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diff --git a/30744-h/30744-h.htm b/30744-h/30744-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e9862fb --- /dev/null +++ b/30744-h/30744-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13483 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= + "text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of the Works of Robert Louis Stevenson Volume V, by Robert Louis Stevenson. + </title> + + <style type="text/css"> + + body { margin-left: 12%; margin-right: 12%; text-align: justify; line-height: 1.4em;} + p { margin-top: .75em; margin-bottom: .75em; text-indent: 1em; } + p.noind { margin-top: .75em; margin-bottom: .75em; text-indent: 0; } + + h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { text-align: center; } + hr { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; width: 70%; height: 5px; background-color: #dcdcdc; border: none;} + hr.full {width: 100%;} + hr.art { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 40%; height: 5px; background-color: #778899; + margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 5em } + hr.foot { text-align: left; margin-left: 2em; width: 16%; background-color: black; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 0; height: 1px; } + + .f80 { font-size: 80% } + .f85 { font-size: 85% } + .f70 { font-size: 70% } + + table.reg { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both; } + table.nobctr { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; } + + td.tc2 { padding-right: 0; padding-left: 0; text-align: right; vertical-align: top;} + td.tc2c { padding-right: 0; padding-left: 0; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;} + td.tc5 { padding-right: 0; padding-left: 0; text-align: left; } + td.tc5a { padding-right: 0; padding-left: 0; text-align: left; padding-top: 0.75em; padding-bottom: 0.75em; } + + table p { margin: 0;} + .center {text-align: center; } + + a:link, a:visited, link {text-decoration:none} + + .sc {font-variant: small-caps;} + .scs {font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 85%; } + + .pagenum {position: absolute; right: 5%; text-align: right; font-size: 10pt; + background-color: #f5f5f5; color: #778899; text-indent: 0; + padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em; font-style: normal; } + .note {margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 0.9em; } + .fn { position: absolute; left: 12%; text-align: left; background-color: #f5f5f5; + text-indent: 0; padding-left: 0.2em; padding-right: 0.2em; } + .sp {position: relative; bottom: 0.5em; font-size: 0.7em;} + + .figcenter {text-align: center; padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;} + + div.poemr {margin-top: .75em; margin-bottom: .75em; font-size: 90%;} + div.poemr p { margin-left: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em; margin-top: 0em; margin-bottom: 0em; } + div.poemr p.i05 { margin-left: 0.5em; } + + div.quote { margin-left: 2em; font-size: 90%; line-height: 1.2em; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em; } + div.quote p { margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em; } + + .rt {text-align: right; padding-right: 2em} + .pt05 {padding-top: 0.5em;} + .pt2 {padding-top: 2em;} + .pt3 {padding-top: 3em;} + .ptb {padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - +Swanston Edition Vol. 5 (of 25), by Robert Louis Stevenson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 5 (of 25) + +Author: Robert Louis Stevenson + +Other: Andrew Lang + +Release Date: December 23, 2009 [EBook #30744] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS OF STEVENSON *** + + + + +Produced by Marius Masi, Jonathan Ingram and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<h4>THE WORKS OF</h4> +<h3>ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON</h3> +<h4>SWANSTON EDITION</h4> +<h5>VOLUME V</h5> + +<div class="pt3"> </div> + +<p class="noind center"><i>Of this SWANSTON EDITION in Twenty-five<br /> +Volumes of the Works of ROBERT LOUIS<br /> +STEVENSON Two Thousand and Sixty Copies<br /> +have been printed, of which only Two Thousand<br /> +Copies are for sale.</i></p> + +<p class="noind center"><i>This is No. <span style="font-size: 60%;">............</span></i></p> +<div class="pt05"> </div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img style="border:0; width:482px; height:700px" + src="images/image01.jpg" + alt="" /> +<p class="f70">8 HOWARD PLACE, EDINBURGH, BIRTHPLACE OF R. L. S. IN 1850</p> +</div> + +<div class="pt2"> </div> +<h3>THE WORKS OF</h3> +<h2>ROBERT LOUIS</h2> +<h2>STEVENSON</h2> + +<div class="pt3"> </div> +<h5>VOLUME FIVE</h5> +<div class="pt3"> </div> + +<h5>LONDON: PUBLISHED BY CHATTO AND<br /> +WINDUS: IN ASSOCIATION WITH CASSELL<br /> +AND COMPANY LIMITED: WILLIAM<br /> +HEINEMANN: AND LONGMANS GREEN<br /> +AND COMPANY MDCCCCXI</h5> + +<div class="pt3"> </div> +<h6>ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</h6> + +<div class="pt2"> </div> +<hr class="art" /> +<h3>CONTENTS</h3> + +<table class="nobctr" width="90%" summary="Contents"> + +<tr> <td class="center" colspan="2"><h4>MORE NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS</h4></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="center" colspan="2"><h4>THE DYNAMITER</h4></td> </tr> + +<tr style="font-size: 70%; "> <td class="tc2"> </td> + <td class="tc2">PAGE</td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">Prologue of the Cigar Divan</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page7">7</a></td> </tr> + + +<tr> <td class="center" colspan="2">CHALLONER’S ADVENTURE</td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">The Squire of Dames</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page15">15</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">Story of the Destroying Angel</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page24">24</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="f85 tc5"><span class="sc">The Squire of Dames</span> (<i>concluded</i>)</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page57">57</a></td> </tr> + + +<tr> <td class="center ptb" colspan="2">SOMERSET’S ADVENTURE</td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">The Superfluous Mansion</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page73">73</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">Narrative of the Spirited Old Lady</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page78">78</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="f85 tc5"><span class="sc">The Superfluous Mansion</span> (<i>continued</i>)</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page104">104</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">Zero’s Tale of the Explosive Bomb</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page130">130</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="f85 tc5"><span class="sc">The Superfluous Mansion</span> (<i>continued</i>)</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page139">139</a></td> </tr> + + +<tr> <td class="center ptb" colspan="2">DESBOROUGH’S ADVENTURE</td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">The Brown Box</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page149">149</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">Story of the Fair Cuban</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page155">155</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="f85 tc5"><span class="sc">The Brown Box</span> (<i>concluded</i>)</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page190">190</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="f85 tc5"><span class="sc">The Superfluous Mansion</span> (<i>concluded</i>)</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page202">202</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">Epilogue of the Cigar Divan</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page212">212</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="center ptb" colspan="2"><h4>STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE</h4></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">Story of the Door</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page227">227</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">Search for Mr. Hyde</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page234">234</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">Dr. Jekyll was Quite at Ease</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page243">243</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">The Carew Murder Case</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page246">246</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">Incident of the Letter</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page251">251</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">Remarkable Incident of Dr. Lanyon</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page256">256</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">Incident at the Window</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page261">261</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">The Last Night</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page263">263</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">Dr. Lanyon’s Narrative</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page276">276</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5">Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page284">284</a></td> </tr> + + +<tr> <td class="tc5a"><h4 style="text-align: left;">THRAWN JANET</h4></td> + <td class="tc2c"><a href="#page305">305</a></td> </tr> + +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page1"></a>1</span></p> + +<div class="pt3"> </div> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>MORE NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS</h2> + +<h3>THE DYNAMITER</h3> + +<h5>WRITTEN IN COLLABORATION WITH MRS. STEVENSON</h5> +<hr class="full" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page2"></a>2</span></p> +<div class="pt3"> </div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page3"></a>3</span></p> +<h5><i>TO</i></h5> + +<h5><i>MESSRS. COLE AND COX</i></h5> + +<h6><i>POLICE OFFICERS</i></h6> + +<p><i>Gentlemen,</i></p> + +<p style="text-indent: 4.5em;"><i>In the volume now in your hands, the authors have +touched upon that ugly devil of crime, with which it is your +glory to have contended. It were a waste of ink to do so in a +serious spirit. Let us dedicate our horror to acts of a more +mingled strain, where crime preserves some features of nobility, +and where reason and humanity can still relish the temptation. +Horror, in this case, is due to Mr. Parnell: he sits before +posterity silent, Mr. Forster’s appeal echoing down the ages. +Horror is due to ourselves, in that we have so long coquetted +with political crime; not seriously weighing, not acutely +following it from cause to consequence; but with a generous, +unfounded heat of sentiment, like the schoolboy with the penny +tale, applauding what was specious. When it touched ourselves +(truly in a vile shape), we proved false to these imaginations; +discovered, in a clap, that crime was no less cruel and +no less ugly under sounding names; and recoiled from our +false deities.</i></p> + +<p><i>But seriousness comes most in place when we are to speak of +our defenders. Whoever be in the right in this great and +confused war of politics; whatever elements of greed, whatever +traits of the bully, dishonour both parties in this inhuman +contest;—your side, your part, is at least pure of doubt. Yours +is the side of the child, of the breeding woman, of individual +pity and public trust. If our society were the mere kingdom of +the devil (as indeed it wears some of his colours), it yet embraces +many precious elements and many innocent persons whom it</i> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page4"></a>4</span> +<i>is a glory to defend. Courage and devotion, so common in +the ranks of the police, so little recognised, so meagrely rewarded, +have at length found their commemoration in an historical act. +History, which will represent Mr. Parnell sitting silent under +the appeal of Mr. Forster, and Gordon setting forth upon his +tragic enterprise, will not forget Mr. Cole carrying the dynamite +in his defenceless hands, nor Mr. Cox coming coolly to his aid.</i></p> + +<p style="padding-left: 6em;"><i>ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.</i></p> +<p style="padding-left: 6em;"><i>FANNY VAN DE GRIFT STEVENSON.</i></p> + +<div class="pt2"> </div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page5"></a>5</span></p> +<h5><i>A NOTE FOR THE READER</i></h5> + +<p><i>It is within the bounds of possibility that you may take up this +volume, and yet be unacquainted with its predecessor: the +first series of</i> <span class="sc">New Arabian Nights</span>. <i>The loss is yours—and +mine; or, to be more exact, my publishers’. But if you +are thus unlucky, the least I can do is to pass you a hint. +When you shall find a reference in the following pages to one +Theophilus Godall of the Bohemian Cigar Divan in Rupert +Street, Soho, you must be prepared to recognise under his +features no less a person than Prince Florizel of Bohemia, +formerly one of the magnates of Europe, now dethroned, exiled, +impoverished, and embarked in the tobacco trade.</i></p> + +<p class="rt"><i>R. L. S.</i></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page6"></a>6</span></p> +<div class="pt3"> </div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page7"></a>7</span></p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>MORE NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS</h2> +<hr class="full" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<h3>THE DYNAMITER</h3> +<hr class="art" /> + +<h4>PROLOGUE OF THE CIGAR DIVAN</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">In</span> the city of encounters, the Bagdad of the West, and, +to be more precise, on the broad northern pavement of +Leicester Square, two young men of five- or six-and-twenty +met after years of separation. The first, who +was of a very smooth address, and clothed in the best +fashion, hesitated to recognise the pinched and shabby +air of his companion.</p> + +<p>“What!” he cried, “Paul Somerset!”</p> + +<p>“I am indeed Paul Somerset,” returned the other, +“or what remains of him after a well-deserved experience +of poverty and law. But in you, Challoner, I can +perceive no change; and time may be said, without hyperbole, +to write no wrinkle on your azure brow.”</p> + +<p>“All,” replied Challoner, “is not gold that glitters. +But we are here in an ill posture for confidences, and interrupt +the movement of these ladies. Let us, if you please, find +a more private corner.”</p> + +<p>“If you will allow me to guide you,” replied Somerset, +“I will offer you the best cigar in London.”</p> + +<p>And taking the arm of his companion, he led him in +silence and at a brisk pace to the door of a quiet establishment +in Rupert Street, Soho. The entrance was adorned +with one of those gigantic Highlanders of wood which have +almost risen to the standing of antiquities; and across the +window-glass, which sheltered the usual display of pipes, +tobacco, and cigars, there ran the gilded legend: “Bohemian +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page8"></a>8</span> +Cigar Divan, by T. Godall.” The interior of the shop was +small, but commodious and ornate; the salesman grave, +smiling, and urbane; and the two young men, each puffing +a select regalia, had soon taken their places on a sofa of +mouse-coloured plush, and proceeded to exchange their +stories.</p> + +<p>“I am now,” said Somerset, “a barrister; but Providence +and the attorneys have hitherto denied me the opportunity +to shine. A select society at the Cheshire Cheese +engaged my evenings; my afternoons, as Mr. Godall could +testify, have been generally passed in this divan; and my +mornings, I have taken the precaution to abbreviate by not +rising before twelve. At this rate, my little patrimony was +very rapidly and, I am proud to remember, most agreeably +expended. Since then a gentleman, who has really nothing +else to recommend him beyond the fact of being my maternal +uncle, deals me the small sum of ten shillings a week; and +if you behold me once more revisiting the glimpses of the +street lamps in my favourite quarter, you will readily divine +that I have come into a fortune.”</p> + +<p>“I should not have supposed so,” replied Challoner. +“But doubtless I met you on the way to your tailors.”</p> + +<p>“It is a visit that I purpose to delay,” returned Somerset, +with a smile. “My fortune has definite limits. It consists, +or rather this morning it consisted, of one hundred +pounds.”</p> + +<p>“That is certainly odd,” said Challoner; “yes, certainly +the coincidence is strange. I am myself reduced +to the same margin.”</p> + +<p>“You!” cried Somerset. “And yet Solomon in all +his glory——”</p> + +<p>“Such is the fact. I am, dear boy, on my last legs,” +said Challoner. “Besides the clothes in which you see +me, I have scarcely a decent trouser in my wardrobe; and +if I knew how, I would this instant set about some sort +of work or commerce. With a hundred pounds for capital, +a man should push his way.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page9"></a>9</span></p> + +<p>“It may be,” returned Somerset; “but what to do with +mine is more than I can fancy.—Mr. Godall,” he added, +addressing the salesman, “you are a man who knows the +world: what can a young fellow of reasonable education do +with a hundred pounds?”</p> + +<p>“It depends,” replied the salesman, withdrawing his +cheroot. “The power of money is an article of faith in +which I profess myself a sceptic. A hundred pounds will +with difficulty support you for a year; with somewhat more +difficulty you may spend it in a night; and without any +difficulty at all you may lose it in five minutes on the Stock +Exchange. If you are of that stamp of man that rises, a +penny would be as useful; if you belong to those that fall, +a penny would be no more useless. When I was myself +thrown unexpectedly upon the world, it was my fortune to +possess an art: I knew a good cigar. Do you know nothing, +Mr. Somerset?”</p> + +<p>“Not even law,” was the reply.</p> + +<p>“The answer is worthy of a sage,” returned Mr. Godall.—“And +you, sir,” he continued, turning to Challoner, “as +the friend of Mr. Somerset, may I be allowed to address you +the same question?”</p> + +<p>“Well,” replied Challoner, “I play a fair hand at whist.”</p> + +<p>“How many persons are there in London,” returned the +salesman, “who have two-and-thirty teeth? Believe me, +young gentleman, there are more still who play a fair hand +at whist. Whist, sir, is wide as the world; ’tis an accomplishment +like breathing. I once knew a youth who +announced that he was studying to be Chancellor of England; +the design was certainly ambitious; but I find it less excessive +than that of the man who aspires to make a livelihood +by whist.”</p> + +<p>“Dear me,” said Challoner, “I am afraid I shall have to +fall to be a working man.”</p> + +<p>“Fall to be a working man?” echoed Mr. Godall. +“Suppose a rural dean to be unfrocked, does he fall to be a +major? suppose a captain were cashiered, would he fall to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page10"></a>10</span> +be a puisne judge? The ignorance of your middle class +surprises me. Outside itself, it thinks the world to lie quite +ignorant and equal, sunk in a common degradation; but +to the eye of the observer, all ranks are seen to stand in +ordered hierarchies, and each adorned with its particular +aptitudes and knowledge. By the defects of your education +you are more disqualified to be a working man than to +be the ruler of an empire. The gulf, sir, is below; and the +true learned arts—those which alone are safe from the competition +of insurgent laymen—are those which give his title +to the artisan.”</p> + +<p>“This is a very pompous fellow,” said Challoner in the +ear of his companion.</p> + +<p>“He is immense,” said Somerset.</p> + +<p>Just then the door of the divan was opened, and a third +young fellow made his appearance, and rather bashfully +requested some tobacco. He was younger than the others; +and, in a somewhat meaningless and altogether English +way, he was a handsome lad. When he had been served, +and had lighted his pipe and taken his place upon the sofa, +he recalled himself to Challoner by the name of Desborough.</p> + +<p>“Desborough, to be sure,” cried Challoner. “Well, +Desborough, and what do you do?”</p> + +<p>“The fact is,” said Desborough, “that I am doing +nothing.”</p> + +<p>“A private fortune, possibly?” inquired the other.</p> + +<p>“Well, no,” replied Desborough, rather sulkily. “The +fact is that I am waiting for something to turn up.”</p> + +<p>“All in the same boat!” cried Somerset. “And have +you, too, one hundred pounds?”</p> + +<p>“Worse luck,” said Mr. Desborough.</p> + +<p>“This is a very pathetic sight, Mr. Godall,” said Somerset: +“three futiles.”</p> + +<p>“A character of this crowded age,” returned the salesman.</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said Somerset, “I deny that the age is crowded; +I will admit one fact, and one fact only: that I am futile, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page11"></a>11</span> +that he is futile, and that we are all three as futile as the +devil. What am I? I have smattered law, smattered +letters, smattered geography, smattered mathematics; I +have even a working knowledge of judicial astrology; and +here I stand, all London roaring by at the street’s end, as +impotent as any baby. I have a prodigious contempt for +my maternal uncle; but without him, it is idle to deny it, I +should simply resolve into my elements like an unstable +mixture. I begin to perceive that it is necessary to know +some one thing to the bottom—were it only literature. +And yet, sir, the man of the world is a great feature of this +age; he is possessed of an extraordinary mass and variety +of knowledge; he is everywhere at home; he has seen life +in all its phases; and it is impossible but that this great +habit of existence should bear fruit. I count myself a man +of the world, accomplished, <i>cap-à-pie</i>. So do you, Challoner. +And you, Mr. Desborough?”</p> + +<p>“Oh yes,” returned the young man.</p> + +<p>“Well, then, Mr. Godall, here we stand, three men of the +world, without a trade to cover us, but planted at the +strategic centre of the universe (for so you will allow me to +call Rupert Street), in the midst of the chief mass of people, +and within earshot of the most continuous chink of money +on the surface of the globe. Sir, as civilised men, what do +we do? I will show you. You take in a paper?”</p> + +<p>“I take,” said Mr. Godall solemnly, “the best paper in +the world, the <i>Standard</i>.”</p> + +<p>“Good,” resumed Somerset. “I now hold it in my +hand, the voice of the world, a telephone repeating all men’s +wants. I open it, and where my eye first falls—well, no, +not Morrison’s Pills—but here, sure enough, and but a little +above, I find the joint that I was seeking; here is the weak +spot in the armour of society. Here is a want, a plaint, an +offer of substantial gratitude: ’<i>Two Hundred Pounds Reward</i>.—The +above reward will be paid to any person giving +information as to the identity and whereabouts of a man +observed yesterday in the neighbourhood of the Green Park. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page12"></a>12</span> +He was over six feet in height, with shoulders disproportionately +broad, close shaved, with black moustaches, and wearing +a sealskin great-coat.’ There, gentlemen, our fortune, +if not made, is founded.”</p> + +<p>“Do you then propose, dear boy, that we should turn +detectives?” inquired Challoner.</p> + +<p>“Do I propose it? No, sir,” cried Somerset. “It is +reason, destiny, the plain face of the world, that commands +and imposes it. Here all our merits tell; our manners, +habit of the world, powers of conversation, vast stores of +unconnected knowledge, all that we are and have builds up +the character of the complete detective. It is, in short, the +only profession for a gentleman.”</p> + +<p>“The proposition is perhaps excessive,” replied Challoner; +“for hitherto I own I have regarded it as of all dirty, sneaking, +and ungentlemanly trades, the least and lowest.”</p> + +<p>“To defend society?” asked Somerset; “to stake one’s +life for others? to deracinate occult and powerful evil? +I appeal to Mr. Godall. He, at least, as a philosophic +looker-on at life, will spit upon such philistine opinions. +He knows that the policeman, as he is called upon continually +to face greater odds, and that both worse equipped and +for a better cause, is in form and essence a more noble hero +than the soldier. Do you, by any chance, deceive yourself +into supposing that a general would either ask or expect, +from the best army ever marshalled, and on the most +momentous battlefield, the conduct of a common constable +at Peckham Rye?”<a name="FnAnchor_1" href="#Footnote_1"><span class="sp">1</span></a></p> + +<p>“I did not understand we were to join the force,” said +Challoner.</p> + +<p>“Nor shall we. These are the hands; but here—here, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page13"></a>13</span> +sir, is the head,” cried Somerset. “Enough; it is decreed. +We shall hunt down this miscreant in the sealskin coat.”</p> + +<p>“Suppose that we agreed,” retorted Challoner, “you +have no plan, no knowledge; you know not where to seek +for a beginning.”</p> + +<p>“Challoner!” cried Somerset, “is it possible that you +hold the doctrine of Free Will? And are you devoid of any +tincture of philosophy, that you should harp on such exploded +fallacies? Chance, the blind Madonna of the Pagan, +rules this terrestrial bustle; and in Chance I place my sole +reliance. Chance has brought us three together; when we +next separate and go forth our several ways, Chance will +continually drag before our careless eyes a thousand eloquent +clues, not to this mystery only, but to the countless +mysteries by which we live surrounded. Then comes the +part of the man of the world, of the detective born and bred. +This clue, which the whole town beholds without comprehension, +swift as a cat, he leaps upon it, makes it his, follows +it with craft and passion, and from one trifling circumstance +divines a world.”</p> + +<p>“Just so,” said Challoner; “and I am delighted that +you should recognise these virtues in yourself. But in the +meanwhile, dear boy, I own myself incapable of joining. +I was neither born nor bred as a detective, but as a placable +and very thirsty gentleman; and, for my part, I begin to +weary for a drink. As for clues and adventures, the only +adventure that is ever likely to occur to me will be an +adventure with a bailiff.”</p> + +<p>“Now there is the fallacy,” cried Somerset. “There I +catch the secret of your futility in life. The world teems +and bubbles with adventure; it besieges you along the +streets; hands waving out of windows, swindlers coming up +and swearing they knew you when you were abroad, affable +and doubtful people of all sorts and conditions begging and +truckling for your notice. But not you: you turn away, +you walk your seedy mill round, you must go the dullest way. +Now here, I beg of you, the next adventure that offers itself, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page14"></a>14</span> +embrace it in with both your arms; whatever it looks, +grimy or romantic, grasp it. I will do the like; the devil +is in it, but at least we shall have fun; and each in turn we +shall narrate the story of our fortunes to my philosophic +friend of the divan, the great Godall, now hearing me with +inward joy. Come, is it a bargain? Will you, indeed, both +promise to welcome every chance that offers, to plunge +boldly into every opening, and, keeping the eye wary and the +head composed, to study and piece together all that happens? +Come, promise: let me open to you the doors of the great +profession of intrigue.”</p> + +<p>“It is not much in my way,” said Challoner, “but, since +you make a point of it, amen.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t mind promising,” said Desborough, “but +nothing will happen to me.”</p> + +<p>“O faithless ones!” cried Somerset. “But at least I +have your promises; and Godall, I perceive, is transported +with delight.”</p> + +<p>“I promise myself at least much pleasure from your +various narratives,” said the salesman, with the customary +calm polish of his manner.</p> + +<p>“And now, gentlemen,” concluded Somerset, “let us +separate. I hasten to put myself in fortune’s way. Hark +how, in this quiet corner, London roars like the noise of +battle; four million destinies are here concentred; and in +the strong panoply of one hundred pounds, payable to the +bearer, I am about to plunge into that web.”</p> + + +<hr class="foot" /> +<div class="note"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_1" href="#FnAnchor_1"><span class="fn">1</span></a> Hereupon the Arabian author enters on one of his digressions. +Fearing, apparently, that the somewhat eccentric views of Mr. +Somerset should throw discredit on a part of truth, he calls upon the +English people to remember with more gratitude the services of the +police; to what unobserved and solitary acts of heroism they are +called; against what odds of numbers and of arms, and for how small +a reward, either in fame or money: matter, it has appeared to the +translators, too serious for this place.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page15"></a>15</span></p> +<h3>CHALLONER’S ADVENTURE:</h3> + +<h4>THE SQUIRE OF DAMES</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Mr. Edward Challoner</span> had set up lodgings in the suburb +of Putney, where he enjoyed a parlour and bedroom and the +sincere esteem of the people of the house. To this remote +home he found himself, at a very early hour in the morning +of the next day, condemned to set forth on foot. He was +a young man of a portly habit; no lover of the exercises of +the body; bland, sedentary, patient of delay, a prop of +omnibuses. In happier days he would have chartered a +cab; but these luxuries were now denied him; and with +what courage he could muster he addressed himself to walk.</p> + +<p>It was then the height of the season and the summer; +the weather was serene and cloudless; and as he paced +under the blinded houses and along the vacant streets, the +chill of the dawn had fled, and some of the warmth and all +the brightness of the July day already shone upon the city. +He walked at first in a profound abstraction, bitterly reviewing +and repenting his performances at whist; but as he +advanced into the labyrinth of the south-west, his ear was +gradually mastered by the silence. Street after street +looked down upon his solitary figure, house after house +echoed upon his passage with a ghostly jar, shop after shop +displayed its shuttered front and its commercial legend; +and meanwhile he steered his course, under day’s effulgent +dome and through this encampment of diurnal sleepers, +lonely as a ship.</p> + +<p>“Here,” he reflected, “if I were like my scatter-brained +companion, here were indeed the scene where I might look +for an adventure. Here, in broad day, the streets are secret +as in the blackest night of January, and in the midst of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page16"></a>16</span> +some four million sleepers, solitary as the woods of Yucatan. +If I but raise my voice I could summon up the number of +an army, and yet the grave is not more silent than this city +of sleep.”</p> + +<p>He was still following these quaint and serious musings +when he came into a street of more mingled ingredients +than was common in the quarter. Here, on the one hand, +framed in walls and the green tops of trees, were several +of those discreet, <i>bijou</i> residences on which propriety is apt +to look askance. Here, too, were many of the brick-fronted +barracks of the poor; a plaster cow, perhaps, serving as +ensign to a dairy, or a ticket announcing the business of the +mangler. Before one such house, that stood a little separate +among walled gardens, a cat was playing with a straw, and +Challoner paused a moment, looking on this sleek and +solitary creature, who seemed an emblem of the neighbouring +peace. With the cessation of the sound of his own steps +the silence fell dead; the house stood smokeless; the blinds +down, the whole machinery of life arrested; and it seemed +to Challoner that he should hear the breathing of the +sleepers.</p> + +<p>As he so stood, he was startled by a dull and jarring +detonation from within. This was followed by a monstrous +hissing and simmering as from a kettle of the bigness of St. +Paul’s; and at the same time from every chink of door and +window spurted an ill-smelling vapour. The cat disappeared +with a cry. Within the lodging-house feet +pounded on the stairs; the door flew back, emitting clouds +of smoke; and two men and an elegantly dressed young +lady tumbled forth into the street and fled without a word. +The hissing had already ceased, the smoke was melting in +the air, the whole event had come and gone as in a dream, +and still Challoner was rooted to the spot. At last his +reason and his fear awoke together, and with the most unwonted +energy he fell to running.</p> + +<p>Little by little this first dash relaxed, and presently he +had resumed his sober gait and begun to piece together, out +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page17"></a>17</span> +of the confused report of his senses, some theory of the +occurrence. But the occasion of the sounds and stench that +had so suddenly assailed him, and the strange conjunction +of fugitives whom he had seen to issue from the house, were +mysteries beyond his plummet. With an obscure awe he +considered them in his mind, continuing, meanwhile, to +thread the web of streets, and once more alone in morning +sunshine.</p> + +<p>In his first retreat he had entirely wandered; and now, +steering vaguely west, it was his luck to light upon an unpretending +street, which presently widened so as to admit a +strip of gardens in the midst. Here was quite a stir of birds; +even at that hour, the shadow of the leaves was grateful; +instead of the burnt atmosphere of cities, there was something +brisk and rural in the air; and Challoner paced forward, +his eyes upon the pavement and his mind running +upon distant scenes, till he was recalled, upon a sudden, by +a wall that blocked his further progress. This street, whose +name I have forgotten, is no thoroughfare.</p> + +<p>He was not the first who had wandered there that morning; +for, as he raised his eyes with an agreeable deliberation, +they alighted on the figure of a girl, in whom he was struck +to recognise the third of the incongruous fugitives. She +had run there, seemingly, blindfold; the wall had checked +her career; and being entirely wearied, she had sunk upon +the ground beside the garden railings, soiling her dress +among the summer dust. Each saw the other in the same +instant of time; and she, with one wild look, sprang to her +feet and began to hurry from the scene.</p> + +<p>Challoner was doubly startled to meet once more the +heroine of his adventure and to observe the fear with which +she shunned him. Pity and alarm, in nearly equal forces, +contested the possession of his mind; and yet, in spite of +both, he saw himself condemned to follow in the lady’s +wake. He did so gingerly, as fearing to increase her terrors; +but, tread as lightly as he might, his footfalls eloquently +echoed in the empty street. Their sound appeared to strike +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page18"></a>18</span> +in her some strong emotion; for scarce had he begun to +follow ere she paused. A second time she addressed herself +to flight; and a second time she paused. Then she turned +about, and, with doubtful steps and the most attractive +appearance of timidity, drew near to the young man. He +on his side continued to advance with similar signals of distress +and bashfulness. At length, when they were but some +steps apart, he saw her eyes brim over, and she reached out +both her hands in eloquent appeal.</p> + +<p>“Are you an English gentleman?” she cried.</p> + +<p>The unhappy Challoner regarded her with consternation. +He was the spirit of fine courtesy, and would have blushed +to fail in his devoirs to any lady; but, in the other scale, he +was a man averse from amorous adventures. He looked +east and west; but the houses that looked down upon this +interview remained inexorably shut; and he saw himself, +though in the full glare of the day’s eye, cut off from any +human intervention. His looks returned at last upon the +suppliant. He remarked with irritation that she was +charming both in face and figure, elegantly dressed and +gloved: a lady undeniable; the picture of distress and innocence; +weeping and lost in the city of diurnal sleep.</p> + +<p>“Madam,” he said, “I protest you have no cause to fear +intrusion; and if I have appeared to follow you, the fault +is in this street, which has deceived us both.”</p> + +<p>An unmistakable relief appeared upon the lady’s face. +“I might have guessed it!” she exclaimed. “Thank you +a thousand times! But at this hour, in this appalling +silence, and among all these staring windows, I am lost in +terrors—oh, lost in them!” she cried, her face blanching +at the words. “I beg you to lend me your arm,” she added +with the loveliest, suppliant inflection. “I dare not go +alone; my nerve is gone—I had a shock, O what a shock! +I beg of you to be my escort.”</p> + +<p>“My dear madam,” responded Challoner heavily, “my +arm is at your service.”</p> + +<p>She took it and clung to it for a moment, struggling +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page19"></a>19</span> +with her sobs; and the next, with feverish hurry, began to +lead him in the direction of the city. One thing was plain, +among so much that was obscure: it was plain her fears +were genuine. Still, as she went, she spied around as if for +dangers; and now she would shiver like a person in a chill, +and now clutch his arm in hers. To Challoner her terror +was at once repugnant and infectious; it gained and +mastered, while it still offended him; and he wailed in spirit +and longed for release.</p> + +<p>“Madam,” he said at last, “I am, of course, charmed to +be of use to any lady; but I confess I was bound in a direction +opposite to that you follow, and a word of explanation——”</p> + +<p>“Hush!” she sobbed, “not here—not here!”</p> + +<p>The blood of Challoner ran cold. He might have +thought the lady mad; but his memory was charged with +more perilous stuff; and in view of the detonation, the +smoke, and the flight of the ill-assorted trio, his mind was +lost among mysteries. So they continued to thread the +maze of streets in silence, with the speed of a guilty flight, +and both thrilling with incommunicable terrors. In time, +however, and above all by their quick pace of walking, the +pair began to rise to firmer spirits; the lady ceased to peer +about the corners; and Challoner, emboldened by the resonant +tread and distant figure of a constable, returned to +the charge with more of spirit and directness.</p> + +<p>“I thought,” he said, in the tone of conversation, +“that I had indistinctly perceived you leaving a villa in the +company of two gentlemen.”</p> + +<p>“Oh!” she said, “you need not fear to wound me by +the truth. You saw me flee from a common lodging-house, +and my companions were not gentlemen. In such a case, +the best of compliments is to be frank.”</p> + +<p>“I thought,” resumed Challoner, encouraged as much +as he was surprised by the spirit of her reply, “to have perceived, +besides, a certain odour. A noise, too—I do not +know to what I should compare it——”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page20"></a>20</span></p> + +<p>“Silence!” she cried. “You do not know the danger +you invoke. Wait, only wait; and as soon as we have left +those streets and got beyond the reach of listeners, all shall +be explained. Meanwhile, avoid the topic. What a sight +is this sleeping city!” she exclaimed; and then, with a most +thrilling voice, “’Dear God,’” she quoted, “’the very +houses seem asleep, and all that mighty heart is lying still.’”</p> + +<p>“I perceive, madam,” said he, “you are a reader.”</p> + +<p>“I am more than that,” she answered, with a sigh. +“I am a girl condemned to thoughts beyond her age; and +so untoward is my fate, that this walk upon the arm of a +stranger is like an interlude of peace.”</p> + +<p>They had come by this time to the neighbourhood of the +Victoria Station; and here, at a street corner, the young +lady paused, withdrew her arm from Challoner’s, and looked +up and down as though in pain or indecision. Then, with +a lovely change of countenance, and laying her gloved hand +upon his arm:</p> + +<p>“What you already think of me,” she said, “I tremble +to conceive; yet I must here condemn myself still further. +Here I must leave you, and here I beseech you to wait for +my return. Do not attempt to follow me or spy upon my +actions. Suspend yet awhile your judgment of a girl as +innocent as your own sister; and do not, above all, desert +me. Stranger as you are, I have none else to look to. You +see me in sorrow and great fear; you are a gentleman, +courteous and kind; and when I beg for a few minutes’ +patience, I make sure beforehand you will not deny me.”</p> + +<p>Challoner grudgingly promised; and the young lady, +with a grateful eye-shot, vanished round the corner. But +the force of her appeal had been a little blunted; for the +young man was not only destitute of sisters, but of any +female relative nearer than a great-aunt in Wales. Now +he was alone, besides, the spell that he had hitherto obeyed +began to weaken; he considered his behaviour with a sneer; +and plucking up the spirit of revolt, he started in pursuit. +The reader, if he has ever plied the fascinating trade of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page21"></a>21</span> +noctambulist, will not be unaware that, in the neighbourhood +of the great railway centres, certain early taverns inaugurate +the business of the day. It was into one of these +that Challoner, coming round the corner of the block, beheld +his charming companion disappear. To say he was +surprised were inexact, for he had long since left that sentiment +behind him. Acute disgust and disappointment +seized upon his soul; and with silent oaths he damned this +commonplace enchantress. She had scarce been gone a +second ere the swing-doors reopened, and she appeared +again in company with a young man of mean and slouching +attire. For some five or six exchanges they conversed +together with an animated air; then the fellow shouldered +again into the tap; and the young lady, with something +swifter than a walk, retraced her steps towards Challoner. +He saw her coming, a miracle of grace; her ankle, as she +hurried, flashing from her dress; her movements eloquent +of speed and youth; and though he still entertained some +thoughts of flight, they grew miserably fainter as the distance +lessened. Against mere beauty he was proof: it +was her unmistakable gentility that now robbed him of the +courage of his cowardice. With a proved adventuress he +had acted strictly on his right; with one whom, in spite of +all, he could not quite deny to be a lady, he found himself +disarmed. At the very corner from whence he had spied +upon her interview, she came upon him, still transfixed, and—“Ah!” +she cried, with a bright flush of colour. “Ah! Ungenerous!”</p> + +<p>The sharpness of the attack somewhat restored the +Squire of Dames to the possession of himself.</p> + +<p>“Madam,” he returned, with a fair show of stoutness, +“I do not think that hitherto you can complain of any lack +of generosity; I have suffered myself to be led over a considerable +portion of the metropolis; and if I now request +you to discharge me of my office of protector, you have +friends at hand who will be glad of the succession.”</p> + +<p>She stood a moment dumb.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page22"></a>22</span></p> + +<p>“It is well,” she said. “Go! go, and may God help me! +You have seen me—me, an innocent girl! fleeing from a +dire catastrophe and haunted by sinister men; and neither +pity, curiosity, nor honour move you to await my explanation +or to help in my distress. Go!” she repeated. “I +am lost indeed.” And with a passionate gesture she turned +and fled along the street.</p> + +<p>Challoner observed her retreat and disappear, an almost +intolerable sense of guilt contending with the profound +sense that he was being gulled. She was no sooner gone +than the first of these feelings took the upper hand; he felt, +if he had done her less than justice, that his conduct was a +perfect model of the ungracious; the cultured tone of her +voice, her choice of language, and the elegant decorum of +her movements, cried out aloud against a harsh construction; +and between penitence and curiosity he began slowly +to follow in her wake. At the corner he had her once more +full in view. Her speed was failing like a stricken bird’s. +Even as he looked, she threw her arm out gropingly, and fell +and leaned against the wall. At the spectacle, Challoner’s +fortitude gave way. In a few strides he overtook her, and, +for the first time removing his hat, assured her in the most +moving terms of his entire respect and firm desire to help +her. He spoke at first unheeded; but gradually it appeared +that she began to comprehend his words; she moved a +little, and drew herself upright; and finally, as with a +sudden movement of forgiveness, turned on the young man +a countenance in which reproach and gratitude were +mingled. “Ah, madam,” he cried, “use me as you will!” +And once more, but now with a great air of deference, he +offered her the conduct of his arm. She took it with a sigh +that struck him to the heart; and they began once more to +trace the deserted streets. But now her steps, as though +exhausted by emotion, began to linger on the way; she +leaned the more heavily upon his arm; and he, like the +parent bird, stooped fondly above his drooping convoy. +Her physical distress was not accompanied by any failing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page23"></a>23</span> +of her spirits; and hearing her strike so soon into a playful +and charming vein of talk, Challoner could not sufficiently +admire the elasticity of his companion’s nature. “Let me +forget,” she had said, “for one half-hour, let me forget“; +and sure enough, with the very word, her sorrows appeared +to be forgotten. Before every house she paused, invented +a name for the proprietor, and sketched his character: +here lived the old general whom she was to marry on the +fifth of the next month, there was the mansion of the rich +widow who had set her heart on Challoner; and though she +still hung wearily on the young man’s arm, her laughter +sounded low and pleasant in his ears. “Ah,” she sighed, +by way of commentary, “in such a life as mine I must seize +tight hold of any happiness that I can find.”</p> + +<p>When they arrived, in this leisurely manner, at the head +of Grosvenor Place, the gates of the park were opening, and +the bedraggled company of night-walkers were being at +last admitted into that paradise of lawns. Challoner and +his companion followed the movement, and walked for +awhile in silence in that tatterdemalion crowd; but as one +after another, weary with the night’s patrolling of the city +pavement, sank upon the benches or wandered into separate +paths, the vast extent of the park had soon utterly swallowed +up the last of these intruders; and the pair proceeded on +their way alone in the grateful quiet of the morning.</p> + +<p>Presently they came in sight of a bench, standing very +open on a mound of turf. The young lady looked about her +with relief.</p> + +<p>“Here,” she said, “here at last we are secure from +listeners. Here, then, you shall learn and judge my history. +I could not bear that we should part, and that you should +still suppose your kindness squandered upon one who was +unworthy.”</p> + +<p>Thereupon she sat down upon the bench, and motioning +Challoner to take a place immediately beside her, began in +the following words, and with the greatest appearance of +enjoyment, to narrate the story of her life.</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page24"></a>24</span></p> +<h4>STORY OF THE DESTROYING ANGEL</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">My</span> father was a native of England, son of a cadet of a great +ancient but untitled family; and by some event, fault, or +misfortune he was driven to flee from the land of his birth +and to lay aside the name of his ancestors. He sought the +States; and instead of lingering in effeminate cities, pushed +at once into the Far West with an exploring party of +frontiersmen. He was no ordinary traveller; for he was +not only brave and impetuous by character, but learned in +many sciences, and above all in botany, which he particularly +loved. Thus it fell that, before many months, Fremont +himself, the nominal leader of the troop, courted and +bowed to his opinion.</p> + +<p>They had pushed, as I have said, into the still unknown +regions of the West. For some time they followed the track +of Mormon caravans, guiding themselves in that vast and +melancholy desert by the skeletons of men and animals. +Then they inclined their route a little to the north, and, +losing even these dire memorials, came into a country of +forbidding stillness. I have often heard my father dwell +upon the features of that ride: rock, cliff, and barren moor +alternated; the streams were very far between; and neither +beast nor bird disturbed the solitude. On the fortieth day +they had already run so short of food that it was judged +advisable to call a halt and scatter upon all sides to hunt. +A great fire was built, that its smoke might serve to rally +them; and each man of the party mounted and struck off +at a venture into the surrounding desert.</p> + +<p>My father rode for many hours with a steep range of +cliffs upon the one hand, very black and horrible; and upon +the other an unwatered vale dotted with boulders like the +site of some subverted city. At length he found the slot +of a great animal, and from the claw-marks and the hair +among the brush, judged that he was on the track of a +cinnamon bear of most unusual size. He quickened the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page25"></a>25</span> +pace of his steed, and, still following the quarry, came at +last to the division of two watersheds. On the far side the +country was exceeding intricate and difficult, heaped with +boulders, and dotted here and there with a few pines, which +seemed to indicate the neighbourhood of water. Here, +then, he picketed his horse, and, relying on his trusty rifle, +advanced alone into that wilderness.</p> + +<p>Presently, in the great silence that reigned, he was +aware of the sound of running water to his right; and leaning +in that direction, was rewarded by a scene of natural +wonder and human pathos strangely intermixed. The +stream ran at the bottom of a narrow and winding passage, +whose wall-like sides of rock were sometimes for miles +together unscalable by man. The water, when the stream +was swelled with rains, must have filled it from side to side; +the sun’s rays only plumbed it in the hour of noon; the wind, +in that narrow and damp funnel, blew tempestuously. +And yet, in the bottom of this den, immediately below my +father’s eyes as he leaned over the margin of the cliff, a +party of some half a hundred men, women, and children lay +scattered uneasily among the rocks. They lay, some upon +their backs, some prone, and not one stirring; their upturned +faces seemed all of an extraordinary paleness and emaciation; +and from time to time, above the washing of the +stream, a faint sound of moaning mounted to my father’s ears.</p> + +<p>While he thus looked, an old man got staggering to his +feet, unwound his blanket, and laid it, with great gentleness, +on a young girl who sat hard by propped against a rock. +The girl did not seem to be conscious of the act; and the +old man, after having looked upon her with the most engaging +pity, returned to his former bed and lay down again +uncovered on the turf. But the scene had not passed without +observation even in that starving camp. From the very +outskirts of the party, a man with a white beard and seemingly +of venerable years, rose up on his knees and came +crawling stealthily among the sleepers towards the girl; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page26"></a>26</span> +and judge of my father’s indignation, when he beheld this +cowardly miscreant strip from her both the coverings and +return with them to his original position. Here he lay down +for a while below his spoils, and, as my father imagined, +feigned to be asleep; but presently he had raised himself +again upon one elbow, looked with sharp scrutiny at his +companions, and then swiftly carried his hand into his +bosom and thence to his mouth. By the movement of his +jaws he must be eating; in that camp of famine he had +reserved a store of nourishment; and, while his companions +lay in the stupor of approaching death, secretly restored his +powers.</p> + +<p>My father was so incensed at what he saw that he raised +his rifle; and but for an accident, he has often declared, he +would have shot the fellow dead upon the spot. How +different would then have been my history! But it was not +to be: even as he raised the barrel, his eye lighted on the +bear, as it crawled along a ledge some way below him; and +ceding to the hunter’s instinct, it was at the brute, not at the +man, that he discharged his piece. The bear leaped and +fell into a pool of the river; the cañon re-echoed the report; +and in a moment the camp was afoot. With cries that were +scarce human, stumbling, falling, and throwing each other +down, these starving people rushed upon the quarry; and +before my father, climbing down by the ledge, had time to +reach the level of the stream, many were already satisfying +their hunger on the raw flesh, and a fire was being built by +the more dainty.</p> + +<p>His arrival was for some time unremarked. He stood +in the midst of these tottering and clay-faced marionettes; +he was surrounded by their cries; but their whole soul was +fixed on the dead carcase; even those who were too weak to +move, lay, half-turned over, with their eyes riveted upon the +bear; and my father, seeing himself stand as though invisible +in the thick of this dreary hubbub, was seized with +a desire to weep. A touch upon the arm restrained him. +Turning about, he found himself face to face with the old +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page27"></a>27</span> +man he had so nearly killed; and yet, at the second glance, +recognised him for no old man at all, but one in the full +strength of his years, and of a strong, speaking, and +intellectual countenance stigmatised by weariness and famine. +He beckoned my father near the cliff, and there, in the most +private whisper, begged for brandy. My father looked at +him with scorn: “You remind me,” he said, “of a neglected +duty. Here is my flask; it contains enough, I trust, to +revive the women of your party; and I will begin with her +whom I saw you robbing of her blankets.” And with that, +not heeding his appeals, my father turned his back upon the +egoist.</p> + +<p>The girl still lay reclined against the rock; she lay too +far sunk in the first stage of death to have observed the +bustle round her couch; but when my father had raised her +head, put the flask to her lips, and forced or aided her to +swallow some drops of the restorative, she opened her +languid eyes and smiled upon him faintly. Never was +there a smile of a more touching sweetness; never were eyes +more deeply violet, more honestly eloquent of the soul! I +speak with knowledge, for these were the same eyes that +smiled upon me in the cradle. From her who was to be his +wife, my father, still jealously watched and followed by the +man with the grey beard, carried his attentions to all the +women of the party, and gave the last drainings of his flask +to those among the men who seemed in the most need.</p> + +<p>“Is there none left? not a drop for me?” said the +man with the beard.</p> + +<p>“Not one drop,” replied my father; “and if you find +yourself in want, let me counsel you to put your hand into +the pocket of your coat.”</p> + +<p>“Ah!” cried the other, “you misjudge me. You think +me one who clings to life for selfish and commonplace +considerations. But let me tell you, that were all this +caravan to perish, the world would but be lightened of a +weight. These are but human insects, pullulating, thick +as may-flies, in the slums of European cities, whom I myself +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page28"></a>28</span> +have plucked from degradation and misery, from the dung-heap +and gin-palace door. And you compare their lives +with mine!”</p> + +<p>“You are then a Mormon missionary?” asked my father.</p> + +<p>“Oh!” cried the man, with a strange smile, “a Mormon +missionary if you will! I value not the title. Were +I no more than that, I could have died without a murmur. +But with my life as a physician is bound up the knowledge +of great secrets and the future of man. This it +was, when we missed the caravan, tried for a short cut and +wandered to this desolate ravine, that ate into my soul and, +in five days, has changed my beard from ebony to silver.”</p> + +<p>“And you are a physician,” mused my father, looking +on his face, “bound by oath to succour man in his distresses.”</p> + +<p>“Sir,” returned the Mormon, “my name is Grierson: +you will hear that name again; and you will then understand +that my duty was not to this caravan of paupers, but to +mankind at large.”</p> + +<p>My father turned to the remainder of the party, who +were now sufficiently revived to hear; told them that he +would set off at once to bring help from his own party; +“and,” he added, “if you be again reduced to such extremities, +look round you, and you will see the earth strewn +with assistance. Here, for instance, growing on the underside +of fissures in this cliff, you will perceive a yellow moss. +Trust me, it is both edible and excellent.”</p> + +<p>“Ha!” said Dr. Grierson, “you know botany!”</p> + +<p>“Not I alone,” returned my father, lowering his voice; +“for see where these have been scraped away. Am I +right? Was that your secret store?”</p> + +<p>My father’s comrades, he found, when he returned to +the signal-fire, had made a good day’s hunting. They +were thus the more easily persuaded to extend assistance +to the Mormon caravan; and the next day beheld both +parties on the march for the frontiers of Utah. The distance +to be traversed was not great; but the nature of +the country and the difficulty of procuring food extended +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page29"></a>29</span> +the time to nearly three weeks; and my father had thus +ample leisure to know and appreciate the girl whom he +had succoured. I will call my mother Lucy. Her family +name I am not at liberty to mention; it is one you would +know well. By what series of undeserved calamities this +innocent flower of maidenhood, lovely, refined by education, +ennobled by the finest taste, was thus cast among +the horrors of a Mormon caravan, I must not stay to tell +you. Let it suffice, that even in these untoward circumstances, +she found a heart worthy of her own. The ardour +of attachment which united my father and mother was +perhaps partly due to the strange manner of their meeting; +it knew, at least, no bounds, either divine or human; +my father, for her sake, determined to renounce his ambition +and abjure his faith; and a week had not passed upon the +march before he had resigned from his party, accepted the +Mormon doctrine, and received the promise of my mother’s +hand on the arrival of the party at Salt Lake.</p> + +<p>The marriage took place, and I was its only offspring. +My father prospered exceedingly in his affairs, remained +faithful to my mother; and, though you may wonder to +hear it, I believe there were few happier homes in any +country than that in which I saw the light and grew to +girlhood. We were, indeed, and in spite of all our wealth, +avoided as heretics and half-believers by the more precise +and pious of the faithful: Young himself, that formidable +tyrant, was known to look askance upon my father’s riches; +but of this I had no guess. I dwelt, indeed, under the +Mormon system, with perfect innocence and faith. Some +of our friends had many wives; but such was the custom; +and why should it surprise me more than marriage itself? +From time to time one of our rich acquaintances would +disappear, his family be broken up, his wives and houses +shared among the elders of the church, and his memory +only recalled with bated breath and dreadful head-shakings. +When I had been very still, and my presence perhaps was +forgotten, some such topic would arise among my elders by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page30"></a>30</span> +the evening fire; I would see them draw the closer together +and look behind them with scared eyes; and I might gather +from their whisperings how some one, rich, honoured, +healthy, and in the prime of his days, some one, perhaps, +who had taken me on his knees a week before, had in one +hour been spirited from home and family, and vanished like +an image from a mirror, leaving not a print behind. It was +terrible, indeed; but so was death, the universal law. And +even if the talk should wax still bolder, full of ominous +silences and nods, and I should hear named in a whisper the +Destroying Angels, how was a child to understand these +mysteries? I heard of a Destroying Angel as some more +happy child might hear in England of a bishop or a rural +dean, with vague respect and without the wish for further +information. Life anywhere, in society as in nature, +rests upon dread foundations; I beheld safe roads, a +garden blooming in the desert, pious people crowding to +worship; I was aware of my parents’ tenderness and all +the harmless luxuries of my existence; and why should +I pry beneath this honest seeming surface for the mysteries +on which it stood?</p> + +<p>We dwelt originally in the city; but at an early date +we moved to a beautiful house in a green dingle, musical +with splashing water, and surrounded on almost every side +by twenty miles of poisonous and rocky desert. The +city was thirty miles away; there was but one road, which +went no farther than my father’s door; the rest were +bridle-tracks impassable in winter; and we thus dwelt +in a solitude inconceivable to the European. Our only +neighbour was Dr. Grierson. To my young eyes, after +the hair-oiled, chin-bearded elders of the city, and the +ill-favoured and mentally stunted women of their harems, +there was something agreeable in the correct manner, the +fine bearing, the thin white hair and beard, and the piercing +looks of the old doctor. Yet, though he was almost our +only visitor, I never wholly overcame a sense of fear in +his presence; and this disquietude was rather fed by the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page31"></a>31</span> +awful solitude in which he lived and the obscurity that +hung about his occupations. His house was but a mile +or two from ours, but very differently placed. It stood +overlooking the road on the summit of a steep slope, and +planted close against a range of overhanging bluffs. Nature, +you would say, had here desired to imitate the works of +man; for the slope was even, like the glacis of a fort, and +the cliffs of a constant height, like the ramparts of a city. +Not even spring could change one feature of that desolate +scene; and the windows looked down across a plain, snowy +with alkali, to ranges of cold stone sierras on the north. +Twice or thrice I remember passing within view of this +forbidding residence; and seeing it always shuttered, +smokeless, and deserted, I remarked to my parents that +some day it would certainly be robbed.</p> + +<p>“Ah, no,” said my father, “never robbed“; and I +observed a strange conviction in his tone.</p> + +<p>At last, and not long before the blow fell on my unhappy +family, I chanced to see the doctor’s house in a new light. +My father was ill; my mother confined to his bedside; and +I was suffered to go, under the charge of our driver, to the +lonely house some twenty miles away, where our packages +were left for us. The horse cast a shoe; night overtook us +half-way home; and it was well on for three in the morning +when the driver and I, alone in a light waggon, came to that +part of the road which ran below the doctor’s house. The +moon swam clear; the cliffs and mountains in this strong +light lay utterly deserted; but the house, from its station +on the top of the long slope and close under the bluff, not +only shone abroad from every window like a place of festival, +but from the great chimney at the west end poured forth +a coil of smoke so thick and so voluminous, that it hung for +miles along the windless night-air, and its shadow lay far +abroad in the moonlight upon the glittering alkali. As +we continued to draw near, besides, a regular and panting +throb began to divide the silence. First it seemed to me +like the beating of a heart; and next it put into my mind +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page32"></a>32</span> +the thought of some giant, smothered under mountains, +and still, with incalculable effort, fetching breath. I had +heard of the railway, though I had not seen it, and I +turned to ask the driver if this resembled it. But some +look in his eye, some pallor, whether of fear or moonlight +on his face, caused the words to die upon my lips. We +continued, therefore, to advance in silence, till we were +close below the lighted house; when suddenly, without +premonitory rustle, there burst forth a report of such a +bigness that it shook the earth and set the echoes of the +mountains thundering from cliff to cliff. A pillar of amber +flame leaped from the chimney-top and fell in multitudes of +sparks; and at the same time the lights in the windows +turned for one instant ruby red and then expired. The +driver had checked his horse instinctively, and the echoes +were still rumbling farther off among the mountains, when +there broke from the now darkened interior a series of +yells—whether of man or woman it was impossible to guess—the +door flew open, and there ran forth into the moonlight, +at the top of the long slope, a figure clad in white, +which began to dance and leap and throw itself down, and +roll as if in agony, before the house. I could no more +restrain my cries; the driver laid his lash about the horse’s +flank, and we fled up the rough track at the peril of our +lives; and did not draw rein till, turning the corner of the +mountain, we beheld my father’s ranch and deep, green +groves and gardens, sleeping in the tranquil light.</p> + +<p>This was the one adventure of my life, until my father +had climbed to the very topmost point of material prosperity, +and I myself had reached the age of seventeen. +I was still innocent and merry like a child; tended my +garden or ran upon the hills in glad simplicity; gave not +a thought to coquetry or to material cares; and if my eye +rested on my own image in a mirror or some sylvan spring, +it was to seek and recognise the features of my parents. +But the fears which had long pressed on others were now +to be laid on my youth. I had thrown myself, one sultry, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page33"></a>33</span> +cloudy afternoon, on a divan; the windows stood open on +the verandah, where my mother sat with her embroidery; +and when my father joined her from the garden, their +conversation, clearly audible to me, was of so startling a +nature that it held me enthralled where I lay.</p> + +<p>“The blow has come,” my father said, after a long pause.</p> + +<p>I could hear my mother start and turn, but in words +she made no reply.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” continued my father, “I have received to-day +a list of all that I possess; of all, I say; of what I have +lent privately to men whose lips are sealed with terror; +of what I have buried with my own hand on the bare +mountain, when there was not a bird in heaven. Does +the air, then, carry secrets? Are the hills of glass? Do +the stones we tread upon preserve the footprint to betray +us? Oh, Lucy, Lucy, that we should have come to such +a country!”</p> + +<p>“But this,” returned my mother, “is no very new or +very threatening event. You are accused of some +concealment. You will pay more taxes in the future, and +be mulcted in a fine. It is disquieting, indeed, to find +our acts so spied upon, and the most private known. But +is this new? Have we not long feared and suspected every +blade of grass?”</p> + +<p>“Ay, and our shadows!” cried my father. “But all +this is nothing. Here is the letter that accompanied the +list.”</p> + +<p>I heard my mother turn the pages; and she was some +time silent.</p> + +<p>“I see,” she said at last; and then, with the tone of +one reading; “’From a believer so largely blessed by +Providence with this world’s goods,’” she continued, +“’the Church awaits in confidence some signal mark of +piety.’ There lies the sting. Am I not right? These +are the words you fear?”</p> + +<p>“These are the words,” replied my father. “Lucy, +you remember Priestley? Two days before he disappeared, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page34"></a>34</span> +he carried me to the summit of an isolated butte; we could +see around us for ten miles; sure, if in any quarter of this +land a man were safe from spies, it were in such a station; +but it was in the very ague-fit of terror that he told me, and +that I heard, his story. He had received a letter such as +this; and he submitted to my approval an answer in which +he offered to resign a third of his possessions. I conjured +him, as he valued life, to raise his offering; and, before we +parted, he had doubled the amount. Well, two days later +he was gone—gone from the chief street of the city in the +hour of noon—and gone for ever. O God!” cried my +father, “by what art do they thus spirit out of life the +solid body? What death do they command that leaves no +traces? that this material structure, these strong arms, +this skeleton that can resist the grave for centuries, should +be thus reft in a moment from the world of sense? A +horror dwells in that thought more awful than mere death.”</p> + +<p>“Is there no hope in Grierson?” asked my mother.</p> + +<p>“Dismiss the thought,” replied my father. “He now +knows all that I can teach, and will do naught to save +me. His power, besides, is small, his own danger not +improbably more imminent than mine; for he, too, lives +apart; he leaves his wives neglected and unwatched; he +is openly cited for an unbeliever; and unless he buys +security at a more awful price—but no; I will not believe +it: I have no love for him, but I will not believe it.”</p> + +<p>“Believe what?” asked my mother; and then, with +a change of note, “But oh, what matters it?” she cried. +“Abimelech, there is but one way open: we must fly!”</p> + +<p>“It is in vain,” returned my father. “I should but +involve you in my fate. To leave this land is hopeless: +we are closed in it as men are closed in life; and there +is no issue but the grave.”</p> + +<p>“We can but die then,” replied my mother. “Let +us at least die together. Let not Asenath<a name="FnAnchor_2" href="#Footnote_2"><span class="sp">2</span></a> and myself +survive you. Think to what a fate we should be doomed!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page35"></a>35</span></p> + +<p>My father was unable to resist her tender violence; +and though I could see he nourished not one spark of hope, +he consented to desert his whole estate, beyond some +hundreds of dollars that he had by him at the moment, +and to flee that night, which promised to be dark and +cloudy. As soon as the servants were asleep, he was to +load two mules with provisions; two others were to carry +my mother and myself; and, striking through the mountains +by an unfrequented trail, we were to make a fair +stroke for liberty and life. As soon as they had thus +decided, I showed myself at the window, and, owning that +I had heard all, assured them that they could rely on +my prudence and devotion. I had no fear, indeed, but to +show myself unworthy of my birth; I held my life in my hand +without alarm; and when my father, weeping upon my +neck, had blessed Heaven for the courage of his child, it +was with a sentiment of pride and some of the joy that +warriors take in war, that I began to look forward to the +perils of our flight.</p> + +<p>Before midnight, under an obscure and starless heaven, +we had left far behind us the plantations of the valley, +and were mounting a certain cañon in the hills, narrow, +encumbered with great rocks, and echoing with the roar +of a tumultuous torrent. Cascade after cascade thundered +and hung up its flag of whiteness in the night, or +fanned our faces with the wet wind of its descent. The +trail was break-neck, and led to famine-guarded deserts; +it had been long since deserted for more practicable routes; +and it was now a part of the world untrod from year to year +by human footing. Judge of our dismay when, turning +suddenly an angle of the cliffs, we found a bright bonfire +blazing by itself under an impending rock; and on the +face of the rock, drawn very rudely with charred wood, +the great Open Eye which is the emblem of the Mormon +faith. We looked upon each other in the firelight; my +mother broke into a passion of tears; but not a word was +said. The mules were turned about; and leaving that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page36"></a>36</span> +great eye to guard the lonely cañon, we retraced our steps +in silence. Day had not yet broken ere we were once more +at home, condemned beyond reprieve.</p> + +<p>What answer my father sent I was not told; but two +days later, a little before sundown, I saw a plain, +honest-looking man ride slowly up the road in a great pother of +dust. He was clad in homespun, with a broad straw hat; +wore a patriarchal beard; and had an air of a simple rustic +farmer, that was, in my eyes, very reassuring. He was, +indeed, a very honest man and pious Mormon; with no +liking for his errand, though neither he nor any one in Utah +dared to disobey; and it was with every mark of diffidence +that he had had himself announced as Mr. Aspinwall, and +entered the room where our unhappy family was gathered. +My mother and me he awkwardly enough dismissed; and +as soon as he was alone with my father laid before him a +blank signature of President Young’s, and offered him a +choice of services: either to set out as a missionary to the +tribes about the White Sea, or to join the next day, with +a party of Destroying Angels, in the massacre of sixty +German immigrants. The last, of course, my father +could not entertain, and the first he regarded as a pretext: +even if he could consent to leave his wife defenceless, +and to collect fresh victims for the tyranny under +which he was himself oppressed, he felt sure he would +never be suffered to return. He refused both; and +Aspinwall, he said, betrayed sincere emotion, part +religious, as the spectacle of such disobedience, but part +human, in pity for my father and his family. He besought +him to reconsider his decision; and at length, finding he +could not prevail, gave him till the moon rose to settle +his affairs, and say farewell to wife and daughter. “For,” +said he, “then, at the latest, you must ride with me.”</p> + +<p>I dare not dwell upon the hours that followed: they +fled all too fast; and presently the moon out-topped the +eastern range, and my father and Mr. Aspinwall set forth, +side by side, on their nocturnal journey. My mother, though +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page37"></a>37</span> +still bearing an heroic countenance, had hastened to shut +herself in her apartment, thenceforward solitary; and I, +alone in the dark house, and consumed by grief and +apprehension, made haste to saddle my Indian pony, to ride up +to the corner of the mountain, and to enjoy one farewell +sight of my departing father. The two men had set forth +at a deliberate pace; nor was I long behind them, when I +reached the point of view. I was the more amazed to see no +moving creature in the landscape. The moon, as the +saying is, shone bright as day; and nowhere, under the +whole arch of night, was there a growing tree, a bush, a +farm, a patch of tillage, or any evidence of man, but one. +From the corner where I stood, a rugged bastion of the +line of bluffs concealed the doctor’s house; and across +the top of that projection the soft night wind carried and +unwound about the hills a coil of sable smoke. What fuel +could produce a vapour so sluggish to dissipate in that dry +air, or what furnace pour it forth so copiously, I was unable +to conceive; but I knew well enough that it came from the +doctor’s chimney; I saw well enough that my father had +already disappeared; and in despite of reason, I connected +in my mind the loss of that dear protector with the ribbon of +foul smoke that trailed along the mountains.</p> + +<p>Days passed, and still my mother and I waited in +vain for news; a week went by, a second followed, but +we heard no word of the father and husband. As smoke +dissipates, as the image glides from the mirror, so in the +ten or twenty minutes that I had spent in getting my +horse and following upon his trail, had that strong and +brave man vanished out of life. Hope, if any hope we +had, fled with every hour; the worst was now certain +for my father, the worst was to be dreaded for his defenceless +family. Without weakness, with a desperate calm +at which I marvel when I look back upon it, the widow and +the orphan awaited the event. On the last day of the third +week we rose in the morning to find ourselves alone in the +house, alone, so far as we searched, on the estate; all our +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page38"></a>38</span> +attendants, with one accord, had fled, and as we knew them +to be gratefully devoted, we drew the darkest intimations +from their flight. The day passed, indeed, without event; +but in the fall of the evening we were called at last into the +verandah by the approaching clink of horse’s hoofs.</p> + +<p>The doctor, mounted on an Indian pony, rode into the +garden, dismounted, and saluted us. He seemed much +more bent, and his hair more silvery than ever; but his +demeanour was composed, serious, and not unkind.</p> + +<p>“Madam,” said he, “I am come upon a weighty errand; +and I would have you recognise it as an effect of kindness +in the President, that he should send as his ambassador +your only neighbour and your husband’s oldest friend in Utah.”</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said my mother, “I have but one concern, +one thought. You know well what it is. Speak: my +husband?”