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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/30980-8.txt b/30980-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d649562 --- /dev/null +++ b/30980-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8528 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Kidnapped at the Altar, by Laura Jean Libbey + + +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: Kidnapped at the Altar + or, The Romance of that Saucy Jessie Bain + + +Author: Laura Jean Libbey + + + +Release Date: January 15, 2010 [eBook #30980] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KIDNAPPED AT THE ALTAR*** + + +E-text prepared by Annie McGuire + + + +Laura Jean Libbey's New $10,000 Story + +KIDNAPPED AT THE ALTAR + +Or + +The Romance of that Saucy Jessie Bain + +The Latest and Most Thrilling Story Fresh from the Pen of the +Peoples' Favorite Author, + +MISS LAURA JEAN LIBBEY + + + + + + + +The Arthur Westbrook Company +Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. + +Copyright, 1909, +--By-- +The Arthur Westbrook Company. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTERS PAGE + + I. Some Young Girls Find Love So Sweet 5 + II. Fate Is Against Some People 14 + III. When Those We Love Drift Away 21 + IV. The Girl Who Plays at Flirtation 27 + V. The Mysterious House on Wau-Winet Island 33 + VI. The Letters That Ceased to Come 39 + VII. Every Young Girl Would Like a Lover 45 + VIII. A Mother's Desperate Scheme 50 + IX. Gerelda's Escape From Wau-Winet Island 55 + X. What Is Life Without Love? 60 + XI. Gerelda Could Have Saved Her 67 + XII. Out in the Cold, Bleak World 73 + XIII. "I Love Jessie With Heart and Soul!" 78 + XIV. "Do Not Leave Me!" 83 + XV. "Hubert Cares For Me No Longer!" 90 + XVI. What Ought a Girl To Do? 94 + XVII. Love Is Bitter 99 + XVIII. Wedding Bells Out of Tune 112 + XIX. The Collision--The Pilot at the Wheel 121 + XX. Love is a Poisoned Arrow in Some Hearts 127 + XXI. So Hard to Face the World Alone 134 + XXII. "Permit Me to Escort You Home" 143 + XXIII. Jessie Bain Enters the House of Secrets 152 + XXIV. "Oh, To Sleep My Life Away!" 157 + XXV. "If I But Knew Where My Love Is!" 163 + XXVI. Hubert Varrick Rescues Jessie Bain 170 + XXVII. "I Would Rather Walk By Your Side" 178 + XXVIII. A Mother's Plea 185 + XXIX. Returning Good For Evil 197 + XXX. A Terrible Revelation 207 + XXXI. The Midnight Visitor 218 + XXXII. Captain Frazier Plots Again 227 + XXXIII. In the Toils 236 + + + + +Kidnapped at The Altar + +OR + +The Romance of that Saucy Jessie Bain + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +SOME YOUNG GIRLS FIND LOVE SO SWEET; TO OTHERS IT PROVES A CURSE. + + +It was a magnificent evening, in balmy June, on the far-famed St. +Lawrence. + +The steamer "St. Lawrence" was making her nightly search-light excursion +down the bay, laden to her utmost capacity. + +The passengers were all summer tourists, light of heart and gay of +speech; all save one, Hubert Varrick, a young and handsome man, dressed +in the height of fashion, who held aloof from the rest, and who stood +leaning carelessly against the taffrail. + +The steamer was making its way in and out of the thousand green isles, +the great light from the pilot-house suddenly throwing a broad, +illuminating flash first on this and then on that. + +As the light swept across land and water from point to point, Varrick +lightly laughed aloud at the ludicrous incidents, such as the sudden +flashing of the light's piercing rays on some lover's nook, where two +souls indulging in but one thought were ruthlessly awakened from sweet +seclusion to the most glaring publicity, and at many a novel sight, +little dreaming that at every turn of the ponderous wheels he was +nearing his destiny. + +"Where are we now?" he inquired of a deck-hand. + +"At Fisher's Landing, sir." + +The words had scarcely left his lips ere a radiant flood of electric +light swept over the jutting bit of mainland. In that instantaneous +white glare Varrick saw a sight that was indelibly engraved upon his +memory while life lasted. + +The dock was deserted by all save one person--a young girl, waving her +hand toward the steamer. + +She wore a dress of some white, fleecy material, her golden hair flying +in the wind, and flapping against her bare shoulders and half-bared +white arms. + +"Great heavens! who is that?" Varrick cried. + +But as he strained his eyes eagerly toward the beautiful picture, the +scene was suddenly wrapped in darkness, and the steamer glided on. + +"Who was that, and what place was it?" he asked again. + +"It was Fisher's Landing, I said," rejoined the other. "The girl is +'Saucy Jessie Bain,' as they call her hereabouts. She's Captain Carr's +niece." + +"Has she a lover?" suddenly asked Varrick. + +"Lord bless you, sir!" he answered, "there's scarcely a single man for +miles around that isn't in love with Jessie Bain; but she will have none +of them. + +"There's a little story about Jessie Bain. I'll tell it to you, since +you admire the girl." + +But the story was not destined to become known to Varrick, for his +companion was called away at that moment. + +He could think of nothing else, see nothing but the face of the girl he +had seen on the dock at Fisher's Landing. + +This was particularly unfortunate, for at that moment Hubert Varrick was +on his way to be married on the morrow to the beautiful heiress, Miss +Northrup. + +She was a famous beauty and belle, and Varrick had been madly in love +with her. But since he had seen the face of Jessie Bain he felt a +strange, half-defined regret that he was bound to another. He was not +over-impatient to arrive at his destination, although he knew that +Gerelda Northrup and a bevy of her girl friends would undoubtedly be at +the dock to welcome him. + +This proved to be the case, and a moment later he caught sight of the +tall, stately beauty, who swept forward to meet him with outstretched +jeweled hands and a glad welcome on her proud face. + +"I am so delighted that you have come at last, Hubert," she murmured. + +But she drew back abashed as he attempted to kiss her, and this action +chilled him to the very heart's core. + +He was quickly presented to Gerelda's girl friends, and then the party +made their way up to the Crossmon Hotel, which was only a few yards +distant, Varrick and Miss Northrup lagging a little behind the rest. + +"I hope you have been enjoying your outing this season, my darling," +said Varrick. + +"I have had the most delightful time of my life," she declared. + +Varrick frowned. It was not so pleasant for him to hear that she could +enjoy herself in his absence. Jealousy was deeply rooted in his nature. + +"Is there any special one who has helped to make it so pleasant?" he +asked. + +"Yes. Captain Frazier is here." + +"Have you been flirting with him, Gerelda?" he asked. + +"Don't be jealous, Hubert." + +"I am jealous!" he cried. "You know that is the curse of the Varricks." + +By this time they had reached the hotel. Throngs of beautiful women +crowded the broad piazzas, yet Varrick noticed with some pride that +Gerelda was the most beautiful girl there. + +"You must be very tired after your long journey," she murmured. "You +should retire early, to be fully rested for to-morrow." + +"Do you mean _you_ wish to retire early?" asked Hubert, rather +down-hearted that she wanted to dismiss him so soon. "If you think it +best I will leave you." + +Was it only his fancy, or did her eyes brighten perceptibly? + +A few more turns up and down the veranda, a few impassioned words in a +cozy nook, and then he said good-night to her, delivering her to the +care of her chaperon. + +But even after he had reached his room, and thrown himself across his +couch, Varrick could not sleep. + +The sound of laughter floated up to him. + +Though it was an hour since he had bidden Gerelda good-night, he fancied +that it was her voice he heard in the porch below; and he fancied, too, +that he knew the other deep rich voice that chimed in now and then with +hers. + +"That is certainly Frazier," he muttered. + +Seizing his coat and hat, he donned them hurriedly, left his room, +stepped out of the hotel by a rear entrance, made a tour of the thickly +wooded grounds, until at last, from his hiding-place among the trees, he +could gain an excellent view of the brilliantly lighted piazza, himself +unseen. + +His surmise had been but only too true. + +Mad with jealous rage, Varrick turned on his heel. + +He rushed down the path to the water's edge. A little boat was skimming +over the water, heading for the very spot where he stood. Its occupant, +a sturdy young fisherman, was just about to secure it to an iron ring, +when Varrick approached him. + +"I should like to hire your boat for an hour," he said, huskily. + +Varrick wanted to get away, to be by himself to think. + +The bargain was made with the man, and with a few strokes from his +muscular arms the little skiff was soon whirling out into the deep +waters of the bay. Then he rested on his oars and floated down with the +tide. + +Suddenly a clear and yet shrill voice broke upon his ear. + +"Halloo! Halloo there! Won't you come to my rescue, please?" + +Varrick could hear the girlish voice plainly enough, but he could not +imagine whence it came. + +Again the shrill cry was repeated. Just then he observed a slight figure +standing down near the water's edge of the island he was passing. + +Varrick headed for the island at once, and as he drew so near that the +face of the girl could be easily distinguished, he made a wonderful +discovery--the girl was Jessie Bain. + +"I am so glad for deliverance at last!" she cried. + +"How in the world came you here?" exclaimed Varrick. + +"I came out for a little row," she said, "and stopped at this island for +some flowers that I had seen here yesterday. I suppose I could not have +fastened my boat very securely, for when I came to look for it, it was +gone; and, oh! my uncle would be so angry; he would beat me severely!" + +Somehow one word brought on another, and quite unconsciously pretty +little Jessie Bain found herself chatting to the stranger, who vowed +himself as only too pleased to row out of his way to see her safely +home. + +"Your home does not seem to be a happy one," he said at length. + +"It wouldn't be, if they could have their way. It used to be different +when auntie was alive. Now my cousin beats me badly enough, and Uncle +John believes all she tells him about me. But I always get even with +her. + +"In the morning my cousin went to her work (she clerks in one of the +village stores), but before she left the house she picked the biggest +quarrel you ever heard of, with me--because I wouldn't lend her the only +decent dress I have to wear. She expected her beau from a neighboring +village to come to town. + +"I would have lent it to her, but she's just the kind of a girl that +wouldn't take care of anything, unless it was her own, and I knew it +would be ruined in one day. + +"It took me a whole year to save money enough to get it. I sold eggs to +buy it, and, oh, golly! didn't I coax those chicks to lay, though!" + +Varrick could not help but smile as he looked at her. + +And she was so innocent, too. He wondered if she could be more than +sixteen or seventeen years old. + +"About four o'clock she sent a note to the house, and in it she said: + +"'Dear Cousin Jessie, I am going to bring company home, so for goodness' +sake do get up a good dinner. I send a whole basket of good things with +the boy who brings this note. Cook them all.' + +"Well, I cooked the supper just as she wanted me to do. Oh! it was +dreadfully tempting, and right here let me say, whenever there's a +broken cup or saucer or plate in the house, or fork with only two +prongs, or a broken-handled knife, it always falls to me. My cousin +always says: 'It's good enough for Jessie Bain; let _her_ have it.' + +"I prepared the dainty supper, ran and got every good knife and fork and +plate and cup and saucer, and hid them under an old oak-tree fully half +a mile away. + +"I left out on the table only the broken things, to see how she'd like +them. + +"By and by she and her beau came. I ran out the back door as I heard +them cross the front porch. + +"Oh! but wasn't she mad! I watched her through the window, laughing so +hard I almost split my sides, and she fairly flew at me. Then I went +down and jumped into my little boat, and pushed away for dear life, to +be out of her reach. I rowed down to this island, thinking to fetch her +back some flowers to appease her mighty wrath; but I was so tired that I +fell asleep. I was frightened nearly to death when I awoke and saw that +it was dark night. I had a greater fright still when I discovered that +my little boat was gone--had drifted away." + +Varrick had almost forgotten his own turbulent thoughts in listening to +the girl. + +"Are you not afraid of punishment?" he asked, as they neared Fisher's +Landing. + +He could see a quick, frightened look sweep over the girl's face. + +"I don't know what they will do with me," she said. + +"If they attempt to abuse you come straight to me!" cried Varrick, quite +forgetful in the eagerness of the moment what he was saying. + +By this time they had reached Fisher's Landing. He sprung from the skiff +and helped her ashore. + +"Good-night, and thank you ever so much," she said. And with a quick, +childish, thoughtless motion, she bent her pretty head and kissed the +strong white hand that clasped her own. + +He had been so kind, so sympathetic to her, and that was something new +for Jessie Bain. + +He watched her in silence as she flitted up the path, until she was lost +to sight in the darkness. + +Then he re-entered his boat and made his way slowly back to the bay. + +The spacious corridors of the grand Hotel Crossmon were wrapped in +silence when he reached it. + +He half expected to see the two whom he had left in that +flower-embowered lovers' nook at the end of the piazza still sitting +there. + +Then he laughed to himself at the folly of the thought. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +FATE IS AGAINST SOME PEOPLE, FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE. + + + Change is the law of wind and moon and lover-- + And yet I think, lost Love, had you been true, + Some golden fruits had ripened for your plucking + You will not find in gardens that are new. + + L. C. M. + + +When Gerelda Northrup bid Captain Frazier good-night, and linked her arm +within her mother's, and retired to their apartments, Mrs. Northrup +could not help notice how carefully her daughter guarded the great +crimson beauty rose she wore on her breast. + +The mother also noticed that the handsome captain wore a bud of the same +kind in the lapel of his coat. + +"My dear," she said, "I think you are going a little too far with +Captain Frazier. It will not do to flirt with him on the very eve of +your marriage with Hubert Varrick." + +"There isn't the least bit of harm in it, mamma," Gerelda answered. +"Captain Frazier is a delightful companion. Why shouldn't I enjoy his +society?" + +"Because it is playing with edged tools," declared Mrs. Northrup. "The +captain is desperately in love with you." + +"You should not blame him for lingering by my side to the very last +moment." + +"Trouble will come of it, I fear," returned the other. "He is always at +your side." + +"Save your lecture until to-morrow. I am sure it will keep. Do please +ring the bell for my maid; it is nearly eleven o'clock, and I must not +lose my beauty-sleep." + +Gerelda Northrup knew in her own mind that all her mother said was but +too true; but the spirit of coquetry was so deeply imbedded in her +nature that she would not resign her sceptre over her old lovers' hearts +until the last moment. + +Of course the captain understood thoroughly that all her love was given +to Hubert Varrick, and that it was only a very mild flirtation with +himself she was indulging in. + +She would have trembled could she have read the thoughts of Captain +Frazier at that very moment. + +In his elegant apartment, at the further end of the corridor, the +captain was pacing the floor, wild with his own thoughts. + +"My God! can I live through it?" he muttered. "How can I live and endure +it? How can I stand by and see the girl I love made another man's bride, +without the mad desire to slay him overpowering me? If I would not have +the crime of murder on my soul, I must leave this place to-night, and +never look upon Gerelda's beautiful face again. One day more of this +would drive me mad. Great Heaven! why did I linger by her side when I +knew my danger? There are times when I could almost swear that Gerelda +cares quite as much for me as she does for Hubert Varrick. If I had had +a fair chance I think I could have won her from him. No, I will not see +her again-- I will leave here this very night." + +The captain rang the bell furiously, and called for a brandy and soda. + +Soon after he left the hotel, saying that he would send for his luggage +later. + +But even after he had done all that, Captain Frazier stood motionless in +the grounds watching the darkened windows of Gerelda's room. + +The fire in his brain, produced by the potion he had taken, made sad +havoc with his imagination. He thought of how the knights of old did +when the girls they loved were about to wed rivals. + +Was he less brave than they? And he thought, standing there under the +night sky, how cleverly the gypsy had outwitted Blue-beard at the very +altar to which he had led his blushing brides. + +Great was Miss Northrup's consternation the next morning when she +learned through a little note left for her that Captain Frazier had +taken his departure from the Crossmon Hotel the preceding night. A sigh +of relief fell from her red lips. + +"Perhaps it is better so," she said. + +A messenger who brought a great basket of orchids and white roses, +entered. + +Hidden among the flowers, Gerelda found a little note in Varrick's +handwriting: + +"I hope my darling rested well. Heaven has made the day beautiful +because it is our marriage morn." + +It was an odd notion of Gerelda's to steal away from their elegant city +mansion and her dear five hundred friends, to have the ceremony +performed quietly up at the Thousand Islands, with only a select few to +witness it. + +Great preparations had been made in the hotel for the approaching +marriage. The spacious private parlors to be used were perfect fairy +bowers of roses and green leaves. + +Up to this very morning Miss Northrup's imported wedding-gown had not +arrived. Mrs. Northrup and Hubert Varrick were wild with anxiety and +impatience over the affair. Gerelda alone took the matter calmly. + +"It will be here some time to-day," she averred. "The wedding will be +delayed but a few hours, after all, and I don't know but that I prefer +an evening wedding to a morning one, anyhow." + +It was almost dark ere the long-looked-for bridal _trousseau_ arrived. +Varrick drew a great breath of relief. + +He welcomed the shadows of night with the greatest joy. He never +afterward remembered how he lived until the hour of eight rolled round. + +He had not long to wait in the little anteroom where she was to join +him. The few invited guests who were so fortunate as to receive +invitations were all present. + +A low murmur of admiration ran around that little group as the heavy +silken _portières_ that separated the anteroom from the reception parlor +were drawn aside, and Hubert Varrick entered with the beautiful heiress +leaning on his arm. + +In her gloved right hand she carried a prayer-book of pearl and gold. A +messenger had brought it, handing it to her just as she was about to +enter the anteroom. + +"It is from an unknown friend," whispered the boy, so low that even +Varrick did not catch the words. "A simple wish accompanies it," the boy +went on, "and that is, when the ceremony is but just begun, you will +raise the little book to your lips for the sake of the unknown friend +who sends it to you." + +Gerelda smiled and promised, thoughtlessly enough, that she would +comply. + +"Are you ready, my darling?" said Hubert. + +His thoughts were so confused at the time, that he had paid little heed +to the messenger or noticed what he had brought to Gerelda, or what +their conversation was about, or that the boy fled like a dark-winged +shadow down the corridor after he had executed his errand. + +She took her place by his side. Ah! how proud he was of her superb +beauty, of her queenly carriage, and her haughty demeanor! Surely she +was a bride worth winning--a queen among girls! + +Slowly and solemnly the marriage ceremony began. Varrick answered +promptly and clearly the questions put to him. Then the minister turned +to the slender, staturesque figure by his side. + +"Will you take this man to be your lawful, wedded husband, to love, +honor, and obey him till death do you part?" he asked. + +At that moment all assembled thought they heard a low, muffled whistle. + +Before making answer, Gerelda raised the beautiful pearl and gold +prayer-book and kissed it. + +She tried to speak the words: "I will;" but all in an instant her lips +grew stiff and refused to utter them. + +No sound save a low gasp broke the terrible stillness. + +She had kissed the little prayer-book as she had so laughingly and +thoughtlessly promised to do, ere she uttered the words that would make +her Hubert Varrick's wife. And what had happened to her? She was gasping +for breath--dying! + +The little book fell unheeded at her feet, and her head drooped +backward. + +With a great cry, Hubert Varrick caught her. + +"It is only a momentary dizziness," said Varrick, half leading, half +carrying her into the anteroom and up to the window, and throwing open +the sash. + +"Rest here, my darling, while I fetch you a glass of water," he said, as +he placed her in a chair and rushed from the room. + +The event just narrated had happened so suddenly that Mrs. Northrup and +those in the outer apartment were for the time being fairly dazed, +unable to move or stir. + +And by the time they had recovered their senses Hubert had reappeared +with a glass of water in his hand. + +Mrs. Northrup was too excited to leave her seat; but the rest followed +quickly on Hubert's heels to the anteroom. + +One instant more and a wild, hoarse cry in Varrick's voice echoed +through the place. + +The room was empty! Where was Gerelda? There was no means of exit from +that room save the door by which he had entered. Perhaps she had leaned +from the window and fallen out. He rushed quickly to it and glanced +down, with a wild prayer to Heaven to give him strength to bear what he +might see lying on the ground below. But instead of a white, upturned +face, and a shimmering heap of satin and lace, he beheld a ladder, which +was placed close against the window; and half-way down upon it, caught +firmly upon one of the rounds, he beheld a torn fragment of lace, which +he instantly recognized as part of Gerelda's wedding veil. + +He could neither move nor speak. The sight held him spell-bound. By this +time Mrs. Northrup reached his side. + +"Oh! I might have known it, I might have guessed it!" she wildly cried, +clutching at Varrick's arm. "She must have eloped with--with Captain +Frazier," she whispered. + +"Hush!" cried Varrick. "I know it, I believe it, but no one must know. I +see it all. She repented of marrying me at the eleventh hour, and ere it +was too late she fled with the lover who must have awaited her, in an +agony of suspense, outside." + +All the guests had gathered about them. + +"Where is Miss Gerelda?" they all cried in a breath. + +"She must have fallen from the window," they echoed; and immediately +there was a stampede out toward the grounds. + +In the excitement of the moment no one noticed that Hubert Varrick and +Mrs. Northrup were left behind. + +"Help me to bear this dreadful burden, Hubert!" she sobbed, hoarsely. "I +think I am going mad. I thank God that Gerelda's father did not live to +see this hour!" + +Great as her grief was, the anguish on the face which Hubert Varrick +raised to hers was pitiful to behold. + +She was terrified. She saw that he needed comfort quite as much as +herself. + +The minister, who had entered the room unobserved, had heard all. He +quitted the apartment as quickly as he had entered it, and hurried +through the corridor to his friend Doctor Roberts. + +"The greatest blessing you could do, doctor, would be to come to him +quickly, and give him a potion that will make him dead to his trouble +for a little while." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +"WHEN THOSE WE LOVE DRIFT AWAY FROM US THEY ARE NEVER THE SAME AGAIN-- +THEY NEVER COME BACK." + + + "Only a heart that's broken, + That is, if hearts can break; + Only a man adrift for life, + All for a woman's sake. + Your love was a jest--I now see it-- + Now, though it's rather late; + Yes, too late to turn my life + And seek another fate." + + +Although search was instantly instituted for the missing bride-elect, +not the slightest trace of her could be discovered. + +Was she Hubert Varrick's bride or not? There was great diversity of +opinion about that. Many contended that she _was not_, because the words +from the minister: "Now I pronounce you man and wife," _had not yet been +uttered_. + +No wonder the beauty had found it difficult to choose between handsome +Hubert Varrick and the dashing captain. + +Varrick was a millionaire, and Captain Frazier could easily write out +his check for an equal amount. + +The matter was hushed up quickly, and kept so quiet that even the simple +village folk at Alexandria Bay never knew of the thrilling event that +had taken place in their very midst at the Crossmon Hotel. If the simple +fisher-folk had but known of it, a tragedy might have been averted. + +Mrs. Northrup was the first to recover from the shock; grief gave place +to the most intense anger, and as she paced the floor excitedly to and +fro, she vowed to herself that she would never forgive Gerelda for +bringing this disgrace upon her. + +With Varrick the blow had been too severe, too terrible, to be so easily +gotten over. When morning broke, he still lay, face downward, on the +couch upon which he had thrown himself. The effects of the sleeping +potion they had so mercifully administered to him had worn off, and he +was face to face once more with the great sorrow of his life. + +They brought him a tempting breakfast, but he sent it away untasted. He +sent at once for one of the call-boys. + +"Buy me a ticket for the first steamer that goes out," he said. "I do +not care where it goes or what its destination is; all I want is to get +away." + +Still the boy lingered. + +"Well," said Varrick, "why do you wait?" + +"I had something to tell you sir." + +"Go on," said Varrick. + +"There is a young girl down in the corridor who insists upon seeing you, +sir. I told her it was quite useless, you would not see her; and then +she fell into passionate weeping, sobbing out that you _must_, if but +for a moment, and that she would not go until she had spoken with you, +if she had to remain there all day." + +"Where is she?" + +"In the corridor without, sir." + +Varrick crossed the room and stepped out into the corridor. He saw a +little figure standing in the dim, shaded light. + +She saw him at the same moment, and ran toward him with a little cry, +flinging herself with a great sob at his feet. + +"Oh, Mr. Varrick!" she cried. + +"Why, it's little Jessie Bain!" he exclaimed in wonder, forgetting for +the time being his own misery. + +"It's just as you said it would be, sir--they have turned me out of the +house. And you said, Mr. Varrick, if they ever did that, to be sure and +come straight to you--and here I am!" + +Varrick's amazement knew no bounds. + +What should he do with this girl who was thrust so unceremoniously on +his hands. + +"If it had not been for you and your kind words, I should have flung +myself in the St. Lawrence," continued the girl, "for I was so +desperate. How kind Heaven was to send you to me to help me in my hour +of greatest need, Mr. Varrick." + +"Come into the parlor and let us talk this matter over," said Varrick. +"Yes, I will surely help you. I will go and see your uncle this very +day." + +"I would not go to him," cried the girl. "I swear to you I would not! +When I tell you this, you will not wonder that I refuse. In his rage, +because I came home so late last night, he shot at me. The ball passed +within a hair's-breadth of my heart, for which it was intended, and the +powder burned my arm--see!" + +Hubert Varrick was horror-stricken. The little arm was all blackened +with smoke, and burned with the powder. There was need for a doctor here +at once. + +"If I went back to him he would kill me," the girl sobbed. "Oh! do not +send me back, Mr. Varrick. Let me stay here where you are. + +"You are the only being in the whole wide world who has ever spoken +kindly to me. I can do quite as much for you as I did for my uncle. I +can mend your clothes, see about your meals, and read the papers to you, +and--" + +"Hush, child!" said Varrick. "Don't say any more. It is plain to me that +you can not be sent back to your uncle. I will see what can be done for +you. You shall be my _protégée_ for the present." + +"How young and sweet and fair and innocent the girl is!" he told +himself. + +Placing the girl in the housekeeper's charge, he had a long consultation +with Doctor Roberts. + +"If you will allow me to make a suggestion," returned the doctor, "I +would say, send Jessie Bain to school for a year, if you are inclined to +be philanthropic. She is a wild, beautiful, thoughtless child, and it +has often occurred to me that her education must be very limited." + +"That will be the very thing," returned Varrick. "I wonder that this +solution did not occur to me before. I am going away to-day," he added, +"and wonder if I could get you to attend to the matter for me, doctor?" + +"I will do so with pleasure," returned Doctor Roberts. "In fact, I know +the very institution that would be most suitable. It's a private +boarding-school for young ladies, patronized by the _élité_, and I feel +assured that Professor Graham will take the greatest possible pains with +this pretty, neglected girl, who will be heir only to the education she +gets there, and her youth and strength with which to face the battle of +life." + +When the result of this conference was told to Jessie Bain, she sobbed +as if her heart would break. + +"I don't want to leave you, Mr. Varrick!" she cried, "indeed I don't. +Let me go home with you. I am sure your mother will like me. I will be +so good to her." + +It was explained to her that this could not be. They could scarcely +pacify her. It touched Hubert Varrick deeply to see how she clung to +him. + +He parted with her in the doctor's home, whence she had been taken, +leaving his address with her, with the admonition that she should write +to him every week, and tell him how she was progressing with her +studies; and if she wanted anything she was to be sure to let him know. + +He went back to the hotel to bid good-bye to Mrs. Northrup; but somehow +he could not bring himself to say one word to her about Jessie Bain. + +As he boarded the evening boat for Clayton there was not a more +miserable man in all the whole wide world than Hubert Varrick. He paced +the deck moodily. The thousands of little green islands upon which the +search-light flashed so continuously, had little charm for him. Suddenly +as the light turned its full glare upon a small island midway up the +stream, rendering each object upon it as clearly visible as though it +were noonday, under the strong light Hubert Varrick's eyes fell upon a +sight that fairly rooted him to the spot with horror. + +In that instantaneous glance this is what he saw: A young and lovely +girl crouching on her knees, in the long deep grass under the trees, her +arms outstretched in wild supplication, and bending over her was the +dark figure of a man. One hand clutched her white throat, and the other +hand held a revolver pressed to her white brow. The slouch hat he wore +concealed his features. The girl's face, framed in that mass of curling +dark hair, the white arms--great God! how strangely like Gerelda's! + +Was he going mad? He strained his eyes to see, and a terrible cry of +agony broke from his lips. + +"Captain!" he shrieked, "somebody, anybody, get me a life-boat, quick, +for the love of Heaven! Half my fortune for a life-boat--quick!" + +As he cried aloud, the island was buried in darkness again. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +"THE GIRL WHO PLAYS AT FLIRTATION MAY FIND SHE HAS GRASPED A TWO-EDGED +SWORD," SAID THE HANDSOME YOUNG CAPTAIN, LOOKING FULL IN GERELDA'S +BEWITCHING, HAUGHTY FACE. + + +The captain who was passing, stopped short and looked at Hubert Varrick +in amazement as he cried out, wildly: + +"Get me a life-boat, somebody--anybody! Half my fortune for a +life-boat!" + +"What is the matter?" asked the captain, sharply. "Has some one fallen +overboard?" + +When Varrick answered in the affirmative, the captain gave orders that a +life-boat be at once lowered by the crew, calling upon Varrick to point +out, as near as he could, where the drowning man was. + +"I will go, too," Varrick answered, springing into the boat; and an +instant later the boat was flying over the waves in the direction which +Varrick indicated. + +"Which way, sir?" asked the man at the oars. + +"Straight toward that little island yonder," was the hoarse reply. "Make +for it quickly! Here, take this bank-note, and, in Heaven's name, row +sharp! No one is drowning, but there is a young and lovely girl at the +mercy of some fiend on that island yonder!" + +The man dropped his oars. + +"If you had told our captain that, he would never have sent out a +life-boat," declared the man. "He thought it was some one drowning near +at hand, for the story of Wau-Winet Island is no news to the people +hereabouts." + +"What do you mean?" cried Varrick. + +"I can tell you the story in a very few words, sir," returned the man; +"and surely there's no one more competent to relate it than myself. I +can relate it while we are rowing over to Wau-Winet Island: + +"Some six months ago a stranger suddenly appeared in our midst. He +purchased Wau-Winet Island, and a few days later a score or more of +workmen appeared one night at Alexandria Bay, and boarded a tug that was +to take them out to the island. + +"These workmen were all strangers to the inhabitants around Alexandria +Bay, and they spoke in a different language. + +"They lived upon the island for a month or more, never once coming in +contact with the people hereabouts. + +"All their food was brought to them. Soon their mysterious manners +became the talk of all the country round. + +"In a month's time they had erected a grand stone house--almost a +castle--hidden from any one who might chance to pass the island, by a +net-work of trees. + +"At length the gray-stone house was completed, and the strange, uncanny +workmen took their departure as silently as they had come. + +"The people were warned to keep away from the place, for the workmen had +left behind them a large, ferocious dog who menaced the life of any one +who attempted to land on Wau-Winet Island. + +"Only last night an event happened which I shall never forget if I live +to be the age of Methuselah. I was standing near the dock, when suddenly +some one laid a heavy hand on my shoulder. + +"Glancing up with a little start, I saw the man who had so lately bought +Wau-Winet Island standing before me. By his side, leaning heavily upon +his arm, yet swaying strangely to and fro, as though she were scarcely +able to keep her feet, was a woman in a long black cloak, and her face +covered by a thick veil. + +"Before I had a chance to speak, the gentleman bent down and whispered +hoarsely in my ear: + +"I want you to row us as quickly as possible, to Wau-Winet Island. You +can name your own price.' + +"I wish to God I had refused him. I started to help the lady into the +boat, but he thrust me aside and helped her in himself, lifting her by +main strength. + +"For an instant she swayed to and fro, like a leaf in a strong wind; but +he steadied her by holding her down on her seat, both of her hands +caught in his. + +"I had scarcely pushed out into midstream ere I fancied I heard a low, +choking cry. The woman had wrenched one of her hands free, and like a +flash she had torn off her thick veil, and then I saw a sight that made +the blood run cold in my veins, for over her mouth a thick scarf was +wound, which she was trying to tear off with her disengaged hand. + +"Her companion caught her hand with a fierce imprecation on his lips, +and the struggle that ensued between them made the boat rock like a +cradle. In an instant he had forced her back into her seat, and drawn +the veil down over her face again. + +"But in that brief instant, by the bright light of the moon, I had +caught a glimpse of a face so wondrous in its loveliness and its +haughtiness that I was fairly dazed. I did not know what to do or say, I +was so bewildered. + +"'You must make quicker time!' cried the gentleman, turning to me. + +"At last we reached the island, and despite her struggles, he lifted her +out of the boat. Then he thrust a bill into my hand, saying grimly, 'You +can return now.' + +"But while he was speaking, never for an instant did his hold relax upon +the girl's arm, though she writhed under his grasp. + +"I hesitated a moment, and he turned to me with the look of a fiend on +his dark, handsome face. + +"'I said you might _go_,' he repeated. + +"'I will double that sum if you know how to keep your tongue still,' the +man said, thrusting another bill into my hand. + +"As I pushed out into midstream the girl grew frantic. With an almost +superhuman effort she succeeded in removing the woolen scarf which had +been wound so tightly about her mouth, then with a cry which I shall +never forget while life lasts, she shrieked out piteously, as she threw +out her white arms wildly toward me: + +"'Help! help! Oh! help, for the love of Heaven! Don't desert me! Come +back! oh, come back and save me!' + +"The blood fairly stood still in my veins. Her companion hurled her back +so quickly that she completely lost her balance, and fell fainting in +his arms. + +"'Go!' he cried, angrily, 'and not one word of what you have seen or +heard!' + +"I can not desert a lady in distress, sir,' I answered. + +"With a fury such as I have never seen equaled, he turned and faced me +in the moonlight. + +"'I will give you just one moment to go!' he cried, his right hand +creeping toward his hip-pocket--'another moment to get out of sight!' + +"I knew that it was as much as my life was worth to remain where I was; +so, despite the girl's pitiful entreaties, I rowed back slowly into +midstream and down the river. + +"I fairly made my boat fly over the water. I headed straight for +Clayton--the nearest village--and there I told my startling story to the +people. In less time than it takes to tell it, a half dozen of us +started back for Wau-Winet Island. Arriving, we crept silently up the +steep path that led to the house. My loud ringing brought the gentleman +himself to the door. I shall never forget the fire that leaped into his +eyes as he saw me; but nothing daunted, I said to him determinedly: + +"I have come here with these men to aid the young girl who appealed to +me for help a little while ago.' + +"My companions pressed close behind me, until they filled the wide +entrance hall and closed in around him. + +"'You are certainly mad!' he cried. 'There is no young lady on Wau-Winet +Island, nor has any woman ever put foot upon it at least since it has +been my property,' he added. + +"'Do you mean to say that I did not row you and a young lady over to +this island within this hour, and that she did not appeal to me for +help?' I asked. + +"'Certainly not!' he declared promptly. + +"'You must be either mad or dreaming to even think of such a thing,' he +continued, haughtily. 'However,' turning to my companions, 'seeing that +you have had the trouble of coming here--brought by this lunatic--you +are welcome to look through the house and satisfy yourselves. In fact, I +beg that you will do so.' + +"Much to his surprise, we took him at his word." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE MYSTERIOUS HOUSE ON LONELY WAU-WINET ISLAND. + + +"We searched the stone house from cellar to garret in hopes of finding a +trace of the beautiful girl I felt sure was imprisoned within its grim +walls, the owner following, with a look of defiance on his dark, +handsome face. + +"'She _must_ be on this island,' I declared, vehemently. 'I rowed you +and her over here.' + +"It is quite true that you rowed _me_ over here, my good fellow, but no +fair lady accompanied me, unless it might have been some mermaid. I hope +you are satisfied,' said he, turning to my companions, 'that the man who +has brought you here has played you a trick.' + +"And now stranger, you ask me to take you to Wau-Winet Island on just +such a mission, and I answer you that it would be as much as our lives +are worth." + +"It is evident," returned Hubert Varrick, excitedly, "that there is some +fearful mystery, and it is our duty to try to fathom it if it is within +our power." + +"As you say, sir," replied the man. + +At this moment the skiff grated sharply upon the sand, and the two men +sprung out. + +They had scarcely proceeded half the distance to the house when they +were suddenly confronted by a man. + +"Who are you, and what do you want here?" he asked. + +"I must see the master of Wau-Winet Island," returned Varrick, sternly. +"Are you he?" + +"No," returned the man, rather uneasily. "He left the island scarcely +five minutes ago in his boat. I am only the man working about the +place." + +"Tell me," cried Varrick, earnestly, "was there a lady with him? I will +pay you well to answer me." + +The man's gaze shifted uneasily. + +"There was no lady with him. I suppose that you have heard the strange +story about this island, and have come to investigate the matter. Let me +tell you, it is more than annoying to my master. Had he heard it he +never would have bought the place. As it is he has left it for good and +all to-night, and is going to advertise the place for sale. If they had +told my master, when he came here to buy, the story that a young and +beautiful woman was supposed to have been murdered here many years ago, +and that at nights her spirit haunts the place, he never would have +bought it. Other people imagine that they seen it; but we, who live +here, never have." + +The man told this with such apparent earnestness and truth, that Varrick +was mystified. Had his eyes deceived him? They evidently had. And then +again he told himself that, thinking so much of Gerelda, he had imagined +that the face he had seen for a moment in the flash-light bore a +striking resemblance to hers. And he persuaded himself to believe that +the fisherman's story was a myth. + +He well knew that, of all people in the world, fishermen loved to spin +the most exaggerated yarns, and be the heroes of the greatest +adventures. + +He got out of the matter as gracefully as only Varrick could, +apologizing for his intrusion, and expressing himself as only too +pleased to know that his imagination had simply been at fault. + +"Will you come in?" asked the man, turning to him. "My master has always +given orders that we are to be very hospitable to strangers." + +"You are very kind, and I thank you for your courtesy," returned +Varrick, "but I think not. We will try to cut across the bay and catch +the steamer further down." + +So saying, he motioned his companion to enter the boat. + +The little boat containing the two men was scarcely out of sight, ere +the door of the mysterious stone house opened quickly, and a man came +cautiously down the path. + +"What did they want?" + +"They wanted to see you, Captain Frazier," answered the servant. + +"What about?" asked the other hoarsely. + +"They saw you and--and the young lady when you were out in the grounds, +a little while since, as the search-light went down, and they came +to--to rescue the young lady. I-- I succeeded in convincing them that +their eyes had deceived them, and told them that you were so annoyed at +that senseless tale that you had gone away from the island; that you did +not intend to come back, your aim being to sell the place." + +"Bravo, bravo, McDonald!" exclaimed Captain Frazier--for it was he. +"Upon my soul, you did well! You are reducing lying down to a fine art." + +"I made quite a startling discovery, sir," said McDonald. "It was the +same man who made you all the trouble last night, bringing those people +here." + +Captain Frazier frowned darkly. + +"But that is not all, sir," added McDonald. "Mr. Varrick was with him." + +The name fell like a thunder-bolt on Captain Frazier's ears. He started +back as though he had been shot. + +"Has he succeeded in hunting me down so quickly?" he cried. + +"So I thought when I first saw him, sir. But, to my great amazement, I +soon discovered that he was totally ignorant of who lived on the +island--that it was yourself. The fisherman had been telling him the +story about the young lady, and he had come to investigate it. I soon +convinced him that there was nothing in the story, and that he was only +another one added to the list that the same fisherman had played that +practical joke on. He was angry enough when he took his departure." + +"Are you sure of this, McDonald?" asked Captain Frazier. + +"Quite sure." + +Captain Frazier gave a sigh of relief. He had fancied himself so secure +here. Even the servants did not know him by his own name. + +"If I thought for a moment that he suspected my presence here, I would +lose no time in getting away from Wau-Winet Island, and taking _her_ +with me." + +"You need have no fear, sir," returned the man. + +For an hour or more Captain Frazier paced slowly up and down under the +trees, smoking cigar after cigar in rapid succession. + +"It is a terrible thing," he muttered, "when love for a woman drives a +man to the verge of madness. I swore that Gerelda should never marry +Hubert Varrick, if I had to kill her. But I have done better. He will +never look upon her face again." + +At length he walked slowly to the house. He was met on the porch by a +little French maid who seemed to be looking for him. + +"Well, Marie?" said Captain Frazier. + +"I have been looking for you, sir," returned the girl quickly. "I can do +nothing with mademoiselle. She will not speak; she will not eat. She +lies there hour after hour with her beautiful face turned toward the +wall and her white hands clasped together. She might be a dead woman for +all the interest she evinces in anything. I very much fear, sir, that +she will keep her vow--_never to speak again_--_never in this world_." + +"You must keep close watch that she does not attempt to make away with +herself, Marie," he continued, earnestly. "Heaven only knows how she +obtained that revolver I took away from her out in the grounds to-night. +She was kneeling down in the long grass, and had it already pressed to +her temple, when I appeared in the very nick of time and wrenched it +from her little white hand. She would do anything save drown herself to +escape from here. Her father lost his life that way, and she would +never attempt _that_ means of escape, even from _this_ place." + +"She even refuses to have her bridal-dress removed," said the maid; "and +I do not know what to do about it. She has uttered no word since first +she crossed your threshold; she will not speak." + +Captain Frazier looked troubled, distressed. + +Would Gerelda keep her vow? She had said when she recovered +consciousness and found herself on the island, and the boatman gone: + +"I will never utter another word from this hour until I am set free +again. You are beneath contempt, Captain Frazier, to kidnap a young girl +at the altar." + +He never forgot how she looked at him in the clear moonlight as he +turned to her, crying out passionately: + +"It is your own fault, Gerelda. Why did you draw me on to love you so? +You encouraged me up to the last moment, and then it was too late for me +to give you up." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE SWEET AND TENDER LETTERS THAT SUDDENLY CEASED TO COME. + + +Gerelda Northrup neither spoke nor stirred. + +"You drew me on--ay, up to the very last moment--or this would never +have happened. I come of a desperate race, Gerelda," he went on, +huskily, "and when you showed me so plainly that you still liked my +society, even after you had plighted your troth to another, I clung to +the mad idea that there was yet hope for me, if we were far away from +those who might come between us. On this lone island we will be all the +world to each other--'the world forgetting, by the world forgot.' Marry +me, Gerelda, and I will be your veritable slave!" + +He never forgot the look she turned upon him. + +"When your anger has had time to cool, you will forgive me, my darling," +he pleaded, "and then I am sure you will not say me nay when I beg for +your heart and hand. I shall not force you into a marriage. I will wait +patiently until you come to me and say: 'Robert, I am willing to marry +you!'" + +He remembered how she had turned from him in bitter anger and scorn too +terrible for any words. He had given her over into the hands of Marie, +the little French maid. + +She offered no resistance as the girl took her hand and led her into the +house; but there was a look on her face that boded no good, while the +words she had uttered rang in his ears: "I shall never speak again until +you set me free!" + +Twice she had made the attempt, during the forty-eight hours which +followed, to take her own life, and both times he had prevented her. +Even in those thrilling moments she had never uttered a word. She kept +her vow, and Captain Frazier was beside himself at the turn affairs had +taken. + +But what else could he have done, under the circumstances? He could not +stand by and see her made the bride of another. + +Only that day, by the merest chance, Frazier had found out about Hubert +Varrick practically adopting the village beauty--saucy little Jessie +Bain--and that he had secretly sent her to a private school, to be +educated at his own expense, and he lost no time in communicating this +startling news to Gerelda, and giving her proof positive of the truth of +this statement. + +He saw her face turn deathly white, and he knew that the arrow of bitter +jealousy had struck home; but even then she uttered no word. But when +darkness gathered she stole out into the grounds, and tried to end it +all then and there, and she would have succeeded but for his timely +happening upon the scene at the very moment that the flash-light had +shone so suddenly upon her. + +Yes, the story concerning Jessie Bain had come like a thunder-bolt to +Gerelda Northrup. She had fallen on her face in the long green grass, +and was carried into the house in a dead faint. + +Only heaven knew what she suffered when consciousness came to her. She +was almost mad with terror at finding herself snatched from the arms of +her lover at the very altar--kidnapped in this most outrageous manner. + +She pictured her bridegroom's wild agony when he returned with the glass +of wine which he had hurried after, and found her missing. + +But the knowledge that he had consoled himself so quickly by taking an +interest in some other girl almost took her breath away. Then she sent a +note to Captain Frazier. It contained but a few words, but they were +enough to send him into the seventh heaven of delight. They read as +follows: + +"Prove to me, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that Hubert Varrick is +really in love with the rustic little village maid you speak of to such +an extent that he has secretly undertaken the care of her future, and, +madly as I love him, I will give him up and marry you within six months +from this time. But, in the meantime, you must return me at once to my +home and friends. This much I promise you: I shall not see Hubert +Varrick until this matter has been cleared up." + +To this note Frazier sent back hurried word that she should have all the +proof of Hubert Varrick's perfidy that she might ask. + +There was but one thing which it was impossible to do, and that was to +set her free during the six months' probation. + +This was impossible. He could not do it; he loved her too madly. He +would go away, if she liked, and leave her to reign "queen of the isle." +She should have everything which heart desired--everything save +permission to leave the place. + +To this Gerelda was forced to submit. + +"If I were convinced that Hubert Varrick loved another, life would be +all over for me," she moaned again and again. + +Meanwhile, as days and weeks rolled by, and no tidings reached Hubert +Varrick of the bride who, he supposed, had deserted him at the very +altar, his heart grew bitter against Gerelda. + +He plunged into his practice of law, with the wild hope that he might +forget her. + +The only diversity that entered his life was the letters which he +received from little Jessie Bain. + +Girl-like, she wrote to him every day. + +"I do wish you would adopt me, guardy," she wrote one day, "and bring me +home; I am so tired of this place. The principal always calls upon me to +look after all the little young fry in his school. Morning and night I +have to hear their prayers and hunt the shoes and stockings that they +throw at one another across the dormitory. Each one denies the throwing, +and I slap every one of them right and left, to be sure to get the right +one. I'm sick and tired of books. I wish I could come to you." + +Suddenly the letters ceased, and, to Varrick's consternation, a week +passed without his hearing one word from little Jessie Bain, and he +never knew until then, how deep a hold the girl had on the threads that +were woven into his daily life. + +In his loneliness he turned to the letters, and read and reread them. It +was like balm to his sore heart to find in them such outpourings of love +and devotion. + +Was she ill? Perhaps some lover had crossed her path. + +The thought worried him. He was just on the point of telegraphing, when +suddenly there was a rustling sound at the open French window, a swish +of skirts behind him, and the next instant a pair of arms were thrown +about his neck. + +"Now don't scold me, guardy--please don't! I am going to own up to the +truth right here and now. I ran away. I couldn't help it, I got so tired +of hooking young ones' dresses and hearing their prayers." + +With an assumption of dignity, Hubert Varrick unwound the girl's arms +from about his neck. But somehow they had sent a strange thrill through +his whole being, just such a thrill as he had experienced during the +hour in which he had asked Gerelda to be his wife, and she had answered +in the affirmative. + +He tried to hold her off at arm's-length, but she only clung to him the +more, giving him a rapturous kiss of greeting. + +The story of little Jessie Bain had been the only one which Hubert +Varrick had kept from his mother. + +It seemed amusing, he had told himself repeatedly, for a young man of +five-and-twenty to be guardian, as it were, to a young girl of +sixteen--that sweet, subtle, dangerous age "where childhood and +womanhood meet." + +"Aren't you glad to see me, Mr. Varrick?" cried Jessie. + +"Glad?" Hubert Varrick's face lighted up, and before he was aware of the +action, he had drawn her into his encircling arms, bent his dark, +handsome head, and kissed the rosy mouth so dangerously near his own. +There was a sound as of a groan, from the door-way, followed by a +muffled shriek, and raising his eyes in startled horror, Hubert Varrick +saw his lady-mother standing on the threshold, her jeweled hands parting +the satin _portières_. + +"Who is this girl, and what does this amazing scene mean, Hubert?" cried +Mrs. Varrick. + +Jessie Bain looked at the angry lady in puzzled wonder. She nestled up +closer to the handsome, broad-shouldered fellow, murmuring audibly: + +"Why don't you tell her that I am Jessie Bain, and that you are my best +friend on earth?" + +The lady had heard enough to condemn the girl in her eyes. + +She advanced toward her, livid with rage, and flung the girl's little +white hands back from her son's arm. + +"Go!" she cried, quivering with rage; "leave this house instantly, or I +will call the servants to put you into the street? It's such girls as +you that ruin young men!" + +"Mother," interrupted Hubert, "Jessie Bain must not be sent from this +house. If she leaves, I shall go with her!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +EVERY YOUNG GIRL WOULD LIKE A LOVER. AND WHY NOT? FOR LOVE IS THE +GRANDEST GIFT THE GODS CAN GIVE. + + +A thunder-bolt falling from a clear sky could not have startled the +proud Mrs. Varrick more than those crushing words that fell from the +lips of her handsome son--"Mother, if you turn Jessie Bain from your +door, I go with her!" + +Mrs. Varrick drew herself up to her full height and advanced into the +room like an angry queen. + +"Hubert," she cried, in a tone that he had never heard from his mother's +lips before, "I can make all due allowance for the follies of a young +man, but I say this to you: you should never have permitted this girl to +cross your mother's threshold." + +"Give me a chance to speak a few words, mother," he interrupted. "Let me +set matters straight. The whole fault is mine, because I have not +explained this affair to you before. I put it off from day to day." + +In a few brief words he explained. + +In her own mind, quick as a flash, a sudden thought came to her that +there was more behind this than had been told to her. + +She had wondered why Gerelda Northrup, the beauty and the heiress, fled +from her handsome son at the very altar. Now she began to think that +she might have had a reason for it other than that which the world +knew. + +She was diplomatic; she was too worldly wise to seek to separate them +then and there. She said to herself it must be done by strategy. + +"This puts the matter in quite a different light, Hubert," she said; +"and while I am slightly incensed at your not telling me about this +affair, I can readily understand the kindly impulse which prompted you +to protect this young girl. But I can not allow _you_ to outdo me; +Jessie must consider _me_ quite as much her friend as you. She shall +find a home here with us, and it will be pleasant, after all, to see a +bright, girlish face in these dull old rooms, and hear the sound of +merry laughter." + +This remark threw Hubert off his guard. + +"That is spoken like my noble-hearted mother!" he cried, +enthusiastically. "I knew you could not be angry with me when you +understood it." + +The girl stepped hesitatingly forward. From the first instant that she +beheld her standing on the threshold, she had conceived a great dislike +and fear of Hubert's haughty lady-mother. Even the conversation and +explanation which she had just listened to did not change her first +impression. + +Thus it happened that Jessie Bain took up her abode in the magnificent +home of the Varricks. + +But Hubert's mother made it the one object of her life to see that her +son and this attractive girl were never left alone together for a +moment. + +He had seemed heart-broken over the loss of Gerelda Northrup up to the +time that Jessie had entered the house; now there was a perceptible +change in him. + +He no longer brooded for hours over his cigars, pacing up and down under +the trees; now he would enter the library of an evening, or linger in +the drawing-room, especially if Jessie was there. + +Had it not been for her son, and the terror from day to day in her heart +that Hubert was learning to care for the girl, proud Mrs. Varrick would +have liked Jessie Bain, she was so bright, so merry, so artless. + +She lost no opportunity in impressing upon Jessie's mind, when she was +alone with the girl, that Hubert would never marry, eagerly noticing +what effect these words would have upon the girl. + +"Wouldn't that be a pity, Mrs. Varrick?" she had answered once. "It +would be so cruel for him to stay single always." + +"Not at all," returned Mrs. Varrick, sharply. "If a man does not get the +one that is intended for him, he should never marry any one else." + +"And you think that he was intended for Miss Northrup?" questioned +Jessie. + +"Decidedly; and for no one else." + +"Then I wonder Heaven did not give her to him," said Jessie. + +Mrs. Varrick looked at her keenly. + +"A man never has but one love in a life-time," she said, impressively. + +A fortnight had barely passed since Jessie had been under that roof, and +yet every one of the household noticed the difference in handsome Hubert +Varrick, and spoke about it. He was growing gayer and more debonair +than in the old days, when he was paying court to the beautiful Gerelda +Northrup. Of all subjects, the only one which he would not discuss with +his mother was the future of Jessie Bain. + +She had on one occasion asked him, with seeming carelessness, how long +he intended to care for this girl who was an utter stranger to him, and +suggested that, since she would not go to school, his responsibility +ought to cease. + +"I have bound myself to look after her until she is eighteen," he +answered. + +"I want to have a little talk with you, Hubert, on that subject," she +said. "Will you listen to me a few moments?" + +"As many as you like, mother," he answered. + +"I want to ask you if you have ever thought over what a wrong step you +are taking in giving this girl a taste of a life she can never expect to +continue after she leaves here?" + +"You should be glad that she has a little sunshine, mother." + +"It is wrong to place a girl in a brilliant sunshine for a few brief +days, and then plunge her into gloom for the rest of her life." + +"She has not been plunged into gloom yet, mother." + +"If she could marry well while she is with us, it would be a great thing +for her," went on Mrs. Varrick. + +"Don't you think she is rather young yet? What is your opinion about +that, mother?" + +"It is best for a poor girl to marry as soon as a good offer presents +itself, I believe. I have been thinking deeply upon this subject, for I +have noticed that there is a young man who seems to be quite smitten +with the charms of Jessie Bain." + +Her handsome son flushed to the roots of his dark-brown hair, and he +laughed confusedly as he said: + +"Why, how very sharp you are, mother! I did not know that you noticed +it." + +"Of course he is not rich," continued Mrs. Varrick, "but still, even a +struggling young architect would be a good match for her. She might do +worse." + +"Why, what in the world do you mean, mother?" cried Hubert Varrick. +"What are you talking about?" + +"Why, my dear son, have you been blind to what has been going on for the +last fortnight?" she returned, with seeming carelessness. "Haven't you +noticed that the young architect who is drawing the plans for the new +western wing of our house is in love with your _protégée_?" + +She never forgot the expression of her son's face; it was livid and +white as death. This betrayed his secret. He loved Jessie Bain himself! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +A MOTHER'S DESPERATE SCHEME. + + +"What makes you think the young architect is in love with Jessie Bain, +mother? I think it is an absurd idea." + +"Why do you call it absurd?" returned Mrs. Varrick. "It is perfectly +natural." + +Hubert turned on her in a rage so great that it fairly appalled her. + +"Why did you permit this sort of thing to go on, mother?" he cried. "It +is all your fault. You are accountable for it, I say." + +Mrs. Varrick rose from her seat and looked haughtily at her son, her +heart beating with great, stifling throbs. In all the years of their +lives they had never before exchanged one cross word with each other, +and in that moment she hated, with all the strength of her soul, the +girl who had sown discord between them, and she wished that Heaven had +stricken the girl dead ere her son had looked upon her face. + +"I am sure it is nothing to you or to me whom Jessie Bain chooses to +fall in love with," she answered, coldly. "You forget yourself in +reproaching _me_ with it, my son," and with these words she swept from +the room. + +The door had barely closed after her ere Hubert threw himself down into +the nearest chair, covering his face with his hands. + +He had loved Gerelda Northrup as few men love in a life-time, but with +the belief that she had eloped with another, growing up in his heart, he +had been able to stifle that love, root it from his heart, blossom and +branch, with an iron will, until at last he knew if he came face to face +with Gerelda she would never again have the power to thrill his heart +with the same passion. + +And, sitting there, he was face to face with the truth--that his heart, +in all its loneliness, had gone out to Jessie Bain in the rebound, and +he knew that life would never be the same to him if she were to prefer +another to himself. + +He rang the bell sharply, and in response to the summons one of the +servants soon appeared. + +"Send the architect--the young man whom you will find in the new western +wing of the house--to me at once. Tell him to bring his drawings with +him." + +Hubert Varrick paced nervously up and down the library until the young +man entered the room. + +"You sent for me, Mr. Varrick," he said, with a smile on his frank, +handsome face, "and I made haste to come to you." + +"I wish to inspect your drawings," he said, tersely, as he waved the +young man to a seat. + +Frank Moray laid them down upon the table. There was something in +Varrick's manner that startled him, for he had always been courteous and +pleasant to him before. + +Varrick ran his eyes critically over the pieces of card-board, the frown +on his face deepening. + +"I hope the plans meet your approval, sir," said the young man, very +respectfully. "I showed them from day to day, as I progressed, to Miss +Jessie Bain, and she seemed very much interested in them." + +Those words were fatal to the young man's cause. With an angry gesture, +Varrick threw the drawings down upon the table. + +"Your plans do not please me at all," he returned. "Stop right where you +are. Return to your firm at once and tell them to send me another man, +an older man, one with more experience--one who can spend more time at +his business and less time in chattering. Your sketches are miserably +drawn!" + +Frank Moray had risen to his feet, his face white as death. + +"Mr. Varrick," he cried hoarsely, "let me beg of you to reconsider your +words. Only try me again. Let me make a new set of drawings to submit to +you. It would ruin my reputation if you were to send this message to the +firm, for they have hitherto placed much confidence in my work." + +"You will leave the house at once," he said, "and send a much older man, +I repeat, to continue the work." + +The poor fellow fairly staggered from the drawing-room. He could not +imagine why, in one short hour, he had dropped from heaven to the very +depths of Hades, as it were. + +Varrick breathed freely when he saw him leave the house and walk slowly +down the lilac-bordered path and out through the arched gate-way. + +A little later Jessie came flying into the library. Varrick was still +seated at the table, poring over his books. + +"Where is Mr. Moray--do you know?" she asked, quickly--"I want to return +him a paper he loaned me this morning. I have been looking everywhere +for him, but can not find him. There is something in the paper that you +would like to hear about too." + +"Sit down on this hassock, Jessie, and read it to me," he said. + +"Oh, no! You want to make fun of me," she pouted, "and see me get +puzzled over all the big words. Please read it yourself, Mr. Varrick." + +"Suppose you tell me the substance of it, and that will save me reading +it," he said. + +"Oh, I can do that. There isn't so much to tell. It's about a fire last +night on one of the little islands in the St. Lawrence. No doubt you +have heard of the place--Wau-Winet Island. The mysterious stone house +that was on it has been burned to the ground. The owner was away at the +time. It is supposed that everyone else on the island perished in the +flames." + +Hubert Varrick listened with interest, but he never dreamed how vitally, +in the near future, this catastrophe would concern him. + +He thought of his strange visit to that place, and that no doubt the +owner was none too sorry to see it laid to ashes, as he had acknowledged +that it had caused him much annoyance owing to the uncanny rumors +floating about that the place was haunted by a young and beautiful woman +whose spirit would not be laid. + +Then, in talking to Jessie during the next half hour he entirely forgot +the fire that had occurred on that far-away island in the St. Lawrence. + +He broached the subject that the architect had gone for good, narrowly +watching Jessie's pretty face as he told her. + +"Oh! I am so sorry," she declared, disappointedly, "for he was such a +nice young man; and in his spare moments he had promised to teach me to +sketch;" and her lovely face clouded. + +"Would not I do as well?" asked Hubert Varrick, gently, as his hand +closed over the little white one so near his own. + +The girl trembled beneath his touch. In that one moment her heart went +from her, and she experienced the sweet elysium of a young life just +awakening to love's bewildering dream. + +"Would I not make as good a teacher?" repeated Varrick, softly; and he +bent his dark, handsome head, looking earnestly into the girl's flushed +face. + +"Perhaps," she answered, evasively; and she was very much relieved to +hear some one calling her at that moment. + +Mrs. Varrick heard of the proposed sketching lessons with great +displeasure. Despite all that she had done and said, she saw these two +young people falling more and more in love with each other with every +passing day. + +"How can I stop it? What shall I do?" she asked herself night after +night, as she paced the floor of her _boudoir_. + +She fairly cursed the hour that brought lovely, innocent little Jessie +Bain beneath that roof, and she wished she knew of some way in which to +get rid of the girl for good and all. + +She paced the floor until the day dawned. A terrible scheme against the +life and happiness of poor Jessie Bain had entered her brain--a scheme +so dark and horrible that even she grew frightened as she contemplated +it. + +Then she set her lips together, muttering hoarsely: + +"I would do anything to part my son and Jessie Bain!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +GERELDA'S ESCAPE FROM WAU-WINET ISLAND. + + +The fire at Wau-Winet Island, as the papers had explained, had taken +place during the owner's absence. No one knew how it had happened; there +seemed to be no one left to tell the tale. + +When Captain Frazier returned that evening and found the place in ruins, +he was almost wild with grief. In his own mind he felt that he knew how +it had come about. + +In her desperation to get away, Gerelda had fired the house. But, for +all that, she had not succeeded in making her escape, as the flames must +have overtaken her. + +Those who watched Captain Frazier had great difficulty in preventing +him from flinging himself headlong into the bay, he seemed so distracted +over the loss of Gerelda, the girl whom he loved so sincerely. + +The truth of the matter was, Gerelda had not fired the place. It had +been caused by a spark from an open fire-place; and in the confusion and +the darkness of the night she had succeeded in making her way out of the +house and down to the shore. + +With trembling hands she had untied one of the little boats which lay +there rocking to and fro, had sprung into it, and ere the flames burst +through the arched windows of the stone house she was far across the +bay, and was soon lost to sight in the darkness. She had taken the +precaution to seize a long cloak and veil belonging to the maid, and +these she proceeded to don while in the boat. + +By daylight she found herself drifting slowly toward a little village, +and as the lights became clear enough to discern objects distinctly, she +saw that the place was Kingston. + +At this Gerelda was overjoyed, for she remembered her old nurse, whom +she had not seen since early childhood, lived here. The sun was shining +bright and clear when Gerelda Northrup stepped from the boat and wended +her way up the grass-grown streets of the quaint little Canadian town. + +By dint of inquiry here and there, she at length found the nurse's +home--a little cottage, almost covered with morning-glory vines, setting +back from the main road. + +Although the nurse had not seen Gerelda since she was a little child, +she knew her the moment her eyes rested upon her face, and with a cry +of amazement she drew back. + +"Gerelda Northrup!" she gasped. "Is it you, Miss Gerelda, or do my eyes +deceive me?" + +She had heard of the great marriage that was to take place at the +Crossmon Hotel, at Alexandria Bay, and heard, too, the whispered rumor +of the bride-elect's flight; and to see her standing there before her +almost took Nurse Henderson's breath away. + +She looked past Gerelda, expecting to see some tall and handsome +gentleman, with a grand carriage drawn up at the road-side, waiting for +her. The girl seemed to interpret her thoughts. + +"I have come alone," she said, briefly. "Won't you bid me enter?" + +"That I will, Miss Gerelda!" cried Nurse Henderson, laughing and crying +over her. + +But when she drew her into the house, and took off the long cloak she +wore, she was startled beyond expression to see that she wore a +bridal-dress all ruined and torn. + +Nurse Henderson held up her hands in wild alarm. + +"Oh, Miss Gerelda!" she cried; "what does it mean? I am terrified!" + +"Do not ask me any questions, I pray; I am not able to answer them just +yet. Some day I may tell you all, but not now." + +The old nurse placed her on a sofa, begging her to rest herself, as she +looked so pale and worn, saying that she might tell her anything she +wished, a little later, when she was stronger. + +It was a fortnight before Gerelda had strength to leave her old nurse's +home, and during that time she had made a _confidante_ of old Nurse +Henderson, pledging her beforehand never to reveal the story she had +told her. Nurse Henderson listened, horror-struck, to the story. + +"I am going to see for myself, Henderson," she added, in conclusion, +"just how much truth there is in this affair. If I find that Hubert +Varrick has been so false to me, it will surely kill me. I am going +there to see for myself." + +"You do not seem to realize, my dear," said Nurse Henderson, "that the +people say you eloped with his rival, and that he believes them." + +"He should have had more confidence in me, no matter what the world +says!" cried Gerelda, with flashing eyes. "He should have searched for +me. I have often thought since, that Heaven intended just what has +occurred to test his love for me. I firmly believe this. I intend to +disguise myself, and go boldly to his home and see for myself whether +the report is false or true. Of course, a rival would not stoop to make +up any falsehood against him and pour it into my ears. You will help me +to disguise myself, Henderson?" + +"I have thought it all out," continued the heiress, "while I have been +under this roof, and I have been trying to gain strength for the ordeal. +Let me tell it to you, Henderson, and you will marvel at my clever plan. +You know that from a child I could always do exquisite fancy-work. Well, +I mean to make use of that talent. Mrs. Varrick--Hubert's mother--has +always said she would give anything to find a person willing to come to +her home who could do just such fancy-work, and decorate her _boudoir_. +Now, I mean to go there in disguise, show her a sample of my work, and +say that I gave many lessons to Gerelda Northrup, and she will be only +too glad to have me come to her home at any price. Then I can see for +myself just how much my lover is grieving over my loss. He may be pining +away--ay, be at the very gates of death, probably. In that case I shall +reveal my identity at once. + +"Oh, Miss Gerelda, you could never go through all that! _You_ toil, even +for a day, for any one? Oh! pray abandon such a mad idea. Believe me, my +dear, such an idea is not practicable." + +But all her persuasion could not influence the girl to abandon her plan. + +A few days later a tall, slender woman robed in the severest black, with +a cap on her head and blue glasses covering her eyes, walked slowly up +the broad, graveled path that led to the Varrick mansion. + +Mrs. Varrick was seated on the porch. She looked highly displeased when +the servant approached her, announcing that this person--indicating +Gerelda--desired particularly to speak with her a few moments. + +"If you are a peddler or in search of work, you should go round to the +servants' door," she said, brusquely. + +Gerelda never knew until then what a very cross mother-in-law she had +escaped. + +"Step around there, and I will see you later," said Mrs. Varrick. + +This Gerelda was forced to do. She waited in the servants' hall an hour +or more before Mrs. Varrick remembered her and came to see what she +wanted. When she saw the samples of fancy-work her eyes lighted up. + +"They are very beautiful," she said, "but I am not in need of anything +of the kind just now. If you call round here a few months later, I might +find use for your services." + +Gerelda had been so confident of getting an opportunity to stay beneath +that roof, that the shock of these words nearly made her cry out and +betray herself. + +"Is there no young lady in the house to whom I could teach this art?" +she asked. + +As she spoke these words she heard a light foot-fall on the marble +floor, and the soft _frou frou_ of rustling skirts behind her, and she +turned her head quickly. + +There, standing in the door-way, she beheld Jessie Bain. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +LIFE WITHOUT LOVE IS LIKE A ROSE WITHOUT PERFUME. + + +For an instant these two young girls who were to be such bitter rivals +for one man's love looked at each other. + +"Oh, what exquisite embroidery!" cried Jessie. "Are you going to buy +some, Mrs. Varrick?" + +"I am thinking of engaging this young person to come to the house and +make some for me, under my supervision," she returned. + +"I would give so much to know how to make it!" exclaimed Jessie. + +"If this young woman will give you instructions, you can take them," +said Mrs. Varrick. + +At that moment Hubert Varrick entered. + +"What is all this discussion about, ladies?" he asked. + +Gerelda uttered a quick gasp as he crossed the threshold. Her heart was +in her eyes behind those blue glasses. She had pictured him as being +worn and haggard with grieving for her. Did her eyes deceive her? Hubert +Varrick looked brighter and happier than she had ever seen him look +before, and, like a flash, Captain Frazier's words occurred to her--he +had soon found consolation in a new love. + +"This woman is an adept at embroidering," said Jessie, "and she is to +teach me how to do it. When I have thoroughly learned it, the very first +thing I shall make will be a lovely smoking-jacket for you." + +"Oh, thank you!" exclaimed Hubert. "Believe that it will be a precious +souvenir. I shall want to keep it so nice, that I will hardly dare wear +it, lest I may soil it." + +The girl laughed a little merry laugh. It was well for her that she did +not turn and look at the stranger just then. Mrs. Varrick was making +arrangements with her, but she was so intently listening to that +whispered conversation about the jacket, that she scarcely heard a word +she said. She was only conscious that Mrs. Varrick had touched the bell +for one of the servants to come and show her the apartment she was to +occupy. + +"May I ask the name, please?" Mrs. Varrick said. + +"Miss Duncan," was the reply. + +From the moment Miss Duncan--as she called herself--entered that +household her torture began. It was bad enough to be told by Captain +Frazier of her would-be lover's lack of constancy; but to witness it +with her own eyes--ah, that was maddening! + +"Would that I had never entered this household!" she cried out. + +She was unable to do justice to her work. Her whole life merged into one +desire--to watch Hubert Varrick and Jessie Bain. + +She employed herself in embroidering a light silken scarf. This she +could take out under the trees, and see the two playing lawn-tennis on +the greensward just beyond the lilac hedge. + +There was not a movement that escaped her watchful eyes during the whole +live-long day. And during the evenings, too. Would she ever forget them? + +Yes, Captain Frazier was right-- Hubert Varrick had forgotten her. + +She could see that Mrs. Varrick had no love for the girl. Indeed, her +dislike was most pronounced; and she felt that Hubert must have done +considerable coaxing to gain his mother's consent to bring the girl +beneath that roof. + +When she learned from the housekeeper that Hubert Varrick was her +guardian, her rage knew no bounds. + +It was at this critical state of affairs that Hubert Varrick received a +telegram which called him to New York for a fortnight. + +Mrs. Varrick heard this announcement with a little start, while Jessie +Bain heard it with dismay. + +To her it meant two long, dreary weeks that must drag slowly by before +he should return again. + +No one knew what Miss Duncan thought when she heard the housekeeper +remarking that Mr. Hubert had gone to New York. + +Late that afternoon she was startled by a soft little tap at her door, +and in response to her "Come in," Jessie Bain entered. + +"I hope I have not interrupted you," said Jessie; "but I thought I would +like to come and sit with you, and watch you while you worked, if you +don't mind." + +"Not in the least," answered Miss Duncan. + +For a few moments there was a rigid silence between them, which Miss +Duncan longed to break by asking her when and where she first met Hubert +Varrick. + +But while she was thinking how she might best broach the subject, Jessie +turned to her and said, "I don't see how you can work with those blue +glasses on; it must be such a strain on your eyes;" adding, earnestly: +"But I suppose you are obliged to do it, and that makes considerable +difference." + +"You suppose wrong," returned Miss Duncan, with asperity. "I do it +because it is a pleasure to me." + +"Oh!" said Jessie. + +"It distracts my mind," continued Miss Duncan. "There are so many sad +things that occur in life, that one would give anything in this world to +be able to forget them." + +"Have you had a great sorrow?" asked Jessie. + +"So great that it has almost caused me to hate every woman," returned +Miss Duncan; adding: "It was love that caused it all. You will do well, +Miss Bain, if you never fall in love; for, at best, men are +treacherous." + +The girl flushed, wondering if the stranger had penetrated her secret. + +But she had been so careful to hide from every one that she had fallen +in love with handsome Hubert Varrick, it was almost impossible to guess +it. + +As Jessie Bain did not reply to the remark which she had just made, Miss +Duncan went on hurriedly, "There is not one man in a thousand who proves +true to the woman to whom he has plighted his troth. The next pretty +face he sees turns his head. I should never want to marry a man, or even +to be engaged to one if I knew that he had ever had another love. + +"By the way," she asked, suddenly lowering her voice, "I am surprised to +see Mr. Varrick looking so cheerful after the experience he has had with +his love affair." + +"He was too good for that proud heiress," Jessie declared, indignantly. +"I think Heaven intended that he should be spared from such a marriage. +I-- I fairly detest her name. Please do not let us talk about her, Miss +Duncan. I like to speak well of people, but I can think of nothing save +what is bad to say of her." + +With this she rose hastily, excused herself, and hurried from the room, +leaving her companion smarting from the stinging words that had fallen +from her lips. + +"The impudent creature!" fairly gasped the heiress, flinging aside her +embroidery and pacing up and down the floor like a caged animal. "I +shall take a bitter revenge on her for this, or my name is not Gerelda +Northrup!" + +The more she thought of it, the deeper her anger took root. They brought +her a tempting little repast; but she pushed the tea-tray from her, +leaving its contents untasted. She felt that food would have choked her. + +The sun went down, and the moon rose clear and bright over the distant +hills. One by one the lights in the Varrick mansion went out, and the +clock in the adjacent steeple struck the hours until midnight. Still +Gerelda Northrup paced up and down the narrow room, intent upon her own +dark thoughts. + +One o'clock chimed from the steeple, and another hour rolled slowly by; +then suddenly she stopped short, and crossed the room to where her +satchel lay on the wide window-sill. Opening it, she drew from it a +small vial containing white, glistening crystals, and hid it nervously +in her bosom; then, with trembling feet, she recrossed the room, opened +her door, and peered breathlessly out into the dimly lighted corridor. +No sound broke the awful stillness. + +Closing the door gently after her, the great heiress tiptoed her way +down the wide hall like a thief in the night, her footfalls making no +sound on the velvet carpet. Jessie's was the last door at the end of +the corridor. Miss Duncan knew this well. But before she had gained it +she saw Mrs. Varrick leave her room and step to Jessie's. + +She remembered Mrs. Varrick did not like the girl. A score of +conjectures flashed through her mind as to the object of that +surreptitious visit; but she put them all from her as being highly +impracticable and not to be thought of. + +The morrow would tell the story. She must wait patiently until then, and +find out for herself. + +How thankful she was that she had not been three minutes earlier. In +that case Mrs Varrick would have discovered her. And then, too, a +tragedy had been averted. + +She took the vial from her bosom, and with trembling hands shook its +contents from the window down into the grounds below, and threw the tiny +bottle out among the rose bushes, murmuring: + +"If it is ever done at all, it must not be done that way." + +Then she threw herself on the couch just as the day was breaking, and +dropped into an uneasy sleep, from which she was startled by a terrific +rap on the door. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +GERELDA COULD HAVE SAVED HER. + + +Hastily opening the door, Gerelda saw one of the maids. + +"My mistress wishes to see you in the morning-room," she said. "I have +brought you some breakfast. You are to partake of this first; but my +mistress hopes you will not be long." + +Gerelda swallowed a roll and drank the tea and hastened to the +morning-room. Here Gerelda found not only Mrs. Varrick, but every man +and woman who lived beneath the roof of the Varrick mansion. + +For a moment Gerelda hesitated. + +Had some one discovered that she was in disguise, and informed Mrs. +Varrick? She trembled violently from head to foot. + +Mrs. Varrick broke in upon her confused thoughts. + +"Pardon my somewhat abrupt summons, Miss Duncan," she said, motioning +her to a chair, "but something has occurred which renders it imperative +that I should speak collectively to every member of this household. + +"Most of you remember, no doubt, that I wore my diamond bracelet to the +opera last night. When I returned home I unclasped it from my arm, +myself, and laid it carefully away in my jewel-box. This morning it is +missing. My maid and I made a careful examination of the room where I am +in the habit of keeping my jewels. We found that the room had not been +entered from the outside, that all the windows and doors were securely +bolted on the inside. I am therefore forced to accept the theory that my +room was visited by some one from the inside of the house." + +"Wasn't it amazing!" cried Jessie, turning to Miss Duncan. "A thief +walking through the house in the dead of night, while we were all +sleeping! I am sure I should have been frightened into hysterics had I +known it." + +A cold, calm look from Mrs. Varrick's steel-gray eyes seemed to arrest +the words on the girl's lips, and that strange, uncanny gaze sent a +thrill creeping down to the very depths of Jessie Bain's soul. + +All in a flash, as Miss Duncan listened, she realized what was coming. + +"Let no one interrupt me unless I invite them to speak," said Mrs. +Varrick, continuing: "I will go on to say that the butler informs me +that he found no door or window open in any part of the house, when he +opened up the place this morning. + +"Have you missed anything, Miss Duncan?" + +"No," said Gerelda, quietly. + +"And you, Miss Bain?" + +"No. I have nothing that any thief would care to take," returned the +girl; "only this gold chain and this battered old locket which contains +my dead mother's picture, and I always wear this about my neck day and +night." + +Mrs. Varrick asked the same question of every one present--"if they had +lost anything during the night"--and each one answered in a positive +negative. + +"Then it seems that the thief was content with taking my diamond +bracelet," she said, sharply. + +Suddenly the housekeeper, who had been in Mrs. Varrick's service since +she had come there a bride, spoke out: + +"I am sure nobody would object, ma'am, if the trunks and boxes of every +one in the house were to be examined." + +Mrs. Varrick turned to the housekeeper. + +"I should not like to say that I suspect any one," she answered. "I have +sent for one of the most experienced detectives in the city, and am +expecting him to arrive at any moment. In the meantime, I desire that +you will all remain in this room." + +Miss Duncan had maintained throughout an attitude of polite +indifference. Now she realized what that visit to Jessie Bain's room, in +the dead of the night, meant. + +Then there commenced the greatest battle between Good and Evil that ever +was fought in a human heart. Should she save her rival, the girl whom +Hubert Varrick loved, or by her silence doom her to life-long misery? +While she was battling, Jessie smiled, murmuring in a low voice: "Isn't +it too bad, Miss Duncan, that Hubert--Mr. Varrick, I mean--should be +away from home just at this critical time?" + +Miss Duncan's face hardened, and all the kindliness in her nature +suddenly died out. + +The arrival, a little later, of the detective was a relief to every one. + +Mrs. Varrick hastily explained to him what had occurred, and her reason +for supposing that the theft of the diamond bracelet had been +accomplished by some one in the house. + +"Such a suspicion is, of course, very painful to me," she said; "but +under the circumstances I think it is better for the satisfaction of all +concerned that I should accept the offer made by my servants, and +request you to search their apartments. Miss Duncan, and Miss Jessie +Bain, my son's ward, will, just for form's sake, undergo the same +unpleasant ordeal." + +"Must I have my room searched, too?" asked Jessie Bain. + +"Is there any reason why you should object?" asked Mrs. Varrick. + +"No," answered Jessie, lifting her beautiful, innocent blue eyes to the +face of Hubert's mother; "there is no reason, only--only--" + +Here she stopped short, the color coming and going on her lovely face, +and a frightened look creeping about her quivering mouth. + +"I have no objection," she repeated, "to having everything in my room +searched; but, oh! it seems so terrible to have to do it!" + +"Do your duty, sir," said Mrs. Varrick, turning to the detective. + +She and the detective left the morning-room together, and they were all +startled at the sound of the key turning in the lock as the door closed +after them. Half an hour, an hour, and at length a second hour dragged +slowly by. + +Suddenly in the silence that had fallen upon the inmates of the +morning-room they caught the distant sound of the detective's deep +voice and the rustle of Mrs. Varrick's silk dress coming down the +corridor. + +Mrs. Varrick and the detective advanced to the center of the room, then +she stopped suddenly. + +"As you see," she commenced, in a high, shrill voice "the bracelet has +been unearthed and the thief discovered. I shall not prolong this +painful scene a moment longer than is absolutely necessary. Suffice it +to say, the girl I have befriended has robbed me. + +"The bracelet was found by the detective in the little hair trunk of +Jessie Bain. You will all please leave the room, all save Miss Bain." + +They all rose from their seats, and there was a great babble of voices. +As in a dream, Jessie saw them all file slowly out of the room, each one +casting that backward look of horror upon her as they went. The door +closed slowly after Miss Duncan; then she was alone with the detective +and Mrs Varrick, Hubert's mother. + +"There are no words that I can find to express to you, Jessie Bain, my +amazement and sorrow," she began, "at this, the evidence of your guilt." + +"Oh, Mrs. Varrick!" gasped Jessie, finding breath at last, though her +head seemed to reel with the horror of the situation, "by all that I +hold dear in this world, believe me, I am not guilty. I swear to you I +did not take your bracelet; I know as little of the theft as an unborn +babe!" + +Mrs. Varrick drew herself up haughtily. + +"The detective wishes me to give you up to the law, to cast you into +prison, but I can not quite make up my mind to do it. Now listen. +Because of my son's interest in you, I will spare you on one condition, +and that is, that you leave this place within the hour, and go far +away--so far that you will never again see any one who might know you; +least of all, my son. His anger against you would be terrible." + +All in vain Jessie threw herself at her feet, protesting over and over +again her innocence, and calling upon God and the angels to bear witness +to the truth of what she said. + +The detective had been pacing up and down the room, an expression of the +deepest concern on his face. + +He noted that instead of being glad to get off so easily from a terrible +affair that would cost her many a year behind grim prison walls, this +girl's agonizing cry was that she should remain there and prove her +innocence to Hubert Varrick. + +Surely, he thought, there must be some way of doing so. But Mrs. Varrick +was inexorable. + +The girl's lovely head was bowed to the very earth. + +"Have pity on me," moaned Jessie Bain, "and show me mercy!" + +"I will give you ten minutes to decide your future," was Mrs. Varrick's +heartless reply. + +When the ten minutes had elapsed, Mrs. Varrick rose majestically to her +feet. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +OUT IN THE COLD, BLEAK WORLD! + + +"No doubt you have decided ere this what course you intend to pursue," +said Mrs. Varrick sternly. + +"I-- I will do whatever you wish," sobbed the girl; "but oh! let me +plead with you to let me stay here until Mr. Varrick returns!" + +Mrs. Varrick's face grew livid in spots with anger, but by a splendid +effort she managed to control herself before the detective. She turned +to him. + +"Will you kindly step into an inner room, and there await the conclusion +of this conference?" she asked. + +He bowed courteously and complied with her request. When Mrs. Varrick +found herself alone with the girl, she made little effort to conceal her +hatred. + +"Why do you wish to see my son?" she asked, harshly. "To try to get him +to condone the atrocious wrong of which you have been guilty? Your +audacity amazes me!" + +"I have said that I am innocent!" said the girl, and she rose slowly to +her feet. + +"Never, with my consent, will he ever speak to you again! Do you hear +me? I would curse him if he did. + +"And it would not stop at that," went on Mrs. Varrick. "I would cut him +off without a dollar, and turn him into the streets a beggar! That would +soon bring him to his senses. Ay, I would do all that and more, if he +were even to speak to you again. So you can see for yourself the +position you would place him in by holding the least conversation with +him." + +"He shall not suffer because of me!" sobbed Jessie Bain. "I will go away +and never look upon his face again. I only wanted to tell him to believe +me. I am going, Mrs. Varrick, out into the cold and bitter world from +which he took me. Try to think of me as kindly as you can!" + +With this, she turned and walked slowly from the room. On the threshold +she paused and turned back. + +"Will you say to him--to your son, I mean--that I am very grateful for +all that he has done for me," she asked, "and that if the time ever +comes when I can repay it, I will do so? Tell him I would give my life, +if I could only serve him!" + +"One moment," said the lady, as she was about to close the door: "I do +not wish to send you away empty-handed." + +As she spoke she drew a purse from her pocket, saying: + +"You will find this well filled. There is only one condition I make in +giving it to you, and that is, that you sign a written agreement that +you will never seek or hold any communication with my son hereafter." + +"I am very poor indeed, madame," Jessie said, "but I-- I could not take +one penny from--from the person who believes me guilty of theft. But I +will sign the agreement, because--because you ask me to do so." + +"Then step this way," said Mrs. Varrick, going to the table, where, +pushing a folded paper aside, Jessie saw a closely written document +lying beneath it. On the further end of the table a gold pen was resting +on a bronze ink-tray. + +Mrs. Varrick dipped the pen in the ink, and handed it to the girl. + +"Sign there," she said, indicating, with a very shaking finger, a line +at the bottom. + +Perfectly innocent of the dastardly trap that had been set for her, +Jessie took the pen from the hand of Hubert's mother, and fearlessly +wrote her name--signing away all hopes of happiness for all time to +come, and putting a brand on her innocent brow more terrible than the +brand of Cain. + +Without waiting for the ink to dry upon it, Mrs. Varrick eagerly +snatched the paper and thrust it into her bosom. + +Jessie slowly left the room, and a few moments later, carrying the same +little bundle that she had brought with her, she passed slowly up the +walk and through the arched gate-way, Mrs. Varrick watching after her +from behind the lace-draped window. + +She watched her out of sight, praying that she might never see her face +again. + +"I have separated my son from her," she muttered, sinking down upon a +cushioned chair. "Any means was justifiable. He would have married +her--it was drifting toward that, and rapidly. I could see it. Heaven +only knows how I have plotted and planned, first to find some business +by which my son could be called from the city, and during his absence +get rid of that girl--so effectually get rid of her that she would +never cross his path again. And I have succeeded!" + +As she spoke she drew from her bosom the paper which Jessie Bain had +signed, and ran her eyes over it. + +Heaven pity any girl who signs a document the contents of which she is +ignorant! + +This document was a statement acknowledging that she, Jessie, had taken +Mrs. Varrick's diamond bracelet, and had hidden it in the bottom of her +trunk, intending to slip out the following day and dispose of it, +thinking she would have plenty of time to do so ere its loss was +discovered; but that in this she had miscalculated, as Mrs. Varrick soon +became aware of the theft; that search was made for it, and that a +detective, who had been secured for the purpose of tracing it, +discovered it in its hiding-place in her trunk; and that, knowing the +consequences, she in her terror had made a full confession, acknowledged +her guilt and threw herself completely upon Mrs. Varrick's mercy, who +had promised not to prosecute her providing she left the country, which +she was only too willing to do. + +And to this terrible document Jessie Bain signed her name clearly and +plainly. + +With hurried step Mrs. Varrick crossed the room and locked the precious +document in a secret drawer of her _escritoire_; then she remembered +that the detective was awaiting her. She summoned him quickly. + +"The matter has been adjusted, and we have rid the house of the girl's +presence," she said, coldly. "I thank you for your sagacity in tracing +my diamond bracelet," she said, thinking it best to throw in a dash of +covert flattery, "and I shall be pleased to settle your bill whenever +you wish to present it." + +The detective bowed himself out of her presence, and left the house, +musing on the mysterious robbery, and saying to himself: "I would be far +more apt to suspect the lady of the house than that young girl." + +He sighed and went on his way; but all day long, while immersed in the +business which usually was of such an exciting nature that he had no +time for any other thought, the lovely face of Jessie Bain rose up +before him. + +He threw down his pen at last in despair. + +"I must be bewitched," he muttered. "If I were a younger man I would +certainly say that I had fallen in love. I must find out where that girl +has gone, and have a little talk with her. I can not bring myself to +believe that she stole that bracelet." + +He put on his hat and reached for his cane. + +"I can not say how long it will be before I shall return," he said to +his fellow detective in charge of the office. + +In the meantime, in her lonely mansion, Mrs. Varrick was writing a long +letter to her son. In it she expressed the hope that he was having a +pleasant time, and that he must not hurry home, but stay and attend to +business thoroughly, even though it took him a little longer. But not +one word did she mention of Jessie Bain. So preoccupied was she with her +own thoughts that she did not know Hubert had entered the room until she +heard his voice. + +"I will save you the trouble of posting your letter, mother. I see it is +addressed to me. You can read me the contents in person." