish to leave me, never to return to the Hall, because you
+love my daughter."
+
+The young man bowed in silence; but could not conceal the misery it
+caused him to make this acknowledgment.
+
+"But why should that oblige you to leave the house?" inquired Mr.
+Berners.
+
+"Oh, sir! can you ask?" exclaimed Mr. Howe.
+
+"Oh, I see! the little witch has refused you!" exclaimed old Bertram
+with a twinkle in his eye. "Come, is it not so?"
+
+"Sir, I have never abused your confidence so far as to seek her hand! I
+could not make so base a return for your kindness to me."
+
+"Oh, you have never asked her to marry you! How in the world, then, can
+you know whether she will accept you or not? or, consequently, whether
+it will be necessary for you to leave or not?"
+
+"Oh, sir! what is it that you would say?" exclaimed the young man, in
+quick, broken tones, while his face turned pale with agitation.
+
+"Nonsense, my boy! When I was young a youth didn't require so much
+encouragement to woo a maiden. Before you make up your mind to leave me,
+go and ask Sybil's consent to the step."
+
+"Oh, sir! oh, Mr. Berners! do you mean this?" gasped the young man,
+catching at the back of the chair for support. He was inured to sorrow,
+but not to joy. And this joy was so sudden and overwhelming that he
+reeled under it.
+
+"I mean what I say, Mr. Howe. I esteem and respect you. I sanction your
+addresses to my daughter," said old Bertram, speaking with more gravity
+and dignity than he had before displayed.
+
+John Lyon fervently kissed his old friend's hand, and went immediately
+in search of Sybil. And that same night, old Bertram had the pleasure of
+joining their hands together in solemn betrothal.
+
+"And now I can die happy," said the old man, earnestly; "for it was not
+another great fortune, but a good husband that I coveted for my darling
+child."
+
+Ten days from this night, old Bertram Berners dropped into his last
+sleep. He was well and happy up to the last hour of his life. The "Wave
+of Death," found him in his arm-chair, and bore him off without a
+struggle to the "Ocean of Eternity." So old Bertram Berners was gathered
+to his fathers.
+
+The year of mourning was permitted to pass, and then John Lyon Howe,
+having, according to the conditions of the marriage contract, assumed
+the name and arms of Berners, was united in marriage to the beautiful
+Sybil. And they set out on their bridal tour as Mr. and Mrs. Lyon
+Berners.
+
+And now we will again look in upon them as they linger over their
+tea-table in the old inn at Norfolk, where we first introduced them to
+our readers.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV.
+
+                        THE BEAUTIFUL STRANGER.
+
+
+                      "From the glance of her eye
+                       Shun danger and fly,
+                       for fatal's the glance."
+
+
+Very happy were the married lovers as they sat over their tea, even
+though the scene of their domestic joy was just now but an inn-parlor.
+Both the young people had good appetites: gratified love had not
+deprived them of that.
+
+They talked of their homeward journey and how pleasant it would be in
+this glorious autumn weather, and of their home and how glad they would
+be to reach it--yes, how glad! For, paradoxical as it may seem to say
+so, there is no happiness so perfect as that which looks forward to
+something still more perfect, if such could be possible in the future.
+They talked of the Black Valley, and how beautiful even that would look
+in its gorgeous October livery.
+
+Suddenly in the midst of their sweet converse they heard the sound of
+weeping--low, deep, heart-broken weeping.
+
+Both paused, looked at each other and listened.
+
+The sound seemed to come from a room on the opposite side of the passage
+to their own apartment.
+
+"What is that?" inquired Sybil, looking up to her husband's face.
+
+"It seems to be some woman in distress," answered Lyon.
+
+"Oh! see what it is, dear, will you?" entreated Sybil.
+
+She was herself so happy, that it was really dreadful to be reminded
+just then that sorrow should exist in this world; at all.
+
+"Oh, go and see what is the matter. Do, dear," she insisted, seeing that
+he hesitated.
+
+"I would do so, dear, in a moment, but it might be indiscreet on my
+part. The lady may be a party to some little domestic misunderstanding,
+with which it would be impertinent in any stranger to interfere,"
+answered the more thoughtful husband.
+
+"A domestic misunderstanding! O, dear Lyon, that such things should be!
+Fancy you and I having a misunderstanding!" exclaimed Sybil, with a
+shiver.
+
+"I cannot fancy anything of the sort, my darling; Heaven forbid that I
+could!" said Lyon, fervently.
+
+"Amen to that! But listen! Ah! how she weeps and wails! Oh, Lyon, how I
+pity her! Oh, how I wish I could do something for her! Oh, Lyon, are you
+sure it would be improper for me to go and see if I can relieve her in
+any way?" pleaded Sybil.
+
+"Quite sure, my darling; I am quite sure that you must not interfere, at
+least at this stage. If this should be a case in which we can be of
+service, we shall be likely to know it when the waiter answers the bell
+that I rung some five minutes since," said Lyon, soothingly.
+
+But Sybil could not rest with the sound of that weeping and wailing in
+her ears. She left her chair and began to walk up and down the floor,
+and to pause occasionally at her door to listen.
+
+Suddenly a door on the opposite side of the passage opened, and the
+voice of the landlord was heard, apparently speaking to the weeping
+woman.
+
+"I beg you won't distress yourself, ma'am; I am sure I wouldn't do
+anything to distress you for the world. Keep up your spirits, ma'am.
+Something may turn up yet, you know," he said as he closed the opposite
+door again; and then crossing the passage, he knocked at the door of the
+Berners' apartments.
+
+"Come in," said Lyon Berners eagerly, while Sybil paused in her restless
+walk and gazed breathlessly at the door.
+
+Both were so interested, they could not have told why, in that weeping
+woman.
+
+The landlord entered and closed the door behind him, and advanced with a
+bow and an apology.
+
+"I am afraid that you and your good lady have been disturbed by the
+noise in the other room; but really I could not help it. I have done all
+I could to comfort the poor creature; but really you know, 'Rachel
+weeping for her children' was nothing to this woman. She's been going on
+in this way for the last three days, sir. I did hope she would be quiet
+this evening. I told her that I had guests in these rooms. But, Lord,
+sir! I might just as well try to reason with a thunderstorm as with her.
+I wish I had quieter rooms to put you in, sir."
+
+"Pray do not think of us. It is not the disturbance we mind on our own
+account; it is to hear a fellow creature in so much distress. A guest of
+the house?" inquired Mr. Berners.
+
+"Yes, sir; worse luck."
+
+"She has lost friends or--fortune?" continued Berners delicately
+investigating the case, while Sybil looked and listened with the deepest
+interest.
+
+"Both, sir! Both, sir! All, sir! Everything, sir! It is really a case of
+atrocious villainy, sir! And I may say, a case of extreme difficulty as
+well! A case in which I need counsel myself, sir," said the landlord,
+with every appearance of being as willing to give information as to take
+advice.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER V.
+
+                         THE LANDLORD'S STORY.
+
+
+                "What wit so sharp is found in youth or age
+                 That can distinguish truth from treachery?
+                 Falsehood puts on the face of simple truth,
+                 And masks i' th' habit of plain honesty,
+                 When she in heart intends most villany."
+
+
+"Sit down, Mr. Judson; sit down, and tell us all about this matter; and
+if we can aid either you or your distressed lodger in any way, we shall
+be glad to do so," said Mr. Berners, earnestly.
+
+"Yes, indeed," added Sybil, throwing herself down in her easy-chair,
+with a deep breath of relief and anticipation.
+
+"Well, sir, and madam," commenced the landlord, frankly accepting the
+offered seat, "the case is this: About ten days ago there arrived in
+this city, by the ship Banshee, from Cork, a lady, gentleman, and child,
+with two servants, who came directly to this house. The gentleman
+registered his party as Mr. and Mrs. Horace Blondelle, child, nurse, and
+valet, and he engaged the very best rooms in the house--the rooms
+corresponding to these on the opposite side of the passage, you know,
+madam."
+
+"Yes," assented Mrs. Berners.
+
+"Well, sir, and Mr. Horace Blondelle ordered, besides the best rooms,
+everything else that was best in the house, and, indeed, better than the
+house contained; for, for his supper that very night, I had to send by
+his directions, and procure Johanesberg, Moselle, and other rare and
+costly wines, such as are seldom or never called for here. But then you
+know, sir, he was a foreign gentleman."
+
+"Certainly," agreed Lyon, with a smile.
+
+"Next day, the finest horses and carriages from the livery stables. And
+so on in the highest scale of expense, until his week's bill ran up to
+seven hundred dollars. As a good deal of this was money paid out of my
+pocket for costly wines and costly horses, I sent in my account on the
+Saturday night. It is the usual thing, however, madam."
+
+"I know," answered Mrs. Berners.
+
+"Well, Mr. Horace Blondelle very promptly settled it by handing me a
+check on the local bank for the amount. It was too late then to cash my
+check, as the bank had been for some hours closed. But I resolved to
+take it to the bank the first thing on Monday morning to get the money;
+and I left Mr. Horace Blondelle's apartments with a secret feeling of
+commendation for his prudence in putting his ready money in the local
+bank, instead of keeping it about him in a crowded hotel like this. For,
+you know, sir, that the recent daring robbery at the Monroe House has
+proved to us that even the office safe is not _always_ 'safe.'"
+
+"Not always," echoed Mr. Berners.
+
+"Well, sir, and madam, I was so well pleased with my guest's promptitude
+in settling his bill, that I redoubled my attentions to his comfort and
+that of his party. On the Sunday he commenced the week's account by
+giving a large dinner-party, for he had made acquaintances in the town.
+And again the most expensive delicacies and the mostly costly wines were
+ordered, with the most lavish extravagance. And they kept up the
+festivities in rather a noisy manner through the whole night, which was
+painful to me, I being a Churchman. But then, you know, madam, a
+landlord can not interfere with his guests to that extent."
+
+"Certainly not," admitted Mrs. Berners.
+
+"Well, sir, the next morning after such a carousal, I naturally expected
+my guests to sleep late, so I was not surprised that the stillness of
+their rooms remained unbroken by any sound even up to ten o'clock. At
+that hour however, the bank opened, and I went myself to get my check
+cashed. There, sir, I got another check. Judge of my astonishment when
+the cashier, after examining Mr. Horace Blondelle's paper, declared that
+he knew no such person, and that there was no money deposited in that
+bank to the credit of that name."
+
+"It was a swindle!" exclaimed Mr. Berners, impulsively.
+
+"It was a swindle," admitted the landlord. "Yes, sir, a swindle of the
+basest sort, though I did not know it even then. I was inclined to be
+angry with the cashier, but I reflected that there was probably a
+mistake of some sort; so I hurried back home and inquired if Mr. Horace
+Blondelle had shown himself yet. I was told that he had not yet even
+rung his bell. Then I went to his private parlor, which had been the
+scene of last night's dinner giving and Sabbath breaking. The servants
+of the house had removed all signs of the carousal, and were moving
+noiselessly about the room while restoring it to order, so as not to
+disturb the rest of Mr. and Mrs. Horace Blondelle in the bedroom
+adjoining. I told my people that, as soon as Mr. Blondelle should awake,
+they must tell him that I begged leave to wait on him on a matter of
+business. It is as well to say, that while I lingered in the room, the
+nurse came in with the child, a pretty, fair-haired boy of five years
+old. They occupied a little chamber at the end of the passage, in easy
+reach of the child's mother. The nurse came in, hushing and cautioning
+the child not to make a noise, lest he should wake up poor mamma and
+papa, who were so tired. I mention this little domestic incident
+because, in some strange way that I cannot begin to understand, it
+quieted my misgivings, so that I went below and waited patiently for the
+rising of Mr. Horace Blondelle. Madam, I might have waited till this
+time!" said the landlord, pausing solemnly.
+
+"Why? go on and tell me!" impulsively exclaimed Mrs. Berners.
+
+"Why? I will soon let you know. I waited until long after noon. And
+still no sound from the bedroom. I walked in and out of the
+sitting-room, where the table was set for breakfast, and still no sound
+from the bedroom. And in the sitting-room no sound of occupation but
+the waiting breakfast-table in the middle of the floor, and the nurse
+seated at one of the windows with the impatient child at her knee.
+
+"'Your master and mistress sleep late,' I said.
+
+"'Yes, sir, they were up late last night,' she replied while twisting
+the child's golden ringlets around her fingers, in pure idleness, for
+they did not need curling.
+
+"I went away and staid away for about an hour, and then returned to the
+sitting-room. No sound from the bedroom yet. No change in the
+sitting-room, except that the nurse had taken a seat at the corner of
+the table with the child on her lap, and was feeding him from a bowl of
+milk and bread.
+
+"'Your master and mistress not up yet?' I ventured to say.
+
+"'No, sir, and no sign of them; I am giving little Crowy his supper, and
+am going to put him to bed. And if the bell don't ring by that time, I
+shall make bold to knock at the door and wake them up. Because, sir, I'm
+getting uneasy. Something might be the matter, though I don't know
+what,' said the girl, anxiously.
+
+"'So am I, I wish you would. And when your master has breakfasted, tell
+him I wish to be permitted to wait on him,' I said to the girl, and I
+left the room for the tenth time, I do suppose, that day."
+
+"Well!" eagerly exclaimed Sybil.
+
+"Well, madam, in less than an hour from that time, one of the waiters
+came to me with looks of alarm, and said that something must have
+happened in number 90, for that the lady's maid had been knocking and
+calling loudly at the door for the last ten minutes without being able
+to make herself heard within."
+
+"Oh!" breathed Sybil, clasping her hands.
+
+"Madam, I hurried to the spot. I joined my efforts to those of the
+terrified maid to arouse the sleepers within the chamber, but with no
+effect. The maid was almost crazy by this time, ma'am."
+
+"'Oh, sir, are they murdered in their bed?' she cried to me.
+
+"'Murdered? No, but something has happened, and we must force open the
+door, my good girl,' I said by way of calming her. You may well judge,
+sir, that I did not send for a locksmith; but with a crowbar, hastily
+procured from below, I hoisted the door from its hangings and effected
+an entrance."
+
+"And then? And then?" breathlessly inquired Sybil, perceiving that the
+landlord paused for a moment.
+
+"We found the room in the utmost confusion. Chests of drawers,
+clothes-presses, boxes, and so forth, stood wide open, with their
+contents scattered over the floor. We glanced at the bed, and the maid
+uttered a wild scream, and even I felt my blood run cold; for there lay
+the form of the lady, still, cold, pallid, livid, like that of a corpse
+many hours dead. No sign of Blondelle was to be seen about the chamber."
+
+"Oh! had he murdered her and fled?" gasped Sybil, with a half-suppressed
+hysterical sob.
+
+Mr. Berners passed his arm around her shoulders and drew her head down
+upon his breast, and signed for the landlord to proceed with his story.
+
+"Sir," continued Mr. Judson, "I went up to that bedside in the worst
+panic I ever felt in all my life. My heart was hammering at my ribs like
+a trip-hammer. First I took up the white hand that was hanging
+helplessly down by the side of the bed; and I was glad to find that it
+was limber, though cold as ice. Life might not be extinct. I ran down
+and dispatched several servants in different directions for physicians,
+being determined to insure the attendance of one, even at the risk of
+bringing a dozen, and having all their fees to pay."
+
+"You never thought of fees, I'll guarantee," said Mr. Berners.
+
+"Indeed I did not. I thought only of the lady. I sent my old mother to
+her bedside, with a request that she would keep everybody else out of
+the room until the arrival of a physician, and to let nothing be
+touched; for you see, sir, I did not know but what the attendance of a
+coroner would be called for as well."
+
+"Oh, how terrible!" murmured Sybil, from her shelter on her husband's
+breast.
+
+"Yes, madam, but not so terrible as we feared. Not to tire you with too
+long an account of this bad business, I will tell you at once the result
+of the physician's examination. It was, that this death-like sleep or
+coma of the lady was produced by some powerful narcotic, but by what or
+for what purpose administered, he could not discover. The maid was
+questioned as to whether her mistress was in the habit of using any form
+of opium, and answered that she certainly was not. Well, madam, the
+doctor left the lady under the care of my mother, with directions to
+watch her pulse, and on any indication of its failure, to summon him
+immediately."
+
+"She was in danger, then?"
+
+"Apparently. My mother watched beside her bed all that night; the lady
+did not awake until the next morning--that was the Tuesday; and the poor
+soul thought it was Monday! You see twenty-four hours had been lost to
+her consciousness."
+
+"And her infamous husband?" inquired Mr. Berners.
+
+"Neither he nor his valet were to be found. I had the police upon his
+track, you may be sure; though I did not, at the time of the lady's
+awakening, know the full extent of his atrocious villainy. I knew he
+had swindled me, but I did not know that he had robbed and forsaken his
+lovely young wife."
+
+"Robbed and forsaken his wife?" echoed Sybil, piteously.
+
+"Yes, madam, incredible as it seems. But I did not know this until the
+lady came to her senses. When she first awoke and found my mother seated
+by her bed, she expressed much surprise, at _her_ presence and at her
+own husband's absence. My mother, a plain spoken old lady, blurted out
+the truth--how Mr. Horace Blondelle, after imposing a worthless check
+upon me, in payment of my bill, had absconded with his valet, and been
+missing ever since the night of the dinner-party, and that she, Mrs.
+Blondelle, had slept profoundly through all these events.
+
+"Oh, what a dreadful tale for the poor young wife to hear!" sighed
+Sybil.
+
+"It was worse than anything I ever saw in my life, madam--her grief and
+shame and despair! She arose from her bed and began to examine her
+effects, to see what she might have left, and how far they would go
+towards settling my bill. She possessed some invaluable jewelry in
+diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. I know she did, for I had seen her wear
+them. She alluded to these, and said that they were worth many thousand
+dollars, and that she would sell some of them to satisfy my claims. She
+began to look for them, and then it was only by her broken exclamations
+of dismay that I came to know that he had robbed her."
+
+"The unnatural monster!" indignantly exclaimed Mr. Berners, while Sybil
+gazed in almost incredulous consternation.
+
+"Yes, sir, and madam, the truth was now apparent, even to the poor lady;
+and it was this--that on the night of the dinner-party he had heavily
+drugged her wine, so that when she retired to bed she fell into that
+deep, death-like sleep. Then he took advantage of her state to get
+possession of her keys, and to rifle her boxes and caskets, and make off
+with her money and jewels."
+
+"Poor, poor woman!" sighed Sybil.
+
+"This, madam," continued the landlord, turning to Mrs. Burners,
+"occurred four days ago. Since that time her base husband has been
+traced to New York, and there lost sight of."
+
+"And she?" inquired Sybil.
+
+"She, madam, has given herself up to the wildest grief and despair. She
+is as simple and as helpless as her own child. She has not the faintest
+notion of self-reliance. And here is where the trouble is with me. I
+have already lost several hundred dollars through this swindling
+villain. The wife and child he has left behind him are still occupying
+my best suite of apartments, for which, during their stay here, I shall
+not receive one penny of remuneration: therefore you see I cannot afford
+to keep this lady and her suite here, and neither can I find it in my
+heart to tell her to leave the house. For where, indeed, can she go? She
+has no friends or acquaintances in this country, no money, and no
+property that she can effectually turn into money."
+
+"Has she no one to pity her among the ladies in the house?" inquired
+Sybil.
+
+"There are no ladies staying in the house at present, madam. Our patrons
+are usually travellers, who seldom remain over one night."
+
+"But--the women of your family?" suggested Sybil.
+
+"There are no women in this family, except my old mother, who keeps
+house for me, and the female servants under her. I am a widower, madam,
+with half a dozen sons, but no daughters," returned the landlord.
+
+Sybil lifted her head from her husband's shoulder, where it had rested
+so long, and looked wistfully in her husband's eyes. He smiled, and
+nodded assent to what seemed to have been a silent interrogation. Then
+she took from her pocket a little gold-enamelled card-case, drew from it
+a card and a pencil, and wrote a few lines and handed it to the
+landlord, saying:
+
+"Mr. Judson, will you do me the favor to take this in to the unhappy
+lady at once, and see if she will receive me this evening? I feel as if
+I would like to try to comfort and serve her,"
+
+"I will with pleasure, madam; and I have no doubt that the mere
+expression of sympathy from another lady will be to her like a drop of
+water to a feverish palate," said the landlord, as he left the room.
+
+"Dear Lyon, I have a favor to ask of you," said Sybil, as soon as she
+was alone with her husband.
+
+"A favor! a right, my beloved! There is nothing that you can ask of me
+that is not your right to receive!"
+
+"No, no; a favor. I like to ask and receive favors from you, dear Lyon."
+
+"Call my service what you will, dear love! a right or a favor, it is
+always yours! What, then, is this favor, sweet Sybil?"
+
+"That you will give me a perfect _carte blanche_ in my manner of dealing
+with this poor little lady, even though my manner should seem foolish or
+extravagant."
+
+At these words from his ardent, generous, romantic wife, Lyon Berners
+looked very grave. What, indeed might Sybil, with her magnanimity and
+munificence _not_ think proper to do for this utter stranger--this
+possible adventuress? Lyon looked very solemn over this proposal from
+his wife. He hesitated for a moment; but her large, clear, honest eyes
+were fixed full upon him, waiting for his reply. Could he refuse her
+request? Did _he_ not owe everything to her, and to that very high-flown
+spirit of generosity which was not only a fault (if it were a fault) of
+Sybil, but a trait common to all her race.
+
+"As you will, my darling wife! I should be a cur, and worse than a
+cur--a thankless wretch--to wish to restrain you in anything!" he
+answered, sealing his agreement on her velvet lips.
+
+In another minute the landlord re-entered the room.
+
+"Mrs. Blondelle's thanks and compliments, and she will be very grateful
+for Mrs. Berners' visit, as soon as Mrs. Berners pleases to come," was
+the message that Mr. Judson brought.
+
+Sybil arose with a smile, kissed her hand playfully to her husband, and
+passed out of the room.
+
+The landlord went before her, rapped at the opposite door, then opened
+it, announced the visitor, and closed it behind her.
+
+Sybil advanced a step into the stranger's apartment, and then paused in
+involuntary admiration.
+
+She had heard and read of celebrated beauties, whose charms had
+conquered the wisest statesmen and the bravest warriors, who had
+governed monarchs and ministers, and raised or ruined kingdoms and
+empires. And often in poetic fancy she had tried to figure to herself
+one of these fairy forms and faces. But never, in her most romantic
+moods, had she imagined a creature so perfectly beautiful as this one
+that she saw before her.
+
+The stranger had a form of the just medium size, and of the most perfect
+proportions; a head of stately grace; features small, delicate, and
+clearly cut; a complexion at once fair and rosy, like the inside of an
+apple blossom; lips like opening rose-buds; eyes of dark azure blue,
+fringed with long dark eye-lashes, and over-arched by slender, dark
+eyebrows; and hair of a pale, glistening, golden hue that fell in soft,
+bright ringlets, like a halo around her angelic face. She wore a robe of
+soft, pale, blue silk, that opened over a white silk skirt.
+
+She arose with an exquisite grace to welcome her visitor.
+
+"It is very good of you, madam, to come to see me in my misery," she
+murmured, in a sweet, pathetic tone that went to her visitor's heart, as
+she sat a chair, and, by a graceful gesture invited her to be seated.
+
+Sybil was herself impulsive and confiding, as well as romantic and
+generous. She immediately drew her chair up to the side of the strange
+lady, took her hand affectionately, and tried to look up in her eyes, as
+she said:
+
+"We are personal strangers to each other; but we are the children of one
+Father, and sisters who should care for each other."
+
+"Ah! who would care to claim sisterhood with such a wretch as I am?"
+sighed the unhappy young creature.
+
+"_I_ would; but you must not call yourself ill-names. Misfortunes are
+not sins. I came here to comfort and help you--to comfort and help you
+not in words merely, but in deeds; and I have both the power and the
+will to do it, if you will please to let me try," said Sybil, gently.
+
+The young creature looked up, her lovely, tearful, blue eyes expanded
+with astonishment.
+
+"You offer to comfort and help me! _Me_--a perfect stranger, with a
+cloud of dishonor hanging over me! Oh, madam, if you knew _all_, you
+would certainly withdraw your kind offer," she said.
+
+"I will not withdraw it in any event. I _do_ know all that your landlord
+could tell me, and that awakens my deepest sympathy for you. But I do
+not know all that _you_ could tell me. Now, dear, I want you to confide
+in me as you could not confide either in your landlord, or even in his
+mother."
+
+"Oh, no, no! I could not tell either of them. They were kind; but--oh,
+so hard!"
+
+"Now, dear, then, look in my face, look well, and tell me whether you
+can confide in me," said Sybil, gently.
+
+"If I had never seen your heavenly countenance--if I had only heard
+your heavenly voice, I could confide in you, as in the holy mother of
+Christ," said the stranger fervently.
+
+"Tell me then, dear; tell me all you wish to tell; relieve your heart;
+lay all your burdens on my bosom; and then you shall feel how well I can
+comfort and help you," said Sybil, putting her hand around the fair neck
+and drawing the little golden-haired head upon her breast.
+
+Then and there the friendless young stranger--friendless now, no
+more--told her piteous story.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI.
+
+                            ROSA BLONDELLE.
+
+
+            Her form had all the softness of her sex,
+            Her face had all the sweetness of the devil
+            When he put on the cherub to perplex
+            Eve, and to pave, Heaven knows how, the road to evil.--BYRON.
+
+
+She had been the penniless orphan daughter of a noble, but impoverished
+Scotch family. She had been left, by the death of her parents, dependent
+upon harsh and cruel relatives. She had been given in marriage, at the
+age of fifteen, to a wealthy old gentleman, whose years quadrupled hers.
+But he had used her very kindly, and she had performed her simple duty
+of love and obedience as well as she knew how to do it. After two years
+of tranquil domestic happiness, the old man died, leaving her a young
+widow seventeen years of age, sole guardian to their infant son, between
+whom and herself he had divided his whole estate.
+
+After the death of her old husband, the youthful widow lived in strict
+seclusion for nearly two years, devoting herself exclusively to the care
+of her child.
+
+But in the third year the health of the little Cromartie required a
+change, and his mother, by her physician's advice, took the boy to
+Scarborough. That fashionable watering place was then at the height of
+its season, and filled with visitors.
+
+Thus it was impossible but that the wealthy young widow should attract
+much attention. She was inevitably drawn into the maelstrom of society,
+into which she rushed with all the impetuosity of a novice or an
+inexperienced recluse, to which all the scenes of the gay world were as
+delightful as they were novel.
+
+She had many suitors for her hand; but none found favor in her eyes but
+Mr. Horace Blondelle, a very handsome and attractive young gentleman,
+whose principal passport into good society seemed to be his distant
+relationship to the Duke of Marchmonte. _How_ he lived no one knew.
+_Where_ he lived everyone might see, for he always occupied the best
+suits of apartments in the best hotel of any town or city in which he
+might be for the time sojourning.
+
+We, every one of us know, or know _of_, Mr. Horace Blondelle. There are
+scores of him scattered about the great hotels of all the large cities
+in Europe and America. But the simplest maiden or the silliest widow in
+society, is seldom taken in by him.
+
+There, however, at Scarborough, was an inexperienced poor little
+creature from the Highlands, who had never in her life seen any one more
+attractive than the red-headed heroes of her native hills, and who,
+having aurific tresses of her own, was particularly prejudiced against
+that splendid hue, and fatally ensnared by the raven ringlets and dark
+eyes of this professional lady-killer.
+
+And thus it followed of course, that this beast of prey devoured the
+pretty little widow and all her substance with less hesitation or
+remorse than a cobra might have felt in swallowing a canary bird.
+
+So complete was her hallucination, so perfect her trust in him, that
+she took no precaution of having any part of her property settled upon
+herself; and, in marrying this man she gave him an absolute control over
+her own fortune, and a dangerous, if limited, influence over that of her
+infant son.
+
+This very imprudent marriage was followed by a few months of delusive
+happiness on the part of the bride; for the little fair beauty adored
+her dark-haired Apollo, who graciously accepted her adoration.
+
+But then came satiety and weariness and inconstancy on the part of the
+husband, who soon commenced the pleasing pastime of breaking the wife's
+heart.
+
+Yet still, for some little time longer, she, with a deplorable fatuity,
+believed in and loved him. After he had squandered her own fortune on
+gaming-tables and race-courses, he wished to get possession of the
+fortune of her son. To do this he persuaded her to sell out certain
+stock and entrust him with the proceeds, to be invested, as he convinced
+her, in railway shares in America, that would pay at least two hundred
+per cent. dividends, and in a few months double that money.
+
+Acting as her son's guardian and trustee, acting also, as she thought,
+in his best interests, the deluded mother did as her husband directed.
+She sold out the stocks, and confided the proceeds to him.
+
+Then it was that they made the voyage to America, ostensibly to purchase
+the railway shares in question. His real motive in bringing her to this
+country was, doubtless, to take her as far as possible from her native
+place and her old acquaintances, so as to prosecute the more safely and
+effectually his fraudulent designs.
+
+How they had arrived at Norfolk and taken rooms at the Anchor, and how
+he had robbed and deserted her there, has already been told.
+
+Sybil Berners listened to this sad and revolting story of woman's
+weakness and man's criminality with mingled emotions of pity and
+indignation.
+
+"Believe me," she said, tenderly taking the hand of the injured wife, "I
+feel the deepest sympathy with your misfortunes. I will do everything in
+my power to comfort and help you--not in words only, but in deeds; and I
+only grieve, dear, that I cannot give you back your husband in his honor
+and integrity as you once regarded him," added this loving and confiding
+wife, to whom no misery seemed so great as that caused by the default
+and desertion of a husband.
+
+"Oh, do not name him to me!" burst forth in pain from the lips of Rosa
+Blondelle; "oh, I hope, as long as I may live in this world, never to be
+wounded by the sound of his base name, or blasted with the sight of his
+false face again."
+
+Sybil Berners shrank in dismay from the excited woman, who continued,
+vehemently:
+
+"Do you wonder at this? I tell you, madam, it is possible for love to
+die a sudden and violent death, for mine has done so within the last
+three days."
+
+"I am deeply grieved to hear you say so, for it proves how much you must
+have suffered--how much more than even I had imagined. But try to take a
+little comfort. I and my own dear husband will be your friends, will be
+a sister and a brother to you," said Sybil earnestly, with all the
+impulsive, unlimited generosity of her youth and her race, awakened by
+her sympathy with the sorrows of this young stranger.
+
+"Oh, madam, you--" began Rosa, but her voice broke down in sobs.
+
+"Take comfort," continued Sybil, laying her little brown hand on that
+fair golden head, "take comfort. Think, you have not lost all. You have
+your child left."
+
+"Ah, my child!" cried Rosa, in a tone like a shriek of anguish, "my
+child, my wronged and ruined babe! The sight of him is a sword through
+my bosom! my child that _he_ robbed and made _me_ an accomplice in
+robbing--it is maddening to think of it."
+
+"Then do not think of it," said Sybil, gently, and still caressing the
+bowed head; "think of anything else--think of what I am going to say to
+you. Listen. While you remain in this crowded and noisy hotel, you can
+never recover calmness enough to act with any good effect. So I wish you
+to come home with me and my dear husband to our quiet country house, and
+be our cherished guest until you can communicate with your friends, or
+come to some satisfactory decision concerning your future course."
+
+While Sybil spoke these words, the young stranger raised her head and
+looked up with gradually dilating eyes.
+
+"Come, now; what say you? Will you be our dear and welcome guest this
+autumn?" smiled Sybil.
+
+"Oh, _do_ you mean this? _can_ you mean it?" exclaimed Rosa, in
+something like an ecstasy of surprise and gratitude.
+
+"In our secluded country house, with sympathizing friends around you,"
+continued Sybil, still caressing Rosa's little golden-haired head, and
+speaking all the more calmly because of Rosa's excitement, "you will
+have repose and leisure to collect your thoughts and to write to your
+friends in the old country, and to wait without hurry or anxiety to hear
+from them."
+
+"Oh, angels in Heaven, do you hear what this angel on earth is saying to
+me! Oh, was ever such divine goodness seen under the sun before! Oh,
+dear lady, you amaze, you confound me with your heavenly goodness!"
+exclaimed the young stranger, in strong emotion.
+
+Sybil took her hand, and still all the more gently for the increasing
+agitation of Rosa, she continued:
+
+"We are daughters of the Divine Father, sisters in one suffering
+humanity, and so we should care for each other. At present you are
+suffering, and I have some power to comfort you. In the future our
+positions may be reversed, and _I_ may be the sufferer and you the
+comforter. Who can tell?"
+
+"O, dear lady, Heaven forbid that great heart of yours should ever be
+called to suffer, or that you should ever need such poor help as mine.
+But this I know: so penetrated am I by your goodness, that, if ever you
+should lose your present happiness and my death would restore it, I
+would die to give it back to you," fervently exclaimed the stranger.
+
+And for the moment she felt as she had spoken, for she was most
+profoundly moved by a magnanimity she had never seen equalled.
+
+Sybil blushed like a child, and found nothing to say in reply to this
+excessive praise. She only left her hand in the clasp of the stranger,
+who covered it with kisses, and then continued:
+
+"When I first saw your little white card and the delicate tracery of
+your name and your kind words, I seemed to know it was a friend's
+writing. And when I first saw your sweet face and heard your tender
+tones, both so full of heavenly pity, I felt that the good Lord had not
+forsaken me, for He had sent one of his holy angels to visit me. Ah,
+lady, if you had only come and looked at me so and spoken to me so, and
+then passed out and away forever, still, still, that look and that tone
+would have remained with me, a comfort and a blessing for all time. But
+now--but now to hold out your hands to lead me to a place in your own
+home, by your own side--oh, it is too much! too much!"
+
+And tears of many mingled emotions flowed down the speaker's cheeks.
+
+"There, there!" said Sybil, utterly confused by this excessive, but most
+sincere adulation, yet still caressing the stranger's fair head, "there,
+dear, dry your eyes, and tell me if you can be ready to leave this place
+with us to-morrow morning."
+
+Again the foreign lady seized and kissed the hands of her new friend,
+exclaiming fervently:
+
+"Yes dear lady, yes! I am too deeply touched by your heavenly goodness
+not to be anxious to profit by it as soon as possible."
+
+"Then I will leave you to your preparations for the journey," said
+Sybil, rising.
+
+Rosa also stood up.
+
+"There will be much to be done in a short time. Will you let me send my
+maid to help yours?" inquired Sybil, with a hesitating smile.
+
+"Thanks, dear madam. I shall be much obliged," replied Rosa, with a bow.
+
+"And there is yet another request I have to make," added Mrs. Berners,
+pausing with her hand upon the latch of the door--"Will you kindly meet
+us at breakfast at eight o'clock to-morrow morning in our private
+sitting-room, so that I may make you acquainted with my husband before
+we all start on our journey together?"
+
+"With pleasure, dear lady! It is your will to load me with benefits, and
+you must be gratified," replied Rosa, with a faint smile.
+
+"Then I will come myself and fetch you, a little before the hour," added
+Sybil, playfully throwing a kiss as she darted through the door.
+
+When she re-entered her own apartment, she found her husband impatiently
+pacing up and down the floor.
+
+"How very long you have been, my darling Sybil," he said, with all the
+fondness of a newly-wedded lover, as he went to meet her.
+
+"Oh, I am so glad you thought it long!" she answered mischievously, as
+she took his hand and pulled him to the big easy-chair and pushed him
+down into it.
+
+"Sit down there, and listen to me," she said, with a pretty little air
+of authority. Then she drew an ottoman to his side and sunk down upon
+it, and leaned her arms upon his knees, and lifted her beautiful dark
+face, now all aglow with the delight of benevolence, and told him all
+that had passed in the interview between herself and Mrs. Blondelle.
+
+And Lyon Berners, with his arm over her graceful shoulders, his fingers
+stringing her silken black ringlets, and his eyes gazing with infinite
+tenderness and admiration down on her eloquent face, listened with
+attentive interest to the story. But at its close, great was his
+astonishment.
+
+"My dear, impulsive Sybil, what have you done!" he exclaimed.
+
+"What!" echoed Sybil, her crimson lips breathlessly apart--her dark eyes
+dilated.
+
+"Love, you have invited a perfect stranger, casually met at a hotel--a
+gambler's wife, even by her own showing, an adventuress by all other
+appearances, to come and take up her abode with us for an indefinite
+length of time!"
+
+Sybil's mouth opened, and her eyes dilated with an almost comical
+expression of dismay. She had not a word to say in self-defence!
+
+"Do not think I blame you, dear, warm, imprudent heart! I only wonder at
+you, and--adore you!" he said, earnestly pressing her to his bosom.
+
+"Oh, but you would have done as I did, if you had seen her distress!"
+pleaded Sybil, recovering her powers of speech.
+
+"But could you not have helped her without inviting her home with us?"
+
+"But how?" inquired Sybil.
+
+"Could you not have paid her board? or lent her money?"
+
+"Oh, Lyon! Lyon!" said Sybil, slowly shaking her head and looking up in
+his face with a heavenly benevolence beaming through her own. "Oh, Lyon!
+it was not a boarding-house she wanted, it was a _refuge_, a home with
+friends! But I am very sorry if this displeases you."
+
+"Dear, impetuous, self-forgetting child! I am not so impious as to find
+fault with you."
+
+"But you do not like the lady's coming."
+
+"I should not like any visitor coming to stay with us and prevent our
+_tete-a-tete_," said Lyon, gravely.
+
+"I thought of that too, dear, and with a pang of selfish regret; for of
+course I would much rather that you and I should have our dear old home
+to ourselves, than that any stranger should share it with us. But then,
+oh, dearest Lyon, I reflected that we are so rich and happy in our home
+and our love, and she is so poor and sorrowful in her exile and
+desertion, that we might afford to comfort her from the abundance of our
+blessings," said Sybil, earnestly.
+
+"My angel wife! you are worthier than I, and your will shall be done,"
+he gravely replied.
+
+"Not so, dear Lyon! But when you see this lady in her beauty and her
+sorrow, you also will admire and pity her, and you will be glad that she
+is coming to the refuge of our home."
+
+"I may be so," replied Mr. Berners with an arch smile, "but how will
+your proud neighbors receive this questionable stranger?"
+
+The stately little head was lifted in an instant, and--
+
+"My 'proud neighbors' well know that whom Sybil Berners protects with
+her friendship is peer with the proudest among them!" she said, with a
+hauteur not to be surpassed by the haughtiest in the Old Dominion.
+
+"Well said, my little wife! And now, as this matter is decided, I must
+see about taking additional places in the stage-coach. How many will be
+wanted? What retinue has this foreign princess in distress," inquired
+Lyon, rather sarcastically.
+
+"There will be three places required, for the lady, child and nurse."
+
+"Whe-ew! My dear Sybil, we are collecting a ready made family! Does the
+child squall? or the nurse drink?" inquired Lyon, with a laugh, as
+without waiting for a reply he rang the bell, and gave the order for
+three more places to be taken inside the Staunton coach for the morning.
+
+And soon after this the young pair retired to rest.
+
+Very early the next morning Sybil Berners came out of her chamber,
+looking fresh and bright as the new day itself. She wore a close-fitting
+travelling dress of crimson merino, that well became her elegant little
+figure and rich, dark complexion.
+
+She glanced around the room to see that everything was in order. Yes;
+the fire was bright, the hearth clean, the breakfast-table neatly set,
+and the morning sun shining through the red-curtained windows and
+glancing upon the silver tea-service.
+
+With a smile of satisfaction, she tossed back her raven-black ringlets,
+and passed from the room and through the hall, and rapped at the door of
+her new acquaintance.
+
+Mrs. Blondelle herself opened it, and stood there quite ready to
+accompany her friend to breakfast.
+
+Radiantly beautiful looked the fair young stranger this morning, in the
+dark, bright-blue cloth habit that so highly enhanced the dazzling
+splendor of her blooming complexion and the golden glory of her hair.
+
+An instant Sybil paused in involuntary admiration, and then recovered
+herself and greeted the lady with affectionate warmth.
+
+"It is nearly eight o'clock, dear, and breakfast is quite ready. Will
+you come now?" inquired Sybil, when these salutations were passed.
+
+Rosa assented with a sweet smile, and Sybil led the way into her own
+sitting-room.
+
+Mr. Berners had come in during his wife's short absence, and he now
+stood before the fire with the morning paper in his hand. He put it down
+on the table, and came forward to meet his wife, and to welcome her
+guest.
+
+"Mrs. Blondelle, Mr. Berners," said Sybil, introducing the parties to
+each other by the simplest formula.
+
+And while they were bowing together, Sybil was watching mischievously to
+see what effect the dazzling beauty of Rosa Blondelle would have upon
+Lyon Berners.
+
+She saw it!
+
+After bowing, they lifted their heads and looked at each other--he, at
+first, with the courtesy of a host--but she with a radiant and
+enchanting smile.
+
+Sybil was prepared to see Lyon's surprise at the first view of this
+peerless creature; but she was by no means prepared to witness the
+involuntary gaze of intense and breathless admiration and wonder that he
+fixed for a moment on her beautiful face. That gaze said as eloquently
+as words could have spoken:
+
+"This is the most wondrous, perfect creature that the world ever saw!
+This is the master-piece of nature."
+
+With the sunlight of her smile still shining on him, Rosa held out her
+hand, and said in the sweetest tones:
+
+"Sir, I have no words good enough to tell you how deeply I feel your
+kindness and that of your dear wife to me."
+
+"Dear lady, Mrs. Berners and myself do but gratify our own tastes in
+_trying_ to serve you; for it will be a great happiness to us if we
+succeed in doing so," replied Lyon Berners, with a look and tone that
+proved his perfect sincerity and earnestness.
+
+As thus they smiled and glanced, and spoke to each other, Sybil also
+glanced from the one to the other; a sudden pang shot through her heart,
+exciting a nameless dread in her mind. _"Even so quickly may one catch
+the plague!"_
+
+"Let me lead you to the table," said Mr. Berners, offering his arm to
+Mrs. Blondelle, and conducting her to her place.
+
+Above all, Sybil was a lady; for she was a Berners. So, with this
+strange wound in her heart, this vague warning in her mind, she took her
+seat at the head of her table and did its honors with her usual courtesy
+and grace.
+
+Mr. Berners seconded his wife in all hospitable attentions to their
+beautiful young guest.
+
+While they were all still seated at the table, a groom rapped at the
+door and reported the stage-coach ready.
+
+They all arose in a hurry, and began to make the last hasty preparations
+for departure.
+
+Mrs. Blondelle hurried into her own room, to have her luggage taken down
+stairs to be put on the coach, and also to summon her nurse with the
+child.
+
+When Sybil Berners found herself for a moment alone with her husband,
+she laid her hand upon his coat sleeve to stay him, in his haste, and
+she inquired:
+
+"What do you think of her now?"
+
+"I think, my darling Sybil, that you were right in your judgment of this
+lady. And I agree with you perfectly. I think, my only love, that in
+what you have done for this stranger, you have acted not only with the
+goodness, but with the wisdom of an angel," replied Lyon Berners,
+snatching her suddenly to his heart, and holding her closely there while
+he pressed kiss after kiss upon her crimson lip; and murmured:
+
+"I must steal a kiss from these sweet lips when and wherever I can, my
+own one, since we are not to be much alone together now."
+
+And then he released her, and hurried off to put on his overcoat.
+
+Sybil stood for a minute, smiling, where he had left her, and so happy
+that she forgot she had to get ready to go. The pain was gone from her
+heart, and the cloud from her brain.
+
+And as yet, so little did she know of herself or others, that she could
+not have told why the pain and the cloud ever came, or why they ever
+went away.
+
+As yet she did not know that her husband's admiring smiles given to a
+rival beauty had really caused her nameless suffering; or that it was
+his loving caresses, bestowed upon herself, that had soothed it.
+
+In a word, Sybil Berners, the young bride, did not dream that the
+bitter, bitter seed of JEALOUSY was germinating in her heart, to grow
+and spread perhaps into a deadly upas of the soul, destroying all moral
+life around it.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VII.
+
+                         DOWN IN THE DARK VALE.
+
+
+            Where rose the mountains, there for her were friends,
+             Where fell the valley, therein was her home;
+            Where the steep rock and dizzy peak ascends,
+             She had the passion and the power to roam.
+            The crag, the forest, cavern, torrent's foam,
+             Were unto her companions, and they spake
+            A natural language clearer than the tone
+             Of her best books, which she would oft forsake
+            For Nature's pages, lit by moonbeams on the lake.--BYRON.
+
+
+Jealousy, once called to life in any human heart, is not easily to be
+destroyed. Sybil Berners' almost unconscious jealousy suddenly called
+into existence, and as suddenly soothed to sleep, was awakened again by
+something that occurred just as the travellers were about to start.
+
+It was the merest trifle, yet one of those trifles which turn the course
+of fate just as surely as the little switch of the railroad controls the
+direction of the train.
+
+The travellers were just entering the stage-coach. Mr. Berners handed
+in first Mrs. Blondelle, then Mrs. Berners, and then he himself entered.
+
+"You sit down here in this right-hand corner, Lyon, dear, and I will sit
+in the middle next to you, and Mrs. Blondelle shall sit in the left-hand
+corner next to me," said Sybil, still standing while she pointed out
+their several places on the back seat; and she spoke perhaps under the
+influence of a latent jealousy, that instigated her to place herself
+between her husband and her guest, for that long journey.
+
+"No, no, my dear, not so; but if you will change places with me and take
+the right-hand corner-seat, while our fair friend occupies the left-hand
+one, I will sit between you two ladies, the proverbial 'thorn between
+two roses,'" replied Lyon Berners, gayly and gallantly, with perhaps on
+his side a latent desire to sit next the beautiful blonde, but also
+quite unconscious of how these words had disappointed and wounded her
+whom he would not have willingly wronged for the world.
+
+Sybil silently took her seat, leaving the others to follow her example.
+Mr. Berners politely put Mrs. Blondelle in the left-hand corner, and
+then seated himself in the middle seat, between his wife and her guest.
+
+In front of them, on the movable central seat, sat Mrs. Blondelle's
+child and nurse. Facing them on the front seat, with their backs to the
+horses, were the two negro servants, Mr. Berners' valet and Mrs.
+Berners' maid.
+
+Though the morning was a very fine one for travelling, there were no
+other passengers inside, or out. Mr. Berners and his party had the whole
+coach to themselves, at least, at starting.
+
+Sybil thought she had never seen her husband in gayer spirits. As the
+horses started and the coach rattled along over the stony streets of the
+city, Mr. Berners turned smilingly to Mrs. Blondelle, and said:
+
+"I know of few pleasanter things in this pleasant world than a journey
+through our native State of Virginia, taken at this delightful season of
+the year; and of all routes I know of none affording such a variety of
+beautiful and sublime scenery as this we are now starting upon."
+
+"How long will it take you to reach your beautiful home?" sweetly
+inquired Rosa Blondelle.
+
+"We might reach it in two days, if we were to travel day and night; but
+we shall be four days on the road, as we propose to put up at some
+roadside inn or village each night," answered Lyon Berners.
+
+Meanwhile the coach rattled out of the city and into the open country,
+where the landscape was fair, well-wooded, well-watered, but not
+striking.
+
+"You must not judge the scenery of our State by this flat country around
+our seaport," said Mr. Berners to his guest, with the air of a man
+making an apology.
+
+"Yet this is very pleasant to look upon," answered Rosa, sincerely.
+
+"Yes, very pleasant, as you say; but you will use stronger language when
+you see our vast forests, our high mountains, and deep valleys,"
+answered Lyon Berners with a smile.
+
+Sybil did not join in the conversation. She had not spoken since she had
+unwillingly taken that corner seat. And worse than all, to her
+apprehension, neither her husband nor her guest had noticed her silence.
+They were apparently quite absorbed in each other.
+
+Some hours of jolting over bad turnpike roads brought the coach to the
+interior of an old forest, where, at a wayside inn, the horses were
+changed, and the travellers dined. Here, on resuming their seats in the
+coach, they were joined by two other travellers, elderly country
+gentlemen, who took the two vacant places inside, and who would have
+made themselves very confidential with Mr. Berners on any subject
+within their knowledge, from crops to Congress, if he had not been too
+engaged with his fair guest to pay them much attention. Sybil continued
+silent, except when occasionally her husband would ask her if she was
+comfortable, or if he could do anything for her, when she would thank
+him and answer that she was quite comfortable; and that he could do
+nothing. And as far as bodily ease went, she spoke the truth. For the
+rest, Sybil could not then and there ask him to leave off devoting
+himself to their guest, and show _her_ more attention.
+
+A few more hours of more jolting over worse turnpike roads brought the
+coach to the foot of the Blue Ridge, and to the picturesque village of
+Underhill, where our party passed the night. Here, in the village inn,
+Sybil Berners, feeling that Rosa Blondelle, as her guest, was entitled
+to her courtesy, made an effort to forget the pain in her heart, the
+shadow on her mind, and to do the honors of the table with her usual
+affability and grace.
+
+After supper, which was pleasantly prolonged, the travellers separated,
+and were shown to their several bed-chambers.
+
+And now, after twelve hours, Sybil found herself once more alone with
+her husband. He had not perceived her silence and dejection during the
+journey, or if he had, he certainly had not ascribed it to the right
+cause. He was equally unconscious of having done a wrong, or inflicted a
+wound. And now his manner to his wife was as tender, loving, and devoted
+as it had ever been since their marriage. His very first words showed
+this. On entering the room and closing the door, he suddenly threw his
+arms around her, and clasped her to his bosom as a recovered treasure,
+exclaiming:
+
+"Now, my darling, we are alone together once more, with no one to divide
+us."
+
+"Thank Heaven!" breathed Sybil with all her heart; and her jealousy was
+lulled to rest again by the kisses that he pressed on her lips. She said
+to herself that all his devotion to Rosa Blondelle in the stage-coach
+was but the proper courtesy of a gentleman to a lady guest, who was,
+besides, a stranger in the country; and that she, his wife, ought to
+admire, rather than to blame him for it--ought to be pleased, rather
+than pained by it.
+
+Very early the next morning the travellers arose, in order to take the
+earliest coach, which, having left Norfolk at sunset, would reach
+Underhill at sunrise.
+
+Poor, ardent, impulsive Sybil! She had passed a very happy night; and
+this morning she met her guest with a gush of genuine affection,
+embracing and kissing her and her child, making them even more welcome
+than she had done before, and feeling that to-day she could not deal too
+kindly by Rosa, to atone for having yesterday thought so hardly of her.
+
+Under these pleasant auspices the travellers sat down to an excellent
+breakfast.
+
+But the warning horn blew, and they prepared to resume their journey.
+
+On entering the coach, they found the other passengers, three in number,
+already on the back seat. But they were gentlemen, who voluntarily and
+promptly gave up their seats to the two ladies and their escort. The
+coach started.
+
+Their route now lay through some of the wildest passes of the Blue
+Ridge. And here the enthusiasm of Rosa Blondelle burst forth. She said
+that she had seen grand mountains in Scotland, but nothing--no, nothing
+to equal these in grandeur and beauty!
+
+And Lyon Berners smiled to hear her speak so, as one might smile at the
+extravagant delight of a child, for as a child this lovely stranger
+often seemed to him and to others. And she, with her sweet, blue eyes,
+smiled back to him.
+
+And Sybil looked and listened, and felt again that strange wound
+deepening in her heart--that strange cloud darkening over her mind.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VIII.
+
+                               BLACK HALL.
+
+
+            Seest thou our home? 'tis where the woods are waving
+            In their dark richness to the autumn air;
+            Where yon blue stream its rocky banks are laving,
+            Leads down the hills a vein of light--'tis there.--HEMANS.
+
+
+At the close of that second day, they stopped at a hamlet on the summit
+of the Blue Ridge, from which they could view five counties. At the
+little hotel they were entertained very much in the same manner as at
+the inn of Underhill. Again Sybil's unspoken and unsuspected jealousy
+was soothed by the caresses of her husband.
+
+In the morning they resumed their journey in the early coach, that took
+them across the beautiful valley that lies between the Blue Ridge and
+the Allegheny Mountains. And again Lyon Berners' devotion to Rosa
+Blondelle deeply distressed Sybil. At nightfall they reached Staunton,
+where they slept.
+
+On the morning of the fourth and last day of their journey, they took
+the cross-country coach and changed their route, which now led them
+towards the wildest, dreariest, and loneliest passes of the Alleghenies.
+
+About mid-day the coach entered the dark defile known as the "Devils'
+Descent." And, in fact, it needed all the noon sunshine to light up the
+gloom of that fearful pass. Here the delight of the impressible young
+foreigner deepened into awe.
+
+"I have never seen anything like this in the old country," she breathed,
+in a low, hushed tone.
+
+And again Lyon Berners smiled most kindly and indulgently on her, and
+again Sybil Berners sickened at heart. Every time Lyon so smiled on
+Rosa, Sybil so sickened. She strove against this feeling, but she could
+not overcome it.
+
+As the day declined and the coach went on, wilder, drearier, and
+lonelier became the road, until, at nightfall, it entered a pass so
+gloomy, so savage, so terrific in its aspect, that the young stranger
+involuntarily caught her breath and clung for protection to the arm of
+Lyon Berners.
+
+"I have never _dreamed_ of a place like this," she gasped.
+
+"You think," he said indulgently, "that if the other pass was called the
+'Devil's Descent,' this should be the 'Gates of Hell.' Yet to us, it is
+the 'Gates of Heaven;' since it is the entrance to our Valley Home."
+
+And this affectionate mention of their mutual home almost consoled the
+wife for the smile he bestowed on their beautiful guest while speaking.
+
+Then all the women except Sybil held their breath in awe.
+
+It was indeed an awful pass! a road roughly hewn through the bottom of a
+deep, narrow, tortuous cleft in the mountains where, at some remote
+period, by some tremendous convulsions of nature, the solid rocks had
+been rent apart, leaving the ragged edges of the wound hanging at a
+dizzy height between heaven and earth! The dark iron-gray precipices
+that towered on each side were clothed in every cleft, from base to
+summit, with clumps of dark stunted evergreens as sombre as themselves.
+So tortuous, besides, was the pass, that the travellers could see but a
+few yards before them at any time. There was but one cheering sight in
+earth or sky, and that was the young crescent moon straight before them
+in the west, and shining down in tender light upon the rudest precipice
+of all.
+
+"It does remind one of Dante's descriptions of the 'Entrance into the
+Infernal Regions,' does it not?" inquired Lyon Berners.
+
+"All except the little moon! Without that, its gloom would be perfectly
+horrible! and it is horrible enough now," answered Rosa with a shudder.
+
+"But I love it! Even its gloom and horror have a weird fascination for
+me. It is my abode. I only seem to live my own life in my own Black
+Valley," said Sybil, in a low, deep voice that thrilled with emotion.
+
+They were suddenly silenced, for they were at the sharpest, steepest,
+most difficult and dangerous turn in that most dangerous pass; and to go
+down with any chance of safety required the utmost care and skill on the
+part of the coachman, whose anxiety was shared by all within the coach.
+Each passenger clung for support to what was nearest at hand, and might
+reasonably have expected every instant to be dashed to pieces on the
+rocks by the coach pitching over the horses' heads, as it tossed and
+tumbled and thundered down the falling road, more like a descending
+avalanche than a well-conducted four-wheeled vehicle.
+
+Our travellers only let go their holdings and loosed their tongues again
+at the foot of the precipice.
+
+"That was--that was--Oh, there is no word to express what it was. It was
+more than terrible! more than awful! And it is just a miracle that we
+have escaped with our lives!" gasped Rosa Blondelle, aghast with horror.
+
+"There has never yet been an accident on this road," observed Lyon
+Berners, soothingly.
+
+"Then there is a miracle performed every time a vehicle passes down it,"
+replied Rosa, with a shudder.
+
+"But look now, there is a very fine scene," said Mr. Berners, pointing
+through the window as the coach rolled on. Sybil was already gazing
+through the right-hand window, and so Rosa stretched her fair neck to
+look from the left-hand one.
+
+Yes, it was a fine scene. The young crescent moon with its tender beam
+had gone down; but the great stars were out in all their glory, and by
+their shining the travellers saw before them a beautiful little river,
+whose rippling surface reflected in fitful glimmers the cheerful lights
+of a village on its opposite bank.
+
+"This is the Black River. It rises in those distant mountains, which are
+called the Black Rocks, and which shut in our Black Valley. The village
+here is called Blackville," explained Lyon Berners.
+
+"What a deal of blackness!" replied Rosa Blondelle.
+
+"If you think so, I must tell you in the first place that we are not
+responsible for having named these places; and in the second, that the
+names are really appropriate. The stupendous height and dark iron-gray
+hue of the rocks that overshadow and darken the valley and the river,
+and also the situation of the village at the entrance of the dark
+valley, justify these names. And even if they did not, still we are not
+so irreverent as to interfere with the arrangements of those who have
+gone before us," laughed Lyon Berners.
+
+And as he spoke the stage-coach reached the banks of the river, and drew
+up before the little ferry-house. Here the travellers alighted, and had
+their baggage taken off. And the coach, waiting only long enough to
+change horses and to pick up passengers, all of whom, both man and
+beast, had been brought over from the village by the ferry-boat, went on
+its way, which lay along the east bank of the river.
+
+Mr. Berners had his luggage and that of his party put upon the
+ferry-boat, and then he led the ladies on board. He saw them comfortably
+seated, and the nurse and child in a safe place, and then he turned to
+the aged ferry-man with hearty good will, and inquired:
+
+"Well, old Charon! all right with you?"
+
+"Yes, sir, thank Heaven!" replied the old man, whose occupation,
+combined with his great age and flowing gray locks, yet stalworth form
+and unbroken strength, had conferred upon him the name of his infernal
+predecessor--the navigator of the River Styx.
+
+"All right in the village, and in the valley?" further inquired Mr.
+Berners.
+
+"All right in the willage, sir. And Joe, who has just arrove at the
+tavern, do report all right in the walley," was the satisfactory answer
+of the ferry-man.
+
+"Oh! then our carriage is waiting for us there?"
+
+"Yes, sir, which it arrove just about twenty minutes ago, punk-too-well
+to time!" replied the old man.
+
+The passage across the Black River is very short, and just as the
+ferry-man spoke, the boat touched the wharf immediately under the
+lighted windows of the hotel, before the doors of which they saw the
+Black Hall carriage and horses standing.
+
+Mr. Berners assisted the ladies of his party to land, and proposed that
+they should stop at the hotel and take supper before going on to Black
+Hall.
+
+"Oh, no! please don't, on any account! I feel sure that Miss Tabby has
+laid out all her talent on the supper that is awaiting us at home. And
+she would weep with disappointment and mortification if we should stop
+to supper here," eagerly objected Sybil.
+
+"Miss Tabby is our housekeeper; the best creature, but the greatest
+whimperer in existence. She is, in turn, Sybil's tyrant and Sybil's
+slave; for she is both despotic and devoted, and scolds and pets her
+alternately and unreasonably as a foolish mother does an only child,"
+explained Mr. Berners, turning to Mrs. Blondelle.
+
+"And her lady?" inquired Rosa, with an admiring glance toward Mrs.
+Berners.
+
+"Oh! Sybil turns the tables, you may be sure, and indulges or rebukes
+her housekeeper as the occasion may demand," laughed Lyon.
+
+"Come here, Joe!" called Mrs. Berners to her coachman, who was seen
+coming out of the tap-room.
+
+"Bress my two eyes, Miss Sybil! how glad dey is to see you, and you too,
+Marse Lyon!" exclaimed a very black, short, squarely built, good-humored
+looking negro coachman, as he came and bowed to his master and mistress.
+
+"Joe! you have been at your old tricks again. Joe! why can't you let
+bar-rooms alone? Joe! where _do_ you expect to go when you die?"
+solemnly inquired Sybil, shaking her finger at the delinquent.
+
+"I do 'spect to go straight to de debbil, miss, for sure! Dat's de
+reason why I wants to take a drap of comfort in dis worl', 'cause I
+nebber shall get none dere. But bress my two eyes, miss, how glad dey is
+to look on your putty face again."
+
+"My 'putty' face? I want to know if _that's_ a compliment? But, Joe,
+what has Miss Tabby got for supper?"
+
+"Lor bress your putty little mouf, Miss Sybil; it's easier to tell you
+what she hasn't got," exclaimed Joe, stretching his eyes. "Why, Miss
+Sybil, there an't a man nor a maid about the house, what ha'n't been on
+their feet all dis day a getting up of that there supper," he added.
+
+"There! I told you so!" said Sybil, turning to her husband.
+
+"Then let's go on and eat it, my love. We can leave our two servants
+here to follow in the wagon with the baggage," said Lyon Berners,
+leading his wife and his guest to the carriage, and placing them inside,
+with the child and nurse, while he himself mounted to the box beside the
+coachman.
+
+"Oh! I am very sorry Mr. Berners has been crowded out," regretfully
+exclaimed Rosa Blondelle, looking after him in surprise as he climbed to
+his roost.
+
+"Oh, he has not been crowded out! He has gone up there to drive; for the
+road is not very safe at night, and our coachman is rather too much
+exhilarated to be trusted," answered Sybil, touching very tenderly upon
+the weakness of her old servant.
+
+Their road lay along the bank of the river up the valley, between the
+two high mountain ridges; but it was so dark that nothing but these
+grander features of the landscape could be discerned.
+
+As the carriage rolled slowly and carefully along this rough road, the
+music of distant waters fell upon the listening ear, and from the
+faintest hum that could hardly be heard, it gradually swelled into a
+deafening roar that filled the valley.
+
+"What is that?" fearfully inquired Rosa.
+
+"What is what?" echoed Sybil.
+
+"That horrid noise!"
+
+"Oh! that is the Black Torrent, the head of our Black River," answered
+Sybil in a low, pleased tone; for the sound of her native waters,
+however dreadful it might be to strange ears, was delightful to hers.
+
+"Oh! more blackness!" shivered Rosa.
+
+"But it is a beautiful cascade! All beautiful things are not necessarily
+light, you know."
+
+"No, indeed," answered Rosa, "for the most beautiful woman I have ever
+seen in my life is very dark." And she raised and pressed the hand of
+her hostess, to give point to her words.
+
+Sybil did not like the implied flattery, delicately as it was conveyed.
+She drew her hand away; and then, to heal the little hurt she might have
+made in doing so, she opened the window and said, pleasantly:
+
+"Look, Mrs. Blondelle! You see the lights of our home now."
+
+Rosa leaned across Sybil to look in the direction indicated, and she saw
+scattered lights that seemed to be set in the side of the mountain. She
+saw no house, and she said so.
+
+"That is because the house is built of the very same dark iron-gray
+rocks that form the mountain; and being immediately at the foot of the
+mountain, and closely surrounded with trees, can not at night be
+distinguished from the mountain itself."
+
+Here the carriage road curved around an expansion of the river that
+might have been taken either for a very small lake, or a very large
+pond. And about midway of this curve, or semi-circle, the carriage drew
+up.
+
+On the left-hand was dimly seen the lake; on the right-hand the gate
+letting into the elm-tree avenue that led straight up to the house.
+
+"That is the Black Pond, and there is Black Hall. More 'blackness,' Mrs.
+Blondelle," smiled Sybil, who was so delighted to get home that she
+forgot her jealousy.
+
+The carriage waited only until the gates could be opened by the slow old
+porter, whom Sybil laughingly greeted as "Cerberus," although the name
+given him in baptism was that of the keeper of the keys of heaven, and
+not that of the guardian of the entrance to the other place.
+
+"Cerberus," or rather Peter, warmly welcomed his young mistress back,
+and widely stretched the gates for her carriage to pass.
+
+As the carriage rolled easily along the avenue, now thickly carpeted
+with forest leaves, and as it approached the house, the fine old
+building, with its many gable ends and curiously twisted chimneys, its
+steep roofs and latticed windows--all monuments of the old colonial
+days--came more and more distinctly into view from its background of
+mountains. Lights were gleaming from upper and lower and all sorts of
+windows, and the whole aspect of the grand old hospitable mansion
+proclaimed, "WELCOME."
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER IX.
+
+                          THE GUEST-CHAMBERS.
+
+
+                Deserted rooms of luxury and state,
+                Which old magnificence had rudely furnished
+                With pictures, cabinets of ancient date,
+                And carvings, gilt and burnished,--HOOD.
+
+
+The carriage drew up at the foot of a flight of stone steps, leading to
+the front entrance of the house. The double oak doors stood wide open,
+showing the lighted hall and a group of people waiting.
+
+Sybil looked eagerly from the carriage window.
+
+"I do declare," she exclaimed, "if there is not, not only Miss Tabby,
+but Miss Libby and Mrs. Winterose besides; Mrs. Winterose," she
+explained, turning to her guest, "is the widow of our late land steward.