</p> + +<p>“Madam,” returned the doctor, taking a chair on the +verandah, “if you were a silly child my position would +now be painfully embarrassing. You are, on the other +hand, a woman of great intelligence and fortitude: you +have, by my forethought, been allowed three weeks to +draw your own conclusions and to accept the inevitable. +Further words from me are, I conceive, superfluous.”</p> + +<p>My mother was as pale as death, and trembled like a +reed; I gave her my hand, and she kept it in the folds +of her dress and wrung it till I could have cried aloud. +“Then, sir,” said she at last, “you speak to deaf ears. If +this be indeed so, what have I to do with errands? what +do I ask of Heaven but to die?”</p> + +<p>“Come,” said the doctor, “command yourself. I bid +you dismiss all thoughts of your late husband, and bring +a clear mind to bear upon your own future and the fate +of that young girl.”</p> + +<p>“You bid me dismiss——” began my mother. “Then +you know!” she cried.</p> + +<p>“I know,” replied the doctor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page39"></a>39</span></p> + +<p>“You know?” broke out the poor woman. “Then +it was you who did the deed! I tear off the mask, and +with dread and loathing see you as you are—you, whom +the poor fugitive beholds in nightmares, and awakes raving—you, +the Destroying Angel!”</p> + +<p>“Well, madam, and what then?” returned the doctor. +“Have not my fate and yours been similar? Are we +not both immured in this strong prison of Utah? Have +you not tried to flee, and did not the Open Eye confront +you in the cañon? Who can escape the watch of that +unsleeping eye of Utah? Not I, at least. Horrible tasks +have, indeed, been laid upon me; and the most ungrateful +was the last; but had I refused my offices, would that +have spared your husband? You know well it would not. +I, too, had perished along with him; nor would I have +been able to alleviate his last moments, nor could I to-day +have stood between his family and the hand of Brigham Young.”</p> + +<p>“Ah!” cried I, “and could you purchase life by such +concessions?”</p> + +<p>“Young lady,” answered the doctor, “I both could +and did; and you will live to thank me for that baseness. +You have a spirit, Asenath, that it pleases me to recognise. +But we waste time. Mr. Fonblanque’s estate reverts, as +you doubtless imagine, to the church; but some part of it +has been reserved for him who is to marry the family; +and that person, I should perhaps tell you without more +delay, is no other than myself.”</p> + +<p>At this odious proposal my mother and I cried out +aloud, and clung together like lost souls.</p> + +<p>“It is as I supposed,” resumed the doctor, with the +same measured utterance. “You recoil from this +arrangement. Do you expect me to convince you? You know +very well that I have never held the Mormon view of +women. Absorbed in the most arduous studies, I have +left the slatterns whom they call my wives to scratch and +quarrel among themselves; of me, they have had nothing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page40"></a>40</span> +but my purse; such was not the union I desired, even if I +had the leisure to pursue it. No, you need not, madam, +and my old friend—” and here the doctor rose and bowed +with something of gallantry—“you need not apprehend +my importunities. On the contrary, I am rejoiced to read +in you a Roman spirit; and if I am obliged to bid you follow +me at once, and that in the name, not of my wish, but of +my orders, I hope it will be found that we are of a common +mind.”</p> + +<p>So, bidding us dress for the road, he took a lamp (for +the night had now fallen) and set off to the stable to prepare +our horses.</p> + +<p>“What does it mean?—what will become of us?” I +cried.</p> + +<p>“Not that, at least,” replied my mother, shuddering. +“So far we can trust him. I seem to read among his words +a certain tragic promise. Asenath, if I leave you, if I die, +you will not forget your miserable parents?”</p> + +<p>Thereupon we fell to cross-purposes: I beseeching her +to explain her words; she putting me by, and continuing +to recommend the doctor for a friend. “The doctor!” I +cried at last; “the man who killed my father?”</p> + +<p>“Nay,” said she, “let us be just. I do believe, before +Heaven, he played the friendliest part. And he alone, +Asenath, can protect you in this land of death.”</p> + +<p>At this the doctor returned, leading our two horses; +and when we were all in the saddle, he bade me ride on +before, as he had matter to discuss with Mrs. Fonblanque. +They came at a foot’s-pace, eagerly conversing in a whisper; +and presently after the moon rose and showed them looking +eagerly into each other’s faces as they went, my mother +laying her hand upon the doctor’s arm, and the doctor +himself, against his usual custom, making vigorous gestures +of protest or asseveration.</p> + +<p>At the foot of the track which ascended the talus of +the mountain to his door, the doctor overtook me at a +trot.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page41"></a>41</span></p> + +<p>“Here,” he said, “we shall dismount; and as your +mother prefers to be alone, you and I shall walk together +to my house.”</p> + +<p>“Shall I see her again?” I asked.</p> + +<p>“I give you my word,” he said, and helped me to alight. +“We leave the horses here,” he added. “There are no +thieves in this stone wilderness.”</p> + +<p>The track mounted gradually, keeping the house in +view. The windows were once more bright; the chimney +once more vomited smoke; but the most absolute silence +reigned, and, but for the figure of my mother very slowly +following in our wake, I felt convinced there was no human +soul within a range of miles. At the thought, I looked +upon the doctor, gravely walking by my side, with his +bowed shoulders and white hair, and then once more at his +house, lit up and pouring smoke like some industrious +factory. And then my curiosity broke forth. “In +Heaven’s name,” I cried, “what do you make in this +inhuman desert?”</p> + +<p>He looked at me with a peculiar smile, and answered +with an evasion:</p> + +<p>“This is not the first time,” said he, “that you have +seen my furnaces alight. One morning, in the small hours, +I saw you driving past; a delicate experiment miscarried; +and I cannot acquit myself of having startled either your +driver or the horse that drew you.”</p> + +<p>“What!” cried I, beholding again in fancy the antics +of the figure, “could that be you?”</p> + +<p>“It was I,” he replied; “but do not fancy that I was +mad. I was in agony. I had been scalded cruelly.”</p> + +<p>We were now near the house, which, unlike the ordinary +houses of the country, was built of hewn stone and very +solid. Stone, too, was its foundation, stone its background. +Not a blade of grass sprouted among the broken mineral +about the walls, not a flower adorned the windows. Over the +door, by way of sole adornment, the Mormon Eye was rudely +sculptured; I had been brought up to view that emblem +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page42"></a>42</span> +from my childhood; but since the night of our escape, it +had acquired a new significance, and set me shrinking. The +smoke rolled voluminously from the chimney-top, its +edges ruddy with the fire; and from the far corner of the +building, near the ground, angry puffs of steam shone +snow-white in the moon and vanished.</p> + +<p>The doctor opened the door and paused upon the +threshold. “You ask me what I make here,” he observed: +“Two things: Life and Death.” And he motioned me +to enter.</p> + +<p>“I shall await my mother,” said I.</p> + +<p>“Child,” he replied, “look at me: am I not old and +broken? Of us two, which is the stronger, the young +maiden or the withered man?”</p> + +<p>I bowed and, passing by him, entered a vestibule or +kitchen, lit by a good fire and a shaded reading-lamp. +It was furnished only with a dresser, a rude table, and +some wooden benches; and on one of these the doctor +motioned me to take a seat; and passing by another +door into the interior of the house, he left me to myself. +Presently I heard the jar of iron from the far end of the +building; and this was followed by the same throbbing +noise that had startled me in the valley, but now so near +at hand as to be menacing by loudness, and even to shake +the house with every recurrence of the stroke. I had scarce +time to master my alarm when the doctor returned, and +almost in the same moment my mother appeared upon the +threshold. But how am I to describe to you the peace and +ravishment of that face? Years seemed to have passed +over her head during that brief ride, and left her younger +and fairer; her eyes shone, her smile went to my heart; she +seemed no more a woman, but the angel of ecstatic tenderness. +I ran to her in a kind of terror; but she shrank a +little back and laid her finger on her lips, with something +arch and yet unearthly. To the doctor, on the contrary, +she reached out her hand as to a friend and helper; and so +strange was the scene that I forgot to be offended.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page43"></a>43</span></p> + +<p>“Lucy,” said the doctor, “all is prepared. Will you +go alone, or shall your daughter follow us?”</p> + +<p>“Let Asenath come,” she answered, “dear Asenath! +At this hour when I am purified of fear and sorrow, and +already survive myself and my affections, it is for your +sake, and not for mine, that I desire her presence. Were +she shut out, dear friend, it is to be feared she might +misjudge your kindness.”</p> + +<p>“Mother,” I cried wildly, “mother, what is this?”</p> + +<p>But my mother, with her radiant smile, said only +“Hush!” as though I were a child again, and tossing +in some fever-fit; and the doctor bade me be silent and +trouble her no more. “You have made a choice,” he +continued, addressing my mother, “that has often strangely +tempted me. The two extremes: all, or else nothing; +never, or this very hour upon the clock—these have been +my incongruous desires. But to accept the middle term, +to be content with a half-gift, to flicker awhile and to burn +out—never for an hour, never since I was born, has satisfied +the appetite of my ambition.” He looked upon my mother +fixedly, much of admiration and some touch of envy in his +eyes; then, with a profound sigh, he led the way into the +inner room.</p> + +<p>It was very long. From end to end it was lit up by +many lamps, which by the changeful colour of their light, +and by the incessant snapping sounds with which they +burned, I have since divined to be electric. At the extreme +end an open door gave us a glimpse into what must have +been a lean-to shed beside the chimney; and this, in strong +contrast to the room, was painted with a red reverberation +as from furnace-doors. The walls were lined with books +and glazed cases, the tables crowded with the implements of +chemical research; great glass accumulators glittered in +the light; and through a hole in the gable near the shed door +a heavy driving-belt entered the apartment and ran overhead +upon steel pulleys, with clumsy activity and many +ghostly and fluttering sounds. In one corner I perceived a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page44"></a>44</span> +chair resting upon crystal feet, and curiously wreathed with +wire. To this my mother advanced with a decisive swiftness.</p> + +<p>“Is this it?” she asked.</p> + +<p>The doctor bowed in silence.</p> + +<p>“Asenath,” said my mother, “in this sad end of my +life I have found one helper. Look upon him: it is Doctor +Grierson. Be not, O my daughter, be not ungrateful +to that friend!”</p> + +<p>She sat upon the chair, and took in her hands the globes +that terminated the arms.</p> + +<p>“Am I right?” she asked, and looked upon the doctor +with such a radiancy of face that I trembled for her reason. +Once more the doctor bowed, but this time leaning hard +against the wall. He must have touched a spring. The +least shock agitated my mother where she sat; the least +passing jar appeared to cross her features; and she sank +back in the chair like one resigned to weariness. I was at +her knees that moment; but her hands fell loosely in my +grasp; her face, still beatified with the same touching smile, +sank forward on her bosom: her spirit had for ever fled.</p> + +<p>I do not know how long may have elapsed before, +raising for a moment my tearful face, I met the doctor’s +eyes. They rested upon mine with such a depth of scrutiny, +pity, and interest, that even from the freshness of my sorrow +I was startled into attention.</p> + +<p>“Enough,” he said, “to lamentation. Your mother +went to death as to a bridal, dying where her husband died. +It is time, Asenath, to think of the survivors. Follow me +to the next room.”</p> + +<p>I followed him, like a person in a dream; he made +me sit by the fire, he gave me wine to drink; and then, +pacing the stone floor, he thus began to address me:</p> + +<p>“You are now, my child, alone in the world, and under +the immediate watch of Brigham Young. It would be +your lot, in ordinary circumstances, to become the fiftieth +bride of some ignoble elder, or by particular fortune, as +fortune is counted in this land, to find favour in the eyes +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page45"></a>45</span> +of the President himself. Such a fate for a girl like you +were worse than death; better to die as your mother died +than to sink daily deeper in the mire of this pit of woman’s +degradation. But is escape conceivable? Your father +tried; and you beheld yourself with what security his +jailers acted, and how a dumb drawing on a rock was counted +a sufficient sentry over the avenues of freedom. Where +your father failed, will you be wiser or more fortunate? +or are you, too, helpless in the toils?”</p> + +<p>I had followed his words with changing emotion, but +now I believed I understood.</p> + +<p>“I see,” I cried; “you judge me rightly. I must +follow where my parents led; and oh! I am not only +willing, I am eager!”</p> + +<p>“No,” replied the doctor, “not death for you. The +flawed vessel we may break, but not the perfect. No, +your mother cherished a different hope, and so do I. I +see,” he cried, “the girl develop to the completed woman, +the plan reach fulfilment, the promise—ay, outdone! I +could not bear to arrest so lively, so comely a process. +It was your mother’s thought,” he added, with a change +of tone, “that I should marry you myself.” I fear I +must have shown a perfect horror of aversion from this +fate, for he made haste to quiet me. “Reassure yourself, +Asenath,” he resumed. “Old as I am, I have not +forgotten the tumultuous fancies of youth. I have passed +my days, indeed, in laboratories; but in all my vigils I +have not forgotten the tune of a young pulse. Age asks +with timidity to be spared intolerable pain; youth, taking +fortune by the beard, demands joy like a right. These +things I have not forgotten; none, rather, has more keenly +felt, none more jealously considered them; I have but +postponed them to their day. See, then: you stand +without support; the only friend left to you, this old +investigator, old in cunning, young in sympathy. Answer +me but one question: Are you free from the entanglement +of what the world calls love? Do you still command your +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page46"></a>46</span> +heart and purposes? or are you fallen in some bond-slavery +of the eye and ear?”</p> + +<p>I answered him in broken words; my heart, I think +I must have told him, lay with my dead parents.</p> + +<p>“It is enough,” he said. “It has been my fate to +be called on often, too often, for those services of which +we spoke to-night; none in Utah could carry them so +well to a conclusion; hence there has fallen into my hands +a certain share of influence which I now lay at your service, +partly for the sake of my dead friends, your parents; partly +for the interest I bear you in your own right. I shall send +you to England, to the great city of London, there to await +the bridegroom I have selected. He shall be a son of mine, +a young man suitable in age, and not grossly deficient in +that quality of beauty that your years demand. Since your +heart is free, you may well pledge me the sole promise that +I ask in return for much expense and still more danger: +to await the arrival of that bridegroom with the delicacy +of a wife.”</p> + +<p>I sat awhile stunned. The doctor’s marriages, I +remembered to have heard, had been unfruitful; and this +added perplexity to my distress. But I was alone, as he +had said, alone in that dark land; the thought of escape, +of any equal marriage, was already enough to revive in +me some dawn of hope; and, in what words I know not, +I accepted the proposal.</p> + +<p>He seemed more moved by my consent than I could +reasonably have looked for. “You shall see,” he cried; +“you shall judge for yourself.” And hurrying to the +next room he returned with a small portrait somewhat +coarsely done in oils. It showed a man in the dress of +nearly forty years before, young indeed, but still recognisable +to be the doctor. “Do you like it?” he asked. “That +is myself when I was young. My—my boy will be like that, +like, but nobler; with such health as angels might condescend +to envy; and a man of mind, Asenath, of commanding +mind. That should be a man, I think; that should +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page47"></a>47</span> +be one among ten thousand. A man like that—one to +combine the passions of youth with the restraint, the force, +the dignity of age—one to fill all the parts and faculties, +one to be man’s epitome—say, will that not satisfy the +needs of an ambitious girl? Say, is not that enough?” And +as he held the picture close before my eyes, his hand shook.</p> + +<p>I told him briefly I would ask no better, for I was +transpierced with this display of fatherly emotion; but +even as I said the words, the most insolent revolt surged +through my arteries. I held him in horror, him, his portrait, +and his son; and had there been any choice but death or +a Mormon marriage, I declare before Heaven I had embraced it.</p> + +<p>“It is well,” he replied, “and I had rightly counted +on your spirit. Eat, then, for you have far to go.” So +saying, he set meat before me; and while I was endeavouring +to obey, he left the room and returned with an armful +of coarse raiment. “There,” said he, “is your disguise. +I leave you to your toilet.”</p> + +<p>The clothes had probably belonged to a somewhat +lubberly boy of fifteen; and they hung about me like a +sack, and cruelly hampered my movements. But what +filled me with uncontrollable shudderings was the problem +of their origin and the fate of the lad to whom they +had belonged. I had scarcely effected the exchange when +the doctor returned, opened a back window, helped me +out into the narrow space between the house and the +overhanging bluffs, and showed me a ladder of iron foot-holds +mortised in the rock. “Mount,” he said, “swiftly. +When you are at the summit, walk, so far as you are able, +in the shadow of the smoke. The smoke will bring you, +sooner or later, to a cañon; follow that down, and you +will find a man with two horses. Him you will implicitly +obey. And remember, silence! That machinery which +I now put in motion for your service may by one word be +turned against you. Go; Heaven prosper you!”</p> + +<p>The ascent was easy. Arrived at the top of the cliff, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page48"></a>48</span> +I saw before me on the other side a vast and gradual +declivity of stone, lying bare to the moon and the +surrounding mountains. Nowhere was any vantage or +concealment; and knowing how these deserts were beset with +spies, I made haste to veil my movements under the blowing +trail of smoke. Sometimes it swam high, rising on the +night wind, and I had no more substantial curtain than its +moon-thrown shadow; sometimes again it crawled upon +the earth, and I would walk in it, no higher than to my +shoulders, like some mountain fog. But, one way or +another, the smoke of that ill-omened furnace protected +the first steps of my escape, and led me unobserved to the +cañon.</p> + +<p>There, sure enough, I found a taciturn and sombre +man beside a pair of saddle-horses; and thenceforward, +all night long, we wandered in silence by the most occult +and dangerous paths among the mountains. A little +before the dayspring we took refuge in a wet and gusty +cavern at the bottom of a gorge; lay there all day concealed; +and the next night, before the glow had faded out of the +west, resumed our wanderings. About noon we stopped +again, in a lawn upon a little river, where was a screen +of bushes; and here my guide, handing me a bundle from +his pack, bade me change my dress once more. The bundle +contained clothing of my own, taken from our house, with +such necessaries as a comb and soap. I made my toilet by +the mirror of a quiet pool; and as I was so doing and +smiling with some complacency to see myself restored to +my own image, the mountains rang with a scream of far +more than human piercingness; and where I still stood +astonished, there sprang up and swiftly increased a storm +of the most awful and earth-rending sounds. Shall I own +to you that I fell upon my face and shrieked? And yet +this was but the overland train winding among the near +mountains: the very means of my salvation: the strong +wings that were to carry me from Utah!</p> + +<p>When I was dressed the guide gave me a bag, which +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page49"></a>49</span> +contained, he said, both money and papers; and, telling +me that I was already over the borders in the territory +of Wyoming, bade me follow the stream until I reached +the railway station, half a mile below. “Here,” he added, +“is your ticket as far as Council Bluffs. The East express +will pass in a few hours.” With that, he took both horses +and, without further words or any salutation, rode off by +the way that we had come.</p> + +<p>Three hours afterwards, I was seated on the end platform +of the train as it swept eastward through the gorges +and thundered in tunnels of the mountains. The change +of scene, the sense of escape, the still throbbing terror +of pursuit—above all the astounding magic of my new +conveyance, kept me from any logical or melancholy +thought. I had gone to the doctor’s house two nights +before prepared to die, prepared for worse than death; +what had passed, terrible although it was, looked almost +bright compared to my anticipations; and it was not till +I had slept a full night in the flying palace car that I awoke +to the sense of my irreparable loss and to some reasonable +alarm about the future. In this mood I examined the +contents of the bag. It was well supplied with gold; it +contained tickets and complete directions for my journey +as far as Liverpool, and a long letter from the doctor, +supplying me with a fictitious name and story, recommending +the most guarded silence, and bidding me to await +faithfully the coming of his son. All then had been arranged +beforehand: he had counted upon my consent, and, what +was tenfold worse, upon my mother’s voluntary death. +My horror of my only friend, my aversion for this son who +was to marry me, my revolt against the whole current and +conditions of my life, were now complete. I was sitting +stupefied by my distress and helplessness, when, to my joy, +a very pleasant lady offered me her conversation. I +clutched at the relief; and I was soon glibly telling her +the story in the doctor’s letter: how I was a Miss Gould, +of Nevada City, going to England to an uncle, what money +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page50"></a>50</span> +I had, what family, my age, and so forth, until I had +exhausted my instructions, and, as the lady still continued +to ply me with questions, began to embroider on my own +account. This soon carried one of my inexperience beyond +her depth; and I had already remarked a shadow on the +lady’s face, when a gentleman drew near and very civilly +addressed me:</p> + +<p>“Miss Gould, I believe?” said he; and then, excusing +himself to the lady by the authority of my guardian, +drew me to the fore platform of the Pullman car. “Miss +Gould,” he said in my ear, “is it possible that you suppose +yourself in safety? Let me completely undeceive +you. One more such indiscretion and you return to Utah. +And, in the meanwhile, if this woman should again address +you, you are to reply with these words:‘Madam, I do not +like you, and I will be obliged if you will suffer me to +choose my own associates.’”</p> + +<p>Alas, I had to do as I was bid; this lady, to whom +I already felt myself drawn with the strongest cords of +sympathy, I dismissed with insult; and thenceforward, +through all that day I sat in silence, gazing on the bare +plains and swallowing my tears. Let that suffice: it was +the pattern of my journey. Whether on the train, at +the hotels, or on board the ocean steamer, I never exchanged +a friendly word with any fellow-traveller but I was certain +to be interrupted. In every place, on every side, the most +unlikely persons, man or woman, rich or poor, became +protectors to forward me upon my journey or spies to +observe and regulate my conduct. Thus I crossed the +States, thus passed the ocean, the Mormon Eye still following +my movements; and when at length a cab had set me +down before that London lodging-house from which you saw +me flee this morning, I had already ceased to struggle and +ceased to hope.</p> + +<p>The landlady, like every one else through all that +journey, was expecting my arrival. A fire was lighted +in my room, which looked upon the garden; there were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page51"></a>51</span> +books on the table, clothes in the drawers; and there (I +had almost said with contentment, and certainly with +resignation) I saw month follow month over my head. At +times my landlady took me for a walk or an excursion, +but she would never suffer me to leave the house alone; +and I, seeing that she also lived under the shadow of that +widespread Mormon terror, felt too much pity to resist. +To the child born on Mormon soil, as to the man who +accepts the engagements of a secret order, no escape is +possible; so I had clearly read, and I was thankful even +for this respite. Meanwhile, I tried honestly to prepare +my mind for my approaching nuptials. The day drew +near when my bridegroom was to visit me, and gratitude +and fear alike obliged me to consent. A son of Dr. +Grierson’s be he what he pleased, must still be young, +and it was even probable he should be handsome; on +more than that I felt I dared not reckon; and in moulding +my mind towards consent I dwelt the more carefully +on these physical attractions which I felt I might expect, +and averted my eyes from moral or intellectual considerations. +We have a great power upon our spirits; and as +time passed I worked myself into a frame of acquiescence, +nay, and I began to grow impatient for the hour. At +night sleep forsook me; I sat all day by the fire, absorbed +in dreams, conjuring up the features of my husband, and +anticipating in fancy the touch of his hand and the sound +of his voice. In the dead level and solitude of my +existence, this was the one eastern window and the one door +of hope. At last I had so cultivated and prepared my +will, that I began to be besieged with fears upon the other +side. How if it was I that did not please? How if this +unseen lover should turn from me with disaffection? And +now I spent hours before the glass, studying and judging +my attractions, and was never weary of changing my dress +or ordering my hair.</p> + +<p>When the day came I was long about my toilet; but at +last, with a sort of hopeful desperation, I had to own that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page52"></a>52</span> +I could do no more, and must now stand or fall by nature. +My occupation ended, I fell a prey to the most sickening +impatience, mingled with alarms; giving ear to the swelling +rumour of the streets, and at each change of sound or silence, +starting, shrinking, and colouring to the brow. Love is not to +be prepared, I know, without some knowledge of the object; +and yet, when the cab at last rattled to the door, and I heard +my visitor mount the stairs, such was the tumult of hopes +in my poor bosom that love itself might have been proud +to own their parentage. The door opened, and it was Dr. +Grierson that appeared. I believe I must have screamed +aloud, and I know, at least, that I fell fainting to the floor.</p> + +<p>When I came to myself he was standing over me, counting +my pulse. “I have startled you,” he said. “A +difficulty unforeseen—the impossibility of obtaining a +certain drug in its full purity—has forced me to resort to +London unprepared. I regret that I should have shown +myself once more without those poor attractions which +are much, perhaps, to you, but to me are no more considerable +than rain that falls into the sea. Youth is but a +state, as passing as that syncope from which you are but +just awakened, and, if there be truth in science, as easy +to recall; for I find, Asenath, that I must now take you +for my confidant. Since my first years I have devoted +every hour and act of life to one ambitious task; and +the time of my success is at hand. In these new countries, +where I was so long content to stay, I collected indispensable +ingredients; I have fortified myself on every side +from the possibility of error; what was a dream now takes +the substance of reality; and when I offered you a son +of mine I did so in a figure. That son—that husband, +Asenath, is myself—not as you now behold me, but restored +to the first energy of youth. You think me mad? +It is the customary attitude of ignorance. I will not +argue; I will leave facts to speak. When you behold me +purified, invigorated, renewed, restamped in the original +image—when you recognise in me (what I shall be) the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page53"></a>53</span> +first perfect expression of the powers of mankind—I shall +be able to laugh with a better grace at your passing and +natural incredulity. To what can you aspire—fame, +riches, power, the charm of youth, the dear-bought wisdom +of age—that I shall not be able to afford you in perfection? +Do not deceive yourself. I already excel you in every +human gift but one: when that gift also has been restored +to me you will recognise your master.”</p> + +<p>Hereupon, consulting his watch, he told me he must +now leave me to myself; and bidding me consult reason, +and not girlish fancies, he withdrew. I had not the courage +to move; the night fell, and found me still where he had +laid me during my faint, my face buried in my hands, +my soul drowned in the darkest apprehensions. Late +in the evening he returned, carrying a candle, and, with +a certain irritable tremor, bade me rise and sup. “Is it +possible,” he added, “that I have been deceived in your +courage? A cowardly girl is no fit mate for me.”</p> + +<p>I flung myself before him on my knees, and with floods +of tears besought him to release me from this engagement, +assuring him that my cowardice was abject, and that in +every point of intellect and character I was his hopeless +and derisible inferior.</p> + +<p>“Why, certainly,” he replied. “I know you better +than yourself; and I am well enough acquainted with +human nature to understand this scene. It is addressed +to me,” he added with a smile, “in my character of the +still untransformed. But do not alarm yourself about +the future. Let me but attain my end, and not you only, +Asenath, but every woman on the face of the earth becomes +my willing slave.”</p> + +<p>Thereupon he obliged me to rise and eat; sat down +with me to table; helped and entertained me with the +attentions of a fashionable host; and it was not till a late +hour that, bidding me courteously good-night, he once +more left me alone to my misery.</p> + +<p>In all this talk of an elixir and the restoration of his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page54"></a>54</span> +youth, I scarce knew from which hypothesis I should the +more eagerly recoil. If his hopes reposed on any base +of fact, if, indeed, by some abhorrent miracle, he should +discard his age, death were my only refuge from that most +unnatural, that most ungodly union. If, on the other +hand, these dreams were merely lunatic, the madness of a +life waxed suddenly acute, my pity would become a load +almost as heavy to bear as my revolt against the marriage. +So passed the night, in alternations of rebellion and +despair, of hate and pity; and with the next morning I was +only to comprehend more fully my enslaved position. +For though he appeared with a very tranquil countenance, +he had no sooner observed the marks of grief upon my +brow than an answering darkness gathered on his own. +“Asenath,” he said, “you owe me much already; with one +finger I still hold you suspended over death; my life is +full of labour and anxiety; and I choose,” said he, with a +remarkable accent of command, “that you shall greet me +with a pleasant face.” He never needed to repeat the +recommendation: from that day forward I was always +ready to receive him with apparent cheerfulness; and he +rewarded me with a good deal of his company, and almost +more than I could bear of his confidence. He had set up +a laboratory in the back part of the house, where he toiled +day and night at his elixir, and he would come thence +to visit me in my parlour: now with passing humours of +discouragement; now, and far more often, radiant with +hope. It was impossible to see so much of him, and not +to recognise that the sands of his life were running low; +and yet all the time he would be laying out vast fields of +future, and planning, with all the confidence of youth, the +most unbounded schemes of pleasure and ambition. How +I replied I know not; but I found a voice and words to +answer, even while I wept and raged to hear him.</p> + +<p>A week ago the doctor entered my room with the marks +of great exhilaration contending with pitiful bodily +weakness. “Asenath,” said he, “I have now obtained the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page55"></a>55</span> +last ingredient. In one week from now the perilous moment +of the last projection will draw nigh. You have once +before assisted, although unconsciously, at the failure +of a similar experiment. It was the elixir which so +terribly exploded one night when you were passing my house; +and it is idle to deny that the conduct of so delicate a +process, among the million jars and trepidations of so great +a city, presents a certain element of danger. From this +point of view, I cannot but regret the perfect stillness +of my house among the deserts; but, on the other hand, +I have succeeded in proving that the singularly unstable +equilibrium of the elixir, at the moment of projection, is +due rather to the impurity than to the nature of the +ingredients; and as all are now of an equal and exquisite nicety, +I have little fear for the result. In a week then from to-day, +my dear Asenath, this period of trial will be ended.” And +he smiled upon me in a manner unusually paternal.</p> + +<p>I smiled back with my lips, but at my heart there raged +the blackest and most unbridled terror. What if he failed? +And oh, tenfold worse! what if he succeeded? What +detested and unnatural changeling would appear before +me to claim my hand? And could there, I asked myself +with a dreadful sinking, be any truth in his boasts of an +assured victory over my reluctance? I knew him, indeed, +to be masterful, to lead my life at a sign. Suppose, then, +this experiment to succeed; suppose him to return to me, +hideously restored, like a vampire in a legend; and suppose +that, by some devilish fascination.... My head turned; all +former fears deserted me; and I felt I could embrace the +worst in preference to this.</p> + +<p>My mind was instantly made up. The doctor’s presence +in London was justified by the affairs of the Mormon +polity. Often, in our conversation, he would gloat over +the details of that great organisation, which he feared even +while yet he wielded it; and would remind me that, even +in the humming labyrinth of London, we were still visible +to that unsleeping eye in Utah. His visitors, indeed, who +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page56"></a>56</span> +were of every sort, from the missionary to the destroying +angel, and seemed to belong to every rank of life, had, up +to that moment, filled me with unmixed repulsion and +alarm. I knew that if my secret were to reach the ear of +any leader my fate were sealed beyond redemption; and +yet in my present pass of horror and despair, it was to these +very men that I turned for help. I waylaid upon the stair +one of the Mormon missionaries, a man of a low class, but +not inaccessible to pity; told him I scarce remember what +elaborate fable to explain my application; and by his +intermediacy entered into correspondence with my father’s +family. They recognised my claim for help, and on this +very day I was to begin my escape.</p> + +<p>Last night I sat up fully dressed, awaiting the result +of the doctor’s labours, and prepared against the worst. +The nights at this season and in this northern latitude +are short; and I had soon the company of the returning +daylight. The silence in and around the house was only +broken by the movements of the doctor in the laboratory; +to these I listened, watch in hand, awaiting the hour of +my escape, and yet consumed by anxiety about the strange +experiment that was going forward overhead. Indeed, +now that I was conscious of some protection for myself, my +sympathies had turned more directly to the doctor’s side; +I caught myself even praying for his success; and when +some hours ago a low, peculiar cry reached my ears from +the laboratory, I could no longer control my impatience, +but mounted the stairs and opened the door.</p> + +<p>The doctor was standing in the middle of the room; +in his hand a large, round-bellied, crystal flask, some three +parts full of a bright amber-coloured liquid; on his face +a rapture of gratitude and joy unspeakable. As he saw +me he raised the flask at arm’s-length. “Victory!” he +cried. “Victory, Asenath!” And then—whether the +flask escaped his trembling fingers, or whether the +explosion was spontaneous, I cannot tell—enough that we +were thrown, I against the door-post, the doctor into the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page57"></a>57</span> +corner of the room; enough that we were shaken to the +soul by the same explosion that must have startled you +upon the street; and that, in the brief space of an +indistinguishable instant, there remained nothing of the labours +of the doctor’s lifetime but a few shards of broken crystal +and those voluminous and ill-smelling vapours that pursued +me in my flight.</p> + + +<hr class="foot" /> +<div class="note"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_2" href="#FnAnchor_2"><span class="fn">2</span></a> In this name the accent falls upon the <i>e</i>; the <i>s</i> is sibilant.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="art" /> +<h4>THE SQUIRE OF DAMES (<i>concluded</i>)</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">What</span> with the lady’s animated manner and dramatic +conduct of her voice, Challoner had thrilled to every +incident with genuine emotion. His fancy, which was not +perhaps of a very lively character, applauded both the +matter and the style; but the more judicial functions +of his mind refused assent. It was an excellent story; +and it might be true, but he believed it was not. Miss +Fonblanque was a lady, and it was doubtless possible for +a lady to wander from the truth; but how was a gentleman +to tell her so? His spirits for some time had been +sinking, but they now fell to zero; and long after her voice +had died away he still sat with a troubled and averted +countenance, and could find no form of words to thank her +for her narrative. His mind, indeed, was empty of everything +beyond a dull longing for escape. From this pause, +which grew the more embarrassing with every second, he +was roused by the sudden laughter of the lady. His vanity +was alarmed; he turned and faced her; their eyes met; +and he caught from hers a spark of such frank merriment +as put him instantly at ease.</p> + +<p>“You certainly,” he said, “appear to bear your +calamities with excellent spirit.”</p> + +<p>“Do I not?” she cried, and fell once more into delicious +laughter. But from this access she more speedily recovered. +“This is all very well,” said she, nodding at him gravely, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page58"></a>58</span> +“but I am still in a most distressing situation, from which, +if you deny me your help, I shall find it difficult indeed +to free myself.”</p> + +<p>At this mention of help Challoner fell back to his +original gloom.</p> + +<p>“My sympathies are much engaged with you,” he +said, “and I should be delighted, I am sure. But our +position is most unusual; and circumstances over which +I have, I can assure you, no control, deprive me of the +power—the pleasure——Unless, indeed,” he added, somewhat +brightening at the thought, “I were to recommend +you to the care of the police?”</p> + +<p>She laid her hand upon his arm and looked hard into +his eyes; and he saw with wonder that, for the first time +since the moment of their meeting, every trace of colour +had faded from her cheek.</p> + +<p>“Do so,” she said, “and—weigh my words well—you +kill me as certainly as with a knife.”</p> + +<p>“God bless me!” exclaimed Challoner.</p> + +<p>“Oh,” she cried, “I can see you disbelieve my story, +and make light of the perils that surround me; but who +are you to judge? My family share my apprehensions; +they help me in secret; and you saw yourself by what +an emissary, and in what a place, they have chosen to supply +me with the funds for my escape. I admit that you are +brave and clever, and have impressed me most favourably; +but how are you to prefer your opinion before that of my +uncle, an ex-minister of State, a man with the ear of the +Queen, and of a long political experience? If I am mad, +is he? And you must allow me, besides, a special claim +upon your help. Strange as you may think my story, you +know that much of it is true; and if you who heard the explosion, +and saw the Mormon at Victoria, refuse to credit +and assist me, to whom am I to turn?”</p> + +<p>“He gave you money then?” asked Challoner, who +had been dwelling singly on that fact.</p> + +<p>“I begin to interest you,” she cried. “But, frankly, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page59"></a>59</span> +you are condemned to help me. If the service I had to +ask of you were serious, were suspicious, were even unusual, +I should say no more. But what is it? To take a pleasure +trip (for which, if you will suffer me, I propose to pay) and +to carry from one lady to another a sum of money! What +can be more simple?”</p> + +<p>“Is the sum,” asked Challoner, “considerable?”</p> + +<p>She produced a packet from her bosom; and observing +that she had not yet found time to make the count, +tore open the cover and spread upon her knees a considerable +number of Bank of England notes. It took some time +to make the reckoning, for the notes were of every degree +of value; but at last, and counting a few loose sovereigns, +she made out the sum to be a little under £710 sterling. +The sight of so much money worked an immediate revolution +in the mind of Challoner.</p> + +<p>“And you propose, madam,” he cried, “to intrust +that money to a perfect stranger?”</p> + +<p>“Ah!” said she, with a charming smile, “but I no +longer regard you as a stranger.”</p> + +<p>“Madam,” said Challoner, “I perceive I must make +you a confession. Although of a very good family—through +my mother, indeed, a lineal descendant of the patriot Bruce—I +dare not conceal from you that my affairs are deeply, +very deeply, involved. I am in debt; my pockets are +practically empty; and, in short, I am fallen to that state +when a considerable sum of money would prove to many +men an irresistible temptation.”</p> + +<p>“Do you not see,” returned the young lady, “that by +these words you have removed my last hesitation? Take +them.” And she thrust the notes into the young man’s +hand.</p> + +<p>He sat so long, holding them, like a baby at the font, +that Miss Fonblanque once more bubbled into laughter.</p> + +<p>“Pray,” she said, “hesitate no further; put them in +your pocket; and to relieve our position of any shadow +of embarrassment, tell me by what name I am to address +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page60"></a>60</span> +my knight-errant, for I find myself reduced to the awkwardness +of the pronoun.”</p> + +<p>Had borrowing been in question, the wisdom of our +ancestors had come lightly to the young man’s aid; but +upon what pretext could he refuse so generous a trust? +Upon none, he saw, that was not unpardonably wounding; +and the bright eyes and the high spirits of his companion +had already made a breach in the rampart of +Challoner’s caution. The whole thing, he reasoned, +might be a mere mystification, which it were the height +of solemn folly to resent. On the other hand, the explosion, +the interview at the public-house, and the very +money in his hands, seemed to prove beyond denial the +existence of some serious danger; and if that were so, +could he desert her? There was a choice of risks: the +risk of behaving with extraordinary incivility and unhandsomeness +to a lady, and the risk of going on a fool’s errand. +The story seemed false; but then the money was undeniable. +The whole circumstances were questionable and obscure; +but the lady was charming, and had the speech and manners +of society. While he still hung in the wind, a recollection +returned upon his mind with some of the dignity of prophecy. +Had he not promised Somerset to break with the +traditions of the commonplace, and to accept the first +adventure offered? Well, here was the adventure.</p> + +<p>He thrust the money into his pocket.</p> + +<p>“My name is Challoner,” said he.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Challoner,” she replied, “you have come very +generously to my aid when all was against me. Though +I am myself a very humble person, my family commands +great interest; and I do not think you will repent this +handsome action.”</p> + +<p>Challoner flushed with pleasure.</p> + +<p>“I imagine that, perhaps, a consulship,” she added, +her eyes dwelling on him with a judicial admiration, “a consulship +in some great town or capital—or else——But we +waste time; let us set about the work of my delivery.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page61"></a>61</span></p> + +<p>She took his arm with a frank confidence that went +to his heart; and once more laying by all serious thoughts, +she entertained him, as they crossed the park, with her +agreeable gaiety of mind. Near the Marble Arch they +found a hansom, which rapidly conveyed them to the +terminus at Euston Square; and here, in the hotel, they +sat down to an excellent breakfast. The young lady’s +first step was to call for writing materials, and write, upon +one corner of the table, a hasty note; still, as she did so, +glancing with smiles at her companion. “Here,” said +she, “here is the letter which will introduce you to my +cousin.” She began to fold the paper. “My cousin, +although I have never seen her, has the character of a very +charming woman and a recognised beauty; of that I know +nothing, but at least she has been very kind to me; so has +my lord her father; so have you—kinder than all—kinder +than I can bear to think of.” She said this with unusual +emotion; and, at the same time, sealed the envelope. +“Ah!” she cried, “I have shut my letter! It is not quite +courteous; and yet, as between friends, it is perhaps better +so. I introduce you, after all, into a family secret; and +though you and I are already old comrades, you are still +unknown to my uncle. You go, then, to this address, +Richard Street, Glasgow; go, please, as soon as you arrive; +and give this letter with your own hands into those of +Miss Fonblanque, for that is the name by which she is to +pass. When we next meet, you will tell me what you +think of her,” she added, with a touch of the provocative.</p> + +<p>“Ah,” said Challoner, almost tenderly, “she can be +nothing to me.”</p> + +<p>“You do not know,” replied the young lady, with a +sigh. “By the by, I had forgotten—it is very childish, +and I am almost ashamed to mention it—but when you +see Miss Fonblanque, you will have to make yourself a +little ridiculous; and I am sure the part in no way suits +you. We had agreed upon a watchword. You will have +to address an earl’s daughter in these words:‘<i>Nigger</i>, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page62"></a>62</span> +<i>nigger, never die</i>’; but reassure yourself,” she added, +laughing, “for the fair patrician will at once finish the +quotation. Come now, say your lesson.”</p> + +<p>“’Nigger, nigger, never die,’” repeated Challoner, +with undisguised reluctance.</p> + +<p>Miss Fonblanque went into fits of laughter. “Excellent,” +said she, “it will be the most humorous scene!” +And she laughed again.</p> + +<p>“And what will be the counterword?” asked Challoner +stiffly.</p> + +<p>“I will not tell you till the last moment,” said she; +“for I perceive you are growing too imperious.”</p> + +<p>Breakfast over, she accompanied the young man to +the platform, bought him the <i>Graphic</i>, the <i>Athenæum</i>, +and a paper-cutter, and stood on the step conversing till +the whistle sounded. Then she put her head into the +carriage. “<i>Black face and shining eye!</i>” she whispered, +and instantly leaped down upon the platform, with a +trill of gay and musical laughter. As the train steamed out +of the great arch of glass, the sound of that laughter still +rang in the young man’s ears.</p> + +<p>Challoner’s position was too unusual to be long welcome +to his mind. He found himself projected the whole +length of England, on a mission beset with obscure and +ridiculous circumstances, and yet, by the trust he had +accepted, irrevocably bound to persevere. How easy +it appeared, in the retrospect, to have refused the whole +proposal, returned the money, and gone forth again upon +his own affairs, a free and happy man! And it was now +impossible: the enchantress who had held him with her +eye had now disappeared, taking his honour in pledge; +and as she had failed to leave him an address, he was denied +even the inglorious safety of retreat. To use the paper-knife, +or even to read the periodicals with which she had +presented him, was to renew the bitterness of his remorse; +and as he was alone in the compartment, he passed the day +staring at the landscape in impotent repentance, and long +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page63"></a>63</span> +before he was landed on the platform of St. Enoch’s, had +fallen to the lowest and coldest zones of self-contempt.</p> + +<p>As he was hungry, and elegant in his habits, he would +have preferred to dine and to remove the stains of travel; +but the words of the young lady, and his own impatient +eagerness, would suffer no delay. In the late, luminous, +and lamp-starred dusk of the summer evening he accordingly +set forward with brisk steps.</p> + +<p>The street to which he was directed had first seen the +day in the character of a row of small suburban villas on +a hillside; but the extension of the city had, long since and +on every hand, surrounded it with miles of streets. From +the top of the hill a range of very tall buildings, densely +inhabited by the poorest classes of the population and +variegated by drying-poles from every second window, +overplumbed the villas and their little gardens like a sea-board +cliff. But still, under the grime of years of city +smoke, these antiquated cottages, with their venetian blinds +and rural porticoes, retained a somewhat melancholy savour +of the past.</p> + +<p>The street, when Challoner entered it, was perfectly +deserted. From hard by, indeed, the sound of a thousand +footfalls filled the ear; but in Richard Street itself there +was neither light nor sound of human habitation. The +appearance of the neighbourhood weighed heavily on the +mind of the young man; once more, as in the streets of +London, he was impressed by the sense of city deserts; +and as he approached the number indicated, and somewhat +falteringly rang the bell, his heart sank within him.</p> + +<p>The bell was ancient, like the house; it had a thin +and garrulous note; and it was some time before it ceased +to sound from the rear quarters of the building. Following +upon this an inner door was stealthily opened, and +careful and catlike steps drew near along the hall. Challoner, +supposing he was to be instantly admitted, produced +his letter and, as well as he was able, prepared a smiling +face. To his indescribable surprise, however, the footsteps +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page64"></a>64</span> +ceased, and then, after a pause and with the like stealthiness, +withdrew once more, and died away in the interior of the +house. A second time the young man rang violently at +the bell; a second time, to his keen hearkening, a certain +bustle of discreet footing moved upon the hollow boards +of the old villa; and again the faint-hearted garrison only +drew near to retreat. The cup of the visitor’s endurance +was now full to overflowing; and, committing the whole +family of Fonblanque to every mood and shade of condemnation, +he turned upon his heel and redescended the steps. Perhaps +the mover in the house was watching from a window, +and plucked up courage at the sight of this desistance; +or perhaps, where he lurked trembling in the back parts +of the villa, reason in its own right had conquered his +alarms. Challoner, at least, had scarce set foot upon +the pavement when he was arrested by the sound of the +withdrawal of an inner bolt; one followed another, rattling +in their sockets; the key turned harshly in the lock; the +door opened; and there appeared upon the threshold a +man of a very stalwart figure in his shirt sleeves. He was +a person neither of great manly beauty nor of a refined +exterior; he was not the man, in ordinary moods, to attract +the eyes of the observer; but as he now stood in the doorway +he was marked so legibly with the extreme passion of +terror that Challoner stood wonder-struck. For a fraction +of a minute they gazed upon each other in silence; and then +the man of the house, with ashen lips and gasping voice, +inquired the business of his visitor. Challoner replied, in +tones from which he strove to banish his surprise, that +he was the bearer of a letter to a certain Miss Fonblanque. +At this name, as at a talisman, the man fell back and +impatiently invited him to enter; and no sooner had the +adventurer crossed the threshold than the door was closed +behind him and his retreat cut off.</p> + +<p>It was already long past eight at night; and though +the late twilight of the north still lingered in the streets, +in the passage it was already groping dark. The man +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page65"></a>65</span> +led Challoner directly to a parlour looking on the garden +to the back. Here he had apparently been supping; +for by the light of a tallow dip, the table was seen to be +covered with a napkin, and set out with a quart of bottled +ale and the heel of a Gouda cheese. The room, on the +other hand, was furnished with faded solidity, and the walls +were lined with scholarly and costly volumes in glazed +cases. The house must have been taken furnished; for it +had no congruity with this man of the shirt sleeves and the +mean supper. As for the earl’s daughter, the earl and the +visionary consulships in foreign cities, they had long ago +begun to fade in Challoner’s imagination. Like Dr. Grierson +and the Mormon angels, they were plainly woven of the +stuff of dreams. Not an illusion remained to the knight-errant; +not a hope was left him but to be speedily relieved +from this disreputable business.</p> + +<p>The man had continued to regard his visitor with undisguised +anxiety, and began once more to press him for +his errand.</p> + +<p>“I am here,” said Challoner, “simply to do a service +between two ladies; and I must ask you, without further +delay, to summon Miss Fonblanque, into whose hands +alone I am authorised to deliver the letter that I bear.”</p> + +<p>A growing wonder began to mingle on the man’s face +with the lines of solicitude. “I am Miss Fonblanque,” +he said; and then, perceiving the effect of this communication, +“Good God!” he cried, “what are you staring at? +I tell you I am Miss Fonblanque.”</p> + +<p>Seeing the speaker wore a chin-beard of considerable +length, and the remainder of his face was blue with shaving, +Challoner could only suppose himself the subject of a jest. +He was no longer under the spell of the young lady’s presence; +and with men, and above all with his inferiors, he +was capable of some display of spirit.</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said he, pretty roundly, “I have put myself +to great inconvenience for persons of whom I know too +little, and I begin to be weary of the business. Either you +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page66"></a>66</span> +shall immediately summon Miss Fonblanque, or I leave this +house and put myself under the direction of the police.”</p> + +<p>“This is horrible!” exclaimed the man. “I declare +before Heaven I am the person meant, but how shall I +convince you? It must have been Clara, I perceive, that +sent you on this errand—a madwoman, who jests with +the most deadly interests; and here we are, incapable, +perhaps, of an agreement, and Heaven knows what may +depend on our delay!”</p> + +<p>He spoke with a really startling earnestness; and at +the same time there flashed upon the mind of Challoner +the ridiculous jingle which was to serve as password. +“This may, perhaps, assist you,” he said; and then, with +some embarrassment: “’Nigger, nigger, never die.’”</p> + +<p>A light of relief broke upon the troubled countenance +of the man with the chin-beard. “’Black face and shining +eye’—give me the letter,” he panted, in one gasp.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Challoner, though still with some reluctance, +“I suppose I must regard you as the proper recipient; +and though I may justly complain of the spirit in which +I have been treated, I am only too glad to be done with all +responsibility. Here it is,” and he produced the envelope.</p> + +<p>The man leaped upon it like a beast, and with hands +that trembled in a manner painful to behold, tore it open +and unfolded the letter. As he read, terror seemed to mount +upon him to the pitch of nightmare. He struck one hand +upon his brow, while with the other, as if unconsciously, +he crumpled the paper to a ball. “My gracious powers!” +he cried; and then, dashing to the window, which stood +open on the garden, he clapped forth his head and shoulders +and whistled long and shrill. Challoner fell back into a +corner, and resolutely grasping his staff, prepared for the +most desperate events; but the thoughts of the man with +the chin-beard were far removed from violence. Turning +again into the room, and once more beholding his visitor, +whom he appeared to have forgotten, he fairly danced with +trepidation. “Impossible!” he cried. “Oh, quite impossible! +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page67"></a>67</span> +O Lord, I have lost my head.” And then, once +more striking his hand upon his brow, “The money!” +he exclaimed. “Give me the money.”</p> + +<p>“My good friend,” replied Challoner, “this is a very +painful exhibition; and until I see you reasonably master +of yourself, I decline to proceed with any business.”</p> + +<p>“You are quite right,” said the man. “I am of a +very nervous habit; a long course of the dumb ague has +undermined my constitution. But I know you have money; +it may be still the saving of me; and oh, dear young gentleman, +in pity’s name be expeditious!”</p> + +<p>Challoner, sincerely uneasy as he was, could scarce +refrain from laughter; but he was himself in a hurry to +be gone, and without more delay produced the money. +“You will find the sum, I trust, correct,” he observed; +“and let me ask you to give me a receipt.”</p> + +<p>But the man heeded him not. He seized the money, +and disregarding the sovereigns that rolled loose upon +the floor, thrust the bundle of notes into his pocket.</p> + +<p>“A receipt,” repeated Challoner, with some asperity. +“I insist on a receipt.”</p> + +<p>“Receipt?” repeated the man, a little wildly. “A +receipt? Immediately! Await me here.”</p> + +<p>Challoner, in reply, begged the gentleman to lose no +unnecessary time, as he was himself desirous of catching +a particular train.</p> + +<p>“Ah, by God, and so am I!” exclaimed the man with +the chin-beard; and with that he was gone out of the +room, and had rattled upstairs, four at a time, to the +upper story of the villa.</p> + +<p>“This is certainly a most amazing business,” thought +Challoner; “certainly a most disquieting affair; and I +cannot conceal from myself that I have become mixed up +with either lunatics or malefactors. I may truly thank +my stars that I am so nearly and so creditably done with +it.” Thus thinking, and perhaps remembering the episode +of the whistle, he turned to the open window. The garden +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page68"></a>68</span> +was still faintly clear; he could distinguish the stairs and +terraces with which the small domain had been adorned +by former owners, and the blackened bushes and dead +trees that had once afforded shelter to the country birds; +beyond these he saw the strong retaining wall, some thirty +feet in height, which enclosed the garden to the back; and +again above that, the pile of dingy buildings rearing its +frontage high into the night. A peculiar object lying +stretched upon the lawn for some time baffled his eyesight; +but at length he had made it out to be a long ladder, or +series of ladders bound into one; and he was still wondering +of what service so great an instrument could be in such a +scant enclosure, when he was recalled to himself by the +noise of some one running violently down the stairs. This +was followed by the sudden, clamorous banging of the +house door; and that again, by rapid and retreating footsteps +in the street.</p> + +<p>Challoner sprang into the passage. He ran from room +to room, upstairs and downstairs; and in that old dingy +and worm-eaten house, he found himself alone. Only +in one apartment looking to the front were there any traces +of the late inhabitant: a bed that had been recently slept +in and not made, a chest of drawers disordered by a hasty +search and on the floor a roll of crumpled paper. This he +picked up. The light in this upper story looking to the front +was considerably brighter than in the parlour; and he was +able to make out that the paper bore the mark of the hotel +at Euston, and even, by peering closely, to decipher the +following lines in a very elegant and careful female hand:</p> + +<div class="quote"> +<p>“<span class="sc">Dear M’Guire</span>,—It is certain your retreat is known. We have +just had another failure, clockwork thirty hours too soon, with the +usual humiliating result. Zero is quite disheartened. We are all +scattered, and I could find no one but the <i>solemn ass</i> who brings you +this and the money. I would love to see your meeting.—Ever yours,</p> + +<p class="rt sc">“Shining Eye.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Challoner was stricken to the heart. He perceived +by what facility, by what unmanly fear of ridicule, he +had been brought down to be the gull of this intriguer; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page69"></a>69</span> +and his wrath flowed forth in almost equal measure against +himself, against the woman, and against Somerset, whose +idle counsels had impelled him to embark on that adventure. +At the same time a great and troubled curiosity, and a +certain chill of fear, possessed his spirits. The conduct +of the man with the chin-beard, the terms of the letter, and +the explosion of the early morning, fitted together like parts +in some obscure and mischievous imbroglio. Evil was +certainly afoot; evil, secrecy, terror, and falsehood were +the conditions and the passions of the people among whom +he had begun to move, like a blind puppet; and he who +began as a puppet, his experience told him, was often +doomed to perish as a victim.</p> + +<p>From the stupor of deep thought into which he had +glided with the letter in his hand, he was awakened by the +clatter of the bell. He glanced from the window; and +conceive his horror and surprise when he beheld, clustered +on the steps, in the front garden and on the pavement of +the street, a formidable posse of police! He started to the +full possession of his powers and courage. Escape, and +escape at any cost, was the one idea that possessed him. +Swiftly and silently he redescended the creaking stairs; +he was already in the passage when a second and more +imperious summons from the door awoke the echoes of +the empty house; nor had the bell ceased to jangle before +he had bestridden the window-sill of the parlour and was +lowering himself into the garden. His coat was hooked +upon the iron flower-basket; for a moment he hung dependent +heels and head below; and then, with the noise of +rending cloth and followed by several pots, he dropped +upon the sod. Once more the bell was rung, and now +with furious and repeated peals. The desperate Challoner +turned his eyes on every side. They fell upon the ladder, +and he ran to it, and with strenuous but unavailing effort +sought to raise it from the ground. Suddenly the weight, +which was thus resisting his whole strength, began to lighten +in his hands; the ladder, like a thing of life, reared its bulk +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page70"></a>70</span> +from off the sod; and Challoner, leaping back with a cry +of almost superstitious terror, beheld the whole structure +mount, foot by foot, against the face of the retaining-wall. +At the same time, two heads were dimly visible above the +parapet, and he was hailed by a guarded whistle. Something +in its modulation recalled, like an echo, the whistle +of the man with the chin-beard.</p> + +<p>Had he chanced upon a means of escape prepared beforehand +by those very miscreants, whose messenger and gull +he had become? Was this, indeed, a means of safety, or +but the starting-point of further complication and disaster? +He paused not to reflect. Scarce was the ladder reared +to its full length than he had sprung already on the rounds; +hand over hand, swift as an ape, he scaled the tottering +stairway. Strong arms received, embraced, and helped +him; he was lifted and set once more upon the earth; +and with the spasm of his alarm yet unsubsided, found +himself, in the company of two rough-looking men, in the +paved back-yard of one of the tall houses that crowned the +summit of the hill. Meanwhile, from below, the note of +the bell had been succeeded by the sound of vigorous and +redoubling blows.</p> + +<p>“Are you all out?” asked one of his companions; +and as soon as he had babbled an answer in the affirmative, +the rope was cut from the top round, and the ladder +thrust roughly back into the garden, where it fell and broke +with clattering reverberations. Its fall was hailed with +many broken cries; for the whole of Richard Street was now +in high emotion, the people crowding to the windows or +clambering on the garden walls. The same man who had +already addressed Challoner seized him by the arm; whisked +him through the basement of the house and across the street +upon the other side; and before the unfortunate adventurer +had time to realise his situation, a door was opened, and he +was thrust into a low and dark compartment.</p> + +<p>“Bedad,” observed his guide, “there was no time to +lose. Is M’Guire gone, or was it you that whistled?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page71"></a>71</span></p> + +<p>“M’Guire is gone,” said Challoner.</p> + +<p>The guide now struck a light. “Ah,” said he, “this will +never do. You dare not go upon the streets in such a figure. +Wait quietly here and I will bring you something decent.”</p> + +<p>With that the man was gone, and Challoner, his +attention thus rudely awakened, began ruefully to consider +the havoc that had been worked in his attire. His +hat was gone; his trousers were cruelly ripped; and the +best part of one tail of his very elegant frock-coat had been +left hanging from the iron crockets of the window. He +had scarce had time to measure these disasters when his +host re-entered the apartment and proceeded, without a +word, to envelop the refined and urbane Challoner in a long +ulster of the cheapest material and of a pattern so gross +and vulgar that his spirit sickened at the sight. This +calumnious disguise was crowned and completed by a soft +felt hat of the Tyrolese design and several sizes too small. +At another moment Challoner would simply have refused +to issue forth upon the world thus travestied; but the +desire to escape from Glasgow was now too strongly and too +exclusively impressed upon his mind. With one haggard +glance at the spotted tails of his new coat, he inquired what +was to pay for this accoutrement. The man assured him +that the whole expense was easily met from funds in his +possession, and begged him, instead of wasting time, to +make his best speed out of the neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>The young man was not loath to take the hint. True +to his usual courtesy, he thanked the speaker and complimented +him upon his taste in greatcoats; and leaving the +man somewhat abashed by these remarks and the manner +of their delivery, he hurried forth into the lamp-lit city. +The last train was gone ere, after many deviations, he had +reached the terminus. Attired as he was he dared not +present himself at any reputable inn; and he felt keenly +that the unassuming dignity of his demeanour would serve +to attract attention, perhaps mirth, and possibly suspicion, +in any humbler hostelry. He was thus condemned to pass +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page72"></a>72</span> +the solemn and uneventful hours of a whole night in pacing +the streets of Glasgow; supperless; a figure of fun for all +beholders; waiting the dawn, with hope indeed, but with +unconquerable shrinkings; and above all things, filled +with a profound sense of the folly and weakness of his conduct. +It may be conceived with what curses he assailed +the memory of the fair narrator of Hyde Park; her parting +laughter rang in his ears all night with damning mockery +and iteration; and when he could spare a thought from +this chief artificer of his confusion, it was to expend his +wrath on Somerset and the career of the amateur detective. +With the coming of the day, he found in a shy milk-shop +the means to appease his hunger. There were still many +hours to wait before the departure of the south express; +these he passed wandering with indescribable fatigue in +the obscurer by-streets of the city; and at length slipped +quietly into the station and took his place in the darkest +corner of a third-class carriage. Here, all day long, he +jolted on the bare boards, distressed by heat and continually +reawakened from uneasy slumbers. By the half return +ticket in his purse, he was entitled to make the journey on +the easy cushions and with the ample space of the first-class; +but alas! in his absurd attire, he durst not, for decency, +commingle with his equals; and this small annoyance, +coming last in such a series of disasters, cut him to the heart.</p> + +<p>That night, when, in his Putney lodging, he reviewed +the expense, anxiety, and weariness of his adventure; +when he beheld the ruins of his last good trousers and his +last presentable coat; and above all, when his eye by any +chance alighted on the Tyrolese hat or the degrading ulster, +his heart would overflow with bitterness, and it was only by +a serious call on his philosophy that he maintained the +dignity of his demeanour.</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page73"></a>73</span></p> +<h3>SOMERSET’S ADVENTURE</h3> + +<h4>THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Mr. Paul Somerset</span> was a young gentleman of a lively +and fiery imagination, with very small capacity for action. +He was one who lived exclusively in dreams and in the +future: the creature of his own theories, and an actor in +his own romances. From the cigar divan he proceeded to +parade the streets, still heated with the fire of his eloquence, +and scouting upon every side for the offer of some fortunate +adventure. In the continual stream of passers-by, on the +sealed fronts of houses, on the posters that covered the +hoardings, and in every lineament and throb of the great +city, he saw a mysterious and hopeful hieroglyph. But +although the elements of adventure were streaming by him +as thick as drops of water in the Thames, it was in vain +that, now with a beseeching, now with something of a +braggadocio air, he courted and provoked the notice of +the passengers; in vain that, putting fortune to the touch, +he even thrust himself into the way and came into direct +collision with those of the more promising demeanour. +Persons brimful of secrets, persons pining for affection, +persons perishing for lack of help or counsel, he was sure +he could perceive on every side; but by some contrariety +of fortune, each passed upon his way without remarking +the young gentleman, and went farther (surely to fare +worse!) in quest of the confidant, the friend, or the adviser. +To thousands he must have turned an appealing countenance, +and yet not one regarded him.</p> + +<p>A light dinner, eaten to the accompaniment of his +impetuous aspirations, broke in upon the series of his +attempts on fortune; and when he returned to the task, +the lamps were already lighted, and the nocturnal crowd +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page74"></a>74</span> +was dense upon the pavement. Before a certain restaurant, +whose name will readily occur to any student of +our Babylon, people were already packed so closely that +passage had grown difficult; and Somerset, standing in +the kennel, watched, with a hope that was beginning to +grow somewhat weary, the faces and the manners of the +crowd. Suddenly he was startled by a gentle touch upon +the shoulder, and facing about, he was aware of a very +plain and elegant brougham, drawn by a pair of powerful +horses, and driven by a man in sober livery. There were +no arms upon the panel; the window was open, but the +interior was obscure; the driver yawned behind his palm; +and the young man was already beginning to suppose +himself the dupe of his own fancy, when a hand, no larger +than a child’s and smoothly gloved in white, appeared in a +corner of the window and privily beckoned him to approach. +He did so, and looked in. The carriage was occupied by +a single small and very dainty figure, swathed head and +shoulders in impenetrable folds of white lace; and a voice, +speaking low and silvery, addressed him in these words:</p> + +<p>“Open the door and get in.”</p> + +<p>“It must be,” thought the young man, with an almost +unbearable thrill, “it must be that duchess at last!” +Yet, although the moment was one to which he had long +looked forward, it was with a certain share of alarm that he +opened the door, and, mounting into the brougham, took +his seat beside the lady of the lace. Whether or no she had +touched a spring, or given some other signal, the young man +had hardly closed the door before the carriage, with considerable +swiftness, and with a very luxurious and easy movement +on its springs, turned and began to drive towards the west.</p> + +<p>Somerset, as I have written, was not unprepared; it +had long been his particular pleasure to rehearse his conduct +in the most unlikely situations; and this, among +others, of the patrician ravisher, was one he had familiarly +studied. Strange as it may seem, however, he could find +no apposite remark; and as the lady, on her side, vouchsafed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page75"></a>75</span> +no further sign, they continued to drive in silence +through the streets. Except for alternate flashes from +the passing lamps, the carriage was plunged in obscurity; +and beyond the fact that the fittings were luxurious, +and that the lady was singularly small and slender in +person and, all but one gloved hand, still swathed in her +costly veil, the young man could decipher no detail of an +inspiring nature. The suspense began to grow unbearable. +Twice he cleared his throat, and twice the whole resources +of the language failed him. In similar scenes, when he had +forecast them on the theatre of fancy, his presence of mind +had always been complete, his eloquence remarkable; and +at this disparity between the rehearsal and the performance, +he began to be seized with a panic of apprehension. Here, +on the very threshold of adventure, suppose him ignominiously +to fail; suppose that after ten, twenty, or sixty +seconds of still uninterrupted silence, the lady should touch +the check-string and re-deposit him, weighed and found +wanting, on the common street! Thousands of persons +of no mind at all, he reasoned, would be found more equal +to the part; could, that very instant, by some decisive step, +prove the lady’s choice to have been well inspired, and put +a stop to this intolerable silence.</p> + +<p>His eye, at this point, lighted on the hand. It was +better to fall by desperate councils than to continue as +he was; and with one tremulous swoop he pounced on +the gloved fingers and drew them to himself. One overt +step, it had appeared to him, would dissolve the spell of +his embarrassment; in act, he found it otherwise: he found +himself no less incapable of speech or further progress; +and, with the lady’s hand in his, sat helpless. But worse +was in store. A peculiar quivering began to agitate the +form of his companion; the hand that lay unresistingly in +Somerset’s trembled as with ague; and presently there broke +forth, in the shadow of the carriage, the bubbling and musical +sound of laughter, resisted but triumphant. The young man +dropped his prize; had it been possible, he would have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page76"></a>76</span> +bounded from the carriage. The lady, meanwhile, lying back +upon the cushions, passed on from trill to trill of the most +heartfelt, high-pitched, clear, and fairy-sounding merriment.</p> + +<p>“You must not be offended,” she said at last, catching +an opportunity between two paroxysms. “If you +have been mistaken in the warmth of your attentions, +the fault is solely mine; it does not flow from your presumption, +but from my eccentric manner of recruiting +friends; and, believe me, I am the last person in the world +to think the worse of a young man for showing spirit. As +for to-night, it is my intention to entertain you to a little +supper; and if I shall continue to be as much pleased with +your manners as I was taken with your face, I may perhaps +end by making you an advantageous offer.”</p> + +<p>Somerset sought in vain to find some form of answer, +but his discomfiture had been too recent and complete.