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +"I LOVE JESSIE BAIN WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL!" + + +Mrs. Varrick started back with a low cry. + +"Is it you, Hubert?" + +"Yes; but upon my honor, mother, you don't seem overglad to see me." + +"I thought you were to have been gone a fortnight." + +"I succeeded in getting the business attended to much more speedily than +you thought it could be done. I did not make any visits, as I was +anxious to get home. But, mother, how white and ill you look!" he added. + +"I am quite well, but I have been suffering from a nervous headache, +Hubert," she answered. + +"By the way," he said suddenly, "I did not forget to bring a few little +souvenirs home with me," and as he spoke he drew two small velvet cases +from his pocket, one of which he handed his mother, retaining the other +in his hand. + +Opening it, Mrs. Varrick found that it contained a magnificent diamond +bracelet. + +"That is to match, as near as possible, the beautiful bracelet you +already have, mother," he said, carelessly. + +She reeled back as though he had struck her a sudden blow, and looked at +him with terror in her eyes. + +"What is there in that other little velvet case?" she asked, as he made +no move to hand it to her. + +"It is not for you, mother," he responded. "It is for Jessie." + +He pressed the little spring and the lid of the purple velvet box flew +back, and there, lying on its shimmering satin bed, she beheld a +beautiful little turquois ring set with tiny diamonds. + +"Jessie has never had a ring in all her life," he declared, "and it will +please me to be the one to present her with the first one that will ever +grace her little hand. Girl-like, she is fond of such trinkets. The +sparkle of the tiny diamonds will delight her as nothing else has done +in her whole life." + +A discordant laugh broke from Mrs. Varrick's lips. + +"Ay, the glitter of diamonds pleases her. How well you know the girl!" +she cried shrilly. "But for glittering diamonds she might have lived a +happy enough life of it. Will people ever learn the lesson that they can +not pick up girls from the depths of poverty and obscurity and +transplant then into elegant surroundings and expect good to come of +it?" + +"This present is very inexpensive," declared Hubert. "Won't you please +ring for Jessie to come to us? I am anxious to see if it is the right +size. It will be fun to see her big blue eyes open and hear her exclaim +in dismay: 'Oh, Mr. Varrick, is it really for me?' Girls at her age are +enthusiastic, and their joy is genuine upon receiving any little token +of esteem." + +Again Mrs. Varrick laughed that harsh, discordant laugh. + +"The ring is very pretty, Hubert," she said ironically, "but Jessie Bain +would never thank you for so inexpensive a gift. That diamond bracelet +is much more to her fancy." + +"Girls of her age might fancy diamond bracelets, but they would never +care to possess them, because they could not wear them, as they would be +entirely out of place." + +For the third time that harsh, shrill laugh from Mrs. Varrick's lips +filled the room. + +"I repeat, this bracelet would be more to her fancy," she added, grimly. + +"If you will not ring for Jessie, I will do it myself," said Hubert, +good-humoredly; adding: "You are just a little bit jealous, mother, and +wish to keep me all to yourself, I imagine." + +But ere he could reach the bell-rope she had swiftly followed him and +laid a detaining hand on his arm. + +She had put off the telling of her story from moment to moment, but it +had to be told now. + +"You need not take the trouble to ring that bell," she said, "for it +would be useless--quite useless." + +"Why, what do you mean?" he asked, in unfeigned astonishment, thinking +that perhaps she meant to forbid him giving the girl the little ring; +and he grew nettled at that thought. + +He said to himself that he was over one-and-twenty, and was entitled to +do as he pleased in such matters. + +"Listen, Hubert; I have something to tell you, and you must hear me out. +Come and sit on this sofa beside me. I can tell you better then." + +"What is the meaning of all this secrecy, mother?" he cried. + +"To begin with," slowly began Mrs. Varrick, "Jessie Bain is no longer +under this roof." + +He looked at her as though he did not fully take in the meaning of her +words. + +"I will tell you the whole story, my son," she said; "but promise me +first that you will not interrupt me, no matter how much you may be +inclined to do so, and that you will hear without comment all that I +have to say." + +"Do I understand you to say that Jessie Bain is not here?" he cried. + +"Promise not to interrupt me and I will tell you all." + +He bowed his head in acknowledgment, though he did not gratify her by +saying as much in so many words. + +Slowly, in a clear, shrill voice, Mrs. Varrick began the story she had +so carefully rehearsed over and over again; but as the words fell from +her lips she could not trust herself to meet the clear, eagle glance her +son bent upon her. + +In horror which no pen could fully describe, Hubert Varrick listened to +the story from his mother's lips. In all her life Mrs. Varrick never saw +such a face as her son turned upon her. It was fairly distorted, with +great patches of red here and there upon it. + +He set his teeth so hard together that they cut through his lip; then he +raised his clinched hand and shook it in the air, crying in a voice of +bitter rage: + +"If an angel from heaven cried out trumpet-tongued that little Jessie +Bain was guilty, I should not believe her-- I would say that it was +false. It is some plan, some deep-laid scheme to blight the life of +Jessie Bain and ruin my happiness--ay, ruin my happiness, I say--for I +love that girl with all my heart and soul! How dare they, fiends +incarnate, attack her in my absence? And so you, my fine lady-mother, +have turned her out into the street," he went on, in a rage that nothing +could subdue. "Now listen to what I have to say, and heed it well: The +day that has seen her turned from this roof shall witness my leaving it. +You should have trusted and shielded her, no matter how dark appearances +were against her. I am going to find Jessie Bain, and when I do I shall +ask her to marry me!" + +There was a wild shriek from Mrs. Varrick's lips at this, but Hubert did +not heed it. + +"I can not live without her! If ill has befallen my darling I will shoot +myself through the heart, and beg with my dying breath that they bury us +both in one grave!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +"DO NOT LEAVE ME, FOR YOU ARE THE DELIGHT AND SUNSHINE OF MY LONELY +LIFE!" + + +The scene was one of such terror for Mrs. Varrick that she never forgot +it. + +"I shall leave this house!" he cried again. "I will not remain another +hour beneath this roof. I will find Jessie Bain, though I have to travel +this wide earth over to do it!" + +Suddenly he stopped short and looked at his mother; then he cried out +excitedly: "Where is the woman who came here with that embroidery-work? +More likely it was she who took the bracelet." + +But Mrs. Varrick shook her head. + +"You forget that the bracelet was found in Jessie's trunk," she said, +huskily, "and that she owned up to taking it in a written confession. As +for the strange embroidery woman, Miss Duncan, I paid her off and let +her go. She knows next to nothing of what took place in regard to the +bracelet. You must remember, too, that the girl was glad to get off so +easily." + +"Even though I _knew_ she was guilty, I could find forgiveness in my +heart for her, mother," he cried, huskily, "for I love her-- I _love_ +her as man can love but once in his life-time. You arrayed yourself as +her enemy, mother, and as such, you must be mine, until I can find +little Jessie and bring her back to you." + +"Oh, no, no, Hubert, darling!" cried Mrs. Varrick, striving to throw her +arms about him, but almost before she was aware of his intention, he had +quitted the room, strode down the corridor, and was half-way down the +walk that led to the great entrance gate. + +Varrick had walked a considerable distance from the house before his +mind settled down to anything like rational thoughts. Suddenly it +occurred to him that the quickest way to trace her would be to secure +the aid of an experienced detective. It was the merest chance that led +him to the office of Henry Byrne, the great detective--the very one +whose services his mother had enlisted to recover her valuable bracelet. + +It took but little conversation for the detective to learn that the +young man was desperately in love with the pretty little girl. This gave +the experienced man of the world food for thought. + +He did not tell young Varrick how interested he himself was in learning +the whereabouts of that pretty young girl. + +After an hour or more of earnest conversation, they parted, Byrne +agreeing to report what success he met at the hotel at which Hubert +Varrick said he intended stopping. + +Up to midnight, when they again met, Byrne could give him no definite +information; he did not even tell him that he thought he had a slight +clew which he intended to follow. + +Thus three days passed, and not even the slightest trace of Jessie Bain +could be discovered, and Hubert was beside himself with grief. + +In the midst of his trouble a strange event happened. + +As he was passing through the lobby of the hotel one evening, he met +Harry Maillard, Gerelda Northrup's cousin. + +Varrick turned quickly in an opposite direction, to avoid speaking to +him, when suddenly Maillard came forward and held out his hand to him. + +"I am glad to see you, old boy," he said, "and have been wondering where +you kept yourself of late." + +"I have been attending to business pretty closely," returned Varrick. + +"Take a cigar," said Maillard, extending a weed. "Let's sit down. I have +something to tell you." + +Varrick followed his friend, and soon they were seated together before +one of the open windows. + +"I have such wonderful news for you," said Maillard. "I learned from +Captain Frazier's valet, whom I met on the street, that his master had +been dead some time, having been killed in a railway accident. + +"Shortly after your unfortunate experience a great fire occurred in one +of the islands in the St. Lawrence, and Captain Frazier was there alone, +and had been alone, the man informed me. There was no lady about--of +this the valet was positive, and his last message to this man, who was +with him to the end, was to search for Gerelda Northrup, and tell her +that with his last breath he was murmuring her name, and that he wanted +to be buried on the spot where they had first met. + +"That is proof positive that Gerelda was not with Captain Frazier, and +that he, poor fellow, was entirely innocent of her whereabouts." + +Hubert Varrick was greatly amazed at this intelligence; but before he +could make any remark Maillard went on quickly: + +"We received a long letter from an old nurse who used to be in Gerelda's +family years ago. It was written at my cousin's dictation. She had been +very ill, the letter says; and in it she goes on to tell the wonderful +story of what caused her disappearance. + +"She says that during your momentary absence for a glass of wine, she +was abducted by a daring robber, who wished to secure the diamonds she +wore, and hold her as well for a heavy ransom; that, all in an instant, +while she awaited your return, she was chloroformed, a black cloak +thrown over her, and the last thing she was conscious of was being borne +with lightning-like rapidity down a ladder, a strong pair of burly arms +encircling her. + +"The night wind blowing on her face soon revived her; then she became +conscious that she was in a hack, and being rapidly driven along a +country road. + +"'We are far enough away now,' she heard a voice say; and at that moment +the vehicle came to a sudden stop. She was lifted out, the stifling +folds of the cloak were withdrawn from about her, the jewels she wore +were torn from her ears and breast, and from the coils of her hair the +diamond arrows, which fastened her bridal-veil, and the next instant +her inhuman abductor, having secured the jewels, flung her into the +deep, dark, rushing river, then drove rapidly away, all heedless of her +wild cries for help. + +"A Canadian fisherman, happening along in his boat just when she was +giving up the struggle for life rescued her. He took her to his humble +cot and to his aged mother, and under that roof she lay, racked with +brain-fever, for many weeks. + +"With the return of consciousness, she realized all that had transpired. + +"Fearing the shock to you both, she had these people take her to an old +nurse who happened to live in that vicinity, and this woman soon brought +her back to something like health and strength. Then Gerelda had the +woman write a long letter to me, telling me all, and bidding me break +the news gently to her mother and you. The letter ends by saying: + +"'By the time it was received she would be at home, and bid me hasten to +you with the wonderful intelligence, and bid you come to her quickly, +for her heart was breaking for a sight of you--her betrothed; that she +was counting the moments until she was restored to you, and once more +resting safely in your dear arms.' + +"I have been searching for you for some time, Hubert, to tell you our +darling Gerelda is home once more. It was only by the merest chance that +some one saw you enter this hotel and told me. I will be back in one +minute, depend upon it," said Maillard, seizing his hat and flying out +of the door without waiting for a reply. In fact, Varrick could not +have made him any had his life depended on it. + +In the midst of Hubert's conflicting thoughts, Maillard returned. + +"This way, Varrick," he called cheerily from the door-way; and a moment +later Varrick was hurried into the coupé, which had just drawn up to the +curbstone, and, with Maillard seated beside him, was soon whirling in +the direction of the Northrup mansion to which a servant admitted them. + +Maillard thrust aside the heavy satin _portières_ of the drawing-room, +gently pushed his friend forward, and Hubert felt the heavy silken +draperies close in after him. Through the half gloom he saw a slender +figure flying toward him, and he heard a voice, the sound of which had +been dear to him in the old days that were past and gone, crying out: +"Oh, Hubert! Hubert!" and in that instant Gerelda was in his arms. + +Insensibly his arms closed around her; but there was no warmth in the +embrace. She held up her lovely face to be kissed, and he bent his +handsome head and gave her the caress she coveted; but for him was gone +all the old rapture that a kiss from those flower-like lips would have +brought. By Hubert Varrick, at this moment, it was given only from a +sense of duty, as love for Gerelda had died. + +"Oh, Hubert, Hubert! my darling!" she cried, "is it not like heaven to +be united again?" + +She would not notice his coldness; for Gerelda Northrup had laid the +most amazing plan that had ever entered a woman's head. + +Immediately upon her dismissal from the Varrick mansion she had stolen +back to the little hamlet where her old nurse lived, and had got the +woman to write a letter for her as she dictated it. + +She had said to herself that Hubert Varrick should be hers again, at +whatever cost, and that she might as well force him by any means that +lay in her power into a betrothal with herself again, as long as he was +not married to another. + +He should never know that she knew of his change of heart. She would +meet him and greet him as her betrothed lover, whom she was soon to +marry, and he would have to be a much smarter man than she took him to +be if he could find any way out of it. + +She had caused the nurse to write a similar letter to her mother; and +when her mother read it, and realized that her daughter had not eloped, +she received her back joyfully and with open arms. If an angel from +heaven had told her that her daughter had stolen back to the city in +disguise, and had been residing under the Varrick roof, she would have +declared that it was false--a mad prevarication. + +Mrs. Northrup was overjoyed to have the sunshine of her home, her +darling daughter, back again. + +With almost her first breath, after she had kissed her rapturously, she +told her that she had seen very little of Hubert Varrick, and that he +had never crossed the threshold since that fatal night on which he +believed that his bride to be had eloped from him. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +"HUBERT CARES FOR ME NO LONGER," SOBBED THE GIRL. + + +It seemed to Hubert Varrick, as he clasped his arms around Gerelda, that +he must be some other person than the man who had once loved this girl +to idolatry. Now the clasp of her hand or the touch of her lips did not +afford him an extra pulse-glow. + +"Tell me, Hubert," she cried, "that you are as glad to see me as I am to +see you." + +"It is a great surprise to me, Gerelda," he answered, huskily, "so great +that I am not quite myself just now. It will take me some little time to +collect my scattered senses." + +He led her to the nearest seat. + +"My cousin has told you all that has happened to me from the hour that +we parted until now, darling," she whispered. "Now tell me, Hubert, +about yourself. Your heart must have almost broken, dear. I was fearful +lest you might have pined away and died because of my untimely loss." + +"Oh, Gerelda!" he cried, starting up distressedly, tears choking his +voice, "do not say any more; you are unmanning me with every word you +utter. I-- I can not bear it!" + +"Forgive me, my darling!" she muttered. "You are right. It is best not +to probe fresh wounds. But, oh! Hubert, I am so thankful that the +workings of fate have joined our hearts together at last!" + +He could not find it in his heart to tell her the truth when she loved +him so; and yet he felt that he owed it to Gerelda to tell her all; but +it is hard, terribly hard to own up to being faithless; and he said to +himself that he could not tell her now, in the flush of her joy at +meeting him, but would break it to her later on. + +"This almost seems like getting acquainted with you and falling in love +with you over again," laughed Gerelda, as she talked to him in the same +gay, witty manner that had once so enthralled him in the old days. "I +wonder, Hubert," she said at length, "that you have not asked me to sing +or play for you. You used to be so delighted to hear me sing. While +lying on my sick-bed I heard my old nurse sing a song that you desired +me to learn. I have learned it now for you, Hubert. Listen to it, dear." + +As Gerelda spoke she picked up a mandolin, and after striking a few +softly vibrating notes, commenced to sing in a low strain the tender +words of his favorite song, which she knew would be sure to find an echo +in his heart, if anything in this world would. + +Ah! what a wondrous voice she had, so full of pathetic music and the +tenderness of wonderful love! + +He listened, and something very like the old love stirred his heart. + +The song had moved him, as she knew it would--ay, as nothing else in +this world could ever have done. + +He bowed his head, and Gerelda, looking at him keenly from under her +long lashes, saw that his strong hand was shaking like an oak leaf in +the wind. + +He leaned over and brushed back the curls caressingly from her forehead, +as a brother might have done. + +"You are very good to have learned that for my sake; Gerelda," he +murmured. "I thank you for it." + +"We must learn to sing it together," she declared. + +"My voice is not what it used to be," he said, apologetically. + +He lingered until the clock on the mantel struck ten; then he rose and +took his departure. + +To Gerelda's great chagrin, he made no offer to kiss her good-night at +parting. + +It was plainly evident that he wished her to understand that they were +on a different footing from what they were on that memorable night when +they were parted so strangely from each other. + +When his footsteps had died away, Gerelda flung herself face downward on +the divan, sobbing as if her heart would break; and in this position, a +few minutes later, her mother surprised her. + +"Why, Gerelda!" she cried. "I am shocked! What can this mean? It can not +be that you and your lover have had a quarrel the very hour in which you +have been restored to each other! Surely, there is no lingering doubt in +his heart now, that you eloped!" + +Gerelda eagerly seized upon this idea. + +"There seems to be, mother," she sobbed. + +Mrs. Northrup drew a cushioned chair close beside her daughter, and drew +the dark, curly head into her arms. + +"You must make a confidante of me, my darling, and tell me all he said," +she declared. "I was quite amazed to hear the servants say that he had +gone so early. I expected to be summoned every moment, to learn that +your impatient lover had sent out for a minister to perform the delayed +ceremony." + +Gerelda raised her tear-stained face and looked at her mother. + +"No; he did not even mention marriage, mother," she sobbed. + +"What!" shrieked Mrs. Northrup, in dismay. "Do I understand aright--he +made no mention of marriage?" + +The girl sobbed. Mrs. Northrup sprang to her feet and paced up and down +the floor. + +"I-- I do not understand it," she cried. "Tell me what he had to say; +repeat the conversation that passed between you." + +"It did not amount to anything," returned her daughter bitterly. "To be +quite plain with you, mamma, he was very distant and cold toward me. In +fact, it was almost like getting acquainted with him over again; and to +add insult to injury, as he took my hand for an instant at parting, he +said, 'Good-night, Miss Northrup.' Oh! what shall I do, mamma--advise +me! Ought I to give him up?" + +"No," said Mrs. Northrup, sternly, "that would never do. That marriage +must take place!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +WHAT OUGHT A GIRL DO IF THE MAN SHE LOVES CARES FOR ANOTHER? + + +"Do you hear me, Gerelda?" repeated Mrs. Northrup. "This marriage must +go on! It would be the talk of the whole country if Hubert Varrick +jilted you. But let me understand this matter thoroughly; did he give +you any sort of a hint that he wished to break off with you? You must +tell me all very plainly, and keep nothing back. I am older than you are +Gerelda, and know more concerning worldly affairs. I now say this much: +there must be a rival in the background. When a man has been in love +with one girl, and suddenly cools off, there is a reason for it, depend +on it." + +"Even if there was a rival in the way, tell me what I could do, mamma, +to--to win him back!" + +"When a man once ceases to love you, you might as well attempt to move a +mountain as to rekindle the old flame in his heart. I understand this +point thoroughly. You will have to make up your mind to marry him +without love." + +"It takes two to make a contract to marry," sobbed Gerelda. "I am +willing, but he does not seem to be." + +"It is plainly evident that I shall have to take the matter in hand," +said Mrs. Northrup. "When is he coming again?" + +"He didn't say," returned Gerelda, faintly. "But perhaps he may be here +to-morrow evening with some music I asked him to bring me." + +"Now, when he comes," said Mrs. Northrup, "I want you to make some +excuse to leave the room, for say, ten or fifteen minutes, and during +that time I will soon have this matter settled with Hubert Varrick." + +"It would not look well for you to mention the matter," cried Gerelda. + +"Somebody must do it," returned her mother, severely, "and the longer it +is put off the worse it will be; the marriage can not take place too +soon. Come, my dear," she added, "you must dry your tears. Never permit +any living man to have the power to give you a heartache." + +"You talk as if I was a machine, mother, and could cease loving at +will!" cried the beauty. + +"It is much as a woman makes up her mind. If you worry yourself into the +grave over a man, before the grass has time to grow over you he will +have consoled himself with another sweetheart. So dry your eyes, and +don't shed a tear over him." + +Gerelda walked slowly from the room. It was not so easy to take her +mother's advice, for she loved Hubert Varrick with all her heart; and +the very thought of him loving another was worse to her than a poisoned +arrow in her breast. + +She knew why he did not care for her. + +"I have only one hope," she murmured, leaning her tear-stained face +against the marble mantel, "and that is that Hubert may soon get over +his mad infatuation for that girl Jessie Bain." + +Gerelda sought her couch, but not to sleep; and it was not until +daylight stole through the room, heralding the approach of another day, +that slumber came to her. + +Hubert Varrick, in his room at the hotel, was quite as restless. He had +paced the floor, smoking cigar after cigar, trying to look the matter +calmly in the face, until he was fairly exhausted. + +He was glad to know that Gerelda had not been false to him; and yet, so +conflicting were his thoughts, that he almost wished to Heaven that she +had been, that he could have had some excuse to give her up. + +He made up his mind that he could not marry Gerelda while his heart was +so entirely another's, but he must break away from her gently. + +As he was passing a music store the next afternoon, he saw a piece of +music in the window which Gerelda had asked him to bring to her. He went +and purchased it, and was about sending it to her by a messenger boy, +when he thought it would look much better to take it himself; besides, +he had business to attend to in that locality. + +As he stepped upon the street car, he purchased a daily paper to pass +away the time. + +Upon opening it, an article met his view that nearly took his breath +away. + +The caption read: + +"_A Romance in Real Life.--The Prettiest Girl in the City and a +Well-known Young Millionaire the Hero and Heroine of the Episode_." + +Following this was an account of Gerelda's abduction, as she had related +it. In conclusion there was a statement by Mrs. Northrup to the effect +that Gerelda's lover, Mr. Varrick, was anxious to have the ceremony +consummated at once, and, in accordance with his earnest wish, the +marriage would take place shortly. + +Varrick stared hard at the paper. + +"The whole matter seems to have been fully arranged and settled without +the formality of consulting me," he muttered, grimly. + +After that he could see no way out of it. This had gone broadcast +throughout the city, he told himself, and now what could he do but marry +Gerelda; otherwise it would subject her to the severest criticism, and +himself to scorn. + +A woman's good name was at stake. Was he not in honor bound to shield +her? He would have been startled had he but known that this newspaper +article was the work of Mrs. Northrup. + +"I might as well accept the inevitable as my fate," he murmured, with a +sigh. "I might have been happy with Gerelda if I had never known Jessie +Bain." + +When he arrived at the Northrup mansion, Gerelda's mother came down to +welcome him. + +Like her daughter, she did not appear to notice his constraint, and +greeted him effusively, as in the old days. + +"Have you seen the morning paper, Hubert?" she asked, with a little +rippling laugh on her lips. "It is amusing to me how these newspaper men +get hold of things so quickly. I was down to one of the stores this +afternoon ordering the wedding-cards. I knew you would be anxious to get +them, and I wanted to relieve your mind and Gerelda's as well. I was +telling the designer the whole story--you know he is the same person who +got up the last cards for you--when a man who stood near us, he must +have been a reporter--took in every word I said. A few hours later, a +young man representing the paper came up to interview me on the subject, +remarking that I might as well tell the public the whole story, as the +main part of the affair was already in print. He gave me a _résume_ of +what was about to appear, and I had to acknowledge that he had the story +correct in most of its details." + +She was shrewd enough to note that Hubert Varrick grew very pale while +she was speaking, and she could not help but observe the hopelessness +that settled over his face. + +His heart was touched, in spite of himself, to see how gladly Gerelda +greeted him, and to note how she seemed to hang on every word that he +uttered, accepting his love as a matter of course. + +Of what use to make any demur now that the fiat had gone forth? There +was nothing for him to do but to accept the bride fate had intended for +him, and shut out from his heart all thoughts of that other love. + +It would be a terrible burden to go through life with, acting the part +of a dutiful husband to a young wife whom he pitied but did not love. + +Other men had gone through such ordeals. Surely he could be as brave as +they. + +And so the preparations for the wedding, for a second time, were begun. +Again the guests were bidden, and the event was to take place in +exactly six weeks from that day. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +LOVE IS BITTER AND THE WHOLE WORLD GOES WRONG WHEN TWO LOVERS PART IN +ANGER FOREVER. + + +We must return to our beautiful heroine, little Jessie Bain. + +When she turned her face from the Varrick mansion toward the cold and +desolate world, the girl's very heart seemed to stop still in her bosom. + +Jessie Bain knew little of traveling--she had not the least idea how to +get to her uncle's, although she had made that trip once before. She +walked one street after the other in the vain hope of finding the depot. +At last, fairly exhausted, she found herself just outside the entrance +to Central Park. + +Jessie entered the park, and sunk down on the nearest seat. + +Among those sauntering past in the crowd was a tall, broad-shouldered +young man, who stopped abruptly as his bold black eyes fell upon the +lovely young face. + +"Heavens! what a beauty!" he muttered, stopping short, under the +pretense of lighting a cigarette, and watching her covertly from under +his dark brows. + +Seating himself unconcernedly on the further end of the bench, the +stranger continued to watch Jessie, who had not even the slightest +intimation of his presence. + +He waited until the crowd thinned out, until only an occasional +straggler passed by; then he edged nearer the pretty little creature. + +"Ahem!" he began, with a slight cough. After several ineffectual +attempts to attract her attention in this way, the stranger spoke to +her. + +"A lovely day, isn't it?" he remarked. + +"Are you speaking to me, sir?" asked Jessie Bain, in great displeasure. + +"I am indeed so bold," he answered. "May I hope that you are not +offended with me for so doing, for I have a fancy to know such a pretty +young girl as yourself." + +"I am offended!" cried Jessie Bain, indignantly. "I always supposed +before this that people could sit down in a public park without being +molested; but it seems not; so I shall move on!" + +"So young, so beautiful, but so unkind," murmured the stranger, in a +melo-dramatic voice. + +"I can not think that we are strangers. I must have seen you somewhere, +believe me," he went on, rising suddenly and walking close by her side +as she started down the path. + +Jessie was now thoroughly frightened. She uttered a little, shrill cry. + +"What are you doing that for?" hissed the man, clutching her arm. "You +will have the police after us. Walk along quietly beside me, you little +fool; I have something to say to you." + +Terrified, Jessie only cried the louder and shriller, wrenching her arm +free from the stranger's grasp. + +At that instant a young man, who had happened along, and who had heard +the cry, sprang with alacrity to the young girl's rescue. + +"What is the matter?" he cried. "Is this fellow annoying you?" + +Jessie knew the voice at once, and sprang forward. She had recognized +the voice of the young architect. + +"Oh, save me--save me!" she cried. + +Even before she had time to utter a word the young man had recognized +Jessie Bain; and that very instant the man who had dared thus annoy her +was measuring his full length on the grass, sent there by the young +architect's vigorous arm. + +"I will have your life for this!" yelled the fellow, as he picked +himself up, but taking good care to keep well out of the reach of the +young girl's defender. + +"What in the world are you doing in the park, and so far away from home, +Miss Jessie?" Moray, the young architect, asked. + +Her lips quivered and her eyes filled with sudden tears. + +"Varrick Place isn't home to me any longer, Mr. Moray," she sobbed. "I +have just left it to-day--left it forever. I wish I had never seen the +place. It has caused me no end of sorrow." + +"I do not wish to pry into any of your affairs," he said, gently, as he +took her hand and walked slowly down the path with her; "but if you will +confide in me and tell me why you left, I might be able to help you." + +Little by little he drew from the girl the whole terrible story, until +she had told him all. + +Frank Moray's indignation knew no bounds. He could hardly restrain +himself from ejaculations of anger. + +"Of course, if you have friends, it would ill become me to persuade you +not to go to them; but if you ask my advice, I would say: remain here +for a little while and look about you. Come home with me. I have a dear +old mother who will receive you with open arms. My cousin Annabel, too, +will be glad to welcome you. Come home and talk to mother and let her +advise you what to do. Will you come with me, Miss Jessie?" + +The girl was only too glad to assent. + +When Jessie had finished her story, the impulse was strong within the +young architect's breast to ask the girl to marry him, then and there. + +He had never ceased caring for her from the first moment he had seen her +pretty face. But he told himself that it would seem too much like taking +an unfair advantage to say anything of love or marriage to her now. + +Mrs. Moray received the stranger with motherly kindness. + +"I have heard my son speak of you so often that I feel as though I were +well acquainted with you," she said, untying the girl's bonnet and +removing her mantle. + +"Come here, Annabel, my dear," she said, turning to a young girl who sat +in a little low rocker by the sewing machine, "and welcome Miss Bain." + +A slim, slight girl, in a jaunty blue cloth dress edged with white, +rose and came curiously forward, extending a little brown hand to +Jessie. + +"I am very glad to see you, Miss Bain," she said; "for Frank has talked +of you so much." + +"Won't you please call me Jessie?" returned the other. "No one has ever +called me Miss Bain before." + +"Nothing would please me better," returned Annabel. + +They spent a very pleasant evening, and then Annabel took Jessie off to +her room with her for the night. + +Long after the two girls had retired Mrs. Moray and her son sat talking +the matter over, and it was not long before Mrs. Moray discovered that +her boy was deeply in love with pretty Jessie Bain. + +Of course, like himself, she felt perfectly sure that the girl was +entirely innocent of what she had been accused of by Mrs. Varrick. + +But the very idea of the theft sent a thrill of horror through her +heart. She must discourage her son's love for the girl, for she would +rather see him dead and buried than wedded to one upon whose fair name +ever so slight a stain rested. She said to herself that the girl's stay +beneath their cottage roof must be cut as short as possible. + +It was decided that Jessie Bain should remain at the cottage of the +Morays until she had ample time to write to her uncle and receive his +reply. + +Jessie mailed her letter before she went to sleep that night. Annabel +easily dropped off to slumber, but it was not so with Jessie; for had +not this been the most eventful day of her life? + +How she wished Mrs. Varrick had not exacted a promise from her that she +would never again hold any communication with her son Hubert! Would he +believe her guilty when he returned home and his mother told him all +that had transpired? + +She could imagine the horror on his face as he listened; and this +thought was so bitter to Jessie that she cried herself to sleep over it. + +The third day of her stay a letter from her uncle came to her. Her +cousin was married and gone away, he wrote, and he would be only too +glad to forget and forgive by-gones. + +Two days later, Frank Moray saw her safely on the train which would take +her as far as Clayton, where her uncle promised to meet her. + +"If I write to you sometimes, will you answer my letters, little +Jessie?" asked Frank Moray, as he found her a seat in a well-crowded +car, and bent over her for the last glance into the girl's beautiful, +wistful face. + +"Yes," she answered, absently. + +For a moment his hand closed over hers; he looked at her with his whole +soul in his honest eyes, then he turned and quickly left her. + +He stood on the platform and watched her sweet face at the window until +the train was out of sight, then he moved slowly away. + +Jessie stared hard through the window, but she never saw any of the +scenes through which she was whirling so rapidly. Her thoughts were with +Hubert Varrick. + +It was dusk when she reached her destination, and according to his +promise her uncle was at the depot to meet her. + +It was with genuine joy that he hurried forward to greet the girl, +though they had parted but a few short months ago in such bitter anger. + +"I am glad to get you back again, little Jessie," he declared, eagerly; +"and, as I wrote to you, we will let by-gones be by-gones, little girl, +and forget the past unpleasantness between us by wiping it out of our +minds as though it had never been. I missed you awfully, little one, and +I've had a lonesome time of it since your cousin went away. Home isn't +home to a man without a neat little woman about to tidy things up a bit +and make it cheerful." + +How good it seemed to Jessie to have some one speak so kindly to her! He +was plain and homely, and coarse of speech, but he was the only being in +the whole wide world who really cared for her and offered her a shelter +in this her hour of need. But how desolate the place was, with its +little old-fashioned, low-ceiling kitchen, the huge fire-place on one +side, the cupboard on the other, whose chintz curtains were drawn back, +revealing the rows of cups and saucers and pile of plates of blue china, +more cracked and nicked than ever, and the pine table, with its +oil-cloth cover, and the old rag mat in the center of the floor! + +The girl's heart sank as she looked around. + +Could she make this place her home again? Its very atmosphere, redolent +with tobacco smoke and the strong odor of vegetables, took her breath +away. + +Ah! it was very hard for this girl, whose only fortune was a dower of +poverty, and who had had a slight taste of wealth and refinement, to +come back to the old life again and fall into the drudgery of other +days. + +She could not refuse her uncle when he pleaded to know where she went +and where she had been since the night he had driven her, in his mad +frenzy, out into the world. + +He listened in wonder. The girl's story almost seemed like a fairy tale +to him. But as he listened to the ending of it--surely the saddest story +that ever was told by girlish lips--of how she had left the Varrick +mansion, and of what Mrs. Varrick had accused her of doing, his rage +knew no bounds. + +"You might have known how it would all turn out!" he cried. "A poor +little field wren has no business in the gilded nest of the golden +eagle! You are at home again, little one. Think no more of those +people!" + +How little he realized that this was easier said than done. Where one's +heart is, there one's thoughts are also. + +The neighbors flocked in to see her. Every one was glad to have pretty, +saucy Jessie Bain back once more. But there was much mystery and silent +speculation as to where she had been. + +The girls of the neighborhood seemed to act shy of her. Even her old +companions nodded very stiffly when they met her, and walked on the +other side of the street when they saw her coming. + +The antagonism of the village girls was never so apparent until the +usual festivities of the autumn evenings approached. + +It was the custom of the village maidens of Alexandria Bay to +inaugurate the winter sports by giving a Halloween party, and every one +looked forward to this with the wildest anticipation. + +Jessie Bain had always been the moving spirit at these affairs, despite +the fact that they were generally held in the homes of some of the +wealthier girls, their houses being larger and more commodious. + +The party, which was to be on a fine scale this year, was now the talk +of the little town. + +But much to the sorrow and the amazement of Jessie Bain, day by day +rolled by without bringing her the usual invitation. + +It wanted but two days now to the all-important party. Jessie had gotten +her dress ready for the occasion, thinking that at the last moment some +of the girls would come in person and invite her. Not that she cared so +much for the fun, after all, but her uncle was anxious that she should +go more among the young folks, as she used to do. It was simply to +please him that she would mingle among the crowd of youths and maidens. + +At last the day of the Halloween party rolled round. + +"Well," said her uncle, as he sat down to the breakfast table and waited +for her to set on the morning meal, "I suppose you're getting all your +fixings ready to have a big time with the young folks to-night?" + +Before she could answer, there was the postman's whistle at the door. He +handed in a large, thick letter, and it was addressed to Jessie Bain. + +Jessie turned the letter over and over, looking in wonder at the +superscription. The envelope contained something else besides the +letter--a newspaper clipping. This Jessie put on the table to look over +after she had finished the letter. It was a bright, newsy epistle, +brimming over with kindly wishes for her happiness, and ending with a +hope that the writer might see her soon. + +"Who is it from?" asked her uncle. + +The girl dutifully read it out for him. + +"He seems to be a right nice young man, and quite taken up with you, +little Jess," he said, laughingly. + +He saw by the distressed look on her face that this idea did not please +her. + +"He would have to be a mighty nice fellow to get my consent to marry +you, my lass." + +"Do not fear, uncle," she said; "you will never be called upon to give +your consent to that. He is very nice indeed, but not such a one as I +could give my heart to, I assure you." + +"Then let me give you a word of advice; don't encourage him by writing +letters to him. But isn't there another part of the letter on the table +yonder you haven't read yet?" + +"I had almost forgotten it," returned Jessie. + +One glance as she spread it out at full length, then her face grew white +as death. + +"Bless me! I shall be late!" declared her uncle, putting on his hat and +hurrying from the room. + +She never remembered what he said as he passed out of the room. Her +heart, ay, her very soul, was engrossed in the printed lines before her. + +In startling headlines she read the words: + +"A NOTABLE MARRIAGE IN HIGH LIFE--MR. HUBERT VARRICK AND MISS NORTHRUP +WEDDED AT LAST." + +Then followed an account of the grand ceremony; of a mansion decorated +with roses; a description of the marriage; the elaborate +wedding-breakfast served in a perfect bower of orchids and ferns; and +then the names of the guests, who numbered nearly a thousand. + +Jessie Bain never finished the article. With a bitter cry she fell face +downward on the floor in a deep swoon. + +It was an hour or more ere she returned to consciousness. With trembling +hands the girl tore the newspaper clipping into a thousand shreds, lest +her eyes should ever fall on it again. + +"He is married--married!" she murmured; and the words seemed to fall +like ice upon her heart. + +How strange it seemed! She remembered but too well the last time she had +looked upon his face. + +Captain Carr did not come home for supper, and one of the neighboring +women dropped in to tell Jessie that he might not get home until far +into the night, for there had been a terrible accident on the river the +evening before, and his services were needed there. + +Night came on, darkness settled down over the world; then one by one the +stars came out, and a full moon rose clear and bright in the heavens. + +The sound of far-off strains of music and the echo of girlish laughter +suddenly fell upon her ears. Then it occurred to her that it must be +near midnight, that her companions of other days were in the midst of +their Halloween games in the big house on the hill. + +Only the little brook at the rear of her uncle's garden separated the +grounds. Some subtle instinct which she could not follow drew Jessie's +steps to the brook. + +The moon for a moment was hidden behind a cloud, but suddenly it burst +forth clear and bright in all its glory. For one brief instant the heart +in her bosom seemed to stand still. + +Was she mad, or did she dream? Was it the figure of a man picking his +way over the smooth white rocks that served as stepping-stones across +the shallow stream, and coming directly toward her? + +Midway he paused, and looked toward the cottage and the light which she +always placed in the window. Then the moon shone full upon his face, and +Jessie Bain looked at him with eyes that fairly bulged from their +sockets. His features were now clearly visible in the bright moonlight. +It was Hubert Varrick in the flesh, surely, or his wraith! + +In that first rapid glance she seemed to live an age; then, for the +second time that day, a merciful unconsciousness seized her. + +It was gray dawn when she regained her senses and crept back, +terror-stricken, to the house. + +Was it the idle fancy of her own vivid imagination, or did she really +see the image of Hubert Varrick confronting her by the brook as the +midnight bells of All-Halloween rang out slowly and solemnly on the +crisp, chilly night air? + +"I must be going mad--my brain must be turning," thought the girl, +shivering in every limb as she walked slowly back to the house. + +The sun was up high in the heavens ere her uncle returned. + +"Such a time as we've had, lass!" he cried, throwing down his cap. "A +steamer was wrecked the night before last, and all day yesterday and all +last night we were busy doing our utmost for the poor creatures who +barely escaped with their lives. We saved a good many who were in the +water for many hours, holding on to planks or life-preservers, and there +are many lost. It was the steamer 'St. Lawrence,' heavily laden, that +was to have connected with the boat for Montreal, for which most of the +passengers were bound. There is one woman whom they are bringing here. I +came on ahead to have you prepare a bed for her. Every house has been +called upon to give shelter to some one. It will make you a little more +work, lass, but it will only be for a little while." + +"I shall be glad of the work, for it will occupy my time and attention," +declared Jessie. + +She had scarcely uttered the words ere the men were seen approaching +with their burden. They brought the woman in and placed her on Jessie's +little cot. + +"Oh, how beautiful she is!" murmured Jessie, little dreaming who it was +that she was sheltering beneath that roof. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +WEDDING BELLS OUT OF TUNE. + + +Let us return to Hubert Varrick, and the marriage which was the +all-absorbing topic in fashionable circles. + +Mrs. Varrick had sent a note to her son at his hotel, begging for a +reconciliation, and stating that she would be at the wedding without +fail; but never a word did she say about Jessie Bain. + +It seemed like a dream to Hubert--his ride in a cab through the cool +crisp air to Gerelda's home on that eventful morning. + +He noticed one thing--that the sun did not shine that day; and he said +to himself that it boded ill for his wedding. + +The bride-elect and her mother welcomed him effusively. Bitter anger +filled the girl's heart to see how cold and stern he looked. She noticed +that he had no word, no smile for her. If she had not loved him so +madly, her pride would have rebelled, and she would have let him go his +way even then. + +She almost shrunk under the cold glance that rested upon her. She +trembled, even in that moment, as she thought how he would hate her if +he but knew how she had plotted to win him. Before she had a chance to +exchange a word with him, her maid of honor came fluttering down the +corridor, chattering in high spirits with Harry Maillard, who was to be +best man. + +She was quite as dazed as Varrick himself, until she found herself +standing beside him at the altar. + +It was over at last! The words had been spoken which made her Hubert +Varrick's wedded wife, through weal or through woe, till death did them +part. + +Then followed the sumptuous wedding-breakfast. While the merriment was +at its height, Varrick touched her lightly on the arm. + +"It wants but an hour and twenty minutes until train time. Would it not +be best to slip away now and arrange your traveling toilet?" + +"Yes," said Gerelda. + +No one noticed their exit, and at last they were alone together, away +from the throng of guests; but, much to the bride's disappointment, her +newly made husband did not seem to realize this fact, and Gerelda's face +flushed with disappointment. + +He escorted her as far as the door of her _boudoir_, and there he left +her, saying that he would return in half an hour, hoping that would be +sufficient time to exchange her bridal robes for her traveling-dress. +She smiled and nodded, declaring that he should find her ready before +that time. + +Hubert walked slowly on until he found himself at the door of the +conservatory. + +"It wouldn't be a bad idea to get a cigar and return here for a quiet +smoke," he thought. + +He immediately suited the action to the thought. Was it fate that led +him there? He had scarcely seated himself in one of the rustic +arm-chairs ere he heard the sound of approaching voices. + +He felt slightly annoyed that the retreat he had chosen was to be +invaded at that particular moment. + +He drew back among the large-leaved plants, which would effectually +screen him from the intruders, and hoped that their stay would be short. + +"I tell you it will be impossible for you to see her," said a voice, +which he recognized as belonging to Gerelda's maid. + +"But I must," retorted another voice which sounded strangely familiar. +"Give her the note I just gave you, and I will wager you something +handsome that she will see me. My good girl, let this plead for me with +you!" + +A jingle of silver accompanied the words, and Varrick could not help but +smile at the magical effect the little bribe had. + +"Of course, I'll take your note to her, sir," said the girl; "but that +isn't promising she'll see you." + +Somehow the idea formed itself in Varrick's mind that it was Mrs. +Northrup for whom the man asked. Had he thought for one moment that it +was Gerelda whom the man had asked for, he would have stepped forth and +inquired of him what he wanted. + +In a very few moments he heard the _frou-frou_ of a woman's garments and +the patter of hurrying feet. + +"Gerelda has come instead of her mother to see what this person wants," +he thought; adding impatiently: "This will never do; we shall be late +for the train, sure. I will have to take the man off her hands." + +At that instant, Gerelda, panting with excitement sprung across the +threshold of the conservatory. + +From his leafy seat Varrick could hear and see all that took place, +while no one could see him. + +He had risen, and was just about to step forward, when he caught sight +of Gerelda's face. The color of it held him spell-bound. It was as pale +as death, and her eyes flashed fire. She was fairly frothing at the +mouth, and the look of venomous rage that distorted her features +appalled him. + +"You!" cried Gerelda. "Have you risen from the grave to confront me?" + +"I am Captain Frazier--at your service, madame," returned her companion, +with a low bow. "As for my returning from the unknown shore, why, you +flatter me in imagining that I have so much power, though I have been +known to do some miraculous things before now. I am sorry that so many +of my friends believe the ridiculous story that was set afloat regarding +my supposed death. I am--" + +"Why are you here? What do you want?" cried Gerelda. + +"You are inclined to be brusque, my dear," he replied, tauntingly. "If +you had asked me that question half an hour ago, I should have answered, +'I am here to stop your marriage with Hubert Varrick at whatever cost. I +have traveled by night and by day, foot-sore and hungry, to get here in +time to prevent it.' I-- I thought you had perished in the fire on the +island, until I read the article in the paper announcing your marriage." + +"If this is all you have to say to me, permit me to say good-morning," +she returned icily, turning to leave the place. + +"You shall listen to me!" he cried. "I vowed in days gone by that you +should never be happy with Hubert Varrick. You promised that you would +marry me, and those words changed my whole life." + +"Well, now that I am another's bride, what can you do about it?" sneered +Gerelda. + +"I mean to see Varrick and have a little talk with him," he answered. "I +will tell him how, on the very night before the marriage was to have +taken place at the Crossmon Hotel, at Alexandria Bay, I threw myself on +my knees at your feet, and cried out to you to spare me; that you had +played with my heart too long, and urged you to fly with me, and that +you said, while I knelt before you, that if you decided to fly with me +you would let me know by sunrise the following morning, but that you +must have all night to think it over. + +"Do you dare face me and deny that?" continued Captain Frazier, seizing +her white wrist and holding it in an iron grip. + +"No, I do not deny it," she answered. "But what of it? What do you +expect to make of it?" + +"This!" he cried, furiously. "I intend to be even with you. I will have +a glorious revenge! I will see Hubert Varrick before he leaves this +house, and say to him: 'I hope you may be happy with your bride,' and I +will laugh in his face, crying out: 'She eloped with me not so very long +ago, and we went to my island home, where we kept in hiding until the +sensation should blow over. We remained there, as I can prove by all my +servants, and I was a very slave to her sweet caprices.'" + +"You would not say that!" cried Gerelda. "I would tell him my side of +the story--that you kidnapped me, and held me by force on the island." + +"Varrick is a man of the world," he returned, tauntingly. "Your side of +the story is too flimsy for him or any one else to believe." + +"Stop! You must not--you shall not!" cried Gerelda, wildly. "I-- I will +make terms with you. I see you are shabbily dressed and in want of +money. I will give you a check, here and now, for a thousand dollars, if +you will go away, never again to return, and have nothing to +say--nothing. Your story would ruin me, false though it is." + +The captain arched his eyebrows. + +"I think I could bring satisfactory proof as to where you passed your +time." + +Hubert Varrick, standing behind the foliage, was fairly stricken dumb by +what he heard and saw. + +He did not love his bride, but he believed in her implicitly. All the +old doubt which had filled his heart and killed his love for Gerelda +came surging back like a raging torrent, sweeping over his very soul. + +In that instant the thought of Jessie Bain came to him--sweet little +Jessie, whose love for him he had read in her every glance, and to whom +he had given all his heart with a deeper, stronger love than he had ever +given to Gerelda, even in those old days. How he longed to break from +the terrible nightmare which seemed to fetter him! + +"Your offer of a thousand dollars is a very fair one; but it will take +double that sum to purchase my silence. You are quite right in your +surmise. I am in need of money. With one fell swoop I have lost every +dollar of my fortune, and now that all romance and sentiment are over +between us, I have no compunction in showing you the mercenary side of +my nature. Make it two thousand, and I will consent to hold my peace, +seeing that I can not mend matters by undoing the marriage." + +"Come with me. We will settle this now and forever. I have but five +minutes to devote to you. Step this way," said Gerelda. + +The next instant they had disappeared, and Hubert Varrick was left +standing there alone. + +How long he stood there he never knew. His valet came in search of him. +He found him at the end of the conservatory, standing motionless as a +statue among the shrubbery. + +"Master," he said, "your bride bids me say to you that you have barely +time to get into your traveling clothes." + +He was shocked at the horrible laugh that broke from Varrick's lips. + +Had his master gone mad? he wondered. + +He followed the man without a word, and five minutes later, with a firm +step, he was walking down the corridor toward his bride's apartments. + +But ere he could knock upon the door, it was opened by Gerelda. He +offered his arm to Gerelda, and walked slowly by her side through the +throng of friends to the carriage in waiting; and, amid showers of rice, +peals of joyous laughter, and a world of good wishes, they were whirled +away. + +During the entire ride Varrick spoke no word. Gerelda watched him +narrowly out of the corner of her eye, wondering why he looked so +unusually angry. + +They were barely in time to catch the train, and it was not until they +were seated in their own compartment that Varrick ventured a remark to +the beautiful girl he had just made his wife, and who was looking up +into his face with such puzzled wonder in her great dark eyes. + +"I should like your attention for a few moments, Mrs. Varrick," he said, +turning to her with a haughty sternness that was new to him. + +"You are my wife," he went on; "the ceremony is barely over which made +you that, yet I would recall it if I could." + +"What do you mean, Hubert?" she cried, piteously. + +"We will not have any theatricals, if you please," he said, waving her +back. "A guilty conscience should need no accuser. It is best to speak +plainly to you, and to the point. Suffice it to say I was in the +conservatory at the time you entered. I heard all that passed between +Captain Frazier and yourself. Now, here is what I propose to do: We were +to take a wedding-trip to Montreal. We will go there, but when we reach +our destination, you and I will part forever. I shall institute +proceedings for a divorce at once, and I shall never know another happy +moment until the divorce is granted. You shall be wife of mine but in +name until we reach Montreal; then we part forever." + +"Oh, Hubert, Hubert, you will not do this!" she sobbed, wildly. "It +would ruin my life--kill me!" + +"You did not stop to think that marriage with you would ruin my life," +he interposed, bitterly. "What have you to say for yourself? Was +Captain Frazier's story false or true? Remember, I heard him say that he +could furnish proof of all he charged." + +"It is useless to hide the truth from you," she whispered, hoarsely. "I +see that you know all. Give me a chance to think--only to think of some +way out of it. It would kill me, Hubert, to part from you. Better death +than that. You are my world, the sunshine of my life. I would pine away +and die without you. Oh, Hubert, you must not leave me!" + +"The words are easily said," he replied, "but they do not sound sincere. +I may as well make a clean breast of the whole matter," he went on, "and +tell you the truth, Gerelda. I do not love you. I-- I--love another, +though that love has never been confessed to the one I love. I-- +I--married you because I felt in honor bound to do so, and in doing so I +crushed all the love that was budding in my heart. But was it worth the +sacrifice of two lives? You can not answer me. I shall not intrude upon +you again until we reach Montreal. You can send for your mother; it +would be best for me to leave you in her charge. Telegraph back to her +from the next station we arrive at. The moment we reach Montreal we part +forever!" + +But at that instant a strange event happened. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE COLLISION--THE PILOT AT THE WHEEL. + + +Gerelda had been looking intently out of the window. Suddenly she sprang +back with a wild cry that fairly froze the blood in Varrick's veins. + +"What has frightened you, Gerelda?" he asked, gravely; and the look she +turned on him he never forgot, there was something so terrible in the +gaze of those dark eyes. She did not attempt to repel him from drawing +near her, or from clasping her hands; but ever and anon she would laugh +that horrible laugh that froze the blood in his veins. + +"Let us talk the matter over calmly, Gerelda," he said at length, "and +arrive at an understanding." + +"There is no need," she returned. "As long as I understand, that is +quite sufficient." + +There was something in the tone of her voice that frightened him. He +looked into her face. A grayish pallor overspread it. To Varrick's +infinite surprise, Gerelda commenced to laugh immoderately; and these +spells of laughter so increased as the moments flew by, that he became +greatly alarmed. + +He wondered what he could do or say to comfort her. She grew so +alarmingly hysterical as he watched her, that it occurred to him he must +find medical aid for her. Fortune favored him; he found a doctor seated +in the compartment next to him. The gentleman was only too glad to be +able to render him every assistance in his power. + +One glance at the beautiful bride, and an expression of the gravest +apprehension swept over the doctor's face. + +"My dear sir," he said, turning to Varrick, "I have something to tell +you which you must summon all your fortitude to hear. Your young wife +has lost her reason; she is dangerously insane." + +Varrick started back as though the man had struck him a sudden blow. + +"You are bound for Montreal, I believe," continued the doctor. "You will +see the need of conveying her to an asylum, with the least possible +delay, as soon as you arrive there. If there is anything which I can do +to assist you during this journey, do not hesitate to call upon me. +Consider me entirely at your service." + +That was a day in Hubert Varrick's life that he never looked back to +without shuddering. How he passed the long hours he never knew. Gerelda +grew steadily more violent, and twice Varrick's life would have paid the +forfeit had it not been for his watchfulness. + +With great difficulty he succeeded, with the doctor's assistance, in +making the change from the train to the boat. + +That was how his wedding journey began. + +As night came on, the doctor touched him again on the arm. + +"You have not left your young bride's side for an instant during all +these long hours," he said. "You are wearing yourself out. Let me beg of +you to go out on deck and take a few turns up and down; the cool air +will revive you. Nay, you must not refuse; I insist upon it, or I shall +have you for a patient before your journey is ended." + +To this proposition, after some little coaxing, Varrick consented. + +The doctor was quite right; the cool air did revive him amazingly. He +felt feverish, and paced up and down the deck, a prey to the bitterest +thoughts that ever tortured a man's soul. + +One by one the stars came out in the great blue arch overhead, and +mirrored themselves in the bluer waters. + +Varrick watched them in silence, his heart in a whirl. All at once it +occurred to him that he knew the pilot of the boat--that, as he was from +Montreal, it wouldn't be a bad idea to interview him as to the location +of some private asylum to which he might take Gerelda. + +He acted upon this thought at once, and making his way to the upper +deck, he recognized the man at the wheel, in the dim light, although his +back was turned to him. + +"How are you, John?" he exclaimed, tapping him on the shoulder. "Don't +let me frighten you; it is your old friend Varrick." + +Much to his surprise, the pilot neither stirred nor spoke. Varrick +stepped around, and faced him with some little laughing remark on his +lips. But the words died away in his throat in a gasp. The dim light was +falling full upon the pilot's features. What was there in that ashy face +and those staring eyes that sent the cold blood back to his heart? + +"John!" he cried, bending nearer the man and catching hold of his arm +roughly as it rested upon the wheel. But his own dropped heavily to his +side. + +The terrible truth burst upon him with startling force--the pilot was +dead at the wheel! + +But even in the same instant that he made his horrible discovery, a +still greater one dawned upon him. Another steamer came puffing and +panting down the river, signaling the "St. Lawrence." + +Each turn of the ponderous wheels swept her nearer and nearer, and the +"St. Lawrence" was drifting directly across her bow. It was a moment so +feighted with horror it almost turned Varrick's brain. Five hundred +souls, or more, all unconscious of their deadly peril, were laughing and +chattering down below, and the pilot was dead at the wheel! + +Ere he could give the alarm, a terrible catastrophe would occur. He +realized this, and made the supreme effort of his life to avert it. But +fate was against him. In his mad haste to leap down the stair-way to +give warning, his foot slipped, and he fell headlong to the floor of the +lower deck, his temple, coming in contact with the railing, rendering +him unconscious. Heaven was merciful to him that he did not realize what +took place at that instant. + +There was a sudden shock, a terrible crash, and half a thousand souls, +with terrified shrieks on their lips, found themselves struggling in the +dark waters! + +It was a reign of terror that those who participated in it, never +forgot. + +When Hubert Varrick returned to consciousness he found himself lying +full length upon the greensward, and his face upturned to the moonlight, +with the dead and dying around him, and the groans of the wounded +ringing in his ears. + +For an instant he was bewildered; then, with a rush, Memory mounted its +throne in his whirling brain, and he recollected what had happened--the +pilot dead at the wheel, another steamer sweeping down upon them; how he +had rushed below to inform the passengers of their peril; how his foot +had slipped, and he knew no more. + +He realized that there must have been a horrible disaster. + +How came he there? Who had saved him? Then, like a flash, he thought of +Gerelda. Where was she? What had become of her? He struggled to his +feet, weak and dazed. + +He made the most diligent search for her, but she was nowhere to be +found. Some one at length came hurriedly up to him. In the clear bright +moonlight Varrick saw that it was the doctor in whose care he had left +his young bride when he had gone on deck for fresh air. + +"You are looking for _her_, sir?" he asked, huskily. + +"Yes," cried Varrick, tremulously. + +"Are you brave enough to hear the truth?" said the other, slowly. + +"Yes," answered Varrick. + +"Your wife was lost in the disaster. I was by her side when the steamer +was struck. We had both concluded to go on deck to join you. With the +first terrible lurch we were both thrown headlong into the water. I did +my utmost to save her, but it was not to be. A floating spar struck her, +and she went down before my eyes." + +For an instant Varrick neither moved nor spoke. + +"She is dead?" he interrogated. + +"Yes," returned the doctor. + +Varrick sank down upon a fallen log, and buried his face in his hands. +For a moment he could scarcely realize Gerelda's untimely fate. He had +not loved her, it was true; still, he would have given his life to have +had her reason restored to her. + +For an hour or more Hubert Varrick forgot his own sorrow in alleviating +the terrible distress of others. + +When there was no more assistance that he could render he thought it +would be best for him to get away from the place as quickly as possible. + +Scarcely heeding whither he went, he took the first path that presented +itself. How far he walked he had not the least idea. In the distance he +saw lights gleaming, and he knew that he was approaching some little +village. He said to himself that it would be best to stop there for a +few hours--until daylight, at least, and to recover Gerelda's body if +possible. + +He followed the path until it brought him to the edge of a little brook. +The white, shining stones that rose above the eddying little wavelets +seemed to invite him to cross to the other side. Midway over the brook +he paused. + +Was it only his fancy, or did he hear the sound of music and revelry? + +He stood quite still and looked around him; the scene seemed familiar. + +For an instant Hubert Varrick was startled; but as he gazed he +recognized the place. He must be at Fisher's Landing. Up there through +the trees, lay the home of Captain Carr, the uncle of little Jessie +Bain. + +As he stood gazing at it, the clock in some adjacent steeple slowly +struck the midnight hour. He wondered if Jessie was there. How he felt +like telling some one his troubles! + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +LOVE IS A POISONED ARROW IN SOME HEARTS. + + +Early the next morning Varrick was at the scene of the disaster, though +he was scarcely fit to leave his bed at the village hostelry. Most of +the bodies had been recovered or accounted for, save that of Gerelda. + +Varrick was just about to offer a large reward to any one who would +recover it, when two fishermen were seen making their way in a little +skiff toward the scene of the wreck. + +There was some object covered over with a dark cloak in the bottom of +their boat. They were making for the shore upon which the wreck was +strewn. + +Varrick sprung forward. + +"Is it the body of a woman you have there?" he cried. + +They lifted it out tenderly and uncovered the face. It was mutilated +beyond recognition, and the clothing was so torn and soiled by the +action of the waves that scarcely enough of it remained intact, to +disclose its color or texture. + +There was great consternation when Hubert Varrick returned home with the +body of his bride, and more than one whispered: "Fate seems to have been +against that marriage from the very first! 'What is to be, will be.' +These two proposed to marry, but a Higher Power decreed that they were +not for each other." + +The same thought had come to Hubert Varrick as he paced wearily up and +down his own room. + +It was a nine-days' subject for pity and comment, and then the public +ceased to think about it, and Gerelda's fate was at last forgotten. + +Hubert Varrick then arranged his business for a trip abroad, and when he +said good-bye to his mother and Mrs. Northrup, he added that he might be +gone years, perhaps forever. + +In the very moment that he uttered those words, how strange it was that +the thought came over him that he might never see Jessie Bain again. + +But this thought, at such a time, he put from him as unworthy to linger +in his breast. And when the "City of Paris" sailed away, among her +passengers was Hubert Varrick. + +He watched the line of shore until it disappeared from his sight, and a +heavy sigh throbbed on his lips as his thoughts dwelt sadly on Gerelda, +his fair young bride, who lay sleeping on the hill-side just where the +setting sun glinted the marble shaft over her grave with a touch of pale +gold. + +Let us return to the cottage home of Jessie Bain, and see what is taking +place there on this memorable day. + +For a week after the unfortunate young girl was brought under that roof, +carried there from the wreck, her life hung as by a single thread. The +waves had been merciful to her, for they had balked death by washing her +ashore. + +A handkerchief marked with the name "Margaret Moore" had been found +floating near her, and this, they supposed, belonged to her. + +How strange it is that such a little incident can change the whole +current of a human being's life. + +The daily papers far and wide duly chronicled the rescue of Margaret +Moore. No one recognized the name, no friends came to claim her. They +had made a pitiful discovery, however, in the interim--the poor young +creature had become hopelessly insane, whether through fright, or by +being struck upon the head by a piece of the wreck, they could not as +yet determine. + +Jessie Bain's pity for her knew no bounds. She pleaded with her uncle +with all the eloquence she was capable of to allow the stranger to +remain beneath that roof and in the end her pleading prevailed, and +Margaret Moore was installed as a fixture in the Carr homestead. + +Jessie Bain would sit and watch her by the hour, noting how soft and +white her hands were, and how ladylike her manners. She said to herself +that she must be a perfect lady, and to the manner born. + +There was something so pathetic about her--(she was by no means +violent)--that Jessie could not help but love her. And the words were +ever upon her lips, that she was to be parted from her lover as soon as +her journey ended; that he had discovered all, and now he had ceased to +love her; that twice she had nearly won him, but that fate had stepped +in-between them. + +Of course, Jessie knew that her words were but the outgrowth of a +deranged mind, and that there had been no lover on the steamer "St. +Lawrence" with Margaret Moore. All day long the girl would wring her +hands and call for her lover, until it made Jessie's heart bleed to hear +her. + +But there was no tangible sense to any remarks that she made. She seemed +so grateful to Jessie, who in turn grew very fond of her grateful +charge. Jessie Bain was not a reader of the newspapers. She never knew +that Hubert Varrick had been on the ill-fated "St. Lawrence" on that +memorable night, and that he had lost his bride. + +Frank Moray, who had been only too glad to send Jessie the item +announcing Hubert Varrick's marriage to another, took good care not to +let her know that Varrick was free again. So the girl dreamed of him as +being off in Europe somewhere, happy with his beautiful bride. Of +course, he had forgotten her long since--that was to be expected; in +fact, she would not have it otherwise. + +Two months had gone by since that Hallowe'en night. It had made little +change in the Carr household. The captain still plied his trade up and +down the river, Jessie divided her time between taking care of her +uncle's humble cottage and watching over poor Margaret Moore. + +There were times when the girl really seemed to understand just how much +Jessie was doing for her, and certainly it was gratitude that looked out +of the dark, wistful eyes. + +There were times too when Jessie was quite sure that Memory was +struggling back to its vacant throne. + +"Who are you?" she would whisper, earnestly, gazing into Jessie's face. +"And what is your name? It seems as if I had heard it and known it in +some other world." + +Jessie would laugh amusedly at this. Once, much to Jessie's surprise, +when she questioned her as to why she was sitting in the sunshine, +thinking so deeply upon some subject, Margaret Moore answered simply: + +"I was thinking about love!" + +There were times when Margaret Moore seemed rational enough; but her +past life was a blank to her. She always insisted that Jessie Bain's +face was the first she had ever seen in this world. + +It was the first one which she had beheld when consciousness came to her +as she lay on her sick-bed; and to say that she fairly idolized Jessie +was but expressing it very mildly. + +The day came when she proved that devotion with a heroism that people +never forgot. It happened in this way: + +One cold, frosty morning early in January, in tidying up Petie's cage, +the door was accidently left open, and the little canary, who was +Jessie's especial pride, slipped from his cage and flew out at the open +door-way, into the bitter cold of the winter morn. + +With a cry of terror, Jessie Bain sprung after her pet. Down the village +street he flew, making straight toward the river, Jessie following as +fast as her feet could carry her, wringing her hands and calling to him. +Margaret Moore followed in the rear. On the river's brink Jessie paused, +and, with tears in her eyes, watched her pet in his mad flight. By this +time Margaret Moore had caught up to her. + +At that instant Jessie saw the bird whirl in mid-air, spread his yellow +wings, then fall headlong upon the ice that covered the river, and +Jessie sprang forward, and was soon making her way to where the canary +lay. But the ice was not strong enough to bear her. There was a crash, a +cry, and in an instant Jessie Bain had disappeared. The ice had given +way beneath her weight, and the dark waters had swallowed her. + +For an instant Margaret Moore stood dazed; then, with a shriek of +terror, she flew over the ice and was kneeling at the spot where Jessie +had disappeared, watching for her to come to the surface. + +Once, twice, the golden hair showed for an instant; but each time it +eluded the grasp of the girl who made such agonizing attempts to catch +it. The third and last time it appeared. Would she be able to save her? + +Margaret Moore turned her white face up to Heaven, and her lips moved; +then she reached forward, plunged her right arm desperately down into +the ice-cold water, grasped at the sinking form, and caught it; but she +could not draw the body up. + +"Jessie Bain! Jessie Bain!" she cried; "you will slip away from me! I +can not hold you! + +"Help! help!" she shrieked, in terror. But there was no help at hand. + +All in vain were her pitiful cries. Margaret's hands were torn and +bleeding, and slowly but surely freezing. They must soon relax their +hold, and poor Jessie Bain would slip down, down into a watery grave. + +Ten, twenty minutes passed. Surely it was by a superhuman effort that +that slender arm retained its burden; but it could not hold out much +longer. + +So intense was her terror, Margaret Moore did not realize her own great +physical pain. By an almost superhuman effort she attempted to cry out +again. + +This time she was successful. Her voice rose shrill and clear over the +barren waste of frozen ice, over the waving trees, and down the road +beyond. It reached the ears of a man who was hurrying rapidly through +the snow-drifts. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +IT IS SO HARD FOR A YOUNG GIRL TO FACE THE WORLD ALONE. + + +"Help! help!" the words echoed sharp and clear again through the frosty +morning air, and this time the man walking hurriedly along the road +heard it distinctly, paused, and turned a very startled face toward the +river. + +It required but a glance to take in the terrible situation; the young +girl stretched at full length on the ice, holding by main strength, +something above the aperture in the ice; it was certainly a woman's +head. + +"Courage, courage!" he cried in a voice like a bugle blast. "Help is at +hand! Hold on!" And in less time than it takes to tell it, he had +reached the girl's side. + +"Save her, save her!" gasped Margaret Moore. "My hands are frozen; I can +not hold on any longer;" and with this she sunk back unconscious, and +the burden she held would have slipped from her cramped fingers back +into the dark, cold waves had not the stranger caught it in time. It +required all his strength, however, to draw the body, slim though it +was, from the water. + +One glance at the marble-white face, and he uttered a little cry: + +"Great Heaven! if it isn't Jessie Bain!" + +Laying his dripping burden on the bank, the man lost no time in +dragging Margaret Moore back from her perilous position; then the +stranger, who was a fisherman, summoned assistance, and the two young +girls were quickly carried back to the cottage, and a neighbor called +in. + +Jessie was the first to recover consciousness. She had suffered a +terrible shock, a severe chill, but the blood of youth bounded quickly +in her veins. Save a little fever, which was the natural result of the +counter-action, she was none the worse for her thrilling experience. + +With Margaret Moore it was different. The doctor who had been called in +shook his head gravely over her condition. + +"It may be a very serious matter," he said, slowly; "it may result in +both hands having to be amputated, leaving her a cripple for life. +Deranged and a cripple!" he added, pityingly, under his breath. "It +would be better far if the poor thing were to die than to drag out the +existence marked out for her." + +"You will do all that you possibly can to save her hands?" said Captain +Carr, anxiously. + +"Yes, certainly," returned the doctor, "all that it is possible to do." + +Jessie Bain's gratitude knew no bounds when she learned how near she had +come to losing her life, and that she owed her rescue to the heroism of +faithful Margaret Moore. She wept as she had never wept before when she +discovered how dearly it might cost poor Margaret. + +Alas! how true it is that trouble never comes singly! At this crisis of +affairs, Captain Carr suddenly succumbed to a malady that had been +troubling him for years, and Jessie Bain found herself thrown homeless, +penniless upon the world. She was thankful that poor Margaret Moore did +not realize the calamity that had overtaken her. That humble cottage +roof which had sheltered her so long would cover her head no more. + +"There is only one thing to be done, and that is to place the girl in an +asylum," the neighbors advised. + +This Jessie Bain stoutly declared she never would do as long as she had +two hands to work for the unfortunate girl. + +"I shall turn all my little possessions into money," she declared, "and +go immediately to New York City and find something to do. She shall go +with me and share my fortunes; my last crust of bread I will divide with +her." + +Every one thanked Heaven that by almost a miracle Margaret Moore's hands +were saved to her. + +A few days later Jessie Bain bid adieu forever to Fisher's Landing, +accompanied by the girl who followed her so patiently out into the +world. + +How strange it is that New York City is generally the objective point +for the poor and friendless in search of employment. + +The journey to the great metropolis was a long one. They reached there +just as the sun was sinking. + +The first thing to be thought of was shelter. Inquiring in the drug +store opposite the depot, she found that there was a small +boarding-house down the first cross-street. + +Jessie soon found the street and number to which she had been directed. +A pleasant-faced maid opened the door. She was immediately shown into +the parlor, and a brisk, bustling little woman soon put in an +appearance. + +She looked curiously at the two pretty young girls when she learned +their errand. + +"This is a theatrical boarding-place," she said, "and all of our rooms +are full save two, and they are to be occupied on the twentieth. You +might have them up to that time, I suppose," she added, unwilling to let +the chance of making a few extra dollars go by her. "Or perhaps you and +your sister could make the smaller one do for both." + +"We could indeed!" eagerly assented Jessie. + +She had noticed that the woman had called Margaret Moore her sister, and +she said to herself that perhaps it would be as well to let it go at +that, as it would certainly save much explanation. + +And then again, if the landlady knew that her companion had lost her +reason, she would never allow them to stay there over night, no matter +how harmless she might be. + +Jessie started out bright and early the next morning to search for +employment, cautioning Margaret over and over again not to quit the +room, and to answer no questions that might be put to her. After the +first day's experience, she returned, heartsick and discouraged, to the +boarding-house. + +"Didn't find anything to do, eh?" remarked the landlady, +sympathetically, as she met her at the door. + +"No," said Jessie; "but I hope to meet with better luck to-morrow." + +"Why don't you try to get on the stage," said Mrs. Tracy, patting the +girl's shoulder. "You are young, and, to tell you the truth, you've an +uncommonly pretty face." + +"The stage?" echoed Jessie. "Why, I was never on the stage in all my +life. What could I do on the stage?" + +"You would make your fortune," declared the woman, "if you were clever. +And there's your sister, too, she is almost as pretty as yourself. She'd +like it, I am sure." + +At that moment a woman who was passing hurriedly through the dimly +lighted hall stopped short. + +"What is this I hear, Mrs. Tracy?" she exclaimed. "Are you advising your +new boarders, those two pretty, young girls, to go on the stage?" + +"Yes," returned the other. "They are looking for work, and drudgery +would be such hardship for them. And to tell the exact truth, Manager +Morgan of the Society Belle Company, who is stopping with me, told me he +would find a place in his company for her if she would leave her sister +and go out on the road; and, furthermore, that he would push her, and +take great pains in learning her all the stage business." + +That evening, by his eager request, the manager was introduced to Jessie +Bain. + +He told a story so glowing, Jessie felt sorely tempted to accept his +offer of a position on the stage. He promised her such a wonderful large +salary and such grand times that she was surprised. Jessie's only +objection in not accepting the offer was the thought that she should be +parted from Margaret, which, the manager assured her, would have to be, +as he had no room in his company for two. + +"You can board her right here at Mrs. Tracy's," he suggested, "as your +salary will be ample to pay for her. It is a chance that not one girl +out of a thousand ever gets. You must realize that fact." + +"Do you think I had better accept it, Mrs. Tracy?" asked Jessie. + +"Indeed, I shouldn't hesitate," was the reply. "I'm not a theatrical +person myself, although I do keep this boarding-house for them, and I +don't know much about life behind the foot-lights, only as I hear them +tell about it; but if I were in your place, it seems to me that I should +accept it. If you don't like it, or get something better, it's easy +enough to make a change, you know." + +Jessie took this view of the case, too, and she signed a contract with +the manager of the theatrical company. + +"I hope I shall have a good part in the play," said Jessie, anxiously; +"and, believe me, I will do my best to make it a success." + +"Your face alone will insure that," said Manager Morgan, with a bland +smile that might have warned the girl. "I will cast you for the lovely +young heiress in the play. You will wear fine dresses and look charming. +The part will suit you exactly." + +"But I have no fine clothes," said Jessie, much down-hearted. + +"Do not let such a little matter as that trouble you, I pray," he said +gallantly. "I will advance you the required amount; you can pay me when +you like." + +Jessie said to herself that she had never met so kind a gentleman, and +her gratitude was accordingly very great. + +The next morning she was waited upon by a French _modiste_, who seemed +to know just what she required, and a few days later, half a dozen +dresses, so gorgeous that they fairly took Jessie Bain's breath away, +were sent up to her. + +She tried to explain to Margaret, who had settled down into a strange +and unaccountable apathy, all about her wonderful good luck; but she +answered her with only vacant monosyllables. And knowing that part of +the truth must be told sooner or later, Jessie was forced to admit to +Mrs. Tracy that Margaret had lost her reason, but that she was by no +means harmful. + +"That is no secret to me," responded Mrs. Tracy. "Every one in the +boarding-house thought that from the first day you came here, though you +tried hard to hide her malady from us. And I repeat my offer, that you +can leave your sister in my charge, and I will do my very best for her. +Let me tell you why," she added, in a low voice. "I had a daughter of my +own once who looked very like your sister Margaret. She lost her reason +because of an unhappy love affair, and she drooped and died. For her +sake my heart bleeds with pity for any young girl whose reason has been +dethroned. God help her!" + +So it was settled that Margaret was to remain with Mrs. Tracy. + +"After a few rehearsals you will get to know what you have got to do, +quite well," said Manager Morgan, as he handed Jessie her part to learn. +"Our company has been called together very hurriedly. We expected that +it would be fully a month later ere rehearsals would begin and our +members be called together. I have the same people who were with me last +year, all save the young lady whose place you take, and they are all +well up in their parts and don't need rehearsals. We go out on the road +in one week more. I shall have to coach you in your part." + +The handsome Mr. Morgan made himself most agreeable during those days of +rehearsal, and if Jessie Bain's heart had not been entirely frozen by +the frost of that earlier love for Hubert Varrick, which had come to +such a bitter ending, she might have fancied this handsome, dandified +manager. + +The company were to open their season at Albany, and at last the day +arrived for Mr. Morgan and Jessie to start. + +There was to be just one rehearsal the following forenoon, and the next +evening the play was to be produced. + +It was a bitter trial for Jessie to leave Margaret alone there; but the +bitterest blow of all was that she could not make Margaret understand +that they were to be separated from each other for many long weeks. + +It was snowing hard when the train steamed into Albany. Mr. Morgan, who +had gone up by an earlier train, met her at the depot. + +"We will go right to the theater," he said; "the remainder of the +company are there; they are all waiting for us." + +Jessie felt a little disappointed at not getting a cup of good hot tea; +but she was too timid to mention it. + +A dozen or more faces were eagerly turned toward them when they entered +the theater. Four very much over-dressed young women, sitting in a group +and laughing rather hilariously, and half a dozen long-ulstered, +curly-mustached _blasé_-appearing gentlemen, stared boldly at the timid, +shrinking young girl whom Manager Morgan led forward. + +"Our new leading lady, Miss Jessie Bain," he announced, briefly; adding +quickly after this general introduction: "Clear the stage every one who +is not discovered in the first act." + +The way these gentlemen and ladies fairly flew into the wings astonished +Jessie. They acted more like frightened children, afraid of a +school-master than like ladies and gentlemen who were great heroes and +heroines of the drama. Jessie stood quite still, not a little +bewildered. + +"Excuse me; but were you ever on before?" asked one of the girls, eyeing +Jessie curiously. + +"No," she answered; "but I do hope I will get along. I am very anxious +to learn." + +At this there was a great deal of suppressed tittering, which rather +nettled Jessie. + +"You must have wonderful confidence in yourself to attempt to play your +part to-night, with only this one rehearsal. Aren't you afraid you will +get stage-frightened?" + +"I used to take part in all the entertainments that we used to give at +home in the little village I came from. Once I had a very long part, and +I always had an excellent memory." + +"Let me give you a little word of advice," said the girl, who introduced +herself as Mally Marsh, linking her arm in Jessie's and drawing her +into one of the dark recesses of the wings, where they were quite alone +together. "Did you see the girl in the sealskin coat who sat at my right +as you came up? I want to tell you about her." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +"PRAY, PERMIT ME TO ESCORT YOU HOME," SAID THE HANDSOME STRANGER, +STEPPING TO JESSIE'S SIDE AND RAISING HIS HAT WITH A PROFOUND BOW. + + +Jessie looked out on to the stage at the very pretty girl at whom her +companion was nodding. + +"That is the one you mean?" she said. + +"Yes; that's Celey Dunbar," returned her companion; "and I repeat that I +want to warn you about her. Celey was Manager Morgan's sweetheart last +season. We all thought he was engaged to her at one time, but he soon +tired of her. She is as fond of him as ever, though, and she'll make it +hot for you if you don't watch out. + +"Now, you see the girl in the long gray cloak, going on with her part +out there? Well, that's Dovie Davis. Her husband is the handsome, +dashing young fellow over yonder, who is to be your lover in the play. +She's as jealous as green-gages of him, and while he is making love to +you, on the stage, she'll be watching you from some entrance, as a cat +would a mouse, and woe be to you if you make your part too real! The +other lady over there is keeping company with that good-looking fellow +she is talking to; so keep your eyes off him. + +"The fellow in the long ulster and silk hat I claim as my especial +property. Don't look so dumfounded, goosie; I mean he's my beau. We +always manage to get into the same company, and it would be war to the +knife with any girl who attempted to flirt with him." + +"You need not be afraid of my ever attempting to flirt with him," said +Jessie gravely. + +"Well, it doesn't come amiss to learn a thing or two in season," +returned Mally, with a nod. "All theatrical companies pair off like +that. + +"The other two young gents who passed by the wing a moment ago, and were +watching you so intently, are married. Now, let me repeat the lesson +again, so as to impress it upon your mind: Celey Dunbar is Manager +Morgan's ex-sweetheart; Mrs. Dovie Davis is married; that gay, jolly +girl is Daisy Lee, the soubrette of the company; she'd cut out any one +of us if she could; but she's so merry a sprite we don't mind her, +especially as none of the fellows take to her particularly." + +To Jessie that rehearsal seemed like a bewildering dream. The ladies of +the company looked at her coldly, but the gentlemen were wonderfully +pleasant to her. They talked to her as freely as though they had known +her for years, instead of only an hour. This embarrassed Jessie +greatly; she hardly knew how to take this unaccustomed familiarity. + +After rehearsal was over, Manager Morgan took her back to her hotel, +frowning darkly at Celey Dunbar, who made a bold attempt to walk with +them. + +"Be ready at seven o'clock sharp," he said, as he left her at the door. + +Left to herself when dinner was over, Jessie sat quietly down in her +lonely little room to think. + +She wondered how such people as she had met that day could play the +different parts in the beautiful story whose every incident Manager +Morgan had explained to her. + +"Certainly it isn't very romantic," she thought, "to have the hero lover +of the play a married man." + +Night came at last, and feeling more frightened than she had ever felt +in her life before, Jessie emerged from her dressing-room. Mally Marsh +accompanied her to the wing to see that she went on all right when her +cue was given. + +"There's a big house out in front," whispered Mally. "Ah! there's your +cue now." + +Out in the center of the stage stood a young man, exclaiming eagerly, as +he looked in their direction: + +"Ah, here comes the little society belle now!" + +"Go on; walk right out on the stage," whispered Mally, giving Jessie a +push. + +Jessie never knew how she got there. + +The glare of the foot-lights blinded her. The words her companion +uttered fell upon dazed ears. She tried to speak the words that she had +learned so perfectly, but they seemed to die away in her throat; no +sound could she utter. A great numbness was clutching at her +heart-strings, and she could move neither hand nor foot. + +"Aha! our little beauty is stage-frightened," she heard Celey Dunbar +whisper from one of the wings of the stage, in a loud, triumphant voice. +"I am just glad of it. That's what Manager Morgan gets by bringing in a +novice. Ha! ha! ha!" + +Those words stung Jessie into action, and quick as a flash the truant +lines recurred to her, and to the great chagrin of her rival in the +wings, she went on with her part unfalteringly to the very end. + +Her beauty, and her fresh, sweet simplicity and naturalness quite took +the audience by storm, and the curtain was rung down at length amid the +wildest storm of applause that that theater had ever known. + +The manager was delighted with Jessie Bain's success. The ladies of the +company were furious, and they gathered together in one of the entrances +and watched her. + +"Stage life is coming to a pretty how-de-do," cried one, furiously, +"when women who have been before the foot-lights for ten years--ay, +given the best years of their lives to the stage--have to stand aside, +for a novice like that!" + +"My husband plays altogether too ardent a lover to her!" cried Dovie +Davis, jealously. "I won't stand it! Either she leaves this company at +the end of a fortnight, or my husband and I do; that's all there is +about it!" + +This appeared to be the sentiment of every woman in the company, and +they did not attempt to conceal their dislike as she passed them by +during the evening. + +Just before the curtain went down, Manager Morgan received a telegram +which called him to Rochester. He had barely time to catch the train, +and in his hurry he quite forgot to leave instructions to have some one +see Jessie Bain to the hotel. + +As Jessie emerged from her dressing-room she looked around for Mr. +Morgan. He was nowhere about. + +"I thought you'd never come out of your dressing-room, ma'am," said the +man who was waiting to turn the lights out. "Every one's gone--you're +the last one." + +"Has--has Mr. Morgan gone?" echoed Jessie, in great trepidation. + +"Every one's gone, I said," was the saucy reply. + +And the man turned the light out in her face, and she was obliged to +grope her way as best she could along the dark entry. After floundering +about the building for almost ten minutes, until the great tears were +rolling down her cheeks with fright, she at length called loudly to some +one to come to her assistance. + +The same man who had turned out the gas on her now came grumblingly to +her rescue. At length she found herself out on the street. + +Before she had time to turn and ask the man the way to the hotel, he had +slammed the door to in her face and turned the key in the lock with a +loud, resounding click, and Jessie found herself standing ankle-deep in +the snow-drift, with the wind whirling about her and dashing the +blinding snow in her face. + +Suddenly from out the dark shadows of an adjacent door-way sprung a man +in a long ulster. + +"Don't be frightened, Miss Bain," he exclaimed. "I have been waiting for +you almost an hour, to see you home." + +Jessie started back in dismay. At that instant he half turned, and the +flickering light from the gas-lamp fell full upon his face, and she +recognized him as one of the members of the company--Walter Winans, whom +Mally Marsh had said was her beau. + +Even had this not been the case, Jessie could never have admired so +bold-looking a fellow. + +"Excuse me, but I am very sorry that you waited for me, Mr. Winans," +said Jessie, coldly. "I can find my way back to the hotel alone." + +"Phew! What an independent little piece we are, to be sure!" he cried. +"You're not expecting any one else, are you?" he inquired looking +hastily around. + +"No," said Jessie, simply. + +"Come on, then, with me," he said, seizing her arm and fairly dragging +her along. + +Discretion seemed the better part of valor to Jessie. She thought it +would not be wise to offend the young man; and, to tell the truth, she +was rather glad to have some one to pilot her along through the terrible +snow-drifts. + +"Let me tell you something," said Winans, without waiting for her +answer. "I have taken quite a liking to you, Jessie Bain--this is +between you and me--and I hope very much that the feeling will be +reciprocated, little girl. I'll be only too glad to escort you to and +from the theater every night, if you like. Don't let any of the girls of +this company talk you into the belief that they have any claim on me. + +"You must not think it strange that I took an interest in you, little +Jessie, from the first moment I saw you," continued Winans, pressing the +girl's hand softly, as they pushed on bravely through the terrible +snow-drifts. "There was something about you very different from the rest +of the girls whom I have met." + +"I trust you will not talk so to me, Mr. Winans," said Jessie. + +"But I must," he insisted. "I must tell you all that is in my heart. +Surely you can not blame a fellow so very much for being unfortunate +enough to fall desperately in love with you!" + +He had spoken the words eagerly, and it never occurred to him that they +had been uttered so loudly that any one passing might have heard them. + +Suddenly from out the shadow of an arched door-way sprang a woman, who +planted herself directly in the snowy path before them. + +"Stop!" she cried. "Don't dare advance a step further!" and quick as a +flash she drew a heavy riding-whip from the folds of her cloak. Once, +twice, thrice it cut through the snow-laden air, and fell upon Winans' +defenseless head. + +Smarting with pain, he dropped Jessie's arm and sprang forward, and +attempted to wrest the whip from the infuriated young woman's hands. + +"Take that! and that! and that!" she cried, again and yet again; and +with each word the blows rained down faster and faster upon his face and +hands. + +There was but one way to escape, and that was in ignominious flight. + +"So," cried Mally Marsh, as she turned to Jessie "this is all the heed +you paid to my warning, is it? If I gave you your just deserts, I would +thrash you within an inch of your life, for attempting to take my lover +away from me! Now listen to what I have to say, girl, and take warning: +You must leave this company at once. If you do not do so, I will not +answer for myself. Do not make it an excuse that you have no money. +Here!" and with the word she flung a bill in her face. "The depot is to +your right. Go there, and take the first train back to the city whence +you came. Go, I say, while yet I can keep my wrath in check." + +Jessie stood there for a moment like one stupefied. She tried to explain +how it had happened, but her companion would not listen and walked away. + +As one lost, Jessie wandered to the depot, where a policeman, noticing +her distress, drew her story from her. He said he knew of a most +respectable old woman who was looking for a companion and wrote her name +and address on a piece of paper for Jessie. The policeman readily +consented to allow her to remain in the station until morning. It was a +long and weary wait and at eight o'clock Jessie went to the house to +which the policeman had directed her. + +A pompous footman conducted her to a spacious drawing-room, and placed a +seat for her. + +After a long and dreary wait which seemed hours to Jessie, though in +reality it was not over twenty minutes, she heard the rustle of a +woman's dress. An instant later, a little white, shrivelled hand, loaded +with jewels pushed aside the satin _portières_, and an old lady appeared +on the threshold. + +Jessie rose hesitatingly from her seat with a little courtesy. + +"You came in answer to my advertisement for a companion?" the little old +lady began. + +"Yes, madame," returned Jessie. + +"Where were you in service last?" + +"I have never had a position of the kind before," said Jessie, +hesitatingly, "but if you would try me, madame, I would do my very best +to suit you." + +"Speak a little louder," said the old lady, sharply. "I am a trifle hard +of hearing. Mind, just a trifle, I can not quite hear you." + +Jessie repeated in a louder tone what she had said. + +"Your appearance suits me exactly," returned Mrs. Bassett; "but I could +not take a person into my household who is an entire stranger, and who +has no references to offer to assure me of her respectability." + +Jessie's eyes filled with tears. + +"I am so sorry," she faltered; "but as I am a stranger in Albany, there +is no one here to whom I could apply for a reference." + +"I like your face very much indeed," repeated Mrs. Bassett, more to +herself than to the girl; then, turning to her suddenly, she asked: +"Where are you from--where's your home?" + +"A little village on the St. Lawrence River called Fisher's Landing," +returned Jessie. "My uncle, Captain Carr, died a week ago, and I was +forced to leave my old home, and go out into the world and earn my own +living." + +"Did you say you lived at Fisher's Landing?" exclaimed the old lady, +"and that Captain Carr of that place was your uncle?" + +"Yes, madame," returned Jessie. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +JESSIE BAIN ENTERS THE HOUSE OF SECRETS. + + +The old lady stared at Jessie through her spectacles. + +"You need no other recommendation. I once met Captain Carr under +thrilling circumstances, my child. I was out in a row-boat one day--some +ten years ago--when a steamer almost ran down our little skiff. I would +have been capsized, and perhaps drowned, had it not been for the bravery +of Captain Carr, of Fisher's Landing. I made him a handsome little +present, and from that day to this I have never heard from him. Captain +Carr dead, and his niece out in the world looking for a situation! You +shall come to me, if you like, reference or no reference, my dear.' + +"Oh, madam, you are so very, very kind!" sobbed Jessie. + +The little old lady touched a silver bell close at hand, and a tidy, +elderly maid appeared. + +"Harriet, I have engaged this young woman as companion," she said. "She +came in answer to yesterday's advertisement in the _Argus_. You will +take her to her room at once. She is to occupy the little room directly +off mine." + +The room into which she ushered Jessie was a small, dingy apartment, +with draperies so sombre that they seemed almost black. The curtains +were closely drawn, and an unmistakable atmosphere of mustiness pervaded +the apartment. + +"Have you had breakfast, miss?" asked Harriet, looking sharply into the +girl's pale face, and adding before she had time to reply: "Even though +you have breakfasted, a cup of hot tea will do you good this cold, crisp +morning. My lady will be pleased to have you come down to the table. The +bell will ring in about ten minutes. You can easily make your way there. +Step down the corridor, and turn into the passage-way at the right; the +second door." + +Jessie bowed her thanks, and murmured that she would be very grateful +for a cup of tea. It was not long before she heard the breakfast-bell. +Hastily quitting the room, she made her way down the corridor. In her +confusion, the girl made the mistake of turning to the left, instead of +the right, as she had been directed. + +"The second door," she muttered to herself. + +As she reached it she paused abruptly. It was slightly ajar. Glancing in +hesitatingly, she saw that it looked more like a young lady's _boudoir_ +than an ordinary breakfast-room. Before a mirror at the further end of +the apartment sat a young girl in the sun-light. A maid was brushing out +the wavy masses of her warm-tinted auburn hair. + +While Jessie was hesitating as to whether she should tap on the door +and make her presence known or walk on further through the corridor, a +conversation which she could not help overhearing, held her spell-bound, +fairly rooted to the spot. + +"I assure you it is quite true, Janet," the lovely young girl was saying +in a very fretful, angry voice. "The old lady has got a companion in the +house at last. But she shall not stay long beneath this roof depend upon +that, Janet. She is young and very beautiful. + +"I would not care so much, if it were not that the handsome grandson is +expected to arrive every day." + +"Surely, Miss Rosamond, you, with all your beauty, do not fear a rival +in the little humble companion." + +"Companions have been known to do a great deal of mischief before now, +and, as I have said, the girl is remarkably pretty. I saw her from the +library window as she was coming up the front steps, and then, when old +Mrs. Bassett came down to the library, I was safely ensconced behind the +silken draperies of the bay-window, and I heard all that was said. You +may be sure that I was angry enough. She shall not stay here long, if I +can help it. I will make it so unpleasant for her that she will be glad +to go. I detest the girl already, on general principles." + +Jessie Bain cowered back, dazed and bewildered, almost doubting her own +senses as to what she had just heard. + +Smarting with bitter pain, Jessie turned away and hurried swiftly down +the corridor in the opposite direction. + +She was quickly retracing her steps back to her own room, when she met +Harriet again in the corridor. + +"I was just coming for you, miss," she said, "thinking that you might +not be able to find your way, after all, there are so many twists and +turns hereabouts," and without further ado she quickly retraced her +steps, nodding to Jessie to follow. + +The breakfast-room into which she was ushered was by far the most +commodious room in the house. + +A great, square apartment with ceilings and panelings of solid oak, +massive side-boards, which contained the family silver for fully a +century or more, great, high-backed chairs with heavy carvings, done up +in leather, and a polished, inlaid floor, with here and there a velvet +rug or tiger's skin. + +The old lady was seated at the table as Harriet ushered in the young +girl. She smiled, and nodded a welcome. Opposite her sat a little old +man with large ears, who peered at her sharply from over a pair of +double-barreled, gold-rimmed eyeglasses. + +"This is the young person whom I have just engaged as my companion," +said Mrs. Bassett, shrilly, turning toward her husband. + +"H'm!" ejaculated the old gentleman. "What did you say this young +woman's name was?" + +"Bain," she replied. + +"Hey?" he exclaimed, holding his right hand trumpet fashion, to his ear. +"Give me the name a little louder." + +"Miss Bain-- Jessie Bain!" shouted his wife, in an ear-splitting voice +that made every nerve in Jessie's body throb and quiver. + +"Ah--h'm-- Miss Bain," he repeated; adding, as he cleared out his +throat: "I am very anxious to have the papers read while we breakfast. +You may as well begin by reading this morning's reports," he said, +handing her a paper which lay folded beside his plate. "You may turn to +the stock reports first, Miss Bain. Third column on the first page, Miss +Bain." + +She had scarcely finished the first paragraph ere the old gentleman +commanded her to stop. + +"Can you understand one word that this young woman is reading?" he +inquired, turning sharply to his wife. + +"No. Miss Bain must read louder," she said. "I do not quite catch it." + +The perspiration stood out in great balls on Jessie's pale face. She had +raised her voice to almost a shout already, and her throat was beginning +to ache terribly, for the strain upon it was very great. How she ever +struggled down to the bottom of that column, she never knew. The +appearance of the breakfast tray was a welcome relief to her. + +"You read very nicely," complimented the old gentleman. "I enjoy +listening to you. I shall give you the privilege of reading all my +papers aloud every forenoon." + +Jessie looked helplessly at him. The strain had been so great that her +throat pained her terribly; but she made no demur. How could she? + +At that moment the door swung slowly open, and a tall, beautiful girl +entered. + +Jessie knew her at the first startled glance. It was the lovely girl +whom she had heard talking to her maid about her, but a little while +before. + +She took the seat at the end of the table without so much as deigning to +glance at the new-comer. + +"My dear, let me present you to Miss Bain-- Miss Bain, my husband's +_protégée_, Rosamond Lee," exclaimed Mrs. Bassett. + +Jessie bowed wistfully, shyly; Miss Rosamond barely lifted her eyebrows +in acknowledgment of the presentation. + +The old gentleman and his wife screamed at each other on the main topics +of the day, Miss Rosamond looked exceedingly bored, while Jessie had +great difficulty in swallowing, her throat ached so severely. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +"OH, TO SLEEP MY LIFE AWAY, AND BE WITH THEE AT REST!" + + +Rosamond Lee completely ignored the lovely young stranger seated at the +table opposite her; but Jessie had the uncomfortable feeling that she +was watching her. + +The conversation had ceased, when suddenly Mr. Bassett announced: "I +have just received a letter from my grandson. He will be with us a week +from to-day. He will remain with us a month." + +During the next few days the household was quite upset, so great were +the preparations made for the coming stranger. Most of the forenoons had +been spent by Jessie in reading the daily papers to the old couple in +the library. One morning Rosamond Lee came to her quite excitedly, just +as she was about to begin her duties. + +"Miss Bain," she said, arching her eyebrows haughtily, "I do not think +my guardian has thought to mention the subject to you, but for the next +few weeks you are to exchange places with my maid, Janet; she has hurt +her hand, but that will not hinder her from reading the papers and +attending to Mrs. Bassett's wants. During that time, while you are +performing the services of maid to me, you will remember that your place +is not in the library, but in my own suite of rooms. I must also mention +to you that you will be excused from joining us at the table." + +Jessie flushed and then paled. It was not so much on account of the +menial position to which she was assigned, as the manner in which the +change had been made known to her. + +"You may as well commence your duties at once," said Rosamond, +imperiously, "and make the change to my apartments without further +delay." + +"I have a letter to write for Mrs. Bassett, to her grandson, I believe," +said Jessie, in a low voice. "Shall I not remain in the library until +after that is done? Mrs. Bassett told me to remind her of it to-day." + +"Never mind about it," said Rosamond Lee, hurriedly, "I will attend to +it. I always write the letters to her grandson for her. I am amazed that +she should call upon you. You must come with me at once to my rooms." + +Jessie put down the paper she was reading and followed her. + +As Jessie Bain entered Rosamond's room, she was surprised at the array +of dresses lying on the sofa, the chair-backs, and every conceivable +place. + +"I want these all overhauled at once," began the beauty. "They must be +finished by the end of the week." + +Jessie looked around at the dresses, surprised at the great amount of +work which Miss Lee was so confident she could accomplish in so short a +time. + +Jessie was sure that she saw Rosamond Lee's maid busily stitching away +when she had first entered the room, but she rose hastily and went into +an inner apartment, and a moment later returned with her hand done up +and her arm in a sling. + +Rosamond Lee said to herself that it had been a wise stratagem on her +part to make her maid exchange places with Jessie Bain until after the +handsome young man should come and go. + +The tasks that Rosamond Lee laid out for Jessie were cruelly hard. She +would say to her each morning, as she laid out this or that bit of work: + +"This must be finished by to-morrow morning." + +As soon as the clock struck nine, Rosamond would seek her downy couch. +Not for anything in the world would she have lost the few hours of +beauty-sleep before midnight, so essential to young girl's good looks. + +But there must be no beauty-sleep for the tired young girl who plied her +needle. + +"How dare you!" Rosamond cried. "What do you mean by loitering in this +manner?" + +Miss Rosamond insisted that while she was performing the duties of maid +to her, Jessie must take her meals up in her room, declaring that it +really took too much time for her to go and come to the dining-room to +her meals. + +On the third afternoon of her banishment she heard the sound of +carriage-wheels, followed by the servants in the corridor crying out +excitedly: + +"He has come at last! Now the old gentleman and his wife will be in the +seventh heaven!" + +It mattered little to Jessie Bain. She cared not who came or went. She +knew that some young man was expected; but she had not taken interest +enough to listen when the maid, who had come in to do up their rooms +that morning, had broached the subject concerning him. + +"Miss Rosamond is very much in love with him," commented the girl, in a +significant whisper, after taking a swift glance over her shoulder to +make sure they were quite alone. "Well, it's no wonder, either, for a +handsome-looking gentleman he is--tall, broad-shouldered, and kindly. He +will inherit an enormous fortune from old Mr. and Mrs. Bassett, for they +just idolize him. His mother was their only child. He always came here +once a year, ever since he was a little lad, they say, and all the old +servants love him." + +The maid had scarcely finished her recital, concerning the coming of the +handsome heir, when the door was suddenly flung open, and Rosamond Lee, +breathless and flushed with excitement, sprung into the room. + +"Where's my pale-blue dress with the black velvet bows? Get it for me, +somebody--anybody! I want to put it on at once!" she fairly cried. + +"The pale-blue dress is not finished yet," Jessie answered, falteringly. +"You know you changed your mind about having it altered the next moment +after you had laid it out, and told me not to touch it until you decided +fully just how you wanted it done. I have been sewing on the rose-pink +cashmere--" + +"You horrid creature!" screamed Rosamond Lee. "I can scarcely keep my +hands off you! You didn't want to see me looking well in my pale-blue +dress, and delayed fixing it on purpose. Oh, you horrid, horrid +creature!" and with this she seized Jessie Bain by the shoulders and +shook her until the girl's slender form bent like a reed in the storm. + +The maid, who watched this proceeding, was fairly speechless with +terror. She would have flung herself between Jessie Bain and the +infuriated beauty had she dared, but she knew that would mean instant +dismissal, and despite her intense indignation, she was obliged to stand +there and coolly witness it all. + +"There," cried Rosamond Lee, fairly out of breath, "I hope I have taught +you that I won't be trifled with. Now help me get on the rose cashmere +as quick as you can." + +Jessie Bain never knew how she managed to fasten the dress on the irate +beauty. + +The maid came to her rescue, noting that Jessie Bain was by far too +nervous to do the heiress's bidding. + +The look of thankfulness she gave her amply repaid her. + +A moment later Miss Rosamond flounced out of the room. The door had +scarcely closed after her ere Jessie Bain's strength gave way entirely, +and she sank to the floor in a swoon. + +"Poor thing!" cried the maid, bending over her, "I shall advise her to +leave this place at once. But, after all, maybe it is with her as it is +with me--she would have no home to go to if she left here, and her next +mistress might be as cruel, though she couldn't be any worse." + +Her diligent efforts were soon rewarded by seeing Jessie Bain open her +eyes. + +"You are faint and weak. Come to the window and get a breath of air. A +breath of the cool, crisp air will do you a world of good." + +Jessie made no attempt to resist her when she took her in her arms and +carried her to the window, and threw open the sash. Jessie inhaled a +deep breath of the cool morning air. Ah, yes! the air was refreshing. + +"Don't lean so far out," cautioned her companion, "Miss Rosamond might +see you! She is standing in the bay-window of the library with handsome +Mr. Hubert; and to see her smile, so bland and child-like, any one would +declare that she had no temper at all, but, instead, the disposition of +an angel." + +Jessie gave a startled look, intending to get quickly out of sight ere +Rosamond Lee should observe her; but that glance fairly froze the blood +in her veins. Yes, Rosamond Lee was standing by the window, looking as +sweet and bland as a great wax doll. + +But it was on the face of her companion that Jessie's eyes were riveted. +It seemed to her in that instant that the heart in her bosom fairly +stood still, for the face she saw was Hubert Varrick's! + +"He has had ever so much trouble," the girl went on. "He has been +married, but his young wife died, and he is now a widower, free to marry +again if he finds any one whom he can love as he did the one he lost." + +With that, the girl left the room, and then Jessie Bain gave vent to the +grief that filled her heart to overflowing. + +"I must go away from here," she sobbed; "I must not meet him again, for +did I not give his mother my written word that I would not speak to him +again, nor let him know where I was, and I must keep my solemn pledge." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +"AH! IF I BUT KNEW WHERE MY TRUE LOVE IS!" + + +Hubert Varrick felt excessively bored at the beauty's persistent efforts +to amuse him during the afternoon that followed, and he experienced a +great relief when he made his escape to his own room. + +He had come there to visit his aged relatives and have a few days of +quiet and rest from the turmoils and cares of a busy life, not to dance +attendance on a capricious society girl. He had been back from Europe +only a month. Directly on his return, he went to Fisher's Landing, there +to be met with the intelligence that Jessie's uncle had died a fortnight +ago, and that she was thrown penniless on the world, and had started out +to battle for bread, none knew whither. + +The shock of this intelligence nearly killed Hubert Varrick. He almost +moved heaven and earth to find her; but every effort was useless; Jessie +Bain seemed to have suddenly vanished from the face of the earth. + +Hubert had been with his grandparents but a day when he felt strongly +tempted to make excuses to get away at once; but before the shadows of +that night fell, an event happened which changed the whole current of +his life. + +It came about in this way: + +When he excused himself for leaving the drawing-room late that +afternoon, under the plea of smoking a cigar and having letters to +write, Rosamond, much incensed, had retired to her own _boudoir_, for +she felt that she had made no headway with the handsome young heir. +There was no one else to vent her spite on, save the young girl whom she +found bending patiently over her dresses, stitching away as though for +dear life. + +"Why don't you sew faster?" Rosamond cried at length. "You will never +get that done in time for me to wear this evening." + +"I promise you, Miss Rosamond, that I will have it finished if the +velvet ribbon comes in time." + +"Hasn't it come yet?" cried the beauty, aghast. "Why, it's almost dark +now. There's nothing else for it but for you to go after it, Jessie +Bain; and mind that you get there before the store closes. Start at +once." + +Jessie laid down her work, walked slowly to the closet, and donned her +hat and little jacket. After carefully learning the street and number, +Jessie set out on her journey. It was fully two miles. The girl's heart +sank as she stepped from the porch, and noted how deep the snow was. +She wished that the heiress had given her her fare on the street-car; +but such a thought had never entered the selfish head of this pampered +creature of luxury. + +Half an hour or more had passed. Long since one of the servants had +lighted the chandelier, heaped more coal in the glowing grate, and drew +the satin draperies over the frosty windows. + +"Dear me, I wish I had told her to get a few flowers for me!" Rosamond +muttered. Then she sat up straight in her chair. "Gracious me! how +forgetful I am," she cried. "That velvet ribbon did come just as I was +about to go down to luncheon, and I tossed it on a divan in the corner. +It must be there now." + +Springing from her seat, she went to the spot indicated. Yes, the little +package was there. + +"That Jessie Bain must have seen it," she muttered, angrily. "She must +have passed it by a dozen times. No one can tell me that she did not +open it--those girls are so prying. And now for spite she'll take as +much time as she wishes to go and come. She ought to be back by this +time. When she does come I shall scold her." + +One, two hours passed. The clock on the mantle slowly chimed the hour of +seven. Still the girl had not returned. Rosamond Lee was in a towering +rage. She had sent for her own maid to help her dress, and she was +obliged to wear a dress which was not near so becoming to her as the +blue cashmere which she felt sure would fascinate handsome Hubert +Varrick. + +When the dinner-bell rang she hurried to the dining-room. Only the old +gentleman and his wife were at the table. + +"Where is Mr. Varrick?" she asked. "Surely, he has not dined yet?" + +"Oh, no," said the old lady, complacently sipping her tea. "He went out +for a walk some two hours ago, and he has not yet returned." + +Rosamond started. Some two hours! Why, that was just about the time that +Jessie Bain had left the house. + +She wondered if by any chance he had seen her. What if he should have +asked the girl where she was going, and learn that she had been sent by +her so long a distance, and in the deep snow, on such a trifling errand! +The girl might tell it out of pure spite. Laughing lightly, Rosamond +shook off this fear. + +She had never seen a man whom she liked as well as she liked Hubert +Varrick. She always had her own way through life, and now that she had +settled it in her mind that she would like to have this same Hubert +Varrick for her husband, she no more thought it possible for her will to +be thwarted than she deemed it possible for the night to turn suddenly +into day. Rosamond was almost beside herself with excitement when that +wedding was so summarily broken off. + +"It was the hand of Fate!" she cried. "He was intended for me. That is +why that marriage did not take place." + +She had made numerous little excuses to go to Boston with her maid, and +always called at his mother's house, making herself most agreeable to +the haughty mother, for the sake of the handsome son. + +Rosamond had quite wormed herself into the good graces of Hubert's +mother. She had not been there for over six months, however, and +consequently had never heard of Jessie Bain. + +She had been waiting long and patiently, when suddenly she had read of +his marriage to Geralda Northrup, and almost immediately after came the +startling intelligence of the disaster in which he had lost his bride. +And again Rosamond Lee said that Gerelda was not to have him, that Fate +intended him for her; and she timed her visit to her guardian's when she +knew he would be there. + +Rosamond tried hard to take an interest in the dinner, but everything +seemed to go wrong with her. The tea was too weak, the biscuits too +cold, and the tarts too sweet. + +She did her best to keep up the conversation with her guardian and his +chatty old wife, but it was a dismal failure. At every footstep she +started. Why did he not come? + +It was a relief to her when the meal was over. She walked slowly into +the drawing-room, angry enough to find old Mr. Bassett and his wife had +preceded her, and that they had settled themselves down there for a long +evening. Up and down the length of the long room Rosamond swept to and +fro, stopping every now and then to draw the heavy curtains aside, in +order to strain her eyes out into the darkness of the night. + +Ah, what a terrible storm was raging outside! What a wild night it was! +The snow drifted in great white mountains against the window-panes, and +as far as her eyes could reach, the great white snow-drifts greeted her +sight. The bronze clock on the mantle struck the hour of eight in loud, +sonorous strokes. With a guilty thrill of her heart, she thought of +Jessie Bain. Hastily excusing herself, she hurried to her room. + +Of course the girl would be there--there was no doubt about that. With a +nervous hand Rosamond flung open the door, crossed the handsome +_boudoir_ with swift step, and looked into the little room beyond. But +the slender form which she had expected to see was not there. + +"Janet!" she called, sharply, "where is that Jessie Bain? I sent her on +an errand--hasn't she returned yet? What in the world do you think is +keeping that girl?" + +"Look out of that window, ma'am, and that will tell you," returned +Janet, laconically. "I tell you, Miss Rosamond, your sending the girl +out on such a night as this is the talk of the whole house." + +"Did she go round tattling in the servants' hall?" cried the heiress, +quivering with rage. + +"I'll tell you how it came about," said Janet. "One of the maids, who +was at the window, called to her as she was going out. I heard it all +from another window. + +"'Why, where are you going, Miss Bain?' she called, 'you are mad to step +out-of-doors in the face of such a storm as this!' + +"'I'm going on an errand for Miss Rosamond,' she answered. + +"'You will have a hard time getting to the street-car.' + +"'I shall not ride,' said Jessie Bain, 'I shall walk!' + +"'Walk?' screamed the other. 'Oh, Jessie Bain, don't you do it; you will +perish; and all because that Rosamond Lee was too stingy to give you +your car-fare. I wish to Heaven that I had the money with me, I'd give +it to you in a minute. But hold on, wait a second-- I'll go and tell the +servants about it, and I reckon that some of them can raise enough money +to see you through.' + +"With that I slipped down to the servants' hall, to be ahead of her, and +to hear what she would say, and, oh! bless my life, what a +tongue-lashing they all gave you! It's a wonder your ears didn't burn +like fire, miss. + +"They said it was a beastly shame. They wished a mob would come in and +give you a ducking out in the snow-drift, and see how you would like it. +They were not long in making up the money, but when they went to look +for Jessie she was nowhere to be seen. + +"I am almost certain that Mr. Hubert Varrick must have heard something +of what was said, for one of the girls saw him standing in the door-way, +listening intently. Before she could utter a word of warning he turned, +with something very like a muttered threat on his lips, and strode down +the corridor. + +"When night fell and Jessie Bain had not returned, the anger of the +servants ran high. I attempted to take your part, saying that you didn't +know how bad the day really was, when they set upon me with the fury of +devils. + +"'Don't attempt to shield her!' they cried, brandishing their fists in +my face, some of them grazing my very nose. + +"'Like mistress, like maid.' We hate you almost as much as we do her. +None of us shall close our eyes to-night until Jessie Bain has been +found; and if she lies dead under the snow-drifts, we will form a +little band that will avenge her! If Jessie Bain has died from exposure +to the terrible storm, Rosamond Lee, who caused it all, shall suffer for +it! If she is not here by midnight--hark you, Janet! bear this message +from us to your mistress, the haughty, heartless heiress--" + +But what that message was, Janet whispered in her mistress's ear. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +HUBERT VARRICK RESCUES JESSIE BAIN. + + +We must return to Jessie Bain. + +The girl had scarcely proceeded a block through the blinding snow-drifts +ere she began to grow chill and numb. + +"I can never make my way to the store!" she moaned. "I-- I will perish +in this awful cold!" + +She grew bewildered as to the direction which had been given her. "It +can not be that I am going the right way," she sobbed. + +Involuntarily she turned around and took the first cross-street in view. +She had scarcely made her way half a dozen blocks when the knowledge was +fully forced upon her that she must have lost her way, that each step +she took was bringing her toward the suburbs of the city instead of the +business portion. + +Jessie stopped short. Then she fell. Hubert Varrick, on the other side +of the street, saw the slender figure suddenly reel backward, whirl +about, and then fall face downward in a huge snow-drift that swallowed +her from sight. He plunged quickly forward, muttering to himself: "What +a terrible thing it is for a weak woman to be out on such a night as +this!" + +And he wondered if it could be the poor sewing-girl whom he had just +heard the servants discussing. They had said that Rosamond Lee had sent +her to one of the stores for a few yards of velvet ribbon, without +giving her her car-fare, expecting her to walk all the way in the face +of such a storm. + +"I declare, it is a thousand pities!" muttered Varrick. + +In less time than it takes to tell it he had reached the spot where the +girl lay prostrate. + +Heavens! how thinly she was clad! And he shivered even from the depths +of his fur-lined overcoat at the very thought of it. + +Deftly as a woman might have done, he raised her, remembering that there +was a drug store across the way to which he could carry her. For one +instant his eyes rested on her face in the dim, uncertain, fading +daylight; then an awful cry broke from his lips--a cry of horror. + +"My God! is it Jessie Bain? Am I mad, or am I dreaming?" + +He looked again. Surely there was no mistaking that lovely face, with +the curling locks lying over her white forehead. + +Do not censure him, that in that instant he forgot the whole world, only +remembering that fate had given into his arms the one being in this +wide earth his soul longed for. He had found Jessie Bain. + +Mad with delight, he clasped her in his arms and covered her face with +fervid kisses. He kissed the snowy cheeks and lips, and the +cotton-gloved hands. Then the thought suddenly occurred to him that he +was losing valuable time. Every moment was precious, her young life +might be in jeopardy while he was keeping her out there in the bitter +cold. + +In a trice he tore off his warm fur coat, wrapped it about her, and +hurried over to the drug store, bearing his beautiful burden as though +she were but a child. + +"This way!" he called out sharply to the clerk in attendance. "Attend +quickly to this young lady! She has been overcome with the cold! She is +dying!" + +The young man behind the counter responded with alacrity, and hurriedly +resorted to the restoratives usually applied in those cases, Hubert +Varrick standing by, watching every action, his heart in his eyes, his +face pale as death. + +Every effort of the young man to revive Jessie Bain seemed futile. + +"I should not wonder, sir, if this was a case of heart failure," he +declared. "Generally they die instantly, though I have known them to +linger for several hours. You had better summon an ambulance, sir, and +have her taken to the hospital. There is one just around the corner. +Shall I ring for it, sir?" + +"No; I will carry her there myself. You say it is just around the +corner?" + +Feeing the man generously, even though he had failed to restore the poor +girl, Hubert Varrick caught her in his arms once more, again faced the +terrible storm with her, and arrived at the hospital, panting at every +step, for he had run the entire distance. + +He summoned a doctor. To him he stated his mission, adding that he +feared the girl was dying, and that he would give half his fortune if +the doctor would but save her life, as it was more precious to him than +the whole world beside. + +The man of medicine said it was only a question of suspended animation. +If pneumonia did not set in, there was no cause for alarm. + +Jessie was quickly given in charge of one of the nurses, a gentle, +madonna-faced woman. She was quickly put to bed, and everything done for +her that skill and experience could suggest. Hubert Varrick begged +permission to sit by her couch and watch the progress of their efforts. + +"Do your best," he cried, his strong voice quivering with emotion, "and +I will make it worth your while. You can name your own price." + +The long hours of the night passed; morning broke cold and gray through +the eastern sky, making the soft lamp-light that flooded the room look +pale and wan in the dim, gray morn. The white face lying against the +pillow had never stirred, nor had the blue eyes unclosed. The sun was +high in the heavens when it occurred to him, for the first time, that +the folks would be greatly worried about him. During the night the +girl's white lips had parted, and she murmured, faintly: "I must push on +through the terrible storm, though the faintness of death seems creeping +over me, for Miss Rosamond is waiting for the velvet ribbon." + +Hubert Varrick's strained ears had caught the words as he bent over her, +and as he heard them his rage knew no bounds, for it was clear enough to +him now that Jessie Bain, the girl he loved, had been the victim of +Rosamond Lee's cruelty. The blood fairly boiled in his veins. He felt +that he could never look upon Rosamond Lee's face again. + +He was so accustomed to terrible surprises that nothing seemed to affect +him of late. That Jessie Bain should have found employment under his own +grandfather's roof shocked him a little at first. + +But as he began to fully realize it, he said to himself that it was the +hand of fate that had led her there, that he might find her. It was not +until the sun had climbed the horizon, had crossed it, and was sinking +down on the other side, that consciousness came back to Jessie Bain. +With the first fluttering of the white eyelids, the doctor in attendance +motioned Hubert Varrick away. + +"She must not see you," he said. "It might give her a set-back. Just now +we can not be too careful of her." + +This was a great disappointment to Varrick, but he tried to bear it +patiently. + +For two long and weary weeks Jessie Bain was too ill to leave the +shelter of that roof. Hubert Varrick took rooms in a lodging-house +opposite, that he might be near her at all times. + +Great was Jessie Bain's consternation, when consciousness returned to +her, to find herself in a hospital, with a kindly-faced nurse bending +over her. + +"What has happened?" she cried. "Why am I here? Ah, let me get back to +Miss Rosamond!" she cried. "She will be so very angry with me." + +Gently the nurse informed her that she had been there a fortnight. She +told her how a gentleman had saved her from the terrible storm, bringing +her there in his arms, his own coat wrapped about her, and how he had +ever since spent his time hanging about the place, feeing with gold +those who attended her to do everything in their power for her. + +"I did not know that there was any one in this whole wide world that +would do so much for me," murmured Jessie, in bewilderment. "Please +thank him for me, kind nurse." + +"Nay, you must do that yourself, child," said the woman, smilingly. "And +let me tell you this: he seems to be greatly in love with you." + +"It can not be." + +"I assure you that it is quite true. Every one is speaking of how +devoted he is to you. If I were you, I'd-- Ah! here he comes now. I will +leave you alone with him to thank him, my dear." + +So saying, the nurse left the room. + +"Little Jessie!" Hubert whispered, almost beside himself with joy. + +"Mr. Varrick!" she breathed in a low voice of awe. + +Then he poured a tale of passionate love into her ears, but before +Jessie could answer he had caught the little hands again in his warm +clasp, covered them with kisses, and was gone. + +Jessie Bain tried to collect her scattered senses. Her head seemed in a +whirl. All that had happened within the last few minutes appeared but +the coinage of her own brain. + +When the nurse came in again she found the girl feverish with +excitement. + +"Come, come, my dear; this will never do," said the nurse. "You will be +sure to have a relapse if you are not very careful. Think how badly that +would make the young man feel." + +Jessie smiled. Suddenly a low cry broke from her lips, and she started +up pale with emotion. She had suddenly recalled poor Margaret and she +told the nurse the whole story. + +"Give me her address, and I will telegraph there for you," said the +nurse. "To be frank with you, the gentleman left a well-filled purse, +which he bid us place at your disposal. You are to want for no luxury +that money can purchase for you." + +Jessie Bain was overcome by the wonderful kindness of Hubert Varrick. +Her first thought was that she could never accept another penny, for she +was too much indebted to him already. Then came the thought of +Margaret--poor Margaret! She begged the nurse to send a telegram in all +haste, informing the boarding-house keeper that the money for Margaret +Moore's board would be forthcoming. + +This request was carried out at once, and within an hour the answer came +back that Jessie Bain's telegram had come too late. No money having come +in time for the girl's board, she had been sent to one of the public +asylums, and while _en route_ there, by some means she had made her +escape, and her whereabouts was then unknown. + +Jessie's grief was great upon hearing this. The nurse believed that the +bitter sobs which shook Jessie's slender frame would give her a relapse +that would keep her there for many a day. + +"There is but one thing to do," she said, trying to console Jessie, "and +that is to get back your health and strength as soon as you can, and +make a search for her. You will find her if you advertise and offer a +reward to any one who will tell you of her whereabouts." + +Surely, the money which Hubert Varrick had placed at her disposal could +not be used for a nobler purpose; and then, if Heaven intended her to +get well and strong again, she could soon pay him the amount borrowed. +Again the nurse did everything in her power to carry out her patient's +wishes. The advertisement duly appeared in the leading New York papers, +but as the days passed, all hope that she would be able to find Margaret +was abandoned. + +In the third day after Hubert Varrick's departure, a long letter came +for her. + +"What do you think I have for you, Miss Bain?" said the nurse. + +"Has the--the letter come that Mr. Varrick said he would write?" she +asked, eagerly. + +"That's just what it is," was the smiling reply; and the thick, white +envelope was placed in her hands. + +"I will leave you alone while you read it, Miss Bain," and added +smilingly: "A young girl loves best to be alone when she reads such a +letter as I imagine this to be. There--there; don't blush and look so +embarrassed." + +The next moment Jessie was alone with Hubert's letter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +"I WOULD RATHER WALK BY YOUR SIDE IN TROUBLE THAN SIT ON A THRONE BY THE +MIGHTIEST KING." + + +With trembling hands the girl broke the seal, drew forth the missive, +and slowly unfolded it. It was long and closely written: + + "DEAR LITTLE JESSIE," it began, "I know that the contents of this + letter will surprise you, but the thoughts born of longings + impossible to suppress, even though I would, fill my brain to + overflowing and must find utterance in these pages. + + "There are many men who can express their heart-thoughts in burning + words, but this boon is not given to me. I can only tell you my + hopes and fears and longings in the old, conventional words; but + the earnest wish is mine that they may find an echo in your heart, + little girl. + + "With your woman's quick wit you must have read my secret--which + every one else seems to have discerned--and that is, I love you, + dear--love you with all the strength of my heart. + + "I wonder, Jessie, if you could ever care enough for me to marry + me. + + "There, the words are written at last. I intended them to seem so + impressive, but they read far too coldly on the white paper, to + express the world of tenderness in my soul which would make them + eloquent if I could but hold your hands clasped tightly in my own + at this moment and whisper them to you. + + "If you can but care for me, dear Jessie, I will be the happiest + man the whole world holds. Your 'yes' or 'no' will mean life or + death for me. + + "I can not think, after all that I have gone through, that Heaven + would be so cruel as to have me hope for your love in vain. When I + come to you, Jessie, I shall ask you for my answer. I am an + impatient lover; I count the long days and hours that must wing + their slow flight by until we meet again. + + "I will not take you to the home of my mother, Jessie, dear, for I + quite believe you would be happier with me elsewhere. There is a + beautiful little cottage in the suburbs of the city, a charming, + home-like place. By the time that this letter reaches you I will + have purchased it, so confident am I that I can win you, little + Jessie. + + "I shall set workmen upon it at once, to make a veritable fairy's + bower of it ere you behold it, and it will be ready for us by early + spring. + + "We will spend the intervening time--which will be our + honey-moon--either in Florida or abroad, as best pleases you. Your + will shall be my law. I will make you so happy, Jessie, that you + will never regret the hour in which you gave your heart to me. + + "It will take but a day for this letter to reach you, and another + must elapse ere I can hear from you. They will be two days hard for + me to endure, Jessie. When a man is in love--deeply, desperately + in love--it is madness for him to attempt to do any kind of + business, as his mind is not on it, he can think of but one + object--the girl whom he idolizes. His one hope is to be near her, + his one prayer is that her love is his, in return for the mighty + affection that sways his whole being, and leads him into the + ideal--the soul-world, which throws the halo of memory and + anticipation around the image of her whom he loves. + + "Yours lovingly, + "Hubert Varrick." + +Jessie Bain read the letter through, the color coming and going on her +face, her heart aglow. Once, twice, thrice she read it through, then, +with a little sob, she pressed it closely to her breast. + +"Hubert Varrick loves me!" Jessie whispered the words over and over +again to herself, wondering if she should not awake presently and find +it only an empty dream. + +He was waiting for her answer. She smiled at the thought. + +"My darling Hubert, my love, my king, as though it could be anything +else but yes--yes, a thousand times yes!" she murmured. + +But even in this moment of ecstatic joy, the sword of destiny fell +swiftly and unerringly upon her hapless golden head. + +God pity and help her in her mortal anguish, for in this moment she +remembered that she had given Hubert's mother her sacred promise, nay, +her _vow_, that she would never cross her son's path again. + +When the nurse returned, after the lapse of perhaps a quarter of an +hour, to Jessie's bedside, she found the girl sobbing as though her +heart would break, and the letter torn into a thousand pieces, which +were fluttering over the counterpane. + +"I hope you have not heard any bad news, Miss Bain," she said, +earnestly. + +Jessie raised her tear-stained face from her hands, and smiled up into +her face, the most pitiful smile that ever was seen. + +"I have heard music so sweet that it might have opened up heaven to me, +if fate had not been against me," she murmured, with quivering lips, the +tears starting afresh to her blue eyes. + +These words completely puzzled the old nurse. But ere she could utter +the words on her lips, Jessie continued: + +"I wish I could have some writing materials; I should like to answer +this letter which I have received." + +"Do you think you feel strong enough to attempt to write it now?" she +asked dubiously. + +"Yes," said Jessie; adding under her breath: "I must write it quickly, +while I have the courage to do it." + +The pen which she held trembled in her hand. But at length, after many +futile attempts, she penned the following epistle: + + "Dear Mr. Varrick,--Your letter has just reached me, and oh! I can + not tell you how happy your words made me. But, Mr. Varrick, it can + not be; we are destined by a fate most cruel, to be nothing to each + other. I may as well tell you the truth-- I do love you with all my + heart. But there is a barrier between us which can never be + bridged over in this world. Your mother knows what it is; she will + tell you about it. + + "I intend leaving this place to-day, and going out into the + coldness and darkness of the world. Please do not attempt to find + me, as seeing you again would only be more pitiful for me. But take + this assurance with you down to the very grave: I shall always love + you while my life lasts. Your image, and yours alone, will forever + be enshrined in my heart. + + "Good-bye again, dear Hubert, I bless you from the bottom of my + heart for the love you have offered me and the honor you have paid + me in asking me to be your wife. Think kindly of me some time. + + "Yours, with a breaking heart, + "Jessie Bain." + +When next the nurse made her rounds, to her great amazement she found +the girl, weak as she was, already dressed, and putting on her hat. +Nurses and doctors were unable to change her determination to leave. + +"What of the young gentleman from whom you had the letter?" asked +Jessie's nurse. + +"The letter that I have written is to him," she said, in a very husky +voice. "He will understand. I will leave it in your care to send to him, +if you will be so kind." + +The nurse took charge of the letter. + +"I do not wish you to mail it until to-night," said Jessie, eagerly, +"for I-- I will not be able to leave ere that time. You have been so +kind to me," she added, "Oh, believe me that I do not know how to thank +you for all you have done!" + +"A little more strength would not have come amiss to you," one of the +doctors said gravely. "One thing, however, I insist upon--rest until +late in the afternoon, and then leave us if you really must." + +With a little sigh Jessie took off her hat again. + +Remaining there a few hours longer would not matter much, she told +herself; Hubert Varrick would not receive her letter until the following +morning. She could leave that night, and be so far away by day-break +that he could never find her. But what strange freaks Fate plays upon us +to carry out its designs. + +When the nurse left Jessie Bain, she took the all-important letter with +her, and quite forgetful of the promise which she had made the girl, not +to send the letter out until night, she proceeded to stamp it as she saw +the letter-carrier stop at the door to take up the mail. + +It would be very nice to send it by special delivery, she thought. He +will receive it all the sooner; and hastily adding the additional stamp +required, she handed it to the postman. + +An hour later it was on its way, and a little past noon Jessie's letter +reached its destination and was promptly delivered. + +Hubert had been summoned to his mother's home from the hotel where he +had been stopping. She had been seized with a serious illness, and had +hastily sent for him to come to her at once. He had responded with +alacrity to his mother's telegram. He had scarcely divested himself of +his fur overcoat in the corridor, ere the special messenger arrived with +Jessie's letter. He thrust it into his pocket, this sweet missive, to +read at his leisure, murmuring as he did so: "This is neither the time +nor place to learn the contents of my darling's letter. I must be all +alone when I read it." + +Thrusting it into his pocket, Varrick hurried quickly to his mother's +_boudoir_. With a great cry of relief she reached out her hand to him. +"Thank God, you are here at last." + +The trouble about Jessie Bain had been temporarily bridged over when he +had married Gerelda; yet, ever since, there had been a constraint +between mother and son which she very perceptibly felt. + +She had always said to herself that he would never forget Jessie Bain, +and when he became a widower the terror was strong within her that he +would make an attempt to find her. + +"Will the girl keep her promise," she asked herself over and over again, +"and never cross his path again?" + +It all rested on that. But it weighed heavily on her mind that she had +accused the girl wrongfully, and she told herself that God would surely +take vengeance upon her if she stood at heaven's gate with that sin on +her soul. + +In this hour, she must tell Hubert the truth, keeping nothing back. She +would not implicate herself, as that would bring horror into his eyes. +He must never know that she had concocted that plot in order to ruin the +girl. + +Hubert greeted his mother with all the old-time boyish, affectionate +ardor and she asked herself how she could tell him the truth--that which +was weighing so heavily on her mind. + +She gave a glad cry as he came up to the velvet divan upon which she +reclined, and held out her arms to him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +A MOTHER'S PLEA. + + +"Hubert, my boy!" she murmured, tremulously. + +"Mother!" he answered, embracing her; then, flinging himself on a low +hassock by her side, he caught both of her hands in his and kissed them. + +"I am so glad you are come, my son," she breathed--"I am so ill!" + +He tried to cheer her with his brave, bright words; but she only smiled +at him faintly, wistfully. + +She brought round the subject uppermost in her mind. + +"I wonder what has became of Jessie Bain?" she asked, abruptly. + +"Why do you ask me, mother?" he replied, evasively, flushing to the +roots of his curling hair--and that blush betrayed to her keen eyes that +he had not as yet lost interest in the girl. + +"I want you to promise me, Hubert," she whispered, "that if anything +should ever happen to me, you will not think of even searching for +Jessie Bain, in order to marry her." + +He dropped the white, jeweled hands he held, and looked at her in grave +apprehension, a troubled look in his earnest eyes. + +"I wish I could promise what you ask, mother," he said; "but +unfortunately, I-- I can not; it is too late! I have already searched +for Jessie Bain, and found her, and have offered her my heart and hand." + +A low cry from his mother arrested the words on his lips. + +"I knew it-- I feared it!" cried Mrs. Varrick, beating the air +distressedly with her jeweled hands. "But it must not be, Hubert." + +"It is too late for interference now, mother; the fiat has gone forth." + +Still she looked at him with dilated eyes. + +"Would you marry her against my will?" she gasped, looking at him with a +gaze which he never liked to remember in the years that followed. + +"Do not force me to answer at such a time, mother," he said, +distressedly. "I could not tell you a falsehood, and the truth might be +unpleasant for you to hear." + +"She will not marry you!" cried Mrs. Varrick. "I know a very good reason +why she will not." + +A smile curved the corners of her son's mobile lips, and he drew from +his pocket the precious missive and held it up before her. + +"I do not know of any reason why I should keep anything from you, +mother," he said. "This letter is Jessie's acceptance." + +A grayish pallor stole over Mrs. Varrick's face. + +Even in death--for she supposed herself to be dying--the ruling passion +that had taken possession of her life, was still strong within her. + +Her idolized son must never make such a _mes-alliance_ as to marry +Jessie Bain--a girl so far beneath him. + +"I have not as yet read its contents," continued Hubert. "If you like, +mother, I will read it aloud to you, and upon reflection, when you see +how well we love each other, you will realize how cruel it would be to +attempt to tear our lives asunder. I am pledged to her, mother, by the +most solemn vows a man can make; and though I love you dearly, mother, +not even for your sake will I give her up. Only a craven lover would +stoop to that. A man's deepest and truest love is given to the woman +whom he would make his wife. His affection for his mother comes next." + +Mrs. Varrick was too overcome for speech by the angry tempest that raged +in her soul. + +By this time Hubert Varrick had broken the seal, drawn forth the letter, +and commenced reading its contents aloud. He had scarcely reached the +second page ere he stopped short, dumfounded; for there the words +confronted him which made the blood turn to ice in his veins, and his +heart to almost stop beating. + +He sprung to his feet and looked at his mother. + +"Mother," he cried, hoarsely, "what can this mean? Jessie refuses me, +and she says you know the reason why she must do so. What is that +reason, mother? I beg you to tell me." + +"She has given me her solemn promise not to marry you. That much I may +tell you, nothing more," returned Mrs. Varrick, huskily. + +"But it is my right to know, mother," he cried, sharply. "You must not +keep it from me. I tell you that my whole life lies in the issue." + +"Step to my desk in the corner--the key is in it--and you will find in +the right-hand drawer a folded paper; bring it to me. This will tell you +what you want to know," she said, unsteadily, as he placed the paper in +her hand. "Open it, and read it for yourself." + +This he did with trembling hands; but when his eye had traversed half +the page, he flung the note from him as though it were a viper that had +stung and mortally wounded him. + +"You see it is a confession from Jessie Bain that she stole my bracelet; +it is her written acknowledgment, with her name affixed. That is the +reason why she feels there is a barrier between you. Our ancestors, +Hubert, have always been noted for being proud, high-bred men and women. +No stain has ever darkened their fair names. If you wedded this girl, +you would be the first to bring shame upon the name of Varrick." + +"Not so, mother," he cried. "Despite the evidence of my own eyes, I can +not, I will not believe my darling guilty. There is some terrible +mistake--something which I do not understand. I will make it the work of +my life to clear up this mystery, and to prove to you, despite all the +evidence against my darling, that she is innocent." + +"Will you make a vow to me that you will never marry her until her +innocence is proven?" she cried, seizing Hubert's hand and pressing it +spasmodically in both of hers. "Remember that I, as your mother, have a +right to demand this--you owe it to me." + +For a moment Hubert Varrick hesitated. + +"If you are so sure of her innocence, surely you need have no +hesitation," his mother whispered. + +Hubert Varrick did not speak for an instant; a thousand tumultuous +thoughts surged through his brain. + +Slowly, solemnly, he turned toward his mother. + +"So sure am I that I can prove her innocence, that I will accede to your +request, mother dear," he answered, in a clear, firm voice, his eyes +meeting her own. + +"I am content," murmured Mrs. Varrick, sinking back upon her pillow. + +She said to herself that if he followed that condition he would never +wed Jessie Bain. + +Hubert rose quickly to his feet. + +"I will take you at your word, mother," he declared promptly, rising +suddenly to his feet. "You shall hear from me in regard to this within +three days' time. I am going direct to Jessie. If your symptoms should +change for the worse, telegraph me." + +Kissing his mother hurriedly, and before she could make any protest to +this arrangement, Hubert hurried out of the room and out of the house. + +He was barely in time to catch the train for Albany, and arrived there +just as the dusk was creeping up and the golden-hearted stars were +coming out. + +He made his way with all haste to the place where he had left Jessie. He +must see her, and have a talk with her. He would not take "no" for an +answer. + +The neat little maid who opened the door for him recognized the +gentleman at once. + +He had placed a bill in her hand at parting, and she was not likely to +forget the handsome young man. + +He was shown into the visitors' sitting-room. + +"I should like to be permitted to see Miss Bain," he said. "Will you +kindly take that message for me to the matron in charge?" + +The girl looked at him with something very like astonishment in her +face. + +"Did you not know, sir--" she asked, somewhat curiously, as she +hesitated on the threshold. + +"Know what?" he demanded, brusquely. "What is there to know, my good +girl?" + +"Miss Bain has gone, sir," she replied. "She left the place for good +quite an hour ago!" + +Varrick was completely astounded. He could scarcely believe the evidence +of his own senses; his ears must have deceived him. + +At this juncture the matron entered. She corroborated the maid's +statement-- Miss Bain had left the place quite an hour before. + +"Could you tell me where she went?" he asked. + +"She intended taking the train for New York. She was very weak, by no +means able to leave here, sir. We tried to keep her; but it was of no +use; she had certainly made up her mind to go, and go she did!" + +It seemed to Hubert Varrick that life was leaving his body. + +How he made his way out of the place, he never afterward remembered. + +There was but one other course to pursue, and that was, to go to New +York by the first outgoing train, and try to find her. + +Hailing a passing cab, he sprang into it, remembering just in time that +the New York express left the depot at seven o'clock. If the man drove +sharp he might make it, but it would be as much as he could do. + +He gave the man a double fare, who, whipping up his horses, fairly +whirled down the snow-packed road in the direction of the depot. + +"I am afraid that I can not make the train, sir," called the driver, +hoarsely, as Hubert Varrick leaned out of the window, crying excitedly +that he would quadruple his fare if he would make the horses go faster. + +Again he plied his whip to the flanks of the horses, but they could not +increase their speed, for they were doing their very best at that +moment. + +Nearer and nearer sounded the shrieking whistle of the far-off train. +They reached the depot just as the train swept round the bend of the +road. + +"Thank God, I am in time!" cried Hubert Varrick, as he rushed along the +platform. "If I had missed this train, I should have had to wait until +to-morrow morning. I shall have little enough time to purchase my +ticket. I--" + +The rest of the sentence was never uttered. He stopped short. Standing +on the platform, watching with wistful eyes the incoming train, was +Jessie Bain! + +A great cry broke from his lips. In an instant he was standing beside +her, her hands in his, crying excitedly: + +"Oh! Jessie, Jessie. Thank Heaven I am in time!" + +"Mr. Varrick!" she gasped, faintly. At that instant the train stopped at +the station. + +"You must not go on board!" he cried, excitedly. "Jessie, you must +listen to what I have to say to you," he commanded. "You must not go to +New York." + +There was a sternness in his voice that held her spell-bound for an +instant. + +"Come into the waiting-room," he said. "I must speak with you." + +Drawing her hand within his arm, he fairly compelled her to obey him; +and as they crossed the threshold the train thundered on again. + +The room was crowded. This certainly was not the time or place to utter +the burning words that were on his lips. An idea occurred to him. He +would get a coach, drive about the city, through the park, and as they +rode, he could talk with her entirely free from interruption. + +Hailing a coach that stood by the curbstone, he proceeded to assist his +companion into it. She was too overcome by emotion to exert any will of +her own. + +He took his seat by her side, and a moment later they were bowling +slowly down the wide avenue through which he had driven so furiously but +a little while before. + +"Now, Jessie," he began, tremulously; "listen to me, I pray you. I have +traveled all the way back to Boston for your dear sake, to see you, to +hold your hands, to speak with you, and to tell you I do not consider +the little tear-blotted note you sent me, a fitting answer to my letter. +I can not take 'no,' for an answer, Jessie, dear. You could not mean it. +When I read what you wrote me, in answer to my burning words of love, it +nearly unmanned me. You said, in that little note, that you did care for +me; you acknowledged it. Now, I ask you, why, if this be true, would you +doom me, as well as yourself, to a life of misery. You say there is a +mystery, deep and fathomless, which separates us from each other for all +time to come? This I must refuse to believe. You say it is something +which my mother knows? Will you confess to me, Jessie, my darling, my +precious one, just what you mean? Remember that the happiness of two +lives hangs upon your answer." + +The girl was crying as though her heart would break, her lovely face +buried in her hands. + +He sat by her side very gravely, waiting until the storm of tears should +have subsided. + +He well knew that it was better that such grief, which seemed to rend +her very soul, should waste itself in tears. At length, when her sobs +grew fainter and she became calmer, he ventured to speak once more. + +"I beg you to tell me, Jessie," he went on, "just what it is that holds +our two lives asunder." + +He longed with all his soul to take her in his arms, pillow the golden +head on his breast, and let her weep her grief out there. But he must +not; he must control the longing that was eating his heart away. + +"Be candid with me, Jessie," he said, his voice trembling and husky. "Do +not conceal anything from me. The hour has come when nothing but +frankness will answer, and I must know all, from beginning to end. What +is it, I ask again, that my mother knows which you alluded to in your +note, saying that it had the power to part us? Dear little Jessie, sweet +one, confide in me! I repeat, keep nothing from me." + +Through the tears which lay trembling on her long lashes, Jessie raised +her lovely blue eyes and looked at him, her lips quivering piteously. + +For an instant she could not speak, so great was her emotion; then by a +mighty effort she controlled herself, and answered in a broken voice: + +"I-- I made a solemn pledge to your mother, the day I left your house, +that I would never cross your path again, that I-- I should do my best +to avoid you and steal quietly away out of your life. I-- I signed the +paper and left it in your mother's hands. That, and that alone, +satisfied her. Then I went away out of your life, though it almost broke +my heart to do so. I-- I have kept my promise to her. I meant to go away +and to never look upon your face, even though I knew that Heaven had +answered my prayer and given me your love--which I prize more than life +itself--when everything else in this world was taken from me." + +As Varrick listened, a terrible whiteness had overspread his face. + +"Answer me this, Jessie," he asked; in the greatest agitation: "Why did +you sign the other paper which you left with my mother that day? Answer +me, Jessie--you must!" + +"I signed no other paper than that which contained the promise I have +just spoken to you about," the girl returned earnestly, puzzled as to +what he could mean. + +For answer, he drew forth the note which he had taken from his mother's +writing-desk and placed in his breast pocket, and put it in Jessie's +hand. + +"This note has been written by my mother," he said, "and this is your +signature, which I would know anywhere in the world, my darling," he +went on, huskily. "Oh, my love, my love! explain it to me!" + +She had taken the paper from his hands, and run her eyes rapidly over +the written words. They seemed to stand out in letters of fire. Her +brain whirled around; her very senses seemed leaving her. + +"Oh, Hubert! Hubert! listen to me!" she cried, forgetful of her +surroundings, as she flung herself on her knees at his feet. "This is +not the paper I signed, although the signature is so startlingly like my +own that I am bewildered. I signed a paper which said that I would never +cross your path again; but not this one--oh, not this one! I-- I never +saw this paper before. Oh, Hubert-- Mr. Varrick-- I plead with you not +to believe that I could ever have signed a paper acknowledging that I +took your mother's diamond bracelet! I have never taken anything which +did not belong to me in all my life. I would have died first--starved on +the street!" + +Words can not describe what the thoughts were that coursed through +Hubert Varrick's brain as he slowly raised her. + +"Tell me, Jessie," he cried, "did you read over the paper which you +signed?" + +"No," she sobbed; "I did not read it. Your mother wrote it, telling me +what was in it--that I was never to cross your path again, because she +wished it so, and I signed it without reading it. Indeed, I could not +have read a line to have saved my life, my eyes were so blinded with +tears, just as they are now." + +A grayish pallor spread over his face; a startling revelation had come +to him: his _mother_ had written the terrible document, every line of +which she knew to be false, relying upon the girl's agitation not to +discover its contents ere she signed it! + +Yes, that was the solution of the mystery; he saw through the whole +contemptible affair. + +Only his mother's illness prevented him from stopping at the first +telegraph office and sending a dispatch to her to let her know that he +had discovered all. + +"You do not believe it--you will not believe that I took the bracelet?" +Jessie was sobbing out. "Speak to me, oh, I implore you, and tell me +that you believe me innocent!" + +He turned suddenly and took her in his arms. + +"Believe in your innocence, my darling?" he answered, suddenly. "Yes, +before Heaven I do! You are innocent--innocent as a little child. I +intend to take you directly to my mother, and this mystery shall then be +unraveled." + +Despite the girl's protestations, he insisted that it must be so, and +the first outgoing train bore them on their way back to Boston. + +It so happened that he found a lady acquaintance on board, an old friend +of his mother, who willingly took charge of Jessie on the journey. + +"Keep up a brave heart, little Jessie," whispered Hubert, as he bid the +ladies good-night. "All will come out well. Nothing on earth shall take +you from me again." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +RETURNING GOOD FOR EVIL. + + +When the train reached Boston, Varrick took a cab at once for his home, +Jessie and his mother's friend accompanying him. They had barely reached +the entrance gate, ere they saw, through the dense foliage of trees that +surrounded the old mansion, that lights were moving quickly in the east +wing of the house that was occupied by his mother. + +His sharp ring had scarcely died away when the footman came hurriedly to +the door. + +"Now that I have seen you safely home, with Miss Bain beneath your +mother's roof, I shall have to hurry on," declared his mother's friend. +"I know your mother will forgive me, Hubert, for not stopping a few +days, or at least a few hours, when you explain to her that it is a +necessity for me to resume my journey. You must see me back to the +carriage." + +Persuasion was of no avail. Leaving Jessie in the vestibule for a few +moments, Hubert complied with her request. When he returned a moment +later, he found her in earnest conversation with the servant. + +"Oh, Mr. Varrick-- Hubert!" Jessie cried excitedly. "You must go to your +mother at once. I hear she is very, very ill, and that all of the +servants, for some reason, have fled from the house. Even the nurse, for +some reason, refused to remain. Oh, Mr. Varrick!" she repeated, eagerly, +"let me go to her bedside and nurse her. She is out of her head, and +will never know." + +Tears rushed to Varrick's eyes. + +"You are an angel, Jessie!" he cried, kissing her hand warmly. "It shall +be as you wish. Follow me!" + +They entered noiselessly. Mrs. Varrick was tossing restlessly to and fro +on a bed of pain. The family doctor was bending over her, with a look of +alarm in his face. Hubert stole softly to the bedside, Jessie following. + +All in an instant, before the doctor could spring forward to prevent +them, both had suddenly bent down and kissed the sufferer repeatedly. + +"Great God!" gasped the doctor, "the mischief has been done! I did not +have an instant's time to warn you. Your mother is alarmingly ill with +that dread disease, small-pox! I am forced to say to you that after what +has occurred--your contact with my patient, I shall be obliged to +quarantine you both." + +"Great God!" Hubert cried, turning pale as death as he looked at +Jessie. + +"Do not fear for me, Mr. Varrick," she said, "I am not afraid." + +"For myself I do not care, for I passed through such a siege when I was +a child, and came out of it unscathed. But you, Jessie? Oh, it must not +be--it shall not be--that you, too, must suffer this dread contagion!" + +"It is too late now for useless reflection. It would be better to face +the consequences than seek to avoid them. If it is destined that either +one of you should succumb to this disease, you could not avoid it, +believe me, though you flew to the other end of the world. Take it very +calmly, and hope for the best. Forget your danger, now that you are face +to face with it, and let us do our utmost to relieve my suffering +patient." + +"He is right," said Jessie. + +In this Hubert Varrick was forced to concur. + +"Heaven bless you for your kindness!" he murmured. + +The touch of those cool, soft hands on Mrs. Varrick's burning brow had a +most marvelous effect in soothing her. During the fortnight that +followed she would have no one else by her bedside but Jessie; she would +take medicine from no one else. She called for her incessantly while she +was out of her sight. + +"If she recovers, it will all be due to you, Miss Bain," the doctor said +one day. + +There came a day when the ravages of the terrible disease had worn +themselves out, and Mrs. Varrick opened her eyes to consciousness. Her +life had been spared; but, ah! never again in this world would any one +look with anything save horror upon her. Her son dreaded the hour when +she should look in the mirror and see the poor scarred face reflected +there. + +When she realized that she owed her very life to the girl who had +watched over her so ceaselessly and that that girl was Jessie Bain, her +emotion was great. She buried her poor face in her hands, and they heard +her murmur brokenly: + +"God is surely heaping coals of fire upon my head." + +On the very day that she was able to leave her couch for the first time, +and to lean on that strong brave young arm that helped her into the +sunny drawing-room, Jessie herself was stricken down. + +In those days that had dragged their slow flight by, Mrs. Varrick had +experienced a great change of heart. She had learned to love Jessie a +thousand times more than she ever hated her. And now when this calamity +came upon the girl, her grief knew no bounds. + +What if the girl should die, and Hubert should still believe her guilty +of the theft of the diamonds. God would never forgive her for her sin. +There was but one way to atone for it, and that was to make a full +confession. + +It was the hardest task of her life when her son, whom she had sent for, +stood before her. When she attempted to utter the words, to lead to the +subject uppermost in her mind, her heart grew faint, her lips faltered. + +"Come and sit beside me, Hubert; I have something to tell you," she +said. + +He did as she requested, attempting to take her thin, white hands down +from her poor disfigured face. + +"Promise, beforehand, that you will not hate me." + +"I could not hate you, mother," he said, gently. + +Burying her face still deeper in the folds of her handkerchief, while +her form swayed to and fro, she told him all in broken words. At length +she had finished, and a silence like death fell between them. Raising +her head slowly from the folds of her handkerchief, she cast her eyes +fearfully in his direction. To her intense amazement, she saw him +leaning back comfortably in his seat. + +"Hubert!" she gasped, "are you not bitterly angry with me? Speak!" + +"I was very angry, I confess, mother, when this was first known to me; +but I have had time since to think the matter over calmly. You acted +under the pressure of intense excitement, I concluded, and pride, which +was always your besetting sin, mother; and that gained the ascendency +over you to the extent that you would rather have seen Jessie in a +prison cell, though she was innocent, than see her my wife!" + +"You knew it before I told you?" she exclaimed. "But how did you find +out?" + +"That must be _my_ secret, for the time being, mother," he returned. "Be +thankful that no harm came from your nefarious scheme. If Jessie had +been thrown into a prison cell and persecuted unjustly, I admit that I +should never have forgiven you while life lasted. Now, every thought is +swallowed up in the fear that her illness may terminate as yours did, +mother. But this I say to you: if she were the most-scarred creature on +the face of the earth, I should still love her and wish to marry her." + +"I should not oppose it, my son," said his mother. + +The terrible calamity which Mrs. Varrick had so long dreaded had not +happened--her son had not turned against her. + +We will pass over the fortnight that followed. Heaven had been merciful. +Despite the fact that she had nursed Mrs. Varrick day and night, she +herself had suffered but a slight attack of the dread contagion, and +there were tears in both Hubert's and his mother's eyes when the doctor +informed them that there would be no trace of the dread disease on the +girl's fair face. + +The road back to health and strength was but a short one, for Jessie had +youth to help her in the great struggle. When she found that Mrs. +Varrick had become reconciled to her, and had even consented to her +marriage with her idolized son, and was laying plans for it, her joy +knew no bounds. + +It was the happiest household ever seen that gathered around Jessie Bain +when she was able to sit up. All the old servants were so glad to see +Jessie her bright, merry self once more, and to have their young master +Hubert and pretty Jessie reunited. They talked of their coming wedding +as the greatest event that would ever take place there, and they made +the greatest preparations for the coming marriage. + +Again cards were sent out, and the first person who received one was +Rosamond Lee. + +Her amazement and rage knew no bounds. She had never heard from Jessie +Bain since the hour she was sent out in that terrible storm. Nor had she +ever seen Hubert Varrick since, nor heard from him. Somehow it had run +in her mind that he might have met the girl, and she had told him all +that had happened; and she decided that, under existing circumstances, +she had better remain away from the wedding. + +"There is no use in my remaining in this house, with this fussy old man +and woman," she said flinging down the invitation, which she had been +reading aloud to her maid. "I only came to this lonely place with the +hope of winning handsome Hubert Varrick, and I have fooled away my time +here all in vain, it seems. We had better get away at once." + +Despite the protestations of old Mr. and Mrs. Bassett, Rosamond Lee and +her maid left the house that very day. + +The servants of the place were indeed glad to get rid of them; and as +they were being driven away in the Bassett carriage, the maid, looking +back by chance, saw every one of them standing at an upper window, +making wild grimaces at them, which Rosamond Lee's maid venomously +returned, saying to herself that she should never see them again. + +Rosamond Lee's home was in New York City, and it was not until she got +on the train bound for the metropolis that she gave full vent to her +feelings and railed bitterly against the unkindness of fate in giving a +grand man like Hubert Varrick to such a little nobody as that miserable, +white-faced Jessie Bain. + +"I hope she will never be happy with him!" she added, in a burst of +bitterness. + +When they reached the city, they drove directly to the boarding-house +where they were accustomed to stop. As strange fate would have it, it +was the very boarding-house beneath whose roof Jessie Bain and Margaret +had found shelter when Jessie had come to New York in search of work. +The landlady was very glad to welcome back Miss Rosamond Lee and her +maid. + +"You came back quite unexpectedly, Miss Lee," said the landlady. "We can +get your room ready, however, without delay. There is a young girl in +the little hall bedroom that your maid has always had. Still, as she +doesn't pay anything, she can be moved. By the way, I want you to take +notice of her when you see her. She's as pretty as a picture but she's +not quite right in her head. + +"She was brought here by a young girl who took pity on her, and while +the young girl was off securing work, she suddenly became so +unmanageable that we thought the best thing to do was to send her to an +asylum. But on her way there she made her escape from the vehicle. The +driver never missed her until he had reached his destination. + +"Search was made for her, and for many weeks we attempted to trace her, +but it was all of no avail. Only last night, by the merest chance, we +came face to face with her at a flower-stand, where they had taken her +for her pretty face, to make sales for them. I brought her home at once, +for there had been a good reward offered to any one who would find her. + +"Here another difficulty presented itself. + +"The young girl who caused the reward to be offered is now missing--at +least, I can not find her." + +"Why don't you insert a 'personal' in the paper?" drawled Rosamond Lee. + +"That would be a capital idea. Gracious! I wonder that I did not think +of it before," said the landlady. "But, dear me! I'm not a good hand at +composing anything of that kind for the paper." + +"I'll write it out for you, if you like," said Rosamond, indolently. + +The landlady took her at her word. + +"The name of the young girl whom I wish to find is Jessie Bain," she +began. + +A great cry broke from Rosamond Lee's lips, and her face grew ashen. + +"Did I hear you say Jessie Bain?" she asked. + +"Yes; that was the name," returned the landlady, wonderingly. "Do you +know her?" + +"Yes-- I don't know. Describe her. It must be one and the same person," +she added under her breath. + +"I shouldn't be at all surprised," continued the woman, "for she went to +Albany, the very place you have just come from." + +"It's the same one," cried Rosamond Lee. "Tell me the story of this +demented girl over again in all its details. I was not paying attention +before. I did not half listen to all you said." + +The landlady went over the story a second time for Rosamond's benefit. + +Miss Lee meanwhile paced the room excitedly up and down. + +"I'll tell you what I think," she cried excitedly. "Those two girls are +surely adventuresses of the worst type. You say at first that she called +the demented girl her sister, and then afterward admitted that she was +not. You see, there was something wrong from the start. Now let me tell +you an intensely interesting sequel to your story: The girl Jessie Bain +has, since the few short weeks that she left your place, captured in the +matrimonial noose one of the wealthiest young men in Boston." + +"Well, well what a marvelous story!" declared the landlady; and her +opinion of Jessie Bain went up forthwith instead of being lowered, as +Rosamond calculated it would be. + +"The idea of an adventuress daring to attempt to capture Hubert +Varrick!" the girl cried. "That is the point I want you to see. I have a +great plan," continued Rosamond. "I will write to Hubert Varrick at +once, that he may save himself from the snare which is being laid for +his unwary feet by that cunning creature, or I will go to his mother and +tell her all about it. I will make it a point to have a talk with this +Margaret Moore at once. Do send her in to me." + +The landlady could not very well refuse the request so eagerly made. +When Margaret Moore came into the room, a few minutes later, and +Rosamond's eyes fell upon her, she gave a sudden start, mentally +ejaculating: + +"Great goodness! where have I seen that girl before? Her face is +certainly familiar!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +A TERRIBLE REVELATION. + + +Rosamond Lee stared hard at the lovely girl as she advanced toward where +she sat. + +"Where have I seen that face before?" she asked herself, in wonder. +"Come and sit down beside me," she said, with a winning smile, as she +made room for her on the divan. "I would like so much to talk with you. + +"I have heard all of your story," she continued, "and I feel so sorry +for you! I sent for you to tell you if there is any way that I can aid +you in searching for your sister, I shall be only too happy to do so." + +"The young girl you speak of is not my sister," corrected Margaret; "but +I love her quite as dearly as though she were." + +"Not your sister?" repeated Rosamond. + +"No," was the answer; "but I love her quite as much as though she were." + +"Tell me about her." + +Margaret leaned forward, thoughtful for a moment, looking with dreamy +eyes into the fire. + +"I have very little to tell," she said. "I have not known the young girl +as long as people imagine. Her uncle saved me from a wrecked steamboat, +and she nursed me back to health and strength. Who I am or what I was +before that accident, I can not remember; everything seems a blank to +me. There are whole days even now when the darkness of death creeps over +my mind, and I do not realize what is taking place about me. This sweet, +young girl has been my faithful friend, even after her uncle died, +sharing her every penny with me. Now she is lost to me forever. She went +away, and I can not trace her. There is another feeling which sometimes +steals over me," murmured Margaret, "a thought which is cruel, and which +I can not shake off, that sometimes impresses me strangely, that somehow +we have met in some other world, and that she was my enemy." + +"What a strange notion!" said Rosamond. + +"Oh, that thought has grieved me so!" continued Margaret, in a low, sad +voice. + +"I hear that she left you to go on the stage," said Rosamond. + +"Yes; that is quite true," was the reply. "She went with a manager who +was stopping at this house." + +"Supposing that I should put you on the track of your friend, would +you--" + +"Do you know where she is?" + +"I think I do," was Rosamond's guarded answer. "But what I was going to +say is, if I take you to a gentleman who knows her whereabouts, will you +tell him, as you have told me, that she went off with a strange man to +be an actress?" + +"Yes, indeed; why not?" returned Margaret. + +"We will take the afternoon train," suggested Rosamond. + +The landlady made no objection to this, and the first act in the great +tragedy was begun as the Boston express moved slowly out of the depot, +bearing with it Rosamond Lee and her companion. + +On their journey Rosamond talked incessantly of Jessie Bain, plying the +girl beside her with every conceivable question concerning her, until at +last Margaret grew quite restless under the ceaseless cross-examination. +All unconsciously, her manner grew haughty, and Rosamond noticed it. + +At a way-station, some twenty miles this side of Boston, a tall, +dark-bearded man boarded the train. The only seat vacant was the one +across the aisle from the two girls. This he took, and was soon immersed +in the columns of the paper which he had taken from his pocket. + +"Are we almost there?" exclaimed Margaret. + +The stranger across the aisle started violently and looked around. + +"That voice!" he muttered. + +There was but one being in this world with accents like it, and that was +Gerelda Northrup, who lay in her watery grave somewhere in the St. +Lawrence River. + +Captain Frazier--for it was he--gave another quick glance at the two +girls opposite him, and bent forward in his seat, that he might catch a +better view of the one nearest him, whose face was averted. + +Again she spoke, and this time the accents were more startlingly +familiar than ever. Frazier sprang to his feet, walked down to the end +of the car, then turned and slowly retraced his steps, watching the girl +intently the while. + +"I could almost swear that I am getting the tremens again, or that my +eyes deceive me," he muttered. "If ever I saw Gerelda Northrup in the +flesh, that is she!" + +He stopped short, and touched her on the shoulder, his eyes almost +bulging from their sockets. + +"Miss Northrup-- I-- I mean Mrs. Varrick--is this you? In the name of +Heaven, speak to me!" + +She looked at him, her great dark eyes studying his face with a troubled +expression. + +"Varrick!" she muttered below her breath. "Where have I heard that name +before? And your face too! Where have I seen it? It recalls something +out of my past life," she muttered. + +With a low cry he bent forward. + +"Then it _is_ you, Gerelda-- Mrs. Varrick?" + +Rosamond Lee, whose face had grown from red to white, sprung excitedly +to her feet. + +"What mystery is this?" she cried. "What do you mean by calling this +girl Mrs. Varrick? There is a friend of mine--a Mr. Hubert Varrick--who +is soon to be married to a Jessie Bain. You haven't the two mixed, have +you, sir?" + +Frazier turned impatiently to her. + +"I have seen the announcement of Hubert Varrick's marriage to Jessie +Bain," he returned, his face darkening. "But the question is: how dare +he attempt to marry another girl while he has a wife living. I do not +know who you may be, madame," facing Rosamond impatiently. "You say that +you know Hubert Varrick well, yet you do not appear conversant with his +history. He married this young girl sitting beside you, who was then +Miss Gerelda Northrup. On their wedding journey the steamer 'St. +Lawrence' was lost, and she was supposed by all her friends to have +perished in the frightful accident." + +While he had been speaking, Gerelda--for it was indeed she--had been +watching him intently. + +As he proceeded with his story, a great tremor shook her frame. + +With a low cry she sprung to her feet. + +"Oh, I remember-- I remember _all_ now!" shrieked Gerelda. "I-- I was on +the train with Hubert whom I had just married. Then we went on the +steamer. We had a quarrel, and he told me that he did not love me, even +though he had wedded me, and I-- Oh, the words drove me mad! There was a +great rumbling of the boiler, a crashing of timbers, and I felt myself +plunged in the water. But my head--it pains so terribly! I scarcely felt +the chill of the water. The next I remember I was lying in a cottage, +with a young girl bending over me. My God! it was Jessie Bain, my enemy. +I remember it all now. I wonder that memory did not come back to me when +I heard the name Jessie Bain. She did not know that it was I who was +Hubert Varrick's wife, or she would have let me die." + +The effect of Gerelda's words was startling upon Rosamond. + +"What are you going to do about it?" she asked, eagerly. + +"Do?" echoed Gerelda. "I am going to claim my husband. He is mine, and +all the powers on earth can never take him from me!" + +"I suppose," said Rosamond, "now, from the way this amazing affair has +culminated, you will not want me to go with you to Hubert-- Mr. +Varrick, I mean." + +Gerelda turned haughtily on her. + +"No," she said. "Why should you wish to go with me to my husband? What +interest have you in him?" + +Rosamond shrunk back abashed, though she stammered: + +"I-- I should like to see how he takes it." + +"I would like to accompany you for the same reason," interposed Captain +Frazier. "He will be angry enough at you coming back to frustrate his +marriage with the girl whom he idolizes so madly." + +Gerelda's face grew stormy as she listened. There was an expression in +her eyes not good to see, and which Captain Frazier knew boded no good +to the object of her wrath. + +At this juncture the express rolled into the Boston depot. Bidding +Rosamond Lee and Captain Frazier a hasty good-bye, and insisting that +under no circumstances should they accompany her, Gerelda hailed a cab, +and gave the order: "To the Varrick mansion." + +Captain Frazier stepped suddenly forward and hailed a passing cab, +saying to himself that he must be present, at all hazards, at that +meeting which was to take place between Gerelda and Hubert Varrick. + +"Keep yonder carriage in sight," he said, pointing out the vehicle just +ahead of them, and producing, as he spoke, a bank-note, which he thrust +into the cab-man's hand. + +The man did his duty well. + +Pausing suddenly, and bending low, he whispered to the occupant of his +vehicle that the carriage ahead had stopped short. + +"All right," said Captain Frazier, sharply. "Spring out--here is your +fee, my good man." + +The captain drew back into the shadow of the tall pines as his carriage +drove away, lest the occupant of the vehicle ahead should discover his +presence there. He saw Gerelda alight and pause involuntarily before the +arched entrance gate that led around to the rear of the Varrick mansion. + +Captain Frazier watched her keenly as she stood there for a moment, +quite irresolute. His heart was all in a whirl, as he glanced up at the +grand old mansion whose huge chimneys confronted him from over the tops +of the trees. + +"From the very beginning, Varrick has always had the best of me," he +muttered. "I never loved but one thing in all my life," he cried, +hoarsely; "and that was Gerelda Northrup, and he won her from me. From +that moment on I have cursed him with all the passionate hatred of my +nature. Since that time life has held but one aim for me--and that was, +to crush him--and that opportunity will soon be mine--that hour is now +at hand. He will shortly be wedded to another, if Gerelda does not +interfere, and then--ah!