+She is also my foster-mother, and the mother of the two maiden ladies,
+Miss Tabby, who is our housekeeper, and Miss Libby, who lives with the
+widowed parent at home. They have come to welcome us back. Heaven bless
+them!"
+
+As Sybil spoke, Mr. Berners dropped down from his perch on the
+coachman's box, and opened the carriage door.
+
+He assisted first his wife, and then their guest, to alight. And then he
+took the sleeping child from the nurse's arms, while she herself got
+out.
+
+"You know the way, dearest Sybil! Run on before, and I will take charge
+of our fair friend," said Mr. Berners, as he gave his arm to Mrs.
+Blondelle to lead her up the steps.
+
+But Sybil had not waited for this permission. Too eager to meet the dear
+old friends of her childhood to care for any one else just then, or even
+to feel a twinge of jealousy at the words and actions of her husband,
+she flew past him up the stairs and into the arms of her foster-mother,
+who folded the beautiful, impetuous creature to her bosom, and welcomed
+her home with heartfelt emotion.
+
+Miss Tabby and Miss Libby next took their turns to be embraced and
+kissed.
+
+And then the old servants crowded around to welcome their beloved young
+mistress; to every one of them she gave a cordial grasp of her hand, and
+loving words.
+
+"It is very delightful," she said, with tears of joy in her eyes, "it is
+very, very delightful to be so warmly welcomed home."
+
+"Everything as well as everybody welcomes you home, Miss Sybil! Even the
+Black Torrent! I never heard the cascade sing so loud and merry as it
+does to-night!" said Old Abe, or Father Abraham, as he was called, for
+being a full centenarian, and the oldest negro, by twenty years, of any
+on the estate.
+
+"Thank you, dear old Uncle Abe! I _know_ you all welcome me home! And I
+love to think that my torrent does too! And now, Miss Tabby, you got the
+letter I wrote from Underhill, asking you to have the spare rooms
+prepared for the visitors we were to bring with us?" inquired Sybil,
+turning to her housekeeper.
+
+"Yes, ma'am, and your orders is obeyed, and the rooms is all ready, as
+well as yourn and Mr. Berners', even to the kindling of the fires, which
+has been burning in the chimneys to air them rooms all this blessed
+day," answered Miss Tabby.
+
+"That is right, and I thank you; and now here comes our visitor," said
+Sybil, as her guest approached leaning on her husband's arm. They had
+certainly lingered a little on the way; but Sybil was too happy to
+notice that circumstance now. The jealous wife was for the time subdued
+within her, and all the hospitable hostess was in the ascendant.
+
+"You are welcome to Black Hall, my dear Mrs. Blondelle," she said,
+advancing to receive her guest. "And now, will you walk into our sitting
+parlor and rest awhile before taking off your wraps; or shall I show
+you at once to your rooms, which are quite ready for you?"
+
+"At once to my rooms, if you please, Mrs. Berners; for, you see, my poor
+little Cromartie is already fast asleep."
+
+"Come, then; you will not have far to go. It is on this floor," said
+Sybil, with a smile, as she led the way down the wide hall, past the
+great staircase, and then turned to the right and went down a long
+passage, until she came to a door, which she opened.
+
+"Here is your bed-chamber," said Sybil, inviting her guest to enter a
+large and richly furnished room; "and beyond this, and connected with
+it, is another and a smaller apartment, which is properly the
+dressing-room, but which I have had fitted up as a nursery for your
+child and his nurse."
+
+"Many thanks," replied Rosa Blondelle, as she followed her hostess into
+the room, and glanced around with the natural curiosity we all feel in
+entering a strange place.
+
+The room was very spacious, and had many doors and windows. Its
+furniture was all green, which would have seemed rather gloomy, but for
+the bright wood fire on the hearth, that lighted up all the scene with
+cheerfulness.
+
+Sybil drew an easy-chair to the chimney corner, and invited her guest to
+sit down.
+
+But Rosa was too curious about her surroundings to yield herself
+immediately to rest.
+
+"What an interesting old place!" she said, walking about the chamber and
+examining every thing.
+
+Meanwhile the nurse-maid, more practical than her mistress, had found
+the door of the adjoining nursery and passed into it to put her infant
+charge to bed.
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Rosa, who had drawn aside one of the green moreen window
+curtains and was looking out--"Oh! what a wild, beautiful place! But
+these windows open right upon the grounds, and there are no outside
+shutters! Is there no danger?"
+
+"No danger whatever, my dear Mrs. Blondelle. These windows open at the
+back of the house, upon the grounds, which run quite back to the foot of
+the mountain. These grounds are _very_ private, being quite
+inaccessible, except through the front grounds of the house," said
+Sybil, soothingly.
+
+"But oh!" whispered Mrs. Blondelle, nowise tranquilized by the answer of
+her hostess--"Oh! what are those white things that I see standing among
+the bushes at the foot of the mountain? They look like--tombstones!" she
+added, with a shudder.
+
+"They _are_ tombstones," replied Sybil in a low, grave voice; "that is
+our family burial-ground, and all the Berners, for seven generations,
+lie buried there."
+
+"Oh, good gracious!" gasped Rosa Blondelle, dropping the curtain and
+turning away.
+
+"Don't be alarmed," smiled Sybil. "The place is much farther off than it
+seems. And now, my dear Mrs. Blondelle, let me make you acquainted with
+the bearings of this green bedroom, and then you will like it better.
+You see it is in the right wing of the house, and that accounts for its
+having windows on three sides, back, front, and end, and doors that
+connect with the house and doors that lead to the grounds. _This_ door,"
+she said, opening one on the left-hand side of the fireplace--"this door
+leads up this little narrow staircase directly into my chamber, which
+is immediately above this, as my dressing-room is immediately above your
+nursery. So, my dear, if ever you should feel nervous or alarmed, all
+you have to do is to open this little door, and run up these stairs and
+knock loudly at the upper door, which is near the head of my bed. I
+shall hear you, and fly to your assistance."
+
+"Yes," laughed Rosa. "But suppose some robber were to get into these
+windows, and be right upon me before I could run, what should I do
+then?"
+
+"Call for assistance, and Mr. Berners and myself will run down to your
+rescue. But in order to make that practicable, you must always leave
+that lower stair door unfastened; and you may do it with perfect safety,
+as it leads nowhere but into my bedroom."
+
+"I will remember always to leave it unfastened," replied Rosa.
+
+"But, my dear, I assure you there is not the least shadow of a shade of
+danger. Our faithful negroes are all around us on the outside, and our
+faithful dumb guardians sleep on the mats in the large hall and the
+smaller passages. However, if you still feel nervous, I will have one of
+the maids sleep in your room, and one of the men sleep in the passage
+outside," said Sybil.
+
+"Oh, no, not for the world would I disturb the arrangements of the
+family. I am not at all nervous _now_," said Rosa Blondelle.
+
+"Then, dear, get ready for supper; for it has been ready for us for an
+hour past, and I am sure you must need it. I will, with your permission,
+go up to my own room by these stairs; and when I have changed my dress,
+I will come down the same way and take you in to supper," said Sybil,
+as, with a smile and a bow, she opened the door and slipped away up to
+her own room.
+
+Rosa Blondelle passed into the little adjoining nursery, to see after
+her child.
+
+The room, small as it was, had two windows, one west and one south, and
+a little fireplace north. The east side was only broken by the door
+that communicated with the bedroom. There were green curtains to the two
+windows, green carpet on the floor, and green covers to the
+rocking-chair and the child's chairs, which were the only ones in the
+room. There was a cot-bed for the nurse and a crib for the child. A
+well-supplied wash-stand completed the furniture. The child lay sleeping
+soundly in his crib, and the nurse sat by him, occupying herself with
+some white embroidery that she habitually carried in her pocket, to fill
+up spare moments profitably.
+
+"Crow is quite well, Janet?" inquired the young mother, approaching and
+looking at her rosy boy.
+
+"Yes, me leddy, and sleeping like an angel," answered the woman.
+
+"Those are very comfortable quarters, Janet."
+
+"Yes, me leddy, though the roaring of yon Black Torrent, as they ca' it,
+gars me grew. I wonder does it always roar sae loud."
+
+"Oh no, Janet. Mr. Berners says that it only sounds so when very much
+swollen by the rains. And Mr. Berners should know."
+
+"Aye, ma'am, and sae he suld! And a very fine gentleman is the laird!"
+
+"He is not a laird, Janet! There are no lairds in America."
+
+"And what will he be then, ma'am?"
+
+"Simply a gentleman--Mr. Berners."
+
+"It is a pity he is na a laird, ma'am, and a duke to the back of that! a
+princely gentleman he is, me leddy."
+
+"I quite agree with you, Janet. Well, leave your charge for a moment,
+and come and arrange my hair for me. Unluckily I can not change my
+dress, for my luggage was left behind at Blackville, and I don't suppose
+it has arrived here yet," said Rosa Blondelle, as she returned to her
+room attended by her maid. But there an agreeable surprise met her. She
+found her trunks set in order, ready for her.
+
+"I declare, there they are! And I suppose the servants who brought them,
+finding the door wide open and no one in the room, just put them in here
+and retired. Janet, open that trunk and get out my black velvet, and
+point lace set. I must not wear anything very light and gay on this
+first evening, after a fatiguing journey, when we all feel so tired as
+to be fit for nothing but bed," said Rosa Blondelle, throwing herself
+languidly into the green-covered easy-chair before the dressing-table.
+
+"And, 'deed, me leddy, there's nae dress ye look sae weell in as that
+bonny black velvet," said the maid.
+
+Rosa knew this well, and for this reason, perhaps, selected the dress.
+
+The maid quickly and skilfully arranged her mistress's hair in its
+natural golden ringlets, that needed no ornament whatever. And when her
+toilet was complete, Rosa Blondelle's fair beauty was even more
+resplendent than usual, from its contrast with the rich blackness of her
+dress.
+
+"'A star upon the brow of night!'" quoted Sybil, as she entered the room
+and stood for a moment in involuntary admiration. Then, with a smile,
+she drew the arm of her guest within her own and led her off to the
+supper-table, where they were joined by Mr. Berners.
+
+It was a warm wainscotted little room, with crimson carpet and crimson
+curtains, a good open fire of hickory wood, and a small, but luxuriously
+spread supper-table.
+
+Mr. Berners led their guest to her place at the board, and left his wife
+to follow. These courtesies were no doubt due the visitor, yet they made
+the wife's heart ache. She hated to miss the attentions her husband had
+always hitherto bestowed on her alone; and she hated more to see them
+lavished on another, and that other a beautiful, fascinating, and, as
+she half suspected, most dangerous woman. It was in vain she said to
+herself that these attentions were no more than any gentleman should
+show to the invited visitor of his wife. She could not argue away her
+heartache. She could not endure to see her husband touch the beauty's
+hand. It drove her almost out of her self-possession to see their eyes
+meet in that provoking mutual smile. Oh! how she repented ever having
+invited this fatal beauty to her house! And yet she pitied the
+friendless stranger too, and she struggled bravely against those
+feelings of jealousy and hatred that were creeping into her heart. And,
+in fact, from this time the whole inner life of Sybil Berners became one
+hard struggle between her passions and her reason. And this struggle
+soon manifested itself in a series of inconsistencies of conduct that
+were perfectly incomprehensible to both Lyon Berners and Rosa Blondelle.
+
+For instance, on this first night at home, while they sat at the
+supper-table. Sybil was silent, abstracted, and depressed. Her
+companions mentally ascribed her condition to fatigue; but Sybil then
+scarcely knew what fatigue meant. After supper she aroused herself by an
+effort, and offered to attend Mrs. Blondelle back again to that lady's
+chamber; and when they got there, even lingered a little while, and very
+kindly repeated her request that if Rosa should be frightened in the
+night, she should run up the communicating stairs and rap at Sybil's
+bedroom door for assistance. And then Sybil bade her visitor
+good-night, and vanished up the stairs.
+
+The travellers were all very tired, and so, notwithstanding Rosa's fears
+and Sybil's jealousy, they were all soon fast asleep.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER X.
+
+                           THE JEALOUS BRIDE.
+
+
+            Yea, she was jealous, though she did not show it,
+            For jealousy dislikes the world to know it.--BYRON.
+
+
+Rosa was the last to wake up in the morning. The nurse had already
+dressed the child and taken him from the room; so Rosa rang her bell to
+bring the truants back.
+
+Janet came alone.
+
+"Where is little Crow?" inquired Crow's mamma.
+
+"In the breakfast-room, me leddy, on the laird's knee," answered the
+girl.
+
+"I tell you there are no lairds in America, Janet!" said the lady,
+impatiently.
+
+"Well, on the gentleman's knee, ma'am."
+
+"Very well, now come help me to dress."
+
+Janet hastened to obey, and in half an hour Rosa Blondelle issued from
+her chamber, looking if possible even more beautiful than she had looked
+on the previous evening; for she wore an elegant morning robe of white
+cashmere, embroidered down the front and around the bodice, sleeves,
+and skirt with a border of blue bells, and she had her splendid hair
+dressed in the simple natural ringlets that were the most becoming to
+her.
+
+Janet walked before her mistress, to show the way. Far up the great
+hall, she opened a door on the left-hand side, admitting the lady to a
+delightful front room, whose front windows looked out upon the lake, the
+valley, and the opposite range of mountains.
+
+It was a golden October morning, and from a cloudless deep-blue sky the
+sun shone down in dazzling splendor upon the valley, kindling up into a
+conflagration of living light all the variegated foliage of the trees,
+upon the mountain sides and the river's banks, where the glowing crimson
+of the oak and the flaming orange of the elm mingled with the royal
+purple of the dogwood and the deep green of the cedar. And all this
+gorgeousness of coloring was reflected in the lake, whose waters seemed
+dyed with all the prismatic hues of the rainbow.
+
+"'Black Valley,' indeed!" said Rosa Blondelle, with a smile, as she
+entered the breakfast-room and glanced through the windows upon the
+magnificent scene; "'Black Valley,' call you this? I should rather call
+it 'Bright Valley.' Oh, what a glorious day and oh, what a glorious
+scene! Good-morning, Mrs. Berners. Good-morning, Mr. Berners. Little
+Crow, this kind gentleman is spoiling you," she said, as she advanced
+with smiling eyes and outstretched hands to greet her host and hostess,
+who had risen from their chairs to meet her.
+
+They both received her very kindly, even affectionately, and as they had
+waited only for her presence to have breakfast, Sybil now rang and
+ordered it to be brought in.
+
+Sybil's own little "high chair" had been rummaged out from its corner in
+the lumber-room and dusted, and brought in for the use of the baby-boy;
+who, in honor of his mother, was permitted to sit up to the table with
+the grown people.
+
+"But why, I repeat, should you call this glorious vale the 'Black
+Valley'?" inquired Rosa, as they all gathered around the board.
+
+"It was black enough last night, was it not?" asked Mr. Berners, with a
+smile.
+
+"Oh, it was black everywhere last night; but no blacker here than
+elsewhere, so I don't see the justice of calling this the Black Valley.
+I should call it rather the 'Valley of the Sun.'"
+
+"Would not the 'Valley of the Pyrotechnics' do as well?" inquired Lyon
+Berners, with dry humor.
+
+"I think it would," replied Rosa, quite seriously, "for certainly this
+morning, with this glorious sunshine and these glowing, sparkling woods
+and waters, the place is a perfect spectacle of fire-works!"
+
+"You view the scenery at its best and brightest. It is never so
+beautiful and brilliant as on a clear sunny autumn noon-day. At all
+other seasons, and at all other hours, it is gloomy enough. In a very
+few hours from this, when the sun gets behind the mountain, it will be
+quite black enough to justify its name," said Mr. Berners very gravely.
+
+The conversation had been carried on between Mr Berners and Mrs.
+Blondelle exclusively. Sybil had not volunteered a word; and it happened
+also that neither of her companions had addressed a word to her. She
+felt as if she were dropped out of their talk, and though bodily
+present, dropped out of their company as well. She felt that this was
+very hard; and once more she experienced the wild and vain regret that
+she had ever invited this too-alluring stranger to become an inmate of
+her house.
+
+Before now, when they had been together, Lyon Berners had been
+accustomed to think of, smile on, talk to, only her, his wife! Now his
+thoughts, smiles, conversation were all divided with another!--Oh no! Oh
+no! _not divided_, but almost entirely absorbed by that other! At least
+so suspected the jealous wife.
+
+"Is it possible, oh! is it possible that he loves me less than formerly?
+that he loves me not at all? that he loves this stranger?" thought
+Sybil, as she watched her husband and her friend, entirely taken up with
+each other, and entirely oblivious of her! And at this thought a
+sensation of sickness and faintness came over her, and she saved herself
+from falling, only by a great effort of self-command. They, talking to
+each other, smiling at each other, enjoying each other's exclusive
+attention, did not observe her emotion, although almost any casual
+spectator must have seen it in the deadly pallor of her face.
+
+In all this there was little to arouse her jealousy; and perhaps there
+was nothing at all. Her heart pang may have come of a false fear, or a
+true one; who could then tell?
+
+For my own part, looking towards this situation of affairs through the
+light of after knowledge, I think that her fears were, even then,
+well-founded; that even then it was a true instinct which warned her
+that her adored husband, he to whom her whole heart, soul, and spirit
+were entirely given, he for whom only she "lived and moved and had her
+being," he was becoming fascinated, for the time being at least, by
+this beautiful stranger, who was evidently also flattered by his
+attentions. And this in the very honeymoon of the bride to whom he owed
+so much!
+
+And yet indeed, I say, still speaking in the light of after knowledge,
+that at this time he was equally unconscious of his wife's jealousy, or
+of any wrong-doing on his own part, calculated to arouse it. Had Lyon
+Berners suspected that his attentions to their fair guest gave such deep
+pain to his high-spirited wife, he would at least have modified them to
+retain her confidence. But he suspected nothing. Sybil revealed nothing;
+her pride was even greater than her jealousy; for this last daughter of
+the House of Berners inherited all the pride of all her line. At this
+time, this pride quite enabled her to keep her pain to herself.
+
+At length the severe ordeal was, for the moment, over. She perceived
+that her companions had finished breakfast, and so she arose from the
+table, leaving her example to be followed by them.
+
+"Let me lead you to our pleasant morning parlor. It is just across the
+hall, and commands the same view of the lake and mountains that this
+room does--from the front windows I mean; but from the end windows you
+get a view _up_ the valley, and may catch glimpses of the Black Torrent
+as it rushes roaring down the side of the mountain," said Mr. Berners,
+as he offered his hand to Mrs. Blondelle and led her from the breakfast
+parlor.
+
+Sybil looked after them with pallid cheeks and darkening brows; then she
+rushed up into her own chamber, locked her door, threw herself upon her
+bed and gave way to a storm of sobs and tears. While she was still
+weeping vehemently, there came a knock at the door. She lifted up her
+head and listened; controlling her voice as well as she could, she
+inquired:
+
+"Who is there, and what is wanted?"
+
+"It is I, my dear, and I want to come in," answered the voice of her
+husband.
+
+"I have not even the privilege of shutting myself up to weep alone! for
+I belong to one who can invade my privacy or command my presence at his
+pleasure!" exclaimed Sybil in bitterness of spirit; and yet bitterness
+that was mingled with a strange, deep sweetness too! for she loved to
+feel that _she did_ belong to Lyon Berners; that _he had_ the privilege
+of invading her privacy, or commanding her presence at his pleasure. And
+ah! _that_ was a happiness Rosa Blondelle would not share!
+
+"Well, well, my darling! are you going to let me in?" inquired Mr.
+Berners, after a moment of patient waiting.
+
+"Yes, in an instant dear!" exclaimed Sybil, hastily wiping her eyes and
+trying to efface all signs of weeping from her countenance.
+
+Then she opened the door.
+
+Her husband entered, closed the door, and then turned around with some
+light, gay word; but at the sight of his wife's pale and agitated face,
+he started in surprise and distress, exclaiming:
+
+"Why, Sybil! Why, my darling! What on earth is the matter? What has
+happened?"
+
+At the sound of his anxious voice, at the sight of his troubled face,
+Sybil turned aside, sank upon the corner of the sofa, dropped her head
+upon its cushions, and yielded to a tempest of sobs and tears.
+
+He hurried to her side, sat down and drew her head upon his bosom, and
+in much alarm exclaimed again:
+
+"In the name of Heaven, Sybil! what is all this about? What has happened
+to distress you so deeply? Have you heard any bad news?" he inquired as
+he caressed and tried to soothe her.
+
+She did not repel his caresses; for, jealous as she was, she felt no
+anger towards him then. She laid her head upon his bosom, and sobbed
+aloud.
+
+"What bad news have you heard, dear Sybil?" repeated Mr. Berners.
+
+"Oh, none at all! What bad news _could_ I hear to make _me_ weep? I do
+not care as much as that for anything on earth, or anybody except you!"
+she answered, lifting her head from his bosom as she spoke, and then
+dropping it again when she had finished.
+
+"Then what is it that troubles you, my own dear wife? What cause can you
+have for weeping?" he inquired, tenderly caressing the beautiful,
+wayward creature.
+
+She lifted her head, and smiled through her tears as she answered:
+
+"None at all, I believe. What does Kotzebue say? 'To laugh or cry
+without a reason, is one of the few privileges women have.' I have no
+good reason to weep, dear Lyon! I know that I have not. But I am nervous
+and hysterical, I believe," she added; for, as before, his tender
+caresses dispelled her jealousy and restored her trust. With her head
+resting on his bosom; with his arms around her; with his eyes smiling
+down upon hers, she could not look in his face and retain her jealous
+doubts.
+
+"I have no reason in the world for weeping. I am just a nervous,
+hysterical woman--_like the rest_! It is no wonder men, who see the
+weakness of our sex, refuse to trust us with any power," she added, with
+a light laugh.
+
+"But I utterly deny this alleged 'weakness of your sex.' You bewray
+yourself and sex by repeating the slander, though even in jest, as I see
+you are. _You_ are not weak, my Sybil. Nor do you weep without a cause.
+You have some good and sufficient reason for your tears."
+
+"Indeed, no; I have none. I am only nervous and hysterical, and
+thoroughly ashamed of myself for being so," she answered, very
+sincerely, for she _was_ really thoroughly ashamed of her late jealousy,
+and anxious to conceal it from her husband.
+
+He looked at her so inquisitively, not to say so incredulously, that
+she hastened to add;
+
+"This is really nothing but nervous irritability, dear Lyon. Do not
+distress yourself about my moods."
+
+"But I must, my darling. Whether their cause is mental or physical, real
+or imaginary, I must trouble myself about your tears," answered Lyon
+Berners, with grave tenderness.
+
+"Then let it be about my _next_ ones; not these that are past and gone.
+And now to a pleasant topic. The ball that we are expected to give."
+
+"Yes, dear, that is _your_ affair. But I am ready to give you any
+assistance in my power. Your cards, I believe, are all printed?"
+
+"Yes; that was a happy idea to get the cards printed while we stopped in
+New York."
+
+"Now they only need filling up with names and dates."
+
+"And the addition of one little word, Lyon."
+
+"Well, and what is that?"
+
+"_Masks._"
+
+"MASKS!" echoed Mr. Berners, in surprise.
+
+"MASKS," reiterated Mrs. Berners, with a smile.
+
+"Why, my dear Sybil, what on earth do you mean?"
+
+"Why, that our party shall be a masked, fancy-dress ball. That will be
+something new in this old-fashioned neighborhood."
+
+"Yes, and something startling to our old-fashioned neighbors," said Mr.
+Berners, with a dubious shake of his head.
+
+"So much the better. They need startling, and I intend to startle them."
+
+"As you please, my dear, wayward Sybil. But when do you propose this
+affair to come off?"
+
+"On All-Hallow Eve."
+
+"Good. All-Hallow Eve is the proper sort of an eldritch night for such
+a piece of diablerie as a mask ball to be held," laughed Mr. Berners.
+
+"But now, seriously, Lyon; do you really dislike or disapprove this
+plan? If you do I will willingly modify it according to your judgment;
+or even, if you wish it, I will willingly drop it altogether," she said,
+very earnestly.
+
+"My dear impetuous Sybil, you should make no such sacrifices, even if I
+_did_ dislike or disapprove your plan; but I do neither. I dare say I
+shall enjoy the masquerade as much as any one; and that it will be very
+popular and quite a success. But now, dear Sybil, let me hear what
+fantastic shape you will assume at this witches' dance?"
+
+"I will tell _you_, Lyon; but mind, you must keep the secret."
+
+"Oh! inviolably," said Mr. Berners, with a laugh.
+
+"Oh! I mean only that you must not speak of it outside the family,
+because, you see, it is such a perfectly original character that if it
+was known it would be taken by half a dozen people at least."
+
+"I will never breathe its name," laughed Lyon.
+
+"Then the character I shall take is--"
+
+"What?"
+
+"Fire!"
+
+"Fire?"
+
+"Fire."
+
+"Ha! ha! ha! it will suit you admirably, my little Berners of the
+Burning Heart. But how on earth will you contrive to costume and
+impersonate the consuming element?"
+
+"It would take me a week to tell you, and then you would not understand.
+But you shall see."
+
+"I hope you will not set all your company in a flame; that is all, my
+dear."
+
+"But I shall _try_ to do so. And now, dear Lyon, if you wish to help me,
+sit down at my writing-table there, and fill out and direct the
+invitations, you will find the visiting list, printed cards, and blank
+envelopes all in a parcel in the desk."
+
+"But is it not early to send them?" inquired Mr. Berners, as he seated
+himself at the table.
+
+"No; not for a mask ball. This is the tenth. The ball is to come off on
+the thirty-first. If the cards are sent to-day, our friends will have
+just three weeks to get ready, which will not be too long to select
+their characters and contrive their costumes."
+
+"I suppose you know best, my dear," said Mr. Berners, as he referred to
+the visiting list and began to prepare for his task.
+
+Sybil went to her dressing-glass and began to arrange her somewhat
+disordered hair. While she stood there, she suddenly inquired:
+
+"Where did you leave Mrs. Blondelle?"
+
+"I did not leave her anywhere. She left me. She excused herself, and
+went--to her room, I suppose."
+
+"Ah!" sighed Sybil. She did not like this answer. She was sorry to know
+that her husband had remained with the beauty until the beauty had left
+him. She tortured herself with the thought that, if Mrs. Blondelle had
+remained in the morning room, Mr. Berners would have been there at her
+side.
+
+So morbid was now the condition of Sybil that a word was enough to
+arouse her jealousy, a caress sufficient to allay it. _She_ would not
+leave Lyon to himself, she thought. He should know the difference
+between his wife and his guest in that particular. So the guest, being
+now in her own room, where her hostess heartily wished she might spend
+the greater portion of the day, Sybil felt free from the pressing duties
+of hospitality, at least for the time being; and so she drew a chair to
+the corner of the same table occupied by her husband, and she began to
+help him in his task by directing the envelopes, while he filled out
+the cards. Thus sitting together, working in unison, and conversing
+occasionally, they passed the morning--a happier morning than Sybil had
+seen for several days.
+
+But of course they met their guest again at dinner, where Rosa Blondelle
+was as fascinating and Lyon Berners as much fascinated as before, and
+where Sybil's mental malady returned in full force.
+
+Oh, these transient fascinations, what eternal miseries they sometimes
+bring!
+
+But a greater trial awaited the jealous wife in the evening, when they
+were all gathered in the drawing-room, and Rosa Blondelle, beautifully
+dressed, seated herself at the grand piano, and began to sing and play
+some of the impassioned songs from the Italian operas; and Lyon Berners,
+a very great enthusiast in music, hung over the siren, doubly entranced
+by her beauty and her voice. Sybil, too, stood with the little group at
+the piano; but she stood back in the shade, where the expression of her
+agonized face could not be seen by the other two, even if they had been
+at leisure to observe her. She was suffering the fiercest tortures of
+jealousy.
+
+Sybil's education had been neglected, as I have told you. She had a fine
+contralto voice and a perfect ear, but these were both uncultivated; and
+so she could only sing and play the simplest ballads in the language.
+She had often regretted her want of power to please the fastidious
+musical taste of her husband; but never so bitterly as now, when she saw
+that power in the possession of another, and that other a beauty, a
+rival, and an inmate of her house. Oh, how deeply she now deplored her
+short-sightedness in bringing this siren to her home!
+
+At the most impassioned, most expressive passages of the music, Rosa
+Blondelle would lift her eloquent blue eyes to those of Lyon Berners,
+who responded to their language.
+
+And Sybil stood in the shadow near them, with pallid cheeks, compressed
+lips, and glittering eyes--mute, still, full of repressed anguish and
+restrained fury.
+
+Ah, Rosa Blondelle, take heed! Better that you should come between the
+lioness and her young than between Sybil Berners and her love!
+
+Yet again, on this evening, this jealous wife, this strange young
+creature, so full of contradictions and inconsistencies; so strong, yet
+so weak; so confiding, yet so suspicious; so magnanimous, yet so
+vindictive; once again, I say, successfully exerted her wonderful powers
+of self-control, and endured the ordeal of that evening in silence, and
+at its close bade her guest good-night without betraying the anguish of
+her heart.
+
+When she found herself alone with her husband in their chamber, her
+fortitude nearly forsook her, especially as he himself immediately
+opened the subject of their beautiful guest.
+
+"She is perfectly charming," said Mr. Berners. "Every day develops some
+new gift or grace of hers! My dear Sybil, you never did a better deed
+than in asking this lovely lady to our house. She will be an invaluable
+acquisition to our lonely fireside this winter."
+
+"You did not use to think our fireside was lonely! You used to be very
+jealous of our domestic privacy!" Sybil _thought_ to herself; but she
+gave no expression to this thought. On the contrary, controlling
+herself, and steadying her voice with an effort, she said smilingly:
+
+"If you had met this 'lovely lady' before you married me, and had found
+her also free, you would have made her your wife."
+
+"I! No, indeed!" impulsively and most sincerely answered Lyon Berners,
+as he raised his eyes in astonishment to the face of Sybil. But he could
+see nothing there. Her face was in deep shadow, where she purposely kept
+it to conceal its pallor and its tremor.
+
+"But why, if you had met her before you married me, and found her free,
+why should you not have made her your wife?" persisted Sybil.
+
+"'Why?'--what a question! Because, in the first place dear Sybil, I
+loved _you, you only_, long before I ever married you!" said Lyon
+Berners in increasing surprise.
+
+"But--if you had met her before you had ever seen me, you would have
+loved and married her."
+
+"No! On my honor, Sybil!"
+
+"Yet you admire her so much!"
+
+"Dear Sybil! I admire all things beautiful in nature and art, but I
+don't want to marry all!"
+
+"And are you sure that this beautiful Rosa Blondelle would not make you
+a more suitable companion than I do?" she inquired.
+
+His whole manner now changed. Turning towards her, he took both her
+hands in his own, and looking gravely and sweetly in her face, he
+answered:
+
+"My wife! such questions between you and me ought never to arise, even
+in jest. I hold the marriage relation always too sacred for such
+trifling! And _our_ relations towards each other seem to me dearer,
+sweeter, more sacred even, than those of most other married couples! No,
+my own Sybil! Soul of my soul! there is no woman that I ever did, or
+ever could prefer to you!" And he drew her to his bosom, and pressed her
+there in all good faith and true love. And his grave and tender rebuke
+did even more to tranquilize her jealousy than all his caresses had
+done.
+
+"I know it! I know it, my dear husband! But it is only when I feel how
+imperfect, how unworthy of you, I am, that I ever have doubts!" she
+murmured with a sigh of infinite relief.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI.
+
+                           LOVE AND JEALOUSY.
+
+            There was a time when bliss
+            Shone o'er her heart from every look of his;
+            When but to see him, hear him, breathe the air
+            In which he dwelt, was her soul's fondest prayer;
+            When round him hung such a perpetual spell,
+            Whate'er he did none ever did so well;
+            Yet now he comes, brighter than ever, far,
+            He beamed before; but ah! not bright for her.--MOORE.
+
+
+Fortunately for the fascinated husband and the jealous wife, the Circuit
+Court was now sitting at Blackville, and the lawyer's professional
+duties demanded all Mr. Berner's time.
+
+Only one year before this, when the struggling young lawyer depended
+upon his work for his bread, he could hardly get a paying client; now
+that he was entirely independent of his profession, he was overwhelmed
+with business. As the wealthy master of the Black Valley manor, with its
+rich dependencies of farms, quarries, mills, and hamlets, he might have
+led the easy life of a country gentleman. But in Lyon Berners'
+apprehension, work was duty; and so to work he went, as if he had had to
+get his living by it.
+
+Every day he left home at nine o'clock in the morning, in order to be
+present at the opening of the court at ten. He reached home again at
+four in the afternoon, and dined with Sybil and Rosa. After dinner he
+retired to his study, and spent the evening in working up his briefs and
+preparing for the next day's business.
+
+Thus he was entirely separated from his guest, who never saw him except
+at the table, with the breadth of the board between them, and almost
+entirely from his wife, who only had his company to herself at night.
+
+Yet Sybil was content. Her love, if, in some of its phases, it was a
+jealous and exacting passion, in others was a noble and generous
+principle. She would not spare a glance, a smile, a caress of his, to
+any other woman; yet she would give him wholly up to his duty, his
+profession, his country, or to any grand _impersonal_ object. And the
+few hours out of the twenty-four when she could enjoy his society apart
+from her dreaded rival, compensated her for the many when he was absent
+or engaged upon his professional duties.
+
+But ah! this could not last!
+
+It happened, very naturally, that while Mr. Lyon Berners spent his
+mornings in the court-house, Mrs. Lyon Berners spent hers in receiving
+the calls and congratulations of her friends, to whom she always
+presented her permanent visitor, Mrs. Blondelle.
+
+At length two unconnected events happened at the same time. The court
+adjourned, and the last visit of ceremony was paid.
+
+Sybil, at the instance of Mr. Berners, gave a dinner-party, and they
+entertained the judges and barristers of the court. And upon that
+occasion, Mrs. Blondelle of course was introduced, and equally of
+course, her beauty made a very great sensation. And Sybil was well
+pleased. She was perfectly willing that her protege should outshine her
+in every company, if only she did not outrival her in her husband's
+admiration.
+
+But ah! whether it was that the long interruption of his conversations
+with the beautiful blonde had given a new zest to the pleasure he
+enjoyed in her society, or whether his admiration for her had been ever,
+under all circumstances, on the increase, or whether both these causes
+combined to influence his conduct, is not known; but it is certain that
+from this time, Lyon Berners became more and more blindly devoted to
+Rosa Blondelle. And yet, under and over and through all this, the
+husband loved his wife as he never did or could love any other woman.
+But Rosa Blondelle was one of those vain and shallow women who must and
+will have a sentimental flirtation or a platonic friendship with some
+man or boy, always on hand. She, like those of her mischievous class,
+really meant no harm, while doing a great deal of wrong. Such a woman
+will engage a husband's affections and break a wife's heart from mere
+vanity, and for mere pastime, without the slightest regard for either of
+her victims. And yet, because, they have not been grossly guilty, as
+well as deeply sinful, they retain their positions in society.
+
+Rosa Blondelle's whole life lay in these sentimental flirtations and
+platonic friendships. Without a lover, she did not care to live at all.
+Yet hers was a sham love, though her victims were not often sham lovers.
+With her fair and most innocent face, Rosa Blondelle was false and
+shallow. And Lyon Berners knew this; and even while yielding himself to
+the fascination of her smiles, he could not help comparing her, to her
+great disadvantage, with his own true, earnest, deep-hearted wife.
+
+But every morning, while Sybil was engaged in her domestic duties, which
+were now greatly increased by the preparations that were going on for
+the masquerade ball, Lyon Berners would be walking with Rosa Blondelle,
+exploring the romantic glens of the Black Valley, or wandering along the
+picturesque banks of the Black River. Or if the weather happened to be
+inclement, Mr. Berners and Mrs. Blondelle would sit in the library
+together, deep in German mysticism or French sentiment.
+
+Every evening Rosa sat at the grand piano, singing for him the most
+impassioned songs from the German and Italian operas; and Lyon hung over
+her chair turning her music, and enraptured with her beauty.
+
+Ah! Rosa Blondelle! vain and selfish and shallow coquette! Trifle, if
+you must, with any other man's love, with any other woman's peace; but
+you had better invade the lair of the lioness, and seize her cubs--you
+had better walk blindfold upon the abyss of Hades, than come between
+Sybil Berners and her husband!
+
+For Sybil saw it all! and not only as any other woman might have seen
+it, just as it was, but as the jealous wife did--with vast exaggerations
+and awful forebodings.
+
+They did not suspect how much she knew, or how much more she imagined.
+Before them the refined instincts of the lady still kept down the angry
+passions of the woman.
+
+Whenever her emotions were about to overcome her, she slipped away, not
+to her own room, where she was liable to interruption, but far up into
+the empty attics of the old house, where, in some corresponding chamber
+of desolation, she gave way to such storms of anguish and despair as
+leave the deepest
+
+    "Traces on heart and brain."
+
+And after an hour or two she would return to the drawing-room, whence
+she had never been missed by the pair of sentimentalists, who had been
+too much absorbed in each other, and in Mozart or Beethoven, to notice
+her absence.
+
+And while all unconscious of her, they continued their musical
+flirtation, she would sit with her back to the light, toying with her
+crochet-work and listening to Rosa's songs.
+
+She was still as a volcano before it bursts forth to bury cities under
+its burning lava flood!
+
+Why did she not, in the sacred privacy of their mutual apartment appeal
+to the better nature of her husband by telling him how much his
+flirtation with their guest pained her, his wife? Or else, why had she
+not spoken plainly with her guest?
+
+Why? Because Sybil Berners had too much pride and too little faith to do
+the one or the other. She could not stoop to plead with her husband for
+the love that she thought he had withdrawn from her; still less could
+she bend to tell her guest how much his defection troubled her. Nor did
+she believe her interference would do any good. For, to Sybil Berners
+earnest nature, all things seemed earnest, and this vain and shallow
+flirtation wore the aspect of a deep, impassioned attachment. And in her
+forbearance she acted from instinct rather than from reason, for she
+never even thought of interfering between these platonists. So,
+outwardly at least, she was calm. But this calmness could not last. Her
+heart was bleeding, burning, breaking! and its prisoned flood of fire
+and blood must burst forth at length. The volcano seems quiet; but the
+pent up lava in its bosom must at last give forth mutterings of its
+impending irruption, and swiftly upon these mutterings must follow
+flames and ruin!
+
+It happened thus with Sybil.
+
+One morning, when the weather was too threatening to permit any one to
+indulge in an outdoor walk, it chanced that Lyon and Sybil Berners were
+sitting together at a centre-table in the parlor--Lyon reading the
+morning paper; Sybil _trying_ to read a new magazine--when Rosa
+Blondelle, with her flowing, azure-hued robes and her floating golden
+locks, and her beaming smiles, entered the room and seated herself at
+the table, saying sweetly:
+
+"My dear Mrs. Berners, is it to-morrow that you and I have arranged to
+drive out and return the calls that were made upon us?"
+
+"Yes, madam," politely replied Sybil.
+
+"Then, dear Mr. Berners, I shall have to ask you to write a few
+visiting-cards for me. I have not an engraved one in the world. But you
+write such a beautiful hand, that your writing will look like
+copper-plate. You will oblige me?" she inquired, smiling, and placing a
+pack of blank cards before him.
+
+"With the greatest pleasure," answered Lyon Berners, promptly putting
+aside his paper.
+
+Rosa turned to leave the room.
+
+"Will you not remain with us?" courteously inquired Sybil.
+
+"No, dear; much as I should like to do so," replied Rosa.
+
+"But why?" inquired Lyon Berners, looking disappointed.
+
+"Oh! because I have my dress to see about. We are far from all
+fashionable modistes here; but I must try to do honor to madam's
+masquerade for all that," laughed Rosa, as she passed gracefully out of
+the room.
+
+With a sigh that seemed to his sorrowing wife to betray his regret for
+the beauty's departure, Lyon Berners drew the packet of blank cards
+before him, scattered them in a loose heap on his left hand, and then
+selecting one at a time, began to write. As he carefully wrote upon and
+finished each card, he as carefully laid it on his right hand, until a
+little heap grew there.
+
+Sybil, who gloried in all her husband's accomplishments, from the
+greatest to the least, admired very much his skill in ornamental
+chirography. She drew her chair closer to the table, and took up the
+topmost card, and began to decipher, rather than to read, the name in
+the beautiful old English characters, so tangled in a thicket of
+rose-buds and forget-me-nots as to be scarcely legible. She looked
+closely and more closely at the name on the card.
+
+What was there in it to drive all the color from her cheeks?
+
+She snatched up and scrutinized a second card, a third, a fourth; then,
+springing to her feet, she seized the whole mass, hurled them into the
+fire, and turned, and confronted her husband.
+
+Her teeth were clenched upon her bloodless lips, her face seemed marble,
+her eyes lambent flames.
+
+He rose to his feet in surprise and dismay.
+
+"SYBIL! what is all this? Why have you destroyed the cards?"
+
+"Why?" she gasped, pressing both hands upon her heart, as if to keep
+down its horrible throbbings. "Why? Because they are lies! _lies!_
+LIES!"
+
+"SYBIL! have you gone suddenly mad?" he cried, gazing at the "embodied
+storm" before him with increasing astonishment and consternation.
+
+"No! I have suddenly come to my senses!" she gasped between the catches
+of her breath, for she could scarcely speak.
+
+"You must calm yourself, and tell me what this means, my wife," said
+Lyon Berners, exerting a great control over himself, and pushing aside
+the last card he had written.
+
+But she snatched up that card, glanced at it fiercely, tore it in two,
+and threw the fragments far apart, exclaiming in bitter triumph:
+
+"Not yet! oh! not yet! I am not dead yet! Nor have the halls and acres
+of my fathers passed quite away from their daughter to the possession of
+a traitor and an ingrate."
+
+He gazed upon her now in amazement and alarm. _Had_ she gone suddenly
+mad?
+
+She stood there before him the incarnation of the fiercest and intensest
+passion he had ever seen or imagined.
+
+He went and took her in his arms, saying more gently than before:
+
+"Sybil, what is it?"
+
+She tried, harshly and cruelly, to break from him. But he held her in a
+fast, loving embrace, murmuring still:
+
+"Sybil, you must tell me what troubles you?"
+
+"What troubles me!" she furiously exclaimed. "Let me go, man! Your touch
+is a dishonor to me! Let me go!"
+
+"But, dearest Sybil."
+
+"Let me go, I say! What! will you use your _brute strength to hold me_?"
+
+He dropped his arms, and left her free.
+
+"No; I beg your pardon, Sybil. I thought you were my loving wife," he
+said.
+
+"You were mistaken. I am not Rosa Blondelle!" she cried.
+
+"Hush! hush! my dearest Sybil!" he muttered earnestly, as he went and
+closed and locked the parlor door, to save her from being seen by the
+servants in her present insane passion.
+
+But she swept past him like a storm, and laid her hand on the lock. She
+found it fast.
+
+"Open, and let me pass," she cried.
+
+"No, no, my dear Sybil. Remain here until you are calmer, and then tell
+me--"
+
+"Let me out, I say!"
+
+"But, dearest Sybil."
+
+"What! would you _keep me a prisoner--by force_?" she cried, with a
+cruel sneer.
+
+He unlocked the door and set it wide open.
+
+"No, even though you are a lunatic, as I do believe. Go, and expose your
+condition, if you must. I cannot restrain you by fair means, and I will
+not by foul."
+
+And Sybil swept from the room, but she did not expose herself. She fled
+away to that "chamber of desolation" where she had passed so many
+agonizing hours, and threw herself, face downwards, upon the floor, and
+lay there in the collapse of utter despair.
+
+Meanwhile Lyon Berners paced up and down the parlor floor.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XII.
+
+                         "CRUEL AS THE GRAVE."
+
+
+                Go, when the hunter's hand hath wrung
+                From forest cave her shrieking young,
+                And calm the raging lioness;
+                But soothe not--mock not my distress.--BYRON.
+
+
+Lyon Berners was utterly perplexed and troubled. He could not in any way
+explain to himself the sudden and furious passion of his wife.
+
+Suddenly it occurred to him that it was in some way connected with the
+cards she had thrown into the fire. They were not all burned up. Some
+few had fallen scorched upon the hearth. These he gathered up and
+examined; and as he looked at one after another, his face expressed, in
+turn, surprise, dismay, and amusement. Then he burst out laughing. He
+really could not help doing so, serious as the subject was; for upon
+every single card, instead of Rosa Blondelle, he had written:
+
+    Mrs. ROSA BERNERS.
+
+"Was there ever such a mischief of a mistake?" he exclaimed, as he
+ceased laughing and sat down by his table to consider what was to be
+done next.
+
+"Poor Sybil! poor, dear, fiery-hearted child, it is no wonder! And yet,
+Heaven truly knows it was because I was thinking of _you_, and not of
+the owner of the cards, that I wrote that name upon them unconsciously,"
+he said to himself, as he sat with his fine head bowed upon his hand,
+gravely reviewing the history of the last few days.
+
+His eyes were opened now--not only to his wife's jealousy, but to his
+own thoughtless conduct in doing anything to arouse it.
+
+In the innermost of his own soul he was so sure of the perfect integrity
+of his love for his wife, that it had never before occurred to him that
+_she_ could doubt it--that any unconscious act or thoughtless gallantry
+on his part could cause her to doubt it.
+
+Now, however, he remembered with remorse that, of late, since the rising
+of the court, all his mornings and evenings had been spent exclusively
+in the company of the beautiful blonde. Any wife under such
+circumstances might have been jealous; but few could have suffered such
+agonies of wounded love as wrung the bosom of Sybil Berners,--of Sybil
+Berners, the last of a race in whose nature more of the divine and more
+of the infernal met than in almost any other race that ever lived on
+earth.
+
+Her husband thought of all this now. He remembered what lovers and what
+haters the men and women of her house had been.
+
+He recalled how, in one generation, a certain Reginald Berners, who was
+engaged to be married to a very lovely young lady, on one occasion found
+his betrothed and an imaginary rival sitting side by side, amusing
+themselves with what they might have considered a very harmless
+flirtation, when, transported with jealous fury, he slew the man before
+the very eyes of the girl. For this crime Reginald was tried, but for
+some inexplicable reason, acquitted; and he lived to marry the girl for
+whose sake he had imbrued his hands in a fellow-man's blood.
+
+He recalled how, in another generation, one Agatha Berners, in a frenzy
+of jealousy, had stabbed her rival, and then thrown herself into the
+Black Lake. Fortunately neither of the attempted crimes had been
+consummated, for the wounded woman recovered, and the would-be suicide
+lived to wear out her days in a convent.
+
+Reflecting upon these terrible outbursts of the family passion, Lyon
+Berners became very much alarmed for Sybil.
+
+He started up and went in search of her. He looked successively through
+the drawing-room, the dining-room, and library. Not finding her in any
+of these rooms, he ascended to the second floor and sought her in their
+own apartment. Still not finding her, his alarm became agony.
+
+"I will search every square yard within these walls," he said, as he
+hurried through all the empty chambers of that floor, and then went up
+into the attic.
+
+There, in the lumber-room--the chamber of desolation--he found his wife,
+lying with her face downwards on the floor. He hastened towards her,
+fearing that she was in a swoon. But no; she was only exhausted by the
+violence of her emotions.
+
+Without saying a word, he lifted her in his arms as if she had been a
+child. She was too faint now to resist him. He carried her down stairs
+to her own chamber and laid her on the sofa, and while he gently
+smoothed the damp dark hair from her pale brow, he whispered softly:
+
+"My wife, I know now what has troubled you. It was a great error, my own
+dear Sybil. You have no cause to doubt me, or to distress yourself."
+
+She did not reply, but with a tearless sob, turned her face to the wall.
+
+"It was of _you_ that I was thinking, my beloved, when I wrote that name
+on the cards," he continued, as he still smoothed her hair with his
+light mesmeric touch. She did not repel his caresses, but neither did
+she reply to his words. And he saw, by the heaving of her bosom and the
+quivering of her lips, that the storm had not yet subsided.
+
+He essayed once more to reassure her.
+
+"Dear wife," he earnestly commenced, "you believe that my affections are
+inconstant, and that they have wandered from you?"
+
+She answered by a nod and another tearless sob, but she did not look
+around or speak to him.
+
+"Yet withal you believe me to be a man of truthful words?"
+
+Again she nodded acquiescence.
+
+"Then, dear Sybil, you must believe my words when I assure you, on my
+sacred truth and honor, that your suspicions of me are utterly
+erroneous."
+
+Now she turned her head, opened her large dark eyes in astonishment, and
+gazed into his earnest face.
+
+"As Heaven hears me, my own dear wife, I love no other woman in the
+world but you."
+
+"But--you are almost always with _her_!" at length replied Sybil, with
+another dry sob.
+
+"I confess that, dear; but it was because you were almost always absent
+on your domestic affairs."
+
+"You hang enraptured over her, when she sings and plays!"
+
+"Enraptured with her music, darling, not with her. To me she is a prima
+donna, whose performances I must admire and applaud--nothing more."
+
+"Then I wish I was a prima donna too," said Sybil, bitterly.
+
+"My wife!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Yes, I do! I would be all in all to you, Lyon, as you are everything to
+me," she cried, her face quivering, her bosom heaving with emotion.
+
+"My own dear Sybil, you _are_ all in all to me. Do you not know, dear,
+that you are unique? that there is not another like you in the world;
+and that I value you and love you accordingly? What is this
+shallow-hearted blonde beauty to me? This woman, who, in a week, could
+forget the man who had robbed and deserted her, and give herself up to
+amusement! No, dear wife. I may be pleased with her good-natured efforts
+to please me; I may admire her beauty and delight in her music; but I
+care so little for herself, that were she to die to-day, I should only
+say, 'Poor thing,' and immediately forget her! While, if _you_ were to
+die, dear wife, life would be a living death, and the world a sepulchre
+to me!"
+
+"Is this true? Oh! is this indeed true?" exclaimed Sybil, in deep
+emotion.
+
+"As I am a man of truth, it is, as true as Heaven!" answered Lyon
+Berners, earnestly.
+
+And Sybil turned and threw herself in his arms, weeping for joy.
+
+"You shall have no more cause for distress, dear, warm-hearted wife. This
+lady must find other audience for her music. For, as to me, I shall not
+indulge in her society at such a cost to your feelings," said Lyon
+Berners earnestly, as he returned her warm caress.
+
+"No, no, no, no," exclaimed Sybil, generously. "You shall deny yourself
+no pleasure, for my sake, dear, dear Lyon! I am not such a churl as to
+require such a sacrifice. Only let me feel sure of your love, and then
+you may read with her all the morning, and play and sing with her all
+the evening, and I shall not care. I shall even be pleased, because you
+are so. But only let me feel sure of your love. For, oh! dear Lyon! I
+live only in your heart, and if any woman were to thrust me thence, I
+should die!"
+
+"Nor man, nor woman, nor angel, nor devil, shall ever do that, dear
+Sybil," he earnestly answered.
+
+The reconciliation between the husband and the wife was perfect. And
+Sybil was so happy that, in the lightness of her heart, she became
+kinder to Mrs. Blondelle than she had been for many days past.
+
+But as for Mr. Berners, from this time he carefully avoided Mrs.
+Blondelle. He was as courteous to her as ever, even more courteous than
+ever when his wife was present, but as soon as Sybil would leave the
+room, Lyon would make some excuse and follow her. This went on for some
+days, during which Mrs. Blondelle, being cut short in her platonic
+flirtation, first wondered and then moped, and then resolved to win back
+her fancied slave. So she whitened her face with bismuth, to make it
+look pale and interesting, and she arranged her golden locks and flowing
+robes with the most studied air of graceful neglect, and she affected
+silence, pensiveness, and abstraction; and thus she utterly imposed on
+Lyon Berners, whose sympathies were awakened by her.
+
+"Is it possible, that this pretty little fool can really be pleased with
+me, and pained by my neglect?" he inquired of himself. And then, human
+being like, he flattered himself and pitied her.
+
+When this course of conduct had been kept up for a week, it happened one
+day that Sybil went alone to Blackville to purchase some articles for
+her approaching mask ball.
+
+Lyon Berners was reclining on the sofa in the drawing-room, with the
+last number of the "North American Review" in his hands.
+
+Suddenly a soft hand stole into his, and a soft voice murmured in his
+ear:
+
+"Mr. Berners, how have I been so unhappy as to offend you?"
+
+He looked up in surprise to see Rosa Blondelle standing by him. Her
+lovely face was very pale, her beautiful hair in disorder, her blue eyes
+full of tears, her tender voice tremulous with emotion.
+
+As Lyon Berners met her appealing gaze, his heart smote him for his late
+coldness to her.
+
+"In what manner have I been so unhappy as to offend you, Mr. Berners?"
+she repeated, tearfully.
+
+"In no manner at all, dear. How could one so gentle as yourself offend
+any one?" exclaimed Lyon Berners, rising, and taking both her
+unresisting hands in his own; and feeling for the first time a sentiment
+of _tenderness_, as well as of admiration, for her.
+
+"But I thought I had offended you. You have been so changed to me of
+late," murmured Rosa, with her blue eyes full of tears.
+
+"No, no, dear, not really changed, indeed. Only--absorbed by other
+engagements," answered Lyon Berners, evasively.
+
+"You are the only friend I have in the whole world. And if _you_ should
+desert me, I should perish," murmured Rosa, pathetically.
+
+"But I will never desert you, dear. Nor am I the only friend you have in
+the world. My wife is surely your friend," said Lyon Berners, earnestly.
+
+Slowly and sorrowfully Rosa Blondelle shook her head, murmuring sadly:
+
+"No woman ever was my friend. I know not why."
+
+"_I_ can easily imagine why. But in regard to my dear wife, you are
+mistaken. Surely she has proved herself your friend."
+
+"She is a noble lady, and I honor her. She is my benefactress, and I
+thank her. But she is not my friend, and so I do not love her."
+
+"I am sorry to hear you say so, dear."
+
+"And I am sorry to be obliged to say so. But it is true. _You_ are my
+only friend, Mr. Berners. The only friend I have in the wide, wide
+world."
+
+"And do you love me?" inquired Lyon Berners, taking the siren's hand,
+and utterly yielding to her allurements; "say, fair one, do you love
+me?"
+
+"Hush! hush!" breathed Rosa, drawing away her hand and covering her
+face--"hush! that is a question you must not ask, nor I answer."
+
+"But--as a _brother_, I mean?" whispered Lyon.
+
+"Oh! yes, yes, yes! as a dear brother, I love you dearly," fervently
+exclaimed Rosa.
+
+"And as a dear sister you shall share my love and care always,"
+earnestly answered Mr. Berners.
+
+"And you will not be cold to me any longer?"
+
+"No, dear."
+
+"And you will come and listen to my poor little songs this evening, and
+let me do my best to amuse you?"
+
+"Yes, dear, I will throw over all other engagements, and delight myself
+in your heavenly strains to-night," answered Lyon Berners.
+
+"Oh! I am so happy to hear you promise that! Of late I have had no heart
+to open the piano. But to-night I will awaken for you its most glorious
+chords!"
+
+He raised her hand to his lips, and thanked her warmly.
+
+And just at that very instant Miss Tabitha Winterose appeared in the
+doorway, her tall, thin form drawn up to its utmost height, her pale,
+pinched face lengthened, and her dim blue eyes and skinny hands lifted
+up in surprise and disapprobation.
+
+"Well!" simultaneously exclaimed Mr. Berners and Mrs. Blondelle, as they
+instinctively drew away from each other.
+
+But Miss Tabitha could not easily recover her composure. She was shocked
+and scandalized to see a gentleman and lady, who were not related to
+each other, sitting so close together, while the gentleman kissed the
+lady's hand!
+
+"Did you want anything?" inquired Mr. Berners, rather impatiently.
+
+"No, I didn't. Yes, I did," answered Miss Winterose, crossly and
+confusedly. "I came after that lady there to tell her that I think her
+child is going to be very sick, and I want her to come and look after
+him. That is, if she an't more pleasanter engaged!" added Miss Tabitha,
+scornfully.
+
+"Please excuse me, Mr. Berners," murmured Rosa, sweetly, as she got up
+to go out with the housekeeper "_Old Cat!_" she muttered, under her
+breath, as soon as she was out of Lyon's hearing.
+
+When Mr Berners was left alone, he did not resume the reading of his
+review. His heart became the prey of bitter-sweet reflections, made up
+of gratified self-love and of severe self-reproach.
+
+"That beautiful creature _does_ care for me, and is pained by my
+coldness! Ah! but I hope and trust she loves me _only_ as a sister loves
+a brother! She has no brother, poor child! And her heart must have some
+one to lean on! I must be that one, for she has chosen me, and I will
+not be so recreant to humanity as to reject her trust."
+
+Then his conscience smote him. And he felt that he had shown more
+tenderness for this lady than the occasion called for, or than his duty
+warranted. He had called her "dear;" he had kissed her hand; he had
+asked her if she loved him! And this in the face of all his late
+protestations to his wife!
+
+Lyon Berners was an honorable man and devotedly attached to his wife,
+and he was shocked now at the recollection of how far he had been drawn
+away from the strict line of duty by this lovely blonde!
+
+But then he said to himself that he had only caressed and soothed Rosa
+in a brotherly way; and that it was a great pity Sybil should be of such
+a jealous and exacting nature, as to wish to prevent him from showing a
+little brotherly love to this lovely and lonely lady.
+
+And worried by these opposing thoughts and feelings, Lyon Berners left
+his sofa and began to pace up and down the length of the drawing-room
+floor.
+
+In truth now, for the first time, the mischief was done! The siren had
+at last ensnared him, in her distress and dishabille, with her tears and
+tenderness, as she never had done in the full blaze of her adorned
+beauty, or by the most entrancing strains of divine melody.
+
+While Lyon Berners paced up and down the drawing-room floor, he seemed
+to see again the tender, tearful gaze of her soft blue eyes upon him;
+seemed to hear again the melting tones of her melodious voice pleading
+with him: "How have I been so unhappy as to offend you, Mr. Berners?"
+What a contrast this sweet humility of friendship with the fiery pride
+of Sybil's love!
+
+While he was almost involuntarily drawing this comparison, he heard the
+wheels of the carriage that brought Sybil home roll up to the door and
+stop.
+
+From her morning drive through the bright and frosty air, Sybil entered
+the drawing-room blooming, and glowing with health and happiness. For
+since that full explanation with her husband, she had been very happy.
+
+Lyon Berners hastened to meet her. And perhaps it was his secret and
+painful consciousness of that little episode with Rosa, that caused him
+to throw into his manner even more than his usual show of affection, as
+he drew her to his bosom and kissed her fondly.
+
+"Why!" exclaimed Sybil, laughing and pleased, "you meet me as if I had
+been gone a month, instead of a morning!"
+
+"Your absence always seems long to me, dear wife, however short it may
+really be," he answered earnestly. And he spoke the truth; for
+notwithstanding his admiration of Rosa, and the invidious comparison he
+had just drawn between her and Sybil, in his heart of hearts he still
+loved his wife truly.
+
+She threw off her bonnet and shawl, and sat down beside him and began to
+rattle away like a happy girl, telling him all the little incidents of
+her morning's drive--whom she had seen, what she had purchased, and how
+excited everybody was on the subject of her approaching fancy ball.
+
+"The first one ever given in this neighborhood, you know. Lyon," she
+added.
+
+And having told him all the news, she snatched up her bonnet and shawl
+and ran up-stairs to her own room, where she found her thin housekeeper
+engaged in sorting out laces and snivelling.
+
+"Why, what's the matter now, Miss Tabby?" cheerfully inquired Sybil.
+
+"Well, then, to tell you the truth, ma'am, I am dreadfully exercised
+into my own mind," answered Miss Winterose, wiping a tear from the tip
+of her nose.
+
+"What about, now?" gayly demanded Sybil, who felt not the slightest
+degree of alarm on account of Miss Tabby, knowing that lady to be a
+constitutional and habitual whimperer.
+
+"Then, it's all along of the wickedness and artfulness and deceitfulness
+of this here world."
+
+"Well, never mind, Miss Tabby; you'll not have to answer for it all. But
+what particular instance of wickedness frets your soul now?" laughed
+Sybil.
+
+"Why, now, there's where it is! I don't know whether I ought to tell, or
+whether I ought'n to; nor whether, if I was to tell, I would be looked
+upon into the light of a mischief-maker, or into the light of a true
+friend!" whimpered Miss Winterose.
+
+"I can soon settle that question of ethics for you," laughed Sybil, all
+unsuspicious of what was coming.
+
+"Do just as your conscience directs you, Miss Tabby, no matter how
+people may look upon you."
+
+"Very well, then, ma'am; for my conscience do order me to speak! Oh,
+Miss Sybil! I have knowed you ever since you was a baby in my arms, and
+I can't bear to have you so deceived and imposed upon by that there
+treacherous, ungrateful White Cat!"
+
+"White Cat?" echoed Sybil, in perplexity.
+
+"Yes, Miss Sybil, that red-headed, false-hearted White Cat, as you took
+into your house and home, for to beguile and corrupt your own true
+husband!"
+
+With a gasp and a suppressed cry, Sybil sank into her seat.
+
+Miss Tabby, too full of her subject to notice Sybil's agitation,
+continued:
+
+"No sooner had your carriage left the door this morning, Miss Sybil,
+than that there White Cat comes tipping on her tiptoes out of her room,
+in a long loose dressing-gown, with her hair all down, in a way as no
+real lady would ever be seen out of her own chamber, and she tips, tips,
+tips into the drawing-room, where she knows Mr. Berners is alone, and
+laying on the sofa!"
+
+With a powerful effort Sybil controlled her violent emotion, held
+herself still, and listened.
+
+"And that was bad enough, Miss Sybil! but that was nothing to what
+followed!" sighed Miss Tabby, wiping another tear from the end of her
+nose.
+
+"What followed?" echoed Sybil, in an expiring voice.
+
+"What followed, ma'am, was this: but to make you understand, I must tell
+you what I ought to a told you at the start, which is how it happened as
+I seen her tip, tip, tip, on her tiptoes to the drawing-room, just for
+all the world like a cat after cream. Well, I was up here, in this very
+room where I am now, a sorting out of your fine things as come up from
+the wash, and I found one o' _her_ lace handkerchers among yourn, fotch
+up by mistake. So I jes took it and went down them back stairs as leads
+from this room down to hern, to give her back her handkercher; when jes
+as I got into her room, I seen her slip outen the other door leading
+into the hall. So after her I goes, to give her her handkercher--which I
+thought it was best to give it intor her own hands, than to put it
+anywhere in her room, because I didn't know nothing about this forring
+nuss o' hern; and you know yourself, ma'am, as we ought to be cautious
+in dealing with strangers."
+
+"Yes, yes! Go on! go on!" gasped Sybil.
+
+"Well, ma'am, she flitted through them passages too fast for me, jes as
+if she was afraid o' being caught afore she got out o' sight! I jes seen
+her slip into the drawing-room, where I knowed as Mr. Berners was a
+lying onto the sofa, and then I turns back and runs away."
+
+"Oh, why didn't you follow her in?" groaned Sybil.
+
+"Yes, why didn't I, ma'am; which I wish I had, and would a done if it
+hadn't a been for that forring nuss a coming outen _her_ room, and a
+screeching after me:
+
+"'Missus Winterblossom! Missus Winterblossom!' which I allus told that
+huzzy as I wasn't a 'missus,' but a 'miss,' nor likewise a 'blossom,'
+but a 'rose.' Howsever, there she was, a yelling at the top of her
+voice, 'Missus Winterblossom! Missus Winterblossom!' until I had to run
+to her, only to stop her mouth!"
+
+"Ah! the wretch! she was the accomplice of her mistress, and wished to
+bring you away," breathed Sybil more to herself than to her housekeeper,
+and in a tone too low to reach the ears of Miss Tabby, who continued:
+
+"It was the baby, as had been eating of new chestnuts, and got the
+cramp. So the forring nuss, as wasn't worth her salt, comes screaming
+after me to come and do something for the baby. Of course I went and did
+what was right and proper for the poor little suffering creetur; and
+when I had put him to sleep, I thinks about his neglectful mother, and
+so I ups and goes after her. And when I opens the drawing-room door,
+ma'am--well, I sees a sight as strikes me intor a statty o' stone, or a
+pillar o' salt, like Lot's wife."
+
+"What? what?" panted Sybil.
+
+"I seen 'em both, him and her, a sitting close together and a going on
+jes like two lovyers as was going to be married to-morrow, or a bride
+and groom as was married yesterday."
+
+"How? how?"
+
+"Well, ma'am, if her head wasn't a leaning on his shoulder, it was so
+nigh it as it made no difference! And her hand was squeezed inter
+hizzen, and her eyes was rolled up inter hizzen in the most be-devilling
+way as ever I see in my life--for all the world as if she was a loving
+of him, and a worshipping of him, and a praising of him, and a praying
+to him, all in one gaze!"