</p> + +<p>“Come,” returned the lady, “we must have no display +of temper; that is for me the one disqualifying fault; +and as I perceive we are drawing near our destination, +I shall ask you to descend and offer me your arm.”</p> + +<p>Indeed, at that very moment the carriage drew up +before a stately and severe mansion in a spacious square; +and Somerset, who was possessed of an excellent temper, +with the best grace in the world assisted the lady to +alight. The door was opened by an old woman of a grim +appearance, who ushered the pair into a dining-room somewhat +dimly lighted, but already laid for supper, and occupied +by a prodigious company of large and valuable cats. Here, +as soon as they were alone, the lady divested herself of the +lace in which she was enfolded; and Somerset was relieved +to find, that although still bearing the traces of great beauty, +and still distinguished by the fire and colour of her eye, her +hair was of silvery whiteness and her face lined with years.</p> + +<p>“And now, <i>mon preux</i>,” said the old lady, nodding +at him with a quaint gaiety, “you perceive that I am no +longer in my first youth. You will soon find that I am all +the better company for that.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page77"></a>77</span></p> + +<p>As she spoke, the maid re-entered the apartment +with a light but tasteful supper. They sat down, accordingly, +to table, the cats with savage pantomime surrounding +the old lady’s chair; and what with the excellence +of the meal and the gaiety of his entertainer, Somerset +was soon completely at his ease. When they had well +eaten and drunk, the old lady leaned back in her chair, +and taking a cat upon her lap, subjected her guest to a +prolonged but evidently mirthful scrutiny.</p> + +<p>“I fear, madam,” said Somerset, “that my manners +have not risen to the height of your preconceived opinion.”</p> + +<p>“My dear young man,” she replied, “you were never +more mistaken in your life. I find you charming, and +you may very well have lighted on a fairy godmother. +I am not one of those who are given to change their opinions, +and short of substantial demerit, those who have once +gained my favour continue to enjoy it; but I have a singular +swiftness of decision, read my fellow men and women with +a glance, and have acted throughout life on first impressions. +Yours, as I tell you, has been favourable; and if, as I suppose, +you are a young fellow of somewhat idle habits, I think it +not improbable that we may strike a bargain.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, madam,” returned Somerset, “you have divined +my situation. I am a man of birth, parts, and breeding; +excellent company, or at least so I find myself; but by +a peculiar iniquity of fate, destitute alike of trade or money. +I was, indeed, this evening upon the quest of an adventure, +resolved to close with any offer of interest, emolument, +or pleasure; and your summons, which I profess I am still +at some loss to understand, jumped naturally with the inclination +of my mind. Call it, if you will, impudence; I am +here, at least, prepared for any proposition you can find it in +your heart to make, and resolutely determined to accept.”</p> + +<p>“You express yourself very well,” replied the old +lady, “and are certainly a droll and curious young man. +I should not care to affirm that you were sane, for I have +never found any one entirely so besides myself; but at +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page78"></a>78</span> +least the nature of your madness entertains me, and I will +reward you with some description of my character and life.”</p> + +<p>Thereupon the old lady, still fondling the cat upon her +lap, proceeded to narrate the following particulars.</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<h4>NARRATIVE OF THE SPIRITED OLD LADY</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">I was</span> the eldest daughter of the Reverend Bernard Fanshawe, +who held a valuable living in the diocese of Bath +and Wells. Our family, a very large one, was noted for +a sprightly and incisive wit, and came of a good old stock +where beauty was an heirloom. In Christian grace of +character we were unhappily deficient. From my earliest +years I saw and deplored the defects of those relatives whose +age and position should have enabled them to conquer my +esteem; and while I was yet a child, my father married a +second wife, in whom (strange to say) the Fanshawe failings +were exaggerated to a monstrous and almost laughable +degree. Whatever may be said against me, it cannot be +denied I was a pattern daughter; but it was in vain that, +with the most touching patience, I submitted to my stepmother’s +demands; and from the hour she entered my +father’s house, I may say that I met with nothing but +injustice and ingratitude.</p> + +<p>I stood not alone, however, in the sweetness of my +disposition; for one other of the family besides myself +was free from any violence of character. Before I had +reached the age of sixteen, this cousin, John by name, +had conceived for me a sincere but silent passion; and +although the poor lad was too timid to hint at the nature +of his feelings, I had soon divined and begun to share +them. For some days I pondered on the odd situation +created for me by the bashfulness of my admirer; and +at length, perceiving that he begun, in his distress, rather +to avoid than seek my company, I determined to take +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page79"></a>79</span> +the matter into my own hands. Finding him alone in +a retired part of the rectory garden, I told him that I had +divined his amiable secret; that I knew with what disfavour +our union was sure to be regarded; and that, under the circumstances, +I was prepared to flee with him at once. Poor +John was literally paralysed with joy; such was the force +of his emotions, that he could find no words in which to thank +me; and that I, seeing him thus helpless, was obliged to +arrange, myself, the details of our flight, and of the stolen +marriage which was immediately to crown it. John had +been at that time projecting a visit to the metropolis. In +this I bade him persevere, and promised on the following +day to join him at the Tavistock Hotel.</p> + +<p>True, on my side, to every detail of our arrangement, +I arose, on the day in question, before the servants, packed +a few necessaries in a bag, took with me the little money +I possessed, and bade farewell for ever to the rectory. I +walked with good spirits to a town some thirty miles from +home; and was set down the next morning in this great +city of London. As I walked from the coach-office to the +hotel, I could not help exulting in the pleasant change that +had befallen me; beholding, meanwhile, with innocent +delight, the traffic of the streets, and depicting, in all the +colours of fancy, the reception that awaited me from John. +But alas! when I inquired for Mr. Fanshawe, the porter +assured me there was no such gentleman among the guests. +By what channel our secret had leaked out, or what pressure +had been brought to bear on the too facile John, I could +never fathom. Enough that my family had triumphed; +that I found myself alone in London, tender in years, +smarting under the most sensible mortification, and by +every sentiment of pride and self-respect debarred for ever +from my father’s house.</p> + +<p>I rose under the blow, and found lodgings in the neighbourhood +of Euston Road, where, for the first time in my +life, I tasted the joys of independence. Three days afterwards, +an advertisement in <i>The Times</i> directed me to the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page80"></a>80</span> +office of a solicitor whom I knew to be in my father’s confidence. +There I was given the promise of a very moderate +allowance, and a distinct intimation that I must never look +to be received at home. I could not but resent so cruel +a desertion, and I told the lawyer it was a meeting I desired +as little as themselves. He smiled at my courageous spirit, +paid me the first quarter of my income, and gave me the +remainder of my personal effects, which had been sent to +me, under his care, in a couple of rather ponderous boxes. +With these I returned in triumph to my lodgings, more +content with my position than I should have thought possible +a week before, and fully determined to make the best +of the future.</p> + +<p>All went well for several months; and, indeed, it was +my own fault alone that ended this pleasant and secluded +episode of life. I have, I must confess, the fatal trick +of spoiling my inferiors. My landlady, to whom I had +as usual been overkind, impertinently called me in fault +for some particular too small to mention; and I, annoyed +that I had allowed her the freedom upon which she thus +presumed, ordered her to leave my presence. She stood +a moment dumb, and then, recalling her self-possession, +“Your bill,” said she, “shall be ready this evening, and +to-morrow, madam, you shall leave my house. See,” +she added, “that you are able to pay what you owe me; +for If I do not receive the uttermost farthing, no box of +yours shall pass my threshold.”</p> + +<p>I was confounded at her audacity, but, as a whole +quarter’s income was due to me, not otherwise affected +by the threat. That afternoon, as I left the solicitor’s +door, carrying in one hand, and done up in a paper parcel, +the whole amount of my fortune, there befell me one of +those decisive incidents that sometimes shape a life. The +lawyer’s office was situated in a street that opened at the +upper end upon the Strand and was closed at the lower, +at the time of which I speak, by a row of iron railings looking +on the Thames. Down this street, then, I beheld my stepmother +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page81"></a>81</span> +advancing to meet me, and doubtless bound to the +very house I had just left. She was attended by a maid +whose face was new to me; but her own was too clearly +printed on my memory; and the sight of it, even from a +distance, filled me with generous indignation. Flight was +impossible. There was nothing left but to retreat against +the railing, and with my back turned to the street, pretend +to be admiring the barges on the river or the chimneys of +transpontine London.</p> + +<p>I was still so standing, and had not yet fully mastered +the turbulence of my emotions, when a voice at my elbow +addressed me with a trivial question. It was the maid +whom my stepmother, with characteristic hardness, had +left to await her on the street, while she transacted her +business with the family solicitor. The girl did not know +who I was; the opportunity was too golden to be lost; and +I was soon hearing the latest news of my father’s rectory +and parish. It did not surprise me to find that she detested +her employers; and yet the terms in which she spoke of +them were hard to bear, hard to let pass unchallenged. +I heard them, however, without dissent, for my self-command +is wonderful; and we might have parted as we met, had she +not proceeded, in an evil hour, to criticise the rector’s +missing daughter, and with the most shocking perversions +to narrate the story of her flight. My nature is so essentially +generous that I can never pause to reason. I flung +up my hand sharply, by way, as well as I remember, of +indignant protest; and, in the act, the packet slipped from +my fingers, glanced between the railings, and fell and sunk +in the river. I stood a moment petrified, and then, struck +by the drollery of the incident, gave way to peals of laughter. +I was still laughing when my stepmother reappeared, and +the maid, who doubtless considered me insane, ran off to +join her; nor had I yet recovered my gravity when I presented +myself before the lawyer to solicit a fresh advance. +His answer made me serious enough, for it was a flat refusal; +and it was not until I had besought him even with tears, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page82"></a>82</span> +that he consented to lend me ten pounds from his own +pocket. “I am a poor man,” said he, “and you must +look for nothing further at my hands.”</p> + +<p>The landlady met me at the door. “Here, madam,” +said she, with a curtsey insolently low, “here is my bill. +Would it inconvenience you to settle it at once?”</p> + +<p>“You shall be paid, madam,” said I, “in the morning, +in the proper course.” And I took the paper with a very +high air, but inwardly quaking.</p> + +<p>I had no sooner looked at it than I perceived myself to +be lost. I had been short of money and had allowed my +debt to mount; and it had now reached the sum, which +I shall never forget, of twelve pounds thirteen and fourpence +halfpenny. All evening I sat by the fire considering +my situation. I could not pay the bill; my landlady +would not suffer me to remove my boxes; and without +either baggage or money, how was I to find another lodging? +For three months, unless I could invent some remedy, I +was condemned to be without a roof and without a penny. +It can surprise no one that I decided on immediate flight; +but even here I was confronted by a difficulty, for I had +no sooner packed my boxes than I found I was not strong +enough to move, far less to carry them.</p> + +<p>In this strait I did not hesitate a moment, but throwing +on a shawl and bonnet, and covering my face with a thick +veil, I betook myself to that great bazaar of dangerous and +smiling chances, the pavement of the city. It was already +late at night, and the weather being wet and windy, there +were few abroad besides policemen. These, on my present +mission, I had wit enough to know for enemies; and wherever +I perceived their moving lanterns, I made haste to turn +aside and choose another thoroughfare. A few miserable +women still walked the pavement; here and there were +young fellows returning drunk, or ruffians of the lowest class +lurking in the mouths of alleys; but of any one to whom +I might appeal in my distress, I began almost to despair.</p> + +<p>At last, at the corner of a street, I ran into the arms +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page83"></a>83</span> +of one who was evidently a gentleman, and who, in all +his appointments, from his furred greatcoat to the fine +cigar which he was smoking, comfortably breathed of +wealth. Much as my face has changed from its original +beauty, I still retain (or so I tell myself) some traces of +the youthful lightness of my figure. Even veiled as I then +was, I could perceive the gentleman was struck by my +appearance; and this emboldened me for my adventure.</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said I, with a quickly beating heart, “sir, are +you one in whom a lady can confide?”</p> + +<p>“Why, my dear,” said he, removing his cigar, “that +depends on circumstances. If you will raise your veil—”</p> + +<p>“Sir,” I interrupted, “let there be no mistake. I +ask you, as a gentleman, to serve me, but I offer no reward.”</p> + +<p>“That is frank,” said he; “but hardly tempting. And +what, may I inquire, is the nature of the service?”</p> + +<p>But I knew well enough it was not my interest to tell +him on so short an interview. “If you will accompany +me,” said I, “to a house not far from here, you can see for +yourself.”</p> + +<p>He looked at me awhile with hesitating eyes; and +then, tossing away his cigar, which was not yet a quarter +smoked, “Here goes!” said he, and with perfect politeness +offered me his arm. I was wise enough to take it; +to prolong our walk as far as possible, by more than one +excursion from the shortest line; and to beguile the way +with that sort of conversation which should prove to him +indubitably from what station in society I sprang. By +the time we reached the door of my lodging, I felt sure I +had confirmed his interest, and might venture, before I +turned the pass-key, to beseech him to moderate his voice +and to tread softly. He promised to obey me; and I +admitted him into the passage, and thence into my sitting-room, +which was fortunately next the door.</p> + +<p>“And now,” said he, when with trembling fingers I +had lighted a candle, “what is the meaning of all this?”</p> + +<p>“I wish you,” said I, speaking with great difficulty, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page84"></a>84</span> +“to help me out with these boxes—and I wish nobody +to know.”</p> + +<p>He took up the candle. “And I wish to see your face,” +said he.</p> + +<p>I turned back my veil without a word, and looked +at him with every appearance of resolve that I could +summon up. For some time he gazed into my face, still +holding up the candle. “Well,” said he at last, “and +where do you wish them taken?”</p> + +<p>I knew that I had gained my point; and it was with +a tremor in my voice that I replied. “I had thought +we might carry them between us to the corner of Euston +Road,” said I, “where, even at this late hour, we may +still find a cab.”</p> + +<p>“Very good,” was his reply; and he immediately +hoisted the heavier of my trunks upon his shoulder, and +taking one handle of the second, signed to me to help +him at the other end. In this order we made good our +retreat from the house, and without the least adventure, +drew pretty near to the corner of Euston Road. Before +a house, where there was a light still burning, my companion +paused. “Let us here,” said he, “set down our +boxes, while we go forward to the end of the street in +quest of a cab. By doing so, we can still keep an eye +upon their safety; and we avoid the very extraordinary +figure we should otherwise present—a young man, a young +lady, and a mass of baggage, standing castaway at midnight +on the streets of London.” So it was done, and the +event proved him to be wise; for long before there was any +word of a cab, a policeman appeared upon the scene, turned +upon us the full glare of his lantern, and hung suspiciously +behind us in a doorway.</p> + +<p>“There seem to be no cabs about, policeman,” said +my champion, with affected cheerfulness. But the constable’s +answer was ungracious; and as for the offer of a +cigar, with which this rebuff was most unwisely followed +up, he refused it point-blank, and without the least civility. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page85"></a>85</span> +The young gentleman looked at me with a warning grimace, +and there we continued to stand, on the edge of the pavement, +in the beating rain, and with the policeman still +silently watching our movements from the doorway.</p> + +<p>At last, and after a delay that seemed interminable, +a four-wheeler appeared lumbering along in the mud, +and was instantly hailed by my companion. “Just pull +up here, will you?” he cried. “We have some baggage +up the street.”</p> + +<p>And now came the hitch of our adventure; for when +the policeman, still closely following us, beheld my two +boxes lying in the rain, he arose from mere suspicion to +a kind of certitude of something evil. The light in the house +had been extinguished; the whole frontage of the street +was dark; there was nothing to explain the presence of +these unguarded trunks; and no two innocent people were +ever, I believe, detected in such questionable circumstances.</p> + +<p>“Where have these things come from?” asked the +policeman, flashing his light full into my champion’s face.</p> + +<p>“Why, from that house of course,” replied the young +gentleman, hastily shouldering a trunk.</p> + +<p>The policeman whistled and turned to look at the +dark windows; he then took a step towards the door, as +though to knock, a course which had infallibly proved +our ruin; but seeing us already hurrying down the street +under our double burthen, thought better or worse of it, +and followed in our wake.</p> + +<p>“For God’s sake,” whispered my companion, “tell +me where to drive to.”</p> + +<p>“Anywhere,” I replied, with anguish. “I have no +idea. Anywhere you like.”</p> + +<p>Thus it fell that, when the boxes had been stowed +and I had already entered the cab, my deliverer called +out in clear tones the address of the house in which we are +now seated. The policeman, I could see, was staggered. +This neighbourhood, so retired, so aristocratic, was far from +what he had expected. For all that, he took the number +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page86"></a>86</span> +of the cab, and spoke for a few seconds and with a decided +manner, in the cabman’s ear.</p> + +<p>“What can he have said?” I gasped, as soon as the +cab had rolled away.</p> + +<p>“I can very well imagine,” replied my champion; +“and I can assure you that you are now condemned to go +where I have said; for, should we attempt to change our +destination by the way, the jarvey will drive us straight to +a police-office. Let me compliment you on your nerves,” +he added. “I have had, I believe, the most horrible fright +of my existence.”</p> + +<p>But my nerves, which he so much misjudged, were +in so strange a disarray that speech was now become impossible; +and we made the drive thenceforward in unbroken +silence. When we arrived before the door of our +destination, the young gentleman alighted, opened it with +a pass-key like one who was at home, bade the driver carry +the trunks into the hall, and dismissed him with a handsome +fee. He then led me into this dining-room, looking nearly +as you behold it, but with certain marks of bachelor occupancy, +and hastened to pour out a glass of wine, which he +insisted on my drinking. As soon as I could find my voice, +“In God’s name,” I cried, “where am I?”</p> + +<p>He told me I was in his house, where I was very welcome, +and had no more urgent business than to rest myself and +recover my spirits. As he spoke he offered me another glass +of wine, of which, indeed, I stood in great want, for I was +faint, and inclined to be hysterical. Then he sat down +beside the fire, lit another cigar, and for some time observed +me curiously in silence.</p> + +<p>“And now,” said he, “that you have somewhat restored +yourself, will you be kind enough to tell me in +what sort of crime I have become a partner? Are you +murderer, smuggler, thief, or only the harmless and domestic +moonlight flitter?”</p> + +<p>I had been already shocked by his lighting a cigar +without permission, for I had not forgotten the one he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page87"></a>87</span> +threw away on our first meeting; and now, at these explicit +insults, I resolved at once to reconquer his esteem. The +judgment of the world I have consistently despised, but +I had already begun to set a certain value on the good +opinion of my entertainer. Beginning with a note of +pathos, but soon brightening into my habitual vivacity +and humour, I rapidly narrated the circumstances of my +birth, my flight, and subsequent misfortunes. He heard +me to an end in silence, gravely smoking. “Miss Fanshawe,” +said he, when I had done, “you are a very comical +and most enchanting creature; and I can see nothing +for it but that I should return to-morrow morning and +satisfy your landlady’s demands.”</p> + +<p>“You strangely misinterpret my confidence,” was my +reply; “and if you had at all appreciated my character, +you would understand that I can take no money at your +hands.”</p> + +<p>“Your landlady will doubtless not be so particular,” +he returned; “nor do I at all despair of persuading even +your unconquerable self. I desire you to examine me +with critical indulgence. My name is Henry Luxmore, +Lord Southwark’s second son. I possess nine thousand +a year, the house in which we are now sitting and seven +others in the best neighbourhoods in town. I do not +believe I am repulsive to the eye, and as for my character, +you have seen me under trial. I think you simply the +most original of created things; I need not tell you what +you know very well, that you are ravishingly pretty; and +I have nothing more to add, except that foolish as it may +appear, I am already head over heels in love with you.”</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said I, “I am prepared to be misjudged; but +while I continue to accept your hospitality, that fact alone +should be enough to protect me from insult.”</p> + +<p>“Pardon me,” said he: “I offer you marriage.” And +leaning back in his chair he replaced his cigar between +his lips.</p> + +<p>I own I was confounded by an offer, not only so unprepared, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page88"></a>88</span> +but couched in terms so singular. But he +knew very well how to obtain his purposes, for he was +not only handsome in person, but his very coolness had +a charm; and to make a long story short, a fortnight later +I became the wife of the Honourable Henry Luxmore.</p> + +<p>For nearly twenty years I now led a life of almost +perfect quiet. My Henry had his weaknesses; I was +twice driven to flee from his roof, but not for long; for +though he was easily over-excited, his nature was placable +below the surface, and, with all his faults, I loved +him tenderly. At last he was taken from me; and such +is the power of self-deception, and so strange are the whims +of the dying, he actually assured me, with his latest breath, +that he forgave the violence of my temper!</p> + +<p>There was but one pledge of the marriage, my daughter +Clara. She had, indeed, inherited a shadow of her father’s +failing; but in all things else, unless my partial eyes deceived +me, she derived her qualities from me, and might be +called my moral image. On my side, whatever else I may +have done amiss, as a mother I was above reproach. Here, +then, was surely every promise for the future; here, at last, +was a relation in which I might hope to taste repose. But +it was not to be. You will hardly credit me when I inform +you that she ran away from home; yet such was the case. +Some whim about oppressed nationalities—Ireland, Poland, +and the like—has turned her brain; and if you should anywhere +encounter a young lady (I must say of remarkable +attractions) answering to the name of Luxmore, Lake, +or Fonblanque (for I am told she uses these indifferently, +as well as many others), tell her, from me, that I forgive +her cruelty, and though I will never more behold her face, +I am at any time prepared to make her a liberal allowance.</p> + +<p>On the death of Mr. Luxmore I sought oblivion in the +details of business. I believe I have mentioned that +seven mansions, besides this, formed part of Mr. Luxmore’s +property: I have found them seven white elephants. The +greed of tenants, the dishonesty of solicitors, and the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page89"></a>89</span> +incapacity that sits upon the bench, have combined together +to make these houses the burthen of my life. I had no +sooner, indeed, begun to look into these matters for myself, +than I discovered so many injustices and met with so much +studied incivility, that I was plunged into a long series of +lawsuits, some of which are pending to this day. You must +have heard my name already; I am the Mrs. Luxmore of +the Law Reports: a strange destiny, indeed, for one born +with an almost cowardly desire for peace! But I am of +the stamp of those who, when they have once begun a task, +will rather die than leave their duty unfulfilled. I have +met with every obstacle: insolence and ingratitude from +my own lawyers; in my adversaries, that fault of obstinacy +which is to me perhaps the most distasteful in the calendar; +from the bench, civility indeed—always, I must allow, +civility—but never a spark of independence, never that knowledge +of the law and love of justice which we have a right to +look for in a judge, the most august of human officers. And +still, against all these odds, I have undissuadably persevered.</p> + +<p>It was after the loss of one of my innumerable cases +(a subject on which I will not dwell) that it occurred to +me to make a melancholy pilgrimage to my various houses. +Four were at that time tenantless and closed, like pillars +of salt, commemorating the corruption of the age and the +decline of private virtue. Three were occupied by persons +who had wearied me by every conceivable unjust demand +and legal subterfuge—persons whom, at that very hour, +I was moving heaven and earth to turn into the streets. +This was perhaps the sadder spectacle of the two; and my +heart grew hot within me to behold them occupying, in +my very teeth, and with an insolent ostentation, these +handsome structures which were as much mine as the +flesh upon my body.</p> + +<p>One more house remained for me to visit, that in which +we now are. I had let it (for at that period I lodged in a +hotel, the life that I have always preferred) to a Colonel +Geraldine, a gentleman attached to Prince Florizel of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page90"></a>90</span> +Bohemia, whom you must certainly have heard of; and I +had supposed, from the character and position of my tenant, +that here, at least, I was safe against annoyance. What +was my surprise to find this house also shuttered and +apparently deserted! I will not deny that I was offended; +I conceived that a house, like a yacht, was better to be kept +in commission; and I promised myself to bring the matter +before my solicitor the following morning. Meanwhile +the sight recalled my fancy naturally to the past; and, +yielding to the tender influence of sentiment, I sat down +opposite the door upon the garden parapet. It was August +and a sultry afternoon, but that spot is sheltered, as you +may observe by daylight, under the branches of a spreading +chestnut; the square, too, was deserted; there was a +sound of distant music in the air; and all combined to plunge +me into that most agreeable of states, which is neither +happiness nor sorrow, but shares the poignancy of both.</p> + +<p>From this I was recalled by the arrival of a large van, +very handsomely appointed, drawn by valuable horses, +mounted by several men of an appearance more than +decent, and bearing on its panels, instead of a trader’s +name, a coat of arms too modest to be deciphered from +where I sat. It drew up before my house, the door of which +was immediately opened by one of the men. His companions—I +counted seven of them in all—proceeded, with +disciplined activity, to take from the van and carry into +the house a variety of hampers, bottle-baskets, and boxes, +such as are designed for plate and napery. The windows +of the dining-room were thrown widely open, as though to +air it; and I saw some of those within laying the table for +a meal. Plainly, I concluded, my tenant was about to +return; and while still determined to submit to no aggression +on my rights, I was gratified by the number and discipline +of his attendants, and the quiet profusion that +appeared to reign in his establishment. I was still so +thinking when, to my extreme surprise, the windows and +shutters of the dining-room were once more closed; the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page91"></a>91</span> +men began to reappear from the interior and resume their +stations on the van; the last closed the door behind his +exit; the van drove away; and the house was once more +left to itself, looking blindly on the square with shuttered +windows, as though the whole affair had been a vision.</p> + +<p>It was no vision, however; for, as I rose to my feet and +thus brought my eyes a little nearer to the level of the +fanlight over the door, I saw that, though the day had +still some hours to run, the hall lamps had been lighted +and left burning. Plainly, then, guests were expected, +and were not expected before night. For whom, I +asked myself with indignation, were such secret preparations +likely to be made? Although no prude, I am a woman +of decided views upon morality; if my house, to which my +husband had brought me, was to serve in the character of a +<i>petite maison</i>, I saw myself forced, however unwillingly, +into a new course of litigation; and, determined to return +and know the worst, I hastened to my hotel for dinner.</p> + +<p>I was at my post by ten. The night was clear and +quiet; the moon rode very high and put the lamps to +shame; and the shadow below the chestnut was black +as ink. Here, then, I ensconced myself on the low parapet, +with my back against the railings, face to face with the +moonlit front of my old home, and ruminating gently on the +past. Time fled; eleven struck on all the city clocks; and +presently after I was aware of the approach of a gentleman +of stately and agreeable demeanour. He was smoking as +he walked; his light paletot, which was open, did not conceal +his evening clothes; and he bore himself with a serious grace +that immediately awakened my attention. Before the door +of this house he took a pass-key from his pocket, quietly +admitted himself, and disappeared into the lamp-lit hall.</p> + +<p>He was scarcely gone when I observed another and a +much younger man approaching hastily from the opposite +side of the square. Considering the season of the +year and the genial mildness of the night, he was somewhat +closely muffled up; and as he came, for all his hurry, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page92"></a>92</span> +he kept looking nervously behind him. Arrived before my +door, he halted and set one foot upon the step, as though +about to enter; then, with a sudden change, he turned and +began to hurry away; halted a second time, as if in painful +indecision; and lastly, with a violent gesture, wheeled +about, returned straight to the door, and rapped upon +the knocker. He was almost immediately admitted by +the first arrival.</p> + +<p>My curiosity was now broad awake. I made myself +as small as I could in the very densest of the shadow, and +waited for the sequel. Nor had I long to wait. From +the same side of the square a second young man made +his appearance, walking slowly and softly, and like the +first, muffled to the nose. Before the house he paused; +looked all about him with a swift and comprehensive +glance; and seeing the square lie empty in the moon and +lamp-light, leaned far across the area railings and appeared +to listen to what was passing in the house. From the +dining-room there came the report of a champagne cork, +and following upon that, the sound of rich and manly +laughter. The listener took heart of grace, produced a key, +unlocked the area gate, shut it noiselessly behind him, and +descended the stair. Just when his head had reached the +level of the pavement, he turned half round and once more +raked the square with a suspicious eyeshot. The mufflings +had fallen lower round his neck; the moon shone full upon +him; and I was startled to observe the pallor and passionate +agitation of his face.</p> + +<p>I could remain no longer passive. Persuaded that +something deadly was afoot, I crossed the roadway and +drew near the area railings. There was no one below; +the man must therefore have entered the house, with +what purpose I dreaded to imagine. I have at no part +of my career lacked courage; and now, finding the area +gate was merely laid-to, I pushed it gently open and descended +the stairs. The kitchen door of the house, like +the area gate, was closed but not fastened. It flashed upon +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page93"></a>93</span> +me that the criminal was thus preparing his escape; and +the thought, as it confirmed the worst of my suspicions, +lent me new resolve. I entered the house; and being now +quite reckless of my life, I shut and locked the door.</p> + +<p>From the dining-room above I could hear the pleasant +tones of a voice in easy conversation. On the ground +floor all was not only profoundly silent, but the darkness +seemed to weigh upon my eyes. Here, then, I stood +for some time, having thrust myself uncalled into the utmost +peril, and being destitute of any power to help or interfere. +Nor will I deny that fear had begun already to assail me, +when I became aware, all at once and as though by some +immediate but silent incandescence, of a certain glimmering +of light upon the passage floor. Towards this I groped my +way with infinite precaution; and having come at length +as far as the angle of the corridor, beheld the door of the +butler’s pantry standing just ajar and a narrow thread of +brightness falling from the chink. Creeping still closer, I +put my eye to the aperture. The man sat within upon a +chair, listening, I could see, with the most rapt attention. +On a table before him he had laid a watch, a pair +of steel revolvers, and a bull’s-eye lantern. For one second +many contradictory theories and projects whirled together +in my head; the next, I had slammed the door and turned +the key upon the malefactor. Surprised at my own decision, +I stood and panted, leaning on the wall. From within the +pantry not a sound was to be heard; the man, whatever he +was, had accepted his fate without a struggle, and now, as I +hugged myself to fancy, sat frozen with terror and looking +for the worst to follow. I promised myself that he should +not be disappointed; and the better to complete my task, +I turned to ascend the stairs.</p> + +<p>The situation, as I groped my way to the first floor, +appealed to me suddenly by my strong sense of humour. +Here was I, the owner of the house, burglariously present +in its walls; and there, in the dining-room, were two +gentlemen, unknown to me, seated complacently at supper, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page94"></a>94</span> +and only saved by my promptitude from some surprising +or deadly interruption. It were strange if I could not +manage to extract the matter of amusement from so +unusual a situation.</p> + +<p>Behind this dining-room there is a small apartment +intended for a library. It was to this that I cautiously +groped my way; and you will see how fortune had exactly +served me. The weather, I have said, was sultry: in order +to ventilate the dining-room and yet preserve the uninhabited +appearance of the mansion to the front, the +window of the library had been widely opened and the door +of communication between the two apartments left ajar. +To this interval I now applied my eye.</p> + +<p>Wax tapers, set in silver candlesticks, shed their chastened +brightness on the damask of the tablecloth and the +remains of a cold collation of the rarest delicacy. The two +gentlemen had finished supper, and were now trifling with +cigars and maraschino; while in a silver spirit-lamp, coffee +of the most captivating fragrance was preparing in the +fashion of the East. The elder of the two, he who had first +arrived, was placed directly facing me; the other was set +on his left hand. Both, like the man in the butler’s pantry, +seemed to be intently listening; and on the face of the +second I thought I could perceive the marks of fear. Oddly +enough, however, when they came to speak, the parts were +found to be reversed.</p> + +<p>“I assure you,” said the elder gentleman, “I not only +heard the slamming of a door, but the sound of very guarded +footsteps.”</p> + +<p>“Your highness was certainly deceived,” replied the +other. “I am endowed with the acutest hearing, and I can +swear that not a mouse has rustled.” Yet the pallor and +contraction of his features were in total discord with the +tenor of his words.</p> + +<p>His highness (whom, of course, I readily divined to be +Prince Florizel) looked at his companion for the least +fraction of a second; and though nothing shook the easy +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page95"></a>95</span> +quiet of his attitude, I could see that he was far from being +duped. “It is well,” said he: “let us dismiss the topic. +And now, sir, that I have very freely explained the sentiments +by which I am directed, let me ask you, according to +your promise, to imitate my frankness.”</p> + +<p>“I have heard you,” replied the other, “with great +interest.”</p> + +<p>“With singular patience,” said the prince politely.</p> + +<p>“Ay, your highness, and with unlooked-for sympathy,” +returned the young man. “I know not how to tell the +change that has befallen me. You have, I must suppose, a +charm, to which even your enemies are subject.” He +looked at the clock on the mantelpiece and visibly blanched. +“So late!” he cried. “Your highness—God knows I am +now speaking from the heart—before it be too late, leave +this house!”</p> + +<p>The prince glanced once more at his companion, and +then very deliberately shook the ash from his cigar. “That +is a strange remark,” said he; “and <i>à propos de bottes</i>, I +never continue a cigar when once the ash is fallen; the spell +breaks, the soul of the flavour flies away, and there remains +but the dead body of tobacco; and I make it a rule to throw +away that husk and choose another.” He suited the action +to the words.</p> + +<p>“Do not trifle with my appeal,” resumed the young man, +in tones that trembled with emotion. “It is made at the +price of my honour and to the peril of my life. Go—go +now! lose not a moment; and if you have any kindness for a +young man, miserably deceived indeed, but not devoid of +better sentiments, look not behind you as you leave.”</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said the prince, “I am here upon your honour; I +assure you upon mine that I shall continue to rely upon that +safeguard. The coffee is ready; I must again trouble you, +I fear.” And with a courteous movement of the hand, he +seemed to invite his companion to pour out the coffee.</p> + +<p>The unhappy young man rose from his seat. “I appeal +to you,” he cried, “by every holy sentiment, in mercy to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page96"></a>96</span> +me, if not in pity to yourself, begone before it is too +late.”</p> + +<p>“Sir,” replied the prince, “I am not readily accessible +to fear; and if there is one defect to which I must plead +guilty, it is that of a curious disposition. You go the wrong +way about to make me leave this house, in which I play the +part of your entertainer; and, suffer me to add, young man, +if any peril threaten us, it was of your contriving, not of +mine.”</p> + +<p>“Alas, you do not know to what you condemn me,” cried +the other. “But I at least will have no hand in it.” With +these words he carried his hand to his pocket, hastily swallowed +the contents of a phial, and, with the very act, reeled +back and fell across his chair upon the floor. The prince left +his place and came and stood above him, where he lay convulsed +upon the carpet. “Poor moth!” I heard his highness +murmur. “Alas, poor moth! must we again inquire +which is the more fatal—weakness or wickedness? And +can a sympathy with ideas, surely not ignoble in themselves, +conduct a man to this dishonourable death?”</p> + +<p>By this time I had pushed the door open and walked into +the room. “Your highness,” said I, “this is no time for +moralising; with a little promptness we may save this +creature’s life; and as for the other, he need cause you no +concern, for I have him safely under lock and key.”</p> + +<p>The prince had turned about upon my entrance, and +regarded me certainly with no alarm, but with a profundity +of wonder which almost robbed me of my self-possession. +“My dear madam,” he cried at last, “and who the devil are +you?”</p> + +<p>I was already on the floor beside the dying man. I had, +of course, no idea with what drug he had attempted his life, +and I was forced to try him with a variety of antidotes. +Here were both oil and vinegar, for the prince had done the +young man the honour of compounding for him one of his +celebrated salads; and of each of these I administered from +a quarter to half a pint, with no apparent efficacy. I next +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page97"></a>97</span> +plied him with the hot coffee, of which there may have been +near upon a quart.</p> + +<p>“Have you no milk?” I inquired.</p> + +<p>“I fear, madam, that milk has been omitted,” returned +the prince.</p> + +<p>“Salt, then,” said I; “salt is a revulsive. Pass the salt.”</p> + +<p>“And possibly the mustard?” asked his highness, as he +offered me the contents of the various salt-cellars poured +together on a plate.</p> + +<p>“Ah,” cried I, “the thought is excellent! Mix me +about half a pint of mustard, drinkably dilute.”</p> + +<p>Whether it was the salt or the mustard, or the mere +combination of so many subversive agents, as soon as the +last had been poured over his throat, the young sufferer +obtained relief.</p> + +<p>“There!” I exclaimed, with natural triumph, “I have +saved a life!”</p> + +<p>“And yet, madam,” returned the prince, “your mercy +may be cruelly disguised. Where the honour is lost, it is, +at least, superfluous to prolong the life.”</p> + +<p>“If you had led a life as changeable as mine, your highness,” +I replied, “you would hold a very different opinion. +For my part, and after whatever extremity of misfortune or +disgrace, I should still count to-morrow worth a trial.”</p> + +<p>“You speak as a lady, madam,” said the prince; “and +for such you speak the truth. But to men there is permitted +such a field of licence, and the good behaviour asked +of them is at once so easy and so little, that to fail in that is +to fall beyond the reach of pardon. But will you suffer me +to repeat a question, put to you at first, I am afraid, with +some defect of courtesy; and to ask you once more, who +you are and how I have the honour of your company?”</p> + +<p>“I am the proprietor of the house in which we stand,” +said I.</p> + +<p>“And still I am at fault,” returned the prince.</p> + +<p>But at that moment the timepiece on the mantelshelf +began to strike the hour of twelve; and the young man, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page98"></a>98</span> +raising himself upon one elbow, with an expression of +despair and horror that I have never seen excelled, cried +lamentably: “Midnight? oh, just God!” We stood +frozen to our places, while the tingling hammer of the timepiece +measured the remaining strokes; nor had we yet +stirred, so tragic had been the tones of the young man, when +the various bells of London began in turn to declare the +hour. The timepiece was inaudible beyond the walls of the +chamber where we stood; but the second pulsation of Big +Ben had scarcely throbbed into the night, before a sharp +detonation rang about the house. The prince sprang for +the door by which I had entered; but quick as he was, I yet +contrived to intercept him.</p> + +<p>“Are you armed?” I cried.</p> + +<p>“No, madam,” replied he. “You remind me appositely; +I will take the poker.”</p> + +<p>“The man below,” said I, “has two revolvers. Would +you confront him at such odds?”</p> + +<p>He paused, as though staggered in his purpose. “And +yet, madam,” said he, “we cannot continue to remain in +ignorance of what has passed.”</p> + +<p>“No!” cried I. “And who proposes it? I am as +curious as yourself, but let us rather send for the police; or, +if your highness dreads a scandal, for some of your own +servants.”</p> + +<p>“Nay, madam,” he replied, smiling, “for so brave a +lady, you surprise me. Would you have me, then, send +others where I fear to go myself.”</p> + +<p>“You are perfectly right,” said I, “and I was entirely +wrong. Go, in God’s name, and I will hold the candle!”</p> + +<p>Together, therefore, we descended to the lower story, he +carrying the poker, I the light; and together we approached +and opened the door of the butler’s pantry. In some sort, +I believe, I was prepared for the spectacle that met our eyes; +I was prepared, that is, to find the villain dead, but the rude +details of such a violent suicide I was unable to endure. +The prince, unshaken by horror as he had remained unshaken +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page99"></a>99</span> +by alarm, assisted me with the most respectful gallantry to +regain the dining-room.</p> + +<p>There we found our patient, still, indeed, deadly pale, +but vastly recovered and already seated on a chair. He +held out both his hands with a most pitiful gesture of interrogation.</p> + +<p>“He is dead,” said the prince.</p> + +<p>“Alas!” cried the young man, “and it should be I! +What do I do, thus lingering on the stage I have disgraced, +while he, my sure comrade, blameworthy indeed for much, +but yet the soul of fidelity, has judged and slain himself for +an involuntary fault? Ah, sir,” said he, “and you too, +madam, without whose cruel help I should be now beyond +the reach of my accusing conscience, you behold in me the +victim equally of my own faults and virtues. I was born a +hater of injustice; from my most tender years my blood +boiled against Heaven when I beheld the sick, and against +men when I witnessed the sorrows of the poor; the pauper’s +crust stuck in my throat when I sat down to eat my dainties, +and the cripple child has set me weeping. What was there +in that but what was noble? and yet observe to what a fall +these thoughts have led me! Year after year this passion +for the lost besieged me closer. What hope was there in +kings? what hope in these well-feathered classes that now +roll in money? I had observed the course of history; I +knew the burgess, our ruler of to-day, to be base, cowardly, +and dull; I saw him, in every age, combine to pull down +that which was immediately above and to prey upon those +that were below; his dulness, I knew, would ultimately +bring about his ruin; I knew his days were numbered, and +yet how was I to wait? how was I to let the poor child +shiver in the rain? The better days, indeed, were coming, +but the child would die before that. Alas, your highness, in +surely no ungenerous impatience I enrolled myself among +the enemies of this unjust and doomed society; in surely no +unnatural desire to keep the fires of my philanthropy alight, +I bound myself by an irrevocable oath.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page100"></a>100</span></p> + +<p>“That oath is all my history. To give freedom to +posterity, I had forsworn my own. I must attend upon +every signal; and soon my father complained of my irregular +hours and turned me from his house. I was engaged in +betrothal to an honest girl; from her also I had to part, for +she was too shrewd to credit my inventions and too innocent +to be intrusted with the truth. Behold me, then, alone with +conspirators! Alas! as the years went on, my illusions +left me. Surrounded as I was by the fervent disciples and +apologists of revolution, I beheld them daily advance in +confidence and desperation; I beheld myself, upon the other +hand, and with an almost equal regularity, decline in faith. +I had sacrificed all to further that cause in which I still +believed; and daily I began to grow in doubts if we were +advancing it indeed. Horrible was the society with which +we warred, but our own means were not less horrible.</p> + +<p>“I will not dwell upon my sufferings; I will not pause +to tell you how, when I beheld young men still free and +happy, married, fathers of children, cheerfully toiling at +their work, my heart reproached me with the greatness and +vanity of my unhappy sacrifice. I will not describe to you +how, worn by poverty, poor lodging, scanty food, and an +unquiet conscience, my health began to fail, and in the long +nights, as I wandered bedless in the rainy streets, the most +cruel sufferings of the body were added to the tortures of my +mind. These things are not personal to me; they are +common to all unfortunates in my position. An oath, so +light a thing to swear, so grave a thing to break: an oath, +taken in the heat of youth, repented with what sobbings +of the heart, but yet in vain repented, as the years go on: +an oath, that was once the very utterance of the truth of +God, but that falls to be the symbol of a meaningless and +empty slavery; such is the yoke that many young men joyfully +assume, and under whose dead weight they live to +suffer worse than death.</p> + +<p>“It is not that I was patient. I have begged to be released; +but I knew too much, and I was still refused. I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page101"></a>101</span> +have fled; ay, and for the time successfully. I reached +Paris. I found a lodging in the Rue St. Jacques, almost +opposite the Val de Grâce. My room was mean and bare, +but the sun looked into it towards evening; it commanded +a peep of a green garden; a bird hung by a neighbour’s +window and made the morning beautiful; and I, who was +sick, might lie in bed and rest myself: I, who was in full +revolt against the principles that I had served, was now no +longer at the beck of the council, and was no longer charged +with shameful and revolting tasks. Oh! what an interval +of peace was that! I still dream, at times, that I can hear +the note of my neighbour’s bird.</p> + +<p>“My money was running out, and it became necessary +that I should find employment. Scarcely had I been three +days upon the search, ere I thought that I was being followed. +I made certain of the features of the man, which +were quite strange to me, and turned into a small café, +where I whiled away an hour, pretending to read the papers, +but inwardly convulsed with terror. When I came forth +again into the street, it was quite empty, and I breathed +again; but alas, I had not turned three corners, when I once +more observed the human hound pursuing me. Not an hour +was to be lost; timely submission might yet preserve a life +which otherwise was forfeit and dishonoured; and I fled, +with what speed you may conceive, to the Paris agency of +the society I served.</p> + +<p>“My submission was accepted. I took up once more +the hated burthen of that life; once more I was at the call +of men whom I despised and hated, while yet I envied and +admired them. They at least were whole-hearted in the +things they purposed; but I, who had once been such as +they, had fallen from the brightness of my faith, and now +laboured, like a hireling, for the wages of a loathed existence. +Ay, sir, to that I was condemned; I obeyed to continue to +live, and lived but to obey.</p> + +<p>“The last charge that was laid upon me was the one +which has to-night so tragically ended. Boldly telling who +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page102"></a>102</span> +I was, I was to request from your highness, on behalf of my +society, a private audience, where it was designed to murder +you. If one thing remained to me of my old convictions, +it was the hate of kings; and when this task was offered me, +I took it gladly. Alas, sir, you triumphed. As we supped, +you gained upon my heart. Your character, your talents, +your designs for our unhappy country, all had been misrepresented. +I began to forget you were a prince; I began, +all too feelingly, to remember that you were a man. As I +saw the hour approach, I suffered agonies untold; and when, +at last, we heard the slamming of the door which announced +in my unwilling ears the arrival of the partner of my crime, +you will bear me out with what instancy I besought you to +depart. You would not, alas! and what could I? Kill +you, I could not; my heart revolted, my hand turned back +from such a deed. Yet it was impossible that I should suffer +you to stay; for when the hour struck and my companion +came, true to his appointment, and he, at least, true to our +design, I could neither suffer you to be killed nor yet him to +be arrested. From such a tragic passage, death, and death +alone, could save me; and it is no fault of mine if I continue +to exist.</p> + +<p>“But you, madam,” continued the young man, addressing +himself more directly to myself, “were doubtless +born to save the prince and to confound our purposes. My +life you have prolonged; and by turning the key on my +companion, you have made me the author of his death. +He heard the hour strike; he was impotent to help; and +thinking himself forfeit to honour, thinking that I should +fall alone upon his highness and perish for lack of his support, +he has turned his pistol on himself.”</p> + +<p>“You are right,” said Prince Florizel: “it was in no +ungenerous spirit that you brought these burthens on yourself; +and when I see you so nobly to blame, so tragically +punished, I stand like one reproved. For is it not strange, +madam, that you and I, by practising accepted and inconsiderable +virtues, and commonplace but still unpardonable +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page103"></a>103</span> +faults, should stand here, in the sight of God, with what we +call clean hands and quiet consciences; while this poor +youth, for an error that I could almost envy him, should be +sunk beyond the reach of hope?</p> + +<p>“Sir,” resumed the prince, turning to the young man, +“I cannot help you; my help would but unchain the +thunderbolt that overhangs you; and I can but leave you +free.”</p> + +<p>“And, sir,” said I, “as this house belongs to me, I will +ask you to have the kindness to remove the body. You +and your conspirators, it appears to me, can hardly in civility +do less.”</p> + +<p>“It shall be done,” said the young man, with a dismal +accent.</p> + +<p>“And you, dear madam,” said the prince, “you, to +whom I owe my life, how can I serve you?”</p> + +<p>“Your highness,” I said, “to be very plain, this is my +favourite house, being not only a valuable property, but +endeared to me by various associations. I have endless +troubles with tenants of the ordinary class; and at first +applauded my good fortune when I found one of the station +of your Master of the Horse. I now begin to think otherwise; +dangers set a siege about great personages; and I do +not wish my tenement to share these risks. Procure me +the resiliation of the lease, and I shall feel myself your +debtor.”</p> + +<p>“I must tell you, madam,” replied his highness, “that +Colonel Geraldine is but a cloak for myself; and I should +be sorry indeed to think myself so unacceptable a tenant.”</p> + +<p>“Your highness,” said I, “I have conceived a sincere +admiration for your character; but on the subject of house +property I cannot allow the interference of my feelings. I +will, however, to prove to you that there is nothing personal +in my request, here solemnly engage my word that I will +never put another tenant in this house.”</p> + +<p>“Madam,” said Florizel, “you plead your cause too +charmingly to be refused.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page104"></a>104</span></p> + +<p>Thereupon we all three withdrew. The young man, +still reeling in his walk, departed by himself to seek the +assistance of his fellow-conspirators; and the prince, with +the most attentive gallantry, lent me his escort to the door +of my hotel. The next day the lease was cancelled; nor +from that hour to this, though sometimes regretting my +engagement, have I suffered a tenant in this house.</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<h4>THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION (<i>continued</i>)</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">As</span> soon as the old lady had finished her relation, Somerset +made haste to offer her his compliments.</p> + +<p>“Madam,” said he, “your story is not only entertaining +but instructive; and you have told it with infinite +vivacity. I was much affected towards the end, as I held +at one time very liberal opinions, and should certainly have +joined a secret society if I had been able to find one. But +the whole tale came home to me; and I was the better able +to feel for you in your various perplexities, as I am myself of +somewhat hasty temper.”</p> + +<p>“I do not understand you,” said Mrs. Luxmore, with +some marks of irritation. “You must have strangely misinterpreted +what I have told you. You fill me with surprise.”</p> + +<p>Somerset, alarmed by the old lady’s change of tone and +manner, hurried to recant.</p> + +<p>“Dear Mrs. Luxmore,” said he, “you certainly misconstrue +my remark. As a man of somewhat fiery humour, +my conscience repeatedly pricked me when I heard what you +had suffered at the hands of persons similarly constituted.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, very well indeed,” replied the old lady; “and a +very proper spirit. I regret that I have met with it so +rarely.”</p> + +<p>“But in all this,” resumed the young man, “I perceive +nothing that concerns myself.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page105"></a>105</span></p> + +<p>“I am about to come to that,” she returned. “And +you have already before you, in the pledge I gave Prince +Florizel, one of the elements of the affair. I am a woman +of the nomadic sort, and when I have no case before the +courts I make it a habit to visit continental spas: not that +I have ever been ill; but then I am no longer young, and I +am always happy in a crowd. Well, to come more shortly +to the point, I am now on the wing for Evian; this incubus +of a house, which I must leave behind and dare not let, +hangs heavily upon my hands; and I propose to rid myself +of that concern, and do you a very good turn into the bargain, +by lending you the mansion, with all its fittings, as it +stands. The idea was sudden; it appealed to me as +humorous; and I am sure it will cause my relatives, if they +should ever hear of it, the keenest possible chagrin. Here, +then, is the key; and when you return at two to-morrow +afternoon, you will find neither me nor my cats to disturb +you in your new possession.”</p> + +<p>So saying, the old lady arose, as if to dismiss her visitor; +but Somerset, looking somewhat blankly on the key, began +to protest.</p> + +<p>“Dear Mrs. Luxmore,” said he, “this is a most unusual +proposal. You know nothing of me, beyond the fact that +I displayed both impudence and timidity. I may be the +worst kind of scoundrel; I may sell your furniture—”</p> + +<p>“You may blow up the house with gunpowder, for what +I care!” cried Mrs. Luxmore. “It is in vain to reason. +Such is the force of my character that, when I have one idea +clearly in my head, I do not care two straws for any side +consideration. It amuses me to do it, and let that suffice. +On your side, you may do what you please—let apartments, +or keep a private hotel; on mine, I promise you a full +month’s warning before I return, and I never fail religiously +to keep my promises.”</p> + +<p>The young man was about to renew his protest, when +he observed a sudden and significant change in the old +lady’s countenance.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page106"></a>106</span></p> + +<p>“If I thought you capable of disrespect!” she cried.</p> + +<p>“Madam,” said Somerset, with the extreme fervour of +asseveration, “madam, I accept. I beg you to understand +that I accept with joy and gratitude.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, well,” returned Mrs. Luxmore, “if I am mistaken, +let it pass. And now, since all is comfortably settled, I wish +you a good-night.”</p> + +<p>Thereupon, as if to leave him no room for repentance, +she hurried Somerset out of the front door, and left him +standing, key in hand, upon the pavement.</p> + +<p>The next day, about the hour appointed, the young man +found his way to the square, which I will here call Golden +Square, though that was not its name. What to expect, +he knew not; for a man may live in dreams, and yet be unprepared +for their realisation. It was already with a +certain pang of surprise that he beheld the mansion, standing +in the eye of day, a solid among solids. The key, upon +trial, readily opened the front door; he entered that great +house, a privileged burglar; and, escorted by the echoes of +desertion, rapidly reviewed the empty chambers. Cats, +servant, old lady, the very marks of habitation, like writing +on a slate, had been in these few hours obliterated. He +wandered from floor to floor, and found the house of great +extent; the kitchen offices commodious and well appointed; +the rooms many and large; and the drawing-room, in +particular, an apartment of princely size and tasteful decoration. +Although the day without was warm, genial, and +sunny, with a ruffling wind from the quarter of Torquay, a +chill, as it were, of suspended animation, inhabited the house. +Dust and shadows met the eye; and but for the ominous +procession of the echoes, and the rumour of the wind among +the garden trees, the ear of the young man was stretched in +vain.</p> + +<p>Behind the dining-room, that pleasant library, referred +to by the old lady in her tale, looked upon the flat roofs and +netted cupolas of the kitchen quarters; and on a second +visit, this room appeared to greet him with a smiling countenance. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page107"></a>107</span> +He might as well, he thought, avoid the expense +of lodging: the library fitted with an iron bedstead which +he had remarked, in one of the upper chambers, would serve +his purpose for the night; while in the dining-room, which +was large, airy, and lightsome, looking on the square and +garden, he might very agreeably pass his days, cook his +meals, and study to bring himself to some proficiency in +that art of painting which he had recently determined to +adopt. It did not take him long to make the change: he +had soon returned to the mansion with his modest kit; and +the cabman who brought him was readily induced, by the +young man’s pleasant manner and a small gratuity, to assist +him in the installation of the iron bed. By six in the evening, +when Somerset went forth to dine, he was able to look +back upon the mansion with a sense of pride and property. +Four-square it stood, of an imposing frontage, and flanked +on either side by family hatchments. His eye, from where +he stood whistling in the key, with his back to the garden +railings, reposed on every feature of reality; and yet his own +possession seemed as flimsy as a dream.</p> + +<p>In the course of a few days, the genteel inhabitants of +the square began to remark the customs of their neighbour. +The sight of a young gentleman discussing a clay pipe, about +four o’clock of the afternoon, in the drawing-room balcony +of so discreet a mansion; and perhaps still more, his periodical +excursion to a decent tavern in the neighbourhood, and +his unabashed return, nursing the full tankard: had presently +raised to a high pitch the interest and indignation of +the liveried servants of the square. The disfavour of some +of these gentlemen at first proceeded to the length of insult; +but Somerset knew how to be affable with any class of men; +and a few rude words merrily accepted, and a few glasses +amicably shared, gained for him the right of toleration.</p> + +<p>The young man had embraced the art of Raphael, partly +from a notion of its ease, partly from an inborn distrust of +offices. He scorned to bear the yoke of any regular schooling; +and proceeded to turn one half of the dining-room into +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page108"></a>108</span> +a studio for the reproduction of still life. There he amassed +a variety of objects, indiscriminately chosen from the kitchen, +the drawing-room, and the back garden; and there spent +his days in smiling assiduity. Meantime, the great bulk +of empty building overhead lay, like a load, upon his imagination. +To hold so great a stake and to do nothing, +argued some defect of energy; and he at length determined +to act upon the hint given by Mrs. Luxmore herself, and to +stick, with wafers, in the window of the dining-room, a +small hand-bill announcing furnished lodgings. At half-past +six of a fine July morning, he affixed the bill, and went +forth into the square to study the result. It seemed, to his +eye, promising and unpretentious; and he returned to the +drawing-room balcony to consider, over a studious pipe, the +knotty problem of how much he was to charge.</p> + +<p>Thereupon he somewhat relaxed in his devotion to the +art of painting. Indeed, from that time forth, he would +spend the best part of the day in the front balcony, like the +attentive angler poring on his float; and the better to support +the tedium, he would frequently console himself with +his clay pipe. On several occasions passers-by appeared +to be arrested by the ticket, and on several others ladies and +gentlemen drove to the very doorstep by the carriageful; +but it appeared there was something repulsive in the appearance +of the house; for, with one accord, they would cast +but one look upward, and hastily resume their onward progress, +or direct the driver to proceed. Somerset had thus +the mortification of actually meeting the eye of a large +number of lodging-seekers; and though he hastened to +withdraw his pipe, and to compose his features to an air of +invitation, he was never rewarded by so much as an inquiry. +“Can there,” he thought, “be anything repellent in myself?” +But a candid examination in one of the pier-glasses +of the drawing-room led him to dismiss the fear.</p> + +<p>Something, however, was amiss. His vast and accurate +calculations on the fly-leaves of books, or on the backs of +playbills, appeared to have been an idle sacrifice of time. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page109"></a>109</span> +By these, he had variously computed the weekly takings +of the house, from sums as modest as five-and-twenty-shillings, +up to the more majestic figure of a hundred pounds; +and yet, in despite of the very elements of arithmetic, here +he was making literally nothing.</p> + +<p>This incongruity impressed him deeply and occupied his +thoughtful leisure on the balcony; and at last it seemed to +him that he had detected the error of his method. “This,” +he reflected, “is an age of generous display: the age of the +sandwich-man, of Griffiths, of Pears’ legendary soap, and of +Eno’s fruit salt which, by sheer brass and notoriety, and the +most disgusting pictures I ever remember to have seen, has +overlaid that comforter of my childhood, Lamplough’s +pyretic saline. Lamplough was genteel, Eno was omnipresent; +Lamplough was trite, Eno original and abominably +vulgar; and here have I, a man of some pretensions to knowledge +of the world, contented myself with half a sheet of +note-paper, a few cold words which do not directly address +the imagination, and the adornment (if adornment it may +be called) of four red wafers! Am I, then, to sink with +Lamplough, or to soar with Eno? Am I to adopt that +modesty which is doubtless becoming in a duke? or to take +hold of the red facts of life with the emphasis of the tradesman +and the poet?”</p> + +<p>Pursuant upon these meditations, he procured several +sheets of the very largest size of drawing-paper; and laying +forth his paints, proceeded to compose an ensign that might +attract the eye and at the same time, in his own phrase, +directly address the imagination of the passenger. Something +taking in the way of colour, a good, savoury choice of +words, and a realistic design setting forth the life a lodger +might expect to lead within the walls of that palace of delight: +these, he perceived, must be the elements of his advertisement. +It was possible, upon the one hand, to depict +the sober pleasures of domestic life, the evening fire, blond-headed +urchins, and the hissing urn; but on the other, it +was possible (and he almost felt as if it were more suited +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page110"></a>110</span> +to his muse) to set forth the charms of an existence somewhat +wider in its range, or, boldly say, the paradise of the +Mohammedan. So long did the artist waver between these +two views, that, before he arrived at a conclusion, he had +finally conceived and completed both designs. With the +proverbially tender heart of the parent, he found himself +unable to sacrifice either of these offspring of his art; and +decided to expose them on alternate days. “In this way,” +he thought, “I shall address myself indifferently to all +classes of the world.”</p> + +<p>The tossing of a penny decided the only remaining point; +and the more imaginative canvas received the suffrages of +fortune and appeared first in the window of the mansion. +It was of a high fancy, the legend eloquently writ, the scheme +of colour taking and bold; and but for the imperfection of +the artist’s drawing, it might have been taken for a model +of its kind. As it was, however, when viewed from his +favourite point against the garden railings, and with some +touch of distance, it caused a pleasurable rising of the artist’s +heart. “I have thrown away,” he ejaculated, “an invaluable +motive; and this shall be the subject of my first +Academy picture.”</p> + +<p>The fate of neither of these works was equal to its merit. +A crowd would certainly, from time to time, collect before +the area-railings; but they came to jeer and not to speculate; +and those who pushed their inquiries further, were too +plainly animated by the spirit of derision. The racier of +the two cartoons displayed, indeed, no symptom of attractive +merit; and though it had a certain share of that success +called scandalous, failed utterly of its effect. On the day, +however, of the second appearance of the companion work, +a real inquirer did actually present himself before the eyes of +Somerset.</p> + +<p>This was a gentlemanly man, with some marks of recent +merriment, and his voice under inadequate control.</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon,” said he, “but what is the meaning +of your extraordinary bill?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page111"></a>111</span></p> + +<p>“I beg yours,” returned Somerset hotly. “Its meaning +is sufficiently explicit.” And being now, from dire +experience, fearful of ridicule, he was preparing to close +the door, when the gentleman thrust his cane into the +aperture.</p> + +<p>“Not so fast, I beg of you,” said he. “If you really let +apartments, here is a possible tenant at your door; and +nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see the +accommodation and to learn your terms.”</p> + +<p>His heart joyously beating, Somerset admitted the +visitor, showed him over the various apartments, and, with +some return of his persuasive eloquence, expounded their +attractions. The gentleman was particularly pleased by the +elegant proportions of the drawing-room.</p> + +<p>“This,” he said, “would suit me very well. What, may +I ask, would be your terms a week, for this floor and the one +above it?”</p> + +<p>“I was thinking,” returned Somerset, “of a hundred +pounds.”</p> + +<p>“Surely not,” exclaimed the gentleman.</p> + +<p>“Well, then,” returned Somerset, “fifty.”</p> + +<p>The gentleman regarded him with an air of some amazement. +“You seem to be strangely elastic in your demands,” +said he. “What if I were to proceed on your own +principle of division, and offer twenty-five?”</p> + +<p>“Done!” cried Somerset; and then, overcome by a +sudden embarrassment, “you see,” he added apologetically, +“it is all found money for me.”</p> + +<p>“Really?” said the stranger, looking at him all the +while with growing wonder. “Without extras, then?”</p> + +<p>“I—I suppose so,” stammered the keeper of the lodging-house.</p> + +<p>“Service included?” pursued the gentleman.</p> + +<p>“Service?” cried Somerset. “Do you mean that you +expect me to empty your slops?”</p> + +<p>The gentleman regarded him with a very friendly interest. +“My dear fellow,” said he, “if you take my advice, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page112"></a>112</span> +you will give up this business.” And thereupon he resumed +his hat and took himself away.</p> + +<p>This smarting disappointment produced a strong effect +on the artist of the cartoons; and he began with shame to +eat up his rosier illusions. First one and then the other of +his great works was condemned, withdrawn from exhibition, +and relegated, as a mere wall-picture, to the decoration of +the dining-room. Their place was taken by a replica of the +original watered announcement, to which, in particularly +large letters, he had added the pithy rubric: “<i>No service.</i>” +Meanwhile he had fallen into something as nearly bordering +on low spirits as was consistent with his disposition; depressed, +at once by the failure of his scheme, the laughable +turn of his late interview, and the judicial blindness of the +public to the merit of the twin cartoons.</p> + +<p>Perhaps a week had passed before he was again startled +by the note of the knocker. A gentleman of a somewhat +foreign and somewhat military air, yet closely shaven and +wearing a soft hat, desired in the politest terms to visit the +apartments. He had (he explained) a friend, a gentleman +in tender health, desirous of a sedate and solitary life, apart +from interruptions and the noises of the common lodging-house. +“The unusual clause,” he continued, “in your +announcement, particularly struck me.‘This,’ I said, +’is the place for Mr. Jones.’ You are yourself, sir, a professional +gentleman?” concluded the visitor, looking keenly +in Somerset’s face.</p> + +<p>“I am an artist,” replied the young man lightly.</p> + +<p>“And these,” observed the other, taking a side glance +through the open door of the dining-room, which they were +then passing, “these are some of your works. Very remarkable.” +And he again and still more sharply peered +into the countenance of the young man.</p> + +<p>Somerset, unable to suppress a blush, made the more +haste to lead his visitor upstairs and to display the apartments.</p> + +<p>“Excellent,” observed the stranger, as he looked from +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page113"></a>113</span> +one of the back windows. “Is that a mews behind, sir? +Very good. Well, sir: see here. My friend will take your +drawing-room floor; he will sleep in the back drawing-room; +his nurse, an excellent Irish widow, will attend on all his +wants and occupy a garret; he will pay you the round sum +of ten dollars a week; and you, on your part, will engage +to receive no other lodger? I think that fair.”</p> + +<p>Somerset had scarcely words in which to clothe his +gratitude and joy.</p> + +<p>“Agreed,” said the other; “and to spare you trouble, +my friend will bring some men with him to make the +changes. You will find him a retiring inmate, sir; receives +but few, and rarely leaves the house except at +night.”</p> + +<p>“Since I have been in this house,” returned Somerset, +“I have myself, unless it were to fetch beer, rarely gone +abroad except in the evening. But a man,” he added, +“must have some amusement.”</p> + +<p>An hour was then agreed on; the gentleman departed; +and Somerset sat down to compute in English money the +value of the figure named. The result of this investigation +filled him with amazement and disgust; but it was now too +late; nothing remained but to endure; and he awaited the +arrival of his tenant, still trying, by various arithmetical +expedients, to obtain a more favourable quotation for the +dollar. With the approach of dusk, however, his impatience +drove him once more to the front balcony. The night fell, +mild and airless; the lamps shone around the central darkness +of the garden; and through the tall grove of trees that +intervened, many warmly illuminated windows on the +farther side of the square told their tale of white napery, +choice wine, and genial hospitality. The stars were already +thickening overhead, when the young man’s eyes alighted +on a procession of three four-wheelers, coasting round the +garden railing and bound for the Superfluous Mansion. +They were laden with formidable boxes; moved in a military +order, one following another; and, by the extreme +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page114"></a>114</span> +slowness of their advance, inspired Somerset with the most +serious ideas of his tenant’s malady.