--and then--" + +His soliloquy was suddenly cut short, for the sound of approaching +footsteps was heard on the snow. + +He would have drawn back into the shadow of the interlacing pines, but +that he saw he was observed by a minister who stepped eagerly forward. + +"You are a stranger in our midst," he said, holding out his hand to him; +"I do not recollect having seen your face before. I-- I have a favor to +ask of you. Would you mind lending me your assistance as far as the +house yonder--the Varrick mansion--which you can see over the trees? I-- +I am not very well--have just recovered from a spell of sickness. I-- I +wish to visit the inmates of the mansion to perfect some arrangements +concerning a happy event that is to take place on the morrow, within +those walls. I find myself overtaken by a sudden faintness. I repeat, +would you object to giving me your arm as far as the entrance gate +yonder?" + +Captain Frazier complied, with a profound bow. + +"I shall be only too happy to render you any assistance in my power," he +murmured. "I used to know the family at Varrick mansion a few years +ago," he went on. "I am not so well acquainted, however, with the +present heir. Pardon me, but may I ask if the event to which you allude, +that is to take place to-morrow, is a marriage ceremony?" + +The minister bowed gravely. + +"Between young Mr. Varrick and a Miss Bain?" + +Again the reverend gentleman inclined his head in the affirmative, +remarking that the bride-to-be was as sweet and gracious as she was +beautiful. + +Captain Frazier looked narrowly at his companion for an instant, then he +asked, quickly: + +"Again I ask your pardon for the questions I wish to put to you, but are +you not the same minister who was sent to perform the marriage ceremony +up at the Thousand Islands? and, again, the same minister who, later on, +united Mr. Varrick in marriage to the beautiful Gerelda Northrup?" + +The reverend gentleman bowed, wondering vaguely why the stranger should +catechise him after this fashion. + +"You seem well acquainted with the family history, my friend," he +remarked, slowly. + +"Yes," Frazier answered, shortly, adding, in a low, smooth voice: "It +was a fatal accident which robbed Hubert Varrick, some time since, of +the bride whom he had just wedded. Her death has never been clearly +proven, has it?" + +"Oh, yes, it has," returned the minister. "Her body was among the +unfortunates who were afterward recovered." + +"Ah!" said Frazier, _sotto voice_, adding: "It is so very strange, my +good sir, that after this thrilling experience, Varrick should take it +upon himself to secure another wife." + +The good minister looked at him, quite embarrassed. He did not care to +discuss the subject with one who was an entire stranger to him, +wondering that he should introduce such a personal subject, and at such +a time and place. + +"Excuse me, my friend, but I feel a little delicacy in discussing so +personal a matter," he said, gently. + +But this did not in the least abash Captain Frazier. + +"It seems to me that I should insist upon proof positive--ay, proof +beyond any possibility of doubt--that my first wife was dead ere I +contracted a second alliance," remarked Frazier, quite significantly. + +"Mr. Varrick believes that he has this, I understand," said the +minister, gravely. + +Frazier shrugged his shoulders, turned and looked at the man from under +his lowering brows--a look which the minister did not relish. + +"But, then, Varrick has always believed in second marriages," remarked +Frazier, flippantly. + +The minister started, giving an uncomfortable glance at the other. + +"I believe the girl to whom he is about to be united is Varrick's first +love?" Frazier went on, nonchalantly. + +"Indeed you are mistaken," retorted his companion earnestly. "I have +known Hubert Varrick for long years, and to my certain knowledge he +never had a fancy for any of the fair sex previous to the time he met +beautiful Miss Northrup. She was his first love. Of that I am quite +positive." + +By this time they had reached the bend in the road hard by the entrance +gate. + +The reverend gentleman could not help but notice that his companion +seemed unduly excited over the questions which he had propounded and the +answers which he had received thereto, and he felt not a little relieved +at bidding him good-afternoon and thanking him for the service which he +had rendered him; and he wondered greatly that he excused himself at the +entrance gate, instead of accompanying him to the house, if he was as +intimate a friend of the family as he claimed to be. + +The minister proceeded slowly up the wide stone walk, from which the +snow had been carefully brushed, with a very thoughtful expression on +his face. + +Mrs. Varrick stood at the drawing-room window, and, noticing his +approach, hurriedly rang for a servant to admit him at once. + +He found himself ushered into the wide corridor before he could even +touch the bell. Mrs. Varrick was on the threshold of the drawing-room, +waiting to greet him as he stepped forward. + +"I thought I observed some one with you at the gate?" she said, as she +held out her white hand, sparkling with jewels, to welcome him. "Why did +you not bring your friend in with you?" + +The minister bowed low over the extended white hand. + +"You are very kind to accord me such a privilege," he declared, +gratefully; "but the person to whom you allude is an entire stranger to +me--a gentleman whom I met by the road-side, and whom I was obliged to +call upon for assistance, being suddenly attacked with my old enemy, +faintness. I may add, however, that he seemed to have been an +acquaintance of the family." + +"Perhaps he is an acquaintance of my _son_; his friends are so numerous +that it is very hard for me to keep track of them," added Mrs. Varrick, +asking: "Why did he not come into the house with you?" + +"He declined, stating no reason," was the reply. + +Looking through the drawing-room window a few moments later, the +minister espied the stranger leaning against the gate, looking eagerly +toward the house, and he called Mrs. Varrick's attention to the fact at +once. + +She touched the bell quickly, and to the servant who appeared, she gave +hurried instructions concerning the man. + +"I have sent out to invite the gentleman to come into the house," she +explained. "Hubert will be in directly, and I know that this will meet +with his approval. He has very little time to spare to any one just +now," she explained, with a smile, "he is so wrapped up in his +_fiancée_, and will be, I suppose, from now on." + +"Naturally," responded the minister, with a twinkle in his grave eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +THE MIDNIGHT VISITOR. + + +But we must now return to Gerelda. She fell back, pale and trembling, +among the cushions of the carriage, her brain in a whirl, her heart +panting almost to suffocation. + +At the entrance gate of the old mansion, Gerelda dismissed the cab. +Stealing around by the rear wall, she entered the grounds by an unused +gravel walk, and gained the arbor. Then she crept up to one of the +windows whose blind had swung open from a fierce gust of wind. The room +into which she gazed had not changed much. A bright fire glowed cheerily +in the grate, its radiance rendering all objects about it clear and +distinct. + +She distinguished two figures standing hand in hand in the softened +shadows. The girl's face, radiant with the light of love, was upturned +toward the handsome one bending over her. He was talking to her in the +sweet, deep musical voice Gerelda remembered so well. + +She saw the girl lay one little hand caressingly on his arm, and droop +her pretty, golden head until it nearly rested on his broad shoulder. +Then Gerelda heard him say, "I have in my pocket the wedding-gift with +which I am to present you. It is not so very costly, but you will +appreciate it, I hope," disclosing as he spoke a ruby velvet case, the +spring of which he touched lightly, and the lid flew back, revealing a +magnificent diamond necklace and a pendant star. + +"Oh, Hubert, you can not mean that that is for me!" cried Jessie. + +But the second dinner-bell rang, and ere the sound died away, Mrs. +Varrick and a few guests entered the room. All further private +conversation was now at an end, but from that moment all sights and +sounds were lost to the creature outside. She had fallen in a little +dark heap on the ice-covered porch, lost to the world's misery in +pitiful unconsciousness. + +The house was wrapped in darkness when she woke to consciousness. +Gerelda struggled to her feet, muttering to herself that it was surely +death that was stealing slowly but surely over her. + +Slowly, from over the distant hills, she heard some church-clock ring +out the hour. "Eleven!" she counted, in measured strokes. As the sound +died away, Gerelda crept round the house to the servants' entrance. + +To her intense delight, the door yielded to her touch, and Gerelda +glided noiselessly across the threshold. The butler sat before the dying +embers of the fire, his paper was lying at his feet, and his glasses +were in his lap. So sound was his slumber that he did not awaken as the +door opened. Gerelda passed him like a shadow and gained the door-way +that led into the corridor. + +She knew Hubert's custom of going to the library long after the rest of +the family had retired for the night. She would make her way there, and +confront him. As she reached the door she heard voices within. She +recognized them at once as Hubert's and his mother's. + +She crouched behind the heavy velvet _portières_ of the arched door-way, +until his mother should leave. + +"Good-night again, Hubert," the mother said. + +"Good-night mother," he answered. + +He flung himself down in the soft-cushioned arm-chair beside the glowing +grate, drew a cigar from his pocket and lighted it, dreamily watching +the curling rings. Suddenly he became aware that there was another +presence within the room beside his own. + +His eyes became riveted upon a dark object near the door-way. It +occurred to him how strangely like a woman the dark shadow looked. + +And as he gazed, lo! it moved, and to his utmost amazement, advanced +slowly toward him. For an instant all his powers seemed to leave him. + +"Gerelda, by all that's merciful," he cried. + +"Yes, it is I, Gerelda!" she cried, hoarsely, confronting him. "I have +come back from the grave to claim you!" + +She did not heed his wild cry of horror, but went on, mockingly: "You do +not seem pleased to see me, judging from your manner." + +For an instant the world seemed closing around Hubert Varrick. + +She cried, "I repeat that I am here to claim you!" flinging herself in +an arm-chair opposite him. + +"Now that your wife is with you once again, you are saved the +trouble--just, in time, too--of wedding a new one;" adding: "You are not +giving me the welcome which I expected in my husband's home. Turn on +the lights and ring for every one to come hither!" she said. "If you +refuse to ring the bell, I shall." + +Hubert Varrick cried out that he could not bear it; he pleaded with her +to leave the house with him; that since Heaven had brought her back to +him, he would make the best of it; all that he would ask would be that +she should come quietly away with him. + +This did not suit Gerelda at all; she had set her heart upon abusing +Jessie Bain, and she would brook no refusal. She sprang hastily for the +bell-rope. Divining her object, he caught her arm. + +If he had not been so intensely excited he would have realized, even in +that dim light, that there was something horribly wrong about her; that +once more reason, which had been until so lately clouded, wavered in the +balance. + +"Unhand me, or I shall scream!" she cried. + +Varrick placed one hand hurriedly over her mouth, in his agony, hardly +heeding what he was doing. + +"For the love of Heaven, I beg you to listen to me!" he cried. "You +must--you shall!" + +She sprang backward from him, falling heavily over one of the chairs as +she did so. There was a heavy thud which awakened with a start the +sleeping butler on the floor below. With one bound he had reached the +door that opened upon the lower corridor. + +"Thieves! robbers!" he ejaculated under his breath. + +His first impulse was to cry aloud, but the next moment it occurred to +him that the better plan would be to break upon the midnight intruder +unawares, and assist his master in vanquishing him. The door was ajar, +and in the semi-darkness he beheld Hubert Varrick, his master, +struggling desperately with some dark, swaying figure. In that same +instant Varrick tripped upon a hassock and fell backward, striking his +head heavily against the marble mantel. + +The butler lost no time. Quick as a flash he had cleared the distance +between the door-way and that other figure--which attempted to clutch at +him in turn--and raising the knife he had caught up from the table of +the room below, he buried it to the hilt in the swaying, writhing form. +The next instant it fell heavily at his feet. A moan, that sounded +wonderfully like a woman's, fell upon his horrified ear. + +Varrick did not rise, though the terrified butler called upon him +vehemently. He had the presence of mind, even in that calamity, to turn +on the gas, and as a flood of light illumined the scene, he saw that it +was a _woman_ lying at his feet--ay, a woman into whose body he had +plunged that fatal knife!--while his master lay unconscious but a few +feet distant. + +"Help! I am dying!" gasped the woman. + +Those words recalled his scattered senses. Self-preservation is strong +within us all. As in a glass, darkly, the terrified butler, realizing +what he had done, saw arrest and prison before him, and realized that +the gallows yawned before him in the near future. + +The thought came to him that there was but one thing to do, and that was +to make his escape. + +Every moment was precious. His strained ear caught the sound of a +commotion on the floor above. He knew in an instant more they would find +him there with the tell-tale knife, dripping with blood, in his hand. + +He flung it from him and made a dash from the room. It was not a moment +too soon, for the opposite door, which led to the private stair-way, had +barely closed after him ere the sound of approaching footsteps was +plainly heard hurrying quickly toward the library. + +In that instant Hubert Varrick--who had been dazed by his fall, and the +terrible blow on his head caused by striking it against the mantel--was +struggling to a sitting posture. Varrick had scarcely regained his feet +ere the _portières_ were flung quickly aside, and his mother and half a +dozen servants appeared. + +A horrible shriek rent the air as Mrs. Varrick's eyes fell upon her son, +and the figure of a woman but a few feet from him with a knife lying +beside her. + +"What does it mean?" cried Mrs. Varrick. + +He pointed to the fallen figure. + +"Gerelda has come back to torture me, mother!" he cried. + +By a terrible effort Gerelda struggled to her knees. + +"Hear me, one and all!" she cried. "Listen; while yet the strength is +mine, I will proclaim it! See, I am dying--that man, my husband, is my +murderer! He murdered me to keep me from touching the bell-rope--to tell +you all I was here!" + +With this horrible accusation on her lips, Gerelda sunk back +unconscious. + +Who shall picture the scene that ensued? + +"It is false--all false--so help me Heaven!" Hubert panted. That was all +that he could say. + +The sound of the commotion within had reached the street, and had +brought two of the night-watchmen hurrying to the scene. Their loud +peal at the bell brought down a servant, who admitted them at once. In a +trice they had sprung up the broad stair-way to the landing above, from +whence the excited voices proceeded, appearing on the threshold just in +time to hear Gerelda's terrible accusation. Each laid a hand on Hubert +Varrick's shoulder. + +"You will have to come with us," they said. + +Mrs. Varrick sprung forward and flung herself on her knees before them. + +"Oh, you must not, you shall not take him!" she cried; "my darling son +is innocent!" + +It was a mercy from Heaven that unconsciousness came upon her in that +moment and the dread happenings of the world were lost to her. There +were the bitterest wailings from the old servants as the men of the law +led Hubert away. + +In the excitement no one had remembered Gerelda; now the servants +carried her to a _boudoir_ across the hall, and summoned a doctor. + +"If this poor girl recovers it will be little short of a miracle," he +said. + +Through all this commotion Jessie Bain slept on, little realizing the +tragic events that were transpiring around her. No one thought of +awakening her. The sun was shining bright and clear when she opened her +eyes on the light the next morning. + +How strangely still the house seemed! For a moment Jessie was +bewildered. Had it not been that the sun lay in a great bar in the +center of the room--and it never reached this point until nearly eight +in the morning--she would have thought that it was very, very early. + +"My wedding-day!" murmured the girl, slipping from her couch and gazing +through the lace-draped windows on the white world without. But at that +moment a maid entered and she told Jessie Bain the story of the tragedy. + +A thunder-bolt from a clear sky, the earth suddenly opening beneath her +feet, could not have startled Jessie Bain more. A few minutes later she +recovered her composure and hurried to Mrs. Varrick's room. + +Mrs. Varrick reached out her hand to Jessie, and the next moment they +were sobbing wildly in each other's arms. Little by little the girl's +noble spirit in all its grandeur gained the ascendency. Slowly she +turned to the housekeeper, who was sobbing over the fact that there was +no one to take care of Hubert's wife, until a trained nurse the doctor +had expected should arrive. + +"She shall be _my_ care," said Jessie, determinedly. "I will go to her +at once; lead the way, please." + +Who shall picture the dismay of Jessie when she looked upon the face of +the woman who had come between her and the man she was to have wedded +that day and found that it was the very creature whom she herself had +sheltered--the girl whom she had known as Margaret Moore? + +The doctor was greatly moved at the heroic stand Jessie Bain proposed to +take in nursing her rival back to health and strength. + +"Not one woman in a thousand would do it," he declared. "May Heaven +bless you for it! Besides," he added in a low, grave voice, "you could +serve poor Hubert Varrick in no better way than by restoring her. If +she dies it will go hard indeed with young Varrick." + +Jessie realized this but too well, and bent all her energies to nurse +her back to health and strength, though what she suffered no one in this +world could tell. + +If Margaret recovered, she knew that she would go away with Hubert. He +might not love her, but he would be obliged to live his whole life out +with her. If she died, he would hang for it. Better that he should live, +even with the other one, than die. + +Her heart went out to Hubert Varrick in the bitterest of sorrow. She +realized what he must be suffering. She would have flown to him on the +wings of love, but she dared not. + +She wrote a letter to him for his mother, at her dictation, adding a +little tear-blotted postscript of her own, making no mention of her own +great love and the sorrow that had darkened her young life. In that +letter she urged him to keep up brave spirits; that everything was being +done for Gerelda, his wife, that could be done; that she was sitting up +night and day nursing her. + +When Hubert Varrick received that tear-stained missive, in the +loneliness of his desolate cell he bowed his head and wept like a child, +crying out to Heaven that he was surely the most wretched man on God's +earth. + +He tried to think out all the horrors of that bitter midnight tragedy, +which seemed more like a dream to him than a reality. He could not +understand how Gerelda came by that wound, unless, through her terrible +rage, she had attempted to take her life by her own hand; and through +the same intense rage, strong even in death, wanted to persecute him +even after she had known that her moments were numbered. + +As for Gerelda, her life hung by the slenderest of threads for many days +after, and during these anxious hours no one could induce Jessie Bain to +leave her bedside. But at last the hour came when the doctors pronounced +Gerelda out of danger. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +CAPTAIN FRAZIER PLOTS AGAIN. + + +We must return to Captain Frazier, whom we left standing at the gate +when he had parted from the minister, who had gone into the Varrick +mansion to make arrangements for the wedding which was to take place on +the morrow. + +"Gerelda must have made herself known to them by this time, and a lively +scene is probably ensuing," he muttered. "I should like to have seen +Varrick when Gerelda confronted him, and cheated him out of Jessie Bain. +In that moment, perhaps, it occurred to him what I must have suffered +when he cheated me out of winning lovely Gerelda Northrup at the +Thousand Islands last summer--curse him for it! How strange it is that +from that very date my life went all wrong! I invested every dollar I +had in that stone house on Wau-Winet Island, and that fire wiped me out +completely. I have had the devil's own luck with everything I touched. +Everything has gone back on me, every scheme has fallen through, and the +best of plans panned out wrong. I should say that I am pursued by a +relentless Nemesis. I am growing desperate. Why should Hubert Varrick +have so much of this world's good things and I so little? I am reduced +to very near my last dollar. I have scarcely enough in my pocket to pay +a week's lodging; and when that goes, the Lord knows what the outcome of +it will be. Up to date, I am 'too proud to beg, too honest to steal,' as +the old song goes; but when a man reaches the end of his resources +there's no telling what he may do." + +He walked away swiftly among the trees and threaded his way quickly +through the net-work of streets, until he found himself at last standing +before a dingy little two-story brick house in a narrow court. Advancing +hurriedly up to the stone flagging, he knocked loudly. There was no +response. + +"Evidently no one is in," he muttered. "I will call later in the +evening." + +He retraced his steps back to the heart of the city, and feeling +exceedingly fatigued, he entered a _café_. + +"I have almost got to the end of my rope," he muttered, mechanically +picking up a newspaper. "If my luck doesn't change within the next few +days, I shall do something so desperate that people will never forget +the name of Captain Frazier." + +He ran his eye idly down the different columns. Suddenly a paragraph +attracted his attention. He read it over slowly half a dozen times; +then, without waiting to partake of the repast he had ordered, he +hurried to the desk, paid his bill, and rushed out into the street. + +"I have no time to lose," he muttered; "this country is getting too hot +for me. I must get away at once. If I but had the wherewith I would take +the first outgoing steamer. What a capital idea it would be!" he cried, +laughing aloud, grimly. "If I could manage to abduct Hubert Varrick's +intended bride and hold her for a ransom? I made a success of it with +Gerelda Northrup when she stood at the very altar with him; and what a +man does once he can do again. The first time it was done for love's +sake; now it would be a question of money with me. I have but little +time to lose." + +Again he made his way to the lonely, red-brick house on the side street, +taking good care that he was not observed. In response to his repeated +knocks, the door was opened at length by a small, dark-complexioned man. + +"Captain Frazier! by all that's amazing!" he cried. "When did you blow +into port, I should like to know?" + +"I came in this morning," was the reply. + +"I am never quite sure what you want of me," replied the other, eyeing +the captain suspiciously in the dim twilight. "But come in--come in," he +added, hastily. "We are just sitting down to supper. Come and take +something with us, if you're not too proud to sit at our humble table." + +"I've got over being proud long ago," said the captain, following the +other along a very narrow hall. + +The interior of the room into which he was ushered bespoke the fact that +it was inhabited by men--presumably sailors, from the nautical +implements thrown promiscuously about. It was unoccupied, and Captain +Frazier took his seat at the head of the table. + +"Some of the boys left very hurriedly when they heard the loud, +resounding knock on the front door," his companion said, laughingly, as +he heaped the tempting viands on Frazier's plate. + +The captain, whose appetite had been sadly neglected, paid great +attention to the savory dishes before him. + +"We have been accustomed to talking and eating at the same time," he +began. + +"Of course," returned the other. + +"When do you make your next trip out?" + +"In a week's time, probably, if all is favorable." + +"I think I shall ship with you," said the captain. "This part of the +country is getting too unsafe for me. I see by to-day's paper that they +are searching for me." + +"Well, you must have expected that." + +"Yes, I have determined to leave the country," Captain Frazier repeated; +"but I do not propose to go alone." + +His companion looked at him curiously, wondering what was coming; then, +leaning nearer him, the captain whispered a plot in his ear that made +his friend open his heavy eyes wide in amazement. + +"I haven't a cent of money," admitted the captain; "but if you will work +with me, you shall have half the ransom." + +"A woman is a nuisance on board of a boat like ours," said the other; +"but if you are sure so large an amount will be paid for her return, it +will be well worth working for." + +An hour longer they conferred, and when Frazier left the red-brick house +on the side street, the most daring plan the brain of man had ever +conceived was well-nigh settled. + +When the hour of eleven struck clear and sharp, Captain Frazier was +standing silently before the Varrick mansion. In making a tour of the +grounds, much to Frazier's amazement, he found the rear door ajar. + +"The devil helps his own," he muttered, sarcastically. "I imagined that +I should have a serious time in gaining admittance, when lo! the portals +are thrown open for the wishing." + +He made his way through the dimly lighted corridors, dodging into the +first door that presented itself when he heard the sound of voices +approaching. + +He found himself in the library, and had just time to dodge behind a +_jardinière_ on a heavy, square pedestal, which was placed in a recess +in the wall, when Hubert Varrick entered. He was followed a moment later +by his mother. He heard him talk over his future plans for the coming +marriage on the morrow, and a great wonder filled his mind. Had not +Gerelda seen him yet? + +It had been many hours since he himself had seen her enter those very +gates. While he was thinking over the matter, Hubert's mother left the +room. Much to the watcher's discomfiture, Hubert Varrick did not follow, +but instead, threw himself down in an easy-chair before the glowing +grate-fire, and lighted a cigar. + +Scarcely a moment had elapsed ere he heard the sound of cautious +footsteps. Peering again out of the foliage which concealed him so well, +he saw Gerelda cautiously approach through the open door-way, and again +he was compelled to be a listener to all that transpired. + +Then, like a flash, came the terrible _denouement_, and Frazier, +crouching behind the huge pillar, distinctly saw the butler enter and he +witnessed the crime. He tried to prevent it by springing forward in time +to save the hapless girl, but he seemed powerless to move either hand or +foot. He could not have taken one step had his very life depended on it. +And when the terrible crime had been committed, and people flocked to +the room, he dared not come forward, lest he should be accused of the +horrible crime himself. In the great excitement he soon made his escape, +though it was not until he found himself several blocks from the scene +of the catastrophe that he dared stop to take breath. + +The next day the captain made another visit to the little stone house, +assuring his friends that this would make no difference in their plans, +that, as soon as the excitement subsided, he would carry out his +original scheme. + +A week passed by, and during that time Captain Frazier, prowling +incessantly about the neighborhood, watched carefully his opportunity to +meet Jessie Bain. + +The owner of a little sloop lying under cover down the bay was greatly +annoyed at the loss of time; he was waiting too long, he told Frazier +repeatedly, declaring at length that unless Frazier could manage to gain +possession of the girl that very night that he would have to sail +without her. This decision made Captain Frazier desperate, for he was +now reduced to his last penny. + +It was no easy matter to gain an entrance into the Varrick mansion a +second time, and no one but the most desperate man in the world would +have thought of attempting it; but, as on a former occasion, at last +fate aided him. + +The drawing-room being considered too warm, one of the servants threw +open a large French window to cool off the apartment. This was Frazier's +chance. Like a shadow he stole into the room. + +It was no easy matter to make out in which room he should find Jessie +Bain. At length the sound of light, measured footsteps in a room he was +just passing fell upon his keen ear. He pushed the door cautiously open. +All was darkness within, save a narrow strip of light that came from the +closely drawn _portières_ of an inner apartment. Applying his eye to a +small slit in the heavy velvet, he saw the object of his search. She was +bending over a woman's form lying on a couch, a form he knew to be +Gerelda's, while standing a little distance from them was a doctor +mixing a potion. He heard him give Jessie Bain strict injunctions +regarding the administration of it; then he saw the physician take his +leave. + +For a moment a death-like silence reigned in the room. + +"Let me implore you," sobbed Jessie, "to save the man you love from the +terrible fate that awaits him." + +"I would not lift my finger or my voice to save him. If I must die, it +is a satisfaction to me to know that he must die too!" whispered +Gerelda. + +"Cruel, cruel creature!" cried Jessie. "May Heaven find pardon for you, +for I can not. I will ask no more for mercy at your hands. But hear me! +I will save Hubert Varrick if it lies within human power. I will find a +way; he shall not die, I swear it!" + +A gleam crept into Gerelda's eyes. + +"He is beyond your aid!" she cried, excitedly, half rising on her +pillow. The effort this cost her proved almost too much for her. A +dangerous whiteness overspread her face, and she fell back fainting, a +small stream of blood trickling from her lips. Jessie sprang quickly to +her feet, and administered a cordial from a small vial. + +At that moment the doctor entered. He was alarmed at the expression on +his patient's face. + +"There has been a sudden change for the worse," he declared. "Still, I +knew it would come sooner or later. I said from the first, if she lived +the week out I should be surprised. I see now that the end is very near. +When the sun rises on the morrow, her spirit will have reached its last +resting-place, poor soul. You will need to exert extra care over her +to-night, Miss Bain." + +Soon after he took his departure, and once more Jessie was left alone +with the girl whom Hubert Varrick had wedded, but did not love--the girl +who had blasted all the happiness this world held for her. Yet she felt +sorry from the depths of her soul that the girl's life was ebbing away +so fast. + +Midnight struck, and the little hands of the cuckoo-clock on the mantel +crept slowly round to one. Still there was no change, save that the +white face on the pillow grew whiter, with a tinge of gray on it now. + +The clock on the mantel seemed to tick louder and louder, and cry out +hoarsely: + +"Time is fleeing fast! It will soon be too late for Gerelda to clear +Hubert Varrick and save him from a felon's death!" + +Jessie Bain paced the floor up and down, in agony. + +Suddenly a thought came to her--a thought so terrible that it nearly +took her breath away. + +"I will try it," whispered Jessie, hoarsely. + +She crept pantingly across the room to an escritoire which stood in the +corner. Raising the lid, she drew from it a sheet of paper and a pen, +and catching up a tiny ink-well, she hurried back to the bedside. +Bending with palpitating heart over the still form lying there, Jessie +Bain muttered: + +"No one will ever know," taking a quick glance about the room. "Gerelda +and I are all alone together--all alone!" + +Thrusting the pen in the limp fingers, Jessie Bain dipped it in the ink, +and with her own hand guided the hand of Gerelda, making her write the +following words on the white paper: + + "VARRICK MANSION, _February 23d_, 1909. + + "To those whom it may concern: I, Gerelda Varrick, lying on my + death-bed, and realizing that the end may come at any moment, wish + to clear from any suspicion, Hubert Varrick. I do solemnly swear + it was not he who struck the fatal blow at me which ends my life. + It was some stranger, to me unknown. + + "[Signed] GERELDA VARRICK. + "Witnessed by ----." + +And here Jessie took the pen from the limp fingers affixing her own +signature--"JESSIE BAIN." + +The deed was done. Jessie drew a long, deep breath, ere she could reach +forth to secure the all-important paper, a great faintness seized her, +and throwing up her hands, she fell in a dead faint beside Gerelda's +bed. + +Scarcely a moment had elapsed ere the _portières_ that shut off an inner +room were thrust quickly aside by a man's hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +IN THE TOILS. + + +Captain Frazier had seen all that had transpired. + +He was just about to spring into the apartment and tear the paper from +Jessie Bain's hands, when he saw her fall lifeless by the couch. Quickly +he flung the _portières_ aside and sprang into the apartment. It was but +the work of a moment to secure the document, and to thrust it in his +vest-pocket. Then, without an instant's loss of time, he caught up the +insensible form of Jessie, throwing a dark, heavy shawl about her, he +shot hurriedly out of the room and down the corridor, making for the +drawing-room, whose long French windows opened on the porch. He had +scarcely crossed the threshold ere he heard the sound of hurrying +footsteps. + +"Ha! they heard the sound of her fall," he muttered, dashing open the +window and springing through it with his burden, landing knee-deep in +the white, soft snow-drift. + +It took but a moment more to gain the road, and then he well knew the +dark, waving pines would screen him from the sight of any one who might +attempt to pursue him. As he stopped to take breath for a moment, he +glanced back at the mansion, and saw lights moving to and fro in the +upper windows. + +Dashing breathlessly onward, he threaded his way up one deserted street +and down another, dodging into hall-ways if he saw a lone pedestrian +quite a distance off, approaching, remaining there until their footsteps +had passed and died away. To add to his annoyance Jessie began to show +signs of returning consciousness. + +"This will never do at this crisis of affairs," he cried to himself. + +He had come well equipped for the emergency, and drawing a small vial +from an inner pocket, he dashed half of its contents over the shawl +which enveloped the girl's head. Its pungent odors soon quieted Jessie's +struggles. + +Hailing a passing coupé, he soon deposited his burden therein, jumping +in himself after giving instructions to the driver to make all possible +haste. They were jostled along the road with lightning-like rapidity, +and half an hour afterward had made the distance, and the cab drew up in +the loneliest part of the wharf. + +"Here we are, sir," the driver said, springing down from his box and +opening the door. + +The gentleman within did not respond. + +"What is the matter with the man?" he muttered, striking a match and +thrusting it into the strange customer's face. He drew back with a great +cry. The man's face was as white as death, and at that instant he +became aware of the strong odor of chloroform, which filled the vehicle +to suffocation. + +"Here's a pretty go," muttered the cabman, "and in my coach too. + +"The best thing to do would be to dash a cup of water over him and +restore him to consciousness." + +The cabman hurried to a watering-trough a few feet distant. Snatching up +one of the tin cups which was fastened to it by a chain, he soon +wrenched it free. But before he had advanced a single step with its +contents, a great cry of horror broke from his lips; the horses dashed +suddenly forward and were galloping madly down the same street which +they had so lately traversed. + +He reported his loss to the nearest station, not daring to mention the +serious condition of the occupants of the cab. But up to noon the +following day not even a trace of the vehicle could be discovered. + +Old Mrs. Varrick was fairly paralyzed over the disappearance of little +Jessie, whom she had learned to love as a daughter. She would not +believe that she had left the house of her own accord--wandered away +from it. + +"There has been foul play here," she cried. + +And immediately old Stephen, the servant, said to himself: + +"It all comes from the stranger who was loitering about the place about +a week ago;" and he made up his mind to do a little detective work on +his own account. "If he is in the city, I will find him," he muttered. +"I will tramp night and day up and down the streets until I meet him. +Then I will openly accuse him of abducting poor pretty Miss Jessie." + +He went to his old mistress and asked for leave of absence for a few +days. Mrs. Varrick shook her head mournfully. + +"I should not think you would want to leave me, when you see me in all +this trouble, Stephen," she said. "You should stand by me, though every +one else fails me. Only this morning the butler gave notice that he +intended to leave here on the morrow, and he, like yourself, has been +with me for years." + +"I am not surprised to hear that, ma'am," returned Stephen, laconically, +"for ever since that fatal night in the library the butler has had a +very horror of the place. He's as tender-hearted as a little child, +ma'am, the butler is. Why, he takes Master Hubert's trials to heart +terribly. He walks the floor night and day, muttering excitedly: 'Heaven +save poor Master Hubert!'" + +Although every precaution was taken to keep the news of Jessie's +disappearance from Hubert Varrick, the knowledge soon reached him. + +"My God! did I not have enough to bear before," he murmured, "that this +new weight of woe has fallen upon me?" + +In his sorrow he was thankful that at least one person besides his +mother seemed to believe so utterly in his innocence--and that was the +butler. He came to see him daily and wept over him, muttering strangely +incoherent words, declaring over and over again that he must be proven +innocent, though the heavens fell. + +"As near as I can see, it will end in a prison cell for life or the +gallows," said Hubert, gulping down a sob. + +"But they mustn't hang--you shan't hang!" cried the butler, excitedly. +"I will--" + +The sentence was never finished. He sat back, trembling in every limb, +in his seat, his face ashy white, his features working convulsively. + +At last the butler came no more to see him, and Hubert heard that he, +too, had suddenly disappeared. + +The day of the trial dawned clear and bright, without one cloud in the +blue azure sky to mar the perfect day. It was a morn dark enough in the +history of Hubert Varrick, as he paced up and down the narrow limits of +his lonely cell, looking through the grating on the gay, bright world +outside. + +It did not matter much to him if he left it, he told himself. Suddenly +there was the sound of a key turning in the lock, and glancing up, +Varrick beheld the old butler standing before him. + +He greeted the old servant with a wistful smile, and for a moment +neither could speak, so great was their emotion. + +"I have been a long way off, Master Hubert," he said, huskily; "but I +couldn't stay away when I thought how near it was to--to the time." + +"Thank you for your devotion," said Hubert, gratefully. "I am glad you +came to see me; and, whatever betides," he continued, huskily, "I hope +you will think none the worse of me. Believe that I am innocent; and, +dear friend, if the time should ever come when you could clear my +stained name from the awful cloud which darkens it, I pray you promise +me that you will do it. I can never rest in my grave until this horrible +mystery has been cleared." The old butler trembled like a leaf. "I shall +haunt the scene of that terrible tragedy, and--" + +A great shriek burst from the butler's white lips, and he fell to the +floor in a terrible spasm. + +The attendant pacing back and forth in the corridor without, hastily +removed him. They spoke of it with pity, how devoted he was to his young +master. + +At noon the case was called, and the greatest of excitement prevailed +from one end of the city to the other, for there were few men as popular +there as Hubert Varrick. The spacious room was crowded to overflowing. +There was a great flutter of excitement when the handsome prisoner was +led into the court-room. Those who had known him from childhood were +touched with the deepest pity for him. They could not believe him +guilty. + +In that hour quite as exciting an event was taking place in another part +of the great city. + +To explain it we must go back to the thrilling runaway that took place a +few days before, when Jessie Bain, powerless to aid herself lay back +among the cushions of the coach, all unconscious that the mad horses +were whirling her on to death and destruction. They careened wildly +around first one corner and then another, making straight for the river. + +At one of the crossings a man stood, his head bent on his breast, and +his eyes looking wistfully toward the dark water beyond. + +"If I had the courage," he muttered, "I would drown myself. I can not +rest night or day with this load on my mind. It almost seems to me that +I am going mad! How terrible to me is the thought that I--whom all the +world has always regarded as an honest man--am an unconfessed murderer!" + +The very air seemed to repeat his words--"a murderer!"--and the old +butler--for it was he--shuddered, as he muttered half aloud: + +"I never meant to do it, God knows!" + +Suddenly the sound of wheels smote his startled ear. + +"A runaway!" he cried. + +Without an instant's hesitation he threw himself forward. What mattered +it if he lost his life in the attempt? He would save the occupants of +the carriage, or give his wretched life in the attempt. + +Nearer, nearer came the galloping horses, and just as he was about to +throw himself forward to seize them by the bits, they collided with the +street lamp. In an instant of time the vehicle was smashed into a +thousand pieces. + +One of the occupants, a woman, was hurled headlong to the pavement; her +companion, half in and half out of the coach, was caught in the jam of +the door, while his coat was fairly torn from his body, the papers that +had been in his breast packet strewing the street. The butler sprang +forward to seize the man and save him, but fate willed it otherwise. + +He was too late. And as he stood there paralyzed with horror, the team +plunged from the dock down, down into the dark waves. In an instant only +a few white bubbles remained to mark the spot where horses, vehicle, and +the unfortunate man had gone down. + +The butler, who had witnessed all the terrible catastrophe, turned his +immediate attention to the poor creature whom he believed must be dead, +she lay so white and still, face downward, in the snow-drift. + +"Great God! It is Jessie Bain!" + +He gathered her up quickly in his arms, together with a few papers that +lay under his feet, and carried her to his own lodgings, which were but +a few yards distant. He meant to convey her, as soon as it was fairly +light, back to the Varrick Mansion. + +In the meantime, he would do his best toward restoring her. After +pouring a glass of brandy down her throat, he sought to bring back +warmth to the ice-cold hands by rubbing them vigorously; but it seemed +all useless, useless. Wrapping her in warm blankets, he drew the settle +upon which he had placed her, closer to the coal fire and waited to see +if the warmth would not soon revive her. + +Then his eyes fell upon the papers he had picked up. One of them lay +slightly open, and by chance his eyes lighted upon the contents. What +was there about it that caught and held his gaze spell-bound? The second +and third he scanned. Then, clutching it closely, his hands trembling +like aspen leaves, he read on and on until the last word was reached. + +"Great God!" he muttered, half dazed and crazed, "it is the confession +of Hubert Varrick's wife that he did not do the deed of which she +accused him. No one must ever see this!" he cried. "I will burn this +confession, and no one will ever know of it." + +Cautiously he made his way to the glowing fire. What was that strange, +sharp, rustling sound? He glanced fearfully over his shoulder. Jessie +Bain was sitting upon the settle, gazing at him with terror-distended +eyes. For an instant the girl was bewildered at her strange +surroundings, then she recognized the butler who had left the Varrick +mansion a few days before. What was she doing here in his presence? + +The last thing she remembered was standing over unconscious Gerelda, and +guiding her hand to write the words that would save Hubert Varrick's +life. As she looked she saw that same confession in the butler's hands. +What was he doing with it? Great Gad! how came he by it? As she gazed +she saw him carefully approach the grate, and hold the paper over the +flames. + +With one bound Jessie Bain had reached his side and torn it from his +grasp, just as the flames had caught at it. + +"What would you do?" she screamed. + +He looked at her with cunning eyes. + +"How came you by this?" he cried, in an awful voice, as he struggled +with her desperately to gain the paper. + +No word answered him. + +"You shall not have it!" he cried, wrenching it from her by main force. +"You shall not show this up to the world until it is too late to affect +Hubert Varrick." + +A cry of agony burst from Jessie's death-white lips. She saw, in her +terror, that the old butler had lost his reason, and yet withal he was +so cunning. + +She pleaded with him on her knees, but it was useless. He muttered over +and over again that she should not have the paper, that he would keep +her there a prisoner until all was over. + +Despite her entreaties, to her great horror the man kept his word, and +Jessie found herself a prisoner in the isolated place. She was too weak +to make any effort to escape; there was none to hear her faint cries. + +It must be said for the man that he tended her as faithfully as a woman +might have done; but he was deaf to her pitiful and desperate appeal. He +taunted her from day to day with the knowledge that it wanted but one +day more to Hubert Varrick's trial. At last the terrible time dawned. It +seemed to Jessie that she would go mad with the horror of it. + +She tried with all her weak strength to break the firm old locks that +held her a prisoner there, but it was useless, useless. The sun slowly +climbed the heavens, and she knew, oh God! she knew what was to happen +to Hubert Varrick within those hours. + +She sunk on her knees, crying out that if she could not aid the man she +loved, that the same sun would set upon her lifeless form--she would +kill herself. + +Hardly had this resolve become a fixed purpose with her, ere she became +conscious of a loud knock at the door. + +"I-- I am a prisoner here!" she cried. "I beg you, whoever you are, +break the lock of the door!" + +This was hastily complied with, and she saw standing before her two +officers of the law. + +"Oh, sir!" she gasped, "take me to Hubert Varrick at once, or it will be +too late to save him!" + +"We are here for that very purpose," answered one of them. "We know all. +The late butler of the Varrick mansion has just breathed his last, and +confessed all--that it was he who committed the murder, and just how it +happened, begging us to come after you, and to liberate you at once, and +tell you that Hubert Varrick is now free. A carriage is in waiting. Come +at once. Mrs. Varrick awaits you there," he adding, noting how stunned +the girl looked, as though she could hardly believe what she heard. + +There was one thing that Jessie never quite fully understood: how she +reached the lonely cottage of the old butler. She believed his mind must +have been wandering when he gave such a singular account of a runaway, +and a gentleman being with her in the coupé. She firmly insisted that +the butler must have chloroformed her, abducted her, and brought her to +that place, in the hope that she would then be powerless to aid Hubert +Varrick. + +Who could describe the meeting between Hubert and Jessie and Mrs. +Varrick which occurred an hour later at the Varrick mansion. + +Hubert would have taken the girl he loved so madly, in his arms on sight +and covered her face with kisses, but she held him off at arm's-length, +though she longed to rest in his strong arms and weep on the broad bosom +that she knew beat for her alone. + +"No, you must not touch me, Hubert," she whispered. "It would not seem +right so--so soon after--after poor Gerelda's untimely death." + +"Forgive me--pardon me, Jessie," he answered, brokenly. "For the moment +I had--_forgotten_, my love for you was so great!" + +Here Mrs. Varrick quickly interposed: + +"Jessie is quite right, my boy," she said. "You must not mention one +word of love to her for many a day yet. Perhaps your troubles will be +over before many months." + +"If you both think that, it will not do for me to remain beneath this +roof where Jessie is," he declared, huskily. "I am only human, you know, +and we both love each other so!" + +Thus it was that it was arranged that it was best for Hubert to go away, +travel abroad, and return a year from that day to claim Jessie. But it +was with many misgivings that Hubert tore himself away. + +"If anything comes of this enforced separation, always remember that I +pleaded hard against it, but in the end yielded to your wishes." On the +morrow Hubert Varrick left Boston. + +During the months that followed Jessie lived quietly at the Varrick +mansion with Hubert's mother. + +The year of probation had not yet waned, when, one lovely April morning, +while Jessie was walking through the grounds that surrounded the +mansion, she espied a bearded stranger standing at the gate, leaning on +it with folded arms, evidently lost in admiration of the early +blossoming buds and half-blown roses. + +"Permit me to gather you some of the roses you seem to be admiring so +much, sir," she said, courteously. + +"Pardon me, would you permit me to enter and gather for myself the one I +care for most?" + +The request was an odd one, but she granted it with a smile. + +He swung open the heavy gate, and in an instant was by her side, folding +her in his arms, and kissing her with all his soul on his lips. + +"Am I changed so that Love can not recognise me?" he cried. + +"Hubert--oh, Hubert! is it _you_--_really you_?" sobbed Jessie, laughing +and crying all in a breath. + +And there Mrs. Varrick found them an hour later, planning for the +marriage, which Hubert declared should be solemnized before the sun set. +This time he had his own way, and when the stars came out, they shone on +sweet little Jessie Bain, a bride; and surely the sweetest and most +adorable one that ever a young husband worshiped. + +And there we will leave them, dear reader, for when a girl marries, all +the ills of life should be left behind her, and she should dwell in +sunshine and love ever after. + +Those who knew her as pretty, saucy, sweet Jessie Bain never forgot her. +And may I hope that this will be the case with you, my dear reader? + + + + * * * * * + + + +THE A. and L. SERIES +POPULAR CLOTH +BOUND BOOKS + + +Issued ONLY by +THE ARTHUR WESTBROOK COMPANY + + +The Arthur Westbrook Company, in furtherance of its policy to give the +reading public the best stories at the lowest price, now offers books by +the foremost writers not only of to-day but of the last decade. + +These books are bound in cloth. + +The covers are attractive. + +Each book costs only TWENTY-FIVE CENTS. + +Among the writers whose works are offered at this POPULAR PRICE are such +men and women as Rider Haggard, Guy Boothby, Charles Garvice, Marie +Corelli, Augusta Evans, Laura Jean Libbey, and many others whose names +are only a little less dear to the hearts of the reading public who like +to read real books, written about real people, who have real +experiences. + +The A. and L. Series Popular Cloth Bound Books is on sale at all +newsdealers and booksellers, but it is only published by + +THE ARTHUR WESTBROOK COMPANY, + +Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. + + + + +If you wish to read entertaining, fascinating books, look for the name, +A. and L. SERIES. + +These popular cloth bound books are issued only by The ARTHUR WESTBROOK +COMPANY. + +The A. and L. SERIES will contain, among others, the following stories +by + + +GUY BOOTHBY + + The Kidnapped President + A Prince of Swindlers + The Mystery of the Clasped Hands + + +H. RIDER HAGGARD + + Cleopatra + King Solomon's Mines + She + The Witches' Head + The World's Desire + + +LOUIS TRACY + + The Jewel of Death + A Japanese Revenge + + +FRED M. WHITE + + Mystery of the Crimson Blind + + +J. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM + + Mysterious Mr. Sabin + + +MAX PEMBERTON + + The Shadow on the Sea + + +F. DU BOISGOBEY + + The Severed Hand + + +LAURA JEAN LIBBEY + + Kidnapped at the Altar + Gladiola's Two Lovers + A Bride for a Day + Aleta's Terrible Secret + The Romance of Enola + A Handsome Engineer's Flirtation + Was She Sweetheart or Wife + Della's Handsome Lover + Flora Garland's Courtship + My Sweetheart Idabell + Pretty Madcap Dorothy + The Loan of a Lover + A Fatal Elopement + The Girl He Forsook + Which Loved Her Best + A Dangerous Flirtation + Garnetta, the Silver King's Daughter + Flora Temple + Pretty Rose Hall + Cora, the Pet of the Regiment + Jolly Sally Pendleton + + +MARIE CORELLI + + Vendetta + A Romance of Two Worlds + + +CHARLES GARVICE + + She Loved Him + The Marquis + A Wasted Love + Her Ransom + + +AUGUSTA EVANS + + St. Elmo + Inez + + +MRS. SOUTHWORTH + + Ishmael + Self-Raised + The Missing Bride + India + + +CHARLOTTE M. BRAEME + + Thorns and Orange Blossoms + A Dark Marriage Morn + Dora Thorne + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KIDNAPPED AT THE ALTAR*** + + +******* This file should be named 30980-8.txt or 30980-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/0/9/8/30980 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Kidnapped at the Altar</p> +<p> or, The Romance of that Saucy Jessie Bain</p> +<p>Author: Laura Jean Libbey</p> +<p>Release Date: January 15, 2010 [eBook #30980]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KIDNAPPED AT THE ALTAR***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Annie McGuire</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h3><span class="u">LAURA JEAN LIBBEY'S NEW $10,000 STORY</span></h3> + +<h1>KIDNAPPED AT THE ALTAR</h1> + +<h3>OR</h3> + +<h2>The Romance of that Saucy Jessie Bain</h2> + +<p class="center">The Latest and Most Thrilling Story Fresh from the Pen of the</p> + +<p class="center">Peoples' Favorite Author,</p> + +<h2>MISS LAURA JEAN LIBBEY</h2> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h4>THE ARTHUR WESTBROOK COMPANY</h4> + +<h4>CLEVELAND, OHIO, U.S.A.</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center">Copyright, 1909,</p> + +<p class="center">—By—</p> + +<p class="center">The ARTHUR WESTBROOK COMPANY.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter I.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_I"><b>Some Young Girls Find Love So Sweet</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter II.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_II"><b>Fate Is Against Some People</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter III.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_III"><b>When Those We Love Drift Away</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter IV.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_IV"><b>The Girl Who Plays at Flirtation</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter V.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_V"><b>The Mysterious House on Wau-Winet Island</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter VI.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_VI"><b>The Letters That Ceased to Come</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter VII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_VII"><b>Every Young Girl Would Like a Lover</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter VIII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_VIII"><b>A Mother's Desperate Scheme</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter IX.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_IX"><b>Gerelda's Escape From Wau-Winet Island</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter X.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_X"><b>What Is Life Without Love?</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XI.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XI"><b>Gerelda Could Have Saved Her</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XII"><b>Out in the Cold, Bleak World</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XIII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XIII"><b>"I Love Jessie With Heart and Soul!"</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XIV.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XIV"><b>"Do Not Leave Me!"</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XV.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XV"><b>"Hubert Cares For Me No Longer!"</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XVI.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XVI"><b>What Ought a Girl To Do?</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XVII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XVII"><b>Love Is Bitter</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XVIII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XVIII"><b>Wedding Bells Out of Tune</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XIX.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XIX"><b>The Collision—The Pilot at the Wheel</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XX.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XX"><b>Love is a Poisoned Arrow in Some Hearts</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XXI.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XXI"><b>So Hard to Face the World Alone</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XXII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XXII"><b>"Permit Me to Escort You Home"</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XXIII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XXIII"><b>Jessie Bain Enters the House of Secrets</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XXIV.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XXIV"><b>"Oh, To Sleep My Life Away!"</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XXV.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XXV"><b>"If I But Knew Where My Love Is!"</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XXVI.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XXVI"><b>Hubert Varrick Rescues Jessie Bain</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XXVII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XXVII"><b>"I Would Rather Walk By Your Side"</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XXVIII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XXVIII"><b>A Mother's Plea</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XXIX.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XXIX"><b>Returning Good For Evil</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XXX.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XXX"><b>A Terrible Revelation</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XXXI.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XXXI"><b>The Midnight Visitor</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XXXII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XXXII"><b>Captain Frazier Plots Again</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>Chapter XXXIII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_XXXIII"><b>In the Toils</b></a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1>Kidnapped at The Altar</h1> + +<h2>OR</h2> + +<h2>The Romance of that Saucy Jessie Bain</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h2><a name="Chapter_I" id="Chapter_I"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter I</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>SOME YOUNG GIRLS FIND LOVE SO SWEET; TO OTHERS IT PROVES A CURSE.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>It was a magnificent evening, in balmy June, on the far-famed St. +Lawrence.</p> + +<p>The steamer "St. Lawrence" was making her nightly search-light excursion +down the bay, laden to her utmost capacity.</p> + +<p>The passengers were all summer tourists, light of heart and gay of +speech; all save one, Hubert Varrick, a young and handsome man, dressed +in the height of fashion, who held aloof from the rest, and who stood +leaning carelessly against the taffrail.</p> + +<p>The steamer was making its way in and out of the thousand green isles, +the great light from the pilot-house suddenly throwing a broad, +illuminating flash first on this and then on that.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p> + +<p>As the light swept across land and water from point to point, Varrick +lightly laughed aloud at the ludicrous incidents, such as the sudden +flashing of the light's piercing rays on some lover's nook, where two +souls indulging in but one thought were ruthlessly awakened from sweet +seclusion to the most glaring publicity, and at many a novel sight, +little dreaming that at every turn of the ponderous wheels he was +nearing his destiny.</p> + +<p>"Where are we now?" he inquired of a deck-hand.</p> + +<p>"At Fisher's Landing, sir."</p> + +<p>The words had scarcely left his lips ere a radiant flood of electric +light swept over the jutting bit of mainland. In that instantaneous +white glare Varrick saw a sight that was indelibly engraved upon his +memory while life lasted.</p> + +<p>The dock was deserted by all save one person—a young girl, waving her +hand toward the steamer.</p> + +<p>She wore a dress of some white, fleecy material, her golden hair flying +in the wind, and flapping against her bare shoulders and half-bared +white arms.</p> + +<p>"Great heavens! who is that?" Varrick cried.</p> + +<p>But as he strained his eyes eagerly toward the beautiful picture, the +scene was suddenly wrapped in darkness, and the steamer glided on.</p> + +<p>"Who was that, and what place was it?" he asked again.</p> + +<p>"It was Fisher's Landing, I said," rejoined the other. "The girl is +'Saucy Jessie Bain,' as they call her hereabouts. She's Captain Carr's +niece."</p> + +<p>"Has she a lover?" suddenly asked Varrick.</p> + +<p>"Lord bless you, sir!" he answered, "there's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> scarcely a single man for +miles around that isn't in love with Jessie Bain; but she will have none +of them.</p> + +<p>"There's a little story about Jessie Bain. I'll tell it to you, since +you admire the girl."</p> + +<p>But the story was not destined to become known to Varrick, for his +companion was called away at that moment.</p> + +<p>He could think of nothing else, see nothing but the face of the girl he +had seen on the dock at Fisher's Landing.</p> + +<p>This was particularly unfortunate, for at that moment Hubert Varrick was +on his way to be married on the morrow to the beautiful heiress, Miss +Northrup.</p> + +<p>She was a famous beauty and belle, and Varrick had been madly in love +with her. But since he had seen the face of Jessie Bain he felt a +strange, half-defined regret that he was bound to another. He was not +over-impatient to arrive at his destination, although he knew that +Gerelda Northrup and a bevy of her girl friends would undoubtedly be at +the dock to welcome him.</p> + +<p>This proved to be the case, and a moment later he caught sight of the +tall, stately beauty, who swept forward to meet him with outstretched +jeweled hands and a glad welcome on her proud face.</p> + +<p>"I am so delighted that you have come at last, Hubert," she murmured.</p> + +<p>But she drew back abashed as he attempted to kiss her, and this action +chilled him to the very heart's core.</p> + +<p>He was quickly presented to Gerelda's girl friends,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> and then the party +made their way up to the Crossmon Hotel, which was only a few yards +distant, Varrick and Miss Northrup lagging a little behind the rest.</p> + +<p>"I hope you have been enjoying your outing this season, my darling," +said Varrick.</p> + +<p>"I have had the most delightful time of my life," she declared.</p> + +<p>Varrick frowned. It was not so pleasant for him to hear that she could +enjoy herself in his absence. Jealousy was deeply rooted in his nature.</p> + +<p>"Is there any special one who has helped to make it so pleasant?" he +asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Captain Frazier is here."</p> + +<p>"Have you been flirting with him, Gerelda?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Don't be jealous, Hubert."</p> + +<p>"I am jealous!" he cried. "You know that is the curse of the Varricks."</p> + +<p>By this time they had reached the hotel. Throngs of beautiful women +crowded the broad piazzas, yet Varrick noticed with some pride that +Gerelda was the most beautiful girl there.</p> + +<p>"You must be very tired after your long journey," she murmured. "You +should retire early, to be fully rested for to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean <i>you</i> wish to retire early?" asked Hubert, rather +down-hearted that she wanted to dismiss him so soon. "If you think it +best I will leave you."</p> + +<p>Was it only his fancy, or did her eyes brighten perceptibly?</p> + +<p>A few more turns up and down the veranda, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> few impassioned words in a +cozy nook, and then he said good-night to her, delivering her to the +care of her chaperon.</p> + +<p>But even after he had reached his room, and thrown himself across his +couch, Varrick could not sleep.</p> + +<p>The sound of laughter floated up to him.</p> + +<p>Though it was an hour since he had bidden Gerelda good-night, he fancied +that it was her voice he heard in the porch below; and he fancied, too, +that he knew the other deep rich voice that chimed in now and then with +hers.</p> + +<p>"That is certainly Frazier," he muttered.</p> + +<p>Seizing his coat and hat, he donned them hurriedly, left his room, +stepped out of the hotel by a rear entrance, made a tour of the thickly +wooded grounds, until at last, from his hiding-place among the trees, he +could gain an excellent view of the brilliantly lighted piazza, himself +unseen.</p> + +<p>His surmise had been but only too true.</p> + +<p>Mad with jealous rage, Varrick turned on his heel.</p> + +<p>He rushed down the path to the water's edge. A little boat was skimming +over the water, heading for the very spot where he stood. Its occupant, +a sturdy young fisherman, was just about to secure it to an iron ring, +when Varrick approached him.</p> + +<p>"I should like to hire your boat for an hour," he said, huskily.</p> + +<p>Varrick wanted to get away, to be by himself to think.</p> + +<p>The bargain was made with the man, and with a few strokes from his +muscular arms the little skiff was soon whirling out into the deep +waters of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> bay. Then he rested on his oars and floated down with the +tide.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a clear and yet shrill voice broke upon his ear.</p> + +<p>"Halloo! Halloo there! Won't you come to my rescue, please?"</p> + +<p>Varrick could hear the girlish voice plainly enough, but he could not +imagine whence it came.</p> + +<p>Again the shrill cry was repeated. Just then he observed a slight figure +standing down near the water's edge of the island he was passing.</p> + +<p>Varrick headed for the island at once, and as he drew so near that the +face of the girl could be easily distinguished, he made a wonderful +discovery—the girl was Jessie Bain.</p> + +<p>"I am so glad for deliverance at last!" she cried.</p> + +<p>"How in the world came you here?" exclaimed Varrick.</p> + +<p>"I came out for a little row," she said, "and stopped at this island for +some flowers that I had seen here yesterday. I suppose I could not have +fastened my boat very securely, for when I came to look for it, it was +gone; and, oh! my uncle would be so angry; he would beat me severely!"</p> + +<p>Somehow one word brought on another, and quite unconsciously pretty +little Jessie Bain found herself chatting to the stranger, who vowed +himself as only too pleased to row out of his way to see her safely +home.</p> + +<p>"Your home does not seem to be a happy one," he said at length.</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't be, if they could have their way. It used to be different +when auntie was alive. Now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> my cousin beats me badly enough, and Uncle +John believes all she tells him about me. But I always get even with +her.</p> + +<p>"In the morning my cousin went to her work (she clerks in one of the +village stores), but before she left the house she picked the biggest +quarrel you ever heard of, with me—because I wouldn't lend her the only +decent dress I have to wear. She expected her beau from a neighboring +village to come to town.</p> + +<p>"I would have lent it to her, but she's just the kind of a girl that +wouldn't take care of anything, unless it was her own, and I knew it +would be ruined in one day.</p> + +<p>"It took me a whole year to save money enough to get it. I sold eggs to +buy it, and, oh, golly! didn't I coax those chicks to lay, though!"</p> + +<p>Varrick could not help but smile as he looked at her.</p> + +<p>And she was so innocent, too. He wondered if she could be more than +sixteen or seventeen years old.</p> + +<p>"About four o'clock she sent a note to the house, and in it she said:</p> + +<p>"'Dear Cousin Jessie, I am going to bring company home, so for goodness' +sake do get up a good dinner. I send a whole basket of good things with +the boy who brings this note. Cook them all.'</p> + +<p>"Well, I cooked the supper just as she wanted me to do. Oh! it was +dreadfully tempting, and right here let me say, whenever there's a +broken cup or saucer or plate in the house, or fork with only two +prongs, or a broken-handled knife, it always<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> falls to me. My cousin +always says: 'It's good enough for Jessie Bain; let <i>her</i> have it.'</p> + +<p>"I prepared the dainty supper, ran and got every good knife and fork and +plate and cup and saucer, and hid them under an old oak-tree fully half +a mile away.</p> + +<p>"I left out on the table only the broken things, to see how she'd like +them.</p> + +<p>"By and by she and her beau came. I ran out the back door as I heard +them cross the front porch.</p> + +<p>"Oh! but wasn't she mad! I watched her through the window, laughing so +hard I almost split my sides, and she fairly flew at me. Then I went +down and jumped into my little boat, and pushed away for dear life, to +be out of her reach. I rowed down to this island, thinking to fetch her +back some flowers to appease her mighty wrath; but I was so tired that I +fell asleep. I was frightened nearly to death when I awoke and saw that +it was dark night. I had a greater fright still when I discovered that +my little boat was gone—had drifted away."</p> + +<p>Varrick had almost forgotten his own turbulent thoughts in listening to +the girl.</p> + +<p>"Are you not afraid of punishment?" he asked, as they neared Fisher's +Landing.</p> + +<p>He could see a quick, frightened look sweep over the girl's face.</p> + +<p>"I don't know what they will do with me," she said.</p> + +<p>"If they attempt to abuse you come straight to me!" cried Varrick, quite +forgetful in the eagerness of the moment what he was saying.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> + +<p>By this time they had reached Fisher's Landing. He sprung from the skiff +and helped her ashore.</p> + +<p>"Good-night, and thank you ever so much," she said. And with a quick, +childish, thoughtless motion, she bent her pretty head and kissed the +strong white hand that clasped her own.</p> + +<p>He had been so kind, so sympathetic to her, and that was something new +for Jessie Bain.</p> + +<p>He watched her in silence as she flitted up the path, until she was lost +to sight in the darkness.</p> + +<p>Then he re-entered his boat and made his way slowly back to the bay.</p> + +<p>The spacious corridors of the grand Hotel Crossmon were wrapped in +silence when he reached it.</p> + +<p>He half expected to see the two whom he had left in that +flower-embowered lovers' nook at the end of the piazza still sitting +there.</p> + +<p>Then he laughed to himself at the folly of the thought.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_II" id="Chapter_II"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter II</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>FATE IS AGAINST SOME PEOPLE, FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<table style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="3" summary=""><tr><td align="left"> +<p>Change is the law of wind and moon and lover—<br /> +And yet I think, lost Love, had you been true,<br /> +Some golden fruits had ripened for your plucking<br /> +You will not find in gardens that are new.<br /></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 28em;">L. C. M.></span></p> + +<p>When Gerelda Northrup bid Captain Frazier good-night, and linked her arm +within her mother's, and retired to their apartments, Mrs. Northrup +could not help notice how carefully her daughter guarded the great +crimson beauty rose she wore on her breast.</p> + +<p>The mother also noticed that the handsome captain wore a bud of the same +kind in the lapel of his coat.</p> + +<p>"My dear," she said, "I think you are going a little too far with +Captain Frazier. It will not do to flirt with him on the very eve of +your marriage with Hubert Varrick."</p> + +<p>"There isn't the least bit of harm in it, mamma," Gerelda answered. +"Captain Frazier is a delightful companion. Why shouldn't I enjoy his +society?"</p> + +<p>"Because it is playing with edged tools," declared Mrs. Northrup. "The +captain is desperately in love with you."</p> + +<p>"You should not blame him for lingering by my side to the very last +moment."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Trouble will come of it, I fear," returned the other. "He is always at +your side."</p> + +<p>"Save your lecture until to-morrow. I am sure it will keep. Do please +ring the bell for my maid; it is nearly eleven o'clock, and I must not +lose my beauty-sleep."</p> + +<p>Gerelda Northrup knew in her own mind that all her mother said was but +too true; but the spirit of coquetry was so deeply imbedded in her +nature that she would not resign her sceptre over her old lovers' hearts +until the last moment.</p> + +<p>Of course the captain understood thoroughly that all her love was given +to Hubert Varrick, and that it was only a very mild flirtation with +himself she was indulging in.</p> + +<p>She would have trembled could she have read the thoughts of Captain +Frazier at that very moment.</p> + +<p>In his elegant apartment, at the further end of the corridor, the +captain was pacing the floor, wild with his own thoughts.</p> + +<p>"My God! can I live through it?" he muttered. "How can I live and endure +it? How can I stand by and see the girl I love made another man's bride, +without the mad desire to slay him overpowering me? If I would not have +the crime of murder on my soul, I must leave this place to-night, and +never look upon Gerelda's beautiful face again. One day more of this +would drive me mad. Great Heaven! why did I linger by her side when I +knew my danger? There are times when I could almost swear that Gerelda +cares quite as much for me as she does for Hubert Varrick. If I had had +a fair chance I think I could have won her from him. No, I will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> not see +her again— I will leave here this very night."</p> + +<p>The captain rang the bell furiously, and called for a brandy and soda.</p> + +<p>Soon after he left the hotel, saying that he would send for his luggage +later.</p> + +<p>But even after he had done all that, Captain Frazier stood motionless in +the grounds watching the darkened windows of Gerelda's room.</p> + +<p>The fire in his brain, produced by the potion he had taken, made sad +havoc with his imagination. He thought of how the knights of old did +when the girls they loved were about to wed rivals.</p> + +<p>Was he less brave than they? And he thought, standing there under the +night sky, how cleverly the gypsy had outwitted Blue-beard at the very +altar to which he had led his blushing brides.</p> + +<p>Great was Miss Northrup's consternation the next morning when she +learned through a little note left for her that Captain Frazier had +taken his departure from the Crossmon Hotel the preceding night. A sigh +of relief fell from her red lips.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it is better so," she said.</p> + +<p>A messenger who brought a great basket of orchids and white roses, +entered.</p> + +<p>Hidden among the flowers, Gerelda found a little note in Varrick's +handwriting:</p> + +<p>"I hope my darling rested well. Heaven has made the day beautiful +because it is our marriage morn."</p> + +<p>It was an odd notion of Gerelda's to steal away from their elegant city +mansion and her dear five hundred friends, to have the ceremony +performed quietly up at the Thousand Islands, with only a select few to +witness it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> + +<p>Great preparations had been made in the hotel for the approaching +marriage. The spacious private parlors to be used were perfect fairy +bowers of roses and green leaves.</p> + +<p>Up to this very morning Miss Northrup's imported wedding-gown had not +arrived. Mrs. Northrup and Hubert Varrick were wild with anxiety and +impatience over the affair. Gerelda alone took the matter calmly.</p> + +<p>"It will be here some time to-day," she averred. "The wedding will be +delayed but a few hours, after all, and I don't know but that I prefer +an evening wedding to a morning one, anyhow."</p> + +<p>It was almost dark ere the long-looked-for bridal <i>trousseau</i> arrived. +Varrick drew a great breath of relief.</p> + +<p>He welcomed the shadows of night with the greatest joy. He never +afterward remembered how he lived until the hour of eight rolled round.</p> + +<p>He had not long to wait in the little anteroom where she was to join +him. The few invited guests who were so fortunate as to receive +invitations were all present.</p> + +<p>A low murmur of admiration ran around that little group as the heavy +silken <i>portières</i> that separated the anteroom from the reception parlor +were drawn aside, and Hubert Varrick entered with the beautiful heiress +leaning on his arm.</p> + +<p>In her gloved right hand she carried a prayer-book of pearl and gold. A +messenger had brought it, handing it to her just as she was about to +enter the anteroom.</p> + +<p>"It is from an unknown friend," whispered the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> boy, so low that even +Varrick did not catch the words. "A simple wish accompanies it," the boy +went on, "and that is, when the ceremony is but just begun, you will +raise the little book to your lips for the sake of the unknown friend +who sends it to you."</p> + +<p>Gerelda smiled and promised, thoughtlessly enough, that she would +comply.</p> + +<p>"Are you ready, my darling?" said Hubert.</p> + +<p>His thoughts were so confused at the time, that he had paid little heed +to the messenger or noticed what he had brought to Gerelda, or what +their conversation was about, or that the boy fled like a dark-winged +shadow down the corridor after he had executed his errand.</p> + +<p>She took her place by his side. Ah! how proud he was of her superb +beauty, of her queenly carriage, and her haughty demeanor! Surely she +was a bride worth winning—a queen among girls!</p> + +<p>Slowly and solemnly the marriage ceremony began. Varrick answered +promptly and clearly the questions put to him. Then the minister turned +to the slender, staturesque figure by his side.</p> + +<p>"Will you take this man to be your lawful, wedded husband, to love, +honor, and obey him till death do you part?" he asked.</p> + +<p>At that moment all assembled thought they heard a low, muffled whistle.</p> + +<p>Before making answer, Gerelda raised the beautiful pearl and gold +prayer-book and kissed it.</p> + +<p>She tried to speak the words: "I will;" but all in an instant her lips +grew stiff and refused to utter them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> + +<p>No sound save a low gasp broke the terrible stillness.</p> + +<p>She had kissed the little prayer-book as she had so laughingly and +thoughtlessly promised to do, ere she uttered the words that would make +her Hubert Varrick's wife. And what had happened to her? She was gasping +for breath—dying!</p> + +<p>The little book fell unheeded at her feet, and her head drooped +backward.</p> + +<p>With a great cry, Hubert Varrick caught her.</p> + +<p>"It is only a momentary dizziness," said Varrick, half leading, half +carrying her into the anteroom and up to the window, and throwing open +the sash.</p> + +<p>"Rest here, my darling, while I fetch you a glass of water," he said, as +he placed her in a chair and rushed from the room.</p> + +<p>The event just narrated had happened so suddenly that Mrs. Northrup and +those in the outer apartment were for the time being fairly dazed, +unable to move or stir.</p> + +<p>And by the time they had recovered their senses Hubert had reappeared +with a glass of water in his hand.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Northrup was too excited to leave her seat; but the rest followed +quickly on Hubert's heels to the anteroom.</p> + +<p>One instant more and a wild, hoarse cry in Varrick's voice echoed +through the place.</p> + +<p>The room was empty! Where was Gerelda? There was no means of exit from +that room save the door by which he had entered. Perhaps she had leaned +from the window and fallen out. He rushed quickly to it and glanced +down, with a wild prayer to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> Heaven to give him strength to bear what he +might see lying on the ground below. But instead of a white, upturned +face, and a shimmering heap of satin and lace, he beheld a ladder, which +was placed close against the window; and half-way down upon it, caught +firmly upon one of the rounds, he beheld a torn fragment of lace, which +he instantly recognized as part of Gerelda's wedding veil.</p> + +<p>He could neither move nor speak. The sight held him spell-bound. By this +time Mrs. Northrup reached his side.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I might have known it, I might have guessed it!" she wildly cried, +clutching at Varrick's arm. "She must have eloped with—with Captain +Frazier," she whispered.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" cried Varrick. "I know it, I believe it, but no one must know. I +see it all. She repented of marrying me at the eleventh hour, and ere it +was too late she fled with the lover who must have awaited her, in an +agony of suspense, outside."</p> + +<p>All the guests had gathered about them.</p> + +<p>"Where is Miss Gerelda?" they all cried in a breath.</p> + +<p>"She must have fallen from the window," they echoed; and immediately +there was a stampede out toward the grounds.</p> + +<p>In the excitement of the moment no one noticed that Hubert Varrick and +Mrs. Northrup were left behind.</p> + +<p>"Help me to bear this dreadful burden, Hubert!" she sobbed, hoarsely. "I +think I am going mad. I thank God that Gerelda's father did not live to +see this hour!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<p>Great as her grief was, the anguish on the face which Hubert Varrick +raised to hers was pitiful to behold.</p> + +<p>She was terrified. She saw that he needed comfort quite as much as +herself.</p> + +<p>The minister, who had entered the room unobserved, had heard all. He +quitted the apartment as quickly as he had entered it, and hurried +through the corridor to his friend Doctor Roberts.</p> + +<p>"The greatest blessing you could do, doctor, would be to come to him +quickly, and give him a potion that will make him dead to his trouble +for a little while."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_III" id="Chapter_III"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter III</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>"WHEN THOSE WE LOVE DRIFT AWAY FROM US THEY ARE NEVER THE SAME AGAIN— +THEY NEVER COME BACK."</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<table style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="3" summary=""><tr><td align="left"> +<p>"Only a heart that's broken,<br /> + That is, if hearts can break;<br /> +Only a man adrift for life,<br /> + All for a woman's sake.<br /> +Your love was a jest—I now see it—<br /> + Now, though it's rather late;<br /> +Yes, too late to turn my life<br /> + And seek another fate."</p> +</td></tr></table> + +<p>Although search was instantly instituted for the missing bride-elect, +not the slightest trace of her could be discovered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> + +<p>Was she Hubert Varrick's bride or not? There was great diversity of +opinion about that. Many contended that she <i>was not</i>, because the words +from the minister: "Now I pronounce you man and wife," <i>had not yet been +uttered</i>.</p> + +<p>No wonder the beauty had found it difficult to choose between handsome +Hubert Varrick and the dashing captain.</p> + +<p>Varrick was a millionaire, and Captain Frazier could easily write out +his check for an equal amount.</p> + +<p>The matter was hushed up quickly, and kept so quiet that even the simple +village folk at Alexandria Bay never knew of the thrilling event that +had taken place in their very midst at the Crossmon Hotel. If the simple +fisher-folk had but known of it, a tragedy might have been averted.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Northrup was the first to recover from the shock; grief gave place +to the most intense anger, and as she paced the floor excitedly to and +fro, she vowed to herself that she would never forgive Gerelda for +bringing this disgrace upon her.</p> + +<p>With Varrick the blow had been too severe, too terrible, to be so easily +gotten over. When morning broke, he still lay, face downward, on the +couch upon which he had thrown himself. The effects of the sleeping +potion they had so mercifully administered to him had worn off, and he +was face to face once more with the great sorrow of his life.</p> + +<p>They brought him a tempting breakfast, but he sent it away untasted. He +sent at once for one of the call-boys.</p> + +<p>"Buy me a ticket for the first steamer that goes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> out," he said. "I do +not care where it goes or what its destination is; all I want is to get +away."</p> + +<p>Still the boy lingered.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Varrick, "why do you wait?"</p> + +<p>"I had something to tell you sir."</p> + +<p>"Go on," said Varrick.</p> + +<p>"There is a young girl down in the corridor who insists upon seeing you, +sir. I told her it was quite useless, you would not see her; and then +she fell into passionate weeping, sobbing out that you <i>must</i>, if but +for a moment, and that she would not go until she had spoken with you, +if she had to remain there all day."</p> + +<p>"Where is she?"</p> + +<p>"In the corridor without, sir."</p> + +<p>Varrick crossed the room and stepped out into the corridor. He saw a +little figure standing in the dim, shaded light.</p> + +<p>She saw him at the same moment, and ran toward him with a little cry, +flinging herself with a great sob at his feet.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Varrick!" she cried.</p> + +<p>"Why, it's little Jessie Bain!" he exclaimed in wonder, forgetting for +the time being his own misery.</p> + +<p>"It's just as you said it would be, sir—they have turned me out of the +house. And you said, Mr. Varrick, if they ever did that, to be sure and +come straight to you—and here I am!"</p> + +<p>Varrick's amazement knew no bounds.</p> + +<p>What should he do with this girl who was thrust so unceremoniously on +his hands.</p> + +<p>"If it had not been for you and your kind words, I should have flung +myself in the St. Lawrence,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> continued the girl, "for I was so +desperate. How kind Heaven was to send you to me to help me in my hour +of greatest need, Mr. Varrick."</p> + +<p>"Come into the parlor and let us talk this matter over," said Varrick. +"Yes, I will surely help you. I will go and see your uncle this very +day."</p> + +<p>"I would not go to him," cried the girl. "I swear to you I would not! +When I tell you this, you will not wonder that I refuse. In his rage, +because I came home so late last night, he shot at me. The ball passed +within a hair's-breadth of my heart, for which it was intended, and the +powder burned my arm—see!"</p> + +<p>Hubert Varrick was horror-stricken. The little arm was all blackened +with smoke, and burned with the powder. There was need for a doctor here +at once.</p> + +<p>"If I went back to him he would kill me," the girl sobbed. "Oh! do not +send me back, Mr. Varrick. Let me stay here where you are.</p> + +<p>"You are the only being in the whole wide world who has ever spoken +kindly to me. I can do quite as much for you as I did for my uncle. I +can mend your clothes, see about your meals, and read the papers to you, +and—"</p> + +<p>"Hush, child!" said Varrick. "Don't say any more. It is plain to me that +you can not be sent back to your uncle. I will see what can be done for +you. You shall be my <i>protégée</i> for the present."</p> + +<p>"How young and sweet and fair and innocent the girl is!" he told +himself.</p> + +<p>Placing the girl in the housekeeper's charge, he had a long consultation +with Doctor Roberts.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<p>"If you will allow me to make a suggestion," returned the doctor, "I +would say, send Jessie Bain to school for a year, if you are inclined to +be philanthropic. She is a wild, beautiful, thoughtless child, and it +has often occurred to me that her education must be very limited."</p> + +<p>"That will be the very thing," returned Varrick. "I wonder that this +solution did not occur to me before. I am going away to-day," he added, +"and wonder if I could get you to attend to the matter for me, doctor?"</p> + +<p>"I will do so with pleasure," returned Doctor Roberts. "In fact, I know +the very institution that would be most suitable. It's a private +boarding-school for young ladies, patronized by the <i>élité</i>, and I feel +assured that Professor Graham will take the greatest possible pains with +this pretty, neglected girl, who will be heir only to the education she +gets there, and her youth and strength with which to face the battle of +life."</p> + +<p>When the result of this conference was told to Jessie Bain, she sobbed +as if her heart would break.</p> + +<p>"I don't want to leave you, Mr. Varrick!" she cried, "indeed I don't. +Let me go home with you. I am sure your mother will like me. I will be +so good to her."</p> + +<p>It was explained to her that this could not be. They could scarcely +pacify her. It touched Hubert Varrick deeply to see how she clung to +him.</p> + +<p>He parted with her in the doctor's home, whence she had been taken, +leaving his address with her, with the admonition that she should write +to him every week, and tell him how she was progressing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> with her +studies; and if she wanted anything she was to be sure to let him know.</p> + +<p>He went back to the hotel to bid good-bye to Mrs. Northrup; but somehow +he could not bring himself to say one word to her about Jessie Bain.</p> + +<p>As he boarded the evening boat for Clayton there was not a more +miserable man in all the whole wide world than Hubert Varrick. He paced +the deck moodily. The thousands of little green islands upon which the +search-light flashed so continuously, had little charm for him. Suddenly +as the light turned its full glare upon a small island midway up the +stream, rendering each object upon it as clearly visible as though it +were noonday, under the strong light Hubert Varrick's eyes fell upon a +sight that fairly rooted him to the spot with horror.</p> + +<p>In that instantaneous glance this is what he saw: A young and lovely +girl crouching on her knees, in the long deep grass under the trees, her +arms outstretched in wild supplication, and bending over her was the +dark figure of a man. One hand clutched her white throat, and the other +hand held a revolver pressed to her white brow. The slouch hat he wore +concealed his features. The girl's face, framed in that mass of curling +dark hair, the white arms—great God! how strangely like Gerelda's!</p> + +<p>Was he going mad? He strained his eyes to see, and a terrible cry of +agony broke from his lips.</p> + +<p>"Captain!" he shrieked, "somebody, anybody, get me a life-boat, quick, +for the love of Heaven! Half my fortune for a life-boat—quick!"</p> + +<p>As he cried aloud, the island was buried in darkness again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_IV" id="Chapter_IV"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter IV</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>"THE GIRL WHO PLAYS AT FLIRTATION MAY FIND SHE HAS GRASPED A TWO-EDGED +SWORD," SAID THE HANDSOME YOUNG CAPTAIN, LOOKING FULL IN GERELDA'S +BEWITCHING, HAUGHTY FACE.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>The captain who was passing, stopped short and looked at Hubert Varrick +in amazement as he cried out, wildly:</p> + +<p>"Get me a life-boat, somebody—anybody! Half my fortune for a +life-boat!"</p> + +<p>"What is the matter?" asked the captain, sharply. "Has some one fallen +overboard?"</p> + +<p>When Varrick answered in the affirmative, the captain gave orders that a +life-boat be at once lowered by the crew, calling upon Varrick to point +out, as near as he could, where the drowning man was.</p> + +<p>"I will go, too," Varrick answered, springing into the boat; and an +instant later the boat was flying over the waves in the direction which +Varrick indicated.</p> + +<p>"Which way, sir?" asked the man at the oars.</p> + +<p>"Straight toward that little island yonder," was the hoarse reply. "Make +for it quickly! Here, take this bank-note, and, in Heaven's name, row +sharp! No one is drowning, but there is a young and lovely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> girl at the +mercy of some fiend on that island yonder!"</p> + +<p>The man dropped his oars.</p> + +<p>"If you had told our captain that, he would never have sent out a +life-boat," declared the man. "He thought it was some one drowning near +at hand, for the story of Wau-Winet Island is no news to the people +hereabouts."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" cried Varrick.</p> + +<p>"I can tell you the story in a very few words, sir," returned the man; +"and surely there's no one more competent to relate it than myself. I +can relate it while we are rowing over to Wau-Winet Island:</p> + +<p>"Some six months ago a stranger suddenly appeared in our midst. He +purchased Wau-Winet Island, and a few days later a score or more of +workmen appeared one night at Alexandria Bay, and boarded a tug that was +to take them out to the island.</p> + +<p>"These workmen were all strangers to the inhabitants around Alexandria +Bay, and they spoke in a different language.</p> + +<p>"They lived upon the island for a month or more, never once coming in +contact with the people hereabouts.</p> + +<p>"All their food was brought to them. Soon their mysterious manners +became the talk of all the country round.</p> + +<p>"In a month's time they had erected a grand stone house—almost a +castle—hidden from any one who might chance to pass the island, by a +net-work of trees.</p> + +<p>"At length the gray-stone house was completed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> and the strange, uncanny +workmen took their departure as silently as they had come.</p> + +<p>"The people were warned to keep away from the place, for the workmen had +left behind them a large, ferocious dog who menaced the life of any one +who attempted to land on Wau-Winet Island.</p> + +<p>"Only last night an event happened which I shall never forget if I live +to be the age of Methuselah. I was standing near the dock, when suddenly +some one laid a heavy hand on my shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Glancing up with a little start, I saw the man who had so lately bought +Wau-Winet Island standing before me. By his side, leaning heavily upon +his arm, yet swaying strangely to and fro, as though she were scarcely +able to keep her feet, was a woman in a long black cloak, and her face +covered by a thick veil.</p> + +<p>"Before I had a chance to speak, the gentleman bent down and whispered +hoarsely in my ear:</p> + +<p>"I want you to row us as quickly as possible, to Wau-Winet Island. You +can name your own price.'</p> + +<p>"I wish to God I had refused him. I started to help the lady into the +boat, but he thrust me aside and helped her in himself, lifting her by +main strength.</p> + +<p>"For an instant she swayed to and fro, like a leaf in a strong wind; but +he steadied her by holding her down on her seat, both of her hands +caught in his.</p> + +<p>"I had scarcely pushed out into midstream ere I fancied I heard a low, +choking cry. The woman had wrenched one of her hands free, and like a +flash she had torn off her thick veil, and then I saw a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> sight that made +the blood run cold in my veins, for over her mouth a thick scarf was +wound, which she was trying to tear off with her disengaged hand.</p> + +<p>"Her companion caught her hand with a fierce imprecation on his lips, +and the struggle that ensued between them made the boat rock like a +cradle. In an instant he had forced her back into her seat, and drawn +the veil down over her face again.</p> + +<p>"But in that brief instant, by the bright light of the moon, I had +caught a glimpse of a face so wondrous in its loveliness and its +haughtiness that I was fairly dazed. I did not know what to do or say, I +was so bewildered.</p> + +<p>"'You must make quicker time!' cried the gentleman, turning to me.</p> + +<p>"At last we reached the island, and despite her struggles, he lifted her +out of the boat. Then he thrust a bill into my hand, saying grimly, 'You +can return now.'</p> + +<p>"But while he was speaking, never for an instant did his hold relax upon +the girl's arm, though she writhed under his grasp.</p> + +<p>"I hesitated a moment, and he turned to me with the look of a fiend on +his dark, handsome face.</p> + +<p>"'I said you might <i>go</i>,' he repeated.</p> + +<p>"'I will double that sum if you know how to keep your tongue still,' the +man said, thrusting another bill into my hand.</p> + +<p>"As I pushed out into midstream the girl grew frantic. With an almost +superhuman effort she succeeded in removing the woolen scarf which had +been wound so tightly about her mouth, then with a cry which I shall +never forget while life lasts, she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> shrieked out piteously, as she threw +out her white arms wildly toward me:</p> + +<p>"'Help! help! Oh! help, for the love of Heaven! Don't desert me! Come +back! oh, come back and save me!'</p> + +<p>"The blood fairly stood still in my veins. Her companion hurled her back +so quickly that she completely lost her balance, and fell fainting in +his arms.</p> + +<p>"'Go!' he cried, angrily, 'and not one word of what you have seen or +heard!'</p> + +<p>"I can not desert a lady in distress, sir,' I answered.</p> + +<p>"With a fury such as I have never seen equaled, he turned and faced me +in the moonlight.</p> + +<p>"'I will give you just one moment to go!' he cried, his right hand +creeping toward his hip-pocket—'another moment to get out of sight!'</p> + +<p>"I knew that it was as much as my life was worth to remain where I was; +so, despite the girl's pitiful entreaties, I rowed back slowly into +midstream and down the river.</p> + +<p>"I fairly made my boat fly over the water. I headed straight for +Clayton—the nearest village—and there I told my startling story to the +people. In less time than it takes to tell it, a half dozen of us +started back for Wau-Winet Island. Arriving, we crept silently up the +steep path that led to the house. My loud ringing brought the gentleman +himself to the door. I shall never forget the fire that leaped into his +eyes as he saw me; but nothing daunted, I said to him determinedly:</p> + +<p>"I have come here with these men to aid the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> young girl who appealed to +me for help a little while ago.'</p> + +<p>"My companions pressed close behind me, until they filled the wide +entrance hall and closed in around him.</p> + +<p>"'You are certainly mad!' he cried. 'There is no young lady on Wau-Winet +Island, nor has any woman ever put foot upon it at least since it has +been my property,' he added.</p> + +<p>"'Do you mean to say that I did not row you and a young lady over to +this island within this hour, and that she did not appeal to me for +help?' I asked.</p> + +<p>"'Certainly not!' he declared promptly.</p> + +<p>"'You must be either mad or dreaming to even think of such a thing,' he +continued, haughtily. 'However,' turning to my companions, 'seeing that +you have had the trouble of coming here—brought by this lunatic—you +are welcome to look through the house and satisfy yourselves. In fact, I +beg that you will do so.'</p> + +<p>"Much to his surprise, we took him at his word."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_V" id="Chapter_V"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter V</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>THE MYSTERIOUS HOUSE ON LONELY WAU-WINET ISLAND.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>"We searched the stone house from cellar to garret in hopes of finding a +trace of the beautiful girl I felt sure was imprisoned within its grim +walls, the owner following, with a look of defiance on his dark, +handsome face.</p> + +<p>"'She <i>must</i> be on this island,' I declared, vehemently. 'I rowed you +and her over here.'</p> + +<p>"It is quite true that you rowed <i>me</i> over here, my good fellow, but no +fair lady accompanied me, unless it might have been some mermaid. I hope +you are satisfied,' said he, turning to my companions, 'that the man who +has brought you here has played you a trick.'</p> + +<p>"And now stranger, you ask me to take you to Wau-Winet Island on just +such a mission, and I answer you that it would be as much as our lives +are worth."</p> + +<p>"It is evident," returned Hubert Varrick, excitedly, "that there is some +fearful mystery, and it is our duty to try to fathom it if it is within +our power."</p> + +<p>"As you say, sir," replied the man.</p> + +<p>At this moment the skiff grated sharply upon the sand, and the two men +sprung out.</p> + +<p>They had scarcely proceeded half the distance to the house when they +were suddenly confronted by a man.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Who are you, and what do you want here?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I must see the master of Wau-Winet Island," returned Varrick, sternly. +"Are you he?"</p> + +<p>"No," returned the man, rather uneasily. "He left the island scarcely +five minutes ago in his boat. I am only the man working about the +place."</p> + +<p>"Tell me," cried Varrick, earnestly, "was there a lady with him? I will +pay you well to answer me."</p> + +<p>The man's gaze shifted uneasily.</p> + +<p>"There was no lady with him. I suppose that you have heard the strange +story about this island, and have come to investigate the matter. Let me +tell you, it is more than annoying to my master. Had he heard it he +never would have bought the place. As it is he has left it for good and +all to-night, and is going to advertise the place for sale. If they had +told my master, when he came here to buy, the story that a young and +beautiful woman was supposed to have been murdered here many years ago, +and that at nights her spirit haunts the place, he never would have +bought it. Other people imagine that they seen it; but we, who live +here, never have."