+
+"And he!--and he!"
+
+"Oh, my dear honey! what can you expect of a poor, weak, _he-man_? He
+looks down on her as if he enjoyed being loved and worshipped and
+praised and prayed to, and he squeezes of her hand up to his mouth as if
+he'd like to have eaten it!"
+
+"_Oh, my heart! my heart!_" moaned Sybil, turning deadly pale.
+
+Still, Miss Tabby, full of her own subject, scarcely noticed the pain
+she was inflicting, so she continued:
+
+"And jes that minute they happened either to see or to hear me, I don't
+know which. Anyways, they looks up, and--whew! they jumps apart as if a
+fire-cracker had gone off between 'em! Well, I tells my lady as her
+child is sick, and she jumps up, impatient like, to go and look after
+him. And I comes away too. And that was just about ten minutes before
+you got home yourself."
+
+"Deceived! Betrayed! Scorned! Laughed at!" bitterly exclaimed Sybil.
+
+"And that's all. And now look here, honey! Don't you go to taking on
+about this here piece o' business! And don't you get mad long o' your
+husband on any woman's account, whatever you do! Come down on the woman!
+That's what you do. It is all _her_ fault, not hizzen! _He_ couldn't
+help himself, poor innocent creetur! Lor! honey, I don't know much about
+married life, bein' of a single woman myself; but I have heard my mother
+say as men are mons'rous weak-minded poor creeturs, and need to be
+guided by their wives; and if they an't ruled by their wives, they are
+sure to be by some other woman! And it stands to reason it is more
+respectable to be ruled by their wives! And so, honey, my advice to you
+is, to send that bad woman about her business, and take that innocent
+man firmly in hand."
+
+And so Miss Tabby babbled on, no longer heeded by Sybil, who soon
+slipped away and hid herself in one of the empty spare rooms.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIII.
+
+                   MORE THAN THE BITTERNESS OF DEATH.
+
+
+                                         He to whom
+            I gave my heart with all its wealth of love,
+            Forsakes me for another.--MEDEA.
+
+
+"Oh my heart! my heart!" moaned Sybil, as she sank down upon the floor
+of that spare-room, the door of which she had bolted, to secure herself
+from intrusion.
+
+"Oh, my heart! my heart!" she wailed, pressing her hand to her side like
+one who had just received a mortal wound.
+
+"Oh, my heart! my heart!" she groaned, as one who complains of an
+insupportable agony. And for some moments she could do no more than
+this. Then at length the stream of utterance flowed forth, and--
+
+"He loves me no longer! my husband loves me no longer!" she cried in
+more than the bitterness of death. "He loves that false siren in place
+of me, his true wife. He gives her all the tender words, all the warm
+caresses he used to lavish on me. His heart is won from me. I am
+desolate! I am desolate, and I shall die! I shall die! But oh, how much
+I must suffer before I can die, for I am so strong to suffer! Ah, how I
+wish I might die at once, or that suicide were no sin!"
+
+But suddenly, out of this deep abasement of grief, blazed up a fierce
+and fiery anger. She started from her recumbent position, and began to
+walk wildly up and down the floor, beating her hands together, and
+exclaiming distractedly:
+
+"But why should I die in my youth, and go down to the dark grave, to
+make room for _her_, the traitress! to make room in the heart of my
+husband and the home of my fathers for her, the--! Oh! there is no word
+bad enough to express what she is! And shall _she_ live to bloom and
+smile and brighten in the sunshine of his love, while I moulder away in
+the earth? Oh!" she cried, striking her hands violently together, "there
+is madness and more than madness in the thought! I will not die alone;
+no, no, no, no, so help me, just Heaven! I will not die alone. Oh,
+Samson was a brave man as well as a strong one when he lifted the
+pillars of the temple, and willingly fell beneath its crumbling ruins,
+crushing all his foes. I will be another sort of Samson; and when I
+fall, I too will pull down destruction upon the heads of all who have
+wronged me!"
+
+These and many more wild and wicked words she uttered as she walked
+fiercely up and down the room, her eyes blazing, her cheeks burning, her
+whole aspect full of frenzy.
+
+At length, again her mood changed; the fire died out of her eyes, the
+color faded from her cheeks; her frenzy subsided, and gave place to a
+stillness more awful than any excitement could possibly be. She sank
+down upon a low ottoman, and rested her elbows upon her knees and her
+chin upon the palms of her hands, and gazed straight before her into
+vacancy. Her face was deadly pale; her lips bloodless and compressed;
+her eyes contracted and glittering with a cold, black, baleful light;
+her hair unloosed in her agitation, streamed down each side, and fell
+upon her bosom like the ends of a long black scarf. At times she
+muttered to herself like any maniac:
+
+"And oh, how deeply deceitful they have both been with me, affecting a
+mutual indifference while I was by; falling to caressing each other just
+as soon as my back was turned! She--she only acted out her false and
+treacherous nature. But he--oh, he! in whose pure truth I had such
+pride. Ah, Heaven! how low she must have drawn him before he could have
+gained his own consent to deceive me so! before he could come fresh from
+her side and her caresses, and meet and embrace me! What stupendous
+duplicity! Well, well!" she continued, nodding grimly; "well, well,
+since deceit is the fashion of the day, I too will be in the fashion; I
+too will wear a mask of smiles! But behind that mask I will watch!--Oh,
+how I will watch! Not at my fancy-ball alone will I play a part, but
+before it, and perhaps, _after it_! None shall ever know how I watch,
+what I see, until I descend with the fell swoop of the eagle. And
+henceforth let me remember that I am a daughter of the house of Berners,
+who never failed a friend or spared a foe. And oh, let the spirit of my
+fathers support me, for I must ENDURE until I can AVENGE!" she said, as
+she got up with a grim calmness and paced up and down the floor to
+recover full self-command.
+
+At length, when she felt sufficiently composed, she went to her own
+chamber, where she made a more elaborate and beautiful toilet than
+usual, preparatory to joining her husband and their guest at the
+dinner-table.
+
+"Now smile, eyes! smile, lips! flatter, tongue! Be a siren among the
+sirens, Sybil! Be a serpent among the serpents!" she hissed, as she
+glided down the stairs and entered the dining-room.
+
+_They_ were there! They were standing close together, in the recess of
+the west window, gazing out at the sun, which was just setting behind
+the mountain. They started, and turned towards her as she advanced. But
+Sybil, true to her tactics, spoke pleasantly, saying:
+
+"You get a beautiful view of the sunset from that window, Mrs.
+Blondelle."
+
+"Yes, dear," answered Rosa, sweetly. "I was just drawing Mr. Berners'
+attention to it, and telling him that I really believe use has blinded
+him to its beauty."
+
+"Possession is a great disenchanter," answered Sybil.
+
+Both the others looked up to see if she had any hidden meaning under her
+words. But apparently she had not. She was smiling very gayly as she
+took her place at the head of the table and invited her companions to
+take their seats.
+
+Throughout the dinner-hour Sybil seemed in very high spirits; she was
+full of anecdote and wit; she talked and laughed freely. Her companions
+noticed her unusual gayety; but they ascribed it to the exhilarating
+effects of her morning drive, and to the anticipations of her mask ball,
+which now formed the principal subject of conversation at the table.
+
+After dinner, they went into the drawing-room, where Sybil soon left her
+husband and her guest alone together; or rather, she pretended to leave
+them so; but really, with that insanity of jealousy which made her
+forget her womanhood, she merely went out and around the hall into the
+library, and placed herself behind the folding doors communicating with
+the drawing room, where she could hear and see all that might be going
+on between her husband and her rival.
+
+It is proverbial that "listeners never hear any good of themselves."
+
+Sybil's case was no exception to this rule. This is what she heard of
+_herself_.
+
+"What ever could have ailed Mrs. Berners," inquired Mrs. Blondelle, with
+a pretty lisp.
+
+"What could have ailed Sybil? Why, nothing, that I noticed. What
+_should_ have ailed her?" on his side inquired Mr. Berners.
+
+"She was very much excited!" exclaimed Mrs. Blondelle, with a
+significant shrug of her shoulders.
+
+"Oh! that was from her exhilarating morning ride, which raised her
+spirits."
+
+"Which excited her excessively, I should say, if it really _was_ the
+ride."
+
+"Of course it was the ride. And I admit that she was very gay," laughed
+Mr. Berners.
+
+"Gay?" echoed Rosa, raising her eyebrows--"Gay? Why, she was almost
+delirious, my friend."
+
+"Oh! well; Sybil gives full vent to her feelings; always did, always
+will. My little wife is in many respects a mere child, you know," said
+Mr. Berners, tenderly.
+
+"Ah! what a happy child, to have her faults so kindly indulged! I wish I
+were that child!" sighed Rosa.
+
+"But why should you wish to be anything else but yourself, being so
+charming as you are?" he softly inquired.
+
+"Do you really like me, just as I am, Mr. Berners?" she meekly inquired,
+dropping her eyes.
+
+"I really do. I have told you so, Rosa," he answered, approaching her,
+and taking her hand.
+
+She sighed and turned away her head; but she left her hand in his clasp.
+
+"Dear Rosa! dear child!" he murmured. "You are not happy."
+
+"No, not happy," she echoed, in a broken voice.
+
+"Dear Rosa! what can I do to make you happy?" he tenderly inquired.
+
+"You? What can you do? Oh!--But I forget myself! I know not what I say!
+I must leave you, Mr. Berners!" she exclaimed, in well-acted alarm, as
+she snatched her hand from his grasp and fled from the room.
+
+Mr. Berners looked after her, sighed heavily, and then began to walk
+thoughtfully up and down the room.
+
+Sybil, from her covert, watched him, and grimly nodded her head. Then
+she also slipped away.
+
+An hour later than this, the three, Mr. and Mrs. Berners and Mrs.
+Blondelle, were in the drawing-room together.
+
+"You promised me some music," whispered Lyon to Rosa.
+
+"Oh yes; and I will give you some. I am so glad you like my poor songs.
+I am so happy when I can do anything at all to please you," she murmured
+in reply, lifting her humid blue eyes to his face.
+
+"Everything you do pleases me," he answered, in a very low voice.
+
+Sybil was not standing very near them, yet, with ears sharpened by
+jealousy, she overheard the whole of that short colloquy, and--treasured
+it up.
+
+Lyon Berners led Rosa Blondelle to the piano, arranged her music-stool,
+and placed the music sheets before her. She turned to one of Byron's
+impassioned songs, and while he hung enraptured over her, she sang the
+words, and ever she raised her eyes to his, to give eloquent expression
+and point to the sentiment. And then _his_ eyes answered, if his voice
+and his heart did not.
+
+That song was finished, and many more songs were sung, each more
+impassioned than the other, until at last, Rosa, growing weary and
+becoming slightly hoarse, arose from the piano, and with a
+half-suppressed sigh sank into an easy-chair.
+
+Then Sybil--who had watched them through the evening, and noted every
+look and word and smile and sigh that passed between them, and who now
+found her powers of self-command waning--Sybil, I say, rang for the
+bedroom candles. And when they were brought, the little party separated
+and retired for the night.
+
+From this time forth, in the insanity of her jealousy, and with a
+secretiveness only possible to the morally insane, Sybil completely
+concealed her suspicions and her sufferings from her husband and her
+guest. She was affectionate with Lyon, pleasant with Rosa, and confiding
+in her manners towards both.
+
+And they were completely deceived, and never more fatally so than when
+they imagined themselves alone together.
+
+_They were never alone._
+
+There was never a tender glance, a fluttering sigh, a soft smile, a
+low-toned, thrilling word passed between the false flirt and the
+fascinated husband, that was not seen and heard by the heart-broken,
+brain-crazed young wife!
+
+And oh! could these triflers with sacred love--these wanderers on the
+brink of a fearful abyss--have seen the look of her face then, they
+would have fled from each other for ever, rather than to have dared the
+desperation of her roused soul.
+
+But they saw nothing, knew nothing, suspected nothing! They were, like
+children playing with deadly poisons, with edge tools, or with fire,
+ignorant of the fatal toys they handled.
+
+And, moreover they meant nothing. Theirs was the shallowest pretence of
+love that ever went by the name of a flirtation. On the woman's side, it
+was but a love of admiration and an affectation of sentiment. On the
+man's side, it was pity and gratified self-love. So little did Rosa
+Blondelle really care for Lyon Berners, and so truly did she estimate
+the value of her very luxurious home at Black Hall, that had she known
+the state of Sybil's mind, she would very quickly have put an end to her
+flirtation with the husband, and done all that she could to recover the
+confidence of the wife, and then--looked out among the attractive young
+men of the neighborhood for another party to that sentimental,
+meaningless love-making, which was yet a necessity to her shallow life.
+
+And as for Mr. Berners, had he dreamed of the real depth of anguish this
+trifling with the blonde beauty caused his true-hearted wife, he would
+have been the first to propose the immediate departure of their guest.
+
+Had Sybil been frank with either or both the offenders, much misery
+might have been saved. But the young wife, wounded to the quick in her
+pride and in her love, hid her sufferings and kept her secret.
+
+And thus the three drifted towards the awful brink of ruin.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIV.
+
+                      THE FIRST FATAL HALLOW EVE.
+
+
+            AMBROSE--Where be these maskers, fool?
+            COLLIN--Everywhere, sage! But chiefly there
+                Where least they seem to mask!
+                                   JONSON--THE CARNIVAL.
+
+It was All-Hallow Eve, a night long anticipated with delight by the
+whole neighborhood, and much longer still remembered with horror by the
+whole country.
+
+It was the occasion of Sybil Berners' mask ball; and Black Hall, the
+Black Valley, and the town of Blackville were all in a state of
+unprecedented excitement; for this was the first entertainment of the
+kind that had ever been given in the locality, and the gentry of three
+contiguous counties had been invited to assist at it.
+
+Far distant from large cities and professional costumers as the rural
+belles and beaux of the neighborhood were, you will wonder what they did
+for fancy dresses.
+
+They did very well. They ransacked the old cedar chests of their
+great-grandparents, and exhumed the rich brocades, cloths of gold and
+silvers, lutestrings, lamas, fardingdales, hair-cushions, and all the
+gorgeous paraphernalia and regalia of the ante-revolutionary queens of
+fashion. And they referred to old family portraits, and to pictures in
+old plays and novels, and upon the whole they got up their dresses with
+more fidelity to fact than most costumers do.
+
+Some also went to the trouble and expense of a journey to New York to
+procure outfits, and these were commissioned to buy masks for all their
+friends and acquaintances who were invited to the ball.
+
+These preparations had occupied nearly the whole month of October. And
+now the eventful day had come, and the whole community was on tiptoe
+with expectation.
+
+First, at Black Hall all was in readiness, not only for the ball and the
+supper, but for the accommodation of those lady friends of the hostess
+who, coming from a great distance, would expect to take a bed there.
+
+And all was in readiness at the village hotel at Blackville, where
+gentlemen, coming from a distance to attend the ball, had engaged rooms
+in advance.
+
+Nevertheless the landlord of the hotel was in a "stew," for there were
+more people already arrived, on horseback and in carriages of every
+description, from the heavy family coach crammed with young ladies and
+gentlemen, to the one-horse gig with a pair of college chums. And the
+distracted landlord had neither beds for the human beings nor stalls for
+the horses. But he sent out among his neighbors, and tried to get
+"accommodations for man and beast" in private houses and stables.
+
+"And the coach be come in, sir, and what be we to do with the
+passengers?" inquired the head waiter.
+
+"Blast the coach! I wish it had tumbled down the 'Devil's Descent' into
+the bottomless pit!" exclaimed the frantic host, seizing his gray locks
+with both hands, and running away from before the face of his
+tormentor--and jumping from the frying-pan into the fire, when he came
+full upon his daughter Bessie, who stopped him with:
+
+"Pop, you must come right into the parlor. There's a gentleman there as
+come by the coach, and says he _must_ have a bed here to-night, no
+matter how full you may be, or how much it may cost."
+
+"Impossible, Bessie! Clean impossible! Don't drive me stark mad!" cried
+the landlord, jerking at his gray hair.
+
+"Well, but, Pop, you must come and tell the gentleman so, or he'll sit
+there all night," remonstrated the girl.
+
+"Blow the fellow to blazes! Where is he?"
+
+"In the parlor, Pop."
+
+The landlord trotted into the parlor and gave a little start, for, at
+first sight, he thought the gentleman's head was on fire! But a second
+glance showed him that the gentleman only had the reddest hair he had
+ever seen in his life, and that the level rays of the setting sun,
+shining through the western window, and falling fall upon this head, set
+this red hair in a harmless blaze of light.
+
+Recovering from his little shock, he advanced to the gentleman, bowed,
+and said:
+
+"Well, sir, I am the landlord, and I understand you wish to see me."
+
+"Yes; I wish to engage a room here to-night."
+
+"Very sorry, sir; but it is out of the question. Every room in the house
+is engaged; even my room and my daughter's room, and the servants'
+rooms. And not only that, sir, but every sofa is engaged, and every rug;
+so you see it is clean impossible."
+
+"Impossible is it?" inquired the stranger.
+
+"Clean impossible, sir! utterly impossible!" returned the host.
+
+"All right; then it shall be done."
+
+"Sir!"
+
+"I say, because it is impossible, it shall be done."
+
+"Eh!"
+
+"Here is a hundred dollars," said the stranger, laying down two
+bank-notes of fifty dollars each. "I will give you this money if you can
+induce any of your guests to give up a room for me to-night."
+
+"Why, really, sir, I should be delighted to accommodate such a very
+liberal gentleman, but--"
+
+"You must decide at once. Now, or never," said the stranger, firmly, for
+he saw the game was now in his own hands.
+
+"Well, yes, sir; I will find you a room. The two young college gents
+who took a room between them may be induced to give it up."
+
+"_Must_ give it up, you mean," amended the stranger.
+
+"Well, yes, sir; just as you say, sir."
+
+"And I must have it in fifteen minutes."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And supper served there in half an hour."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And your company at supper, as I want to have a little talk with you."
+
+"All right, sir."
+
+"And now, you can go and see about the room."
+
+"Just so, sir," said the landlord, gathering up the two fifty-dollar
+bills that had bought him, body and soul, and then bowing himself out of
+the room.
+
+"'Money makes the mare go,' and the horse too. I wonder what he'll think
+when he finds out his bank bills are not worth the paper they are
+printed on," mused the stranger, as he paced thoughtfully up and down
+the room.
+
+Fortunately for the landlord's speculation, bad as it ultimately proved,
+the two collegians who had engaged his best front bedroom had not yet
+arrived to take possession of it. Therefore the business of turning it
+over to a more profitable party was the more immediately practicable.
+All the landlord had to do was to see that a fire was kindled in the
+fireplace, and the table was set for supper.
+
+Then he returned to the parlor, to conduct, in person, such a wealthy
+and munificent patron to his apartment.
+
+"Ah! this is cosy!" said the stranger, sinking into an arm-chair, and
+spreading his hands over the blazing fire, whose beams were caught and
+reflected by his red hair, until it shone like a rival conflagration.
+
+"Glad you like your quarters, sir," said the landlord, putting his hand
+upon the pocket that contained the purse with the two fifty-dollar bills
+to see that they were safe.
+
+"Ah! here comes the supper. Now, landlord, I want you to join me, that
+we may have that little chat I spoke of," said the stranger, wheeling
+his arm-chair around to the table, while the waiter arranged the dishes,
+and stared at the flaming red head of the guest.
+
+"What name might I have the honor of entering on my books, sir, if you
+please?" inquired the host, as he obligingly took his seat opposite his
+guest.
+
+"What name might you have the honor of entering on your books?" repeated
+the stranger, helping himself to a huge slice of ham. "Well, you _might_
+have the honor of entering quite a variety of names on your books, as I
+dare say you do; but for the sake of brevity, which is the soul of wit,
+you may put down Smith--John Smith of New York city. Common name, eh,
+landlord, and from a big city? Can't help that--fault of my forefathers
+and godfathers. Whenever I have to sign a check the bankers make me
+write myself down as 'John Smith of John.' Can't do any better than that
+if it were to avert a financial crisis. All my ancestors have been John
+Smiths, from the days of William Rufus, when his chief armorer John,
+surnamed the 'Smiter,' for his lusty blows, founded the family. So you
+may set me down as 'John Smith of John, New York city.' And now send the
+waiter away, and fall to and tell me some of your neighborhood news."
+
+Nothing but the consciousness of the possession of those two big bills
+would have given the landlord courage to have left his business below
+stairs to take care of itself even for the half hour to which he
+mentally resolved to limit his interview with the stranger. However, he
+dismissed the waiter with some extra charges, and then placed himself at
+the service of his guest, and even took the initiative of the
+_tete-a-tete_ by asking:
+
+"You are quite a stranger in this neighborhood, sir?"
+
+"Quite."
+
+"Travelling on business, or for pleasure?"
+
+"Pleasure."
+
+"A delightful season this, to travel in, sir; neither too warm, nor too
+cold. And the country never looks so rich and beautiful as in its autumn
+foliage."
+
+"True," answered the stranger, briefly, and then he added, "I didn't ask
+you to come here to catechize me, my good friend; but to submit to be
+catechized yourself, and to amuse me with the gossip of the
+neighborhood."
+
+Again nothing but the consciousness of a heavy fee would have induced
+the host of the "Antlers" to put up with this traveller's "nonsense," as
+he termed his general assumption of superiority.
+
+"What would you like to hear about, then, sir?" growled the landlord.
+
+"First, what important families have you in this part of the country?"
+
+"Well, sir, the most principlest is the Bernerses of Black Hall, which
+have returned from their bridal tour about a month ago and taken up
+their abode there in the old ancestral home."
+
+"The Berners! Who are they?" inquired the traveller, carelessly trifling
+with the wing of a pheasant.
+
+"You must be a stranger indeed, sir, not to know the Bernerses of Black
+Hall," said the landlord, with an expression of strong disapprobation.
+
+"Well, as I don't know them, and as they seem to be persons of the
+highest distinction, perhaps you will tell me all about them," said the
+traveller.
+
+And the landlord not unwillingly gave the guest the full history of the
+Berners of Black Hall, down to the marriage of the last heiress, at
+which the bridegroom took the name of the bride's family. And then he
+described the situation of the Hall and the way in which it might be
+reached, and ended by saying:
+
+"And if you think of making any stay in this neighborhood, sir, and
+will send your card to Mr. and Mrs. Berners, they will be sure to call
+on you and show you every attention in their power, sir; invite you to
+their house, introduce you to the neighbors, make parties for you, and
+make you generally welcome among us."
+
+"They are very hospitable, then?"
+
+"Hospitable! Why, sir, even when they were on their bridal tour, they
+fell in with a lovely lady in distress, and what do they do but pay her
+bills at the hotel, and fetch her and her child and her servant, all,
+bag and baggage, home with themselves, to stay at Black Hall as long as
+ever she likes?"
+
+"Indeed! That was a very unusual stretch of hospitality. And this lady
+is still with them?" inquired the stranger.
+
+"She is that, sir; although the word do go around that it would be well
+if she was to go away."
+
+"Ah! why so?"
+
+"Well, sir--but, lord, it is all servants' gossip, and there may be
+nothing in it; but they do say that the master of the house is too fond
+of the visitor, and likewise she of him; and that this do make the
+mistress of the house very unhappy."
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the stranger, in a half-suppressed voice.
+
+"They do say, sir, that whenever the mistress turns her back, they
+two--the master and the guest--do go on like any pair of sweethearts,
+which is a great scandal, if it's true."
+
+"Ah ha!" muttered the stranger, clenching and grinding his teeth.
+
+"Howsever, sir, if the master is in love with the visitor, and the
+mistress is made unhappy thereby, that is no reason why they should put
+off their mask ball and disappoint the whole community, I suppose they
+think; so they have not done so; but they have their ball this evening,
+just as if they were the happiest household in the country."
+
+"Oh, a mask ball have they, this evening! And what sort of an affair is
+it to be?"
+
+"Well, sir, the ball is to be like other balls, I believe, only that the
+guests are to appear in fancy dresses, or in loose gowns called
+dominoes, and to wear false faces until supper-time, when they unmask
+and reveal themselves to each other."
+
+"Yes, that is just like other mask balls," said the stranger, and then
+he seemed to fall into thought for a few minutes; and then, rousing
+himself, he said:
+
+"Landlord, you told me that your house is very full to-night, and so you
+must have a great deal of business on your hands."
+
+"I just have, sir," replied the impatient host.
+
+"Then I will not detain you any longer from your other guests. Pray send
+the waiter to remove this service immediately. And then, I think, as I
+am very much fatigued by my stage-coach journey over your beastly roads,
+I will retire to bed," said the stranger.
+
+And the landlord, glad to be relieved, got up and bowed himself out.
+
+His exit was soon followed by the entrance of the waiter who quickly
+cleared the table and also retired.
+
+The next proceedings of the stranger were rather singular.
+
+As soon as he found himself quite alone, he locked his door, to secure
+himself from any possibility of interruption, and hung a towel over the
+key-hole, to guard his movements from observation, and then he unlocked
+his portmanteau, and took from it a strange and horrible disguise, that
+I will try to describe, so as to make it plain to the reader.
+
+It was a tight-fitting suit, the pantaloons and jacket being made all
+in one piece, and of such elastic material as to fit close to the form.
+The ground of this dress was black; but upon it was painted, in strong
+relief of white, the blanched bones of a skeleton--thus: down the legs
+of the pantaloons were traced the long bare leg bones, with the large
+joints of the hips, knees, and ankles; across the body was traced the
+white ribs, breast-bone, and collar-bone; and down the sleeves were
+traced the long bones of the arms, with the large shoulder-blades,
+elbow-joints, and wrists; the bones of the hands were traced in white
+upon tight-fitting black gloves, and those of the feet upon
+tight-fitting black socks: a round scull-cap was to be drawn over the
+head; this was all white, to represent the skull, and had its skeleton
+features marked out with black.
+
+The stranger having divested himself of his upper garments then put on
+this horrible dress. When he had finished his revolting toilet, even to
+the drawing on of the skull-cap, he surveyed himself in the mirror that
+reflected as ghastly a figure of "Death," as Milton, Dante, or even
+Gustav Dore, ever conceived.
+
+He laughed sardonically, as he exclaimed:
+
+"Ah ha! they will not expect 'Death' to be a guest at their ball!"
+
+Then over this grim costume he threw a large travelling cloak, and upon
+his head he placed a broad-brimmed black felt hat. And now, being all
+ready, he prepared to leave the room.
+
+First he put out the light, and then he cautiously unlocked the door,
+and, secure from observation himself, he looked out to see if the coast
+was clear.
+
+The passage was dark, but soon he saw a door on the opposite side open,
+and two young men come out in masquerade dresses, and hasten, laughing
+and talking, down the stairs. They were evidently on their way to the
+mask ball.
+
+The next instant, the door on the same side with his own opened, and a
+lady and gentleman, both in black dominoes and masks, came out and
+passed down stairs.
+
+"Good!" said the stranger to himself. "If I am met at all, I shall be
+mistaken for one of the invited guests of the ball, and pass out without
+being recognized." And so saying, he softly drew the key from the inside
+of the lock, and closed and locked the door, and taking the key with
+him, glided down the stairs and out of the house, and took the road to
+Black Hall.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XV.
+
+                          THE MASQUERADE BALL.
+
+
+            Light up the mansion, spread the festive board;
+              Welcome the gay, the noble, and the fair!
+            Through the bright hall in joyous concert poured,
+              Let mirth and music sound the dirge of care!
+            But ask thou not if happiness be there,
+              If the loud laugh disguise convulsive throe,
+            Or if the brow the heart's true livery wear;
+              Lift not the festal mask!--enough to know
+            No scene of mortal life but teems with mortal woe!
+                                                 --WALTER SCOTT.
+
+
+The whole front of Black Hall blazed with festive lights; and these
+lights were all reflected in the dark waters of the lake, and by the
+glowing foliage of the trees that clothed the mountains, and by the
+sparkling spray of the cascades that sprung from the rocks on the other
+side.
+
+The space immediately before the house was crowded with carriages of
+every description, from the splendid open barouche to the comfortable
+family coach and the plain gig.
+
+The portico and passages in front of the house were thronged with
+arriving guests and waiting attendants ready to show them to the
+dressing-rooms, which were lighted and warmed, and supplied with every
+convenience for the completion of the toilets.
+
+The drawing-room and dancing saloon brilliantly lighted by chandeliers,
+and beautifully decorated with festoons of dark bright evergreens and
+wreaths of gorgeous autumn leaves and bouquets of splendid autumn
+flowers, stood ready with wide open doors to welcome the company.
+
+At the hall door, at the head of the servants, stood Mr. Joseph Joy the
+house steward, and Miss Tabitha Winterose the housekeeper, both
+disgusted with the heathenish costumes, distracted with the confusion,
+disapproving of the whole proceedings, yet determined to do their duty.
+
+Their duty was to see that the men and maids did _theirs_, in showing
+the gentlemen and ladies to their dressing-rooms. They had both in turn
+been astonished, scandalized, and appalled by the grotesque figures that
+had passed them. But their manner of expressing their sentiments was
+quite different.
+
+Joseph Joy stared, wondered, and shook his head.
+
+Miss Tabby sighed, whimpered, and moralized.
+
+"I feel as if I had been drinking for a week, and had a lively sort of a
+nightmare! Here comes another ghoul, in a false face and black gown and
+hood! Now, how is anybody to tell what it is? Whether it is a tall woman
+or a short man? Gentleman, or lady, if your honor pleases?" said Joseph
+Joy, addressing himself to a black domino that just then came up.
+
+"Gentleman," answered the unknown.
+
+"Pass to the right, then, if you please, sir! Here Alick, show this
+gentleman in the black shroud to the gentlemen's dressing-room."
+
+A trembling darky came forward and took charge of this terrific
+personage.
+
+"Ah, my goodness! no good will ever come of this!" sighed Miss Tabby.
+
+"No good? Yes there will too!" answered Joseph Joy, who was fond of
+contradiction. "All these bare-necked, bare-armed, and bare-legged
+people will get the pleurisy and be laid on the flat of their backs for
+three months, when they will have the opportunity of meditating on the
+iniquity of their ways! And won't that be good?"
+
+"Yes, it will; and I hope it will be sanctified to their souls," sighed
+Miss Tabitha.
+
+"And now here comes another bogie! Gentleman, or lady, please?" politely
+inquired the usher, as a red domino approached.
+
+"Lady," softly murmured the domino.
+
+"Pass the lady on to your maids, Miss Winterose! And here's another that
+certainly belongs to your department too! And another, and another, and
+a whole dozen of them!" exclaimed Mr. Joy, as a troupe of bayaderes,
+gipsies, peasants, court ladies, et caetera, filed up.
+
+All these Miss Winterose passed on to Delia, with directions to show
+them to the ladies' dressing-rooms. And then she turned to Mr. Joy with
+a deep sigh, whimpering:
+
+"Ah! Joseph, where do all these people expect to die when they go to?
+I--I mean, to go to when they die?"
+
+"They don't trouble themselves about that, I reckon," said contradictory
+Joe.
+
+"Ah! but it is written that we shall not make to ourselves the likeness
+of anything that is in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or in
+the waters under the earth. And here are all these people making of
+themselves--" Miss Tabby stopped and snivelled, and then stopped again
+to wipe a tear from the tip of her nose.
+
+"Well, what?" demanded antagonistic Joe. "What are these people making
+of themselves? Nothing that breaks the first commandment, for surely you
+don't mean to say that they make of themselves the image of anything in
+the heavens above, the earth below, or the waters under the earth, do
+you?"
+
+"No, Joseph; but I was mistrusting as they had made themselves up into
+images of something in t' other place."
+
+"With the Evil One for a pattern, eh? And here he comes, sure enough.
+Talk of the d---- and you know what happens," muttered Joe Joy, as a
+most appalling apparition approached. It was a tall, thin figure, clad
+in a tight-fitting black suit, that clung close to the skin from the
+crown of the head to the soles of the feet and the palms of the hands;
+skull-cap, mask, jacket, sleeves, trousers, shoes and gloves seeming to
+be knit all of one piece, or else very artistically joined together.
+Crowning the black brows were two tall white horns; tipping the black
+fingers were long white talons; terminating the black feet were cloven
+white hoofs. Crimson glass goggles over the eyes gave the look of
+burning coals; and by some "devilish cantrap strange," some trick in
+chemistry, at least, little jets of flame appeared to issue from the
+mouth and nostrils of the mask.
+
+"Heaven save us! There's no mistaking his sex, or identity either,"
+gasped Mr. Joe, backing himself away from this diabolical figure until
+he was stopped by the wall, from which he cried out, "Here, Jerry, show
+the--Enemy--into the gentleman's dressing-room."
+
+The shuddering boy, shaking in every limb, shrank away and merely
+pointed out the door of the dressing-room.
+
+Miss Tabby had merely time to raise her hands and eyes in mute appeal to
+heaven, before a shoal of new arrivals--"flower girls," "strawberry
+girls," "match girls," "morning stars," "evening stars," "springs,"
+"summers," "nuns," "bacchantes," etc., claimed her attention; while a
+troupe of "brigands," "monks," "troubadours," "clowns," "harlequin,"
+"kings," "crusaders," et caetera, demanded the guidance of Mr. Joy.
+
+And after this thicker and faster they came, crowding one group behind
+another, until the ushers were nearly demented. When drove after drove
+had divided and passed to the right or the left, that is, to the ladies'
+or gentlemen's dressing-rooms, and the stream began to slacken a little,
+so that they could distinguish individuals, Mr. Joy in turn received
+and passed a "puritan preacher," a "cavalier soldier," a "Highlander," a
+"knight," a "minstrel," the "vailed prophet," a "Switzer," a "Chinese
+mandarin," a "Russian serf," and black, white, and gray, red, yellow,
+and blue dominoes, he suddenly exclaimed:
+
+"Good Lord deliver us! What's _that_?"
+
+Miss Tabby, who, to her infinite disgust, had been receiving and passing
+any number of "fairies," "fisher girls," "soubrettes," "sultanas,"
+et caetera, turned around, and in a quavering voice, inquired:
+
+"What's _what_?"
+
+"Why, _that_!" shuddered Joe, pointing to a ghastly figure that was
+standing quite still, a few paces from where they stood, trembling.
+
+"It's a skeleton! Oh, my goodness! how did ever IT get here?"
+
+"Yes, it _is_ a skeleton! Oh, this is too horrible!" gasped Joe,
+shrinking up against the wall. And his female companion clung close to
+him.
+
+Meanwhile the "skeleton" stalked towards them.
+
+We, reader, have seen the figure before. But so distinctly was the
+skeleton of the human body painted in white upon that tight-fitting
+black suit, that the illusion was perfect; and the wonder was not great
+that the two poor ignorant servants trembled and gasped, and shrank
+back.
+
+"Why, if you were not afraid of the Devil, why should you shrink from
+Death?" demanded the stranger:
+
+            "Grinning horribly a ghastly smile."
+
+"I--was not--afraid; only it gives one such a turn!" replied Joe, with
+chattering teeth.
+
+"Then direct me to a dressing-room," ordered the stranger.
+
+"But--are you--a gentleman's skeleton, or a lady's?" gasped Joe.
+
+"I am neither. I am Death," curtly replied the stranger.
+
+"Lord save us!" ejaculated Miss Tabby.
+
+"Are you going to direct me to a dressing-room?"
+
+"Yes, sure, as soon as I know what sort of a one you want. Are you a
+gentleman's death, or a lady's?" faltered Joe, who could by no means
+command his nerves.
+
+"I am a lady's death!" replied the stranger, in a tone so grim that Miss
+Tabby ejaculated:
+
+"Heaven have mercy on us!"
+
+Joe was about to direct the stranger to the ladies' dressing-rooms, when
+his attention was suddenly diverted by the arrival of a crowd of
+"knights," "Indians," "Welsh bards," "grisettes," "Greek slaves,"
+et caetera, who demanded immediate service. The usher divided them according
+to their sexes, and then noticed that the ghastly figure of "Death"
+joined the gentlemen's party and accompanied them to their
+dressing-room.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVI.
+
+                              ON THE WATCH.
+
+
+        False--from the head's crown to the foot's sole--false!
+        To think I never knew it until now,
+        Nor saw thro' him e'en when I saw him smile;
+        Saw that he meant this when he wed me,
+        When he caressed me! Yes, when he kissed my lips!--BROWNING
+
+
+While this busy scene was being enacted below stairs, equally important,
+if quieter dramas were being performed in the dressing-rooms up-stairs,
+where the maskers were putting the last finishing touches to their
+toilets.
+
+In Mrs. Berners' dressing-room, Sybil, the queen of the festival, was
+alone. Mr. Berners, who had assumed the character of "Harold, the last
+of the Saxon Kings," had already completed his toilet and gone below
+stairs, as he said, to take his place near the door to welcome his
+guests as they should enter the drawing-room.
+
+So Sybil was alone in her apartment. She also had just completed her
+toilet, and now she stood before the large cheval mirror, surveying the
+reflection of her figure from its clear surface, where it looked like a
+framed picture.
+
+Ah! far the most beautiful, far the most terrible figure in the
+pageantry of the evening would be that of Sybil Berners! She had chosen
+for her character the unprecedented part of the impersonation of the
+Spirit of Fire. It suited well with her whole nature. She was a true
+child of the sun--a fervent Fire Worshipper, if ever there lived one in
+a Christian community. And now her costume was but the outward sign of
+the inward fervor. Let me try to describe it.
+
+She wore a robe of chameleon-hued satin, so artfully woven, with a warp
+of golden thread and woof of crimson silk, that, as with every change of
+light and shade, it glowed in ruby coals or blazed in amber flames; and
+as with every motion of her graceful form it flashed around her, she
+seemed to be clothed in living fire.
+
+She wore a burning garnet, like a live coal on her bosom; and on her
+brow a golden circle set with garnets, and having golden points set with
+amber and topaz, and tipped with diamonds, and flashing like little
+tongues of flame from a circle of fire.
+
+Her mask was of golden gauze, perfectly moulded to her beautiful
+features.
+
+Never had Sybil Berners worn a dress so perfectly expressive of herself
+as this, for she herself was Fire!
+
+She had confided the secret of her costume to no one but to her husband,
+not even to her guest--courtesy did not oblige her to do that; and in
+order to preserve the secret inviolate, she had on this occasion dressed
+herself without the assistance of her maid.
+
+Being now ready to join the maskers, she slipped a large dark cloak
+over her dress, opened the chamber door cautiously to see that the hall
+was clear, found it to be so at that moment, and slipped out, glided
+down the front stairs, elbowing crowds that were pushing up, and so
+passed down to the lower hall, and stole through the multitude that
+filled it up, back to the rear door. She passed around the outside of
+the house to the front door, and entered with the swarm of new arrivals.
+Would the ushers, Joe Joy and Miss Tabby, recognize their lady? That was
+the question, and that was the test. She passed up with the rest,
+letting her black cloak slip down to reveal her robe and crown of fire.
+
+"Heaven save us! who comes here? It must be a mermaid from the 'lake
+that burneth with fire and brimstone for ever and ever.' It's a she,
+anyhow, and belongs to your department, thanks be to goodness!"
+whispered Joseph Joy, to his companion in duty.
+
+"This way, ma'am, if you please. Delia, pass this lady on to the ladies'
+dressing-room," said unconscious Miss Tabby, courtesying and pointing.
+
+And Sybil passed on, smiling to herself to perceive that not even her
+old family domestics had recognized her face or form. So, keeping up her
+stratagem of being one of the masked guests of the ball, she entered the
+large chamber that had been chosen for the ladies' dressing-room and
+fitted up with a dozen small dressing-tables and mirrors. Her entrance
+created a sensation even among that fantastic crowd, each individual of
+which was a wonder in him or herself.
+
+"Oh! look there!" simultaneously whispered twenty masks to forty others,
+as they caught sight of her.
+
+"What a marvellous dress! What a splendid creature!"
+
+"What a dazzling costume!"
+
+"She throws us all in the shade."
+
+These were a few of the impulsive ejaculations of admiration that were
+passed from one to another, as Sybil flashed through the throng and
+stopped before a dressing-table, where she made a pretence of putting a
+few finishing touches to her dress.
+
+Then, certain of not having been recognized, and wishing to escape such
+close scrutiny in such confined quarters, she joined a group of ladies
+who, having completed their own toilets, were just then passing out of
+the chamber door into the upper hall, where they were met by their
+gentleman escorts.
+
+There was no one to meet Sybil; a circumstance that was not of much
+importance, since there were one or two other ladies of the same party,
+who, having no escort of their own, had to follow in the wake of others.
+Nor would Sybil have minded this at all, had she not looked over the
+balustrades and seen issuing from the little passage leading from Mrs.
+Blondelle's room, two figures--a gentleman and a lady. The gentleman she
+instantly recognized as her husband, by his dress as "Harold, the last
+of the Saxon Kings." The lady she felt certain must be Rosa Blondelle,
+as she wore the dress of "Edith the Fair," the favorite of the King.
+
+For an instant Sybil reeled under this shock; and then she recovered
+herself, re-gathered all her strength, and sternly crushing down all
+this weakness, passed on as a guest among her guests to the door of the
+drawing-room.
+
+There they were received by a very venerable mask with a long and
+flowing white beard, and dressed in a gold 'broidered black velvet
+tunic, white hose, white gauntlets, and red buskins, and holding a long
+brazen wand. This was no other than "Father Abe," the oldest man on the
+manor, personating my "Lord Polonius," that prince of gentlemen ushers
+and gold sticks in waiting.
+
+While Sybil stood behind the group, she saw her husband and her rival
+precede every one to the door.
+
+"Names, if you please, sir?" inquired the usher with a bow.
+
+"Harold the Saxon and Edith the Fair," answered Mr. Berners in a low
+voice.
+
+"Mr. Harry Claxton and Miss Esther Clair!" shouted poor old Abe at the
+top of his voice as he opened wider the door to admit his unknown master
+and the lady.
+
+"Name, sir, please?" he continued, addressing the next party.
+
+"Rob Roy Macgregor."
+
+"Mr. Robert McCracker!" shouted the usher, passing in this mask, and
+passing immediately to the next with, "Name, missus, please?"
+
+"Fenella the dumb girl," murmured a very shy little maiden, whom the
+usher immediately announced as "An Ell of a dumb girl!" And so on, he
+went, making the most absurd as well as the most awful blunders with
+ladies' and gentlemen's names, as announcing the "Grand Turk" as Miss
+Ann Burke; for which last mistake the poor old man was not much to
+blame, as the subject was but a little fellow in a turban and long gown,
+whom Polonius naturally took to be a woman in a rather fantastic female
+dress. But when he thundered forth a "Musketeer" as a "mosquito," and a
+"Crusader" as a "curiosity," and "Joan of Arc" as "Master Johnny Dark,"
+he was quite unpardonable.
+
+Meanwhile Sybil had entered the room, which was blazing with light and
+resounding with music. As the guests were now nearly all assembled, the
+gentlemen selected partners and opened the ball with a grand promenade
+to the music of the grand march in "Faust."
+
+Introductions are of course unnecessary at private masquerades, as well
+as impracticable at all such festivals; so when the ghastly mask "Death"
+came up and offered his skeleton arm to Sybil for the promenade, she
+unhesitatingly accepted it, supposing him all the while to be one of her
+invited guests.
+
+But in joining the promenaders, he entered the circle at a point
+immediately in the rear of Harold the Saxon, and Edith the Fair. Death
+kept his eye on the two, and speaking in a low voice, inquired of his
+companion;
+
+"Beautiful mask! though we may not yet discover ourselves to each other,
+yet we are at liberty to form a guess of the identity of our friends
+here?"
+
+"Yes," answered Sybil, in a low voice. She scarcely understood what she
+had been asked, or what she had answered; for her whole attention was
+absorbed in watching her husband and her rival, who were walking
+immediately before her--so close, yet so unconscious of her presence; so
+near in person, yet so far in spirit!
+
+"--As, for instance, lovely mask," continued Death, "I think I know this
+'Fair Edith' as the beautiful blonde who is staying here with our
+hostess. Am I not right?"
+
+"Yes," answered Sybil, in the same absent and unconscious manner; for
+she really had not the slightest idea of what he had been talking about,
+but only a half-conscious instinct that the best and shortest, as well
+as the most courteous, way, in which to be rid of him was to agree with
+all he said. Her whole attention was still painfully absorbed by the
+pair before her.
+
+"But as for the gentleman, Saxon Harold, I do not recognize him at all!
+However, he seems to be quite devoted to his fair Edith, as is most
+natural! Fair Edith was his best beloved! best beloved? Yes, beloved far
+beyond his queen!"
+
+Sybil knew what he was saying now! She was listening to him with her
+ears, while she was watching the pair before her with her eyes.
+
+"When Harold's dead body was found on the battle-field, it was not the
+queen, but Fair Edith, who was sent for to identify it, and to her it
+was given," continued the stranger.
+
+A half-suppressed cry broke from Sybil's lips.
+
+"What is the matter? Are they treading on your feet?" inquired the mask.
+
+"_Some_ one is treading on me," murmured Sybil, with a sad double
+meaning.
+
+"Do not press on us so, if you please, sir!" said Death, turning and
+staring angrily at the unoffending little Grand Turk, and Fenella the
+dumb girl, who happened to be immediately in the rear. Having thus
+brow-beaten the imaginary enemy, Death turned to his companion and said:
+
+"King Harold and Fair Edith were lovers, and these who assume their
+parts are also lovers, and they take their related parts from a
+sentimental motive! You are tired! let me lead you to a seat!" suddenly
+exclaimed the stranger, feeling his partner's form drooping heavily from
+his side.
+
+She was almost fainting, she was almost sinking into a swoon. She
+permitted her escort to take her to a chair, and to fetch her a glass of
+water. And then she thanked him and requested him to select another
+partner, as she was too much fatigued to go upon the floor again for an
+hour, and that she preferred to sit where she was, and to watch the
+masquerade march on before her.
+
+But Death politely declared that he preferred to stand there by her and
+share her pastime, if she would permit him to do so.
+
+She bowed assent, and Death took up his position at her side.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVII.
+
+                         DRIVEN TO DESPERATION.
+
+            For only this night, as they whispered, I brought
+            My own eyes to bear on her so, that I thought,
+            Could I keep them one half-minute fixed--she would fall
+            Shrivelled!--She fell not; yes, this does it all.--BROWNING
+
+
+As the circle revolved before them, Sybil saw no one but Lyon Berners
+and Rosa Blondelle, and these she saw always--with her eyes, when they
+were before them; with her spirit, when they had revolved away from
+them. She saw him hold close to his heart the arm that leaned on his
+arm; she saw him press her hand, and play with her fingers, and look
+love in the glances of his eyes, and speak love in the tones of his
+voice, although no _word_ of love had been uttered as yet.
+
+At last--oh! deliverance from torture!--the music ceased, the
+promenaders dispersed to their seats.
+
+The relief was but short! The band soon struck up a popular quadrille,
+and the gentlemen again selected their partners and formed sets. Lyon
+Berners, who had conducted his fair companion to a distant seat, now led
+her forth again, and stood with her at the head of one of the sets.
+
+"There! you see! they _are_ lovers! I wonder who _he_ is?" whispered
+Death, leaning to Sybil's ear.
+
+Sybil bit her lip and answered nothing.
+
+"Ah! you do not know, or will not tell! Well, will you honor me with
+your hand in this quadrille?" requested the stranger, with a bow.
+
+Scarcely knowing what she did, for her eyes and thoughts were still
+following her husband and her rival, Sybil bowed assent, and arose from
+her seat.
+
+Death took her hand and led her up to the same quadrille, at the head
+of which Harold the Saxon and Edith the Fair stood, and he placed
+himself and his partner exactly opposite to, and facing them.
+
+Thus Lyon Berners for the first time in the evening was obliged to see
+his wife, for of course he knew her by her dress, as she knew him by his
+dress. She saw him stoop and whisper to his partner, and she surmised
+that he gave her a hint as to who was their _vis-a-vis_, and gave it as
+a warning. She fancied here that her confidence had been betrayed in
+small matters as well as in great, and even in this very small item of
+divulging the secret of her costume to her rival. And at that moment she
+took a resolution, which later in the evening she carried out. Now,
+however, from behind her golden mask she continued to watch her husband
+and her rival. She noticed, that from the instant her husband had
+observed his wife's presence, he modified his manner towards his
+partner, until there seemed nothing but indifference in it.
+
+But this change, instead of being satisfactory to Sybil, was simply
+disgusting to her, who saw in it only the effect of her own presence,
+inducing hypocrisy and deception in them. And the resolution that she
+had formed was strengthened.
+
+Meanwhile the only couple that was wanted to complete the quadrille now
+came up, and the dance began.
+
+Sybil noticed, in an absent-minded sort of a way, how very gracefully
+her grim partner danced. And the thought passed carelessly through her
+mind, that if in that most ghastly disguise his manner and address were
+so elegant and polished, how very refined, how perfect they must be in
+his plain dress. And she wondered and conjectured who, among her
+numerous friends and acquaintances, this gentleman could be; and she
+admired and marvelled at the tact and skill with which he so completely
+and successfully concealed his identity.
+
+She noticed too, in the superficial sort of manner in which she noticed
+everything except the objects of her agonizing jealousy, that her
+strange partner watched Rosa as closely as she herself watched Lyon--and
+she even asked herself:
+
+"Does he know Rosa, and is he jealous?"
+
+Meanwhile the mazy dance went merrily on, heying and setting, whirling
+and twisting to the inspiring sound of music. And Sybil acted her part,
+scarcely conscious that she did it, until the set was ended, and she was
+led back to her seat by her partner, who, as he placed her in it, bowed
+gracefully, thanked her for the honor she had done him, and inquired if
+he could have the pleasure of bringing her a glass of water, lemonade,
+or anything else.
+
+But she politely declined all refreshment.
+
+He then expressed a hope of having the honor of dancing with her again
+during the evening, and with a final bow he withdrew.
+
+But he did but make way for a succession of suitors, who, in low and
+pleading tones, besought the honor of her hand in the waltz that was
+about to begin. But to each of these in turn she excused herself, upon
+the plea that she never waltzed.
+
+Next she was besieged by candidates for the delight of dancing with her
+in the quadrille that was immediately to follow the waltz. And she
+mechanically bowed assent to the first applicant, and excused herself to
+all others, upon the plea of her previous engagement.
+
+That Sybil consented to dance at all, under the painful circumstances of
+her position, was due to the instinctive courtesy of her nature, which
+taught her, that on such an occasion as this, the hostess must not
+indulge her private feelings, however importunate they might be, but
+that she must mingle in the amusements of her guests; for she forgot
+that a masquerade ball was different from all other entertainments in
+this, that her masquerade dress put her on an equality with all her
+guests, and emancipated her from all the duties of a hostess as long as
+she should wear her mask.
+
+Meanwhile she was looking for her husband and her rival, who had both
+disappeared. And presently her vigilance was rewarded. They reappeared,
+locked in each other's arms, and whirling around in the bewildering
+waltz. And she watched them, all unconscious that she herself was the
+"observed of all observers," the "cynosure of eyes," the star of that
+"goodlie company." All who were not waltzing, and many who were
+waltzing, were talking of Sybil.
+
+"Who is she? What is she? Where did she come from? Does any one know
+her?" were some of the questions that were asked on all sides.
+
+"She outshines every one in the room," whispered a "Crusader" to a
+"Quaker."
+
+"I have heard of 'making sunshine in a shady place,' but _she_ 'makes
+sunshine' even in a lighted place!" observed Tecumseh.
+
+"Who, then, is she?" inquired William Penn.
+
+"No one knows," answered Richard Coeur de Lion.
+
+"But what character does she take?" asked Lucretia Borgia.
+
+"I should think it was a 'Priestess of the sun,'" surmised Rebecca the
+Jewess.
+
+"No! I should think she has taken the character of the 'Princess
+Creusa,' the daughter of Creon, King of Corinth, and the victim of Medea
+the Sorceress. Creusa perished, you know, in the robe of magic presented
+to her as a wedding gift from Medea, and designed to burn the wearer to
+ashes! Yes, decidedly it is Creusa, in her death robe of fire!"
+persisted the 'gentle Desdemona,' who had just joined the motley group.
+
+"You are every one of you mistaken. I heard her announced when she
+entered--the 'Spirit of Fire,'" said Pocahontas, with an air of
+authority.
+
+"That is her assumed character! Now to find out her real one."
+
+"Shall I whisper my opinion? Mind, it is _only_ an opinion, with no data
+for a foundation," put in Charlemagne.
+
+"Yes; do tell us who you take her to be," was the unanimous request of
+the circle.
+
+"Then I think she is our fair hostess!"
+
+"Oh-h-h!" exclaimed all the ladies.
+
+"Why do you think so?" inquired several of the gentlemen.
+
+"Because the _correspondence_ is so perfect that it strikes me at once,
+as it ought to strike everybody."
+
+"How? how?"
+
+"The correspondence between her nature and her costume, I mean! The
+outward glow expresses the inward heat. Believe me, Sybil Berners has
+been masquerading all her life, and now for the first time appears in
+her true character--a 'Fire Queen!'"
+
+Such gossip as this was going on all over the room, but only in this
+circle was the secret of Sybil's character discovered. But soon this
+discovery found its way through the crowd, and in half an hour after the
+secret was first revealed, every one in the room knew of it, except the
+person most concerned. Sybil was surrounded by a circle of admirers,
+each one of whom, even by the slightest change of tone or manner,
+revealed their knowledge, for it would have been as much against the
+laws of etiquette and courtesy to recognize her before she was willing
+to be recognized, as it would have been to have unmasked her before she
+was ready to unmask. So they were very guarded in their manners--even
+more guarded than they needed to be, for Sybil was not critical, she was
+indeed scarcely observant of them. She was too deeply absorbed in
+watching her adored husband and her abhorred rival, as, twined in each
+other's embrace, they swam around and around in the dizzy waltz,
+appearing, disappearing, and reappearing as they made the grand circle
+of the saloon.
+
+At first they did not see Sybil, entrenched as she was behind her group
+of admirers; but the moment that they did see her--and Sybil knew that
+very moment--they modified their manners towards each other. And again
+Sybil was more disgusted than pleased at what she thought confirmed her
+worst suspicions of them.
+
+At length the waltz was over. Lyon Berners led his fair partner to a
+seat, left her there and came to speak to his wife. But it was not until
+her group of admirers had separated to go in search of partners for the
+ensuing quadrille, that he had an opportunity of speaking to her
+privately.
+
+"How are you enjoying yourself?" he inquired, on general principles.
+
+"I am looking on. I am really interested in all these fooleries,"
+answered Sybil evasively, but truly.
+
+"Why were you not waltzing?"
+
+"Why? Because I did not choose and could not have borne to have had my
+waist encircled by any other man's arm than yours, Lyon," answered his
+wife, very gravely.
+
+"My darling Sybil, that comes of your old-fashioned notions and country
+training; and it deprives you of giving and receiving much pleasure,"
+answered Mr. Berners.
+
+And before Sybil could reply to that, the Black Prince came up to claim
+her promised hand in the quadrilles that were then forming.
+
+Again, as she flashed like fire through and through the mazes of the
+dance, her elegant figure, her graceful motions, and her dazzling,
+flame-like dress was the general subject of enthusiastic admiration.
+
+It was impossible but that some of this praise should reach the ears of
+its object. And equally impossible that her own name should not be
+coupled with it. So Sybil at length discovered that her identity was
+known, to some persons certainly--to how many she could not even
+conjecture.
+
+Suddenly she resolved to try an experiment. She turned to her partner
+and inquired:
+
+"Do you know me?"
+
+"Not until you permit me to do so, Madam," answered the Black Prince,
+very courteously.
+
+"Your reply was worthy of a knight and prince! So I permit you to
+recognize me," said Sybil.
+
+"Then you are our beautiful hostess; and I am happy to greet you by your
+real name, Mrs. Berners," said the Black Prince.
+
+"Thanks," answered Sybil. "I saw that many persons knew me, and I wished
+to ascertain whether you were among their number, and how you and others
+found me out."
+
+"Some diviner of spirits," laughed the Black Prince, "divined you, not
+only _through_ but _by_ your costume, in its correspondence with your
+character. And as soon as he made this discovery he hastened to
+promulgate it. Then I, for one, perceived at once that the splendid
+'Fire Queen' could be no other than a daughter of 'Berners of the
+Burning Heart.' And now, Madam! am I permitted to introduce myself by
+the name I bear in this humdrum world of reality, or has your
+penetration already rendered such an introduction unnecessary?"
+
+"It is unnecessary. I have just recognized--Captain Pendleton," replied
+Sybil.
+
+The captain bowed low. And then, to the "forward two" of the leader of
+the band, he led his partner up to meet their _vis-a-vis_, to "balance,"
+"pass," "change," and go through all the figures of the dance.
+
+And so the dances succeeded each other to the end of the set. And then
+Captain Pendleton led his beautiful partner back to her seat, and stood
+talking with her until the music for the waltz commenced.
+
+Then, having solicited her hand for that dance, and having ascertained
+that she never waltzed, he bowed and withdrew to find a partner
+elsewhere.
+
+Very soon Sybil saw him whirling around the room with some one of the
+many unknown flower girls that constituted so large a portion of the
+company.
+
+Soon after this she saw both her husband and her rival among the
+waltzers; but they were not waltzing together. Edith the Fair was
+whirling around and around the room in the arms of a hermit, while
+Harold the Saxon was engaged with a pretty nun.
+
+"They know me! they are cautious!" muttered Sybil, biting her lips with
+suppressed fury; for their forbearance, which she called duplicity,
+enraged her more than all their flirting had done.
+
+And now she immediately put in execution the resolution that she had
+formed in the earlier part of the evening. Seeing her new acquaintance
+Death standing unemployed, she beckoned him to approach.
+
+He came promptly.
+
+"King of Terrors!" she said with assumed levity, "I do not waltz, but I
+am tired of sitting here. Give me your arm to the other end of the room,
+and even all around the room, perhaps."
+
+"Spirit of Fire! it will not be the first time that I have had the honor
+of waiting on you or following in your track," said Death, gallantly.
+
+"True; Fire has often preceded Death as his agent," assented Sybil.
+
+"Say rather, that Death has often followed Fire as her servant."
+
+"Enough of this. We seem to be well paired, at least. Let us get up and
+walk."
+
+Death bowed and offered his arm, and Fire arose and took it. And they
+walked around the room, keeping outside the circle of the waltzers and
+near the seats by the walls. But as they walked, many exclamations of
+admiration, wonder, and awe struck their ears.
+
+"Splendid creature! She moves like a spirit or a flame," exclaimed one.
+
+"What a contrast to her companion! She all life and light, he all
+darkness and death."
+
+"It looks, as they walk side by side, as if she had burned him up and
+consumed him to a skeleton of charred bones," said another.
+
+"Horrible! Hush!" imperatively commanded a young lady, whose will, if it
+did not enforce silence, modified expression.
+
+Meanwhile Fire and Death went three times around the room. Then Fire
+paused near a little corner _tete-a-tete_ sofa, on which a young girl,
+dressed as Janet Foster the little Puritan, was seated quite alone; and
+turning to her escort, she said:
+
+"I am tired and thirsty. I will take this vacant seat for a while and
+trouble you to go and fetch me a glass of lemonade."
+
+"With pleasure!" gallantly assented Death, starting off promptly and
+zealously to execute her commands.
+
+Sybil seated herself beside the young girl on the sofa, and laying her
+hand upon her shoulder, whispered:
+
+"Trix."
+
+"There!" exclaimed the girl, starting. "Every one knows me, even you."
+
+"Well, everybody knows me also, even you," said Sybil.
+
+"It is very provoking."
+
+"Very."
+
+"When I had taken so much pains to disguise myself too."
+
+"Yes, and I also."
+
+"_You?_ Why you took the very means to reveal your self, wearing a dress
+so perfectly adapted to your nature. Anybody might have known you,"
+pouted Trix.
+
+"Yes, anybody _might_ have known me; but I do not think that anybody
+_would_ have done so, if it had not been for a certain 'expert' who,
+detecting the 'correspondences,' as he calls them, divulged the secret
+to the whole room," explained Sybil.
+
+"Well, somebody found you out, and did it by the fitness of your costume
+too. But as for me, nothing could be more opposite in character than
+Janet Foster the Puritan maiden, and Beatrix Pendleton the wild
+huntress. We are about as much alike as sage tea and sparkling hock.
+Why, see here, Sybil; in order to throw every one off the track of me, I
+took a character as unlike mine as it was possible to find, and yet I
+have not succeeded in concealing my identity. And this has provoked me
+to such an extent that I have left the dance."
+
+"And so I find you sulking here. Well, Trix, I will tell you how they
+found you out. You and I are known to be the two smallest women in the
+whole neighborhood. After having found me out, through the divination of
+a magician, it was easy to see that the other small woman must be you."
+
+"Oh, I see; but it is perfectly exasperating!"
+
+"So it is; but you may get some fun out of it yet, Trix, by turning the
+tables upon them all."
+
+"How? Tell me! I'll do anything to get the better of them."
+
+"I cannot tell you now, for here comes my escort with my lemonade, and
+this matter must remain a secret between you and me. But listen: in
+fifteen minutes from this time slip away and go to my bedroom. You know
+the way, and you will find it empty. I will join you there, and tell you
+my plan," said Sybil, in a very low tone.
+
+At that moment her escort arrived with the glass of lemonade.
+
+Sybil received it from him with many thanks, and having offered it first
+to her companion, who politely declined it, she drank it, sat the empty
+glass upon the corner of the mantle-piece and then said:
+
+"I will trouble you now, if you please, to take me back to my former
+seat."
+
+Death bowed and offered his arm. Fire arose, nodded to the little
+Puritan on the sofa, took the arm of her escort, and walked away.
+
+When she reached her old seat she dismissed her escort, and in a few
+minutes, finding herself for the instant unobserved, she quietly slipped
+away to her bed-chamber, where she found Beatrix Pendleton already
+awaiting her.
+
+First of all Sybil locked the door, to insure herself and her companion
+from interruption. Then she went to the glass and took off her crown of
+flame and her mask of gold gauze, and drew a long breath of relief as
+she turned towards her companion, who started violently, exclaiming:
+
+"Good Heaven, Sybil! how ghastly pale you look! You are ill!"
+
+"Oh, no; only very weary," sighed Sybil, adding then, in explanation,
+"You know these affairs are very fatiguing."
+
+"Yes, I know, but not to that extent, when you have a house full of
+trained servants to do everything. Why Sybil, you look as if your fiery
+dress had burned you to a form of ashes, leaving only a shape that might
+be blown away with a breath."
+
+"Like another Creusa," answered Sybil, coldly. Then changing her tone,
+she said, with assumed lightness, "Come, Trix, you want to see some fun,
+and you shall see it. You and I are of about one size. We will therefore
+exchange dresses. You shall be the Fire Queen and I will be the Puritan
+maid. You can sustain the part you will take admirably, and upon
+occasion can disguise your own voice or imitate mine. I shall do my best
+to enact the little Puritan. But with all we can do to support the
+characters, we shall puzzle people to the end of their wits. They will
+not feel quite so sure now as they were an hour ago that I am the Fire
+Queen, or you the Puritan maid. But they will not know who we are. Come,
+what have you to say to this?"
+
+"Why, that it is enchanting. I agree to your plan at once."
+
+"All right, then. We have no time to lose. It is half-past ten o'clock
+now. At twelve supper will be served, when all the guests will lay aside
+their masks. So you see that we have but an hour and a half to effect
+our change of dress and hoax our wise companions. Just before supper we
+must slip up here again and change back, so that we may unmask at supper
+in our proper disguises."
+
+"All right!" exclaimed Trix, delighted with the plan.
+
+"And there is one more caution I must give you. Keep out of the way of
+my husband. He knows my character of Fire Queen, and if he should see
+you near him in that dress, he would be sure to speak to you for me; and
+if you should attempt to reply, no matter how well you might imitate my
+voice, your speech would certainly betray you."
+
+"All right! I will keep away from your husband, if I can; but how shall
+I know him?"
+
+"He is dressed as Harold the last of the Saxon Kings!"
+
+"Oh! is _that_ Mr. Berners? And I never suspected it! I thought _that_
+was some single man, desperately smitten with the charms of Edith the
+Fair," continued Beatrix.
+
+"Oh, yes, I dare say you thought, but you were mistaken. Edith the Fair
+is our guest, Mrs. Blondelle. And she took the character of Edith to
+support Mr. Berners in Harold, and to be true to these characters they
+must act as they do; for Harold and Edith were lovers in history,"
+explained Sybil, speaking calmly, though every word uttered by her
+companion had seemed like a separate stab to her already deeply wounded
+bosom.