</p> + +<p>By the time he had the door open, the cabs had drawn +up beside the pavement; and from the two first, there had +alighted the military gentleman of the morning and two +very stalwart porters. These proceeded instantly to take +possession of the house; with their own hands, and firmly +rejecting Somerset’s assistance, they carried in the various +crates and boxes; with their own hands dismounted and +transferred to the back drawing-room the bed in which the +tenant was to sleep; and it was not until the bustle of arrival +had subsided, and the arrangements were complete, that +there descended, from the third of the three vehicles, a +gentleman of great stature and broad shoulders, leaning on +the shoulder of a woman in a widow’s dress, and himself +covered by a long cloak and muffled in a coloured comforter.</p> + +<p>Somerset had but a glimpse of him in passing; he was +soon shut into the back drawing-room; the other men +departed; silence redescended on the house; and had not +the nurse appeared a little before half-past ten, and, with +a strong brogue, asked if there were a decent public-house +in the neighbourhood, Somerset might have still supposed +himself to be alone in the Superfluous Mansion.</p> + +<p>Day followed day; and still the young man had never +come by speech or sight of his mysterious lodger. The +doors of the drawing-room flat were never open; and although +Somerset could hear him moving to and fro, the +tall man had never quitted the privacy of his apartments. +Visitors, indeed, arrived; sometimes in the dusk, sometimes +at intempestuous hours of night or morning; men, for the +most part; some meanly attired, some decently; some +loud, some cringing; and yet all, in the eyes of Somerset, +displeasing. A certain air of fear and secrecy was common +to them all; they were all voluble, he thought, and ill at +ease; even the military gentleman proved, on a closer inspection, +to be no gentleman at all; and as for the doctor +who attended the sick man, his manners were not suggestive +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page115"></a>115</span> +of a university career. The nurse, again, was scarcely a +desirable house-fellow. Since her arrival, the fall of whisky +in the young man’s private bottle was much accelerated; +and though never communicative, she was at times unpleasantly +familiar. When asked about the patient’s +health, she would dolorously shake her head, and declare +that the poor gentleman was in a pitiful condition.</p> + +<p>Yet somehow Somerset had early begun to entertain +the notion that his complaint was other than bodily. The +ill-looking birds that gathered to the house, the strange +noises that sounded from the drawing-room in the dead +hours of night, the careless attendance and intemperate +habits of the nurse, the entire absence of correspondence, +the entire seclusion of Mr. Jones himself, whose face, up +to that hour, he could not have sworn to in a court of justice—all +weighed unpleasantly upon the young man’s mind. +A sense of something evil, irregular and underhand, haunted +and depressed him; and this uneasy sentiment was the +more firmly rooted in his mind, when, in the fulness of time, +he had an opportunity of observing the features of his tenant. +It fell in this way. The young landlord was awakened +about four in the morning by a noise in the hall. Leaping +to his feet, and opening the door of the library, he saw the +tall man, candle in hand, in earnest conversation with the +gentleman who had taken the rooms. The faces of both +were strongly illuminated; and in that of his tenant Somerset +could perceive none of the marks of disease, but every +sign of health, energy, and resolution. While he was still +looking, the visitor took his departure; and the invalid, +having carefully fastened the front door, sprang upstairs +without a trace of lassitude.</p> + +<p>That night upon his pillow, Somerset began to kindle +once more into the hot fit of the detective fever; and the +next morning resumed the practice of his art with careless +hand and an abstracted mind. The day was destined to +be fertile in surprises; nor had he long been seated at the +easel ere the first of these occurred. A cab laden with baggage +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page116"></a>116</span> +drew up before the door; and Mrs. Luxmore in person +rapidly mounted the steps and began to pound upon the +knocker. Somerset hastened to attend the summons.</p> + +<p>“My dear fellow,” she said, with the utmost gaiety, +“here I come dropping from the moon. I am delighted +to find you faithful; and I have no doubt you will be equally +pleased to be restored to liberty.”</p> + +<p>Somerset could find no words, whether of protest or +welcome; and the spirited old lady pushed briskly by him, +and paused on the threshold of the dining-room. The sight +that met her eyes was one well calculated to inspire astonishment. +The mantelpiece was arrayed with saucepans and +empty bottles; on the fire some chops were frying; the +floor was littered from end to end with books, clothes, +walking-canes, and the materials of the painter’s craft; +but what far outstripped the other wonders of the place +was the corner which had been arranged for the study of +still-life. This formed a sort of rockery; conspicuous upon +which, according to the principles of the art of composition, +a cabbage was relieved against a copper kettle, and both +contrasted with the mail of a boiled lobster.</p> + +<p>“My gracious goodness!” cried the lady of the house; +and then, turning in wrath on the young man, “From what +rank in life are you sprung?” she demanded. “You have +the exterior of a gentleman; but from the astonishing +evidences before me, I should say you can only be a green-grocer’s +man. Pray, gather up your vegetables, and let +me see no more of you.”</p> + +<p>“Madam,” babbled Somerset, “you promised me a +month’s warning.”</p> + +<p>“That was under a misapprehension,” returned the +old lady. “I now give you warning to leave at +once.”</p> + +<p>“Madam,” said the young man, “I wish I could; and +indeed, as far as I am concerned, it might be done. But +then, my lodger!”</p> + +<p>“Your lodger?” echoed Mrs. Luxmore.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page117"></a>117</span></p> + +<p>“My lodger: why should I deny it?” returned Somerset. +“He is only by the week.”</p> + +<p>The old lady sat down upon a chair. “You have a lodger?—you?” +she cried. “And pray, how did you get him?”</p> + +<p>“By advertisement,” replied the young man. “O +madam, I have not lived unobservantly. I adopted“—his +eyes involuntarily shifted to the cartoons—“I adopted +every method.”</p> + +<p>Her eyes had followed his; for the first time in Somerset’s +experience, she produced a double eyeglass; and as +soon as the full merit of the works had flashed upon her, +she gave way to peal after peal of her trilling and soprano +laughter.</p> + +<p>“Oh, I think you are perfectly delicious!” she cried. +“I do hope you had them in the window. M’Pherson,” +she continued, crying to her maid, who had been all this +time grimly waiting in the hall, “I lunch with Mr. Somerset. +Take the cellar key and bring some wine.”</p> + +<p>In this gay humour she continued throughout the +luncheon; presented Somerset with a couple of dozen of +wine, which she made M’Pherson bring up from the cellar—“as +a present, my dear,” she said, with another burst of +tearful merriment, “for your charming pictures, which you +must be sure to leave me when you go“; and finally, protesting +that she dared not spoil the absurdest houseful of +madmen in the whole of London, departed (as she vaguely +phrased it) for the continent of Europe.</p> + +<p>She was no sooner gone than Somerset encountered in +the corridor the Irish nurse; sober, to all appearance, and +yet a prey to singularly strong emotion. It was made to +appear, from her account, that Mr. Jones had already +suffered acutely in his health from Mrs. Luxmore’s visit, +and that nothing short of a full explanation could allay the +invalid’s uneasiness. Somerset, somewhat staring, told +what he thought fit of the affair.</p> + +<p>“Is that all?” cried the woman. “As God sees you, +is that all?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page118"></a>118</span></p> + +<p>“My good woman,” said the young man, “I have no +idea what you can be driving at. Suppose the lady were +my friend’s wife, suppose she were my fairy godmother, +suppose she were the Queen of Portugal; and how should +that affect yourself or Mr. Jones?”</p> + +<p>“Blessed Mary!” cried the nurse, “it’s he that will +be glad to hear it!”</p> + +<p>And immediately she fled upstairs.</p> + +<p>Somerset, on his part, returned to the dining-room, and, +with a very thoughtful brow and ruminating many theories, +disposed of the remainder of the bottle. It was port; and +port is a wine, sole among its equals and superiors, that can +in some degree support the competition of tobacco. Sipping, +smoking, and theorising, Somerset moved on from +suspicion to suspicion, from resolve to resolve, still growing +braver and rosier as the bottle ebbed. He was a sceptic, +none prouder of the name; he had no horror at command, +whether for crimes or vices, but beheld and embraced the +world, with an immoral approbation, the frequent consequence +of youth and health. At the same time, he felt +convinced that he dwelt under the same roof with secret +malefactors; and the unregenerate instinct of the chase +impelled him to severity. The bottle had run low; the +summer sun had finally withdrawn; and at the same +moment, night and the pangs of hunger recalled him from +his dreams.</p> + +<p>He went forth, and dined in the Criterion: a dinner in +consonance, not so much with his purse, as with the admirable +wine he had discussed. What with one thing and +another, it was long past midnight when he returned home. +A cab was at the door; and entering the hall, Somerset +found himself face to face with one of the most regular of +the few who visited Mr. Jones: a man of powerful figure, +strong lineaments, and a chin-beard in the American fashion. +This person was carrying on one shoulder a black portmanteau, +seemingly of considerable weight. That he should +find a visitor removing baggage in the dead of night, recalled +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page119"></a>119</span> +some odd stories to the young man’s memory; he +had heard of lodgers who thus gradually drained away, not +only their own effects, but the very furniture and fittings +of the house that sheltered them; and now, in a mood +between pleasantry and suspicion, and aping the manner +of a drunkard, he roughly bumped against the man with the +chin-beard and knocked the portmanteau from his shoulder +to the floor. With a face struck suddenly as white as paper, +the man with the chin-beard called lamentably on the name +of his Maker, and fell in a mere heap on the mat at the foot +of the stairs. At the same time, though only for a single +instant, the heads of the sick lodger and the Irish nurse +popped out like rabbits over the banisters of the first floor; +and on both the same scare and pallor were apparent.</p> + +<p>The sight of this incredible emotion turned Somerset to +stone, and he continued speechless, while the man gathered +himself together, and, with the help of the hand-rail and +audibly thanking God, scrambled once more upon his feet.</p> + +<p>“What in Heaven’s name ails you?” gasped the young +man as soon as he could find words and utterance.</p> + +<p>“Have you a drop of brandy?” returned the other. +“I am sick.”</p> + +<p>Somerset administered two drams, one after the other, +to the man with the chin-beard; who then, somewhat restored, +began to confound himself in apologies for what he +called his miserable nervousness, the result, he said, of a +long course of dumb ague; and having taken leave with a +hand that still sweated and trembled, he gingerly resumed +his burthen and departed.</p> + +<p>Somerset retired to bed but not to sleep. What, he +asked himself, had been the contents of the black portmanteau? +Stolen goods? the carcass of one murdered? +or—and at the thought he sat upright in bed—an infernal +machine? He took a solemn vow that he would set these +doubts at rest; and, with the next morning, installed himself +beside the dining-room window, vigilant with eye and +ear, to await and profit by the earliest opportunity.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page120"></a>120</span></p> + +<p>The hours went heavily by. Within the house there +was no circumstance of novelty; unless it might be that +the nurse more frequently made little journeys round the +corner of the square, and before afternoon was somewhat +loose of speech and gait. A little after six, however, there +came round the corner of the gardens a very handsome and +elegantly dressed young woman, who paused a little way +off, and for some time, and with frequent sighs, contemplated +the front of the Superfluous Mansion. It was not +the first time that she had thus stood afar and looked upon +it, like our common parents at the gates of Eden; and the +young man had already had occasion to remark the lively +slimness of her carriage, and had already been the butt of +a chance arrow from her eye. He hailed her coming, then, +with pleasant feelings, and moved a little nearer to the +window to enjoy the sight. What was his surprise, however, +when, as if with a sensible effort, she drew near, +mounted the steps, and tapped discreetly at the door! He +made haste to get before the Irish nurse, who was not improbably +asleep, and had the satisfaction to receive this +gracious visitor in person.</p> + +<p>She inquired for Mr. Jones; and then, without transition, +asked the young man if he were the person of the house +(and at the words, he thought he could perceive her to be +smiling), “because,” she added, “if you are, I should like +to see some of the other rooms.”</p> + +<p>Somerset told her he was under an engagement to receive +no other lodgers; but she assured him that would +be no matter, as these were friends of Mr. Jones’s. “And,” +she continued, moving suddenly to the dining-room door, +“let us begin here.” Somerset was too late to prevent her +entering, and perhaps lacked the courage to essay. “Ah!” +she cried, “how changed it is!”</p> + +<p>“Madam,” cried the young man, “since your entrance, +it is I who have the right to say so.”</p> + +<p>She received this inane compliment with a demure and +conscious droop of the eyelids, and gracefully steering her +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page121"></a>121</span> +dress among the mingled litter, now with a smile, now with +a sigh, reviewed the wonders of the two apartments. She +gazed upon the cartoons with sparkling eyes, and a heightened +colour, and, in a somewhat breathless voice, expressed a +high opinion of their merits. She praised the effective +disposition of the rockery, and in the bedroom, of which +Somerset had vainly endeavoured to defend the entry, she +fairly broke forth in admiration. “How simple and +manly!” she cried: “none of that effeminacy of neatness, +which is so detestable in a man!” Hard upon this, telling +him, before he had time to reply, that she very well knew +her way, and would trouble him no further, she took her +leave with an engaging smile, and ascended the staircase +alone.</p> + +<p>For more than an hour the young lady remained closeted +with Mr. Jones; and at the end of that time, the night being +now come completely, they left the house in company. +This was the first time since the arrival of his lodger that +Somerset had found himself alone with the Irish widow; +and without the loss of any more time than was required +by decency, he stepped to the foot of the stairs and hailed +her by her name. She came instantly, wreathed in weak +smiles and with a nodding head; and when the young man +politely offered to introduce her to the treasures of his art, +she swore that nothing could afford her greater pleasure, +for, though she had never crossed the threshold, she had +frequently observed his beautiful pictures through the door. +On entering the dining-room, the sight of a bottle and two +glasses prepared her to be a gentle critic; and as soon as +the pictures had been viewed and praised, she was easily +persuaded to join the painter in a single glass. “Here,” +she said, “are my respects; and a pleasure it is, in this +horrible house, to see a gentleman like yourself, so affable +and free, and a very nice painter, I am sure.” One glass +so agreeably prefaced, was sure to lead to the acceptance +of a second; at the third, Somerset was free to cease from +the affectation of keeping her company; and as for the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page122"></a>122</span> +fourth, she asked it of her own accord. “For indeed,” +said she, “what with all these clocks and chemicals, without +a drop of the creature life would be impossible entirely. +And you seen yourself that even M’Guire was glad to beg +for it. And even himself, when he is downhearted with all +these cruel disappointments, though as temperate a man +as any child, will be sometimes crying for a glass of it. And +I’ll thank you for a thimbleful to settle what I got.” Soon +after, she began with tears to narrate the deathbed dispositions +and lament the trifling assets of her husband. +Then she declared she heard “the master” calling her, +rose to her feet, made but one lurch of it into the still-life +rockery, and with her head upon the lobster, fell into +stertorous slumbers.</p> + +<p>Somerset mounted at once to the first story, and opened +the door of the drawing-room, which was brilliantly lit by +several lamps. It was a great apartment; looking on the +square with three tall windows, and joined by a pair of +ample folding-doors to the next room; elegant in proportion, +papered in sea-green, furnished in velvet of a delicate blue, +and adorned with a majestic mantelpiece of variously tinted +marbles. Such was the room that Somerset remembered; +that which he now beheld was changed in almost every +feature: the furniture covered with a figured chintz; the +walls hung with a rhubarb-coloured paper, and diversified +by the curtained recesses for no less than seven windows. +It seemed to himself that he must have entered, without +observing the transition, into the adjoining house. Presently +from these more specious changes, his eye condescended +to the many curious objects with which the floor +was littered. Here were the locks of dismounted pistols; +clocks and clockwork in every stage of demolition, some +still busily ticking, some reduced to their dainty elements; +a great company of carboys, jars, and bottles; a carpenter’s +bench and a laboratory-table.</p> + +<p>The back drawing-room, to which Somerset proceeded, +had likewise undergone a change. It was transformed to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page123"></a>123</span> +the exact appearance of a common lodging-house bedroom; +a bed with green curtains occupied one corner; and the +window was blocked by the regulation table and mirror. +The door of a small closet here attracted the young man’s +attention; and striking a vesta, he opened it and entered. +On a table, several wigs and beards were lying spread; +about the walls hung an incongruous display of suits and +overcoats; and conspicuous among the last the young man +observed a large overall of the most costly sealskin. In a +flash his mind reverted to the advertisement in the <i>Standard</i> +newspaper. The great height of his lodger, the disproportionate +breadth of his shoulders, and the strange particulars +of his instalment, all pointed to the same conclusion.</p> + +<p>The vesta had now burned to his fingers; and taking +the coat upon his arm, Somerset hastily returned to the +lighted drawing-room. There, with a mixture of fear and +admiration, he pored upon its goodly proportions and the +regularity and softness of the pile. The sight of a large +pier-glass put another fancy in his head. He donned the +fur coat; and standing before the mirror in an attitude +suggestive of a Russian prince, he thrust his hands into the +ample pockets. There his fingers encountered a folded +journal. He drew it out, and recognised the type and +paper of the <i>Standard;</i> and at the same instant his eyes +alighted on the offer of two hundred pounds. Plainly then, +his lodger, now no longer mysterious, had laid aside his coat +on the very day of the appearance of the advertisement.</p> + +<p>He was thus standing, the tell-tale coat upon his back, +the incriminating paper in his hand, when the door opened +and the tall lodger, with a firm but somewhat pallid face, +stepped into the room and closed the door again behind him. +For some time the two looked upon each other in perfect +silence; then Mr. Jones moved forward to the table, took +a seat, and, still without once changing the direction of his +eyes, addressed the young man.</p> + +<p>“You are right,” he said. “It is for me the blood +money is offered. And now what will you do?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page124"></a>124</span></p> + +<p>It was a question to which Somerset was far from being +able to reply. Taken as he was at unawares, masquerading +in the man’s own coat, and surrounded by a whole arsenal +of diabolical explosives, the keeper of the lodging-house +was silenced.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” resumed the other, “I am he. I am that man, +whom with impotent hate and fear they still hunt from +den to den, from disguise to disguise. Yet, my landlord, +you have it in your power, if you be poor, to lay the basis +of your fortune; if you be unknown, to capture honour at +one snatch. You have hocussed an innocent widow; and +I find you here in my apartment, for whose use I pay you +in stamped money, searching my wardrobe, and your hand—shame, +sir!—your hand in my very pocket. You can +now complete the cycle of your ignominious acts, by what +will be at once the simplest, the safest, and the most remunerative.” +The speaker paused as if to emphasise his +words; and then, with a great change of tone and manner, +thus resumed: “And yet, sir, when I look upon your face, +I feel certain that I cannot be deceived: certain that in +spite of all, I have the honour and pleasure of speaking to a +gentleman. Take off my coat, sir—which but cumbers you. +Divest yourself of this confusion: that which is but thought +upon, thank God, need be no burthen to the conscience; +we have all harboured guilty thoughts; and if it flashed +into your mind to sell my flesh and blood, my anguish in +the dock, and the sweat of my death agony—it was a +thought, dear sir, you were as incapable of acting on, as I +of any further question of your honour.” At these words +the speaker, with a very open, smiling countenance, like +a forgiving father, offered Somerset his hand.</p> + +<p>It was not in the young man’s nature to refuse forgiveness +or dissect generosity. He instantly, and almost +without thought, accepted the proffered grasp.</p> + +<p>“And now,” resumed the lodger, “now that I hold +in mine your loyal hand, I lay by my apprehensions, I dismiss +suspicion, I go further—by an effort of will, I banish +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page125"></a>125</span> +the memory of what is past. How you came here, I care +not: enough that you are here—as my guest. Sit ye down; +and let us, with your good permission, improve acquaintance +over a glass of excellent whisky.”</p> + +<p>So speaking, he produced glasses and a bottle; and the +pair pledged each other in silence.</p> + +<p>“Confess,” observed the smiling host, “you were +surprised at the appearance of the room.”</p> + +<p>“I was indeed,” said Somerset; “nor can I imagine +the purpose of these changes.”</p> + +<p>“These,” replied the conspirator, “are the devices by +which I continue to exist. Conceive me now, accused +before one of your unjust tribunals; conceive the various +witnesses appearing, and the singular variety of their reports! +One will have visited me in this drawing-room as +it originally stood; a second finds it as it is to-night; and +to-morrow or next day, all may have been changed. If you +love romance (as artists do), few lives are more romantic +than that of the obscure individual now addressing you. +Obscure yet famous. Mine is an anonymous, infernal glory. +By infamous means, I work towards my bright purpose. +I found the liberty and peace of a poor country desperately +abused; the future smiles upon that land; yet, in the meantime, +I lead the existence of a hunted brute, work towards +appalling ends, and practise hell’s dexterities.”</p> + +<p>Somerset, glass in hand, contemplated the strange +fanatic before him, and listened to his heated rhapsody, +with indescribable bewilderment. He looked him in the +face with curious particularity; saw there the marks of +education; and wondered the more profoundly.</p> + +<p>“Sir,” he said—“for I know not whether I should +still address you as Mr. Jones—”</p> + +<p>“Jones, Breitman, Higginbotham, Pumpernickel, +Daviot, Henderland, by all or any of these you may address +me,” said the plotter; “for all I have at some time borne. +Yet that which I most prize, that which is most feared, +hated, and obeyed, is not a name to be found in your directories; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page126"></a>126</span> +it is not a name current in post-offices or banks; +and indeed, like the celebrated clan M’Gregor, I may justly +describe myself as being nameless by day. But,” he continued, +rising to his feet, “by night, and among my desperate +followers, I am the redoubted Zero.”</p> + +<p>Somerset was unacquainted with the name; but he +politely expressed surprise and gratification. “I am to +understand,” he continued, “that, under this alias, you +follow the profession of a dynamiter?”<a name="FnAnchor_3" href="#Footnote_3"><span class="sp">3</span></a></p> + +<p>The plotter had resumed his seat and now replenished +the glasses.</p> + +<p>“I do,” he said. “In this dark period of time, a star—the +star of dynamite—has risen for the oppressed; and +among those who practise its use, so thick beset with dangers +and attended by such incredible difficulties and disappointments, +few have been more assiduous, and not many—” +He paused, and a shade of embarrassment appeared upon +his face—“not many have been more successful than +myself.”</p> + +<p>“I can imagine,” observed Somerset, “that, from the +sweeping consequences looked for, the career is not devoid +of interest. You have, besides, some of the entertainment +of the game of hide-and-seek. But it would +still seem to me—I speak as a layman—that nothing +could be simpler or safer than to deposit an infernal +machine and retire to an adjacent county to await the +painful consequences.”</p> + +<p>“You speak, indeed,” returned the plotter, with some +evidence of warmth, “you speak, indeed, most ignorantly. +Do you make nothing, then, of such a peril as we share this +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page127"></a>127</span> +moment? Do you think it nothing to occupy a house like +this one, mined, menaced, and, in a word, literally tottering +to its fall?”</p> + +<p>“Good God!” ejaculated Somerset.</p> + +<p>“And when you speak of ease,” pursued Zero, “in this +age of scientific studies, you fill me with surprise. Are you +not aware that chemicals are proverbially fickle as woman, +and clockwork as capricious as the very devil? Do you +see upon my brow these furrows of anxiety? do you observe +the silver threads that mingle with my hair? Clockwork, +clockwork has stamped them on my brow—chemicals have +sprinkled them upon my locks! No, Mr. Somerset,” he +resumed, after a moment’s pause, his voice still quivering +with sensibility, “you must not suppose the dynamiter’s +life to be all gold. On the contrary: you cannot picture +to yourself the bloodshot vigils and the staggering disappointments +of a life like mine. I have toiled (let us say) +for months, up early and down late; my bag is ready, my +clock set; a daring agent has hurried with white face to +deposit the instrument of ruin; we await the fall of England, +the massacre of thousands, the yell of fear and execration; +and lo! a snap like that of a child’s pistol, an offensive smell, +and the entire loss of so much time and plant! If,” he +concluded musingly, “we had been merely able to recover +the lost bags, I believe, with but a touch or two, I could +have remedied the peccant engine. But what with the loss +of plant and the almost insuperable scientific difficulties +of the task, our friends in France are almost ready to desert +the chosen medium. They propose, instead, to break up +the drainage system of cities and sweep off whole populations +with the devastating typhoid pestilence: a tempting and +a scientific project: a process, indiscriminate indeed, but +of idyllical simplicity. I recognise its elegance; but, sir, +I have something of the poet in my nature; something, +possibly, of the tribune. And, for my small part, I shall +remain devoted to that more emphatic, more striking, and +(if you please) more popular method of the explosive bomb. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page128"></a>128</span> +Yes,” he cried, with unshaken hope, “I will still continue +and, I feel it in my bosom, I shall yet succeed.”</p> + +<p>“Two things I remark,” said Somerset. “The first +somewhat staggers me. Have you, then—in all this course +of life, which you have sketched so vividly—have you not +once succeeded?”</p> + +<p>“Pardon me,” said Zero. “I have had one success. +You behold in me the author of the outrage of Red Lion +Court.”</p> + +<p>“But if I remember right,” objected Somerset, “the +thing was a <i>fiasco</i>. A scavenger’s barrow and some copies +of the <i>Weekly Budget</i>—these were the only victims.”</p> + +<p>“You will pardon me again,” returned Zero, with +positive asperity: “a child was injured.”</p> + +<p>“And that fitly brings me to my second point,” said +Somerset. “For I observed you to employ the word‘indiscriminate.’ +Now, surely, a scavenger’s barrow and a +child (if child there were) represent the very acme and top +pin-point of indiscriminate and, pardon me, of ineffectual +reprisal.”</p> + +<p>“Did I employ the word?” asked Zero. “Well, I +will not defend it. But for efficiency, you touch on graver +matters; and before entering upon so vast a subject, permit +me once more to fill our glasses. Disputation is dry +work,” he added, with a charming gaiety of manner.</p> + +<p>Once more accordingly the pair pledged each other in +a stalwart grog; and Zero, leaning back with an air of some +complacency, proceeded more largely to develop his opinions.</p> + +<p>“The indiscriminate?” he began. “War, my dear +sir, is indiscriminate. War spares not the child; it spares +not the barrow of the harmless scavenger. No more,” +he concluded, beaming, “no more do I. Whatever may +strike fear, whatever may confound or paralyse the activities +of the guilty nation, barrow or child, imperial Parliament +or excursion steamer, is welcome to my simple plans. You +are not,” he inquired, with a shade of sympathetic interest, +“you are not, I trust, a believer?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page129"></a>129</span></p> + +<p>“Sir, I believe in nothing,” said the young man.</p> + +<p>“You are then,” replied Zero, “in a position to grasp +my argument. We agree that humanity is the object, the +glorious triumph of humanity; and being pledged to labour +for that end, and face to face with the banded opposition of +kings, parliaments, churches, and the members of the force, +who am I—who are we, dear sir—to affect a nicety about +the tools employed? You might, perhaps, expect us to +attack the Queen, the sinister Gladstone, the rigid Derby, +or the dexterous Granville; but there you would be in error. +Our appeal is to the body of the people; it is these that we +would touch and interest. Now, sir, have you observed the +English housemaid?”</p> + +<p>“I should think I had,” cried Somerset.</p> + +<p>“From a man of taste and a votary of art, I had expected +it,” returned the conspirator politely. “A type apart; a +very charming figure; and thoroughly adapted to our ends. +The neat cap, the clean print, the comely person, the engaging +manner; her position between classes, parents in +one, employers in another; the probability that she will +have at least one sweetheart, whose feelings we shall address:—yes, +I have a leaning—call it, if you will, a weakness—for +the housemaid. Not that I would be understood +to despise the nurse. For the child is a very interesting +feature: I have long since marked out the child as the sensitive +point in society.” He wagged his head, with a wise, +pensive smile. “And talking, sir, of children and of the +perils of our trade, let me now narrate to you a little incident +of an explosive bomb, that fell out some weeks ago under my +own observation. It fell out thus.”</p> + +<p>And Zero leaning back in his chair narrated the following +simple tale.</p> + + +<hr class="foot" /> +<div class="note"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_3" href="#FnAnchor_3"><span class="fn">3</span></a> The Arabian author of the original has here a long passage conceived +in a style too oriental for the English reader. We subjoin a +specimen, and it seems doubtful whether it should be printed as prose +or verse: “Any writard who writes dynamitard shall find in me a +never-resting fightard“; and he goes on (if we correctly gather his +meaning) to object to such elegant and obviously correct spellings +as lamp-lightard, corn-dealard, apple-filchard (clearly justified by the +parallel—pilchard), and opera-dançard. “Dynamitist,” he adds, +“I could understand.”</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page130"></a>130</span></p> +<h4>ZERO’S TALE OF THE EXPLOSIVE BOMB<a name="FnAnchor_4" href="#Footnote_4"><span class="sp">4</span></a></h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">I dined</span> by appointment with one of our most trusted +agents, in a private chamber at St. James’s Hall. You have +seen the man: it was M’Guire, the most chivalrous of +creatures, but not himself expert in our contrivances. +Hence the necessity of our meeting; for I need not remind +you what enormous issues depend upon the nice adjustment +of the engine. I set our little petard for half an hour, the +scene of action being hard by; and, the better to avert miscarriage, +employed a device, a recent invention of my own, +by which the opening of the Gladstone bag in which the +bomb was carried should instantly determine the explosion. +M’Guire was somewhat dashed by this arrangement, which +was new to him: and pointed out, with excellent, clear good +sense, that should he be arrested, it would probably involve +him in the fall of our opponents. But I was not to be +moved, made a strong appeal to his patriotism, gave him a +good glass of whisky, and despatched him on his glorious +errand.</p> + +<p>Our objective was the effigy of Shakespeare in Leicester +Square: a spot, I think, admirably chosen; not only for +the sake of the dramatist, still very foolishly claimed as a +glory by the English race, in spite of his disgusting political +opinions; but from the fact that the seats in the immediate +neighbourhood are often thronged by children, errand-boys, +unfortunate young ladies of the poorer class, and infirm +old men—all classes making a direct appeal to public pity, +and therefore suitable with our designs. As M’Guire drew +near, his heart was inflamed by the most noble sentiment of +triumph. Never had he seen the garden so crowded; +children, still stumbling in the impotence of youth, ran to +and fro, shouting and playing, round the pedestal; an old, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page131"></a>131</span> +sick pensioner sat upon the nearest bench, a medal on his +breast, a stick with which he walked (for he was disabled by +wounds) reclining on his knee. Guilty England would thus +be stabbed in the most delicate quarters; the moment had, +indeed, been well selected; and M’Guire, with a radiant prevision +of the event, drew merrily nearer. Suddenly his eye +alighted on the burly form of a policeman, standing hard by +the effigy in an attitude of watch. My bold companion +paused; he looked about him closely; here and there, at +different points of the enclosure, other men stood or loitered, +affecting an abstraction, feigning to gaze upon the shrubs, +feigning to talk, feigning to be weary and to rest upon the +benches. M’Guire was no child in these affairs; he instantly +divined one of the plots of the Machiavellian Gladstone.</p> + +<p>A chief difficulty with which we have to deal is a certain +nervousness in the subaltern branches of the corps; as the +hour of some design draws near, these chicken-souled conspirators +appear to suffer some revulsion of intent; and frequently +despatch to the authorities, not indeed specific +denunciations, but vague anonymous warnings. But for +this purely accidental circumstance, England had long ago +been an historical expression. On the receipt of such a +letter, the Government lays a trap for its adversaries, and +surrounds the threatened spot with hirelings. My blood +sometimes boils in my veins, when I consider the case of +those who sell themselves for money in such a cause. True, +thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we patriots receive +a very comfortable stipend; I myself, of course, touch +a salary which puts me quite beyond the reach of any +peddling, mercenary thoughts; M’Guire, again, ere he +joined our ranks, was on the brink of starving, and now, +thank God! receives a decent income. That is as it should +be; the patriot must not be diverted from his task by any +base consideration; and the distinction between our position +and that of the police is too obvious to be stated.</p> + +<p>Plainly, however, our Leicester Square design had been +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page132"></a>132</span> +divulged; the Government had craftily filled the place with +minions; even the pensioner was not improbably a hireling +in disguise; and our emissary, without other aid or protection +than the simple apparatus in his bag, found himself +confronted by force; brutal force; that strong hand which +was a character of the ages of oppression. Should he +venture to deposit the machine, it was almost certain that +he would be observed and arrested; a cry would arise; and +there was just a fear that the police might not be present in +sufficient force to protect him from the savagery of the mob. +The scheme must be delayed. He stood with his bag on +his arm, pretending to survey the front of the Alhambra, +when there flashed into his mind a thought to appal the +bravest. The machine was set; at the appointed hour, it +must explode; and how, in the interval, was he to be rid +of it?</p> + +<p>Put yourself, I beseech you, into the body of that patriot. +There he was, friendless and helpless; a man in the very +flower of life, for he is not yet forty; with long years of +happiness before him; and now condemned, in one moment, +to a cruel and revolting death by dynamite! The square, +he said, went round him like a thaumatrope; he saw the +Alhambra leap into the air like a balloon; and reeled against +the railing. It is probable he fainted.</p> + +<p>When he came to himself, a constable had him by the +arm.</p> + +<p>“My God!” he cried.</p> + +<p>“You seem to be unwell, sir,” said the hireling.</p> + +<p>“I feel better now,” cried poor M’Guire: and with uneven +steps, for the pavement of the square seemed to lurch +and reel under his footing, he fled from the scene of this disaster. +Fled? Alas, from what was he fleeing? Did he +not carry that from which he fled, along with him? and had +he the wings of the eagle, had he the swiftness of the ocean +winds, could he have been rapt into the uttermost quarters +of the earth, how should he escape the ruin that he carried? +We have heard of living men who have been fettered to the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page133"></a>133</span> +dead; the grievance, soberly considered, is no more than +sentimental; the case is but a flea-bite to that of him who +should be linked, like poor M’Guire, to an explosive bomb.</p> + +<p>A thought struck him in Green Street, like a dart +through his liver: suppose it were the hour already. He +stopped as though he had been shot, and plucked his watch +out. There was a howling in his ears, as loud as a winter +tempest; his sight was now obscured as if by a cloud, now, +as by a lightning flash, would show him the very dust upon +the street. But so brief were these intervals of vision, and +so violently did the watch vibrate in his hands, that it was +impossible to distinguish the numbers on the dial. He +covered his eyes for a few seconds; and in that space, it +seemed to him that he had fallen to be a man of ninety. +When he looked again, the watch-plate had grown legible: +he had twenty minutes. Twenty minutes, and no +plan!</p> + +<p>Green Street, at that time, was very empty; and he now +observed a little girl of about six drawing near to him and, +as she came, kicking in front of her, as children will, a piece +of wood. She sang, too; and something in her accent recalling +him to the past produced a sudden clearness in his +mind. Here was a God-sent opportunity!</p> + +<p>“My dear,” said he, “would you like a present of a +pretty bag?”</p> + +<p>The child cried aloud with joy and put out her hands to +take it. She had looked first at the bag, like a true child; +but most unfortunately, before she had yet received the +fatal gift, her eyes fell directly on M’Guire; and no sooner +had she seen the poor gentleman’s face than she screamed +out and leaped backward, as though she had seen the devil. +Almost at the same moment a woman appeared upon the +threshold of a neighbouring shop, and called upon the child +in anger. “Come here, colleen,” she said, “and don’t be +plaguing the poor old gentleman!” With that she re-entered +the house, and the child followed her, sobbing aloud.</p> + +<p>With the loss of this hope M’Guire’s reason swooned +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page134"></a>134</span> +within him. When next he awoke to consciousness, he was +standing before St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, wavering like a +drunken man; the passers-by regarded him with eyes in +which he read, as in a glass, an image of the terror and +horror that dwelt within his own.</p> + +<p>“I am afraid you are very ill, sir,” observed a woman, +stopping and gazing hard in his face. “Can I do anything +to help you?”</p> + +<p>“Ill?” said M’Guire. “O God!” And then, recovering +some shadow of his self-command, “Chronic, madam,” +said he: “a long course of the dumb ague. But since you +are so compassionate—an errand that I lack the strength +to carry out,” he gasped—“this bag to Portman Square. +O compassionate woman, as you hope to be saved, as you +are a mother, in the name of your babes that wait to welcome +you at home, oh, take this bag to Portman Square! +I have a mother, too,” he added, with a broken voice. +“Number 19 Portman Square.”</p> + +<p>I suppose he had expressed himself with too much +energy of voice; for the woman was plainly taken with a +certain fear of him. “Poor gentleman!” said she. “If I +were you, I would go home.” And she left him standing +there in his distress.</p> + +<p>“Home!” thought M’Guire, “what a derision!” +What home was there for him, the victim of philanthropy? +He thought of his old mother, of his happy youth; of the +hideous, rending pang of the explosion; of the possibility +that he might not be killed, that he might be cruelly mangled, +crippled for life, condemned to life-long pains, blinded perhaps, +and almost surely deafened. Ah, you spoke lightly +of the dynamiter’s peril; but even waiving death, have you +realised what it is for a fine, brave young man of forty, to be +smitten suddenly with deafness, cut off from all the music +of life, and from the voice of friendship and love? How +little do we realise the sufferings of others! Even your +brutal Government, in the heyday of its lust for cruelty, +though it scruples not to hound the patriot with spies, to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page135"></a>135</span> +pack the corrupt jury, to bribe the hangman, and to erect +the infamous gallows, would hesitate to inflict so horrible +a doom: not, I am well aware, from virtue, not from +philanthropy, but with the fear before it of the withering +scorn of the good.</p> + +<p>But I wander from M’Guire. From this dread glance +into the past and future, his thoughts returned at a bound +upon the present. How had he wandered there? and how +long—O heavens! how long had he been about it? He +pulled out his watch; and found that but three +minutes had elapsed. It seemed too bright a thing to be +believed. He glanced at the church clock; and sure +enough, it marked an hour four minutes in advance of the +watch.</p> + +<p>Of all that he endured, M’Guire declares that pang was +the most desolate. Till then, he had had one friend, one +counsellor, in whom he plenarily trusted; by whose advertisement +he numbered the minutes that remained to +him of life; on whose sure testimony he could tell when the +time was come to risk the last adventure, to cast the bag +away from him, and take to flight. And now in what was +he to place reliance? His watch was slow; it might be +losing time; if so, in what degree? What limit could he +set to its derangement? and how much was it possible for +a watch to lose in thirty minutes? Five? ten? fifteen? +It might be so; already, it seemed years since he had left +St. James’s Hall on this so promising enterprise; at any +moment, then, the blow was to be looked for.</p> + +<p>In the face of this new distress, the wild disorder of his +pulses settled down; and a broken weariness succeeded, +as though he had lived for centuries and for centuries been +dead. The buildings and the people in the street became +incredibly small, and far-away, and bright; London +sounded in his ears stilly, like a whisper; and the rattle of +the cab that nearly charged him down was like a sound from +Africa. Meanwhile, he was conscious of a strange abstraction +from himself; and heard and felt his footfalls on +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page136"></a>136</span> +the ground, as those of a very old, small, debile, and tragically +fortuned man, whom he sincerely pitied.</p> + +<p>As he was thus moving forward past the National +Gallery, in a medium, it seemed, of greater rarity and quiet +than ordinary air, there slipped into his mind the recollection +of a certain entry in Whitcomb Street hard by, where +he might perhaps lay down his tragic cargo unremarked. +Thither, then, he bent his steps, seeming, as he went, to +float above the pavement; and there, in the mouth of the +entry, he found a man in a sleeved waistcoat, gravely chewing +a straw. He passed him by, and twice patrolled the +entry, scouting for the barest chance; but the man had +faced about and continued to observe him curiously.</p> + +<p>Another hope was gone. M’Guire re-issued from the +entry, still followed by the wondering eyes of the man in +the sleeved waistcoat. He once more consulted his watch: +there were but fourteen minutes left to him. At that, it +seemed as if a sudden, genial heat were spread about his +brain; for a second or two, he saw the world as red as blood; +and thereafter entered into a complete possession of himself, +with an incredible cheerfulness of spirits, prompting him to +sing and chuckle as he walked. And yet this mirth seemed +to belong to things external; and within, like a black and +leaden-heavy kernel, he was conscious of the weight upon +his soul.</p> + +<table class="reg" summary="poem"><tr><td> +<div class="poemr"> + +<p>“I care for nobody, no, not I,</p> +<p class="i05">And nobody cares for me,”</p> + +</div> +</td></tr></table> + +<p class="noind">he sang, and laughed at the appropriate burthen, so that +the passengers stared upon him on the street. And still the +warmth seemed to increase and to become more genial. +What was life? he considered, and what he, M’Guire? +What even Erin, our green Erin? All seemed so incalculably +little that he smiled as he looked down upon it. He +would have given years, had he possessed them, for a glass +of spirits; but time failed, and he must deny himself this +last indulgence.</p> + +<p>At the corner of the Haymarket, he very jauntily hailed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page137"></a>137</span> +a hansom cab; jumped in; bade the fellow drive him to a +part of the Embankment, which he named; and as soon as +the vehicle was in motion, concealed the bag as completely +as he could under the vantage of the apron, and once more +drew out his watch. So he rode for five interminable +minutes, his heart in his mouth at every jolt, scarce able to +possess his terrors, yet fearing to wake the attention of the +driver by too obvious a change of plan, and willing, if possible, +to leave him time to forget the Gladstone bag.</p> + +<p>At length, at the head of some stairs on the Embankment, +he hailed; the cab was stopped; and he alighted—with +how glad a heart! He thrust his hand into his pocket. +All was now over; he had saved his life; nor that alone, but +he had engineered a striking act of dynamite; for what +could be more pictorial, what more effective, than the explosion +of a hansom cab, as it sped rapidly along the streets +of London? He felt in one pocket; then in another. The +most crushing seizure of despair descended on his soul; +and, struck into abject dumbness, he stared upon the driver. +He had not one penny.</p> + +<p>“Hillo,” said the driver, “don’t seem well.”</p> + +<p>“Lost my money,” said M’Guire, in tones so faint and +strange that they surprised his hearing.</p> + +<p>The man looked through the trap. “I dessay,” said he: +“you’ve left your bag.”</p> + +<p>M’Guire half unconsciously fetched it out; and looking +on that black continent at arm’s length, withered inwardly +and felt his features sharpen as with mortal sickness.</p> + +<p>“This is not mine,” said he. “Your last fare must have +left it. You had better take it to the station.”</p> + +<p>“Now look here,” returned the cabman: “are you off +your chump? or am I?”</p> + +<p>“Well, then, I’ll tell you what,” exclaimed M’Guire: +“you take it for your fare!”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I dessay,” replied the driver. “Anything else? +What’s <i>in</i> your bag? Open it, and let me see.”</p> + +<p>“No, no,” returned M’Guire. “O no, not that. It’s +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page138"></a>138</span> +a surprise; it’s prepared expressly: a surprise for honest +cabmen.”</p> + +<p>“No, you don’t,” said the man, alighting from his perch, +and coming very close to the unhappy patriot. “You’re +either going to pay my fare, or get in again and drive to the +office.”</p> + +<p>It was at this supreme hour of his distress, that M’Guire +spied the stout figure of one Godall, a tobacconist of Rupert +Street, drawing near along the Embankment. The man +was not unknown to him; he had bought of his wares, and +heard him quoted for the soul of liberality; and such was +now the nearness of his peril, that even at such a straw of +hope he clutched with gratitude.</p> + +<p>“Thank God!” he cried. “Here comes a friend of +mine. I’ll borrow.” And he dashed to meet the tradesman. +“Sir,” said he, “Mr. Godall, I have dealt with you—you +doubtless know my face—calamities for which I +cannot blame myself have overwhelmed me. Oh, sir, for +the love of innocence, for the sake of the bonds of humanity, +and as you hope for mercy at the throne of grace, lend me +two-and-six!”</p> + +<p>“I do not recognise your face,” replied Mr. Godall; +“but I remember the cut of your beard, which I have the +misfortune to dislike. Here, sir, is a sovereign; which I +very willingly advance to you, on the single condition that +you shave your chin.”</p> + +<p>M’Guire grasped the coin without a word; cast it to the +cabman, calling out to him to keep the change; bounded +down the steps, flung the bag far forth into the river, and +fell headlong after it. He was plucked from a watery grave, +it is believed, by the hands of Mr. Godall. Even as he was +being hoisted dripping to the shore, a dull and choked explosion +shook the solid masonry of the Embankment, and +far out in the river a momentary fountain rose and disappeared.</p> + + +<hr class="foot" /> +<div class="note"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_4" href="#FnAnchor_4"><span class="fn">4</span></a> The Arabian author, with that quaint particularity of touch +which our translation usually prætermits, here registers a somewhat +interesting detail. Zero pronounced the word “boom“; and the +reader, if but for the nonce, will possibly consent to follow him.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page139"></a>139</span></p> +<h4>THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION (<i>continued</i>)</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Somerset</span> in vain strove to attach a meaning to these words. +He had, in the meanwhile, applied himself assiduously to +the flagon; the plotter began to melt in twain, and seemed +to expand and hover on his seat; and with a vague sense of +nightmare, the young man rose unsteadily to his feet, and, +refusing the proffer of a third grog, insisted that the hour +was late and he must positively get to bed.</p> + +<p>“Dear me,” observed Zero, “I find you very temperate. +But I will not be oppressive. Suffice it that we are now fast +friends; and, my dear landlord, <i>au revoir</i>!”</p> + +<p>So saying the plotter once more shook hands; and with +the politest ceremonies, and some necessary guidance, conducted +the bewildered young gentleman to the top of the +stair.</p> + +<p>Precisely how he got to bed was a point on which Somerset +remained in utter darkness; but the next morning +when, at a blow, he started broad awake, there fell upon his +mind a perfect hurricane of horror and wonder. That he +should have suffered himself to be led into the semblance +of intimacy with such a man as his abominable lodger, appeared, +in the cold light of day, a mystery of human weakness. +True, he was caught in a situation that might have +tested the aplomb of Talleyrand. That was perhaps a +palliation; but it was no excuse. For so wholesale a +capitulation of principle, for such a fall into criminal +familiarity, no excuse indeed was possible; nor any remedy, +but to withdraw at once from the relation.</p> + +<p>As soon as he was dressed, he hurried upstairs, determined +on a rupture. Zero hailed him with the warmth of +an old friend.</p> + +<p>“Come in,” he cried, “dear Mr. Somerset! Come in, +sit down, and, without ceremony, join me at my morning +meal.”</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said Somerset, “you must permit me first to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page140"></a>140</span> +disengage my honour. Last night, I was surprised into a +certain appearance of complicity; but once for all, let me +inform you that I regard you and your machinations with +unmingled horror and disgust, and I will leave no stone unturned +to crush your vile conspiracy.”</p> + +<p>“My dear fellow,” replied Zero, with an air of some complacency, +“I am well accustomed to these human weaknesses. +Disgust? I have felt it myself; it speedily wears +off. I think none the worse, I think the more of you, for +this engaging frankness. And in the meanwhile, what are +you to do? You find yourself, if I interpret rightly, in very +much the same situation as Charles the Second (possibly +the least degraded of your British sovereigns) when he was +taken into the confidence of the thief. To denounce me is +out of the question; and what else can you attempt? No, +dear Mr. Somerset, your hands are tied; and you find yourself +condemned, under pain of behaving like a cad, to be +that same charming and intellectual companion who delighted +me last night.”</p> + +<p>“At least,” cried Somerset, “I can, and do, order you +to leave this house.”</p> + +<p>“Ah!” cried the plotter, “but there I fail to follow you. +You may, if you please, enact the part of Judas; but if, as +I suppose, you recoil from that extremity of meanness, I +am, on my side, far too intelligent to leave these lodgings, +in which I please myself exceedingly, and from which you +lack the power to drive me. No, no, dear sir; here I am, +and here I propose to stay.”</p> + +<p>“I repeat,” cried Somerset, beside himself with a sense +of his own weakness, “I repeat that I give you warning. +I am master of this house; and I emphatically give you +warning.”</p> + +<p>“A week’s warning?” said the imperturbable conspirator. +“Very well: we will talk of it a week from now. +That is arranged; and, in the meanwhile, I observe my +breakfast growing cold. Do, dear Mr. Somerset, since you +find yourself condemned, for a week at least, to the society +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page141"></a>141</span> +of a very interesting character, display some of that open +favour, some of that interest in life’s obscurer sides, which +stamp the character of the true artist. Hang me, if you will, +to-morrow; but to-day show yourself divested of the scruple +of the burgess, and sit down pleasantly to share my meal.”</p> + +<p>“Man!” cried Somerset, “do you understand my sentiments?”</p> + +<p>“Certainly,” replied Zero; “and I respect them! +Would you be outdone in such a contest? will you alone +be partial? and in this nineteenth century, cannot two +gentlemen of education agree to differ on a point of politics? +Come, sir: all your hard words have left me smiling; judge +then, which of us is the philosopher!”</p> + +<p>Somerset was a young man of a very tolerant disposition +and by nature easily amenable to sophistry. He threw up +his hands with a gesture of despair, and took the seat to +which the conspirator invited him. The meal was excellent; +the host not only affable, but primed with curious +information. He seemed, indeed, like one who had too long +endured the torture of silence, to exult in the most wholesale +disclosures. The interest of what he had to tell was great; +his character, besides, developed step by step; and Somerset, +as the time fled, not only outgrew some of the discomfort +of his false position, but began to regard the conspirator +with a familiarity that verged upon contempt. In any +circumstances, he had a singular inability to leave the society +in which he found himself; company, even if distasteful, +held him captive like a limed sparrow; and on this occasion, +he suffered hour to follow hour, was easily persuaded to sit +down once more to table, and did not even attempt to +withdraw till, on the approach of evening, Zero, with many +apologies, dismissed his guest. His fellow-conspirators, +the dynamiter handsomely explained, as they were unacquainted +with the sterling qualities of the young man, +would be alarmed at the sight of a strange face.</p> + +<p>As soon as he was alone, Somerset fell back upon the +humour of the morning. He raged at the thought of his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page142"></a>142</span> +facility; he paced the dining-room, forming the sternest +resolutions for the future; he wrung the hand which had +been dishonoured by the touch of an assassin; and among +all these whirling thoughts, there flashed in from time to +time, and ever with a chill of fear, the thought of the confounded +ingredients with which the house was stored. A +powder magazine seemed a secure smoking-room alongside +of the Superfluous Mansion.</p> + +<p>He sought refuge in flight, in locomotion, in the flowing +bowl. As long as the bars were open, he travelled from one +to another, seeking light, safety, and the companionship of +human faces; when these resources failed him, he fell back +on the belated baked-potato man; and at length, still pacing +the streets, he was goaded to fraternise with the police. +Alas, with what a sense of guilt he conversed with these +guardians of the law; how gladly had he wept upon their +ample bosoms; and how the secret fluttered to his lips and +was still denied an exit! Fatigue began at last to triumph +over remorse; and about the hour of the first milkman, he +returned to the door of the mansion; looked at it with a +horrid expectation, as though it should have burst that +instant into flames; drew out his key, and when his foot +already rested on the steps, once more lost heart and fled for +repose to the grisly shelter of a coffee-shop.</p> + +<p>It was on the stroke of noon when he awoke. Dismally +searching in his pockets, he found himself reduced to half-a-crown; +and, when he had paid the price of his distasteful +couch, saw himself obliged to return to the Superfluous +Mansion. He sneaked into the hall and stole on tiptoe to +the cupboard where he kept his money. Yet half a minute, +he told himself, and he would be free for days from his +obseding lodger, and might decide at leisure on the course +he should pursue. But fate had otherwise designed: there +came a tap at the door and Zero entered.</p> + +<p>“Have I caught you?” he cried, with innocent gaiety. +“Dear fellow, I was growing quite impatient.” And on the +speaker’s somewhat stolid face there came a glow of genuine +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page143"></a>143</span> +affection. “I am so long unused to have a friend,” he continued, +“that I begin to be afraid I may prove jealous.” +And he wrung the hand of his landlord.</p> + +<p>Somerset was, of all men, least fit to deal with such a +greeting. To reject these kind advances was beyond his +strength. That he could not return cordiality for cordiality +was already almost more than he could carry. That inequality +between kind sentiments which, to generous characters, +will always seem to be a sort of guilt, oppressed him +to the ground; and he stammered vague and lying words.</p> + +<p>“That is all right,” cried Zero—“that is as it should be—say +no more! I had a vague alarm; I feared you had +deserted me; but I now own that fear to have been unworthy, +and apologise. To doubt of your forgiveness were +to repeat my sin. Come, then; dinner waits; join me again +and tell me your adventures of the night.”</p> + +<p>Kindness still sealed the lips of Somerset; and he +suffered himself once more to be set down to table with his +innocent and criminal acquaintance. Once more the plotter +plunged up to the neck in damaging disclosures: now it +would be the name and biography of an individual, now the +address of some important centre, that rose, as if by accident, +upon his lips; and each word was like another turn +of the thumbscrew to his unhappy guest. Finally, the +course of Zero’s bland monologue led him to the young lady +of two days ago; that young lady, who had flashed on +Somerset for so brief a while but with so conquering a charm; +and whose engaging grace, communicative eyes, and admirable +conduct of the sweeping skirt, remained imprinted on +his memory.</p> + +<p>“You saw her?” said Zero. “Beautiful, is she not? +She, too, is one of ours: a true enthusiast: nervous, perhaps, +in presence of the chemicals; but in matters of intrigue +the very soul of skill and daring. Lake, Fonblanque, +de Marly, Valdevia, such are some of the names that she +employs; her true name—but there, perhaps, I go too far. +Suffice it, that it is to her I owe my present lodging, and, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page144"></a>144</span> +dear Somerset, the pleasure of your acquaintance. It +appears she knew the house. You see, dear fellow, I make +no concealment: all that you can care to hear, I tell you +openly.”</p> + +<p>“For God’s sake,” cried the wretched Somerset, “hold +your tongue! You cannot imagine how you torture me!”</p> + +<p>A shade of serious discomposure crossed the open countenance +of Zero.</p> + +<p>“There are times,” he said, “when I begin to fancy that +you do not like me. Why, why, dear Somerset, this lack of +cordiality? I am depressed; the touchstone of my life +draws near; and if I fail“—he gloomily nodded—“from +all the height of my ambitious schemes, I fall, dear boy, into +contempt. These are grave thoughts, and you may judge +my need of your delightful company. Innocent prattler, +you relieve the weight of my concerns. And yet ... and +yet....” The speaker pushed away his plate, and rose +from table. “Follow me,” said he, “follow me. My mood +is on; I must have air, I must behold the plain of battle.”</p> + +<p>So saying, he led the way hurriedly to the top flat of the +mansion, and thence, by ladder and trap, to a certain leaded +platform, sheltered at one end by a great stalk of chimneys +and occupying the actual summit of the roof. On both +sides, it bordered, without parapet or rail, on the incline of +slates; and, northward above all, commanded an extensive +view of housetops, and, rising through the smoke, the distant +spires of churches.</p> + +<p>“Here,” cried Zero, “you behold this field of city, rich, +crowded, laughing with the spoil of continents; but soon, +how soon, to be laid low! Some day, some night, from this +coign of vantage, you shall perhaps be startled by the detonation +of the judgment gun—not sharp and empty like +the crack of cannon, but deep-mouthed and unctuously +solemn. Instantly thereafter, you shall behold the flames +break forth. Ay,” he cried, stretching forth his hand, “ay, +that will be a day of retribution. Then shall the pallid +constable flee side by side with the detected thief. Blaze!” +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page145"></a>145</span> +he cried, “blaze, derided city! Fall, flatulent monarchy, +fall like Dagon!”</p> + +<p>With these words his foot slipped upon the lead; and +but for Somerset’s quickness, he had been instantly precipitated +into space. Pale as a sheet, and limp as a pocket-handkerchief, +he was dragged from the edge of downfall by +one arm; helped, or rather carried, down the ladder; and +deposited in safety on the attic landing. Here he began to +come to himself, wiped his brow, and at length, seizing +Somerset’s hand in both of his, began to utter his acknowledgments.</p> + +<p>“This seals it,” said he. “Ours is a life and death connection. +You have plucked me from the jaws of death; +and if I were before attracted by your character, judge now +of the ardour of my gratitude and love! But I perceive +I am still greatly shaken. Lend me, I beseech you, lend me +your arm as far as my apartment.”</p> + +<p>A dram of spirits restored the plotter to something of his +customary self-possession; and he was standing, glass in +hand and genially convalescent, when his eye was attracted +by the dejection of the unfortunate young man.</p> + +<p>“Good Heavens, dear Somerset,” he cried, “what ails +you? Let me offer you a touch of spirits.”</p> + +<p>But Somerset had fallen below the reach of this material +comfort.</p> + +<p>“Let me be,” he said. “I am lost; you have caught +me in the toils. Up to this moment, I have lived all my life +in the most reckless manner, and done exactly what I +pleased, with the most perfect innocence. And now—what +am I? Are you so blind and wooden that you do not +see the loathing you inspire me with? Is it possible you +can suppose me willing to continue to exist upon such terms? +To think,” he cried, “that a young man, guilty of no fault +on earth but amiability, should find himself involved in such +a damned imbroglio!” And, placing his knuckles in his +eyes, Somerset rolled upon the sofa.</p> + +<p>“My God,” said Zero, “is this possible? And I so +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page146"></a>146</span> +filled with tenderness and interest! Can it be, dear Somerset, +that you are under the empire of these outworn scruples? +or that you judge a patriot by the morality of the religious +tract? I thought you were a good agnostic.”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Jones,” said Somerset, “it is in vain to argue. I +boast myself a total disbeliever not only in revealed religion, +but in the data, method, and conclusions of the whole of +ethics. Well! what matters it? what signifies a form of +words? I regard you as a reptile, whom I would rejoice, +whom I long, to stamp under my heel. You would blow +up others? Well then, understand: I want, with every +circumstance of infamy and agony, to blow up you!”</p> + +<p>“Somerset, Somerset!” said Zero, turning very pale, +“this is wrong; this is very wrong. You pain, you wound +me, Somerset.”</p> + +<p>“Give me a match!” cried Somerset wildly. “Let me +set fire to this incomparable monster! Let me perish with +him in his fall!”</p> + +<p>“For God’s sake,” cried Zero, clutching hold of the +young man, “for God’s sake command yourself! We +stand upon the brink; death yawns around us; a man—a +stranger in this foreign land—one whom you have called +your friend——”</p> + +<p>“Silence!” cried Somerset, “you are no friend, no +friend of mine. I look on you with loathing, like a toad: +my flesh creeps with physical repulsion; my soul revolts +against the sight of you.”</p> + +<p>Zero burst into tears. “Alas!” he sobbed, “this snaps +the last link that bound me to humanity. My friend disowns—he +insults me. I am indeed accurst.”</p> + +<p>Somerset stood for an instant staggered by this sudden +change of front. The next moment, with a despairing +gesture, he fled from the room and from the house. The +first dash of his escape carried him hard upon half way to +the next police-office; but presently began to droop; and +before he reached the house of lawful intervention, he fell +once more among doubtful counsels. Was he an agnostic? +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page147"></a>147</span> +had he a right to act? Away with such nonsense, and let +Zero perish! ran his thoughts. And then again: had he +not promised, had he not shaken hands and broken bread? +and that with open eyes? and if so, how could he take action, +and not forfeit honour? But honour? what was honour? +A figment, which, in the hot pursuit of crime, he ought to +dash aside. Ay, but crime? A figment, too, which his +enfranchised intellect discarded. All day, he wandered +in the parks, a prey to whirling thoughts; all night, patrolled +the city; and at the peep of day he sat down by the wayside +in the neighbourhood of Peckham and bitterly wept. His +gods had fallen. He who had chosen the broad, daylit, +unencumbered paths of universal scepticism, found himself +still the bondslave of honour. He who had accepted life +from a point of view as lofty as the predatory eagle’s, +though with no design to prey; he who had clearly recognised +the common moral basis of war, of commercial competition, +and of crime; he who was prepared to help the +escaping murderer or to embrace the impenitent thief, +found, to the overthrow of all his logic, that he objected to +the use of dynamite. The dawn crept among the sleeping +villas and over the smokeless fields of city; and still the +unfortunate sceptic sobbed over his fall from consistency.</p> + +<p>At length he rose and took the rising sun to witness. +“There is no question as to fact,” he cried; “right and +wrong are but figments and the shadow of a word; but for +all that, there are certain things that I cannot do, and there +are certain others that I will not stand.” Thereupon he +decided to return, to make one last effort of persuasion, and, +if he could not prevail on Zero to desist from his infernal +trade, throw delicacy to the winds, give the plotter an hour’s +start, and denounce him to the police. Fast as he went, +being winged by this resolution, it was already well on in +the morning when he came in sight of the Superfluous +Mansion. Tripping down the steps, was the young lady of +the various aliases; and he was surprised to see upon her +countenance the marks of anger and concern.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page148"></a>148</span></p> + +<p>“Madam,” he began, yielding to impulse and with no +clear knowledge of what he was to add.</p> + +<p>But at the sound of his voice she seemed to experience +a shock of fear or horror; started back; lowered her veil +with a sudden movement; and fled, without turning, from +the square.</p> + +<p>Here, then, we step aside a moment from following the +fortunes of Somerset, and proceed to relate the strange +and romantic episode of <span class="sc">The Brown Box</span>.</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page149"></a>149</span></p> +<h3>DESBOROUGH’S ADVENTURE</h3> + +<h4>THE BROWN BOX</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Mr. Harry Desborough</span> lodged in the fine and grave +old quarter of Bloomsbury, roared about on every side by +the high tides of London, but itself rejoicing in romantic +silences and city peace. It was in Queen Square that he +had pitched his tent, next door to the Children’s Hospital, +on your left hand as you go north: Queen Square, sacred +to humane and liberal arts, whence homes were made +beautiful, where the poor were taught, where the sparrows +were plentiful and loud, and where groups of patient little +ones would hover all day long before the hospital, if by +chance they might kiss their hand or speak a word to their +sick brother at the window. Desborough’s room was on +the first floor and fronted to the square; but he enjoyed +besides, a right by which he often profited, to sit and smoke +upon a terrace at the back, which looked down upon a fine +forest of back gardens, and was in turn commanded by the +windows of an empty room.</p> + +<p>On the afternoon of a warm day, Desborough sauntered +forth upon this terrace, somewhat out of hope and heart, +for he had been now some weeks on the vain quest of situations, +and prepared for melancholy and tobacco. Here, +at least, he told himself that he would be alone; for, like +most youths who are neither rich, nor witty, nor successful, +he rather shunned than courted the society of other men. +Even as he expressed the thought, his eye alighted on the +window of the room that looked upon the terrace; and, +to his surprise and annoyance, he beheld it curtained with +a silken hanging. It was like his luck, he thought; his +privacy was gone, he could no longer brood and sigh unwatched, +he could no longer suffer his discouragement to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page150"></a>150</span> +find a vent in words or soothe himself with sentimental +whistling; and in the irritation of the moment, he struck +his pipe upon the rail with unnecessary force. It was an +old, sweet, seasoned briar-root, glossy and dark with long +employment, and justly dear to his fancy. What, then, +was his chagrin, when the head snapped from the stem, +leaped airily in space, and fell and disappeared among the +lilacs of the garden?</p> + +<p>He threw himself savagely into the garden chair, pulled +out the story-paper which he had brought with him to read, +tore off a fragment of the last sheet, which contains only the +answers to correspondents, and set himself to roll a cigarette. +He was no master of the art; again and again, the paper +broke between his fingers and the tobacco showered upon +the ground; and he was already on the point of angry +resignation, when the window swung slowly inward, the +silken curtain was thrust aside, and a lady somewhat +strangely attired stepped forth upon the terrace.</p> + +<p>“Señorito,” said she, and there was a rich thrill in her +voice, like an organ note, “Señorito, you are in difficulties. +Suffer me to come to your assistance.”</p> + +<p>With the words, she took the paper and tobacco from +his unresisting hands; and with a facility that, in Desborough’s +eyes, seemed magical, rolled and presented him +a cigarette. He took it, still seated, still without a word; +staring with all his eyes upon that apparition. Her face +was warm and rich in colour; in shape, it was that piquant +triangle, so innocently sly, so saucily attractive, so rare in +our more northern climates; her eyes were large, starry, +and visited by changing lights; her hair was partly covered +by a lace mantilla, through which her arms, bare to the +shoulder, gleamed white; her figure, full and soft in all the +womanly contours, was yet alive and active, light with +excess of life, and slender by grace of some divine proportion.</p> + +<p>“You do not like my cigarrito, Señor?” she asked. +“Yet it is better made than yours.” At that she laughed, +and her laughter trilled in his ear like music; but the next +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page151"></a>151</span> +moment her face fell. “I see,” she cried. “It is my +manner that repels you. I am too constrained, too cold. +I am not,” she added, with a more engaging air, “I am not +the simple English maiden I appear.”</p> + +<p>“Oh!” murmured Harry, filled with inexpressible +thoughts.</p> + +<p>“In my own dear land,” she pursued, “things are +differently ordered. There, I must own, a girl is bound +by many and rigorous restrictions; little is permitted her; +she learns to be distant, she learns to appear forbidding. +But here, in free England—oh, glorious liberty!” she cried, +and threw up her arms with a gesture of inimitable grace—“here +there are no fetters; here the woman may dare to be +herself entirely, and the men, the chivalrous men—is it +not written on the very shield of your nation, <i>honi soit</i>? +Ah, it is hard for me to learn, hard for me to dare to be +myself. You must not judge me yet awhile; I shall end +by conquering this stiffness, I shall end by growing English. +Do I speak the language well?”</p> + +<p>“Perfectly—oh, perfectly!” said Harry, with a fervency +of conviction worthy of a graver subject.</p> + +<p>“Ah, then,” she said, “I shall soon learn; English +blood ran in my father’s veins; and I have had the advantage +of some training in your expressive tongue. If I speak +already without accent, with my thorough English appearance, +there is nothing left to change except my manners.”</p> + +<p>“Oh no,” said Desborough. “Oh, pray not! I—madam——”</p> + +<p>“I am,” interrupted the lady, “the Señorita Teresa +Valdevia. The evening air grows chill. Adios, Señorito.” +And before Harry could stammer out a word, she had disappeared +into her room.</p> + +<p>He stood transfixed, the cigarette still unlighted in his +hand. His thoughts had soared above tobacco, and still +recalled and beautified the image of his new acquaintance. +Her voice re-echoed in his memory; her eyes, of which he +could not tell the colour, haunted his soul. The clouds had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page152"></a>152</span> +risen at her coming, and he beheld a new-created world. +What she was, he could not fancy, but he adored her. Her +age, he durst not estimate; fearing to find her older than +himself, and thinking sacrilege to couple that fair favour +with the thought of mortal changes. As for her character, +beauty, to the young, is always good. So the poor lad +lingered late upon the terrace, stealing timid glances at the +curtained window, sighing to the gold laburnums, rapt into +the country of romance; and when at length he entered +and sat down to dine, on cold boiled mutton and a pint of +ale, he feasted on the food of gods.</p> + +<p>Next day when he returned to the terrace, the window +was a little ajar and he enjoyed a view of the lady’s shoulder, +as she sat patiently sewing and all unconscious of his presence. +On the next, he had scarce appeared when the +window opened, and the Señorita tripped forth into the +sunlight, in a morning disorder, delicately neat, and yet +somehow foreign, tropical, and strange. In one hand she +held a packet.