</p> + +<p>The man told this with such apparent earnestness and truth, that Varrick +was mystified. Had his eyes deceived him? They evidently had. And then +again he told himself that, thinking so much of Gerelda, he had imagined +that the face he had seen for a moment in the flash-light bore a +striking resemblance to hers. And he persuaded himself to believe that +the fisherman's story was a myth.</p> + +<p>He well knew that, of all people in the world,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> fishermen loved to spin +the most exaggerated yarns, and be the heroes of the greatest +adventures.</p> + +<p>He got out of the matter as gracefully as only Varrick could, +apologizing for his intrusion, and expressing himself as only too +pleased to know that his imagination had simply been at fault.</p> + +<p>"Will you come in?" asked the man, turning to him. "My master has always +given orders that we are to be very hospitable to strangers."</p> + +<p>"You are very kind, and I thank you for your courtesy," returned +Varrick, "but I think not. We will try to cut across the bay and catch +the steamer further down."</p> + +<p>So saying, he motioned his companion to enter the boat.</p> + +<p>The little boat containing the two men was scarcely out of sight, ere +the door of the mysterious stone house opened quickly, and a man came +cautiously down the path.</p> + +<p>"What did they want?"</p> + +<p>"They wanted to see you, Captain Frazier," answered the servant.</p> + +<p>"What about?" asked the other hoarsely.</p> + +<p>"They saw you and—and the young lady when you were out in the grounds, +a little while since, as the search-light went down, and they came +to—to rescue the young lady. I— I succeeded in convincing them that +their eyes had deceived them, and told them that you were so annoyed at +that senseless tale that you had gone away from the island; that you did +not intend to come back, your aim being to sell the place."</p> + +<p>"Bravo, bravo, McDonald!" exclaimed Captain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> Frazier—for it was he. +"Upon my soul, you did well! You are reducing lying down to a fine art."</p> + +<p>"I made quite a startling discovery, sir," said McDonald. "It was the +same man who made you all the trouble last night, bringing those people +here."</p> + +<p>Captain Frazier frowned darkly.</p> + +<p>"But that is not all, sir," added McDonald. "Mr. Varrick was with him."</p> + +<p>The name fell like a thunder-bolt on Captain Frazier's ears. He started +back as though he had been shot.</p> + +<p>"Has he succeeded in hunting me down so quickly?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"So I thought when I first saw him, sir. But, to my great amazement, I +soon discovered that he was totally ignorant of who lived on the +island—that it was yourself. The fisherman had been telling him the +story about the young lady, and he had come to investigate it. I soon +convinced him that there was nothing in the story, and that he was only +another one added to the list that the same fisherman had played that +practical joke on. He was angry enough when he took his departure."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure of this, McDonald?" asked Captain Frazier.</p> + +<p>"Quite sure."</p> + +<p>Captain Frazier gave a sigh of relief. He had fancied himself so secure +here. Even the servants did not know him by his own name.</p> + +<p>"If I thought for a moment that he suspected my presence here, I would +lose no time in getting away from Wau-Winet Island, and taking <i>her</i> +with me."</p> + +<p>"You need have no fear, sir," returned the man.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> + +<p>For an hour or more Captain Frazier paced slowly up and down under the +trees, smoking cigar after cigar in rapid succession.</p> + +<p>"It is a terrible thing," he muttered, "when love for a woman drives a +man to the verge of madness. I swore that Gerelda should never marry +Hubert Varrick, if I had to kill her. But I have done better. He will +never look upon her face again."</p> + +<p>At length he walked slowly to the house. He was met on the porch by a +little French maid who seemed to be looking for him.</p> + +<p>"Well, Marie?" said Captain Frazier.</p> + +<p>"I have been looking for you, sir," returned the girl quickly. "I can do +nothing with mademoiselle. She will not speak; she will not eat. She +lies there hour after hour with her beautiful face turned toward the +wall and her white hands clasped together. She might be a dead woman for +all the interest she evinces in anything. I very much fear, sir, that +she will keep her vow—<i>never to speak again</i>—<i>never in this world</i>."</p> + +<p>"You must keep close watch that she does not attempt to make away with +herself, Marie," he continued, earnestly. "Heaven only knows how she +obtained that revolver I took away from her out in the grounds to-night. +She was kneeling down in the long grass, and had it already pressed to +her temple, when I appeared in the very nick of time and wrenched it +from her little white hand. She would do anything save drown herself to +escape from here. Her father lost his life that way, and she would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +never attempt <i>that</i> means of escape, even from <i>this</i> place."</p> + +<p>"She even refuses to have her bridal-dress removed," said the maid; "and +I do not know what to do about it. She has uttered no word since first +she crossed your threshold; she will not speak."</p> + +<p>Captain Frazier looked troubled, distressed.</p> + +<p>Would Gerelda keep her vow? She had said when she recovered +consciousness and found herself on the island, and the boatman gone:</p> + +<p>"I will never utter another word from this hour until I am set free +again. You are beneath contempt, Captain Frazier, to kidnap a young girl +at the altar."</p> + +<p>He never forgot how she looked at him in the clear moonlight as he +turned to her, crying out passionately:</p> + +<p>"It is your own fault, Gerelda. Why did you draw me on to love you so? +You encouraged me up to the last moment, and then it was too late for me +to give you up."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_VI" id="Chapter_VI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VI</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>THE SWEET AND TENDER LETTERS THAT SUDDENLY CEASED TO COME.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Gerelda Northrup neither spoke nor stirred.</p> + +<p>"You drew me on—ay, up to the very last moment—or this would never +have happened. I come of a desperate race, Gerelda," he went on, +huskily, "and when you showed me so plainly that you still liked my +society, even after you had plighted your troth to another, I clung to +the mad idea that there was yet hope for me, if we were far away from +those who might come between us. On this lone island we will be all the +world to each other—'the world forgetting, by the world forgot.' Marry +me, Gerelda, and I will be your veritable slave!"</p> + +<p>He never forgot the look she turned upon him.</p> + +<p>"When your anger has had time to cool, you will forgive me, my darling," +he pleaded, "and then I am sure you will not say me nay when I beg for +your heart and hand. I shall not force you into a marriage. I will wait +patiently until you come to me and say: 'Robert, I am willing to marry +you!'"</p> + +<p>He remembered how she had turned from him in bitter anger and scorn too +terrible for any words. He had given her over into the hands of Marie, +the little French maid.</p> + +<p>She offered no resistance as the girl took her hand and led her into the +house; but there was a look on her face that boded no good, while the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +words she had uttered rang in his ears: "I shall never speak again until +you set me free!"</p> + +<p>Twice she had made the attempt, during the forty-eight hours which +followed, to take her own life, and both times he had prevented her. +Even in those thrilling moments she had never uttered a word. She kept +her vow, and Captain Frazier was beside himself at the turn affairs had +taken.</p> + +<p>But what else could he have done, under the circumstances? He could not +stand by and see her made the bride of another.</p> + +<p>Only that day, by the merest chance, Frazier had found out about Hubert +Varrick practically adopting the village beauty—saucy little Jessie +Bain—and that he had secretly sent her to a private school, to be +educated at his own expense, and he lost no time in communicating this +startling news to Gerelda, and giving her proof positive of the truth of +this statement.</p> + +<p>He saw her face turn deathly white, and he knew that the arrow of bitter +jealousy had struck home; but even then she uttered no word. But when +darkness gathered she stole out into the grounds, and tried to end it +all then and there, and she would have succeeded but for his timely +happening upon the scene at the very moment that the flash-light had +shone so suddenly upon her.</p> + +<p>Yes, the story concerning Jessie Bain had come like a thunder-bolt to +Gerelda Northrup. She had fallen on her face in the long green grass, +and was carried into the house in a dead faint.</p> + +<p>Only heaven knew what she suffered when consciousness came to her. She +was almost mad with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> terror at finding herself snatched from the arms of +her lover at the very altar—kidnapped in this most outrageous manner.</p> + +<p>She pictured her bridegroom's wild agony when he returned with the glass +of wine which he had hurried after, and found her missing.</p> + +<p>But the knowledge that he had consoled himself so quickly by taking an +interest in some other girl almost took her breath away. Then she sent a +note to Captain Frazier. It contained but a few words, but they were +enough to send him into the seventh heaven of delight. They read as +follows:</p> + +<p>"Prove to me, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that Hubert Varrick is +really in love with the rustic little village maid you speak of to such +an extent that he has secretly undertaken the care of her future, and, +madly as I love him, I will give him up and marry you within six months +from this time. But, in the meantime, you must return me at once to my +home and friends. This much I promise you: I shall not see Hubert +Varrick until this matter has been cleared up."</p> + +<p>To this note Frazier sent back hurried word that she should have all the +proof of Hubert Varrick's perfidy that she might ask.</p> + +<p>There was but one thing which it was impossible to do, and that was to +set her free during the six months' probation.</p> + +<p>This was impossible. He could not do it; he loved her too madly. He +would go away, if she liked, and leave her to reign "queen of the isle." +She should have everything which heart desired—everything save +permission to leave the place.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> + +<p>To this Gerelda was forced to submit.</p> + +<p>"If I were convinced that Hubert Varrick loved another, life would be +all over for me," she moaned again and again.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, as days and weeks rolled by, and no tidings reached Hubert +Varrick of the bride who, he supposed, had deserted him at the very +altar, his heart grew bitter against Gerelda.</p> + +<p>He plunged into his practice of law, with the wild hope that he might +forget her.</p> + +<p>The only diversity that entered his life was the letters which he +received from little Jessie Bain.</p> + +<p>Girl-like, she wrote to him every day.</p> + +<p>"I do wish you would adopt me, guardy," she wrote one day, "and bring me +home; I am so tired of this place. The principal always calls upon me to +look after all the little young fry in his school. Morning and night I +have to hear their prayers and hunt the shoes and stockings that they +throw at one another across the dormitory. Each one denies the throwing, +and I slap every one of them right and left, to be sure to get the right +one. I'm sick and tired of books. I wish I could come to you."</p> + +<p>Suddenly the letters ceased, and, to Varrick's consternation, a week +passed without his hearing one word from little Jessie Bain, and he +never knew until then, how deep a hold the girl had on the threads that +were woven into his daily life.</p> + +<p>In his loneliness he turned to the letters, and read and reread them. It +was like balm to his sore heart to find in them such outpourings of love +and devotion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> + +<p>Was she ill? Perhaps some lover had crossed her path.</p> + +<p>The thought worried him. He was just on the point of telegraphing, when +suddenly there was a rustling sound at the open French window, a swish +of skirts behind him, and the next instant a pair of arms were thrown +about his neck.</p> + +<p>"Now don't scold me, guardy—please don't! I am going to own up to the +truth right here and now. I ran away. I couldn't help it, I got so tired +of hooking young ones' dresses and hearing their prayers."</p> + +<p>With an assumption of dignity, Hubert Varrick unwound the girl's arms +from about his neck. But somehow they had sent a strange thrill through +his whole being, just such a thrill as he had experienced during the +hour in which he had asked Gerelda to be his wife, and she had answered +in the affirmative.</p> + +<p>He tried to hold her off at arm's-length, but she only clung to him the +more, giving him a rapturous kiss of greeting.</p> + +<p>The story of little Jessie Bain had been the only one which Hubert +Varrick had kept from his mother.</p> + +<p>It seemed amusing, he had told himself repeatedly, for a young man of +five-and-twenty to be guardian, as it were, to a young girl of +sixteen—that sweet, subtle, dangerous age "where childhood and +womanhood meet."</p> + +<p>"Aren't you glad to see me, Mr. Varrick?" cried Jessie.</p> + +<p>"Glad?" Hubert Varrick's face lighted up, and before he was aware of the +action, he had drawn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> her into his encircling arms, bent his dark, +handsome head, and kissed the rosy mouth so dangerously near his own. +There was a sound as of a groan, from the door-way, followed by a +muffled shriek, and raising his eyes in startled horror, Hubert Varrick +saw his lady-mother standing on the threshold, her jeweled hands parting +the satin <i>portières</i>.</p> + +<p>"Who is this girl, and what does this amazing scene mean, Hubert?" cried +Mrs. Varrick.</p> + +<p>Jessie Bain looked at the angry lady in puzzled wonder. She nestled up +closer to the handsome, broad-shouldered fellow, murmuring audibly:</p> + +<p>"Why don't you tell her that I am Jessie Bain, and that you are my best +friend on earth?"</p> + +<p>The lady had heard enough to condemn the girl in her eyes.</p> + +<p>She advanced toward her, livid with rage, and flung the girl's little +white hands back from her son's arm.</p> + +<p>"Go!" she cried, quivering with rage; "leave this house instantly, or I +will call the servants to put you into the street? It's such girls as +you that ruin young men!"</p> + +<p>"Mother," interrupted Hubert, "Jessie Bain must not be sent from this +house. If she leaves, I shall go with her!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_VII" id="Chapter_VII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VII</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>EVERY YOUNG GIRL WOULD LIKE A LOVER. AND WHY NOT? FOR LOVE IS THE +GRANDEST GIFT THE GODS CAN GIVE.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>A thunder-bolt falling from a clear sky could not have startled the +proud Mrs. Varrick more than those crushing words that fell from the +lips of her handsome son—"Mother, if you turn Jessie Bain from your +door, I go with her!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick drew herself up to her full height and advanced into the +room like an angry queen.</p> + +<p>"Hubert," she cried, in a tone that he had never heard from his mother's +lips before, "I can make all due allowance for the follies of a young +man, but I say this to you: you should never have permitted this girl to +cross your mother's threshold."</p> + +<p>"Give me a chance to speak a few words, mother," he interrupted. "Let me +set matters straight. The whole fault is mine, because I have not +explained this affair to you before. I put it off from day to day."</p> + +<p>In a few brief words he explained.</p> + +<p>In her own mind, quick as a flash, a sudden thought came to her that +there was more behind this than had been told to her.</p> + +<p>She had wondered why Gerelda Northrup, the beauty and the heiress, fled +from her handsome son at the very altar. Now she began to think that +she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> might have had a reason for it other than that which the world +knew.</p> + +<p>She was diplomatic; she was too worldly wise to seek to separate them +then and there. She said to herself it must be done by strategy.</p> + +<p>"This puts the matter in quite a different light, Hubert," she said; +"and while I am slightly incensed at your not telling me about this +affair, I can readily understand the kindly impulse which prompted you +to protect this young girl. But I can not allow <i>you</i> to outdo me; +Jessie must consider <i>me</i> quite as much her friend as you. She shall +find a home here with us, and it will be pleasant, after all, to see a +bright, girlish face in these dull old rooms, and hear the sound of +merry laughter."</p> + +<p>This remark threw Hubert off his guard.</p> + +<p>"That is spoken like my noble-hearted mother!" he cried, +enthusiastically. "I knew you could not be angry with me when you +understood it."</p> + +<p>The girl stepped hesitatingly forward. From the first instant that she +beheld her standing on the threshold, she had conceived a great dislike +and fear of Hubert's haughty lady-mother. Even the conversation and +explanation which she had just listened to did not change her first +impression.</p> + +<p>Thus it happened that Jessie Bain took up her abode in the magnificent +home of the Varricks.</p> + +<p>But Hubert's mother made it the one object of her life to see that her +son and this attractive girl were never left alone together for a +moment.</p> + +<p>He had seemed heart-broken over the loss of Gerelda Northrup up to the +time that Jessie had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> entered the house; now there was a perceptible +change in him.</p> + +<p>He no longer brooded for hours over his cigars, pacing up and down under +the trees; now he would enter the library of an evening, or linger in +the drawing-room, especially if Jessie was there.</p> + +<p>Had it not been for her son, and the terror from day to day in her heart +that Hubert was learning to care for the girl, proud Mrs. Varrick would +have liked Jessie Bain, she was so bright, so merry, so artless.</p> + +<p>She lost no opportunity in impressing upon Jessie's mind, when she was +alone with the girl, that Hubert would never marry, eagerly noticing +what effect these words would have upon the girl.</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't that be a pity, Mrs. Varrick?" she had answered once. "It +would be so cruel for him to stay single always."</p> + +<p>"Not at all," returned Mrs. Varrick, sharply. "If a man does not get the +one that is intended for him, he should never marry any one else."</p> + +<p>"And you think that he was intended for Miss Northrup?" questioned +Jessie.</p> + +<p>"Decidedly; and for no one else."</p> + +<p>"Then I wonder Heaven did not give her to him," said Jessie.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick looked at her keenly.</p> + +<p>"A man never has but one love in a life-time," she said, impressively.</p> + +<p>A fortnight had barely passed since Jessie had been under that roof, and +yet every one of the household noticed the difference in handsome Hubert +Varrick, and spoke about it. He was growing gayer and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> more debonair +than in the old days, when he was paying court to the beautiful Gerelda +Northrup. Of all subjects, the only one which he would not discuss with +his mother was the future of Jessie Bain.</p> + +<p>She had on one occasion asked him, with seeming carelessness, how long +he intended to care for this girl who was an utter stranger to him, and +suggested that, since she would not go to school, his responsibility +ought to cease.</p> + +<p>"I have bound myself to look after her until she is eighteen," he +answered.</p> + +<p>"I want to have a little talk with you, Hubert, on that subject," she +said. "Will you listen to me a few moments?"</p> + +<p>"As many as you like, mother," he answered.</p> + +<p>"I want to ask you if you have ever thought over what a wrong step you +are taking in giving this girl a taste of a life she can never expect to +continue after she leaves here?"</p> + +<p>"You should be glad that she has a little sunshine, mother."</p> + +<p>"It is wrong to place a girl in a brilliant sunshine for a few brief +days, and then plunge her into gloom for the rest of her life."</p> + +<p>"She has not been plunged into gloom yet, mother."</p> + +<p>"If she could marry well while she is with us, it would be a great thing +for her," went on Mrs. Varrick.</p> + +<p>"Don't you think she is rather young yet? What is your opinion about +that, mother?"</p> + +<p>"It is best for a poor girl to marry as soon as a good offer presents +itself, I believe. I have been thinking deeply upon this subject, for I +have noticed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> that there is a young man who seems to be quite smitten +with the charms of Jessie Bain."</p> + +<p>Her handsome son flushed to the roots of his dark-brown hair, and he +laughed confusedly as he said:</p> + +<p>"Why, how very sharp you are, mother! I did not know that you noticed +it."</p> + +<p>"Of course he is not rich," continued Mrs. Varrick, "but still, even a +struggling young architect would be a good match for her. She might do +worse."</p> + +<p>"Why, what in the world do you mean, mother?" cried Hubert Varrick. +"What are you talking about?"</p> + +<p>"Why, my dear son, have you been blind to what has been going on for the +last fortnight?" she returned, with seeming carelessness. "Haven't you +noticed that the young architect who is drawing the plans for the new +western wing of our house is in love with your <i>protégée</i>?"</p> + +<p>She never forgot the expression of her son's face; it was livid and +white as death. This betrayed his secret. He loved Jessie Bain himself!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_VIII" id="Chapter_VIII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VIII</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>A MOTHER'S DESPERATE SCHEME.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>"What makes you think the young architect is in love with Jessie Bain, +mother? I think it is an absurd idea."</p> + +<p>"Why do you call it absurd?" returned Mrs. Varrick. "It is perfectly +natural."</p> + +<p>Hubert turned on her in a rage so great that it fairly appalled her.</p> + +<p>"Why did you permit this sort of thing to go on, mother?" he cried. "It +is all your fault. You are accountable for it, I say."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick rose from her seat and looked haughtily at her son, her +heart beating with great, stifling throbs. In all the years of their +lives they had never before exchanged one cross word with each other, +and in that moment she hated, with all the strength of her soul, the +girl who had sown discord between them, and she wished that Heaven had +stricken the girl dead ere her son had looked upon her face.</p> + +<p>"I am sure it is nothing to you or to me whom Jessie Bain chooses to +fall in love with," she answered, coldly. "You forget yourself in +reproaching <i>me</i> with it, my son," and with these words she swept from +the room.</p> + +<p>The door had barely closed after her ere Hubert<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> threw himself down into +the nearest chair, covering his face with his hands.</p> + +<p>He had loved Gerelda Northrup as few men love in a life-time, but with +the belief that she had eloped with another, growing up in his heart, he +had been able to stifle that love, root it from his heart, blossom and +branch, with an iron will, until at last he knew if he came face to face +with Gerelda she would never again have the power to thrill his heart +with the same passion.</p> + +<p>And, sitting there, he was face to face with the truth—that his heart, +in all its loneliness, had gone out to Jessie Bain in the rebound, and +he knew that life would never be the same to him if she were to prefer +another to himself.</p> + +<p>He rang the bell sharply, and in response to the summons one of the +servants soon appeared.</p> + +<p>"Send the architect—the young man whom you will find in the new western +wing of the house—to me at once. Tell him to bring his drawings with +him."</p> + +<p>Hubert Varrick paced nervously up and down the library until the young +man entered the room.</p> + +<p>"You sent for me, Mr. Varrick," he said, with a smile on his frank, +handsome face, "and I made haste to come to you."</p> + +<p>"I wish to inspect your drawings," he said, tersely, as he waved the +young man to a seat.</p> + +<p>Frank Moray laid them down upon the table. There was something in +Varrick's manner that startled him, for he had always been courteous and +pleasant to him before.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> + +<p>Varrick ran his eyes critically over the pieces of card-board, the frown +on his face deepening.</p> + +<p>"I hope the plans meet your approval, sir," said the young man, very +respectfully. "I showed them from day to day, as I progressed, to Miss +Jessie Bain, and she seemed very much interested in them."</p> + +<p>Those words were fatal to the young man's cause. With an angry gesture, +Varrick threw the drawings down upon the table.</p> + +<p>"Your plans do not please me at all," he returned. "Stop right where you +are. Return to your firm at once and tell them to send me another man, +an older man, one with more experience—one who can spend more time at +his business and less time in chattering. Your sketches are miserably +drawn!"</p> + +<p>Frank Moray had risen to his feet, his face white as death.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Varrick," he cried hoarsely, "let me beg of you to reconsider your +words. Only try me again. Let me make a new set of drawings to submit to +you. It would ruin my reputation if you were to send this message to the +firm, for they have hitherto placed much confidence in my work."</p> + +<p>"You will leave the house at once," he said, "and send a much older man, +I repeat, to continue the work."</p> + +<p>The poor fellow fairly staggered from the drawing-room. He could not +imagine why, in one short hour, he had dropped from heaven to the very +depths of Hades, as it were.</p> + +<p>Varrick breathed freely when he saw him leave the house and walk slowly +down the lilac-bordered path and out through the arched gate-way.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> + +<p>A little later Jessie came flying into the library. Varrick was still +seated at the table, poring over his books.</p> + +<p>"Where is Mr. Moray—do you know?" she asked, quickly—"I want to return +him a paper he loaned me this morning. I have been looking everywhere +for him, but can not find him. There is something in the paper that you +would like to hear about too."</p> + +<p>"Sit down on this hassock, Jessie, and read it to me," he said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! You want to make fun of me," she pouted, "and see me get +puzzled over all the big words. Please read it yourself, Mr. Varrick."</p> + +<p>"Suppose you tell me the substance of it, and that will save me reading +it," he said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can do that. There isn't so much to tell. It's about a fire last +night on one of the little islands in the St. Lawrence. No doubt you +have heard of the place—Wau-Winet Island. The mysterious stone house +that was on it has been burned to the ground. The owner was away at the +time. It is supposed that everyone else on the island perished in the +flames."</p> + +<p>Hubert Varrick listened with interest, but he never dreamed how vitally, +in the near future, this catastrophe would concern him.</p> + +<p>He thought of his strange visit to that place, and that no doubt the +owner was none too sorry to see it laid to ashes, as he had acknowledged +that it had caused him much annoyance owing to the uncanny rumors +floating about that the place was haunted by a young and beautiful woman +whose spirit would not be laid.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then, in talking to Jessie during the next half hour he entirely forgot +the fire that had occurred on that far-away island in the St. Lawrence.</p> + +<p>He broached the subject that the architect had gone for good, narrowly +watching Jessie's pretty face as he told her.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I am so sorry," she declared, disappointedly, "for he was such a +nice young man; and in his spare moments he had promised to teach me to +sketch;" and her lovely face clouded.</p> + +<p>"Would not I do as well?" asked Hubert Varrick, gently, as his hand +closed over the little white one so near his own.</p> + +<p>The girl trembled beneath his touch. In that one moment her heart went +from her, and she experienced the sweet elysium of a young life just +awakening to love's bewildering dream.</p> + +<p>"Would I not make as good a teacher?" repeated Varrick, softly; and he +bent his dark, handsome head, looking earnestly into the girl's flushed +face.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," she answered, evasively; and she was very much relieved to +hear some one calling her at that moment.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick heard of the proposed sketching lessons with great +displeasure. Despite all that she had done and said, she saw these two +young people falling more and more in love with each other with every +passing day.</p> + +<p>"How can I stop it? What shall I do?" she asked herself night after +night, as she paced the floor of her <i>boudoir</i>.</p> + +<p>She fairly cursed the hour that brought lovely, innocent little Jessie +Bain beneath that roof, and she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> wished she knew of some way in which to +get rid of the girl for good and all.</p> + +<p>She paced the floor until the day dawned. A terrible scheme against the +life and happiness of poor Jessie Bain had entered her brain—a scheme +so dark and horrible that even she grew frightened as she contemplated +it.</p> + +<p>Then she set her lips together, muttering hoarsely:</p> + +<p>"I would do anything to part my son and Jessie Bain!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_IX" id="Chapter_IX"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter IX</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>GERELDA'S ESCAPE FROM WAU-WINET ISLAND.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>The fire at Wau-Winet Island, as the papers had explained, had taken +place during the owner's absence. No one knew how it had happened; there +seemed to be no one left to tell the tale.</p> + +<p>When Captain Frazier returned that evening and found the place in ruins, +he was almost wild with grief. In his own mind he felt that he knew how +it had come about.</p> + +<p>In her desperation to get away, Gerelda had fired the house. But, for +all that, she had not succeeded in making her escape, as the flames must +have overtaken her.</p> + +<p>Those who watched Captain Frazier had great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> difficulty in preventing +him from flinging himself headlong into the bay, he seemed so distracted +over the loss of Gerelda, the girl whom he loved so sincerely.</p> + +<p>The truth of the matter was, Gerelda had not fired the place. It had +been caused by a spark from an open fire-place; and in the confusion and +the darkness of the night she had succeeded in making her way out of the +house and down to the shore.</p> + +<p>With trembling hands she had untied one of the little boats which lay +there rocking to and fro, had sprung into it, and ere the flames burst +through the arched windows of the stone house she was far across the +bay, and was soon lost to sight in the darkness. She had taken the +precaution to seize a long cloak and veil belonging to the maid, and +these she proceeded to don while in the boat.</p> + +<p>By daylight she found herself drifting slowly toward a little village, +and as the lights became clear enough to discern objects distinctly, she +saw that the place was Kingston.</p> + +<p>At this Gerelda was overjoyed, for she remembered her old nurse, whom +she had not seen since early childhood, lived here. The sun was shining +bright and clear when Gerelda Northrup stepped from the boat and wended +her way up the grass-grown streets of the quaint little Canadian town.</p> + +<p>By dint of inquiry here and there, she at length found the nurse's +home—a little cottage, almost covered with morning-glory vines, setting +back from the main road.</p> + +<p>Although the nurse had not seen Gerelda since she was a little child, +she knew her the moment her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> eyes rested upon her face, and with a cry +of amazement she drew back.</p> + +<p>"Gerelda Northrup!" she gasped. "Is it you, Miss Gerelda, or do my eyes +deceive me?"</p> + +<p>She had heard of the great marriage that was to take place at the +Crossmon Hotel, at Alexandria Bay, and heard, too, the whispered rumor +of the bride-elect's flight; and to see her standing there before her +almost took Nurse Henderson's breath away.</p> + +<p>She looked past Gerelda, expecting to see some tall and handsome +gentleman, with a grand carriage drawn up at the road-side, waiting for +her. The girl seemed to interpret her thoughts.</p> + +<p>"I have come alone," she said, briefly. "Won't you bid me enter?"</p> + +<p>"That I will, Miss Gerelda!" cried Nurse Henderson, laughing and crying +over her.</p> + +<p>But when she drew her into the house, and took off the long cloak she +wore, she was startled beyond expression to see that she wore a +bridal-dress all ruined and torn.</p> + +<p>Nurse Henderson held up her hands in wild alarm.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Gerelda!" she cried; "what does it mean? I am terrified!"</p> + +<p>"Do not ask me any questions, I pray; I am not able to answer them just +yet. Some day I may tell you all, but not now."</p> + +<p>The old nurse placed her on a sofa, begging her to rest herself, as she +looked so pale and worn, saying that she might tell her anything she +wished, a little later, when she was stronger.</p> + +<p>It was a fortnight before Gerelda had strength to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> leave her old nurse's +home, and during that time she had made a <i>confidante</i> of old Nurse +Henderson, pledging her beforehand never to reveal the story she had +told her. Nurse Henderson listened, horror-struck, to the story.</p> + +<p>"I am going to see for myself, Henderson," she added, in conclusion, +"just how much truth there is in this affair. If I find that Hubert +Varrick has been so false to me, it will surely kill me. I am going +there to see for myself."</p> + +<p>"You do not seem to realize, my dear," said Nurse Henderson, "that the +people say you eloped with his rival, and that he believes them."</p> + +<p>"He should have had more confidence in me, no matter what the world +says!" cried Gerelda, with flashing eyes. "He should have searched for +me. I have often thought since, that Heaven intended just what has +occurred to test his love for me. I firmly believe this. I intend to +disguise myself, and go boldly to his home and see for myself whether +the report is false or true. Of course, a rival would not stoop to make +up any falsehood against him and pour it into my ears. You will help me +to disguise myself, Henderson?"</p> + +<p>"I have thought it all out," continued the heiress, "while I have been +under this roof, and I have been trying to gain strength for the ordeal. +Let me tell it to you, Henderson, and you will marvel at my clever plan. +You know that from a child I could always do exquisite fancy-work. Well, +I mean to make use of that talent. Mrs. Varrick—Hubert's mother—has +always said she would give anything to find a person willing to come to +her home who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> could do just such fancy-work, and decorate her <i>boudoir</i>. +Now, I mean to go there in disguise, show her a sample of my work, and +say that I gave many lessons to Gerelda Northrup, and she will be only +too glad to have me come to her home at any price. Then I can see for +myself just how much my lover is grieving over my loss. He may be pining +away—ay, be at the very gates of death, probably. In that case I shall +reveal my identity at once.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Gerelda, you could never go through all that! <i>You</i> toil, even +for a day, for any one? Oh! pray abandon such a mad idea. Believe me, my +dear, such an idea is not practicable."</p> + +<p>But all her persuasion could not influence the girl to abandon her plan.</p> + +<p>A few days later a tall, slender woman robed in the severest black, with +a cap on her head and blue glasses covering her eyes, walked slowly up +the broad, graveled path that led to the Varrick mansion.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick was seated on the porch. She looked highly displeased when +the servant approached her, announcing that this person—indicating +Gerelda—desired particularly to speak with her a few moments.</p> + +<p>"If you are a peddler or in search of work, you should go round to the +servants' door," she said, brusquely.</p> + +<p>Gerelda never knew until then what a very cross mother-in-law she had +escaped.</p> + +<p>"Step around there, and I will see you later," said Mrs. Varrick.</p> + +<p>This Gerelda was forced to do. She waited in the servants' hall an hour +or more before Mrs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> Varrick remembered her and came to see what she +wanted. When she saw the samples of fancy-work her eyes lighted up.</p> + +<p>"They are very beautiful," she said, "but I am not in need of anything +of the kind just now. If you call round here a few months later, I might +find use for your services."</p> + +<p>Gerelda had been so confident of getting an opportunity to stay beneath +that roof, that the shock of these words nearly made her cry out and +betray herself.</p> + +<p>"Is there no young lady in the house to whom I could teach this art?" +she asked.</p> + +<p>As she spoke these words she heard a light foot-fall on the marble +floor, and the soft <i>frou frou</i> of rustling skirts behind her, and she +turned her head quickly.</p> + +<p>There, standing in the door-way, she beheld Jessie Bain.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_X" id="Chapter_X"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter X</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>LIFE WITHOUT LOVE IS LIKE A ROSE WITHOUT PERFUME.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>For an instant these two young girls who were to be such bitter rivals +for one man's love looked at each other.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what exquisite embroidery!" cried Jessie. "Are you going to buy +some, Mrs. Varrick?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I am thinking of engaging this young person to come to the house and +make some for me, under my supervision," she returned.</p> + +<p>"I would give so much to know how to make it!" exclaimed Jessie.</p> + +<p>"If this young woman will give you instructions, you can take them," +said Mrs. Varrick.</p> + +<p>At that moment Hubert Varrick entered.</p> + +<p>"What is all this discussion about, ladies?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Gerelda uttered a quick gasp as he crossed the threshold. Her heart was +in her eyes behind those blue glasses. She had pictured him as being +worn and haggard with grieving for her. Did her eyes deceive her? Hubert +Varrick looked brighter and happier than she had ever seen him look +before, and, like a flash, Captain Frazier's words occurred to her—he +had soon found consolation in a new love.</p> + +<p>"This woman is an adept at embroidering," said Jessie, "and she is to +teach me how to do it. When I have thoroughly learned it, the very first +thing I shall make will be a lovely smoking-jacket for you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank you!" exclaimed Hubert. "Believe that it will be a precious +souvenir. I shall want to keep it so nice, that I will hardly dare wear +it, lest I may soil it."</p> + +<p>The girl laughed a little merry laugh. It was well for her that she did +not turn and look at the stranger just then. Mrs. Varrick was making +arrangements with her, but she was so intently listening to that +whispered conversation about the jacket, that she scarcely heard a word +she said. She was only conscious that Mrs. Varrick had touched the bell +for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> one of the servants to come and show her the apartment she was to +occupy.</p> + +<p>"May I ask the name, please?" Mrs. Varrick said.</p> + +<p>"Miss Duncan," was the reply.</p> + +<p>From the moment Miss Duncan—as she called herself—entered that +household her torture began. It was bad enough to be told by Captain +Frazier of her would-be lover's lack of constancy; but to witness it +with her own eyes—ah, that was maddening!</p> + +<p>"Would that I had never entered this household!" she cried out.</p> + +<p>She was unable to do justice to her work. Her whole life merged into one +desire—to watch Hubert Varrick and Jessie Bain.</p> + +<p>She employed herself in embroidering a light silken scarf. This she +could take out under the trees, and see the two playing lawn-tennis on +the greensward just beyond the lilac hedge.</p> + +<p>There was not a movement that escaped her watchful eyes during the whole +live-long day. And during the evenings, too. Would she ever forget them?</p> + +<p>Yes, Captain Frazier was right— Hubert Varrick had forgotten her.</p> + +<p>She could see that Mrs. Varrick had no love for the girl. Indeed, her +dislike was most pronounced; and she felt that Hubert must have done +considerable coaxing to gain his mother's consent to bring the girl +beneath that roof.</p> + +<p>When she learned from the housekeeper that Hubert Varrick was her +guardian, her rage knew no bounds.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was at this critical state of affairs that Hubert Varrick received a +telegram which called him to New York for a fortnight.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick heard this announcement with a little start, while Jessie +Bain heard it with dismay.</p> + +<p>To her it meant two long, dreary weeks that must drag slowly by before +he should return again.</p> + +<p>No one knew what Miss Duncan thought when she heard the housekeeper +remarking that Mr. Hubert had gone to New York.</p> + +<p>Late that afternoon she was startled by a soft little tap at her door, +and in response to her "Come in," Jessie Bain entered.</p> + +<p>"I hope I have not interrupted you," said Jessie; "but I thought I would +like to come and sit with you, and watch you while you worked, if you +don't mind."</p> + +<p>"Not in the least," answered Miss Duncan.</p> + +<p>For a few moments there was a rigid silence between them, which Miss +Duncan longed to break by asking her when and where she first met Hubert +Varrick.</p> + +<p>But while she was thinking how she might best broach the subject, Jessie +turned to her and said, "I don't see how you can work with those blue +glasses on; it must be such a strain on your eyes;" adding, earnestly: +"But I suppose you are obliged to do it, and that makes considerable +difference."</p> + +<p>"You suppose wrong," returned Miss Duncan, with asperity. "I do it +because it is a pleasure to me."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said Jessie.</p> + +<p>"It distracts my mind," continued Miss Duncan.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> "There are so many sad +things that occur in life, that one would give anything in this world to +be able to forget them."</p> + +<p>"Have you had a great sorrow?" asked Jessie.</p> + +<p>"So great that it has almost caused me to hate every woman," returned +Miss Duncan; adding: "It was love that caused it all. You will do well, +Miss Bain, if you never fall in love; for, at best, men are +treacherous."</p> + +<p>The girl flushed, wondering if the stranger had penetrated her secret.</p> + +<p>But she had been so careful to hide from every one that she had fallen +in love with handsome Hubert Varrick, it was almost impossible to guess +it.</p> + +<p>As Jessie Bain did not reply to the remark which she had just made, Miss +Duncan went on hurriedly, "There is not one man in a thousand who proves +true to the woman to whom he has plighted his troth. The next pretty +face he sees turns his head. I should never want to marry a man, or even +to be engaged to one if I knew that he had ever had another love.</p> + +<p>"By the way," she asked, suddenly lowering her voice, "I am surprised to +see Mr. Varrick looking so cheerful after the experience he has had with +his love affair."</p> + +<p>"He was too good for that proud heiress," Jessie declared, indignantly. +"I think Heaven intended that he should be spared from such a marriage. +I— I fairly detest her name. Please do not let us talk about her, Miss +Duncan. I like to speak well of people, but I can think of nothing save +what is bad to say of her."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> + +<p>With this she rose hastily, excused herself, and hurried from the room, +leaving her companion smarting from the stinging words that had fallen +from her lips.</p> + +<p>"The impudent creature!" fairly gasped the heiress, flinging aside her +embroidery and pacing up and down the floor like a caged animal. "I +shall take a bitter revenge on her for this, or my name is not Gerelda +Northrup!"</p> + +<p>The more she thought of it, the deeper her anger took root. They brought +her a tempting little repast; but she pushed the tea-tray from her, +leaving its contents untasted. She felt that food would have choked her.</p> + +<p>The sun went down, and the moon rose clear and bright over the distant +hills. One by one the lights in the Varrick mansion went out, and the +clock in the adjacent steeple struck the hours until midnight. Still +Gerelda Northrup paced up and down the narrow room, intent upon her own +dark thoughts.</p> + +<p>One o'clock chimed from the steeple, and another hour rolled slowly by; +then suddenly she stopped short, and crossed the room to where her +satchel lay on the wide window-sill. Opening it, she drew from it a +small vial containing white, glistening crystals, and hid it nervously +in her bosom; then, with trembling feet, she recrossed the room, opened +her door, and peered breathlessly out into the dimly lighted corridor. +No sound broke the awful stillness.</p> + +<p>Closing the door gently after her, the great heiress tiptoed her way +down the wide hall like a thief in the night, her footfalls making no +sound on the velvet carpet. Jessie's was the last door at the end of +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> corridor. Miss Duncan knew this well. But before she had gained it +she saw Mrs. Varrick leave her room and step to Jessie's.</p> + +<p>She remembered Mrs. Varrick did not like the girl. A score of +conjectures flashed through her mind as to the object of that +surreptitious visit; but she put them all from her as being highly +impracticable and not to be thought of.</p> + +<p>The morrow would tell the story. She must wait patiently until then, and +find out for herself.</p> + +<p>How thankful she was that she had not been three minutes earlier. In +that case Mrs Varrick would have discovered her. And then, too, a +tragedy had been averted.</p> + +<p>She took the vial from her bosom, and with trembling hands shook its +contents from the window down into the grounds below, and threw the tiny +bottle out among the rose bushes, murmuring:</p> + +<p>"If it is ever done at all, it must not be done that way."</p> + +<p>Then she threw herself on the couch just as the day was breaking, and +dropped into an uneasy sleep, from which she was startled by a terrific +rap on the door.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XI" id="Chapter_XI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XI</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>GERELDA COULD HAVE SAVED HER.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Hastily opening the door, Gerelda saw one of the maids.</p> + +<p>"My mistress wishes to see you in the morning-room," she said. "I have +brought you some breakfast. You are to partake of this first; but my +mistress hopes you will not be long."</p> + +<p>Gerelda swallowed a roll and drank the tea and hastened to the +morning-room. Here Gerelda found not only Mrs. Varrick, but every man +and woman who lived beneath the roof of the Varrick mansion.</p> + +<p>For a moment Gerelda hesitated.</p> + +<p>Had some one discovered that she was in disguise, and informed Mrs. +Varrick? She trembled violently from head to foot.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick broke in upon her confused thoughts.</p> + +<p>"Pardon my somewhat abrupt summons, Miss Duncan," she said, motioning +her to a chair, "but something has occurred which renders it imperative +that I should speak collectively to every member of this household.</p> + +<p>"Most of you remember, no doubt, that I wore my diamond bracelet to the +opera last night. When I returned home I unclasped it from my arm, +myself, and laid it carefully away in my jewel-box. This morning it is +missing. My maid and I made a careful examination of the room where I am +in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> the habit of keeping my jewels. We found that the room had not been +entered from the outside, that all the windows and doors were securely +bolted on the inside. I am therefore forced to accept the theory that my +room was visited by some one from the inside of the house."</p> + +<p>"Wasn't it amazing!" cried Jessie, turning to Miss Duncan. "A thief +walking through the house in the dead of night, while we were all +sleeping! I am sure I should have been frightened into hysterics had I +known it."</p> + +<p>A cold, calm look from Mrs. Varrick's steel-gray eyes seemed to arrest +the words on the girl's lips, and that strange, uncanny gaze sent a +thrill creeping down to the very depths of Jessie Bain's soul.</p> + +<p>All in a flash, as Miss Duncan listened, she realized what was coming.</p> + +<p>"Let no one interrupt me unless I invite them to speak," said Mrs. +Varrick, continuing: "I will go on to say that the butler informs me +that he found no door or window open in any part of the house, when he +opened up the place this morning.</p> + +<p>"Have you missed anything, Miss Duncan?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Gerelda, quietly.</p> + +<p>"And you, Miss Bain?"</p> + +<p>"No. I have nothing that any thief would care to take," returned the +girl; "only this gold chain and this battered old locket which contains +my dead mother's picture, and I always wear this about my neck day and +night."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick asked the same question of every one present—"if they had +lost anything during the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> night"—and each one answered in a positive +negative.</p> + +<p>"Then it seems that the thief was content with taking my diamond +bracelet," she said, sharply.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the housekeeper, who had been in Mrs. Varrick's service since +she had come there a bride, spoke out:</p> + +<p>"I am sure nobody would object, ma'am, if the trunks and boxes of every +one in the house were to be examined."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick turned to the housekeeper.</p> + +<p>"I should not like to say that I suspect any one," she answered. "I have +sent for one of the most experienced detectives in the city, and am +expecting him to arrive at any moment. In the meantime, I desire that +you will all remain in this room."</p> + +<p>Miss Duncan had maintained throughout an attitude of polite +indifference. Now she realized what that visit to Jessie Bain's room, in +the dead of the night, meant.</p> + +<p>Then there commenced the greatest battle between Good and Evil that ever +was fought in a human heart. Should she save her rival, the girl whom +Hubert Varrick loved, or by her silence doom her to life-long misery? +While she was battling, Jessie smiled, murmuring in a low voice: "Isn't +it too bad, Miss Duncan, that Hubert—Mr. Varrick, I mean—should be +away from home just at this critical time?"</p> + +<p>Miss Duncan's face hardened, and all the kindliness in her nature +suddenly died out.</p> + +<p>The arrival, a little later, of the detective was a relief to every one.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick hastily explained to him what had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> occurred, and her reason +for supposing that the theft of the diamond bracelet had been +accomplished by some one in the house.</p> + +<p>"Such a suspicion is, of course, very painful to me," she said; "but +under the circumstances I think it is better for the satisfaction of all +concerned that I should accept the offer made by my servants, and +request you to search their apartments. Miss Duncan, and Miss Jessie +Bain, my son's ward, will, just for form's sake, undergo the same +unpleasant ordeal."</p> + +<p>"Must I have my room searched, too?" asked Jessie Bain.</p> + +<p>"Is there any reason why you should object?" asked Mrs. Varrick.</p> + +<p>"No," answered Jessie, lifting her beautiful, innocent blue eyes to the +face of Hubert's mother; "there is no reason, only—only—"</p> + +<p>Here she stopped short, the color coming and going on her lovely face, +and a frightened look creeping about her quivering mouth.</p> + +<p>"I have no objection," she repeated, "to having everything in my room +searched; but, oh! it seems so terrible to have to do it!"</p> + +<p>"Do your duty, sir," said Mrs. Varrick, turning to the detective.</p> + +<p>She and the detective left the morning-room together, and they were all +startled at the sound of the key turning in the lock as the door closed +after them. Half an hour, an hour, and at length a second hour dragged +slowly by.</p> + +<p>Suddenly in the silence that had fallen upon the inmates of the +morning-room they caught the distant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> sound of the detective's deep +voice and the rustle of Mrs. Varrick's silk dress coming down the +corridor.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick and the detective advanced to the center of the room, then +she stopped suddenly.</p> + +<p>"As you see," she commenced, in a high, shrill voice "the bracelet has +been unearthed and the thief discovered. I shall not prolong this +painful scene a moment longer than is absolutely necessary. Suffice it +to say, the girl I have befriended has robbed me.</p> + +<p>"The bracelet was found by the detective in the little hair trunk of +Jessie Bain. You will all please leave the room, all save Miss Bain."</p> + +<p>They all rose from their seats, and there was a great babble of voices. +As in a dream, Jessie saw them all file slowly out of the room, each one +casting that backward look of horror upon her as they went. The door +closed slowly after Miss Duncan; then she was alone with the detective +and Mrs Varrick, Hubert's mother.</p> + +<p>"There are no words that I can find to express to you, Jessie Bain, my +amazement and sorrow," she began, "at this, the evidence of your guilt."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mrs. Varrick!" gasped Jessie, finding breath at last, though her +head seemed to reel with the horror of the situation, "by all that I +hold dear in this world, believe me, I am not guilty. I swear to you I +did not take your bracelet; I know as little of the theft as an unborn +babe!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick drew herself up haughtily.</p> + +<p>"The detective wishes me to give you up to the law, to cast you into +prison, but I can not quite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> make up my mind to do it. Now listen. +Because of my son's interest in you, I will spare you on one condition, +and that is, that you leave this place within the hour, and go far +away—so far that you will never again see any one who might know you; +least of all, my son. His anger against you would be terrible."</p> + +<p>All in vain Jessie threw herself at her feet, protesting over and over +again her innocence, and calling upon God and the angels to bear witness +to the truth of what she said.</p> + +<p>The detective had been pacing up and down the room, an expression of the +deepest concern on his face.</p> + +<p>He noted that instead of being glad to get off so easily from a terrible +affair that would cost her many a year behind grim prison walls, this +girl's agonizing cry was that she should remain there and prove her +innocence to Hubert Varrick.</p> + +<p>Surely, he thought, there must be some way of doing so. But Mrs. Varrick +was inexorable.</p> + +<p>The girl's lovely head was bowed to the very earth.</p> + +<p>"Have pity on me," moaned Jessie Bain, "and show me mercy!"</p> + +<p>"I will give you ten minutes to decide your future," was Mrs. Varrick's +heartless reply.</p> + +<p>When the ten minutes had elapsed, Mrs. Varrick rose majestically to her +feet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XII" id="Chapter_XII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XII</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>OUT IN THE COLD, BLEAK WORLD!</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>"No doubt you have decided ere this what course you intend to pursue," +said Mrs. Varrick sternly.</p> + +<p>"I— I will do whatever you wish," sobbed the girl; "but oh! let me +plead with you to let me stay here until Mr. Varrick returns!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick's face grew livid in spots with anger, but by a splendid +effort she managed to control herself before the detective. She turned +to him.</p> + +<p>"Will you kindly step into an inner room, and there await the conclusion +of this conference?" she asked.</p> + +<p>He bowed courteously and complied with her request. When Mrs. Varrick +found herself alone with the girl, she made little effort to conceal her +hatred.</p> + +<p>"Why do you wish to see my son?" she asked, harshly. "To try to get him +to condone the atrocious wrong of which you have been guilty? Your +audacity amazes me!"</p> + +<p>"I have said that I am innocent!" said the girl, and she rose slowly to +her feet.</p> + +<p>"Never, with my consent, will he ever speak to you again! Do you hear +me? I would curse him if he did.</p> + +<p>"And it would not stop at that," went on Mrs. Varrick. "I would cut him +off without a dollar, and turn him into the streets a beggar! That would +soon bring him to his senses. Ay, I would do all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> that and more, if he +were even to speak to you again. So you can see for yourself the +position you would place him in by holding the least conversation with +him."</p> + +<p>"He shall not suffer because of me!" sobbed Jessie Bain. "I will go away +and never look upon his face again. I only wanted to tell him to believe +me. I am going, Mrs. Varrick, out into the cold and bitter world from +which he took me. Try to think of me as kindly as you can!"</p> + +<p>With this, she turned and walked slowly from the room. On the threshold +she paused and turned back.</p> + +<p>"Will you say to him—to your son, I mean—that I am very grateful for +all that he has done for me," she asked, "and that if the time ever +comes when I can repay it, I will do so? Tell him I would give my life, +if I could only serve him!"</p> + +<p>"One moment," said the lady, as she was about to close the door: "I do +not wish to send you away empty-handed."</p> + +<p>As she spoke she drew a purse from her pocket, saying:</p> + +<p>"You will find this well filled. There is only one condition I make in +giving it to you, and that is, that you sign a written agreement that +you will never seek or hold any communication with my son hereafter."</p> + +<p>"I am very poor indeed, madame," Jessie said, "but I— I could not take +one penny from—from the person who believes me guilty of theft. But I +will sign the agreement, because—because you ask me to do so."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then step this way," said Mrs. Varrick, going to the table, where, +pushing a folded paper aside, Jessie saw a closely written document +lying beneath it. On the further end of the table a gold pen was resting +on a bronze ink-tray.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick dipped the pen in the ink, and handed it to the girl.</p> + +<p>"Sign there," she said, indicating, with a very shaking finger, a line +at the bottom.</p> + +<p>Perfectly innocent of the dastardly trap that had been set for her, +Jessie took the pen from the hand of Hubert's mother, and fearlessly +wrote her name—signing away all hopes of happiness for all time to +come, and putting a brand on her innocent brow more terrible than the +brand of Cain.</p> + +<p>Without waiting for the ink to dry upon it, Mrs. Varrick eagerly +snatched the paper and thrust it into her bosom.</p> + +<p>Jessie slowly left the room, and a few moments later, carrying the same +little bundle that she had brought with her, she passed slowly up the +walk and through the arched gate-way, Mrs. Varrick watching after her +from behind the lace-draped window.</p> + +<p>She watched her out of sight, praying that she might never see her face +again.</p> + +<p>"I have separated my son from her," she muttered, sinking down upon a +cushioned chair. "Any means was justifiable. He would have married +her—it was drifting toward that, and rapidly. I could see it. Heaven +only knows how I have plotted and planned, first to find some business +by which my son could be called from the city, and during his absence +get rid of that girl—so effectually get rid of her that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> she would +never cross his path again. And I have succeeded!"</p> + +<p>As she spoke she drew from her bosom the paper which Jessie Bain had +signed, and ran her eyes over it.</p> + +<p>Heaven pity any girl who signs a document the contents of which she is +ignorant!</p> + +<p>This document was a statement acknowledging that she, Jessie, had taken +Mrs. Varrick's diamond bracelet, and had hidden it in the bottom of her +trunk, intending to slip out the following day and dispose of it, +thinking she would have plenty of time to do so ere its loss was +discovered; but that in this she had miscalculated, as Mrs. Varrick soon +became aware of the theft; that search was made for it, and that a +detective, who had been secured for the purpose of tracing it, +discovered it in its hiding-place in her trunk; and that, knowing the +consequences, she in her terror had made a full confession, acknowledged +her guilt and threw herself completely upon Mrs. Varrick's mercy, who +had promised not to prosecute her providing she left the country, which +she was only too willing to do.</p> + +<p>And to this terrible document Jessie Bain signed her name clearly and +plainly.</p> + +<p>With hurried step Mrs. Varrick crossed the room and locked the precious +document in a secret drawer of her <i>escritoire</i>; then she remembered +that the detective was awaiting her. She summoned him quickly.</p> + +<p>"The matter has been adjusted, and we have rid the house of the girl's +presence," she said, coldly. "I thank you for your sagacity in tracing +my diamond<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> bracelet," she said, thinking it best to throw in a dash of +covert flattery, "and I shall be pleased to settle your bill whenever +you wish to present it."</p> + +<p>The detective bowed himself out of her presence, and left the house, +musing on the mysterious robbery, and saying to himself: "I would be far +more apt to suspect the lady of the house than that young girl."</p> + +<p>He sighed and went on his way; but all day long, while immersed in the +business which usually was of such an exciting nature that he had no +time for any other thought, the lovely face of Jessie Bain rose up +before him.</p> + +<p>He threw down his pen at last in despair.</p> + +<p>"I must be bewitched," he muttered. "If I were a younger man I would +certainly say that I had fallen in love. I must find out where that girl +has gone, and have a little talk with her. I can not bring myself to +believe that she stole that bracelet."</p> + +<p>He put on his hat and reached for his cane.</p> + +<p>"I can not say how long it will be before I shall return," he said to +his fellow detective in charge of the office.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, in her lonely mansion, Mrs. Varrick was writing a long +letter to her son. In it she expressed the hope that he was having a +pleasant time, and that he must not hurry home, but stay and attend to +business thoroughly, even though it took him a little longer. But not +one word did she mention of Jessie Bain. So preoccupied was she with her +own thoughts that she did not know Hubert had entered the room until she +heard his voice.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I will save you the trouble of posting your letter, mother. I see it is +addressed to me. You can read me the contents in person."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XIII" id="Chapter_XIII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XIII</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>"I LOVE JESSIE BAIN WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL!"</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick started back with a low cry.</p> + +<p>"Is it you, Hubert?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; but upon my honor, mother, you don't seem overglad to see me."</p> + +<p>"I thought you were to have been gone a fortnight."</p> + +<p>"I succeeded in getting the business attended to much more speedily than +you thought it could be done. I did not make any visits, as I was +anxious to get home. But, mother, how white and ill you look!" he added.</p> + +<p>"I am quite well, but I have been suffering from a nervous headache, +Hubert," she answered.</p> + +<p>"By the way," he said suddenly, "I did not forget to bring a few little +souvenirs home with me," and as he spoke he drew two small velvet cases +from his pocket, one of which he handed his mother, retaining the other +in his hand.</p> + +<p>Opening it, Mrs. Varrick found that it contained a magnificent diamond +bracelet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That is to match, as near as possible, the beautiful bracelet you +already have, mother," he said, carelessly.</p> + +<p>She reeled back as though he had struck her a sudden blow, and looked at +him with terror in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"What is there in that other little velvet case?" she asked, as he made +no move to hand it to her.</p> + +<p>"It is not for you, mother," he responded. "It is for Jessie."</p> + +<p>He pressed the little spring and the lid of the purple velvet box flew +back, and there, lying on its shimmering satin bed, she beheld a +beautiful little turquois ring set with tiny diamonds.</p> + +<p>"Jessie has never had a ring in all her life," he declared, "and it will +please me to be the one to present her with the first one that will ever +grace her little hand. Girl-like, she is fond of such trinkets. The +sparkle of the tiny diamonds will delight her as nothing else has done +in her whole life."</p> + +<p>A discordant laugh broke from Mrs. Varrick's lips.</p> + +<p>"Ay, the glitter of diamonds pleases her. How well you know the girl!" +she cried shrilly. "But for glittering diamonds she might have lived a +happy enough life of it. Will people ever learn the lesson that they can +not pick up girls from the depths of poverty and obscurity and +transplant then into elegant surroundings and expect good to come of +it?"</p> + +<p>"This present is very inexpensive," declared Hubert. "Won't you please +ring for Jessie to come to us? I am anxious to see if it is the right +size. It will be fun to see her big blue eyes open and hear<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> her exclaim +in dismay: 'Oh, Mr. Varrick, is it really for me?' Girls at her age are +enthusiastic, and their joy is genuine upon receiving any little token +of esteem."</p> + +<p>Again Mrs. Varrick laughed that harsh, discordant laugh.</p> + +<p>"The ring is very pretty, Hubert," she said ironically, "but Jessie Bain +would never thank you for so inexpensive a gift. That diamond bracelet +is much more to her fancy."</p> + +<p>"Girls of her age might fancy diamond bracelets, but they would never +care to possess them, because they could not wear them, as they would be +entirely out of place."</p> + +<p>For the third time that harsh, shrill laugh from Mrs. Varrick's lips +filled the room.</p> + +<p>"I repeat, this bracelet would be more to her fancy," she added, grimly.</p> + +<p>"If you will not ring for Jessie, I will do it myself," said Hubert, +good-humoredly; adding: "You are just a little bit jealous, mother, and +wish to keep me all to yourself, I imagine."</p> + +<p>But ere he could reach the bell-rope she had swiftly followed him and +laid a detaining hand on his arm.</p> + +<p>She had put off the telling of her story from moment to moment, but it +had to be told now.</p> + +<p>"You need not take the trouble to ring that bell," she said, "for it +would be useless—quite useless."</p> + +<p>"Why, what do you mean?" he asked, in unfeigned astonishment, thinking +that perhaps she meant to forbid him giving the girl the little ring; +and he grew nettled at that thought.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> + +<p>He said to himself that he was over one-and-twenty, and was entitled to +do as he pleased in such matters.</p> + +<p>"Listen, Hubert; I have something to tell you, and you must hear me out. +Come and sit on this sofa beside me. I can tell you better then."</p> + +<p>"What is the meaning of all this secrecy, mother?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"To begin with," slowly began Mrs. Varrick, "Jessie Bain is no longer +under this roof."</p> + +<p>He looked at her as though he did not fully take in the meaning of her +words.</p> + +<p>"I will tell you the whole story, my son," she said; "but promise me +first that you will not interrupt me, no matter how much you may be +inclined to do so, and that you will hear without comment all that I +have to say."</p> + +<p>"Do I understand you to say that Jessie Bain is not here?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Promise not to interrupt me and I will tell you all."</p> + +<p>He bowed his head in acknowledgment, though he did not gratify her by +saying as much in so many words.</p> + +<p>Slowly, in a clear, shrill voice, Mrs. Varrick began the story she had +so carefully rehearsed over and over again; but as the words fell from +her lips she could not trust herself to meet the clear, eagle glance her +son bent upon her.</p> + +<p>In horror which no pen could fully describe, Hubert Varrick listened to +the story from his mother's lips. In all her life Mrs. Varrick never saw +such a face as her son turned upon her. It was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> fairly distorted, with +great patches of red here and there upon it.</p> + +<p>He set his teeth so hard together that they cut through his lip; then he +raised his clinched hand and shook it in the air, crying in a voice of +bitter rage:</p> + +<p>"If an angel from heaven cried out trumpet-tongued that little Jessie +Bain was guilty, I should not believe her— I would say that it was +false. It is some plan, some deep-laid scheme to blight the life of +Jessie Bain and ruin my happiness—ay, ruin my happiness, I say—for I +love that girl with all my heart and soul! How dare they, fiends +incarnate, attack her in my absence? And so you, my fine lady-mother, +have turned her out into the street," he went on, in a rage that nothing +could subdue. "Now listen to what I have to say, and heed it well: The +day that has seen her turned from this roof shall witness my leaving it. +You should have trusted and shielded her, no matter how dark appearances +were against her. I am going to find Jessie Bain, and when I do I shall +ask her to marry me!"</p> + +<p>There was a wild shriek from Mrs. Varrick's lips at this, but Hubert did +not heed it.</p> + +<p>"I can not live without her! If ill has befallen my darling I will shoot +myself through the heart, and beg with my dying breath that they bury us +both in one grave!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XIV" id="Chapter_XIV"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XIV</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>"DO NOT LEAVE ME, FOR YOU ARE THE DELIGHT AND SUNSHINE OF MY LONELY +LIFE!"</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>The scene was one of such terror for Mrs. Varrick that she never forgot +it.</p> + +<p>"I shall leave this house!" he cried again. "I will not remain another +hour beneath this roof. I will find Jessie Bain, though I have to travel +this wide earth over to do it!"</p> + +<p>Suddenly he stopped short and looked at his mother; then he cried out +excitedly: "Where is the woman who came here with that embroidery-work? +More likely it was she who took the bracelet."</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Varrick shook her head.</p> + +<p>"You forget that the bracelet was found in Jessie's trunk," she said, +huskily, "and that she owned up to taking it in a written confession. As +for the strange embroidery woman, Miss Duncan, I paid her off and let +her go. She knows next to nothing of what took place in regard to the +bracelet. You must remember, too, that the girl was glad to get off so +easily."</p> + +<p>"Even though I <i>knew</i> she was guilty, I could find forgiveness in my +heart for her, mother," he cried, huskily, "for I love her— I <i>love</i> +her as man can love but once in his life-time. You arrayed yourself as +her enemy, mother, and as such, you must be mine,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> until I can find +little Jessie and bring her back to you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, no, Hubert, darling!" cried Mrs. Varrick, striving to throw her +arms about him, but almost before she was aware of his intention, he had +quitted the room, strode down the corridor, and was half-way down the +walk that led to the great entrance gate.</p> + +<p>Varrick had walked a considerable distance from the house before his +mind settled down to anything like rational thoughts. Suddenly it +occurred to him that the quickest way to trace her would be to secure +the aid of an experienced detective. It was the merest chance that led +him to the office of Henry Byrne, the great detective—the very one +whose services his mother had enlisted to recover her valuable bracelet.</p> + +<p>It took but little conversation for the detective to learn that the +young man was desperately in love with the pretty little girl. This gave +the experienced man of the world food for thought.</p> + +<p>He did not tell young Varrick how interested he himself was in learning +the whereabouts of that pretty young girl.</p> + +<p>After an hour or more of earnest conversation, they parted, Byrne +agreeing to report what success he met at the hotel at which Hubert +Varrick said he intended stopping.</p> + +<p>Up to midnight, when they again met, Byrne could give him no definite +information; he did not even tell him that he thought he had a slight +clew which he intended to follow.</p> + +<p>Thus three days passed, and not even the slightest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> trace of Jessie Bain +could be discovered, and Hubert was beside himself with grief.</p> + +<p>In the midst of his trouble a strange event happened.</p> + +<p>As he was passing through the lobby of the hotel one evening, he met +Harry Maillard, Gerelda Northrup's cousin.</p> + +<p>Varrick turned quickly in an opposite direction, to avoid speaking to +him, when suddenly Maillard came forward and held out his hand to him.</p> + +<p>"I am glad to see you, old boy," he said, "and have been wondering where +you kept yourself of late."</p> + +<p>"I have been attending to business pretty closely," returned Varrick.</p> + +<p>"Take a cigar," said Maillard, extending a weed. "Let's sit down. I have +something to tell you."</p> + +<p>Varrick followed his friend, and soon they were seated together before +one of the open windows.</p> + +<p>"I have such wonderful news for you," said Maillard. "I learned from +Captain Frazier's valet, whom I met on the street, that his master had +been dead some time, having been killed in a railway accident.</p> + +<p>"Shortly after your unfortunate experience a great fire occurred in one +of the islands in the St. Lawrence, and Captain Frazier was there alone, +and had been alone, the man informed me. There was no lady about—of +this the valet was positive, and his last message to this man, who was +with him to the end, was to search for Gerelda Northrup, and tell her +that with his last breath he was murmuring<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> her name, and that he wanted +to be buried on the spot where they had first met.</p> + +<p>"That is proof positive that Gerelda was not with Captain Frazier, and +that he, poor fellow, was entirely innocent of her whereabouts."</p> + +<p>Hubert Varrick was greatly amazed at this intelligence; but before he +could make any remark Maillard went on quickly:</p> + +<p>"We received a long letter from an old nurse who used to be in Gerelda's +family years ago. It was written at my cousin's dictation. She had been +very ill, the letter says; and in it she goes on to tell the wonderful +story of what caused her disappearance.</p> + +<p>"She says that during your momentary absence for a glass of wine, she +was abducted by a daring robber, who wished to secure the diamonds she +wore, and hold her as well for a heavy ransom; that, all in an instant, +while she awaited your return, she was chloroformed, a black cloak +thrown over her, and the last thing she was conscious of was being borne +with lightning-like rapidity down a ladder, a strong pair of burly arms +encircling her.</p> + +<p>"The night wind blowing on her face soon revived her; then she became +conscious that she was in a hack, and being rapidly driven along a +country road.</p> + +<p>"'We are far enough away now,' she heard a voice say; and at that moment +the vehicle came to a sudden stop. She was lifted out, the stifling +folds of the cloak were withdrawn from about her, the jewels she wore +were torn from her ears and breast, and from the coils of her hair the +diamond arrows, which fastened her bridal-veil, and the next instant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +her inhuman abductor, having secured the jewels, flung her into the +deep, dark, rushing river, then drove rapidly away, all heedless of her +wild cries for help.</p> + +<p>"A Canadian fisherman, happening along in his boat just when she was +giving up the struggle for life rescued her. He took her to his humble +cot and to his aged mother, and under that roof she lay, racked with +brain-fever, for many weeks.</p> + +<p>"With the return of consciousness, she realized all that had transpired.</p> + +<p>"Fearing the shock to you both, she had these people take her to an old +nurse who happened to live in that vicinity, and this woman soon brought +her back to something like health and strength. Then Gerelda had the +woman write a long letter to me, telling me all, and bidding me break +the news gently to her mother and you. The letter ends by saying:</p> + +<p>"'By the time it was received she would be at home, and bid me hasten to +you with the wonderful intelligence, and bid you come to her quickly, +for her heart was breaking for a sight of you—her betrothed; that she +was counting the moments until she was restored to you, and once more +resting safely in your dear arms.'</p> + +<p>"I have been searching for you for some time, Hubert, to tell you our +darling Gerelda is home once more. It was only by the merest chance that +some one saw you enter this hotel and told me. I will be back in one +minute, depend upon it," said Maillard, seizing his hat and flying out +of the door without waiting for a reply. In fact, Varrick could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> not +have made him any had his life depended on it.</p> + +<p>In the midst of Hubert's conflicting thoughts, Maillard returned.</p> + +<p>"This way, Varrick," he called cheerily from the door-way; and a moment +later Varrick was hurried into the coupé, which had just drawn up to the +curbstone, and, with Maillard seated beside him, was soon whirling in +the direction of the Northrup mansion to which a servant admitted them.</p> + +<p>Maillard thrust aside the heavy satin <i>portières</i> of the drawing-room, +gently pushed his friend forward, and Hubert felt the heavy silken +draperies close in after him. Through the half gloom he saw a slender +figure flying toward him, and he heard a voice, the sound of which had +been dear to him in the old days that were past and gone, crying out: +"Oh, Hubert! Hubert!" and in that instant Gerelda was in his arms.</p> + +<p>Insensibly his arms closed around her; but there was no warmth in the +embrace. She held up her lovely face to be kissed, and he bent his +handsome head and gave her the caress she coveted; but for him was gone +all the old rapture that a kiss from those flower-like lips would have +brought. By Hubert Varrick, at this moment, it was given only from a +sense of duty, as love for Gerelda had died.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Hubert, Hubert! my darling!" she cried, "is it not like heaven to +be united again?"</p> + +<p>She would not notice his coldness; for Gerelda Northrup had laid the +most amazing plan that had ever entered a woman's head.</p> + +<p>Immediately upon her dismissal from the Varrick mansion she had stolen +back to the little hamlet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> where her old nurse lived, and had got the +woman to write a letter for her as she dictated it.</p> + +<p>She had said to herself that Hubert Varrick should be hers again, at +whatever cost, and that she might as well force him by any means that +lay in her power into a betrothal with herself again, as long as he was +not married to another.</p> + +<p>He should never know that she knew of his change of heart. She would +meet him and greet him as her betrothed lover, whom she was soon to +marry, and he would have to be a much smarter man than she took him to +be if he could find any way out of it.</p> + +<p>She had caused the nurse to write a similar letter to her mother; and +when her mother read it, and realized that her daughter had not eloped, +she received her back joyfully and with open arms. If an angel from +heaven had told her that her daughter had stolen back to the city in +disguise, and had been residing under the Varrick roof, she would have +declared that it was false—a mad prevarication.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Northrup was overjoyed to have the sunshine of her home, her +darling daughter, back again.</p> + +<p>With almost her first breath, after she had kissed her rapturously, she +told her that she had seen very little of Hubert Varrick, and that he +had never crossed the threshold since that fatal night on which he +believed that his bride to be had eloped from him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XV" id="Chapter_XV"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XV</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>"HUBERT CARES FOR ME NO LONGER," SOBBED THE GIRL.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>It seemed to Hubert Varrick, as he clasped his arms around Gerelda, that +he must be some other person than the man who had once loved this girl +to idolatry. Now the clasp of her hand or the touch of her lips did not +afford him an extra pulse-glow.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, Hubert," she cried, "that you are as glad to see me as I am to +see you."</p> + +<p>"It is a great surprise to me, Gerelda," he answered, huskily, "so great +that I am not quite myself just now. It will take me some little time to +collect my scattered senses."</p> + +<p>He led her to the nearest seat.</p> + +<p>"My cousin has told you all that has happened to me from the hour that +we parted until now, darling," she whispered. "Now tell me, Hubert, +about yourself. Your heart must have almost broken, dear. I was fearful +lest you might have pined away and died because of my untimely loss."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Gerelda!" he cried, starting up distressedly, tears choking his +voice, "do not say any more; you are unmanning me with every word you +utter. I— I can not bear it!"</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, my darling!" she muttered. "You are right. It is best not +to probe fresh wounds. But, oh! Hubert, I am so thankful that the +workings of fate have joined our hearts together at last!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> + +<p>He could not find it in his heart to tell her the truth when she loved +him so; and yet he felt that he owed it to Gerelda to tell her all; but +it is hard, terribly hard to own up to being faithless; and he said to +himself that he could not tell her now, in the flush of her joy at +meeting him, but would break it to her later on.</p> + +<p>"This almost seems like getting acquainted with you and falling in love +with you over again," laughed Gerelda, as she talked to him in the same +gay, witty manner that had once so enthralled him in the old days. "I +wonder, Hubert," she said at length, "that you have not asked me to sing +or play for you. You used to be so delighted to hear me sing. While +lying on my sick-bed I heard my old nurse sing a song that you desired +me to learn. I have learned it now for you, Hubert. Listen to it, dear."</p> + +<p>As Gerelda spoke she picked up a mandolin, and after striking a few +softly vibrating notes, commenced to sing in a low strain the tender +words of his favorite song, which she knew would be sure to find an echo +in his heart, if anything in this world would.</p> + +<p>Ah! what a wondrous voice she had, so full of pathetic music and the +tenderness of wonderful love!</p> + +<p>He listened, and something very like the old love stirred his heart.</p> + +<p>The song had moved him, as she knew it would—ay, as nothing else in +this world could ever have done.</p> + +<p>He bowed his head, and Gerelda, looking at him keenly from under her +long lashes, saw that his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> strong hand was shaking like an oak leaf in +the wind.</p> + +<p>He leaned over and brushed back the curls caressingly from her forehead, +as a brother might have done.</p> + +<p>"You are very good to have learned that for my sake; Gerelda," he +murmured. "I thank you for it."</p> + +<p>"We must learn to sing it together," she declared.</p> + +<p>"My voice is not what it used to be," he said, apologetically.</p> + +<p>He lingered until the clock on the mantel struck ten; then he rose and +took his departure.</p> + +<p>To Gerelda's great chagrin, he made no offer to kiss her good-night at +parting.</p> + +<p>It was plainly evident that he wished her to understand that they were +on a different footing from what they were on that memorable night when +they were parted so strangely from each other.</p> + +<p>When his footsteps had died away, Gerelda flung herself face downward on +the divan, sobbing as if her heart would break; and in this position, a +few minutes later, her mother surprised her.</p> + +<p>"Why, Gerelda!" she cried. "I am shocked! What can this mean? It can not +be that you and your lover have had a quarrel the very hour in which you +have been restored to each other! Surely, there is no lingering doubt in +his heart now, that you eloped!"</p> + +<p>Gerelda eagerly seized upon this idea.</p> + +<p>"There seems to be, mother," she sobbed.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Northrup drew a cushioned chair close beside her daughter, and drew +the dark, curly head into her arms.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You must make a confidante of me, my darling, and tell me all he said," +she declared. "I was quite amazed to hear the servants say that he had +gone so early. I expected to be summoned every moment, to learn that +your impatient lover had sent out for a minister to perform the delayed +ceremony."</p> + +<p>Gerelda raised her tear-stained face and looked at her mother.</p> + +<p>"No; he did not even mention marriage, mother," she sobbed.</p> + +<p>"What!" shrieked Mrs. Northrup, in dismay. "Do I understand aright—he +made no mention of marriage?"</p> + +<p>The girl sobbed. Mrs. Northrup sprang to her feet and paced up and down +the floor.</p> + +<p>"I— I do not understand it," she cried. "Tell me what he had to say; +repeat the conversation that passed between you."</p> + +<p>"It did not amount to anything," returned her daughter bitterly. "To be +quite plain with you, mamma, he was very distant and cold toward me. In +fact, it was almost like getting acquainted with him over again; and to +add insult to injury, as he took my hand for an instant at parting, he +said, 'Good-night, Miss Northrup.' Oh! what shall I do, mamma—advise +me! Ought I to give him up?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Mrs. Northrup, sternly, "that would never do. That marriage +must take place!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XVI" id="Chapter_XVI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XVI</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>WHAT OUGHT A GIRL DO IF THE MAN SHE LOVES CARES FOR ANOTHER?</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>"Do you hear me, Gerelda?" repeated Mrs. Northrup. "This marriage must +go on! It would be the talk of the whole country if Hubert Varrick +jilted you. But let me understand this matter thoroughly; did he give +you any sort of a hint that he wished to break off with you? You must +tell me all very plainly, and keep nothing back. I am older than you are +Gerelda, and know more concerning worldly affairs. I now say this much: +there must be a rival in the background. When a man has been in love +with one girl, and suddenly cools off, there is a reason for it, depend +on it."</p> + +<p>"Even if there was a rival in the way, tell me what I could do, mamma, +to—to win him back!"</p> + +<p>"When a man once ceases to love you, you might as well attempt to move a +mountain as to rekindle the old flame in his heart. I understand this +point thoroughly. You will have to make up your mind to marry him +without love."</p> + +<p>"It takes two to make a contract to marry," sobbed Gerelda. "I am +willing, but he does not seem to be."</p> + +<p>"It is plainly evident that I shall have to take the matter in hand," +said Mrs. Northrup. "When is he coming again?"</p> + +<p>"He didn't say," returned Gerelda, faintly. "But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> perhaps he may be here +to-morrow evening with some music I asked him to bring me."</p> + +<p>"Now, when he comes," said Mrs. Northrup, "I want you to make some +excuse to leave the room, for say, ten or fifteen minutes, and during +that time I will soon have this matter settled with Hubert Varrick."</p> + +<p>"It would not look well for you to mention the matter," cried Gerelda.</p> + +<p>"Somebody must do it," returned her mother, severely, "and the longer it +is put off the worse it will be; the marriage can not take place too +soon. Come, my dear," she added, "you must dry your tears. Never permit +any living man to have the power to give you a heartache."</p> + +<p>"You talk as if I was a machine, mother, and could cease loving at +will!" cried the beauty.</p> + +<p>"It is much as a woman makes up her mind. If you worry yourself into the +grave over a man, before the grass has time to grow over you he will +have consoled himself with another sweetheart. So dry your eyes, and +don't shed a tear over him."</p> + +<p>Gerelda walked slowly from the room. It was not so easy to take her +mother's advice, for she loved Hubert Varrick with all her heart; and +the very thought of him loving another was worse to her than a poisoned +arrow in her breast.</p> + +<p>She knew why he did not care for her.</p> + +<p>"I have only one hope," she murmured, leaning her tear-stained face +against the marble mantel, "and that is that Hubert may soon get over his +mad infatuation for that girl Jessie Bain."</p> + +<p>Gerelda sought her couch, but not to sleep; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> it was not until +daylight stole through the room, heralding the approach of another day, +that slumber came to her.</p> + +<p>Hubert Varrick, in his room at the hotel, was quite as restless. He had +paced the floor, smoking cigar after cigar, trying to look the matter +calmly in the face, until he was fairly exhausted.</p> + +<p>He was glad to know that Gerelda had not been false to him; and yet, so +conflicting were his thoughts, that he almost wished to Heaven that she +had been, that he could have had some excuse to give her up.</p> + +<p>He made up his mind that he could not marry Gerelda while his heart was +so entirely another's, but he must break away from her gently.</p> + +<p>As he was passing a music store the next afternoon, he saw a piece of +music in the window which Gerelda had asked him to bring to her. He went +and purchased it, and was about sending it to her by a messenger boy, +when he thought it would look much better to take it himself; besides, +he had business to attend to in that locality.</p> + +<p>As he stepped upon the street car, he purchased a daily paper to pass +away the time.</p> + +<p>Upon opening it, an article met his view that nearly took his breath +away.</p> + +<p>The caption read:</p> + +<h4>"<i>A Romance in Real Life.—The Prettiest Girl in the City and a +Well-known Young Millionaire the Hero and Heroine of the Episode</i>."</h4> + +<p>Following this was an account of Gerelda's abduction, as she had related +it. In conclusion there was a statement by Mrs. Northrup to the effect +that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> Gerelda's lover, Mr. Varrick, was anxious to have the ceremony +consummated at once, and, in accordance with his earnest wish, the +marriage would take place shortly.</p> + +<p>Varrick stared hard at the paper.</p> + +<p>"The whole matter seems to have been fully arranged and settled without +the formality of consulting me," he muttered, grimly.</p> + +<p>After that he could see no way out of it. This had gone broadcast +throughout the city, he told himself, and now what could he do but marry +Gerelda; otherwise it would subject her to the severest criticism, and +himself to scorn.</p> + +<p>A woman's good name was at stake. Was he not in honor bound to shield +her? He would have been startled had he but known that this newspaper +article was the work of Mrs. Northrup.</p> + +<p>"I might as well accept the inevitable as my fate," he murmured, with a +sigh. "I might have been happy with Gerelda if I had never known Jessie +Bain."</p> + +<p>When he arrived at the Northrup mansion, Gerelda's mother came down to +welcome him.</p> + +<p>Like her daughter, she did not appear to notice his constraint, and +greeted him effusively, as in the old days.</p> + +<p>"Have you seen the morning paper, Hubert?" she asked, with a little +rippling laugh on her lips. "It is amusing to me how these newspaper men +get hold of things so quickly. I was down to one of the stores this +afternoon ordering the wedding-cards. I knew you would be anxious to get +them, and I wanted to relieve your mind and Gerelda's as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> well. I was +telling the designer the whole story—you know he is the same person who +got up the last cards for you—when a man who stood near us, he must +have been a reporter—took in every word I said. A few hours later, a +young man representing the paper came up to interview me on the subject, +remarking that I might as well tell the public the whole story, as the +main part of the affair was already in print. He gave me a <i>résume</i> of +what was about to appear, and I had to acknowledge that he had the story +correct in most of its details."</p> + +<p>She was shrewd enough to note that Hubert Varrick grew very pale while +she was speaking, and she could not help but observe the hopelessness +that settled over his face.</p> + +<p>His heart was touched, in spite of himself, to see how gladly Gerelda +greeted him, and to note how she seemed to hang on every word that he +uttered, accepting his love as a matter of course.</p> + +<p>Of what use to make any demur now that the fiat had gone forth? There +was nothing for him to do but to accept the bride fate had intended for +him, and shut out from his heart all thoughts of that other love.</p> + +<p>It would be a terrible burden to go through life with, acting the part +of a dutiful husband to a young wife whom he pitied but did not love.</p> + +<p>Other men had gone through such ordeals. Surely he could be as brave as +they.</p> + +<p>And so the preparations for the wedding, for a second time, were begun. +Again the guests were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> bidden, and the event was to take place in +exactly six weeks from that day.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XVII" id="Chapter_XVII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XVII</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>LOVE IS BITTER AND THE WHOLE WORLD GOES WRONG WHEN TWO LOVERS PART IN +ANGER FOREVER.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>We must return to our beautiful heroine, little Jessie Bain.</p> + +<p>When she turned her face from the Varrick mansion toward the cold and +desolate world, the girl's very heart seemed to stop still in her bosom.</p> + +<p>Jessie Bain knew little of traveling—she had not the least idea how to +get to her uncle's, although she had made that trip once before. She +walked one street after the other in the vain hope of finding the depot. +At last, fairly exhausted, she found herself just outside the entrance +to Central Park.</p> + +<p>Jessie entered the park, and sunk down on the nearest seat.</p> + +<p>Among those sauntering past in the crowd was a tall, broad-shouldered +young man, who stopped abruptly as his bold black eyes fell upon the +lovely young face.</p> + +<p>"Heavens! what a beauty!" he muttered, stopping short, under the +pretense of lighting a cigarette, and watching her covertly from under +his dark brows.</p> + +<p>Seating himself unconcernedly on the further end<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> of the bench, the +stranger continued to watch Jessie, who had not even the slightest +intimation of his presence.</p> + +<p>He waited until the crowd thinned out, until only an occasional +straggler passed by; then he edged nearer the pretty little creature.</p> + +<p>"Ahem!" he began, with a slight cough. After several ineffectual +attempts to attract her attention in this way, the stranger spoke to +her.</p> + +<p>"A lovely day, isn't it?" he remarked.</p> + +<p>"Are you speaking to me, sir?" asked Jessie Bain, in great displeasure.</p> + +<p>"I am indeed so bold," he answered. "May I hope that you are not +offended with me for so doing, for I have a fancy to know such a pretty +young girl as yourself."</p> + +<p>"I am offended!" cried Jessie Bain, indignantly. "I always supposed +before this that people could sit down in a public park without being +molested; but it seems not; so I shall move on!"