+
+"'Lovers in history' were they? I should take them to be lovers in
+mystery now, if I did not know them to be Mr. Berners and Mrs.
+Blondelle," persisted Beatrix, all unconscious of the blows she was
+raining upon Sybil's overburdened heart. "However," she added, "I shall
+keep out of the way of both, for if _he_ knew your disguise, be sure
+that _she_ knew it also; and of course both, in daily intercourse with
+you, know your voice equally well. And if either of them should take me
+for you and speak to me for you, and I should attempt to reply, I should
+be sure to betray myself. So I will keep away from both, if I can. If
+not, if they should come suddenly upon me and speak to me, I shall not
+answer, but shall turn around and walk silently away as if I were
+offended with them."
+
+"Yes, do that; that will be excellent," assented Sybil.
+
+"And now, how are you going to support my character, or rather my
+disguise?" inquired Beatrix.
+
+"By being very silent and demure as Janet Foster; or, if need should be,
+by carrying on your mood of sullenness as Beatrix Pendleton, masked."
+
+"That will do," agreed Beatrix, with a smile.
+
+All the while they had been speaking, they had also been taking off
+their fancy dresses. No time was lost, and the exchange of costume was
+quickly effected.
+
+"Now," said Sybil, "another favor."
+
+"Name it."
+
+"Let me go down first. Then do you wait ten minutes here before you
+follow me. And when you enter the room keep away from me, as well as
+from my husband and my guest."
+
+"Very well. I will do so. Anything else?"
+
+"Nothing now, thank you," said Sybil, kissing her hand as she left the
+room.
+
+And Sybil, dressed now in the plain, close-fitting camlet gown and prim
+white linen cap, cuffs, and collar of the Puritan maid, and with a pale,
+young looking mask on her face, reentered the saloon to try her
+experiment.
+
+She looked around, and soon saw her husband and her rival sitting
+side-by-side, on the little retired sofa in the corner. They were
+absorbed in each other's attractions, and did not see her. She glided
+cautiously into a seat near them.
+
+They were sitting very close together, talking in a very low tone. Her
+hand rested in his. At length, Sybil heard her inquire:
+
+"Where is your wife? I have not seen her for some time."
+
+"She has left the room, I believe," answered Mr. Berners.
+
+"Oh, that is such a relief! Do you know that I am really afraid of her?"
+
+"Afraid of her! why? With me you are always perfectly safe. Safe!" he
+repeated, with a light laugh--"why, of course you are! Besides, what
+could harm you? Of whom are you afraid? Your friend, my wife, Sybil? She
+is your friend, and would do you only good."
+
+Rosa Blondelle slowly shook her head, murmuring:
+
+"No, Lyon, your wife is not my friend--she is my deadly enemy. She is
+fiercely jealous of your affection for me, though it is the only
+happiness of my unhappy life. And she will make you throw me off yet."
+
+"Never! no one, not even my wife, shall ever do that! I swear it by all
+my hopes of--"
+
+"Hush! do not swear, for she will make you break your oath. She is your
+wife. She will make you forsake me, or--she will do me a fatal mischief.
+Oh, I shiver whenever she comes near me. Ah, if you had seen her eyes
+as I saw them through her mask to-night. They were lambent flames! How
+they glared on me, those terrible eyes!"
+
+"It was your fancy, dear Rosa; no more than that. Come, shake off all
+this gloom and terror from your spirit, and be your lovely and sprightly
+self!"
+
+"But I cannot! oh, I cannot! I feel the burning of her terrible eyes
+upon me now."
+
+"But she is not even in the room."
+
+(Here Sybil slipped away to a short distance, and joined a group of
+masks as if she belonged to them.)
+
+"But I shiver as if she were near me now."
+
+Lyon Berners suddenly looked around and then laughed, saying:
+
+"But there is no one near you, dear Rosa, except Death."
+
+"Death!" she echoed with a start and a shudder.
+
+"Why, how excessively nervous you are, dear Rosa," said Lyon Berners
+laying his hand soothingly upon her shoulder.
+
+"Oh, but just reflect what you have just said to me. 'No one near me but
+Death!' Death near me!" she repeated, trembling.
+
+"Poor child, are you superstitious as well as nervous? It was the mask I
+meant. The mask that was Sybil's partner in the quadrille which we
+danced with them," laughed Lyon Berners.
+
+"Oh, yes, I know. And they stood opposite to us. So that we danced with
+them more than with any one else! And my own hand turned cold every time
+it had to touch his. What a ghastly mask!"
+
+"Yes, indeed. I wonder any man should choose such a one," added Lyon.
+
+"Who is he? Who is that mask?"
+
+"Indeed I do not know. Some one among our invited guests, of course.
+But he maintains his incognito so successfully, that even I, who have
+discovered most people in the room, have not been able to detect his
+identity. However, at supper all will unmask, and we shall see who he
+is."
+
+"Look, is he still near me?" inquired Rosa, shaking as if with an ague.
+
+Mr. Berners turned his head, and then answered:
+
+"Yes, just to your left."
+
+"Oh! please ask him to go away! I freeze and burn, all in one minute,
+while he is near!"
+
+That was enough for Lyon Berners. He arose and went to Death, and said:
+
+"Excuse me, friend. No offence is meant; but your rather ghastly costume
+is too much for the nerves of the lady who is with me. I do not ask you
+to withdraw to some other part of the room; but I ask you whether you
+will do so, or whether I shall take the lady away from her
+resting-place?"
+
+"Oh! I will withdraw! I know that my presence is not ever welcome,
+though I am not always so easily got rid of!" answered Death as, with a
+low inclination of his head, he went away.
+
+"Oh! I breathe again! I live again!" murmured Rosa, with a sigh of
+relief.
+
+"And now you are sufficiently rested, the music is striking up for a
+lively quadrille, and so, if you please, we will join the dancers and
+dance away dull care!" said Lyon Berners, rising and offering his arm to
+Rosa Blondelle.
+
+She arose and took his arm.
+
+(Sybil, in her little Puritan's dress moved after them.)
+
+He led her to the head of a set that was about to be formed.
+
+"Oh! there she is!" suddenly exclaimed Rosa.
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Sybil."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"There!"
+
+And Rosa pointed to one of the doors, at which Beatrix Pendleton, in
+Sybil's disguise, was just entering the room.
+
+"No matter! See! she has taken another direction from this, and will not
+be near you, dear child; so be at rest," said Lyon Berners soothingly.
+
+"Oh! I am so glad! You don't know how I fear that woman," replied Rosa.
+
+"But you did not use to do so!"
+
+"No! not until to-night! To-night when I met her terrible eyes," said
+Rosa.
+
+"Come, come, dear! Cheer up," smiled Mr. Berners, encouragingly, as he
+took her hand and led her to the order--"Forward four!"
+
+The dance began, and Sybil heard no more; but she had heard enough to
+convince her, if she had not been convinced before, of her guest's
+treachery and her husband's enthrallment.
+
+She went and sat down quietly in a remote corner, and "bided her time."
+And waltz succeeded quadrille, and quadrille waltz. At the beginning of
+every new dance, some one would come up and ask for the honor of her
+hand, which she always politely refused--taking good care to speak in a
+low tone, and disguised voice. At length Captain Pendleton came up, and
+mistaking her for his sister, said:
+
+"Sulking still, Trix?"
+
+Not venturing to speak to him, lest he should discover his mistake, she
+shrugged her shoulders and turned away.
+
+"All right! sulk as long as you please. It hurts no one but yourself, my
+dear," exclaimed the Captain, sauntering off.
+
+She saw Beatrix Pendleton, in her dress, moving merrily through the
+quadrille, or floating around in the waltz. She heard a gentleman near
+her say:
+
+"I thought that lady never waltzed. I know she refused me and several
+others upon the plea that she never did."
+
+And she heard the other lightly answer:
+
+"Oh, well, ladies are privileged to change their minds."
+
+The waltz of which they were speaking came now to an end. Sybil saw
+Beatrix led to a seat near her own. She also saw her partner bow and
+leave her. She seized the opportunity and glided up to Beatrix, and
+whispered:
+
+"There will be but one more quadrille, and then supper will be served. I
+am going to my room. Do not dance in the next quadrille, but follow me,
+that we may change our dresses again. We have to be ready to unmask at
+supper, you know."
+
+"Very well! I will be punctual. I really have enjoyed myself in your
+dress. And you?"
+
+"As much as I expected to. I am satisfied."
+
+At this moment the music for the quadrille struck up, and gentlemen
+began to select their partners. Two or three were coming towards Sybil
+and Beatrix. So with a parting caution to Beatrix to be careful, Sybil
+left the saloon.
+
+She glided up to her chamber, where she was soon joined by Beatrix.
+
+They began rapidly to take off their dresses, to exchange them.
+
+"Oh, I have had so much amusement!" exclaimed Beatrix, laughing.
+"Everybody took me for you. And oh, I have received so many flattering
+compliments intended for you; and I have heard so much wholesome abuse
+of myself! That I was fast; that I was eccentric; that I was more than
+half-crazy; that I had a dreadful temper. And you?"
+
+"I also received some sweet flattery intended for the pretty little
+Puritan maiden, and learned some bitter truths about myself," answered
+Sybil.
+
+"How hollow your voice is, Sybil! Bosh! who cares for such
+double-dealing wretches, who flatter us before our faces and abuse us
+behind our backs?" exclaimed Beatrix, as she quickly finished her
+Puritan toilet, and announced herself ready.
+
+Sybil was also dressed, and they went down stairs and entered the
+drawing-room together.
+
+The last quadrille before supper was over, the supper-rooms were thrown
+open, and the company were marching in.
+
+Captain Pendleton hastened to meet Sybil, and another gentleman offered
+his arm to Beatrix, and thus escorted, they fell in the line of march
+with others.
+
+As each couple passed into the supper-room, they took off their masks,
+and handed them to attendants, placed for that purpose, to the right and
+left of the door. Thus, when the company filled the rooms, every face
+was shown.
+
+There were the usual surprises, the usual gay recognitions.
+
+Among the rest, "Harold the Saxon" and "Edith the Fair" stood confessed
+as Mr. Berners and Mrs. Blondelle, and much silent surprise as well as
+much whispered suspicion was the result.
+
+"Is it possible?" muttered one. "I took them for a pair of lovers, they
+were so much together."
+
+"I thought they were a newly married pair, who took advantage of their
+masks to be more together than etiquette allows," murmured a second.
+
+"I think it was very improper; don't you?" inquired a third.
+
+"Improper! It was disgraceful," indignantly answered a fourth, who was
+no other than Beatrix Pendleton, who now completely understood why it
+was that Sybil Berners wished to change dresses with her, and also how
+it was that Sybil's voice was so hollow, as she spoke in the
+bed-chamber. "She wished to put on my dress that she might watch them
+unsuspected, and she was right. She detected them in their sinful
+trifling, and she was wretched," said Beatrix to herself. And she looked
+around to catch a glimpse of Sybil's face. Sybil was sitting too near
+her to be seen. Sybil was on the same side with herself, and only two or
+three seats off. But Beatrix saw Mr. Berners and Mrs. Blondelle sitting
+immediately opposite to herself, and with a recklessness that savored of
+fatuity, still carrying on their sentimental flirtation.
+
+Yes! Rosa was still throwing up her eyes to his eyes, and cooing "soft
+nonsense" in his ears; and Lyon was still dwelling on her glances and
+her tones with lover-like devotion. Suddenly assuming a gay tone, she
+asked him:
+
+"Where is our ghastly friend, Death! I do not see him anywhere in the
+room, and I was _so_ anxious to see him unmasked, that I might find out
+who he is. Where is he? Do you see him anywhere?"
+
+"No; he is not here yet; but doubtless he will make his appearance
+presently," answered Mr. Berners.
+
+"Do you really not know who he is?"
+
+"Not in the least; nor does any one else here know," replied Mr.
+Berners.
+
+Suddenly Rosa looked up, started, and with a suppressed cry, muttered:
+
+"Good heavens! Look at Sybil!"
+
+Mr. Berners followed the direction of her gaze across the table, and
+even he started at the sight of Sybil's face.
+
+That face wore a look of anguish, despair, and desperation that seemed
+fixed there forever; for in all its agony of passion that tortured and
+writhen face was as still, cold, hard, and lifeless as marble, except
+that from its eyes streamed glances as from orbs of fire.
+
+Mr. Berners suddenly turned his eyes from her, and looked up and down
+the table. Fortunately now every one was too busily engaged in eating,
+drinking, laughing, talking, flirting, and gossiping to attend to the
+looks of their hostess.
+
+"I must go and speak to her," said Lyon Berners in extreme anxiety and
+displeasure, as he left Rosa's side, and made his way around the table,
+until he stood immediately behind his wife. He touched her on her
+shoulder to attract her attention. She started as if an adder had stung
+her, but she never looked around.
+
+"Sybil, my dearest, you are ill. What is the matter?" he whispered,
+trying to avoid being overheard by others.
+
+"Do NOT touch me! _Do not_ speak to me, unless you wish to see me drop
+dead or go mad before you!" she answered in tones so full of suppressed
+energy, that he impulsively drew back.
+
+He waited for a moment in dire dread lest the assembled company should
+see the state of his wife, and then he ventured to renew his efforts.
+
+"Sybil, my darling, you are really not well. Let me lead you out of this
+crowded room," he whispered, very gently, laying his hand upon her
+shoulder.
+
+She dashed it off as if it had been some venomous reptile, and turned
+upon him a look flaming with fiery wrath.
+
+"Sybil you will certainly draw the attention of our guests," he
+persisted, with much less gentleness than he had before spoken.
+
+"If you touch me, or speak to me but once more--if you do not leave me
+on the instant, I _will_ draw the attention of our guests, and draw it
+with a vengeance too!" she fiercely retorted, never once removing from
+him her flaming eyes.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+                             LYING IN WAIT.
+
+
+        "He is with her; and they know that I know
+        Where they are, and what they do; they believe my tears flow
+        While they laugh, laugh at me, at me left in the drear
+        Empty hall to lament in, for them!--I am here."--BROWNING.
+
+
+"You are a lunatic, and fit only for a lunatic asylum!" was the angry
+comment of Lyon Berners, as he turned upon his heel and left his wife.
+
+It was the first time in his life that he had ever spoken angrily to
+Sybil, or even felt angry with her.
+
+Hitherto he had borne her fierce outbursts of jealousy with "a great
+patience," feeling, perhaps, that they flamed up from the depths of her
+burning love for him; feeling, also, that his own thoughtless conduct
+had caused them.
+
+Now, however, he was thoroughly incensed by the deportment of his wife,
+and deeply mortified at the effect it might have upon their company.
+
+He went around to the opposite side of the table. He did not again join
+Rosa, for he dreaded a scene, and even a catastrophe; but he mingled
+with the crowd, and stood where he could see Sybil, without being seen
+by her.
+
+Her face remained the same--awful in the marble-like stillness of her
+agonized features; terrible in the fierceness of her flaming eyes!
+
+This was at length observed by some of the guests, who whispered their
+comments or enquiries to others. And the hum of voices and the burden of
+their low-toned talk at length reached the ears or excited the
+suspicions of Lyon Berners. The ordeal of the supper-table was a
+frightful trial to him. He longed for it to be over.
+
+At length the longing was gratified--the torture was over. The guests,
+by twos and by fours, by small groups and large parties, left the
+supper-room for the saloon, where the musicians struck up a grand march,
+and the greater portion of the company formed into a leisurely promenade
+as a gentle exercise after eating, and a prudent prelude to more
+dancing.
+
+Some among the guests, however, preferred to seat themselves on the
+sofas that lined the walls, and to rest.
+
+Among these last was Rosa Blondelle, who sat on a corner sofa, and
+sulked and looked sad and sentimental because Lyon Berners had not
+spoken to her, or even approached her since he had seen that look on
+Sybil's face. To the vain and shallow coquette, it was gall and
+bitterness to perceive that Sybil had still the power, of whatever sort,
+to keep her own husband and _her_ admirer from her side. So Rosa sat and
+sorrowed, or seemed to sorrow, on the corner sofa, from which nobody
+invited her to rise, for there was a very general feeling of
+disapprobation against the beautiful blonde.
+
+Sybil also sank upon a side seat, where she sat with that same look of
+agony turned to marble, on her face. Some one came up and invited her to
+join in the promenade. Scarcely recognizing the speaker, or
+comprehending what he said, she arose, more like an automaton than a
+living woman, and let herself be led away to join the march.
+
+But her looks had now attracted very general attention, and occasioned
+much comment. More than one indiscreet friend or acquaintance had
+remarked to Mr. Berners:
+
+"Mrs. Berners looks quite ill. I fear the fatigue of this masquerade has
+been too much for her," or words to that effect.
+
+"Yes," Lyon Berners invariably replied, "she is quite indisposed this
+evening, suffering indeed; and I have begged her to retire, but I cannot
+induce her to do so."
+
+"She is too unselfish; she exerts herself too much for the entertainment
+of her guests," suggested another.
+
+And so the rumor went around the room that Mrs. Berners was suffering
+from severe illness. And this explanation of her appearance was very
+generally received; for the outward and silent manifestations of mental
+anguish are not unlike those of physical agony.
+
+And so, after another quadrille and another waltz, and the final
+Virginia reel, the company, in consideration of their hostess, began to
+break up and depart. Some few intimate friends of the family, who had
+come from a distance to the ball, were to stay all night at Black Hall.
+These upon their first arrival had been shown to the chambers they were
+to occupy, and now they knew where to find them. And so, when the last
+of the departing guests had taken leave of their hostess, and had gone
+away, these also bade her good-night and retired.
+
+And Sybil remained alone in the deserted drawing-room.
+
+It is sometimes interesting and curious to consider the relative
+position of the parties concerned, just before the enactment of some
+terrible tragedy.
+
+The situation at Black Hall was this: The guests were in their chambers,
+preparing to retire to bed. The servants were engaged in fastening up
+the house and putting out the lights, only they refrained from
+interfering with three rooms, where three members of the family still
+lingered.
+
+In the first of these was the mistress of the house, who, as I said,
+remained alone in the deserted drawing-room. Sybil stood as if turned to
+stone, and fixed to the spot--motionless in form and face, except that
+her lips moved and a hollow monotone issued from them, more like the
+moan of a lost soul, than the voice of a living woman.
+
+"So all is lost, and nothing left but these--REVENGE and DEATH!" she
+muttered.
+
+The awful spirit of her race overshadowed her and possessed her. She
+felt that, to destroy the destroyer of her peace, she would be willing
+to meet and suffer all that man could inflict upon her body, or devil
+do to her soul! And so she brooded, until suddenly out of this
+trance-like state she started, as if a serpent had stung her.
+
+"I linger here," she cried, "while they--Where are they, the traitor and
+his temptress? I will seek them through the house; I will tear them
+asunder, and confront them in their treachery."
+
+Meanwhile where were they, the false friend and the fascinated husband?
+
+Lyon Berners, much relieved from anxiety by the departure of the last
+guests, but still deeply displeased with his wife, had retired to the
+little morning parlor to collect himself. He stood now upon the rug,
+with his back to the smouldering fire, absorbed in sombre thought. He
+loved his wife, bitterly angry as he had been with her this evening, and
+prone as he was to fall under the spell of the fair siren who was now
+his temptress. He loved his wife, and he wished to insure her peace. He
+resolved to break off, at once and forever, the foolish flirtation with
+a shallow coquette which his deep-hearted Sybil had taken so earnestly.
+How to do this, occupied his thoughts now. He knew that it would be
+difficult, or impossible to do it, as long as Rosa Blondelle remained in
+the same house with himself. He felt that he could not ask her to go and
+find another home; for to do so would be rude, inhospitable, and even
+cruel to the homeless and friendless young stranger.
+
+What should he do, then?
+
+It occurred to him that he might make some fair excuse to take Sybil to
+the city, and spend the ensuing winter there with her, leaving Rosa
+Blondelle in full possession of Black Hall until she should choose to
+make arrangements to return to her own country. This or something else
+must be done, for the flirtation with Rosa must never be resumed. In the
+midst of these good resolutions he was interrupted.
+
+Meanwhile, Rosa Blondelle had been as deeply mortified and enraged by
+the sudden desertion and continued coolness of Lyon Berners, as it was
+in her shallow nature to be. She went to her own room, but she could not
+remain there. She came out into the long narrow passage leading to the
+front hall, and she paced up and down with the angry restlessness of a
+ruffled cat, muttering to herself:
+
+"She shall not take him from me, even if he is her husband! I _will_ not
+be outrivalled by another woman, even if she is his wife!"
+
+Over and over again she ground these words through her teeth, or other
+words of the same sort. Suddenly she passed out of the narrow passage
+into the broad ball, where she noticed that the parlor door was ajar, a
+light burning within the room, and the shadow of a man thrown across the
+carpet. She stole to the door, peeped in, and saw Lyon Berners still
+standing on the rug with his back to the smouldering fire, absorbed in
+sombre thought.
+
+She slipped in, and dropped her head upon his shoulder and sobbed.
+
+Startled and very much annoyed, he gently tried to raise her head and
+put her away.
+
+But she only clung the closer, and sobbed the more.
+
+"Rosa! don't! don't, child! Let us have no more of this! It is sinful
+and dangerous! For your own sake, Rosa, retire to your room!" he gently
+expostulated.
+
+"Oh! you love me no longer! You love me no longer!" vehemently exclaimed
+the siren. "That cruel woman has compelled you to forsake me! I told you
+she would do it, and now she has done it."
+
+"'That woman,' Rosa, is my beloved wife, entitled to my whole faith; yet
+not even for her will I forsake you; but I will continue to care for
+you, as a brother for a sister. But, Rosa, this must cease," he gravely
+added.
+
+"Oh, do not say that! do not! do not fling off the poor lonely heart
+that you have once gathered to your own!" and she clung to him as
+closely and wept as wildly as if she had been in earnest.
+
+"Rosa! Rosa!" he whispered eagerly, and in great embarrassment, "my
+child! be reasonable! Reflect! you have a husband!"
+
+"Ah! name him not! He robbed and left me, and I hate him," she cried.
+
+"And I have a dear and honored wife whose happiness I must guard. Thus
+you see we can be nothing to each other but brother and sister. A
+brother's love and care is all that I can offer you, or that you should
+be willing to accept from me," he continued, as he gently smoothed her
+fair hair.
+
+"Then give me a brother's kiss," she sighed. "That is not much to ask,
+and I have no one to kiss me now! So give me a brother's kiss, and let
+me go!" she pleaded, plaintively.
+
+He hesitated for a moment, and then bending over her, he said:
+
+"It is the _first_, and for your own sake it must be the _last_, Rosa!"
+he pressed his lips to hers.
+
+It _was_ the last as well as the first; for at the meeting of their
+lips, they were stricken asunder as by the fall of a thunderbolt!
+
+And Sybil, blazing with wrath, like a spirit from the Lake of Fire,
+stood between them!
+
+Yes! for she looked not human--with her ashen cheeks, and darkened brow,
+and flaming eyes--with her whole face and form heaving, palpitating,
+flashing forth the lightnings of anger!
+
+"SYBIL!" exclaimed her husband, thunderstruck, appalled.
+
+She waved her hand towards him, as if to implore or command silence.
+
+"I have nothing to say to you," she muttered, in low and husky tones,
+as if ashes were in her throat. "But to YOU!" she said, and her voice
+rose clear and strong as she turned and stretched out her arm towards
+Rosa, who was leaning in a fainting condition against the wall--"TO YOU,
+viper, who has stung to death the bosom that warmed you to life--TO YOU,
+traitress, who has come between the true husband and his wife--TO YOU,
+thief! who has stolen from your benefactress the sole treasure of her
+life--TO YOU I have this to say: I will not drive you forth in dishonor
+from my door this night, nor will I publish your infamy to the world
+to-morrow, though you have deserved nothing less than these from my
+hands; but in the morning you must leave the house you have desecrated!
+for if you do not, or if ever I find your false face here again, I will
+tread down and crush out your life with less remorse than ever I set
+heel upon a spider! I will, as I am a Berners! And now, begone, and
+never let me see your form again!"
+
+Rosa Blondelle, who had stood spell-bound by the terrible gaze and
+overwhelming words of Sybil, the wronged wife, now suddenly threw up her
+hands, and with a low cry, fled from the room.
+
+And Sybil dropped her arm and her voice at the same instant, and stood
+dumb and motionless.
+
+And now, at length, Lyon Berners spoke again.
+
+"Sybil! you have uttered words that nothing on the part of that poor
+lady should have provoked from you--words that I fear may never be
+forgotten or forgiven! But--I know that she has a gentle and easy
+nature. When you are cooler and more rational, I wish you to go to her
+and be reconciled with her."
+
+"With _her_! I am a Berners!" answered Sybil, haughtily.
+
+"But you bitterly wrong that lady in your thoughts!"
+
+"Bah! I caught her in your arms! on your breast! her lips clinging to
+yours!"
+
+"The first and last kiss! I swear it by all my hopes of Heaven,
+Sybil--a brother's kiss!"
+
+Sybil made a gesture of scorn and disgust.
+
+"If I were not past laughing, I should have to laugh now," she said.
+
+"And you will not believe this?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"And you will not be reconciled to this injured young stranger?"
+
+"I! I am a lady--'or long have dreamed so,'" answered Sybil, haughtily.
+"At least the daughter of an honest mother. And I will not even permit
+such a woman as that to live under the same roof with me another day.
+She leaves in the morning."
+
+"The house is yours! You must do as you please! But this I tell you:
+that in the same hour which sees that poor and friendless young creature
+driven from the shelter of this roof, I leave it too, and leave it for
+ever."
+
+If Lyon Berners really meant this, or thought to bring his fiery-hearted
+wife to terms by the threat, he was mistaken in her character.
+
+"Oh, go!" she answered bitterly--"go! I _will_ not harbor _her_. And why
+should I seek to detain you? Your heart has left me already; why should
+I wish to retain its empty case? Go as soon as you like, Lyon Berners.
+Good-night, and--good-bye," she said, and with a wave of her hand she
+passed from the room.
+
+He was mad to have spoken as he did; madder still to let her leave him
+so! how mad, he was soon to learn.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIX.
+
+                             SWOOPING DOWN.
+
+                Twice it called, so loudly called
+            With horrid strength beyond the pitch of nature;
+            And murder! murder! was the dreadful cry.
+            A third time it returned with feeble strength,
+            But o' the sudden ceased; as though the words
+            Were smothered rudely in the grappled throat.
+            And all was still again, save the wild blast
+            Which at a distance growled--
+            Oh, it will never from the heart depart!
+            That dreadful cry all in the instant stilled.--BAILLIE.
+
+
+Lyon Berners remained walking up and down the room some time longer. The
+lights were all out, and the servants gone to bed. Yet still he
+continued to pace up and down the parlor floor, until suddenly piercing
+shrieks smote his ear.
+
+In great terror he started forward and instinctively rushed towards
+Rosa's room, when the door was suddenly thrown open by Rosa herself,
+pale, bleeding from a wound in her breast.
+
+"Great Heaven! What is this?" he cried, as, aghast with amazement and
+sorrow, he supported the ghastly and dying form, and laid it on the
+sofa, and then sunk on his knees beside it.
+
+"Who, who has done this?" he wildly demanded, as, almost paralyzed with
+horror, he knelt beside her, and tried to stanch the gushing wound from
+which her life-blood was fast welling.
+
+"Who, who has done this fiendish deed?" he reiterated in anguish, as he
+gazed upon her.
+
+She raised her beautiful violet eyes, now fading in death; she opened
+her bloodless lips, now paling in death, and she gasped forth the words:
+
+"She--Sybil--your wife. I told you she would do it, and she has done it.
+Sybil Berners has murdered me," she whispered. Then raising herself
+with a last dying effort, she cried aloud, "Hear, all! Sybil Berners has
+murdered me." And with this charge upon her lips, she fell back DEAD.
+
+Even in that supreme moment Lyon Berners' first thought, almost his only
+thought, was for his wife. He looked up to see who was there--who had
+heard this awful, this fatal charge.
+
+_All_ were there! guests and servants, men and women, drawn there by the
+dreadful shrieks. All had heard the horrible accusation.
+
+And all stood panic-stricken, as they shrank away from one who stood in
+their midst.
+
+It was she, Sybil, the accused, whose very aspect accused her more
+loudly than the dying woman had done; for she stood there, still in her
+fiery masquerade dress, her face pallid, her eyes blazing, her wild
+black hair loose and streaming, her crimsoned hand raised and grasping a
+bloodstained dagger.
+
+"Oh, wretched woman! most wretched woman! What is this that you have
+done?" groaned Lyon Berners, in unutterable agony--agony not for the
+dead beauty before him, but for the living wife, whom he felt that he
+had driven to this deed of desperation. "Oh, Sybil! Sybil! what have you
+done?" he cried, grinding his hands together.
+
+"I? I have done nothing!" faltered his wife, with pale and tremulous
+lips.
+
+"Oh, Sybil! Sybil! would to Heaven you had died before this night! Or
+that I could now give my life for this life that you have madly taken!"
+moaned Lyon.
+
+"I have taken no life! What do you mean? This is horrible!" exclaimed
+Sybil, dropping the dagger, and looking around upon her husband and
+friends, who all shrank from her. "I have taken no life! I am no
+assassin! Who dares to accuse me?" she demanded, standing up pale and
+haughty among them.
+
+And then she saw that every lowered eye, every compressed lip, every
+shuddering and shrinking form, silently accused her.
+
+Mr. Berners had turned again to the dead woman. His hand was eagerly
+searching for some pulsation at the heart. Soon he ceased his efforts,
+and arose.
+
+"Vain! vain!" he said, "all is still and lifeless, and growing cold and
+stiff in death. Oh! my wretched wife!"
+
+"The lady may not be dead! This may be a swoon from loss of blood. In
+such a swoon she would be pulseless and breathless, or seem so! let me
+try! I have seen many a swoon from loss of blood, as well as many a
+death from the same cause, in my military experience," said Captain
+Pendleton, pushing forward and kneeling by the sofa, and beginning his
+tests, guided by experience.
+
+His words and actions unbound the spell of horror that had till then
+held the assembled company still and mute, and now all pressed forward
+towards the sofa, and bent over the little group there.
+
+"Air! air! friends, if you please! Stand farther off. And some one open
+a window!" exclaimed Captain Pendleton, peremptorily.
+
+And he was immediately obeyed by the falling off of the crowd, one of
+whom threw open a window.
+
+"Some one should fetch a physician!" suggested Beatrix Pendleton, whose
+palsied tongue was now at length unloosed.
+
+And half a dozen gentlemen immediately started for the stables to
+dispatch a messenger for the village doctor from Blackville.
+
+"And while they are fetching the physician, they should summon the
+coroner also," suggested a voice from the crowd.
+
+"No! no! not until we have ascertained that life is actually extinct,"
+exclaimed Captain Pendleton, hastily; at the same time seeking and
+meeting the eyes of Mr. Berners, with a meaning gaze said:
+
+"If we cannot restore the dead woman to life, we must at least try to
+save the living woman from unspeakable horrors!"
+
+Mr. Berners turned away his head, with a deep groan.
+
+And Captain Pendleton continued his seeming efforts to restore
+consciousness to the prostrate form before him, until he heard the
+galloping of the horse that took the messenger away for the doctor, and
+felt sure that the man could not now receive orders to fetch the coroner
+also.
+
+Then Captain Pendleton arose and beckoned Miss Tabby Winterose to come
+towards him. That lady came forward, whimpering as usual, but with an
+immeasurably greater cause than she had ever possessed before.
+
+"Close her eyes, straighten her limbs, arrange her dress. She is quite
+dead," said the Captain.
+
+Miss Tabby's voice was lifted up in weeping.
+
+But wilder yet arose the sound of wailing, as the Scotch girl, with the
+child in her arms, broke through the crowd and cast herself down beside
+her dead mistress, crying:
+
+"Oh! and is it gone ye are, my bonny leddy? Dead and gone fra us, a' sae
+suddenly! Oh, bairnie! look down on your puir mither, wham they have
+murthered--the born deevils."
+
+The poor child, frightened as much by the wild wailing of the nurse as
+by the sight of his mother's ghastly form, began to scream and to hide
+his head on Janet's bosom.
+
+"Woman, this is barbarous. Take the boy away from this sight," exclaimed
+Captain Pendleton, imperatively.
+
+But Janet kept her ground, and continued to weep and wail and
+apostrophize the dead mother, or appeal to the orphan child. And all the
+women in the crowd whose tongues had hitherto been paralyzed with
+horror, now broke forth in tears and sobs, and cries of sympathy and
+compassion, and--
+
+"Oh, poor murdered young mother! Oh, poor orphaned babe!" or
+lamentations to the same effect, broke forth on all sides.
+
+"Mr. Berners, you are master of the house. I earnestly exhort you to
+clear the room of all here, except Miss Winterose and ourselves," said
+Captain Pendleton in an almost commanding tone.
+
+"Friends and neighbors," cried Lyon Berners, lifting up his voice, so
+that it could be heard all over the room, "I implore you to withdraw to
+your own apartments. Your presence here only serves to distress
+yourselves and embarrass us. And we have a duty to do to the dead."
+
+The crowd began to disperse and move toward the doors when suddenly
+Sybil Berners lifted her hand on high and called, in a commanding tone:
+
+"STOP!"
+
+And all stopped and turned their eyes on her.
+
+She was still very pale, but now also very calm; the most self-collected
+one in that room of death.
+
+"I have somewhat to say to you," she continued. "You all heard the dying
+words of that poor dead woman, in which she accused me of having
+murdered her; and your own averted eyes accuse me quite as strongly, and
+my own aspect, perhaps, more strongly than either."
+
+She paused and glanced at her crimsoned hand, and then looked around and
+saw that her nearest neighbors and oldest friends, who had known her
+longest and loved her best, now turned away their heads, or dropped
+their eyes. She resumed:
+
+"The dead woman was mistaken; you are misled; and my very appearance is
+deceptive. I will not deny that the woman was my enemy. Driven to
+desperation, and in boiling blood, I might have been capable of doing
+her a deadly mischief, but bravely and openly, as the sons and daughters
+of my fiery race have done such things before this. But to go to her
+chamber in the dead of night, and in darkness and secrecy--! No! I could
+not have done that, if she had been ten times the enemy she was. Is
+there one here who believes that the daughter of Bertram Berners could
+be guilty of that or any other base deed?" she demanded, as her proud
+glance swept around upon the faces of her assembled friends and
+neighbors.
+
+But their averted eyes too sorrowfully answered her question.
+
+Then she turned to her husband and lowered her voice to an almost
+imploring tone as she inquired:
+
+"Lyon Berners, do YOU believe me guilty?"
+
+He looked up, and their eyes met. If he had really believed her guilty
+he did not now. He answered briefly and firmly:
+
+"No, Sybil! Heaven knows that I do not. But oh! my dear wife! explain,
+if you can, how that dagger came into your possession, how that blood
+came upon your hands; and, above all, why this most unhappy lady should
+have charged you with having murdered her."
+
+"At your desire, and for the satisfaction of the few dear old friends
+whom I see among this unbelieving crowd, the friends who would deeply
+grieve if I should either do or suffer wrong, _I will_ speak. But if it
+were not for you and for them, I would die before I would deign to
+defend myself from a charge that is at once so atrocious and so
+preposterous--so monstrous," said Sybil, turning a gaze full of haughty
+defiance upon those who stood there before her face, and dared to
+believe her guilty.
+
+A stern voice spoke up from that crowd.
+
+"Mr. Lyon Berners, attend to this. A lady lies murdered in your house.
+By whom she has been so murdered we do not know. But I tell you that
+every moment in which you delay in sending for the officers of justice
+to investigate this affair, compromises you and me and all who stand by
+and silently submit to this delay, as accessories, after the fact."
+
+Lyon Berners turned towards the speaker, a grave and stern old man of
+nearly eighty years, a retired judge, who had come to the mask ball
+escorting his grand-daughters.
+
+"An instant, Judge Basham. Pardon us, if in this dismay some things are
+forgotten. The coroner shall be summoned immediately. Captain Pendleton,
+will you oblige me by despatching a messenger to Coroner Taylor at
+Blackville?" he then inquired, turning to the only friend upon whose
+discretion he felt he could rely.
+
+Captain Pendleton nodded acquiescence and intelligence, and left the
+room, as if for the purpose specified.
+
+"Now, dear Sybil, with Judge Basham's permission, give our friends the
+explanation that you have promised them," said Lyon Berners
+affectionately, and confidingly taking her hand and placing himself
+beside her.
+
+For all his anger as well as all her jealousy had been swept away in the
+terrible tornado of this evening's events.
+
+"The explanation that I promised _you_, and those who wish me well," she
+said emphatically. And then her voice arose clear, firm, and distinct,
+as she continued:
+
+"I was in my chamber, which is immediately above that occupied by Mrs.
+Blondelle. My chamber is approached by two ways, first by the front
+passage and stairs, and secondly by a narrow staircase running up from
+Mrs. Blondelle's room. And the door leading from her room up this
+staircase and into mine, she has been in the habit of leaving open.
+To-night, as I said, I was sitting in my chamber; from causes not
+necessary to explain now and here, I was too much disturbed in mind to
+think of retiring to rest, or even of undressing. I do not know how long
+I had sat there, when I heard a piercing shriek from some one in the
+room below. Instinctively I rushed down the communicating stairs and
+into Mrs. Blondelle's room, and up to her bed, where I saw by the light
+of the taper she was lying. Her eyes were closed, and I thought at first
+that she had fainted from some fright until, almost at the same instant,
+I saw this dagger--" here Sybil stooped and picked up the dagger that
+she had dropped a few minutes before--"driven to its haft in her chest.
+I drew it out. Instantly the blood from the opened wound spirted up,
+covering my hand and sleeve with the accusing stains you see! With the
+flowing of the blood her eyes flew wildly open! She gazed affrightedly
+at me for an instant, and then with the last effort of her life, for
+which terror lent her strength, she started up and fled shrieking to
+this room. I, still holding the dagger that I had drawn from her bosom,
+followed her here. And--you know the rest," said Sybil; and overcome
+with excitement, she sank upon the nearest chair to rest.
+
+Lyon Berners still held her hand.
+
+Her story had evidently made a very great impression upon the company
+present. But Lyon Berners suddenly exclaimed:
+
+"Good Heavens! that lady's mistaken charge has put us all off the scent,
+and allowed the murderer to escape. But it may not yet be too late! Some
+clue may be left in her room by which we may trace the criminal! Come,
+neighbors, and let us search the premises."
+
+And Lyon Berners, leaving the shuddering women of the party in the room
+with Sybil and the dead, and followed by all the men, went to search the
+house and ground for traces of the assassin.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XX.
+
+                               THE SEARCH.
+
+            My friends, I care not, (so much I am happy
+            Above a number,) if my actions
+            Were tried by every tongue, every eye saw them,
+            Envy and base opinion set against them,
+            To know my life so even.--SHAKSPEARE.
+
+
+And first they went to Mrs. Blondelle's room, and carefully examined
+every part of it, especially the fastenings of the doors and windows.
+They all seemed to be right.
+
+"I have a theory of this murder now!" said Mr. Berners, standing in the
+middle of the room and speaking to the men who were with him.
+
+"Humph! what is it?" coldly inquired old Judge Basham.
+
+"It is this; that as Mrs. Blondelle was known to have possessed jewels
+of great value, some miscreant came here with the intention to rob her
+of them."
+
+"Well, and what then?" asked the Judge.
+
+"That this miscreant entered either by the outer door, or by one of
+these windows, approached the bed of his victim, who, being awake and
+seeing him, shrieked, either before or at the moment of receiving the
+death wound, and then fainted."
+
+"Humph! what next?" grunted the Judge.
+
+"That first shriek brought my wife running to the rescue. At the sound
+of her approach, of course the murderer turned and fled, escaping
+through the outer door or window."
+
+"An ingenious story, and a plausible explanation, Mr. Berners; but one,
+I fear, that will never convince a jury, or satisfy the public,"
+remarked Judge Basham.
+
+"Nay, and it will na satisfy mysel' neither! It'll na do, gentlemen! The
+murderer didna come through the outer door, nor the windows either! For
+mysel' fastened them a' before I went to my bed! And yesel's found them
+fastened when ye cam!" said the Scotch girl Janet, who had now entered
+the room with the child in her arms.
+
+"But he may have come through the door, my good girl," suggested Mr.
+Berners, whose very blood seemed to freeze at this testimony of the
+maid.
+
+"Nay, nay, laird! that will na do either. The murderer could na hae come
+by the outer door, for mysel' bolted it before I went to bed! And it was
+still bolted when my puir leddy--Oh, my puir bonny leddy! oh! my puir
+dear murdered mistress!" broke forth from the girl in sudden and violent
+lamentations.
+
+"Compose yourself, and tell us all about the bolted door," said Judge
+Basham.
+
+"Aweel, sir, the door was bolted by mysel', and bolted it stayed until
+that puir leddy started out of her bed and tore the bolt back, and fled
+away from before the face of her murderer! too late! oh, too late! for
+she carried her death wound with her."
+
+"So you see, Mr. Berners, your theory of the murder falls to pieces.
+This girl's testimony proves that the murderer could not have entered
+the room, from this floor," said Judge Basham.
+
+"Then he _must_ have been concealed in the room," exclaimed Lyon,
+desperately.
+
+"Nay, nay! that will na do either, laird. Na mon was hid in the room.
+Mysel' looked into all the closets, and under the bed, and up the
+chimney, as I always do before I go to sleep. I could na sleep else.
+Nay, nay, laird! The murderer came in neither by outer door nor window,
+nor yet lay hidden in the room; for mysel' had fastened the outer door
+and window, and searched the room before I slept. Nay, nay, laird! The
+murderer cam by the only way left open--left open because we thought it
+was safe--the way leading from Mistress Berners' room down to the
+little stairs, and through this door which was not bolted," persisted
+the Scotch girl.
+
+Lyon Berners' heart seemed turned to ice by these last words.
+Nevertheless he summoned fortitude to say:
+
+"We must examine and see if there has been a robbery committed. If there
+_has_ been one, then, of course, in the face of all this woman's
+evidence, it will prove that the robber has done this foul deed."
+
+"I do not see clearly that it will," objected Judge Basham. "However, we
+will make the examination."
+
+"Your honors need na tak the trouble. Mysel' saw to that too. See, the
+bureau drawers and wardrobes are all fast locked as me leddy saw me lock
+them hersel'. And the keys are safe in the pocket of my gown. Nay, nay,
+lairds, naething is stolen," said Janet.
+
+Nevertheless, Mr. Berners insisted on making the examination. So Janet
+produced the keys and opened all the bureau drawers, boxes, wardrobes,
+etc. All things were found in order. In the upper bureau drawer, caskets
+of jewels, boxes of laces, rolls of bank-notes and other valuables were
+found untouched. Nothing was missing.
+
+In a word, no clue was found to the supposed murderer and robber; but,
+on the other hand, every circumstance combined to fix the deed on Sybil.
+
+Lyon Berners felt a faintness like death coming over him, and subduing
+all his manhood. Unblenchingly, in his own person, he would have braved
+any fate. But that his wife--his pure, high-toned, magnanimous Sybil,
+should be caught up and ground to pieces by this horrible machinery of
+circumstance and destiny! Was this a nightmare? His brain was reeling.
+He felt that he might go mad. Like the drowning man, he caught at
+straws. Turning to the Scotch girl, he demanded somewhat sternly:
+
+"And where were you when your mistress was being murdered? where were
+you, that you did not hasten to her assistance? You could not have been
+far off--you must in fact have been in that little adjoining nursery."
+
+"And sae I was, laird; and her first screech waked me up and garred me
+grew sae till I couldna move, and didna move till I heard her screech
+again and again, and saw her rin acrass the floor, and tear back the
+bolt and flecht fra the room, followed close behind by Mistress Berners.
+And thin mysel' sprang up wi' the bairn in me arms and rin after them,
+thinking the de'il was behind me. Oh, me puir leddy! oh, me puir, bonny
+leddy! oh! oh! oh!" wept and wailed the girl, dropping down on the floor
+and throwing her apron over her head.
+
+But the cries of the child from the adjoining nursery caused her to
+start up, and run in there to comfort him.
+
+The searchers left that room, and pursued their investigations
+elsewhere. They went all through the house without finding any clue to
+the mystery. They attempted to search the grounds, but the night was
+pitch-dark, and the rain was falling fast. Finally, they returned to the
+room of death.
+
+All the ladies and all the servants had gone away. No one remained in it
+but Sybil and Miss Tabby, watching the dead.
+
+Sybil sat near the head of the body, and Miss Tabby near the feet.
+
+At the sight of his doomed young wife, Lyon Berners senses reeled again.
+
+"She is so inexperienced in all the ways of the world, so ignorant of
+the ways of the law! Oh, does she know--does she even dream of the awful
+position, the deadly danger in which she stands? No; she is unconscious
+of all peril. She evidently believes that the explanation she gave us
+here, and which satisfies her friends, will convince all others. Oh,
+Sybil! Sybil! an hour ago so safe in your domestic sanctity, and
+now--now momentarily exposed to--Heaven! I cannot bear it!" he groaned,
+as he struggled for self-command and went towards her.
+
+She was sitting with her hands clasped, as in prayer, and her eyes, full
+of the deepest regret and pity, fixed upon the face of the dead. There
+was sorrow, sympathy, awe--anything but fear or distrust in her
+countenance. At the approach of her husband, she turned and whispered
+gravely:
+
+"She was my rival where I could least bear rivalry; and I thought she
+had been a successful one. I do not think so now; and now I have no
+feeling towards her but one of the deepest compassion. Oh, Lyon, we must
+adopt her poor child, and rear it for our own. Oh! who has done this
+deed? Some one whose aim was robbery, no doubt. Has any trace been
+discovered of the murderer?" she inquired.
+
+"None, Sybil," he answered, with difficulty.
+
+"Oh, Lyon, such awful thoughts have visited me since I have sat here and
+forced myself to look upon this sight! For I see in it that which I
+might have done, had my madness become frenzy; but even then, not as
+this was done. Oh, no, no, no! May God forgive me and change my heart,
+for I have been standing on the edge of an abyss!"
+
+Mr. Berners could not speak. He was suffocating with the feeling that
+she now stood upon the brink of ruin yawning to receive her.
+
+"Heaven help you, Sybil!" was the silent prayer of his spirit as he
+gazed on his unconscious wife.
+
+Miss Tabby, who sat whimpering at the feet of the dead, now spoke up:
+
+"I think," she said, wiping the tear-drop from the end of her nose, "I
+_do_ think as we ought not to leave it a-lying here, cramped up onto
+this sofy, where we can't stretch it straight. We ought to have it taken
+to her room and laid out on her bed, decent and in order."
+
+"It is true; but oh, in a shock like this, how much is forgotten!" said
+Mr. Berners. Then turning to old Judge Basham, who had sank into an
+easy-chair to rest, but seemed to consider himself still on the bench,
+since he assumed so much authority, Lyon inquired, "Do you see any
+objection to the body being removed to a bedroom before the coroner's
+arrival?"
+
+"Certainly not. This is not the scene of the murder. You had best take
+it back to the bed on which she received her death," answered the old
+Judge.
+
+"Friends," said Mr. Berners, turning to the gentlemen, who had all
+solemnly and silently seated themselves as at a funeral, "will one of
+you assist me in this?"
+
+Captain Pendleton, who had just reentered the room, came promptly up.
+
+"By the way, did you send for the coroner, sir?" demanded the old Judge,
+intercepting him.
+
+"Yes, sir, I did," curtly answered the Captain.
+
+"Then I shall sit here until his arrival," observed the Judge settling
+himself for a nap in his easy-chair.
+
+"That old fellow is in his dotage!" growled Captain Pendleton to
+himself, as he tenderly lifted the head and shoulders of all that
+remained of poor Rosa Blondelle. But at the touch of her cold form, the
+sight of her still face, tears of pity sprang into the young soldier's
+eyes. Rosa had been a fine woman, and her body was now no light weight.
+It took the united strength of Captain Pendleton and Mr. Berners to bear
+it properly from the parlor to the chamber, where they laid it on the
+bed, and left it to the care of Sybil and Miss Tabby, who had followed
+them.
+
+Mr. Berners then pulled the Captain into an empty room and whispered
+hoarsely:
+
+"Did I understand you to tell the Judge that you had sent a messenger
+for the coroner?"
+
+"Yes; but mind, I sent an old man on an old mule. It will be many hours
+before he reaches Blackville; many more before the coroner gets here.
+Good Heaven! Berners, I _had_ to do that! Don't you see the awful danger
+of your innocent wife?" exclaimed Captain Pendleton, in an agitated
+voice.
+
+"_Don't_ I see it? I am not mad, or blind. But you, in the face of this
+overwhelming evidence--you believe her to be innocent?" demanded Lyon
+Berners, in a tone of agonized entreaty.
+
+"I _know_ her to be innocent! I have known her from her infancy. She
+might have flown at a rival, and torn her to pieces, in a frenzy of
+passion; but she could never have struck a secret blow," answered
+Captain Pendleton, emphatically.
+
+"Thanks! Oh, thanks for your faith in her!" exclaimed Lyon Berners,
+earnestly.
+
+"But now! _Do_ you not see what is to be done? She must be got out of
+the house before the coroner or any officer of justice arrives," said
+Captain Pendleton, earnestly.
+
+"Oh, this is so sudden and terrible! It is an avalanche--an earthquake!
+It crushes me. It deprives me of reason!" groaned Lyon Berners, sinking
+into a chair, and covering his face with his hands.
+
+"Lyon, my friend, arouse yourself! Rise above this agony of despair, if
+you would save your imperilled wife! She must fly from this house within
+an hour, and you must accompany her," urged Captain Pendleton.
+
+"I know it! I know it! But oh, Heaven! the anguish of my heart! the
+chaos of my thoughts! Pendleton, think for me; act for me; tell me what
+to do!" cried the strong man, utterly overwhelmed and powerless.
+
+Captain Pendleton hurried into the supper-room, the scene of the late
+revels, and brought from there a glass of brandy, which he forced his
+friend to swallow.
+
+"Now listen to me, Berners. Go and call your wife, take her to your
+mutual room, tell her the necessity of instant flight. She is strong,
+and will be equal to the occasion. Then, quickly as you can collect all
+your money and jewels, and conceal them about your person. Dress
+yourself, and tell her to dress in plain stout weather-proof
+riding-habits. Do this at once. Meanwhile, I will go myself to the
+stables, and saddle two of the swiftest horses, and bring them around to
+the back door, so that no servant need to be taken into our confidence
+to-night. When I meet you with the horses, I will direct you to a
+temporary retreat where you will be perfectly safe for the present;
+afterwards we can think of a permanent place of security. Now, then,
+courage, and hurry!"
+
+"My friend in need!" fervently exclaimed Lyon Berners, as they parted.
+
+"I have further suggestions to make when we meet again. I have thought
+of everything," Captain Pendleton called after him.
+
+Lyon Berners went in search of Sybil, to the chamber of death, which was
+now restored to order, and dimly lighted.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXI.
+
+                            SYBIL'S FLIGHT.
+
+                'Tis well--my soul shakes off its load of care;
+                'Tis only the obscure is terrible;
+                Imagination frames events unknown,
+                In wild, fantastic shapes of hideous ruin,
+                And what its fears creates.--HANNAH MORE.
+
+
+Upon the snow-white bed the form of Rosa Blondelle, wrapped in pure
+white raiment, was laid out. Very peaceful and beautiful she looked, her
+fair face, framed in its pale gold hair, wearing no sign of the violent
+death by which she died.
+
+At her head sat Sybil, looking very pale, and shedding silent tears.
+
+At her feet sat Miss Tabby, whimpering and muttering.
+
+Within the little nursery, beyond the chamber, the Scotch girl sat,
+crying and sobbing.
+
+Lyon Berners softly approached the bed, and whispered to Sybil.
+
+"Dearest, come out, I wish to speak to you."
+
+She silently arose and followed him. He was silent until they had
+reached their own room.
+
+"Sit down, Sybil," he then said, as calmly as he could force himself to
+speak.
+
+She sank into a seat and looked at him inquiringly, but fearlessly.
+
+He stood before her unable to proceed. It was terrible to him to witness
+her utter unconsciousness of her own position--more terrible still to be
+obliged to arouse her from it.
+
+She continued to regard him with curiosity, but without anxiety, waiting
+silently for what he should say to her.
+
+"Sybil," he said at length, as soon as he was able to speak--"Sybil, you
+are a brave and strong spirit! You can meet a sudden calamity without
+sinking under it."
+
+"What is it?" inquired his wife, in a low tone.
+
+"Sybil, dearest Sybil! there is no time to break the bad news to you;
+brace yourself to hear it abruptly."
+
+"Yes! tell me."
+
+"Sybil, listen, and comprehend. The circumstances that surround this
+mysterious murder are of a character to compromise you so seriously,
+that you may only find safety in immediate flight."
+
+"Me!--flight!" exclaimed Mrs. Berners, dilating her dark eyes in
+amazement.
+
+Mr. Berners groaned in the spirit, as he replied:
+
+"Yes, Sybil, yes! Oh! my dearest, attend and understand, and be strong!
+Sybil, hear. The quarrel you were known to have had with this poor
+woman; the threats you used on that occasion; the dagger in your hand;
+the blood oh your wrist, and above all the words of the dying woman
+charging you with her death. All these form a chain of circumstantial
+and even direct evidence that will drag you down--I cannot say it!"
+burst forth Lyon in an accession of agony.
+
+Sybil's dark eyes opened wider and wider in amazement, but still without
+the least alarm.
+
+"It is enough, oh, Sybil, to repeat to you that your only safety is in
+instant flight," he exclaimed, dropping his face upon his hands.
+
+"Flight!" echoed Sybil, staring at him. "Why should I take refuge in
+flight? I have done nothing criminal, nor will I do anything so
+ignominious as to fly from my home, Lyon," she added, proudly.
+
+"But, Sybil--Oh, Sybil! the circumstantial evidence--."
+
+"Why, I explained all that!" replied Mrs. Berners naively. "I told you
+all how it was: that when I heard her scream, I ran to see what was the
+matter and I drew the dagger from her bosom, and then the blood spirted
+up and sprinkled me! It was terrible enough to see and bear that,
+without having to hear and endure such a preposterous suspicion! And it
+is all easy enough for any honest mind to understand my explanation."
+
+"Oh, Sybil! Sybil! that indeed--I mean your presence at her death, with
+all its concurrent circumstances might be explained away! But the dying
+woman's last solemn declaration, charging you as her murderess, that was
+the most direct testimony! Oh, Heaven, Sybil! Sybil! prepare for your
+flight; for in that is your only hope of safety! Prepare at once, for
+there is not an instant to be lost!"
+
+"Stop!" said Sybil, suddenly and solemnly--"Lyon Berners, do _you_
+believe that dying declaration to have been true?"
+
+"No! as the Lord hears me, I do not, Sybil! I know you were incapable
+of doing the deed she charged upon you! No! I am sure she spoke in the
+delirium of sudden death and terror," said Lyon Berners earnestly.
+
+"Nor will any one else who knows me, believe it! So be tranquil. I am
+not guilty, nor will I run away like a guilty one. I will stay here and
+tell the truth," said Sybil composedly.
+
+"But, oh, good Heavens! telling the truth will not help you! The law
+deals with _facts_, not _truths_! and judges of facts as if they were
+truths. And oh! my dear Sybil! the lying facts of this case involve you
+in such a net of circumstantial evidence and direct testimony as renders
+you liable to arrest--nay, certain to be arrested and imprisoned upon
+the charge of murder! Oh, my dear, most innocent wife! my free, wild,
+high-spirited Sybil! even the sense of innocence could not save you from
+imprisonment, or support you during its degrading tortures! _You_ could
+not bear--_I_ could not bear for you, such loss of liberty and honor for
+one hour--even if nothing worse should follow! But, Sybil, worse may,
+worse _must_ follow! Yes, the _very worst_! Your only safety is in
+flight--instant flight! And oh! Heaven! how the time is speeding away!"
+exclaimed the husband, beside himself with distress.
+
+During the latter part of his speech the wife had started to her feet,
+and now she stood staring at him, amazed, incredulous, yet firm and
+brave.
+
+"Rouse yourself to the occasion, Sybil! Oh! for my sake, for Heaven's
+sake, collect your faculties and prepare for flight," he passionately
+urged.
+
+"I am innocent, and yet I must fly like the guilty! Lyon, for your sake,
+and only for yours, I will do it," she answered gravely, and sadly.
+
+"We must not call assistance, nor stop to compliment each other. Pack
+quickly up what you will most need for yourself, in a travelling bag,
+and I will do the same for myself," explained Lyon Berners, suiting the
+action to the word by shoving into his valise some valuable papers,
+money, razors, a few articles of clothing, etc.
+
+Sybil showed more promptitude and presence of mind than might have been
+expected of her. She quickly collected her costly jewels and ready
+money, a change of under clothing, combs, and brushes, and packed them
+in a small travelling bag.
+
+"We go on horseback," quickly explained Lyon Berners, as he locked his
+valise.
+
+Swiftly and silently Sybil threw off her masquerading dress, that she
+had unconsciously worn until now, and dropped it on the floor, where it
+lay glowing like a smouldering bonfire. She then put on a water-proof
+riding habit, and announced herself ready.
+
+"Come, then," said Lyon Berners, taking up both bags, and beckoning her
+to follow him silently.
+
+They slipped down the dark stairs and through the deserted halls, and
+reached the back door, where, under the shelter of a large hemlock-tree,
+Captain Pendleton held the horses. It was dark as pitch, and drizzling
+rain. They could see nothing, they could only know the whereabouts of
+their "friend in need," and their horses, by hearing Captain Pendleton's
+voice speaking through the mist in cautious tones, and whispering:
+
+"Lock the door after you, Berners, so as to secure us from intrusion
+from within. And then stop there under the porch until I come and talk
+to you."
+
+Mr. Berners did as he was requested to do, and then stood waiting for
+his friend, who soon came up.
+
+"You have got all you will need on your journey, have you not?" inquired
+the Captain.
+
+Mr. Berners replied by telling his friend exactly what he had brought.
+
+"All that is very well, but people require to eat and drink once in a
+while. So I have put some sandwiches, and a bottle of wine from the
+supper-table, into your saddle-bags. And now, in the hurry, have you
+decided upon your route?"
+
+"Yes; we shall endeavor to reach the nearest seaport, Norfolk probably,
+and embark for some foreign country, no matter what, for in no place but
+in a foreign country can my unhappy wife hope for safety," mournfully
+replied Lyon Berners.
+
+"Endeavor to reach Norfolk! That will never succeed. You will be sure to
+be overtaken and brought back before you go a score of miles on that
+road," declared Captain Pendleton, shaking his head.
+
+"Then, in the name of Heaven, what _will_ do?" demanded Mr. Berners, in
+a tone of desperation.
+
+"You must find a place of concealment, and then take time to disguise
+yourself and your wife, so that neither of you can be recognized, before
+you venture upon the road to Norfolk. You see, Lyon, you are the better
+lawyer, but I am the better strategist! I graduated among the warpaths
+and the ambushes of the Redskins on the frontier."
+
+"But where shall I find such a place of concealment?"
+
+"I have thought of that."
+
+"You think of everything."
+
+"Ah! it is easy to show presence of mind in other people's confusion!
+Almost as easy at it is to bear other people's troubles!" said the
+Captain, attempting a jest, only to raise his friend's drooping spirits.
+"But now to the point, for we must be quick. You know the 'Haunted
+Chapel?'"
+
+"The old ruined church in the cleft on the other side of the Black
+Mountain?"
+
+"Yes; that is the place. Its deep solitude and total abandonment, with
+its ghostly reputation, will be sure to secure your safety. Go there;
+conceal yourselves and your horses as well as you can. In the course of
+to-morrow, or to-morrow night, I will come to you with such news and
+such help as I may be able to bring."
+
+"Thank you. Oh, thank you. But what are words? You are a man of deeds.
+Your presence of mind has saved us both!" said Lyon Berners earnestly.
+
+"And now to horse," said Captain Pendleton, taking Mrs. Berners under
+his guidance, while Mr. Berners brought on the valise and travelling
+bag.
+
+Captain Pendleton placed Sybil in her saddle, whispering encouragingly,
+
+"Be strong and hopeful. This necessary flight is a temporary evil,
+intended to save you from a permanent, and even perhaps a fatal wrong.
+Be patient, and time shall vindicate you and bring you back."
+
+"But oh! to leave my home, and the home of my fathers! to leave it like
+a criminal, when I am innocent! to leave it in haste, and not to know if
+I may ever return," cried Sybil, in a voice of anguish.
+
+"It is a fearful trial. I will not mock you by denying that it is. Yes,
+it is a terrible ordeal! but one, Mrs. Berners, that you have heroism
+enough to bear," replied Captain Pendleton, as he bowed over her
+extended hand and gave her the reins.
+
+Lyon Berners was also mounted. They were ready to start. With a mutual
+"God bless you," the friends parted.
+
+Lyon and Sybil took the dark road.
+
+Captain Pendleton unlocked the door that had been locked by Mr. Berners,
+but as he pushed to open it he felt an obstruction, and instantly
+afterwards heard some one run away.
+
+"A listener," he thought, in dismay as he pursued the fugitive. But he
+only caught a glimpse of a figure disappearing through the front door
+and into the darkness without, in which it was lost.
+
+"An eavesdropper!" he exclaimed, in despair. "An eavesdropper! Who now
+can be assured of her safety? Oh, Sybil! you rejected my hand, and very
+nearly ruined my life. But this night I would die to save you," he
+sighed, as he went and joined the gentlemen who were sitting up
+watching, or rather dozing, in the parlor, while waiting for the
+physician's or the coroner's arrival.
+
+"Where is Mrs. Berners?" inquired the old Judge, rousing himself up.
+
+"She retired to her chamber about an hour ago," answered Captain
+Pendleton, telling the truth, but not the whole truth, as you will
+perceive.
+
+"Hum, ha, yes; well, and where is her husband?"
+
+"He followed her there," answered the Captain, shortly.
+
+"Ha, hum, yes, well. The coroner is long in coming," grumbled the Judge.
+
+"It is some distance to Blackville, sir, and the roads are rough and the
+night is dark," observed the Captain.
+
+"Well, yes, true," agreed the old man, subsiding into his chair and into
+his doze.
+
+Captain Pendleton threw himself into a seat, but had not sat long before
+the parlor door opened, and his sister appeared at it and called to him
+in a low voice.
+
+He arose, and went to her.
+
+"Come out into the hall here; I want to speak to you, Clement," said
+Miss Pendleton.
+
+He went out.
+
+Then his sister inquired, in a voice full of anxious entreaty:
+
+"Clement, _where_ is Sybil?"
+
+"She went to her room a little more than an hour ago," answered the
+brother, giving his sister the same answer that he had given the Judge.
+
+"Clement, I must go to her, and throw my arms around her neck and kiss
+her. I must not tell her in so many words that I know she is innocent,
+for to do that would be to affront her almost as much as if I should
+accuse her of being guilty; for she will rightly enough think that her
+innocence should not be called into question, but should be taken for
+granted. So I must not say a word on that subject, but I _must_ find her
+and embrace her, and make her feel that I know she is innocent. Who is
+with her?"
+
+"Her husband is with her, Beatrix, and so you can not of course go to
+her now."
+
+"Oh, but I am so anxious to do so. Look here, Clement. I stood there
+among the crowd this evening, gazing upon that bleeding and dying woman,
+until the sight of her ghastly form and face seemed to affect me as the
+Medusa's head was said to have affected the beholder, and turn me into
+stone. Clement, I was so petrified that I could not move or speak, even
+when she appealed to us all to know whether any among us could believe
+her to be capable of such an act. I could not speak; I could not move.
+She must have thought that I too condemned her, and I cannot bear to
+rest under that suspicion of hers. I must go to her now, Clement."
+
+"Indeed you must not, Trix. Wait till she makes her appearance: that
+will be time enough," answered her brother.
+
+"Oh, this is a horrible night; I wish it were over. I cannot go to bed;
+nobody can. The ladies are all sitting huddled together in the
+dressing-room, although the fire has gone out; and the servants are all
+gathered in the kitchen, too panic-stricken to do anything. Oh, an awful
+night! I wish it were morning."
+
+"It will soon be daylight now, dear Beatrix. You had better go and
+rejoin your companions."
+
+And so the brother and sister separated for the night; Beatrix going to
+sit and shudder with the other ladies in the dressing-room, and Clement
+returning to the parlor to lounge and doze among the gentlemen.
+
+Only his anxiety for Sybil's safety so much disturbed his repose, that
+if he did but drop into an instant's slumber he started from it in a
+vague fright. So the small hours of the morning wore on and brought the
+dull, drizzly, wintry daylight.