</p> + +<p>“Will you try,” she said, “some of my father’s tobacco—from +dear Cuba? There, as I suppose you know, all +smoke, ladies as well as gentlemen. So you need not fear +to annoy me. The fragrance will remind me of home. My +home, Señor, was by the sea.” And as she uttered these +few words, Desborough, for the first time in his life, realised +the poetry of the great deep. “Awake or asleep, I dream +of it; dear home, dear Cuba!”</p> + +<p>“But some day,” said Desborough, with an inward +pang, “some day you will return!”</p> + +<p>“Never!” she cried; “ah, never, in Heaven’s name!”</p> + +<p>“Are you then resident for life in England?” he inquired, +with a strange lightening of spirit.</p> + +<p>“You ask too much, for you ask more than I know,” +she answered sadly; and then, resuming her gaiety of +manner: “But you have not tried my Cuban tobacco,” +she said.</p> + +<p>“Señorita,” said he, shyly abashed by some shadow +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page153"></a>153</span> +of coquetry in her manner, “whatever comes to me—you—I +mean,” he concluded, deeply flushing, “that I have no +doubt the tobacco is delightful.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, Señor,” she said, with almost mournful gravity, +“you seemed so simple and good, and already you are +trying to pay compliments—and besides,” she added, +brightening, with a quick upward glance, into a smile, +“you do it so badly! English gentlemen, I used to hear, +could be fast friends, respectful, honest friends; could be +companions, comforters, if the need arose, or champions, +and yet never encroach. Do not seek to please me by copying +the graces of my countrymen. Be yourself: the frank, +kindly, honest English gentleman that I have heard of +since my childhood and still longed to meet.”</p> + +<p>Harry, much bewildered, and far from clear as to the +manners of the Cuban gentlemen, strenuously disclaimed +the thought of plagiarism.</p> + +<p>“Your national seriousness of bearing best becomes +you, Señor,” said the lady. “See!” marking a line with +her dainty, slippered foot, “thus far it shall be common +ground; there, at my window-sill, begins the scientific +frontier. If you choose, you may drive me to my forts; +but if, on the other hand, we are to be real English friends, +I may join you here when I am not too sad; or, when I am +yet more graciously inclined, you may draw your chair +beside the window and teach me English customs, while I +work. You will find me an apt scholar, for my heart is in +the task.” She laid her hand lightly upon Harry’s arm, +and looked into his eyes. “Do you know,” said she, “I +am emboldened to believe that I have already caught something +of your English aplomb? Do you not perceive a +change, Señor? Slight, perhaps, but still a change? Is +my deportment not more open, more free, more like that +of the dear‘British Miss,’ than when you saw me first?” +She gave a radiant smile; withdrew her hand from Harry’s +arm; and before the young man could formulate in words +the eloquent emotions that ran riot through his brain—with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page154"></a>154</span> +an “Adios, Señor: good-night, my English friend,” +she vanished from his sight behind the curtain.</p> + +<p>The next day, Harry consumed an ounce of tobacco +in vain upon the neutral terrace; neither sight nor sound +rewarded him, and the dinner-hour summoned him at length +from the scene of disappointment. On the next, it rained; +but nothing, neither business nor weather, neither prospective +poverty nor present hardship, could now divert +the young man from the service of his lady; and wrapt in +a long ulster, with the collar raised, he took his stand +against the balustrade, awaiting fortune, the picture of +damp and discomfort to the eye, but glowing inwardly +with tender and delightful ardours. Presently the window +opened; and the fair Cuban, with a smile imperfectly dissembled, +appeared upon the sill.</p> + +<p>“Come here,” she said, “here, beside my window. The +small verandah gives a belt of shelter.” And she graciously +handed him a folding-chair.</p> + +<p>As he sat down, visibly aglow with shyness and delight, +a certain bulkiness in his pocket reminded him that he was +not come empty-handed.</p> + +<p>“I have taken the liberty,” said he, “of bringing you +a little book. I thought of you, when I observed it on the +stall, because I saw it was in Spanish. The man assured +me it was by one of the best authors, and quite proper.” +As he spoke, he placed the little volume in her hand. Her +eyes fell as she turned the pages, and a flush rose and +died again upon her cheeks, as deep as it was fleeting. +“You are angry,” he cried in agony. “I have presumed.”</p> + +<p>“No, Señor, it is not that,” returned the lady. “I“—and +a flood of colour once more mounted to her brow—“I +am confused and ashamed because I have deceived you. +Spanish,” she began, and paused—“Spanish is of course +my native tongue,” she resumed, as though suddenly taking +courage; “and this should certainly put the highest value +on your thoughtful present; but alas, sir, of what use is it +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page155"></a>155</span> +to me? And how shall I confess to you the truth—the +humiliating truth—that I cannot read?”</p> + +<p>As Harry’s eyes met hers in undisguised amazement, +the fair Cuban seemed to shrink before his gaze. “Read?” +repeated Harry. “You!”</p> + +<p>She pushed the window still more widely open with a +large and noble gesture. “Enter, Señor,” said she. “The +time has come to which I have long looked forward, not +without alarm; when I must either fear to lose your friendship, +or tell you without disguise the story of my life.”</p> + +<p>It was with a sentiment bordering on devotion that +Harry passed the window. A semi-barbarous delight in +form and colour had presided over the studied disorder +of the room in which he found himself. It was filled with +dainty stuffs, furs and rugs and scarves of brilliant hues, +and set with elegant and curious trifles—fans on the mantelshelf, +an antique lamp upon a bracket, and on the table a +silver-mounted bowl of cocoa-nut about half full of unset +jewels. The fair Cuban, herself a gem of colour and the fit +masterpiece for that rich frame, motioned Harry to a seat, +and, sinking herself into another, thus began her history.</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<h4>STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">I am</span> not what I seem. My father drew his descent, on +the one hand, from grandees of Spain, and on the other, +through the maternal line, from the patriot Bruce. My +mother, too, was the descendant of a line of kings; but, +alas! these kings were African. She was fair as the day: +fairer than I, for I inherited a darker stain of blood from +the veins of my European father; her mind was noble, her +manners queenly and accomplished; and seeing her more +than the equal of her neighbours and surrounded by the +most considerate affection and respect, I grew up to adore +her, and when the time came, received her last sigh upon +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page156"></a>156</span> +my lips, still ignorant that she was a slave and alas! my +father’s mistress. Her death, which befell me in my sixteenth +year, was the first sorrow I had known: it left our +home bereaved of its attractions, cast a shade of melancholy +on my youth, and wrought in my father a tragic and durable +change. Months went by: with the elasticity of my years, +I regained some of the simple mirth that had before distinguished +me; the plantation smiled with fresh crops; +the negroes on the estate had already forgotten my mother +and transferred their simple obedience to myself; but still +the cloud only darkened on the brows of Señor Valdevia. +His absences from home had been frequent even in the old +days, for he did business in precious gems in the city of +Havana; they now became almost continuous; and when +he returned, it was but for the night and with the manner +of a man crushed down by adverse fortune.</p> + +<p>The place where I was born and passed my days was +an isle set in the Caribbean Sea, some half-hour’s rowing +from the coasts of Cuba. It was steep, rugged, and, except +for my father’s family and plantation, uninhabited +and left to nature. The house, a low building surrounded +by spacious verandahs, stood upon a rise of ground and +looked across the sea to Cuba. The breezes blew about +it gratefully, fanned us as we lay swinging in our silken +hammocks, and tossed the boughs and flowers of the +magnolia. Behind and to the left, the quarter of the negroes +and the waving fields of the plantation covered an eighth +part of the surface of the isle. On the right and closely +bordering on the garden, lay a vast and deadly swamp, +densely covered with wood, breathing fever, dotted with +profound sloughs, and inhabited by poisonous oysters, +man-eating crabs, snakes, alligators, and sickly fishes. +Into the recesses of that jungle none could penetrate but +those of African descent; an invisible, unconquerable foe +lay there in wait for the European; and the air was death.</p> + +<p>One morning (from which I must date the beginning +of my ruinous misfortune) I left my room a little after day, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page157"></a>157</span> +for in that warm climate all are early risers, and found not +a servant to attend upon my wants. I made the circuit of +the house, still calling; and my surprise had almost changed +into alarm, when, coming at last into a large verandahed +court, I found it thronged with negroes. Even then, even +when I was amongst them, not one turned or paid the least +regard to my arrival. They had eyes and ears for but one +person: a woman, richly and tastefully attired; of elegant +carriage, and a musical speech; not so much old in years, +as worn and marred by self-indulgence: her face, which +was still attractive, stamped with the most cruel passions, +her eye burning with the greed of evil. It was not from +her appearance, I believe, but from some emanation of her +soul, that I recoiled in a kind of fainting terror; as we hear +of plants that blight and snakes that fascinate, the woman +shocked and daunted me. But I was of a brave nature; +trod the weakness down; and forcing my way through the +slaves, who fell back before me in embarrassment, as though +in the presence of rival mistresses, I asked, in imperious +tones: “Who is this person?”</p> + +<p>A slave girl, to whom I had been kind, whispered in +my ear to have a care, for that was Madam Mendizabal; +but the name was new to me.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile the woman, applying a pair of glasses +to her eyes, studied me with insolent particularity from +head to foot.</p> + +<p>“Young woman,” said she at last, “I have had a great +experience in refractory servants, and take a pride in breaking +them. You really tempt me; and if I had not other +affairs, and these of more importance, on my hand, I should +certainly buy you at your father’s sale.”</p> + +<p>“Madam——” I began, but my voice failed me.</p> + +<p>“Is it possible that you do not know your position?” +she returned, with a hateful laugh. “How comical! +Positively, I must buy her. Accomplishments, I suppose?” +she added, turning to the servants.</p> + +<p>Several assured her that the young mistress had been +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page158"></a>158</span> +brought up like any lady, for so it seemed in their inexperience.</p> + +<p>“She would do very well for my place of business in +Havana,” said Señora Mendizabal, once more studying +me through her glasses; “and I should take a pleasure,” +she pursued, more directly addressing myself, “in bringing +you acquainted with a whip.” And she smiled at me +with a savoury lust of cruelty upon her face.</p> + +<p>At this, I found expression. Calling by name upon +the servants, I bade them turn this woman from the house, +fetch her to the boat, and set her back upon the mainland. +But with one voice they protested that they durst not obey, +coming close about me, pleading and beseeching me to be +more wise; and when I insisted, rising higher in passion +and speaking of this foul intruder in the terms she had +deserved, they fell back from me as from one who had +blasphemed. A superstitious reverence plainly encircled +the stranger; I could read it in their changed demeanour, +and in the paleness that prevailed upon the natural colour +of their faces; and their fear perhaps reacted on myself. +I looked again at Madam Mendizabal. She stood perfectly +composed, watching my face through her glasses with a +smile of scorn; and at the sight of her assured superiority +to all my threats, a cry broke from my lips, a cry of rage, +fear, and despair, and I fled from the verandah and the +house.</p> + +<p>I ran I knew not where, but it was towards the beach. +As I went, my head whirled; so strange, so sudden, were +these events and insults. Who was she? what, in Heaven’s +name, the power she wielded over my obedient negroes? +Why had she addressed me as a slave? why spoken of my +father’s sale? To all these tumultuary questions I could +find no answer; and, in the turmoil of my mind, nothing +was plain except the hateful, leering image of the +woman.</p> + +<p>I was still running, mad with fear and anger, when I +saw my father coming to meet me from the landing-place; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page159"></a>159</span> +and, with a cry that I thought would have killed me, leaped +into his arms and broke into a passion of sobs and tears +upon his bosom. He made me sit down below a tall palmetto +that grew not far off; comforted me, but with some +abstraction in his voice; and, as soon as I regained the +least command upon my feelings, asked me, not without +harshness, what this grief betokened. I was surprised by +his tone into a still greater measure of composure; and in +firm tones, though still interrupted by sobs, I told him +there was a stranger in the island, at which I thought he +started and turned pale; that the servants would not obey +me; that the stranger’s name was Madam Mendizabal, and, +at that, he seemed to me both troubled and relieved; that +she had insulted me, treated me as a slave (and here my +father’s brow began to darken), threatened to buy me at +a sale, and questioned my own servants before my face; +and that, at last, finding myself quite helpless and exposed +to these intolerable liberties, I had fled from the house in +terror, indignation, and amazement.</p> + +<p>“Teresa,” said my father, with singular gravity of voice, +“I must make to-day a call upon your courage; much +must be told you, there is much that you must do to help +me; and my daughter must prove herself a woman by her +spirit. As for this Mendizabal, what shall I say? or how +am I to tell you what she is? Twenty years ago, she was +the loveliest of slaves; to-day she is what you see her—prematurely +old, disgraced by the practice of every vice +and every nefarious industry, but free, rich, married, they +say, to some reputable man, whom may Heaven assist! +and exercising among her ancient mates, the slaves of Cuba, +an influence as unbounded as its reason is mysterious. +Horrible rites, it is supposed, cement her empire: the rites +of Hoodoo. Be that as it may, I would have you dismiss +the thought of this incomparable witch; it is not from her +that danger threatens us; and into her hands, I make bold +to promise, you shall never fall.”</p> + +<p>“Father!” I cried. “Fall? Was there any truth, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page160"></a>160</span> +then, in her words? Am I—O father, tell me plain; I can +bear anything but this suspense.”</p> + +<p>“I will tell you,” he replied, “with merciful bluntness. +Your mother was a slave; it was my design, so soon as I +had saved a competence, to sail to the free land of Britain, +where the law would suffer me to marry her: a design too +long procrastinated; for death, at the last moment, intervened. +You will now understand the heaviness with which +your mother’s memory hangs about my neck.”</p> + +<p>I cried out aloud, in pity for my parents; and, in seeking +to console the survivor, I forgot myself.</p> + +<p>“It matters not,” resumed my father. “What I have +left undone can never be repaired, and I must bear the +penalty of my remorse. But, Teresa, with so cutting a +reminder of the evils of delay, I set myself at once to do +what was still possible: to liberate yourself.”</p> + +<p>I began to break forth in thanks, but he checked me +with a sombre roughness.</p> + +<p>“Your mother’s illness,” he resumed, “had engaged +too great a portion of my time; my business in the city +had lain too long at the mercy of ignorant underlings; my +head, my taste, my unequalled knowledge of the more +precious stones, that art by which I can distinguish, even +on the darkest night, a sapphire from a ruby and tell at a +glance in what quarter of the earth a gem was disinterred—all +these had been too long absent from the conduct of +affairs. Teresa, I was insolvent.”</p> + +<p>“What matters that?” I cried. “What matters +poverty, if we be left together with our love and sacred +memories?”</p> + +<p>“You do not comprehend,” he said gloomily. “Slave +as you are, young—alas! scarce more than child!—accomplished, +beautiful with the most touching beauty, innocent +as an angel—all these qualities that should disarm the very +wolves and crocodiles, are, in the eyes of those to whom +I stand indebted, commodities to buy and sell. You are +a chattel; a marketable thing; and worth—heavens, that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page161"></a>161</span> +I should say such words!—worth money. Do you begin +to see? If I were to give you freedom, I should defraud +my creditors; the manumission would be certainly annulled; +you would be still a slave, and I a criminal.”</p> + +<p>I caught his hand in mine, kissed it, and moaned in +pity for myself, in sympathy for my father.</p> + +<p>“How I have toiled,” he continued, “how I have dared +and striven to repair my losses, Heaven has beheld and +will remember. Its blessing was denied to my endeavours, +or, as I please myself by thinking, but delayed to descend +upon my daughter’s head. At length, all hope was at an +end; I was ruined beyond retrieve; a heavy debt fell due +upon the morrow, which I could not meet; I should be +declared a bankrupt, and my goods, my lands, my jewels +that I so much loved, my slaves whom I have spoiled and +rendered happy, and oh! tenfold worse, you, my beloved +daughter, would be sold and pass into the hands of ignorant +and greedy traffickers. Too long, I saw, had I accepted +and profited by this great crime of slavery; but was my +daughter, my innocent, unsullied daughter, was <i>she</i> to pay +the price? I cried out—no!—I took Heaven to witness +my temptation; I caught up this bag and fled. Close upon +my track are the pursuers; perhaps to-night, perhaps to-morrow, +they will land upon this isle, sacred to the memory +of the dear soul that bore you, to consign your father to an +ignominious prison, and yourself to slavery and dishonour. +We have not many hours before us. Off the north coast +of our isle, by strange good fortune, an English yacht has +for some days been hovering. It belongs to Sir George +Greville, whom I slightly know, to whom ere now I have +rendered unusual services, and who will not refuse to help +in our escape. Or if he did, if his gratitude were in default, +I have the power to force him. For what does it mean +my child—what means this Englishman, who hangs for +years upon the shores of Cuba, and returns from every trip +with new and valuable gems?”</p> + +<p>“He may have found a mine,” I hazarded.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page162"></a>162</span></p> + +<p>“So he declares,” returned my father; “but the +strange gift I have received from nature easily transpierced +the fable. He brought me diamonds only, which I bought, +at first, in innocence; at a second glance, I started; for of +these stones, my child, some had first seen the day in Africa, +some in Brazil; while others, from their peculiar water and +rude workmanship, I divined to be the spoil of ancient +temples. Thus put upon the scent, I made inquiries: Oh, +he is cunning, but I was cunninger than he. He visited, +I found, the shop of every jeweller in town; to one he came +with rubies, to one with emeralds, to one with precious +beryl; to all, with this same story of the mine. But in +what mine, what rich epitome of the earth’s surface, were +there conjoined the rubies of Ispahan, the pearls of Coromandel, +and the diamonds of Golconda? No, child, that +man, for all his yacht and title, that man must fear and must +obey me. To-night, then, as soon as it is dark, we must +take our way through the swamp by the path which I shall +presently show you; thence, across the highlands of the +isle, a track is blazed, which shall conduct us to the haven +on the north; and close by the yacht is riding. Should +my pursuers come before the hour at which I look to see +them, they will still arrive too late; a trusty man attends +on the mainland; as soon as they appear, we shall behold, +if it be dark, the redness of a fire—if it be day, a pillar of +smoke, on the opposing headland; and thus warned, we +shall have time to put the swamp between ourselves and +danger. Meantime, I would conceal this bag; I would, +before all things, be seen to arrive at the house with empty +hands; a babbling slave might else undo us. For see!” +he added; and holding up the bag, which he had already +shown me, he poured into my lap a shower of unmounted +jewels, brighter than flowers, of every size and colour, and +catching, as they fell, upon a million dainty facets, the +ardour of the sun.</p> + +<p>I could not restrain a cry of admiration.</p> + +<p>“Even in your ignorant eyes,” pursued my father, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page163"></a>163</span> +“they command respect. Yet what are they but pebbles, +passive to the tool, cold as death? Ingrate!” he cried. +“Each one of these—miracles of nature’s patience, conceived +out of the dust in centuries of microscopical activity, +each one is, for you and me, a year of life, liberty, and +mutual affection. How, then, should I cherish them! and +why do I delay to place them beyond reach! Teresa, +follow me.”</p> + +<p>He rose to his feet, and led me to the borders of the +great jungle, where they overhung, in a wall of poisonous +and dusky foliage, the declivity of the hill on which my +father’s house stood planted. For some while he skirted, +with attentive eyes, the margin of the thicket. Then, +seeming to recognise some mark, for his countenance became +immediately lightened of a load of thought, he paused +and addressed me. “Here,” said he, “is the entrance of +the secret path that I have mentioned, and here you shall +await me. I but pass some hundreds of yards into the +swamp to bury my poor treasure; as soon as that is safe +I will return.” It was in vain that I sought to dissuade +him, urging the dangers of the place; in vain that I begged +to be allowed to follow, pleading the black blood that I now +knew to circulate in my veins: to all my appeals he turned +a deaf ear, and, bending back a portion of the screen of +bushes, disappeared into the pestilential silence of the +swamp.</p> + +<p>At the end of a full hour, the bushes were once more +thrust aside; and my father stepped from out the thicket, +and paused, and almost staggered in the first shock of the +blinding sunlight. His face was of a singular dusky red; +and yet, for all the heat of the tropical noon, he did not +seem to sweat.</p> + +<p>“You are tired,” I cried, springing to meet him. “You +are ill.”</p> + +<p>“I am tired,” he replied; “the air in that jungle stifles +one; my eyes, besides, have grown accustomed to its gloom, +and the strong sunshine pierces them like knives. A +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page164"></a>164</span> +moment, Teresa, give me but a moment. All shall yet be +well. I have buried the hoard under a cypress, immediately +beyond the bayou, on the left-hand margin of the +path; beautiful, bright things, they now lie whelmed in +slime; you shall find them there, if needful. But come, +let us to the house; it is time to eat against our journey of +the night; to eat and then to sleep, my poor Teresa: then +to sleep.” And he looked upon me out of bloodshot eyes, +shaking his head as if in pity.</p> + +<p>We went hurriedly, for he kept murmuring that he had +been gone too long and that the servants might suspect; +passed through the airy stretch of the verandah; and came +at length into the grateful twilight of the shuttered house. +The meal was spread; the house servants, already informed +by the boatmen of the master’s return, were all back at +their posts, and terrified, as I could see, to face me. My +father still murmuring of haste with weary and feverish +pertinacity, I hurried at once to take my place at table; +but I had no sooner left his arm than he paused and thrust +forth both his hands with a strange gesture of groping. +“How is this?” he cried, in a sharp, unhuman voice. “Am +I blind?” I ran to him and tried to lead him to the table; +but he resisted and stood stiffly where he was, opening and +shutting his jaws, as if in a painful effort after breath. Then +suddenly he raised both hands to his temples, cried out, +“My head, my head!” and reeled and fell against the wall.</p> + +<p>I knew too well what it must be. I turned and begged +the servants to relieve him. But they, with one accord, +denied the possibility of hope; the master had gone into +the swamp, they said, the master must die; all help was +idle. Why should I dwell upon his sufferings? I had him +carried to a bed, and watched beside him. He lay still, +and at times ground his teeth, and talked at times unintelligibly, +only that one word of hurry, hurry, coming distinctly +to my ears, and telling me that, even in the last +struggle with the powers of death, his mind was still tortured +by his daughter’s peril. The sun had gone down, the darkness +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page165"></a>165</span> +had fallen, when I perceived that I was alone on this +unhappy earth. What thoughts had I of flight, of safety, +of the impending dangers of my situation? Beside the body +of my last friend, I had forgotten all except the natural +pangs of my bereavement.</p> + +<p>The sun was some four hours above the eastern line +when I was recalled to a knowledge of the things of earth +by the entrance of the slave-girl to whom I have already +referred. The poor soul was indeed devotedly attached +to me; and it was with streaming tears that she broke to +me the import of her coming. With the first light of dawn +a boat had reached our landing-place, and set on shore upon +our isle (till now so fortunate) a party of officers bearing a +warrant to arrest my father’s person, and a man of a gross +body and low manners, who declared the island, the plantation, +and all its human chattels, to be now his own. “I +think,” said my slave-girl, “he must be a politician or some +very powerful sorcerer; for Madam Mendizabal had no +sooner seen them coming than she took to the woods.”</p> + +<p>“Fool,” said I, “it was the officer she feared; and at +any rate why does that beldam still dare to pollute the +island with her presence? And oh, Cora,” I exclaimed, +remembering my grief, “what matter all these troubles +to an orphan?”</p> + +<p>“Mistress,” said she, “I must remind you of two things. +Never speak as you do now of Madam Mendizabal; or never +to a person of colour; for she is the most powerful woman +in this world, and her real name even, if one durst pronounce +it, were a spell to raise the dead. And whatever you do, +speak no more of her to your unhappy Cora; for though +it is possible she may be afraid of the police (and indeed I +think that I have heard she is in hiding), and though I know +that you will laugh and not believe, yet it is true, and +proved, and known that she hears every word that people +utter in this whole, vast world; and your poor Cora is +already deep enough in her black books. She looks at me, +mistress, till my blood turns ice. That is the first I had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page166"></a>166</span> +to say; and now for the second; do, pray, for Heaven’s +sake, bear in mind that you are no longer the poor Señor’s +daughter. He is gone, dear gentleman; and now you are +no more than a common slave-girl like myself. The man +to whom you belong calls for you; oh, my dear mistress, +go at once! With your youth and beauty, you may still, +if you are winning and obedient, secure yourself an easy +life.”</p> + +<p>For the moment I looked on the creature with the +indignation you may conceive; the next, it was gone: she +did but speak after her kind, as the bird sings or cattle +bellow. “Go,” said I. “Go, Cora. I thank you for your +kind intentions. Leave me alone one moment with my +dead father; and tell this man that I will come at once.”</p> + +<p>She went; and I, turning to the bed of death, addressed +to those deaf ears the last appeal and defence of my beleaguered +innocence. “Father,” I said, “it was your last +thought, even in the pangs of dissolution, that your daughter +should escape disgrace. Here, at your side, I swear to you +that purpose shall be carried out; by what means, I know +not; by crime, if need be; and Heaven forgive both you +and me and our oppressors, and Heaven help my helplessness!” +Thereupon I felt strengthened as by long repose; +stepped to the mirror, ay, even in that chamber of the dead; +hastily arranged my hair, refreshed my tear-worn eyes, +breathed a dumb farewell to the originator of my days and +sorrows; and, composing my features to a smile, went forth +to meet my master.</p> + +<p>He was in a great, hot bustle, reviewing that house, +once ours, to which he had but now succeeded; a corpulent, +sanguine man of middle age, sensual, vulgar, humorous, +and, if I judged rightly, not ill-disposed by nature. But +the sparkle that came into his eye as he observed me enter +warned me to expect the worse.</p> + +<p>“Is this your late mistress?” he inquired of the slaves; +and, when he had learnt it was so, instantly dismissed them. +“Now, my dear,” said he, “I am a plain man: none of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page167"></a>167</span> +your damned Spaniards, but a true blue, hard-working, +honest Englishman. My name is Caulder.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you, sir,” said I, and curtsied very smartly as +I had seen the servants.</p> + +<p>“Come,” said he, “this is better than I had expected; +and if you choose to be dutiful in the station to which it +has pleased God to call you, you will find me a very kind +old fellow. I like your looks,” he added, calling me by my +name, which he scandalously mispronounced. “Is your +hair all your own?” he then inquired with a certain sharpness, +and coming up to me, as though I were a horse, he +grossly satisfied his doubts. I was all one flame from head +to foot, but I contained my righteous anger and submitted. +“That is very well,” he continued, chucking me good-humouredly +under the chin. “You will have no cause to +regret coming to old Caulder, eh? But that is by the way. +What is more to the point is this: your late master was a +most dishonest rogue and levanted with some valuable +property that belonged of rights to me. Now, considering +your relation to him, I regard you as the likeliest person to +know what has become of it; and I warn you, before you +answer, that my whole future kindness will depend upon +your honesty. I am an honest man myself, and expect +the same in my servants.”</p> + +<p>“Do you mean the jewels?” said I, sinking my voice +into a whisper.</p> + +<p>“That is just precisely what I do,” said he, and chuckled.</p> + +<p>“Hush!” said I.</p> + +<p>“Hush?” he repeated. “And why hush? I am on +my own place, I would have you to know, and surrounded +by my own lawful servants.”</p> + +<p>“Are the officers gone?” I asked; and, oh! how my +hopes hung upon the answer!</p> + +<p>“They are,” said he, looking somewhat disconcerted. +“Why do you ask?”</p> + +<p>“I wish you had kept them,” I answered, solemnly +enough, although my heart at that same moment leaped +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page168"></a>168</span> +with exultation. “Master, I must not conceal from you +the truth. The servants on this estate are in a dangerous +condition, and mutiny has long been brewing.”</p> + +<p>“Why,” he cried, “I never saw a milder-looking lot +of niggers in my life.” But for all that he turned somewhat +pale.</p> + +<p>“Did they tell you,” I continued, “that Madam Mendizabal +is on the island? that, since her coming, they obey +none but her? that if, this morning, they have received you +with even decent civility, it was only by her orders—issued +with what after-thought I leave you to consider?”</p> + +<p>“Madam Jezebel?” said he. “Well, she is a dangerous +devil; the police are after her, besides, for a whole +series of murders; but after all, what then? To be sure, +she has a great influence with you coloured folk. But +what in fortune’s name can be her errand here?”</p> + +<p>“The jewels,” I replied. “Ah, sir, had you seen that +treasure, sapphire and emerald and opal, and the golden +topaz, and rubies, red as the sunset—of what incalculable +worth, of what unequalled beauty to the eye!—had you +seen it, as I have, and alas! as <i>she</i> has—you would understand +and tremble at your danger.”</p> + +<p>“She has seen them!” he cried, and I could see by his +face that my audacity was justified by its success.</p> + +<p>I caught his hand in mine. “My master,” said I, “I +am now yours; it is my duty, it should be my pleasure, +to defend your interests and life. Hear my advice then; +and, I conjure you, be guided by my prudence. Follow +me privily; let none see where we are going; I will lead +you to the place where the treasure has been buried; that +once disinterred, let us make straight for the boat, escape +to the mainland, and not return to this dangerous isle without +the countenance of soldiers.”</p> + +<p>What free man in a free land would have credited so +sudden a devotion? But this oppressor, through the very +arts and sophistries he had abused, to quiet the rebellion +of his conscience and to convince himself that slavery was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page169"></a>169</span> +natural, fell like a child into the trap I laid for him. He +praised and thanked me; told me I had all the qualities +he valued in a servant; and when he had questioned me +further as to the nature and value of the treasure, and I had +once more artfully inflamed his greed, bade me, without +delay, proceed to carry out my plan of action.</p> + +<p>From a shed in the garden I took a pick and shovel; +and thence, by devious paths among the magnolias, led +my master to the entrance of the swamp. I walked first, +carrying, as I was now in duty bound, the tools, and glancing +continually behind me, lest we should be spied upon and +followed. When we were come as far as the beginning of +the path, it flashed into my mind I had forgotten meat; +and leaving Mr. Caulder in the shadow of a tree, I returned +alone to the house for a basket of provisions. Were they +for him? I asked myself. And a voice within me answered, +No. While we were face to face, while I still saw before my +eyes the man to whom I belonged as the hand belongs to +the body, my indignation held me bravely up. But now +that I was alone, I conceived a sickness at myself and my +designs that I could scarce endure; I longed to throw myself +at his feet, avow my intended treachery, and warn him +from that pestilential swamp, to which I was decoying him +to die; but my vow to my dead father, my duty to my +innocent youth, prevailed upon these scruples; and though +my face was pale and must have reflected the horror that +oppressed my spirits, it was with a firm step that I returned +to the borders of the swamp, and with smiling lips that I +bade him rise and follow me.</p> + +<p>The path on which we now entered was cut, like a tunnel, +through the living jungle. On either hand and overhead, +the mass of foliage was continuously joined; the day +sparingly filtered through the depth of superimpending +wood; and the air was hot like steam, and heady with +vegetable odours, and lay like a load upon the lungs and +brain. Underfoot, a great depth of mould received our +silent footprints; on each side, mimosas, as tall as a man, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page170"></a>170</span> +shrank from my passing skirts with a continuous hissing +rustle; and, but for these sentient vegetables, all in that +den of pestilence was motionless and noiseless.</p> + +<p>We had gone but a little way in, when Mr. Caulder was +seized with sudden nausea, and must sit down a moment +on the path. My heart yearned, as I beheld him; and I +seriously begged the doomed mortal to return upon his +steps. What were a few jewels in the scales with life? I +asked. But no, he said; that witch Madam Jezebel would +find them out; he was an honest man, and would not stand +to be defrauded, and so forth, panting the while, like a sick +dog. Presently he got to his feet again, protesting he had +conquered his uneasiness; but as we again began to go +forward, I saw in his changed countenance the first approaches +of death.</p> + +<p>“Master,” said I, “you look pale, deathly pale; your +pallor fills me with dread. Your eyes are bloodshot; they +are red like the rubies that we seek.”</p> + +<p>“Wench,” he cried, “look before you; look at your steps. +I declare to Heaven, if you annoy me once again by looking +back, I shall remind you of the change in your position.”</p> + +<p>A little after, I observed a worm upon the ground, and +told, in a whisper, that its touch was death. Presently +a great green serpent, vivid as the grass in spring, wound +rapidly across the path; and once again I paused and +looked back at my companion with a horror in my eyes. +“The coffin snake,” said I, “the snake that dogs its victim +like a hound.”</p> + +<p>But he was not to be dissuaded. “I am an old traveller,” +said he. “This is a foul jungle indeed; but we shall soon +be at an end.”</p> + +<p>“Ay,” said I, looking at him with a strange smile, +“what end?”</p> + +<p>Thereupon he laughed again and again, but not very +heartily; and then, perceiving that the path began to +widen and grow higher, “There!” said he. “What did +I tell you? We are past the worst.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page171"></a>171</span></p> + +<p>Indeed, we had now come to the bayou, which was in +that place very narrow and bridged across by a fallen +trunk; but on either hand we could see it broaden out, +under a cavern of great arms of trees and hanging creepers: +sluggish, putrid, of a horrible and sickly stench, floated +on by the flat heads of alligators, and its banks alive with +scarlet crabs.</p> + +<p>“If we fall from that unsteady bridge,” said I, “see, +where the caiman lies ready to devour us! If, by the least +divergence from the path, we should be snared in a morass, +see, where those myriads of scarlet vermin scour the border +of the thicket! Once helpless, how they would swarm +together to the assault! What could man do against a +thousand of such mailed assailants? And what a death +were that, to perish alive under their claws!”</p> + +<p>“Are you mad, girl?” he cried. “I bid you be silent +and lead on.”</p> + +<p>Again I looked upon him, half relenting; and at that +he raised the stick that was in his hand and cruelly struck +me on the face. “Lead on!” he cried again. “Must I +be all day, catching my death in this vile slough, and all +for a prating slave-girl?”</p> + +<p>I took the blow in silence, I took it smiling; but the +blood welled back upon my heart. Something, I know +not what, fell at that moment with a dull plunge in the +waters of the lagoon, and I told myself it was my pity that +had fallen.</p> + +<p>On the farther side, to which we now hastily scrambled, +the wood was not so dense, the web of creepers not so +solidly convolved. It was possible, here and there, to mark +a patch of somewhat brighter daylight, or to distinguish, +through the lighter web of parasites, the proportions of +some soaring tree. The cypress on the left stood very +visibly forth, upon the edge of such a clearing; the path +in that place widened broadly; and there was a patch of +open ground, beset with horrible ant-heaps, thick with +their artificers. I laid down the tools and basket by the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page172"></a>172</span> +cypress root, where they were instantly blackened over +with the crawling ants; and looked once more in the face +of my unconscious victim. Mosquitoes and foul flies wove +so close a veil between us that his features were obscured; +and the sound of their flight was like the turning of a mighty +wheel.</p> + +<p>“Here,” I said, “is the spot. I cannot dig, for I have +not learned to use such instruments; but, for your own +sake, I beseech you to be swift in what you do.”</p> + +<p>He had sunk once more upon the ground, panting like +a fish; and I saw rising in his face the same dusky flush +that had mantled on my father’s. “I feel ill,” he gasped, +“horribly ill; the swamp turns around me; the drone of +these carrion flies confounds me. Have you not wine?”</p> + +<p>I gave him a glass, and he drank greedily. “It is for +you to think,” said I, “if you should further persevere. +The swamp has an ill name.” And at the word I ominously +nodded.</p> + +<p>“Give me the pick,” said he. “Where are the jewels +buried?”</p> + +<p>I told him vaguely; and in the sweltering heat and +closeness, and dim twilight of the jungle, he began to wield +the pickaxe, swinging it overhead with the vigour of a +healthy man. At first, there broke forth upon him a strong +sweat, that made his face to shine, and in which the greedy +insects settled thickly.</p> + +<p>“To sweat in such a place,” said I. “O master, is +this wise? Fever is drunk in through open pores.”</p> + +<p>“What do you mean?” he screamed, pausing with the +pick buried in the soil. “Do you seek to drive me mad? +Do you think I do not understand the danger that I run?”</p> + +<p>“That is all I want,” said I: “I only wish you to be +swift.” And then, my mind flitting to my father’s deathbed, +I began to murmur, scarce above my breath, the same +vain repetition of words, “Hurry, hurry, hurry.”</p> + +<p>Presently, to my surprise, the treasure-seeker took +them up; and while he still wielded the pick, but now with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page173"></a>173</span> +staggering and uncertain blows, repeated to himself, as it +were the burthen of a song, “Hurry, hurry, hurry“; and +then again, “There is no time to lose; the marsh has an +ill name, ill name“; and then back to “Hurry, hurry, +hurry,” with a dreadful mechanical, hurried, and yet +wearied utterance, as a sick man rolls upon his pillow. The +sweat had disappeared; he was now dry, but, all that I +could see of him, of the same dull brick-red. Presently +his pick unearthed the bag of jewels; but he did not observe +it, and continued hewing at the soil.</p> + +<p>“Master,” said I, “there is the treasure.”</p> + +<p>He seemed to waken from a dream. “Where?” he +cried; and then, seeing it before his eyes, “Can this be +possible?” he added. “I must be light-headed. Girl,” +he cried suddenly, with the same screaming tone of voice +that I had once before observed, “what is wrong? is this +swamp accursed?”</p> + +<p>“It is a grave,” I answered. “You will not go out +alive; and as for me, my life is in God’s hands.”</p> + +<p>He fell upon the ground like a man struck by a blow, +but whether from the effect of my words, or from sudden +seizure of the malady, I cannot tell. Pretty soon he raised +his head. “You have brought me here to die,” he said; +“at the risk of your own days, you have condemned me. +Why?”</p> + +<p>“To save my honour,” I replied. “Bear me out that +I have warned you. Greed of these pebbles, and not I, +has been your undoer.”</p> + +<p>He took out his revolver and handed it to me. “You +see,” he said, “I could have killed you even yet. But I +am dying, as you say; nothing could save me; and my +bill is long enough already. Dear me, dear me,” he said, +looking in my face with a curious, puzzled, and pathetic +look, like a dull child at school, “if there be a judgment +afterwards, my bill is long enough.”</p> + +<p>At that, I broke into a passion of weeping, crawled at +his feet, kissed his hands, begged his forgiveness, put the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page174"></a>174</span> +pistol back into his grasp, and besought him to avenge his +death; for indeed, if with my life I could have bought back +his, I had not balanced at the cost. But he was determined, +the poor soul, that I should yet more bitterly regret my +act.</p> + +<p>“I have nothing to forgive,” said he. “Dear Heaven, +what a thing is an old fool! I thought, upon my word, +you had taken quite a fancy to me.”</p> + +<p>He was seized, at the same time, with a dreadful, swimming +dizziness, clung to me like a child, and called upon +the name of some woman. Presently this spasm, which I +watched with choking tears, lessened and died away; and +he came again to the full possession of his mind. “I must +write my will,” he said. “Get out my pocket-book.” I +did so, and he wrote hurriedly on one page with a pencil. +“Do not let my son know,” he said; “he is a cruel dog, is +my son Philip; do not let him know how you have paid +me out“; and then all of a sudden, “God,” he cried, “I +am blind,” and clapped both hands before his eyes; and +then again, and in a groaning whisper, “Don’t leave me +to the crabs!” I swore I would be true to him so long as +a pulse stirred; and I redeemed my promise. I sat there +and watched him, as I had watched my father; but with +what different, with what appalling thoughts! Through +the long afternoon, he gradually sank. All that while, I +fought an uphill battle to shield him from the swarms of +ants and the clouds of mosquitoes: the prisoner of my +crime. The night fell, the roar of insects instantly redoubled +in the dark arcades of the swamp; and still I was +not sure that he had breathed his last. At length, the flesh +of his hand, which I yet held in mine, grew chill between +my fingers, and I knew that I was free.</p> + +<p>I took his pocket-book and the revolver, being resolved +rather to die than to be captured, and, laden besides with +the basket and the bag of gems, set forward towards the +north. The swamp, at that hour of the night, was filled +with a continuous din: animals and insects of all kinds +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page175"></a>175</span> +and all inimical to life, contributing their parts. Yet in +the midst of this turmoil of sound, I walked as though my +eyes were bandaged, beholding nothing. The soil sank +under my foot, with a horrid, slippery consistence, as +though I were walking among toads; the touch of the +thick wall of foliage, by which alone I guided myself, +affrighted me like the touch of serpents; the darkness +checked my breathing like a gag; indeed, I have never +suffered such extremes of fear as during that nocturnal +walk, nor have I ever known a more sensible relief than +when I found the path beginning to mount and to grow +firmer under foot, and saw, although still some way in front +of me, the silver brightness of the moon.</p> + +<p>Presently I had crossed the last of the jungle, and come +forth amongst noble and lofty woods, clean rock, the clean, +dry dust, the aromatic smell of mountain plants that had +been baked all day in sunlight, and the expressive silence +of the night. My negro blood had carried me unhurt across +that reeking and pestiferous morass; by mere good fortune, +I had escaped the crawling and stinging vermin with which +it was alive; and I had now before me the easier portion of +my enterprise, to cross the isle and to make good my arrival +at the haven and my acceptance on the English yacht. It +was impossible by night to follow such a track as my father +had described; and I was casting about for any landmark +and, in my ignorance, vainly consulting the disposition of +the stars, when there fell upon my ear, from somewhere +far in front, the sound of many voices hurriedly singing.</p> + +<p>I scarce knew upon what grounds I acted; but I shaped +my steps in the direction of that sound; and in a quarter +of an hour’s walking, came unperceived to the margin of +an open glade. It was lighted by the strong moon and by +the flames of a fire. In the midst there stood a little low +and rude building, surmounted by a cross: a chapel, as I +then remembered to have heard, long since desecrated and +given over to the rites of Hoodoo. Hard by the steps of +entrance was a black mass, continually agitated and stirring +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page176"></a>176</span> +to and fro as if with inarticulate life; and this I presently +perceived to be a heap of cocks, hares, dogs, and other birds +and animals, still struggling, but helplessly tethered and +cruelly tossed one upon another. Both the fire and the +chapel were surrounded by a ring of kneeling Africans, +both men and women. Now they would raise their palms +half closed to Heaven, with a peculiar, passionate gesture +of supplication; now they would bow their heads and +spread their hands before them on the ground. As the +double movement passed and repassed along the line, the +heads kept rising and falling, like waves upon the sea; and +still, as if in time to these gesticulations, the hurried chant +continued. I stood spell-bound, knowing that my life +depended by a hair, knowing that I had stumbled on a +celebration of the rites of Hoodoo.</p> + +<p>Presently the door of the chapel opened and there came +forth a tall negro, entirely nude, and bearing in his hand +the sacrificial knife. He was followed by an apparition +still more strange and shocking: Madam Mendizabal, +naked also, and carrying in both hands, and raised to the +level of her face, an open basket of wicker. It was filled +with coiling snakes; and these, as she stood there with the +uplifted basket, shot through the osier grating and curled +about her arms. At the sight of this, the fervour of the +crowd seemed to swell suddenly higher; and the chant rose +in pitch and grew more irregular in time and accent. Then, +at a sign from the tall negro, where he stood, motionless +and smiling, in the moon- and fire-light, the singing died +away, and there began the second stage of this barbarous +and bloody celebration. From different parts of the ring, +one after another, man or woman, ran forth into the midst; +ducked, with that same gesture of the thrown-up hand, +before the priestess and her snakes; and, with various adjurations, +uttered aloud the blackest wishes of the heart. +Death and disease were the favours usually invoked: the +death or the disease of enemies or rivals; some calling down +these plagues upon the nearest of their own blood, and one, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page177"></a>177</span> +to whom I swear I had been never less than kind, invoking +them upon myself. At each petition, the tall negro, still +smiling, picked up some bird or animal from the heaving +mass upon his left, slew it with the knife, and tossed its +body on the ground. At length, it seemed, it reached the +turn of the high priestess. She set down the basket on the +steps, moved into the centre of the ring, grovelled in the +dust before the reptiles, and still grovelling lifted up her +voice, between speech and singing, and with so great, with +so insane a fervour of excitement, as struck a sort of horror +through my blood.</p> + +<p>“Power,” she began, “whose name we do not utter; +power that is neither good nor evil, but below them both; +stronger than good, greater than evil—all my life long I +have adored and served thee. Who has shed blood upon +thine altars? whose voice is broken with the singing of thy +praises? whose limbs are faint before their age with leaping +in thy revels? Who has slain the child of her body? I,” +she cried, “I, Metamnbogu! By my own name, I name +myself. I tear away the veil. I would be served or perish. +Hear me, slime of the fat swamp, blackness of the thunder, +venom of the serpent’s udder—hear or slay me! I would +have two things, O shapeless one, O horror of emptiness—two +things, or die! The blood of my white-faced husband; +oh! give me that; he is the enemy of Hoodoo; give me +blood! And yet another, O racer of the blind winds, O +germinator in the ruins of the dead, O root of life, root of +corruption! I grow old, I grow hideous; I am known, I +am hunted for my life: let thy servant then lay by this outworn +body; let thy chief priestess turn again to the blossom +of her days, and be a girl once more, and the desired of all +men, even as in the past! And, O lord and master, as I +here ask a marvel not yet wrought since we were torn from +the old land, have I not prepared the sacrifice in which thy +soul delighteth—the kid without the horns?”</p> + +<p>Even as she uttered the words, there was a great rumour +of joy through all the circle of worshippers; it rose, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page178"></a>178</span> +fell, and rose again; and swelled at last into rapture, when +the tall negro, who had stepped an instant into the chapel, +reappeared before the door, carrying in his arms the body +of the slave-girl, Cora. I know not if I saw what followed. +When next my mind awoke to a clear knowledge, Cora was +laid upon the steps before the serpents; the negro with the +knife stood over her; the knife rose; and at this I screamed +out in my great horror, bidding them, in God’s name, to +pause.</p> + +<p>A stillness fell upon the mob of cannibals. A moment +more, and they must have thrown off this stupor, and I +infallibly have perished. But Heaven had designed to +save me. The silence of these wretched men was not yet +broken, when there arose, in the empty night, a sound louder +than the roar of any European tempest, swifter to travel +than the wings of any Eastern wind. Blackness engulfed +the world: blackness, stabbed across from every side by +intricate and blinding lightning. Almost in the same +second, at one world-swallowing stride, the heart of the +tornado reached the clearing. I heard an agonising crash, +and the light of my reason was overwhelmed.</p> + +<p>When I recovered consciousness, the day was come. I +was unhurt; the trees close about me had not lost a bough; +and I might have thought at first that the tornado was a +feature in a dream. It was otherwise indeed; for when I +looked abroad, I perceived I had escaped destruction by a +hand’s-breadth. Right through the forest, which here +covered hill and dale, the storm had ploughed a lane of ruin. +On either hand, the trees waved uninjured in the air of the +morning; but in the forthright course of its advance, the +hurricane had left no trophy standing. Everything in +that line, tree, man, or animal, the desecrated chapel and +the votaries of Hoodoo, had been subverted and destroyed +in that brief spasm of anger of the powers of air. Everything +but a yard or two beyond the line of its passage, +humble flower, lofty tree, and the poor vulnerable maid +who now knelt to pay her gratitude to Heaven, awoke +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page179"></a>179</span> +unharmed in the crystal purity and peace of the new +day.</p> + +<p>To move by the path of the tornado was a thing impossible +to man, so wildly were the wrecks of the tall forest piled +together by that fugitive convulsion. I crossed it indeed; +with such labour and patience, with so many dangerous +slips and falls, as left me, at the farther side, bankrupt alike +of strength and courage. There I sat down awhile to recruit +my forces; and as I ate (how should I bless the kindliness +of Heaven!), my eye, flitting to and fro in the colonnade +of the great trees, alighted on a trunk that had been +blazed. Yes, by the directing hand of Providence, I had +been conducted to the very track I was to follow. With +what a light heart I now set forth, and walking with how +glad a step traversed the uplands of the isle!</p> + +<p>It was hard upon the hour of noon when I came, all +tattered and wayworn, to the summit of a steep descent, +and looked below me on the sea. About all the coast, the +surf, roused by the tornado of the night, beat with a particular +fury and made a fringe of snow. Close at my feet +I saw a haven, set in precipitous and palm-crowned bluffs +of rock. Just outside, a ship was heaving on the surge, +so trimly sparred, so glossily painted, so elegant and <i>point-device</i> +in every feature, that my heart was seized with admiration. +The English colours blew from her masthead; +and, from my high station, I caught glimpses of her snowy +planking, as she rolled on the uneven deep, and saw the sun +glitter on the brass of her deck furniture. There, then, +was my ship of refuge; and of all my difficulties only one +remained: to get on board of her.</p> + +<p>Half an hour later, I issued at last out of the woods on +the margin of a cove, into whose jaws the tossing and blue +billows entered, and along whose shores they broke with a +surprising loudness. A wooded promontory hid the yacht; +and I had walked some distance round the beach, in what +appeared to be a virgin solitude, when my eye fell on a boat, +drawn into a natural harbour, where it rocked in safety, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page180"></a>180</span> +but deserted. I looked about for those who should have +manned her; and presently, in the immediate entrance +of the wood, spied the red embers of a fire and, stretched +around in various attitudes, a party of slumbering mariners. +To these I drew near: most were black, a few white; but +all were dressed with the conspicuous decency of yachtsmen; +and one, from his peaked cap and glittering buttons, +I rightly divined to be an officer. Him, then, I touched +upon the shoulder. He started up; the sharpness of his +movement woke the rest; and they all stared upon me in +surprise.</p> + +<p>“What do you want?” inquired the officer.</p> + +<p>“To go on board the yacht,” I answered.</p> + +<p>I thought they all seemed disconcerted at this; and +the officer, with something of sharpness, asked me who I +was. Now I had determined to conceal my name until I +met Sir George; and the first name that rose to my lips +was that of the Señora Mendizabal. At the word, there +went a shock about the little party of seamen; the negroes +stared at me with indescribable eagerness, the whites themselves +with something of a scared surprise; and instantly +the spirit of mischief prompted me to add: “And if the +name is new to your ears, call me Metamnbogu.”</p> + +<p>I had never seen an effect so wonderful. The negroes +threw their hands into the air, with the same gesture I +remarked the night before about the Hoodoo camp-fire; +first one, and then another, ran forward and kneeled down +and kissed the skirts of my torn dress; and when the white +officer broke out swearing and calling to know if they were +mad, the coloured seamen took him by the shoulders, +dragged him on one side till they were out of hearing, and +surrounded him with open mouths and extravagant pantomime. +The officer seemed to struggle hard; he laughed +aloud, and I saw him make gestures of dissent and protest; +but in the end, whether overcome by reason or simply +weary of resistance, he gave in—approached me civilly +enough, but with something of a sneering manner underneath—and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page181"></a>181</span> +touching his cap, “My lady,” said he, “if that +is what you are, the boat is ready.”</p> + +<p>My reception on board the <i>Nemorosa</i> (for so the yacht +was named) partook of the same mingled nature. We +were scarcely within hail of that great and elegant fabric, +where she lay rolling gunwale under and churning the blue +sea to snow, before the bulwarks were lined with the heads +of a great crowd of seamen, black, white, and yellow; and +these and the few who manned the boat began exchanging +shouts in some <i>lingua franca</i> incomprehensible to me. All +eyes were directed on the passenger; and once more I saw +the negroes toss up their hands to Heaven, but now as if +with passionate wonder and delight.</p> + +<p>At the head of the gangway, I was received by another +officer, a gentlemanly man with blond and bushy whiskers; +and to him I addressed my demand to see Sir George.</p> + +<p>“But this is not——” he cried, and paused.</p> + +<p>“I know it,” returned the other officer, who had brought +me from the shore. “But what the devil can we do? Look +at all the niggers!”</p> + +<p>I followed his direction; and as my eye lighted upon +each, the poor ignorant Africans ducked, and bowed, and +threw their hands into the air, as though in the presence of +a creature half divine. Apparently the officer with the +whiskers had instantly come round to the opinion of his +subaltern; for he now addressed me with every signal of +respect.</p> + +<p>“Sir George is at the island, my lady,” said he: “for +which, with your ladyship’s permission, I shall immediately +make all sail. The cabins are prepared. Steward, take +Lady Greville below.”</p> + +<p>Under this new name, then, and so captivated by surprise +that I could neither think nor speak, I was ushered +into a spacious and airy cabin, hung about with weapons +and surrounded by divans. The steward asked for my +commands; but I was by this time so wearied, bewildered, +and disturbed, that I could only wave him to leave me to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page182"></a>182</span> +myself, and sink upon a pile of cushions. Presently, by +the changed motion of the ship, I knew her to be under way; +my thoughts, so far from clarifying, grew the more distracted +and confused; dreams began to mingle and confound them; +and at length, by insensible transition, I sank into a dreamless +slumber.</p> + +<p>When I awoke, the day and night had passed, and it +was once more morning. The world on which I reopened +my eyes swam strangely up and down; the jewels in the +bag that lay beside me clinked together ceaselessly; the +clock and the barometer wagged to and fro like pendulums; +and overhead, seamen were singing out at their work, and +coils of rope clattering and thumping on the deck. Yet it +was long before I had divined that I was at sea; long before +I had recalled, one after another, the tragical, mysterious, +and inexplicable events that had brought me where I was.</p> + +<p>When I had done so, I thrust the jewels, which I was +surprised to find had been respected, into the bosom of my +dress; and, seeing a silver bell hard by upon a table, rang +it loudly. The steward instantly appeared; I asked for +food; and he proceeded to lay the table, regarding me the +while with a disquieting and pertinacious scrutiny. To +relieve myself of my embarrassment, I asked him, with as +fair a show of ease as I could muster, if it were usual for +yachts to carry so numerous a crew?</p> + +<p>“Madam,” said he, “I know not who you are, nor what +mad desire has induced you to usurp a name and an appalling +destiny that are not yours. I warn you from the +soul. No sooner arrived at the island——”</p> + +<p>At this moment he was interrupted by the whiskered +officer, who had entered unperceived behind him, and now +laid a hand upon his shoulder. The sudden pallor, the +deadly and sick fear that was imprinted on the steward’s +face, formed a startling addition to his words.</p> + +<p>“Parker!” said the officer, and pointed towards the +door.</p> + +<p>“Yes, Mr. Kentish,” said the steward. “For God’s +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page183"></a>183</span> +sake, Mr. Kentish!” And vanished, with a white face, +from the cabin.</p> + +<p>Thereupon the officer bade me sit down, and began to +help me, and join in the meal. “I fill your ladyship’s +glass,” said he, and handed me a tumbler of neat rum.</p> + +<p>“Sir,” cried I, “do you expect me to drink this?”</p> + +<p>He laughed heartily. “Your ladyship is so much +changed,” said he, “that I no longer expect any one thing +more than any other.”</p> + +<p>Immediately after, a white seaman entered the cabin, +saluted both Mr. Kentish and myself, and informed the +officer there was a sail in sight, which was bound to pass +us very close, and that Mr. Harland was in doubt about the +colours.</p> + +<p>“Being so near the island?” asked Mr. Kentish.</p> + +<p>“That was what Mr. Harland said, sir,” returned the +sailor, with a scrape.</p> + +<p>“Better not, I think,” said Mr. Kentish. “My compliments +to Mr. Harland; and if she seem a lively boat, +give her the stars and stripes; but if she be dull, and we +can easily outsail her, show John Dutchman. That is +always another word for incivility at sea; so we can disregard +a hail or a flag of distress, without attracting notice.”</p> + +<p>As soon as the sailor had gone on deck, I turned to the +officer in wonder. “Mr. Kentish, if that be your name,” +said I, “are you ashamed of your own colours?”</p> + +<p>“Your ladyship refers to the‘Jolly Roger’?” he inquired, +with perfect gravity; and, immediately after, went +into peals of laughter. “Pardon me,” said he; “but here +for the first time, I recognise your ladyship’s impetuosity.” +Nor, try as I pleased, could I extract from him any explanation +of this mystery, but only oily and commonplace evasion.</p> + +<p>While we were thus occupied, the movement of the +<i>Nemorosa</i> gradually became less violent; its speed at the +same time diminished; and presently after, with a sullen +plunge, the anchor was discharged into the sea. Kentish +immediately rose, offered his arm, and conducted me on +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page184"></a>184</span> +deck; where I found we were lying in a roadstead among +many low and rocky islets, hovered about by an innumerable +cloud of sea-fowl. Immediately under our board, a +somewhat larger isle was green with trees, set with a few +low buildings and approached by a pier of very crazy workmanship; +and a little inshore of us, a smaller vessel lay at +anchor.</p> + +<p>I had scarce time to glance to the four quarters ere a +boat was lowered. I was handed in, Kentish took place +beside me, and we pulled briskly to the pier. A crowd of +villainous, armed loiterers, both black and white, looked +on upon our landing; and again the word passed about +among the negroes, and again I was received with prostrations +and the same gesture of the flung-up hand. By this, +what with the appearance of these men and the lawless, seagirt +spot in which I found myself, my courage began a little +to decline, and, clinging to the arm of Mr. Kentish, I begged +him to tell me what it meant.</p> + +<p>“Nay, madam,” he returned, “<i>you</i> know.” And +leading me smartly through the crowd, which continued +to follow at a considerable distance, and at which he still +kept looking back, I thought, with apprehension, he brought +me to a low house that stood alone in an encumbered yard, +opened the door, and begged me to enter.</p> + +<p>“But why?” said I. “I demand to see Sir George.”</p> + +<p>“Madam,” returned Mr. Kentish, looking suddenly as +black as thunder, “to drop all fence, I know neither who +nor what you are; beyond the fact that you are not the +person whose name you have assumed. But be what you +please, spy, ghost, devil, or most ill-judging jester, if you +do not immediately enter that house, I will cut you to the +earth.” And even as he spoke, he threw an uneasy glance +behind him at the following crowd of blacks.</p> + +<p>I did not wait to be twice threatened; I obeyed at once +and with a palpitating heart; and the next moment, the +door was locked from the outside and the key withdrawn. +The interior was long, low, and quite unfurnished, but filled, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page185"></a>185</span> +almost from end to end, with sugar-cane, tar-barrels, old +tarry rope, and other incongruous and highly inflammable +material; and not only was the door locked, but the solitary +window barred with iron.</p> + +<p>I was by this time so exceedingly bewildered and afraid, +that I would have given years of my life to be once more +the slave of Mr. Caulder. I still stood, with my hands +clasped, the image of despair, looking about me on the +lumber of the room or raising my eyes to Heaven; when +there appeared, outside the window bars, the face of a very +black negro, who signed to me imperiously to draw near. +I did so, and he instantly, and with every mark of fervour, +addressed me a long speech in some unknown and barbarous +tongue.</p> + +<p>“I declare,” I cried, clasping my brow, “I do not +understand one syllable.”</p> + +<p>“Not?” he said in Spanish. “Great, great, are the +powers of Hoodoo! Her very mind is changed! But, O +chief priestess, why have you suffered yourself to be shut +into this cage? why did you not call your slaves at once +to your defence? Do you not see that all has been prepared +to murder you? at a spark, this flimsy house will go +in flames; and alas! who shall then be the chief priestess? +and what shall be the profit of the miracle?”</p> + +<p>“Heavens!” cried I, “can I not see Sir George? I +must, I must, come by speech of him. Oh, bring me to +Sir George!” And, my terror fairly mastering my courage, +I fell upon my knees and began to pray to all the +saints.</p> + +<p>“Lordy!” cried the negro, “here they come!” And +his black head was instantly withdrawn from the window.</p> + +<p>“I never heard such nonsense in my life,” exclaimed +a voice.</p> + +<p>“Why, so we all say, Sir George,” replied the voice of +Mr. Kentish. “But put yourself in our place. The niggers +were near two to one. And upon my word, if you’ll excuse +me, sir, considering the notion they have taken in their +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page186"></a>186</span> +heads, I regard it as precious fortunate for all of us that the +mistake occurred.”</p> + +<p>“This is no question of fortune, sir,” returned Sir George. +“It is a question of my orders, and you may take my word +for it, Kentish, either Harland, or yourself, or Parker—or, +by George, all three of you!—shall swing for this affair. +These are my sentiments. Give me the key and be off.”</p> + +<p>Immediately after, the key turned in the lock; and +there appeared upon the threshold a gentleman, between +forty and fifty, with a very open countenance and of a stout +and personable figure.</p> + +<p>“My dear young lady,” said he, “who the devil may +you be?”</p> + +<p>I told him all my story in one rush of words. He heard +me, from the first, with an amazement you can scarcely +picture, but when I came to the death of the Señora Mendizabal +in the tornado, he fairly leaped into the air.</p> + +<p>“My dear child,” he cried, clasping me in his arms, +“excuse a man who might be your father! This is the +best news I ever had since I was born; for that hag of a +mulatto was no less a person than my wife.” He sat down +upon a tar-barrel, as if unmanned by joy. “Dear me,” +said he, “I declare this tempts me to believe in Providence. +And what,” he added, “can I do for you?”</p> + +<p>“Sir George,” said I, “I am already rich: all that I ask +is your protection.”</p> + +<p>“Understand one thing,” he said, with great energy: +“I will never marry.”</p> + +<p>“I had not ventured to propose it,” I exclaimed, unable +to restrain my mirth; “I only seek to be conveyed +to England, the natural home of the escaped slave.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” returned Sir George, “frankly I owe you something +for this exhilarating news; besides, your father was +of use to me. Now, I have made a small competence in +business—a jewel mine, a sort of naval agency, et cætera, +and I am on the point of breaking up my company, and +retiring to my place in Devonshire to pass a plain old age, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page187"></a>187</span> +unmarried. One good turn deserves another: if you swear +to hold your tongue about this island, these little bonfire +arrangements, and the whole episode of my unfortunate +marriage, why, I’ll carry you home aboard the <i>Nemorosa</i>.”</p> + +<p>I eagerly accepted his conditions.</p> + +<p>“One thing more,” said he. “My late wife was some +sort of a sorceress among the blacks; and they are all persuaded +she has come alive again in your agreeable person. +Now, you will have the goodness to keep up that fancy, if +you please; and to swear to them, on the authority of +Hoodoo or whatever his name may be, that I am from this +moment quite a sacred character.”</p> + +<p>“I swear it,” said I, “by my father’s memory; and +that is a vow that I will never break.”</p> + +<p>“I have considerably better hold on you than any +oath,” returned Sir George, with a chuckle; “for you are +not only an escaped slave, but have, by your own account, +a considerable amount of stolen property.”</p> + +<p>I was struck dumb; I saw it was too true; in a glance, +I recognised that these jewels were no longer mine; with +similar quickness, I decided they should be restored, ay, +if it cost me the liberty that I had just regained. Forgetful +of all else, forgetful of Sir George, who sat and watched me +with a smile, I drew out Mr. Caulder’s pocket-book and +turned to the page on which the dying man had scrawled +his testament. How shall I describe the agony of happiness +and remorse with which I read it! for my victim had +not only set me free, but bequeathed to me the bag of jewels.</p> + +<p>My plain tale draws towards a close. Sir George and +I, in my character of his rejuvenated wife, displayed ourselves +arm-in-arm among the negroes, and were cheered +and followed to the place of embarkation. There, Sir +George, turning about, made a speech to his old companions, +in which he thanked and bade them farewell with a very +manly spirit; and towards the end of which he fell on some +expressions which I still remember. “If any of you gentry +lose your money,” he said, “take care you do not come to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page188"></a>188</span> +me; for in the first place, I shall do my best to have you +murdered; and if that fails, I hand you over to the law. +Blackmail won’t do for me. I’ll rather risk all upon a cast, +than be pulled to pieces by degrees. I’ll rather be found +out and hang, than give a doit to one man-jack of you.” +That same night we got under way and crossed to the port +of New Orleans, whence, as a sacred trust, I sent the pocket-book +to Mr. Caulder’s son. In a week’s time, the men were +all paid off; new hands were shipped; and the <i>Nemorosa</i> +weighed her anchor for Old England.</p> + +<p>A more delightful voyage it were hard to fancy. Sir +George, of course, was not a conscientious man; but he +had an unaffected gaiety of character that naturally endeared +him to the young; and it was interesting to hear +him lay out his projects for the future, when he should be +returned to parliament, and place at the service of the nation +his experience of marine affairs. I asked him if his notion +of piracy upon a private yacht were not original. But he +told me, no. “A yacht, Miss Valdevia,” he observed, “is +a chartered nuisance. Who smuggles? Who robs the +salmon rivers of the west of Scotland? Who cruelly beats +the keepers if they dare to intervene? The crews and the +proprietors of yachts. All I have done is to extend the +line a trifle; and if you ask me for my unbiassed opinion, +I do not suppose that I am in the least alone.”</p> + +<p>In short we were the best of friends, and lived like +father and daughter; though I still withheld from him, of +course, that respect which is only due to moral excellence.</p> + +<p>We were still some days’ sail from England, when Sir +George obtained, from an outward-bound ship, a packet +of newspapers; and from that fatal hour my misfortunes +recommenced. He sat, the same evening, in the cabin, +reading the news, and making savoury comments on the +decline of England and the poor condition of the navy; +when I suddenly observed him to change countenance.</p> + +<p>“Hullo!” said he, “this is bad; this is deuced bad, +Miss Valdevia. You would not listen to sound sense, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page189"></a>189</span> +you would send that pocket-book to that man Caulder’s +son.”</p> + +<p>“Sir George,” said I, “it was my duty.”</p> + +<p>“You are prettily paid for it, at least,” says he; “and +much as I regret it, I, for one, am done with you. This +fellow Caulder demands your extradition.”</p> + +<p>“But a slave,” I returned, “is safe in England.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, by George!” replied the baronet; “but it’s +not a slave, Miss Valdevia, it’s a thief that he demands. +He has quietly destroyed the will; and now accuses you +of robbing your father’s bankrupt estate of jewels to the +value of a hundred thousand pounds.”</p> + +<p>I was so much overcome by indignation at this hateful +charge and concern for my unhappy fate that the genial +baronet made haste to put me more at ease.</p> + +<p>“Do not be cast down,” said he. “Of course, I wash +my hands of you myself. A man in my position—baronet, +old family, and all that—cannot possibly be too particular +about the company he keeps. But I am a deuced good-humoured +old boy, let me tell you, when not ruffled; and +I will do the best I can to put you right. I will lend you a +trifle of ready money, give you the address of an excellent +lawyer in London, and find a way to set you on shore unsuspected.”</p> + +<p>He was in every particular as good as his word. Four +days later, the <i>Nemorosa</i> sounded her way, under the cloak +of a dark night, into a certain haven of the coast of England; +and a boat, rowing with muffled oars, set me ashore upon +the beach within a stone’s throw of a railway station. +Thither, guided by Sir George’s directions, I groped a devious +way; and, finding a bench upon the platform, sat me +down, wrapped in a man’s fur greatcoat, to await the +coming of the day. It was still dark when a light was +struck behind one of the windows of the building; nor had +the east begun to kindle to the warmer colours of the dawn, +before a porter, carrying a lantern, issued from the door +and found himself face to face with the unfortunate Teresa. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page190"></a>190</span> +He looked all about him; in the grey twilight of the dawn, +the haven was seen to lie deserted, and the yacht had long +since disappeared.</p> + +<p>“Who are you?” he cried.</p> + +<p>“I am a traveller,” said I.</p> + +<p>“And where do you come from?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“I’m going, by the first train, to London,” I replied.</p> + +<p>In such manner, like a ghost or a new creation, was +Teresa with her bag of jewels landed on the shores of England; +in this silent fashion, without history or name, she +took her place among the millions of a new country.