</p> + +<p>"So young, so beautiful, but so unkind," murmured the stranger, in a +melo-dramatic voice.</p> + +<p>"I can not think that we are strangers. I must have seen you somewhere, +believe me," he went on, rising suddenly and walking close by her side +as she started down the path.</p> + +<p>Jessie was now thoroughly frightened. She uttered a little, shrill cry.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing that for?" hissed the man, clutching her arm. "You +will have the police after us. Walk along quietly beside me, you little +fool; I have something to say to you."</p> + +<p>Terrified, Jessie only cried the louder and shriller,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> wrenching her arm +free from the stranger's grasp.</p> + +<p>At that instant a young man, who had happened along, and who had heard +the cry, sprang with alacrity to the young girl's rescue.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter?" he cried. "Is this fellow annoying you?"</p> + +<p>Jessie knew the voice at once, and sprang forward. She had recognized +the voice of the young architect.</p> + +<p>"Oh, save me—save me!" she cried.</p> + +<p>Even before she had time to utter a word the young man had recognized +Jessie Bain; and that very instant the man who had dared thus annoy her +was measuring his full length on the grass, sent there by the young +architect's vigorous arm.</p> + +<p>"I will have your life for this!" yelled the fellow, as he picked +himself up, but taking good care to keep well out of the reach of the +young girl's defender.</p> + +<p>"What in the world are you doing in the park, and so far away from home, +Miss Jessie?" Moray, the young architect, asked.</p> + +<p>Her lips quivered and her eyes filled with sudden tears.</p> + +<p>"Varrick Place isn't home to me any longer, Mr. Moray," she sobbed. "I +have just left it to-day—left it forever. I wish I had never seen the +place. It has caused me no end of sorrow."</p> + +<p>"I do not wish to pry into any of your affairs," he said, gently, as he +took her hand and walked slowly down the path with her; "but if you will +confide in me and tell me why you left, I might be able to help you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p> + +<p>Little by little he drew from the girl the whole terrible story, until +she had told him all.</p> + +<p>Frank Moray's indignation knew no bounds. He could hardly restrain +himself from ejaculations of anger.</p> + +<p>"Of course, if you have friends, it would ill become me to persuade you +not to go to them; but if you ask my advice, I would say: remain here +for a little while and look about you. Come home with me. I have a dear +old mother who will receive you with open arms. My cousin Annabel, too, +will be glad to welcome you. Come home and talk to mother and let her +advise you what to do. Will you come with me, Miss Jessie?"</p> + +<p>The girl was only too glad to assent.</p> + +<p>When Jessie had finished her story, the impulse was strong within the +young architect's breast to ask the girl to marry him, then and there.</p> + +<p>He had never ceased caring for her from the first moment he had seen her +pretty face. But he told himself that it would seem too much like taking +an unfair advantage to say anything of love or marriage to her now.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Moray received the stranger with motherly kindness.</p> + +<p>"I have heard my son speak of you so often that I feel as though I were +well acquainted with you," she said, untying the girl's bonnet and +removing her mantle.</p> + +<p>"Come here, Annabel, my dear," she said, turning to a young girl who sat +in a little low rocker by the sewing machine, "and welcome Miss Bain."</p> + +<p>A slim, slight girl, in a jaunty blue cloth dress<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> edged with white, +rose and came curiously forward, extending a little brown hand to +Jessie.</p> + +<p>"I am very glad to see you, Miss Bain," she said; "for Frank has talked +of you so much."</p> + +<p>"Won't you please call me Jessie?" returned the other. "No one has ever +called me Miss Bain before."</p> + +<p>"Nothing would please me better," returned Annabel.</p> + +<p>They spent a very pleasant evening, and then Annabel took Jessie off to +her room with her for the night.</p> + +<p>Long after the two girls had retired Mrs. Moray and her son sat talking +the matter over, and it was not long before Mrs. Moray discovered that +her boy was deeply in love with pretty Jessie Bain.</p> + +<p>Of course, like himself, she felt perfectly sure that the girl was +entirely innocent of what she had been accused of by Mrs. Varrick.</p> + +<p>But the very idea of the theft sent a thrill of horror through her +heart. She must discourage her son's love for the girl, for she would +rather see him dead and buried than wedded to one upon whose fair name +ever so slight a stain rested. She said to herself that the girl's stay +beneath their cottage roof must be cut as short as possible.</p> + +<p>It was decided that Jessie Bain should remain at the cottage of the +Morays until she had ample time to write to her uncle and receive his +reply.</p> + +<p>Jessie mailed her letter before she went to sleep that night. Annabel +easily dropped off to slumber, but it was not so with Jessie; for had +not this been the most eventful day of her life?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + +<p>How she wished Mrs. Varrick had not exacted a promise from her that she +would never again hold any communication with her son Hubert! Would he +believe her guilty when he returned home and his mother told him all +that had transpired?</p> + +<p>She could imagine the horror on his face as he listened; and this +thought was so bitter to Jessie that she cried herself to sleep over it.</p> + +<p>The third day of her stay a letter from her uncle came to her. Her +cousin was married and gone away, he wrote, and he would be only too +glad to forget and forgive by-gones.</p> + +<p>Two days later, Frank Moray saw her safely on the train which would take +her as far as Clayton, where her uncle promised to meet her.</p> + +<p>"If I write to you sometimes, will you answer my letters, little +Jessie?" asked Frank Moray, as he found her a seat in a well-crowded +car, and bent over her for the last glance into the girl's beautiful, +wistful face.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered, absently.</p> + +<p>For a moment his hand closed over hers; he looked at her with his whole +soul in his honest eyes, then he turned and quickly left her.</p> + +<p>He stood on the platform and watched her sweet face at the window until +the train was out of sight, then he moved slowly away.</p> + +<p>Jessie stared hard through the window, but she never saw any of the +scenes through which she was whirling so rapidly. Her thoughts were with +Hubert Varrick.</p> + +<p>It was dusk when she reached her destination, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> according to his +promise her uncle was at the depot to meet her.</p> + +<p>It was with genuine joy that he hurried forward to greet the girl, +though they had parted but a few short months ago in such bitter anger.</p> + +<p>"I am glad to get you back again, little Jessie," he declared, eagerly; +"and, as I wrote to you, we will let by-gones be by-gones, little girl, +and forget the past unpleasantness between us by wiping it out of our +minds as though it had never been. I missed you awfully, little one, and +I've had a lonesome time of it since your cousin went away. Home isn't +home to a man without a neat little woman about to tidy things up a bit +and make it cheerful."</p> + +<p>How good it seemed to Jessie to have some one speak so kindly to her! He +was plain and homely, and coarse of speech, but he was the only being in +the whole wide world who really cared for her and offered her a shelter +in this her hour of need. But how desolate the place was, with its +little old-fashioned, low-ceiling kitchen, the huge fire-place on one +side, the cupboard on the other, whose chintz curtains were drawn back, +revealing the rows of cups and saucers and pile of plates of blue china, +more cracked and nicked than ever, and the pine table, with its +oil-cloth cover, and the old rag mat in the center of the floor!</p> + +<p>The girl's heart sank as she looked around.</p> + +<p>Could she make this place her home again? Its very atmosphere, redolent +with tobacco smoke and the strong odor of vegetables, took her breath +away.</p> + +<p>Ah! it was very hard for this girl, whose only fortune was a dower of +poverty, and who had had a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> slight taste of wealth and refinement, to +come back to the old life again and fall into the drudgery of other +days.</p> + +<p>She could not refuse her uncle when he pleaded to know where she went +and where she had been since the night he had driven her, in his mad +frenzy, out into the world.</p> + +<p>He listened in wonder. The girl's story almost seemed like a fairy tale +to him. But as he listened to the ending of it—surely the saddest story +that ever was told by girlish lips—of how she had left the Varrick +mansion, and of what Mrs. Varrick had accused her of doing, his rage +knew no bounds.</p> + +<p>"You might have known how it would all turn out!" he cried. "A poor +little field wren has no business in the gilded nest of the golden +eagle! You are at home again, little one. Think no more of those +people!"</p> + +<p>How little he realized that this was easier said than done. Where one's +heart is, there one's thoughts are also.</p> + +<p>The neighbors flocked in to see her. Every one was glad to have pretty, +saucy Jessie Bain back once more. But there was much mystery and silent +speculation as to where she had been.</p> + +<p>The girls of the neighborhood seemed to act shy of her. Even her old +companions nodded very stiffly when they met her, and walked on the +other side of the street when they saw her coming.</p> + +<p>The antagonism of the village girls was never so apparent until the +usual festivities of the autumn evenings approached.</p> + +<p>It was the custom of the village maidens of Alexandria<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> Bay to +inaugurate the winter sports by giving a Halloween party, and every one +looked forward to this with the wildest anticipation.</p> + +<p>Jessie Bain had always been the moving spirit at these affairs, despite +the fact that they were generally held in the homes of some of the +wealthier girls, their houses being larger and more commodious.</p> + +<p>The party, which was to be on a fine scale this year, was now the talk +of the little town.</p> + +<p>But much to the sorrow and the amazement of Jessie Bain, day by day +rolled by without bringing her the usual invitation.</p> + +<p>It wanted but two days now to the all-important party. Jessie had gotten +her dress ready for the occasion, thinking that at the last moment some +of the girls would come in person and invite her. Not that she cared so +much for the fun, after all, but her uncle was anxious that she should +go more among the young folks, as she used to do. It was simply to +please him that she would mingle among the crowd of youths and maidens.</p> + +<p>At last the day of the Halloween party rolled round.</p> + +<p>"Well," said her uncle, as he sat down to the breakfast table and waited +for her to set on the morning meal, "I suppose you're getting all your +fixings ready to have a big time with the young folks to-night?"</p> + +<p>Before she could answer, there was the postman's whistle at the door. He +handed in a large, thick letter, and it was addressed to Jessie Bain.</p> + +<p>Jessie turned the letter over and over, looking in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> wonder at the +superscription. The envelope contained something else besides the +letter—a newspaper clipping. This Jessie put on the table to look over +after she had finished the letter. It was a bright, newsy epistle, +brimming over with kindly wishes for her happiness, and ending with a +hope that the writer might see her soon.</p> + +<p>"Who is it from?" asked her uncle.</p> + +<p>The girl dutifully read it out for him.</p> + +<p>"He seems to be a right nice young man, and quite taken up with you, +little Jess," he said, laughingly.</p> + +<p>He saw by the distressed look on her face that this idea did not please +her.</p> + +<p>"He would have to be a mighty nice fellow to get my consent to marry +you, my lass."</p> + +<p>"Do not fear, uncle," she said; "you will never be called upon to give +your consent to that. He is very nice indeed, but not such a one as I +could give my heart to, I assure you."</p> + +<p>"Then let me give you a word of advice; don't encourage him by writing +letters to him. But isn't there another part of the letter on the table +yonder you haven't read yet?"</p> + +<p>"I had almost forgotten it," returned Jessie.</p> + +<p>One glance as she spread it out at full length, then her face grew white +as death.</p> + +<p>"Bless me! I shall be late!" declared her uncle, putting on his hat and +hurrying from the room.</p> + +<p>She never remembered what he said as he passed out of the room. Her +heart, ay, her very soul, was engrossed in the printed lines before her.</p> + +<p>In startling headlines she read the words:</p> + +<h4>"<span class="smcap">A Notable Marriage in High Life—Mr. Hubert<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> Varrick and Miss Northrup +Wedded At Last</span>."</h4> + +<p>Then followed an account of the grand ceremony; of a mansion decorated +with roses; a description of the marriage; the elaborate +wedding-breakfast served in a perfect bower of orchids and ferns; and +then the names of the guests, who numbered nearly a thousand.</p> + +<p>Jessie Bain never finished the article. With a bitter cry she fell face +downward on the floor in a deep swoon.</p> + +<p>It was an hour or more ere she returned to consciousness. With trembling +hands the girl tore the newspaper clipping into a thousand shreds, lest +her eyes should ever fall on it again.</p> + +<p>"He is married—married!" she murmured; and the words seemed to fall +like ice upon her heart.</p> + +<p>How strange it seemed! She remembered but too well the last time she had +looked upon his face.</p> + +<p>Captain Carr did not come home for supper, and one of the neighboring +women dropped in to tell Jessie that he might not get home until far +into the night, for there had been a terrible accident on the river the +evening before, and his services were needed there.</p> + +<p>Night came on, darkness settled down over the world; then one by one the +stars came out, and a full moon rose clear and bright in the heavens.</p> + +<p>The sound of far-off strains of music and the echo of girlish laughter +suddenly fell upon her ears. Then it occurred to her that it must be +near midnight, that her companions of other days were in the midst of +their Halloween games in the big house on the hill.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> + +<p>Only the little brook at the rear of her uncle's garden separated the +grounds. Some subtle instinct which she could not follow drew Jessie's +steps to the brook.</p> + +<p>The moon for a moment was hidden behind a cloud, but suddenly it burst +forth clear and bright in all its glory. For one brief instant the heart +in her bosom seemed to stand still.</p> + +<p>Was she mad, or did she dream? Was it the figure of a man picking his +way over the smooth white rocks that served as stepping-stones across +the shallow stream, and coming directly toward her?</p> + +<p>Midway he paused, and looked toward the cottage and the light which she +always placed in the window. Then the moon shone full upon his face, and +Jessie Bain looked at him with eyes that fairly bulged from their +sockets. His features were now clearly visible in the bright moonlight. +It was Hubert Varrick in the flesh, surely, or his wraith!</p> + +<p>In that first rapid glance she seemed to live an age; then, for the +second time that day, a merciful unconsciousness seized her.</p> + +<p>It was gray dawn when she regained her senses and crept back, +terror-stricken, to the house.</p> + +<p>Was it the idle fancy of her own vivid imagination, or did she really +see the image of Hubert Varrick confronting her by the brook as the +midnight bells of All-Halloween rang out slowly and solemnly on the +crisp, chilly night air?</p> + +<p>"I must be going mad—my brain must be turning," thought the girl, +shivering in every limb as she walked slowly back to the house.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> + +<p>The sun was up high in the heavens ere her uncle returned.</p> + +<p>"Such a time as we've had, lass!" he cried, throwing down his cap. "A +steamer was wrecked the night before last, and all day yesterday and all +last night we were busy doing our utmost for the poor creatures who +barely escaped with their lives. We saved a good many who were in the +water for many hours, holding on to planks or life-preservers, and there +are many lost. It was the steamer 'St. Lawrence,' heavily laden, that +was to have connected with the boat for Montreal, for which most of the +passengers were bound. There is one woman whom they are bringing here. I +came on ahead to have you prepare a bed for her. Every house has been +called upon to give shelter to some one. It will make you a little more +work, lass, but it will only be for a little while."</p> + +<p>"I shall be glad of the work, for it will occupy my time and attention," +declared Jessie.</p> + +<p>She had scarcely uttered the words ere the men were seen approaching +with their burden. They brought the woman in and placed her on Jessie's +little cot.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how beautiful she is!" murmured Jessie, little dreaming who it was +that she was sheltering beneath that roof.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XVIII" id="Chapter_XVIII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XVIII</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>WEDDING BELLS OUT OF TUNE.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Let us return to Hubert Varrick, and the marriage which was the +all-absorbing topic in fashionable circles.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick had sent a note to her son at his hotel, begging for a +reconciliation, and stating that she would be at the wedding without +fail; but never a word did she say about Jessie Bain.</p> + +<p>It seemed like a dream to Hubert—his ride in a cab through the cool +crisp air to Gerelda's home on that eventful morning.</p> + +<p>He noticed one thing—that the sun did not shine that day; and he said +to himself that it boded ill for his wedding.</p> + +<p>The bride-elect and her mother welcomed him effusively. Bitter anger +filled the girl's heart to see how cold and stern he looked. She noticed +that he had no word, no smile for her. If she had not loved him so +madly, her pride would have rebelled, and she would have let him go his +way even then.</p> + +<p>She almost shrunk under the cold glance that rested upon her. She +trembled, even in that moment, as she thought how he would hate her if +he but knew how she had plotted to win him. Before she had a chance to +exchange a word with him, her maid of honor came fluttering down the +corridor, chattering in high spirits with Harry Maillard, who was to be +best man.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> + +<p>She was quite as dazed as Varrick himself, until she found herself +standing beside him at the altar.</p> + +<p>It was over at last! The words had been spoken which made her Hubert +Varrick's wedded wife, through weal or through woe, till death did them +part.</p> + +<p>Then followed the sumptuous wedding-breakfast. While the merriment was +at its height, Varrick touched her lightly on the arm.</p> + +<p>"It wants but an hour and twenty minutes until train time. Would it not +be best to slip away now and arrange your traveling toilet?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Gerelda.</p> + +<p>No one noticed their exit, and at last they were alone together, away +from the throng of guests; but, much to the bride's disappointment, her +newly made husband did not seem to realize this fact, and Gerelda's face +flushed with disappointment.</p> + +<p>He escorted her as far as the door of her <i>boudoir</i>, and there he left +her, saying that he would return in half an hour, hoping that would be +sufficient time to exchange her bridal robes for her traveling-dress. +She smiled and nodded, declaring that he should find her ready before +that time.</p> + +<p>Hubert walked slowly on until he found himself at the door of the +conservatory.</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't be a bad idea to get a cigar and return here for a quiet +smoke," he thought.</p> + +<p>He immediately suited the action to the thought. Was it fate that led +him there? He had scarcely seated himself in one of the rustic +arm-chairs ere he heard the sound of approaching voices.</p> + +<p>He felt slightly annoyed that the retreat he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> chosen was to be +invaded at that particular moment.</p> + +<p>He drew back among the large-leaved plants, which would effectually +screen him from the intruders, and hoped that their stay would be short.</p> + +<p>"I tell you it will be impossible for you to see her," said a voice, +which he recognized as belonging to Gerelda's maid.</p> + +<p>"But I must," retorted another voice which sounded strangely familiar. +"Give her the note I just gave you, and I will wager you something +handsome that she will see me. My good girl, let this plead for me with +you!"</p> + +<p>A jingle of silver accompanied the words, and Varrick could not help but +smile at the magical effect the little bribe had.</p> + +<p>"Of course, I'll take your note to her, sir," said the girl; "but that +isn't promising she'll see you."</p> + +<p>Somehow the idea formed itself in Varrick's mind that it was Mrs. +Northrup for whom the man asked. Had he thought for one moment that it +was Gerelda whom the man had asked for, he would have stepped forth and +inquired of him what he wanted.</p> + +<p>In a very few moments he heard the <i>frou-frou</i> of a woman's garments and +the patter of hurrying feet.</p> + +<p>"Gerelda has come instead of her mother to see what this person wants," +he thought; adding impatiently: "This will never do; we shall be late +for the train, sure. I will have to take the man off her hands."</p> + +<p>At that instant, Gerelda, panting with excitement sprung across the +threshold of the conservatory.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + +<p>From his leafy seat Varrick could hear and see all that took place, +while no one could see him.</p> + +<p>He had risen, and was just about to step forward, when he caught sight +of Gerelda's face. The color of it held him spell-bound. It was as pale +as death, and her eyes flashed fire. She was fairly frothing at the +mouth, and the look of venomous rage that distorted her features +appalled him.</p> + +<p>"You!" cried Gerelda. "Have you risen from the grave to confront me?"</p> + +<p>"I am Captain Frazier—at your service, madame," returned her companion, +with a low bow. "As for my returning from the unknown shore, why, you +flatter me in imagining that I have so much power, though I have been +known to do some miraculous things before now. I am sorry that so many +of my friends believe the ridiculous story that was set afloat regarding +my supposed death. I am—"</p> + +<p>"Why are you here? What do you want?" cried Gerelda.</p> + +<p>"You are inclined to be brusque, my dear," he replied, tauntingly. "If +you had asked me that question half an hour ago, I should have answered, +'I am here to stop your marriage with Hubert Varrick at whatever cost. I +have traveled by night and by day, foot-sore and hungry, to get here in +time to prevent it.' I— I thought you had perished in the fire on the +island, until I read the article in the paper announcing your marriage."</p> + +<p>"If this is all you have to say to me, permit me to say good-morning," +she returned icily, turning to leave the place.</p> + +<p>"You shall listen to me!" he cried. "I vowed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> in days gone by that you +should never be happy with Hubert Varrick. You promised that you would +marry me, and those words changed my whole life."</p> + +<p>"Well, now that I am another's bride, what can you do about it?" sneered +Gerelda.</p> + +<p>"I mean to see Varrick and have a little talk with him," he answered. "I +will tell him how, on the very night before the marriage was to have +taken place at the Crossmon Hotel, at Alexandria Bay, I threw myself on +my knees at your feet, and cried out to you to spare me; that you had +played with my heart too long, and urged you to fly with me, and that +you said, while I knelt before you, that if you decided to fly with me +you would let me know by sunrise the following morning, but that you +must have all night to think it over.</p> + +<p>"Do you dare face me and deny that?" continued Captain Frazier, seizing +her white wrist and holding it in an iron grip.</p> + +<p>"No, I do not deny it," she answered. "But what of it? What do you +expect to make of it?"</p> + +<p>"This!" he cried, furiously. "I intend to be even with you. I will have +a glorious revenge! I will see Hubert Varrick before he leaves this +house, and say to him: 'I hope you may be happy with your bride,' and I +will laugh in his face, crying out: 'She eloped with me not so very long +ago, and we went to my island home, where we kept in hiding until the +sensation should blow over. We remained there, as I can prove by all my +servants, and I was a very slave to her sweet caprices.'"</p> + +<p>"You would not say that!" cried Gerelda. "I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> would tell him my side of +the story—that you kidnapped me, and held me by force on the island."</p> + +<p>"Varrick is a man of the world," he returned, tauntingly. "Your side of +the story is too flimsy for him or any one else to believe."</p> + +<p>"Stop! You must not—you shall not!" cried Gerelda, wildly. "I— I will +make terms with you. I see you are shabbily dressed and in want of +money. I will give you a check, here and now, for a thousand dollars, if +you will go away, never again to return, and have nothing to +say—nothing. Your story would ruin me, false though it is."</p> + +<p>The captain arched his eyebrows.</p> + +<p>"I think I could bring satisfactory proof as to where you passed your +time."</p> + +<p>Hubert Varrick, standing behind the foliage, was fairly stricken dumb by +what he heard and saw.</p> + +<p>He did not love his bride, but he believed in her implicitly. All the +old doubt which had filled his heart and killed his love for Gerelda +came surging back like a raging torrent, sweeping over his very soul.</p> + +<p>In that instant the thought of Jessie Bain came to him—sweet little +Jessie, whose love for him he had read in her every glance, and to whom +he had given all his heart with a deeper, stronger love than he had ever +given to Gerelda, even in those old days. How he longed to break from +the terrible nightmare which seemed to fetter him!</p> + +<p>"Your offer of a thousand dollars is a very fair one; but it will take +double that sum to purchase my silence. You are quite right in your +surmise. I am in need of money. With one fell swoop I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> have lost every +dollar of my fortune, and now that all romance and sentiment are over +between us, I have no compunction in showing you the mercenary side of +my nature. Make it two thousand, and I will consent to hold my peace, +seeing that I can not mend matters by undoing the marriage."</p> + +<p>"Come with me. We will settle this now and forever. I have but five +minutes to devote to you. Step this way," said Gerelda.</p> + +<p>The next instant they had disappeared, and Hubert Varrick was left +standing there alone.</p> + +<p>How long he stood there he never knew. His valet came in search of him. +He found him at the end of the conservatory, standing motionless as a +statue among the shrubbery.</p> + +<p>"Master," he said, "your bride bids me say to you that you have barely +time to get into your traveling clothes."</p> + +<p>He was shocked at the horrible laugh that broke from Varrick's lips.</p> + +<p>Had his master gone mad? he wondered.</p> + +<p>He followed the man without a word, and five minutes later, with a firm +step, he was walking down the corridor toward his bride's apartments.</p> + +<p>But ere he could knock upon the door, it was opened by Gerelda. He +offered his arm to Gerelda, and walked slowly by her side through the +throng of friends to the carriage in waiting; and, amid showers of rice, +peals of joyous laughter, and a world of good wishes, they were whirled +away.</p> + +<p>During the entire ride Varrick spoke no word. Gerelda watched him +narrowly out of the corner of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> her eye, wondering why he looked so +unusually angry.</p> + +<p>They were barely in time to catch the train, and it was not until they +were seated in their own compartment that Varrick ventured a remark to +the beautiful girl he had just made his wife, and who was looking up +into his face with such puzzled wonder in her great dark eyes.</p> + +<p>"I should like your attention for a few moments, Mrs. Varrick," he said, +turning to her with a haughty sternness that was new to him.</p> + +<p>"You are my wife," he went on; "the ceremony is barely over which made +you that, yet I would recall it if I could."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, Hubert?" she cried, piteously.</p> + +<p>"We will not have any theatricals, if you please," he said, waving her +back. "A guilty conscience should need no accuser. It is best to speak +plainly to you, and to the point. Suffice it to say I was in the +conservatory at the time you entered. I heard all that passed between +Captain Frazier and yourself. Now, here is what I propose to do: We were +to take a wedding-trip to Montreal. We will go there, but when we reach +our destination, you and I will part forever. I shall institute +proceedings for a divorce at once, and I shall never know another happy +moment until the divorce is granted. You shall be wife of mine but in +name until we reach Montreal; then we part forever."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Hubert, Hubert, you will not do this!" she sobbed, wildly. "It +would ruin my life—kill me!"</p> + +<p>"You did not stop to think that marriage with you would ruin my life," +he interposed, bitterly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> "What have you to say for yourself? Was +Captain Frazier's story false or true? Remember, I heard him say that he +could furnish proof of all he charged."</p> + +<p>"It is useless to hide the truth from you," she whispered, hoarsely. "I +see that you know all. Give me a chance to think—only to think of some +way out of it. It would kill me, Hubert, to part from you. Better death +than that. You are my world, the sunshine of my life. I would pine away +and die without you. Oh, Hubert, you must not leave me!"</p> + +<p>"The words are easily said," he replied, "but they do not sound sincere. +I may as well make a clean breast of the whole matter," he went on, "and +tell you the truth, Gerelda. I do not love you. I— I—love another, +though that love has never been confessed to the one I love. I— +I—married you because I felt in honor bound to do so, and in doing so I +crushed all the love that was budding in my heart. But was it worth the +sacrifice of two lives? You can not answer me. I shall not intrude upon +you again until we reach Montreal. You can send for your mother; it +would be best for me to leave you in her charge. Telegraph back to her +from the next station we arrive at. The moment we reach Montreal we part +forever!"</p> + +<p>But at that instant a strange event happened.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XIX" id="Chapter_XIX"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XIX</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>THE COLLISION—THE PILOT AT THE WHEEL.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Gerelda had been looking intently out of the window. Suddenly she sprang +back with a wild cry that fairly froze the blood in Varrick's veins.</p> + +<p>"What has frightened you, Gerelda?" he asked, gravely; and the look she +turned on him he never forgot, there was something so terrible in the +gaze of those dark eyes. She did not attempt to repel him from drawing +near her, or from clasping her hands; but ever and anon she would laugh +that horrible laugh that froze the blood in his veins.</p> + +<p>"Let us talk the matter over calmly, Gerelda," he said at length, "and +arrive at an understanding."</p> + +<p>"There is no need," she returned. "As long as I understand, that is +quite sufficient."</p> + +<p>There was something in the tone of her voice that frightened him. He +looked into her face. A grayish pallor overspread it. To Varrick's +infinite surprise, Gerelda commenced to laugh immoderately; and these +spells of laughter so increased as the moments flew by, that he became +greatly alarmed.</p> + +<p>He wondered what he could do or say to comfort her. She grew so +alarmingly hysterical as he watched her, that it occurred to him he must +find medical aid for her. Fortune favored him; he found a doctor seated +in the compartment next to him. The gentleman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> was only too glad to be +able to render him every assistance in his power.</p> + +<p>One glance at the beautiful bride, and an expression of the gravest +apprehension swept over the doctor's face.</p> + +<p>"My dear sir," he said, turning to Varrick, "I have something to tell +you which you must summon all your fortitude to hear. Your young wife +has lost her reason; she is dangerously insane."</p> + +<p>Varrick started back as though the man had struck him a sudden blow.</p> + +<p>"You are bound for Montreal, I believe," continued the doctor. "You will +see the need of conveying her to an asylum, with the least possible +delay, as soon as you arrive there. If there is anything which I can do +to assist you during this journey, do not hesitate to call upon me. +Consider me entirely at your service."</p> + +<p>That was a day in Hubert Varrick's life that he never looked back to +without shuddering. How he passed the long hours he never knew. Gerelda +grew steadily more violent, and twice Varrick's life would have paid the +forfeit had it not been for his watchfulness.</p> + +<p>With great difficulty he succeeded, with the doctor's assistance, in +making the change from the train to the boat.</p> + +<p>That was how his wedding journey began.</p> + +<p>As night came on, the doctor touched him again on the arm.</p> + +<p>"You have not left your young bride's side for an instant during all +these long hours," he said. "You are wearing yourself out. Let me beg of +you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> to go out on deck and take a few turns up and down; the cool air +will revive you. Nay, you must not refuse; I insist upon it, or I shall +have you for a patient before your journey is ended."</p> + +<p>To this proposition, after some little coaxing, Varrick consented.</p> + +<p>The doctor was quite right; the cool air did revive him amazingly. He +felt feverish, and paced up and down the deck, a prey to the bitterest +thoughts that ever tortured a man's soul.</p> + +<p>One by one the stars came out in the great blue arch overhead, and +mirrored themselves in the bluer waters.</p> + +<p>Varrick watched them in silence, his heart in a whirl. All at once it +occurred to him that he knew the pilot of the boat—that, as he was from +Montreal, it wouldn't be a bad idea to interview him as to the location +of some private asylum to which he might take Gerelda.</p> + +<p>He acted upon this thought at once, and making his way to the upper +deck, he recognized the man at the wheel, in the dim light, although his +back was turned to him.</p> + +<p>"How are you, John?" he exclaimed, tapping him on the shoulder. "Don't +let me frighten you; it is your old friend Varrick."</p> + +<p>Much to his surprise, the pilot neither stirred nor spoke. Varrick +stepped around, and faced him with some little laughing remark on his +lips. But the words died away in his throat in a gasp. The dim light was +falling full upon the pilot's features. What was there in that ashy face +and those staring eyes that sent the cold blood back to his heart?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p> + +<p>"John!" he cried, bending nearer the man and catching hold of his arm +roughly as it rested upon the wheel. But his own dropped heavily to his +side.</p> + +<p>The terrible truth burst upon him with startling force—the pilot was +dead at the wheel!</p> + +<p>But even in the same instant that he made his horrible discovery, a +still greater one dawned upon him. Another steamer came puffing and +panting down the river, signaling the "St. Lawrence."</p> + +<p>Each turn of the ponderous wheels swept her nearer and nearer, and the +"St. Lawrence" was drifting directly across her bow. It was a moment so +feighted with horror it almost turned Varrick's brain. Five hundred +souls, or more, all unconscious of their deadly peril, were laughing and +chattering down below, and the pilot was dead at the wheel!</p> + +<p>Ere he could give the alarm, a terrible catastrophe would occur. He +realized this, and made the supreme effort of his life to avert it. But +fate was against him. In his mad haste to leap down the stair-way to +give warning, his foot slipped, and he fell headlong to the floor of the +lower deck, his temple, coming in contact with the railing, rendering +him unconscious. Heaven was merciful to him that he did not realize what +took place at that instant.</p> + +<p>There was a sudden shock, a terrible crash, and half a thousand souls, +with terrified shrieks on their lips, found themselves struggling in the +dark waters!</p> + +<p>It was a reign of terror that those who participated in it, never +forgot.</p> + +<p>When Hubert Varrick returned to consciousness he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> found himself lying +full length upon the greensward, and his face upturned to the moonlight, +with the dead and dying around him, and the groans of the wounded ringing +in his ears.</p> + +<p>For an instant he was bewildered; then, with a rush, Memory mounted its +throne in his whirling brain, and he recollected what had happened—the +pilot dead at the wheel, another steamer sweeping down upon them; how he +had rushed below to inform the passengers of their peril; how his foot +had slipped, and he knew no more.</p> + +<p>He realized that there must have been a horrible disaster.</p> + +<p>How came he there? Who had saved him? Then, like a flash, he thought of +Gerelda. Where was she? What had become of her? He struggled to his +feet, weak and dazed.</p> + +<p>He made the most diligent search for her, but she was nowhere to be +found. Some one at length came hurriedly up to him. In the clear bright +moonlight Varrick saw that it was the doctor in whose care he had left +his young bride when he had gone on deck for fresh air.</p> + +<p>"You are looking for <i>her</i>, sir?" he asked, huskily.</p> + +<p>"Yes," cried Varrick, tremulously.</p> + +<p>"Are you brave enough to hear the truth?" said the other, slowly.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Varrick.</p> + +<p>"Your wife was lost in the disaster. I was by her side when the steamer +was struck. We had both concluded to go on deck to join you. With the +first terrible lurch we were both thrown headlong into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> the water. I did +my utmost to save her, but it was not to be. A floating spar struck her, +and she went down before my eyes."</p> + +<p>For an instant Varrick neither moved nor spoke.</p> + +<p>"She is dead?" he interrogated.</p> + +<p>"Yes," returned the doctor.</p> + +<p>Varrick sank down upon a fallen log, and buried his face in his hands. +For a moment he could scarcely realize Gerelda's untimely fate. He had +not loved her, it was true; still, he would have given his life to have +had her reason restored to her.</p> + +<p>For an hour or more Hubert Varrick forgot his own sorrow in alleviating +the terrible distress of others.</p> + +<p>When there was no more assistance that he could render he thought it +would be best for him to get away from the place as quickly as possible.</p> + +<p>Scarcely heeding whither he went, he took the first path that presented +itself. How far he walked he had not the least idea. In the distance he +saw lights gleaming, and he knew that he was approaching some little +village. He said to himself that it would be best to stop there for a +few hours—until daylight, at least, and to recover Gerelda's body if +possible.</p> + +<p>He followed the path until it brought him to the edge of a little brook. +The white, shining stones that rose above the eddying little wavelets +seemed to invite him to cross to the other side. Midway over the brook +he paused.</p> + +<p>Was it only his fancy, or did he hear the sound of music and revelry?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> + +<p>He stood quite still and looked around him; the scene seemed familiar.</p> + +<p>For an instant Hubert Varrick was startled; but as he gazed he +recognized the place. He must be at Fisher's Landing. Up there through +the trees, lay the home of Captain Carr, the uncle of little Jessie +Bain.</p> + +<p>As he stood gazing at it, the clock in some adjacent steeple slowly +struck the midnight hour. He wondered if Jessie was there. How he felt +like telling some one his troubles!</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XX" id="Chapter_XX"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XX</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>LOVE IS A POISONED ARROW IN SOME HEARTS.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Early the next morning Varrick was at the scene of the disaster, though +he was scarcely fit to leave his bed at the village hostelry. Most of +the bodies had been recovered or accounted for, save that of Gerelda.</p> + +<p>Varrick was just about to offer a large reward to any one who would +recover it, when two fishermen were seen making their way in a little +skiff toward the scene of the wreck.</p> + +<p>There was some object covered over with a dark cloak in the bottom of +their boat. They were making for the shore upon which the wreck was +strewn.</p> + +<p>Varrick sprung forward.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Is it the body of a woman you have there?" he cried.</p> + +<p>They lifted it out tenderly and uncovered the face. It was mutilated +beyond recognition, and the clothing was so torn and soiled by the +action of the waves that scarcely enough of it remained intact, to +disclose its color or texture.</p> + +<p>There was great consternation when Hubert Varrick returned home with the +body of his bride, and more than one whispered: "Fate seems to have been +against that marriage from the very first! 'What is to be, will be.' +These two proposed to marry, but a Higher Power decreed that they were +not for each other."</p> + +<p>The same thought had come to Hubert Varrick as he paced wearily up and +down his own room.</p> + +<p>It was a nine-days' subject for pity and comment, and then the public +ceased to think about it, and Gerelda's fate was at last forgotten.</p> + +<p>Hubert Varrick then arranged his business for a trip abroad, and when he +said good-bye to his mother and Mrs. Northrup, he added that he might be +gone years, perhaps forever.</p> + +<p>In the very moment that he uttered those words, how strange it was that +the thought came over him that he might never see Jessie Bain again.</p> + +<p>But this thought, at such a time, he put from him as unworthy to linger +in his breast. And when the "City of Paris" sailed away, among her +passengers was Hubert Varrick.</p> + +<p>He watched the line of shore until it disappeared from his sight, and a +heavy sigh throbbed on his lips as his thoughts dwelt sadly on Gerelda, +his fair<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> young bride, who lay sleeping on the hill-side just where the +setting sun glinted the marble shaft over her grave with a touch of pale +gold.</p> + +<p>Let us return to the cottage home of Jessie Bain, and see what is taking +place there on this memorable day.</p> + +<p>For a week after the unfortunate young girl was brought under that roof, +carried there from the wreck, her life hung as by a single thread. The +waves had been merciful to her, for they had balked death by washing her +ashore.</p> + +<p>A handkerchief marked with the name "Margaret Moore" had been found +floating near her, and this, they supposed, belonged to her.</p> + +<p>How strange it is that such a little incident can change the whole +current of a human being's life.</p> + +<p>The daily papers far and wide duly chronicled the rescue of Margaret +Moore. No one recognized the name, no friends came to claim her. They +had made a pitiful discovery, however, in the interim—the poor young +creature had become hopelessly insane, whether through fright, or by +being struck upon the head by a piece of the wreck, they could not as +yet determine.</p> + +<p>Jessie Bain's pity for her knew no bounds. She pleaded with her uncle +with all the eloquence she was capable of to allow the stranger to +remain beneath that roof and in the end her pleading prevailed, and +Margaret Moore was installed as a fixture in the Carr homestead.</p> + +<p>Jessie Bain would sit and watch her by the hour, noting how soft and +white her hands were, and how ladylike her manners. She said to herself +that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> she must be a perfect lady, and to the manner born.</p> + +<p>There was something so pathetic about her—(she was by no means +violent)—that Jessie could not help but love her. And the words were +ever upon her lips, that she was to be parted from her lover as soon as +her journey ended; that he had discovered all, and now he had ceased to +love her; that twice she had nearly won him, but that fate had stepped +in-between them.</p> + +<p>Of course, Jessie knew that her words were but the outgrowth of a +deranged mind, and that there had been no lover on the steamer "St. +Lawrence" with Margaret Moore. All day long the girl would wring her +hands and call for her lover, until it made Jessie's heart bleed to hear +her.</p> + +<p>But there was no tangible sense to any remarks that she made. She seemed +so grateful to Jessie, who in turn grew very fond of her grateful +charge. Jessie Bain was not a reader of the newspapers. She never knew +that Hubert Varrick had been on the ill-fated "St. Lawrence" on that +memorable night, and that he had lost his bride.</p> + +<p>Frank Moray, who had been only too glad to send Jessie the item +announcing Hubert Varrick's marriage to another, took good care not to +let her know that Varrick was free again. So the girl dreamed of him as +being off in Europe somewhere, happy with his beautiful bride. Of +course, he had forgotten her long since—that was to be expected; in +fact, she would not have it otherwise.</p> + +<p>Two months had gone by since that Hallowe'en night. It had made little +change in the Carr household.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> The captain still plied his trade up and +down the river, Jessie divided her time between taking care of her +uncle's humble cottage and watching over poor Margaret Moore.</p> + +<p>There were times when the girl really seemed to understand just how much +Jessie was doing for her, and certainly it was gratitude that looked out +of the dark, wistful eyes.</p> + +<p>There were times too when Jessie was quite sure that Memory was +struggling back to its vacant throne.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" she would whisper, earnestly, gazing into Jessie's face. +"And what is your name? It seems as if I had heard it and known it in +some other world."</p> + +<p>Jessie would laugh amusedly at this. Once, much to Jessie's surprise, +when she questioned her as to why she was sitting in the sunshine, +thinking so deeply upon some subject, Margaret Moore answered simply:</p> + +<p>"I was thinking about love!"</p> + +<p>There were times when Margaret Moore seemed rational enough; but her +past life was a blank to her. She always insisted that Jessie Bain's +face was the first she had ever seen in this world.</p> + +<p>It was the first one which she had beheld when consciousness came to her +as she lay on her sick-bed; and to say that she fairly idolized Jessie +was but expressing it very mildly.</p> + +<p>The day came when she proved that devotion with a heroism that people +never forgot. It happened in this way:</p> + +<p>One cold, frosty morning early in January, in tidying<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> up Petie's cage, +the door was accidently left open, and the little canary, who was +Jessie's especial pride, slipped from his cage and flew out at the open +door-way, into the bitter cold of the winter morn.</p> + +<p>With a cry of terror, Jessie Bain sprung after her pet. Down the village +street he flew, making straight toward the river, Jessie following as +fast as her feet could carry her, wringing her hands and calling to him. +Margaret Moore followed in the rear. On the river's brink Jessie paused, +and, with tears in her eyes, watched her pet in his mad flight. By this +time Margaret Moore had caught up to her.</p> + +<p>At that instant Jessie saw the bird whirl in mid-air, spread his yellow +wings, then fall headlong upon the ice that covered the river, and +Jessie sprang forward, and was soon making her way to where the canary +lay. But the ice was not strong enough to bear her. There was a crash, a +cry, and in an instant Jessie Bain had disappeared. The ice had given +way beneath her weight, and the dark waters had swallowed her.</p> + +<p>For an instant Margaret Moore stood dazed; then, with a shriek of +terror, she flew over the ice and was kneeling at the spot where Jessie +had disappeared, watching for her to come to the surface.</p> + +<p>Once, twice, the golden hair showed for an instant; but each time it +eluded the grasp of the girl who made such agonizing attempts to catch +it. The third and last time it appeared. Would she be able to save her?</p> + +<p>Margaret Moore turned her white face up to Heaven, and her lips moved; +then she reached forward, plunged her right arm desperately down into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +the ice-cold water, grasped at the sinking form, and caught it; but she +could not draw the body up.</p> + +<p>"Jessie Bain! Jessie Bain!" she cried; "you will slip away from me! I +can not hold you!</p> + +<p>"Help! help!" she shrieked, in terror. But there was no help at hand.</p> + +<p>All in vain were her pitiful cries. Margaret's hands were torn and +bleeding, and slowly but surely freezing. They must soon relax their +hold, and poor Jessie Bain would slip down, down into a watery grave.</p> + +<p>Ten, twenty minutes passed. Surely it was by a superhuman effort that +that slender arm retained its burden; but it could not hold out much +longer.</p> + +<p>So intense was her terror, Margaret Moore did not realize her own great +physical pain. By an almost superhuman effort she attempted to cry out +again.</p> + +<p>This time she was successful. Her voice rose shrill and clear over the +barren waste of frozen ice, over the waving trees, and down the road +beyond. It reached the ears of a man who was hurrying rapidly through +the snow-drifts.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XXI" id="Chapter_XXI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XXI</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>IT IS SO HARD FOR A YOUNG GIRL TO FACE THE WORLD ALONE.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>"Help! help!" the words echoed sharp and clear again through the frosty +morning air, and this time the man walking hurriedly along the road +heard it distinctly, paused, and turned a very startled face toward the +river.</p> + +<p>It required but a glance to take in the terrible situation; the young +girl stretched at full length on the ice, holding by main strength, +something above the aperture in the ice; it was certainly a woman's +head.</p> + +<p>"Courage, courage!" he cried in a voice like a bugle blast. "Help is at +hand! Hold on!" And in less time than it takes to tell it, he had +reached the girl's side.</p> + +<p>"Save her, save her!" gasped Margaret Moore. "My hands are frozen; I can +not hold on any longer;" and with this she sunk back unconscious, and +the burden she held would have slipped from her cramped fingers back +into the dark, cold waves had not the stranger caught it in time. It +required all his strength, however, to draw the body, slim though it +was, from the water.</p> + +<p>One glance at the marble-white face, and he uttered a little cry:</p> + +<p>"Great Heaven! if it isn't Jessie Bain!"</p> + +<p>Laying his dripping burden on the bank, the man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> lost no time in +dragging Margaret Moore back from her perilous position; then the +stranger, who was a fisherman, summoned assistance, and the two young +girls were quickly carried back to the cottage, and a neighbor called +in.</p> + +<p>Jessie was the first to recover consciousness. She had suffered a +terrible shock, a severe chill, but the blood of youth bounded quickly +in her veins. Save a little fever, which was the natural result of the +counter-action, she was none the worse for her thrilling experience.</p> + +<p>With Margaret Moore it was different. The doctor who had been called in +shook his head gravely over her condition.</p> + +<p>"It may be a very serious matter," he said, slowly; "it may result in +both hands having to be amputated, leaving her a cripple for life. +Deranged and a cripple!" he added, pityingly, under his breath. "It +would be better far if the poor thing were to die than to drag out the +existence marked out for her."</p> + +<p>"You will do all that you possibly can to save her hands?" said Captain +Carr, anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Yes, certainly," returned the doctor, "all that it is possible to do."</p> + +<p>Jessie Bain's gratitude knew no bounds when she learned how near she had +come to losing her life, and that she owed her rescue to the heroism of +faithful Margaret Moore. She wept as she had never wept before when she +discovered how dearly it might cost poor Margaret.</p> + +<p>Alas! how true it is that trouble never comes singly! At this crisis of +affairs, Captain Carr suddenly succumbed to a malady that had been +troubling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> him for years, and Jessie Bain found herself thrown homeless, +penniless upon the world. She was thankful that poor Margaret Moore did +not realize the calamity that had overtaken her. That humble cottage +roof which had sheltered her so long would cover her head no more.</p> + +<p>"There is only one thing to be done, and that is to place the girl in an +asylum," the neighbors advised.</p> + +<p>This Jessie Bain stoutly declared she never would do as long as she had +two hands to work for the unfortunate girl.</p> + +<p>"I shall turn all my little possessions into money," she declared, "and +go immediately to New York City and find something to do. She shall go +with me and share my fortunes; my last crust of bread I will divide with +her."</p> + +<p>Every one thanked Heaven that by almost a miracle Margaret Moore's hands +were saved to her.</p> + +<p>A few days later Jessie Bain bid adieu forever to Fisher's Landing, +accompanied by the girl who followed her so patiently out into the +world.</p> + +<p>How strange it is that New York City is generally the objective point +for the poor and friendless in search of employment.</p> + +<p>The journey to the great metropolis was a long one. They reached there +just as the sun was sinking.</p> + +<p>The first thing to be thought of was shelter. Inquiring in the drug +store opposite the depot, she found that there was a small +boarding-house down the first cross-street.</p> + +<p>Jessie soon found the street and number to which she had been directed. +A pleasant-faced maid opened the door. She was immediately shown into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +the parlor, and a brisk, bustling little woman soon put in an +appearance.</p> + +<p>She looked curiously at the two pretty young girls when she learned +their errand.</p> + +<p>"This is a theatrical boarding-place," she said, "and all of our rooms +are full save two, and they are to be occupied on the twentieth. You +might have them up to that time, I suppose," she added, unwilling to let +the chance of making a few extra dollars go by her. "Or perhaps you and +your sister could make the smaller one do for both."</p> + +<p>"We could indeed!" eagerly assented Jessie.</p> + +<p>She had noticed that the woman had called Margaret Moore her sister, and +she said to herself that perhaps it would be as well to let it go at +that, as it would certainly save much explanation.</p> + +<p>And then again, if the landlady knew that her companion had lost her +reason, she would never allow them to stay there over night, no matter +how harmless she might be.</p> + +<p>Jessie started out bright and early the next morning to search for +employment, cautioning Margaret over and over again not to quit the +room, and to answer no questions that might be put to her. After the +first day's experience, she returned, heartsick and discouraged, to the +boarding-house.</p> + +<p>"Didn't find anything to do, eh?" remarked the landlady, +sympathetically, as she met her at the door.</p> + +<p>"No," said Jessie; "but I hope to meet with better luck to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you try to get on the stage," said Mrs. Tracy, patting the +girl's shoulder. "You are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> young, and, to tell you the truth, you've an +uncommonly pretty face."</p> + +<p>"The stage?" echoed Jessie. "Why, I was never on the stage in all my +life. What could I do on the stage?"</p> + +<p>"You would make your fortune," declared the woman, "if you were clever. +And there's your sister, too, she is almost as pretty as yourself. She'd +like it, I am sure."</p> + +<p>At that moment a woman who was passing hurriedly through the dimly +lighted hall stopped short.</p> + +<p>"What is this I hear, Mrs. Tracy?" she exclaimed. "Are you advising your +new boarders, those two pretty, young girls, to go on the stage?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," returned the other. "They are looking for work, and drudgery +would be such hardship for them. And to tell the exact truth, Manager +Morgan of the Society Belle Company, who is stopping with me, told me he +would find a place in his company for her if she would leave her sister +and go out on the road; and, furthermore, that he would push her, and +take great pains in learning her all the stage business."</p> + +<p>That evening, by his eager request, the manager was introduced to Jessie +Bain.</p> + +<p>He told a story so glowing, Jessie felt sorely tempted to accept his +offer of a position on the stage. He promised her such a wonderful large +salary and such grand times that she was surprised. Jessie's only +objection in not accepting the offer was the thought that she should be +parted from Margaret, which, the manager assured her, would have to be, +as he had no room in his company for two.</p> + +<p>"You can board her right here at Mrs. Tracy's,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> he suggested, "as your +salary will be ample to pay for her. It is a chance that not one girl +out of a thousand ever gets. You must realize that fact."</p> + +<p>"Do you think I had better accept it, Mrs. Tracy?" asked Jessie.</p> + +<p>"Indeed, I shouldn't hesitate," was the reply. "I'm not a theatrical +person myself, although I do keep this boarding-house for them, and I +don't know much about life behind the foot-lights, only as I hear them +tell about it; but if I were in your place, it seems to me that I should +accept it. If you don't like it, or get something better, it's easy +enough to make a change, you know."</p> + +<p>Jessie took this view of the case, too, and she signed a contract with +the manager of the theatrical company.</p> + +<p>"I hope I shall have a good part in the play," said Jessie, anxiously; +"and, believe me, I will do my best to make it a success."</p> + +<p>"Your face alone will insure that," said Manager Morgan, with a bland +smile that might have warned the girl. "I will cast you for the lovely +young heiress in the play. You will wear fine dresses and look charming. +The part will suit you exactly."</p> + +<p>"But I have no fine clothes," said Jessie, much down-hearted.</p> + +<p>"Do not let such a little matter as that trouble you, I pray," he said +gallantly. "I will advance you the required amount; you can pay me when +you like."</p> + +<p>Jessie said to herself that she had never met so kind a gentleman, and +her gratitude was accordingly very great.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> + +<p>The next morning she was waited upon by a French <i>modiste</i>, who seemed +to know just what she required, and a few days later, half a dozen +dresses, so gorgeous that they fairly took Jessie Bain's breath away, +were sent up to her.</p> + +<p>She tried to explain to Margaret, who had settled down into a strange +and unaccountable apathy, all about her wonderful good luck; but she +answered her with only vacant monosyllables. And knowing that part of +the truth must be told sooner or later, Jessie was forced to admit to +Mrs. Tracy that Margaret had lost her reason, but that she was by no +means harmful.</p> + +<p>"That is no secret to me," responded Mrs. Tracy. "Every one in the +boarding-house thought that from the first day you came here, though you +tried hard to hide her malady from us. And I repeat my offer, that you +can leave your sister in my charge, and I will do my very best for her. +Let me tell you why," she added, in a low voice. "I had a daughter of my +own once who looked very like your sister Margaret. She lost her reason +because of an unhappy love affair, and she drooped and died. For her +sake my heart bleeds with pity for any young girl whose reason has been +dethroned. God help her!"</p> + +<p>So it was settled that Margaret was to remain with Mrs. Tracy.</p> + +<p>"After a few rehearsals you will get to know what you have got to do, +quite well," said Manager Morgan, as he handed Jessie her part to learn. +"Our company has been called together very hurriedly. We expected that +it would be fully a month<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> later ere rehearsals would begin and our +members be called together. I have the same people who were with me last +year, all save the young lady whose place you take, and they are all +well up in their parts and don't need rehearsals. We go out on the road +in one week more. I shall have to coach you in your part."</p> + +<p>The handsome Mr. Morgan made himself most agreeable during those days of +rehearsal, and if Jessie Bain's heart had not been entirely frozen by +the frost of that earlier love for Hubert Varrick, which had come to +such a bitter ending, she might have fancied this handsome, dandified +manager.</p> + +<p>The company were to open their season at Albany, and at last the day +arrived for Mr. Morgan and Jessie to start.</p> + +<p>There was to be just one rehearsal the following forenoon, and the next +evening the play was to be produced.</p> + +<p>It was a bitter trial for Jessie to leave Margaret alone there; but the +bitterest blow of all was that she could not make Margaret understand +that they were to be separated from each other for many long weeks.</p> + +<p>It was snowing hard when the train steamed into Albany. Mr. Morgan, who +had gone up by an earlier train, met her at the depot.</p> + +<p>"We will go right to the theater," he said; "the remainder of the +company are there; they are all waiting for us."</p> + +<p>Jessie felt a little disappointed at not getting a cup of good hot tea; +but she was too timid to mention it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> + +<p>A dozen or more faces were eagerly turned toward them when they entered +the theater. Four very much over-dressed young women, sitting in a group +and laughing rather hilariously, and half a dozen long-ulstered, +curly-mustached <i>blasé</i>-appearing gentlemen, stared boldly at the timid, +shrinking young girl whom Manager Morgan led forward.</p> + +<p>"Our new leading lady, Miss Jessie Bain," he announced, briefly; adding +quickly after this general introduction: "Clear the stage every one who +is not discovered in the first act."</p> + +<p>The way these gentlemen and ladies fairly flew into the wings astonished +Jessie. They acted more like frightened children, afraid of a +school-master than like ladies and gentlemen who were great heroes and +heroines of the drama. Jessie stood quite still, not a little +bewildered.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me; but were you ever on before?" asked one of the girls, eyeing +Jessie curiously.</p> + +<p>"No," she answered; "but I do hope I will get along. I am very anxious +to learn."</p> + +<p>At this there was a great deal of suppressed tittering, which rather +nettled Jessie.</p> + +<p>"You must have wonderful confidence in yourself to attempt to play your +part to-night, with only this one rehearsal. Aren't you afraid you will +get stage-frightened?"</p> + +<p>"I used to take part in all the entertainments that we used to give at +home in the little village I came from. Once I had a very long part, and +I always had an excellent memory."</p> + +<p>"Let me give you a little word of advice," said the girl, who introduced +herself as Mally Marsh,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> linking her arm in Jessie's and drawing her +into one of the dark recesses of the wings, where they were quite alone +together. "Did you see the girl in the sealskin coat who sat at my right +as you came up? I want to tell you about her."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XXII" id="Chapter_XXII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XXII</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>"PRAY, PERMIT ME TO ESCORT YOU HOME," SAID THE HANDSOME STRANGER, +STEPPING TO JESSIE'S SIDE AND RAISING HIS HAT WITH A PROFOUND BOW.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Jessie looked out on to the stage at the very pretty girl at whom her +companion was nodding.</p> + +<p>"That is the one you mean?" she said.</p> + +<p>"Yes; that's Celey Dunbar," returned her companion; "and I repeat that I +want to warn you about her. Celey was Manager Morgan's sweetheart last +season. We all thought he was engaged to her at one time, but he soon +tired of her. She is as fond of him as ever, though, and she'll make it +hot for you if you don't watch out.</p> + +<p>"Now, you see the girl in the long gray cloak, going on with her part +out there? Well, that's Dovie Davis. Her husband is the handsome, +dashing young fellow over yonder, who is to be your lover in the play. +She's as jealous as green-gages of him, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> while he is making love to +you, on the stage, she'll be watching you from some entrance, as a cat +would a mouse, and woe be to you if you make your part too real! The +other lady over there is keeping company with that good-looking fellow +she is talking to; so keep your eyes off him.</p> + +<p>"The fellow in the long ulster and silk hat I claim as my especial +property. Don't look so dumfounded, goosie; I mean he's my beau. We +always manage to get into the same company, and it would be war to the +knife with any girl who attempted to flirt with him."</p> + +<p>"You need not be afraid of my ever attempting to flirt with him," said +Jessie gravely.</p> + +<p>"Well, it doesn't come amiss to learn a thing or two in season," +returned Mally, with a nod. "All theatrical companies pair off like +that.</p> + +<p>"The other two young gents who passed by the wing a moment ago, and were +watching you so intently, are married. Now, let me repeat the lesson +again, so as to impress it upon your mind: Celey Dunbar is Manager +Morgan's ex-sweetheart; Mrs. Dovie Davis is married; that gay, jolly +girl is Daisy Lee, the soubrette of the company; she'd cut out any one +of us if she could; but she's so merry a sprite we don't mind her, +especially as none of the fellows take to her particularly."</p> + +<p>To Jessie that rehearsal seemed like a bewildering dream. The ladies of +the company looked at her coldly, but the gentlemen were wonderfully +pleasant to her. They talked to her as freely as though they had known +her for years, instead of only an hour.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> This embarrassed Jessie +greatly; she hardly knew how to take this unaccustomed familiarity.</p> + +<p>After rehearsal was over, Manager Morgan took her back to her hotel, +frowning darkly at Celey Dunbar, who made a bold attempt to walk with +them.</p> + +<p>"Be ready at seven o'clock sharp," he said, as he left her at the door.</p> + +<p>Left to herself when dinner was over, Jessie sat quietly down in her +lonely little room to think.</p> + +<p>She wondered how such people as she had met that day could play the +different parts in the beautiful story whose every incident Manager +Morgan had explained to her.</p> + +<p>"Certainly it isn't very romantic," she thought, "to have the hero lover +of the play a married man."</p> + +<p>Night came at last, and feeling more frightened than she had ever felt +in her life before, Jessie emerged from her dressing-room. Mally Marsh +accompanied her to the wing to see that she went on all right when her +cue was given.</p> + +<p>"There's a big house out in front," whispered Mally. "Ah! there's your +cue now."</p> + +<p>Out in the center of the stage stood a young man, exclaiming eagerly, as +he looked in their direction:</p> + +<p>"Ah, here comes the little society belle now!"</p> + +<p>"Go on; walk right out on the stage," whispered Mally, giving Jessie a +push.</p> + +<p>Jessie never knew how she got there.</p> + +<p>The glare of the foot-lights blinded her. The words her companion +uttered fell upon dazed ears. She tried to speak the words that she had +learned so perfectly, but they seemed to die away in her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> throat; no +sound could she utter. A great numbness was clutching at her +heart-strings, and she could move neither hand nor foot.</p> + +<p>"Aha! our little beauty is stage-frightened," she heard Celey Dunbar +whisper from one of the wings of the stage, in a loud, triumphant voice. +"I am just glad of it. That's what Manager Morgan gets by bringing in a +novice. Ha! ha! ha!"</p> + +<p>Those words stung Jessie into action, and quick as a flash the truant +lines recurred to her, and to the great chagrin of her rival in the +wings, she went on with her part unfalteringly to the very end.</p> + +<p>Her beauty, and her fresh, sweet simplicity and naturalness quite took +the audience by storm, and the curtain was rung down at length amid the +wildest storm of applause that that theater had ever known.</p> + +<p>The manager was delighted with Jessie Bain's success. The ladies of the +company were furious, and they gathered together in one of the entrances +and watched her.</p> + +<p>"Stage life is coming to a pretty how-de-do," cried one, furiously, +"when women who have been before the foot-lights for ten years—ay, +given the best years of their lives to the stage—have to stand aside, +for a novice like that!"</p> + +<p>"My husband plays altogether too ardent a lover to her!" cried Dovie +Davis, jealously. "I won't stand it! Either she leaves this company at +the end of a fortnight, or my husband and I do; that's all there is +about it!"</p> + +<p>This appeared to be the sentiment of every woman in the company, and +they did not attempt to conceal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> their dislike as she passed them by +during the evening.</p> + +<p>Just before the curtain went down, Manager Morgan received a telegram +which called him to Rochester. He had barely time to catch the train, +and in his hurry he quite forgot to leave instructions to have some one +see Jessie Bain to the hotel.</p> + +<p>As Jessie emerged from her dressing-room she looked around for Mr. +Morgan. He was nowhere about.</p> + +<p>"I thought you'd never come out of your dressing-room, ma'am," said the +man who was waiting to turn the lights out. "Every one's gone—you're +the last one."</p> + +<p>"Has—has Mr. Morgan gone?" echoed Jessie, in great trepidation.</p> + +<p>"Every one's gone, I said," was the saucy reply.</p> + +<p>And the man turned the light out in her face, and she was obliged to +grope her way as best she could along the dark entry. After floundering +about the building for almost ten minutes, until the great tears were +rolling down her cheeks with fright, she at length called loudly to some +one to come to her assistance.</p> + +<p>The same man who had turned out the gas on her now came grumblingly to +her rescue. At length she found herself out on the street.</p> + +<p>Before she had time to turn and ask the man the way to the hotel, he had +slammed the door to in her face and turned the key in the lock with a +loud, resounding click, and Jessie found herself standing ankle-deep in +the snow-drift, with the wind whirling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> about her and dashing the +blinding snow in her face.</p> + +<p>Suddenly from out the dark shadows of an adjacent door-way sprung a man +in a long ulster.</p> + +<p>"Don't be frightened, Miss Bain," he exclaimed. "I have been waiting for +you almost an hour, to see you home."</p> + +<p>Jessie started back in dismay. At that instant he half turned, and the +flickering light from the gas-lamp fell full upon his face, and she +recognized him as one of the members of the company—Walter Winans, whom +Mally Marsh had said was her beau.</p> + +<p>Even had this not been the case, Jessie could never have admired so +bold-looking a fellow.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, but I am very sorry that you waited for me, Mr. Winans," +said Jessie, coldly. "I can find my way back to the hotel alone."</p> + +<p>"Phew! What an independent little piece we are, to be sure!" he cried. +"You're not expecting any one else, are you?" he inquired looking +hastily around.</p> + +<p>"No," said Jessie, simply.</p> + +<p>"Come on, then, with me," he said, seizing her arm and fairly dragging +her along.</p> + +<p>Discretion seemed the better part of valor to Jessie. She thought it +would not be wise to offend the young man; and, to tell the truth, she +was rather glad to have some one to pilot her along through the terrible +snow-drifts.</p> + +<p>"Let me tell you something," said Winans, without waiting for her +answer. "I have taken quite a liking to you, Jessie Bain—this is +between you and me—and I hope very much that the feeling will be +reciprocated, little girl. I'll be only too glad to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> escort you to and +from the theater every night, if you like. Don't let any of the girls of +this company talk you into the belief that they have any claim on me.</p> + +<p>"You must not think it strange that I took an interest in you, little +Jessie, from the first moment I saw you," continued Winans, pressing the +girl's hand softly, as they pushed on bravely through the terrible +snow-drifts. "There was something about you very different from the rest +of the girls whom I have met."</p> + +<p>"I trust you will not talk so to me, Mr. Winans," said Jessie.</p> + +<p>"But I must," he insisted. "I must tell you all that is in my heart. +Surely you can not blame a fellow so very much for being unfortunate +enough to fall desperately in love with you!"</p> + +<p>He had spoken the words eagerly, and it never occurred to him that they +had been uttered so loudly that any one passing might have heard them.</p> + +<p>Suddenly from out the shadow of an arched door-way sprang a woman, who +planted herself directly in the snowy path before them.</p> + +<p>"Stop!" she cried. "Don't dare advance a step further!" and quick as a +flash she drew a heavy riding-whip from the folds of her cloak. Once, +twice, thrice it cut through the snow-laden air, and fell upon Winans' +defenseless head.</p> + +<p>Smarting with pain, he dropped Jessie's arm and sprang forward, and +attempted to wrest the whip from the infuriated young woman's hands.</p> + +<p>"Take that! and that! and that!" she cried, again<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> and yet again; and +with each word the blows rained down faster and faster upon his face and +hands.</p> + +<p>There was but one way to escape, and that was in ignominious flight.</p> + +<p>"So," cried Mally Marsh, as she turned to Jessie "this is all the heed +you paid to my warning, is it? If I gave you your just deserts, I would +thrash you within an inch of your life, for attempting to take my lover +away from me! Now listen to what I have to say, girl, and take warning: +You must leave this company at once. If you do not do so, I will not +answer for myself. Do not make it an excuse that you have no money. +Here!" and with the word she flung a bill in her face. "The depot is to +your right. Go there, and take the first train back to the city whence +you came. Go, I say, while yet I can keep my wrath in check."</p> + +<p>Jessie stood there for a moment like one stupefied. She tried to explain +how it had happened, but her companion would not listen and walked away.</p> + +<p>As one lost, Jessie wandered to the depot, where a policeman, noticing +her distress, drew her story from her. He said he knew of a most +respectable old woman who was looking for a companion and wrote her name +and address on a piece of paper for Jessie. The policeman readily +consented to allow her to remain in the station until morning. It was a +long and weary wait and at eight o'clock Jessie went to the house to +which the policeman had directed her.</p> + +<p>A pompous footman conducted her to a spacious drawing-room, and placed a +seat for her.</p> + +<p>After a long and dreary wait which seemed hours to Jessie, though in +reality it was not over twenty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> minutes, she heard the rustle of a +woman's dress. An instant later, a little white, shrivelled hand, loaded +with jewels pushed aside the satin <i>portières</i>, and an old lady appeared +on the threshold.</p> + +<p>Jessie rose hesitatingly from her seat with a little courtesy.</p> + +<p>"You came in answer to my advertisement for a companion?" the little old +lady began.</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame," returned Jessie.</p> + +<p>"Where were you in service last?"</p> + +<p>"I have never had a position of the kind before," said Jessie, +hesitatingly, "but if you would try me, madame, I would do my very best +to suit you."</p> + +<p>"Speak a little louder," said the old lady, sharply. "I am a trifle hard +of hearing. Mind, just a trifle, I can not quite hear you."</p> + +<p>Jessie repeated in a louder tone what she had said.</p> + +<p>"Your appearance suits me exactly," returned Mrs. Bassett; "but I could +not take a person into my household who is an entire stranger, and who +has no references to offer to assure me of her respectability."</p> + +<p>Jessie's eyes filled with tears.</p> + +<p>"I am so sorry," she faltered; "but as I am a stranger in Albany, there +is no one here to whom I could apply for a reference."</p> + +<p>"I like your face very much indeed," repeated Mrs. Bassett, more to +herself than to the girl; then, turning to her suddenly, she asked: +"Where are you from—where's your home?"</p> + +<p>"A little village on the St. Lawrence River called Fisher's Landing," +returned Jessie. "My uncle, Captain Carr, died a week ago, and I was +forced to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> leave my old home, and go out into the world and earn my own +living."</p> + +<p>"Did you say you lived at Fisher's Landing?" exclaimed the old lady, +"and that Captain Carr of that place was your uncle?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame," returned Jessie.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XXIII" id="Chapter_XXIII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XXIII</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>JESSIE BAIN ENTERS THE HOUSE OF SECRETS.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>The old lady stared at Jessie through her spectacles.</p> + +<p>"You need no other recommendation. I once met Captain Carr under +thrilling circumstances, my child. I was out in a row-boat one day—some +ten years ago—when a steamer almost ran down our little skiff. I would +have been capsized, and perhaps drowned, had it not been for the bravery +of Captain Carr, of Fisher's Landing. I made him a handsome little +present, and from that day to this I have never heard from him. Captain +Carr dead, and his niece out in the world looking for a situation! You +shall come to me, if you like, reference or no reference, my dear.'</p> + +<p>"Oh, madam, you are so very, very kind!" sobbed Jessie.</p> + +<p>The little old lady touched a silver bell close at hand, and a tidy, +elderly maid appeared.</p> + +<p>"Harriet, I have engaged this young woman as companion," she said. "She +came in answer to yesterday's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> advertisement in the <i>Argus</i>. You will +take her to her room at once. She is to occupy the little room directly +off mine."</p> + +<p>The room into which she ushered Jessie was a small, dingy apartment, +with draperies so sombre that they seemed almost black. The curtains +were closely drawn, and an unmistakable atmosphere of mustiness pervaded +the apartment.</p> + +<p>"Have you had breakfast, miss?" asked Harriet, looking sharply into the +girl's pale face, and adding before she had time to reply: "Even though +you have breakfasted, a cup of hot tea will do you good this cold, crisp +morning. My lady will be pleased to have you come down to the table. The +bell will ring in about ten minutes. You can easily make your way there. +Step down the corridor, and turn into the passage-way at the right; the +second door."</p> + +<p>Jessie bowed her thanks, and murmured that she would be very grateful +for a cup of tea. It was not long before she heard the breakfast-bell. +Hastily quitting the room, she made her way down the corridor. In her +confusion, the girl made the mistake of turning to the left, instead of +the right, as she had been directed.</p> + +<p>"The second door," she muttered to herself.</p> + +<p>As she reached it she paused abruptly. It was slightly ajar. Glancing in +hesitatingly, she saw that it looked more like a young lady's <i>boudoir</i> +than an ordinary breakfast-room. Before a mirror at the further end of +the apartment sat a young girl in the sun-light. A maid was brushing out +the wavy masses of her warm-tinted auburn hair.</p> + +<p>While Jessie was hesitating as to whether she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> should tap on the door +and make her presence known or walk on further through the corridor, a +conversation which she could not help overhearing, held her spell-bound, +fairly rooted to the spot.</p> + +<p>"I assure you it is quite true, Janet," the lovely young girl was saying +in a very fretful, angry voice. "The old lady has got a companion in the +house at last. But she shall not stay long beneath this roof depend upon +that, Janet. She is young and very beautiful.</p> + +<p>"I would not care so much, if it were not that the handsome grandson is +expected to arrive every day."</p> + +<p>"Surely, Miss Rosamond, you, with all your beauty, do not fear a rival +in the little humble companion."</p> + +<p>"Companions have been known to do a great deal of mischief before now, +and, as I have said, the girl is remarkably pretty. I saw her from the +library window as she was coming up the front steps, and then, when old +Mrs. Bassett came down to the library, I was safely ensconced behind the +silken draperies of the bay-window, and I heard all that was said. You +may be sure that I was angry enough. She shall not stay here long, if I +can help it. I will make it so unpleasant for her that she will be glad +to go. I detest the girl already, on general principles."</p> + +<p>Jessie Bain cowered back, dazed and bewildered, almost doubting her own +senses as to what she had just heard.</p> + +<p>Smarting with bitter pain, Jessie turned away and hurried swiftly down +the corridor in the opposite direction.</p> + +<p>She was quickly retracing her steps back to her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> own room, when she met +Harriet again in the corridor.</p> + +<p>"I was just coming for you, miss," she said, "thinking that you might +not be able to find your way, after all, there are so many twists and +turns hereabouts," and without further ado she quickly retraced her +steps, nodding to Jessie to follow.</p> + +<p>The breakfast-room into which she was ushered was by far the most +commodious room in the house.</p> + +<p>A great, square apartment with ceilings and panelings of solid oak, +massive side-boards, which contained the family silver for fully a +century or more, great, high-backed chairs with heavy carvings, done up +in leather, and a polished, inlaid floor, with here and there a velvet +rug or tiger's skin.</p> + +<p>The old lady was seated at the table as Harriet ushered in the young +girl. She smiled, and nodded a welcome. Opposite her sat a little old +man with large ears, who peered at her sharply from over a pair of +double-barreled, gold-rimmed eyeglasses.</p> + +<p>"This is the young person whom I have just engaged as my companion," +said Mrs. Bassett, shrilly, turning toward her husband.</p> + +<p>"H'm!" ejaculated the old gentleman. "What did you say this young +woman's name was?"</p> + +<p>"Bain," she replied.</p> + +<p>"Hey?" he exclaimed, holding his right hand trumpet fashion, to his ear. +"Give me the name a little louder."</p> + +<p>"Miss Bain— Jessie Bain!" shouted his wife, in an ear-splitting voice +that made every nerve in Jessie's body throb and quiver.</p> + +<p>"Ah—h'm— Miss Bain," he repeated; adding, as he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> cleared out his +throat: "I am very anxious to have the papers read while we breakfast. +You may as well begin by reading this morning's reports," he said, +handing her a paper which lay folded beside his plate. "You may turn to +the stock reports first, Miss Bain. Third column on the first page, Miss +Bain."</p> + +<p>She had scarcely finished the first paragraph ere the old gentleman +commanded her to stop.</p> + +<p>"Can you understand one word that this young woman is reading?" he +inquired, turning sharply to his wife.</p> + +<p>"No. Miss Bain must read louder," she said. "I do not quite catch it."</p> + +<p>The perspiration stood out in great balls on Jessie's pale face. She had +raised her voice to almost a shout already, and her throat was beginning +to ache terribly, for the strain upon it was very great. How she ever +struggled down to the bottom of that column, she never knew. The +appearance of the breakfast tray was a welcome relief to her.</p> + +<p>"You read very nicely," complimented the old gentleman. "I enjoy +listening to you. I shall give you the privilege of reading all my +papers aloud every forenoon."</p> + +<p>Jessie looked helplessly at him. The strain had been so great that her +throat pained her terribly; but she made no demur. How could she?</p> + +<p>At that moment the door swung slowly open, and a tall, beautiful girl +entered.</p> + +<p>Jessie knew her at the first startled glance. It was the lovely girl +whom she had heard talking to her maid about her, but a little while +before.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> + +<p>She took the seat at the end of the table without so much as deigning to +glance at the new-comer.</p> + +<p>"My dear, let me present you to Miss Bain— Miss Bain, my husband's +<i>protégée</i>, Rosamond Lee," exclaimed Mrs. Bassett.</p> + +<p>Jessie bowed wistfully, shyly; Miss Rosamond barely lifted her eyebrows +in acknowledgment of the presentation.</p> + +<p>The old gentleman and his wife screamed at each other on the main topics +of the day, Miss Rosamond looked exceedingly bored, while Jessie had +great difficulty in swallowing, her throat ached so severely.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XXIV" id="Chapter_XXIV"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XXIV</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>"OH, TO SLEEP MY LIFE AWAY, AND BE WITH THEE AT REST!"</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Rosamond Lee completely ignored the lovely young stranger seated at the +table opposite her; but Jessie had the uncomfortable feeling that she +was watching her.</p> + +<p>The conversation had ceased, when suddenly Mr. Bassett announced: "I +have just received a letter from my grandson. He will be with us a week +from to-day. He will remain with us a month."</p> + +<p>During the next few days the household was quite upset, so great were +the preparations made for the coming stranger. Most of the forenoons had +been spent by Jessie in reading the daily papers to the old couple in +the library. One morning Rosamond<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> Lee came to her quite excitedly, just +as she was about to begin her duties.</p> + +<p>"Miss Bain," she said, arching her eyebrows haughtily, "I do not think +my guardian has thought to mention the subject to you, but for the next +few weeks you are to exchange places with my maid, Janet; she has hurt +her hand, but that will not hinder her from reading the papers and +attending to Mrs. Bassett's wants. During that time, while you are +performing the services of maid to me, you will remember that your place +is not in the library, but in my own suite of rooms. I must also mention +to you that you will be excused from joining us at the table."</p> + +<p>Jessie flushed and then paled. It was not so much on account of the +menial position to which she was assigned, as the manner in which the +change had been made known to her.</p> + +<p>"You may as well commence your duties at once," said Rosamond, +imperiously, "and make the change to my apartments without further +delay."</p> + +<p>"I have a letter to write for Mrs. Bassett, to her grandson, I believe," +said Jessie, in a low voice. "Shall I not remain in the library until +after that is done? Mrs. Bassett told me to remind her of it to-day."</p> + +<p>"Never mind about it," said Rosamond Lee, hurriedly, "I will attend to +it. I always write the letters to her grandson for her. I am amazed that +she should call upon you. You must come with me at once to my rooms."</p> + +<p>Jessie put down the paper she was reading and followed her.</p> + +<p>As Jessie Bain entered Rosamond's room, she was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> surprised at the array +of dresses lying on the sofa, the chair-backs, and every conceivable +place.</p> + +<p>"I want these all overhauled at once," began the beauty. "They must be +finished by the end of the week."</p> + +<p>Jessie looked around at the dresses, surprised at the great amount of +work which Miss Lee was so confident she could accomplish in so short a +time.</p> + +<p>Jessie was sure that she saw Rosamond Lee's maid busily stitching away +when she had first entered the room, but she rose hastily and went into +an inner apartment, and a moment later returned with her hand done up +and her arm in a sling.</p> + +<p>Rosamond Lee said to herself that it had been a wise stratagem on her +part to make her maid exchange places with Jessie Bain until after the +handsome young man should come and go.</p> + +<p>The tasks that Rosamond Lee laid out for Jessie were cruelly hard. She +would say to her each morning, as she laid out this or that bit of work:</p> + +<p>"This must be finished by to-morrow morning."</p> + +<p>As soon as the clock struck nine, Rosamond would seek her downy couch. +Not for anything in the world would she have lost the few hours of +beauty-sleep before midnight, so essential to young girl's good looks.</p> + +<p>But there must be no beauty-sleep for the tired young girl who plied her +needle.</p> + +<p>"How dare you!" Rosamond cried. "What do you mean by loitering in this +manner?"</p> + +<p>Miss Rosamond insisted that while she was performing the duties of maid +to her, Jessie must take her meals up in her room, declaring that it +really took<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> too much time for her to go and come to the dining-room to +her meals.</p> + +<p>On the third afternoon of her banishment she heard the sound of +carriage-wheels, followed by the servants in the corridor crying out +excitedly:</p> + +<p>"He has come at last! Now the old gentleman and his wife will be in the +seventh heaven!"</p> + +<p>It mattered little to Jessie Bain. She cared not who came or went. She +knew that some young man was expected; but she had not taken interest +enough to listen when the maid, who had come in to do up their rooms +that morning, had broached the subject concerning him.</p> + +<p>"Miss Rosamond is very much in love with him," commented the girl, in a +significant whisper, after taking a swift glance over her shoulder to +make sure they were quite alone. "Well, it's no wonder, either, for a +handsome-looking gentleman he is—tall, broad-shouldered, and kindly. He +will inherit an enormous fortune from old Mr. and Mrs. Bassett, for they +just idolize him. His mother was their only child. He always came here +once a year, ever since he was a little lad, they say, and all the old +servants love him."</p> + +<p>The maid had scarcely finished her recital, concerning the coming of the +handsome heir, when the door was suddenly flung open, and Rosamond Lee, +breathless and flushed with excitement, sprung into the room.</p> + +<p>"Where's my pale-blue dress with the black velvet bows? Get it for me, +somebody—anybody! I want to put it on at once!" she fairly cried.</p> + +<p>"The pale-blue dress is not finished yet," Jessie answered, falteringly. +"You know you changed your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> mind about having it altered the next moment +after you had laid it out, and told me not to touch it until you decided +fully just how you wanted it done. I have been sewing on the rose-pink +cashmere—"</p> + +<p>"You horrid creature!" screamed Rosamond Lee. "I can scarcely keep my +hands off you! You didn't want to see me looking well in my pale-blue +dress, and delayed fixing it on purpose. Oh, you horrid, horrid +creature!" and with this she seized Jessie Bain by the shoulders and +shook her until the girl's slender form bent like a reed in the storm.</p> + +<p>The maid, who watched this proceeding, was fairly speechless with +terror. She would have flung herself between Jessie Bain and the +infuriated beauty had she dared, but she knew that would mean instant +dismissal, and despite her intense indignation, she was obliged to stand +there and coolly witness it all.</p> + +<p>"There," cried Rosamond Lee, fairly out of breath, "I hope I have taught +you that I won't be trifled with. Now help me get on the rose cashmere +as quick as you can."</p> + +<p>Jessie Bain never knew how she managed to fasten the dress on the irate +beauty.</p> + +<p>The maid came to her rescue, noting that Jessie Bain was by far too +nervous to do the heiress's bidding.</p> + +<p>The look of thankfulness she gave her amply repaid her.</p> + +<p>A moment later Miss Rosamond flounced out of the room. The door had +scarcely closed after her ere Jessie Bain's strength gave way entirely, +and she sank to the floor in a swoon.</p> + +<p>"Poor thing!" cried the maid, bending over her, "I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> shall advise her to +leave this place at once. But, after all, maybe it is with her as it is +with me—she would have no home to go to if she left here, and her next +mistress might be as cruel, though she couldn't be any worse."</p> + +<p>Her diligent efforts were soon rewarded by seeing Jessie Bain open her +eyes.</p> + +<p>"You are faint and weak. Come to the window and get a breath of air. A +breath of the cool, crisp air will do you a world of good."</p> + +<p>Jessie made no attempt to resist her when she took her in her arms and +carried her to the window, and threw open the sash. Jessie inhaled a +deep breath of the cool morning air. Ah, yes! the air was refreshing.</p> + +<p>"Don't lean so far out," cautioned her companion, "Miss Rosamond might +see you! She is standing in the bay-window of the library with handsome +Mr. Hubert; and to see her smile, so bland and child-like, any one would +declare that she had no temper at all, but, instead, the disposition of +an angel."</p> + +<p>Jessie gave a startled look, intending to get quickly out of sight ere +Rosamond Lee should observe her; but that glance fairly froze the blood +in her veins. Yes, Rosamond Lee was standing by the window, looking as +sweet and bland as a great wax doll.</p> + +<p>But it was on the face of her companion that Jessie's eyes were riveted. +It seemed to her in that instant that the heart in her bosom fairly +stood still, for the face she saw was Hubert Varrick's!</p> + +<p>"He has had ever so much trouble," the girl went on. "He has been +married, but his young wife died, and he is now a widower, free to marry +again if he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> finds any one whom he can love as he did the one he lost."</p> + +<p>With that, the girl left the room, and then Jessie Bain gave vent to the +grief that filled her heart to overflowing.</p> + +<p>"I must go away from here," she sobbed; "I must not meet him again, for +did I not give his mother my written word that I would not speak to him +again, nor let him know where I was, and I must keep my solemn pledge."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XXV" id="Chapter_XXV"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XXV</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>"AH! IF I BUT KNEW WHERE MY TRUE LOVE IS!"</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Hubert Varrick felt excessively bored at the beauty's persistent efforts +to amuse him during the afternoon that followed, and he experienced a +great relief when he made his escape to his own room.</p> + +<p>He had come there to visit his aged relatives and have a few days of +quiet and rest from the turmoils and cares of a busy life, not to dance +attendance on a capricious society girl. He had been back from Europe +only a month. Directly on his return, he went to Fisher's Landing, there +to be met with the intelligence that Jessie's uncle had died a fortnight +ago, and that she was thrown penniless on the world, and had started out +to battle for bread, none knew whither.</p> + +<p>The shock of this intelligence nearly killed Hubert<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> Varrick. He almost +moved heaven and earth to find her; but every effort was useless; Jessie +Bain seemed to have suddenly vanished from the face of the earth.</p> + +<p>Hubert had been with his grandparents but a day when he felt strongly +tempted to make excuses to get away at once; but before the shadows of +that night fell, an event happened which changed the whole current of +his life.</p> + +<p>It came about in this way:</p> + +<p>When he excused himself for leaving the drawing-room late that +afternoon, under the plea of smoking a cigar and having letters to +write, Rosamond, much incensed, had retired to her own <i>boudoir</i>, for +she felt that she had made no headway with the handsome young heir. +There was no one else to vent her spite on, save the young girl whom she +found bending patiently over her dresses, stitching away as though for +dear life.