+
+Meanwhile Lyon and Sybil Berners rode on through mist and rain.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXII.
+
+                          THE HAUNTED CHAPEL.
+
+
+                "The chapel was a ruin old,
+                That stood so low, in lonely glen.
+                The gothic windows high and dark
+                Were hung with ivy, brier, and yew."
+
+
+The Haunted Chapel to which Mr. and Mrs. Berners were going was in a
+dark and lonely gorge on the other side of the mountain across Black
+River, but near its rise in the Black Torrent. To reach the chapel, they
+would have to ride three miles up the shore and ford the river, and then
+pass over the opposite mountain. The road was as difficult and dangerous
+as it was lonely and unfrequented.
+
+Lyon and Sybil rode on together in silence, bending their heads before
+the driving mist, and keeping close to the banks of the river until they
+should reach the fording place.
+
+At length Sybil's anguish broke forth in words.
+
+"Oh! Lyon, is this nightmare? Or is it true that I am so suddenly cast
+down from my secure place, as to become in one hour a fugitive from my
+home, a fugitive from justice! Oh! Lyon, speak to me. Break the spell
+that binds my senses. Wake me up. Wake me up," she wildly exclaimed.
+
+"Dear Sybil, be patient, calm, and firm. This is a terrible calamity.
+But to meet calamity bravely, is the test of a true high soul. You are
+compelled to seek safety in flight, to conceal yourself for the present,
+to avoid a train of unmerited humiliations that even the consciousness
+of innocence would not enable you to bear. But you have only to be
+patient, and a few days or weeks must bring the truth to light, and
+restore you to your home."
+
+"But flight itself looks like guilt; will be taken as additional
+evidence of guilt," groaned Sybil.
+
+"Not so. Not when it is understood that the overwhelming weight of
+deceptive circumstantial evidence and deceptive direct testimony had so
+compromised you as to render flight your only means of salvation. Be
+brave, my own Sybil. And now, here we are at the ford. Take care of
+yourself. Let me lead your horse."
+
+"No, no; that would embarrass you, without helping me. Go on before, and
+I will follow."
+
+Lyon Berners plunged into the stream. Sybil drew up her long skirts and
+dashed in after him. And they were both soon splashing through the Black
+River, blacker now than ever with the double darkness of night and mist.
+A few minutes of brave effort on the part of horses and riders brought
+them all in safety to the opposite bank, up which they successfully
+struggled, and found themselves upon firm ground.
+
+"The worst part of the journey is over, dear Sybil. Now I will ride in
+advance and find the pass, and do you keep close behind me," said Lyon
+Berners, riding slowly along the foot of the mountain until he came to a
+dark opening, which he entered, calling Sybil to follow him.
+
+It was one of those fearful passes so frequently to be found in the
+Allegheny Mountains, and which I have described so often that I may be
+excused from describing this. They went in, cautiously picking their way
+through this deeper darkness, and trusting much to the instinct of their
+mountain-trained steeds to take them safely through. An hour's slow,
+careful, breathless riding brought them out upon the other side of the
+mountain.
+
+As they emerged from the dark labyrinth, Lyon Berners pulled up his
+horse to breathe, and to look about him. Sybil followed his example.
+
+Day was now dawning over the broken and precipitous country.
+
+"Where is that chapel of which you speak? I have heard of it all my
+life, but I have never seen it; and beyond the fact that it is on this
+side of the mountain, and not far from the Black Torrent, I know nothing
+about it," said Sybil.
+
+"It is near the Black Torrent; almost under the bed of the cascade, in
+fact. And we shall have to turn our horses' heads up stream again to
+reach it," answered Lyon Berners.
+
+"You know exactly where it is; you have been there, perhaps?" inquired
+Sybil.
+
+"I have seen it but once in my life. But I can easily find it. It is not
+a frequented place of resort, dear Sybil. But that makes it all the
+safer as a place of concealment for you," said Lyon Berners, as he
+started his horse and rode on.
+
+Sybil followed him closely.
+
+Day was broadening over the mountains, and bringing out a thousand
+prismatic colors from the autumn foliage of the trees, gemmed now with
+the rain drops that had fallen during the night.
+
+"It will be quite clear when the sun rises," said Lyon, encouragingly to
+Sybil, as they went on.
+
+He was right. Sunrise in the mountains is sometimes almost as sudden in
+its effects as sunrise at sea. The eastern horizon had been ruddy for
+sometime, but when the sun suddenly came up from behind the mountain,
+the mist lifted itself, rolled into soft white wreaths and crowned the
+summits, while all the land below broke out into an effulgence of light,
+color, and glory.
+
+But people who are flying for life do not pause to enjoy scenery, even
+of the finest. Lyon and Sybil rode on towards the upper banks of the
+Black River, hearing at every step the thunder of the Black Torrent, as
+it leaped from rock to rock in its passionate descent to the valley.
+
+At length they came to a narrow opening in the side of the mountain.
+
+"Here is a path I know," said Mr. Berners, "though its entrance is so
+concealed by undergrowth as to be almost impossible to discover."
+
+Lyon Berners dismounted, and began to grope for the entrance in a
+thicket of wild-rose bushes, that were now closely covered with scarlet
+seed-pods that glowed, and raindrops that sparkled, in the rays of the
+morning sun.
+
+At length he found the path, and then he returned to his wife, and said:
+
+"We cannot take our horses through the thicket, dear Sybil. You will
+have to dismount and remain concealed in here until I lead them back
+across the river, where I will turn them loose. There will be a great
+advantage gained by that move. Our horses being found on the other side,
+will mislead our pursuers on a false scent."
+
+While Lyon Berners spoke, he assisted his wife to alight from her
+saddle, and guided her to the entrance of the thicket.
+
+"This path has not been trodden for a score of years, I can well
+believe. Just go far enough to be out of sight of any chance spy, and
+there remain until I return. I shall not be absent over half an hour,"
+said Mr. Berners, as he took leave of Sybil.
+
+She sank wearily down upon a fragment of a rock, and prepared to await
+his return.
+
+He mounted his own horse, and led hers, and so went his way down the
+stream to the fording place.
+
+He successfully accomplished the difficult task of taking both horses
+over the river to the opposite bank, where he turned them loose.
+
+Next with a strong pocket jack-knife he cut a leaping pole from a
+sapling near, and went still farther up the stream to the rapids, where,
+by a skilful use of his pole and dexterous leaping from rock to rock, he
+was enabled to recross the river almost dry-shod.
+
+He rejoined Sybil, whom he found just where he had left her.
+
+She was sitting on a piece of rock, with her head bowed upon her hands.
+
+"Have I been gone long? Were you anxious or lonely, dearest?" he
+inquired, as he gave her his hand to assist her in rising.
+
+"Oh, no! I take no note of time! But oh! Lyon, _when shall I wake?_" she
+exclaimed in wild despair.
+
+"What is it you say, dear Sybil?" he gently asked.
+
+"When shall I wake--wake from this ghastly nightmare, in which I seem to
+myself to be a fugitive from justice! an exile from my home! a
+houseless, hunted stranger in the land! It _is_ a nightmare! It can
+_not_ be real, you know! Oh, that I could wake!"
+
+"Dear Sybil, collect your faculties. Do not let despair drive you to
+distraction. Be mistress of yourself in this trying situation," said
+Lyon Berners, gravely.
+
+"But oh, Heaven! the crushing weight and stunning suddenness of this
+blow! It is like death! like perdition!" exclaimed Sybil, pressing her
+hands to her head.
+
+Lyon Berners could only gaze on her with infinite compassion, expressed
+in every lineament of his eloquent countenance.
+
+She observed this, and quickly, with a great effort, from a strong
+resolution, throwing her hands apart like one who disperses a cloud, and
+casts off a weight, she said:
+
+"It is over! I will not be nervous or hysterical again. I have brought
+trouble on you as well as on myself, dear Lyon; but I will show you that
+I can bear it. I will look this calamity firmly in the face, and come
+what may, I will not drag you down by sinking under it."
+
+And so saying, she gave him her hand, and arose and followed him as he
+pushed on before, breaking down or bearing aside the branches that
+overhung and obstructed the path.
+
+Half an hour of this difficult and tedious travelling brought them down
+into a deep dark dell, in the midst of which stood the "Haunted Chapel."
+
+It was an old colonial church, a monument of the earliest settlement in
+the valley. It was now a wild and beautiful ruin, with its surroundings
+all glowing with color and sparkling with light. In itself it was a
+small Gothic edifice, built of the dark iron-grey rock dug from the
+mountain quarries. Its walls, window-frames, and roof were all still
+standing, and were almost entirely covered by creepers, among which the
+wild rose vine, now full of scarlet berries, was conspicuous.
+
+A broken stonewall overgrown with brambles enclosed the old church-yard,
+where a few fallen and mouldering gravestones, half sunk among the dead
+leaves, still remained.
+
+All around the church, on the bottom of the dell, and up the sides of
+the steeps, were thickly clustered forest-trees, now glowing refulgent
+in their gorgeous autumn livery of crimson and gold, scarlet and purple.
+
+A little rill, an offspring of the Black Torrent, tumbled down the side
+of the mountain behind the church, and ran frolicking irreverently
+through the old graveyard. The great cascade was out of sight, though
+very near for its thunder filled the air.
+
+"See," said Sybil, pointing to the little singing rill; "Nature is
+unsympathetic. She can laugh and frolic over the dead, and, besides, the
+suffering."
+
+"It would seem, then, that Nature is wiser as well as gladder than we
+are; since she, who is transitory, rejoices while we, who are immortal,
+pine," answered Lyon Berners, pleased that any thought should win her
+from the contemplation of her misfortune.
+
+He then led the way into the old ruined church through the door frames,
+from which the doors had long been lost. The stone floor, and the stone
+altar still remained; all else within the building was gone.
+
+Lyon Berners looked all around, up and down the interior, from the
+arched ceiling to the side-walls with their window spaces and the
+flagstone floor with its mouldy seams. The wild creeping vines nearly
+filled the window spaces, and shaded the interior more beautifully than
+carved shutters, velvet curtains, or even stained glass could have done.
+The flagstone floor was strewn with fallen leaves that had drifted in.
+Up and down, in every nook and corner of the roof and windows, last
+year's empty birds nests perched. And here and there along the walls,
+the humble "mason's" little clay house stuck.
+
+But there seemed no resting place for the weary travellers, until Sybil,
+with a serious smile, went up to the altar and sank upon the lowest
+step, and beckoned Lyon to join her, saying:
+
+"At the foot of the altar, dear Lyon, there was sanctuary in the olden
+times. We seem to realize the idea now."
+
+"You are cold. Your clothes are all damp. Stop! I must try to raise a
+fire. But you, in the meantime, must walk briskly up and down, to keep
+from being chilled to death," answered Lyon Berners very practically, as
+he proceeded to gather dry leaves and twigs that had drifted into the
+interior of the old church.
+
+He piled them up in the centre of the floor, just under the break in
+the roof, and then he went out and gathered sticks and brushwood, and
+built up a little mound. Lastly he took a box of matches from his pocket
+and struck a light, and kindled the fire.
+
+The dried leaves and twigs crackled and blazed, and the smoke ascended
+in a straight column to the hole in the roof through which it escaped.
+
+"Come, dear Sybil, and walk around the fire until your clothes are dry,
+and then sit down by it. This fire, with its smoke ascending and
+escaping through that aperture, is just such a fire as our forefathers
+in the old, old times enjoyed, as the best thing of the kind they knew
+anything about. Kings had no better," said Lyon Berners, cheerfully.
+
+Sybil approached the fire, but instead of walking around it, she sat
+down on the flagstones before it. She looked very weary, thoroughly
+prostrated in body, soul, and spirit.
+
+"What are we waiting for, in this horrible pause?" she inquired at
+length.
+
+"We are waiting for Pendleton. He is to bring us news, as soon as he can
+slip away and steal to us without fear of detection," answered Lyon
+Berners.
+
+"Oh, Heaven! what words have crept into our conversation about ourselves
+and friends too! 'Steal,' 'fear,' 'detection!' Oh, Lyon!--But there, I
+will say no more. I will _not_ revert to the horror and degradation of
+this position again, if I can help it," groaned Sybil.
+
+"My wife, you are very faint. Try to take some nourishment," urged Lyon,
+as he began to open the small parcel of refreshments thoughtfully
+provided by Captain Pendleton.
+
+"No, no, I cannot swallow a morsel. My throat is parched and
+constricted," she answered.
+
+"If I only had a little coffee for you," said Lyon.
+
+"If we only had liberty to go home again," sighed Sybil, "then we
+should have all things. But there; indeed I will not backslide into weak
+complaints again," she added, compunctuously.
+
+"Modify your grief, dear Sybil, but do not attempt entirely to suppress
+it. Nature is not to be so restrained," said Lyon Berners, kindly.
+
+There was silence between them for a little while, during which Sybil
+still sat down upon the flagstones, with her elbows resting on her
+knees, and her head bowed upon the palms of her hands; and Lyon stood up
+near her with an attitude and expression of grave and sad reflection and
+self-control.
+
+At length Sybil spoke:
+
+"Oh, Lyon! who could have murdered that poor woman, and brought us into
+such a horrible position?"
+
+"My theory of the tragedy is this, dear Sybil: that some robber, during
+the confusion of the fancy ball, found an opportunity of entering and
+concealing himself in Mrs. Blondelle's room; that his first purpose
+might have been simple robbery, but that, being discovered by Mrs.
+Blondelle, and being alarmed lest her shrieks should bring the house
+upon him and occasion his capture, he impulsively sought to stop her
+cries by death; and then that, hearing your swift approach down the
+stairs leading into her room, he made his escape through the window."
+
+"But then the windows were all found, as they had been left, fastened,"
+objected Sybil.
+
+"But, dearest, you must remember that these windows, having spring
+bolts, may be fastened by being pushed to from the outside. It is quite
+possible for a robber, escaping through them, to close them in this
+manner to conceal his flight."
+
+"That must have been the case in this instance. Everybody must see now
+that that was the manner in which the miscreant escaped. Oh, Lyon! I
+think we were wrong to have left home."
+
+"No, dear Sybil, we were not. Our only hope is in the discovery of the
+real murderer, and that may be a work of time; meanwhile we wish to be
+free, even at the price of being called fugitives from justice."
+
+"Lyon, that poor child! If we ever go home again, we must adopt and
+educate him."
+
+"We will do so, Sybil."
+
+"For, oh! Lyon, although I am entirely innocent of that most heinous
+crime, and entirely incapable of it, yet, when I remember how my rage
+burned against that poor woman only an hour before her death, I feel--I
+feel as if I were half guilty of it! as if--Heaven pardon me!--I might,
+in some moment of madness, have been wholly guilty of it! Lyon, I
+shudder at myself!" cried Sybil, growing very pale.
+
+"You should thank Heaven that you have been saved from such mortal sin,
+dear wife, and also pray Heaven always to save you from your own fierce
+passions," said Mr. Berners, very gravely.
+
+"I have breathed that thanksgiving and that prayer with every breath I
+have drawn. And I will continue to do so. But, oh! Lyon, all my
+passions, all my sufferings grew out of my great love for you."
+
+"I can well believe it, dear wife. And I myself have not been free from
+blame; though in reality your jealousy was very causeless, Sybil."
+
+"I know that now," said Sybil, sadly.
+
+"And now, dearest, I would like to make 'a clean breast of it,' as the
+sinners say, and tell you all--the whole 'head and front of my
+offending' with that poor dead woman," said Mr. Berners, seating himself
+on the floor beside his wife.
+
+Sybil did not repel his offered confidence, for though her jealousy had
+died a violent death, she was still very much interested in hearing his
+confession.
+
+Then Lyon Berners told her everything, up to the very last moment when
+she had surprised them in the first and last kiss that had ever passed
+between them.
+
+"But in all, and through all, my heart, dear wife, was loyal in its love
+to you," he concluded.
+
+"I know that, dearest Lyon--I know that well," replied Sybil.
+
+And with that tenderness towards the faults of the dead, which all
+magnanimous natures share, she forbore to say, or even to think, how
+utterly unprincipled had been the course of Rosa Blondelle from the
+first to the last of their acquaintance with that vain and frivolous
+coquette.
+
+Sybil was now almost sinking with weariness. Lyon perceived her
+condition, and said:
+
+"Remain here, dear Sybil, while I go and try to collect some boughs and
+leaves to make you a couch. The sun must have dried up the moisture by
+this time."
+
+And he went out and soon returned with his arms full of boughs, which he
+spread upon the flagstones. Then he took off his own overcoat and
+covered them with it.
+
+"Now, dear Sybil," he said, "if you will divest yourself of your long
+riding skirt, you may turn that into a blanket to cover with, and so
+sleep quite comfortably."
+
+With a grave smile Sybil followed his advice, and then she laid herself
+down on the rude couch he had spread for her. No sooner had her head
+touched it, than she sank into that deep sleep of prostration which is
+more like a swoon than a slumber.
+
+Lyon Berners covered her carefully with the long riding skirt, and stood
+watching her for some minutes. But she neither spoke nor stirred;
+indeed, she scarcely breathed.
+
+Then, after still more carefully tucking the covering around her, he
+left her, and walked out to explore the surroundings of the chapel.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+                        THE SOLITUDE IS INVADED.
+
+
+            Oh, might we here
+            In solitude live savage, in some glade
+            Obscured, where highest woods impenetrable
+            To star, or sunlight, spread their umbrage broad
+            And brown as evening; cover us, ye pines
+            Ye cedars with innumerable boughs
+            Hide us where we may ne'er be seen again.--BYRON.
+
+
+Nothing could be more lonely and desolate than this place. It was
+abandoned to Nature and Nature's wild children. Of the birds that
+perched so near his hand; of the squirrels that peeped at him from their
+holes under the gravestones, he might have said with Alexander Selkirk
+on Juan Fernandez,
+
+"Their tameness is shocking to me."
+
+There was a great consolation to be derived from these circumstances,
+however; for they proved how completely deserted by human beings, and
+how perfectly safe for the refugees, was this old "Haunted Chapel."
+
+Too deeply troubled in mind to take any repose of body; Lyon Berners
+continued to ramble about among the gravestones, which were now so worn
+with age that no vestige of their original inscriptions remained to
+gratify the curiosity of a chance inspector.
+
+Above him was the glorious autumn sky, now hazy with the golden mist of
+Indian summer. Around him lay a vast wilderness of hill and dell covered
+with luxuriant forests, now gorgeous with the glowing autumn colors of
+their foliage.
+
+But his thoughts were not with this magnificent landscape. They
+wandered to the past days of peace and joy before the coming of the
+coquette had "made confusion" with the wedded pair. They wandered to the
+future, trying to penetrate the gloom and horror of its shadows. They
+flew to Black Hall, picturing the people, prevising the possibilities
+there.
+
+How he longed for, yet dreaded the arrival of Captain Pendleton! Would
+there be danger in his coming through the open daylight? What news would
+he bring?
+
+The verdict of the coroners jury? Against whom must this verdict be
+given? Lyon Berners shuddered away from answering this question. But it
+was also possible that before this the murderer might have been
+discovered and arrested. Should this surmise prove to be a fact, oh,
+what relief from anguish, what a happy return home for Sybil! If not--if
+the verdict should be rendered against _her_,--nothing but flight and
+exile remained to them.
+
+While Lyon Berners wandered up and down like a restless ghost among the
+gravestones, his attention was suddenly arrested by the sound of a
+crackling tread breaking through the bushes. He turned quickly,
+expecting to see Captain Pendleton, but he saw his own servant instead.
+
+"Joe!" he exclaimed, in a tone of surprise.
+
+"Marser!" responded the man, in a voice of grief.
+
+"You come from Captain Pendleton? What message does he send? How is it
+at the house? Has the coroner come? And oh! has any clue been found to
+the murderer?" anxiously inquired Mr. Berners.
+
+"No, marser, no clue an't been found to no murderer. But the house up
+there is full of crowners and constables, as if it was the county court
+house, and Cappin Pendulum managing everything."
+
+"He sent you to me?"
+
+"No, marser, nor likewise knowed I come."
+
+"Joe! _who_ has sent you here?" inquired Mr. Berners.
+
+"No one hasn't, marser," answered Joe, dashing the tears from his eyes,
+and then proceeding to unstrap a large hamper that he carried upon his
+shoulders.
+
+"No one! Then how came you here?" demanded Mr. Berners, uneasily.
+
+Now, instead of answering his master's question, Joe sat down upon his
+hamper, and wept aloud.
+
+"What is the matter with you?" inquired Mr. Berners.
+
+"You axed me how I comed here," sobbed Joe, "just as if I could keep
+away when she and you was here in trouble, and a-wanting some one to
+look arter you."
+
+"But how did you know we were here?" anxiously questioned Mr. Berners.
+
+"I wa'n't a listening at key-holes, nor likewise a-eaves-dropping, which
+I considers beneath a gentleman to do; but I was a-looking to the back
+shutters, to see as they was all safe arter the fright we got, and I
+hearn somebody a-talking, which I was sure was more bugglers; so I made
+free to wait and hear what they said."
+
+"It was Captain Pendleton and myself, I suppose," said Mr. Berners, much
+annoyed.
+
+"Jes so, sir; it wer Capping Pendulum and yourself, which it hurt me to
+the heart as you should have trusted into Capping Pendulum and not into
+me--a old and valleyed servant of the family."
+
+"And so, Joe, you overheard the whole matter?"
+
+"Which I did, sir, and shocked I was to think as any false charges
+should cause my dear young missus to run away from home in the
+night-time, like a fusible slave. And hurt I was to think you didn't
+trust into me instead of into he."
+
+"Well, Joe, it appears to me that you were resolved to take our trust,
+if we did not give it to you. What brought you here this morning?"
+
+"Coffee, sir," gravely answered Joe, getting up off the hamper and
+beginning to untie its fastenings.
+
+"_What?_" demanded Mr. Berners, gathering his brows into a frown.
+
+"COFFEE!" reiterated Joe, as he took from the hamper a small silver
+coffee-pot, a pair of cups and saucers, spoons, plates, and knives and
+forks, a bottle of cream, and several small packets containing all that
+was needful for breakfast.
+
+"Joe! this was very kind and thoughtful of you; but was it quite safe
+for you to come here with a hamper on your back in open day?" inquired
+Mr. Berners.
+
+"Lord bless you, sir! safe as safe! I took by-paths, and didn't see a
+creetur, not one! Why, lord, sir, you had better a-trusted into me from
+the beginning, than into Capping Pendulum. Bress your soul, marser,
+there an't that white man going, nor yet that red injun, that can aiqual
+a colored gentleman into hiding and seeking!"
+
+"I can well believe that."
+
+"Why, marser!--but you don't 'member that time I got mad long o' old
+Marse Bertram Berners, 'bout blaming of me for the sorrell horse falling
+lame; and I run away?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Well, I was gone three months, and not five miles from home all that
+time! And all the constables looking arter me for law and order; and all
+the poor white trash, hunting of me for the reward; and not one of 'em
+all ever struck upon my trail, and me so nigh home all the while!"
+
+"Well, but you were found at last," suggested Mr. Berners.
+
+"Who, _me_? No, _sir_! And I don't think as I should a-been found yet;
+'cause it was a funny kind of life, that run-a-way life, a dodging of
+the man-hunters; but you see, marser, I sort o' pined arter the
+child--meaning Miss Sybil, who was then about four years old. And,
+moreover, it was fotch to me by a secret friend o' mine, as the child
+was likewise a pining arter me. So I up and went straight home, and
+walked right up before old marse, and took off my hat and told him as
+how _I_ was willin' to forgive and forget, and let by-gones be by-gones
+like a Christian gentleman, if he would do the same."
+
+"And of course your master at once accepted such magnanimous terms."
+
+"Who, _he_? Why, Marse Lyon! he looked jes as if he'd a-knocked me down!
+Only, you see, the child--meaning Miss Sybil--was a sitting on his knee,
+which, soon as ever she saw me, she ran to me, and clasped me round one
+leg, and tried to climb up in my arms; which I took her up at once; and
+old marster, he couldn't knock me down then, if it had been to have
+saved his life."
+
+"So peace was ratified."
+
+"Yes, Marse Lyon! which I telled you all this here nonsense jes to let
+you know how good I was at hiding and seeking. And, Marse! the horses
+come home all right."
+
+"They did! I am glad of that."
+
+"This was the way of it being all right, sir! You see I knowed, when I
+heard you were going to ride to this old church, as you couldn't get the
+horses through this thicket, but would have to turn them loose, to find
+their way home. And I knowed how if any other eyes 'cept mine saw them,
+it would set people to axing questions. So I goes out to the road, and
+watches till I sees 'em coming; when I takes charge of 'em, and gets 'em
+into the stable quiet, and no one the wiser."
+
+"Well done, Joe! But tell me, my good man, are we missed yet? Has any
+one inquired for us?"
+
+"Plenty has axed arter you both, Marse! But as no one but me and Capping
+Pendulum knowed where you was gone, and as I locked your door, and took
+the key, most of the folks still think as how Miss Sybil has gone to
+bed, overcome by the ewents of the night, and as how you is a watching
+by her, and a taking care of her."
+
+"That also is well."
+
+"But, Marse, how is Miss Sybil, and where is she?" inquired the faithful
+servant, looking about himself.
+
+"She is very much prostrated by fatigue and excitement, and is now
+sleeping in the church."
+
+"Thanks be to the Divine Marster as she _can_ sleep," said Joe,
+reverently.
+
+"And now," he continued, as he replaced it on his head, "I will kindle a
+fire and make the coffee, and may be she may wake up by the time it is
+ready."
+
+"Kindle a fire out here, Joe! Will not the smoke be seen, and lead to
+our discovery?" inquired Lyon Berners, glancing at the slender column of
+smoke from the fire in the church, that he himself had kindled, and now
+for the first time struck with the sense of the danger of discovery to
+which it might have exposed Sybil.
+
+"Lord, Marse!" replied Joe, showing his teeth, "we are too far off from
+any human being for any eye to see our smoke. And even if it wasn't so,
+bless you, there are so many mists rising from the valley this morning,
+that one smoke more or less wouldn't be noticed."
+
+"That is true," admitted Mr. Berners.
+
+Meanwhile Joe busied himself with lighting a fire. When it was burning
+freely, he took the kettle and filled it from the little stream that
+flowed through the church-yard.
+
+"Now, Marse Lyon, in about ten minutes I will set you down to as good a
+breakfast, almost, as you could have got at home," said Joe, as he
+raised three cross-sticks over the fire, and hung the kettle over the
+blaze, gipsy fashion.
+
+While Joe was at work, Mr. Berners went into the church to look after
+Sybil.
+
+She was still sleeping the heavy sleep of utter mental and bodily
+prostration. For a few minutes he stood contemplating her with an
+expression of countenance full of love and pity, and then after
+adjusting the covering over her, and collecting together the brands of
+the expiring fire to light up again, he left the church.
+
+On going outside, he found that Joe had spread a cloth and arranged a
+rude sort of picnic breakfast upon the ground.
+
+"The coffee is ready, Marse Lyon; but how about the Missis?" inquired
+the man, as he stirred down the grounds from the top of the pot.
+
+"She is still sleeping, and must not be disturbed," answered Mr.
+Berners.
+
+"Well, Marse Lyon, I reckon as how you can relish a cup of coffee as
+well as she; so please to let me wait on you, sir."
+
+Mr. Berners thanked Joe, and threw himself down upon the ground, and
+made such a breakfast as a hungry man _can_ make, even under the most
+deplorable circumstances.
+
+"Now you know, sir, when the Missus wakes up, be it longer or shorter, I
+can make fresh coffee for her in ten minutes," said Joe, cheerfully.
+
+"But you cannot stay here very long. You'll be missed from the house,"
+objected Mr. Berners.
+
+"Please, sir, I have so well provided for all that, that I can stay till
+night. Bless you, sir, I told my fellow-servants as I was going to take
+some corn to the mill to be ground, and was agoin' to wait all day to
+fetch it home; and so I really did take the corn, and told the miller I
+should come arter it this evening, and so I shall, and take it home all
+right, accordin' to my word."
+
+"That was a very politic proceeding, Joe; but how could you account to
+them for the hamper you brought away, and which must have excited
+suspicion, if not inquiry?"
+
+"Bless you, sir, I wasn't fool enough to let them see the hamper. All
+they saw was the two bags of corn as I rode out of the gate with. I had
+filled the hamper on the sly, and hid it in the bushes by the road,
+until I went by and picked it up."
+
+"Still better, Joe! But your horse? what horse did you ride, and what
+have you done with him?"
+
+"I rode Dick, which I have tied him fast in the deep woods on the other
+side of the river. I crossed over the rapids with the help of a pole,"
+explained Joe.
+
+While they were speaking, a step was heard crushing through the dried
+brushwood, and in another moment Captain Pendleton, pale, sad, and
+weary, stood before them.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+                      THE VERDICT AND THE VISITOR.
+
+
+                Can such things be,
+                And overcome us like a summer cloud
+                Without our special wonder?--Shakespeare.
+
+
+"Pendleton! oh! Heaven, Pendleton! What news?" exclaimed Lyon Berners,
+starting up to greet him.
+
+"Good heaven! Berners! How is this? Another--a servant taken into your
+confidence, and trusted with the secret of your retreat!" cried Captain
+Pendleton in dismay.
+
+"He is trustworthy! I will vouch for his fidelity! But oh! Pendleton!
+What news? what news?" exclaimed Lyon Berners in an agony of impatience.
+
+"The worst that you can anticipate!" cried Captain Pendleton in a voice
+full of sorrow.
+
+"Oh! my unhappy wife! The coroner's jury have found their verdict then?"
+groaned Lyon.
+
+Captain Pendleton bowed his head. He was unable to reply in words.
+
+"And that verdict is--Oh! speak I let me hear the worst!--that verdict
+is--"
+
+"Wilful Murder!" muttered Pendleton in a hoarse and choking voice.
+
+"Against--against--whom?" gasped Lyon Berners white as death.
+
+"Oh Heaven! _You know!_ Do not ask me to sully her name with the words!"
+cried Captain Pendleton, utterly overcome by his emotions.
+
+"Oh, my unhappy wife! Oh, my lost Sybil!" exclaimed Lyon Berners,
+reeling under the blow, half-expected though it might have been.
+
+There was silence for a few minutes. Pendleton was the first to recover
+himself. He went up to his friend, touched him on the shoulder, and
+said:
+
+"Berners, rouse yourself; the position requires the exertion of your
+utmost powers of mind and body. Calm yourself, and collect all your
+faculties. Come now let us sit down here and talk over the situation."
+
+Lyon permitted the captain to draw him away to a little distance, where
+they both sat down side by side, on a fallen tombstone.
+
+"In the first place, how is your wife, and how does she sustain herself
+under this overwhelming disaster?" inquired Captain Pendleton, forcing
+himself to speak composedly.
+
+"I do not think my dear innocent Sybil was able fully to appreciate the
+danger of her position, even as she stood before the rendering of that
+false and fatal verdict, she was so strong in her sense of innocence.
+She seemed to suffer most from the lesser evils involved in her exile
+from home."
+
+"Where is she, then?"
+
+"Sleeping heavily in the church there; sleeping very heavily, from the
+united effects of mental and bodily fatigue and excitement."
+
+"Heaven grant that she may sleep long and well. And now, Berners, to our
+plans. You must know that I kept a horse saddled and tied in the woods
+down by the river, and as soon as that lying verdict was rendered, I
+hurried off, leaped into my saddle and galloped here. I forded the
+river, and have left my horse just below here, at the entrance of this
+thicket. I must soon mount and away again on your service."
+
+"Oh, my dear Pendleton, how shall I ever repay you?"
+
+"By keeping up a stout heart until this storm-cloud blows over, as it
+must, in a few days or weeks. But now to business. How came this man Joe
+here?"
+
+Mr. Berners explained how Joe had overheard all their conversation while
+they were making their arrangements, and taken pains to co-operate with
+them, and had followed them here with some necessary provisions. And he,
+Mr. Berners, closed with a eulogy on Joe's fidelity and discretion.
+
+"I am very glad to hear what you tell me, for it relieves my mind of a
+very great weight. I knew that there had been a listener to our
+conversation, for I almost ran against him as I went into the house; but
+as he made his escape before I could identify him, I was very anxious on
+the subject. So you may judge what a burden is lifted from my mind by
+the discovery that he was no other than honest Joe, whom Providence sent
+in the way. But why he ran from me, I cannot imagine.
+
+"He was a little jealous, a little sulky, and somewhat fearful of being
+blamed, I suppose. But tell me, Pendleton, has our flight been
+discovered yet?" inquired Mr. Berners, anxiously.
+
+"No, nor even suspected; at least, not up to the time that I left Black
+Hall. Mrs. Berners was supposed to be in her chamber. I warned all the
+men, and requested my sister to caution all the women, against knocking
+at her door."
+
+"And I, who must have been expected to be on the spot?" asked Lyon.
+
+"You were often asked for. Fortunately for you, there is a well-known
+weakness in human nature to pretend to know all about everything that
+may be inquired into. And so, every time you chanced to be inquired for
+by one party, you were accounted for by another. Some said you were with
+Mrs. Berners; others that you had gone to Blackville on pressing
+business connected with the tragedy. And these last authorities came to
+be believed; so that when I slipped away I left the people momentarily
+expecting your return."
+
+"Whom did you leave there?"
+
+"Everybody--the coroner's jury and all the guests of the house, who had
+been detained as witnesses."
+
+"Then all our friends heard the fatal verdict?"
+
+"All."
+
+"Was there--a warrant issued?" gasped Lyon Berners, scarcely able to
+utter the words.
+
+"Ah, yes; the issue of the warrant was the first intimation I had of the
+fatal nature of the verdict. It was put in the hands of an officer, with
+orders to be on the watch and serve it as soon as Mrs. Berners should
+come out of her chamber, but not to knock at the door, or molest her
+while she remained in it."
+
+Lyon Berners groaned deeply, and buried his face in his hands.
+
+"Come, come! bear up, that you may sustain _her_!" said Captain
+Pendleton. "And now listen: Your flight, as I told you, was not
+suspected up to the time I left Black Hall. It will not be discovered
+probably until late this evening, when it will be too late for the
+authorities to take any immediate measures of pursuit. We have,
+therefore, this afternoon and to-night to perfect our plans. Only you
+need to bring steady nerves and a clear head to the task."
+
+"What do you suggest, Pendleton?"
+
+"First of all, that during this night, which is ours, all necessary
+conveniences be brought here to support your life for a few days, for
+you must not leave this safe refuge immediately--to do so would be to
+fall into the hands of the law."
+
+"I see that," sighed Mr. Berners.
+
+"I, then, with the help of this faithful Joe, will bring to you here
+to-night such things as you and Mrs. Berners will actually need, for the
+few days that you must remain. As to all your affairs at the Hall, I
+counsel you to give me a written authority to act for you in your
+absence. I have brought writing materials for the purpose; and when you
+have written it, I will myself take it and drop it secretly into the
+post-office at Blackville, so that it may reach me regularly through the
+mail, and help to mislead everybody to whom I shall show it, into the
+idea that you have gone away through Blackville. Will you write it now?"
+inquired Captain Pendleton, drawing from his pocket a rolled
+writing-case, containing all that was requisite for the work.
+
+"A thousand thanks, Pendleton. I do not see how in the name of Heaven we
+could have managed without you," replied Berners, as he took the case,
+unrolled it on his knee, and proceeded to write the required "power of
+attorney."
+
+"And now," said the Captain, when he received the document, "now we must
+be getting back. The sun is quite low, and we have much to do. Come,
+Joe, are you ready?"
+
+"Yes, Massa Capping; ready and waitin' on you too. I ought to be at the
+mill now, 'fore the miller shuts it up."
+
+Captain Pendleton then shook hands with Mr. Berners, and Joe pulled his
+front lock of wool by way of a deferential adieu, and both left the spot
+and disappeared in the thicket.
+
+But it was not until the last sound of their retreating steps, crashing
+through the dried bushes, had died away, that Lyon Berners turned and
+went into the church.
+
+As he entered, a singular phenomenon, almost enough to confirm the
+reputation of the place as "haunted ground," met his view.
+
+All in one instant his eyes took in these things: First, Sybil covered
+over with the dark riding skirt, and still sleeping by the smouldering
+fire; but sleeping uneasily, and muttering in her sleep. Secondly, the
+four prints of the western windows laid in sunshine on the floor.
+Thirdly, a _shadow_ that slipped swiftly athwart this sunshine, and
+disappeared as if it had sunk into the floor on the right of the altar.
+And in the same moment Sybil, with a half-suppressed shriek, started up,
+and stared wildly around, exclaiming:
+
+"Oh! what is this? Where am I? Who was she?" Lyon Berners hastened to
+his wife, saying soothingly:
+
+"Sybil, wake up, darling; you have been dreaming."
+
+"But what does all this mean? Where are we? What strange place is this?"
+she cried, throwing back her long dark hair, and shading her eyes with
+her hands, as she gazed around.
+
+"Dearest wife, take time to compose yourself, and you will remember all.
+A sudden and terrible catastrophe has driven us from our home. You have
+had a heavy sleep since that, and you find it difficult to awake to the
+truth," said Lyon Berners tenderly, as he sat down by her side, and
+sought to soothe her.
+
+"Oh! I know now! I remember all now! my fatal fancy ball! Rosa
+Blondelle's mysterious murder! Our sudden flight! All! O! Heavens, all!"
+cried Sybil, dropping her face upon her hands.
+
+Lyon Berners put his arm around her, and drew her to his bosom. But he
+did not speak; he thought it better to leave her to collect herself in
+silence.
+
+After a few moments, she looked up again, and looked all around the
+church, and then gazed into her husband's eyes, and inquired:
+
+"But Lyon, who was _she_? and where has she gone?"
+
+"Who was who, dear Sybil? I don't understand," answered Mr. Berners, in
+surprise.
+
+"That gipsy-like girl in the red cloak; who was bending over me, and
+staring into my face, just as you came in?"
+
+"There was no such girl near you, or even in the church, my dear," said
+Mr. Berners.
+
+"But indeed there was; she started away just as I woke up."
+
+"My dearest Sybil, you have been dreaming."
+
+"Indeed no; I saw her as plainly as I see you now: a girl in a red
+cloak, with such an elfin face I shall never forget it; such small
+piercing black eyes; such black eyebrows, depressed towards the nose,
+and raised high towards the temples, giving such an eldritch,
+mischievous, even dangerous expression to the whole dark countenance;
+and such wild black hair streaming around her shoulders."
+
+"A very vivid dream you have had, dear wife, and that is all."
+
+"I tell you no! she was bending over me; looking at me; and she fled
+away just as I woke up."
+
+"My darling, I will convince you out of your own mouth. She ran away,
+you say, just as you woke up; therefore you did not see her after you
+were awake, but only while you slept, in your dreams. Besides, dear, I
+was here when you woke up, and I saw no one near you, or even in the
+building," persisted Lyon Berners--though at that moment he did recall
+to mind _the shadow_ that he had seen slip past all the sunshine on the
+floor, and disappear as if it had sunk under the slabs on the right side
+of the altar.
+
+"Lyon," said Sybil, solemnly, "I do not like to contradict you, but as I
+hope to be saved, I saw that girl, not in a dream, but in reality; and
+since you do not know anything about her, I begin to think the
+apparition mysterious and alarming. Let me tell you all about it."
+
+"Well, tell me, dear, if to do so will do you any good," said Mr.
+Berners indulgently, but incredulously.
+
+"Listen, then. I was in a _dead sleep_, oh, such a deep dead sleep,
+that I seemed to be away down in the bottom of some deep cave, when I
+felt a heavy breathing or panting over my face, and was conscious of
+somebody leaning over me, and looking at me. I tried to wake, but could
+not, I could not lift myself up out of that deep dark cave of sleep. But
+at last I felt a hand near my throat, trying to unfasten this golden
+locket that contains your miniature. Then I struggled, and succeeded in
+throwing off the spell and waking up. As soon as I opened my eyes I saw
+the wild eldritch face, with its keen bright black eyes and queer
+eyebrows, and snake-like black locks, running down over the red cloak.
+The instant I saw this, I cried out, and the girl fled, and you hurried
+up. Now call that a dream if you can, for I tell you I saw that figure
+start up and run away from me as plainly as I saw you come up. One event
+was as real as the other," concluded Sybil.
+
+Lyon Berners did not at once reply, for he thought again of the flitting
+_shadow_ he had seen cross the sunshine, and disappear as if it had sunk
+into the flagstones on the right side of the altar. And he mentally
+admitted the bare possibility that some intruder had entered the church
+and looked upon Sybil in her sleep, and fled at her awakening. But fled
+whither? The windows were very high, the wall was smooth beneath them;
+no one could have climbed to them, for there was no foothold or handhold
+to assist one in the ascent, and there was but the one door by which he
+himself had entered, at the same moment the strange visitor was said to
+have fled, and he was quite sure that no one had passed him. Besides,
+the shadow that he had seen vanished beside the altar, at the upper end
+of the church. Lyon Berners knew not what to think of all that he had
+seen and heard within the last quarter of an hour. But one thing was
+quite certain, that it was absolutely necessary to Sybil's safety to
+ascertain whether any stranger had really entered the church, or even
+come upon the premises.
+
+"Well," inquired Sybil, seeing that he still remained silent, "what do
+you think now, Lyon?"
+
+"I think," he answered promptly, "that I will search the church."
+
+"There is not a hiding-place for anything bigger than a rat or a bird,"
+said his wife, glancing around upon the bare walls, floor, and ceiling.
+
+Nevertheless Lyon Berners walked up to the side of the altar where he
+had seen the shadow disappear. Sybil followed close behind him. He
+examined the altar all around. It was built of stonework like the
+church; that was the reason it had stood so long. But he experienced a
+great surprise when he looked at the side where the shadow had vanished;
+for there he found a small iron-grated door, through which he dimly
+discerned the head of a flight of stone steps, the continuation of which
+was lost in the darkness below. Glancing over the top of the door, he
+read, in iron letters, the inscription:
+
+"DUBARRY. 1650."
+
+"What is it, dear Lyon?" inquired Sybil, anxiously looking over his
+shoulder.
+
+"Good Heaven! It is the family vault of the wicked old Dubarrys, who
+once owned all the land hereabouts, except the Black Valley Manor, and
+who built this chapel for their sins; for of them it might not be said
+with truth, that 'all their sons were true, and all their daughters
+pure,' but just exactly the reverse. However, they are well forgotten
+now!"
+
+"And this is their family vault?"
+
+"Yes; but I had almost forgotten its existence here."
+
+"Lyon, can my mysterious visitor have hidden herself in that vault?"
+
+"I can search it, at any rate," answered Mr. Berners, wrenching away at
+the grated door.
+
+But it resisted all his efforts, as if its iron bars had been bedded in
+the solid masonry.
+
+"No," he answered; "your visitor, if you had one, could not possibly
+have entered here. See how fast the door is."
+
+"Lyon," whispered Sybil, in a deep and solemn voice, "Lyon, could she
+possibly have come out from there?"
+
+"Nonsense, dear! Are you thinking of ghosts?"
+
+"This is the 'Haunted Chapel,' you know," whispered Sybil.
+
+"Bosh, my dear; you are not silly enough to believe that!"
+
+"But my strange visitor?"
+
+"You had no visitor, dear Sybil; you had a dream, and your dream had
+every feature of nightmare in it--the deep, death-like, yet
+half-conscious and much disturbed sleep; the sense of heavy oppression;
+the apparition hanging over you; the inability to awake; even the
+grappling at your throat, and the swift disappearance of the vision
+immediately upon your full awakening--all well-known features of
+incubus," replied Mr. Berners. But again he thought of the shadow he had
+seen; now, however, only to dismiss the subject as an optical illusion.
+
+Sybil sighed deeply.
+
+"It is hard," she said, "that you won't trust to my senses in this
+affair."
+
+"Sweet wife, I would rather convince you how completely your senses have
+deceived you. Your imagination has been excited while your nerves were
+depressed. You have heard the legend of the Haunted Chapel, and while
+sleeping within it you conjured up the heroine of the story in your
+dream where she immediately took the form of incubus."
+
+"I!--the legend! What are you talking of, Lyon? I have heard the church
+called the Haunted Chapel indeed, but I never even knew that there was
+any story connected with it," exclaimed Sybil, in surprise.
+
+"Really? Never heard the legend of 'Dubarry's Fall'?" inquired Mr.
+Berners, with equal surprise.
+
+"Never, upon my word."
+
+"Well, it is an old tradition; forgotten like the family with whom it
+was connected. I heard it in my childhood; but it had slipped my memory
+until your graphic description of the gipsy girl in the red cloak
+recalled it to my mind, and led me to believe that your knowledge of the
+legend had so impressed your imagination as to make it conjure up the
+heroine of the legend."
+
+"What is the legend? Do tell me, Lyon."
+
+"Not now, dearest. You must first have some coffee, which a faithful
+friend has provided for us."
+
+"Captain Pendleton?" eagerly inquired Sybil.
+
+"No, dear, our servant Joe. I do not expect to see Captain Pendleton
+until nightfall," added Lyon Berners, for he tried to anticipate and
+prevent any troublesome questions that Sybil might ask, as he wished to
+save her from needless additional pain as long as he possibly could.
+
+"And Joe is here with us?" inquired Sybil, cheerfully.
+
+"No, dear; he has returned home; but will come again to-night."
+
+"But what news did he bring?"
+
+"None. We will hear from Captain Pendleton to-night. Now you must have
+some coffee; and then I will tell you the 'Legend of the Haunted
+Chapel'; for that legend, Sybil, may well account for your vision,
+whether we look on it from my point of view or from yours--as illusion
+or reality," said Lyon Berners.
+
+"Or, stay," he added, reflectively; "it is too cold for you to sup in
+the open air. I will bring the things in here."
+
+"Well, let me go with you, to help to bring them in, at least," pleaded
+Sybil.
+
+"What! are you really afraid to stay here alone?" inquired Lyon,
+smiling, with an attempt at pleasantry.
+
+"No, indeed; but all smells mouldy inside this old church. At least it
+does since the sun set, and I would like to go out and get a breath of
+fresh air," replied Sybil, quite seriously.
+
+"Come, then," said Lyon.
+
+They went out together.
+
+The fire that had been built by Joe was now burnt down to embers; but
+the coffee-pot sat upon these embers, and the coffee was hot.
+
+Lyon Berners took it up, while Sybil loaded herself with crockery ware
+and cutlery.
+
+They had turned to go back to the church, when Sybil uttered a
+half-suppressed cry, and nearly dropped her burden.
+
+"What's the matter?" cried Mr. Berners.
+
+"Look!" exclaimed Sybil.
+
+"Where?"
+
+"At the east window."
+
+Mr. Berners raised his eyes just in time to see a weird young face, with
+wild black hair, and a bright red mantle, flash downward from the
+window, as if it had dropped to the floor.
+
+There was no dream now; not even an optical illusion. The reality of the
+vision was unquestionable.
+
+"This is most strange," exclaimed Mr. Berners.
+
+"It is the same face that bent over me, and woke me up," answered Sybil,
+with a shudder.
+
+"It is some one who is concealed in the church, and whom we shall be
+sure to discover, for there is but one exit, by the front door; and if
+she comes out of that, we shall see her; or if she remains in the
+building, we shall be sure to find her there. Since I saw the face drop
+from the window, I have carefully watched the door. Do you also watch
+it, my dear Sybil; so that the creature, whatever it is, may not pass
+us," said Mr. Berners, as he strode on rapidly towards the church,
+followed by his wife.
+
+They entered together, and looked eagerly around.
+
+Though the sun had set some ten minutes before, yet the "after glow"
+shone in through the six tall gothic window spaces, and revealed clearly
+every nook and corner of the interior. Their strange inmate or visitor,
+whichever she might be, was nowhere to be seen.
+
+With an impatient gesture, Mr. Berners set down the coffee-pot, and
+hurried towards the door of the vault, and looked through the iron
+grating. But he could see nothing but the top of those stairs, the
+bottom of which disappeared in the darkness.
+
+He then shook the door; but it firmly resisted all his strength. The
+bars appeared to be built into the solid masonry.
+
+"This is really confounding to all one's intelligence," exclaimed Lyon
+Berners, gazing around in perplexity.
+
+"It is, indeed. But it is well that you have seen this mystery with your
+own eyes, for if you had not done so, you never would have believed in
+it," said Sybil, gravely shaking her head.
+
+"Nor do I believe in it, now that I have seen it."
+
+"Then you will not trust the united evidence of your own eyes and mine."
+
+"No, Sybil; not for a prodigy so out of nature as that would be,"
+replied Lyon Berners, firmly.
+
+"Well, then, tell me the legend of the Haunted Chapel, for you hinted
+that that legend must have some connection with this apparition."
+
+"A seeming connection, at the very least; but I cannot tell it to you
+now--not until you take something to eat and drink, for you have not
+broken your fast since morning."
+
+"Nor have I hungered since morning," replied Sybil, with a sigh.
+
+Mr. Berners went up to the smouldering embers of the fire that he had
+lighted in the morning on the stone floor of the church; and he drew
+together the dying brands, put fresh fuel on them, and soon rekindled
+the flame.
+
+And the husband and wife sat down beside it; and while Sybil ate and
+drank with what appetite she could bring to the repast, Lyon Berners, to
+pass off the heavy time, related to her the legend of the Haunted
+Chapel.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXV.
+
+                       THE FALL OF THE DUBARRYS.
+
+
+                But, soft! behold, lo, where it comes again!
+                I'll cross it, though it blast me.--Stay, illusion!
+                If thou hast any sound, or use of voice,
+                Speak to me!--SHAKESPEARE.
+
+
+"The Dubarrys," he began, "were a French Roman Catholic family of
+distinction. A cadet of that family came over to Virginia among the
+earliest English settlers of the colony.
+
+"As in the case of the more important among his anglican comrades, he
+obtained a very large tract of land by Royal patent. He built his hut
+and fixed his abode here, not a hundred yards from the spot where this
+church now stands.
+
+"He took an Indian girl for a wife, and continued to live a wild
+huntsman sort of life in the wilderness; only breaking it sometimes by
+going down to Jamestown, twice a year, to buy such necessaries of
+civilized life as the wilderness could not furnish, and to hear news
+from any ship that might have come in from the old country; and above
+all, to take a holiday among civilized pleasure-seekers--for such
+existed even in the primitive settlement of Jamestown.
+
+"In due course of time, a family of half-breed sons and daughters grew
+up around him, and the little primitive hut gave place to a substantial
+stone lodge.
+
+"And the country around was becoming settled. The Berners had got a
+grant of the Black Valley, and had built the first part of Black Hall,
+which has since been added to in every generation, until it has grown to
+its present dimensions.
+
+"About this time also, Charles Dubarry was inspired with a certain
+ambition for his eldest son, a densely ignorant, half-Indian youth of
+nineteen; and hearing that the two young sons of Richard Berners of
+Black Hall were to be sent to England to be educated, he proposed that
+his own 'black boy,' as he called his handsome dark-eyed heir, should go
+with them. And as the three lads had been forest companions for some
+years, the proposal of old Dubarry was gladly accepted, and the three
+young men sailed in company for England.
+
+"They spent ten years in the old world, and returned, as as they had set
+out, together. It was after their return that the close friendship of a
+young lifetime was turned to the deadliest enmity. It happened in this
+manner:
+
+"The country, during their absence, had grown a great deal in
+population. Every rich valley among these mountains had its white
+proprietor. In the Valley of the Roses--so named, because at the time it
+was taken possession of by its first proprietor, it was fairly carpeted
+and festooned all around and about with the wild-rose vine--dwelt one
+Gabriel Mayo, a gentleman of fortune, taste, and culture. He had a
+family of fair daughters, of whom old Charles Dubarry, with his national
+gallantry and proneness to exaggeration, had said, that 'they were all
+the most beautiful girls in the world, and each one more beautiful than
+all the others.'
+
+"Be that as it may, it is certain that there were five lovely maidens,
+ranging from fifteen years to twenty-one, to choose from. Yet who can
+account for human caprice, especially in such matters? The three young
+men--Louis Dubarry, and John and William Berners--all fixed their
+affections upon Florette Mayo, the youngest beauty.
+
+"Fierce and bitter was the rivalry between the lovers. But the young
+girl returned the love of John Berners, and married him, and became your
+ancestress, as you know, Sybil.
+
+"And from that time to the time of the extinction of the American branch
+of the Dubarry family, a feud, as fierce and bitter, if not as warlike,
+as any that ever raged between rival barons of the middle ages,
+prevailed between the Berners and the Dubarrys.
+
+"I come now to the period just before the breaking out of the Old French
+War, when the first rude stone lodges in these valleys had given place
+to handsome and spacious manor houses, and when the then proprietor of
+the Dubarry estate had erected a magnificent dwelling on the site of his
+first rough cottage. He called the mansion the Chateau Dubarry, a name
+which the country people quickly changed into Shut-up Dubarry.
+
+"The last name was not inappropriate, for a more morose, solitary, and
+misanthropical man never lived than Henry Dubarry, the builder of that
+house. He neither visited nor received visits, but remained selfishly
+'shut-up' in the paradise of art and letters that he had created within
+his dwelling.
+
+"He had a wife, a son, and two daughters, all of whom suffered more or
+less from this isolation from their fellow-beings. So it was a great
+relief to the son when he was sent, first to the William and Mary
+College of Williamsburg for five years, and afterwards to Oxford for
+five more.
+
+"After the departure of the son and brother, the mother and sisters
+suffered more and more seriously from the gloom and horror of their
+isolation, and in the course of years utterly succumbed to it. First the
+mother died, then the elder sister; and then the younger sister, left
+alone with her recluse father in that awful house, became a maniac.
+
+"Under these circumstances, the father wrote to his son to come home.
+But selfishness, not love, ruled that young man, as it had ruled his
+fathers. He had graduated with honors, and won a 'fellowship' at the
+University, and he was about to start for the fashionable European tour.
+He wrote home to this effect, and went on his farther way.
+
+"He remained abroad until summoned home by two events--the deaths of his
+father and sister, and the necessity of raising money for himself.
+
+"He came home, but not alone. He brought with him a gipsy girl of
+singular beauty, who seemed to be passionately attached to him, and whom
+he loved as much as it was in his selfish nature to love anything.
+
+"He placed her at the head of his household, and his simple servants
+obeyed her as their mistress; and his sociable neighbors, willing to
+forgive old rebuffs, called upon the young pair.
+
+"But their visits were not kindly received, and not in any case
+returned. And the report went around the neighborhood, that Philip
+Dubarry was as morose and selfish as his father had been before him. And
+so the house was abandoned, as it had been in the days of the old man
+and the idiot girl.
+
+"But by and by other rumors, darker and more dishonorable to the master
+and mistress of Shut-up Dubarry, crept out among the people. These
+rumors were started by the Dubarry servants, in their gossipping with
+other family servants in the chance meeting in church or village. They
+were to the effect that Philip Dubarry often quarrelled fiercely with
+his gipsy wife, and even threatened to send her back to her native
+county, and that Gentiliska, or Iska, as she was more commonly called,
+wept and raved and tore her black hair by turns.
+
+"It is the old sad tale, dear Sybil. At length the cultivated scholar
+and unprincipled villain grew tired of his beautiful but ignorant gipsy
+wife, who was a wife only in justice and not in law. He frequently left
+home for long absences. He spent his winters in the cities, and his
+summers in a round of visits to hospitable country houses, leaving her
+at all seasons to pine and weep, or rage and tear her hair in the gloomy
+solitude of Shut-up Dubarry. But for all this, whenever he did
+condescend to visit his home, she received him with an eagerness of
+welcome--a perfect self-abandonment to joy, that knew no bounds. And
+when he left her again, her despair was but the deeper, her anguish the
+fiercer. And all this was duly reported by that indefatigable corps of
+reporters, the domestics of the house.
+
+"At last came the crisis. Philip Dubarry sent down an agent who opened
+the doors of Shut-up Dubarry, and brought into it an army of workmen, to
+repair, refurnish and decorate the mansion-house. In vain Gentiliska
+asked questions; the workmen either could not or would not give her any
+satisfaction. 'It was the master's orders,' they said, and nothing more.
+To no one in the world were 'the master's' orders more sacred than to
+his loyal gipsy wife. She bowed in submission, and let the workmen do
+their will. All the summer season was occupied with the work. But by the
+first of October the house was thoroughly renewed, within and without,
+so that it seemed like a palace in the midst of Paradise; and the gipsy
+wife wandered through the house and grounds in a delight that was only
+damped by the long-continued absence of her husband.
+
+"At length, near the middle of the month, at the height of the hunting
+season, Philip Dubarry arrived. But the eager welcome of his wife was
+met with coldness and petulance, that wounded and enraged her. She gave
+way to a storm of grief and fury. She wept and raved and tore her hair,
+as was her way when fiercely excited. But now he had not the least
+patience with her, or the least mercy on her. He had ceased to love her
+and to want her, and so, in acting out his selfish and demoniac nature,
+he did not hesitate to treat her with cruel scorn and ignominy. He told
+her that she was not his wife, and never had been so. He called her ill
+names, and bade her pack up and go, he cared not where, so it was out of
+his sight, for he hated her; and out of his house also, for she
+dishonored it; and that, after being repaired and refurnished, it must
+also be purified of _her_ presence, before he could bring into it the
+fair maiden whom he was about to make his wife.
+
+"Then all her fury suddenly subsided, and she became calm and resolute
+unto death. She assured him that she never would leave the house; that
+she was his wife, and the house's mistress; and she had the right to
+remain, and would remain. Whereupon he broke out into furious oaths,
+swearing that if she did not go, he would put her out by force. Then she
+answered, in these memorable words, that have come down to us in
+tradition:
+
+"'My body you may thrust forth from my home, but my spirit never! Living
+or dead, in the flesh or the spirit, I will stay in this house as long
+as its walls shall stand! Nay, though you were to pull this house down
+to eject me, in the flesh or the spirit, I would enter in and possess
+the next house you should build! And should you venture to bring here,
+or there, a bride to supplant me, in the flesh or the spirit I will
+blast and destroy her. So help me the gods of my people.'
+
+"For a moment the ruthless and dauntless man stood appalled by the awful
+spirit he had raised in that slight form. But when he did recover
+himself it was to fall into a transport of fury, in which he seized the
+girl and hurled her violently through the open window. Fortunately they
+were on the ground floor, so the fall was not great, and she was,
+besides, light in form and agile as a cat. She fell on her hands and
+feet upon a thick carpet of the dead leaves that strewed the lawn.
+
+"For a moment she lay where she had fallen, breathless from the shock;
+then she lifted herself slowly up. One arm hung useless by her side; it
+was dislocated at the shoulder joint; but the other was raised to
+heaven, and she muttered some words in her native tongue, and then
+turned and walked away until she disappeared in the woods.
+
+"'I hope she'll drown herself according to rule, and there will be an
+end,' the fiendish wretch was heard to mutter. No one was allowed to
+follow her. She probably _did_ drown herself, but that was by no means
+the end. Well, the gipsy girl is said to have kept her word.
+
+"The third day thereafter, as a boy in search of eagle's eggs was
+climbing the highest fastnesses of the Black Mountain, his eyes were
+attracted by the glow of something scarlet lying on a ledge of rocks
+about half way down the course of the Black Torrent. Agile as any
+chamois hunter of the Alps, the boy let himself down, from point to
+point, until he reached the ledge, upon which the dead body of the gipsy
+girl was found. It was crushed by the fall, and sodden by the white foam
+of the cascade that continually rolled over it.
+
+"The boy hastened away to spread the news. With the greatest difficulty
+the body was recovered, and conveyed to Shut-up Dubarry. The inquest
+that sat upon it rendered the simple verdict, 'Found Dead'; for whether
+the death were accidental or suicidal, or whether it resulted from the
+fall upon the rocks, or from the waters of the cascade, the Dogberries
+of that jury could not decide.
+
+"The gipsy girl was buried; and her brutal protector coarsely professed
+himself to be greatly relieved by her death. And he assembled all his
+servants before him, and forbade them, under the penalty of his heaviest
+displeasure, ever to mention the name of Gentiliska to the lady he was
+about to bring home as his wife. These slaves knew their master, and in
+great fear and trembling they each and all solemnly promised to obey
+him. Then he left home for the eastern part of the State from which he
+was to bring his bride. On this occasion he was gone a month.
+
+"It was in the middle of the month of November that he returned to
+Shut-up Dubarry, bringing with him his fair young bride. She was a
+Fairfax, from the county that was named after her family. She was
+unquestionably a lady of the highest and purest order, and the
+neighboring gentry, ever pleased to welcome such an one among them,
+called on her, invited her to their houses, and gave dinner or supper
+parties in her honor.
+
+"Philip Dubarry, who had recently fretted at the galling 'ban' under
+which, for the transient love of the gipsy girl, he had voluntarily
+placed himself, now rejoiced at being delivered from it, and entered
+with all the zest of novelty into the social pleasures of the place. He
+loved his beautiful and high-born wife with both passion and pride, and
+she loved some imaginary hero in his form, and was happy in the
+illusion. Thus all went merry as a marriage bell until one dark and
+dismal day in December, when the rain fell in floods and the wind raved
+around the house, and the state of the weather kept the newly married
+couple closely confined within doors, his bride turned to him, and
+inquired quietly:
+
+"'Who is that little dark-haired girl with the piercing black eyes, and
+in the short red cloak, that I see so often around the house?'
+
+"'What did you say?' inquired Philip Dubarry, in a quavering voice.
+
+"'Who is that little girl in the red cloak, who seems so much at home in
+the house? Is she deaf and dumb? I speak to her, but she never answers
+me; generally indeed, she goes away as soon as she perceives that I
+notice her. Who is she, Phil?' and the young wife looked at her husband
+for an answer. But his face was that of a corpse, and his form was
+shaking with an ague fit, for the guilty are ever cowardly.
+
+"But his wife mistook the cause of his agitation. Forgotten in an
+instant was the question she had asked, and upon which, she had placed
+no sort of importance; and she went to her husband and took his hand,
+and gazed into his face, and asked him, for Heaven's sake, to tell her
+what was the matter.
+
+"He told her a lie. He faltered out between his chattering teeth, that
+he feared he was struck with a congestive chill; that the sudden and
+severe change in the weather had affected him;--and more to the same
+effect.
+
+"She hurried out and prepared a hot drink of brandy, boiling water, and
+spices, and she brought it to him and made him drink it.
+
+"Under this powerful stimulant he revived. But she had, in the fear and
+excitement of the hour, utterly forgotten the inquiry she had put to
+him, and no more would have been said of it, had not he, in fearful
+interest, resumed the subject.
+
+"'You were asking me about--one of the servants, were you not?' he
+inquired.
+
+"'Oh, yes. But never mind! sit still, and keep your feet to the fire
+until you get warm. Never mind about gratifying my foolish curiosity
+now,' she answered, thoughtfully.
+
+"'My chill is already gone, thanks to your skilful nursing! What chill
+could resist your warm draughts? But now about your question. What was
+it?'
+
+"'Oh, nothing much! I only asked you who was the little girl with the
+red cloak, who is so silent and shy that she never answers me when I
+speak to her, and always shrinks away whenever she finds herself
+observed.'
+
+"The trembling wretch was ready with his falsehood. He answered:
+
+"'Oh! she is the child of a poor couple on the mountain, and comes to
+the house for cold victuals; but she is as you have observed, very shy;
+so I think you had better leave her to herself.'
+
+"'Yes, but are you sure she is to be trusted? For shy as she is in
+other matters, she is bold enough to intrude into the most private parts
+of the house, and at the most untimely hours of the night,' remarked the
+lady.
+
+"'Indeed!' muttered the guilty man, in a sepulchral tone.
+
+"'Indeed and indeed! Why, only last night, when we came home at
+midnight, from Mrs. Judge Mayo's ball, when you lingered below stairs to
+speak to the butler, and I ran up into my own room alone, I saw this
+strange looking little creature, with the streaming black hair and the
+red cloak, standing before my dressing-glass! Now what do you think of
+that?'
+
+"'She--she--she has been a sort of a pet of the family, and has had the
+run of the house, coming in and out of all the rooms at all hours, like
+any little dog,' answered the conscious criminal, in a quavering voice.
+
+"'_That_ must be reformed at once!' said the Fairfax bride, drawing
+herself up with much dignity, and also perhaps with some jealous
+suspicion.
+
+"'It shall, by my soul! I will give orders to that effect,' quavered
+Philip Dubarry.
+
+"'Nay, do not take that trouble. It is _my_ prerogative to order my
+household, and I shall do it,' proudly answered the lady.
+
+"And here the matter might have ended, but for that interest Philip
+Dubarry felt in the subject. He remembered the most awful threat of his
+betrayed gipsy wife: 'In the flesh or in the spirit, to dwell in the
+house as long as its walls should stand! In the flesh or in the spirit,
+to blast and destroy the bride he should bring there to take her place.'