</p> + +<p>Since then, I have lived by the expedients of my lawyer, +lying concealed in quiet lodgings, dogged by the spies of +Cuba, and not knowing at what hour my liberty and honour +may be lost.</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<h4>THE BROWN BOX (<i>concluded</i>)</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">The</span> effect of this tale on the mind of Harry Desborough +was instant and convincing. The Fair Cuban had been +already the loveliest, she now became, in his eyes, the most +romantic, the most innocent and the most unhappy of her +sex. He was bereft of words to utter what he felt: what +pity, what admiration, what youthful envy of a career so +vivid and adventurous. “Oh, madam!” he began; and +finding no language adequate to that apostrophe, caught +up her hand and wrung it in his own. “Count upon me,” +he added, with bewildered fervour; and, getting somehow +or other out of the apartment and from the circle of that +radiant sorceress, he found himself in the strange out-of-doors, +beholding dull houses, wondering at dull passers-by, +a fallen angel. She had smiled upon him as he left, and with +how significant, how beautiful a smile! The memory +lingered in his heart; and when he found his way to a certain +restaurant where music was performed, flutes (as it +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page191"></a>191</span> +were of Paradise) accompanied his meal. The strings went +to the melody of that parting smile; they paraphrased and +glossed it in the sense that he desired; and for the first time +in his plain and somewhat dreary life, he perceived himself +to have a taste for music.</p> + +<p>The next day, and the next, his meditations moved to +that delectable air. Now he saw her, and was favoured; +now saw her not at all; now saw her and was put by. The +fall of her foot upon the stair entranced him; the books +that he sought out and read were books on Cuba and spoke +of her indirectly; nay, and in the very landlady’s parlour, he +found one that told of precisely such a hurricane and, down +to the smallest detail, confirmed (had confirmation been +required) the truth of her recital. Presently he began to +fall into that prettiest mood of a young love, in which the +lover scorns himself for his presumption. Who was he, +the dull one, the commonplace unemployed, the man without +adventure, the impure, the untruthful, to aspire to such +a creature made of fire and air, and hallowed and adorned +by such incomparable passages of life? What should he +do, to be more worthy? by what devotion, call down the +notice of these eyes to so terrene a being as himself?</p> + +<p>He betook himself, thereupon, to the rural privacy of +the square, where, being a lad of a kind heart, he had made +himself a circle of acquaintances among its shy frequenters, +the half-domestic cats and the visitors that hung before +the windows of the Children’s Hospital. There he walked, +considering the depth of his demerit and the height of the +adored one’s super-excellence; now lighting upon earth +to say a pleasant word to the brother of some infant invalid; +now, with a great heave of breath remembering the queen +of women, and the sunshine of his life.</p> + +<p>What was he to do? Teresa, he had observed, was in +the habit of leaving the house towards afternoon: she +might, perchance, run danger from some Cuban emissary, +when the presence of a friend might turn the balance in +her favour: how, then, if he should follow her? To offer +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page192"></a>192</span> +his company would seem like an intrusion; to dog her openly +were a manifest impertinence; he saw himself reduced to +a more stealthy part, which, though in some ways distasteful +to his mind, he did not doubt that he could practise with the +skill of a detective.</p> + +<p>The next day he proceeded to put his plan in action. +At the corner of Tottenham Court Road, however, the +Señorita suddenly turned back, and met him face to face, +with every mark of pleasure and surprise.</p> + +<p>“Ah, Señor, I am sometimes fortunate!” she cried. +“I was looking for a messenger“; and with the sweetest +of smiles she despatched him to the east end of London, +to an address which he was unable to find. This was a +bitter pill to the knight-errant; but when he returned at +night, worn out with fruitless wandering and dismayed by +his <i>fiasco</i>, the lady received him with a friendly gaiety, +protesting that all was for the best, since she had changed +her mind and long since repented of her message.</p> + +<p>Next day he resumed his labours, glowing with pity and +courage, and determined to protect Teresa with his life. +But a painful shock awaited him. In the narrow and silent +Hanway Street, she turned suddenly about and addressed +him with a manner and a light in her eyes, that were new +to the young man’s experience.</p> + +<p>“Do I understand that you follow me, Señor?” she +cried. “Are these the manners of the English gentleman?”</p> + +<p>Harry confounded himself in the most abject apologies +and prayers to be forgiven, vowed to offend no more, and +was at length dismissed, crestfallen and heavy of heart. +The check was final; he gave up that road to service; and +began once more to hang about the square or on the terrace, +filled with remorse and love, admirable and idiotic, a fit +object for the scorn and envy of older men. In these idle +hours, while he was courting fortune for a sight of the +beloved, it fell out naturally that he should observe the +manners and appearance of such as came about the house. +One person alone was the occasional visitor of the young +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page193"></a>193</span> +lady: a man of considerable stature and distinguished only +by the doubtful ornament of a chin-beard in the style of +an American deacon. Something in his appearance grated +upon Harry; this distaste grew upon him in the course of +days; and when at length he mustered courage to inquire +of the Fair Cuban who this was, he was yet more dismayed +by her reply.</p> + +<p>“That gentleman,” said she, a smile struggling to her +face, “that gentleman, I will not attempt to conceal from +you, desires my hand in marriage, and presses me with the +most respectful ardour. Alas, what am I to say? I, the +forlorn Teresa, how shall I refuse or accept such protestations?”</p> + +<p>Harry feared to say more; a horrid pang of jealousy +transfixed him; and he had scarce the strength of mind +to take his leave with decency. In the solitude of his own +chamber, he gave way to every manifestation of despair. +He passionately adored the Señorita; but it was not only +the thought of her possible union with another that distressed +his soul, it was the indefeasible conviction that her +suitor was unworthy. To a duke, a bishop, a victorious +general, or any man adorned with obvious qualities, he had +resigned her with a sort of bitter joy; he saw himself follow +the wedding party from a great way off; he saw himself +return to the poor house, then robbed of its jewel; and +while he could have wept for his despair, he felt he could +support it nobly. But this affair looked otherwise. The +man was patently no gentleman; he had a startled, skulking, +guilty bearing; his nails were black, his eyes evasive, +his love perhaps was a pretext; he was perhaps, under this +deep disguise, a Cuban emissary! Harry swore that he +would satisfy these doubts; and the next evening, about the +hour of the usual visit, he posted himself at a spot whence +his eye commanded the three issues of the square.</p> + +<p>Presently after, a four-wheeler rumbled to the door; +and the man with the chin-beard alighted, paid off the +cabman, and was seen by Harry to enter the house with a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page194"></a>194</span> +brown box hoisted on his back. Half an hour later, he +came forth again without the box, and struck eastward at +a rapid walk; and Desborough, with the same skill and +caution that he had displayed in following Teresa, proceeded +to dog the steps of her admirer. The man began to loiter, +studying with apparent interest the wares of the small +fruiterer or tobacconist; twice he returned hurriedly upon +his former course; and then, as though he had suddenly +conquered a moment’s hesitation, once more set forth with +resolute and swift steps in the direction of Lincoln’s Inn. +At length, in a deserted by-street, he turned; and coming +up to Harry with a countenance which seemed to have become +older and whiter, inquired with some severity of speech +if he had not had the pleasure of seeing the gentleman +before.</p> + +<p>“You have, sir,” said Harry, somewhat abashed, but +with a good show of stoutness; “and I will not deny that +I was following you on purpose. Doubtless,” he added, +for he supposed that all men’s minds must still be running +on Teresa, “you can divine my reason.”</p> + +<p>At these words, the man with the chin-beard was seized +with a palsied tremor. He seemed, for some seconds, to +seek the utterance which his fear denied him; and then, +whipping sharply about, he took to his heels at the most +furious speed of running.</p> + +<p>Harry was at first so taken aback that he neglected to +pursue; and by the time he had recovered his wits, his best +expedition was only rewarded by a glimpse of the man with +the chin-beard mounting into a hansom, which immediately +after disappeared into the moving crowds of Holborn.</p> + +<p>Puzzled and dismayed by this unusual behaviour, Harry +returned to the house in Queen Square, and ventured for +the first time to knock at the fair Cuban’s door. She bade +him enter, and he found her kneeling with rather a disconsolate +air beside a brown wooden trunk.</p> + +<p>“Señorita,” he broke out, “I doubt whether that man’s +character is what he wishes you to believe. His manner, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page195"></a>195</span> +when he found, and indeed when I admitted, that I was +following him, was not the manner of an honest +man.”</p> + +<p>“Oh!” she cried, throwing up her hands as in desperation, +“Don Quixote, Don Quixote, have you again been +tilting against windmills?” And then, with a laugh, +“Poor soul!” she added, “how you must have terrified +him! For know that the Cuban authorities are here, and +your poor Teresa may soon be hunted down. Even yon +humble clerk from my solicitor’s office may find himself +at any moment the quarry of armed spies.”</p> + +<p>“A humble clerk!” cried Harry, “why, you told me +yourself that he wished to marry you!”</p> + +<p>“I thought you English like what you call a joke,” +replied the lady calmly. “As a matter of fact he is my +lawyer’s clerk, and has been here to-night charged with +disastrous news. I am in sore straits, Señor Harry. Will +you help me?”</p> + +<p>At this most welcome word, the young man’s heart +exulted; and in the hope, pride, and self-esteem, that +kindled with the very thought of service, he forgot to dwell +upon the lady’s jest. “Can you ask?” he cried. “What +is there that I can do? Only tell me that.”</p> + +<p>With signs of an emotion that was certainly unfeigned, +the Fair Cuban laid her hand upon the box. “This box,” +she said, “contains my jewels, papers, and clothes; all, +in a word, that still connects me with Cuba and my dreadful +past. They must now be smuggled out of England; or, +by the opinion of my lawyer, I am lost beyond remedy. +To-morrow, on board the Irish packet, a sure hand awaits +the box; the problem still unsolved is to find some one to +carry it as far as Holyhead, to see it placed on board the +steamer, and instantly return to town. Will you be he? +Will you leave to-morrow by the first train, punctually +obey orders, bear still in mind that you are surrounded by +Cuban spies; and without so much as a look behind you, +or a single movement to betray your interest, leave the box +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page196"></a>196</span> +where you have put it and come straight on shore? Will +you do this, and so save your friend?”</p> + +<p>“I do not clearly understand ...” began Harry.</p> + +<p>“No more do I,” replied the Cuban. “It is not necessary +that we should, so long as we obey the lawyer’s orders.”</p> + +<p>“Señorita,” returned Harry gravely, “I think this, of +course, a very little thing to do for you, when I would willingly +do all. But suffer me to say one word. If London +is unsafe for your treasures, it cannot long be safe for you; +and indeed, if I at all fathom the plan of your solicitor, I +fear I may find you already fled on my return. I am not +considered clever, and can only speak out plainly what is +in my heart: that I love you, and that I cannot bear to +lose all knowledge of you. I hope no more than to be your +servant; I ask no more than just that I shall hear of you. +Oh, promise me so much!”</p> + +<p>“You shall,” she said, after a pause. “I promise you, +you shall.” But though she spoke with earnestness, the +marks of great embarrassment and a strong conflict of emotions +appeared upon her face.</p> + +<p>“I wish to tell you,” resumed Desborough, “in case +of accidents....”</p> + +<p>“Accidents!” she cried: “why do you say that?”</p> + +<p>“I do not know,” said he, “you may be gone before +my return, and we may not meet again for long. And so +I wished you to know this: That since the day you gave +me the cigarette, you have never once, not once, been absent +from my mind; and if it will in any way serve you, you +may crumple me up like that piece of paper, and throw me +on the fire. I would love to die for you.”</p> + +<p>“Go!” she said, “Go now at once! My brain is in +a whirl. I scarce know what we are talking. Go; and +good-night; and oh, may you come safe!”</p> + +<p>Once back in his own room a fearful joy possessed the +young man’s mind; and as he recalled her face struck +suddenly white and the broken utterance of her last words, +his heart at once exulted and misgave him. Love had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page197"></a>197</span> +indeed looked upon him with a tragic mask; and yet what +mattered, since at least it was love—since at least she was +commoved at their division? He got to bed with these +parti-coloured thoughts; passed from one dream to another +all night long, the white face of Teresa still haunting him, +wrung with unspoken thoughts; and, in the grey of the +dawn, leaped suddenly out of bed, in a kind of horror. It +was already time for him to rise. He dressed, made his +breakfast on cold food that had been laid for him the night +before; and went down to the room of his idol for the box. +The door was open; a strange disorder reigned within; the +furniture all pushed aside, and the centre of the room left +bare of impediment, as though for the pacing of a creature +with a tortured mind. There lay the box, however, and +upon the lid a paper with these words: “Harry, I hope to +be back before you go. Teresa.”</p> + +<p>He sat down to wait, laying his watch before him on +the table. She had called him Harry: that should be +enough, he thought, to fill the day with sunshine; and yet +somehow the sight of that disordered room still poisoned +his enjoyment. The door of the bedchamber stood gaping +open; and though he turned aside his eyes as from a +sacrilege, he could not but observe the bed had not been +slept in. He was still pondering what this should mean, +still trying to convince himself that all was well, when the +moving needle of his watch summoned him to set forth +without delay. He was before all things a man of his word; +ran round to Southampton Row to fetch a cab; and, taking +the box on the front seat, drove off towards the terminus.</p> + +<p>The streets were scarcely awake; there was little to +amuse the eye; and the young man’s attention centred on +the dumb companion of his drive. A card was nailed upon +one side, bearing the superscription: “Miss Doolan, passenger +to Dublin. Glass. With care.” He thought with a sentimental +shock that the fair idol of his heart was perhaps +driven to adopt the name of Doolan; and, as he still studied +the card, he was aware of a deadly black depression settling +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page198"></a>198</span> +steadily upon his spirits. It was in vain for him to contend +against the tide; in vain that he shook himself or tried to +whistle: the sense of some impending blow was not to be +averted. He looked out; in the long, empty streets, the +cab pursued its way without a trace of any follower. He +gave ear; and over and above the jolting of the wheels upon +the road, he was conscious of a certain regular and quiet +sound that seemed to issue from the box. He put his ear +to the cover; at one moment, he seemed to perceive a +delicate ticking; the next, the sound was gone, nor could +his closest hearkening recapture it. He laughed at himself; +but still the gloom continued; and it was with more than +the common relief of an arrival, that he leaped from the +cab before the station.</p> + +<p>Probably enough on purpose, Teresa had named an hour +some thirty minutes earlier than needful; and when Harry +had given the box into the charge of a porter, who set it on +a truck, he proceeded briskly to pace the platform. Presently +the bookstall opened; and the young man was looking at the +books when he was seized by the arm. He turned and, though +she was closely veiled, at once recognised the Fair Cuban.</p> + +<p>“Where is it?” she asked; and the sound of her voice +surprised him.</p> + +<p>“It?” he said. “What?”</p> + +<p>“The box. Have it put on a cab instantly. I am +in fearful haste.”</p> + +<p>He hurried to obey, marvelling at these changes, but +not daring to trouble her with questions; and when the +cab had been brought round, and the box mounted on the +front, she passed a little way off upon the pavement and +beckoned him to follow.</p> + +<p>“Now,” said she, still in those mechanical and hushed +tones that had at first affected him, “you must go on to +Holyhead alone; go on board the steamer; and if you see +a man in tartan trousers and a pink scarf, say to him that +all has been put off: if not,” she added, with a sobbing sigh, +“it does not matter. So, good-bye.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page199"></a>199</span></p> + +<p>“Teresa,” said Harry, “get into your cab, and I will +go along with you. You are in some distress, perhaps some +danger; and till I know the whole, not even you can make +me leave you.”</p> + +<p>“You will not?” she asked. “Oh, Harry, it were +better!”</p> + +<p>“I will not,” said Harry stoutly.</p> + +<p>She looked at him for a moment through her veil; took +his hand suddenly and sharply, but more as if in fear than +tenderness; and, still holding him, walked to the cab-door.</p> + +<p>“Where are we to drive?” asked Harry.</p> + +<p>“Home, quickly,” she answered; “double fare!” +And as soon as they had both mounted to their places, the +vehicle crazily trundled from the station.</p> + +<p>Teresa leaned back in a corner. The whole way Harry +could perceive her tears to flow under her veil; but she +vouchsafed no explanation. At the door of the house in +Queen Square, both alighted; and the cabman lowered the +box, which Harry, glad to display his strength, received +upon his shoulders.</p> + +<p>“Let the man take it,” she whispered. “Let the man +take it.”</p> + +<p>“I will do no such thing,” said Harry cheerfully; and +having paid the fare, he followed Teresa through the door +which she had opened with her key. The landlady and +maid were gone upon their morning errands; the house +was empty and still; and as the rattling of the cab died +away down Gloucester Street, and Harry continued to ascend +the stair with his burthen, he heard close against his shoulders +the same faint and muffled ticking as before. The lady, +still preceding him, opened the door of her room, and helped +him to lower the box tenderly in the corner by the window.</p> + +<p>“And now,” said Harry, “what is wrong?”</p> + +<p>“You will not go away?” she cried, with a sudden +break in her voice and beating her hands together in the +very agony of impatience. “Oh, Harry, Harry, go away! +Oh, go, and leave me to the fate that I deserve!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page200"></a>200</span></p> + +<p>“The fate?” repeated Harry. “What is this?”</p> + +<p>“No fate,” she resumed. “I do not know what I am +saying. But I wish to be alone. You may come back this +evening, Harry; come again when you like; but leave me +now, only leave me now!” And then suddenly, “I have +an errand,” she exclaimed; “you cannot refuse me that!”</p> + +<p>“No,” replied Harry, “you have no errand. You are +in grief or danger. Lift your veil and tell me what it is.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” she said, with a sudden composure, “you +leave but one course open to me.” And raising the veil, +she showed him a countenance from which every trace of +colour had fled, eyes marred with weeping, and a brow on +which resolve had conquered fear. “Harry,” she began, +“I am not what I seem.”</p> + +<p>“You have told me that before,” said Harry, “several +times.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Harry, Harry,” she cried, “how you shame me! +But this is the God’s truth. I am a dangerous and wicked +girl. My name is Clara Luxmore. I was never nearer +Cuba than Penzance. From first to last I have cheated +and played with you. And what I am I dare not even +name to you in words. Indeed, until to-day, until the +sleepless watches of last night, I never grasped the depth +and foulness of my guilt.”</p> + +<p>The young man looked upon her aghast. Then a generous +current poured along his veins. “That is all one,” +he said. “If you be all you say, you have the greater need +of me.”</p> + +<p>“Is it possible,” she exclaimed, “that I have schemed +in vain? And will nothing drive you from this house of +death?”</p> + +<p>“Of death?” he echoed.</p> + +<p>“Death!” she cried: “death! In that box which +you have dragged about London and carried on your defenceless +shoulders, sleep, at the trigger’s mercy, the +destroying energies of dynamite.”</p> + +<p>“My God!” cried Harry.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page201"></a>201</span></p> + +<p>“Ah!” she continued wildly, “will you flee now? At +any moment you may hear the click that sounds the ruin +of this building. I was sure M’Guire was wrong; this +morning, before day, I flew to Zero; he confirmed my fears; +I beheld you, my beloved Harry, fall a victim to my own +contrivances. I knew then I loved you—Harry, will you +go now? Will you not spare me this unwilling crime?”</p> + +<p>Harry remained speechless, his eyes fixed upon the box: +at last he turned to her.</p> + +<p>“Is it,” he asked hoarsely, “an infernal machine?”</p> + +<p>Her lips formed the word “yes“; which her voice +refused to utter.</p> + +<p>With fearful curiosity, he drew near and bent above +the box; in that still chamber, the ticking was distinctly +audible; and at the measured sound, the blood flowed back +upon his heart.</p> + +<p>“For whom?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“What matters it?” she cried, seizing him by the arm. +“If you may still be saved, what matter questions?”</p> + +<p>“God in Heaven!” cried Harry. “And the Children’s +Hospital! At whatever cost, this damned contrivance must +be stopped!”</p> + +<p>“It cannot,” she gasped. “The power of man cannot +avert the blow. But you, Harry—you, my beloved—you +may still——”</p> + +<p>And then from the box that lay so quietly in the corner, +a sudden catch was audible, like the catch of a clock before +it strikes the hour. For one second, the two stared at each +other with lifted brows and stony eyes. Then Harry, throwing +one arm over his face, with the other clutched the girl +to his breast and staggered against the wall.</p> + +<p>A dull and startling thud resounded through the room; +their eyes blinked against the coming horror; and still +clinging together like drowning people, they fell to the floor. +Then followed a prolonged and strident hissing as from the +indignant pit; an offensive stench seized them by the +throat; the room was filled with dense and choking fumes.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page202"></a>202</span></p> + +<p>Presently these began a little to disperse: and when +at length they drew themselves, all limp and shaken, to a +sitting posture, the first object that greeted their vision +was the box reposing uninjured in its corner, but still leaking +little wreaths of vapour round the lid.</p> + +<p>“Oh, poor Zero!” cried the girl with a strange sobbing +laugh. “Alas, poor Zero! This will break his heart!”</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<h4>THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION (<i>concluded</i>)</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Somerset</span> ran straight upstairs; the door of the drawing-room, +contrary to all custom, was unlocked; and, bursting +in, the young man found Zero seated on a sofa in an attitude +of singular dejection. Close beside him stood an untasted +grog, the mark of strong preoccupation. The room +besides was in confusion: boxes had been tumbled to and +fro; the floor was strewn with keys and other implements; +and in the midst of this disorder lay a lady’s glove.</p> + +<p>“I have come,” cried Somerset, “to make an end of +this. Either you will instantly abandon all your schemes, +or (cost what it may) I will denounce you to the police.”</p> + +<p>“Ah!” replied Zero, slowly shaking his head. “You +are too late, dear fellow! I am already at the end of all +my hopes and fallen to be a laughing-stock and mockery. +My reading,” he added, with a gentle despondency of +manner, “has not been much among romances; yet I recall +from one a phrase that depicts my present state with +critical exactitude; and you behold me sitting here‘like +a burst drum.’”</p> + +<p>“What has befallen you?” cried Somerset.</p> + +<p>“My last batch,” retorted the plotter wearily, “like +all the others, is a hollow mockery and a fraud. In vain +do I combine the elements; in vain adjust the springs; and +I have now arrived at such a pitch of disconsideration that +(except yourself, dear fellow) I do not know a soul that I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page203"></a>203</span> +can face. My subordinates themselves have turned upon +me. What language have I heard to-day, what illiberality +of sentiment, what pungency of expression! She came +once; I could have pardoned that, for she was moved; but +she returned, returned to announce to me this crushing +blow; and, Somerset, she was very inhumane. Yes, dear +fellow, I have drunk a bitter cup; the speech of females is +remarkable for ... well, well! Denounce me, if you will; +you but denounce the dead. I am extinct. It is strange +how, at this supreme crisis of my life, I should be haunted +by quotations from works of an inexact and even fanciful +description; but here,” he added, “is another:‘Othello’s +occupation’s gone.’ Yes, dear Somerset, it is gone; I am +no more a dynamiter; and how, I ask you, after having +tasted of these joys, am I to condescend to a less glorious +life?”</p> + +<p>“I cannot describe how you relieve me,” returned +Somerset, sitting down on one of several boxes that had +been drawn out into the middle of the floor. “I had conceived +a sort of maudlin toleration for your character; I +have a great distaste, besides, for anything in the nature +of a duty; and upon both grounds, your news delights me. +But I seem to perceive,” he added, “a certain sound of +ticking in this box.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” replied Zero, with the same slow weariness of +manner, “I have set several of them going.”</p> + +<p>“My God!” cried Somerset, bounding to his feet. +“Machines?”</p> + +<p>“Machines!” returned the plotter bitterly. “Machines +indeed! I blush to be their author. Alas!” he said, burying +his face in his hands, “that I should live to say it!”</p> + +<p>“Madman!” cried Somerset, shaking him by the arm. +“What am I to understand? Have you, indeed, set these +diabolical contrivances in motion? and do we stay here to +be blown up?”</p> + +<p>“’Hoist with his own petard?’” returned the plotter +musingly. “One more quotation: strange! But indeed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page204"></a>204</span> +my brain is struck with numbness. Yes, dear boy, I have, +as you say, put my contrivances in motion. The one on +which you are sitting, I have timed for half an hour. Yon +other——”</p> + +<p>“Half an hour!” echoed Somerset, dancing with trepidation. +“Merciful heavens, in half an hour?”</p> + +<p>“Dear fellow, why so much excitement?” inquired +Zero. “My dynamite is not more dangerous than toffy; +had I an only child, I would give it him to play with. You +see this brick?” he continued, lifting a cake of the infernal +compound from the laboratory-table. “At a touch it +should explode, and that with such unconquerable energy +as should bestrew the square with ruins. Well, now, behold! +I dash it on the floor.”</p> + +<p>Somerset sprang forward, and, with the strength of +the very ecstasy of terror, wrested the brick from his possession. +“Heavens!” he cried, wiping his brow; and +then with more care than ever mother handled her first-born +withal, gingerly transported the explosive to the far +end of the apartment; the plotter, his arms once more +fallen to his side, dispiritedly watching him.</p> + +<p>“It was entirely harmless,” he sighed. “They describe +it as burning like tobacco.”</p> + +<p>“In the name of fortune,” cried Somerset, “what have +I done to you, or what have you done to yourself, that you +should persist in this insane behaviour? If not for your +own sake, then for mine, let us depart from this doomed +house, where I profess I have not the heart to leave you; +and then, if you will take my advice, and if your determination +be sincere, you will instantly quit this city, where no +further occupation can detain you.”</p> + +<p>“Such, dear fellow, was my own design,” replied the +plotter. “I have, as you observe, no further business +here; and once I have packed a little bag, I shall ask you +to share a frugal meal, to go with me as far as to the station, +and see the last of a broken-hearted man. And yet,” he +added, looking on the boxes with a lingering regret, “I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page205"></a>205</span> +should have liked to make quite certain. I cannot but +suspect my underlings of some mismanagement; it may be +fond, but yet I cherish that idea: it may be the weakness +of a man of science, but yet,” he cried, rising into some +energy, “I will never, I cannot if I try, believe that my poor +dynamite has had fair usage!”</p> + +<p>“Five minutes!” said Somerset, glancing with horror +at the timepiece. “If you do not instantly buckle to your +bag, I leave you.”</p> + +<p>“A few necessaries,” returned Zero, “only a few necessaries, +dear Somerset, and you behold me ready.”</p> + +<p>He passed into the bedroom, and after an interval +which seemed to draw out into eternity for his unfortunate +companion, he returned, bearing in his hand an open +Gladstone bag. His movements were still horribly deliberate, +and his eyes lingered gloatingly on his dear boxes, as +he moved to and fro about the drawing-room, gathering a +few small trifles. Last of all, he lifted one of the squares +of dynamite.</p> + +<p>“Put that down!” cried Somerset. “If what you say +be true, you have no call to load yourself with that ungodly +contraband.”</p> + +<p>“Merely a curiosity, dear boy,” he said persuasively, +and slipped the brick into his bag; “merely a memento +of the past—ah, happy past, bright past! You will not +take a touch of spirits? no? I find you very abstemious. +Well,” he added, “if you have really no curiosity to await +the event——”</p> + +<p>“I!” cried Somerset. “My blood boils to get away.”</p> + +<p>“Well, then,” said Zero, “I am ready; I would I could +say, willing; but thus to leave the scene of my sublime +endeavours——”</p> + +<p>Without further parley, Somerset seized him by the +arm, and dragged him downstairs; the hall-door shut with +a clang on the deserted mansion; and still towing his laggardly +companion, the young man sped across the square +in the Oxford Street direction. They had not yet passed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page206"></a>206</span> +the corner of the garden, when they were arrested by a dull +thud of an extraordinary amplitude of sound, accompanied +and followed by a shattering <i>fracas</i>. Somerset turned in +time to see the mansion rend in twain, vomit forth flames +and smoke, and instantly collapse into its cellars. At the +same moment, he was thrown violently to the ground. His +first glance was towards Zero. The plotter had but reeled +against the garden rail; he stood there, the Gladstone bag +clasped tight upon his heart, his whole face radiant with +relief and gratitude; and the young man heard him murmur +to himself: “<i>Nunc dimittis, nunc dimittis!</i>“</p> + +<p>The consternation of the populace was indescribable: +the whole of Golden Square was alive with men, women, +and children, running wildly to and fro, and, like rabbits +in a warren, dashing in and out of the house doors, and under +favour of this confusion, Somerset dragged away the lingering +plotter.</p> + +<p>“It was grand,” he continued to murmur: “it was +indescribably grand. Ah, green Erin, green Erin, what +a day of glory! and, oh, my calumniated dynamite, how +triumphantly hast thou prevailed!”</p> + +<p>Suddenly a shade crossed his face; and pausing in the +middle of the footway, he consulted the dial of his watch.</p> + +<p>“Good God!” he cried, “how mortifying! seven +minutes too early! The dynamite surpassed my hopes; +but the clockwork, fickle clockwork, has once more betrayed +me. Alas, can there be no success unmixed with failure? and +must even this red-letter day be chequered by a shadow?”</p> + +<p>“Incomparable ass!” said Somerset, “what have you +done? Blown up the house of an unoffending old lady, +and the whole earthly property of the only person who is +fool enough to befriend you!”</p> + +<p>“You do not understand these matters,” replied Zero, +with an air of great dignity. “This will shake England +to the heart. Gladstone, the truculent old man, will quail +before the pointing finger of revenge. And now that my +dynamite is proved effective——”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page207"></a>207</span></p> + +<p>“Heavens, you remind me!” ejaculated Somerset. +“That brick in your bag must be instantly disposed of. +But how? If we could throw it in the river——”</p> + +<p>“A torpedo,” cried Zero, brightening, “a torpedo in +the Thames! Superb, dear fellow! I recognise in you the +marks of an accomplished anarch.”</p> + +<p>“True!” returned Somerset. “It cannot so be done; +and there is no help but you must carry it away with you. +Come on, then, and let me at once consign you to a train.”</p> + +<p>“Nay, nay, dear boy,” protested Zero. “There is +now no call for me to leave. My character is now reinstated; +my fame brightens; this is the best thing I have +done yet; and I see from here the ovations that await the +author of the Golden Square Atrocity.”</p> + +<p>“My young friend,” returned the other, “I give you +your choice. I will either see you safe on board a train or +safe in gaol.”</p> + +<p>“Somerset, this is unlike you!” said the chemist. +“You surprise me, Somerset.”</p> + +<p>“I shall considerably more surprise you at the next +police office,” returned Somerset, with something bordering +on rage. “For on one point my mind is settled: either I +see you packed off to America, brick and all, or else you +dine in prison.”</p> + +<p>“You have perhaps neglected one point,” returned +the unoffended Zero: “for, speaking as a philosopher, I +fail to see what means you can employ to force me. The +will, my dear fellow——”</p> + +<p>“Now, see here,” interrupted Somerset. “You are +ignorant of anything but science, which I can never regard +as being truly knowledge; I, sir, have studied life; and +allow me to inform you that I have but to raise my hand +and voice—here in this street—and the mob——”</p> + +<p>“Good God in Heaven, Somerset,” cried Zero, turning +deadly white and stopping in his walk, “great God in +Heaven, what words are these? Oh, not in jest, not even +in jest, should they be used! The brutal mob, the savage +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page208"></a>208</span> +passions.... Somerset, for God’s sake, a public-house!”</p> + +<p>Somerset considered him with freshly awakened curiosity. +“This is very interesting,” said he. “You recoil +from such a death?”</p> + +<p>“Who would not?” asked the plotter.</p> + +<p>“And to be blown up by dynamite,” inquired the young +man, “doubtless strikes you as a form of euthanasia?”</p> + +<p>“Pardon me,” returned Zero: “I own, and, since I +have braved it daily in my professional career, I own it +even with pride: it is a death unusually distasteful to the +mind of man.”</p> + +<p>“One more question,” said Somerset; “you object +to Lynch Law? why?”</p> + +<p>“It is assassination,” said the plotter calmly; but with +eyebrows a little lifted, as in wonder at the question.</p> + +<p>“Shake hands with me,” cried Somerset. “Thank +God, I have now no ill-feeling left; and though you cannot +conceive how I burn to see you on the gallows, I can quite +contentedly assist at your departure.”</p> + +<p>“I do not very clearly take your meaning,” said Zero, +“but I am sure you mean kindly. As to my departure, +there is another point to be considered. I have neglected +to supply myself with funds; my little all has perished in +what history will love to relate under the name of the +Golden Square Atrocity; and without what is coarsely if +vigorously called stamps, you must be well aware it is impossible +for me to pass the ocean.”</p> + +<p>“For me,” said Somerset, “you have now ceased to +be a man. You have no more claim upon me than a door-scraper; +but the touching confusion of your mind disarms +me from extremities. Until to-day, I always thought +stupidity was funny; I now know otherwise; and when +I look upon your idiot face, laughter rises within me like +a deadly sickness, and the tears spring up into my eyes as +bitter as blood. What should this portend? I begin to +doubt; I am losing faith in scepticism. Is it possible,” +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page209"></a>209</span> +he cried, in a kind of horror of himself—“is it conceivable +that I believe in right and wrong? Already I have found +myself, with incredulous surprise, to be the victim of a prejudice +of personal honour. And must this change proceed? +Have you robbed me of my youth? Must I fall, at my +time of life, into the Common Banker? But why should +I address that head of wood? Let this suffice. I dare not +let you stay among women and children; I lack the courage +to denounce you, if by any means I may avoid it; you have +no money; well then, take mine, and go; and if ever I +behold your face after to-day, that day will be your last.”</p> + +<p>“Under the circumstances,” replied Zero, “I scarce +see my way to refuse your offer. Your expressions may +pain, they cannot surprise me; I am aware our point of +view requires a little training, a little moral hygiene, if I +may so express it; and one of the points that has always +charmed me in your character is this delightful frankness. +As for the small advance, it shall be remitted you from +Philadelphia.”</p> + +<p>“It shall not,” said Somerset.</p> + +<p>“Dear fellow, you do not understand,” returned the +plotter. “I shall now be received with fresh confidence +by my superiors; and my experiments will be no longer +hampered by pitiful conditions of the purse.”</p> + +<p>“What I am now about, sir, is a crime,” replied Somerset; +“and were you to roll in wealth like Vanderbilt, I +should scorn to be reimbursed of money I had so scandalously +misapplied. Take it, and keep it. By George, sir, +three days of you have transformed me to an ancient +Roman.”</p> + +<p>With these words, Somerset hailed a passing hansom; +and the pair were driven rapidly to the railway terminus. +There, an oath having been extracted, the money changed +hands.</p> + +<p>“And now,” said Somerset, “I have bought back my +honour with every penny I possess. And I thank God, +though there is nothing before me but starvation, I am +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page210"></a>210</span> +free from all entanglement with Mr. Zero Pumpernickel +Jones.”</p> + +<p>“To starve?” cried Zero. “Dear fellow, I cannot +endure the thought.”</p> + +<p>“Take your ticket!” returned Somerset.</p> + +<p>“I think you display temper,” said Zero.</p> + +<p>“Take your ticket,” reiterated the young man.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the plotter, as he returned, ticket in hand, +“your attitude is so strange and painful, that I scarce know +if I should ask you to shake hands.”</p> + +<p>“As a man, no,” replied Somerset; “but I have no +objection to shake hands with you, as I might with a pump-well +that ran poison or hell-fire.”</p> + +<p>“This is a very cold parting,” sighed the dynamiter; +and still followed by Somerset, he began to descend the +platform. This was now bustling with passengers; the +train for Liverpool was just about to start, another had +but recently arrived; and the double tide made movement +difficult. As the pair reached the neighbourhood of the +bookstall, however, they came into an open space; and +here the attention of the plotter was attracted by a Standard +broadside bearing the words: “Second Edition: Explosion +in Golden Square.” His eye lighted; groping in his pocket +for the necessary coin, he sprang forward—his bag knocked +sharply on the corner of the stall—and instantly, with a +formidable report, the dynamite exploded. When the +smoke cleared away the stall was seen much shattered, and +the stall-keeper running forth in terror from the ruins; +but of the Irish patriot or the Gladstone bag no adequate +remains were to be found.</p> + +<p>In the first scramble of the alarm, Somerset made good +his escape, and came out upon the Euston Road, his head +spinning, his body sick with hunger, and his pockets destitute +of coin. Yet as he continued to walk the pavements, +he wondered to find in his heart a sort of peaceful exultation, +a great content, a sense, as it were, of divine presence and +the kindliness of fate; and he was able to tell himself that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page211"></a>211</span> +even if the worst befell, he could now starve with a certain +comfort since Zero was expunged.</p> + +<p>Late in the afternoon he found himself at the door of +Mr. Godall’s shop; and being quite unmanned by his long +fast, and scarce considering what he did, he opened the glass +door and entered.</p> + +<p>“Ha!” said Mr. Godall, “Mr. Somerset! Well, have +you met with an adventure? Have you the promised +story? Sit down, if you please; suffer me to choose you +a cigar of my own special brand; and reward me with a +narrative in your best style.”</p> + +<p>“I must not take a cigar,” said Somerset.</p> + +<p>“Indeed!” said Mr. Godall. “But now I come to +look at you more closely, I perceive that you are changed. +My poor boy, I hope there is nothing wrong?”</p> + +<p>Somerset burst into tears.</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page212"></a>212</span></p> +<h3>EPILOGUE OF THE CIGAR DIVAN</h3> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">On</span> a certain day of lashing rain in the December of last +year, and between the hours of nine and ten in the morning, +Mr. Edward Challoner pioneered himself under an umbrella +to the door of the Cigar Divan in Rupert Street. It was +a place he had visited but once before: the memory of +what had followed on that visit and the fear of Somerset +having prevented his return. Even now, he looked in +before he entered; but the shop was free of customers.</p> + +<p>The young man behind the counter was so intently +writing in a penny version-book, that he paid no heed to +Challoner’s arrival. On a second glance, it seemed to the +latter that he recognised him.</p> + +<p>“By Jove,” he thought, “unquestionably Somerset!”</p> + +<p>And though this was the very man he had been so sedulously +careful to avoid, his unexplained position at the +receipt of custom changed distaste to curiosity.</p> + +<p>“’Or opulent rotunda strike the sky,’” said the shopman +to himself, in the tone of one considering a verse. “I +suppose it would be too much to say‘orotunda,’ and yet +how noble it were!‘Or opulent orotunda strike the sky.’ +But that is the bitterness of arts; you see a good effect, +and some nonsense about sense continually intervenes.”</p> + +<p>“Somerset, my dear fellow,” said Challoner, “is this +a masquerade?”</p> + +<p>“What? Challoner!” cried the shopman. “I am +delighted to see you. One moment, till I finish the octave +of my sonnet: only the octave.” And with a friendly +waggle of the hand, he once more buried himself in the +commerce of the Muses. “I say,” he said presently, looking +up, “you seem in wonderful preservation: how about +the hundred pounds?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page213"></a>213</span></p> + +<p>“I have made a small inheritance from a great aunt +in Wales,” replied Challoner modestly.</p> + +<p>“Ah,” said Somerset, “I very much doubt the legitimacy +of inheritance. The State, in my view, should collar +it. I am now going through a stage of socialism and poetry,” +he added apologetically, as one who spoke of a course of +medicinal waters.</p> + +<p>“And are you really the person of the—establishment?” +inquired Challoner, deftly evading the word “shop.”</p> + +<p>“A vendor, sir, a vendor,” returned the other, pocketing +his poesy. “I help old Happy and Glorious. Can I +offer you a weed?”</p> + +<p>“Well, I scarcely like ...” began Challoner.</p> + +<p>“Nonsense, my dear fellow,” cried the shopman. “We +are very proud of the business; and the old man, let me +inform you, besides being the most egregious of created +beings from the point of view of ethics, is literally sprung +from the loins of kings.‘<i>De Godall je suis le fervent.</i>’ +There is only one Godall.—By the way,” he added, as +Challoner lit his cigar, “how did you get on with the +detective trade?”</p> + +<p>“I did not try,” said Challoner curtly.</p> + +<p>“Ah, well, I did,” returned Somerset, “and made the +most incomparable mess of it; lost all my money and fairly +covered myself with odium and ridicule. There is more +in that business, Challoner, than meets the eye; there is +more, in fact, in all businesses. You must believe in them, +or get up the belief that you believe. Hence,” he added, +“the recognised inferiority of the plumber, for no one +could believe in plumbing.”</p> + +<p>“<i>A propos</i>,” asked Challoner, “do you still paint?”</p> + +<p>“Not now,” replied Paul; “but I think of taking up +the violin.”</p> + +<p>Challoner’s eye, which had been somewhat restless since +the trade of the detective had been named, now rested for +a moment on the columns of the morning paper, where it +lay spread upon the counter.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page214"></a>214</span></p> + +<p>“By Jove,” he cried, “that’s odd!”</p> + +<p>“What is odd?” asked Paul.</p> + +<p>“Oh, nothing,” returned the other: “only I once met +a person called M’Guire.”</p> + +<p>“So did I!” cried Somerset. “Is there anything +about him?”</p> + +<p>Challoner read as follows: “<i>Mysterious death in Stepney.</i> +An inquest was held yesterday on the body of Patrick +M’Guire, described as a carpenter. Dr. Dovering stated +that he had for some time treated the deceased as a dispensary +patient, for sleeplessness, loss of appetite, and +nervous depression. There was no cause of death to be +found. He would say the deceased had sunk. Deceased +was not a temperate man, which doubtless accelerated +death. Deceased complained of dumb ague, but witness +had never been able to detect any positive disease. He +did not know that he had any family. He regarded him +as a person of unsound intellect, who believed himself a +member and the victim of some secret society. If he were +to hazard an opinion, he would say deceased had died of +fear.”</p> + +<p>“And the doctor would be right,” cried Somerset; +“and my dear Challoner, I am so relieved to hear of his +demise, that I will——. Well, after all,” he added, “poor +devil, he was well served.”</p> + +<p>The door at this moment opened, and Desborough +appeared upon the threshold. He was wrapped in a long +waterproof, imperfectly supplied with buttons; his boots +were full of water, his hat greasy with service; and yet he +wore the air of one exceeding well content with life. He +was hailed by the two others with exclamations of surprise +and welcome.</p> + +<p>“And did you try the detective business?” inquired Paul.</p> + +<p>“No,” returned Harry. “Oh yes, by the way, I did +though: twice, and got caught out both times. But I +thought I should find my—my wife here?” he added, with +a kind of proud confusion.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page215"></a>215</span></p> + +<p>“What? are you married?” cried Somerset.</p> + +<p>“Oh yes,” said Harry, “quite a long time: a month at +least.”</p> + +<p>“Money?” asked Challoner.</p> + +<p>“That’s the worst of it,” Desborough admitted. “We +are deadly hard up. But the Pri—Mr. Godall is going to +do something for us. That is what brings us here.”</p> + +<p>“Who was Mrs. Desborough?” said Challoner, in the +tone of a man of society.</p> + +<p>“She was a Miss Luxmore,” returned Harry. “You +fellows will be sure to like her, for she is much cleverer than +I. She tells wonderful stories, too; better than a book.”</p> + +<p>And just then the door opened, and Mrs. Desborough +entered. Somerset cried out aloud to recognise the young +lady of the Superfluous Mansion, and Challoner fell back +a step and dropped his cigar as he beheld the sorceress of +Chelsea.</p> + +<p>“What!” cried Harry, “do you both know my wife?”</p> + +<p>“I believe I have seen her,” said Somerset, a little +wildly.</p> + +<p>“I think I have met the gentleman,” said Mrs. Desborough +sweetly; “but I cannot imagine where it was.”</p> + +<p>“Oh no,” cried Somerset fervently; “I have no notion—I +cannot conceive—where it could have been. Indeed,” +he continued, growing in emphasis, “I think it highly +probable that it’s a mistake.”</p> + +<p>“And you, Challoner?” asked Harry, “you seemed +to recognise her, too.”</p> + +<p>“These are both friends of yours, Harry?” said the +lady. “Delighted, I am sure. I do not remember to have +met Mr. Challoner.”</p> + +<p>Challoner was very red in the face, perhaps from having +groped after his cigar. “I do not remember to have had +the pleasure,” he responded huskily.</p> + +<p>“Well, and Mr. Godall?” asked Mrs. Desborough.</p> + +<p>“Are you the lady that has an appointment with +old ...” began Somerset, and paused, blushing. “Because +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page216"></a>216</span> +if so,” he resumed, “I was to announce you at +once.”</p> + +<p>And the shopman raised a curtain, opened a door, and +passed into a small pavilion which had been added to the +back of the house. On the roof, the rain resounded musically. +The walls were lined with maps and prints and a few +works of reference. Upon a table was a large-scale map of +Egypt and the Soudan, and another of Tonkin, on which, +by the aid of coloured pins, the progress of the different wars +was being followed day by day. A light, refreshing odour +of the most delicate tobacco hung upon the air; and a fire, +not of foul coal, but of clear-flaming resinous billets, chattered +upon silver dogs. In this elegant and plain apartment, +Mr. Godall sat in a morning muse, placidly gazing +at the fire and hearkening to the rain upon the roof.</p> + +<p>“Ha, my dear Mr. Somerset,” said he, “and have you +since last night adopted any fresh political principle?”</p> + +<p>“The lady, sir,” said Somerset, with another blush.</p> + +<p>“You have seen her, I believe?” returned Mr. Godall; +and on Somerset’s replying in the affirmative: “You will +excuse me, my dear sir,” he resumed, “if I offer you a hint. +I think it not improbable this lady may desire entirely to +forget the past. From one gentleman to another, no more +words are necessary.”</p> + +<p>A moment after, he had received Mrs. Desborough with +that grave and touching urbanity that so well became him.</p> + +<p>“I am pleased, madam, to welcome you to my poor +house,” he said; “and shall be still more so, if what were +else a barren courtesy and a pleasure personal to myself, +shall prove to be of serious benefit to you and Mr. Desborough.”</p> + +<p>“Your highness,” replied Clara, “I must begin with +thanks; it is like what I have heard of you, that you should +thus take up the case of the unfortunate; and as for my +Harry, he is worthy of all that you can do.” She paused.</p> + +<p>“But for yourself?” suggested Mr. Godall—“it was +thus you were about to continue, I believe.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page217"></a>217</span></p> + +<p>“You take the words out of my mouth,” she said. +“For myself, it is different.”</p> + +<p>“I am not here to be a judge of men,” replied the prince; +“still less of women. I am now a private person like yourself +and many million others; but I am one who still fights +upon the side of quiet. Now, madam, you know better +than I, and God better than you, what you have done to +mankind in the past; I pause not to inquire; it is with the +future I concern myself, it is for the future I demand +security. I would not willingly put arms into the hands of +a disloyal combatant; and I dare not restore to wealth one +of the levyers of a private and a barbarous war. I speak +with some severity, and yet I pick my terms. I tell myself +continually that you are a woman; and a voice continually +reminds me of the children whose lives and limbs you have +endangered. A woman,” he repeated solemnly—“and +children. Possibly, madam, when you are yourself a +mother, you will feel the bite of that antithesis: possibly +when you kneel at night beside a cradle, a fear will fall upon +you, heavier than any shame; and when your child lies in +the pain and danger of disease, you shall hesitate to kneel +before your Maker.”</p> + +<p>“You look at the fault,” she said, “and not at the +excuse. Has your own heart never leaped within you at +some story of oppression? But, alas, no! for you were +born upon a throne.”</p> + +<p>“I was born of woman,” said the prince; “I came +forth from my mother’s agony, helpless as a wren, like +other nurselings. This, which you forgot, I have still +faithfully remembered. Is it not one of your English poets, +that looked abroad upon the earth and saw vast circumvallations, +innumerable troops manœuvring, warships at +sea, and a great dust of battles on shore; and, casting +anxiously about for what should be the cause of so many +and painful preparations, spied at last, in the centre of all, +a mother and her babe? These, madam, are my politics; +and the verses, which are by Mr. Coventry Patmore, I have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page218"></a>218</span> +caused to be translated into the Bohemian tongue. Yes, +these are my politics: to change what we can, to better +what we can; but still to bear in mind that man is but a +devil weakly fettered by some generous beliefs and impositions; +and for no word however nobly sounding, and no +cause however just and pious, to relax the stricture of these +bonds.”</p> + +<p>There was a silence of a moment.</p> + +<p>“I fear, madam,” resumed the prince, “that I but +weary you. My views are formal like myself; and like +myself, they also begin to grow old. But I must still +trouble you for some reply.”</p> + +<p>“I can say but one thing,” said Mrs. Desborough: “I +love my husband.”</p> + +<p>“It is a good answer,” returned the prince; “and you +name a good influence, but one that need not be conterminous +with life.”</p> + +<p>“I will not play at pride with such a man as you,” she +answered. “What do you ask of me? not protestations, +I am sure. What shall I say? I have done much that I +cannot defend and that I would not do again. Can I say +more? Yes: I can say this: I never abused myself with +the muddle-headed fairy tales of politics. I was at least +prepared to meet reprisals. While I was levying war myself—or +levying murder, if you choose the plainer term—I +never accused my adversaries of assassination. I never +felt or feigned a righteous horror, when a price was put upon +my life by those whom I attacked. I never called the +policeman a hireling. I may have been a criminal, in short; +but I never was a fool.”</p> + +<p>“Enough, madam,” returned the prince: “more than +enough! Your words are most reviving to my spirits; for +in this age, when even the assassin is a sentimentalist, there +is no virtue greater in my eyes than intellectual clarity. +Suffer me then to ask you to retire; for by the signal of +that bell, I perceive my old friend, your mother, to be close +at hand. With her I promise you to do my utmost.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page219"></a>219</span></p> + +<p>And as Mrs. Desborough returned to the Divan, the +prince, opening a door upon the other side, admitted Mrs. +Luxmore.</p> + +<p>“Madam, and my very good friend,” said he, “is my +face so much changed that you no longer recognise Prince +Florizel in Mr. Godall?”</p> + +<p>“To be sure!” she cried, looking at him through her +glasses. “I have always regarded your highness as a +perfect man; and in your altered circumstances, of which +I have already heard with deep regret, I will beg you to +consider my respect increased instead of lessened.”</p> + +<p>“I have found it so,” returned the prince, “with every +class of my acquaintance. But, madam, I pray you to be +seated. My business is of a delicate order, and regards +your daughter.”</p> + +<p>“In that case,” said Mrs. Luxmore, “you may save +yourself the trouble of speaking, for I have fully made up +my mind to have nothing to do with her. I will not hear +one word in her defence; but as I value nothing so particularly +as the virtue of justice, I think it my duty to explain +to you the grounds of my complaint. She deserted me, +her natural protector; for years she has consorted with the +most disreputable persons; and, to fill the cup of her +offence, she has recently married. I refuse to see her, or +the being to whom she has linked herself. One hundred +and twenty pounds a year, I have always offered her: I offer +it again. It is what I had myself when I was her age.”</p> + +<p>“Very well, madam,” said the prince; “and be that +so! But to touch upon another matter: what was the +income of the Reverend Bernard Fanshawe?”</p> + +<p>“My father?” asked the spirited old lady. “I believe +he had seven hundred pounds in the year.”</p> + +<p>“You were one, I think, of several?” pursued the +prince.</p> + +<p>“Of four,” was the reply. “We were four daughters; +and, painful as the admission is to make, a more detestable +family could scarce be found in England.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page220"></a>220</span></p> + +<p>“Dear me!” said the prince. “And you, madam, +have an income of eight thousand?”</p> + +<p>“Not more than five,” returned the old lady; “but +where on earth are you conducting me?”</p> + +<p>“To an allowance of one thousand pounds a year,” +replied Florizel, smiling. “For I must not suffer you to +take your father for a rule. He was poor, you are rich. +He had many calls upon his poverty: there are none upon +your wealth. And indeed, madam, if you will let me touch +this matter with a needle, there is but one point in common +to your two positions: that each had a daughter more remarkable +for liveliness than duty.”</p> + +<p>“I have been entrapped into this house,” said the old +lady, getting to her feet. “But it shall not avail. Not +all the tobacconists in Europe....”</p> + +<p>“Ah, madam,” interrupted Florizel, “before what is +referred to as my fall, you had not used such language! +And since you so much object to the simple industry by +which I live, let me give you a friendly hint. If you will +not consent to support your daughter, I shall be constrained +to place that lady behind my counter, where I doubt not +she would prove a great attraction; and your son-in-law +shall have a livery and run the errands. With such young +blood my business might be doubled, and I might be bound, +in common gratitude, to place the name of Luxmore beside +that of Godall.”</p> + +<p>“Your highness,” said the old lady, “I have been very +rude, and you are very cunning. I suppose the minx is +on the premises. Produce her.”</p> + +<p>“Let us rather observe them unperceived,” said the +prince; and so saying he rose and quietly drew back the +curtain.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Desborough sat with her back to them on a chair; +Somerset and Harry were hanging on her words with extraordinary +interest; Challoner, alleging some affair, had +long ago withdrawn from the detested neighbourhood of +the enchantress.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page221"></a>221</span></p> + +<p>“At that moment,” Mrs. Desborough was saying, “Mr. +Gladstone detected the features of his cowardly assailant. +A cry rose to his lips: a cry of mingled triumph....”</p> + +<p>“That is Mr. Somerset!” interrupted the spirited old +lady, in the highest note of her register. “Mr. Somerset, +what have you done with my house-property?”</p> + +<p>“Madam,” said the prince, “let it be mine to give the +explanation; and in the meanwhile, welcome your +daughter.”</p> + +<p>“Well, Clara, how do you do?” said Mrs. Luxmore. +“It appears I am to give you an allowance. So much the +better for you. As for Mr. Somerset, I am very ready to +have an explanation; for the whole affair, though costly, +was eminently humorous. And at any rate,” she added, +nodding to Paul, “he is a young gentleman for whom I +have a great affection, and his pictures were the funniest +I ever saw.”</p> + +<p>“I have ordered a collation,” said the prince. “Mr. +Somerset, as these are all your friends, I propose, if you +please, that you should join them at table. I will take +the shop.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page222"></a>222</span></p> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page223"></a>223</span></p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>STRANGE CASE OF</h2> +<h2>DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE</h2> +<hr class="full" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page224"></a>224</span></p> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page225"></a>225</span></p> +<h5><i>TO</i></h5> + +<p class="center noind"><i>KATHARINE DE MATTOS</i></p> + +<table class="reg" summary="poem"><tr><td> +<div class="poemr"> + +<p><i>It’s ill to loose the bands that God decreed to bind;</i></p> +<p><i>Still will we be the children of the heather and the wind.</i></p> +<p><i>Far away from home, O it’s still for you and me</i></p> +<p><i>That the broom is blowing bonnie in the north countrie.</i></p> + +</div> +</td></tr></table> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page226"></a>226</span></p> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page227"></a>227</span></p> +<h2>STRANGE CASE OF</h2> +<h2>DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE</h2> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<h3>STORY OF THE DOOR</h3> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Mr. Utterson</span> the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance, +that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and +embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, +long, dusty, dreary, and yet somehow lovable. At friendly +meetings, and when the wine was to his taste, something +eminently human beaconed from his eye; something indeed +which never found its way into his talk, but which spoke +not only in these silent symbols of the after-dinner face, but +more often and loudly in the acts of his life. He was austere +with himself; drank gin when he was alone, to mortify a +taste for vintages; and though he enjoyed the theatre, had +not crossed the doors of one for twenty years. But he had +an approved tolerance for others; sometimes wondering, +almost with envy, at the high pressure of spirits involved +in their misdeeds; and in any extremity inclined to help +rather than to reprove. “I incline to Cain’s heresy,” he +used to say quaintly: “I let my brother go to the devil in +his own way.” In this character, it was frequently his +fortune to be the last reputable acquaintance and the last +good influence in the lives of down-going men. And to +such as these, so long as they came about his chambers, he +never marked a shade of change in his demeanour.</p> + +<p>No doubt the feat was easy to Mr. Utterson; for he was +undemonstrative at the best, and even his friendships +seemed to be founded in a similar catholicity of good-nature. +It is the mark of a modest man to accept his friendly circle +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page228"></a>228</span> +ready-made from the hands of opportunity; and that was +the lawyer’s way. His friends were those of his own blood, +or those whom he had known the longest; his affections, +like ivy, were the growth of time, they implied no aptness +in the object. Hence, no doubt, the bond that united him +to Mr. Richard Enfield, his distant kinsman, the well-known +man about town. It was a nut to crack for many, what +these two could see in each other or what subject they could +find in common. It was reported by those who encountered +them in their Sunday walks that they said nothing, looked +singularly dull, and would hail with obvious relief the +appearance of a friend. For all that, the two men put the +greatest store by these excursions, counted them the chief +jewel of each week, and not only set aside occasions of +pleasure, but even resisted the calls of business, that they +might enjoy them uninterrupted.</p> + +<p>It chanced on one of these rambles that their way led +them down a by-street in a busy quarter of London. The +street was small, and what is called quiet, but it drove a +thriving trade on the week-days. The inhabitants were all +doing well, it seemed, and all emulously hoping to do better +still, and laying out the surplus of their gains in coquetry; +so that the shop-fronts stood along that thoroughfare with +an air of invitation, like rows of smiling saleswomen. Even +on Sunday, when it veiled its more florid charms and lay +comparatively empty of passage, the street shone out in +contrast to its dingy neighbourhood, like a fire in a forest; +and with its freshly painted shutters, well-polished brasses, +and general cleanliness and gaiety of note, instantly caught +and pleased the eye of the passenger.</p> + +<p>Two doors from one corner on the left hand going east, +the line was broken by the entry of a court; and just at that +point a certain sinister block of building thrust forward its +gable on the street. It was two stories high; showed no +window, nothing but a door on the lower story and a blind +forehead of discoloured wall on the upper; and bore in +every feature the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page229"></a>229</span> +The door, which was equipped with neither bell nor knocker, +was blistered and distained. Tramps slouched into the +recess and struck matches on the panels; children kept +shop upon the steps; the schoolboy had tried his knife on +the mouldings; and for close on a generation no one had +appeared to drive away these random visitors or to repair +their ravages.</p> + +<p>Mr. Enfield and the lawyer were on the other side of the +by-street, but when they came abreast of the entry, the +former lifted up his cane and pointed.</p> + +<p>“Did you ever remark that door?” he asked; and when +his companion had replied in the affirmative, “it is connected +in my mind,” added he, “with a very odd story.”</p> + +<p>“Indeed?” said Mr. Utterson, with a slight change of +voice, “and what was that?”</p> + +<p>“Well, it was this way,” returned Mr. Enfield: “I was +coming home from some place at the end of the world, +about three o’clock of a black winter morning, and my way +lay through a part of town where there was literally +nothing to be seen but lamps. Street after street, and all +the folks asleep—street after street, all lighted up as if for +a procession and all as empty as a church—till at last I got +into that state of mind when a man listens and listens and +begins to long for the sight of a policeman. All at once I +saw two figures: one a little man who was stumping along +eastward at a good walk, and the other a girl of maybe eight +or ten, who was running as hard as she was able down a cross +street. Well, sir, the two ran into one another naturally +enough at the corner; and then came the horrible part of +the thing; for the man trampled calmly over the child’s +body and left her screaming on the ground. It sounds +nothing to hear, but it was hellish to see. It wasn’t like a +man; it was like some damned Juggernaut. I gave a view-holloa, +took to my heels, collared my gentleman, and brought +him back to where there was already quite a group about +the screaming child. He was perfectly cool, and made no +resistance, but gave me one look so ugly that it brought +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page230"></a>230</span> +out the sweat on me like running. The people who had +turned out were the girl’s own family; and pretty soon, the +doctor, for whom she had been sent, put in his appearance. +Well, the child was not much the worse, more frightened, +according to the Sawbones; and there you might have supposed +would be an end to it. But there was one curious +circumstance. I had taken a loathing to my gentleman at +first sight. So had the child’s family, which was only +natural. But the doctor’s case was what struck me. He +was the usual cut-and-dry apothecary, of no particular age +and colour, with a strong Edinburgh accent, and about as +emotional as a bagpipe. Well, sir, he was like the rest of us; +every time he looked at my prisoner, I saw that Sawbones +turn sick and white with the desire to kill him. I knew +what was in his mind, just as he knew what was in mine; +and killing being out of the question, we did the next best. +We told the man we could and would make such a scandal +out of this as should make his name stink from one end of +London to the other. If he had any friends or any credit, +we undertook that he should lose them. And all the time, +as we were pitching it in red-hot, we were keeping the +women off him as best we could, for they were as wild as +harpies. I never saw a circle of such hateful faces; and +there was the man in the middle, with a kind of black +sneering coolness—frightened, too, I could see that—but +carrying it off, sir, really like Satan.‘If you choose to +make capital out of this accident,’ said he,‘I am naturally +helpless. No gentleman but wishes to avoid a scene,’ says +he.‘Name your figure.’ Well, we screwed him up to a +hundred pounds for the child’s family; he would have +clearly liked to stick out; but there was something about +the lot of us that meant mischief, and at last he struck. +The next thing was to get the money; and where do you +think he carried us but to that place with the door?—whipped +out a key, went in, and presently came back with +the matter of ten pounds in gold and a cheque for the balance +on Coutts’s, drawn payable to bearer and signed with a name +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page231"></a>231</span> +that I can’t mention, though it’s one of the points of my +story, but it was a name at least very well known and often +printed. The figure was stiff; but the signature was good +for more than that, if it was only genuine. I took the +liberty of pointing out to my gentleman that the whole +business looked apocryphal, and that a man does not, in +real life, walk into a cellar-door at four in the morning and +come out of it with another man’s cheque for close upon a +hundred pounds. But he was quite easy and sneering. +’Set your mind at rest,’ says he,‘I will stay with you till +the banks open and cash the cheque myself.’ So we all +set off, the doctor, and the child’s father, and our friend and +myself, and passed the rest of the night in my chambers; +and next day, when we had breakfasted, went in a body to +the bank. I gave in the cheque myself, and said I had +every reason to believe it was a forgery. Not a bit of it. +The cheque was genuine.”</p> + +<p>“Tut-tut,” said Mr. Utterson.</p> + +<p>“I see you feel as I do,” said Mr. Enfield. “Yes, it’s a +bad story. For my man was a fellow that nobody could +have to do with, a really damnable man: and the person +that drew the cheque is the very pink of the proprieties, +celebrated too, and (what makes it worse) one of your +fellows who do what they call good. Blackmail, I suppose; +an honest man paying through the nose for some of the +capers of his youth. Black Mail House is what I call that +place with the door, in consequence. Though even that, +you know, is far from explaining all,” he added, and with +the words fell into a vein of musing.</p> + +<p>From this he was recalled by Mr. Utterson asking rather +suddenly: “And you don’t know if the drawer of the +cheque lives there?”</p> + +<p>“A likely place, isn’t it?” returned Mr. Enfield. “But +I happened to have noticed his address; he lives in some +square or other.”</p> + +<p>“And you never asked about—the place with the +door?” said Mr. Utterson.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page232"></a>232</span></p> + +<p>“No, sir: I had a delicacy,” was the reply. “I feel +very strongly about putting questions; it partakes too +much of the style of the day of judgment. You start a +question, and it’s like starting a stone. You sit quietly +on the top of a hill; and away the stone goes, starting +others; and presently some bland old bird (the last you +would have thought of) is knocked on the head in his own +back-garden and the family have to change their name. +No, sir, I make it a rule of mine: the more it looks like +Queer Street, the less I ask.”</p> + +<p>“A very good rule too,” said the lawyer.</p> + +<p>“But I have studied the place for myself,” continued +Mr. Enfield. “It seems scarcely a house. There is no +other door, and nobody goes in or out of that one but, once +in a great while, the gentleman of my adventure. There +are three windows looking on the court on the first floor; +none below; the windows are always shut, but they’re +clean. And then there is a chimney which is generally +smoking; so somebody must live there. Yet it’s not so sure; +for the buildings are so packed together about that court +that it’s hard to say where one ends and another begins.”</p> + +<p>The pair walked on again for a while in silence; and +then, “Enfield,” said Mr. Utterson, “that’s a good rule of +yours.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I think it is,” returned Enfield.</p> + +<p>“But for all that,” continued the lawyer, “there’s one +point I want to ask: I want to ask the name of that man +who walked over the child.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Mr. Enfield, “I can’t see what harm it +would do. He was a man of the name of Hyde.”</p> + +<p>“H’m,” said Mr. Utterson. “What sort of a man is he +to see?”</p> + +<p>“He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong +with his appearance; something displeasing, something +downright detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, +and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; +he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page233"></a>233</span> +couldn’t specify the point. He’s an extraordinary-looking +man, and yet I really can name nothing out of the way. +No, sir; I can make no hand of it; I can’t describe him. +And it’s not want of memory; for I declare I can see him +this moment.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Utterson again walked some way in silence and +obviously under a weight of consideration. “You are sure +he used a key?” he inquired at last.</p> + +<p>“My dear sir——” began Enfield, surprised out of himself.</p> + +<p>“Yes, I know,” said Utterson; “I know it must seem +strange. The fact is, if I do not ask you the name of the +other party it is because I know it already. You see, +Richard, your tale has gone home. If you have been inexact +in any point, you had better correct it.”</p> + +<p>“I think you might have warned me,” returned the +other with a touch of sullenness. “But I have been +pedantically exact, as you call it. The fellow had a key; +and what’s more, he has it still. I saw him use it not a +week ago.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Utterson sighed deeply but said never a word; and +the young man presently resumed. “Here is another +lesson to say nothing,” said he. “I am ashamed of my +long tongue. Let us make a bargain never to refer to this +again.”</p> + +<p>“With all my heart,” said the lawyer. “I shake +hands on that, Richard.”</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page234"></a>234</span></p> +<h3>SEARCH FOR MR. HYDE</h3> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">That</span> evening Mr. Utterson came home to his bachelor +house in sombre spirits and sat down to dinner without +relish. It was his custom of a Sunday, when this meal was +over, to sit close by the fire, a volume of some dry divinity +on his reading-desk, until the clock of the neighbouring +church rang out the hour of twelve, when he would go +soberly and gratefully to bed. On this night, however, as +soon as the cloth was taken away, he took up a candle and +went into his business-room. There he opened his safe, +took from the most private part of it a document endorsed +on the envelope as Dr. Jekyll’s Will, and sat down with a +clouded brow to study its contents. The will was holograph, +for Mr. Utterson, though he took charge of it now +that it was made, had refused to lend the least assistance +in the making of it; it provided not only that, in case of +the decease of Henry Jekyll, M.D., D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., +&c., all his possessions were to pass into the hands of his +“friend and benefactor Edward Hyde,” but that in case of +Dr. Jekyll’s “disappearance or unexplained absence for +any period exceeding three calendar months,” the said +Edward Hyde should step into the said Henry Jekyll’s shoes +without further delay and free from any burthen or obligation, +beyond the payment of a few small sums to the +members of the doctor’s household. This document had +long been the lawyer’s eyesore. It offended him both as a +lawyer and as a lover of the sane and customary sides of +life, to whom the fanciful was the immodest. And hitherto +it was his ignorance of Mr. Hyde that had swelled his indignation; +now, by a sudden turn, it was his knowledge. +It was already bad enough when the name was but a name +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page235"></a>235</span> +of which he could learn no more. It was worse when it +began to be clothed upon with detestable attributes; and +out of the shifting, insubstantial mists that had so long +baffled his eye, there leaped up the sudden, definite presentment +of a fiend.