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you sew faster?" Rosamond cried at length. "You will never +get that done in time for me to wear this evening."</p> + +<p>"I promise you, Miss Rosamond, that I will have it finished if the +velvet ribbon comes in time."</p> + +<p>"Hasn't it come yet?" cried the beauty, aghast. "Why, it's almost dark +now. There's nothing else for it but for you to go after it, Jessie +Bain; and mind that you get there before the store closes. Start at +once."</p> + +<p>Jessie laid down her work, walked slowly to the closet, and donned her +hat and little jacket. After carefully learning the street and number, +Jessie set out on her journey. It was fully two miles. The girl's heart +sank as she stepped from the porch, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> noted how deep the snow was. +She wished that the heiress had given her her fare on the street-car; +but such a thought had never entered the selfish head of this pampered +creature of luxury.</p> + +<p>Half an hour or more had passed. Long since one of the servants had +lighted the chandelier, heaped more coal in the glowing grate, and drew +the satin draperies over the frosty windows.</p> + +<p>"Dear me, I wish I had told her to get a few flowers for me!" Rosamond +muttered. Then she sat up straight in her chair. "Gracious me! how +forgetful I am," she cried. "That velvet ribbon did come just as I was +about to go down to luncheon, and I tossed it on a divan in the corner. +It must be there now."</p> + +<p>Springing from her seat, she went to the spot indicated. Yes, the little +package was there.</p> + +<p>"That Jessie Bain must have seen it," she muttered, angrily. "She must +have passed it by a dozen times. No one can tell me that she did not +open it—those girls are so prying. And now for spite she'll take as +much time as she wishes to go and come. She ought to be back by this +time. When she does come I shall scold her."</p> + +<p>One, two hours passed. The clock on the mantle slowly chimed the hour of +seven. Still the girl had not returned. Rosamond Lee was in a towering +rage. She had sent for her own maid to help her dress, and she was +obliged to wear a dress which was not near so becoming to her as the +blue cashmere which she felt sure would fascinate handsome Hubert +Varrick.</p> + +<p>When the dinner-bell rang she hurried to the dining-room. Only the old +gentleman and his wife were at the table<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>.</p> + +<p>"Where is Mr. Varrick?" she asked. "Surely, he has not dined yet?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," said the old lady, complacently sipping her tea. "He went out +for a walk some two hours ago, and he has not yet returned."</p> + +<p>Rosamond started. Some two hours! Why, that was just about the time that +Jessie Bain had left the house.</p> + +<p>She wondered if by any chance he had seen her. What if he should have +asked the girl where she was going, and learn that she had been sent by +her so long a distance, and in the deep snow, on such a trifling errand! +The girl might tell it out of pure spite. Laughing lightly, Rosamond +shook off this fear.</p> + +<p>She had never seen a man whom she liked as well as she liked Hubert +Varrick. She always had her own way through life, and now that she had +settled it in her mind that she would like to have this same Hubert +Varrick for her husband, she no more thought it possible for her will to +be thwarted than she deemed it possible for the night to turn suddenly +into day. Rosamond was almost beside herself with excitement when that +wedding was so summarily broken off.</p> + +<p>"It was the hand of Fate!" she cried. "He was intended for me. That is +why that marriage did not take place."</p> + +<p>She had made numerous little excuses to go to Boston with her maid, and +always called at his mother's house, making herself most agreeable to +the haughty mother, for the sake of the handsome son.</p> + +<p>Rosamond had quite wormed herself into the good graces of Hubert's +mother. She had not been there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> for over six months, however, and +consequently had never heard of Jessie Bain.</p> + +<p>She had been waiting long and patiently, when suddenly she had read of +his marriage to Geralda Northrup, and almost immediately after came the +startling intelligence of the disaster in which he had lost his bride. +And again Rosamond Lee said that Gerelda was not to have him, that Fate +intended him for her; and she timed her visit to her guardian's when she +knew he would be there.</p> + +<p>Rosamond tried hard to take an interest in the dinner, but everything +seemed to go wrong with her. The tea was too weak, the biscuits too +cold, and the tarts too sweet.</p> + +<p>She did her best to keep up the conversation with her guardian and his +chatty old wife, but it was a dismal failure. At every footstep she +started. Why did he not come?</p> + +<p>It was a relief to her when the meal was over. She walked slowly into +the drawing-room, angry enough to find old Mr. Bassett and his wife had +preceded her, and that they had settled themselves down there for a long +evening. Up and down the length of the long room Rosamond swept to and +fro, stopping every now and then to draw the heavy curtains aside, in +order to strain her eyes out into the darkness of the night.</p> + +<p>Ah, what a terrible storm was raging outside! What a wild night it was! +The snow drifted in great white mountains against the window-panes, and +as far as her eyes could reach, the great white snow-drifts greeted her +sight. The bronze clock on the mantle struck the hour of eight in loud, +sonorous strokes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> With a guilty thrill of her heart, she thought of +Jessie Bain. Hastily excusing herself, she hurried to her room.</p> + +<p>Of course the girl would be there—there was no doubt about that. With a +nervous hand Rosamond flung open the door, crossed the handsome +<i>boudoir</i> with swift step, and looked into the little room beyond. But +the slender form which she had expected to see was not there.</p> + +<p>"Janet!" she called, sharply, "where is that Jessie Bain? I sent her on +an errand—hasn't she returned yet? What in the world do you think is +keeping that girl?"</p> + +<p>"Look out of that window, ma'am, and that will tell you," returned +Janet, laconically. "I tell you, Miss Rosamond, your sending the girl +out on such a night as this is the talk of the whole house."</p> + +<p>"Did she go round tattling in the servants' hall?" cried the heiress, +quivering with rage.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you how it came about," said Janet. "One of the maids, who +was at the window, called to her as she was going out. I heard it all +from another window.</p> + +<p>"'Why, where are you going, Miss Bain?' she called, 'you are mad to step +out-of-doors in the face of such a storm as this!'</p> + +<p>"'I'm going on an errand for Miss Rosamond,' she answered.</p> + +<p>"'You will have a hard time getting to the street-car.'</p> + +<p>"'I shall not ride,' said Jessie Bain, 'I shall walk!'</p> + +<p>"'Walk?' screamed the other. 'Oh, Jessie Bain, don't you do it; you will +perish; and all because that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> Rosamond Lee was too stingy to give you +your car-fare. I wish to Heaven that I had the money with me, I'd give +it to you in a minute. But hold on, wait a second— I'll go and tell the +servants about it, and I reckon that some of them can raise enough money +to see you through.'</p> + +<p>"With that I slipped down to the servants' hall, to be ahead of her, and +to hear what she would say, and, oh! bless my life, what a +tongue-lashing they all gave you! It's a wonder your ears didn't burn +like fire, miss.</p> + +<p>"They said it was a beastly shame. They wished a mob would come in and +give you a ducking out in the snow-drift, and see how you would like it. +They were not long in making up the money, but when they went to look +for Jessie she was nowhere to be seen.</p> + +<p>"I am almost certain that Mr. Hubert Varrick must have heard something +of what was said, for one of the girls saw him standing in the door-way, +listening intently. Before she could utter a word of warning he turned, +with something very like a muttered threat on his lips, and strode down +the corridor.</p> + +<p>"When night fell and Jessie Bain had not returned, the anger of the +servants ran high. I attempted to take your part, saying that you didn't +know how bad the day really was, when they set upon me with the fury of +devils.</p> + +<p>"'Don't attempt to shield her!' they cried, brandishing their fists in +my face, some of them grazing my very nose.</p> + +<p>"'Like mistress, like maid.' We hate you almost as much as we do her. +None of us shall close our eyes to-night until Jessie Bain has been +found; and if she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> lies dead under the snow-drifts, we will form a +little band that will avenge her! If Jessie Bain has died from exposure +to the terrible storm, Rosamond Lee, who caused it all, shall suffer for +it! If she is not here by midnight—hark you, Janet! bear this message +from us to your mistress, the haughty, heartless heiress—"</p> + +<p>But what that message was, Janet whispered in her mistress's ear.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XXVI" id="Chapter_XXVI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XXVI</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>HUBERT VARRICK RESCUES JESSIE BAIN.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>We must return to Jessie Bain.</p> + +<p>The girl had scarcely proceeded a block through the blinding snow-drifts +ere she began to grow chill and numb.</p> + +<p>"I can never make my way to the store!" she moaned. "I— I will perish +in this awful cold!"</p> + +<p>She grew bewildered as to the direction which had been given her. "It +can not be that I am going the right way," she sobbed.</p> + +<p>Involuntarily she turned around and took the first cross-street in view. +She had scarcely made her way half a dozen blocks when the knowledge was +fully forced upon her that she must have lost her way, that each step +she took was bringing her toward the suburbs of the city instead of the +business portion.</p> + +<p>Jessie stopped short. Then she fell. Hubert Varrick,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> on the other side +of the street, saw the slender figure suddenly reel backward, whirl +about, and then fall face downward in a huge snow-drift that swallowed +her from sight. He plunged quickly forward, muttering to himself: "What +a terrible thing it is for a weak woman to be out on such a night as +this!"</p> + +<p>And he wondered if it could be the poor sewing-girl whom he had just +heard the servants discussing. They had said that Rosamond Lee had sent +her to one of the stores for a few yards of velvet ribbon, without +giving her her car-fare, expecting her to walk all the way in the face +of such a storm.</p> + +<p>"I declare, it is a thousand pities!" muttered Varrick.</p> + +<p>In less time than it takes to tell it he had reached the spot where the +girl lay prostrate.</p> + +<p>Heavens! how thinly she was clad! And he shivered even from the depths +of his fur-lined overcoat at the very thought of it.</p> + +<p>Deftly as a woman might have done, he raised her, remembering that there +was a drug store across the way to which he could carry her. For one +instant his eyes rested on her face in the dim, uncertain, fading +daylight; then an awful cry broke from his lips—a cry of horror.</p> + +<p>"My God! is it Jessie Bain? Am I mad, or am I dreaming?"</p> + +<p>He looked again. Surely there was no mistaking that lovely face, with +the curling locks lying over her white forehead.</p> + +<p>Do not censure him, that in that instant he forgot the whole world, only +remembering that fate had given<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> into his arms the one being in this +wide earth his soul longed for. He had found Jessie Bain.</p> + +<p>Mad with delight, he clasped her in his arms and covered her face with +fervid kisses. He kissed the snowy cheeks and lips, and the +cotton-gloved hands. Then the thought suddenly occurred to him that he +was losing valuable time. Every moment was precious, her young life +might be in jeopardy while he was keeping her out there in the bitter +cold.</p> + +<p>In a trice he tore off his warm fur coat, wrapped it about her, and +hurried over to the drug store, bearing his beautiful burden as though +she were but a child.</p> + +<p>"This way!" he called out sharply to the clerk in attendance. "Attend +quickly to this young lady! She has been overcome with the cold! She is +dying!"</p> + +<p>The young man behind the counter responded with alacrity, and hurriedly +resorted to the restoratives usually applied in those cases, Hubert +Varrick standing by, watching every action, his heart in his eyes, his +face pale as death.</p> + +<p>Every effort of the young man to revive Jessie Bain seemed futile.</p> + +<p>"I should not wonder, sir, if this was a case of heart failure," he +declared. "Generally they die instantly, though I have known them to +linger for several hours. You had better summon an ambulance, sir, and +have her taken to the hospital. There is one just around the corner. +Shall I ring for it, sir?"</p> + +<p>"No; I will carry her there myself. You say it is just around the +corner?"</p> + +<p>Feeing the man generously, even though he had failed to restore the poor +girl, Hubert Varrick caught<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> her in his arms once more, again faced the +terrible storm with her, and arrived at the hospital, panting at every +step, for he had run the entire distance.</p> + +<p>He summoned a doctor. To him he stated his mission, adding that he +feared the girl was dying, and that he would give half his fortune if +the doctor would but save her life, as it was more precious to him than +the whole world beside.</p> + +<p>The man of medicine said it was only a question of suspended animation. +If pneumonia did not set in, there was no cause for alarm.</p> + +<p>Jessie was quickly given in charge of one of the nurses, a gentle, +madonna-faced woman. She was quickly put to bed, and everything done for +her that skill and experience could suggest. Hubert Varrick begged +permission to sit by her couch and watch the progress of their efforts.</p> + +<p>"Do your best," he cried, his strong voice quivering with emotion, "and +I will make it worth your while. You can name your own price."</p> + +<p>The long hours of the night passed; morning broke cold and gray through +the eastern sky, making the soft lamp-light that flooded the room look +pale and wan in the dim, gray morn. The white face lying against the +pillow had never stirred, nor had the blue eyes unclosed. The sun was +high in the heavens when it occurred to him, for the first time, that +the folks would be greatly worried about him. During the night the +girl's white lips had parted, and she murmured, faintly: "I must push on +through the terrible storm, though the faintness of death seems creeping +over me, for Miss Rosamond is waiting for the velvet ribbon."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hubert Varrick's strained ears had caught the words as he bent over her, +and as he heard them his rage knew no bounds, for it was clear enough to +him now that Jessie Bain, the girl he loved, had been the victim of +Rosamond Lee's cruelty. The blood fairly boiled in his veins. He felt +that he could never look upon Rosamond Lee's face again.</p> + +<p>He was so accustomed to terrible surprises that nothing seemed to affect +him of late. That Jessie Bain should have found employment under his own +grandfather's roof shocked him a little at first.</p> + +<p>But as he began to fully realize it, he said to himself that it was the +hand of fate that had led her there, that he might find her. It was not +until the sun had climbed the horizon, had crossed it, and was sinking +down on the other side, that consciousness came back to Jessie Bain. +With the first fluttering of the white eyelids, the doctor in attendance +motioned Hubert Varrick away.</p> + +<p>"She must not see you," he said. "It might give her a set-back. Just now +we can not be too careful of her."</p> + +<p>This was a great disappointment to Varrick, but he tried to bear it +patiently.</p> + +<p>For two long and weary weeks Jessie Bain was too ill to leave the +shelter of that roof. Hubert Varrick took rooms in a lodging-house +opposite, that he might be near her at all times.</p> + +<p>Great was Jessie Bain's consternation, when consciousness returned to +her, to find herself in a hospital, with a kindly-faced nurse bending +over her.</p> + +<p>"What has happened?" she cried. "Why am I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> here? Ah, let me get back to +Miss Rosamond!" she cried. "She will be so very angry with me."</p> + +<p>Gently the nurse informed her that she had been there a fortnight. She +told her how a gentleman had saved her from the terrible storm, bringing +her there in his arms, his own coat wrapped about her, and how he had +ever since spent his time hanging about the place, feeing with gold +those who attended her to do everything in their power for her.</p> + +<p>"I did not know that there was any one in this whole wide world that +would do so much for me," murmured Jessie, in bewilderment. "Please +thank him for me, kind nurse."</p> + +<p>"Nay, you must do that yourself, child," said the woman, smilingly. "And +let me tell you this: he seems to be greatly in love with you."</p> + +<p>"It can not be."</p> + +<p>"I assure you that it is quite true. Every one is speaking of how +devoted he is to you. If I were you, I'd— Ah! here he comes now. I will +leave you alone with him to thank him, my dear."</p> + +<p>So saying, the nurse left the room.</p> + +<p>"Little Jessie!" Hubert whispered, almost beside himself with joy.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Varrick!" she breathed in a low voice of awe.</p> + +<p>Then he poured a tale of passionate love into her ears, but before +Jessie could answer he had caught the little hands again in his warm +clasp, covered them with kisses, and was gone.</p> + +<p>Jessie Bain tried to collect her scattered senses. Her head seemed in a +whirl. All that had happened within the last few minutes appeared but +the coinage of her own brain.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> + +<p>When the nurse came in again she found the girl feverish with +excitement.</p> + +<p>"Come, come, my dear; this will never do," said the nurse. "You will be +sure to have a relapse if you are not very careful. Think how badly that +would make the young man feel."</p> + +<p>Jessie smiled. Suddenly a low cry broke from her lips, and she started +up pale with emotion. She had suddenly recalled poor Margaret and she +told the nurse the whole story.</p> + +<p>"Give me her address, and I will telegraph there for you," said the +nurse. "To be frank with you, the gentleman left a well-filled purse, +which he bid us place at your disposal. You are to want for no luxury +that money can purchase for you."</p> + +<p>Jessie Bain was overcome by the wonderful kindness of Hubert Varrick. +Her first thought was that she could never accept another penny, for she +was too much indebted to him already. Then came the thought of +Margaret—poor Margaret! She begged the nurse to send a telegram in all +haste, informing the boarding-house keeper that the money for Margaret +Moore's board would be forthcoming.</p> + +<p>This request was carried out at once, and within an hour the answer came +back that Jessie Bain's telegram had come too late. No money having come +in time for the girl's board, she had been sent to one of the public +asylums, and while <i>en route</i> there, by some means she had made her +escape, and her whereabouts was then unknown.</p> + +<p>Jessie's grief was great upon hearing this. The nurse believed that the +bitter sobs which shook Jessie's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> slender frame would give her a relapse +that would keep her there for many a day.</p> + +<p>"There is but one thing to do," she said, trying to console Jessie, "and +that is to get back your health and strength as soon as you can, and +make a search for her. You will find her if you advertise and offer a +reward to any one who will tell you of her whereabouts."</p> + +<p>Surely, the money which Hubert Varrick had placed at her disposal could +not be used for a nobler purpose; and then, if Heaven intended her to +get well and strong again, she could soon pay him the amount borrowed. +Again the nurse did everything in her power to carry out her patient's +wishes. The advertisement duly appeared in the leading New York papers, +but as the days passed, all hope that she would be able to find Margaret +was abandoned.</p> + +<p>In the third day after Hubert Varrick's departure, a long letter came +for her.</p> + +<p>"What do you think I have for you, Miss Bain?" said the nurse.</p> + +<p>"Has the—the letter come that Mr. Varrick said he would write?" she +asked, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"That's just what it is," was the smiling reply; and the thick, white +envelope was placed in her hands.</p> + +<p>"I will leave you alone while you read it, Miss Bain," and added +smilingly: "A young girl loves best to be alone when she reads such a +letter as I imagine this to be. There—there; don't blush and look so +embarrassed."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> + +<p>The next moment Jessie was alone with Hubert's letter.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XXVII" id="Chapter_XXVII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XXVII</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>"I WOULD RATHER WALK BY YOUR SIDE IN TROUBLE THAN SIT ON A THRONE BY THE +MIGHTIEST KING."</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>With trembling hands the girl broke the seal, drew forth the missive, +and slowly unfolded it. It was long and closely written:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear little Jessie</span>," it began, "I know that the contents of this letter +will surprise you, but the thoughts born of longings impossible to +suppress, even though I would, fill my brain to overflowing and must +find utterance in these pages.</p> + +<p>"There are many men who can express their heart-thoughts in burning +words, but this boon is not given to me. I can only tell you my hopes +and fears and longings in the old, conventional words; but the earnest +wish is mine that they may find an echo in your heart, little girl.</p> + +<p>"With your woman's quick wit you must have read my secret—which every +one else seems to have discerned—and that is, I love you, dear—love +you with all the strength of my heart.</p> + +<p>"I wonder, Jessie, if you could ever care enough for me to marry me.</p> + +<p>"There, the words are written at last. I intended<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> them to seem so +impressive, but they read far too coldly on the white paper, to express +the world of tenderness in my soul which would make them eloquent if I +could but hold your hands clasped tightly in my own at this moment and +whisper them to you.</p> + +<p>"If you can but care for me, dear Jessie, I will be the happiest man the +whole world holds. Your 'yes' or 'no' will mean life or death for me.</p> + +<p>"I can not think, after all that I have gone through, that Heaven would +be so cruel as to have me hope for your love in vain. When I come to +you, Jessie, I shall ask you for my answer. I am an impatient lover; I +count the long days and hours that must wing their slow flight by until +we meet again.</p> + +<p>"I will not take you to the home of my mother, Jessie, dear, for I quite +believe you would be happier with me elsewhere. There is a beautiful +little cottage in the suburbs of the city, a charming, home-like place. +By the time that this letter reaches you I will have purchased it, so +confident am I that I can win you, little Jessie.</p> + +<p>"I shall set workmen upon it at once, to make a veritable fairy's bower +of it ere you behold it, and it will be ready for us by early spring.</p> + +<p>"We will spend the intervening time—which will be our +honey-moon—either in Florida or abroad, as best pleases you. Your will +shall be my law. I will make you so happy, Jessie, that you will never +regret the hour in which you gave your heart to me.</p> + +<p>"It will take but a day for this letter to reach you, and another must +elapse ere I can hear from you. They will be two days hard for me to +endure, Jessie. When a man is in love—deeply, desperately<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> in love—it +is madness for him to attempt to do any kind of business, as his mind is +not on it, he can think of but one object—the girl whom he idolizes. +His one hope is to be near her, his one prayer is that her love is his, +in return for the mighty affection that sways his whole being, and leads +him into the ideal—the soul-world, which throws the halo of memory and +anticipation around the image of her whom he loves.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 28em;">"Yours lovingly,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 30em;">"Hubert Varrick."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Jessie Bain read the letter through, the color coming and going on her +face, her heart aglow. Once, twice, thrice she read it through, then, +with a little sob, she pressed it closely to her breast.</p> + +<p>"Hubert Varrick loves me!" Jessie whispered the words over and over +again to herself, wondering if she should not awake presently and find +it only an empty dream.</p> + +<p>He was waiting for her answer. She smiled at the thought.</p> + +<p>"My darling Hubert, my love, my king, as though it could be anything +else but yes—yes, a thousand times yes!" she murmured.</p> + +<p>But even in this moment of ecstatic joy, the sword of destiny fell +swiftly and unerringly upon her hapless golden head.</p> + +<p>God pity and help her in her mortal anguish, for in this moment she +remembered that she had given Hubert's mother her sacred promise, nay, +her <i>vow</i>, that she would never cross her son's path again.</p> + +<p>When the nurse returned, after the lapse of perhaps a quarter of an +hour, to Jessie's bedside, she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> found the girl sobbing as though her +heart would break, and the letter torn into a thousand pieces, which +were fluttering over the counterpane.</p> + +<p>"I hope you have not heard any bad news, Miss Bain," she said, +earnestly.</p> + +<p>Jessie raised her tear-stained face from her hands, and smiled up into +her face, the most pitiful smile that ever was seen.</p> + +<p>"I have heard music so sweet that it might have opened up heaven to me, +if fate had not been against me," she murmured, with quivering lips, the +tears starting afresh to her blue eyes.</p> + +<p>These words completely puzzled the old nurse. But ere she could utter +the words on her lips, Jessie continued:</p> + +<p>"I wish I could have some writing materials; I should like to answer +this letter which I have received."</p> + +<p>"Do you think you feel strong enough to attempt to write it now?" she +asked dubiously.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Jessie; adding under her breath: "I must write it quickly, +while I have the courage to do it."</p> + +<p>The pen which she held trembled in her hand. But at length, after many +futile attempts, she penned the following epistle:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Dear Mr. Varrick,—Your letter has just reached me, and oh! I can not +tell you how happy your words made me. But, Mr. Varrick, it can not be; +we are destined by a fate most cruel, to be nothing to each other. I may +as well tell you the truth— I do love you with all my heart. But there +is a barrier<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> between us which can never be bridged over in this world. +Your mother knows what it is; she will tell you about it.</p> + +<p>"I intend leaving this place to-day, and going out into the coldness and +darkness of the world. Please do not attempt to find me, as seeing you +again would only be more pitiful for me. But take this assurance with +you down to the very grave: I shall always love you while my life lasts. +Your image, and yours alone, will forever be enshrined in my heart.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye again, dear Hubert, I bless you from the bottom of my heart +for the love you have offered me and the honor you have paid me in +asking me to be your wife. Think kindly of me some time.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 28em;">"Yours, with a breaking heart,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 30em;">"Jessie Bain."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>When next the nurse made her rounds, to her great amazement she found +the girl, weak as she was, already dressed, and putting on her hat. +Nurses and doctors were unable to change her determination to leave.</p> + +<p>"What of the young gentleman from whom you had the letter?" asked +Jessie's nurse.</p> + +<p>"The letter that I have written is to him," she said, in a very husky +voice. "He will understand. I will leave it in your care to send to him, +if you will be so kind."</p> + +<p>The nurse took charge of the letter.</p> + +<p>"I do not wish you to mail it until to-night," said Jessie, eagerly, +"for I— I will not be able to leave ere that time. You have been so +kind to me," she added, "Oh, believe me that I do not know how to thank +you for all you have done!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A little more strength would not have come amiss to you," one of the +doctors said gravely. "One thing, however, I insist upon—rest until +late in the afternoon, and then leave us if you really must."</p> + +<p>With a little sigh Jessie took off her hat again.</p> + +<p>Remaining there a few hours longer would not matter much, she told +herself; Hubert Varrick would not receive her letter until the following +morning. She could leave that night, and be so far away by day-break +that he could never find her. But what strange freaks Fate plays upon us +to carry out its designs.</p> + +<p>When the nurse left Jessie Bain, she took the all-important letter with +her, and quite forgetful of the promise which she had made the girl, not +to send the letter out until night, she proceeded to stamp it as she saw +the letter-carrier stop at the door to take up the mail.</p> + +<p>It would be very nice to send it by special delivery, she thought. He +will receive it all the sooner; and hastily adding the additional stamp +required, she handed it to the postman.</p> + +<p>An hour later it was on its way, and a little past noon Jessie's letter +reached its destination and was promptly delivered.</p> + +<p>Hubert had been summoned to his mother's home from the hotel where he +had been stopping. She had been seized with a serious illness, and had +hastily sent for him to come to her at once. He had responded with +alacrity to his mother's telegram. He had scarcely divested himself of +his fur overcoat in the corridor, ere the special messenger arrived with +Jessie's letter. He thrust it into his pocket,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> this sweet missive, to +read at his leisure, murmuring as he did so: "This is neither the time +nor place to learn the contents of my darling's letter. I must be all +alone when I read it."</p> + +<p>Thrusting it into his pocket, Varrick hurried quickly to his mother's +<i>boudoir</i>. With a great cry of relief she reached out her hand to him. +"Thank God, you are here at last."</p> + +<p>The trouble about Jessie Bain had been temporarily bridged over when he +had married Gerelda; yet, ever since, there had been a constraint +between mother and son which she very perceptibly felt.</p> + +<p>She had always said to herself that he would never forget Jessie Bain, +and when he became a widower the terror was strong within her that he +would make an attempt to find her.</p> + +<p>"Will the girl keep her promise," she asked herself over and over again, +"and never cross his path again?"</p> + +<p>It all rested on that. But it weighed heavily on her mind that she had +accused the girl wrongfully, and she told herself that God would surely +take vengeance upon her if she stood at heaven's gate with that sin on +her soul.</p> + +<p>In this hour, she must tell Hubert the truth, keeping nothing back. She +would not implicate herself, as that would bring horror into his eyes. +He must never know that she had concocted that plot in order to ruin the +girl.</p> + +<p>Hubert greeted his mother with all the old-time boyish, affectionate +ardor and she asked herself how she could tell him the truth—that which +was weighing so heavily on her mind.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> + +<p>She gave a glad cry as he came up to the velvet divan upon which she +reclined, and held out her arms to him.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XXVIII" id="Chapter_XXVIII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XXVIII</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>A MOTHER'S PLEA.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>"Hubert, my boy!" she murmured, tremulously.</p> + +<p>"Mother!" he answered, embracing her; then, flinging himself on a low +hassock by her side, he caught both of her hands in his and kissed them.</p> + +<p>"I am so glad you are come, my son," she breathed—"I am so ill!"</p> + +<p>He tried to cheer her with his brave, bright words; but she only smiled +at him faintly, wistfully.</p> + +<p>She brought round the subject uppermost in her mind.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what has became of Jessie Bain?" she asked, abruptly.</p> + +<p>"Why do you ask me, mother?" he replied, evasively, flushing to the +roots of his curling hair—and that blush betrayed to her keen eyes that +he had not as yet lost interest in the girl.</p> + +<p>"I want you to promise me, Hubert," she whispered, "that if anything +should ever happen to me, you will not think of even searching for +Jessie Bain, in order to marry her."</p> + +<p>He dropped the white, jeweled hands he held, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> looked at her in grave +apprehension, a troubled look in his earnest eyes.</p> + +<p>"I wish I could promise what you ask, mother," he said; "but +unfortunately, I— I can not; it is too late! I have already searched +for Jessie Bain, and found her, and have offered her my heart and hand."</p> + +<p>A low cry from his mother arrested the words on his lips.</p> + +<p>"I knew it— I feared it!" cried Mrs. Varrick, beating the air +distressedly with her jeweled hands. "But it must not be, Hubert."</p> + +<p>"It is too late for interference now, mother; the fiat has gone forth."</p> + +<p>Still she looked at him with dilated eyes.</p> + +<p>"Would you marry her against my will?" she gasped, looking at him with a +gaze which he never liked to remember in the years that followed.</p> + +<p>"Do not force me to answer at such a time, mother," he said, +distressedly. "I could not tell you a falsehood, and the truth might be +unpleasant for you to hear."</p> + +<p>"She will not marry you!" cried Mrs. Varrick. "I know a very good reason +why she will not."</p> + +<p>A smile curved the corners of her son's mobile lips, and he drew from +his pocket the precious missive and held it up before her.</p> + +<p>"I do not know of any reason why I should keep anything from you, +mother," he said. "This letter is Jessie's acceptance."</p> + +<p>A grayish pallor stole over Mrs. Varrick's face.</p> + +<p>Even in death—for she supposed herself to be dying—the ruling passion +that had taken possession of her life, was still strong within her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> + +<p>Her idolized son must never make such a <i>mes-alliance</i> as to marry +Jessie Bain—a girl so far beneath him.</p> + +<p>"I have not as yet read its contents," continued Hubert. "If you like, +mother, I will read it aloud to you, and upon reflection, when you see +how well we love each other, you will realize how cruel it would be to +attempt to tear our lives asunder. I am pledged to her, mother, by the +most solemn vows a man can make; and though I love you dearly, mother, +not even for your sake will I give her up. Only a craven lover would +stoop to that. A man's deepest and truest love is given to the woman +whom he would make his wife. His affection for his mother comes next."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick was too overcome for speech by the angry tempest that raged +in her soul.</p> + +<p>By this time Hubert Varrick had broken the seal, drawn forth the letter, +and commenced reading its contents aloud. He had scarcely reached the +second page ere he stopped short, dumfounded; for there the words +confronted him which made the blood turn to ice in his veins, and his +heart to almost stop beating.</p> + +<p>He sprung to his feet and looked at his mother.</p> + +<p>"Mother," he cried, hoarsely, "what can this mean? Jessie refuses me, +and she says you know the reason why she must do so. What is that +reason, mother? I beg you to tell me."</p> + +<p>"She has given me her solemn promise not to marry you. That much I may +tell you, nothing more," returned Mrs. Varrick, huskily.</p> + +<p>"But it is my right to know, mother," he cried,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> sharply. "You must not +keep it from me. I tell you that my whole life lies in the issue."</p> + +<p>"Step to my desk in the corner—the key is in it—and you will find in +the right-hand drawer a folded paper; bring it to me. This will tell you +what you want to know," she said, unsteadily, as he placed the paper in +her hand. "Open it, and read it for yourself."</p> + +<p>This he did with trembling hands; but when his eye had traversed half +the page, he flung the note from him as though it were a viper that had +stung and mortally wounded him.</p> + +<p>"You see it is a confession from Jessie Bain that she stole my bracelet; +it is her written acknowledgment, with her name affixed. That is the +reason why she feels there is a barrier between you. Our ancestors, +Hubert, have always been noted for being proud, high-bred men and women. +No stain has ever darkened their fair names. If you wedded this girl, +you would be the first to bring shame upon the name of Varrick."</p> + +<p>"Not so, mother," he cried. "Despite the evidence of my own eyes, I can +not, I will not believe my darling guilty. There is some terrible +mistake—something which I do not understand. I will make it the work of +my life to clear up this mystery, and to prove to you, despite all the +evidence against my darling, that she is innocent."</p> + +<p>"Will you make a vow to me that you will never marry her until her +innocence is proven?" she cried, seizing Hubert's hand and pressing it +spasmodically in both of hers. "Remember that I, as your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> mother, have a +right to demand this—you owe it to me."</p> + +<p>For a moment Hubert Varrick hesitated.</p> + +<p>"If you are so sure of her innocence, surely you need have no +hesitation," his mother whispered.</p> + +<p>Hubert Varrick did not speak for an instant; a thousand tumultuous +thoughts surged through his brain.</p> + +<p>Slowly, solemnly, he turned toward his mother.</p> + +<p>"So sure am I that I can prove her innocence, that I will accede to your +request, mother dear," he answered, in a clear, firm voice, his eyes +meeting her own.</p> + +<p>"I am content," murmured Mrs. Varrick, sinking back upon her pillow.</p> + +<p>She said to herself that if he followed that condition he would never +wed Jessie Bain.</p> + +<p>Hubert rose quickly to his feet.</p> + +<p>"I will take you at your word, mother," he declared promptly, rising +suddenly to his feet. "You shall hear from me in regard to this within +three days' time. I am going direct to Jessie. If your symptoms should +change for the worse, telegraph me."</p> + +<p>Kissing his mother hurriedly, and before she could make any protest to +this arrangement, Hubert hurried out of the room and out of the house.</p> + +<p>He was barely in time to catch the train for Albany, and arrived there +just as the dusk was creeping up and the golden-hearted stars were +coming out.</p> + +<p>He made his way with all haste to the place where he had left Jessie. He +must see her, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> have a talk with her. He would not take "no" for an +answer.</p> + +<p>The neat little maid who opened the door for him recognized the +gentleman at once.</p> + +<p>He had placed a bill in her hand at parting, and she was not likely to +forget the handsome young man.</p> + +<p>He was shown into the visitors' sitting-room.</p> + +<p>"I should like to be permitted to see Miss Bain," he said. "Will you +kindly take that message for me to the matron in charge?"</p> + +<p>The girl looked at him with something very like astonishment in her +face.</p> + +<p>"Did you not know, sir—" she asked, somewhat curiously, as she +hesitated on the threshold.</p> + +<p>"Know what?" he demanded, brusquely. "What is there to know, my good +girl?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Bain has gone, sir," she replied. "She left the place for good +quite an hour ago!"</p> + +<p>Varrick was completely astounded. He could scarcely believe the evidence +of his own senses; his ears must have deceived him.</p> + +<p>At this juncture the matron entered. She corroborated the maid's +statement— Miss Bain had left the place quite an hour before.</p> + +<p>"Could you tell me where she went?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"She intended taking the train for New York. She was very weak, by no +means able to leave here, sir. We tried to keep her; but it was of no +use; she had certainly made up her mind to go, and go she did!"</p> + +<p>It seemed to Hubert Varrick that life was leaving his body.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> + +<p>How he made his way out of the place, he never afterward remembered.</p> + +<p>There was but one other course to pursue, and that was, to go to New +York by the first outgoing train, and try to find her.</p> + +<p>Hailing a passing cab, he sprang into it, remembering just in time that +the New York express left the depot at seven o'clock. If the man drove +sharp he might make it, but it would be as much as he could do.</p> + +<p>He gave the man a double fare, who, whipping up his horses, fairly +whirled down the snow-packed road in the direction of the depot.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid that I can not make the train, sir," called the driver, +hoarsely, as Hubert Varrick leaned out of the window, crying excitedly +that he would quadruple his fare if he would make the horses go faster.</p> + +<p>Again he plied his whip to the flanks of the horses, but they could not +increase their speed, for they were doing their very best at that +moment.</p> + +<p>Nearer and nearer sounded the shrieking whistle of the far-off train. +They reached the depot just as the train swept round the bend of the +road.</p> + +<p>"Thank God, I am in time!" cried Hubert Varrick, as he rushed along the +platform. "If I had missed this train, I should have had to wait until +to-morrow morning. I shall have little enough time to purchase my +ticket. I—"</p> + +<p>The rest of the sentence was never uttered. He stopped short. Standing +on the platform, watching with wistful eyes the incoming train, was +Jessie Bain!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + +<p>A great cry broke from his lips. In an instant he was standing beside +her, her hands in his, crying excitedly:</p> + +<p>"Oh! Jessie, Jessie. Thank Heaven I am in time!"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Varrick!" she gasped, faintly. At that instant the train stopped at +the station.</p> + +<p>"You must not go on board!" he cried, excitedly. "Jessie, you must +listen to what I have to say to you," he commanded. "You must not go to +New York."</p> + +<p>There was a sternness in his voice that held her spell-bound for an +instant.</p> + +<p>"Come into the waiting-room," he said. "I must speak with you."</p> + +<p>Drawing her hand within his arm, he fairly compelled her to obey him; +and as they crossed the threshold the train thundered on again.</p> + +<p>The room was crowded. This certainly was not the time or place to utter +the burning words that were on his lips. An idea occurred to him. He +would get a coach, drive about the city, through the park, and as they +rode, he could talk with her entirely free from interruption.</p> + +<p>Hailing a coach that stood by the curbstone, he proceeded to assist his +companion into it. She was too overcome by emotion to exert any will of +her own.</p> + +<p>He took his seat by her side, and a moment later they were bowling +slowly down the wide avenue through which he had driven so furiously but +a little while before.</p> + +<p>"Now, Jessie," he began, tremulously; "listen to me, I pray you. I have +traveled all the way<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> back to Boston for your dear sake, to see you, to +hold your hands, to speak with you, and to tell you I do not consider +the little tear-blotted note you sent me, a fitting answer to my letter. +I can not take 'no,' for an answer, Jessie, dear. You could not mean it. +When I read what you wrote me, in answer to my burning words of love, it +nearly unmanned me. You said, in that little note, that you did care for +me; you acknowledged it. Now, I ask you, why, if this be true, would you +doom me, as well as yourself, to a life of misery. You say there is a +mystery, deep and fathomless, which separates us from each other for all +time to come? This I must refuse to believe. You say it is something +which my mother knows? Will you confess to me, Jessie, my darling, my +precious one, just what you mean? Remember that the happiness of two +lives hangs upon your answer."</p> + +<p>The girl was crying as though her heart would break, her lovely face +buried in her hands.</p> + +<p>He sat by her side very gravely, waiting until the storm of tears should +have subsided.</p> + +<p>He well knew that it was better that such grief, which seemed to rend +her very soul, should waste itself in tears. At length, when her sobs +grew fainter and she became calmer, he ventured to speak once more.</p> + +<p>"I beg you to tell me, Jessie," he went on, "just what it is that holds +our two lives asunder."</p> + +<p>He longed with all his soul to take her in his arms, pillow the golden +head on his breast, and let her weep her grief out there. But he must +not; he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> must control the longing that was eating his heart away.</p> + +<p>"Be candid with me, Jessie," he said, his voice trembling and husky. "Do +not conceal anything from me. The hour has come when nothing but +frankness will answer, and I must know all, from beginning to end. What +is it, I ask again, that my mother knows which you alluded to in your +note, saying that it had the power to part us? Dear little Jessie, sweet +one, confide in me! I repeat, keep nothing from me."</p> + +<p>Through the tears which lay trembling on her long lashes, Jessie raised +her lovely blue eyes and looked at him, her lips quivering piteously.</p> + +<p>For an instant she could not speak, so great was her emotion; then by a +mighty effort she controlled herself, and answered in a broken voice:</p> + +<p>"I— I made a solemn pledge to your mother, the day I left your house, +that I would never cross your path again, that I— I should do my best +to avoid you and steal quietly away out of your life. I— I signed the +paper and left it in your mother's hands. That, and that alone, +satisfied her. Then I went away out of your life, though it almost broke +my heart to do so. I— I have kept my promise to her. I meant to go away +and to never look upon your face, even though I knew that Heaven had +answered my prayer and given me your love—which I prize more than life +itself—when everything else in this world was taken from me."</p> + +<p>As Varrick listened, a terrible whiteness had overspread his face.</p> + +<p>"Answer me this, Jessie," he asked; in the greatest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> agitation: "Why did +you sign the other paper which you left with my mother that day? Answer +me, Jessie—you must!"</p> + +<p>"I signed no other paper than that which contained the promise I have +just spoken to you about," the girl returned earnestly, puzzled as to +what he could mean.</p> + +<p>For answer, he drew forth the note which he had taken from his mother's +writing-desk and placed in his breast pocket, and put it in Jessie's +hand.</p> + +<p>"This note has been written by my mother," he said, "and this is your +signature, which I would know anywhere in the world, my darling," he +went on, huskily. "Oh, my love, my love! explain it to me!"</p> + +<p>She had taken the paper from his hands, and run her eyes rapidly over +the written words. They seemed to stand out in letters of fire. Her +brain whirled around; her very senses seemed leaving her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Hubert! Hubert! listen to me!" she cried, forgetful of her +surroundings, as she flung herself on her knees at his feet. "This is +not the paper I signed, although the signature is so startlingly like my +own that I am bewildered. I signed a paper which said that I would never +cross your path again; but not this one—oh, not this one! I— I never +saw this paper before. Oh, Hubert— Mr. Varrick— I plead with you not +to believe that I could ever have signed a paper acknowledging that I +took your mother's diamond bracelet! I have never taken anything which +did not belong to me in all my life. I would have died first—starved on +the street!"</p> + +<p>Words can not describe what the thoughts were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> that coursed through +Hubert Varrick's brain as he slowly raised her.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, Jessie," he cried, "did you read over the paper which you +signed?"</p> + +<p>"No," she sobbed; "I did not read it. Your mother wrote it, telling me +what was in it—that I was never to cross your path again, because she +wished it so, and I signed it without reading it. Indeed, I could not +have read a line to have saved my life, my eyes were so blinded with +tears, just as they are now."</p> + +<p>A grayish pallor spread over his face; a startling revelation had come +to him: his <i>mother</i> had written the terrible document, every line of +which she knew to be false, relying upon the girl's agitation not to +discover its contents ere she signed it!</p> + +<p>Yes, that was the solution of the mystery; he saw through the whole +contemptible affair.</p> + +<p>Only his mother's illness prevented him from stopping at the first +telegraph office and sending a dispatch to her to let her know that he +had discovered all.</p> + +<p>"You do not believe it—you will not believe that I took the bracelet?" +Jessie was sobbing out. "Speak to me, oh, I implore you, and tell me +that you believe me innocent!"</p> + +<p>He turned suddenly and took her in his arms.</p> + +<p>"Believe in your innocence, my darling?" he answered, suddenly. "Yes, +before Heaven I do! You are innocent—innocent as a little child. I +intend to take you directly to my mother, and this mystery shall then be +unraveled."</p> + +<p>Despite the girl's protestations, he insisted that it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> must be so, and +the first outgoing train bore them on their way back to Boston.</p> + +<p>It so happened that he found a lady acquaintance on board, an old friend +of his mother, who willingly took charge of Jessie on the journey.</p> + +<p>"Keep up a brave heart, little Jessie," whispered Hubert, as he bid the +ladies good-night. "All will come out well. Nothing on earth shall take +you from me again."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XXIX" id="Chapter_XXIX"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XXIX</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>RETURNING GOOD FOR EVIL.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>When the train reached Boston, Varrick took a cab at once for his home, +Jessie and his mother's friend accompanying him. They had barely reached +the entrance gate, ere they saw, through the dense foliage of trees that +surrounded the old mansion, that lights were moving quickly in the east +wing of the house that was occupied by his mother.</p> + +<p>His sharp ring had scarcely died away when the footman came hurriedly to +the door.</p> + +<p>"Now that I have seen you safely home, with Miss Bain beneath your +mother's roof, I shall have to hurry on," declared his mother's friend. +"I know your mother will forgive me, Hubert, for not stopping a few +days, or at least a few hours, when you explain to her that it is a +necessity for me to resume my journey. You must see me back to the +carriage."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> + +<p>Persuasion was of no avail. Leaving Jessie in the vestibule for a few +moments, Hubert complied with her request. When he returned a moment +later, he found her in earnest conversation with the servant.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Varrick— Hubert!" Jessie cried excitedly. "You must go to your +mother at once. I hear she is very, very ill, and that all of the +servants, for some reason, have fled from the house. Even the nurse, for +some reason, refused to remain. Oh, Mr. Varrick!" she repeated, eagerly, +"let me go to her bedside and nurse her. She is out of her head, and +will never know."</p> + +<p>Tears rushed to Varrick's eyes.</p> + +<p>"You are an angel, Jessie!" he cried, kissing her hand warmly. "It shall +be as you wish. Follow me!"</p> + +<p>They entered noiselessly. Mrs. Varrick was tossing restlessly to and fro +on a bed of pain. The family doctor was bending over her, with a look of +alarm in his face. Hubert stole softly to the bedside, Jessie following.</p> + +<p>All in an instant, before the doctor could spring forward to prevent +them, both had suddenly bent down and kissed the sufferer repeatedly.</p> + +<p>"Great God!" gasped the doctor, "the mischief has been done! I did not +have an instant's time to warn you. Your mother is alarmingly ill with +that dread disease, small-pox! I am forced to say to you that after what +has occurred—your contact with my patient, I shall be obliged to +quarantine you both."</p> + +<p>"Great God!" Hubert cried, turning pale as death as he looked at +Jessie.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do not fear for me, Mr. Varrick," she said, "I am not afraid."</p> + +<p>"For myself I do not care, for I passed through such a siege when I was +a child, and came out of it unscathed. But you, Jessie? Oh, it must not +be—it shall not be—that you, too, must suffer this dread contagion!"</p> + +<p>"It is too late now for useless reflection. It would be better to face +the consequences than seek to avoid them. If it is destined that either +one of you should succumb to this disease, you could not avoid it, +believe me, though you flew to the other end of the world. Take it very +calmly, and hope for the best. Forget your danger, now that you are face +to face with it, and let us do our utmost to relieve my suffering +patient."</p> + +<p>"He is right," said Jessie.</p> + +<p>In this Hubert Varrick was forced to concur.</p> + +<p>"Heaven bless you for your kindness!" he murmured.</p> + +<p>The touch of those cool, soft hands on Mrs. Varrick's burning brow had a +most marvelous effect in soothing her. During the fortnight that +followed she would have no one else by her bedside but Jessie; she would +take medicine from no one else. She called for her incessantly while she +was out of her sight.</p> + +<p>"If she recovers, it will all be due to you, Miss Bain," the doctor said +one day.</p> + +<p>There came a day when the ravages of the terrible disease had worn +themselves out, and Mrs. Varrick opened her eyes to consciousness. Her +life had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> been spared; but, ah! never again in this world would any one +look with anything save horror upon her. Her son dreaded the hour when +she should look in the mirror and see the poor scarred face reflected +there.</p> + +<p>When she realized that she owed her very life to the girl who had +watched over her so ceaselessly and that that girl was Jessie Bain, her +emotion was great. She buried her poor face in her hands, and they heard +her murmur brokenly:</p> + +<p>"God is surely heaping coals of fire upon my head."</p> + +<p>On the very day that she was able to leave her couch for the first time, +and to lean on that strong brave young arm that helped her into the +sunny drawing-room, Jessie herself was stricken down.</p> + +<p>In those days that had dragged their slow flight by, Mrs. Varrick had +experienced a great change of heart. She had learned to love Jessie a +thousand times more than she ever hated her. And now when this calamity +came upon the girl, her grief knew no bounds.</p> + +<p>What if the girl should die, and Hubert should still believe her guilty +of the theft of the diamonds. God would never forgive her for her sin. +There was but one way to atone for it, and that was to make a full +confession.</p> + +<p>It was the hardest task of her life when her son, whom she had sent for, +stood before her. When she attempted to utter the words, to lead to the +subject uppermost in her mind, her heart grew faint, her lips faltered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Come and sit beside me, Hubert; I have something to tell you," she +said.</p> + +<p>He did as she requested, attempting to take her thin, white hands down +from her poor disfigured face.</p> + +<p>"Promise, beforehand, that you will not hate me."</p> + +<p>"I could not hate you, mother," he said, gently.</p> + +<p>Burying her face still deeper in the folds of her handkerchief, while +her form swayed to and fro, she told him all in broken words. At length +she had finished, and a silence like death fell between them. Raising +her head slowly from the folds of her handkerchief, she cast her eyes +fearfully in his direction. To her intense amazement, she saw him +leaning back comfortably in his seat.</p> + +<p>"Hubert!" she gasped, "are you not bitterly angry with me? Speak!"</p> + +<p>"I was very angry, I confess, mother, when this was first known to me; +but I have had time since to think the matter over calmly. You acted +under the pressure of intense excitement, I concluded, and pride, which +was always your besetting sin, mother; and that gained the ascendency +over you to the extent that you would rather have seen Jessie in a +prison cell, though she was innocent, than see her my wife!"</p> + +<p>"You knew it before I told you?" she exclaimed. "But how did you find +out?"</p> + +<p>"That must be <i>my</i> secret, for the time being, mother," he returned. "Be +thankful that no harm came from your nefarious scheme. If Jessie had +been thrown into a prison cell and persecuted unjustly, I admit that I +should never have forgiven you while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> life lasted. Now, every thought is +swallowed up in the fear that her illness may terminate as yours did, +mother. But this I say to you: if she were the most-scarred creature on +the face of the earth, I should still love her and wish to marry her."</p> + +<p>"I should not oppose it, my son," said his mother.</p> + +<p>The terrible calamity which Mrs. Varrick had so long dreaded had not +happened—her son had not turned against her.</p> + +<p>We will pass over the fortnight that followed. Heaven had been merciful. +Despite the fact that she had nursed Mrs. Varrick day and night, she +herself had suffered but a slight attack of the dread contagion, and +there were tears in both Hubert's and his mother's eyes when the doctor +informed them that there would be no trace of the dread disease on the +girl's fair face.</p> + +<p>The road back to health and strength was but a short one, for Jessie had +youth to help her in the great struggle. When she found that Mrs. +Varrick had become reconciled to her, and had even consented to her +marriage with her idolized son, and was laying plans for it, her joy +knew no bounds.</p> + +<p>It was the happiest household ever seen that gathered around Jessie Bain +when she was able to sit up. All the old servants were so glad to see +Jessie her bright, merry self once more, and to have their young master +Hubert and pretty Jessie reunited. They talked of their coming wedding +as the greatest event that would ever take place there, and they made +the greatest preparations for the coming marriage.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> + +<p>Again cards were sent out, and the first person who received one was +Rosamond Lee.</p> + +<p>Her amazement and rage knew no bounds. She had never heard from Jessie +Bain since the hour she was sent out in that terrible storm. Nor had she +ever seen Hubert Varrick since, nor heard from him. Somehow it had run +in her mind that he might have met the girl, and she had told him all +that had happened; and she decided that, under existing circumstances, +she had better remain away from the wedding.</p> + +<p>"There is no use in my remaining in this house, with this fussy old man +and woman," she said flinging down the invitation, which she had been +reading aloud to her maid. "I only came to this lonely place with the +hope of winning handsome Hubert Varrick, and I have fooled away my time +here all in vain, it seems. We had better get away at once."</p> + +<p>Despite the protestations of old Mr. and Mrs. Bassett, Rosamond Lee and +her maid left the house that very day.</p> + +<p>The servants of the place were indeed glad to get rid of them; and as +they were being driven away in the Bassett carriage, the maid, looking +back by chance, saw every one of them standing at an upper window, +making wild grimaces at them, which Rosamond Lee's maid venomously +returned, saying to herself that she should never see them again.</p> + +<p>Rosamond Lee's home was in New York City, and it was not until she got +on the train bound for the metropolis that she gave full vent to her +feelings and railed bitterly against the unkindness of fate in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> giving a +grand man like Hubert Varrick to such a little nobody as that miserable, +white-faced Jessie Bain.</p> + +<p>"I hope she will never be happy with him!" she added, in a burst of +bitterness.</p> + +<p>When they reached the city, they drove directly to the boarding-house +where they were accustomed to stop. As strange fate would have it, it +was the very boarding-house beneath whose roof Jessie Bain and Margaret +had found shelter when Jessie had come to New York in search of work. +The landlady was very glad to welcome back Miss Rosamond Lee and her +maid.</p> + +<p>"You came back quite unexpectedly, Miss Lee," said the landlady. "We can +get your room ready, however, without delay. There is a young girl in +the little hall bedroom that your maid has always had. Still, as she +doesn't pay anything, she can be moved. By the way, I want you to take +notice of her when you see her. She's as pretty as a picture but she's +not quite right in her head.</p> + +<p>"She was brought here by a young girl who took pity on her, and while +the young girl was off securing work, she suddenly became so +unmanageable that we thought the best thing to do was to send her to an +asylum. But on her way there she made her escape from the vehicle. The +driver never missed her until he had reached his destination.</p> + +<p>"Search was made for her, and for many weeks we attempted to trace her, +but it was all of no avail. Only last night, by the merest chance, we +came face to face with her at a flower-stand, where they had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> taken her +for her pretty face, to make sales for them. I brought her home at once, +for there had been a good reward offered to any one who would find her.</p> + +<p>"Here another difficulty presented itself.</p> + +<p>"The young girl who caused the reward to be offered is now missing—at +least, I can not find her."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you insert a 'personal' in the paper?" drawled Rosamond Lee.</p> + +<p>"That would be a capital idea. Gracious! I wonder that I did not think +of it before," said the landlady. "But, dear me! I'm not a good hand at +composing anything of that kind for the paper."</p> + +<p>"I'll write it out for you, if you like," said Rosamond, indolently.</p> + +<p>The landlady took her at her word.</p> + +<p>"The name of the young girl whom I wish to find is Jessie Bain," she +began.</p> + +<p>A great cry broke from Rosamond Lee's lips, and her face grew ashen.</p> + +<p>"Did I hear you say Jessie Bain?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes; that was the name," returned the landlady, wonderingly. "Do you +know her?"</p> + +<p>"Yes— I don't know. Describe her. It must be one and the same person," +she added under her breath.</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't be at all surprised," continued the woman, "for she went to +Albany, the very place you have just come from."</p> + +<p>"It's the same one," cried Rosamond Lee. "Tell me the story of this +demented girl over again in all its details. I was not paying attention +before. I did not half listen to all you said."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p> + +<p>The landlady went over the story a second time for Rosamond's benefit.</p> + +<p>Miss Lee meanwhile paced the room excitedly up and down.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you what I think," she cried excitedly. "Those two girls are +surely adventuresses of the worst type. You say at first that she called +the demented girl her sister, and then afterward admitted that she was +not. You see, there was something wrong from the start. Now let me tell +you an intensely interesting sequel to your story: The girl Jessie Bain +has, since the few short weeks that she left your place, captured in the +matrimonial noose one of the wealthiest young men in Boston."</p> + +<p>"Well, well what a marvelous story!" declared the landlady; and her +opinion of Jessie Bain went up forthwith instead of being lowered, as +Rosamond calculated it would be.</p> + +<p>"The idea of an adventuress daring to attempt to capture Hubert +Varrick!" the girl cried. "That is the point I want you to see. I have a +great plan," continued Rosamond. "I will write to Hubert Varrick at +once, that he may save himself from the snare which is being laid for +his unwary feet by that cunning creature, or I will go to his mother and +tell her all about it. I will make it a point to have a talk with this +Margaret Moore at once. Do send her in to me."</p> + +<p>The landlady could not very well refuse the request so eagerly made. +When Margaret Moore came into the room, a few minutes later, and +Rosamond's eyes fell upon her, she gave a sudden start, mentally +ejaculating:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Great goodness! where have I seen that girl before? Her face is +certainly familiar!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XXX" id="Chapter_XXX"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XXX</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>A TERRIBLE REVELATION.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Rosamond Lee stared hard at the lovely girl as she advanced toward where +she sat.</p> + +<p>"Where have I seen that face before?" she asked herself, in wonder. +"Come and sit down beside me," she said, with a winning smile, as she +made room for her on the divan. "I would like so much to talk with you.</p> + +<p>"I have heard all of your story," she continued, "and I feel so sorry +for you! I sent for you to tell you if there is any way that I can aid +you in searching for your sister, I shall be only too happy to do so."</p> + +<p>"The young girl you speak of is not my sister," corrected Margaret; "but +I love her quite as dearly as though she were."</p> + +<p>"Not your sister?" repeated Rosamond.</p> + +<p>"No," was the answer; "but I love her quite as much as though she were."</p> + +<p>"Tell me about her."</p> + +<p>Margaret leaned forward, thoughtful for a moment, looking with dreamy +eyes into the fire.</p> + +<p>"I have very little to tell," she said. "I have not known the young girl +as long as people imagine. Her uncle saved me from a wrecked steamboat, +and she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> nursed me back to health and strength. Who I am or what I was +before that accident, I can not remember; everything seems a blank to +me. There are whole days even now when the darkness of death creeps over +my mind, and I do not realize what is taking place about me. This sweet, +young girl has been my faithful friend, even after her uncle died, +sharing her every penny with me. Now she is lost to me forever. She went +away, and I can not trace her. There is another feeling which sometimes +steals over me," murmured Margaret, "a thought which is cruel, and which +I can not shake off, that sometimes impresses me strangely, that somehow +we have met in some other world, and that she was my enemy."</p> + +<p>"What a strange notion!" said Rosamond.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that thought has grieved me so!" continued Margaret, in a low, sad +voice.</p> + +<p>"I hear that she left you to go on the stage," said Rosamond.</p> + +<p>"Yes; that is quite true," was the reply. "She went with a manager who +was stopping at this house."</p> + +<p>"Supposing that I should put you on the track of your friend, would +you—"</p> + +<p>"Do you know where she is?"</p> + +<p>"I think I do," was Rosamond's guarded answer. "But what I was going to +say is, if I take you to a gentleman who knows her whereabouts, will you +tell him, as you have told me, that she went off with a strange man to +be an actress?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed; why not?" returned Margaret.</p> + +<p>"We will take the afternoon train," suggested Rosamond.</p> + +<p>The landlady made no objection to this, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> first act in the great +tragedy was begun as the Boston express moved slowly out of the depot, +bearing with it Rosamond Lee and her companion.</p> + +<p>On their journey Rosamond talked incessantly of Jessie Bain, plying the +girl beside her with every conceivable question concerning her, until at +last Margaret grew quite restless under the ceaseless cross-examination. +All unconsciously, her manner grew haughty, and Rosamond noticed it.</p> + +<p>At a way-station, some twenty miles this side of Boston, a tall, +dark-bearded man boarded the train. The only seat vacant was the one +across the aisle from the two girls. This he took, and was soon immersed +in the columns of the paper which he had taken from his pocket.</p> + +<p>"Are we almost there?" exclaimed Margaret.</p> + +<p>The stranger across the aisle started violently and looked around.</p> + +<p>"That voice!" he muttered.</p> + +<p>There was but one being in this world with accents like it, and that was +Gerelda Northrup, who lay in her watery grave somewhere in the St. +Lawrence River.</p> + +<p>Captain Frazier—for it was he—gave another quick glance at the two +girls opposite him, and bent forward in his seat, that he might catch a +better view of the one nearest him, whose face was averted.</p> + +<p>Again she spoke, and this time the accents were more startlingly +familiar than ever. Frazier sprang to his feet, walked down to the end +of the car, then turned and slowly retraced his steps, watching the girl +intently the while.</p> + +<p>"I could almost swear that I am getting the tremens<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> again, or that my +eyes deceive me," he muttered. "If ever I saw Gerelda Northrup in the +flesh, that is she!"</p> + +<p>He stopped short, and touched her on the shoulder, his eyes almost +bulging from their sockets.</p> + +<p>"Miss Northrup— I— I mean Mrs. Varrick—is this you? In the name of +Heaven, speak to me!"</p> + +<p>She looked at him, her great dark eyes studying his face with a troubled +expression.</p> + +<p>"Varrick!" she muttered below her breath. "Where have I heard that name +before? And your face too! Where have I seen it? It recalls something +out of my past life," she muttered.</p> + +<p>With a low cry he bent forward.</p> + +<p>"Then it <i>is</i> you, Gerelda— Mrs. Varrick?"</p> + +<p>Rosamond Lee, whose face had grown from red to white, sprung excitedly +to her feet.</p> + +<p>"What mystery is this?" she cried. "What do you mean by calling this +girl Mrs. Varrick? There is a friend of mine—a Mr. Hubert Varrick—who +is soon to be married to a Jessie Bain. You haven't the two mixed, have +you, sir?"</p> + +<p>Frazier turned impatiently to her.</p> + +<p>"I have seen the announcement of Hubert Varrick's marriage to Jessie +Bain," he returned, his face darkening. "But the question is: how dare +he attempt to marry another girl while he has a wife living. I do not +know who you may be, madame," facing Rosamond impatiently. "You say that +you know Hubert Varrick well, yet you do not appear conversant with his +history. He married this young girl sitting beside you, who was then +Miss Gerelda Northrup. On their wedding journey the steamer 'St. +Lawrence' was lost,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> and she was supposed by all her friends to have +perished in the frightful accident."</p> + +<p>While he had been speaking, Gerelda—for it was indeed she—had been +watching him intently.</p> + +<p>As he proceeded with his story, a great tremor shook her frame.</p> + +<p>With a low cry she sprung to her feet.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I remember— I remember <i>all</i> now!" shrieked Gerelda. "I— I was on +the train with Hubert whom I had just married. Then we went on the +steamer. We had a quarrel, and he told me that he did not love me, even +though he had wedded me, and I— Oh, the words drove me mad! There was a +great rumbling of the boiler, a crashing of timbers, and I felt myself +plunged in the water. But my head—it pains so terribly! I scarcely felt +the chill of the water. The next I remember I was lying in a cottage, +with a young girl bending over me. My God! it was Jessie Bain, my enemy. +I remember it all now. I wonder that memory did not come back to me when +I heard the name Jessie Bain. She did not know that it was I who was +Hubert Varrick's wife, or she would have let me die."</p> + +<p>The effect of Gerelda's words was startling upon Rosamond.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do about it?" she asked, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Do?" echoed Gerelda. "I am going to claim my husband. He is mine, and +all the powers on earth can never take him from me!"</p> + +<p>"I suppose," said Rosamond, "now, from the way this amazing affair has +culminated, you will not want<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> me to go with you to Hubert— Mr. +Varrick, I mean."</p> + +<p>Gerelda turned haughtily on her.</p> + +<p>"No," she said. "Why should you wish to go with me to my husband? What +interest have you in him?"</p> + +<p>Rosamond shrunk back abashed, though she stammered:</p> + +<p>"I— I should like to see how he takes it."</p> + +<p>"I would like to accompany you for the same reason," interposed Captain +Frazier. "He will be angry enough at you coming back to frustrate his +marriage with the girl whom he idolizes so madly."</p> + +<p>Gerelda's face grew stormy as she listened. There was an expression in +her eyes not good to see, and which Captain Frazier knew boded no good +to the object of her wrath.</p> + +<p>At this juncture the express rolled into the Boston depot. Bidding +Rosamond Lee and Captain Frazier a hasty good-bye, and insisting that +under no circumstances should they accompany her, Gerelda hailed a cab, +and gave the order: "To the Varrick mansion."</p> + +<p>Captain Frazier stepped suddenly forward and hailed a passing cab, +saying to himself that he must be present, at all hazards, at that +meeting which was to take place between Gerelda and Hubert Varrick.</p> + +<p>"Keep yonder carriage in sight," he said, pointing out the vehicle just +ahead of them, and producing, as he spoke, a bank-note, which he thrust +into the cab-man's hand.</p> + +<p>The man did his duty well.</p> + +<p>Pausing suddenly, and bending low, he whispered to the occupant of his +vehicle that the carriage ahead had stopped short.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> + +<p>"All right," said Captain Frazier, sharply. "Spring out—here is your +fee, my good man."</p> + +<p>The captain drew back into the shadow of the tall pines as his carriage +drove away, lest the occupant of the vehicle ahead should discover his +presence there. He saw Gerelda alight and pause involuntarily before the +arched entrance gate that led around to the rear of the Varrick mansion.</p> + +<p>Captain Frazier watched her keenly as she stood there for a moment, +quite irresolute. His heart was all in a whirl, as he glanced up at the +grand old mansion whose huge chimneys confronted him from over the tops +of the trees.</p> + +<p>"From the very beginning, Varrick has always had the best of me," he +muttered. "I never loved but one thing in all my life," he cried, +hoarsely; "and that was Gerelda Northrup, and he won her from me. From +that moment on I have cursed him with all the passionate hatred of my +nature. Since that time life has held but one aim for me—and that was, +to crush him—and that opportunity will soon be mine—that hour is now +at hand. He will shortly be wedded to another, if Gerelda does not +interfere, and then—ah!—and then—"</p> + +<p>His soliloquy was suddenly cut short, for the sound of approaching +footsteps was heard on the snow.</p> + +<p>He would have drawn back into the shadow of the interlacing pines, but +that he saw he was observed by a minister who stepped eagerly forward.</p> + +<p>"You are a stranger in our midst," he said, holding out his hand to him; +"I do not recollect having seen your face before. I— I have a favor to +ask of you. Would you mind lending me your assistance as far as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> the +house yonder—the Varrick mansion—which you can see over the trees? I— +I am not very well—have just recovered from a spell of sickness. I— I +wish to visit the inmates of the mansion to perfect some arrangements +concerning a happy event that is to take place on the morrow, within +those walls. I find myself overtaken by a sudden faintness. I repeat, +would you object to giving me your arm as far as the entrance gate +yonder?"</p> + +<p>Captain Frazier complied, with a profound bow.</p> + +<p>"I shall be only too happy to render you any assistance in my power," he +murmured. "I used to know the family at Varrick mansion a few years +ago," he went on. "I am not so well acquainted, however, with the +present heir. Pardon me, but may I ask if the event to which you allude, +that is to take place to-morrow, is a marriage ceremony?"</p> + +<p>The minister bowed gravely.</p> + +<p>"Between young Mr. Varrick and a Miss Bain?"</p> + +<p>Again the reverend gentleman inclined his head in the affirmative, +remarking that the bride-to-be was as sweet and gracious as she was +beautiful.</p> + +<p>Captain Frazier looked narrowly at his companion for an instant, then he +asked, quickly:</p> + +<p>"Again I ask your pardon for the questions I wish to put to you, but are +you not the same minister who was sent to perform the marriage ceremony +up at the Thousand Islands? and, again, the same minister who, later on, +united Mr. Varrick in marriage to the beautiful Gerelda Northrup?"</p> + +<p>The reverend gentleman bowed, wondering vaguely why the stranger should +catechise him after this fashion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>.</p> + +<p>"You seem well acquainted with the family history, my friend," he +remarked, slowly.</p> + +<p>"Yes," Frazier answered, shortly, adding, in a low, smooth voice: "It +was a fatal accident which robbed Hubert Varrick, some time since, of +the bride whom he had just wedded. Her death has never been clearly +proven, has it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, it has," returned the minister. "Her body was among the +unfortunates who were afterward recovered."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Frazier, <i>sotto voice</i>, adding: "It is so very strange, my +good sir, that after this thrilling experience, Varrick should take it +upon himself to secure another wife."</p> + +<p>The good minister looked at him, quite embarrassed. He did not care to +discuss the subject with one who was an entire stranger to him, +wondering that he should introduce such a personal subject, and at such +a time and place.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, my friend, but I feel a little delicacy in discussing so +personal a matter," he said, gently.</p> + +<p>But this did not in the least abash Captain Frazier.</p> + +<p>"It seems to me that I should insist upon proof positive—ay, proof +beyond any possibility of doubt—that my first wife was dead ere I +contracted a second alliance," remarked Frazier, quite significantly.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Varrick believes that he has this, I understand," said the +minister, gravely.</p> + +<p>Frazier shrugged his shoulders, turned and looked at the man from under +his lowering brows—a look which the minister did not relish.</p> + +<p>"But, then, Varrick has always believed in second marriages," remarked +Frazier, flippantly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p> + +<p>The minister started, giving an uncomfortable glance at the other.</p> + +<p>"I believe the girl to whom he is about to be united is Varrick's first +love?" Frazier went on, nonchalantly.</p> + +<p>"Indeed you are mistaken," retorted his companion earnestly. "I have +known Hubert Varrick for long years, and to my certain knowledge he +never had a fancy for any of the fair sex previous to the time he met +beautiful Miss Northrup. She was his first love. Of that I am quite +positive."</p> + +<p>By this time they had reached the bend in the road hard by the entrance +gate.</p> + +<p>The reverend gentleman could not help but notice that his companion +seemed unduly excited over the questions which he had propounded and the +answers which he had received thereto, and he felt not a little relieved +at bidding him good-afternoon and thanking him for the service which he +had rendered him; and he wondered greatly that he excused himself at the +entrance gate, instead of accompanying him to the house, if he was as +intimate a friend of the family as he claimed to be.</p> + +<p>The minister proceeded slowly up the wide stone walk, from which the +snow had been carefully brushed, with a very thoughtful expression on +his face.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick stood at the drawing-room window, and, noticing his +approach, hurriedly rang for a servant to admit him at once.</p> + +<p>He found himself ushered into the wide corridor before he could even +touch the bell. Mrs. Varrick was on the threshold of the drawing-room, +waiting to greet him as he stepped forward.</p> + +<p>"I thought I observed some one with you at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> gate?" she said, as she +held out her white hand, sparkling with jewels, to welcome him. "Why did +you not bring your friend in with you?"</p> + +<p>The minister bowed low over the extended white hand.</p> + +<p>"You are very kind to accord me such a privilege," he declared, +gratefully; "but the person to whom you allude is an entire stranger to +me—a gentleman whom I met by the road-side, and whom I was obliged to +call upon for assistance, being suddenly attacked with my old enemy, +faintness. I may add, however, that he seemed to have been an +acquaintance of the family."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he is an acquaintance of my <i>son</i>; his friends are so numerous +that it is very hard for me to keep track of them," added Mrs. Varrick, +asking: "Why did he not come into the house with you?"</p> + +<p>"He declined, stating no reason," was the reply.</p> + +<p>Looking through the drawing-room window a few moments later, the +minister espied the stranger leaning against the gate, looking eagerly +toward the house, and he called Mrs. Varrick's attention to the fact at +once.</p> + +<p>She touched the bell quickly, and to the servant who appeared, she gave +hurried instructions concerning the man.</p> + +<p>"I have sent out to invite the gentleman to come into the house," she +explained. "Hubert will be in directly, and I know that this will meet +with his approval. He has very little time to spare to any one just +now," she explained, with a smile, "he is so wrapped up in his +<i>fiancée</i>, and will be, I suppose, from now on."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Naturally," responded the minister, with a twinkle in his grave eyes.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XXXI" id="Chapter_XXXI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XXXI</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>THE MIDNIGHT VISITOR.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>But we must now return to Gerelda. She fell back, pale and trembling, +among the cushions of the carriage, her brain in a whirl, her heart +panting almost to suffocation.</p> + +<p>At the entrance gate of the old mansion, Gerelda dismissed the cab. +Stealing around by the rear wall, she entered the grounds by an unused +gravel walk, and gained the arbor. Then she crept up to one of the +windows whose blind had swung open from a fierce gust of wind. The room +into which she gazed had not changed much. A bright fire glowed cheerily +in the grate, its radiance rendering all objects about it clear and +distinct.</p> + +<p>She distinguished two figures standing hand in hand in the softened +shadows. The girl's face, radiant with the light of love, was upturned +toward the handsome one bending over her. He was talking to her in the +sweet, deep musical voice Gerelda remembered so well.</p> + +<p>She saw the girl lay one little hand caressingly on his arm, and droop +her pretty, golden head until it nearly rested on his broad shoulder. +Then Gerelda heard him say, "I have in my pocket the wedding-gift<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> with +which I am to present you. It is not so very costly, but you will +appreciate it, I hope," disclosing as he spoke a ruby velvet case, the +spring of which he touched lightly, and the lid flew back, revealing a +magnificent diamond necklace and a pendant star.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Hubert, you can not mean that that is for me!" cried Jessie.</p> + +<p>But the second dinner-bell rang, and ere the sound died away, Mrs. +Varrick and a few guests entered the room. All further private +conversation was now at an end, but from that moment all sights and +sounds were lost to the creature outside. She had fallen in a little +dark heap on the ice-covered porch, lost to the world's misery in +pitiful unconsciousness.</p> + +<p>The house was wrapped in darkness when she woke to consciousness. +Gerelda struggled to her feet, muttering to herself that it was surely +death that was stealing slowly but surely over her.</p> + +<p>Slowly, from over the distant hills, she heard some church-clock ring +out the hour. "Eleven!" she counted, in measured strokes. As the sound +died away, Gerelda crept round the house to the servants' entrance.</p> + +<p>To her intense delight, the door yielded to her touch, and Gerelda +glided noiselessly across the threshold. The butler sat before the dying +embers of the fire, his paper was lying at his feet, and his glasses +were in his lap. So sound was his slumber that he did not awaken as the +door opened. Gerelda passed him like a shadow and gained the door-way +that led into the corridor.</p> + +<p>She knew Hubert's custom of going to the library long after the rest of +the family had retired for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> night. She would make her way there, and +confront him. As she reached the door she heard voices within. She +recognized them at once as Hubert's and his mother's.</p> + +<p>She crouched behind the heavy velvet <i>portières</i> of the arched door-way, +until his mother should leave.</p> + +<p>"Good-night again, Hubert," the mother said.</p> + +<p>"Good-night mother," he answered.</p> + +<p>He flung himself down in the soft-cushioned arm-chair beside the glowing +grate, drew a cigar from his pocket and lighted it, dreamily watching +the curling rings. Suddenly he became aware that there was another +presence within the room beside his own.</p> + +<p>His eyes became riveted upon a dark object near the door-way. It +occurred to him how strangely like a woman the dark shadow looked.</p> + +<p>And as he gazed, lo! it moved, and to his utmost amazement, advanced +slowly toward him. For an instant all his powers seemed to leave him.</p> + +<p>"Gerelda, by all that's merciful," he cried.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is I, Gerelda!" she cried, hoarsely, confronting him. "I have +come back from the grave to claim you!"</p> + +<p>She did not heed his wild cry of horror, but went on, mockingly: "You do +not seem pleased to see me, judging from your manner."</p> + +<p>For an instant the world seemed closing around Hubert Varrick.</p> + +<p>She cried, "I repeat that I am here to claim you!" flinging herself in +an arm-chair opposite him.</p> + +<p>"Now that your wife is with you once again, you are saved the +trouble—just, in time, too—of wedding a new one;" adding: "You are not +giving me the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> welcome which I expected in my husband's home. Turn on +the lights and ring for every one to come hither!" she said. "If you +refuse to ring the bell, I shall."</p> + +<p>Hubert Varrick cried out that he could not bear it; he pleaded with her +to leave the house with him; that since Heaven had brought her back to +him, he would make the best of it; all that he would ask would be that +she should come quietly away with him.</p> + +<p>This did not suit Gerelda at all; she had set her heart upon abusing +Jessie Bain, and she would brook no refusal. She sprang hastily for the +bell-rope. Divining her object, he caught her arm.</p> + +<p>If he had not been so intensely excited he would have realized, even in +that dim light, that there was something horribly wrong about her; that +once more reason, which had been until so lately clouded, wavered in the +balance.</p> + +<p>"Unhand me, or I shall scream!" she cried.</p> + +<p>Varrick placed one hand hurriedly over her mouth, in his agony, hardly +heeding what he was doing.</p> + +<p>"For the love of Heaven, I beg you to listen to me!" he cried. "You +must—you shall!"</p> + +<p>She sprang backward from him, falling heavily over one of the chairs as +she did so. There was a heavy thud which awakened with a start the +sleeping butler on the floor below. With one bound he had reached the +door that opened upon the lower corridor.</p> + +<p>"Thieves! robbers!" he ejaculated under his breath.</p> + +<p>His first impulse was to cry aloud, but the next moment it occurred to +him that the better plan would be to break upon the midnight intruder +unawares, and assist his master in vanquishing him. The door<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> was ajar, +and in the semi-darkness he beheld Hubert Varrick, his master, +struggling desperately with some dark, swaying figure. In that same +instant Varrick tripped upon a hassock and fell backward, striking his +head heavily against the marble mantel.</p> + +<p>The butler lost no time. Quick as a flash he had cleared the distance +between the door-way and that other figure—which attempted to clutch at +him in turn—and raising the knife he had caught up from the table of +the room below, he buried it to the hilt in the swaying, writhing form. +The next instant it fell heavily at his feet. A moan, that sounded +wonderfully like a woman's, fell upon his horrified ear.</p> + +<p>Varrick did not rise, though the terrified butler called upon him +vehemently. He had the presence of mind, even in that calamity, to turn +on the gas, and as a flood of light illumined the scene, he saw that it +was a <i>woman</i> lying at his feet—ay, a woman into whose body he had +plunged that fatal knife!—while his master lay unconscious but a few +feet distant.</p> + +<p>"Help! I am dying!" gasped the woman.</p> + +<p>Those words recalled his scattered senses. Self-preservation is strong +within us all. As in a glass, darkly, the terrified butler, realizing +what he had done, saw arrest and prison before him, and realized that +the gallows yawned before him in the near future.</p> + +<p>The thought came to him that there was but one thing to do, and that was +to make his escape.</p> + +<p>Every moment was precious. His strained ear caught the sound of a +commotion on the floor above. He knew in an instant more they would find +him there with the tell-tale knife, dripping with blood, in his hand.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p> + +<p>He flung it from him and made a dash from the room. It was not a moment +too soon, for the opposite door, which led to the private stair-way, had +barely closed after him ere the sound of approaching footsteps was +plainly heard hurrying quickly toward the library.</p> + +<p>In that instant Hubert Varrick—who had been dazed by his fall, and the +terrible blow on his head caused by striking it against the mantel—was +struggling to a sitting posture. Varrick had scarcely regained his feet +ere the <i>portières</i> were flung quickly aside, and his mother and half a +dozen servants appeared.</p> + +<p>A horrible shriek rent the air as Mrs. Varrick's eyes fell upon her son, +and the figure of a woman but a few feet from him with a knife lying +beside her.</p> + +<p>"What does it mean?" cried Mrs. Varrick.</p> + +<p>He pointed to the fallen figure.</p> + +<p>"Gerelda has come back to torture me, mother!" he cried.</p> + +<p>By a terrible effort Gerelda struggled to her knees.</p> + +<p>"Hear me, one and all!" she cried. "Listen; while yet the strength is +mine, I will proclaim it! See, I am dying—that man, my husband, is my +murderer! He murdered me to keep me from touching the bell-rope—to tell +you all I was here!"</p> + +<p>With this horrible accusation on her lips, Gerelda sunk back +unconscious.</p> + +<p>Who shall picture the scene that ensued?</p> + +<p>"It is false—all false—so help me Heaven!" Hubert panted. That was all +that he could say.</p> + +<p>The sound of the commotion within had reached the street, and had +brought two of the night-watchmen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> hurrying to the scene. Their loud +peal at the bell brought down a servant, who admitted them at once. In a +trice they had sprung up the broad stair-way to the landing above, from +whence the excited voices proceeded, appearing on the threshold just in +time to hear Gerelda's terrible accusation. Each laid a hand on Hubert +Varrick's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"You will have to come with us," they said.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick sprung forward and flung herself on her knees before them.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you must not, you shall not take him!" she cried; "my darling son +is innocent!"</p> + +<p>It was a mercy from Heaven that unconsciousness came upon her in that +moment and the dread happenings of the world were lost to her. There +were the bitterest wailings from the old servants as the men of the law +led Hubert away.</p> + +<p>In the excitement no one had remembered Gerelda; now the servants +carried her to a <i>boudoir</i> across the hall, and summoned a doctor.</p> + +<p>"If this poor girl recovers it will be little short of a miracle," he +said.</p> + +<p>Through all this commotion Jessie Bain slept on, little realizing the +tragic events that were transpiring around her. No one thought of +awakening her. The sun was shining bright and clear when she opened her +eyes on the light the next morning.</p> + +<p>How strangely still the house seemed! For a moment Jessie was +bewildered. Had it not been that the sun lay in a great bar in the +center of the room—and it never reached this point until nearly eight +in the morning—she would have thought that it was very, very early.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> + +<p>"My wedding-day!" murmured the girl, slipping from her couch and gazing +through the lace-draped windows on the white world without. But at that +moment a maid entered and she told Jessie Bain the story of the tragedy.</p> + +<p>A thunder-bolt from a clear sky, the earth suddenly opening beneath her +feet, could not have startled Jessie Bain more. A few minutes later she +recovered her composure and hurried to Mrs. Varrick's room.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Varrick reached out her hand to Jessie, and the next moment they +were sobbing wildly in each other's arms. Little by little the girl's +noble spirit in all its grandeur gained the ascendency. Slowly she +turned to the housekeeper, who was sobbing over the fact that there was +no one to take care of Hubert's wife, until a trained nurse the doctor +had expected should arrive.</p> + +<p>"She shall be <i>my</i> care," said Jessie, determinedly. "I will go to her +at once; lead the way, please."</p> + +<p>Who shall picture the dismay of Jessie when she looked upon the face of +the woman who had come between her and the man she was to have wedded +that day and found that it was the very creature whom she herself had +sheltered—the girl whom she had known as Margaret Moore?</p> + +<p>The doctor was greatly moved at the heroic stand Jessie Bain proposed to +take in nursing her rival back to health and strength.</p> + +<p>"Not one woman in a thousand would do it," he declared. "May Heaven +bless you for it! Besides," he added in a low, grave voice, "you could +serve poor Hubert Varrick in no better way than by restoring<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> her. If +she dies it will go hard indeed with young Varrick."</p> + +<p>Jessie realized this but too well, and bent all her energies to nurse +her back to health and strength, though what she suffered no one in this +world could tell.</p> + +<p>If Margaret recovered, she knew that she would go away with Hubert. He +might not love her, but he would be obliged to live his whole life out +with her. If she died, he would hang for it. Better that he should live, +even with the other one, than die.</p> + +<p>Her heart went out to Hubert Varrick in the bitterest of sorrow. She +realized what he must be suffering. She would have flown to him on the +wings of love, but she dared not.</p> + +<p>She wrote a letter to him for his mother, at her dictation, adding a +little tear-blotted postscript of her own, making no mention of her own +great love and the sorrow that had darkened her young life. In that +letter she urged him to keep up brave spirits; that everything was being +done for Gerelda, his wife, that could be done; that she was sitting up +night and day nursing her.</p> + +<p>When Hubert Varrick received that tear-stained missive, in the +loneliness of his desolate cell he bowed his head and wept like a child, +crying out to Heaven that he was surely the most wretched man on God's +earth.</p> + +<p>He tried to think out all the horrors of that bitter midnight tragedy, +which seemed more like a dream to him than a reality. He could not +understand how Gerelda came by that wound, unless, through her terrible +rage, she had attempted to take her life<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> by her own hand; and through +the same intense rage, strong even in death, wanted to persecute him +even after she had known that her moments were numbered.