+Up to this time he had never had any reason to suppose that the gipsy
+girl had kept her word. He had never seen nor heard of anything unusual
+about the house. But now when his wife spoke of this silent inmate in
+the red cloak, he recognized the portrait all but too well, and his
+guilty soul quaked with fear. And yet he was not superstitious. He was a
+son of the eighteenth century, which was much more incredulous of the
+supernatural than the nineteenth, with all its mysterious spiritual
+manifestations, can be. He was a scientific and practical man. Yet he
+shuddered with awe as he listened to the description given by his
+unconscious wife of this strange visitant. And he could not forbear to
+question her.
+
+"'Did you speak to the girl when you found her in your room at
+midnight?' he inquired.
+
+"'Yes, certainly; I asked her how she came to be there so late. But
+instead of answering my question, she glided silently away.'
+
+"'Have you spoken to any of the servants of this girl's intrusion into
+parts of the house where she has no business to come?'
+
+"'No, not until this morning; for I never really felt interest enough in
+the little creature that I only casually met in the passages of the
+house, until I found her in my bedroom at midnight. So this morning I
+described her to the housekeeper, and asked who she was, and who gave
+her liberty to intrude into my bedroom so late. And what do you think
+old Monica answered?'
+
+"'I'm sure I don't know.'
+
+"'She crossed herself, and cried out, 'Lord have mercy on all our souls!
+You have seen her!' I inquired, 'Seen who?' But she answered, 'Nothing.
+Nobody. I don't know what I'm talking about. My head's wool-gathering,
+I believe.' Nor could any further questioning of mine draw from her any
+more satisfactory answer. And so I came to you for an explanation. And
+you tell me that she is Milly Jones, the child of poor parents, living
+on the mountain, and that she comes here for broken victuals and old
+clothes. Very well. In future I shall pension the poor family on the
+mountain, for I would not have any fellow-creature in my reach to suffer
+want; but I shall do it on condition that Miss Milly Jones stays home,
+and helps her mother with the family cooking and washing, instead of
+losing her time by day and her sleep by night in wandering through all
+the rooms of a gentleman's house, and taking possession of a lady's
+bed-chamber.'
+
+"You see this bride never imagined a ghost, but strongly suspected a
+sweetheart, and so she was a little surprised when her husband answered:
+
+"'Do so, my dear; and may Heaven grant that you may get rid of this
+unpleasant visitor at once and forever.'
+
+"And as he said this, Philip Dubarry arose and went into his library and
+rung the bell, and to the servant who answered it, he said:
+
+"'Send Monica the housekeeper here.'
+
+"In a few minutes Monica entered the room.
+
+"'Did I not order you, on pain of my heaviest displeasure, never to
+annoy Mrs. Dubarry by so much as the mention of the gipsy girl's name to
+her?' sternly demanded Philip Dubarry.
+
+"The old woman fell down upon her knees, and lifted up both her hands,
+and exclaimed:
+
+"'And no more I haven't, master, not once! But that don't do no good,
+for _she walks_!'
+
+"'Who walks, you old fool?'
+
+"'_She_, the gipsy girl, master. _She walks_, and the missis sees her as
+well as we do!'
+
+"'We? Whom do you call "we," you insupportable idiot?'
+
+"'Me and Ben the man-servant, and Betty the chambermaid, and Peggy the
+parlormaid. All sees her, master. We never, none of us, see her before
+the missis was brought home; but ever since that, we sees her every day;
+we sees just as much of her as we used to see when she was alive!'
+answered the woman, grovelling and weeping.
+
+"'_Where_ do you see her, or fancy you see her, lunatic?' fiercely
+demanded Philip Dubarry.
+
+"'Everywhere, master! We meets her on the stairs; we sees her sitting at
+the head of the table, as soon as the meal is ready, and before the
+mistress comes to take the place; and we sees her lying in the unmade
+beds of a morning; but always, as soon as we screams, as scream we must,
+at such an object, master, she vanishes away!' answered the housekeeper.
+
+"Philip Dubarry was awed and almost silenced,--_almost_, but not quite,
+for he was the very sort of hero to browbeat others the most fiercely
+when he was himself the most frightened. He rallied himself.
+
+"'Look you here!' he furiously exclaimed; 'all this that you have just
+told me is the most wicked and abominable falsehood and absurdity! And
+now take notice! IF EVER I hear of one more word being uttered on this
+subject in this house, or out of it, by any one of you, under any
+circumstances whatever, by my blood, I will make you all wish that you
+had never been born! Repeat this to your fellow-servants', and order
+them from me to govern their tongues accordingly. Now go!' he thundered
+at the poor old woman, who hastily picked herself up, and hurried out of
+the room."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+                              THE SPECTRE.
+
+
+                It was about to speak
+                And then it started like a guilty thing.
+                Upon a fearful summons.--SHAKESPEARE.
+
+
+"Philip Dubarry remained walking up and down the door, foaming with
+impotent rage, as well as trembling with a vague and awful terror. He
+had a practical and scientific mind, and could understand everything
+that might be governed by known laws. But he could not understand this
+unwelcome visitant, that had appeared to every one else in the house but
+himself. He was an arbitrary and despotic man who enforced his will upon
+all connected with him, and ruled all flesh with a rod of iron. But he
+could not rule the spirit, and he knew it. He could not lay this ghost
+of his guilt.
+
+"There was one grain of truth in the ton of falsehood that he had told
+to his unconscious wife, to account for the apparition seen by her.
+There really was a Milly Jones, the daughter of a poor family on the
+mountains, and she really did come occasionally to the house to ask for
+broken victuals and old clothes; but instead of being a beautiful
+black-eyed and black-haired little gipsy, in the picturesque red cloak,
+she was a pale-faced, light-haired, poor-spirited looking creature, in a
+faded calico frock, and an old plaid shawl; and instead of being the
+family pet, with the run of the house, she was the family nuisance,
+strictly prohibited from passing the bounds of the servants' hall.
+
+"So when that day, being a rainy day, and therefore highly favorable for
+attention to domestic matters, Mistress Alicia Dubarry called the
+house-steward to her presence, and ordered him to send a small pension
+of two dollars a week to the Jones family, with an intimation that Miss
+Milly need not come to collect it, the order was promptly executed, to
+the satisfaction of all the domestics; and poor Milly, glad to be
+relieved from her fatiguing journey and degrading mendicity, was seen no
+more at Shut-up Dubarry.
+
+"But Mrs. Dubarry did not therefore get rid of her visitor. Not more
+than three days had elapsed since the issuing of her order, when, one
+evening between the lights, she entered her own bedroom, and saw the
+girl in the red cloak sitting quietly in the easy-chair beside the fire.
+
+"'How dare you come here, after the message I sent you? Get up and
+begone, and let me never catch you here again,' angrily demanded the
+lady.
+
+"The apparition melted into air; but as it disappeared, the words came,
+like a sigh borne upon the breeze:
+
+"'_I wait._'
+
+"The lady was about to dress for an evening party, and so she paid no
+attention to any chance sound.
+
+"But the next morning she met the girl in the hall, and the next evening
+in the parlor; again she passed the figure on the stairs, or encountered
+it in the drawing-room. The lady lost patience, and sent for the
+house-steward in her presence.
+
+"'Did I not command that that girl should not come here again?' she
+sternly demanded.
+
+"'Yes, my lady,' respectfully answered the man.
+
+"'Then how is it that she comes here as much as ever?'
+
+"'My dear lady, she have never entered the house since your ladyship
+gave the order that she was not so to do.'
+
+"'But she has. I have seen her here at least a half a dozen times.'
+
+"'Dear lady, I dare not contradict you; but poor Milly Jones has been
+down with the pleurisy for these two weeks past, and could not have got
+out of her bed, even if your ladyship had ordered her to come.'
+
+"'Isaac, is this true?'
+
+"'True as truth, your ladyship, which you can find it out for yourself
+by riding up to the hut and seeing the poor girl, which it would be a
+charity so to do.'
+
+"'And you say she has not been here for a fortnight?'
+
+"'No, madam.'
+
+"'Then, in the name of Heaven, _who_ is it that I meet so often?' slowly
+and sternly demanded Mrs. Dubarry.
+
+"Old Isaac solemnly shook his gray head, and answered never a word.
+
+"'What do you mean by that? Speak! I will have an answer. Who is this
+silent girl in the red cloak, I ask?' repeated the lady.
+
+"'Madam, I don't know. And that is what I meant when I shook my head,'
+replied the old man, trembling.
+
+"'You don't know! do you dare to mock me?'
+
+"'Far from it, my lady; but goodness knows I don't know.'
+
+"'But you have seen her?'
+
+"'Dear, my lady, I don't know who she is, nor dare I speak of her; the
+master has forbidden us so to do. Dear madam, ask the master; but oh,
+for pity sake, do not ask me further,' pleaded the old man, very humbly.
+
+"The lady turned white with jealousy. There was but one interpretation
+she could put upon this mystery.
+
+"'Go and say to your master that I would feel much obliged if he would
+come to me here,' she said, grimly seating herself.
+
+"The trembling old man went to the kennels, where Mr. Dubarry was busy
+doctoring a favorite setter, and delivered his message. Dubarry was
+still enough in love with his three months wife to come quickly at her
+call.
+
+"'Philip!' exclaimed the lady, as soon as she saw him enter the room,
+'once for all, I wish to know who is this girl in the red cloak; and why
+I am daily insulted with her presence in this house?'
+
+"Dubarry went pale, as usual at the mention of the apparition; but he
+faltered out with what composure he could command:
+
+"'I--I told you who she is--Milly Jones.'
+
+"'No; begging your pardon, she is _not_ Milly Jones. Milly Jones has
+been ill with pleurisy, at home on the mountain, for the last two weeks;
+and I have sent her a pension of two dollars a week. No; this is no
+Milly Jones, and I insist on knowing who she is!'
+
+"'Then, if she is not Milly Jones, she is a creature of your own
+imagination, for no other living girl comes to the house,' answered
+Dubarry doggedly.
+
+"'You will not tell me who she is? Very well. When next I see her, _she_
+shall tell me, silent as she is,' said the lady grimly setting her
+teeth.
+
+"Dubarry arose with a sigh, and went back to his ailing setter; but his
+thoughts brooded over the subject of the apparition.
+
+"The lady kept her word at a fearful cost. For the remainder of the day,
+her conduct towards her husband was so cold and repelling as to wound
+and offend him. So it happened that when the hour for retiring came that
+night, she went up to her chamber alone. She had but time to reach the
+room, when all the household was startled by a piercing shriek and a
+heavy fall.
+
+"Mr. Dubarry, soon followed by all the servants, rushed up stairs to
+Mrs. Dubarry's bedroom. They found the lady extended on the floor, in a
+deep swoon. She was raised and laid upon the bed, and proper means taken
+to revive her. When at length she opened her eyes, and recognized her
+husband, she signed for every one else to leave the room; and when they
+had done so, she turned and took his hand and kissed it, and fixed her
+wild and frightened eyes upon him and whispered in an awe-struck tone:
+
+"'Phil, dear, I wronged you. I took that creature in the red cloak to be
+a sweetheart of yours, Phil, but it was not; it was--_a spectre_!'
+
+"There was silence between them for a minute, during which she never
+took her scared eyes from his pale face. He was the first to speak.
+Summoning up as much resolution as he could muster, he affected a light
+laugh, and answered:
+
+"'Spectre! My sweet wife, there is no such thing.'
+
+"'Ah, but--but--if you could have seen what I saw, _felt what I felt_!'
+
+"'Nonsense, dear one. You were the subject of an optical illusion.'
+
+"'No, I was not. Hush! Let me tell you what happened. I came up into
+this room. It was warm and ruddy with the fire light and the lamp light;
+and in the glow I saw the girl standing between the hearth and the bed.
+I spoke to her, asking her how she dared intrude into my most sacred
+privacy; and then she silently glided from the spot. But I told her she
+should not leave the room until she had given some account of herself.
+And I put forth my hand to stop her, but the moment I did so I received
+a shock as from some powerful galvanic battery! a tremendous shock that
+threw me down upon my face. I knew no more until I came to my senses and
+found myself here, with you watching over me. Now, Philip, tell me that
+was an optical illusion, if you dare,' said the lady, solemnly.
+
+"'Yes, love, I dare. I tell you that what you saw _was_ an optical
+illusion.'
+
+"'--But what I felt?'
+
+"'--Was a slight--a very slight attack of catalepsy. Both the vision and
+the fit, dear, took their rise in some abnormal state of the nervous
+system,' said Philip Dubarry; and feeling almost pleased with his own
+explanation of the mystery, he tried to persuade himself that it was the
+true one."
+
+"But his wife turned her face to the wall, saying, however.
+
+"'Well, at any rate, I am glad that the girl in the red cloak is not
+flesh and blood, Phil. I would rather she should be an 'optical
+illusion' or a fit of 'catalepsy,' or even a 'spectre,' than a
+sweetheart of yours, as I first took, her to be.
+
+"'Be not afraid. You have no living rival, Alicia,' answered her husband.
+
+"And the reconciliation between the husband and the wife was complete
+from that time forth.
+
+"But somehow the condition of the lady was worse than before.
+
+"_She was haunted_.
+
+"She knew herself to be haunted; but whether by a spectral illusion or a
+real spectre, she could not know. In the glow of the fire light, in the
+shadow of the bed-curtains in the illuminated drawing-room, on the dark
+staircase, wherever and whenever she found herself alone, the vision of
+the girl in the red cloak crossed her path. She did not speak to it, or
+try to stop it again. She did not wish to risk another such an electric
+shock as should 'cast her shuddering on her face.' But her health wasted
+under the trial. Her nerves failed. She grew fearful of being left alone
+for an instant; nothing would induce her to go into any room in the
+house without an attendant. She contracted a habit of looking fearfully
+over her shoulder, and sometimes suddenly screaming.
+
+"Nor was the mistress of the house the only sufferer from this 'abnormal
+state of the nervous system,' as the master of the house preferred to
+call the mystery. The servants grew so much afraid to move about the
+building alone, that their usefulness was much impaired. And at length
+one after another ran away, and took to the woods and mountain caves,
+preferring to starve or beg rather than live in luxury in the haunted
+house. New servants were procured to supply the places of the old ones,
+until the latter could be brought back; but none of them stayed long;
+nothing could induce them to remain in the 'haunted house.' The story of
+the gipsy girl's ghost got around in the neighborhood. Not all the
+despotic power of Mr. Dubarry could prevent this. The house came to be
+pointed out and avoided by the ignorant and superstitious, as a haunted
+and accursed spot. Even the more intelligent and enlightened portion of
+the community gradually forsook it; for it was not very agreeable to
+visit a family where the mistress was so full of 'flaws and starts'
+that, even at the head of her own table, she would often startle the
+whole company by suddenly looking over her right shoulder and uttering a
+piercing scream.
+
+"And so the house was abandoned by high and low, rich and poor alike.
+And the worthy gossips of the neighborhood wisely nodded over their
+tea-cups, and declared that the deserted condition of the house was but
+a just retribution for the sins of its master.
+
+"And in the meantime the health of the mistress grew worse and worse.
+The most serious fears were entertained for her life and reason, death
+or insanity seeming to be the most probable issue of her malady. Medical
+advice was called in. The doctor, either in complaisance or sincerity,
+agreed with Mr. Dubarry's theory of the patient's condition, ascribing
+her illness to an 'abnormal state of the nervous system,' and he advised
+change of air and scene, and he held forth good hopes that within a very
+few months, when the young wife should become a mother, her health might
+be perfectly reestablished.
+
+"Under these circumstances, early in the new year, Mr. Dubarry took his
+wife to Williamsburg, to spend the winter among the gayeties of the
+colonial Governor's court.
+
+"The haunted house was shut up, and left to itself. Not a man or woman
+could be found to live in it, for love or money.
+
+"In the glories of the colonial capital, Mrs. Dubarry completely
+recovered from her nervous malady. She was visited by no more 'optical
+illusions' or 'cataleptic' fits. She even grew to regard her former
+visitations in the same way in which her husband pretended to view
+them--as mere nervous phenomena. And as the fashionable season at
+Williamsburg closed, and as the spring opened, Mrs. Dubarry expressed an
+ardent desire to return to 'Shut-up Dubarry' for her confinement. 'The
+heir of the manor should be born on the manor,' she said.
+
+"Mr. Dubarry had great doubts about the safety of this measure, and
+attempted to dissuade his wife from it; but she was firm in her purpose,
+and so she carried it.
+
+"It was early in the royal month of June that the young wife was taken
+back to her country home. Shut-up Dubarry looked as little like a
+'haunted house' as any house could look: waving woods, sparkling waters,
+blossoming trees, blooming flowers, singing birds--all the richness,
+beauty and splendor of summer turned it into a paradise. Besides, Mrs.
+Dubarry brought down half a dozen young cousins of both sexes with her,
+and they filled the house with youthful life. Under these circumstances,
+the old servants were tempted back. And all went on very well until one
+day one of the young girls suddenly spoke out at the full
+breakfast-table, and asked:
+
+"'Alicia, who is that strange, silent girl, in the red cloak, that is
+always following you about?'
+
+"Mrs. Dubarry grew deadly pale, sat down the cup that she had held in
+her hand, but she did not attempt to speak.
+
+"'Have I said anything wrong? I did not mean to do so. I am sure I beg
+pardon, if I have,' faltered the young cousin, looking from the pale
+face of Mrs. Dubarry to the troubled countenance of Mr. Dubarry.
+
+"'I am very sorry if I have said anything wrong,' repeated the little
+cousin, in dismay.
+
+"'No, no, you have said nothing amiss; but it is a very painful subject;
+let us drop it,' replied Mr. Dubarry rather inconsistently. And every
+one around the table silently wondered what the matter could be.
+
+"When breakfast was over, and the husband and wife found themselves
+alone together, Mrs. Dubarry seized his arm, and whispered:
+
+"'Oh, Philip! the spectre has not gone!'
+
+"'My dearest Alicia! you have not fancied that you have seen it
+lately?'
+
+"'No, no; but _she_ has seen it! Kitty has seen it _always following
+me_! She took it for a real girl, as I did at first!'
+
+"What could Philip Dubarry say to all this? Only one thing:
+
+"'My darling, I cannot have your nerves shaken in this manner. You had
+no such visitations as these while we stayed at Williamsburg. And so to
+Williamsburg we will return immediately. Tell your maid to pack up this
+afternoon, and we will set out to-morrow. No objections, Alicia! for I
+tell you we must go.'
+
+"She saw that his resolution was fixed, and she made no opposition to
+it. She rang for her maid, and gave the necessary directions. And then,
+feeling very unwell, she sent down an excuse to her company, and retired
+to bed.
+
+"At twelve o'clock that night, while the young people were enjoying
+themselves in some round game in the drawing-room, and Mr. Dubarry was
+doing all that he could to promote their entertainment, the whole party
+was startled by a terrific cry coming from Mrs. Dubarry's chamber. All
+paused for a breathless instant, and then rushed tumultuously up the
+stairs. At the door of the bed-chamber, Mr. Dubarry turned around and
+waved them all back. Then he entered the chamber alone. All seemed quiet
+there then. The moonlight came flickering through the vine leaves on the
+outside of the open window, and fell fitfully upon the face and form of
+Alicia Dubarry, who was sitting up in bed, staring straight before her.
+
+"Mr. Dubarry locked the door before he approached the bed.
+
+"'Alicia,' he said, 'my dear Alicia, what is the matter?'
+
+"'It is doom! It is doom!' she answered in an awful voice, without
+removing her eyes from some object between the foot of the bed and the
+moonlit window.
+
+"'Compose yourself, dear wife, and tell me what has happened.'
+
+"'Look! Look! for yourself!' she cried, her finger extended, and
+following the direction of her eyes.
+
+"'My sweet Alicia, there is nothing there but the tremulous shadow of
+the vine leaves cast by the moonlight,' said Mr. Dubarry, persuasively,
+as he went and drew the curtain before the window, and then struck a
+match and lighted a lamp.
+
+"But her eyes were never removed from the spot where she had gazed.
+
+"'It is there yet!' she cried.
+
+"'What is there, good Alicia? there is nothing there, indeed!'
+
+"'Yes, the dead woman and dead child! Do you not see them?'
+
+"'See! no! you are in one of your nervous attacks; but to-morrow we will
+leave this place, and you will have no more of them.'
+
+"'Hush! No! I shall never leave this place again.'
+
+"'You shall start by sunrise to-morrow.'
+
+"'Hush! listen! I will tell you what happened. I was sleeping well, very
+well, when suddenly I was awakened with a tremendous shock. I started up
+in bed and saw _her_--the terrible girl! She was standing at the foot of
+the bed looking at me, and pointing to something that lay upon the
+floor. I looked and saw--there it is yet!--the dead woman, with the dead
+babe on her bosom! I shrieked aloud, for I knew the woman was myself,
+and the babe was my own! And as I shrieked, she vanished, as she always
+does; but the dead woman and child remained! And there they are yet! Oh!
+cover them over, Philip! cover them over! Cover them from my sight, for
+I have no power to withdraw my eyes from them,' she exclaimed in wild
+excitement.
+
+"Almost beside himself with distress, Philip Dubarry seized a large
+table cover and threw it down over the spot upon which her eyes were
+fixed.
+
+"'Ah! it is of no use! it is of no use! I see them still! they rise
+above the covering! they lie upon it!' she cried, in terrific emotion,
+shaking as if with an ague fit.
+
+"'Lie down,' said Philip Dubarry, compelling himself to be calm, for the
+sake of trying to calm her. And he took her and laid her back upon the
+pillow. But still she raved, like one in high fever and delirium.
+
+"'I have received my sentence! I am doomed! I am doomed! I have seen my
+own corpse, and the corpse of my child!' she cried. And then a violent
+convulsion seized her.
+
+"Nearly maddened by terror and despair, Philip Dubarry rushed from the
+room and loudly called for assistance. The chamber was soon filled with
+the members of the household, not one of whom knew what to do, until the
+entrance of the old housekeeper, who sent everybody out, and requested
+Mr. Dubarry to dispatch a carriage for the family physician.
+
+"Before morning the doctor arrived. But the convulsions and the delirium
+of the lady increased in violence until just at the dawn of day, when
+she gave birth to an infant boy, who breathed and died.
+
+"Then, just before her own death, she recovered her senses and grew very
+calm. She asked to see her child. When the nurse brought it, she kissed
+its cold face, and bade her lay it by her side. Then the lady called her
+husband, and whispered so faintly that he had to lean his ear to her
+lips to hear her words. She said:
+
+"'The vision is realized in the dead mother and the dead babe! But,
+Philip! _for whose sin do we die?_'
+
+"Before he could make a reply, if any reply had been possible, she was
+gone.
+
+"The mother and babe were buried together. The company at Shut-up
+Dubarry broke up in the greatest consternation. The story of the vision,
+real or imaginary, that had caused the lady's death, got out. All the
+neighborhood talked of it, and connected it with the fate of the hardly
+used gipsy girl, whose spirit was said to haunt the house.
+
+"Mr. Dubarry became a prey to the most poignant grief and remorse. He
+shut himself up in his desolate house, where he was abandoned by all his
+neighbors, and by all his servants, with the exception of the old
+housekeeper and house-steward, whose devotion to the family they had
+served so long, retained them still in the service of its last and most
+unhappy representative.
+
+"But awful stories crept out from that house of gloom. 'Twas said that
+the master was always followed by the spectre of the gipsy girl--that he
+could be heard in the dead of night walking up and down the hall outside
+of his chamber door, raving in frenzy, or expostulating with some
+unknown and unseen being, who was said to be the spectre that haunted
+the house.
+
+"At length, unable to endure the misery of solitude and superstitious
+terrors, Mr. Dubarry took an aged Catholic priest to share his home.
+Under the influence of Father Ingleman, Philip Dubarry became a penitent
+and a devotee. At that time this church was but a rude chapel, erected
+over the old family vault. But now, by the advice of the old priest, Mr.
+Dubarry rebuilt and enlarged the chapel, for the accommodation of all
+the Catholics in the neighborhood. He also added a priest's house. And
+Father Ingleman said mass every Sunday, while waiting for another priest
+to be appointed to the charge.
+
+"This rebuilding and remodelling amused the miserable master of the
+manor, during the latter part of the summer and the autumn following his
+wife's death. But with the coming of the winter, returned all his gloom
+and horror. And the good old priest, so far from being able to help his
+patron, was himself so much affected in health and spirits by this
+condition of the house, that he begged and obtained leave to retire to
+the little dwelling beside the church.
+
+"The awful winter passed away.
+
+"But on one stormy night in March, the mansion house took fire. It was
+said that the haunted master of the house, in a fit of desperation,
+actually set it on fire, with the purpose of burning out the ghost. At
+all events, it seems certain that he would permit nothing to be done to
+stop the flames.
+
+"The house was burned to the ground. The houseless master took refuge
+with Father Ingleman, in the priest's dwelling by the church. But there
+also the spectre followed him, nor could all the exorcisms of Father
+Ingleman with 'candle, bell, and book,' avail to lay the disturbed
+spirit.
+
+"Philip Dubarry, half a maniac by this time, sent away the priest,
+pulled down the priest's house, and took up his abode in the body of the
+church itself, which was thenceforward deserted by all others. But here
+also the spectre was supposed to have followed him. At length he
+disappeared. No one knew whither he went. Some said that he had gathered
+together his money and departed for a foreign country; others, that he
+had drowned himself in the Black River, though his body never was found.
+Some said that he had cast himself down headlong from some mountain
+crest, and his bones were bleaching in some inaccessible ravine; while
+others, again, did not hesitate to say that the devil had flown away
+with him bodily.
+
+"The fate of the last of the Dubarrys is unknown. The estate, unclaimed,
+is held in abeyance. The house, burned to the ground, has never been
+restored. The church, thereafter known as the Haunted Chapel, has
+crumbled into the ruin that you see. And such, dear Sybil, is the story
+of the 'Fall of the Dubarrys.'"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+                            FEARFUL WAITING.
+
+
+                    Still the wood is dim and lonely,
+                    Still the plashing fountains play,
+                    But the past with all its beauty,
+                    Whither has it fled away?
+                    Hark! the mournful echoes say,
+                    Fled away!--A.A. PROCTOR.
+
+
+"And the apparition that we both saw was like that of the gipsy girl in
+the ghostly legend," said Sybil, musingly.
+
+"Yes; in the matter of the red cloak--a very common garment, dear Sybil.
+Such a resemblance reminds us of Paganini's portrait which the child
+said was like him, 'about the fiddle,'" replied Lyon Berners, with an
+effort towards pleasantry, which was very far indeed from his heart; for
+he was oppressed with grief and dread. He was anxiously looking forward
+to the arrival of Captain Pendleton; and fearing for the effect his
+disclosures must have upon his beloved Sybil, who seemed still so
+utterly unable to realize her position. She seemed almost satisfied now,
+so that Lyon was near her, and she was the only object of his care. So
+disengaged was her mind, at this hour, from all real appreciation of her
+situation, that she had leisure to feel interested in the tale that Lyon
+had told her. She again reverted to it.
+
+"But the likeness was not only in the red cloak, it was in the whole
+gipsy style. I spoke of that, even before you had told me anything about
+the gipsy girl," persisted Sybil.
+
+Before Lyon could answer her, steps were heard approaching.
+
+"There is Pendleton," exclaimed Mr. Berners, and he arose and hurried
+forward to meet the visitor.
+
+"Hush! come out here a moment," he whispered, drawing Captain Pendleton
+outside the chapel. "Sybil knows nothing of that verdict as yet. I wish
+to keep it from her knowledge as long as possible--for ever, if
+possible. So if you have any more bad news to tell, tell it now, and
+here, to me," he added.
+
+"Berners," began the Captain--but then he paused in pity.
+
+"Go on," said Lyon.
+
+"My friend, the flight of your wife and yourself if not absolutely
+ascertained, is strongly suspected. An officer watches your closed
+chamber door. Two others have been dispatched to Blackville, to watch
+the ferry. By to-morrow morning the flight, so strongly suspected now,
+will be fully discovered. This is all I have to say in private. And now,
+perhaps we had better not linger any longer here, lest Mrs. Berners may
+suspect something, if possible, even more alarming than the truth," said
+Captain Pendleton.
+
+"You are quite right," admitted Lyon Berners, and they entered the
+chapel together.
+
+Sybil sprang up to meet them.
+
+"What news, Captain? Is the murderer discovered? May we return home?"
+she eagerly inquired.
+
+"No, madam; the murderer has not yet been discovered, nor do I think it
+would be prudent in you yet to return home," replied the Captain,
+feeling relieved that her questions had taken forms that enabled him to
+reply truly to them without divulging the alarming intelligence of the
+verdict of the coroner's jury.
+
+He unstrapped a portmanteau from his shoulders and threw it down near
+the fire, and seated himself upon it. Then turning to Mr. Berners, he
+said:
+
+"I have made arrangements with your faithful Joe to bring certain
+necessaries to this place to-night. They cannot, you know, be brought to
+this spot by the same direct route that we took in coming here. But as
+soon as the moon goes down, which will be about one o'clock, Joe will
+launch a boat just below Black Hall and come across the river with all
+that is most needed. There he will find a cart and horse waiting for
+him. He will load the cart and drive it up here to the entrance of the
+thicket."
+
+"But that cart, Pendleton?"
+
+"Yes! you will wonder how I got it there without exciting suspicion. It
+was done in this way. I ordered Joe to bring it boldly up in front of
+the house, and to put in it the boxes containing my own and my sister's
+masquerade dresses, and to take them over to our place. Joe understood
+and obeyed me, and drove the cart to Blackville, and crossed the river
+at the ferry, under the very eyes of the constable stationed there to
+watch. He brought the cart down this bank, and left it concealed in a
+clearing of the wood. He will watch his opportunity, as soon as it is
+dark enough to swim across the river, and launch the boat and fill it
+with the necessaries that he will secretly obtain from Black Hall. It is
+a business that will require considerable tact and discretion; or at
+least, great secretiveness and cautiousness," added Captain Pendleton.
+
+"And these, Joe, like all his race, possesses in excess," observed Lyon
+Berners.
+
+"Are the guests all gone away from the house?" inquired Sybil.
+
+"Nearly all. My sister remains there for the present to watch your
+interests, Mrs. Berners. The old Judge also, to superintend legal
+processes; but even he will go away in the morning, I think."
+
+While they spoke, a loud sneeze and then a cough was heard outside, and
+then Joe walked in, with a doubled up mattress on his head.
+
+"This here is moving under difficulties, Master," he panted, as he laid
+the mattress down on the stone floor.
+
+"How ever did you get that along the narrow path through the thicket,
+Joe?" inquired Sybil.
+
+"You may well ax that, Missis. I had to lay it down endways, and drag
+it. Howsever, I has got all the things through the worst part of the way
+now, and they's all out in the church-yard," answered Joe, recovering
+his breath, and starting for the remaining goods.
+
+He soon returned, bringing in a small assortment of bedding, clothing,
+and so forth. And in another trip he brought in a small supply of food
+and a few cooking utensils.
+
+"That's all. And now, Miss Sybil, if you would only let me live here
+along o' you and Marse Lyon, and wait on to you bofe, I could make
+myself very much satisfied into my own mind," he said, as he laid down
+the last articles, and stood to rest himself.
+
+"But you know, Joe, that you can serve us better by remaining at Black
+Hall," said Sybil, kindly.
+
+"Now, Marser Capping Pendulum, I hope them there fineries in the boxes,
+as you told me to bring away, for a blind from our place, won't take no
+harm along of being left out in the woods all night, for it was there
+underneaf of a pile of leaves and bushes as I was obligated for to leave
+them."
+
+"They'll not take cold, at all events, Joe," said Captain Pendleton,
+good-naturedly.
+
+By this time, the fire on the stone floor had become so low that it was
+quite dark in the chapel. But among the little necessities of life
+brought by Joe, was a small silver candlestick and a few slim wax
+candles. One of these was lighted, and gleamed faintly around, striking
+strangely upon the faces of the group gathered near the smouldering
+fire.
+
+The friends sat and talked together, and arranged as far as they could
+their plans for future movements. It was not until near day that Captain
+Pendleton arose to depart, saying:
+
+"Well, Berners, I do dislike to leave you and Mrs. Berners here alone
+again, especially as I fear that you will not go to sleep, as you ought
+to do. I see that Mrs. Berners' eyes are still wide open--"
+
+"I slept so long in the afternoon," put in Sybil.
+
+"But, at all events, I am forced to leave you before light. It is not
+quite safe now to be seen in open daylight, travelling this road so
+often. To-night I will come again, and bring you further news, and
+perhaps more comfort. Come, Joe."
+
+Joe, who had fallen asleep over the fire, now slowly woke up and lifted
+himself from the floor.
+
+The Captain shook hands with his friends, and followed by Joe, left the
+Chapel.
+
+Sybil then went and spread out the mattress, and put the pillows and
+covering upon it, and persuaded Lyon to lie down and try to sleep, as he
+had not slept for two nights past. She said that she herself could not
+sleep, but that she would sit close by him, so as to be ready to arouse
+him, on the slightest indication of danger.
+
+Very reluctantly he yielded to her pleadings, and stretched himself upon
+the mattress. She went and gathered the smouldering coals and brands
+together, so that the fire might not go entirely out, and then she
+returned and sat down beside her husband.
+
+He took her hand in his, and clasping it protectingly, he closed his
+eyes and fell asleep.
+
+She sat watching the little fire, and brooding almost to insanity over
+the strange revolution that a few hours had made in her life, driving
+her so suddenly from her own hereditary manor-house, her home of wealth
+and honor and safety, out into the perilous wilderness, a fugitive from
+the law.
+
+Yet not once did Sybil's imagination take in the extreme horror of her
+position. She thought that she had been brought away by her husband to
+be saved from the affront of an arrest, and the humiliation of a few
+days imprisonment. That anything worse than this could happen to her,
+she never even dreamed. But even this to the pure, proud Sybil would
+have been almost insupportable mortification and misery. To escape all
+this she was almost willing to incur the charge of having fled from
+justice, and to endure the hardships of a fugitive's life.
+
+And oh! through all there was one consolation so great, that it was
+enough to compensate for all the wretchedness of her position. She was
+assured of her husband's love, beyond all possibility of future doubt.
+He was by her side, never to leave her more!
+
+This was enough! She closed her hand around the beloved hand that held
+hers, and felt a strange peace and joy, even in the midst of her exile
+and danger.
+
+Perhaps in this stillness she slumbered a while, for when she lifted her
+head, the chapel, that had been dark before, but for the gleaming of the
+little fire, was now dimly filled with the gray light of dawn.
+
+She saw the shapes of the pointed windows against the background of
+heavy shadows and pale lights, and she knew that day was coming. She did
+not stir from the spot, lest she should wake her husband, whose hand
+held hers. All was still in the chapel, so still that even the faint
+sweet sounds of wakening nature could be heard--the stirring of the
+partridge in her cover, the creeping of the squirrel from her hole, the
+murmur of the little brook, the rustle of the leaves, and, farther off,
+the deep thunder of the cascade, and the detonating echoes of the
+mountains.
+
+Sybil sat motionless, and almost breathless, lest she should disturb her
+beloved sleeper. But the next moment she could scarcely forbear
+screaming aloud; for there passed along the wall before her a figure
+that, even in the dim light, she recognized as the strange visitant of
+the preceding day. It came from the direction of the altar, and glided
+past each of the four windows and vanished through the door. When Sybil
+had repressed her first impulse to scream, self-control was easy, so she
+sat quietly holding her husband's hand, though much amazed by what she
+had again seen.
+
+Day broadened, and soon the rays of the rising sun, striking through the
+east windows, and lighting on the face of the sleeper, awoke him.
+
+He looked into the face of his wife, and then along the walls of the
+chapel, with a bewildered expression of countenance. This had been his
+first sleep for two nights, and it had been so deep that he had utterly
+forgotten the terrible drama of the two last preceding days, and could
+not at once remember what had happened, or where he was. But as he again
+turned and looked into Sybil's face, full memory of all flashed back
+upon him. But he did not allude to the past; he merely said to Sybil:
+
+"You have not slept, love."
+
+"I have not wished to do so," she answered.
+
+"This is a very primitive sort of life we are living, love," he said,
+with a smile, as he arose from the mattress.
+
+"But it is not at all an unhappy one," answered Sybil; "for, oh, since
+you are with me, I do not care much about anything else. Destiny may do
+what she pleases, so that she does not part us. I can bear exile,
+hunger, cold, fatigue, pain--anything but parting, Lyon!"
+
+"Do not fear that, love; we will never part for a single day, if I can
+help it."
+
+"Then let anything else come. I can bear it cheerfully," smiled Sybil.
+While they talked they were working also. Sybil was folding up the
+bedclothes, and Lyon was looking about for a bucket, to fetch water from
+the fountain. He soon found one, and went upon his errand.
+
+Sybil followed him with two towels. They washed their hands and faces
+in the stream, and dried them on the towels. And then they went higher
+up the glen, and caught a bucketful of delightful water from the crystal
+spring that issued from the rocks.
+
+They returned to the chapel, and together they made the fire and
+prepared the breakfast.
+
+It was not until they were seated at their primitively arranged
+breakfast, which was laid upon the flagstones of the chapel floor--it
+was not, in fact, until they had nearly finished their simple meal, that
+Sybil told Lyon of the apparition she had seen in the early dawn, to
+come up as if from the floor to the right of the altar, and glide along
+the east wall of the chapel, past the four gothic windows, and disappear
+through the door.
+
+"It was a morning dream, dear Sybil; nothing more," said Lyon,
+sententiously; for in the broad daylight he believed in nothing
+supernatural, even upon the evidence of his own senses.
+
+"If that were a morning dream, then the sight that we saw together
+yesterday was but a dream, and you are but a dream, and life itself is
+but a dream," replied Sybil, earnestly.
+
+"Well, at all events, what we have both, either separately or together,
+seen and experienced, must be something perfectly natural and
+commonplace, although we may not either of us be able to understand or
+explain it. My private opinion and worse misgiving is, that there is
+some woman concealed about the place. If ever I find myself in arm's
+length of that little gipsy, I shall intercept her, even at the risk of
+receiving such a spiritual-shock as that which struck Mrs. Alicia
+Dubarry to the ground," said Lyon, facetiously; for he might well make a
+jest of this lighter affair of the chapel mystery to veil the deep
+anxiety he felt in the heavy matter of their affliction.
+
+The husband and wife passed this second day of hiding tediously enough.
+She made the little housekeeping corner of the chapel tidy, by folding
+up and putting aside all their bedclothes and garments, and by washing
+and arranging their few cooking utensils. He brought in wood and brush,
+which he broke up and piled in another corner, to have it near at hand
+to replenish the fire. Also, he brought water from the spring; and then
+with no other instrument than his pocket-knife, he made a trap and set
+it to catch rabbits.
+
+Then they rambled together through the wilderness around the chapel, and
+the better they grew acquainted with the wild neighborhood, the surer
+they felt of their safety in its profound solitude.
+
+Their only anxiety connected with their security in this place, was upon
+the subject of the mysterious visitant. It was incomprehensible by any
+known law of nature.
+
+They talked of this mystery. They reverted to all the so-called
+"authenticated ghost stories" that they had ever read or heard, and that
+they had hitherto set down to be either impostures or delusions.
+
+But now here was a fact in their own experience that utterly confounded
+their judgment, and the end of their discussion on the subject left them
+just where they had been at its commencement. They resolved, however, to
+divulge the whole matter to Captain Pendleton, to whom they had not yet
+even hinted it, and to ask his counsel; and they looked forward with
+impatience to the evening visit of this devoted friend.
+
+As it was growing cold towards the setting of the sun they turned their
+steps again towards the chapel. It was quite dark when they reached it.
+Their fire had nearly gone out, but he replenished it, and she began to
+prepare the evening meal.
+
+While she was still engaged in this work, the sound of approaching
+footsteps warned them that Captain Pendleton was near. Lyon Berners went
+out to meet him.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+                         A GHASTLY PROCESSION.
+
+
+             If charnel-houses and our graves must send
+             Those that we bury back, our monuments
+             Shall be the maws of kites.--SHAKESPEARE.
+
+
+"Well?" exclaimed Mr. Berners, eagerly.
+
+"Well, the flight is now discovered beyond all doubt. Search-warrants
+have been issued. My house is to be searched among the rest," replied
+Captain Pendleton.
+
+"What else?"
+
+"Arrangements are being made for the funeral of the dead woman. They
+will bury her the day after to-morrow in the church-yard at Blackville."
+
+"And what else?"
+
+"Nothing, but that I would not permit Joe to accompany me to-night. More
+precaution is now necessary to insure your safety."
+
+"And that is all?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then come in and see Sybil."
+
+They went in together, where Mrs. Berners greeted Captain Pendleton with
+her usual courtesy, and then immediately repeated her anxious questions.
+
+"Has the murderer been discovered? May we go home?"
+
+"Not yet, dear Madam!" answered Pendleton to both questions, as he sat
+down by the fire.
+
+"I have something to tell you, Pendleton, and to ask your advice about,"
+began Lyon Berners. And he related the mysterious vision that had thrice
+crossed their path.
+
+"Oh! it is a form of flesh and blood! We don't believe in apparitions at
+this age of the world! But this indeed must be looked to! If you have
+seen her here three times, of course she has seen you," said Captain
+Pendleton in much anxiety.
+
+"Most certainly she knows of our presence here, if she knows nothing
+else about us," replied Mr. Berners.
+
+"Then it is useless to attempt to conceal yourselves from her. She must
+be laid hold of, talked with, and won or bribed to keep our secret--to
+help us if possible. We must find out whether she will serve our
+purpose. If she will, it will be all quite right, and you may remain
+here until it is safe to depart; but if she will not, it will be all
+entirely wrong, and you must leave this place at all hazards," concluded
+Captain Pendleton.
+
+"Yes, it is very well for you to talk of intercepting her, but you had
+just as well try to intercept a shadow as it glides past you," put in
+Sybil, with a wise nod.
+
+"The attempt shall be made, at all events," determined Mr. Berners.
+
+Sybil was in the act of putting the supper--not on the table, for table
+there was none in the chapel--but on the cloth spread upon the
+flagstones, when Captain Pendleton, to give a lighter turn to their
+talk, said:
+
+"You may put a plate for me also, Mrs. Berners! I have not yet supped,
+and I'm glad I have got here in time to join you."
+
+"I am glad too! We are getting quite comfortably to housekeeping here,
+Captain. And Lyon has set his traps, and we shall soon have game to
+offer you when you come to visit us," replied Sybil quickly, responding
+to his gayety.
+
+"If I had only a gun, and could venture to use it, it would be a great
+relief, and we should be very well supplied," smiled Lyon.
+
+"Yes! if you had a gun, and should venture to use it, you would soon
+bring a _posse comitatus_ down upon you; We will have no reverberations
+of that sort, if you please, Lyon," recommended the Captain.
+
+And then they all sat down around the table-cloth, and Sybil poured out
+and served the coffee.
+
+Now, whether they were very thirsty, or whether the coffee was unusually
+good, or whether both these causes combined to tempt them to excess, is
+not known; but it is certain that the two gentlemen were intemperate in
+their abuse of this fragrant beverage; which proves that people can be
+intemperate in other drinks, as well as in alcoholic liquors. This
+coffee also got into their heads. Their spirits rose; they grew gay,
+talkative, inspired, brilliant. Even Sybil, who took but one cup of
+coffee, caught the infection, and laughed and talked and enjoyed herself
+as if she were at a picnic, instead of being in hiding for her life or
+liberty.
+
+In a word, some strange exhilaration, some wonderful intoxication
+pervaded the little party; but the most marvellous symptom of their case
+was, that they talked no nonsense--that while, under their adverse and
+perilous circumstances, such gayety was unnatural and irrational, yet
+their minds were clear and their utterances brilliant. And this abnormal
+exaltation of intellect and elevation of spirit continued for several
+hours, long into the night.
+
+Then the great reaction came. First Sybil grew very quiet, though not in
+the least degree sad; then Lyon Berners evinced a disposition rather to
+listen than to talk; and finally Captain Pendleton arose, and saying
+that this had been one of the strangest and pleasantest evenings he had
+ever passed in his, life, took leave of his friends and departed.
+
+Sybil was very sleepy, and as soon as their guest was gone she asked
+Lyon to help her with the mattress: that she was so drowsy she could
+scarcely move. He begged her to sit still, for that he himself would do
+all that was necessary. And with much good-will, but also much
+awkwardness, he spread the couch, and then went to tell Sybil it was
+ready. But he found her with her head upon her knees, apparently fast
+asleep. He lifted her gently in his arms, and carried her and laid her
+on the mattress. And then, feeling overcome with drowsiness, he threw
+himself down beside her, and fell into a profound sleep.
+
+But Sybil, as she afterwards told, did not sleep so deeply. It seemed,
+indeed, less sleep than stupor that overcame her. She was conscious when
+her husband raised her up in his arms and laid her on the bed; but she
+was too utterly oppressed with stupor and weariness to lift her eyes to
+look, or open her lips to speak, or, even after he had laid her down, to
+move a limb from the position into which it fell.
+
+So she lay like one dead, except in being clearly conscious of all that
+was going on around her. She knew when Lyon laid down, and when he went
+to sleep. And still she lay in that heavy state, which was at once a
+profound repose and a clear consciousness, for perhaps an hour longer,
+when suddenly the stillness of the scene was stirred by a sound so
+slight that it could only have been heard by one whose senses were, like
+hers at that time, preternaturally acute. The sound was of the slow,
+cautious turning of a door upon its hinges!
+
+Without moving hand or foot, she just languidly lifted her eyelids, and
+looked around upon the dim darkness.
+
+There was a faint glow from the smouldering fire on the flagstone floor,
+and there was a faint light from the starlit night coming through the
+windows. By the aid of these she saw, as in a dream, the door of the
+vault wide open!
+
+In her profound state of conscious repose there was no fear of danger,
+and no wish to move. So, still as in a dream, she witnessed what
+followed.
+
+First a dark, shrouded figure issued from the vault, and turned around
+and bent down towards it, as if speaking to some one within. But no word
+was heard. Then the figure backed a pace, drawing up from the steps of
+the vault what seemed to be a long narrow box. As this box came up, it
+was followed by another dark, shrouded figure, who supported its other
+end. And as the two mysterious apparitions now stood beside the altar,
+Sybil saw that the box that they held between them was a coffin!
+
+Nor was that all. While they moved a little down the side wall, they
+were followed by two other strange figures, issuing from the vault in
+the same order, and bearing between them, in the same manner, a second
+coffin; and as they, in their turn, filed down the side wall, they also
+were followed by still two others coming up out of the vault, and
+bringing with them a third coffin!
+
+And then a ghastly procession formed against the side wall. Three long
+shadowy coffins borne by six dark shrouded figures, filed past the
+gothic windows, and disappeared through the open chapel door.
+
+Sybil clearly saw all this, as in a nightmare from which she could not
+escape; she still lay motionless, speechless, and helpless, until she
+quite lost consciousness in a profound and dreamless sleep. So deep and
+heavy was this sleep, that she had no sense of existence for many hours.
+When at length she did awake, it seemed almost to a new life, so
+utterly, for a time, was all that had recently past forgotten. But as
+she arose and looked around, and collected her faculties, and remembered
+her position, she was astonished to see by the shining of the sun into
+the western windows, that it was late in the afternoon, and that they
+had slept nearly all day, for her husband was still sleeping heavily.
+
+Then she remembered the horrible vision of the night, and she looked
+anxiously towards the door of the vault. It seemed fast as ever. She got
+up and went to look at it. It _was_ fast, the bars firmly bedded in the
+solid masonry, as they had been before.
+
+What then had been the vision? She shuddered to think of it. Her first
+impulse was now to arouse her husband and tell him what had happened.
+But her tenderness for him pleaded with her to forbear.
+
+"He sleeps well, poor Lyon! let him sleep," she said, and she threw a
+shawl around her shoulders, and went out of the chapel to get a breath
+of the fresh morning air.
+
+She had to pass among the gray old gravestones lying deep in the
+bright-colored dew-spangled brushwood. As she picked her way past them,
+she suddenly stopped and screamed.
+
+Captain Pendleton was lying prostrate, like a dead man at the foot of an
+old tree!
+
+With a strong effort of the will, she controlled herself sufficiently to
+enable her to approach and examine him. He was not dead, as she had at
+first supposed; but he was in a very death-like sleep.
+
+She arose to her feet, and clasped her forehead with both hands while
+she tried to think. What could these things mean? The unnatural
+exhilaration of their little party on the previous evening; the powerful
+reaction that prostrated them all in heavy stupor or dreamless sleep,
+that had lasted some fifteen hours; the ghastly procession she had seen
+issue from the open door of the old vault, and march slowly down the
+east wall of the church, past all the gothic windows, and disappear
+through the front door; the spell that had so deeply bound her own
+faculties, that she had neither the power nor the will to call out;
+their visitor overtaken by sleep while on his way to mount his horse,
+and now lying prostrate among the gravestones? What could all these
+things mean?
+
+She could not imagine.
+
+However much she might have wished to spare her husband's rest up to
+this moment, she felt that she must arouse him now. She hurried back
+into the church, and went up to the little couch and looked at Lyon.
+
+He was moving restlessly, and muttering sadly in his sleep. And now she
+felt less reluctance to wake him from his troubled dream. She shook him
+gently, and called him.
+
+He opened his eyes, gazed at her, arose up in a sitting posture, and
+stared around for a moment, and then seeing his wife, exclaimed:
+
+"Oh! is it you, Sybil? What is this? the chapel seems to be turned
+around." And he gazed again at the western windows, where the sun was
+shining, and which he mistook for the eastern, supposing the time to be
+morning.
+
+"The chapel has not turned around, Lyon; but the sun has. It is late in
+the afternoon, and that is the declining and not the rising sun that you
+see."
+
+"Good gracious, Sybil! Have I slept so late as this? Why did you let
+me?"
+
+"Because I slept myself; we all slept; even to Captain Pendleton, who
+must have been overpowered by sleep on his way to his horse; for I have
+just found him lying among the gravestones."
+
+"What? Who? Pendleton asleep among the gravestones? Say that again. I
+don't understand."
+
+Sybil briefly repeated her statement.
+
+Lyon started up, shook himself as if to arouse all his faculties, and
+then went and douched his head and face with cold water, and finally, as
+he dried them, he turned to Sybil and said:
+
+"What is all this that you tell me? Where is Pendleton? Come and show
+me."
+
+Sybil led the way to the spot where their friend lay in his heavy sleep.
+
+"Good Heaven! He must have fallen down, or sunk down here, within three
+minutes of leaving the church!" exclaimed Lyon Berners, gazing on the
+sleeper.
+
+"Something must have happened to us all, dear Lyon. Do you remember how
+unreasonably gay we all were at supper last evening? We, too, who had
+every reason to be very grave and even sad? And do you remember the
+reaction? When we all grew so drowsy that we could hardly keep our eyes
+open? And then there was something else, which I will tell you of by and
+by. And now we have all slept fifteen or sixteen hours. Something
+strange has happened to us, Lyon," said Sybil, slowly.
+
+"Something has, indeed. But now we must arouse Pendleton. Good Heaven!
+he may have caught his death by sleeping out all night," exclaimed Mr.
+Berners, as he stooped down and shook the sleeper.
+
+But it was not without difficulty that Lyon succeeded in arousing
+Captain Pendleton, who, when he was fairly upon his feet, reeled like a
+drunken man.
+
+"Pendleton, Pendleton, wake up! What, man! what has happened to you?"
+exclaimed Lyon, trying to steady the other upon his feet.
+
+"Too late for roll-call. Bad example to the rank and file," murmured the
+Captain, with some remnant of a camp-dream lingering in his mind.
+
+Mr. Berners shook him roughly, while Sybil dipped up a double handful of
+water from a little spring at their feet, and threw it up into his face.
+
+This fairly aroused him.
+
+"Whew-ew! Phiz! What's that for? What the demon's all this? What's the
+matter?" he exclaimed, sneezing, coughing, and sputtering through the
+water that Sybil had flung into his face.
+
+"What's all this?" exclaimed Lyon Berners, echoing his question. "It is
+that we are all robbed and murdered, and carried into captivity, for all
+I know," he added, smiling, as he could not fail to do, at the droll
+figure cut by his friend.
+
+"How the deuce came I here?" demanded Pendleton, glaring around with his
+mouth and eyes wide open. "Is this enchantment?"
+
+"Something very like it, Pendleton. But come, man, this is no laughing
+matter. It is very serious. Therefore rouse yourself and collect your
+faculties. You will need them all, I assure you," gravely replied Lyon
+Berners.
+
+"But--how in thunder, came I here?" again demanded the Captain,
+shivering and staring around him.
+
+"We can not tell. My wife found you here about half an hour ago. You are
+supposed to have been overcome by drowsiness, while on your way to your
+horse, and to have sunk down here and slept from that time to this--some
+sixteen hours."
+
+"Good--! I remember taking leave of you both, after our lively supper of
+last evening, and starting for the thicket, and giving way just here to
+an irresistible feeling of drowsiness, and sinking down with the dreamy
+idea that I would not go to sleep, but would soon arise and pursue my
+journey. And I have lain here all night!" he exclaimed in astonishment.
+
+"Yes, and all day!" added Lyon, solemnly.
+
+"How is it that I was not awakened before?" demanded the Captain, with
+an injured look.
+
+"Because we ourselves were in the same condition. It is not more than
+fifteen minutes since my wife awakened me."
+
+"In the name of heaven, then, what has befallen us all?" demanded the
+Captain in amazement.
+
+"That is what we must try to find out. You must help us. I have been
+thinking rapidly while standing here, and the result is, that I judge we
+have all been drugged with opium; but whether by accident or with
+design, or if with design, by whom, or with what purpose, I cannot even
+imagine; though I do vaguely connect the fact with the mysterious
+visitant of the chapel," replied Mr. Berners.
+
+While he spoke they all turned their steps towards the chapel. And with
+his concluding words, they entered it in company.
+
+The "housekeeping corner" of the chapel was in a state of confusion very
+much at variance with the young housekeeper's fastidiously tidy habits.
+
+The supper dishes lay upon the table-cloth on the floor, where they had
+been uncared for by the drugged and drowsy pair. And the little bed
+remained unmade, as it had been left by them when they ran out to look
+after Captain Pendleton.
+
+Sybil saw all this at a glance, and with a flush; and forgetting for a
+moment everything else, she bade her husband and his guest stop where
+they were until she had put her "house" in order.
+
+In this limited manner of domestic economy, it took Sybil but ten
+minutes to make the bed and wash the dishes. And, meanwhile, Lyon
+Berners made up the fire, and Clement Pendleton brought a pail of fresh
+water from the fountain.
+
+Sybil began to prepare the breakfast, but none of the party felt like
+eating it.
+
+"And that is another sign of opium! We have no appetite," observed Lyon
+Berners, as they sat down around the table-cloth; and instead of
+discussing the viands before them, they discussed the events of the
+preceding day and night.
+
+Lyon Berners remembered that Sybil and himself had spent nearly the
+whole of the preceding afternoon in rambling through the woods; and he
+suggested as the only solution of the mystery that, during their absence
+some one had entered the chapel, and put opium in their food and drink.
+
+"'Some one;' but whom?" inquired Captain Pendleton, incredulously.
+
+"Most probably the girl whom we have seen here," answered Mr. Berners.
+
+"But for what purpose do you think she drugged your drink?"
+
+"To throw us into a deep sleep for many hours, which would enable her to
+come and go, to and from the chapel, undiscovered and unmolested."
+
+"But why should she wish to come back and forth to such a dreary, empty
+old place as this?"
+
+"Ah! that I cannot tell; at that point conjecture is utterly baffled,"
+answered Lyon.
+
+"Yes; because conjecture has been pursuing a phantom--a phantom that
+vanishes upon being nearly approached. I cannot accept your theory of
+the mystery, Berners; and what is worse, I cannot substitute one of my
+own," said Captain Pendleton, shaking his head.
+
+"And now I have something to reveal," said Sybil, solemnly.
+
+"Another morning dream?" inquired Lyon, while Pendleton looked up with
+interest.
+
+"No; a reality--a ghastly, horrible reality," she answered.
+
+And while both looked at her with strange, deep interest and curiosity,
+she related her sepulchral experiences of the night. When with pale
+cheeks and shuddering frame she described the six dark, shrouded forms
+that had come up out of the vault, bearing long shadowy coffins, which
+they carried in a slow procession down along the east wall, past the
+Gothic windows and out at the front door, her two listeners looked at
+her, and then at each other, in amazement and incredulity.
+
+"It was an opium dream," said Mr. Berners, in a positive manner.
+
+"It would be useless, dear Lyon, for me to tell you that I was rather
+wider awake then than I am now, yet I really was," said Sybil, with
+equal assurance.
+
+"And yet you did not lift hand or voice to call my attention to what was
+going on."
+
+"I did not wish to do it; my will seemed palsied. I could only gaze at
+the awful procession and think how ghastly it was, and thinking so, I
+sank into a dreamless sleep, and knew no more until I woke up this
+afternoon."
+
+"Meanwhile let us go and look at the door of the vault. You say the
+door was wide open?" inquired Captain Pendleton.
+
+"Of course it was wide open: that is, wide open last night when those
+horrible forms came up out of the vault; but this morning it was fast
+enough," answered Sybil.
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Mr. Berners.
+
+"I know what that 'oh!' means, Lyon. But I hope before we leave this
+chapel that you will find out that I can distinguish a dream from a
+dreadful reality," observed his wife.
+
+Meanwhile they had reached the iron door of the vault. It was fast.
+Pendleton took hold of the iron bars and tried to shake it; but the bars
+were bedded in solid stone, and the door was immovable. Then he looked
+through the grating down into the depths below, but he only saw the top
+of the staircase, the bottom of which disappeared in the darkness.
+
+"My dear Mrs. Berners," he then said, turning to Sybil, "I do not like
+to differ with a lady in a matter of her 'own experience'; but as we are
+in search of the truth, and the truth happens to be of the most vital
+importance to our safety, I feel constrained to assure you that this
+door, from its very appearance, assures us that it can not have been
+opened within half a century, and that consequently your 'own
+experience' of the last night cannot have been a reality, but must have
+been a dream."
+
+"I wish you could dream such a one, and then you would know something
+about it," answered Sybil.
+
+"I think you will have to come to my theory about the opium," put in Mr.
+Berners, "especially as I have pursued my 'phantom' one stage farther in
+her flight, and am able to assign a possible motive for her secret
+visits to the chapel."
+
+"Ah! do that, and we will think about agreeing with your views. Now then
+the motive," exclaimed Pendleton.
+
+"A lover."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+"Yes, a lover. She comes here to meet him; and not liking eye-witnesses
+to the courtship, she drugged us," said Mr. Berners, triumphantly.
+
+"That is the most violent and far-fetched theory of the mystery. Nothing
+but our desperate need of an elucidation could excuse its being put
+forward," said Captain Pendleton, drily. Then he spoke more earnestly:
+"Berners, whatever may be the true explanation of all that we have
+experienced here, one thing seems certain: that your retreat here is
+known to at least one person, who may or may not be inimical to your
+interests. Now my advice to you is still the same. Stop this girl the
+first time you see her again, and compel her to give an account of
+herself. Conceal your names and stations from her, if possible, and in
+any case bribe her to silence upon the subject of your abode here. If it
+were prudent, I should counsel you to leave this chapel for some other
+place of concealment; but really there seems now more danger in moving
+than in keeping still. So I reiterate my advice, that you shall enlist
+this strange girl in your interests."
+
+"But before cooking your hare, you must catch it," said Sybil. "We may
+see this visitant a dozen times more, but we will never be able to stop
+her. She appears and vanishes! Is seen and gone in an instant! But,
+Captain Pendleton, I will tell you what I wish you to do for me."
+
+"I will do anything in the world that you wish, except believe in
+ghosts."
+
+"Then you will bring me a crowbar, or whatever the tool or tools may be
+with which strong doors may be forced. I want that grated iron door
+forced open, that we may go down into that vault and see what it holds."
+
+"Good Heavens Mrs. Berners!" he exclaimed, striking a theatrical
+attitude.
+
+    "'Would'st bid me burst
+     The loathsome charnel-house, and
+     Spread a pestilence?'"
+
+"I want to see what is in it; and I _will_," persisted Sybil.
+
+"Bring the tools when you come again, Pendleton, and we will open the
+door, and examine the vault," added Mr. Berners.
+
+"Ugh! you will find it full of coffins and skeletons--
+
+    "'And mair o' horrible and awfu'
+     Whilk e'en to name wad be unlawfu'.'"
+
+"You are in a poetical mood, Pendleton."
+
+"And you are in a sepulchral one. Both effects of the opium, I suppose."
+
+While they talked the sun went down.
+
+Captain Pendleton remained with his friends until the twilight deepened
+into darkness; and then, promising to return the next night, and
+wondering where he should find his horse, or how he should get home, he
+took leave and departed.
+
+The strange life of the refugees in the Haunted Chapel seriously
+interfered with their hitherto regular and healthful habits. They had
+slept nearly all day, when they should have been awake. And now they
+intended to watch all night, partly because it was impossible for them
+to sleep any more then, and partly because they wished to stop their
+mysterious visitant, in the event of her reappearance.
+
+But the girl in the red cloak came not that night, no, nor even the next
+day; nor did any other mysterious visitor or unusual event disturb their
+repose, or excite their curiosity.
+
+Late that night their faithful friend returned, according to his
+promise. He told them that he had found his poor horse still in the
+thicket where he had left him, with water and grass in his reach. That
+he had got home in safety, where his absence had not excited any
+anxiety, because his sister had supposed him to be at Black Hall.
+
+He then described the funeral of Rosa Blondelle, which had taken place
+that day, and which had been attended not only by all the county gentry,
+who had gathered to show their respect and sympathy for the dead, but
+also by crowds of all sorts of people, who came in curiosity to the
+scene.
+
+And then, taking advantage of a few minutes during which Sybil was
+engaged in her housekeeping corner of the chapel, he told Mr. Berners
+that the search-warrants having failed to find the fugitives, a rumor
+had been spread that they had certainly left the neighborhood on the
+morning of the murder, and that they had been seen at Alexandria, by a
+gentleman who had just come from that city.
+
+"This story," added Captain Pendleton, "is so confidently reported and
+believed, that an officer with a warrant has been this day dispatched to
+Annapolis."
+
+"Oh! good Heaven! How zealously her old neighbors do hunt my poor
+guiltless Sybil," groaned Mr. Berners.
+
+"Take courage! This rumor, together with the journey of the officer to
+Annapolis, opens a way for your immediate escape. So I propose that you
+prepare to leave this place to-morrow night, and take a bee line to
+Norfolk. There you must take the first outward bound ship for Europe,
+and remain abroad until you can with safety return home."
+
+At this moment Sybil came up.
+
+Without mentioning to her the existence of the warrants which were out
+against her, and which was the only part of Captain Pendleton's
+communication that it was expedient to conceal from her, Lyon Berners,
+with a smile of encouragement, told her that they were to leave the
+Haunted Chapel the next night, to go to Norfolk.
+
+"And we cannot even yet go home?" sighed Sybil.
+
+"No, dear wife; it would scarcely yet be prudent to do so. But we can go
+to Europe, and travel over the Continent, and see the wonders of the
+Old World, leaving our friend here with a power of attorney to manage
+our estate and collect our revenues, and remit us money as we require
+it. We can stay abroad and enjoy ourselves until such time as justice
+shall be done, and we can return to our home, not only with safety, but
+in triumph," replied Lyon Berners, cheerfully.
+
+Sybil too caught the infection of his cheerful manner, whether that were
+real or assumed, and she too brightened up.
+
+The friends then discussed the details of the projected flight.
+
+"In the first place," began Captain Pendleton, "you must both be so well
+disguised as to seem the opposite of yourself in rank, age, and personal
+appearance. You, Lyon, must shave off your auburn beard, and cut close
+your auburn hair, and you must put on a gray wig and a gray beard--those
+worn by your old Peter, in his character of Polonius at your mask ball,
+will, with a little trimming, serve your purpose. Then you must wear a
+pair of spectacles and a broad-brimmed hat and an old man's loose
+fitting, shabby travelling suit. I can procure both the spectacles and
+the clothes from the wardrobe of my deceased father. Mrs. Berners, too,
+should cut her hair short, and wear a red wig and a plain dress. The wig
+you wore as Harold the Saxon will suit very well, with a little
+arrangement. Then I can procure the dress from my sister. You must
+travel as a poor old farmer, and your wife must go as your red-headed
+illiterate daughter. You are both excellent actors, and can sustain your
+parts very well."