</p> + +<p>“I thought it was madness,” he said, as he replaced the +obnoxious paper in the safe, “and now I begin to fear it is +disgrace.”</p> + +<p>With that he blew out his candle, put on a great-coat, +and set forth in the direction of Cavendish Square, that +citadel of medicine, where his friend, the great Dr. Lanyon, +had his house and received his crowding patients. “If +any one knows, it will be Lanyon,” he had thought.</p> + +<p>The solemn butler knew and welcomed him; he was +subjected to no stage of delay, but ushered direct from the +door to the dining-room, where Dr. Lanyon sat alone over +his wine. This was a hearty, healthy, dapper, red-faced +gentleman, with a shock of hair prematurely white, and a +boisterous and decided manner. At sight of Mr. Utterson, +he sprang up from his chair and welcomed him with both +hands. The geniality, as was the way of the man, was +somewhat theatrical to the eye; but it reposed on genuine +feeling. For these two were old friends, old mates both at +school and college, both thorough respecters of themselves +and of each other, and, what does not always follow, men +who thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company.</p> + +<p>After a little rambling talk, the lawyer led up to the +subject which so disagreeably preoccupied his mind.</p> + +<p>“I suppose, Lanyon,” said he, “you and I must be the +two oldest friends that Henry Jekyll has?”</p> + +<p>“I wish the friends were younger,” chuckled Dr. +Lanyon. “But I suppose we are. And what of that? I +see little of him now.”</p> + +<p>“Indeed?” said Utterson. “I thought you had a bond +of common interest.”</p> + +<p>“We had,” was the reply. “But it is more than ten +years since Henry Jekyll became too fanciful for me. He +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page236"></a>236</span> +began to go wrong, wrong in mind; and though of course +I continue to take an interest in him for old sake’s sake, +as they say, I see and I have seen devilish little of the man. +Such unscientific balderdash,” added the doctor, flushing +suddenly purple, “would have estranged Damon and +Pythias.”</p> + +<p>This little spirt of temper was somewhat of a relief to +Mr. Utterson. “They have only differed on some point of +science,” he thought; and being a man of no scientific +passions (except in the matter of conveyancing) he even +added: “It is nothing worse than that!” He gave his +friend a few seconds to recover his composure, and then +approached the question he had come to put. “Did you +ever come across a protégé of his—one Hyde?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Hyde,” repeated Lanyon. “No. Never heard of +him. Since my time.”</p> + +<p>That was the amount of information that the lawyer +carried back with him to the great, dark bed on which he +tossed to and fro, until the small hours of the morning began +to grow large. It was a night of little ease to his toiling +mind, toiling in mere darkness and besieged by questions.</p> + +<p>Six o’clock struck on the bells of the church that was so +conveniently near to Mr. Utterson’s dwelling, and still he +was digging at the problem. Hitherto it had touched him +on the intellectual side alone; but now his imagination also +was engaged, or rather enslaved; and as he lay and tossed +in the gross darkness of the night and the curtained room, +Mr. Enfield’s tale went by before his mind in a scroll of +lighted pictures. He would be aware of the great field of +lamps of a nocturnal city; then of the figure of a man walking +swiftly; then of a child running from the doctor’s; and +then these met, and that human Juggernaut trod the child +down and passed on regardless of her screams. Or else he +would see a room in a rich house, where his friend lay asleep, +dreaming and smiling at his dreams; and then the door of +that room would be opened, the curtains of the bed plucked +apart, the sleeper recalled, and lo! there would stand by his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page237"></a>237</span> +side a figure to whom power was given, and even at that +dead hour he must rise and do its bidding. The figure in +these two phases haunted the lawyer all night; and if at +any time he dozed over, it was but to see it glide more +stealthily through sleeping houses, or move the more +swiftly and still the more swiftly, even to dizziness, through +wider labyrinths of lamplighted city, and at every street-corner +crush a child and leave her screaming. And still the +figure had no face by which he might know it; even in his +dreams, it had no face, or one that baffled him and melted +before his eyes; and thus it was that there sprang up and +grew apace in the lawyer’s mind a singularly strong, almost +an inordinate, curiosity to behold the features of the real +Mr. Hyde. If he could but once set eyes on him, he thought +the mystery would lighten and perhaps roll altogether +away, as was the habit of mysterious things when well examined. +He might see a reason for his friend’s strange preference +or bondage (call it which you please) and even for +the startling clauses of the will. And at least it would be +a face worth seeing: the face of a man who was without +bowels of mercy: a face which had but to show itself to +raise up, in the mind of the unimpressionable Enfield, a +spirit of enduring hatred.</p> + +<p>From that time forward, Mr. Utterson began to haunt +the door in the by-street of shops. In the morning before +office hours, at noon when business was plenty and time +scarce, at night under the face of the fogged city moon, by +all lights and at all hours of solitude or concourse, the lawyer +was to be found on his chosen post.</p> + +<p>“If he be Mr. Hyde,” he had thought, “I shall be Mr. +Seek.”</p> + +<p>And at last his patience was rewarded. It was a fine +dry night; frost in the air; the streets as clean as a ballroom +floor; the lamps, unshaken by any wind, drawing a +regular pattern of light and shadow. By ten o’clock, when +the shops were closed, the by-street was very solitary and, +in spite of the low growl of London from all round, very +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page238"></a>238</span> +silent. Small sounds carried far; domestic sounds out of +the houses were clearly audible on either side of the roadway; +and the rumour of the approach of any passenger +preceded him by a long time. Mr. Utterson had been some +minutes at his post, when he was aware of an odd, light footstep +drawing near. In the course of his nightly patrols he +had long grown accustomed to the quaint effect with which +the footfalls of a single person, while he is still a great way +off, suddenly spring out distinct from the vast hum and +clatter of the city. Yet his attention had never before been +so sharply and decisively arrested; and it was with a strong, +superstitious prevision of success that he withdrew into the +entry of the court.</p> + +<p>The steps drew swiftly nearer, and swelled out suddenly +louder as they turned the end of the street. The lawyer, +looking forth from the entry, could soon see what manner of +man he had to deal with. He was small and very plainly +dressed, and the look of him, even at that distance, went +somehow strongly against the watcher’s inclination. But +he made straight for the door, crossing the roadway to save +time; and as he came, he drew a key from his pocket like +one approaching home.</p> + +<p>Mr. Utterson stepped out and touched him on the +shoulder as he passed. “Mr. Hyde, I think?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Hyde shrank back with a hissing intake of the +breath. But his fear was only momentary; and though +he did not look the lawyer in the face, he answered coolly +enough: “That is my name. What do you want?”</p> + +<p>“I see you are going in,” returned the lawyer. “I +am an old friend of Dr. Jekyll’s—Mr. Utterson of Gaunt +Street—you must have heard my name; and meeting +you so conveniently, I thought you might admit +me.”</p> + +<p>“You will not find Dr. Jekyll; he is from home,” replied +Mr. Hyde, blowing in the key. And then suddenly, +but still without looking up, “How did you know me?” he +asked.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page239"></a>239</span></p> + +<p>“On your side,” said Mr. Utterson, “will you do me a +favour?”</p> + +<p>“With pleasure,” replied the other. “What shall it +be?”</p> + +<p>“Will you let me see your face?” asked the lawyer.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hyde appeared to hesitate, and then, as if upon +some sudden reflection, fronted about with an air of defiance; +and the pair stared at each other pretty fixedly for +a few seconds. “Now I shall know you again,” said Mr. +Utterson. “It may be useful.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” returned Mr. Hyde, “it is as well we have met; +and <i>à propos</i>, you should have my address.” And he gave +a number of a street in Soho.</p> + +<p>“Good God!” thought Mr. Utterson, “can he too have +been thinking of the will?” But he kept his feelings to +himself and only grunted in acknowledgment of the address.</p> + +<p>“And now,” said the other, “how did you know me?”</p> + +<p>“By description,” was the reply.</p> + +<p>“Whose description?”</p> + +<p>“We have common friends,” said Mr. Utterson.</p> + +<p>“Common friends?” echoed Mr. Hyde, a little hoarsely. +“Who are they?”</p> + +<p>“Jekyll, for instance,” said the lawyer.</p> + +<p>“He never told you,” cried Mr. Hyde, with a flush of +anger. “I did not think you would have lied.”</p> + +<p>“Come,” said Mr. Utterson, “that is not fitting language.”</p> + +<p>The other snarled aloud into a savage laugh; and the +next moment, with extraordinary quickness, he had unlocked +the door and disappeared into the house.</p> + +<p>The lawyer stood awhile when Mr. Hyde had left him, +the picture of disquietude. Then he began slowly to mount +the street, pausing every step or two and putting his hand +to his brow like a man in mental perplexity. The problem +he was thus debating as he walked was one of a class that is +rarely solved. Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish. He gave +an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page240"></a>240</span> +he had a displeasing smile, he had borne himself +to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity +and boldness, and he spoke with a husky, whispering and +somewhat broken voice; all these were points against him, +but not all of these together could explain the hitherto unknown +disgust, loathing, and fear with which Mr. Utterson +regarded him. “There must be something else,” said the +perplexed gentleman. “There <i>is</i> something more, if I +could find a name for it. God bless me, the man seems +hardly human! Something troglodytic, shall we say? or +can it be the old story of Dr. Fell? or is it the mere radiance +of a foul soul that thus transpires through, and transfigures, +its clay continent? The last, I think; for O my poor old +Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan’s signature upon a face, +it is on that of your new friend.”</p> + +<p>Round the corner from the by-street there was a square +of ancient, handsome houses, now for the most part decayed +from their high estate and let in flats and chambers to all +sorts and conditions of men: map-engravers, architects, +shady lawyers, and the agents of obscure enterprises. One +house, however, second from the corner, was still occupied +entire; and at the door of this, which wore a great air of +wealth and comfort, though it was now plunged in darkness +except for the fan-light, Mr. Utterson stopped and knocked. +A well-dressed elderly servant opened the door.</p> + +<p>“Is Dr. Jekyll at home, Poole?” asked the lawyer.</p> + +<p>“I will see, Mr. Utterson,” said Poole, admitting the +visitor, as he spoke, into a large, low-roofed, comfortable +hall, paved with flags, warmed (after the fashion of a country +house) by a bright, open fire, and furnished with costly +cabinets of oak. “Will you wait here by the fire, sir? or +shall I give you a light in the dining-room?”</p> + +<p>“Here, thank you,” said the lawyer, and he drew near +and leaned on the tall fender. This hall, in which he was +now left alone, was a pet fancy of his friend the doctor’s; +and Utterson himself was wont to speak of it as the pleasantest +room in London. But to-night there was a shudder in his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page241"></a>241</span> +blood; the face of Hyde sat heavy on his memory; he felt +(what was rare with him) a nausea and distaste of life; and +in the gloom of his spirits, he seemed to read a menace in +the flickering of the firelight on the polished cabinets and +the uneasy starting of the shadow on the roof. He was +ashamed of his relief, when Poole presently returned to +announce that Dr. Jekyll was gone out.</p> + +<p>“I saw Mr. Hyde go in by the old dissecting-room door, +Poole,” he said. “Is that right, when Dr. Jekyll is from +home?”</p> + +<p>“Quite right, Mr. Utterson, sir,” replied the servant. +“Mr. Hyde has a key.”</p> + +<p>“Your master seems to repose a great deal of trust in +that young man, Poole,” resumed the other musingly.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir, he do indeed,” said Poole. “We have all +orders to obey him.”</p> + +<p>“I do not think I ever met Mr. Hyde?” asked Utterson.</p> + +<p>“O dear no, sir. He never <i>dines</i> here,” replied the +butler. “Indeed, we see very little of him on this side of +the house; he mostly comes and goes by the laboratory.”</p> + +<p>“Well, good-night, Poole.”</p> + +<p>“Good-night, Mr. Utterson.”</p> + +<p>And the lawyer set out homeward with a very heavy +heart. “Poor Harry Jekyll,” he thought, “my mind misgives +me he is in deep waters! He was wild when he was +young; a long while ago, to be sure; but in the law of God +there is no statute of limitations. Ay, it must be that; the +ghost of some old sin, the cancer of some concealed disgrace: +punishment coming, <i>pede claudo</i>, years after +memory has forgotten and self-love condoned the fault.” +And the lawyer, scared by the thought, brooded awhile on +his own past, groping in all the corners of memory, lest by +chance some Jack-in-the-Box of an old iniquity should leap +to light there. His past was fairly blameless; few men +could read the rolls of their life with less apprehension; yet +he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had +done, and raised up again into a sober and fearful gratitude +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page242"></a>242</span> +by the many that he had come so near to doing, yet avoided. +And then, by a return on his former subject, he conceived +a spark of hope. “This Master Hyde, if he were studied,” +thought he, “must have secrets of his own: black secrets, +by the look of him; secrets compared to which poor Jekyll’s +worst would be like sunshine. Things cannot continue as +they are. It turns me cold to think of this creature stealing +like a thief to Harry’s bedside; poor Harry, what a wakening! +And the danger of it; for if this Hyde suspects the +existence of the will, he may grow impatient to inherit. +Ay, I must put my shoulder to the wheel—if Jekyll will but +let me,” he added, “if Jekyll will only let me.” For once +more he saw before his mind’s eye, as clear as a transparency, +the strange clauses of the will.</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page243"></a>243</span></p> +<h3>DR. JEKYLL WAS QUITE AT EASE</h3> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">A fortnight</span> later, by excellent good fortune, the doctor +gave one of his pleasant dinners to some five or six old +cronies, all intelligent, reputable men, and all judges of +good wine; and Mr. Utterson so contrived that he remained +behind after the others had departed. This was no new +arrangement, but a thing that had befallen many scores of +times. Where Utterson was liked, he was liked well. +Hosts loved to detain the dry lawyer, when the light-hearted +and the loose-tongued had already their foot on the threshold; +they liked to sit awhile in his unobtrusive company, +practising for solitude, sobering their minds in the man’s +rich silence after the expense and strain of gaiety. To this +rule Dr. Jekyll was no exception; and as he now sat on the +opposite side of the fire—a large, well-made, smooth-faced +man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast perhaps, but +every mark of capacity and kindness—you could see by his +looks that he cherished for Mr. Utterson a sincere and warm +affection.</p> + +<p>“I have been wanting to speak to you, Jekyll,” began +the latter. “You know that will of yours?”</p> + +<p>A close observer might have gathered that the topic was +distasteful; but the doctor carried it off gaily. “My poor +Utterson,” said he, “you are unfortunate in such a client. +I never saw a man so distressed as you were by my will; +unless it were that hide-bound pedant, Lanyon, at what he +called my scientific heresies. Oh, I know he’s a good fellow—you +needn’t frown—an excellent fellow, and I always +mean to see more of him; but a hide-bound pedant for all +that; an ignorant, blatant pedant. I was never more disappointed +in any man than Lanyon.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page244"></a>244</span></p> + +<p>“You know I never approved of it,” pursued Utterson, +ruthlessly disregarding the fresh topic.</p> + +<p>“My will? Yes, certainly, I know that,” said the +doctor, a trifle sharply. “You have told me so.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I tell you so again,” continued the lawyer. “I +have been learning something of young Hyde.”</p> + +<p>The large handsome face of Dr. Jekyll grew pale to the +very lips, and there came a blackness about his eyes. “I +do not care to hear more,” said he. “This is a matter I +thought we had agreed to drop.”</p> + +<p>“What I heard was abominable,” said Utterson.</p> + +<p>“It can make no change. You do not understand my +position,” returned the doctor, with a certain incoherency +of manner. “I am painfully situated, Utterson; my +position is a very strange—a very strange one. It is one of +those affairs that cannot be mended by talking.”</p> + +<p>“Jekyll,” said Utterson, “you know me: I am a man +to be trusted. Make a clean breast of this in confidence; +and I make no doubt I can get you out of it.”</p> + +<p>“My good Utterson,” said the doctor, “this is very good +of you, this is downright good of you, and I cannot find +words to thank you in. I believe you fully; I would trust +you before any man alive—ay, before myself, if I could +make the choice; but indeed it isn’t what you fancy; it is +not so bad as that; and just to put your good heart at rest, +I will tell you one thing: the moment I choose, I can be rid +of Mr. Hyde. I give you my hand upon that; and I thank +you again and again; and I will just add one little word, +Utterson, that I’m sure you’ll take in good part: this is a +private matter, and I beg of you to let it sleep.”</p> + +<p>Utterson reflected a little, looking in the fire.</p> + +<p>“I have no doubt you are perfectly right,” he said at +last, getting to his feet.</p> + +<p>“Well, but since we have touched upon this business, +and for the last time I hope,” continued the doctor, “there +is one point I should like you to understand. I have really +a very great interest in poor Hyde. I know you have seen +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page245"></a>245</span> +him; he told me so; and I fear he was rude. But I do +sincerely take a great, a very great interest in that young +man; and if I am taken away, Utterson, I wish you to +promise me that you will bear with him and get his rights +for him. I think you would, if you knew all; and it would +be a weight off my mind if you would promise.”</p> + +<p>“I can’t pretend that I shall ever like him,” said the +lawyer.</p> + +<p>“I don’t ask that,” pleaded Jekyll, laying his hand +upon the other’s arm; “I only ask for justice; I only ask +you to help him for my sake, when I am no longer here.”</p> + +<p>Utterson heaved an irrepressible sigh. “Well,” said +he, “I promise.”</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page246"></a>246</span></p> +<h3>THE CAREW MURDER CASE</h3> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Nearly</span> a year later, in the month of October 18—, London +was startled by a crime of singular ferocity, rendered all +the more notable by the high position of the victim. The +details were few and startling. A maid-servant living alone +in a house not far from the river had gone upstairs to bed +about eleven. Although a fog rolled over the city in the +small hours, the early part of the night was cloudless, and +the lane, which the maid’s window overlooked, was brilliantly +lit by the full moon. It seems she was romantically +given, for she sat down upon her box, which stood immediately +under the window, and fell into a dream of musing. +Never (she used to say, with streaming tears, when she +narrated that experience), never had she felt more at peace +with all men or thought more kindly of the world. And as +she so sat she became aware of an aged and beautiful gentleman +with white hair drawing near along the lane: and advancing +to meet him another and very small gentleman, to +whom at first she paid less attention. When they had come +within speech (which was just under the maid’s eyes) the +older man bowed and accosted the other with a very pretty +manner of politeness. It did not seem as if the subject of +his address were of great importance; indeed, from his +pointing, it sometimes appeared as if he were only inquiring +his way; but the moon shone on his face as he spoke, and +the girl was pleased to watch it, it seemed to breathe such +an innocent and old-world kindness of disposition, yet with +something high too, as of a well-founded self-content. +Presently her eye wandered to the other, and she was surprised +to recognise in him a certain Mr. Hyde, who had once +visited her master, and for whom she had conceived a dislike. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page247"></a>247</span> +He had in his hand a heavy cane, with which he was +trifling; but he answered never a word, and seemed to listen +with an ill-contained impatience. And then all of a sudden he +broke out in a great flame of anger, stamping with his foot, +brandishing the cane, and carrying on (as the maid described +it) like a madman. The old gentleman took a step back, +with the air of one very much surprised and a trifle hurt; +and at that Mr. Hyde broke out of all bounds and clubbed +him to the earth. And next moment, with ape-like fury, +he was trampling his victim under foot, and hailing down a +storm of blows, under which the bones were audibly +shattered and the body jumped upon the roadway. At the +horror of these sights and sounds the maid fainted.</p> + +<p>It was two o’clock when she came to herself and called +for the police. The murderer was gone long ago; but there +lay his victim in the middle of the lane, incredibly mangled. +The stick with which the deed had been done, although it +was of some rare and very tough and heavy wood, had broken +in the middle under the stress of this insensate cruelty; and +one splintered half had rolled in the neighbouring gutter—the +other, without doubt, had been carried away by the +murderer. A purse and a gold watch were found upon the +victim; but no cards or papers, except a sealed and stamped +envelope, which he had been probably carrying to the post, +and which bore the name and address of Mr. Utterson.</p> + +<p>This was brought to the lawyer the next morning before +he was out of bed; and he had no sooner seen it, and been +told the circumstances, than he shot out a solemn lip. “I +shall say nothing till I have seen the body,” said he; “this +may be very serious. Have the kindness to wait while I +dress.” And with the same grave countenance he hurried +through his breakfast and drove to the police station, +whither the body had been carried. As soon as he came +into the cell he nodded.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said he, “I recognise him. I am sorry to say +that this is Sir Danvers Carew.”</p> + +<p>“Good God, sir,” exclaimed the officer, “is it possible?” +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page248"></a>248</span> +And the next moment his eye lighted up with professional +ambition. “This will make a deal of noise,” he said. +“And perhaps you can help us to the man.” And he +briefly narrated what the maid had seen, and showed the +broken stick.</p> + +<p>Mr. Utterson had already quailed at the name of Hyde; +but when the stick was laid before him he could doubt no +longer; broken and battered as it was, he recognised it for +one that he had himself presented many years before to +Henry Jekyll.</p> + +<p>“Is this Mr. Hyde a person of small stature?” he inquired.</p> + +<p>“Particularly small and particularly wicked-looking, +is what the maid calls him,” said the officer.</p> + +<p>Mr. Utterson reflected; and then, raising his head, “If +you will come with me in my cab,” he said, “I think I can +take you to his house.”</p> + +<p>It was by this time about nine in the morning, and the +first fog of the season. A great chocolate-coloured pall +lowered over heaven, but the wind was continually charging +and routing these embattled vapours; so that as the cab +crawled from street to street, Mr. Utterson beheld a marvellous +number of degrees and hues of twilight; for here it +would be dark like the back-end of evening; and there +would be a glow of a rich, lurid brown, like the light of some +strange conflagration; and here, for a moment, the fog +would be quite broken up, and a haggard shaft of daylight +would glance in between the swirling wreaths. The dismal +quarter of Soho seen under these changing glimpses, with its +muddy ways, and slatternly passengers, and its lamps, +which had never been extinguished or had been kindled +afresh to combat this mournful re-invasion of darkness, +seemed, in the lawyer’s eyes, like a district of some city in a +nightmare.</p> + +<p>The thoughts of his mind, besides, were of the gloomiest +dye; and when he glanced at the companion of his drive, +he was conscious of some touch of that terror of the law +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page249"></a>249</span> +and the law’s officers which may at times assail the most +honest.</p> + +<p>As the cab drew up before the address indicated, the fog +lifted a little, and showed him a dingy street, a gin-palace, +a low French eating-house, a shop for the retail of penny +numbers and twopenny salads, many ragged children +huddled in the doorways, and many women of many different +nationalities passing out, key in hand, to have a morning +glass; and the next moment the fog settled down again +upon that part, as brown as umber, and cut him off from +his blackguardly surroundings. This was the home of +Henry Jekyll’s favourite; of a man who was heir to a quarter +of a million sterling.</p> + +<p>An ivory-faced and silvery-haired old woman opened the +door. She had an evil face, smoothed by hypocrisy; but +her manners were excellent. Yes, she said, this was Mr. +Hyde’s, but he was not at home; he had been in that night +very late, but had gone away again in less than an hour; +there was nothing strange in that; his habits were very +irregular, and he was often absent; for instance, it was +nearly two months since she had seen him till yesterday.</p> + +<p>“Very well then, we wish to see his rooms,” said the +lawyer; and when the woman began to declare it was impossible, +“I had better tell you who this person is,” he +added. “This is Inspector Newcomen of Scotland Yard.”</p> + +<p>A flash of odious joy appeared upon the woman’s face. +“Ah!” said she, “he is in trouble! What has he done?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Utterson and the inspector exchanged glances. +“He don’t seem a very popular character,” observed the +latter. “And now, my good woman, just let me and this +gentleman have a look about us.”</p> + +<p>In the whole extent of the house, which but for the old +woman remained otherwise empty, Mr. Hyde had only used +a couple of rooms; but these were furnished with luxury +and good taste. A closet was filled with wine; the plate +was of silver, the napery elegant; a good picture hung upon +the walls, a gift (as Utterson supposed) from Henry Jekyll, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page250"></a>250</span> +who was much of a connoisseur; and the carpets were of +many plies and agreeable in colour. At this moment, however, +the rooms bore every mark of having been recently +and hurriedly ransacked; clothes lay about the floor, with +their pockets inside out; lockfast drawers stood open; and +on the hearth there lay a pile of grey ashes, as though many +papers had been burned. From these embers the inspector +disinterred the butt-end of a green cheque-book, which had +resisted the action of the fire; the other half of the stick +was found behind the door; and as this clinched his suspicions, +the officer declared himself delighted. A visit to +the bank, where several thousand pounds were found to be +lying to the murderer’s credit, completed his gratification.</p> + +<p>“You may depend upon it, sir,” he told Mr. Utterson: +“I have him in my hand. He must have lost his head, or +he never would have left the stick or, above all, burned the +cheque-book. Why, money’s life to the man. We have +nothing to do but wait for him at the bank, and get out the +handbills.”</p> + +<p>This last, however, was not so easy of accomplishment; +for Mr. Hyde had numbered few familiars—even the master +of the servant-maid had only seen him twice; his family +could nowhere be traced; he had never been photographed; +and the few who could describe him differed widely, as +common observers will. Only on one point were they +agreed; and that was the haunting sense of unexpressed +deformity with which the fugitive impressed his beholders.</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page251"></a>251</span></p> +<h3>INCIDENT OF THE LETTER</h3> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">It</span> was late in the afternoon when Mr. Utterson found his +way to Dr. Jekyll’s door, where he was at once admitted by +Poole, and carried down by the kitchen offices and across +a yard which had once been a garden to the building which +was indifferently known as the laboratory or the dissecting-rooms. +The doctor had bought the house from the heirs +of a celebrated surgeon; and, his own tastes being rather +chemical than anatomical, had changed the destination +of the block at the bottom of the garden. It was the first +time that the lawyer had been received in that part of his +friend’s quarters; and he eyed the dingy windowless +structure with curiosity, and gazed round with a distasteful +sense of strangeness as he crossed the theatre, once crowded +with eager students and now lying gaunt and silent, the +tables laden with chemical apparatus, the floor strewn with +crates and littered with packing straw, and the light falling +dimly through the foggy cupola. At the farther end, a +flight of stairs mounted to a door covered with red baize; +and through this, Mr. Utterson was at last received into the +doctor’s cabinet. It was a large room, fitted round with +glass presses, furnished, among other things, with a cheval-glass +and a business-table, and looking out upon the court +by three dusty windows barred with iron. The fire burned +in the grate; a lamp was set lighted on the chimney shelf, +for even in the houses the fog began to lie thickly; and +there, close up to the warmth, sat Dr. Jekyll, looking deadly +sick; he did not rise to meet his visitor, but held out a cold +hand and bade him welcome in a changed voice.</p> + +<p>“And now,” said Mr. Utterson, as soon as Poole had +left them, “you have heard the news?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page252"></a>252</span></p> + +<p>The doctor shuddered. “They were crying it in the +square,” he said. “I heard them in my dining-room.”</p> + +<p>“One word,” said the lawyer. “Carew was my client, +but so are you, and I want to know what I am doing. You +have not been mad enough to hide this fellow?”</p> + +<p>“Utterson, I swear to God,” cried the doctor, “I swear +to God I will never set eyes on him again. I bind my +honour to you that I am done with him in this world. It +is all at an end. And indeed he does not want my help; +you do not know him as I do; he is safe, he is quite safe; +mark my words, he will never more be heard of.”</p> + +<p>The lawyer listened gloomily; he did not like his friend’s +feverish manner. “You seem pretty sure of him,” said he; +“and for your sake, I hope you may be right. If it came to +a trial your name might appear.”</p> + +<p>“I am quite sure of him,” replied Jekyll; “I have +grounds for certainty that I cannot share with any one. +But there is one thing on which you may advise me. I +have—I have received a letter; and I am at a loss whether +I should show it to the police. I should like to leave it in +your hands, Utterson; you would judge wisely, I am sure; +I have so great a trust in you.”</p> + +<p>“You fear, I suppose, that it might lead to his detection?” +asked the lawyer.</p> + +<p>“No,” said the other. “I cannot say that I care what +becomes of Hyde; I am quite done with him. I was thinking +of my own character, which this hateful business has +rather exposed.”</p> + +<p>Utterson ruminated awhile; he was surprised at his +friend’s selfishness, and yet relieved by it. “Well,” said +he at last, “let me see the letter.”</p> + +<p>The letter was written in an odd, upright hand and +signed “Edward Hyde“: and it signified, briefly enough, +that the writer’s benefactor, Dr. Jekyll, whom he had long +so unworthily repaid for a thousand generosities, need +labour under no alarm for his safety, as he had means of +escape on which he placed a sure dependence. The lawyer +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page253"></a>253</span> +liked this letter well enough; it put a better colour on the +intimacy than he had looked for; and he blamed himself +for some of his past suspicions.</p> + +<p>“Have you the envelope?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“I burned it,” replied Jekyll, “before I thought what +I was about. But it bore no postmark. The note was +handed in.”</p> + +<p>“Shall I keep this and sleep upon it?” asked Utterson.</p> + +<p>“I wish you to judge for me entirely,” was the reply. +“I have lost confidence in myself.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I shall consider,” returned the lawyer.—“And +now one word more: it was Hyde who dictated the terms +in your will about that disappearance?”</p> + +<p>The doctor seemed seized with a qualm of faintness; he +shut his mouth tight and nodded.</p> + +<p>“I knew it,” said Utterson. “He meant to murder you. +You have had a fine escape.”</p> + +<p>“I have had what is far more to the purpose,” returned +the doctor solemnly: “I have had a lesson—O God, Utterson, +what a lesson I have had!” And he covered his face +for a moment with his hands.</p> + +<p>On his way out, the lawyer stopped and had a word or +two with Poole. “By the by,” said he, “there was a letter +handed in to-day: what was the messenger like?” But +Poole was positive nothing had come except by post; “and +only circulars by that,” he added.</p> + +<p>This news sent off the visitor with his fears renewed. +Plainly the letter had come by the laboratory door; possibly +indeed, it had been written in the cabinet; and if that were +so, it must be differently judged, and handled with the more +caution. The newsboys, as he went, were crying themselves +hoarse along the footways: “Special edition. Shocking +murder of an M.P.” That was the funeral oration of one +friend and client; and he could not help a certain apprehension +lest the good name of another should be sucked +down in the eddy of the scandal. It was, at least, a ticklish +decision that he had to make; and, self-reliant as he was by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page254"></a>254</span> +habit, he began to cherish a longing for advice. It was not +to be had directly; but perhaps, he thought, it might be +fished for.</p> + +<p>Presently after, he sat on one side of his own hearth, +with Mr. Guest, his head clerk, upon the other, and midway +between, at a nicely calculated distance from the fire, a +bottle of a particular old wine that had long dwelt unsunned +in the foundations of his house. The fog still slept on the +wing above the drowned city, where the lamps glimmered +like carbuncles; and through the muffle and smother of +these fallen clouds, the procession of the town’s life was +still rolling on through the great arteries with a sound as of +a mighty wind. But the room was gay with firelight. In +the bottle the acids were long ago resolved; the imperial +dye had softened with time, as the colour grows richer in +stained windows; and the glow of hot autumn afternoons +on hillside vineyards was ready to be set free and to disperse +the fogs of London. Insensibly the lawyer melted. There +was no man from whom he kept fewer secrets than Mr. +Guest; and he was not always sure that he kept as many as +he meant. Guest had often been on business to the doctor’s; +he knew Poole; he could scarce have failed to hear of Mr. +Hyde’s familiarity about the house; he might draw conclusions: +was it not as well, then, that he should see a letter +which put that mystery to rights? and above all since +Guest, being a great student and critic of handwriting, +would consider the step natural and obliging? The clerk, +besides, was a man of counsel; he would scarce read so +strange a document without dropping a remark; and by +that remark Mr. Utterson might shape his future course.</p> + +<p>“This is a sad business about Sir Danvers,” he +said.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir, indeed. It has elicited a great deal of public +feeling,” returned Guest. “The man, of course, was mad.”</p> + +<p>“I should like to hear your views on that,” replied +Utterson. “I have a document here in his handwriting; +it is between ourselves, for I scarce know what to do about +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page255"></a>255</span> +it; it is an ugly business at the best. But there it is; +quite in your way: a murderer’s autograph.”</p> + +<p>Guest’s eyes brightened, and he sat down at once and +studied it with passion. “No, sir,” he said; “not mad; +but it is an odd hand.”</p> + +<p>“And by all accounts a very odd writer,” added the +lawyer.</p> + +<p>Just then the servant entered with a note.</p> + +<p>“Is that from Dr. Jekyll, sir?” inquired the clerk. “I +thought I knew the writing. Anything private, Mr. +Utterson?”</p> + +<p>“Only an invitation to dinner. Why? do you want to +see it?”</p> + +<p>“One moment. I thank you, sir“; and the clerk laid +the two sheets of paper alongside and sedulously compared +their contents. “Thank you, sir,” he said at last, returning +both; “it’s a very interesting autograph.”</p> + +<p>There was a pause, during which Mr. Utterson struggled +with himself. “Why did you compare them, Guest?” he +inquired suddenly.</p> + +<p>“Well, sir,” returned the clerk, “there’s a rather +singular resemblance; the two hands are in many points +identical: only differently sloped.”</p> + +<p>“Rather quaint,” said Utterson.</p> + +<p>“It is, as you say, rather quaint,” returned Guest.</p> + +<p>“I wouldn’t speak of this note, you know,” said the +master.</p> + +<p>“No, sir,” said the clerk. “I understand.”</p> + +<p>But no sooner was Mr. Utterson alone that night than +he locked the note into his safe, where it reposed from that +time forward. “What!” he thought. “Henry Jekyll +forge for a murderer!” And his blood ran cold in his +veins.</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page256"></a>256</span></p> +<h3>REMARKABLE INCIDENT OF DR. LANYON</h3> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Time</span> ran on; thousands of pounds were offered in reward, +for the death of Sir Danvers was resented as a public injury; +but Mr. Hyde had disappeared out of the ken of the police +as though he had never existed. Much of his past was unearthed, +indeed, and all disreputable: tales came out of the +man’s cruelty, at once so callous and violent, of his vile life, +of his strange associates, of the hatred that seemed to have +surrounded his career; but of his present whereabouts, not +a whisper. From the time he had left the house in Soho +on the morning of the murder, he was simply blotted out; +and gradually, as time drew on, Mr. Utterson began to recover +from the hotness of his alarm, and to grow more at +quiet with himself. The death of Sir Danvers was, to his +way of thinking, more than paid for by the disappearance +of Mr. Hyde. Now that that evil influence had been withdrawn, +a new life began for Dr. Jekyll. He came out of his +seclusion, renewed relations with his friends, became once +more their familiar guest and entertainer; and whilst he +had always been known for charities, he was now no less distinguished +for religion. He was busy, he was much in the +open air, he did good; his face seemed to open and brighten, +as if with an inward consciousness of service; and for more +than two months the doctor was at peace.</p> + +<p>On the 8th of January Utterson had dined at the doctor’s +with a small party; Lanyon had been there; and the face +of the host had looked from one to the other as in the old +days when the trio were inseparable friends. On the 12th, +and again on the 14th, the door was shut against the lawyer. +“The doctor was confined to the house,” Poole said, “and +saw no one.” On the 15th he tried again, and was again +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page257"></a>257</span> +refused; and having now been used for the last two months +to see his friend almost daily, he found this return of solitude +to weigh upon his spirits. The fifth night he had in +Guest to dine with him; and the sixth he betook himself +to Dr. Lanyon’s.</p> + +<p>There at least he was not denied admittance; but when +he came in, he was shocked at the change which had taken +place in the doctor’s appearance. He had his death-warrant +written legibly upon his face. The rosy man had +grown pale; his flesh had fallen away; he was visibly balder +and older; and yet it was not so much these tokens of a swift +physical decay that arrested the lawyer’s notice, as a look +in the eye and quality of manner that seemed to testify to +some deep-seated terror of the mind. It was unlikely that +the doctor should fear death; and yet that was what Utterson +was tempted to suspect. “Yes,” he thought; “he is +a doctor, he must know his own state and that his days are +counted; and the knowledge is more than he can bear.” +And yet when Utterson remarked on his ill-looks, it was +with an air of great firmness that Lanyon declared himself +a doomed man.</p> + +<p>“I have had a shock,” he said, “and I shall never recover. +It is a question of weeks. Well, life has been +pleasant; I liked it; yes, sir, I used to like it. I sometimes +think if we knew all we should be more glad to get +away.”</p> + +<p>“Jekyll is ill too,” observed Utterson. “Have you +seen him?”</p> + +<p>But Lanyon’s face changed, and he held up a trembling +hand. “I wish to see or hear no more of Dr. Jekyll,” he +said in a loud, unsteady voice. “I am quite done with +that person; and I beg that you will spare me any allusion +to one whom I regard as dead.”</p> + +<p>“Tut-tut,” said Mr. Utterson; and then, after a considerable +pause, “Can’t I do anything?” he inquired. +“We are three very old friends, Lanyon; we shall not live +to make others.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page258"></a>258</span></p> + +<p>“Nothing can be done,” returned Lanyon; “ask himself.”</p> + +<p>“He will not see me,” said the lawyer.</p> + +<p>“I am not surprised at that,” was the reply. “Some +day, Utterson, after I am dead, you may perhaps come to +learn the right and wrong of this. I cannot tell you. And +in the meantime, if you can sit and talk with me of other +things, for God’s sake, stay and do so; but if you cannot +keep clear of this accursed topic, then, in God’s name, go, +for I cannot bear it.”</p> + +<p>As soon as he got home, Utterson sat down and wrote +to Jekyll, complaining of his exclusion from the house, and +asking the cause of this unhappy break with Lanyon; and +the next day brought him a long answer, often very pathetically +worded, and sometimes darkly mysterious in drift. +The quarrel with Lanyon was incurable. “I do not blame +our old friend,” Jekyll wrote, “but I share his view that we +must never meet. I mean from henceforth to lead a life of +extreme seclusion; you must not be surprised, nor must you +doubt my friendship, if my door is often shut even to you. +You must suffer me to go my own dark way. I have +brought on myself a punishment and a danger that I cannot +name. If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of +sufferers also. I could not think that this earth contained +a place for sufferings and terrors so unmanning; and you +can but do one thing, Utterson, to lighten this destiny, and +that is to respect my silence.” Utterson was amazed; +the dark influence of Hyde had been withdrawn, the doctor +had returned to his old tasks and amities; a week ago, the +prospect had smiled with every promise of a cheerful and an +honoured age; and now in a moment, friendship and peace +of mind and the whole tenor of his life were wrecked. So +great and unprepared a change pointed to madness; but in +view of Lanyon’s manner and words, there must lie for it +some deeper ground.</p> + +<p>A week afterwards Dr. Lanyon took to his bed, and in +something less than a fortnight he was dead. The night +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page259"></a>259</span> +after the funeral, at which he had been sadly affected, +Utterson locked the door of his business-room, and sitting +there by the light of a melancholy candle, drew out and set +before him an envelope addressed by the hand and sealed +with the seal of his dead friend. “<span class="sc">Private</span>: for the hands +of G. J. Utterson <span class="sc">ALONE</span>, and in case of his predecease <i>to +be destroyed unread</i>,” so it was emphatically superscribed; +and the lawyer dreaded to behold the contents. “I have +buried one friend to-day,” he thought: “what if this should +cost me another?” And then he condemned the fear as a +disloyalty, and broke the seal. Within there was another +enclosure, likewise sealed, and marked upon the cover as +“not to be opened till the death or disappearance of Dr. +Henry Jekyll.” Utterson could not trust his eyes. Yes, +it was disappearance; here again, as in the mad will which +he had long ago restored to its author, here again were the +idea of a disappearance and the name of Henry Jekyll +bracketed. But in the will that idea had sprung from the +sinister suggestion of the man Hyde; it was set there with +a purpose all too plain and horrible. Written by the hand +of Lanyon, what should it mean? A great curiosity came +on the trustee, to disregard the prohibition and dive at once +to the bottom of these mysteries; but professional honour +and faith to his dead friend were stringent obligations; +and the packet slept in the inmost corner of his private +safe.</p> + +<p>It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer +it; and it may be doubted if, from that day forth, Utterson +desired the society of his surviving friend with the same +eagerness. He thought of him kindly; but his thoughts +were disquieted and fearful. He went to call indeed; but +he was perhaps relieved to be denied admittance; perhaps, +in his heart, he preferred to speak with Poole upon the doorstep +and surrounded by the air and sounds of the open city, +rather than to be admitted into that house of voluntary +bondage, and to sit and speak with its inscrutable recluse. +Poole had, indeed, no very pleasant news to communicate. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page260"></a>260</span> +The doctor, it appeared, now more than ever confined himself +to the cabinet over the laboratory, where he would +sometimes even sleep; he was out of spirits, he had grown +very silent, he did not read; it seemed as if he had something +on his mind. Utterson became so used to the unvarying +character of these reports, that he fell off little by +little in the frequency of his visits.</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page261"></a>261</span></p> +<h3>INCIDENT AT THE WINDOW</h3> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">It</span> chanced on Sunday, when Mr. Utterson was on his usual +walk with Mr. Enfield, that their way lay once again +through the by-street; and that when they came in front +of the door, both stopped to gaze on it.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Enfield, “that story’s at an end at least. +We shall never see more of Mr. Hyde.”</p> + +<p>“I hope not,” said Utterson. “Did I ever tell you that +I once saw him, and shared your feeling of repulsion?”</p> + +<p>“It was impossible to do the one without the other,” +returned Enfield. “And by the way, what an ass you +must have thought me, not to know that this was a back +way to Dr. Jekyll’s! It was partly your own fault that I +found it out, even when I did.”</p> + +<p>“So you found it out, did you?” said Utterson. “But +if that be so, we may step into the court and take a look at +the windows. To tell you the truth, I am uneasy about +poor Jekyll; and even outside, I feel as if the presence of a +friend might do him good.”</p> + +<p>The court was very cool and a little damp, and full of +premature twilight, although the sky, high up overhead, +was still bright with sunset. The middle one of the three +windows was half-way open; and sitting close beside it, +taking the air with an infinite sadness of mien, like some +disconsolate prisoner, Utterson saw Dr. Jekyll.</p> + +<p>“What! Jekyll!” he cried. “I trust you are better.”</p> + +<p>“I am very low, Utterson,” replied the doctor drearily, +“very low. It will not last long, thank God.”</p> + +<p>“You stay too much indoors,” said the lawyer. “You +should be out, whipping up the circulation like Mr. Enfield +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page262"></a>262</span> +and me. (This is my cousin—Mr. Enfield—Dr. Jekyll.) +Come now; get your hat and take a quick turn with us.”</p> + +<p>“You are very good,” sighed the other. “I should like +to very much; but no, no, no, it is quite impossible; I dare +not. But indeed, Utterson, I am very glad to see you; +this is really a great pleasure; I would ask you and Mr. +Enfield up, but the place is really not fit.”</p> + +<p>“Why then,” said the lawyer good-naturedly, “the best +thing we can do is to stay down here and speak with you +from where we are.”</p> + +<p>“That is just what I was about to venture to propose,” +returned the doctor, with a smile. But the words were +hardly uttered, before the smile was struck out of his face +and succeeded by an expression of such abject terror and +despair as froze the very blood of the two gentleman below. +They saw it but for a glimpse, for the window was instantly +thrust down; but that glimpse had been sufficient, and +they turned and left the court without a word. In +silence, too, the by-street; and it was not until they +had come into a neighbouring thoroughfare, where even +upon a Sunday there were still some stirrings of life, that +Mr. Utterson at last turned and looked at his companion. +They were both pale; and there was an answering horror in +their eyes.</p> + +<p>“God forgive us, God forgive us!” said Mr. Utterson.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Enfield only nodded his head very seriously, +and walked on once more in silence.</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page263"></a>263</span></p> +<h3>THE LAST NIGHT</h3> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Mr. Utterson</span> was sitting by his fireside one evening after +dinner, when he was surprised to receive a visit from Poole.</p> + +<p>“Bless me, Poole, what brings you here?” he cried; +and then, taking a second look at him, “What ails you?” +he added, “is the doctor ill?”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Utterson,” said the man, “there is something +wrong.”</p> + +<p>“Take a seat, and here is a glass of wine for you,” said +the lawyer. “Now, take your time, and tell me plainly +what you want.”</p> + +<p>“You know the doctor’s ways, sir,” replied Poole, +“and how he shuts himself up. Well, he’s shut up again +in the cabinet; and I don’t like it, sir—I wish I may die if I +like it. Mr. Utterson, sir, I’m afraid.”</p> + +<p>“Now, my good man,” said the lawyer, “be explicit. +What are you afraid of?”</p> + +<p>“I’ve been afraid for about a week,” returned Poole, +doggedly disregarding the question, “and I can bear it no +more.”</p> + +<p>The man’s appearance amply bore out his words; his +manner was altered for the worse; and except for the +moment when he had first announced his terror, he had not +once looked the lawyer in the face. Even now, he sat with +the glass of wine untasted on his knee, and his eyes directed +to a corner of the floor. “I can bear it no more,” he repeated.</p> + +<p>“Come,” said the lawyer, “I see you have some good +reason, Poole; I see there is something seriously amiss. +Try to tell me what it is.”</p> + +<p>“I think there’s been foul play,” said Poole hoarsely.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page264"></a>264</span></p> + +<p>“Foul play!” cried the lawyer, a good deal frightened, +and rather inclined to be irritated in consequence. “What +foul play? What does the man mean?”</p> + +<p>“I daren’t say, sir,” was the answer; “but will you +come along with me and see for yourself?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Utterson’s only answer was to rise and get his hat +and greatcoat; but he observed with wonder the greatness +of the relief that appeared upon the butler’s face, and perhaps +with no less, that the wine was still untasted when he +set it down to follow.</p> + +<p>It was a wild, cold, seasonable night of March, with a +pale moon, lying on her back as though the wind had tilted +her, and a flying wrack of the most diaphanous and lawny +texture. The wind made talking difficult, and flecked the +blood into the face. It seemed to have swept the streets unusually +bare of passengers, besides; for Mr. Utterson thought +he had never seen that part of London so deserted. He +could have wished it otherwise; never in his life had he +been conscious of so sharp a wish to see and touch his fellow-creatures; +for, struggle as he might, there was borne in +upon his mind a crushing anticipation of calamity. The +square, when they got there, was all full of wind and dust, +and the thin trees in the garden were lashing themselves +along the railing. Poole, who had kept all the way a pace +or two ahead, now pulled up in the middle of the pavement, +and, in spite of the biting weather, took off his hat and +mopped his brow with a red pocket-handkerchief. But for +all the hurry of his coming, these were not the dews of exertion +that he wiped away, but the moisture of some strangling +anguish; for his face was white, and his voice, when he +spoke, harsh and broken.</p> + +<p>“Well, sir,” he said, “here we are, and God grant there +be nothing wrong.”</p> + +<p>“Amen, Poole,” said the lawyer.</p> + +<p>Thereupon the servant knocked in a very guarded +manner; the door was opened on the chain; and a voice +asked from within, “Is that you, Poole?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page265"></a>265</span></p> + +<p>“It’s all right,” said Poole. “Open the door.”</p> + +<p>The hall, when they entered it, was brightly lighted up; +the fire was built high; and about the hearth the whole of +the servants, men and women, stood huddled together like +a flock of sheep. At the sight of Mr. Utterson, the housemaid +broke into hysterical whimpering; and the cook, crying +out “Bless God! it’s Mr. Utterson,” ran forward as if +to take him in her arms.</p> + +<p>“What, what? Are you all here?” said the lawyer +peevishly. “Very irregular, very unseemly; your master +would be far from pleased.”</p> + +<p>“They’re all afraid,” said Poole.</p> + +<p>Blank silence followed, no one protesting; only the maid +lifted up her voice and now wept loudly.</p> + +<p>“Hold your tongue!” Poole said to her, with a ferocity +of accent that testified to his own jangled nerves; and indeed, +when the girl had so suddenly raised the note of her +lamentation, they had all started and turned towards the +inner door with faces of dreadful expectation. “And now,” +continued the butler, addressing the knife-boy, “reach me +a candle, and we’ll get this through hands at once.” And +then he begged Mr. Utterson to follow him, and led the way +to the back-garden.</p> + +<p>“Now, sir,” said he, “you come as gently as you can. +I want you to hear, and I don’t want you to be heard. And +see here, sir, if by any chance he was to ask you in, don’t +go.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Utterson’s nerves, at this unlooked-for termination, +gave a jerk that nearly threw him from his balance; but he +re-collected his courage and followed the butler into the +laboratory building and through the surgical theatre, with +its lumber of crates and bottles, to the foot of the stair. +Here Poole motioned him to stand on one side and listen; +while he himself, setting down the candle and making a +great and obvious call on his resolution, mounted the steps +and knocked with a somewhat uncertain hand on the red +baize of the cabinet door.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page266"></a>266</span></p> + +<p>“Mr. Utterson, sir, asking to see you,” he called; and, +even as he did so, once more violently signed to the lawyer +to give ear.</p> + +<p>A voice answered from within: “Tell him I cannot see +any one,” it said complainingly.</p> + +<p>“Thank you, sir,” said Poole, with a note of something +like triumph in his voice; and taking up his candle, +he led Mr. Utterson back across the yard and into the great +kitchen, where the fire was out and the beetles were leaping +on the floor.</p> + +<p>“Sir,” he said, looking Mr. Utterson in the eyes, “was +that my master’s voice?”</p> + +<p>“It seems much changed,” replied the lawyer, very +pale, but giving look for look.</p> + +<p>“Changed? Well, yes, I think so,” said the butler. +“Have I been twenty years in this man’s house, to be +deceived about his voice? No, sir; master’s made away +with; he was made away with eight days ago, when we +heard him cry out upon the name of God; and <i>who’s</i> in +there instead of him, and <i>why</i> it stays there, is a thing that +cries to Heaven, Mr. Utterson!”</p> + +<p>“This is a very strange tale, Poole; this is rather a +wild tale, my man,” said Mr. Utterson, biting his finger. +“Suppose it were as you suppose, supposing Dr. Jekyll +to have been—well, murdered, what could induce the +murderer to stay? That won’t hold water; it doesn’t +commend itself to reason.”</p> + +<p>“Well, Mr. Utterson, you are a hard man to satisfy, +but I’ll do it yet,” said Poole. “All this last week (you +must know) him, or it, or whatever it is that lives in that +cabinet, has been crying night and day for some sort of +medicine and cannot get it to his mind. It was sometimes +his way—the master’s, that is—to write his orders +on a sheet of paper and throw it on the stair. We’ve had +nothing else this week back; nothing but papers, and a +closed door, and the very meals left there to be smuggled +in when nobody was looking. Well, sir, every day, ay, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page267"></a>267</span> +and twice and thrice in the same day, there have been +orders and complaints, and I have been sent flying to all +the wholesale chemists in town. Every time I brought +the stuff back, there would be another paper telling me to +return it, because it was not pure, and another order to a +different firm. This drug is wanted bitter bad, sir, whatever +for.”</p> + +<p>“Have you any of these papers?” asked Mr. +Utterson.</p> + +<p>Poole felt in his pocket and handed out a crumpled +note, which the lawyer, bending nearer to the candle, +carefully examined. Its contents ran thus: “Dr. Jekyll +presents his compliments to Messrs. Maw. He assures +them that their last sample is impure, and quite useless +for his present purpose. In the year 18—, Dr. J. purchased +a somewhat large quantity from Messrs. M. He +now begs them to search with the most sedulous care, +and should any of the same quality be left, to forward +it to him at once. Expense is no consideration. The +importance of this to Dr. J. can hardly be exaggerated.” +So far the letter had run composedly enough, but here, +with a sudden splutter of the pen, the writer’s emotion +had broken loose. “For God’s sake,” he had added, +“find me some of the old.”</p> + +<p>“This is a strange note,” said Mr. Utterson; and then +sharply, “How do you come to have it open?”</p> + +<p>“The man at Maw’s was main angry, sir, and he threw +it back to me like so much dirt,” returned Poole.</p> + +<p>“This is unquestionably the doctor’s hand, do you +know?” resumed the lawyer.</p> + +<p>“I thought it looked like it,” said the servant rather +sulkily; and then, with another voice, “But what matters +hand-of-write?” he said. “I’ve seen him!”</p> + +<p>“Seen him?” repeated Mr. Utterson. “Well?”</p> + +<p>“That’s it!” said Poole. “It was this way. I came +suddenly into the theatre from the garden. It seems +he had slipped out to look for this drug, or whatever it +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page268"></a>268</span> +is; for the cabinet door was open, and there he was at +the far end of the room digging among the crates. He +looked up when I came in, gave a kind of cry, and whipped +upstairs into the cabinet. It was but for one minute +that I saw him, but the hair stood up on my head like quills. +Sir, if that was my master, why had he a mask upon his +face? If it was my master, why did he cry out like a rat, +and run from me? I have served him long enough. And +then ...” the man paused and passed his hand over his +face.</p> + +<p>“These are all very strange circumstances,” said Mr. +Utterson, “but I think I begin to see daylight. Your +master, Poole, is plainly seized with one of those maladies +that both torture and deform the sufferer; hence, for +aught I know, the alteration of his voice; hence the mask +and his avoidance of his friends; hence his eagerness to +find this drug, by means of which the poor soul retains some +hope of ultimate recovery—God grant that he be not +deceived. There is my explanation; it is sad enough, +Poole, ay, and appalling to consider; but it is plain and +natural, hangs well together, and delivers us from all +exorbitant alarms.”</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said the butler, turning to a sort of mottled +pallor, “that thing was not my master, and there’s the +truth. My master“—here he looked round him and +began to whisper—“is a tall, fine build of a man, and +this was more of a dwarf.” Utterson attempted to protest. +“O sir,” cried Poole, “do you think I do not know my +master after twenty years? do you think I do not know +where his head comes to in the cabinet door, where I saw +him every morning of my life? No, sir, that thing in the +mask was never Dr. Jekyll—God knows what it was, but +it was never Dr. Jekyll; and it is the belief of my heart that +there was murder done.”</p> + +<p>“Poole,” replied the lawyer, “if you say that, it will +become my duty to make certain. Much as I desire to +spare your master’s feelings, much as I am puzzled by this +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page269"></a>269</span> +note which seems to prove him to be still alive, I shall +consider it my duty to break in that door.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, Mr. Utterson, that’s talking!” cried the butler.</p> + +<p>“And now comes the second question,” resumed +Utterson: “Who is going to do it?”</p> + +<p>“Why, you and me, sir,” was the undaunted reply.</p> + +<p>“That is very well said,” returned the lawyer; “and +whatever comes of it, I shall make it my business to see +you are no loser.”</p> + +<p>“There is an axe in the theatre,” continued Poole; +“and you might take the kitchen poker for yourself.”</p> + +<p>The lawyer took that rude but weighty instrument +into his hand, and balanced it. “Do you know, Poole,” +he said, looking up, “that you and I are about to place +ourselves in a position of some peril?”</p> + +<p>“You may say so, sir, indeed,” returned the butler.</p> + +<p>“It is well, then, that we should be frank,” said the +other. “We both think more than we have said; let +us make a clean breast. This masked figure that you saw, +did you recognise it?”</p> + +<p>“Well, sir, it went so quick, and the creature was so +doubled up, that I could hardly swear to that,” was the +answer. “But if you mean, was it Mr. Hyde?—why, +yes, I think it was! You see, it was much of the same +bigness; and it had the same quick light way with it; +and then who else could have got in by the laboratory door? +You have not forgot, sir, that at the time of the murder he +had still the key with him? But that’s not all. I don’t +know, Mr. Utterson, if ever you met this Mr. Hyde?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the lawyer, “I once spoke with him.”</p> + +<p>“Then you must know as well as the rest of us that there +was something queer about that gentleman—something +that gave a man a turn—I don’t know rightly how to say it, +sir, beyond this: that you felt it in your marrow kind of +cold and thin.”</p> + +<p>“I own I felt something of what you describe,” said +Mr. Utterson.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page270"></a>270</span></p> + +<p>“Quite so, sir,” returned Poole. “Well, when that +masked thing like a monkey jumped from among the +chemicals and whipped into the cabinet, it went down +my spine like ice. Oh, I know it’s not evidence, Mr. +Utterson; I’m book-learned enough for that; but a man +has his feelings, and I give you my Bible-word it was Mr. +Hyde!”</p> + +<p>“Ay, ay,” said the lawyer. “My fears incline to +the same point. Evil, I fear, founded—evil was sure +to come—of that connection. Ay, truly, I believe you; +I believe poor Harry is killed; and I believe his murderer +(for what purpose, God alone can tell) is still lurking +in his victim’s room. Well, let our name be vengeance. +Call Bradshaw.”</p> + +<p>The footman came at the summons, very white and +nervous.</p> + +<p>“Pull yourself together, Bradshaw,” said the lawyer. +“This suspense, I know, is telling upon all of you; but +it is now our intention to make an end of it. Poole, here, +and I are going to force our way into the cabinet. If all +is well, my shoulders are broad enough to bear the blame. +Meanwhile, lest anything should really be amiss, or any +malefactor seek to escape by the back, you and the boy +must go round the corner with a pair of good sticks, and +take your post at the laboratory door. We give you ten +minutes to get to your stations.”</p> + +<p>As Bradshaw left, the lawyer looked at his watch. +“And now, Poole, let us get to ours,” he said; and taking +the poker under his arm, he led the way into the yard. +The scud had banked over the moon, and it was now quite +dark. The wind, which only broke in puffs and draughts +into that deep well of building, tossed the light of the +candle to and fro about their steps, until they came into the +shelter of the theatre, where they sat down silently to wait. +London hummed solemnly all around; but nearer at hand, +the stillness was only broken by the sound of a footfall +moving to and fro along the cabinet floor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page271"></a>271</span></p> + +<p>“So it will walk all day, sir,” whispered Poole; “ay, +and the better part of the night. Only when a new sample +comes from the chemist, there’s a bit of a break. Ah, +it’s an ill-conscience that’s such an enemy to rest! Ah, +sir, there’s blood foully shed in every step of it! But hark +again, a little closer—put your heart in your ears, Mr. +Utterson, and tell me, is that the doctor’s foot?”</p> + +<p>The steps fell lightly and oddly, with a certain swing, +for all they went so slowly; it was different indeed from +the heavy creaking tread of Henry Jekyll. Utterson +sighed. “Is there never anything else?” he asked.</p> + +<p>Poole nodded. “Once,” he said. “Once I heard +it weeping!”</p> + +<p>“Weeping? how that?” said the lawyer, conscious +of a sudden chill of horror.</p> + +<p>“Weeping like a woman or a lost soul,” said the butler. +“I came away with that upon my heart that I could have +wept too.”</p> + +<p>But now the ten minutes drew to an end. Poole +disinterred the axe from under a stack of packing straw; +the candle was set upon the nearest table to light them +to the attack; and they drew near with bated breath to +where that patient foot was still going up and down, up +and down, in the quiet of the night.</p> + +<p>“Jekyll,” cried Utterson, with a loud voice, “I demand +to see you.” He paused a moment, but there came +no reply. “I give you fair warning, our suspicions are +aroused, and I must and shall see you,” he resumed; “if +not by fair means, then by foul—if not of your consent, then +by brute force!”</p> + +<p>“Utterson,” said the voice, “for God’s sake have +mercy!”</p> + +<p>“Ah, that’s not Jekyll’s voice—it’s Hyde’s!” cried +Utterson. “Down with the door, Poole.”</p> + +<p>Poole swung the axe over his shoulder; the blow shook +the building, and the red baize door leaped against the +lock and hinges. A dismal screech, as of mere animal terror, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page272"></a>272</span> +rang from the cabinet. Up went the axe again, and again +the panels crashed and the frame bounded; four times the +blow fell; but the wood was tough and the fittings were of +excellent workmanship; and it was not until the fifth, that +the lock burst in sunder and the wreck of the door fell +inwards on the carpet.</p> + +<p>The besiegers, appalled by their own riot and the +stillness that had succeeded, stood back a little and peered +in. There lay the cabinet before their eyes in the quiet +lamplight, a good fire glowing and chattering on the hearth, +the kettle singing its thin strain, a drawer or two open, +papers neatly set forth on the business-table, and, nearer +the fire, the things laid out for tea: the quietest room, you +would have said, and, but for the glazed presses full of +chemicals, the most commonplace that night in London.</p> + +<p>Right in the midst there lay the body of a man sorely +contorted, and still twitching. They drew near on tiptoe, +turned it on its back, and beheld the face of Edward Hyde. +He was dressed in clothes far too large for him, clothes +of the doctor’s bigness; the cords of his face still moved +with a semblance of life, but life was quite gone; and by +the crushed phial in the hand and the strong smell of kernels +that hung upon the air, Utterson knew that he was looking +on the body of a self-destroyer.</p> + +<p>“We have come too late,” he said sternly, “whether +to save or punish. Hyde is gone to his account; and it +only remains for us to find the body of your master.”</p> + +<p>The far greater proportion of the building was occupied +by the theatre, which filled almost the whole ground +story and was lighted from above, and by the cabinet, +which formed an upper story at one end and looked upon +the court. A corridor joined the theatre to the door on +the by-street; and with this, the cabinet communicated +separately by a second flight of stairs. There were besides +a few dark closets and a spacious cellar. All these they +now thoroughly examined. Each closet needed but a +glance, for all were empty, and all, by the dust that fell +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page273"></a>273</span> +from their doors, had stood long unopened. The cellar, +indeed, was filled with crazy lumber, mostly dating from +the times of the surgeon who was Jekyll’s predecessor; but +even as they opened the door, they were advertised of the +uselessness of further search, by the fall of a perfect mat +of cobweb which had for years sealed up the entrance. +Nowhere was there any trace of Henry Jekyll, dead or +alive.</p> + +<p>Poole stamped on the flags of the corridor. “He +must be buried here,” he said, hearkening to the sound.</p> + +<p>“Or he may have fled,” said Utterson, and he turned +to examine the door in the by-street. It was locked; +and lying near by on the flags, they found the key, already +stained with rust.</p> + +<p>“This does not look like use,” observed the lawyer.</p> + +<p>“Use!” echoed Poole. “Do you not see, sir, it is +broken? much as if a man had stamped on it.”</p> + +<p>“Ay,” continued Utterson, “and the fractures, too, are +rusty.” The two men looked at each other with a scare. +“This is beyond me, Poole,” said the lawyer. “Let us +go back to the cabinet.”</p> + +<p>They mounted the stair in silence, and, still with an +occasional awe-struck glance at the dead body, proceeded +more thoroughly to examine the contents of the cabinet. +At one table there were traces of chemical work, various +measured heaps of some white salt being laid on glass +saucers, as though for an experiment in which the unhappy +man had been prevented.</p> + +<p>“That is the same drug that I was always bringing +him,” said Poole; and even as he spoke, the kettle with a +startling noise boiled over.</p> + +<p>This brought them to the fireside, where the easy-chair +was drawn cosily up, and the tea-things stood ready +to the sitter’s elbow, the very sugar in the cup. There +were several books on a shelf; one lay beside the tea-things +open, and Utterson was amazed to find it a copy +of a pious work, for which Jekyll had several times expressed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page274"></a>274</span> +a great esteem, annotated, in his own hand, with startling +blasphemies.</p> + +<p>Next, in the course of their review of the chamber, +the searchers came to the cheval-glass, into whose depths +they looked with an involuntary horror. But it was so +turned as to show them nothing but the rosy glow playing +on the roof, the fire sparkling in a hundred repetitions +along the glazed front of the presses, and their own pale +and fearful countenances stooping to look in.</p> + +<p>“This glass have seen some strange things, sir,” +whispered Poole.</p> + +<p>“And surely none stranger than itself,” echoed the +lawyer in the same tones. “For what did Jekyll“—he +caught himself up at the word with a start, and then +conquering the weakness: “what could Jekyll want with +it?” he said.</p> + +<p>“You may say that!” said Poole.</p> + +<p>Next they turned to the business-table. On the desk, +among the neat array of papers, a large envelope was +uppermost, and bore, in the doctor’s hand, the name of +Mr. Utterson. The lawyer unsealed it, and several enclosures +fell to the floor. The first was a will, drawn in the +same eccentric terms as the one which he had returned six +months before, to serve as a testament in case of death and +as a deed of gift in case of disappearance; but, in place +of the name of Edward Hyde, the lawyer, with indescribable +amazement, read the name of Gabriel John Utterson. He +looked at Poole, and then back at the paper, and last of all +at the dead malefactor stretched upon the carpet.</p> + +<p>“My head goes round,” he said. “He has been all +these days in possession; he had no cause to like me; he +must have raged to see himself displaced; and he has +not destroyed this document.”</p> + +<p>He caught up the next paper; it was a brief note in +the doctor’s hand, and dated at the top. “O Poole!” +the lawyer cried, “he was alive and here this day. He +cannot have been disposed of in so short a space, he must +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page275"></a>275</span> +be still alive, he must have fled! And then, why fled? +and how? and in that case, can we venture to declare this +suicide? Oh, we must be careful. I foresee that we may +yet involve your master in some dire catastrophe.”</p> + +<p>“Why don’t you read it, sir?” asked Poole.</p> + +<p>“Because I fear,” replied the lawyer solemnly. “God +grant I have no cause for it!” and with that he brought +the paper to his eyes and read as follows:</p> + +<div class="pt05"> </div> +<p>“My dear Utterson,—When this shall fall into your +hands, I shall have disappeared, under what circumstances +I have not the penetration to foresee, but my instinct and +all the circumstances of my nameless situation tell me that +the end is sure, and must be early. Go then, and first read +the narrative which Lanyon warned me he was to place +in your hands; and if you care to hear more, turn to the +confession of Your unworthy and unhappy friend,</p> + +<p class="rt sc">“Henry Jekyll.“</p> + +<div class="pt05"> </div> + +<p>“There was a third enclosure?” asked Utterson.</p> + +<p>“Here sir,” said Poole, and gave into his hands a +considerable packet sealed in several places.</p> + +<p>The lawyer put it in his pocket. “I would say nothing +of this paper. If your master has fled or is dead, we may +at least save his credit. It is now ten; I must go home and +read these documents in quiet; but I shall be back before +midnight, when we shall send for the police.”</p> + +<p>They went out, locking the door of the theatre behind +them; and Utterson, once more leaving the servants gathered +about the fire in the hall, trudged back to his office to read +the two narratives in which this mystery was now to be +explained.</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page276"></a>276</span></p> +<h3>DR. LANYON’S NARRATIVE</h3> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">On</span> the ninth of January, now four days ago, I received +by the evening delivery a registered envelope, addressed +in the hand of my colleague and old school-companion, +Henry Jekyll. I was a good deal surprised by this; for +we were by no means in the habit of correspondence; I +had seen the man, dined with him, indeed, the night before; +and I could imagine nothing in our intercourse that should +justify the formality of registration. The contents increased +my wonder; for this is how the letter ran:—</p> + +<div class="pt05"> </div> + +<p class="rt f80">“10th December, 18—</p> + +<p>“Dear Lanyon,—You are one of my oldest friends; +and although we may have differed at times on scientific +questions, I cannot remember, at least on my side, any +break in our affection. There was never a day when, if +you had said to me,‘Jekyll, my life, my honour, my reason, +depend upon you,’ I would not have sacrificed my fortune +or my left hand to help you. Lanyon, my life, my honour, +my reason, are all at your mercy; if you fail me to-night, +I am lost. You might suppose, after this preface, that I +am going to ask you for something dishonourable to grant. +Judge for yourself.