+
+"Dear me!" said Sybil, half crying, half smiling; "I have been warned
+that it is never well to begin any enterprise of which one does not know
+the end. And I'm sure when I undertook to give a mask ball and take a
+character in it, I had not the slightest idea that the masquerade would
+last longer than a night, or that I should have to continue to act a
+character."
+
+"Never mind, darling; it is but for a season. Go on, Pendleton. You seem
+to have settled everything in your own mind for us. Let us hear the rest
+of your plan," said Mr. Berners.
+
+"It is this," continued the Captain. "I will bring these disguises to
+you to-morrow night. I will also have a covered cart, loaded with
+turnips, potatoes, apples, and so forth; I will have this cart driven by
+your faithful Joe down to the Blackville ferry-boat, in which of course
+he can cross the river with his load of produce unsuspected and
+unquestioned."
+
+"Or even if some inquisitive gossip should ask him where he might be
+going, Joe would be ready with his safe answer. He can beat us in
+baffling inquiry," put in Sybil.
+
+"Like all his race," laughed Lyon.
+
+"The chance you have mentioned is provided for. Joe is instructed to
+answer any haphazard questioner, that he is bringing the load to me,
+which will be the truth."
+
+"But proceed, dear Pendleton. Develop your whole plan," urged Mr.
+Berners.
+
+"Well, then, once safe on this side of the river, Joe will drive the
+cart to some convenient spot, to which I myself will guide you."
+
+"Ah, how much trouble you take for us, Pendleton!" sighed Lyon.
+
+"Not at all. As far as I am concerned, it is a piquant adventure. Try to
+look at it in that light. Well, to our subject. When you reach the cart
+you can put your wife inside, and then mount the driver's seat, and
+start upon your journey like a plain old farmer going to market to sell
+his produce. As you will have but the one pair of horses for the whole
+journey, you will see the necessity of making very short stages, in
+order to enable them to complete it."
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"And now listen! Because you must make these short stages and frequent
+stoppages, and because you must avoid the most travelled roads, it will
+be necessary for you to take a map of the State, and follow the most
+direct route to Norfolk."
+
+"Which is not the turnpike road used by the mail stagecoaches, for that
+diverges frequently five or ten miles to the right or left of the line,
+to take in the populous villages," put in Lyon Berners.
+
+"Yes; I see you comprehended me! Well, I should farther advise you, when
+you reach Norfolk, to put up at some obscure inn near the wharves, and
+to embark in the very first ship that sails for Europe, even if it
+should set sail within an hour after your arrival."
+
+"You may rest assured that we shall not loiter in Norfolk," said Mr.
+Berners.
+
+"As for the draught horses and cart, if you have time, you can sell
+them. If not, you can leave them at the livery stable, and on the day of
+sailing post me a letter containing an order to receive them."
+
+"You think of everything, dear Pendleton."
+
+"I can't think of anything else just now," replied Captain Pendleton.
+
+"Well, then, we will have some supper," said Sybil rising to prepare it.
+
+"I declare, I never in all my life supped out so frequently as I have
+done since you two have been housekeeping in this old Haunted Chapel!
+And by the way, talking of that, have you seen any more apparitions? any
+more spectral gipsy girls? or shrouded forms? or shadowy coffins? or
+open vaults? eh, Mrs. Berners?" laughingly inquired Captain Pendleton.
+
+"No, nothing unusual has disturbed us, either last night or to-day. But
+now, talking of open vaults, have you brought the crowbar to force the
+door, sir?" said Sybil, turning sharply to the Captain.
+
+"Yes, dear Mrs. Berners; since I promised to bring it, I felt bound to
+do so; though I hope you will not really have it put to use."
+
+"Just as soon as supper is over, I will have that door forced open. I
+will see what that mysterious vault holds," said Sybil, firmly.
+
+And she almost kept her word.
+
+As soon as they had finished the evening meal, she arose and called upon
+the gentlemen to go with her and force the door of the vault.
+
+And they went and inserted the crowbar between the grating and the
+stonework, and wrenched with all their united strength; but their
+efforts availed nothing, even to move the door.
+
+They gave over their exertions to recover their breath, and when they
+had got it they began again with renewed vigor; but with no better
+success. Again they stopped to breathe, and again they re-commenced the
+task with all their might; but after working as hard as they could for
+fifteen minutes longer, they again ceased from sheer exhaustion, leaving
+the door as fast as they had found it.
+
+"It is of no use to try longer, Sybil. We cannot force it," said Mr.
+Berners.
+
+"I see that you cannot. The vault keeps its secrets well," she answered,
+solemnly.
+
+And then they returned to their seats near the fire, and sat and talked
+over the projected journey until it was time for Captain Pendleton to
+go.
+
+When the husband and wife were left alone, they felt themselves tired
+enough to go to rest, with a prospect of getting a good night's sleep.
+
+"This is the last night that we shall spend in this place, dear Sybil,"
+said Lyon Berners, as he put the smouldering brands together to keep the
+fire up till morning.
+
+Sybil replied with a deep yawn.
+
+And in a few minutes they laid down to rest, and in a very few more they
+fell asleep.
+
+How long they had slept Sybil had no means of knowing, when she was
+awakened by an impression that some cold damp creature had laid down on
+the front of the mattress close beside her. She opened her eyes and
+strained them around in a vague dread, but the inside of the chapel was
+dark as pitch. The fire had gone entirely out; she could not even see
+the outlines of the Gothic windows; all was black as Tartarus. But
+still--oh, horror!--she felt the cold damp form pressing close beside
+her.
+
+A speechless, breathless awe possessed her. She could not scream, but
+she cautiously put out her hand to make sure whether she was dreaming,
+when--horror upon horror!--it touched a clammy face!
+
+Still she did not cry out, for some potent spell seemed to bind her
+which at once tied her tongue and moved her hand; for that hand passed
+down over the slender form and straight limbs, and then up again, until
+it reached the still bosom, when--climax of horror!--it was caught and
+clasped in the clay-cold hand of the--WHAT?
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+                         GHOSTLY AND MYSTERIOUS
+
+
+           On horror's head Horrors accumulate.--Thompson.
+
+
+An icy sweat of terror bathed Sybil's form. She tried to cry out, and
+did utter a low half-stifled scream. But the cold fingers of the ghastly
+creature closed tightly upon hers, and a thin, hollow voice murmured:
+
+"Hush; don't you make a noise; don't be frightened. I can't hurt you.
+I'm chilled almost to death. And you were so warm. I crept to your side
+to tell you something. You are in hiding here, and so--_Ah-h-h_!"
+
+The reed-like murmur ended in a terrific shriek. There was a silent
+movement, and Sybil felt the clammy form snatched up from her side and
+borne away in the darkness.
+
+And then the spell that had bound her faculties was unloosed, and she
+uttered scream after scream as she shook and awakened her husband.
+
+"In the name of Heaven, Sybil, what now?" he exclaimed, as he started up
+into a sitting posture.
+
+"Oh, Lyon! for the love of mercy, get up! Get a light! I shall go mad in
+this horrible place!" she cried in a perfect frenzy of terror.
+
+"Calm yourself, Sybil. There is nothing to fear. I am here with you. I
+will strike a light," answered Lyon Berners quietly, as he got up and
+groped about in the darkness for the tinder-box.
+
+Striking a light in those days was not the quick and easy matter that it
+is now. When the tinder-box was at length found, the flint and steel had
+to be struck together until a spark was elicited to set fire to the
+tinder. So it was full five minutes from the time Lyon was awakened, to
+the moment that he lit the candle and looked upon the pale and
+horror-stricken face of his wife.
+
+"Now then, Sybil, what is it?" he inquired.
+
+"Oh, what is it! This place is full of devils!" she cried, shaking as
+with an ague fit.
+
+"My dear wife!" he said, in surprise and concern to see her shudder so
+fearfully, to hear her speak so wildly.
+
+"It _is_, I tell you, full of devils, Lyon!" she repeated with
+chattering teeth.
+
+There chanced to be a little wine in their stores. He went and poured
+some into a glass and brought it to her, made her drink it.
+
+"Now then, tell me what has thrown you into this state? What has
+happened to terrify you so much? another dream, vision, apparition?
+what?" he inquired, as he took from her hand the empty glass.
+
+"Oh, no, no, no! no dream, no vision, nothing of that sort. It was too
+dark to see anything, you know; but oh! it was something so ghastly and
+horrible that I shall never, never get over it!" she exclaimed, while
+shudder after shudder shook her frame.
+
+"Tell me," he said soothingly.
+
+"Oh, it was a damp girl!" she cried.
+
+"A damp girl!" he echoed in amazement and alarm; for he almost feared
+his dear wife was going crazy.
+
+"Oh yes, a damp girl! A clay-cold, clammy, corpse-like form of a girl!"
+
+"Where? when? what about her?"
+
+"Oh, I woke up and felt her lying by my side! so close that she chilled
+and oppressed me! I put out my hand, and she caught it in her deathly
+fingers! I screamed, but she spoke to me! She was about to tell me
+something, when she was suddenly snatched up and torn away!"
+
+"My dear Sybil, this was nightmare again!"
+
+"Oh, no, no, no! I have had nightmare, and know what it is! It is not
+like this! All this was real, as real as you and I! This place is full
+of devils!"
+
+"My darling wife, have you lost your senses?"
+
+"Oh, no; but I shall lose them if I stay in this demon-haunted place a
+day longer!"
+
+"Thank Heaven! we will not have to stay here a day longer. We leave,
+this coming evening. And see! the morning is dawning, Sybil; and with
+the coming of the light, all these shadows of darkness and phantoms of
+fear will flee away," said Lyon with a smile.
+
+"Oh, you don't believe me. You never do believe me. But oh! let me tell
+you all about this ghastly thing, and then perhaps you will see that it
+is real," said Sybil.
+
+And still in much agitation of spirits, she told him all the
+particulars of her strange visitation.
+
+He still believed in his soul that she had been the victim of incubus,
+but he would not vex her by persisting in saying so. He only repeated
+that the morning was at hand, when all the terrors of the night would be
+dispersed; and added that they would not have to pass another night in
+the "demon-peopled place," as this would be the very last day of their
+stay.
+
+As soon as it was light enough, they dressed themselves, and set about
+their simple daily work. He made the fire, and brought the water; and
+she cleared up their housekeeping corner, and prepared the breakfast.
+
+When the sun arose and streamed in at the east windows, lighting up
+every nook about the interior of the old chapel, they saw that
+everything remained in the same condition in which they had left it when
+they had gone to rest on the evening previous.
+
+Lyon Berners felt more than ever convinced that his dear Sybil had been
+the victim of repeated nightmares; that all the seemingly supernatural
+phenomena of the Haunted Chapel had been only the creation of her own
+morbid imagination; that nothing connected with the mystery had been
+real, with the exception of the appearance of the girl in the red cloak,
+whom Mr. Berners decided to be an ordinary human habitue of the place.
+
+But the idea of this visitor made him only the more anxious for Sybil's
+sake, to get away.
+
+This last day of their sojourn in the Haunted Chapel was passed by the
+refugees in great impatience, but without any event worth recording.
+
+With the night came their untiring friend Captain Pendleton, attended by
+Joe, who bore upon his broad back a large pack containing the disguises.
+
+After the usual greetings, and while Sybil, with a woman's curiosity,
+was examining the contents of the pack which Joe opened and displayed
+before her, Pendleton found an opportunity of whispering to Lyon
+Berners:
+
+"The false rumor is as rife as false rumors usually are. Every one
+reports with confidence, and every one else believes with assurance,
+that you are both in Annapolis, and will certainly be found by the
+officers within a few days. This is good, as it will lead off all
+pursuit from your road to Norfolk."
+
+Lyon Berners nodded in reply. And Sybil came up to make some
+preparations for supper.
+
+"Well, Mrs. Berners," spoke the Captain, gayly, "any more supernatural
+phenomena?"
+
+"Oh, I wish you had not asked that question!" exclaimed Lyon Berners,
+while Sybil grew deadly pale, and shivered from head to foot.
+
+"Why, what's the matter now?" demanded the Captain, lifting his eyebrows
+in surprise.
+
+"Oh, the damp girl!" exclaimed Sybil, shuddering.
+
+"The damp girl!" echoed the Captain, in growing wonder.
+
+Lyon Berners shrugged his shoulders, while Sybil, in agitated tones,
+recounted her strange visitation of the night before.
+
+"As clearly defined a case of incubus as ever I heard in my life," was
+the prompt decision of Captain Pendleton.
+
+Sybil grew angry.
+
+"I only wish," she sharply answered, "that you would once experience the
+like, for then you could know that it could not be nightmare."
+
+"Then, my dear Mrs. Berners, if this was not incubus, what do you
+suppose it to have been?"
+
+"A _real_ visitation; but whether a natural or supernatural one, of
+course I can not tell," she answered.
+
+Sybil got the supper ready, and they all sat down to partake of that
+meal together, for the last time in the Haunted Chapel.
+
+After supper the final preparations for their departure were made.
+
+Sybil felt all the reluctance of a beauty to part with her splendid
+black hair. But on trying the experiment, she found that she could
+effectually conceal it, without cutting it off. She combed it straight
+back from her forehead, and let it hang down her shoulders under her
+sack. Then she covered her head and neck with the flowing red locks of
+Harold's wig.
+
+Lyon cut close his auburn hair, shaved off his moustache, and donned a
+gray wig and a gray beard, without the slightest remorse.
+
+A very few minutes sufficed to complete their disguise, and they stood
+forth--Lyon and Sybil transformed into a gray old farmer and a
+shock-headed country girl.
+
+"And now, about these housekeeping articles that we must leave here?
+They are of very little value in themselves; but they _may_ be found,
+and if so, may lead to our discovery," suggested Mr. Berners, uneasily.
+
+"Never you mind _them_, Master. I'll ondertake to get them away,
+onbeknowst to any body, sar," promised Joe.
+
+"And I will see that this is done," added Captain Pendleton in a low
+voice, for he did not wish to wound poor Joe's sensitive self-love.
+
+"And now, my dear Sybil, are you sure you have got all that you need in
+your bag?" inquired Mr. Berners.
+
+"All that I shall need until we get to Norfolk, Lyon. There, indeed, we
+must get a supply of necessary clothing," she answered.
+
+"That of course. And by the way, have you the money and jewels safe?"
+
+"All secure."
+
+"Oh Lyon! I brought this for you, and I had better give it to you at
+once, lest I should forget it," put in Captain Pendleton, passing over
+to Mr. Berners a large roll of gold coins.
+
+"But my dear Pendleton--"
+
+"Oh, nonsense! take them. I can reimburse myself from the revenues of
+Black Hall. Am I not to have the freedom of that fine estate?"
+
+"Very true," answered Mr. Berners, pocketing the money.
+
+"And now, are we ready?" inquired the Captain.
+
+"Quite," answered Mr. and Mrs. Berners at once.
+
+"Then let us start at once," advised the Captain, setting the example by
+taking up Sybil's large travelling bag.
+
+Lyon Berners carried his portmanteau on one arm, while he gave his other
+to his wife.
+
+Joe loaded himself with a great basket filled with provisions for the
+journey.
+
+And together they all set forth from the Haunted Chapel. It was a clear,
+cold, starlight night. The gravestones in the old church-yard glimmered
+gray among the brushwood, as the fugitives picked their way through it.
+
+When they reached the narrow path leading through the thicket, they had
+to walk in single file until they emerged from the wood and found
+themselves upon the old road running along the river bank. Here the
+wagon with a pair of draught horses was waiting them.
+
+Their luggage was put in on top of bags of potatoes, turnips, etc., with
+which the back part of the wagon was loaded. Then Captain Pendleton
+assisted Sybil to mount to a seat made by a low-backed chair with a
+woolen counterpane thrown over it. Lyon Berners got up into the driver's
+place. All being now ready for the start, Captain Pendleton and Joe come
+up to the side of the wagon to bid farewell to the travellers.
+
+"Heaven bless you, Pendleton, for your faithful friendship and zealous
+labors in our behalf," said Mr. Berners, warmly shaking the Captain's
+hand.
+
+"Amen, and Amen! We shall never forget, and never cease to thank and
+bless you, dear friend," added Sybil, with tears in her eyes, as she
+gave him her hand.
+
+"May the Lord grant you a safe journey and a quick return," said Clement
+Pendleton, as he pressed the lady's hand and relinquished it.
+
+"And I sez Amen to that! Oh, Marser! Oh, Missus! come back to your poor
+old Joe soon! His heart will snap into ten thousand flinders, if you
+don't!" sobbed the poor negro, as he shook hands with his young master
+and mistress.
+
+Then with a mutual "God be with you," the four friends parted.
+
+Captain Pendleton, sighing, and Joe, weeping, bent their steps up the
+banks of the river towards the fording place, where they would have to
+cross to find their horses on the other side.
+
+Lyon Berners cracked his long wagoner's whip, and started on the road
+leading away from the river towards the east.
+
+It was yet early in the autumn night, and but for the cause of the
+journey, the young pair would have enjoyed it very much.
+
+"It is a very pleasant evening for the season," said Lyon, cheerfully
+looking up at the clear, blue-black, star-spangled sky.
+
+"Yes, indeed," answered Sybil briskly.
+
+"Are you quite comfortable, darling?"
+
+"Very! Captain Pendleton, dear Captain Pendleton, arranged my seat so
+nicely. It is so soft and easy. I could go to sleep here, if I were
+sleepy."
+
+"You may have to sleep there, dear. We must travel all night, in order
+to get a good distance from this neighborhood before morning."
+
+"I can bear that very well, as comfortably as I am placed. But you,
+dear Lyon, you who are driving, you will be tired to death."
+
+"Not at all. My work to-night will not be more than many men frequently
+undertake for mere amusement."
+
+"And the horses?"
+
+"Strong draught horses like these can work eight or ten hours at a
+stretch, if they are well fed and rested between times."
+
+"Oh! I'm so glad I have got away from the Haunted Chapel and the
+ghosts!" suddenly exclaimed Sybil.
+
+"And especially from the 'damp girl,'" laughed Lyon Berners.
+
+"Oh, don't mention her!" shuddered Sybil.
+
+They were now entering one of those frequent mountain passes that
+diversified their road, and the care of driving required all Lyon's
+attention.
+
+They travelled all night as nearly in a direct line towards the far
+distant city as the nature of the ground would permit. At daylight they
+found themselves in the midst of a deep forest, some twenty miles east
+of Blackville. Here, as the road was naturally broad and the trees tall
+and sparse, and especially as a clear stream of water ran along on one
+side, the travellers decided to stop and rest, and refresh themselves
+and their horses until noon.
+
+Lyon Berners got out and, followed by Sybil, went a little way into the
+woods, where they found a small opening and a spring of clear water.
+
+Here Lyon gathered brushwood and made a fire, while Sybil returned to
+the wagon and brought back a basket of provisions. Among them was a
+bottle of coffee already made, and which she turned into a small tin
+coffee-pot, and set on the fire to be warmed.
+
+And while Lyon went back to the wagon to attend to the wants of his
+horses, Sybil spread a very good breakfast of coffee, bread, and ham,
+upon the ground near the fire.
+
+When they had given their horses time enough to rest they resumed their
+journey, still travelling towards the east.
+
+Lyon consulted his map and his pocket compass, and found that directly
+in their line lay the small village of Oakville, nestled in an
+unfrequented pass of the mountains.
+
+"We can reach the place at about ten o'clock this evening, and there we
+can get a regular supper and good sleep," he said to his wife.
+
+And they travelled all the remainder of that day, and at about half-past
+nine they arrived at Oakville. The village was off the public road, and
+consisted only of a sleepy old tavern, to which the neighboring farmers
+came to drink, smoke, and gossip; a post-office, to which the mail was
+brought once a week by a boy on horseback; and a blacksmith shop,
+patronized by the sparse population of the immediate neighborhood.
+
+Up before the stable of this old tavern Lyon Berners drove his wagon;
+and here he alighted, handed out Sybil, and led her over to the house
+and into the public parlor.
+
+A fat and lazy-looking hostess came to look at them.
+
+"I want accommodations for myself, my girl here, and my horses and
+wagon, which I left in the stable yard," said Mr. Berners, speaking
+coarsely, with two lumps of liquorice in his mouth, which he had taken
+to disguise his voice.
+
+"And what might your name be, farmer?" inquired the landlady.
+
+"My name's Howe," answered Lyon, truly, giving his own patronymic, now
+his middle name.
+
+"Well, farmer, I reckon we can accommodate you. Going to market?"
+
+"Yes, we're on our way to market."
+
+"You come from far?"
+
+"From the other side of the mountain."
+
+"Well, I reckon we can accommodate you. You must excuse me asking you
+so many questions; but the truth is you're a perfect stranger to me, and
+it is very late for you to come here, you know; which I wouldn't think
+so much of that nyther, only since that horrid murder at Black Hall I
+have mistrusted every stranger I see."
+
+Sybil's heart gave a bound, and then sank like lead in her bosom, at
+hearing this allusion. Lyon also felt an increased uneasiness. Luckily
+they were sitting with their backs to the light, so that the gossiping
+landlady could not read the expression of their faces, which indeed she
+was too much absorbed in her subject to attempt to do. So she went
+straight on without stopping to take breath:
+
+"Not that I mistrust you now, sir, which I see exactly what you are; and
+which likewise your having of your darter with you is a rickymindation;
+for men don't go about a taking of their darters with them when they are
+up to robbery and murder, do they now, sir?"
+
+"I should judge not, though I am not familiar enough with the habits of
+such gentry to give a decided opinion," said farmer Howe.
+
+"You'll excuse me, sir; but I'm a lone widow living here, and not used
+to seeing much of anybody but my old neighbors, which come occasionally
+to enjoy of themselves; and I do mistrust most strangers--though not
+you, sir, with your darter, as I said before--but most other strangers,
+because they _do_ say hereabouts that it was a stranger to the place, a
+red-headed man, as put up at the inn at Blackville that night, and never
+was seen afterwards, as did that murder at Black Hall."
+
+"Ah! do they say that? I thought they laid it on a lady," observed
+farmer Howe.
+
+"La, sir! the idee of a lady doing such a thing! and a rale high-born
+lady of quality like Mrs. Burns, or whatever her name was, and doing of
+it to one she had took in for charity too; 'tan't likely, sir."
+
+"But you know, I suppose, that they did accuse a lady?"
+
+"Oh, yes; I know they did, and that the poor lady had to ran away and go
+to Annapolis. But that was that Blackville set, that an't got no sense;
+but as for us, over this side, _we_ believe it was that red-headed
+stranger as did it."
+
+"There's no doubt of it in the world," said farmer Howe, recklessly,
+feeling that he was expected to say something.
+
+And at this moment he looked towards Sybil, and saw that she could not
+endure the subject of discussion for one moment longer, so he turned to
+the landlady, and said:
+
+"We have travelled some distance, and feel very tired and hungry. Would
+you oblige us with supper as soon as possible? We do not need much, only
+let it be nice and warm."
+
+"Surely, sir, it is late; but we will do the best we can for you," said
+the landlady, hurrying away.
+
+Mr. Berners stooped to whisper to his wife.
+
+"Sybil, darling, I hail this woman's faith as a good omen. Keep up your
+courage, and--remain in that shady corner until I come back. I am going
+out to the stable to see that our horses are properly attended to."
+
+And then Lyon left the room.
+
+By the time he returned a table was set in that parlor, and a good
+supper spread for the travellers.
+
+When it was over, the landlady showed them to a couple of communicating
+rooms up stairs, where they passed a very comfortable night.
+
+At daybreak the next morning they arose and breakfasted, and resumed
+their journey.
+
+Lyon Berners again consulted his map of the State and his pocket
+compass, and laid out his road. It lay for all that day up and down, in
+and out, among the wildest passes of the Allegheny Mountains. At noon
+they stopped for an hour, to rest and refresh themselves and their
+horses, and then again went forward. At night they reached another
+hamlet at the foot of the mountain range. They put up at this hamlet,
+which was called Dunville, and which boasted one tavern kept by an old
+Revolutionary pensioner called Purley.
+
+Here also Lyon Berners gave his name as Howe, and here again he and his
+wife were destined to be told all about the murder.
+
+"You see, sir, a little below us there, on the other side of the
+mountain, they do say as the murder was done by the woman's husband, as
+she had run away from; but they are a set of poor ignorant folks out
+there! Now it stand to reason, sir, it couldn't have been done by him,
+and it must have been done by some member of that band of burglars that
+they say is lurking somewhere there-a-way by Black Hall."
+
+"Band of burglars!" echoed Farmer Howe, in astonishment. And he was
+almost about to betray himself by saying that there could be no such
+band there, when he recollected his position, and held his tongue.
+
+Farmer Howe and his daughter spent a refreshing night at old Purley's
+tavern at Dunville, and at daybreak next morning, after a very early
+breakfast, they resumed their journey.
+
+And again, as usual, Lyon Berners consulted his map and his compass. He
+now found that his most direct route lay through a thick forest, between
+two mountain ridges.
+
+They travelled all the morning, and as usual stopped at noon for rest
+and food for themselves and their four-footed friends. In the afternoon
+they set forth again, and travelled until they reached Iceville, a
+considerable village situated high upon one of the table-lands of the
+Blue Ridge. In this town there were three taverns. Farmer Howe and his
+daughter put up at the most humble of the trio. And here too the talk of
+the hour was the homicide at Black Hall.
+
+"They say about here that it was one of the lady's admirers who killed
+her in a fit of desperation from love and jealousy; for the lady was
+well beknown to be a great coquette," said one village authority to
+another, in the presence of Farmer Howe.
+
+When our travellers found themselves alone that night, in one of the two
+small adjoining rooms that had been assigned to them, Lyon Berners
+turned to Sybil, and said;
+
+"You see, my dear Sybil, how it is: 'A prophet hath honor except in his
+own city.' No one out of the Black Valley thinks of accusing you."
+
+"All the world might accuse me, so that my own old friends and neighbors
+would justify me," said Sybil, sadly.
+
+They passed another night in peace, and the next morning, at daybreak as
+usual, they breakfasted, and then set out on their fourth and last day's
+journey.
+
+Again the map and the pocket compass was called into requisition, and
+Mr. Berners laid out their route for the day.
+
+Their way lay all that forenoon through the beautifully undulating,
+heavily wooded, and well-watered country lying east of the Blue Ridge.
+
+As before, they broke their journey by an hour's repose at noon, and
+then re-commenced it. And at twelve, midnight, they arrived safely at
+Norfolk.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXX
+
+                          FLIGHT AND PURSUIT.
+
+
+                 Oh, death were welcome!--COLERIDGE.
+
+
+On reaching Norfolk, Lyon Berners drove at once to an obscure tavern
+down by the wharves, and near the market. Here he found good stabling
+for his horses and wagon, and decent accommodation for himself and wife.
+
+"Come to market, I reckon, father?" suggested the landlord, taking the
+stump of an old pipe from his mouth for the purpose.
+
+"Yes," answered Lyon Berners, as "farmer Howe," taking off his
+broad-brimmed hat, handing it to Sybil, and then sinking slowly and
+heavily into a chair, like a very weary old man.
+
+"Your daughter, I reckon, farmer?" continued the landlord, pointing to
+Sybil with the stem of his pipe.
+
+"My only girl," answered Lyon Berners, evasively.
+
+"And no boys?" inquired the landlord.
+
+"No boys," replied Lyon.
+
+"That's a pity; on a farm too. But you must try to get a good husband
+for the girl, and that will be all one as a boy of your own! Never had
+any children but this, farmer, or did you have the misfortune to lose
+'em?"
+
+"I never had but this one girl," answered Lyon Berners still evasively.
+
+"Then you must be very fond of that girl, I reckon."
+
+"She is all the world to me," said Lyon, truly.
+
+"Then he ought to be all the world to you, honey."
+
+"And so I am," said Lyon, answering for Sybil, whom he could not yet
+trust to act a part; though he saw, the instant he glanced at her, that
+he might have done so; for Sybil, as soon as she saw attention drawn to
+herself, began to turn her head down upon one shoulder and simper shyly
+like an awkward rustic.
+
+"You must excuse _me_ for asking so many questions, farmer; but when I
+see a father and daughter together, like you and your girl, I think of
+myself, for I have an only daughter of my own. All the rest of my
+children--and I had a whole passel of boys and girls--are with their
+dear mother in heaven. So you see, farmer, I am a widower, with one gal
+like yourself--for I reckon, from what you said, you are a widower?"
+
+"My girl's mother has been dead many years," answered Lyon, with a drawl
+and a sigh.
+
+"Pappy, I'm so hungry and so sleepy I don't know what to do," said
+Sybil, in a low, fretful tone, frowning and pouting.
+
+"Yes, yes, honey; I reckon you are sure enough. So landlord, if you have
+got a couple of little rooms joining onto each other, I wish you'd let
+us have 'em. And we'd like a bit of supper besides," said Lyon Berners,
+with a sigh and a grunt.
+
+"To be sure. I'll go and call my girl directly, and she'll walk up to
+your rooms while I have the supper got ready. Where would you like to
+have it? down here, or in your room?" inquired the landlord.
+
+"In your room, Pappy. I hate a place like this a-smellin' of liquor and
+inyuns and things, and men coming in and out," said Sybil, digging her
+elbow into her "Pappy's" ribs, and turning up her nose at the little
+tavern sitting-room.
+
+"Well, then, honey, we'll have it up there. Up there, landlord, if it
+won't be putting of you to too much trouble."
+
+"Oh, not at all, farmer; it's all one to me. Now I'll go and call
+Rachel."
+
+And the inquisitive and communicative host went out, and soon returned
+with a young woman of about Sybil's own age.
+
+"This is my daughter, my Rachel, as I was telling you about, farmer.
+Rachel, honey, you just go long of the farmer and his daughter and show
+them where they've got to sleep, that's a good girl. Put 'em in the two
+little rooms over the bar, you know."
+
+"Yes, father. Come, sir; come, miss," said the landlord's daughter,
+leading the way from the smoky parlor.
+
+Lyon and Sybil followed her. Lyon walking slowly like a weary old man,
+and pausing at the head of the stairs, as if to recover his wind.
+
+"Pappy, you look tired to death," said Sybil, in a rough sympathetic
+voice.
+
+"Ay, ay; it is weary work for an old man to get up-stairs," grunted Lyon.
+
+"The stairs are very steep, but here you are," said the landlord's
+daughter, opening the door leading into two little communicating rooms.
+
+She entered, followed by Sybil and Lyon. She set the candle down on the
+top of the old chest of drawers, and turned around. And then the
+travellers noticed, for the first time, how beautiful the daughter of
+their host was.
+
+Rachel's face was of the purest type of beauty, combining the physical,
+intellectual, and spiritual. Her form was of medium height and perfect
+grace; her head was finely shaped, and covered with dark brown hair,
+parted in the middle and carried over the temples, and arranged in a
+knot behind; her forehead broad and full; her eyebrows were gently
+arched, her eyes dark luminous gray, with drooping lids and long
+fringes; her nose small and straight, her lips full, small, and plump,
+and her chin was round and well set. There were some flaws in this
+otherwise perfect beauty and grace of form and face; for her complexion
+was very pale, her expression pensive, and her walk slightly limping.
+
+While Sybil was observing her with both admiration and pity, and
+wondering whether she did not suffer from some hereditary malady that
+had carried off her mother and all her sisters and brothers, Rachel
+spoke:
+
+"I think you have everything here that you require; but if you should
+need anything else, please call, and I will come and attend to your
+wants."
+
+"Thanks!" answered Sybil, sweetly, forgetting her assumed character, and
+beginning to speak in her natural voice, for it seemed so difficult to
+act a part in the presence of this girl.
+
+But Lyon set his coarse boot upon Sybil's foot, and pressed it as a
+warning, and then answered for both, saying:
+
+"Thank y', honey, but I don't reckon we'll want anything but our supper,
+and the old man said how he'd send that up here himself."
+
+"Then I will leave you. Good night. I hope you will have a good sleep,"
+answered Rachel, bending her head.
+
+"What a fine face that girl has," said Lyon Berners, as she withdrew.
+
+"Yes; and what a sweet voice!" answered Sybil.
+
+"But she is very pale, and she limps as she walks; did you notice?"
+
+"Yes; I suppose she has ill health--probably the same malady that
+carried off her mother, and all her sisters and brothers."
+
+"Very likely."
+
+"Consumption?" suggested Sybil.
+
+"Scrofula," sententiously replied Lyon.
+
+"Oh, what a pity!" said Sybil, when their conversation was cut short by
+the entrance of the landlord, bringing a waiter with the plain supper
+service and a folded table-cloth, and followed by a young man bearing
+another waiter piled up with materials for a supper more substantial
+than delicate.
+
+The little table was quickly set, and the meal arranged and then the
+landlord, after asking if anything more was wanted, and being told there
+was not, left the room, followed by his attendant.
+
+Lyon and Sybil made a good supper, and then, as there were no bells in
+that primitive house of entertainment, he put his head out of the door
+and called for some one to come and take away the service.
+
+When the waiter had cleared the table, and the travellers were again
+left alone, Lyon said to Sybil:
+
+"I must leave you here, dear, while I go down to the water-side and
+inquire what ships are about to sail for Europe. You will not be afraid
+to stay here by yourself?"
+
+"Oh, no indeed! this is not the Haunted Chapel, thank Heaven!" answered
+his wife.
+
+"Nor Rachel, the damp girl," added Lyon.
+
+"No, poor child; but she may very soon become one," sighed Sybil.
+
+And Lyon put on his broad-brimmed hat and went out.
+
+Sybil locked the door, took off her red wig, and her coarse outer
+garment, and took from her travelling bag a soft woolen wrapper and a
+pair of slippers and put them on, and sat down before the fire to make
+herself comfortable. At first the sense of relief and rest and warmth
+was enough to satisfy her; but after an hour's waiting in idleness, the
+time hung heavily on her hands, and she grew homesick and lonesome. She
+thought of the well-stocked library of Black Hall; of her bright
+drawing-room, her birds, her flowers, her piano, her easel, her
+embroidery frame, her Skie terrier, her tortoise shell cat and kittens,
+her fond and faithful servant, the many grand rooms in the old hall; the
+negroes' cabins, the ancient trees, the river, the cascade, the
+mountains--the thousand means of occupation, amusement, and interest,
+within and around her patrimonial home, the ten thousand ties of
+association and affection that bound her to her old place, and she
+realized her exile as she had never done before. Her spirit grew very
+desolate, and her heart very heavy.
+
+But Sybil really was not a woman to give way to any weakness without an
+effort. She got up and tried to engage herself by examining the two
+little rooms that were to be her dwelling place for a day or a week, as
+chance might direct.
+
+There was not much to interest her. The furniture was poor and old, but
+neat and clean, as anything under the care of pale Rachel was sure to
+be. Then Sybil looked about to try to find some stray pamphlet or book,
+that she might read. But she found nothing but a treatise on tanning and
+an old almanac until, happening to look behind the glass on the chest of
+drawers in the inner room, she discovered a small volume which she took
+to be the New Testament. She drew it from its hiding-place and sat down
+to read it. But when she opened the book, she found it to
+be--"Celebrated Criminal Trials."
+
+At once it seemed to have a fearful interest for her, and this interest
+was terribly augmented when, on further examination, she discovered that
+a portion of the work was devoted to the "Fatal Errors of Circumstantial
+Evidence."
+
+To this part of the book she turned at once, and her attention soon
+became absorbed in its subject. Here she read the cases of Jonathan
+Bradford, Henry Jennings, and many others tried for murder, convicted
+under an overwhelming weight of circumstantial evidence, executed, and
+long afterwards discovered to be entirely innocent of the crimes for
+which they had been put to death. Sybil read on hour after hour. And as
+this evening, while sitting in solitude and idleness and thinking of her
+home and all its charms, she had first realized the bitterness of her
+exile, so now, in reading these instances of the fatal effects of
+circumstantial evidence upon guiltless parties, she also first realized
+the horrors of her own position.
+
+She closed the book and fell upon her knees, and weeping, prayed for
+pardon of those fierce outbursts of hereditary passion, that had so
+often tempted her to deeds of violence, and that now subjected her to
+the dread charge of crime. Yes, she prayed for forgiveness of this sin
+and deliverance from this sinfulness, even before she ventured to pray
+for a safe issue out of all her troubles.
+
+Relieved, as every one feels who approaches our Father in simplicity and
+faith, she arose from her knees, and sat down again before the fire to
+wait for the return of her husband.
+
+He came at length, looking really tired now, but speaking cheerfully as
+he entered the room.
+
+"I have been gone from you a long time, dear Sybil, but I could not help
+it. I had to go to Portsmouth in search of our ship," he said, as he put
+his hat on the floor, and sat down at the fire.
+
+"Then you found a ship?" she inquired, with so much more than usual
+anxiety in her expression, that he looked up in painful surprise as he
+replied to her question.
+
+"Yes, dear; I have found a ship that will suit us. It is the
+'Enterprise,' Captain Wright, bound for Liverpool within a few days."
+
+"Oh! I wish it were to-morrow," sighed Sybil.
+
+"Why, love, what is the matter?" tenderly inquired her husband, taking
+her hand, and looking into her face.
+
+"_That_ is the matter," replied Sybil, with a shudder, as she took the
+volume she had been reading from the chimney piece and put it in his
+hands.
+
+It was a work with which Lyon Berners, as a law student, had been very
+familiar.
+
+"Why, where did you get this?" he inquired in a tone of annoyance, for
+he felt at once what its effect upon Sybil's mind must be.
+
+"Oh, I found it behind the looking-glass in the other room."
+
+"Left by some traveller, I suppose. I am sorry, Sybil, that you have
+chanced upon this work; but you must not let its subject influence you
+to despondency."
+
+"Oh, Lyon! how can I help it? I was so strong and cheerful in my sense
+of innocence, I had no idea how guiltless people could be convicted and
+executed as criminals."
+
+"My darling Sybil, all these cases that you have read were tried in the
+last century, a period of judicial barbarism. Courts of justice are more
+enlightened and humane now, in our times. They do not sacrifice sacred
+life upon slight grounds. Come, take courage! be cheerful! trust in God,
+and all will be well."
+
+"I do trust in the Lord, and I know all will be well; but oh! I wish it
+were to-morrow that ship is to sail?" answered Sybil.
+
+"It will sail very soon, dear. And now we had better go to rest, and try
+to get some sleep. In my character of market farmer, I have to be up
+very early in the morning to attend to my business, you know," said Lyon
+with a smile.
+
+Sybil acquiesced, and the fugitive couple retired for the night.
+
+Bodily fatigue so much overcame mental anxiety, that they slept
+profoundly, and continued to sleep until near daylight, when they were
+both aroused by a loud knocking at the door.
+
+"Oh, for Heaven's sake, who is that?" gasped Sybil, starting up in
+affright, for every knock now, scared her with the thought of sheriff's
+officers armed with a warrant for her arrest, and excited a whole train
+of prospective horrors.
+
+"Hush, darling, hush; it is only one of the men about the place waking
+me up, according to orders, to be in time for the market. We must keep
+up our assumed characters, my dear Sybil," said Mr. Berners, as the
+knocking was repeated, accompanied by the calls of,
+
+"Farmer! farmer!"
+
+"Aye, aye! I hear you. You needn't batter down the doors. I'm a-going to
+get up, though it's very early, and I an't as young as I used to be
+twenty years ago, nyther," grumbled the "farmer," as with many a grunt
+and sigh, as of an old and weary man, he got up and began to dress
+himself.
+
+"Sybil," he whispered to his wife before leaving the room, "I shall have
+to take my breakfast at a stall in the market-house, and I shall not be
+back until the market is out, which will be about twelve o'clock. You
+can have your breakfast brought up here. And mind, my darling, don't
+forget to put on your wig, and keep up your character."
+
+"I shall be very careful, dear Lyon," she answered, as he kissed and
+left her.
+
+Lyon Berners went down stairs, where he found the landlord, who was an
+"early bird," waiting for him.
+
+"Morning, farmer. What is it that you've brought to market, anyways?"
+he said, greeting his guest.
+
+"Mostly garden truck," answered Lyon.
+
+"No poultry, eggs, nor butter?"
+
+"No."
+
+"'Cause, if you had, I might deal with you myself."
+
+"Well, you see, landlord, them kind of produce is ill convenient to
+bring a long ways in a wagon. And I came from a good ways down the
+country," explained Lyon, as he took his long leathern whip from the
+corner where he had left it, and went out to look after his team.
+
+He found it all right, and he mounted the seat and drove to the market
+space, and took a stand, and began to offer his produce as zealously as
+any farmer on the ground--taking care, in the mean time, to wear his
+spectacles and broad-brimmed hat, and to keep up his character in voice
+and manner; and, as the morning advanced, he began to drive a brisk
+business.
+
+Meantime Sybil, left alone in her poor room at the little inn, arose
+and locked the door after Lyon, to prevent intrusion before she should
+effect her disguise, and when she had thus insured her privacy, she
+began to dress.
+
+As soon as she had transformed herself, she opened the door and called
+for Rachel.
+
+The landlord's daughter entered, giving her guest good-morning, and
+kindly inquiring how she had slept.
+
+"I slept like a top! But I'm not well this morning neither. So I'd just
+like to have my victuals sent up here," answered Sybil.
+
+"Very well; what would you like?"
+
+"Fried fish, and pork-steaks, and bri'led chickings, and grilled bacon,
+and--let me see! Have you any oysters?"
+
+"Yes, very fine ones."
+
+"Well, then, I'll take some stewed oysters too, and some poached eggs,
+and preserved quinces, and fried potatoes, and corn pone, and hot rolls,
+and buckwheat cakes, and cold bread and butter, and some coffee, and
+buttermilk and sweet milk. And that's all, I believe; for, you see, I
+an't well, and I haven't come to my stomach yet; but if I can think of
+anything else, I will let you know.
+
+"Is your father going to eat his breakfast with you?"
+
+"Who? pappy? No; he's gone to market, and will get his victuals at the
+eating stall. Wouldn't it be good fun to keep a eating stall in a
+market?"
+
+"I don't think so."
+
+"Well, never mind whether you do, or not. Hurry up with my victuals."
+
+"Yes; but I'm afraid we haven't got all the things you want; but I will
+bring you up what we have," said the girl, who had opened her eyes
+widely at the bill of fare ordered by her sickly guest.
+
+"Well, go do it then, and don't stop to talk," said Sybil, shortly.
+
+Rachel went out, and in due time returned with a waiter containing
+Sybil's breakfast.
+
+"Why, there an't half--no, not a quarter of the things I told you to
+fetch me," said Sybil, turning up her nose at the waiter that Rachel
+placed upon the table.
+
+"I have brought you some of everything that we have cooked. I should be
+glad if I could bring you all you wish," replied Rachel.
+
+"Then I s'pose I must be half-starved in this poor place. And me so
+weakly, too! I'll tell pappy as soon as ever he comes. I want to go
+home--I do. We've got as much as ever we can eat at home," grumbled
+Sybil, doing her best to act her part, and perhaps overdoing it.
+
+But Rachel was not suspicious. She again apologized for not being able
+to fill her guest's order in its utmost extent, and she remained in the
+room and waited on Sybil until the breakfast was finished, and then she
+took away the service, wondering how little her guest had eaten, after
+having ordered such a vast amount of food.
+
+Again Rachel came back to the room, and made everything tidy in each
+chamber, and then finally left her guest alone.
+
+Sybil walked about and took up and put down every small object that lay
+about her humble apartments, and then looked out of each window upon the
+narrow crowded and noisy street below; and finally, she took the volume
+of "Celebrated Criminal Trials" that had a terrible attraction for her,
+in her present circumstances, and she sat down and read until her
+husband's return.
+
+Lyon Berners drove his empty wagon into the stable yard, at noon. He had
+sold out all his produce, and pretended to be in great glee at his
+success. The landlord congratulated him, and some chance loungers in the
+bar-room suggested that, under such circumstances, it would be the right
+thing for him to treat the company. Lyon thought so too; and in his
+character of farmer, he ordered pipes and glasses all around. And then
+he made his escape, and went up stairs to see Sybil.
+
+"Still moping over that depressing book. Put it away, Sybil, and get on
+your bonnet, and throw a thick veil over it, and come out with me for a
+walk; we have to buy something for our voyage, you know," said Lyon,
+cheerfully.
+
+Sybil with a sigh given to her fears, did as he requested her to do; and
+the two went down stairs together.
+
+"Going out for a walk, I reckon, farmer?" inquired the landlord, who
+stood at the bar-room door with a pipe in his mouth.
+
+"Aye, aye. You know these girls--when they find out that their pappies
+have made a little bit of money, there is no peace till it's spent. My
+girl is taking me out shopping, to buy gimcracks and things! I'll be
+glad when I get her home again," grumbled Lyon.
+
+"Well, well, she's your onliest one, and you mustn't be hard on her. My
+Rachel gets all she wants, and deserves it too. Dinner at two o'clock,
+sharp, farmer."
+
+"Aye, aye! I know. Men o' my age never forget their dinners," said Lyon,
+as he drew Sybil's arm within his own and led her out into the streets.
+
+They went only into the back streets, and the poor shops, and they
+bought only what was strictly necessary for their voyage; and having
+concluded their purchases, they returned to the inn in time for dinner.
+
+Sybil was very much depressed. She could not rally from the effect the
+reading of that book had had upon her mind. She frequently repeated her
+fervent aspiration:
+
+"Oh! that the ship would sail to-day!"
+
+Lyon encouraged her as much as he possibly could, but he had his own
+private subject of anxiety. He had not of course told any one of his
+intention to go abroad. Every one believed that, having sold out his
+load, he would return home; but he was obliged to stay in the city
+until the sailing of the ship, and he wanted a fair excuse to do so.
+
+That evening the weather changed, and the sky clouded over, and the next
+morning it rained, and it continued to rain for three days.
+
+"This here will make them there roads so bad that we shan't be able to
+travel for a week, even if it does clear up soon," grumbled and growled
+the self-styled farmer, feeling glad all the while of an excuse to stay
+until the ship should sail.
+
+"No, that you won't," echoed his friend the landlord, glad to retain a
+guest with whom he was pleased.
+
+On the third day of the rain, the sky showing signs of clearing, Lyon
+Berners went over to Portsmouth to hear at what precise time the
+Enterprise would sail for Liverpool. When he returned he had good news
+for Sybil.
+
+"The Ship will sail on Saturday! That is the day after to-morrow, dear
+Sybil. And we may go on board to-morrow night."
+
+"Oh! I am so glad!" exclaimed Sybil, clapping her hands for joy. And she
+began to pack up immediately.
+
+"Moreover, I have sold my wagon and horses to a party at Portsmouth. And
+so we can put our luggage into it and drive off as if we were going
+home; but we can go down to the river instead, and take it across in the
+ferry-boat. Then I can have our effects put upon shipboard, and then
+deliver the team to its purchaser and receive the price," added Lyon.
+
+"Oh, but I am so delighted with the bare fact of our getting away so
+soon, that all things else seem of no account to me!" joyously exclaimed
+Sybil, going on with her packing.
+
+The next morning Lyon went out alone to make a few more purchases for
+their voyage. While he was going around, he also bought all the daily
+papers that he could get hold of. He returned to Sybil at an early hour
+of the forenoon. He found her sitting down in idleness.
+
+"Got entirely through packing, my darling?" he inquired cheerfully.
+
+"Oh, yes, and I have nothing on earth to do now. How long this last day
+will seem! At what hour may we go on board, this evening?"
+
+"At sundown."
+
+"Oh, that it were now sundown! How shall we contrive to pass the time
+until then?"
+
+"This will help us to pass the day, dear wife," he answered, laying the
+pile of newspapers on the table between them.
+
+Each took up a paper and began to look over it.
+
+Lyon was deep in a political article, when a cry from Sybil startled
+him.
+
+"What is the matter?" he inquired, in alarm.
+
+She did not answer. Her face was pale as ashes, and her eyes were
+strained upon the paper.
+
+"What do you see there?" again inquired her husband.
+
+"Oh, Lyon! Lyon! we are lost! we are lost!" she cried in a voice of
+agony.
+
+In great anxiety he took the paper from her hand, and read the paragraph
+to which she pointed. It ran thus:
+
+"It is now certain that Sybil Berners, accused of the murder of Rosa
+Blondelle, is not in Annapolis, as was falsely reported; but that she
+has escaped in disguise, accompanied by her husband, who is also in
+disguise; and that both are in the city of Norfolk."
+
+Now it was Lyon's turn to grow pallid with fear, not for himself, but
+for one dearer to him than his own life. Still he tried to control his
+emotions, or at least to conceal them from her. He compelled himself to
+answer calmly:
+
+"Take courage, my darling! We are before them. In a few more hours we
+shall be on board the ship."
+
+Her hands were clasped tightly together; her eyes were fixed steadily
+upon his face; her own face was white as marble.
+
+"Oh, Lyon! save me! Oh, my husband, save me! You _know_ that I am
+guiltless!" she prayed.
+
+"Dearest wife, I will lay down my life for you, if necessary! Be
+comforted! See! it is now two o'clock! In two more hours we may be on
+shipboard!" he said.
+
+"Let us go now! Let us go now!" she prayed, clasping her hands closely,
+gazing in his eyes beseechingly.
+
+"Very well, we will go at once," he answered; and he took up his hat and
+hurried down stairs.
+
+He told the landlord that, as the weather was now good, he thought he
+would risk the roads, and try to make a half-day's journey that
+afternoon, at least. And then, without waiting to hear the host's
+expostulations, he just told him to make out the bill, and then he went
+to the stables to put the horses to the wagon.
+
+In half an hour all was ready for their departure--the bill paid, the
+wagon at the door, and the luggage piled into it. And Sybil and Lyon
+took leave of their temporary acquaintances; and Lyon handed Sybil up
+into her seat, climbed up after her, and started the horses at a brisk
+trot for the ferry-boat.
+
+They reached Portsmouth in safety. Lyon drove down at once to the wharf,
+engaged a rowboat, put Sybil and all their effects into it, and rowed
+her across the water to where the Enterprise lay at anchor.
+
+"Now I'm safe!" exclaimed Sybil, with a sigh of infinite relief, as she
+stepped upon the deck.
+
+The captain did not expect his passengers so soon, and he was busy; but
+he came forward and welcomed them, and showed them into the cabin,
+apologizing for its unready condition, consequent upon the bustle of
+their preparations for sailing.
+
+Lyon left his wife in the Captain's care, and went back to the shore to
+complete the sale of his wagon and horses.
+
+He was gone for nearly two hours, and when he returned he explained his
+long absence by saying that, after all, the hoped-for purchaser had
+refused to purchase, and that he had to leave his wagon and horses at a
+stable in Portsmouth, and to retire to a restaurant and write a letter
+to Captain Pendleton, and enclose an order for him to receive the
+property on paying the livery.
+
+Sybil was satisfied--nay, she was delighted. In company with Lyon she
+walked up and down the deck, looking so joyous that the men about the
+place could but remark upon it as they gossipped with each other.
+
+The new voyagers took supper in the Captain's cabin, and afterwards
+returned to the deck and remained on it until the sun set and the stars
+came out.
+
+"Oh, this sense of release from danger! Oh, this delightful sense of
+freedom! And the heavenly starlit sky, and the beautiful water, and the
+delicious breeze. Oh, the world is so lovely! Oh, life and liberty is so
+sweet, so sweet! Oh, dear Lyon, I am so happy! And I love you so much!"
+she exclaimed, almost delirious with joy at her great deliverance.
+
+It was very late before Lyon could persuade her to leave the deck.
+
+"I am too happy to sleep," she continually answered.
+
+At length, however, he coaxed her to let him lead her to their
+state-room.
+
+There, in the darkness and silence, she grew more composed, though not
+less happy. And in a few minutes after she had laid down, she fell
+asleep.
+
+She slept very soundly until morning, when she was awakened by the
+cheerful chants of the sailors getting ready to make sail.
+
+She lay a little while enjoying the joyous sounds that spoke to her so
+happily of liberty, and then she arose and dressed herself, and went up
+on deck, leaving Lyon still asleep.
+
+The sun was just rising, and the harbor was beautiful. She walked about,
+talking now to the captain, and now to one of the men, and exciting
+wonder among them all, at her happiness.
+
+At length she was joined by her husband, who had waked up the moment she
+had left him, and got up immediately, and dressed and followed her.
+
+"Oh, Lyon! is not this a beautiful morning? And the Captain says the
+wind is fair, and we shall sail in half an hour!" was her greeting.
+
+And Lyon pressed her hand in silence. A great weight of anxiety lay upon
+his heart; _he_ knew, if she did not, that she was not safe, even on
+shipboard, until the ship should really sail. And now his eyes were
+fixed upon a large rowboat that was rapidly crossing the water from the
+shore to the ship.
+
+"Do you expect any more passengers?" he inquired of the Captain.
+
+"Oh, lots!" answered the latter.
+
+"Are those some of your passengers coming in the boat?"
+
+The Captain threw a hasty glance at the approaching object and answered
+carelessly:
+
+"Of course they are! Don't you see they are making right for the ship?"
+
+The boat was very near. It was at the side of the ship. The oars were
+drawn in. The passengers were climbing up to the deck.
+
+"They look like nice people! I am sure they will make it still
+pleasanter for us on the voyage," said Sybil, who in her happy mood was
+inclined to be delighted with every event.
+
+The Captain went to meet the new-comers.
+
+Two gentlemen of the party spoke for a moment with him, and then
+advanced towards the spot where the husband and wife were standing.
+
+"They _are_ nice people," repeated Sybil, positively; but Lyon said
+nothing; he was pale as ashes. The two gentlemen came up and stood
+before Lyon and Sybil. The elder of the two took off his hat, and bowing
+gravely, said to Sybil:
+
+"You are Mrs. Sybil Berners of Black Hall?"
+
+Then all at once an agony of terror took possession of her; her heart
+sank, her brain reeled, her limbs tottered.
+
+"You are Mrs. Sybil Berners of Black Hall?" repeated the stranger,
+drawing from his pocket a folded paper.
+
+"Yes," faltered Sybil, in a dying voice.
+
+"Then, Madam, I have a most painful duty to perform. Sybil Berners, you
+are my prisoner," he said, and he laid his hand upon her shoulder.
+
+With an agonizing shriek she sprang from under his hand, and threw
+herself into the arms of her husband, wildly crying:
+
+"Save me, Lyon! Oh! don't let them force me away! Save me, my husband!
+Save me!"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+                              THE ARREST.
+
+
+                  Had it pleased Heaven
+            To try me with affliction; had He rained
+            All kinds of sores and shames on my bare head;
+            Steeped me in poverty to the very lips;
+            I could have found in some part of my soul
+            A drop of patience; but alas, to make me
+            A fixed figure for the time of scorn
+            To point his slow, unmoving finger at!--SHAKESPEARE.
+
+
+"Save me! Oh, save me!" she continued to cry, clinging wildly to her
+husband's bosom. "Save me from this deep degradation! This degradation
+worse than death!"
+
+And it is certain that if the immediate sacrifice of his own life could
+have saved her, Lyon Berners would have willingly died for Sybil; or
+even if the drowning of that law officer could have delivered her, he
+would have incontinently pitched the man overboard; but as neither of
+these violent-means could possibly have served her, he could only clasp
+her closer to his heart, and consider what was to be done.
+
+At length he looked up at the sheriff's officer, and said:
+
+"I wish to have a word alone with my wife, if you will permit me."
+
+The man hesitated.
+
+"You can do it with perfect safety. We cannot possibly escape from this
+ship, you know; and besides, you can keep us in sight," he added.
+
+Still the man hesitated, and at length inquired:
+
+"Why do you wish to speak with her alone?"
+
+"To try to soothe her spirits. I know it would be quite useless to tell
+you how entirely innocent this lady is of the heinous crime imputed to
+her; for even if you should believe her to be so, you would have to do
+your duty all the same."
+
+"Yes, certainly; and a most distressing duty," put in the officer.
+
+"This arrest has come upon her so suddenly, and when she is so utterly
+unprepared to meet it, that it has quite overcome her, as you see; but
+leave her alone with me for a few minutes, and I will try to calm her
+mind, and induce her to yield quietly to this necessity," added Lyon.
+
+"Well, sir, I am indeed very willing to do all in my power to make this
+sad affair as little distressing to the lady as possible," answered the
+officer as he touched his companion on the shoulder, and they both
+walked off to some little distance.
+
+As their retreating steps sounded upon the deck, Sybil raised her head
+from Lyon's breast and looked around with an expression half-frightened,
+half-relieved, and murmured:
+
+"They are gone! They are gone!"
+
+Then clasping her husband suddenly around the neck, and gazing wildly
+into his eyes, she exclaimed:
+
+"You can save me, Lyon, you can save me from this deep dishonor that no
+Berners ever suffered before! There is but one way, Lyon, and there is
+but one moment. You have a small penknife; but it is enough. Open it,
+and strike it _here_, Lyon. One blow will be enough, if it is firmly
+struck! Here--Lyon! here, strike here!" And she placed her hand on her
+throat, under her ear, and gazed wildly, prayerfully in his face.
+
+"_Oh, Sybil!_" he groaned, in an agony of despairing love.
+
+"Quick! quick! Lyon! We have but this moment! Strike here now--now, this
+instant! Strike first, and then kiss me! kiss me as I die!"
+
+"Sybil! Sybil, darling you wring my heart."
+
+"I am not afraid of death, Lyon; I am only afraid of shame. Kill me, to
+save me, Lyon! Be a Roman husband. Slay your wife, to save her from
+shame!" she cried, gazing on him with great bright dilated eyes, where
+the fires of frenzy, if not of insanity, blazed.
+
+"My best beloved! my only beloved! there can be no shame where there is
+no sin. I will save you, Sybil; I swear it by all my hopes of Heaven! I
+do not yet see clearly how; but I will do it," he said, solemnly, and
+pressing her again to his heart.
+
+"Do it this way! do it this way!" she wildly entreated, never removing
+her frenzied eyes from his face.
+
+"No, not that way, Sybil. But listen: there are safe means--sinless
+means that we may use for your deliverance. The journey back will be a
+long one, broken up by many stoppages at small hamlets and roadside
+inns. Escape from these will be comparatively easy. I have also about
+me, in money and notes, some five thousand dollars. With those I can
+purchase connivance or assistance. Besides, to farther our views, I
+shall offer our wagon and horses, which luckily were not sold, but
+remain at the livery-stable at Portsmouth--I shall offer them, I say, to
+the officer for his use, and try to persuade him to take us down to
+Blackville by that conveyance, which will be easier even for him, than
+by the public stage coach. Take courage, dear Sybil, and take patience;
+and above all, do not think of using any desperate means to escape this
+trouble. But trust in Divine Providence. And now, dear Sybil, we must
+not try the temper of these officers longer, especially as we have got
+to leave the ship before it sails."
+
+And so saying, Lyon Berners beckoned the bailiffs to approach.
+
+"I hope the lady feels better," said the elder one.
+
+"She is more composed, and will go quietly," answered Mr. Berners.
+
+"Then the captain says we must be in a hurry. So if there is anything
+you wish to have removed, you had better attend to it at once," said the
+man.
+
+"I do not wish to leave the side of my wife for an instant; so if you
+would be so kind as to speak to the captain and ask him to have our
+luggage removed from our state-room and put upon the boat, I should feel
+much obliged."
+
+Leaving his companion in charge of the prisoner, the senior officer went
+forward and gave his message. And the captain, with a seaman-like
+promptness, immediately executed the order.
+
+Then Sybil's hat and cloak were brought her from the cabin, and she put
+them on and suffered herself to be led by her husband, and helped down
+to the boat. The Sheriff's officers followed, and when all were seated,
+the two boatmen laid to their oars, and the boat was rowed swiftly
+towards shore.
+
+The husband and the wife sat side by side in the stern of the boat. His
+arm was wound around her waist, and her head was resting on his
+shoulder. No word was spoken between them in the presence of these
+strangers; but he was silently giving her all the support in his power,
+and she was really needing it all, for she was utterly overcome; not by
+the terrors of imprisonment or death, but by something infinitely worse,
+the horror of degradation.
+
+All this time too Lyon Berners was maturing in his own mind a plan for
+her deliverance, which he was determined to begin to carry out as soon
+as they should reach the shore.
+
+In a few minutes more the boat touched the wharf, and the party landed.
+
+"I must trouble you to take my arm, Mrs. Berners," said the Sheriff's
+officer, drawing Sybil's hand under his elbow.
+
+She would have shrunk back, but Lyon looked at her significantly, and
+she submitted.
+
+"Where do you mean to take us first?" inquired Mr. Berners, in a low
+tone.
+
+"I wish to make this matter as little painful to this lady as the
+circumstances will permit. So I shall take her for the present to a
+hotel, where she must of course be carefully guarded. To-night we shall
+start by the night coach for Staunton, en route for Blackville,"
+answered the elder officer, as with Sybil on his arm he led the way into
+the town. Mr. Berners walked on the other side of his wife, and the
+second officer followed close behind.
+
+"We thank you for your consideration, Mr.--Mr.--" began Lyon.
+
+"Purley," continued the elder officer. "My name is Purley."
+
+"I do not remember you among the officers of the Sheriff's staff,
+however."
+
+"No; I am a new appointment. I must tell you, sir, that so strong was
+the feeling of sympathy for this lady, that not one of the bailiffs
+could be induced to serve the warrant; they resigned one after another."
+
+"They all knew Sybil from her childhood up. I thank them, and will take
+care that they shall lose nothing in resigning their positions for her
+sake," said Lyon Berners with much warmth, while Sybil's heavy heart
+swelled with gratitude.
+
+"And to tell the whole truth, had I known this lady, I should have felt
+the same reluctance to serving this warrant that was experienced by my
+predecessors in office."
+
+"I can well believe you," answered Mr. Berners, gravely.
+
+"Now, however, having undertaken the painful duty, I must discharge it
+faithfully," added the officer.
+
+"Yes, Mr. Purley, but gently and considerately, I know. You will inflict
+as little of unmerited mortification as may be consistent with your
+duty."
+
+"Heaven knows I will."
+
+"Then I have a plan to propose, and a favor to ask of you."
+
+"If I can gratify you with safety to the custody of my charge, I will do
+so; but here we are at the hotel now, and you had better wait until we
+get into a private sitting-room. The people of the place need not know
+that we are officers in charge of an accused party; but may be left to
+suppose that we are ordinary travellers."
+
+"Oh, I thank you for that!" exclaimed Mr. Berners, warmly.
+
+They entered the hotel, a second-class house in a cross street, where
+the elder officer asked for a private sitting-room, to which they were
+immediately shown.
+
+As soon as the four were seated, Mr. Berners turned to the elder officer
+and broached his plan.
+
+"You spoke of taking the night coach for Staunton. Now, if another
+conveyance could be found--a private conveyance that would be more
+comfortable for all parties, and would also be entirely under your own
+control--would you not be willing that we should travel by it?"
+
+"Oh! if you are able and willing to furnish a private conveyance for the
+journey, and place it as you say at my own exclusive orders, I shall be
+happy to take the lady down that way, rather than expose her in a public
+stage coach."
+
+"Thanks. I have a wagon and horses here at livery. They can be put to
+use at a few minutes' notice. So, if you prefer, you can start at once
+upon this journey, and make some twenty-five or thirty miles before
+night."
+
+"Let us see the team first, and then we shall be able to judge," said
+the officer.
+
+And after a few minutes' conversation it was arranged that Sybil should
+be left in charge of the second officer, and that Mr. Purley should go
+with Mr. Berners to the livery stable to look at the horses and wagon.
+These two went out together, and Purley took the precaution to lock the
+door and put the key in his pocket.
+
+"Why have you done that?" inquired Lyon, reproachfully.
+
+"Because women are irrational and impulsive. I have always found them
+so! She might suddenly cut and run; and although it wouldn't be a bit
+of use, you know, because she would be sure to be retaken in an hour or
+less time; yet, you see, it would cause a fuss, and be very unpleasant
+to me and you and her and everybody."
+
+"I see," said Mr. Berners, with a sigh, acknowledging the truth of the
+position.
+
+Meanwhile Sybil sat, absorbed in despair, and guarded by the second
+officer. Suddenly she heard her name softly murmured, and she looked up.
+The young bailiff stood before her. He was a sturdy looking young
+fellow, swarthy skinned, black haired, and black bearded.
+
+"Miss Sybil, don't you know me? I beg your pardon! Mrs. Berners, don't
+you know me?" he inquired in a low tone, as if fearful of being heard.
+
+Sybil looked at him in surprise, and answered hesitatingly:
+
+"N-no.
+
+"You forget people that you have been good to; but they don't forget
+you. Try to recollect me, Miss Sybil--Mrs. Berners."
+
+"Your face seems familiar; but--"
+
+"But you don't recollect it? Well, may be you may remember names better
+than faces. Have you any memory of a poor boy you used to help, named
+Bob Munson?"
+
+"Bob Munson--oh, is it you? I know you now. But it has been so long
+since I saw you!" eagerly exclaimed Sybil.
+
+"Eight years, Mrs. Berners; and I have been fighting the Indians on the
+frontier all that time. But I got my discharge, and came back with
+Captain Pendleton. You know it was him as I went out with, when he was a
+third lieutenant in the infantry. I 'listed out of liking for him, and
+we was together from one fort to another all these years, until Captain
+Pendleton got a long leave, and come home. I couldn't get leave, but the
+Captain got my discharge. And when he goes back to his regiment, I mean
+to enlist again and go with him."
+
+"But how came you to be a sheriff's officer? and oh, above all, how
+_could_ you come to take _me?_" reproachfully inquired Sybil.
+
+"Oh, Miss--I mean, Madam,--can't you guess in your heart? When all the
+bailiffs throwed up their places rather than serve a warrant on you, and
+Mr. Purley, who was a stranger, got an appointment and kept it, they
+wanted another man. And then my captain said to me, 'Munson, apply for
+the place; I will back you. And then if you get it, you will have an
+opportunity of serving, and perhaps freeing, Mrs. Berners.' And a great
+deal more he said, to the same purpose, Ma'am; and so I did apply for
+the situation, and got it. And now, Madam, I am here to help you with my
+life, if necessary," added the young man, ardently.
+
+"Give me your hand. God bless you, Bob! Help me all you can. I _ought_
+to be helped, for I am innocent," said Sybil, earnestly.
+
+"Don't I know it? Don't everybody with any sense know it? Don't even old
+Purley know it, ever since he first clapped eyes on your face?"
+
+"Heaven grant that all may soon!" prayed Sybil.
+
+"They will be sure to, Miss--I mean Madam."
+
+"Bob tell me: how was it that we were found out?"
+
+"Well, you see, Miss--Ma'am--when you were at Dunville, where you was
+said to have staid all night, there was a fellow there who had a habit
+for which he ought to be hung--of looking through the key-holes and
+watching ladies when they thought themselves unseen. And this fellow saw
+you take off your red wig."
+
+"And so discovered and denounced me?"
+
+"No, he didn't, Ma'am; he didn't even suspect who you was. He took you
+for a circus woman. And as for reporting what he had seen to anybody in
+that house, it would have been as much as his life was worth. Old
+Colonel Purley--he's a uncle of our bailiff--old Colonel Purley would
+have peeled the skin offen his body, if he had a-known he had done such
+a mean thing in his tavern."
+
+"Then how--"
+
+"I'll tell you, Ma'am. It was this way. That fellow which, his name was
+Batkin, was on his way to Blackville. And all along the road he kept
+telling the yarn about the beautiful black-haired young lady he had
+seen, and who had disfigured herself by wearing of a red wig; and of
+course he raised suspicions there. And when he was questioned farther,
+he described the wagon and horses, and the man and the woman, so
+accurately that the authorities thought it worth while to take the
+description down; and old Purley has it in his pocket along with the
+warrant. And then, as I told you, the bailiffs all resigned rather than
+go after you; and old Purley had to be appointed. And I applied, and got
+appointed too, only to help you!"
+
+"Heaven reward you for the kind thought! But, Bob, there were some of
+the old set found who were willing to take me; for they went to
+Annapolis after me, armed with warrant for my arrest."
+
+"Yes; them two: Smith and Jones! Sink 'em! I've swore a oath to thrash
+'em both within an inch of their lives the first time I set eyes on
+them! Well, they didn't find you, Satan burn 'em! that's one comfort."
+
+"How was it that you found us?"
+
+"Oh, Miss Sybil--Mrs. Berners, I should say--we did it easy when we once
+had got the clue. We went first to Dunville to inquire after the
+gray-bearded man and his red-headed daughter, and we learned the road
+you had taken, and followed you from stage to stage until we got to
+Norfolk. There we inquired in the neighborhood of the market, and found
+where you had put up. Then, at the 'Farmers' Hotel,' we were told, you
+had left for home that afternoon. Of course we knew _that_ was a ruse.
+We knew that if you had left, it was for the deck of some outward bound
+ship. So we inquired, and found out that the Enterprise was to sail in
+the morning. And we staid at this house all night, and boarded the ship
+this morning as you saw."
+
+"Oh, Bob! if you could have delayed for a half hour, the ship would have
+sailed, and I should have been free!" sighed Sybil.
+
+"I did all I could to make a delay. I put laudanum in his coffee last
+night. I was afraid to put in too much for fear of killing him, so I
+suppose I didn't put in enough, for he laid wide awake all night."
+
+"Ah, yes! that would be the effect of an under-dose of laudanum."
+
+"Well then, Ma'am, I put back our watches a whole hour. But, bless you,
+he didn't go by the watches, he went by the sun; and as soon as it was
+light he was up, and he sent me down to order an early breakfast. And
+then I got a chance to put laudanum in his coffee again, and this time I
+overdid it and put in too much, for he tasted something wrong, and he
+said it was vile stuff, and he wouldn't drink it! No, Miss--Ma'am, I
+didn't neglect no means to let you get clean off. But you see it was no
+go this time; and I had to help old Purley to arrest you. I'm glad you
+didn't know me, hows'ever. And I would advise you not to know me at all
+whenever old Purley is about. Keep dark, Miss Sybil, and I'll find a way
+to get you off. I haven't been hiding and seeking and hunting among the
+red-skins these eight years for nothing. Hish-sh! Here they come,"
+whispered Bob Munson, creeping away to the other end of the room, and
+putting himself on guard.
+
+The elder officer unlocked the door, and entered, followed by Mr.
+Berners. He announced that the wagon was at the door, and that they
+were ready to start on the return journey. And then Purley gave his arm
+to Sybil, and led her to the wagon, and placed her on the back seat,
+while Mr. Berners and Bob Munson lingered behind, the former to gather
+up Sybil's little personal effects, and the latter to settle the hotel
+bill. But there was no opportunity, among the crowd of guests and
+servants, for Munson to make his friendly intentions known to Mr.
+Berners by any other means than a significant look and a pressure of the
+hand, which Lyon Berners could not more than half understand. He felt,
+however, that in his younger officer he and his unhappy wife had a
+friend. They went out together, followed closely by the hostler, who
+wanted his own fee; but both Mr. Berners and Bob Munson were too much
+annoyed by his presence to feel like rewarding his attendance.
+
+Lyon Berners mounted to the seat beside his wife, and Bob Munson to that
+beside Purley, who held the reins. And in this manner they set out on
+their return journey.
+
+They crossed the ferry without attracting particular attention.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+                          A DESPERATE VENTURE
+
+
+            I have set my life upon a cast.
+            And I will stand the hazard of the die.--SHAKESPEARE.
+
+
+It was yet so early in the morning that they drove ten miles out to a
+small village on the road before they thought of breakfast. There Mr.
+Berners reminded the officer in charge that Sybil had not yet broken her
+fast. Whereupon Purley drew up before the one little tavern of the
+place, alighted, and assisted his charge to alight, and then keeping
+fast hold of her arm, led her into the house, and ordered breakfast.
+
+While the meal was being got ready he kept his party of four well
+together in the sitting-room where they waited. And as soon as breakfast
+was over, they all reentered the wagon and resumed their journey. They
+travelled twenty miles before stopping to dine at a lonely roadside
+tavern, where again Purley watched his charge with such vigilance that
+she had no opportunity to speak privately either to her husband or their
+friend. Still she hoped this opportunity would be afforded when they
+should stop for the night. After an hour's rest they went on again,
+travelling with moderate haste all the afternoon. They made fifteen more
+miles before sunset, and then, having driven forty-five miles that day,
+and finding their horses very tired, they determined to put up for the
+night at a small hamlet, whose comfortable little hotel promised rest
+and refreshment.
+
+Still Purley kept close to his charge. They all had supper in a private
+sitting-room. And when that meal was over and the hour for retirement
+arrived, Purley himself accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Berners to their
+bedroom to see that it was secure. It was a front chamber, on the upper
+floor, with two front windows overlooking the village street, and but
+one door, which opened upon the passage.
+
+"That is all safe," said Purley, casting a glance around. "So I may
+leave you two alone here together, where no doubt, you are glad enough
+to be. But I'm sorry to say I must turn the key on you; not that I have
+any right to lock you up, sir, without your consent; but of course you
+_will_ consent to that, for the sake of staying with your wife."
+
+"Of course I will; and thank you for the privilege," answered Mr.
+Berners.
+
+"All right then. Good-night to you both," said Purley, closing and
+locking the door, and withdrawing the key.
+
+And then he took a farther precaution for the security of his charge, by
+ordering a mattress to be brought and laid down before that chamber
+door. And there he and his companion stretched themselves to rest like a
+pair of watch dogs.
+
+As soon as Sybil found herself alone with her husband, she beckoned him
+to that end of the room which was farthest from the door, and when he
+was close beside her she whispered in the lowest tone:
+
+"Did you observe anything peculiar in the manner of that younger
+bailiff?"
+
+"I observed that he tried to attract my particular attention whenever we
+happened to be unnoticed for a moment. But as we were so very closely
+watched I had no opportunity of asking, or he of telling, what he
+meant," said Lyon Berners.
+
+"Then I will tell you all about it. When Mr. Purley went away with you,
+and left that young man guarding me, the first thing he did was to make
+himself known to me, and to place himself at my service even to the
+death!"
+
+"Who was he?"
+
+"Robert Munson; a boy that I was so fortunate as to be kind to in his
+childhood and mine. Afterwards he was a private soldier in Captain
+Pendleton's company, and served under him for eight years, fighting the
+Indians on the frontier. At Captain Pendleton's suggestion, and with his
+own hearty free will, he volunteered for this service of pursuing me,
+only that he might more effectually try to free me."
+
+"Sybil, what are you saying? Have we a friend in one of our captors?"
+exclaimed Lyon, in astonishment.
+
+"Yes; a friend who will serve us to the death! Listen, dear Lyon, and I
+will tell you all about it," answered Sybil.
+
+And she commenced, and related all the circumstances of her acquaintance
+with Robert Munson; of his motives for entering upon his present
+avocation, and of his discovery of himself to her in the hotel at
+Portsmouth.
+
+"Now may heaven grant that some day I may have an opportunity of
+rewarding that good fellow for his willing service, whether it ever
+avail us or not," said Lyon Berners, earnestly.
+
+"But dear Lyon, we must be very careful not to betray by any word or
+look that we have any acquaintance, much less understanding, with
+Munson, for to do so would be to ruin our only chance of escape," said
+Sybil.
+
+"Of course! of course! I understand that perfectly well!"
+
+"But watch your opportunity, and when you feel it to be perfectly safe,
+communicate with Robert Munson.
+
+"I understand, dear Sybil, and I shall be very prudent and very
+vigilant," answered Mr. Berners.
+
+And then they retired to rest.
+
+Very early the next morning they were aroused by their keeper who never
+left his post at their door until he saw them come out of their room.
+And then he drew Mrs. Berner's arm within his own and led her down to
+breakfast.
+
+After breakfast they resumed their journey.
+
+This first day and night on the road was a type of all that followed.
+The bailiff Purley never lost sight of his charge except at night, and
+then he first assured himself that her room was a secure prison, from
+which it would be impossible for her to escape; and then, to make
+assurance doubly sure, he always locked the door on the outside, put the
+key into his pocket, and stretched himself on a mattress across the
+threshold.
+
+There was no opportunity afforded to Sybil, Lyon and their new friend to
+speak together in private; and as day followed day and night succeeded
+night in this hopeless manner, their spirits fell from despondency even
+to despair.
+
+But as it is said to be darkest just before dawn, and that when things
+are at their worst they are sure to mend, so it proved in their case.
+
+On the evening of the fourth day of their tedious journey, they stopped
+to sup and sleep at a lonely farm-house, where for "a consideration,"
+the poor farmer consented, whenever he got the chance, to entertain
+travellers.
+
+Here their wagon and horses were comfortably stabled, and themselves
+were lodged and feasted.
+
+Here, as usual after supper, Mr. Purley accompanied his charge to her
+bedroom, which, to his perplexity, he found to have two doors; the one
+opening upon the upper hall, and the other communicating with an
+adjoining vacant chamber.
+
+After some consideration, he solved the difficulty of guarding his
+prisoner by saying to his assistant:
+
+"Well, Munson, all that can be done is this: one of us will have to
+sleep across one door, and the other across the other. And as I hav'n't
+slept in a room for three nights, I reckon I'll take the vacant room,
+and you may take the hall. But mind, don't forget to draw the key out of
+the door when you lock it, and put it into your pocket. And mind also,
+to be sure to pull your mattress quite up to the door and lay directly
+across it, so that if the lock should be picked, no one can pass without
+going right over your own body; and, last of all, mind to sleep only
+with one eye open, or all the other precautions will be of no use at
+all."
+
+"I will be very careful, sir," answered young Bailiff Munson, touching
+his hat to his superior officer in military style.
+
+"And now, as your legs are younger than mine, I wish you would run down
+stairs and ask the farmer to send me up a mug of that home-brewed bitter
+beer he was talking about."
+
+"Yes, sir," answered the young bailiff starting off with alacrity, while
+the elder remained on guard at the door of his charge.
+
+In five minutes or less time, Munson returned with a quart measure of
+the "home-brewed," which he handed to Purley.
+
+"Souls and bodies! but it is bitter, sure enough! I have heard of bitter
+beer, but this beats all for bitterness that ever I tasted! However, the
+bitterer the better, I suppose; and this is really refreshing," said
+Purley, as he drained the mug, and handed it empty to a negro boy, who
+had just brought in and laid down the mattress upon which Munson was to
+sleep.
+
+Munson smiled to himself.
+
+Then Purley reiterated all his cautions for the careful guarding of his
+charge, and at length bade his comrade good-night, and retired to the
+vacant chamber, to guard the door on that side.
+
+Munson drew his mattress across the hall-door as he had been directed to
+do, and laid himself down in all his clothes--not to sleep, but to
+listen and watch until the house should grow quiet; for on this night he
+was resolved to effect the deliverance of Sybil, or perish in the
+attempt.
+
+Meanwhile Mr. and Mrs. Berners had retired to their chamber--not to
+rest, but to wait for events; for on this night a sure presentiment
+informed them that Robert Munson, on guard there at their outer door,
+would be sure to use his opportunities for attempting a rescue. So they
+quietly cooeperated with what they divined to be his intentions.
+
+First Sybil went and hung a towel over the knob of the lock, so as to
+darken the key-hole of the door guarded by Purley. Then she slipped the
+bolt, saying:
+
+"He may guard us if he must, but he shall neither look in upon us, nor
+intrude upon us, if I can help it."
+
+And then, instead of undressing for bed, they did the opposite thing,
+and quietly dressed for an escape. And lastly, they concealed their
+money and jewels about their persons, and threw a few of the most
+necessary articles for their journey into one travelling bag, and then
+sat down to listen and watch on the inside, as their friend was
+listening and watching on the outside.
+
+Then they heard Purley arranging and re-arranging his bed against his
+door, and tumbling down upon it, like a man utterly overcome by fatigue
+and drowsiness; after which all was silent, until the stertorous
+breathing of the bailiff assured them of the depth of his sleep. After
+that, not a sound was heard in the house. Lyon looked at his watch. It
+was but nine o'clock, though the whole house was at rest. In these
+remote country places, people go to roost with the fowls, or very soon
+after.
+
+Still for another hour of silent, breathless suspense they waited; and
+then they heard a faint tapping on the door that was guarded by Munson.
+
+Mr. Berners went up, and tapped gently in response.
+
+"Hist!" breathed the voice from without, through the key-hole.
+
+"Well!" murmured Lyon, through the same channel.
+
+"Take some of the melted tallow on the top of your candle, and grease
+the key-hole as well as you can, and then I will come in and talk to
+you, if you will let me."
+
+"Thanks; yes."
+
+And Mr. Berners did as he was requested to do, and Munson slipped his
+key into the lubricated key-hole, and silently unlocked the door.
+
+"Oh, our deliverer!" fervently exclaimed Sybil, as he softly entered the
+room and closed the door behind him, holding up his finger in warning to
+them to be silent.
+
+"And now sit close for a few minutes, while I tell you what I have done
+and am going to do," said Munson, drawing a stool and sitting himself
+upon it, before Mr. and Mrs. Berners.
+
+"Go on," muttered Lyon, fervently pressing the hand of his friend.
+
+"Oh, yes, go on, dear Bob!" eagerly whispered Sybil.
+
+"First I put nearly half an ounce of laudanum in old Purley's bitter
+beer, which made him think it so uncommon prime and bitter, that he
+drank the whole quart."
+
+"Good heaven! Munson, you have killed the man!" said Lyon, in dismay.
+
+"No, I have only doubled the dose I gave him before, which took no
+effect on him, so this will only put him to sleep for twelve hours or
+so. Lord, listen how he snores! A thunderstorm wouldn't wake him."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Next, as soon as he was asleep, I went into his room in my
+stocking-feet, and closed all the solid wooden shutters, to make him
+believe it is still night when he does awake and feel drowsy, as he will
+be sure to feel, so that he shall go to sleep again, and sleep until
+evening, and that will give you nearly twenty-four hours start of him."
+
+"Right! Quite right," said Mr. Berners.
+
+"Well, well; but go on, dear Bob," impatiently murmured Sybil.
+
+"I locked his door on the outside, and took away the key, to make the
+farmer or any of the family, if they should go into his room to see why
+he slept so long, think that he had locked himself in. For the rest I
+shall stay here and pretend to sleep very late myself. In fact I shall
+sleep until they wake me up, and then I shall be very angry, and tell
+them they had better not play that game on Mr. Purley, as he would be in
+a fury if his rest should be broken. And so I will guard these two rooms
+from intrusion, and your escape from being discovered, as long as I
+possibly can."
+
+"But when it shall be discovered, my poor fellow, will you not get
+yourself into trouble?" inquired Lyon.
+
+"Even if I should, what will my trouble be to this lady's? But at worst
+I shall only be cussed by old Purley, and turned out of my place by the
+sheriff; and as I'm used to being cussed, and don't like my place, it
+don't matter."
+
+"And in any case, you shall be well rewarded, dear Bob. Not that such a
+service as you are about to render us _can_ ever be adequately rewarded;
+but, as far as--"
+
+"Oh, dear Madam, don't speak of reward! I owe you a debt of gratitude,
+which I am glad to pay. I have told you what I _have_ done, and what I
+shall do, to relieve you of anxiety; and now we had better quietly leave
+the house. Are you ready?" inquired Munson.
+
+"We have been quite ready for these two hours, in anticipation of your
+help."
+
+"Come, then; but come very silently, though there is not the slightest
+danger, either, of our being heard. The farmer is a beer swiller, and
+sleeps heavily, and his women folks all sleep up in the garret. I saw
+them all go up myself; they passed with their candle, as I lay on the
+pallet," whispered Munson, as he quietly led the way out into the hall
+and softly closed and locked the door, and withdrew the key.
+
+"It is just as well to do this, to guard against the chance of any one
+opening the door while I am gone," he added, as he softly preceded the
+party down the stairs.
+
+He silently opened the front door, and they passed out into the free
+air.
+
+A watch-dog that lay upon the mat outside got up and wagged his tail,
+and laid down again, as if to express his willingness that any inmate
+might leave the house who wished to do so, though no stranger should
+enter it except over his dead body.
+
+"Sensible dog!" said Munson, as with more precaution he closed and
+locked the outer door, and took that key also with him.
+
+"You must not attempt to escape with your wagon; but must ride your
+horses, which will be much more efficacious both for swiftness and for
+their ability to go through places where you could not take a wagon,"
+said Munson, as they walked across the farm-yard.
+
+But when they drew near the stable, they were set upon by a couple of
+watch-dogs, who, barking furiously, barred their farther progress.
+
+"There is no other way!" exclaimed Munson, and drawing a double
+barrelled pistol from his pocket, he shot one dog dead, while the other
+ran howling away.
+
+Then with some difficulty they forced the door, and while Lyon remained
+on the outside with Sybil, young Munson entered the stable and led out
+their two horses.
+
+"Here are several bridles, and here is one side-saddle, which will suit
+Mrs. Berners, if you have no scruple about borrowing them," suggested
+Munson.
+
+"I should have no scruple about borrowing anything from anybody to aid
+my wife's escape. Besides, there is my wagon more than double the value
+of the things that we require; I will leave that in pledge," said Mr.
+Berners.
+
+"Just so," assented Munson.
+
+And all this time he had been arranging the side-saddle and bridle upon
+Sybil's horse. As soon as it was ready Mr. Berners came around to lift
+his wife into her seat.
+
+"One moment, dear Lyon," said Sybil, pausing to adjust her dress.
+
+While she did so, Munson again spoke to Mr. Berners.
+
+"You have your pocket compass?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then I advise you to use it as soon as it is light, to direct your
+course. And do not go toward the east, for old Purley will pursue you in
+that direction, under the impression that you will try to reach another
+seaport town, and get off in a ship. But make for the interior, for the
+West, and get away as fast and as far as you can. Be careful to keep as
+much as possible in the woods, even though your progress should be
+slower through them than it would be in the open country. And now excuse
+my presuming to give you so much counsel; but you know I have been upon
+the war path, out among the red-skins, and am up to hunting and
+flying."
+
+"I thank you--we both thank you from the depths of our souls. And we
+pray that the day may come when we shall be able to prove our
+gratitude," said Lyon, earnestly.
+
+"Never mind that! But put madam into her seat. She is ready now; and,
+indeed, the sooner you are off the better," answered Munson.
+
+Mr. Berners advanced towards Sybil, when the whole party was stopped by
+a terrible event.
+
+"No you don't, you infernal villain! I have caught you, have I? Stand!"
+exclaimed a voice of thunder, and the stout farmer stood before them, at
+the head of all his negroes, and with a loaded musket in his hand!
+
+Like lightning young Munson threw himself before Sybil, drew a pistol
+from his breast, and levelled it straight at the heart of their
+opponent, exclaiming:
+
+"Out of the way, you devil! and let her pass. Out of the way this
+instant, or, by my life, I will kill you! I will! I will kill you, and
+hang for her sake!"
+
+The man raised his musket, and aimed it at the head of him whose hand
+pointed the pistol to his own heart. And thus, like two duellists, they
+stood fatally eyeing each other!
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+                            A FATAL CRISIS.
+
+
+            Each at the life
+            Levelled his deadly aim; their fatal hands
+            No second stroke intended.--MILTON.
+
+
+"Hold! on your lives!" exclaimed Lyon Berners, rushing between the
+opponents, and with swift hands striking up the pistol of Robert Munson,
+and turning aside the musket of Farmer Nye. "Would you shed each
+other's blood so recklessly? Here is some mistake. Farmer, whom did you
+take us for?"
+
+"Who did I take you for, is it? For that cornsarned band of robbers as
+have been mislesting the country for miles round this month past."
+
+"Robbers?"
+
+"Yes, robbers! as has been tarryfying the whole country side ever since
+Hollow Eve!"
+
+"I never heard of them."
+
+"May be you didn't, but I took you for them all the same."
+
+"And aimed your musket at that lady! And might have shot her dead, had
+not this brave man thrown himself before her, with a loaded pistol in
+his hand, levelled at your heart."
+
+"How did I know it was a lady? How could I see in this dim light? I took
+her for one of you, and I took you all for robbers," said the farmer,
+sulkily.
+
+"Well, you see who we are now?"
+
+"Yes; I see as you are my new lodgers. Though why you should be out here
+at the stables after your beasts at this hour of the night, and wake me
+up with a row; or should take my darter's side-saddle, and kill my
+watch-dog, blame you, I _don't_ see!" growled the farmer.
+
+"Come, walk aside with me for a few minutes, and I will show you why,"
+said Mr. Berners, soothingly laying his hand on the farmer's shoulder.
+
+"Hands off, if you please! No! I don't think as I _will_ walk aside with
+you. You might do me a mischief."
+
+"Bosh! you are armed, and I am unarmed. How can I harm you? Come, and I
+will tell you something to your advantage," coaxed Mr. Berners.
+
+Partly urged by curiosity and partly by interest, Farmer Nye reluctantly
+consented to follow where Mr. Berners led him. When they had passed out
+of hearing of the negroes Mr. Berners stopped, and turned to his host,
+and said:
+
+"You know who we are?"
+
+"I know you are my new lodgers--that's all I know about you."
+
+"Yet you must have observed something out of the common about our
+party?"
+
+"Yes; I took notice as you and your wife must have been dreadful 'fraid
+of being robbed and murdered on your journey, when you kept two men to
+travel with you, and guard you all day long, and sleep outside of your
+doors like watch-dogs all night long. Which me and my darter made it out
+between us as you must have lots of money with you to make you so
+cautious. And which, if we had known you was going to be so mistrustful
+of _us_, we'd have seen you farther before we'd have took you in."
+
+"And so that is the way in which _you_ accounted for matters and things
+that you couldn't understand?"
+
+"To be sure it was; and very natural too."
+
+"Shall I tell him the whole truth?" inquired Lyon Berners of himself. "I
+will sound him first," he concluded. Then speaking up, he said:
+
+"Well, you cannot blame people for being cautious, after that horrible
+murder at Black Hall."
+
+"That's so too," admitted the farmer.
+
+"And yet," added Mr. Berners, "they _do_ say that it was no robber that
+did that murder, but the lady of the house who did it."
+
+"The lady of the house!" indignantly echoed the farmer, to Lyon's great
+astonishment. "Don't you go to say that; for if you do, devil burn me if
+I don't knock you down with the butt end of my gun!"
+
+"I do not say it. I only tell you what other people say."
+
+"They lie! the hounds! And I wish I could meet any of them venomous
+backbiters face to face. Satan fly away with me if I wouldn't tear
+their false tongues out of their throats, and throw them to the dogs!
+_You_ don't mean to say you believe she did it?" fiercely demanded
+Sybil's rough champion.
+
+"No; Heaven knows I do not! I believe her to be as guiltless as an
+angel."
+
+"I'm glad to hear you say that! I don't want to pitch into an unarmed
+man, but I should a' been strongly tempted to 'a done it if you'd said
+anything else."
+
+"You know this injured lady, then?"
+
+"Yes; I have knowed her ever since she was a little gal. Not as ever I
+met her face to face in my life, but I know her as every poor man and
+poor child and poor brute in the whole country knows her: as the
+kindest, gentlest, tenderest-hearted lady in the whole world--she who
+has been known to take the fur cloak off her own back, and lay it over
+the form of a sick beggar, while she went home in the cold to send her
+warm blankets. Yes, and known to have done scores of deeds as good and
+self-sacrificing as that. _She_ do the thing they accuse her of! Why,
+sir, she no more did it than I, or you, or your own sweet wife did it!
+And Satan burn _me_! when I hear of any man accusing her of it, if I
+don't feel just like knocking his dull brains out, and taking the
+consequences--that I do!" swore the farmer.
+
+"I will trust him," said Lyon Berners to himself.
+
+--"And to think that men who call themselves law officers, not to say
+Christians, should hunt that lovely lady through the country as if she
+was some wild beast or highway robber! I wish one of them hunters was to
+come my way. I'm blowed to flinders if I wouldn't set my whole pack of
+dogs on 'em till they would be torn to pieces. I'd give 'em hunting! But
+excuse _me_, Mr.--Mr.--What's-your-name; I've gone away from the pint,
+which I always do fly off at a tangent and lose my bearings whenever I
+hear that lady accused. Now, sir, what had you to tell me to my
+advantage?" inquired the farmer, drawing a handkerchief from his pocket
+and wiping his heated face.
+
+"I will tell him all," said Lyon Berners to himself; and then he spoke
+up:
+
+"First, good friend, let me assure you that you have not wandered a
+hair's breadth from the point at issue between us."
+
+"Oh yes, I have; for I have been raving about Mrs. Berners; but I
+couldn't help it."
+
+"Mrs. Berners is the lady who is with me," said Mr. Berners.
+
+Farmer Nye jumped three feet from the ground and came down again like a
+man that was shot, and then stood with open mouth and eyes staring at
+the speaker.
+
+"I am her husband, and the men who are guarding us are the officers who
+have her in custody."
+
+"WHAT? Say that again!" uttered the farmer, panting for breath.
+
+Mr. Berners repeated all that he had said, adding:
+
+"I had got her away from this neighborhood, and on shipboard. And she
+was rejoicing in her supposed safety and freedom, for the ship was
+within a half hour of sailing, when these officers came on board with a
+warrant and arrested her."
+
+"THEY DID! Wait till I get my niggers together. The boys will want no
+better fun than to tar and feather them devils, and set them afire and
+turn 'em loose. And blame me if I don't give the best feather-bed in my
+house to the service. Come along," exclaimed the farmer, starting off to
+commence the work.
+
+"Stop!" said Lyon Berners, laying his hand soothingly upon the shoulder
+of the excited man. "Above all, you wish to serve my unhappy wife, do you
+not!"
+
+"Yes! with my 'life, and fortune, and sacred honor' as the Declaration
+of Independence says."
+
+"Then you can not serve her by any violence done to the officers, who
+are only doing their duty."
+
+"Doing their duty! Duty! That's a matter of opinion! I consider I should
+be doing of _my_ duty if I was to order my niggers to take 'em out and
+tar and feather 'em. Yes, and set 'em afire afterwards--burn 'em!"
+
+"Yes; but that would be doing a great injustice to them, and also a
+great injury to Mrs. Berners. If you really wish to serve my dear wife,
+you can do so by helping her to escape."
+
+"I'll help her to escape, with all my heart and soul! And with all my
+heart and soul I'll shoot down anybody that dares to start from here in
+pursuit of her!" emphatically declared the farmer.
+
+"That is not necessary. You can cover our retreat by more peaceable
+means. And now I must advise you that both these officers have used us
+with the greatest kindness and consideration, concealing our identity
+and shielding us from the curiosity and intrusion of strangers, whenever
+they could do so, as is proved by your own experience, for you had no
+suspicion as to who we might be."
+
+"No, that I hadn't! And a good thing I hadn't too! for if I'd a known
+that lady had a been kept a prisoner here in my house, I'd a pitched her
+jailers neck and heels out o' the windows, and then set the dogs on
+'em!"
+
+"But that would have been very unjust to them, and injurious to the lady
+you wish to befriend. And especially it would have been the very
+greatest injustice to the younger officer, who has been our partisan
+from the first."
+
+"Eh! what? One of them jailers your partisan?"
+
+"Yes; let me explain," said Mr. Berners. And he commenced and detailed
+all the circumstances of their acquaintance and relations with Robert
+Munson.
+
+"And so, out of gratitude for the kindness this lady showed him in his
+childhood, he got himself put on this service o' purpose to watch his
+opportunity of reskying her."
+
+"Just so."
+
+"Well, he's an honest fellow, that he is!" said the farmer, approvingly.
+
+"Now, Mr. Nye, all you have to do, if you wish to help us, is just to
+let us go free. When we are gone, keep the house quiet, and let the
+elder officer sleep as long as possible, for the longer he sleeps the
+farther we shall get away from pursuit."
+
+"I'll lock him up and keep him prisoner for a month, if necessary."
+
+"But it is not necessary. A day's start is all that we shall need, and
+that, I think, you can secure to us, by simply letting the man sleep as
+long as he will. And furthermore, I may ask you to be cautious and not
+to betray our friend Robert Munson's agency in our escape."
+
+"I'll protect Robert Munson with my life."
+
+"A thousand thanks! And now, as we understand each other, let us go on
+to my wife, who is anxiously waiting the issue of this interview," said
+Lyon Berners, turning and leading the way towards the stables.
+
+"Now, squire, you may rely upon me, and rest easy in your mind. You
+sha'n't be followed in less than twenty-four hours," said the farmer, as
+they went along.
+
+"Again I thank you from my heart. And now I have something else to say
+to you," began Lyon Berners
+
+Then he paused, as finding a real difficulty in saying what he wished;
+for the truth is, that when Mr. Berners had called Mr. Nye aside for a
+private interview, he had intended to offer him a heavy bribe to connive
+at the escape of Sybil.
+
+Now, however, he found the farmer not exactly the sort of man to affront
+with the proffer of a bribe, or even scarcely of a reward; and yet he
+was a poor man who evidently needed money, and would probably always
+need it; for Farmer Nye, as has been shown in his championship of Sybil,
+was a man of impetuous emotions, hasty judgments, and reckless actions,
+and was always sure to be in troubles, social, domestic, and pecuniary.
+
+So Mr. Berners, while wishing to reward his services, felt a difficulty
+as to the manner of doing so.
+
+At length, however, he continued:
+
+"Mr. Nye, I said at the beginning of our talk, that I could tell you
+something to your advantage."
+
+"Well, and, bless my soul alive, haven't you done it? I wonder if I
+could hear of anything more to my advantage than the chance of helping
+to resky that lady as I have felt for so much?" warmly inquired the
+farmer.
+
+"You have a generous and noble nature to look upon it in that light."
+
+"No, I haven't; but I'm a man, I reckon, and not a beast nor a devil,
+and that's all about it."
+
+"Well, farmer, I confess that when I first spoke to you, I thought of
+offering you a heavy bribe to allow us to go free, and that was what I
+meant when I said I had something to propose to your advantage."
+
+"Then I'm glad you didn't do it--that's all."
+
+"I am glad too, for now I know your magnanimous heart would have led you
+to serve us without reward, and even at great loss."
+
+"Yes, that it would," naively assented the farmer.
+
+"And even so we accept and shall ever be grateful for your services,"
+added Lyon Berners, gravely. And all the while he was slily examining
+the contents of his pocketbook. At length he drew a five hundred dollar
+note from the compartment in which he knew he kept notes of that
+denomination, and he slipped it into a blank envelope, and held it ready
+in his hand.
+
+In another moment they were at the stable door, before which Sybil
+stood, leaning on the bowed neck of her own horse, while Robert Munson
+held the other horse.
+
+Before Lyon Berners could speak, Farmer Nye impetuously pushed past him,
+and rushed up to Sybil, pulled off his hat and put out his hand,
+exclaiming:
+
+"Give me your hand, lady. I beg your pardon ten thousand times over for
+all I said and did to affront you, not knowing who you was. But now,
+lady, here is a man who don't _believe_ you to be innocent, because he
+_knows_ that you are so, and who will fight for you as long as he has
+got a whole bone left in his body, and shed his blood for you as long as
+he has got a drop left in his veins."
+
+Overcome by this ardent testimonial to her innocence, Sybil burst into
+tears, and took the rough hand that had been held out to her, and wept
+over it, and pressed it warmly to her lips, and then to her heart.
+
+"Yes, that I will. I'll die before a hair of your head shall be hurt,"
+exclaimed the farmer, utterly overwhelmed and blubbering.
+
+Meanwhile Lyon Berners was explaining to Robert Munson that they had
+found a friend and helper in Farmer Nye; but advising Munson to try to
+infuse enough of discretion into the impetuous mind of Nye to modify his
+reckless actions.
+
+"And now, dear boy," added Mr. Berners, "I will not speak to you of
+reward for this great service; but this I _will_ say, that henceforth
+you shall be to me as a younger brother, and I shall take charge of your
+future fortunes even as though you were the son of my mother."
+
+"You are too generous, sir; and indeed I want no recompense whatever,"
+answered Robert Munson, sincerely.
+
+Then Mr. Berners went over to his wife and lifted her into her saddle;
+and when he had settled her comfortably in her seat, he mounted his own
+horse, and once more called Robert Munson to him.
+
+"Good-bye, and God bless you, Robert," he said, warmly shaking hands
+with the young man.
+
+"And you too, sir! and you too, sir!" feelingly responded Munson.
+
+And then Sybil called him.
+
+"Good-bye, dear Bob. I will remember you and love you as long as I live
+for this," she said.
+
+"And so will I you, ma'am," he answered, and turned away to hide his
+tears.
+
+Lastly Lyon Berners rode up to where Farmer Nye stood apart.
+
+"Farewell, Farmer Nye! And may you indeed fare as well as your great
+heart deserves all your life," said Lyon.
+
+"The same to you and your dear wife, sir, with all my soul in the
+prayer!" responded the farmer.
+
+"And here, Mr. Nye, is a testimonial--I mean a memorandum--that is to
+say, something I wish you to take for my sake."
+
+"A keepsake, sir?"
+
+"If you choose to consider it so, yes."
+
+"What might it be sir?" inquired the farmer, receiving from Mr. Berners
+the small envelope containing the large note.
+
+"It _might_ be a lock of my wife's hair, or it might be my miniature;
+but whatever it is, hold it tight, and do not look at it until you get
+back to the house."
+
+"All right, sir; but you have raised my curiosity," replied the farmer,
+as he carefully deposited his unsuspected little fortune into the pocket
+of his waistcoat.
+
+"Now direct me as to how I shall find the best and most private road
+westward," said Lyon, gathering the reins in his hands.
+
+"You are facing east now. Ride straight on for about a hundred yards,
+till you come to the cross-roads, then take the road to your left, and
+follow it for about an eighth of a mile until you come to another road
+still on your left; take that and follow it as far as you please, for it
+leads straight west."
+
+"Thank you again and again! We shall do very well now. Good-bye, all;
+and God bless you forever!" exclaimed Lyon Berners, waiving his hat in
+adieus to the friends he was leaving behind.
+
+Then, the husband and wife rode forth in the night together.
+
+Before we follow them, we will see how it fared with the faithful
+friends who had risked so much in their service.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+                              THE PURSUIT.
+
+
+              Horse! horse! * * * * and chase!--MARNION.
+
+
+Farmer Nye and Robert Munson remained standing with their heads
+uncovered, looking after the fugitives until the sound of their horses'
+hoofs died away in the distance, and then they turned towards each other
+and impulsively grasped each the other's hand, and shook hands as
+comrades.
+
+Next Farmer Nye turned to the negroes who were squatting about the
+stable-yard, wondering, no doubt, at all they had seen and heard; and he
+told them to disperse to their quarters, and keep still tongues in their
+heads, if they wished to keep their heads on their shoulders.
+
+"And now we'll go back to the house and get a drop of home-brewed, and
+go to bed," said the farmer, starting off at a brisk trot, and beckoning
+his young companion to follow him.
+
+"I mean to manage so as Old Purley shall be made to believe as the
+prisoner escaped through _his_ door," said Munson, as he came up.
+
+"That'll be bully!" said the farmer.
+
+They went back to the house, consulted the tall old-fashioned clock in
+the corner of the hall, found it was just eleven, and they took their
+drop of "home-brewed," and went to rest.
+
+Robert Munson, with design, threw himself down upon the mattress outside
+the carefully locked door of the chamber, from which he had helped his
+prisoners to escape. And being very much fatigued, he fell asleep, and
+slept long and late.
+
+The first persons up in the house were the farmer's daughter Kitty, and
+her old maiden aunt Molly.
+
+They came down from their attic chambers and walked on tiptoes past the
+sleeping Munson, so as not to wake him. They went down stairs and had
+breakfast got ready, but had to wait very long before either the farmer
+or the young man appeared. When they did come down, however, and
+apologized for their tardiness, the women inquired for the other guests,
+and were told that they must not be disturbed.
+
+The day passed slowly.
+
+It was late in the afternoon before old Purley awoke and finding the
+room quite dark, and feeling himself still very drowsy, he merely turned
+over and went to sleep again. And still overpowered by the combined
+action of the laudanum and the beer-opium and hops, he slept on until a
+very late hour of the night, when at length he awoke; but perceiving
+that all was quite dark and still, he lay quietly in bed, thinking this
+was about the longest night he had ever spent in his life. At last he
+got up, and opened the blinds to see if it was near day. And perceiving
+by a faint light streak along the horizon that the morning was at hand,
+he opened the other blinds, and began to dress himself as well as he
+could in the semi-darkness.
+
+By the time he had got on all his clothes, the day was a little lighter,
+and he went into the passage to see after the safety of his prisoner.
+
+He found young Munson stretched upon the mattress immediately before
+the door.
+
+"Quite correct," he thought; but he resolved to go up to the door to
+make a closer examination. First he saw that the key had been taken out
+of the lock.
+
+"All right," he said to himself. "Munson has obeyed orders, and put the
+key in his pocket."
+
+And then still farther to assure himself of the safety of his charge, he
+bent over the sleeping form of Munson and tried the lock, and found it
+fast.
+
+"Quite correct! Nothing has been neglected. He is a careful officer, and
+shall be well reported at head-quarters," he muttered, with much
+satisfaction.
+
+But to reach the lock at all, he had been obliged to bend so far over
+the sleeping body, that now, in trying to recover his perpendicular, he
+lost his balance, and fell heavily, nearly crushing and quite waking
+Munson, who, in struggling to throw off the burden, recognized old
+Purley, but pretending to mistake him for Mr. Berners, grappled him by
+the throat, exclaiming:
+
+"No you don't you villain! You don't get her out of this room except
+over my dead body!" And he shook him furiously.
+
+"It's me--me--me, Bob! Do-do-don't choke me to death!" gasped old
+Purley, as he struggled and freed his throat for an instant from the
+grasp of Robert's hands.
+
+But Munson throttled and shook him more furiously than before, singing
+out:
+
+"Help! murder! arson! Here's this man reskying of my prisoner!" And he
+shook him until his teeth rattled in his head.
+
+"Oh, my good lord! I shall be strangled with the best of intention,"
+sputtered the terrified and half-suffocated victim, as for an another
+instant he freed his throat from his assailant's clasp, and breathed
+again.
+
+"Help! murder! fire!" yelled Munson, renewing the attack.
+
+"Bob! Bob! It's me, I tell you!--Purley! Wake up and look at me! You're
+asleep yet! And oh, my lord! the man will murder me by mistake before I
+can make him know," panted the poor wretch, desperately striving to keep
+off the strangling hands of his assailant, and growing weak in the
+struggle.
+
+And meanwhile the household, aroused by the outcry, had hurried on their
+clothes, and now came pouring into the passage--the women down the
+garret stairs, and the men up the lower back stairs.
+
+"Now I've got you!" exclaimed Munson, triumphantly, as he knocked the
+feet from under Purley, and threw him down upon the floor. Then stooping
+to gaze at the fallen foe, he condescended at length to recognize him.
+
+"Oh! is it you, Mr. Purley? I really thought it was Mr. Berner, reskying
+of his wife!" said Munson, with provoking coolness.
+
+"Then I wish you would make surer another time, you stupid donkey!
+You've all but killed me!" panted the victim, wiping the perspiration
+from his face.
+
+"What is the matter?"
+
+"What's all this?"
+
+"Is anybody hurt?"
+
+Such were the hasty questions put by old Farmer Nye and his family, as
+they gathered around the scene of action.
+
+"Yes! I'm choked and shaken nearly to death!" gasped old Purley, in a
+fury.
+
+"It was done for the best," said Munson, soothingly.
+
+"Oh, for the best, indeed! Set fire to you, would you murder an innocent
+man out of kindness?" fiercely demanded Parley.
+
+"You see, he fell upon me, and woke me up. It was so dark here, with
+the window shutters closed, that I could not see well, so I mistook him
+for Mr. Berners broke loose and trying to carry off his wife," explained
+Robert Munson.
+
+"Oh! well, I reckon you're not hurt much; only startled and shaken a
+bit! Come and take a glass of morning bitters. That will set you up
+again, and give you an appetite for your breakfast besides," said the
+farmer, kindly.
+
+"Thank you. I'll take the bitters, if you will send them up here! I
+mustn't leave this floor until I see my charge out. And it's time for
+them to get up too!" replied Purley, rising and knocking loudly at the
+chamber door.
+
+Of course there was no response.
+
+He knocked again and again, more loudly than before, and he called to
+them in a high tone.
+
+But still there was no answer.
+
+"Good Lord, how sound they sleep! I will go around to the other door and
+rap there. It is near the head of their bed, and they will be sure to
+hear me."
+
+And so saying, old Purley went to the adjoining chamber, where he had
+slept, dragged his mattress away from the door, and drew the key from
+his pocket, when, to his astonishment and terror, he found the door
+unlocked!
+
+Without waiting an instant, from any scruples of politeness, he rushed
+into the room.
+
+To his horror and amazement, he found it empty!
+
+"They've gone! they've fled!" frantically exclaimed Purley, rushing back
+into the passage, where he found the other bailiff still on guard before
+the fast door, and the farmer waiting with the glass of bitters in his
+hand.
+
+"Fled!" echoed Munson. "How can that be? This door as fast as it is?"
+
+"Blast 'em! they've had the impudence to escape right through my door!
+and right over my body!" panted Purley.
+
+"Then you can't blame _me_!" naively put in Munson.
+
+"Who says I can?" angrily demanded Purley. "I can't blame anybody! And
+how the demon they managed to pick the lock and open the door, and climb
+over me, _I_ don't know! Nor have we time to inquire!"
+
+"Take your bitters, Mr. Purley," said the host, offering the glass.
+
+The bailiff quaffed the offered restorative at a draught, and then said:
+
+"Farmer, saddle a couple of horses for us, directly! We must pursue them
+without loss of time! They can not have got very far ahead of us in
+these few hours!" he added, being totally unconscious of the length of
+time he had slept, and the whole day he had lost.
+
+"My--my horses will be busy all day hauling wood," replied the farmer.
+
+"Don't care! I order you in the name of the Commonwealth of Virginia, to
+saddle those horses, and place them at our disposal to pursue our
+prisoner," said Purley, in a peremptory tone.
+
+The farmer was quite uncertain whether or not that was an order he was
+bound to obey; and besides, he was very unwilling that his horses should
+be taken off their work at all, and especially for the purpose of
+pursuing Sybil Berners. But still he felt that it would be safer for
+her, if not for himself, if he should yield to the demand of the
+sheriff's officer; he could put him on the wrong track, by counselling
+him to ride towards the east, while he knew that Sybil was far on her
+route to the west.
+
+So without further demur, he went out to execute the order.
+
+"And, farmer, when you have seen to that matter, I want you to gather
+all your men and maids into the breakfast room, that I may question them
+while I eat my breakfast, so as not now to lose a moment," he called
+after his retreating host.
+
+All this was done as he directed. And when the family and the house
+servants were assembled in the breakfast room, and Purley examined and
+cross-examined them as to whether they had seen or heard anything of the
+prisoner or her husband during the night, they could all answer with
+perfect truth, that they had not. So old Purley got no satisfaction from
+them.
+
+The bailiff hastily dispatched his breakfast, and the horses being
+ready, he called to his young assistant to follow him, and he went out
+and got into his saddle.
+
+"Where the deuce am I to go after them, when there are so many roads to
+choose from?" groaned old Purley, in sore perplexity of spirit.
+
+"Would they not be likely to make straight for the east and a seaport?"
+inquired farmer Nye suggestively.
+
+"To be sure they would," exclaimed Mr. Purley. "So now, Munson, we will
+go right back upon the road we came last night," he added, being still
+in ignorance as to the lost day.
+
+"And as the stable boy told me, they had taken the wagon horses to ride,
+and those horses were then fairly knocked up with fatigue, while ours
+are now quite fresh, we may very soon overtake them," put in Munson,
+artfully.
+
+And waving their hats in adieux to the farmer and his family, they rode
+off at full speed in pursuit of the fugitives. But they had not ridden
+more than a hundred yards, and had but just reached the four
+cross-roads, when they were both startled by a shrill--
+
+"Whist!"
+
+They drew their reins, and looked around just as the head of a negro boy
+emerged from the bushes, exclaiming
+
+"Hallo, Marster!"
+
+"Who are you? What do you want?" demanded Purley.
+
+"I'm Bill, and I don't want nothing. But I know what _you_ want!"
+
+"What do I want?"
+
+"To know which way the run-a-way lady and gemplan went."
+
+"I do know, they went this way," said Purley, pointing straight before
+him.
+
+"No, they didn't neyther! they was too sharp for that, they said how you
+would be sure to search for 'em on that road, just as you are a doing of
+now; so they would take another road."
+
+"That was likely too! Boy, do you know which road they took?"
+
+"Yes, sir_ree_."
+
+"Then tell me."
+
+"I will if you'll give me a quarter," was the moderate conditions of
+this treaty.
+
+"Here, take it!" exclaimed Mr. Parley, pitching the boy the silver coin
+in question.
+
+"Thanky, Marster," grinned the lad, picking up the treasure.
+
+"Now tell me."
+
+"Well, Marster, they went along that left han' road till they got to the
+next turning, and then they turned to the left ag'in and kept on that
+tact towards that gap in the mountain where you see the sun set in the
+arternoon."
+
+"How did you know all this, boy?"
+
+"I was out coon-hunting when I heerd them talking, and I listened and
+heerd all about it. And as I couldn't find any coons, I follyed arter
+them; and their horses was _tired_, as they kept on complainin' to each
+other. And so they went slow and I could keep up long of 'em."
+
+"How far did you follow them?"
+
+"Well, Marster! I couldn't help it! I follyed of 'em all night."
+
+"And they never discovered you?"
+
+"No, sar, they never did. I was barefooted and didn't make no noise,
+and keeped nigh the bushes on the roadside, and so they never found me
+out."
+
+"And where did you part from them?"
+
+"Well, Marster, I didn't part from 'em till I seed whar they stopped.
+And if you'll take me up behind you, I'll show you the way to the place
+where they are hiding. It an't fur from here, not so very fur, I mean."
+
+"Oh! ho! that is good! So, so, my run-a-ways! I shall nab you, shall I?"
+exclaimed Purley in triumph, as he beckoned the negro imp to jump up
+behind him.
+
+"But stop!" said Robert Munson, in an agony of terror for the safety of
+Sybil Berners. "Stop! What are you about to do? You are about to abduct
+Farmer Nye's slave!"
+
+"Do you belong to Farmer Nye, boy? Though it don't matter a bit who you
+belong to. I'll take anybody I can lay hold of to guide me to the
+hiding-place of my prisoner--in the name of the Commonwealth of
+Virginia," said this new bailiff, who seemed to think that formula of
+words, like an absolute monarch's signet ring, was warranty for every
+sort of proceeding.
+
+"But I don't belong to nobody. I's fee, and so's mammy. We an't got no
+master, and I an't got no daddy to lord it over me!" put in the boy.
+
+"That's right, jump up behind," said the elder bailiff. And as soon as
+little Bill was safely perched up in the rear of his patron, the latter
+put spurs to his horse and gallopped off at full speed.
+
+They went down the left hand, or south fork of the cross-roads, and
+gallopped on until they reached the branch road leading west. They
+turned into that road and pursued it mile after mile, through field and
+forest, mountain pass and valley plain, until, late in the afternoon,
+they reached another mountain range, and heard the roaring of a great
+torrent. They entered the black gap, and slowly and cautiously made
+their way through it. By the time they had emerged from the pass, the
+night was pitch dark.
+
+"How shall we ever find our way?" inquired Purley who, fatigued and half
+famished, was ready to sink with exhaustion.
+
+"Do you see that then gabble ind stickin' up through the trees?"
+inquired the boy.
+
+"Yes, I see it!"
+
+"Well, him and her is in there?"
+
+"Are you sure?" inquired Purley, anxiously.
+
+"Here I is, Marster! If him and her ar'n't in there, here I is in your
+power, and you may skin me alive!"
+
+"All right!" exclaimed Purley, and dismounting from his horse, he
+advanced towards the thicket, followed by Munson and the negro boy.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+                             THE FUGITIVES.
+
+
+        They may not set a foot within their fields,
+        They may not pull a sapling from their hills,
+        They may not enter their fair mansion house.--HOWITT.
+
+
+Lyon and Sybil had ridden on through the darkness, over that wild
+country road. Their horses had had a very hard day's work in the wagon
+harness, and had not recovered from their fatigue. They were still very
+tired, and all unaccustomed to the saddle. The road was also very rough,
+and the night very dark. Their progress was therefore difficult and
+slow.
+
+Unconscious of being followed and overheard, they talked freely of their
+plans. Their prospects of final escape were not now nearly so hopeful as
+they had been on their two former attempts. They were now undisguised,
+and unprovided for the journey, except with money and a change of
+clothing. For necessary food they would have to stop at houses, and thus
+incur some degree of danger. All this they discussed as their horses
+slowly toiled along the rugged road up hill and down, through woods and
+fields, until they came near that mountain pass that they had been dimly
+seeing before them all night long and that looked like a grey cleft in a
+black wall.
+
+"It must be near morning now. But I have not a very clear idea where we
+are. I shall be glad when it is light if it is only to consult my map
+and compass," said Lyon, uneasily.
+
+"I never was on this side of the mountain before, but it does seem to me
+that that must be a spur of the Black Ridge which we see before us,"
+suggested Sybil.
+
+"I was thinking the very same thing," added Lyon. "But if that is so, we
+must have wandered far out of our way."
+
+"And hush! Don't you hear something?" inquired Sybil, when they had
+ridden a little farther on.
+
+"No; what is it?"
+
+"Listen! I want to know if you recognize it," she said.
+
+"I hear a faint, distant roaring, as of a water-fall," he answered,
+stopping his horse to hear the better.
+
+"It is our Black Torrent!" exclaimed Sybil.
+
+"Good Heaven! Then we have wandered out of our way with a vengeance.
+However, there is no help for it now! We must go on, or stop here until
+it is light enough to consult the compass."
+
+"And at any rate, Lyon, no one will think of looking for us so near
+home," she added.
+
+"That is true," he admitted.
+
+And they rode on slowly, looking about as well as they could through
+the darkness, for a convenient place on which to dismount from the jaded
+steeds.
+
+Their path now lay through that deep mountain pass. Steep precipices
+arose on either side. They picked their way slowly and carefully through
+it, until they entered a crooked path leading down the side of a thickly
+wooded hill. Here they rode on, a little more at their ease, until they
+reached the bottom of the hill and the edge of the wood, and came out
+upon an old forsaken road, running along the shores of a deep and rapid
+river, with another mountain range behind.
+
+"Well, Heaven bless us! here we are!" exclaimed Lyon Berners, reining up
+his horse and looking around himself in a ludicrous state of mind, made
+up of surprise, dismay, and resignation.
+
+"Yes; on the shores of the Black River, at the head of our own Black
+Valley," chimed in Sybil, in a tone of voice in which there was more of
+satisfaction than of disappointment. Poor Sybil was sentimental and
+illogical, like all her sex.
+
+"But at a point at which, I may venture to say, that even you, its
+owner, never reached before," added Lyon, as he touched up his horse and
+led the way up the road, still looking about as well as he could through
+the darkness, for a place in which to stop and rest their horses.
+
+Suddenly, as they rode slowly onward, they heard approaching them from
+the opposite direction the sound of a wagon and horse, accompanied by a
+human voice, singing:
+
+    "Brothers and sisters there will meet,
+     Brothers and sisters there will meet,
+     Brothers and sisters there will meet--
+         Will meet, to part no more!"
+
+"Yes, bress de Lord! so dey will. And all departed friends will meet,
+and meet to part no more! GLORY!" rang out the voice of the singer, who
+seemed to be working himself up into enthusiasm.
+
+"It is only some negro with his team," said Lyon Berners, to soothe the
+spirits of Sybil, which always took the alarm at the approach of any
+stranger.
+
+"Yes; but what an hour for a negro, or for any one else but fugitives
+like ourselves, to be out," said Sybil, doubtingly.
+
+"Oh, he is making an early start for market perhaps. It _must_ be near
+morning."
+
+     "Oh, there will be glory--
+      Glory! glory! glory!--
+      Oh, there will be glory
+    Around the throne of God!"
+
+sang the unseen singer, making the mountain caves and glens ring with
+his melody.
+
+"Yes; bress Marster! there _will_ be Glories and Hallelujahs all through
+heaven," he added; "for--
+
+    "Saints and angels there will meet,
+     Saints and angels there will meet,
+     Saints and angels there will meet--
+       Will meet, to part no more."
+
+"And me and my young missis there will meet! And meet to part no more!
+GLORY!" added the singer, with a sudden shout.
+
+"Lyon, that's our Joe!" exclaimed Sybil, in joyful surprise.
+
+The cart and horses now loomed dimly through the darkness, being almost
+upon them.
+
+"Joe!" called out Sybil, in a gleeful voice--"Joe!"
+
+"Who dar?" answered the man, in affright.
+
+"It is I! Sybil, Joe!"
+
+"Oh, my good gracious Lord in heaven! it's her spirit as is calling me,
+and she must be dead!" gasped the man, in a quavering voice.
+
+By this time the two horses were beside the cart, upon the seat of
+which the driver sat in an extremity of terror.
+
+"Joe, don't be alarmed! It is Mrs. Berners herself who speaks to you,
+and I am with her," said Mr. Berners, soothingly.
+
+"Oh, Marse Lyon! Is it ralely and truly her herself and you yourself?"
+inquired the man, very doubtingly.
+
+"Really and truly Sybil and myself, Joe."
+
+"Oh! Lord! how you did scare me!"
+
+"Compose yourself, Joe, and tell me what you are doing here at this time
+of the morning."
+
+"Oh, Marse Lyon, sir, I came arter the housekeeping truck as you left
+here, which I couldn't get a chance to fetch it before, 'cause I was
+afraid o' 'citin' 'spicion."
+
+"And have you the things in that cart?"
+
+"Yes, Marse."
+
+"Then hold on for a moment, and spread the mattress on the bottom of the
+cart for your young mistress to lie down upon and rest, while you and I
+have a little talk."
+
+Joe promptly obeyed this order; and when the rude bed was ready, Lyon
+lifted Sybil from her seat and laid her upon it. The tired horses were
+then relieved from their saddles and turned loose for a while. And then
+Mr. Berners and Joe sat down by the roadside to consult.
+
+"And first I want you to tell me, Joe, whether our sojourn at the
+Haunted Chapel ever was found out," said Mr. Berners.
+
+"Lor, no, sir! it never were even suspicioned! quite contrary wise,
+indeed."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"Why, it was 'ported 'round as you was bofe at Marster Capping
+Pendulum's all the time, which when himself was taxed with it, he never
+let on as you wasn't there; quite contrary wise, as I said afore."
+
+"But how now?"
+
+"Well, he up and 'fied 'em all, and said his house was his cassil,
+which he would shelter any one he pleased, and specially a noble and
+injured lady."
+
+"High heart! I thank him!" exclaimed Mr. Berners.
+
+"Which 'fiance you see, sir, confarmed everybody in the faith that you
+was bofe hid in his house, so artfully as even the sarch-warranters as
+went there couldn't find you. And so, sir, nobody, from first to last,
+has once said 'Haunted Chapel.'"
+
+"Joe, how far are we from the Haunted Chapel?"
+
+"Not more 'n a mile, sir, from the little path that leads up to it."
+
+"Well, I think we had better go there again and rest to-day, and resume
+our journey to-night. There can be no safer place."
+
+"No whar in all the world, sir."
+
+"Then we will go at once. Throw the saddles into the cart, at your
+mistress' feet, so as not to crowd her. I will then drive the cart, and
+you may lead the two riding horses after us," said Mr. Berners, going at
+once to the side of the rude vehicle where Sybil lay in so deep a sleep
+that she did not wake, even when he mounted the seat and started the
+springless cart jolting along the rough road.
+
+Joe led the saddle horses close behind, and so they went on.
+
+"Joe," said Mr. Berners, "I hope that all things go on well at home."
+
+"As well as can be, sir, marser and missus being away. Capping Pendulum,
+he shows his powerful 'torney, and tends to the 'state. And Missus
+Winterose and her darters minds the house. Only they's in constant
+terrors all along o' that band o' bugglers."
+
+"Band of burglars, Joe?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and highway robbers as well."
+
+"Indeed! Joe, I have twice lately heard this band spoken of. Does such
+a one really exist?"
+
+"Well, sir, it _do_. The neighborhood never was so mislested with
+robbers since a neighborhood it has been. Why, sir, Mr. Morgan's new
+store, at Blackville was broke open and robbed of about twelve hundred
+dollars' worth of goods in one night."
+
+"And none of it recovered!"
+
+"No, sir. And, sir, Capping Pendulum's own house was entered and robbed
+of jewelry and plate to the tune of about two thousand dollars."
+
+"I am very sorry for that! And no clue to the robbers?"
+
+"Not the leastest in the world, sir! And no later'n last night, Judge
+Beresford was riding home from the village, where he had been at the
+tavern, playing cards with a lot of gentlemen, and had won a deal of
+money, which he had about him, when, in the middle of the long woods
+below his own house, he was stopped by two men; one who seized his
+bridle, and one who pinted a pistol at his head, and gave him his choice
+of his money or his life. The Judge he choose his life, and handed over
+his winnins."
+
+"I'm not sorry for him! A man who gains money in that way deserves to
+lose it. But I _am_ astounded at all that you have told me."
+
+"Yes, sir! and the old ladies in charge of Black Hall is more 'stounded
+than you are, sir; being 'stounded to that degree that they sleep with
+the dogs in the room; long of 'em."
+
+"This should be seen to. There should be a vigilance committee. But here
+we are at the path, Joe, and my wife is still in a deep sleep; and I do
+not wish to wake her; nor can we drive the cart through the thicket.
+Hold! I'll tell you what we can do. We can take the mattress by its four
+corners, and carry her on it to the chapel. If we are careful, we need
+not even wake her," said Mr. Berners, as he stopped the cart and got
+down from his seat.
+
+Joe tied the two saddle horses to one of the trees, and came around to
+the cart to help his master.
+
+Between them they cautiously lifted the mattress, and bore it along
+towards the opening of the path.
+
+On first being moved, Sybil sighed once and turned over and then she
+fell into a still deeper sleep, from which she did not again awake even
+when they bore her into the dreadful Haunted Chapel, and laid her down,
+still on the mattress, in the old place, to the right of the altar.
+
+"Poor child! She was so tired, so worn out in body and mind, that she
+could scarcely sit her horse. Yet she never once complained, nor should
+I have even surmised the extent of her prostration, were it not for this
+coma-like sleep. She will not wake now. We may safely leave her alone
+while we go back and bring our saddle horses here, for we must bring
+them in order to hide them to-day and use them to-night. And you, Joe,
+after you have helped me to bring the horses through the thicket, must
+go to Blackville and buy food and bring it to us to-night before we
+resume our journey."
+
+"Yes, sir; and meantimes, there is some crackers and cheese and
+sweetmeats, and likewise a bottle of port wine, in the cart, as you left
+in the chapel when you went away."
+
+"Oh, indeed! that will be a godsend, Joe! We must bring that back to the
+chapel with us when we come," said Mr. Berners, as with his servant he
+bent his steps back to the thicket path.
+
+Sybil, left alone in the interior of the haunted chapel, slept on
+soundly for some little time. She had not really been quite unconscious
+of her removal thither. She had half waked on being taken from the cart,
+but had immediately fallen asleep again; though she was still vaguely
+conscious of being borne along to some place of safety and repose, and
+that her devoted husband and her faithful servant were her
+bearers--vaguely conscious also of being laid down upon some level place
+of perfect rest, with a roof above her head; but beyond this she knew
+nothing, cared nothing, being too utterly prostrated in mind and body to
+rouse herself to any utterances, or even to save herself from sinking to
+sleep.
+
+How long she had slept she never could tell, when at length she was
+suddenly and fearfully aroused--aroused to a degree of wakefulness that
+neither the noisy jolting over the rocky road, nor the painful dragging
+through the thorny thicket had been able to effect.
+
+And yet it was but by a touch--the touch of an ice-cold little hand
+passing lightly over her face.
+
+She started up in a panic and glared around. All seemed black as pitch,
+and at first she could see nothing; but as she strained her eyes, she
+dimly discerned the shapes of the gothic windows, with the dark night
+sky and the ghostly trees beyond; and she recognized the Haunted Chapel!
+
+They had brought her here while she was sleeping; and now, "in the dead
+waste and middle of the night," she had waked up, alone in this
+demon-peopled place.
+
+She tried to cry out in her fear; but her voice died in her throat, and
+she sank back upon her mattress and closed her eyes, lest some shape of
+horror should blast them.
+
+Then again she felt hands at work about her person. They were creeping
+under her shoulders and under her limbs; they were lifting her from her
+mattress. Her eyes flared open in wild affright, and she saw two black
+shrouded forms, the one at her head the other at her feet.
+
+She tried to cry out in her agony of terror; but again her voice died
+away in her bosom, and all her powers seemed palsied. They raised her up
+and bore her on--great heaven! whither?
+
+To the open door of the vault, from whose haunted depths a spectral
+light gleamed!
+
+They bore her down the dreadful steps, and laid her on the deadly floor!
+
+The iron door clanged loudly to, resounding through the dismal arches.
+
+"We have her now!" muttered a hoarse voice. A hollow laugh responded.
+
+And Sybil swooned with horror!
+
+Sybil's further adventures will be related in the sequel to this work,
+to be immediately published, under the title of "Tried for Her Life."
+
+                                The End.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cruel As The Grave, by
+Mrs. Emma D. E. N. Southworth
+
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