</p> + +<p>“I want you to postpone all other engagements for to-night—ay, +even if you were summoned to the bedside of +an emperor; to take a cab, unless your carriage should be +actually at the door; and with this letter in your hand for +consultation, to drive straight to my house. Poole, my +butler, has his orders; you will find him waiting your +arrival with a locksmith. The door of my cabinet is then +to be forced; and you are to go in alone; to open the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page277"></a>277</span> +glazed press (letter E) on the left hand, breaking the lock if +it be shut; and to draw out, <i>with all its contents as they +stand</i>, the fourth drawer from the top or (which is the +same thing) the third from the bottom. In my extreme +distress of mind I have a morbid fear of misdirecting you; +but even if I am in error, you may know the right drawer +by its contents: some powders, a phial, and a paper book. +This drawer I beg of you to carry back with you to Cavendish +Square exactly as it stands.</p> + +<p>“That is the first part of the service: now for the +second. You should be back, if you set out at once on the +receipt of this, long before midnight; but I will leave you +that amount of margin, not only in the fear of one of those +obstacles that can neither be prevented nor foreseen, but +because an hour when your servants are in bed is to be +preferred for what will then remain to do. At midnight, +then, I have to ask you to be alone in your consulting-room, +to admit with your own hand into the house a man who +will present himself in my name, and to place in his hands the +drawer that you will have brought with you from my +cabinet. Then you will have played your part and earned +my gratitude completely. Five minutes afterwards, if +you insist upon an explanation, you will have understood +that these arrangements are of capital importance; and +that by the neglect of one of them, fantastic as they must +appear, you might have charged your conscience with my +death or the shipwreck of my reason.</p> + +<p>“Confident as I am that you will not trifle with this +appeal, my heart sinks and my hand trembles at the bare +thought of such a possibility. Think of me at this hour, +in a strange place, labouring under a blackness of distress +that no fancy can exaggerate, and yet well aware that, if +you will but punctually serve me, my troubles will roll +away like a story that is told. Serve me, my dear Lanyon, +and save</p> + +<p style="text-align: right; padding-right: 6em;">“Your friend,</p> + +<p class="rt">“H. J.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page278"></a>278</span></p> + +<p>“<i>P.S.</i>—I had already sealed this up when a fresh +terror struck upon my soul. It is possible that the post +office may fail me, and this letter not come into your hands +until to-morrow morning. In that case, dear Lanyon, do +my errand when it shall be most convenient for you in the +course of the day; and once more expect my messenger at +midnight. It may then already be too late; and if that +night passes without event, you will know that you have seen +the last of Henry Jekyll.”</p> + +<div class="pt05"> </div> + +<p>Upon the reading of this letter I made sure my colleague +was insane; but till that was proved beyond the possibility +of doubt, I felt bound to do as he requested. The less I +understood of this farrago, the less I was in a position to +judge of its importance; and an appeal so worded could not +be set aside without a grave responsibility. I rose accordingly +from table, got into a hansom, and drove straight +to Jekyll’s house. The butler was awaiting my arrival; +he had received by the same post as mine a registered letter +of instruction, and had sent at once for a locksmith and +a carpenter. The tradesmen came while we were yet speaking; +and we moved in a body to old Dr. Denman’s surgical +theatre, from which (as you are doubtless aware) Jekyll’s +private cabinet is most conveniently entered. The door was +very strong, the lock excellent; the carpenter avowed he +would have great trouble and have to do much damage, if +force were to be used; and the locksmith was near despair. +But this last was a handy fellow, and after two hours’ work +the door stood open. The press marked E was unlocked; +and I took out the drawer, had it filled up with straw and +tied in a sheet, and returned with it to Cavendish Square.</p> + +<p>Here I proceeded to examine its contents. The powders +were neatly enough made up, but not with the nicety of the +dispensing chemist; so that it was plain they were of Jekyll’s +private manufacture; and when I opened one of the +wrappers, I found what seemed to me a simple, crystalline +salt of a white colour. The phial, to which I next turned +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page279"></a>279</span> +my attention, might have been about half-full of a blood-red +liquor, which was highly pungent to the sense of smell and +seemed to me to contain phosphorus and some volatile ether. +At the other ingredients I could make no guess. The book +was an ordinary version-book, and contained little but a +series of dates. These covered a period of many years, +but I observed that the entries ceased nearly a year ago, +and quite abruptly. Here and there a brief remark was +appended to a date, usually no more than a single word: +“double” occurring perhaps six times in a total of several +hundred entries; and once very early in the list, and followed +by several marks of exclamation, “total failure!!!” +All this, though it whetted my curiosity, told me little +that was definite. Here was a phial of some tincture, +a paper of some salt, and a record of a series of experiments +that had led (like too many of Jekyll’s investigations) +to no end of practical usefulness. How could the +presence of these articles in my house affect either the +honour, the sanity, or the life of my flighty colleague? +If his messenger could go to one place, why could he not +go to another? And even granting some impediment, +why was this gentleman to be received by me in secret? +The more I reflected, the more convinced I grew that I +was dealing with a case of cerebral disease; and though +I dismissed my servants to bed, I loaded an old revolver +that I might be found in some posture of self-defence.</p> + +<p>Twelve o’clock had scarce rung out over London, +ere the knocker sounded very gently on the door. I went +myself at the summons, and found a small man crouching +against the pillars of the portico.</p> + +<p>“Are you come from Dr. Jekyll?” I asked.</p> + +<p>He told me “yes” by a constrained gesture; and +when I had bidden him enter, he did not obey me without +a searching backward glance into the darkness of the square. +There was a policeman not far off, advancing with his +bull’s-eye open; and at the sight I thought my visitor +started and made greater haste.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page280"></a>280</span></p> + +<p>These particulars struck me, I confess, disagreeably; +and as I followed him into the bright light of the consulting-room, +I kept my hand ready on my weapon. Here, +at last, I had a chance of clearly seeing him. I had never +set eyes on him before, so much was certain. He was small, +as I have said; I was struck besides with the shocking +expression of his face, with his remarkable combination of +great muscular activity and great apparent debility of +constitution, and—last but not least—with the odd, +subjective disturbance caused by his neighbourhood. +This bore some resemblance to incipient rigor, and was +accompanied by a marked sinking of the pulse. At the time, +I set it down to some idiosyncratic, personal distaste, and +merely wondered at the acuteness of the symptoms; but +I have since had reason to believe the cause to lie much +deeper in the nature of man, and to turn on some nobler +hinge than the principle of hatred.</p> + +<p>This person (who had thus, from the first moment of +his entrance, struck in me what I can only describe as a +disgustful curiosity) was dressed in a fashion that would +have made an ordinary person laughable: his clothes, that +is to say, although they were of rich and sober fabric, were +enormously too large for him in every measurement—the +trousers hanging on his legs and rolled up to keep them +from the ground, the waist of the coat below his haunches +and the collar sprawling wide upon his shoulders. Strange +to relate, this ludicrous accoutrement was far from moving +me to laughter. Rather, as there was something abnormal +and misbegotten in the very essence of the creature that now +faced me—something seizing, surprising, and revolting—this +fresh disparity seemed but to fit in with and to reinforce +it; so that to my interest in the man’s nature and character +there was added a curiosity as to his origin, his life, his +fortune and status in the world.</p> + +<p>These observations, though they have taken so great +a space to be set down in, were yet the work of a few seconds. +My visitor was, indeed, on fire with sombre excitement.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page281"></a>281</span></p> + +<p>“Have you got it?” he cried. “Have you got it?” +And so lively was his impatience that he even laid his +hand upon my arm and sought to shake me.</p> + +<p>I put him back, conscious at his touch of a certain +icy pang along my blood. “Come, sir,” said I. “You +forget that I have not yet the pleasure of your acquaintance. +Be seated, if you please.” And I showed him an example, +and sat down myself in my customary seat and with as fair +an imitation of my ordinary manner to a patient as the +lateness of the hour, the nature of my pre-occupations, +and the horror I had of my visitor, would suffer me to +muster.</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon, Dr. Lanyon,” he replied civilly +enough. “What you say is very well founded; and my +impatience has shown its heels to my politeness. I come +here at the instance of your colleague, Dr. Henry Jekyll, +on a piece of business of some moment; and I understood ...” +he paused and put his hand to his throat, +and I could see, in spite of his collected manner, that he +was wrestling against the approaches of the hysteria—“I +understood, a drawer....”</p> + +<p>But here I took pity on my visitor’s suspense, and some +perhaps on my own growing curiosity.</p> + +<p>“There it is, sir,” said I, pointing to the drawer, where +it lay on the floor behind a table and still covered with the +sheet.</p> + +<p>He sprang to it, and then paused, and laid his hand +upon his heart; I could hear his teeth grate with the convulsive +action of his jaws; and his face was so ghastly +to see that I grew alarmed both for his life and reason.</p> + +<p>“Compose yourself,” said I.</p> + +<p>He turned a dreadful smile to me, and as if with the +decision of despair, plucked away the sheet. At sight of +the contents he uttered one loud sob of such immense relief +that I sat petrified. And the next moment, in a voice that +was already fairly well under control, “Have you a graduated +glass?” he asked.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page282"></a>282</span></p> + +<p>I rose from my place with something of an effort and +gave him what he asked.</p> + +<p>He thanked me with a smiling nod, measured out +a few minims of the red tincture and added one of the +powders. The mixture, which was at first of a reddish +hue, began, in proportion as the crystals melted, to brighten +in colour, to effervesce audibly, and to throw off small +fumes of vapour. Suddenly and at the same moment, +the ebullition ceased and the compound changed to a dark +purple, which faded again more slowly to a watery green. +My visitor, who had watched these metamorphoses with a +keen eye, smiled, set down the glass upon the table, and then +turned and looked upon me with an air of scrutiny.</p> + +<p>“And now,” said he, “to settle what remains. Will +you be wise? will you be guided? will you suffer me to +take this glass in my hand and to go forth from your house +without further parley? or has the greed of curiosity too +much command of you? Think before you answer, for +it shall be done as you decide. As you decide, you shall be +left as you were before, and neither richer nor wiser, unless +the sense of service rendered to a man in mortal distress +may be counted as a kind of riches of the soul. Or, if you +shall so prefer to choose, a new province of knowledge and +new avenues to fame and power shall be laid open to you, +here, in this room, upon the instant; and your sight shall +be blasted by a prodigy to stagger the unbelief of Satan.”</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said I, affecting a coolness that I was far from +truly possessing, “you speak enigmas, and you will perhaps +not wonder that I hear you with no very strong impression +of belief. But I have gone too far in the way of inexplicable +services to pause before I see the end.”</p> + +<p>“It is well,” replied my visitor. “Lanyon, you remember +your vows: what follows is under the seal of our +profession. And now, you who have so long been bound to +the most narrow and material views, you who have denied +the virtue of transcendental medicine, you who have derided +your superiors—behold!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page283"></a>283</span></p> + +<p>He put the glass to his lips and drank at one gulp. A +cry followed; he reeled, staggered, clutched at the table +and held on, staring with injected eyes, gasping with open +mouth; and as I looked there came, I thought, a change—he +seemed to swell—his face became suddenly black and +the features seemed to melt and alter—and the next moment +I had sprung to my feet and leaped back against the wall, +my arm raised to shield me from that prodigy, my mind +submerged in terror.</p> + +<p>“O God!” I screamed, and “O God!” again and again; +for there before my eyes—pale and shaken, and half fainting, +and groping before him with his hands, like a man +restored from death—there stood Henry Jekyll!</p> + +<p>What he told me in the next hour I cannot bring my +mind to set on paper. I saw what I saw, I heard what I +heard, and my soul sickened at it; and yet now when that +sight has faded from my eyes, I ask myself if I believe it, +and I cannot answer. My life is shaken to its roots; sleep +has left me; the deadliest terror sits by me at all hours of +the day and night; I feel that my days are numbered, and +that I must die; and yet I shall die incredulous. As for the +moral turpitude that man unveiled to me, even with tears +of penitence, I cannot, even in memory, dwell on it without +a start of horror. I will say but one thing, Utterson, and +that (if you can bring your mind to credit it) will be more +than enough. The creature who crept into my house that +night was, on Jekyll’s own confession, known by the name +of Hyde, and hunted for in every corner of the land as the +murderer of Carew.</p> + +<p class="rt sc">Hastie Lanyon.</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page284"></a>284</span></p> +<h3>HENRY JEKYLL’S FULL STATEMENT +OF THE CASE</h3> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">I was</span> born in the year 18— to a large fortune, endowed besides +with excellent parts, inclined by nature to industry, +fond of the respect of the wise and good among my fellow-men, +and thus, as might have been supposed, with every +guarantee of an honourable and distinguished future. And +indeed the worst of my faults was a certain impatient gaiety +of disposition such as has made the happiness of many, but +such as I found it hard to reconcile with my imperious desire +to carry my head high, and wear a more than commonly +grave countenance before the public. Hence it came about +that I concealed my pleasures; and that when I reached +years of reflection, and began to look round me and take +stock of my progress and position in the world, I stood +already committed to a profound duplicity of life. Many +a man would have even blazoned such irregularities as I +was guilty of; but from the high views that I had set before +me, I regarded and hid them with an almost morbid sense +of shame. It was thus rather the exacting nature of my +aspirations than any particular degradation in my faults, +that made me what I was, and, with even a deeper trench +than in the majority of men, severed in me those provinces +of good and ill which divide and compound man’s dual +nature. In this case, I was driven to reflect deeply and inveterately +on that hard law of life, which lies at the root of +religion and is one of the most plentiful springs of distress. +Though so profound a double-dealer, I was in no sense a +hypocrite; both sides of me were in dead earnest; I was no +more myself when I laid aside restraint and plunged in +shame, than when I laboured, in the eye of day, at the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page285"></a>285</span> +furtherance of knowledge or the relief of sorrow and suffering. +And it chanced that the direction of my scientific +studies, which led wholly towards the mystic and the transcendental, +reacted and shed a strong light on this consciousness +of the perennial war among my members. With every +day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and +the intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, +by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a +dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly +two. I say two, because the state of my own knowledge +does not pass beyond that point. Others will follow, others +will outstrip me on the same lines; and I hazard the guess +that man will be ultimately known for a mere polity of multifarious, +incongruous and independent denizens. I for my +part, from the nature of my life, advanced infallibly in one +direction, and in one direction only. It was on the moral +side, and in my own person, that I learned to recognise the +thorough and primitive duality of man; I saw that of the +two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness, +even if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because +I was radically both; and from an early date, even +before the course of my scientific discoveries had begun to +suggest the most naked possibility of such a miracle, I had +learned to dwell with pleasure, as a beloved day-dream, on +the thought of the separation of these elements. If each, I +told myself, could but be housed in separate identities, life +would be relieved of all that was unbearable; the unjust +might go his way, delivered from the aspirations and remorse +of his more upright twin; and the just could walk +steadfastly and securely on his upward path, doing the good +things in which he found his pleasure, and no longer exposed +to disgrace and penitence by the hands of this extraneous +evil. It was the curse of mankind that these incongruous +fagots were thus bound together—that in the agonised +womb of consciousness these polar twins should be continuously +struggling. How, then, were they dissociated?</p> + +<p>I was so far in my reflections when, as I have said, a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page286"></a>286</span> +side-light began to shine upon the subject from the laboratory +table. I began to perceive more deeply than it has +ever yet been stated, the trembling immateriality, the mist-like +transience, of this seemingly so solid body in which we +walk attired. Certain agents I found to have the power to +shake and to pluck that fleshy vestment, even as a wind +might toss the curtains of a pavilion. For two good +reasons, I will not enter deeply into this scientific branch of +my confession. First, because I have been made to learn +that the doom and burthen of our life is bound for ever on +man’s shoulders, and when the attempt is made to cast it +off, it but returns upon us with more unfamiliar and more +awful pressure. Second, because as my narrative will +make, alas! too evident, my discoveries were incomplete. +Enough, then, that I not only recognised my natural body +for the mere aura and effulgence of certain of the powers +that made up my spirit, but managed to compound a drug +by which these powers should be dethroned from their +supremacy, and a second form and countenance substituted, +none the less natural to me because they were the expression, +and bore the stamp, of lower elements in my soul.</p> + +<p>I hesitated long before I put this theory to the test of +practice. I knew well that I risked death; for any drug +that so potently controlled and shook the very fortress of +identity, might by the least scruple of an overdose or at the +least inopportunity in the moment of exhibition, utterly +blot out that immaterial tabernacle which I looked to it to +change. But the temptation of a discovery so singular and +profound at last overcame the suggestions of alarm. I had +long since prepared my tincture; I purchased at once, from +a firm of wholesale chemists, a large quantity of a particular +salt which I knew, from my experiments, to be the last ingredient +required; and late one accursed night, I compounded +the elements, watched them boil and smoke +together in the glass, and when the ebullition had subsided, +with a strong glow of courage drank off the potion.</p> + +<p>The most racking pangs succeeded; a grinding in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page287"></a>287</span> +bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot +be exceeded at the hour of birth or death. Then these +agonies began swiftly to subside, and I came to myself as if +out of a great sickness. There was something strange in +my sensations, something indescribably new and, from its +very novelty, incredibly sweet. I felt younger, lighter, +happier in body; within I was conscious of a heady recklessness, +a current of disordered sensual images running like +a mill-race in my fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, +an unknown but not an innocent freedom of the soul. +I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more +wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; +and the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me +like wine. I stretched out my hands, exulting in the freshness +of these sensations; and in the act I was suddenly aware +that I had lost in stature.</p> + +<p>There was no mirror, at that date, in my room; that +which stands beside me as I write was brought there later +on, and for the very purpose of these transformations. The +night, however, was far gone into the morning—the morning, +black as it was, was nearly ripe for the conception of the +day—the inmates of my house were locked in the most +rigorous hours of slumber; and I determined, flushed as I +was with hope and triumph, to venture in my new shape +as far as to my bedroom. I crossed the yard, wherein the +constellations looked down upon me, I could have thought, +with wonder, the first creature of that sort that their unsleeping +vigilance had yet disclosed to them; I stole through +the corridors, a stranger in my own house; and, coming to +my room, I saw for the first time the appearance of Edward +Hyde.</p> + +<p>I must here speak by theory alone, saying not that which +I know, but that which I suppose to be most probable. The +evil side of my nature, to which I had now transferred the +stamping efficacy, was less robust and less developed than +the good which I had just deposed. Again, in the course +of my life, which had been, after all, nine-tenths a life of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page288"></a>288</span> +effort, virtue, and control, it had been much less exercised +and much less exhausted. And hence, as I think, it came +about that Edward Hyde was so much smaller, slighter, +and younger than Henry Jekyll. Even as good shone upon +the countenance of the one, evil was written broadly and +plainly on the face of the other. Evil besides (which I must +still believe to be the lethal side of man) had left on that +body an imprint of deformity and decay. And yet when I +looked upon that ugly idol in the glass, I was conscious of no +repugnance, rather of a leap of welcome. This too, was +myself. It seemed natural and human. In my eyes it +bore a livelier image of the spirit, it seemed more express +and single, than the imperfect and divided countenance I +had been hitherto accustomed to call mine. And in so far +I was doubtless right. I have observed that when I bore +the semblance of Edward Hyde, none could come near to +me at first without a visible misgiving of the flesh. This, as +I take it, was because all human beings, as we meet them, are +commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone +in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil.</p> + +<p>I lingered but a moment at the mirror: the second and +conclusive experiment had yet to be attempted; it yet remained +to be seen if I had lost my identity beyond redemption +and must flee before daylight from a house that was no +longer mine; and, hurrying back to my cabinet, I once more +prepared and drank the cup, once more suffered the pangs +of dissolution, and came to myself once more with the +character, the stature, and the face of Henry Jekyll.</p> + +<p>That night I had come to the fatal cross roads. Had +I approached my discovery in a more noble spirit, had I +risked the experiment while under the empire of generous +or pious aspirations, all must have been otherwise, and from +these agonies of death and birth I had come forth an angel +instead of a fiend. The drug had no discriminating action; +it was neither diabolical nor divine; it but shook the doors +of the prison-house of my disposition; and like the captives +of Philippi, that which stood within ran forth. At that time +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page289"></a>289</span> +my virtue slumbered; my evil, kept awake by ambition, +was alert and swift to seize the occasion; and the thing that +was projected was Edward Hyde. Hence, although I had +now two characters as well as two appearances, one was +wholly evil, and the other was still the old Henry Jekyll, +that incongruous compound of whose reformation and improvement +I had already learned to despair. The movement +was thus wholly toward the worse.</p> + +<p>Even at that time I had not yet conquered my aversion +to the dryness of a life of study. I would still be merrily +disposed at times; and as my pleasures were (to say the +least) undignified, and I was not only well known and highly +considered, but growing towards the elderly man, this incoherency +of my life was daily growing more unwelcome. +It was on this side that my new power tempted me until I +fell in slavery. I had but to drink the cup, to doff at once +the body of the noted professor, and to assume, like a thick +cloak, that of Edward Hyde. I smiled at the notion; it +seemed to me at the time to be humorous; and I made my +preparations with the most studious care. I took and +furnished that house in Soho, to which Hyde was tracked +by the police; and engaged as housekeeper a creature whom +I well knew to be silent and unscrupulous. On the other +side, I announced to my servants that a Mr. Hyde (whom +I described) was to have full liberty and power about my +house in the square; and to parry mishaps, I even called +and made myself a familiar object, in my second character. +I next drew up that will to which you so much objected; +so that if anything befell me in the person of Doctor Jekyll, +I could enter on that of Edward Hyde without pecuniary +loss. And thus fortified, as I supposed, on every side, I +began to profit by the strange immunities of my position.</p> + +<p>Men have before hired bravos to transact their crimes, +while their own person and reputation sat under shelter. +I was the first that ever did so for his pleasures. I was the +first that could thus plod in the public eye with a load of +genial respectability, and in a moment, like a schoolboy, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page290"></a>290</span> +strip off these leadings and spring headlong into the sea of +liberty. But for me, in my impenetrable mantle, the safety +was complete. Think of it—I did not even exist! Let me +but escape into my laboratory-door, give me but a second +or two to mix and swallow the draught that I had always +standing ready; and whatever he had done, Edward Hyde +would pass away like the stain of breath upon a mirror; +and there in his stead, quietly at home, trimming the midnight +lamp in his study, a man who could afford to laugh at +suspicion, would be Henry Jekyll.</p> + +<p>The pleasures which I made haste to seek in my disguise +were, as I have said, undignified; I would scarce use a +harder term. But in the hands of Edward Hyde they soon +began to turn towards the monstrous. When I would come +back from these excursions, I was often plunged into a kind +of wonder at my vicarious depravity. This familiar that +I called out of my own soul, and sent forth alone to do his +good pleasure, was a being inherently malign and villainous; +his every act and thought centred on self; drinking pleasure +with bestial avidity from any degree of torture to another; +relentless like a man of stone. Henry Jekyll stood at times +aghast before the acts of Edward Hyde; but the situation +was apart from ordinary laws, and insidiously relaxed the +grasp of conscience. It was Hyde, after all, and Hyde +alone, that was guilty. Jekyll was no worse; he woke +again to his good qualities seemingly unimpaired; he would +even make haste, where it was possible, to undo the evil +done by Hyde. And thus his conscience slumbered.</p> + +<p>Into the details of the infamy at which I thus connived +(for even now I can scarce grant that I committed it) I +have no design of entering; I mean but to point out the +warnings and the successive steps with which my chastisement +approached. I met with one accident which, as it +brought on no consequence, I shall no more than mention. +An act of cruelty to a child aroused against me the anger of +a passer-by, whom I recognised the other day in the person +of your kinsman; the doctor and the child’s family joined +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page291"></a>291</span> +him; there were moments when I feared for my life; and +at last, in order to pacify their too just resentment, Edward +Hyde had to bring them to the door, and pay them in a +cheque drawn in the name of Henry Jekyll. But this +danger was easily eliminated from the future, by opening +an account at another bank in the name of Edward Hyde +himself; and when, by sloping my own hand backward, I +had supplied my double with a signature, I thought I sat +beyond the reach of fate.</p> + +<p>Some two months before the murder of Sir Danvers, I +had been out for one of my adventures, had returned at a +late hour, and woke the next day in bed with somewhat odd +sensations. It was in vain I looked about me; in vain I +saw the decent furniture and tall proportions of my room +in the square; in vain that I recognised the pattern of the +bed-curtains and the design of the mahogany frame; something +still kept insisting that I was not where I was, that I +had not wakened where I seemed to be, but in the little +room in Soho where I was accustomed to sleep in the body +of Edward Hyde. I smiled to myself, and, in my psychological +way, began lazily to inquire into the elements of this +illusion, occasionally, even as I did so, dropping back into a +comfortable morning doze. I was still so engaged when, +in one of my more wakeful moments, my eye fell upon my +hand. Now the hand of Henry Jekyll (as you have often +remarked) was professional in shape and size: it was large, +firm, white, and comely. But the hand which I now saw, +clearly enough, in the yellow light of a mid-London morning, +lying half shut on the bed-clothes, was lean, corded, +knuckly, of a dusky pallor, and thickly shaded with a swart +growth of hair. It was the hand of Edward Hyde.</p> + +<p>I must have stared upon it for near half a minute, sunk +as I was in the mere stupidity of wonder, before terror woke +up in my breast as sudden and startling as the crash of +cymbals; and bounding from my bed, I rushed to the mirror. +At the sight that met my eyes my blood was changed into +something exquisitely thin and icy. Yes, I had gone to bed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page292"></a>292</span> +Henry Jekyll, I had awakened Edward Hyde. How was +this to be explained? I asked myself; and then, with +another bound of terror—how was it to be remedied? It +was well on in the morning; the servants were up; all my +drugs were in the cabinet—a long journey, down two pairs +of stairs, through the back passage, across the open court +and through the anatomical theatre, from where I was +then standing horror-struck. It might indeed be possible +to cover my face; but of what use was that, when I was +unable to conceal the alteration in my stature? And then, +with an overpowering sweetness of relief, it came back upon +my mind that the servants were already used to the coming +and going of my second self. I had soon dressed, as well as +I was able, in clothes of my own size: had soon passed +through the house, where Bradshaw stared and drew back +at seeing Mr. Hyde at such an hour and in such a strange +array; and ten minutes later Dr. Jekyll had returned to his +own shape, and was sitting down, with a darkened brow, +to make a feint of breakfasting.</p> + +<p>Small indeed was my appetite. This inexplicable incident, +this reversal of my previous experience, seemed, like +the Babylonian finger on the wall, to be spelling out the +letters of my judgment; and I began to reflect more seriously +than ever before on the issues and possibilities of my double +existence. That part of me which I had the power of projecting +had lately been much exercised and nourished; it +had seemed to me of late as though the body of Edward +Hyde had grown in stature, as though (when I wore that +form) I were conscious of a more generous tide of blood; +and I began to spy a danger that, if this were much prolonged, +the balance of my nature might be permanently +overthrown, the power of voluntary change be forfeited, +and the character of Edward Hyde become irrevocably mine. +The power of the drug had not always been equally displayed. +Once, very early in my career, it had totally failed +me; since then I had been obliged on more than one occasion +to double, and once, with infinite risk of death, to treble +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page293"></a>293</span> +the amount; and these rare uncertainties had cast hitherto +the sole shadow on my contentment. Now, however, and +in the light of that morning’s accident, I was led to remark +that whereas, in the beginning, the difficulty had been to +throw off the body of Jekyll, it had of late gradually but +decidedly transferred itself to the other side. All things +therefore seemed to point to this: that I was slowly losing +hold of my original and better self, and becoming slowly +incorporated with my second and worse.</p> + +<p>Between these two, I now felt I had to choose. My two +natures had memory in common, but all other faculties +were most unequally shared between them. Jekyll (who +was composite) now with the most sensitive apprehensions, +now with a greedy gusto, projected and shared in the +pleasures and adventures of Hyde; but Hyde was indifferent +to Jekyll, or but remembered him as the mountain +bandit remembers the cavern in which he conceals himself +from pursuit. Jekyll had more than a father’s interest; +Hyde had more than a son’s indifference. To cast in my lot +with Jekyll was to die to those appetites which I had long +secretly indulged, and had of late begun to pamper. To +cast it in with Hyde was to die to a thousand interests and +aspirations, and to become, at a blow and for ever, despised +and friendless. The bargain might appear unequal; but +there was still another consideration in the scales; for while +Jekyll would suffer smartingly in the fires of abstinence, +Hyde would be not even conscious of all that he had lost. +Strange as my circumstances were, the terms of this debate +are as old and commonplace as man; much the same inducements +and alarms cast the die for any tempted and +trembling sinner; and it fell out with me, as it falls with so +vast a majority of my fellows, that I chose the better part, +and was found wanting in the strength to keep to it.</p> + +<p>Yes, I preferred the elderly and discontented doctor, +surrounded by friends and cherishing honest hopes; and +bade a resolute farewell to the liberty, the comparative +youth, the light step, leaping pulses, and secret pleasures, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page294"></a>294</span> +that I had enjoyed in the disguise of Hyde. I made this +choice perhaps with some unconscious reservation, for I +neither gave up the house in Soho, nor destroyed the clothes +of Edward Hyde, which still lay ready in my cabinet. For +two months, however, I was true to my determination; for +two months I led a life of such severity as I had never before +attained to, and enjoyed the compensations of an approving +conscience. But time began at last to obliterate the freshness +of my alarm; the praises of conscience began to grow +into a thing of course; I began to be tortured with throes +and longings, as of Hyde struggling after freedom; and at +last, in an hour of moral weakness, I once again compounded +and swallowed the transforming draught.</p> + +<p>I do not suppose that, when a drunkard reasons with +himself upon his vice, he is once out of five hundred times +affected by the dangers that he runs through his brutish, +physical insensibility; neither had I, long as I had considered +my position, made enough allowance for the complete +moral insensibility and insensate readiness to evil, +which were the leading characters of Edward Hyde. Yet it +was by these that I was punished. My devil had been long +caged, he came out roaring. I was conscious, even when I +took the draught, of a more unbridled, a more furious propensity +to ill. It must have been this, I suppose, that +stirred in my soul that tempest of impatience with which I +listened to the civilities of my unhappy victim; I declare at +least, before God, no man morally sane could have been +guilty of that crime upon so pitiful a provocation; and that +I struck in no more reasonable spirit than that in which a +sick child may break a plaything. But I had voluntarily +stripped myself of all those balancing instincts, by which +even the worst of us continues to walk with some degree of +steadiness among temptations; and in my case, to be +tempted, however slightly, was to fall.</p> + +<p>Instantly the spirit of hell awoke in me and raged. +With a transport of glee I mauled the unresisting body, +tasting delight from every blow: and it was not till weariness +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page295"></a>295</span> +had begun to succeed, that I was suddenly, in the top +fit of my delirium, struck through the heart by a cold thrill +of terror. A mist dispersed; I saw my life to be forfeit; +and fled from the scene of these excesses, at once glorying +and trembling, my lust of evil gratified and stimulated, my +love of life screwed to the topmost peg. I ran to the house +in Soho, and (to make assurance doubly sure) destroyed my +papers; thence I set out through the lamplit streets, in the +same divided ecstasy of mind, gloating on my crime, light-headedly +devising others in the future, and yet still hastening +and still hearkening in my wake for the steps of the +avenger. Hyde had a song upon his lips as he compounded +the draught, and as he drank it, pledged the dead man. +The pangs of transformation had not done tearing him, before +Henry Jekyll, with streaming tears of gratitude and +remorse, had fallen upon his knees and lifted his clasped +hands to God. The veil of self-indulgence was rent from +head to foot, I saw my life as a whole: I followed it up from +the days of childhood, when I had walked with my father’s +hand, and through the self-denying toils of my professional +life, to arrive again and again, with the same sense of unreality, +at the damned horrors of the evening. I could have +screamed aloud; I sought with tears and prayers to smother +down the crowd of hideous images and sounds with which +my memory swarmed against me; and still, between the +petitions, the ugly face of my iniquity stared into my soul. +As the acuteness of this remorse began to die away, it was +succeeded by a sense of joy. The problem of my conduct +was solved. Hyde was thenceforth impossible; whether +I would or not, I was now confined to the better part of my +existence; and oh how I rejoiced to think it! with what +willing humility I embraced anew the restrictions of natural +life! with what sincere renunciation I locked the door by +which I had so often gone and come, and ground the key +under my heel!</p> + +<p>The next day came the news that the murder had been +overlooked, that the guilt of Hyde was patent to the world, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page296"></a>296</span> +and that the victim was a man high in public estimation. +It was not only a crime, it had been a tragic folly. I think +I was glad to know it; I think I was glad to have my better +impulses thus buttressed and guarded by the terrors of the +scaffold. Jekyll was now my city of refuge; let but Hyde +peep out an instant, and the hands of all men would be +raised to take and slay him.</p> + +<p>I resolved in my future conduct to redeem the past; +and I can say with honesty that my resolve was fruitful of +some good. You know yourself how earnestly in the last +months of last year, I laboured to relieve suffering; you know +that much was done for others, and that the days passed +quietly, almost happily for myself. Nor can I truly say +that I wearied of this beneficent and innocent life; I think +instead that I daily enjoyed it more completely; but I was +still cursed with my duality of purpose; and as the first +edge of my penitence wore off, the lower side of me, so long +indulged, so recently chained down, began to growl for +licence. Not that I dreamed of resuscitating Hyde; the +bare idea of that would startle me to frenzy: no, it was in +my own person that I was once more tempted to trifle with +my conscience; and it was as an ordinary secret sinner that +I at last fell before the assaults of temptation.</p> + +<p>There comes an end to all things; the most capacious +measure is filled at last; and this brief condescension to evil +finally destroyed the balance of my soul. And yet I was +not alarmed; the fall seemed natural, like a return to the +old days before I had made my discovery. It was a fine, +clear, January day, wet under foot where the frost had +melted, but cloudless overhead; and the Regent’s Park +was full of winter chirrupings and sweet with spring odours. +I sat in the sun on a bench; the animal within me licking +the chops of memory; the spiritual side a little drowsed, +promising subsequent penitence, but not yet moved to begin. +After all, I reflected, I was like my neighbours; and +then I smiled, comparing myself with other men, comparing +my active goodwill with the lazy cruelty of their neglect. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page297"></a>297</span> +And at the very moment of that vainglorious thought a +qualm came over me, a horrid nausea and the most deadly +shuddering. These passed away, and left me faint; and +then, as in its turn the faintness subsided, I began to be +aware of a change in the temper of my thoughts, a greater +boldness, a contempt of danger, a solution of the bonds of +obligation. I looked down; my clothes hung formlessly +on my shrunken limbs; the hand that lay on my knee was +corded and hairy. I was once more Edward Hyde. A +moment before I had been safe of all men’s respect, wealthy, +beloved—the cloth laying for me in the dining-room at home; +and now I was the common quarry of mankind, hunted, +houseless, a known murderer, thrall to the gallows.</p> + +<p>My reason wavered, but it did not fail me utterly. I +have more than once observed that, in my second character, +my faculties seemed sharpened to a point and my spirits +more tensely elastic; thus it came about that, where Jekyll +perhaps might have succumbed, Hyde rose to the importance +of the moment. My drugs were in one of the presses +of my cabinet; how was I to reach them? That was the +problem that (crushing my temples in my hands) I set myself +to solve. The laboratory door I had closed. If I +sought to enter by the house, my own servants would consign +me to the gallows. I saw I must employ another hand, +and thought of Lanyon. How was he to be reached? how +persuaded? Supposing that I escaped capture in the +streets, how was I to make my way into his presence? and +how should I, an unknown and displeasing visitor, prevail +on the famous physician to rifle the study of his colleague, +Dr. Jekyll? Then I remembered that of my original character, +one part remained to me: I could write my own hand; +and once I had conceived that kindling spark, the way that +I must follow became lighted up from end to end.</p> + +<p>Thereupon I arranged my clothes as best I could, and +summoning a passing hansom, drove to a hotel in Portland +Street, the name of which I chanced to remember. At my +appearance (which was indeed comical enough, however +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page298"></a>298</span> +tragic a fate these garments covered) the driver could not +conceal his mirth. I gnashed my teeth upon him with a +gust of devilish fury; and the smile withered from his face—happily +for him—yet more happily for myself, for in another +instant I had certainly dragged him from his perch. At the +inn, as I entered, I looked about me with so black a countenance +as made the attendants tremble; not a look did +they exchange in my presence; but obsequiously took my +orders, led me to a private room, and brought me wherewithal +to write. Hyde in danger of his life was a creature +new to me: shaken with inordinate anger, strung to the +pitch of murder, lusting to inflict pain. Yet the creature +was astute; mastered his fury with a great effort of the will; +composed his two important letters, one to Lanyon and one +to Poole; and that he might receive actual evidence of their +being posted, sent them out with directions that they should +be registered.</p> + +<p>Thenceforward, he sat all day over the fire in the private +room, gnawing his nails; there he dined, sitting alone with +his fears, the waiter visibly quailing before his eye; and +then, when the night was fully come, he set forth in the +corner of a closed cab, and was driven to and fro about the +streets of the city. He, I say—I cannot say, I. That child +of Hell had nothing human; nothing lived in him but fear +and hatred. And when at last, thinking the driver had begun +to grow suspicious, he discharged the cab and ventured +on foot, attired in his misfitting clothes, an object marked +out for observation, into the midst of the nocturnal passengers, +these two base passions raged within him like a tempest. +He walked fast, hunted by his fears, chattering to himself, +skulking through the less frequented thoroughfares, counting +the minutes that still divided him from midnight. +Once a woman spoke to him, offering, I think, a box of lights. +He smote her in the face, and she fled.</p> + +<p>When I came to myself at Lanyon’s, the horror of my +old friend perhaps affected me somewhat: I do not know; +it was at least but a drop in the sea to the abhorrence with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page299"></a>299</span> +which I looked back upon these hours. A change had +come over me. It was no longer the fear of the gallows, it +was the horror of being Hyde that racked me. I received +Lanyon’s condemnation partly in a dream; it was partly +in a dream that I came home to my own house and got into +bed. I slept after the prostration of the day, with a stringent +and profound slumber which not even the nightmares +that wrung me could avail to break. I awoke in the morning +shaken, weakened, but refreshed. I still hated and +feared the thought of the brute that slept within me, and I +had not, of course, forgotten the appalling dangers of the +day before; but I was once more at home, in my own house +and close to my drugs; and gratitude for my escape shone +so strong in my soul that it almost rivalled the brightness of +hope.</p> + +<p>I was stepping leisurely across the court after breakfast, +drinking the chill of the air with pleasure, when I was seized +again with those indescribable sensations that heralded the +change; and I had but the time to gain the shelter of my +cabinet, before I was once again raging and freezing with the +passions of Hyde. It took on this occasion a double dose +to recall me to myself; and alas! six hours after, as I sat +looking sadly in the fire, the pangs returned, and the drug +had to be re-administered. In short, from that day forth +it seemed only by a great effort as of gymnastics, and only +under the immediate stimulation of the drug, that I was +able to wear the countenance of Jekyll. At all hours of the +day and night I would be taken with the premonitory +shudder; above all, if I slept, or even dozed for a moment +in my chair, it was always as Hyde that I awakened. Under +the strain of this continually impending doom and by the +sleeplessness to which I now condemned myself, ay, even +beyond what I had thought possible to man, I became, in +my own person, a creature eaten up and emptied by fever, +languidly weak both in body and mind, and solely occupied +by one thought: the horror of my other self. But when I +slept, or when the virtue of the medicine wore off, I would +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page300"></a>300</span> +leap almost without transition (for the pangs of transformation +grew daily less marked) into the possession of a +fancy brimming with images of terror, a soul boiling with +causeless hatreds, and a body that seemed not strong enough +to contain the raging energies of life. The powers of Hyde +seemed to have grown with the sickliness of Jekyll. And +certainly the hate that now divided them was equal on each +side. With Jekyll, it was a thing of vital instinct. He had +now seen the full deformity of that creature that shared +with him some of the phenomena of consciousness, and was +co-heir with him to death: and beyond these links of community, +which in themselves made the most poignant part +of his distress, he thought of Hyde, for all his energy of life, +as of something not only hellish but inorganic. This was +the shocking thing; that the slime of the pit seemed to utter +cries and voices; that the amorphous dust gesticulated and +sinned; that what was dead, and had no shape, should +usurp the offices of life. And this again, that that insurgent +horror was knit to him closer than a wife, closer than an eye; +lay caged in his flesh, where he heard it mutter and felt it +struggle to be born; and at every hour of weakness, and in +the confidence of slumber, prevailed against him, and deposed +him out of life. The hatred of Hyde for Jekyll was +of a different order. His terror of the gallows drove him +continually to commit temporary suicide, and return to his +subordinate station of a part instead of a person; but he +loathed the necessity, he loathed the despondency into +which Jekyll was now fallen, and he resented the dislike +with which he was himself regarded. Hence the ape-like +tricks that he would play me, scrawling in my own hand +blasphemies on the pages of my books, burning the letters +and destroying the portrait of my father; and indeed, had +it not been for his fear of death, he would long ago have +ruined himself in order to involve me in the ruin. But his +love of life is wonderful; I go further: I, who sicken and +freeze at the mere thought of him, when I recall the abjection +and passion of this attachment, and when I know how +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page301"></a>301</span> +he fears my power to cut him off by suicide, I find it in my +heart to pity him.</p> + +<p>It is useless, and the time awfully fails me, to prolong +this description; no one has ever suffered such torments, +let that suffice; and yet even to these, habit brought—no, +not alleviation—but a certain callousness of soul, a certain +acquiescence of despair; and my punishment might have +gone on for years, but for the last calamity which has now +fallen, and which has finally severed me from my own face +and nature. My provision of the salt, which had never +been renewed since the date of the first experiment, began +to run low. I sent out for a fresh supply, and mixed the +draught; the ebullition followed, and the first change of +colour, not the second; I drank it and it was without +efficiency. You will learn from Poole how I have had +London ransacked; it was in vain; and I am now persuaded +that my first supply was impure, and that it was that unknown +impurity which lent efficacy to the draught.</p> + +<p>About a week has passed, and I am now finishing this +statement under the influence of the last of the old powders. +This, then, is the last time, short of a miracle, that Henry +Jekyll can think his own thoughts or see his own face (now +how sadly altered!) in the glass. Nor must I delay too long +to bring my writing to an end; for if my narrative has +hitherto escaped destruction, it has been by a combination +of great prudence and great good luck. Should the throes +of change take me in the act of writing it, Hyde will tear it +in pieces; but if some time shall have elapsed after I have +laid it by, his wonderful selfishness and circumscription to +the moment will probably save it once again from the action +of his ape-like spite. And indeed the doom that is closing +on us both has already changed and crushed him. Half +an hour from now, when I shall again and for ever re-indue +that hated personality, I know how I shall sit shuddering +and weeping in my chair, or continue, with the most strained +and fearstruck ecstasy of listening, to pace up and down +this room (my last earthly refuge) and give ear to every +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page302"></a>302</span> +sound of menace. Will Hyde die upon the scaffold? or +will he find the courage to release himself at the last moment? +God knows; I am careless; this is my true hour of death, +and what is to follow concerns another than myself. Here +then, as I lay down the pen and proceed to seal up my confession, +I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an +end.</p> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page303"></a>303</span></p> +<div class="pt2"> </div> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THRAWN JANET</h2> +<hr class="full" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page304"></a>304</span></p> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page305"></a>305</span></p> +<h2>THRAWN JANET</h2> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">The</span> Reverend Murdoch Soulis was long minister of the +moorland parish of Balweary, in the vale of Dule. A +severe, bleak-faced old man, dreadful to his hearers, he +dwelt in the last years of his life, without relative or servant +or any human company, in the small and lonely manse +under the Hanging Shaw. In spite of the iron composure +of his features, his eye was wild, scared, and uncertain; +and when he dwelt, in private admonitions, on the future +of the impenitent, it seemed as if his eye pierced through +the storms of time to the terrors of eternity. Many young +persons, coming to prepare themselves against the season +of the Holy Communion, were dreadfully affected by his +talk. He had a sermon on 1st Peter v. and 8th, “The devil +as a roaring lion,” on the Sunday after every seventeenth +of August, and he was accustomed to surpass himself upon +that text both by the appalling nature of the matter and +the terror of his bearing in the pulpit. The children were +frightened into fits, and the old looked more than usually +oracular, and were, all that day, full of those hints that +Hamlet deprecated. The manse itself, where it stood +by the water of Dule among some thick trees, with the Shaw +overhanging it on the one side, and on the other many cold, +moorish hill-tops rising towards the sky, had begun, at a +very early period of Mr. Soulis’s ministry, to be avoided in +the dusk hours by all who valued themselves upon their +prudence; and guidmen sitting at the clachan alehouse +shook their heads together at the thought of passing late +by that uncanny neighbourhood. There was one spot, +to be more particular, which was regarded with especial +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page306"></a>306</span> +awe. The manse stood between the high-road and the +water of Dule, with a gable to each; its back was towards +the kirktown of Balweary, nearly half a mile away; in +front of it, a bare garden, hedged with thorn, occupied the +land between the river and the road. The house was two +stories high, with two large rooms on each. It opened not +directly on the garden, but on a causewayed path, or passage, +giving on the road on the one hand, and closed on the other +by the tall willows and elders that bordered on the stream. +And it was this strip of causeway that enjoyed among the +young parishioners of Balweary so infamous a reputation. +The minister walked there often after dark, sometimes groaning +aloud in the instancy of his unspoken prayers; and +when he was from home, and the manse door was locked, +the more daring schoolboys ventured, with beating hearts, +to “follow my leader” across that legendary spot.</p> + +<p>This atmosphere of terror, surrounding, as it did, a +man of God of spotless character and orthodoxy, was +a common cause of wonder and subject of inquiry among +the few strangers who were led by chance or business into +that unknown, outlying country. But many even of the +people of the parish were ignorant of the strange events +which had marked the first year of Mr. Soulis’s ministrations; +and among those who were better informed, some +were naturally reticent, and others shy of that particular +topic. Now and again, only, one of the older folk would +warm into courage over his third tumbler, and recount +the cause of the minister’s strange looks and solitary life.</p> + +<div class="pt05"> </div> + +<p>Fifty years syne, when Mr. Soulis cam’ first into +Ba’weary, he was still a young man—a callant, the folk +said—fu’ o’ book-learnin’ an’ grand at the exposition, +but, as was natural in sae young a man, wi’ nae leevin’ +experience in religion. The younger sort were greatly +taken wi’ his gifts an’ his gab; but auld, concerned, serious +men and women were moved even to prayer for the young +man, whom they took to be a self-deceiver, an’ the parish +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page307"></a>307</span> +that was like to be sae ill-supplied. It was before the days o’ +the Moderates—weary fa’ them; but ill things are like guid—they +baith come bit by bit, a pickle at a time; an’ there +were folk even then that said the Lord had left the college +professors to their ain devices, an’ the lads that went to +study wi’ them wad hae done mair an’ better sittin’ in a +peat-bog, like their forbears o’ the persecution, wi’ a Bible +under their oxter an’ a speerit o’ prayer in their heart. +There was nae doubt, onyway, but that Mr. Soulis had been +ower lang at the college. He was careful an’ troubled for +mony things besides the ae thing needful. He had a feck +o’ books wi’ him—mair than had ever been seen before in +a’ that presbytery; and a sair wark the carrier had wi’ +them, for they were a’ like to have smoored in the De’il’s +Hag between this an’ Kilmackerlie. They were books +o’ divinity, to be sure, or so they ca’d them; but the +serious were of opinion there was little service for sae mony, +when the hale o’ God’s Word would gang in the neuk o’ +a plaid. Then he wad sit half the day, an’ half the nicht +forbye, which was scant decent—writin’, nae less; an’ first, +they were feared he wad read his sermons; an’ syne it +proved he was writin’ a book himsel’, which was surely +no’ flttin’ for ane o’ his years an’ sma’ experience.</p> + +<p>Onyway it behoved him to get an auld, decent wife +to keep the manse for him an’ see to his bit denners; an’ +he was recommended to an auld limmer—Janet M’Clour, +they ca’d her—an’ sae far left to himsel’ as to be ower +persuaded. There was mony advised him to the contrar, +for Janet was mair than suspeckit by the best folk in +Ba’weary. Lang or that, she had had a wean to a dragoon; +she hadna come forrit<a name="FnAnchor_5" href="#Footnote_5"><span class="sp">5</span></a> for maybe thretty year; an’ bairns +had seen her mumblin’ to hersel’ up on Key’s Loan in +the gloamin’, whilk was an unco time an’ place for a God-fearin’ +woman. Howsoever, it was the laird himsel’ that +had first tauld the minister o’ Janet; an’ in thae days he +wad hae gane a far gate to pleesure the laird. When folk +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page308"></a>308</span> +tauld him that Janet was sib to the de’il, it was a’ superstition +by his way o’ it; an’ when they cast up the Bible +to him an’ the witch o’ Endor, he wad threep it doun their +thrapples that thir days were a’ gane by, an’ the de’il was +mercifully restrained.</p> + +<p>Weel, when it got about the clachan that Janet M’Clour +was to be servant at the manse, the folk were fair mad wi’ +her an’ him thegither; an’ some o’ the guid wives had nae +better to dae than get round her door-cheeks and chairge +her wi’ a’ that was ken’t again’ her, frae the sodger’s +bairn to John Tamson’s twa kye. She was nae great +speaker; folk usually let her gang her ain gate, an’ she let +them gang theirs, wi’ neither Fair-guid-een nor Fair-guid-day: +but when she buckled to, she had a tongue to deave +the miller. Up she got, an’ there wasna an auld story in +Ba’weary but she gart somebody lowp for it that day; +they couldna say ae thing but she could say twa to it; till, +at the hinder end, the guidwives up and claught hand o’ her, +an’ clawed the coats aff her back, an’ pu’d her doun the +clachan to the water o’ Dule, to see if she were a witch or +no, soom or droun. The carline skirled till ye could hear +her at the Hangin’ Shaw, an’ she focht like ten; there +was mony a guidwife bure the mark o’ her neist day an’ +mony a lang day after; an’ just in the hottest o’ the +collieshangie, wha suld come up (for his sins) but the new +minister.</p> + +<p>“Women,” said he (and he had a grand voice), “I +charge you in the Lord’s name to let her go.”</p> + +<p>Janet ran to him—she was fair wud wi’ terror—an’ +clang to him, an’ prayed him, for Christ’s sake, save her +frae the cummers; an’ they, for their pairt, tauld him a’ +that was ken’t, an’ maybe mair.</p> + +<p>“Woman,” says he to Janet, “is this true?”</p> + +<p>“As the Lord sees me,” says she, “as the Lord made +me, no a word o’t. Forbye the bairn,” says she, “I’ve been +a decent woman a’ my days.”</p> + +<p>“Will you,” says Mr. Soulis, “in the name of God, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page309"></a>309</span> +before me, His unworthy minister, renounce the devil and +his works?”</p> + +<p>Weel, it wad appear that when he askit that, she gave +a girn that fairly frichtit them that saw her, an’ they could +hear her teeth play dirl thegither in her chafts; but there +was naething for’t but the ae way or the ither; an’ Janet +lifted up her hand an’ renounced the de’il before them a’.</p> + +<p>“And now,” says Mr. Soulis to the guidwives, “home +with ye, one and all, and pray to God for His forgiveness.”</p> + +<p>An’ he gied Janet his arm, though she had little on +her but a sark, an’ took her up the clachan to her ain +door like a leddy o’ the land; an’ her screighin’ and laughin’ +as was a scandal to be heard.</p> + +<p>There were mony grave folk lang ower their prayers +that nicht; but when the morn cam’ there was sic a fear +fell upon a’ Ba’weary that the bairns hid theirsels, an’ +even the men-folk stood an’ keekit frae their doors. For +there was Janet comin’ doun the clachan—her or her +likeness, nane could tell—wi’ her neck thrawn, an’ her heid +on ae side, like a body that has been hangit, an’ a girn on +her face like an unstreakit corp. By an’ by they got used +wi’ it, an’ even speered at her to ken what was wrang; but +frae that day forth she couldna speak like a Christian woman, +but slavered an’ played click wi’ her teeth like a pair o’ +shears; an’ frae that day forth the name o’ God cam’ never +on her lips. Whiles she wad try to say it, but it michtna +be. Them that kenned best said least; but they never gied +that Thing the name o’ Janet M’Clour; for the auld Janet, +by their way o’t, was in muckle hell that day. But the +minister was neither to haud nor to bind; he preached +about naething but the folk’s cruelty that had gi’en her a +stroke of the palsy; he skelpit the bairns that meddled her; +an’ he had her up to the manse that same nicht, an’ dwalled +there a’ his lane wi’ her under the Hangin’ Shaw.</p> + +<p>Weel, time gaed by: an’ the idler sort commenced +to think mair lichtly o’ that black business. The minister +was weel thocht o’; he was aye late at the writing, folk +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page310"></a>310</span> +wad see his can’le doon by the Dule water after twal’ +at e’en; an’ he seemed pleased wi’ himsel’ an’ upsitten +as at first, though a’ body could see that he was dwining. +As for Janet she cam’ an’ she gaed; if she didna speak +muckle afore, it was reason she should speak less then; +she meddled naebody; but she was an eldritch thing to +see, an’ nane wad hae mistrysted wi’ her for Ba’weary +glebe.</p> + +<p>About the end o’ July there cam’ a spell o’ weather, +the like o’t never was in that countryside; it was lown +an’ het an’ heartless; the herds couldna win up the Black +Hill, the bairns were ower weariet to play; an’ yet it was +gousty too, wi’ claps o’ het wund that rumm’led in the glens, +and bits o’ shouers that slockened naething. We aye +thocht it but to thun’er on the morn; but the morn cam’, +an’ the morn’s morning, an’ it was aye the same uncanny +weather, sair on folks and bestial. O’ a’ that were the waur, +nane suffered like Mr. Soulis; he could neither sleep nor +eat, he tauld his elders; an’ when he wasna writin’ at his +weary book, he wad be stravaguin’ ower a’ the countryside +like a man possessed, when a’ body else was blithe to keep +caller ben the house.</p> + +<p>Abune Hangin’ Shaw, in the bield o’ the Black Hill, +there’s a bit enclosed grund wi’ an iron yett; an’ it seems, +in the auld days, that was the kirkyaird o’ Ba’weary, and +consecrated by the Papists before the blessed licht shone +upon the kingdom. It was a great howff o’ Mr. Soulis’s, +onyway; there he wad sit an’ consider his sermons; an’ +indeed it’s a bieldy bit. Weel, as he cam’ ower the wast end +o’ the Black Hill ae day, he saw first twa, an’ syne fower, +an’ syne seeven corbie craws fleein’ round an’ round abune +the auld kirkyaird. They flew laigh an’ heavy, an’ squawked +to ither as they gaed; an’ it was clear to Mr. Soulis that something +had put them frae their ordinar’. He wasna easy +fleyed, an’ gaed straucht up to the wa’s; an’ what suld +he find there but a man, or the appearance o’ a man, sittin’ +in the inside upon a grave. He was of a great stature, an’ +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page311"></a>311</span> +black as hell, an’ his e’en were singular to see.<a name="FnAnchor_6" href="#Footnote_6"><span class="sp">6</span></a> Mr. Soulis +had heard tell o’ black men, mony’s the time; but there was +something unco about this black man that daunted him. +Het as he was, he took a kind o’ cauld grue in the marrow +o’ his banes; but up he spak for a’ that; an’ says he: “My +friend, are you a stranger in this place?” The black man +answered never a word; he got upon his feet, an’ begoud to +hirsle to the wa’ on the far side; but he aye lookit at the +minister; an’ the minister stood an’ lookit back; till a’ +in a meenit the black man was ower the wa’ an’ rinnin’ +for the bield o’ the trees. Mr. Soulis, he hardly kenned +why, ran after him; but he was fair forjeskit wi’ his walk +an’ the het, unhalesome weather; an’ rin as he likit, he got +nae mair than a glisk o’ the black man amang the birks, +till he won doun to the foot o’ the hillside, an’ there he saw +him ance mair, gaun hap-step-an’-lowp ower Dule water +to the manse.</p> + +<p>Mr. Soulis wasna weel pleased that this fearsome gangrel +suld mak’ sae free wi’ Ba’weary manse; an’ he ran the +harder, an’, wet shoon, ower the burn, an’ up the walk; +but the deil a black man was there to see. He stepped out +upon the road, but there was naebody there; he gaed a’ +ower the gairden, but na, nae black man. At the hinder +end, an’ a bit feared, as was but natural, he lifted the +hasp an’ into the manse; an’ there was Janet M’Clour +before his een, wi’ her thrawn craig, an’ nane sae pleased +to see him. An’ he aye minded sinsyne, when first he +set his een upon her, he had the same cauld and deidly +grue.</p> + +<p>“Janet,” says he, “have you seen a black man?”</p> + +<p>“A black man?” quo’ she. “Save us a’! Ye’re no +wise, minister. There’s nae black man in a’ Ba’weary.”</p> + +<p>But she didna speak plain, ye maun understand; but +yam-yammered, like a powney wi’ the bit in its moo.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page312"></a>312</span></p> + +<p>“Weel,” says he, “Janet, if there was nae black man, +I have spoken with the Accuser of the Brethren.”</p> + +<p>An’ he sat down like ane wi’ a fever, an’ his teeth +chittered in his heid.</p> + +<p>“Hoots,” says she, “think shame to yoursel’, minister“; +an’ gied him a drap brandy that she keept aye by her.</p> + +<p>Syne Mr. Soulis gaed into his study amang a’ his books. +It’s a lang, laigh, mirk chalmer, perishin’ cauld in winter, +an’ no’ very dry even in the tap o’ the simmer, for the +manse stands near the burn. Sae doun he sat, an’ thocht +o’ a’ that had come an’ gane since he was in Ba’weary, +an’ his hame, an’ the days when he was a bairn an’ ran +daffin’ on the braes; an’ that black man aye ran in his +heid like the owercome o’ a sang. Aye the mair he thocht, +the mair he thocht o’ the black man. He tried the prayer, +an’ the words wadna come to him; an’ he tried, they say, +to write at his book, but he couldna mak’ nae mair o’ that. +There was whiles he thocht the black man was at his oxter, +an’ the swat stood upon him cauld as well-water; an’ there +was ither whiles when he cam’ to himsel’ like a christened +bairn an’ minded naething.</p> + +<p>The upshot was that he gaed to the window an’ stood +glowrin’ at Dule water. The trees are unco thick, an’ +the water lies deep an’ black under the manse; an’ there +was Janet washin’ the cla’es wi’ her coats kilted. She had +her back to the minister, an’ he, for his pairt, hardly kenned +what he was lookin’ at. Syne she turned round, an’ +shawed her face; Mr. Soulis had the same cauld grue as +twice that day afore, an’ it was borne in upon him what +folk said, that Janet was deid lang syne, an’ this was +a bogle in her clay-cauld flesh. He drew back a pickle +and he scanned her narrowly. She was tramp-trampin’ +in the cla’es, croonin’ to hersel’; and eh! Gude guide us, +but it was a fearsome face. Whiles she sang louder, but +there was nae man born o’ woman that could tell the words +o’ her sang; an’ whiles she lookit side-lang doun, but there +was naething there for her to look at. There gaed a scunner +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page313"></a>313</span> +through the flesh upon his banes; an’ that was Heeven’s +advertisement. But Mr. Soulis just blamed himsel’, he +said, to think sae ill o’ a puir, auld afflicted wife that hadna +a freend forbye himsel’; an’ he put up a bit prayer for him +an’ her, an’ drank a little caller water—for his heart rose +again’ the meat—an’ gaed up to his naked bed in the +gloamin’.</p> + +<p>That was a nicht that has never been forgotten in +Ba’weary, the nicht o’ the seeventeenth o’ August, seeventeen +hun’er’ an’ twal’. It had been het afore, as I hae +said, but that nicht it was better than ever. The sun +gaed doun amang unco-lookin’ clouds; it fell as mirk as +the pit; no’ a star, no’ a breath o’ wund; ye couldna see +your han’ afore your face, an’ even the auld folk cuist +the covers frae their beds an’ lay pechin’ for their breath. +Wi’ a’ that he had upon his mind, it was geyan unlikely +Mr. Soulis wad get muckle sleep. He lay an’ he tummled; +the gude, caller bed that he got into brunt his very banes; +whiles he slept, an’ whiles he waukened; whiles he heard +the time o’ nicht, an’ whiles a tyke yowlin’ up the muir, +as if somebody was deid; whiles he thocht he heard bogles +claverin’ in his lug, an’ whiles he saw spunkies in the room. +He behoved, he judged, to be sick; an’ sick he was—little +he jaloosed the sickness.</p> + +<p>At the hinder end he got a clearness in his mind, sat up +in his sark on the bed-side, an’ fell thinkin’ ance mair o’ +the black man an’ Janet. He couldna weel tell how—maybe +it was the cauld to his feet—but it cam’ in upon him +wi’ a spate that there was some connection between thir +twa, an’ that either or baith o’ them were bogles. An’ +just at that moment, in Janet’s room, which was neist to +his, there cam’ a stramp o’ feet as if men were wars’lin’, +an’ then a loud bang; an’ then a wund gaed reishling round +the fower quarters o’ the house; an’ then a’ was aince mair +as seelent as the grave.</p> + +<p>Mr. Soulis was feared for neither man nor deevil. He +got his tinder-box, an’ lit a can’le, an’ made three steps o’t +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page314"></a>314</span> +ower to Janet’s door. It was on the hasp, an’ he pushed +it open, an’ keekit bauldly in. It was a big room, as big +as the minister’s ain, an’ plenished wi’ grand, auld, solid +gear, for he had naething else. There was a fower-posted +bed wi’ auld tapestry; an’ a braw cabinet o’ aik, that was +fu’ o’ the minister’s divinity books, an’ put there to be out +o’ the gate; an’ a wheen duds o’ Janet’s lying here an’ +there about the floor. But nae Janet could Mr. Soulis see; +nor ony sign o’ a contention. In he gaed (an’ there’s few +that wad hae followed him) an’ lookit a’ round, an’ listened. +But there was naething to be heard, neither inside the +manse nor in a’ Ba’weary parish, an’ naething to be seen +but the muckle shadows turnin’ round the can’le. An’ +then a’ at aince, the minister’s heart played dunt an’ +stood stock-still; an’ a cauld wund blew amang the hairs +o’ his heid. Whaten a weary sicht was that for the puir +man’s een! For there was Janet hangin’ frae a nail beside +the auld aik cabinet: her heid aye lay on her shouther, her +een were steekit, the tongue projected frae her mouth, an’ +her heels were twa feet clear abune the floor.</p> + +<p>“God forgive us all!” thocht Mr. Soulis; “poor Janet’s +dead.”</p> + +<p>He cam’ a step nearer to the corp; an’ then his heart +fair whammled in his inside. For, by what cantrip it wad +ill beseem a man to judge, she was hingin’ frae a single nail +an’ by a single wursted thread for darnin’ hose.</p> + +<p>It’s an awfu’ thing to be your lane at nicht wi’ siccan +prodigies o’ darkness; but Mr. Soulis was strong in the +Lord. He turned an’ gaed his ways oot o’ that room, an’ +lockit the door ahint him; an’ step by step, doon the stairs, +as heavy as leed; an’ set doon the can’le on the table at the +stairfoot. He couldna pray, he couldna think, he was +dreepin’ wi’ caul’ swat, an’ naething could he hear but the +dunt-dunt-duntin’ o’ his ain heart. He micht maybe hae +stood there an hour, or maybe twa, he minded sae little; +when a’ o’ a sudden, he heard a laigh, uncanny steer upstairs; +a foot gaed to an’ fro in the chalmer whaur the corp +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page315"></a>315</span> +was hingin’; syne the door was opened, though he minded +weel that he had lockit it; an’ syne there was a step upon +the landin’, an’ it seemed to him as if the corp was lookin’ +ower the rail an’ doun upon him whaur he stood.</p> + +<p>He took up the can’le again (for he couldna want the +licht), an’ as saftly as ever he could, gaed straucht out o’ +the manse an’ to the far end o’ the causeway. It was aye +pit-mirk; the flame o’ the can’le, when he set it on the +grund, brunt steedy and clear as in a room; naething +moved, but the Dule water seepin’ an’ sabbin’ doun the glen, +an’ yon unhaly footstep that cam’ ploddin’ doun the stairs +inside the manse. He kenned the foot ower weel, for it +was Janet’s; an’ at ilka step that cam’ a wee thing nearer, +the cauld got deeper in his vitals. He commended his soul +to Him that made an’ keepit him; “and, O Lord,” said he, +“give me strength this night to war against the powers of +evil.”</p> + +<p>By this time the foot was comin’ through the passage +for the door; he could hear a hand skirt alang the wa’, +as if the fearsome thing was feelin’ for its way. The saughs +tossed an’ maned thegither, a lang sigh cam’ ower the hills, +the flame o’ the can’le was blawn aboot; an’ there stood +the corp o’ Thrawn Janet, wi’ her grogram goun an’ her +black mutch, wi’ the heid aye upon the shouther, an’ the +girn still upon the face o’t—leevin’, ye wad hae said—deid, +as Mr. Soulis weel kenned—upon the threshold o’ the manse.</p> + +<p>It’s a strange thing that the saul o’ man should be +that thirled into his perishable body; but the minister saw +that, an’ his heart didna break.</p> + +<p>She didna stand there lang; she began to move again +an’ cam’ slowly towards Mr. Soulis whaur he stood under +the saughs. A’ the life o’ his body, a’ the strength o’ his +speerit, were glowerin’ frae his een. It seemed she was +gaun to speak, but wanted words, an’ made a sign wi’ the +left hand. There cam’ a clap o’ wund, like a cat’s fuff; +oot gaed the can’le, the saughs skreighed like folk; and Mr. +Soulis kenned that, live or die, this was the end o’t.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page316"></a>316</span></p> + +<p>“Witch, beldame, devil!” he cried, “I charge you, +by the power of God, begone—if you be dead, to the grave—if +you be damned, to hell.”</p> + +<p>An’ at that moment the Lord’s ain hand out o’ the +Heevens struck the Horror whaur it stood; the auld, deid, +desecrated corp o’ the witch-wife, sae lang keepit frae the +grave an’ hirsled round by de’ils, lowed up like a brunstane +spunk an’ fell in ashes to the grund; the thunder followed, +peal on dirlin’ peal, the rairin’ rain upon the back o’ that; +an’ Mr. Soulis lowped through the garden hedge, an’ ran, +wi’ skelloch upon skelloch, for the clachan.</p> + +<p>That same mornin’, John Christie saw the Black Man +pass the Muckle Cairn as it was chappin’ six; before eicht, +he gaed by the change-house at Knockdow; an’ no’ lang +after, Sandy M’Lellan saw him gaun linkin’ doun the braes +frae Kilmackerlie. There’s little doubt but it was him that +dwalled sae lang in Janet’s body; but he was awa’ at last; +an’ sinsyne the de’il has never fashed us in Ba’weary.</p> + +<p>But it was a sair dispensation for the minister; lang, +lang he lay ravin’ in his bed; an’ frae that hour to this he +was the man ye ken the day.</p> + + +<hr class="foot" /> +<div class="note"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_5" href="#FnAnchor_5"><span class="fn">5</span></a> “To come forrit“—to offer oneself as a communicant.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_6" href="#FnAnchor_6"><span class="fn">6</span></a> It was a common belief in Scotland that the devil appeared as a +black man. This appears in several witch trials, and I think in Law’s +“Memorials,” that delightful storehouse of the quaint and grisly.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="art" /> + +<h5>END OF VOL. 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