</p> + +<p>As for Gerelda, her life hung by the slenderest of threads for many days +after, and during these anxious hours no one could induce Jessie Bain to +leave her bedside. But at last the hour came when the doctors pronounced +Gerelda out of danger.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XXXII" id="Chapter_XXXII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XXXII</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>CAPTAIN FRAZIER PLOTS AGAIN.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>We must return to Captain Frazier, whom we left standing at the gate +when he had parted from the minister, who had gone into the Varrick +mansion to make arrangements for the wedding which was to take place on +the morrow.</p> + +<p>"Gerelda must have made herself known to them by this time, and a lively +scene is probably ensuing," he muttered. "I should like to have seen +Varrick when Gerelda confronted him, and cheated him out of Jessie Bain. +In that moment, perhaps, it occurred to him what I must have suffered +when he cheated me out of winning lovely Gerelda Northrup at the +Thousand Islands last summer—curse him for it! How strange it is that +from that very date my life went all wrong! I invested every dollar I +had in that stone house on Wau-Winet Island, and that fire wiped me out +completely. I have had the devil's own luck with everything<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> I touched. +Everything has gone back on me, every scheme has fallen through, and the +best of plans panned out wrong. I should say that I am pursued by a +relentless Nemesis. I am growing desperate. Why should Hubert Varrick +have so much of this world's good things and I so little? I am reduced +to very near my last dollar. I have scarcely enough in my pocket to pay +a week's lodging; and when that goes, the Lord knows what the outcome of +it will be. Up to date, I am 'too proud to beg, too honest to steal,' as +the old song goes; but when a man reaches the end of his resources +there's no telling what he may do."</p> + +<p>He walked away swiftly among the trees and threaded his way quickly +through the net-work of streets, until he found himself at last standing +before a dingy little two-story brick house in a narrow court. Advancing +hurriedly up to the stone flagging, he knocked loudly. There was no +response.</p> + +<p>"Evidently no one is in," he muttered. "I will call later in the +evening."</p> + +<p>He retraced his steps back to the heart of the city, and feeling +exceedingly fatigued, he entered a <i>café</i>.</p> + +<p>"I have almost got to the end of my rope," he muttered, mechanically +picking up a newspaper. "If my luck doesn't change within the next few +days, I shall do something so desperate that people will never forget +the name of Captain Frazier."</p> + +<p>He ran his eye idly down the different columns. Suddenly a paragraph +attracted his attention. He read it over slowly half a dozen times; +then, without waiting to partake of the repast he had ordered, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +hurried to the desk, paid his bill, and rushed out into the street.</p> + +<p>"I have no time to lose," he muttered; "this country is getting too hot +for me. I must get away at once. If I but had the wherewith I would take +the first outgoing steamer. What a capital idea it would be!" he cried, +laughing aloud, grimly. "If I could manage to abduct Hubert Varrick's +intended bride and hold her for a ransom? I made a success of it with +Gerelda Northrup when she stood at the very altar with him; and what a +man does once he can do again. The first time it was done for love's +sake; now it would be a question of money with me. I have but little +time to lose."</p> + +<p>Again he made his way to the lonely, red-brick house on the side street, +taking good care that he was not observed. In response to his repeated +knocks, the door was opened at length by a small, dark-complexioned man.</p> + +<p>"Captain Frazier! by all that's amazing!" he cried. "When did you blow +into port, I should like to know?"</p> + +<p>"I came in this morning," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"I am never quite sure what you want of me," replied the other, eyeing +the captain suspiciously in the dim twilight. "But come in—come in," he +added, hastily. "We are just sitting down to supper. Come and take +something with us, if you're not too proud to sit at our humble table."</p> + +<p>"I've got over being proud long ago," said the captain, following the +other along a very narrow hall.</p> + +<p>The interior of the room into which he was ushered bespoke the fact that +it was inhabited by men—presumably sailors, from the nautical +implements thrown<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> promiscuously about. It was unoccupied, and Captain +Frazier took his seat at the head of the table.</p> + +<p>"Some of the boys left very hurriedly when they heard the loud, +resounding knock on the front door," his companion said, laughingly, as +he heaped the tempting viands on Frazier's plate.</p> + +<p>The captain, whose appetite had been sadly neglected, paid great +attention to the savory dishes before him.</p> + +<p>"We have been accustomed to talking and eating at the same time," he +began.</p> + +<p>"Of course," returned the other.</p> + +<p>"When do you make your next trip out?"</p> + +<p>"In a week's time, probably, if all is favorable."</p> + +<p>"I think I shall ship with you," said the captain. "This part of the +country is getting too unsafe for me. I see by to-day's paper that they +are searching for me."</p> + +<p>"Well, you must have expected that."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have determined to leave the country," Captain Frazier repeated; +"but I do not propose to go alone."</p> + +<p>His companion looked at him curiously, wondering what was coming; then, +leaning nearer him, the captain whispered a plot in his ear that made +his friend open his heavy eyes wide in amazement.</p> + +<p>"I haven't a cent of money," admitted the captain; "but if you will work +with me, you shall have half the ransom."</p> + +<p>"A woman is a nuisance on board of a boat like ours," said the other; +"but if you are sure so large<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> an amount will be paid for her return, it +will be well worth working for."</p> + +<p>An hour longer they conferred, and when Frazier left the red-brick house +on the side street, the most daring plan the brain of man had ever +conceived was well-nigh settled.</p> + +<p>When the hour of eleven struck clear and sharp, Captain Frazier was +standing silently before the Varrick mansion. In making a tour of the +grounds, much to Frazier's amazement, he found the rear door ajar.</p> + +<p>"The devil helps his own," he muttered, sarcastically. "I imagined that +I should have a serious time in gaining admittance, when lo! the portals +are thrown open for the wishing."</p> + +<p>He made his way through the dimly lighted corridors, dodging into the +first door that presented itself when he heard the sound of voices +approaching.</p> + +<p>He found himself in the library, and had just time to dodge behind a +<i>jardinière</i> on a heavy, square pedestal, which was placed in a recess +in the wall, when Hubert Varrick entered. He was followed a moment later +by his mother. He heard him talk over his future plans for the coming +marriage on the morrow, and a great wonder filled his mind. Had not +Gerelda seen him yet?</p> + +<p>It had been many hours since he himself had seen her enter those very +gates. While he was thinking over the matter, Hubert's mother left the +room. Much to the watcher's discomfiture, Hubert Varrick did not follow, +but instead, threw himself down in an easy-chair before the glowing +grate-fire, and lighted a cigar.</p> + +<p>Scarcely a moment had elapsed ere he heard the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> sound of cautious +footsteps. Peering again out of the foliage which concealed him so well, +he saw Gerelda cautiously approach through the open door-way, and again +he was compelled to be a listener to all that transpired.</p> + +<p>Then, like a flash, came the terrible <i>denouement</i>, and Frazier, +crouching behind the huge pillar, distinctly saw the butler enter and he +witnessed the crime. He tried to prevent it by springing forward in time +to save the hapless girl, but he seemed powerless to move either hand or +foot. He could not have taken one step had his very life depended on it. +And when the terrible crime had been committed, and people flocked to +the room, he dared not come forward, lest he should be accused of the +horrible crime himself. In the great excitement he soon made his escape, +though it was not until he found himself several blocks from the scene +of the catastrophe that he dared stop to take breath.</p> + +<p>The next day the captain made another visit to the little stone house, +assuring his friends that this would make no difference in their plans, +that, as soon as the excitement subsided, he would carry out his +original scheme.</p> + +<p>A week passed by, and during that time Captain Frazier, prowling +incessantly about the neighborhood, watched carefully his opportunity to +meet Jessie Bain.</p> + +<p>The owner of a little sloop lying under cover down the bay was greatly +annoyed at the loss of time; he was waiting too long, he told Frazier +repeatedly, declaring at length that unless Frazier could manage to gain +possession of the girl that very night that he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> would have to sail +without her. This decision made Captain Frazier desperate, for he was +now reduced to his last penny.</p> + +<p>It was no easy matter to gain an entrance into the Varrick mansion a +second time, and no one but the most desperate man in the world would +have thought of attempting it; but, as on a former occasion, at last +fate aided him.</p> + +<p>The drawing-room being considered too warm, one of the servants threw +open a large French window to cool off the apartment. This was Frazier's +chance. Like a shadow he stole into the room.</p> + +<p>It was no easy matter to make out in which room he should find Jessie +Bain. At length the sound of light, measured footsteps in a room he was +just passing fell upon his keen ear. He pushed the door cautiously open. +All was darkness within, save a narrow strip of light that came from the +closely drawn <i>portières</i> of an inner apartment. Applying his eye to a +small slit in the heavy velvet, he saw the object of his search. She was +bending over a woman's form lying on a couch, a form he knew to be +Gerelda's, while standing a little distance from them was a doctor +mixing a potion. He heard him give Jessie Bain strict injunctions +regarding the administration of it; then he saw the physician take his +leave.</p> + +<p>For a moment a death-like silence reigned in the room.</p> + +<p>"Let me implore you," sobbed Jessie, "to save the man you love from the +terrible fate that awaits him."</p> + +<p>"I would not lift my finger or my voice to save him. If I must die, it +is a satisfaction to me to know that he must die too!" whispered +Gerelda.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Cruel, cruel creature!" cried Jessie. "May Heaven find pardon for you, +for I can not. I will ask no more for mercy at your hands. But hear me! +I will save Hubert Varrick if it lies within human power. I will find a +way; he shall not die, I swear it!"</p> + +<p>A gleam crept into Gerelda's eyes.</p> + +<p>"He is beyond your aid!" she cried, excitedly, half rising on her +pillow. The effort this cost her proved almost too much for her. A +dangerous whiteness overspread her face, and she fell back fainting, a +small stream of blood trickling from her lips. Jessie sprang quickly to +her feet, and administered a cordial from a small vial.</p> + +<p>At that moment the doctor entered. He was alarmed at the expression on +his patient's face.</p> + +<p>"There has been a sudden change for the worse," he declared. "Still, I +knew it would come sooner or later. I said from the first, if she lived +the week out I should be surprised. I see now that the end is very near. +When the sun rises on the morrow, her spirit will have reached its last +resting-place, poor soul. You will need to exert extra care over her +to-night, Miss Bain."</p> + +<p>Soon after he took his departure, and once more Jessie was left alone +with the girl whom Hubert Varrick had wedded, but did not love—the girl +who had blasted all the happiness this world held for her. Yet she felt +sorry from the depths of her soul that the girl's life was ebbing away +so fast.</p> + +<p>Midnight struck, and the little hands of the cuckoo-clock on the mantel +crept slowly round to one. Still there was no change, save that the +white face on the pillow grew whiter, with a tinge of gray on it now.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p> + +<p>The clock on the mantel seemed to tick louder and louder, and cry out +hoarsely:</p> + +<p>"Time is fleeing fast! It will soon be too late for Gerelda to clear +Hubert Varrick and save him from a felon's death!"</p> + +<p>Jessie Bain paced the floor up and down, in agony.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a thought came to her—a thought so terrible that it nearly +took her breath away.</p> + +<p>"I will try it," whispered Jessie, hoarsely.</p> + +<p>She crept pantingly across the room to an escritoire which stood in the +corner. Raising the lid, she drew from it a sheet of paper and a pen, +and catching up a tiny ink-well, she hurried back to the bedside. +Bending with palpitating heart over the still form lying there, Jessie +Bain muttered:</p> + +<p>"No one will ever know," taking a quick glance about the room. "Gerelda +and I are all alone together—all alone!"</p> + +<p>Thrusting the pen in the limp fingers, Jessie Bain dipped it in the ink, +and with her own hand guided the hand of Gerelda, making her write the +following words on the white paper:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">"<span class="smcap">Varrick Mansion</span>, <i>February 23d</i>, 1909.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"To those whom it may concern: I, Gerelda Varrick, lying on my +death-bed, and realizing that the end may come at any moment, wish +to clear from any suspicion, Hubert Varrick. I do solemnly swear +it was not he who struck the fatal blow at me which ends my life. +It was some stranger, to me unknown.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">"[Signed] <span class="smcap">Gerelda Varrick</span>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 27em;">"Witnessed by ——."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>And here Jessie took the pen from the limp fingers affixing her own +signature—"<span class="smcap">Jessie Bain</span>."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> + +<p>The deed was done. Jessie drew a long, deep breath, ere she could reach +forth to secure the all-important paper, a great faintness seized her, +and throwing up her hands, she fell in a dead faint beside Gerelda's +bed.</p> + +<p>Scarcely a moment had elapsed ere the <i>portières</i> that shut off an inner +room were thrust quickly aside by a man's hand.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XXXIII" id="Chapter_XXXIII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XXXIII</span>.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>IN THE TOILS.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Captain Frazier had seen all that had transpired.</p> + +<p>He was just about to spring into the apartment and tear the paper from +Jessie Bain's hands, when he saw her fall lifeless by the couch. Quickly +he flung the <i>portières</i> aside and sprang into the apartment. It was but +the work of a moment to secure the document, and to thrust it in his +vest-pocket. Then, without an instant's loss of time, he caught up the +insensible form of Jessie, throwing a dark, heavy shawl about her, he +shot hurriedly out of the room and down the corridor, making for the +drawing-room, whose long French windows opened on the porch. He had +scarcely crossed the threshold ere he heard the sound of hurrying +footsteps.</p> + +<p>"Ha! they heard the sound of her fall," he muttered, dashing open the +window and springing through it with his burden, landing knee-deep in +the white, soft snow-drift.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> + +<p>It took but a moment more to gain the road, and then he well knew the +dark, waving pines would screen him from the sight of any one who might +attempt to pursue him. As he stopped to take breath for a moment, he +glanced back at the mansion, and saw lights moving to and fro in the +upper windows.</p> + +<p>Dashing breathlessly onward, he threaded his way up one deserted street +and down another, dodging into hall-ways if he saw a lone pedestrian +quite a distance off, approaching, remaining there until their footsteps +had passed and died away. To add to his annoyance Jessie began to show +signs of returning consciousness.</p> + +<p>"This will never do at this crisis of affairs," he cried to himself.</p> + +<p>He had come well equipped for the emergency, and drawing a small vial +from an inner pocket, he dashed half of its contents over the shawl +which enveloped the girl's head. Its pungent odors soon quieted Jessie's +struggles.</p> + +<p>Hailing a passing coupé, he soon deposited his burden therein, jumping +in himself after giving instructions to the driver to make all possible +haste. They were jostled along the road with lightning-like rapidity, +and half an hour afterward had made the distance, and the cab drew up in +the loneliest part of the wharf.</p> + +<p>"Here we are, sir," the driver said, springing down from his box and +opening the door.</p> + +<p>The gentleman within did not respond.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter with the man?" he muttered, striking a match and +thrusting it into the strange customer's face. He drew back with a great +cry. The man's face was as white as death, and at that instant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> he +became aware of the strong odor of chloroform, which filled the vehicle +to suffocation.</p> + +<p>"Here's a pretty go," muttered the cabman, "and in my coach too.</p> + +<p>"The best thing to do would be to dash a cup of water over him and +restore him to consciousness."</p> + +<p>The cabman hurried to a watering-trough a few feet distant. Snatching up +one of the tin cups which was fastened to it by a chain, he soon +wrenched it free. But before he had advanced a single step with its +contents, a great cry of horror broke from his lips; the horses dashed +suddenly forward and were galloping madly down the same street which +they had so lately traversed.</p> + +<p>He reported his loss to the nearest station, not daring to mention the +serious condition of the occupants of the cab. But up to noon the +following day not even a trace of the vehicle could be discovered.</p> + +<p>Old Mrs. Varrick was fairly paralyzed over the disappearance of little +Jessie, whom she had learned to love as a daughter. She would not +believe that she had left the house of her own accord—wandered away +from it.</p> + +<p>"There has been foul play here," she cried.</p> + +<p>And immediately old Stephen, the servant, said to himself:</p> + +<p>"It all comes from the stranger who was loitering about the place about +a week ago;" and he made up his mind to do a little detective work on +his own account. "If he is in the city, I will find him," he muttered. +"I will tramp night and day up and down the streets until I meet him. +Then I will openly accuse him of abducting poor pretty Miss Jessie."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p> + +<p>He went to his old mistress and asked for leave of absence for a few +days. Mrs. Varrick shook her head mournfully.</p> + +<p>"I should not think you would want to leave me, when you see me in all +this trouble, Stephen," she said. "You should stand by me, though every +one else fails me. Only this morning the butler gave notice that he +intended to leave here on the morrow, and he, like yourself, has been +with me for years."</p> + +<p>"I am not surprised to hear that, ma'am," returned Stephen, laconically, +"for ever since that fatal night in the library the butler has had a +very horror of the place. He's as tender-hearted as a little child, +ma'am, the butler is. Why, he takes Master Hubert's trials to heart +terribly. He walks the floor night and day, muttering excitedly: 'Heaven +save poor Master Hubert!'"</p> + +<p>Although every precaution was taken to keep the news of Jessie's +disappearance from Hubert Varrick, the knowledge soon reached him.</p> + +<p>"My God! did I not have enough to bear before," he murmured, "that this +new weight of woe has fallen upon me?"</p> + +<p>In his sorrow he was thankful that at least one person besides his +mother seemed to believe so utterly in his innocence—and that was the +butler. He came to see him daily and wept over him, muttering strangely +incoherent words, declaring over and over again that he must be proven +innocent, though the heavens fell.</p> + +<p>"As near as I can see, it will end in a prison cell for life or the +gallows," said Hubert, gulping down a sob.</p> + +<p>"But they mustn't hang—you shan't hang!" cried the butler, excitedly. +"I will—"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> + +<p>The sentence was never finished. He sat back, trembling in every limb, +in his seat, his face ashy white, his features working convulsively.</p> + +<p>At last the butler came no more to see him, and Hubert heard that he, +too, had suddenly disappeared.</p> + +<p>The day of the trial dawned clear and bright, without one cloud in the +blue azure sky to mar the perfect day. It was a morn dark enough in the +history of Hubert Varrick, as he paced up and down the narrow limits of +his lonely cell, looking through the grating on the gay, bright world +outside.</p> + +<p>It did not matter much to him if he left it, he told himself. Suddenly +there was the sound of a key turning in the lock, and glancing up, +Varrick beheld the old butler standing before him.</p> + +<p>He greeted the old servant with a wistful smile, and for a moment +neither could speak, so great was their emotion.</p> + +<p>"I have been a long way off, Master Hubert," he said, huskily; "but I +couldn't stay away when I thought how near it was to—to the time."</p> + +<p>"Thank you for your devotion," said Hubert, gratefully. "I am glad you +came to see me; and, whatever betides," he continued, huskily, "I hope +you will think none the worse of me. Believe that I am innocent; and, +dear friend, if the time should ever come when you could clear my +stained name from the awful cloud which darkens it, I pray you promise +me that you will do it. I can never rest in my grave until this horrible +mystery has been cleared." The old butler trembled like a leaf. "I shall +haunt the scene of that terrible tragedy, and—"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> + +<p>A great shriek burst from the butler's white lips, and he fell to the +floor in a terrible spasm.</p> + +<p>The attendant pacing back and forth in the corridor without, hastily +removed him. They spoke of it with pity, how devoted he was to his young +master.</p> + +<p>At noon the case was called, and the greatest of excitement prevailed +from one end of the city to the other, for there were few men as popular +there as Hubert Varrick. The spacious room was crowded to overflowing. +There was a great flutter of excitement when the handsome prisoner was +led into the court-room. Those who had known him from childhood were +touched with the deepest pity for him. They could not believe him +guilty.</p> + +<p>In that hour quite as exciting an event was taking place in another part +of the great city.</p> + +<p>To explain it we must go back to the thrilling runaway that took place a +few days before, when Jessie Bain, powerless to aid herself lay back +among the cushions of the coach, all unconscious that the mad horses +were whirling her on to death and destruction. They careened wildly +around first one corner and then another, making straight for the river.</p> + +<p>At one of the crossings a man stood, his head bent on his breast, and +his eyes looking wistfully toward the dark water beyond.</p> + +<p>"If I had the courage," he muttered, "I would drown myself. I can not +rest night or day with this load on my mind. It almost seems to me that +I am going mad! How terrible to me is the thought that I—whom all the +world has always regarded as an honest man—am an unconfessed murderer!"</p> + +<p>The very air seemed to repeat his words—"a murderer!"—and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> the old +butler—for it was he—shuddered, as he muttered half aloud:</p> + +<p>"I never meant to do it, God knows!"</p> + +<p>Suddenly the sound of wheels smote his startled ear.</p> + +<p>"A runaway!" he cried.</p> + +<p>Without an instant's hesitation he threw himself forward. What mattered +it if he lost his life in the attempt? He would save the occupants of +the carriage, or give his wretched life in the attempt.</p> + +<p>Nearer, nearer came the galloping horses, and just as he was about to +throw himself forward to seize them by the bits, they collided with the +street lamp. In an instant of time the vehicle was smashed into a +thousand pieces.</p> + +<p>One of the occupants, a woman, was hurled headlong to the pavement; her +companion, half in and half out of the coach, was caught in the jam of +the door, while his coat was fairly torn from his body, the papers that +had been in his breast packet strewing the street. The butler sprang +forward to seize the man and save him, but fate willed it otherwise.</p> + +<p>He was too late. And as he stood there paralyzed with horror, the team +plunged from the dock down, down into the dark waves. In an instant only +a few white bubbles remained to mark the spot where horses, vehicle, and +the unfortunate man had gone down.</p> + +<p>The butler, who had witnessed all the terrible catastrophe, turned his +immediate attention to the poor creature whom he believed must be dead, +she lay so white and still, face downward, in the snow-drift.</p> + +<p>"Great God! It is Jessie Bain!"</p> + +<p>He gathered her up quickly in his arms, together with a few papers that +lay under his feet, and carried<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> her to his own lodgings, which were but +a few yards distant. He meant to convey her, as soon as it was fairly +light, back to the Varrick Mansion.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, he would do his best toward restoring her. After +pouring a glass of brandy down her throat, he sought to bring back +warmth to the ice-cold hands by rubbing them vigorously; but it seemed +all useless, useless. Wrapping her in warm blankets, he drew the settle +upon which he had placed her, closer to the coal fire and waited to see +if the warmth would not soon revive her.</p> + +<p>Then his eyes fell upon the papers he had picked up. One of them lay +slightly open, and by chance his eyes lighted upon the contents. What +was there about it that caught and held his gaze spell-bound? The second +and third he scanned. Then, clutching it closely, his hands trembling +like aspen leaves, he read on and on until the last word was reached.</p> + +<p>"Great God!" he muttered, half dazed and crazed, "it is the confession +of Hubert Varrick's wife that he did not do the deed of which she +accused him. No one must ever see this!" he cried. "I will burn this +confession, and no one will ever know of it."</p> + +<p>Cautiously he made his way to the glowing fire. What was that strange, +sharp, rustling sound? He glanced fearfully over his shoulder. Jessie +Bain was sitting upon the settle, gazing at him with terror-distended +eyes. For an instant the girl was bewildered at her strange +surroundings, then she recognized the butler who had left the Varrick +mansion a few days before. What was she doing here in his presence?</p> + +<p>The last thing she remembered was standing over unconscious Gerelda, and +guiding her hand to write<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> the words that would save Hubert Varrick's +life. As she looked she saw that same confession in the butler's hands. +What was he doing with it? Great Gad! how came he by it? As she gazed +she saw him carefully approach the grate, and hold the paper over the +flames.</p> + +<p>With one bound Jessie Bain had reached his side and torn it from his +grasp, just as the flames had caught at it.</p> + +<p>"What would you do?" she screamed.</p> + +<p>He looked at her with cunning eyes.</p> + +<p>"How came you by this?" he cried, in an awful voice, as he struggled +with her desperately to gain the paper.</p> + +<p>No word answered him.</p> + +<p>"You shall not have it!" he cried, wrenching it from her by main force. +"You shall not show this up to the world until it is too late to affect +Hubert Varrick."</p> + +<p>A cry of agony burst from Jessie's death-white lips. She saw, in her +terror, that the old butler had lost his reason, and yet withal he was +so cunning.</p> + +<p>She pleaded with him on her knees, but it was useless. He muttered over +and over again that she should not have the paper, that he would keep +her there a prisoner until all was over.</p> + +<p>Despite her entreaties, to her great horror the man kept his word, and +Jessie found herself a prisoner in the isolated place. She was too weak +to make any effort to escape; there was none to hear her faint cries.</p> + +<p>It must be said for the man that he tended her as faithfully as a woman +might have done; but he was deaf to her pitiful and desperate appeal. He +taunted her from day to day with the knowledge that it wanted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> but one +day more to Hubert Varrick's trial. At last the terrible time dawned. It +seemed to Jessie that she would go mad with the horror of it.</p> + +<p>She tried with all her weak strength to break the firm old locks that +held her a prisoner there, but it was useless, useless. The sun slowly +climbed the heavens, and she knew, oh God! she knew what was to happen +to Hubert Varrick within those hours.</p> + +<p>She sunk on her knees, crying out that if she could not aid the man she +loved, that the same sun would set upon her lifeless form—she would +kill herself.</p> + +<p>Hardly had this resolve become a fixed purpose with her, ere she became +conscious of a loud knock at the door.</p> + +<p>"I— I am a prisoner here!" she cried. "I beg you, whoever you are, +break the lock of the door!"</p> + +<p>This was hastily complied with, and she saw standing before her two +officers of the law.</p> + +<p>"Oh, sir!" she gasped, "take me to Hubert Varrick at once, or it will be +too late to save him!"</p> + +<p>"We are here for that very purpose," answered one of them. "We know all. +The late butler of the Varrick mansion has just breathed his last, and +confessed all—that it was he who committed the murder, and just how it +happened, begging us to come after you, and to liberate you at once, and +tell you that Hubert Varrick is now free. A carriage is in waiting. Come +at once. Mrs. Varrick awaits you there," he adding, noting how stunned +the girl looked, as though she could hardly believe what she heard.</p> + +<p>There was one thing that Jessie never quite fully understood: how she +reached the lonely cottage of the old butler. She believed his mind must +have been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> wandering when he gave such a singular account of a runaway, +and a gentleman being with her in the coupé. She firmly insisted that +the butler must have chloroformed her, abducted her, and brought her to +that place, in the hope that she would then be powerless to aid Hubert +Varrick.</p> + +<p>Who could describe the meeting between Hubert and Jessie and Mrs. +Varrick which occurred an hour later at the Varrick mansion.</p> + +<p>Hubert would have taken the girl he loved so madly, in his arms on sight +and covered her face with kisses, but she held him off at arm's-length, +though she longed to rest in his strong arms and weep on the broad bosom +that she knew beat for her alone.</p> + +<p>"No, you must not touch me, Hubert," she whispered. "It would not seem +right so—so soon after—after poor Gerelda's untimely death."</p> + +<p>"Forgive me—pardon me, Jessie," he answered, brokenly. "For the moment +I had—<i>forgotten</i>, my love for you was so great!"</p> + +<p>Here Mrs. Varrick quickly interposed:</p> + +<p>"Jessie is quite right, my boy," she said. "You must not mention one +word of love to her for many a day yet. Perhaps your troubles will be +over before many months."</p> + +<p>"If you both think that, it will not do for me to remain beneath this +roof where Jessie is," he declared, huskily. "I am only human, you know, +and we both love each other so!"</p> + +<p>Thus it was that it was arranged that it was best for Hubert to go away, +travel abroad, and return a year from that day to claim Jessie. But it +was with many misgivings that Hubert tore himself away.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p> + +<p>"If anything comes of this enforced separation, always remember that I +pleaded hard against it, but in the end yielded to your wishes." On the +morrow Hubert Varrick left Boston.</p> + +<p>During the months that followed Jessie lived quietly at the Varrick +mansion with Hubert's mother.</p> + +<p>The year of probation had not yet waned, when, one lovely April morning, +while Jessie was walking through the grounds that surrounded the +mansion, she espied a bearded stranger standing at the gate, leaning on +it with folded arms, evidently lost in admiration of the early +blossoming buds and half-blown roses.</p> + +<p>"Permit me to gather you some of the roses you seem to be admiring so +much, sir," she said, courteously.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, would you permit me to enter and gather for myself the one I +care for most?"</p> + +<p>The request was an odd one, but she granted it with a smile.</p> + +<p>He swung open the heavy gate, and in an instant was by her side, folding +her in his arms, and kissing her with all his soul on his lips.</p> + +<p>"Am I changed so that Love can not recognise me?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Hubert—oh, Hubert! is it <i>you</i>—<i>really you</i>?" sobbed Jessie, laughing +and crying all in a breath.</p> + +<p>And there Mrs. Varrick found them an hour later, planning for the +marriage, which Hubert declared should be solemnized before the sun set. +This time he had his own way, and when the stars came out, they shone on +sweet little Jessie Bain, a bride; and surely the sweetest and most +adorable one that ever a young husband worshiped.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> + +<p>And there we will leave them, dear reader, for when a girl marries, all +the ills of life should be left behind her, and she should dwell in +sunshine and love ever after.</p> + +<p>Those who knew her as pretty, saucy, sweet Jessie Bain never forgot her. +And may I hope that this will be the case with you, my dear reader?</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE A. and L. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/30980.txt b/30980.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1b21153 --- /dev/null +++ b/30980.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8528 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Kidnapped at the Altar, by Laura Jean Libbey + + +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: Kidnapped at the Altar + or, The Romance of that Saucy Jessie Bain + + +Author: Laura Jean Libbey + + + +Release Date: January 15, 2010 [eBook #30980] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KIDNAPPED AT THE ALTAR*** + + +E-text prepared by Annie McGuire + + + +Laura Jean Libbey's New $10,000 Story + +KIDNAPPED AT THE ALTAR + +Or + +The Romance of that Saucy Jessie Bain + +The Latest and Most Thrilling Story Fresh from the Pen of the +Peoples' Favorite Author, + +MISS LAURA JEAN LIBBEY + + + + + + + +The Arthur Westbrook Company +Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. + +Copyright, 1909, +--By-- +The Arthur Westbrook Company. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTERS PAGE + + I. Some Young Girls Find Love So Sweet 5 + II. Fate Is Against Some People 14 + III. When Those We Love Drift Away 21 + IV. The Girl Who Plays at Flirtation 27 + V. The Mysterious House on Wau-Winet Island 33 + VI. The Letters That Ceased to Come 39 + VII. Every Young Girl Would Like a Lover 45 + VIII. A Mother's Desperate Scheme 50 + IX. Gerelda's Escape From Wau-Winet Island 55 + X. What Is Life Without Love? 60 + XI. Gerelda Could Have Saved Her 67 + XII. Out in the Cold, Bleak World 73 + XIII. "I Love Jessie With Heart and Soul!" 78 + XIV. "Do Not Leave Me!" 83 + XV. "Hubert Cares For Me No Longer!" 90 + XVI. What Ought a Girl To Do? 94 + XVII. Love Is Bitter 99 + XVIII. Wedding Bells Out of Tune 112 + XIX. The Collision--The Pilot at the Wheel 121 + XX. Love is a Poisoned Arrow in Some Hearts 127 + XXI. So Hard to Face the World Alone 134 + XXII. "Permit Me to Escort You Home" 143 + XXIII. Jessie Bain Enters the House of Secrets 152 + XXIV. "Oh, To Sleep My Life Away!" 157 + XXV. "If I But Knew Where My Love Is!" 163 + XXVI. Hubert Varrick Rescues Jessie Bain 170 + XXVII. "I Would Rather Walk By Your Side" 178 + XXVIII. A Mother's Plea 185 + XXIX. Returning Good For Evil 197 + XXX. A Terrible Revelation 207 + XXXI. The Midnight Visitor 218 + XXXII. Captain Frazier Plots Again 227 + XXXIII. In the Toils 236 + + + + +Kidnapped at The Altar + +OR + +The Romance of that Saucy Jessie Bain + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +SOME YOUNG GIRLS FIND LOVE SO SWEET; TO OTHERS IT PROVES A CURSE. + + +It was a magnificent evening, in balmy June, on the far-famed St. +Lawrence. + +The steamer "St. Lawrence" was making her nightly search-light excursion +down the bay, laden to her utmost capacity. + +The passengers were all summer tourists, light of heart and gay of +speech; all save one, Hubert Varrick, a young and handsome man, dressed +in the height of fashion, who held aloof from the rest, and who stood +leaning carelessly against the taffrail. + +The steamer was making its way in and out of the thousand green isles, +the great light from the pilot-house suddenly throwing a broad, +illuminating flash first on this and then on that. + +As the light swept across land and water from point to point, Varrick +lightly laughed aloud at the ludicrous incidents, such as the sudden +flashing of the light's piercing rays on some lover's nook, where two +souls indulging in but one thought were ruthlessly awakened from sweet +seclusion to the most glaring publicity, and at many a novel sight, +little dreaming that at every turn of the ponderous wheels he was +nearing his destiny. + +"Where are we now?" he inquired of a deck-hand. + +"At Fisher's Landing, sir." + +The words had scarcely left his lips ere a radiant flood of electric +light swept over the jutting bit of mainland. In that instantaneous +white glare Varrick saw a sight that was indelibly engraved upon his +memory while life lasted. + +The dock was deserted by all save one person--a young girl, waving her +hand toward the steamer. + +She wore a dress of some white, fleecy material, her golden hair flying +in the wind, and flapping against her bare shoulders and half-bared +white arms. + +"Great heavens! who is that?" Varrick cried. + +But as he strained his eyes eagerly toward the beautiful picture, the +scene was suddenly wrapped in darkness, and the steamer glided on. + +"Who was that, and what place was it?" he asked again. + +"It was Fisher's Landing, I said," rejoined the other. "The girl is +'Saucy Jessie Bain,' as they call her hereabouts. She's Captain Carr's +niece." + +"Has she a lover?" suddenly asked Varrick. + +"Lord bless you, sir!" he answered, "there's scarcely a single man for +miles around that isn't in love with Jessie Bain; but she will have none +of them. + +"There's a little story about Jessie Bain. I'll tell it to you, since +you admire the girl." + +But the story was not destined to become known to Varrick, for his +companion was called away at that moment. + +He could think of nothing else, see nothing but the face of the girl he +had seen on the dock at Fisher's Landing. + +This was particularly unfortunate, for at that moment Hubert Varrick was +on his way to be married on the morrow to the beautiful heiress, Miss +Northrup. + +She was a famous beauty and belle, and Varrick had been madly in love +with her. But since he had seen the face of Jessie Bain he felt a +strange, half-defined regret that he was bound to another. He was not +over-impatient to arrive at his destination, although he knew that +Gerelda Northrup and a bevy of her girl friends would undoubtedly be at +the dock to welcome him. + +This proved to be the case, and a moment later he caught sight of the +tall, stately beauty, who swept forward to meet him with outstretched +jeweled hands and a glad welcome on her proud face. + +"I am so delighted that you have come at last, Hubert," she murmured. + +But she drew back abashed as he attempted to kiss her, and this action +chilled him to the very heart's core. + +He was quickly presented to Gerelda's girl friends, and then the party +made their way up to the Crossmon Hotel, which was only a few yards +distant, Varrick and Miss Northrup lagging a little behind the rest. + +"I hope you have been enjoying your outing this season, my darling," +said Varrick. + +"I have had the most delightful time of my life," she declared. + +Varrick frowned. It was not so pleasant for him to hear that she could +enjoy herself in his absence. Jealousy was deeply rooted in his nature. + +"Is there any special one who has helped to make it so pleasant?" he +asked. + +"Yes. Captain Frazier is here." + +"Have you been flirting with him, Gerelda?" he asked. + +"Don't be jealous, Hubert." + +"I am jealous!" he cried. "You know that is the curse of the Varricks." + +By this time they had reached the hotel. Throngs of beautiful women +crowded the broad piazzas, yet Varrick noticed with some pride that +Gerelda was the most beautiful girl there. + +"You must be very tired after your long journey," she murmured. "You +should retire early, to be fully rested for to-morrow." + +"Do you mean _you_ wish to retire early?" asked Hubert, rather +down-hearted that she wanted to dismiss him so soon. "If you think it +best I will leave you." + +Was it only his fancy, or did her eyes brighten perceptibly? + +A few more turns up and down the veranda, a few impassioned words in a +cozy nook, and then he said good-night to her, delivering her to the +care of her chaperon. + +But even after he had reached his room, and thrown himself across his +couch, Varrick could not sleep. + +The sound of laughter floated up to him. + +Though it was an hour since he had bidden Gerelda good-night, he fancied +that it was her voice he heard in the porch below; and he fancied, too, +that he knew the other deep rich voice that chimed in now and then with +hers. + +"That is certainly Frazier," he muttered. + +Seizing his coat and hat, he donned them hurriedly, left his room, +stepped out of the hotel by a rear entrance, made a tour of the thickly +wooded grounds, until at last, from his hiding-place among the trees, he +could gain an excellent view of the brilliantly lighted piazza, himself +unseen. + +His surmise had been but only too true. + +Mad with jealous rage, Varrick turned on his heel. + +He rushed down the path to the water's edge. A little boat was skimming +over the water, heading for the very spot where he stood. Its occupant, +a sturdy young fisherman, was just about to secure it to an iron ring, +when Varrick approached him. + +"I should like to hire your boat for an hour," he said, huskily. + +Varrick wanted to get away, to be by himself to think. + +The bargain was made with the man, and with a few strokes from his +muscular arms the little skiff was soon whirling out into the deep +waters of the bay. Then he rested on his oars and floated down with the +tide. + +Suddenly a clear and yet shrill voice broke upon his ear. + +"Halloo! Halloo there! Won't you come to my rescue, please?" + +Varrick could hear the girlish voice plainly enough, but he could not +imagine whence it came. + +Again the shrill cry was repeated. Just then he observed a slight figure +standing down near the water's edge of the island he was passing. + +Varrick headed for the island at once, and as he drew so near that the +face of the girl could be easily distinguished, he made a wonderful +discovery--the girl was Jessie Bain. + +"I am so glad for deliverance at last!" she cried. + +"How in the world came you here?" exclaimed Varrick. + +"I came out for a little row," she said, "and stopped at this island for +some flowers that I had seen here yesterday. I suppose I could not have +fastened my boat very securely, for when I came to look for it, it was +gone; and, oh! my uncle would be so angry; he would beat me severely!" + +Somehow one word brought on another, and quite unconsciously pretty +little Jessie Bain found herself chatting to the stranger, who vowed +himself as only too pleased to row out of his way to see her safely +home. + +"Your home does not seem to be a happy one," he said at length. + +"It wouldn't be, if they could have their way. It used to be different +when auntie was alive. Now my cousin beats me badly enough, and Uncle +John believes all she tells him about me. But I always get even with +her. + +"In the morning my cousin went to her work (she clerks in one of the +village stores), but before she left the house she picked the biggest +quarrel you ever heard of, with me--because I wouldn't lend her the only +decent dress I have to wear. She expected her beau from a neighboring +village to come to town. + +"I would have lent it to her, but she's just the kind of a girl that +wouldn't take care of anything, unless it was her own, and I knew it +would be ruined in one day. + +"It took me a whole year to save money enough to get it. I sold eggs to +buy it, and, oh, golly! didn't I coax those chicks to lay, though!" + +Varrick could not help but smile as he looked at her. + +And she was so innocent, too. He wondered if she could be more than +sixteen or seventeen years old. + +"About four o'clock she sent a note to the house, and in it she said: + +"'Dear Cousin Jessie, I am going to bring company home, so for goodness' +sake do get up a good dinner. I send a whole basket of good things with +the boy who brings this note. Cook them all.' + +"Well, I cooked the supper just as she wanted me to do. Oh! it was +dreadfully tempting, and right here let me say, whenever there's a +broken cup or saucer or plate in the house, or fork with only two +prongs, or a broken-handled knife, it always falls to me. My cousin +always says: 'It's good enough for Jessie Bain; let _her_ have it.' + +"I prepared the dainty supper, ran and got every good knife and fork and +plate and cup and saucer, and hid them under an old oak-tree fully half +a mile away. + +"I left out on the table only the broken things, to see how she'd like +them. + +"By and by she and her beau came. I ran out the back door as I heard +them cross the front porch. + +"Oh! but wasn't she mad! I watched her through the window, laughing so +hard I almost split my sides, and she fairly flew at me. Then I went +down and jumped into my little boat, and pushed away for dear life, to +be out of her reach. I rowed down to this island, thinking to fetch her +back some flowers to appease her mighty wrath; but I was so tired that I +fell asleep. I was frightened nearly to death when I awoke and saw that +it was dark night. I had a greater fright still when I discovered that +my little boat was gone--had drifted away." + +Varrick had almost forgotten his own turbulent thoughts in listening to +the girl. + +"Are you not afraid of punishment?" he asked, as they neared Fisher's +Landing. + +He could see a quick, frightened look sweep over the girl's face. + +"I don't know what they will do with me," she said. + +"If they attempt to abuse you come straight to me!" cried Varrick, quite +forgetful in the eagerness of the moment what he was saying. + +By this time they had reached Fisher's Landing. He sprung from the skiff +and helped her ashore. + +"Good-night, and thank you ever so much," she said. And with a quick, +childish, thoughtless motion, she bent her pretty head and kissed the +strong white hand that clasped her own. + +He had been so kind, so sympathetic to her, and that was something new +for Jessie Bain. + +He watched her in silence as she flitted up the path, until she was lost +to sight in the darkness. + +Then he re-entered his boat and made his way slowly back to the bay. + +The spacious corridors of the grand Hotel Crossmon were wrapped in +silence when he reached it. + +He half expected to see the two whom he had left in that +flower-embowered lovers' nook at the end of the piazza still sitting +there. + +Then he laughed to himself at the folly of the thought. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +FATE IS AGAINST SOME PEOPLE, FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE. + + + Change is the law of wind and moon and lover-- + And yet I think, lost Love, had you been true, + Some golden fruits had ripened for your plucking + You will not find in gardens that are new. + + L. C. M. + + +When Gerelda Northrup bid Captain Frazier good-night, and linked her arm +within her mother's, and retired to their apartments, Mrs. Northrup +could not help notice how carefully her daughter guarded the great +crimson beauty rose she wore on her breast. + +The mother also noticed that the handsome captain wore a bud of the same +kind in the lapel of his coat. + +"My dear," she said, "I think you are going a little too far with +Captain Frazier. It will not do to flirt with him on the very eve of +your marriage with Hubert Varrick." + +"There isn't the least bit of harm in it, mamma," Gerelda answered. +"Captain Frazier is a delightful companion. Why shouldn't I enjoy his +society?" + +"Because it is playing with edged tools," declared Mrs. Northrup. "The +captain is desperately in love with you." + +"You should not blame him for lingering by my side to the very last +moment." + +"Trouble will come of it, I fear," returned the other. "He is always at +your side." + +"Save your lecture until to-morrow. I am sure it will keep. Do please +ring the bell for my maid; it is nearly eleven o'clock, and I must not +lose my beauty-sleep." + +Gerelda Northrup knew in her own mind that all her mother said was but +too true; but the spirit of coquetry was so deeply imbedded in her +nature that she would not resign her sceptre over her old lovers' hearts +until the last moment. + +Of course the captain understood thoroughly that all her love was given +to Hubert Varrick, and that it was only a very mild flirtation with +himself she was indulging in. + +She would have trembled could she have read the thoughts of Captain +Frazier at that very moment. + +In his elegant apartment, at the further end of the corridor, the +captain was pacing the floor, wild with his own thoughts. + +"My God! can I live through it?" he muttered. "How can I live and endure +it? How can I stand by and see the girl I love made another man's bride, +without the mad desire to slay him overpowering me? If I would not have +the crime of murder on my soul, I must leave this place to-night, and +never look upon Gerelda's beautiful face again. One day more of this +would drive me mad. Great Heaven! why did I linger by her side when I +knew my danger? There are times when I could almost swear that Gerelda +cares quite as much for me as she does for Hubert Varrick. If I had had +a fair chance I think I could have won her from him. No, I will not see +her again-- I will leave here this very night." + +The captain rang the bell furiously, and called for a brandy and soda. + +Soon after he left the hotel, saying that he would send for his luggage +later. + +But even after he had done all that, Captain Frazier stood motionless in +the grounds watching the darkened windows of Gerelda's room. + +The fire in his brain, produced by the potion he had taken, made sad +havoc with his imagination. He thought of how the knights of old did +when the girls they loved were about to wed rivals. + +Was he less brave than they? And he thought, standing there under the +night sky, how cleverly the gypsy had outwitted Blue-beard at the very +altar to which he had led his blushing brides. + +Great was Miss Northrup's consternation the next morning when she +learned through a little note left for her that Captain Frazier had +taken his departure from the Crossmon Hotel the preceding night. A sigh +of relief fell from her red lips. + +"Perhaps it is better so," she said. + +A messenger who brought a great basket of orchids and white roses, +entered. + +Hidden among the flowers, Gerelda found a little note in Varrick's +handwriting: + +"I hope my darling rested well. Heaven has made the day beautiful +because it is our marriage morn." + +It was an odd notion of Gerelda's to steal away from their elegant city +mansion and her dear five hundred friends, to have the ceremony +performed quietly up at the Thousand Islands, with only a select few to +witness it. + +Great preparations had been made in the hotel for the approaching +marriage. The spacious private parlors to be used were perfect fairy +bowers of roses and green leaves. + +Up to this very morning Miss Northrup's imported wedding-gown had not +arrived. Mrs. Northrup and Hubert Varrick were wild with anxiety and +impatience over the affair. Gerelda alone took the matter calmly. + +"It will be here some time to-day," she averred. "The wedding will be +delayed but a few hours, after all, and I don't know but that I prefer +an evening wedding to a morning one, anyhow." + +It was almost dark ere the long-looked-for bridal _trousseau_ arrived. +Varrick drew a great breath of relief. + +He welcomed the shadows of night with the greatest joy. He never +afterward remembered how he lived until the hour of eight rolled round. + +He had not long to wait in the little anteroom where she was to join +him. The few invited guests who were so fortunate as to receive +invitations were all present. + +A low murmur of admiration ran around that little group as the heavy +silken _portieres_ that separated the anteroom from the reception parlor +were drawn aside, and Hubert Varrick entered with the beautiful heiress +leaning on his arm. + +In her gloved right hand she carried a prayer-book of pearl and gold. A +messenger had brought it, handing it to her just as she was about to +enter the anteroom. + +"It is from an unknown friend," whispered the boy, so low that even +Varrick did not catch the words. "A simple wish accompanies it," the boy +went on, "and that is, when the ceremony is but just begun, you will +raise the little book to your lips for the sake of the unknown friend +who sends it to you." + +Gerelda smiled and promised, thoughtlessly enough, that she would +comply. + +"Are you ready, my darling?" said Hubert. + +His thoughts were so confused at the time, that he had paid little heed +to the messenger or noticed what he had brought to Gerelda, or what +their conversation was about, or that the boy fled like a dark-winged +shadow down the corridor after he had executed his errand. + +She took her place by his side. Ah! how proud he was of her superb +beauty, of her queenly carriage, and her haughty demeanor! Surely she +was a bride worth winning--a queen among girls! + +Slowly and solemnly the marriage ceremony began. Varrick answered +promptly and clearly the questions put to him. Then the minister turned +to the slender, staturesque figure by his side. + +"Will you take this man to be your lawful, wedded husband, to love, +honor, and obey him till death do you part?" he asked. + +At that moment all assembled thought they heard a low, muffled whistle. + +Before making answer, Gerelda raised the beautiful pearl and gold +prayer-book and kissed it. + +She tried to speak the words: "I will;" but all in an instant her lips +grew stiff and refused to utter them. + +No sound save a low gasp broke the terrible stillness. + +She had kissed the little prayer-book as she had so laughingly and +thoughtlessly promised to do, ere she uttered the words that would make +her Hubert Varrick's wife. And what had happened to her? She was gasping +for breath--dying! + +The little book fell unheeded at her feet, and her head drooped +backward. + +With a great cry, Hubert Varrick caught her. + +"It is only a momentary dizziness," said Varrick, half leading, half +carrying her into the anteroom and up to the window, and throwing open +the sash. + +"Rest here, my darling, while I fetch you a glass of water," he said, as +he placed her in a chair and rushed from the room. + +The event just narrated had happened so suddenly that Mrs. Northrup and +those in the outer apartment were for the time being fairly dazed, +unable to move or stir. + +And by the time they had recovered their senses Hubert had reappeared +with a glass of water in his hand. + +Mrs. Northrup was too excited to leave her seat; but the rest followed +quickly on Hubert's heels to the anteroom. + +One instant more and a wild, hoarse cry in Varrick's voice echoed +through the place. + +The room was empty! Where was Gerelda? There was no means of exit from +that room save the door by which he had entered. Perhaps she had leaned +from the window and fallen out. He rushed quickly to it and glanced +down, with a wild prayer to Heaven to give him strength to bear what he +might see lying on the ground below. But instead of a white, upturned +face, and a shimmering heap of satin and lace, he beheld a ladder, which +was placed close against the window; and half-way down upon it, caught +firmly upon one of the rounds, he beheld a torn fragment of lace, which +he instantly recognized as part of Gerelda's wedding veil. + +He could neither move nor speak. The sight held him spell-bound. By this +time Mrs. Northrup reached his side. + +"Oh! I might have known it, I might have guessed it!" she wildly cried, +clutching at Varrick's arm. "She must have eloped with--with Captain +Frazier," she whispered. + +"Hush!" cried Varrick. "I know it, I believe it, but no one must know. I +see it all. She repented of marrying me at the eleventh hour, and ere it +was too late she fled with the lover who must have awaited her, in an +agony of suspense, outside." + +All the guests had gathered about them. + +"Where is Miss Gerelda?" they all cried in a breath. + +"She must have fallen from the window," they echoed; and immediately +there was a stampede out toward the grounds. + +In the excitement of the moment no one noticed that Hubert Varrick and +Mrs. Northrup were left behind. + +"Help me to bear this dreadful burden, Hubert!" she sobbed, hoarsely. "I +think I am going mad. I thank God that Gerelda's father did not live to +see this hour!" + +Great as her grief was, the anguish on the face which Hubert Varrick +raised to hers was pitiful to behold. + +She was terrified. She saw that he needed comfort quite as much as +herself. + +The minister, who had entered the room unobserved, had heard all. He +quitted the apartment as quickly as he had entered it, and hurried +through the corridor to his friend Doctor Roberts. + +"The greatest blessing you could do, doctor, would be to come to him +quickly, and give him a potion that will make him dead to his trouble +for a little while." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +"WHEN THOSE WE LOVE DRIFT AWAY FROM US THEY ARE NEVER THE SAME AGAIN-- +THEY NEVER COME BACK." + + + "Only a heart that's broken, + That is, if hearts can break; + Only a man adrift for life, + All for a woman's sake. + Your love was a jest--I now see it-- + Now, though it's rather late; + Yes, too late to turn my life + And seek another fate." + + +Although search was instantly instituted for the missing bride-elect, +not the slightest trace of her could be discovered. + +Was she Hubert Varrick's bride or not? There was great diversity of +opinion about that. Many contended that she _was not_, because the words +from the minister: "Now I pronounce you man and wife," _had not yet been +uttered_. + +No wonder the beauty had found it difficult to choose between handsome +Hubert Varrick and the dashing captain. + +Varrick was a millionaire, and Captain Frazier could easily write out +his check for an equal amount. + +The matter was hushed up quickly, and kept so quiet that even the simple +village folk at Alexandria Bay never knew of the thrilling event that +had taken place in their very midst at the Crossmon Hotel. If the simple +fisher-folk had but known of it, a tragedy might have been averted. + +Mrs. Northrup was the first to recover from the shock; grief gave place +to the most intense anger, and as she paced the floor excitedly to and +fro, she vowed to herself that she would never forgive Gerelda for +bringing this disgrace upon her. + +With Varrick the blow had been too severe, too terrible, to be so easily +gotten over. When morning broke, he still lay, face downward, on the +couch upon which he had thrown himself. The effects of the sleeping +potion they had so mercifully administered to him had worn off, and he +was face to face once more with the great sorrow of his life. + +They brought him a tempting breakfast, but he sent it away untasted. He +sent at once for one of the call-boys. + +"Buy me a ticket for the first steamer that goes out," he said. "I do +not care where it goes or what its destination is; all I want is to get +away." + +Still the boy lingered. + +"Well," said Varrick, "why do you wait?" + +"I had something to tell you sir." + +"Go on," said Varrick. + +"There is a young girl down in the corridor who insists upon seeing you, +sir. I told her it was quite useless, you would not see her; and then +she fell into passionate weeping, sobbing out that you _must_, if but +for a moment, and that she would not go until she had spoken with you, +if she had to remain there all day." + +"Where is she?" + +"In the corridor without, sir." + +Varrick crossed the room and stepped out into the corridor. He saw a +little figure standing in the dim, shaded light. + +She saw him at the same moment, and ran toward him with a little cry, +flinging herself with a great sob at his feet. + +"Oh, Mr. Varrick!" she cried. + +"Why, it's little Jessie Bain!" he exclaimed in wonder, forgetting for +the time being his own misery. + +"It's just as you said it would be, sir--they have turned me out of the +house. And you said, Mr. Varrick, if they ever did that, to be sure and +come straight to you--and here I am!" + +Varrick's amazement knew no bounds. + +What should he do with this girl who was thrust so unceremoniously on +his hands. + +"If it had not been for you and your kind words, I should have flung +myself in the St. Lawrence," continued the girl, "for I was so +desperate. How kind Heaven was to send you to me to help me in my hour +of greatest need, Mr. Varrick." + +"Come into the parlor and let us talk this matter over," said Varrick. +"Yes, I will surely help you. I will go and see your uncle this very +day." + +"I would not go to him," cried the girl. "I swear to you I would not! +When I tell you this, you will not wonder that I refuse. In his rage, +because I came home so late last night, he shot at me. The ball passed +within a hair's-breadth of my heart, for which it was intended, and the +powder burned my arm--see!" + +Hubert Varrick was horror-stricken. The little arm was all blackened +with smoke, and burned with the powder. There was need for a doctor here +at once. + +"If I went back to him he would kill me," the girl sobbed. "Oh! do not +send me back, Mr. Varrick. Let me stay here where you are. + +"You are the only being in the whole wide world who has ever spoken +kindly to me. I can do quite as much for you as I did for my uncle. I +can mend your clothes, see about your meals, and read the papers to you, +and--" + +"Hush, child!" said Varrick. "Don't say any more. It is plain to me that +you can not be sent back to your uncle. I will see what can be done for +you. You shall be my _protegee_ for the present." + +"How young and sweet and fair and innocent the girl is!" he told +himself. + +Placing the girl in the housekeeper's charge, he had a long consultation +with Doctor Roberts. + +"If you will allow me to make a suggestion," returned the doctor, "I +would say, send Jessie Bain to school for a year, if you are inclined to +be philanthropic. She is a wild, beautiful, thoughtless child, and it +has often occurred to me that her education must be very limited." + +"That will be the very thing," returned Varrick. "I wonder that this +solution did not occur to me before. I am going away to-day," he added, +"and wonder if I could get you to attend to the matter for me, doctor?" + +"I will do so with pleasure," returned Doctor Roberts. "In fact, I know +the very institution that would be most suitable. It's a private +boarding-school for young ladies, patronized by the _elite_, and I feel +assured that Professor Graham will take the greatest possible pains with +this pretty, neglected girl, who will be heir only to the education she +gets there, and her youth and strength with which to face the battle of +life." + +When the result of this conference was told to Jessie Bain, she sobbed +as if her heart would break. + +"I don't want to leave you, Mr. Varrick!" she cried, "indeed I don't. +Let me go home with you. I am sure your mother will like me. I will be +so good to her." + +It was explained to her that this could not be. They could scarcely +pacify her. It touched Hubert Varrick deeply to see how she clung to +him. + +He parted with her in the doctor's home, whence she had been taken, +leaving his address with her, with the admonition that she should write +to him every week, and tell him how she was progressing with her +studies; and if she wanted anything she was to be sure to let him know. + +He went back to the hotel to bid good-bye to Mrs. Northrup; but somehow +he could not bring himself to say one word to her about Jessie Bain. + +As he boarded the evening boat for Clayton there was not a more +miserable man in all the whole wide world than Hubert Varrick. He paced +the deck moodily. The thousands of little green islands upon which the +search-light flashed so continuously, had little charm for him. Suddenly +as the light turned its full glare upon a small island midway up the +stream, rendering each object upon it as clearly visible as though it +were noonday, under the strong light Hubert Varrick's eyes fell upon a +sight that fairly rooted him to the spot with horror. + +In that instantaneous glance this is what he saw: A young and lovely +girl crouching on her knees, in the long deep grass under the trees, her +arms outstretched in wild supplication, and bending over her was the +dark figure of a man. One hand clutched her white throat, and the other +hand held a revolver pressed to her white brow. The slouch hat he wore +concealed his features. The girl's face, framed in that mass of curling +dark hair, the white arms--great God! how strangely like Gerelda's! + +Was he going mad? He strained his eyes to see, and a terrible cry of +agony broke from his lips. + +"Captain!" he shrieked, "somebody, anybody, get me a life-boat, quick, +for the love of Heaven! Half my fortune for a life-boat--quick!" + +As he cried aloud, the island was buried in darkness again. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +"THE GIRL WHO PLAYS AT FLIRTATION MAY FIND SHE HAS GRASPED A TWO-EDGED +SWORD," SAID THE HANDSOME YOUNG CAPTAIN, LOOKING FULL IN GERELDA'S +BEWITCHING, HAUGHTY FACE. + + +The captain who was passing, stopped short and looked at Hubert Varrick +in amazement as he cried out, wildly: + +"Get me a life-boat, somebody--anybody! Half my fortune for a +life-boat!" + +"What is the matter?" asked the captain, sharply. "Has some one fallen +overboard?" + +When Varrick answered in the affirmative, the captain gave orders that a +life-boat be at once lowered by the crew, calling upon Varrick to point +out, as near as he could, where the drowning man was. + +"I will go, too," Varrick answered, springing into the boat; and an +instant later the boat was flying over the waves in the direction which +Varrick indicated. + +"Which way, sir?" asked the man at the oars. + +"Straight toward that little island yonder," was the hoarse reply. "Make +for it quickly! Here, take this bank-note, and, in Heaven's name, row +sharp! No one is drowning, but there is a young and lovely girl at the +mercy of some fiend on that island yonder!" + +The man dropped his oars. + +"If you had told our captain that, he would never have sent out a +life-boat," declared the man. "He thought it was some one drowning near +at hand, for the story of Wau-Winet Island is no news to the people +hereabouts." + +"What do you mean?" cried Varrick. + +"I can tell you the story in a very few words, sir," returned the man; +"and surely there's no one more competent to relate it than myself. I +can relate it while we are rowing over to Wau-Winet Island: + +"Some six months ago a stranger suddenly appeared in our midst. He +purchased Wau-Winet Island, and a few days later a score or more of +workmen appeared one night at Alexandria Bay, and boarded a tug that was +to take them out to the island. + +"These workmen were all strangers to the inhabitants around Alexandria +Bay, and they spoke in a different language. + +"They lived upon the island for a month or more, never once coming in +contact with the people hereabouts. + +"All their food was brought to them. Soon their mysterious manners +became the talk of all the country round. + +"In a month's time they had erected a grand stone house--almost a +castle--hidden from any one who might chance to pass the island, by a +net-work of trees. + +"At length the gray-stone house was completed, and the strange, uncanny +workmen took their departure as silently as they had come. + +"The people were warned to keep away from the place, for the workmen had +left behind them a large, ferocious dog who menaced the life of any one +who attempted to land on Wau-Winet Island. + +"Only last night an event happened which I shall never forget if I live +to be the age of Methuselah. I was standing near the dock, when suddenly +some one laid a heavy hand on my shoulder. + +"Glancing up with a little start, I saw the man who had so lately bought +Wau-Winet Island standing before me. By his side, leaning heavily upon +his arm, yet swaying strangely to and fro, as though she were scarcely +able to keep her feet, was a woman in a long black cloak, and her face +covered by a thick veil. + +"Before I had a chance to speak, the gentleman bent down and whispered +hoarsely in my ear: + +"I want you to row us as quickly as possible, to Wau-Winet Island. You +can name your own price.' + +"I wish to God I had refused him. I started to help the lady into the +boat, but he thrust me aside and helped her in himself, lifting her by +main strength. + +"For an instant she swayed to and fro, like a leaf in a strong wind; but +he steadied her by holding her down on her seat, both of her hands +caught in his. + +"I had scarcely pushed out into midstream ere I fancied I heard a low, +choking cry. The woman had wrenched one of her hands free, and like a +flash she had torn off her thick veil, and then I saw a sight that made +the blood run cold in my veins, for over her mouth a thick scarf was +wound, which she was trying to tear off with her disengaged hand. + +"Her companion caught her hand with a fierce imprecation on his lips, +and the struggle that ensued between them made the boat rock like a +cradle. In an instant he had forced her back into her seat, and drawn +the veil down over her face again. + +"But in that brief instant, by the bright light of the moon, I had +caught a glimpse of a face so wondrous in its loveliness and its +haughtiness that I was fairly dazed. I did not know what to do or say, I +was so bewildered. + +"'You must make quicker time!' cried the gentleman, turning to me. + +"At last we reached the island, and despite her struggles, he lifted her +out of the boat. Then he thrust a bill into my hand, saying grimly, 'You +can return now.' + +"But while he was speaking, never for an instant did his hold relax upon +the girl's arm, though she writhed under his grasp. + +"I hesitated a moment, and he turned to me with the look of a fiend on +his dark, handsome face. + +"'I said you might _go_,' he repeated. + +"'I will double that sum if you know how to keep your tongue still,' the +man said, thrusting another bill into my hand. + +"As I pushed out into midstream the girl grew frantic. With an almost +superhuman effort she succeeded in removing the woolen scarf which had +been wound so tightly about her mouth, then with a cry which I shall +never forget while life lasts, she shrieked out piteously, as she threw +out her white arms wildly toward me: + +"'Help! help! Oh! help, for the love of Heaven! Don't desert me! Come +back! oh, come back and save me!' + +"The blood fairly stood still in my veins. Her companion hurled her back +so quickly that she completely lost her balance, and fell fainting in +his arms. + +"'Go!' he cried, angrily, 'and not one word of what you have seen or +heard!' + +"I can not desert a lady in distress, sir,' I answered. + +"With a fury such as I have never seen equaled, he turned and faced me +in the moonlight. + +"'I will give you just one moment to go!' he cried, his right hand +creeping toward his hip-pocket--'another moment to get out of sight!' + +"I knew that it was as much as my life was worth to remain where I was; +so, despite the girl's pitiful entreaties, I rowed back slowly into +midstream and down the river. + +"I fairly made my boat fly over the water. I headed straight for +Clayton--the nearest village--and there I told my startling story to the +people. In less time than it takes to tell it, a half dozen of us +started back for Wau-Winet Island. Arriving, we crept silently up the +steep path that led to the house. My loud ringing brought the gentleman +himself to the door. I shall never forget the fire that leaped into his +eyes as he saw me; but nothing daunted, I said to him determinedly: + +"I have come here with these men to aid the young girl who appealed to +me for help a little while ago.' + +"My companions pressed close behind me, until they filled the wide +entrance hall and closed in around him. + +"'You are certainly mad!' he cried. 'There is no young lady on Wau-Winet +Island, nor has any woman ever put foot upon it at least since it has +been my property,' he added. + +"'Do you mean to say that I did not row you and a young lady over to +this island within this hour, and that she did not appeal to me for +help?' I asked. + +"'Certainly not!' he declared promptly. + +"'You must be either mad or dreaming to even think of such a thing,' he +continued, haughtily. 'However,' turning to my companions, 'seeing that +you have had the trouble of coming here--brought by this lunatic--you +are welcome to look through the house and satisfy yourselves. In fact, I +beg that you will do so.' + +"Much to his surprise, we took him at his word." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE MYSTERIOUS HOUSE ON LONELY WAU-WINET ISLAND. + + +"We searched the stone house from cellar to garret in hopes of finding a +trace of the beautiful girl I felt sure was imprisoned within its grim +walls, the owner following, with a look of defiance on his dark, +handsome face. + +"'She _must_ be on this island,' I declared, vehemently. 'I rowed you +and her over here.' + +"It is quite true that you rowed _me_ over here, my good fellow, but no +fair lady accompanied me, unless it might have been some mermaid. I hope +you are satisfied,' said he, turning to my companions, 'that the man who +has brought you here has played you a trick.' + +"And now stranger, you ask me to take you to Wau-Winet Island on just +such a mission, and I answer you that it would be as much as our lives +are worth." + +"It is evident," returned Hubert Varrick, excitedly, "that there is some +fearful mystery, and it is our duty to try to fathom it if it is within +our power." + +"As you say, sir," replied the man. + +At this moment the skiff grated sharply upon the sand, and the two men +sprung out. + +They had scarcely proceeded half the distance to the house when they +were suddenly confronted by a man. + +"Who are you, and what do you want here?" he asked. + +"I must see the master of Wau-Winet Island," returned Varrick, sternly. +"Are you he?" + +"No," returned the man, rather uneasily. "He left the island scarcely +five minutes ago in his boat. I am only the man working about the +place." + +"Tell me," cried Varrick, earnestly, "was there a lady with him? I will +pay you well to answer me." + +The man's gaze shifted uneasily. + +"There was no lady with him. I suppose that you have heard the strange +story about this island, and have come to investigate the matter. Let me +tell you, it is more than annoying to my master. Had he heard it he +never would have bought the place. As it is he has left it for good and +all to-night, and is going to advertise the place for sale. If they had +told my master, when he came here to buy, the story that a young and +beautiful woman was supposed to have been murdered here many years ago, +and that at nights her spirit haunts the place, he never would have +bought it. Other people imagine that they seen it; but we, who live +here, never have." + +The man told this with such apparent earnestness and truth, that Varrick +was mystified. Had his eyes deceived him? They evidently had. And then +again he told himself that, thinking so much of Gerelda, he had imagined +that the face he had seen for a moment in the flash-light bore a +striking resemblance to hers. And he persuaded himself to believe that +the fisherman's story was a myth. + +He well knew that, of all people in the world, fishermen loved to spin +the most exaggerated yarns, and be the heroes of the greatest +adventures. + +He got out of the matter as gracefully as only Varrick could, +apologizing for his intrusion, and expressing himself as only too +pleased to know that his imagination had simply been at fault. + +"Will you come in?" asked the man, turning to him. "My master has always +given orders that we are to be very hospitable to strangers." + +"You are very kind, and I thank you for your courtesy," returned +Varrick, "but I think not. We will try to cut across the bay and catch +the steamer further down." + +So saying, he motioned his companion to enter the boat. + +The little boat containing the two men was scarcely out of sight, ere +the door of the mysterious stone house opened quickly, and a man came +cautiously down the path. + +"What did they want?" + +"They wanted to see you, Captain Frazier," answered the servant. + +"What about?" asked the other hoarsely. + +"They saw you and--and the young lady when you were out in the grounds, +a little while since, as the search-light went down, and they came +to--to rescue the young lady. I-- I succeeded in convincing them that +their eyes had deceived them, and told them that you were so annoyed at +that senseless tale that you had gone away from the island; that you did +not intend to come back, your aim being to sell the place." + +"Bravo, bravo, McDonald!" exclaimed Captain Frazier--for it was he. +"Upon my soul, you did well! You are reducing lying down to a fine art." + +"I made quite a startling discovery, sir," said McDonald. "It was the +same man who made you all the trouble last night, bringing those people +here." + +Captain Frazier frowned darkly. + +"But that is not all, sir," added McDonald. "Mr. Varrick was with him." + +The name fell like a thunder-bolt on Captain Frazier's ears. He started +back as though he had been shot. + +"Has he succeeded in hunting me down so quickly?" he cried. + +"So I thought when I first saw him, sir. But, to my great amazement, I +soon discovered that he was totally ignorant of who lived on the +island--that it was yourself. The fisherman had been telling him the +story about the young lady, and he had come to investigate it. I soon +convinced him that there was nothing in the story, and that he was only +another one added to the list that the same fisherman had played that +practical joke on. He was angry enough when he took his departure." + +"Are you sure of this, McDonald?" asked Captain Frazier. + +"Quite sure." + +Captain Frazier gave a sigh of relief. He had fancied himself so secure +here. Even the servants did not know him by his own name. + +"If I thought for a moment that he suspected my presence here, I would +lose no time in getting away from Wau-Winet Island, and taking _her_ +with me." + +"You need have no fear, sir," returned the man. + +For an hour or more Captain Frazier paced slowly up and down under the +trees, smoking cigar after cigar in rapid succession. + +"It is a terrible thing," he muttered, "when love for a woman drives a +man to the verge of madness. I swore that Gerelda should never marry +Hubert Varrick, if I had to kill her. But I have done better. He will +never look upon her face again." + +At length he walked slowly to the house. He was met on the porch by a +little French maid who seemed to be looking for him. + +"Well, Marie?" said Captain Frazier. + +"I have been looking for you, sir," returned the girl quickly. "I can do +nothing with mademoiselle. She will not speak; she will not eat. She +lies there hour after hour with her beautiful face turned toward the +wall and her white hands clasped together. She might be a dead woman for +all the interest she evinces in anything. I very much fear, sir, that +she will keep her vow--_never to speak again_--_never in this world_." + +"You must keep close watch that she does not attempt to make away with +herself, Marie," he continued, earnestly. "Heaven only knows how she +obtained that revolver I took away from her out in the grounds to-night. +She was kneeling down in the long grass, and had it already pressed to +her temple, when I appeared in the very nick of time and wrenched it +from her little white hand. She would do anything save drown herself to +escape from here. Her father lost his life that way, and she would +never attempt _that_ means of escape, even from _this_ place." + +"She even refuses to have her bridal-dress removed," said the maid; "and +I do not know what to do about it. She has uttered no word since first +she crossed your threshold; she will not speak." + +Captain Frazier looked troubled, distressed. + +Would Gerelda keep her vow? She had said when she recovered +consciousness and found herself on the island, and the boatman gone: + +"I will never utter another word from this hour until I am set free +again. You are beneath contempt, Captain Frazier, to kidnap a young girl +at the altar." + +He never forgot how she looked at him in the clear moonlight as he +turned to her, crying out passionately: + +"It is your own fault, Gerelda. Why did you draw me on to love you so? +You encouraged me up to the last moment, and then it was too late for me +to give you up." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE SWEET AND TENDER LETTERS THAT SUDDENLY CEASED TO COME. + + +Gerelda Northrup neither spoke nor stirred. + +"You drew me on--ay, up to the very last moment--or this would never +have happened. I come of a desperate race, Gerelda," he went on, +huskily, "and when you showed me so plainly that you still liked my +society, even after you had plighted your troth to another, I clung to +the mad idea that there was yet hope for me, if we were far away from +those who might come between us. On this lone island we will be all the +world to each other--'the world forgetting, by the world forgot.' Marry +me, Gerelda, and I will be your veritable slave!" + +He never forgot the look she turned upon him. + +"When your anger has had time to cool, you will forgive me, my darling," +he pleaded, "and then I am sure you will not say me nay when I beg for +your heart and hand. I shall not force you into a marriage. I will wait +patiently until you come to me and say: 'Robert, I am willing to marry +you!'" + +He remembered how she had turned from him in bitter anger and scorn too +terrible for any words. He had given her over into the hands of Marie, +the little French maid. + +She offered no resistance as the girl took her hand and led her into the +house; but there was a look on her face that boded no good, while the +words she had uttered rang in his ears: "I shall never speak again until +you set me free!" + +Twice she had made the attempt, during the forty-eight hours which +followed, to take her own life, and both times he had prevented her. +Even in those thrilling moments she had never uttered a word. She kept +her vow, and Captain Frazier was beside himself at the turn affairs had +taken. + +But what else could he have done, under the circumstances? He could not +stand by and see her made the bride of another. + +Only that day, by the merest chance, Frazier had found out about Hubert +Varrick practically adopting the village beauty--saucy little Jessie +Bain--and that he had secretly sent her to a private school, to be +educated at his own expense, and he lost no time in communicating this +startling news to Gerelda, and giving her proof positive of the truth of +this statement. + +He saw her face turn deathly white, and he knew that the arrow of bitter +jealousy had struck home; but even then she uttered no word. But when +darkness gathered she stole out into the grounds, and tried to end it +all then and there, and she would have succeeded but for his timely +happening upon the scene at the very moment that the flash-light had +shone so suddenly upon her. + +Yes, the story concerning Jessie Bain had come like a thunder-bolt to +Gerelda Northrup. She had fallen on her face in the long green grass, +and was carried into the house in a dead faint. + +Only heaven knew what she suffered when consciousness came to her. She +was almost mad with terror at finding herself snatched from the arms of +her lover at the very altar--kidnapped in this most outrageous manner. + +She pictured her bridegroom's wild agony when he returned with the glass +of wine which he had hurried after, and found her missing. + +But the knowledge that he had consoled himself so quickly by taking an +interest in some other girl almost took her breath away. Then she sent a +note to Captain Frazier. It contained but a few words, but they were +enough to send him into the seventh heaven of delight. They read as +follows: + +"Prove to me, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that Hubert Varrick is +really in love with the rustic little village maid you speak of to such +an extent that he has secretly undertaken the care of her future, and, +madly as I love him, I will give him up and marry you within six months +from this time. But, in the meantime, you must return me at once to my +home and friends. This much I promise you: I shall not see Hubert +Varrick until this matter has been cleared up." + +To this note Frazier sent back hurried word that she should have all the +proof of Hubert Varrick's perfidy that she might ask. + +There was but one thing which it was impossible to do, and that was to +set her free during the six months' probation. + +This was impossible. He could not do it; he loved her too madly. He +would go away, if she liked, and leave her to reign "queen of the isle." +She should have everything which heart desired--everything save +permission to leave the place. + +To this Gerelda was forced to submit. + +"If I were convinced that Hubert Varrick loved another, life would be +all over for me," she moaned again and again. + +Meanwhile, as days and weeks rolled by, and no tidings reached Hubert +Varrick of the bride who, he supposed, had deserted him at the very +altar, his heart grew bitter against Gerelda. + +He plunged into his practice of law, with the wild hope that he might +forget her. + +The only diversity that entered his life was the letters which he +received from little Jessie Bain. + +Girl-like, she wrote to him every day. + +"I do wish you would adopt me, guardy," she wrote one day, "and bring me +home; I am so tired of this place. The principal always calls upon me to +look after all the little young fry in his school. Morning and night I +have to hear their prayers and hunt the shoes and stockings that they +throw at one another across the dormitory. Each one denies the throwing, +and I slap every one of them right and left, to be sure to get the right +one. I'm sick and tired of books. I wish I could come to you." + +Suddenly the letters ceased, and, to Varrick's consternation, a week +passed without his hearing one word from little Jessie Bain, and he +never knew until then, how deep a hold the girl had on the threads that +were woven into his daily life. + +In his loneliness he turned to the letters, and read and reread them. It +was like balm to his sore heart to find in them such outpourings of love +and devotion. + +Was she ill? Perhaps some lover had crossed her path. + +The thought worried him. He was just on the point of telegraphing, when +suddenly there was a rustling sound at the open French window, a swish +of skirts behind him, and the next instant a pair of arms were thrown +about his neck. + +"Now don't scold me, guardy--please don't! I am going to own up to the +truth right here and now. I ran away. I couldn't help it, I got so tired +of hooking young ones' dresses and hearing their prayers." + +With an assumption of dignity, Hubert Varrick unwound the girl's arms +from about his neck. But somehow they had sent a strange thrill through +his whole being, just such a thrill as he had experienced during the +hour in which he had asked Gerelda to be his wife, and she had answered +in the affirmative. + +He tried to hold her off at arm's-length, but she only clung to him the +more, giving him a rapturous kiss of greeting. + +The story of little Jessie Bain had been the only one which Hubert +Varrick had kept from his mother. + +It seemed amusing, he had told himself repeatedly, for a young man of +five-and-twenty to be guardian, as it were, to a young girl of +sixteen--that sweet, subtle, dangerous age "where childhood and +womanhood meet." + +"Aren't you glad to see me, Mr. Varrick?" cried Jessie. + +"Glad?" Hubert Varrick's face lighted up, and before he was aware of the +action, he had drawn her into his encircling arms, bent his dark, +handsome head, and kissed the rosy mouth so dangerously near his own. +There was a sound as of a groan, from the door-way, followed by a +muffled shriek, and raising his eyes in startled horror, Hubert Varrick +saw his lady-mother standing on the threshold, her jeweled hands parting +the satin _portieres_. + +"Who is this girl, and what does this amazing scene mean, Hubert?" cried +Mrs. Varrick. + +Jessie Bain looked at the angry lady in puzzled wonder. She nestled up +closer to the handsome, broad-shouldered fellow, murmuring audibly: + +"Why don't you tell her that I am Jessie Bain, and that you are my best +friend on earth?" + +The lady had heard enough to condemn the girl in her eyes. + +She advanced toward her, livid with rage, and flung the girl's little +white hands back from her son's arm. + +"Go!" she cried, quivering with rage; "leave this house instantly, or I +will call the servants to put you into the street? It's such girls as +you that ruin young men!" + +"Mother," interrupted Hubert, "Jessie Bain must not be sent from this +house. If she leaves, I shall go with her!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +EVERY YOUNG GIRL WOULD LIKE A LOVER. AND WHY NOT? FOR LOVE IS THE +GRANDEST GIFT THE GODS CAN GIVE. + + +A thunder-bolt falling from a clear sky could not have startled the +proud Mrs. Varrick more than those crushing words that fell from the +lips of her handsome son--"Mother, if you turn Jessie Bain from your +door, I go with her!" + +Mrs. Varrick drew herself up to her full height and advanced into the +room like an angry queen. + +"Hubert," she cried, in a tone that he had never heard from his mother's +lips before, "I can make all due allowance for the follies of a young +man, but I say this to you: you should never have permitted this girl to +cross your mother's threshold." + +"Give me a chance to speak a few words, mother," he interrupted. "Let me +set matters straight. The whole fault is mine, because I have not +explained this affair to you before. I put it off from day to day." + +In a few brief words he explained. + +In her own mind, quick as a flash, a sudden thought came to her that +there was more behind this than had been told to her. + +She had wondered why Gerelda Northrup, the beauty and the heiress, fled +from her handsome son at the very altar. Now she began to think that +she might have had a reason for it other than that which the world +knew. + +She was diplomatic; she was too worldly wise to seek to separate them +then and there. She said to herself it must be done by strategy. + +"This puts the matter in quite a different light, Hubert," she said; +"and while I am slightly incensed at your not telling me about this +affair, I can readily understand the kindly impulse which prompted you +to protect this young girl. But I can not allow _you_ to outdo me; +Jessie must consider _me_ quite as much her friend as you. She shall +find a home here with us, and it will be pleasant, after all, to see a +bright, girlish face in these dull old rooms, and hear the sound of +merry laughter." + +This remark threw Hubert off his guard. + +"That is spoken like my noble-hearted mother!" he cried, +enthusiastically. "I knew you could not be angry with me when you +understood it." + +The girl stepped hesitatingly forward. From the first instant that she +beheld her standing on the threshold, she had conceived a great dislike +and fear of Hubert's haughty lady-mother. Even the conversation and +explanation which she had just listened to did not change her first +impression. + +Thus it happened that Jessie Bain took up her abode in the magnificent +home of the Varricks. + +But Hubert's mother made it the one object of her life to see that her +son and this attractive girl were never left alone together for a +moment. + +He had seemed heart-broken over the loss of Gerelda Northrup up to the +time that Jessie had entered the house; now there was a perceptible +change in him. + +He no longer brooded for hours over his cigars, pacing up and down under +the trees; now he would enter the library of an evening, or linger in +the drawing-room, especially if Jessie was there. + +Had it not been for her son, and the terror from day to day in her heart +that Hubert was learning to care for the girl, proud Mrs. Varrick would +have liked Jessie Bain, she was so bright, so merry, so artless. + +She lost no opportunity in impressing upon Jessie's mind, when she was +alone with the girl, that Hubert would never marry, eagerly noticing +what effect these words would have upon the girl. + +"Wouldn't that be a pity, Mrs. Varrick?" she had answered once. "It +would be so cruel for him to stay single always." + +"Not at all," returned Mrs. Varrick, sharply. "If a man does not get the +one that is intended for him, he should never marry any one else." + +"And you think that he was intended for Miss Northrup?" questioned +Jessie. + +"Decidedly; and for no one else." + +"Then I wonder Heaven did not give her to him," said Jessie. + +Mrs. Varrick looked at her keenly. + +"A man never has but one love in a life-time," she said, impressively. + +A fortnight had barely passed since Jessie had been under that roof, and +yet every one of the household noticed the difference in handsome Hubert +Varrick, and spoke about it. He was growing gayer and more debonair +than in the old days, when he was paying court to the beautiful Gerelda +Northrup. Of all subjects, the only one which he would not discuss with +his mother was the future of Jessie Bain. + +She had on one occasion asked him, with seeming carelessness, how long +he intended to care for this girl who was an utter stranger to him, and +suggested that, since she would not go to school, his responsibility +ought to cease. + +"I have bound myself to look after her until she is eighteen," he +answered. + +"I want to have a little talk with you, Hubert, on that subject," she +said. "Will you listen to me a few moments?" + +"As many as you like, mother," he answered. + +"I want to ask you if you have ever thought over what a wrong step you +are taking in giving this girl a taste of a life she can never expect to +continue after she leaves here?" + +"You should be glad that she has a little sunshine, mother." + +"It is wrong to place a girl in a brilliant sunshine for a few brief +days, and then plunge her into gloom for the rest of her life." + +"She has not been plunged into gloom yet, mother." + +"If she could marry well while she is with us, it would be a great thing +for her," went on Mrs. Varrick. + +"Don't you think she is rather young yet? What is your opinion about +that, mother?" + +"It is best for a poor girl to marry as soon as a good offer presents +itself, I believe. I have been thinking deeply upon this subject, for I +have noticed that there is a young man who seems to be quite smitten +with the charms of Jessie Bain." + +Her handsome son flushed to the roots of his dark-brown hair, and he +laughed confusedly as he said: + +"Why, how very sharp you are, mother! I did not know that you noticed +it." + +"Of course he is not rich," continued Mrs. Varrick, "but still, even a +struggling young architect would be a good match for her. She might do +worse." + +"Why, what in the world do you mean, mother?" cried Hubert Varrick. +"What are you talking about?" + +"Why, my dear son, have you been blind to what has been going on for the +last fortnight?" she returned, with seeming carelessness. "Haven't you +noticed that the young architect who is drawing the plans for the new +western wing of our house is in love with your _protegee_?" + +She never forgot the expression of her son's face; it was livid and +white as death. This betrayed his secret. He loved Jessie Bain himself! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +A MOTHER'S DESPERATE SCHEME. + + +"What makes you think the young architect is in love with Jessie Bain, +mother? I think it is an absurd idea." + +"Why do you call it absurd?" returned Mrs. Varrick. "It is perfectly +natural." + +Hubert turned on her in a rage so great that it fairly appalled her. + +"Why did you permit this sort of thing to go on, mother?" he cried. "It +is all your fault. You are accountable for it, I say." + +Mrs. Varrick rose from her seat and looked haughtily at her son, her +heart beating with great, stifling throbs. In all the years of their +lives they had never before exchanged one cross word with each other, +and in that moment she hated, with all the strength of her soul, the +girl who had sown discord between them, and she wished that Heaven had +stricken the girl dead ere her son had looked upon her face. + +"I am sure it is nothing to you or to me whom Jessie Bain chooses to +fall in love with," she answered, coldly. "You forget yourself in +reproaching _me_ with it, my son," and with these words she swept from +the room. + +The door had barely closed after her ere Hubert threw himself down into +the nearest chair, covering his face with his hands. + +He had loved Gerelda Northrup as few men love in a life-time, but with +the belief that she had eloped with another, growing up in his heart, he +had been able to stifle that love, root it from his heart, blossom and +branch, with an iron will, until at last he knew if he came face to face +with Gerelda she would never again have the power to thrill his heart +with the same passion. + +And, sitting there, he was face to face with the truth--that his heart, +in all its loneliness, had gone out to Jessie Bain in the rebound, and +he knew that life would never be the same to him if she were to prefer +another to himself. + +He rang the bell sharply, and in response to the summons one of the +servants soon appeared. + +"Send the architect--the young man whom you will find in the new western +wing of the house--to me at once. Tell him to bring his drawings with +him." + +Hubert Varrick paced nervously up and down the library until the young +man entered the room. + +"You sent for me, Mr. Varrick," he said, with a smile on his frank, +handsome face, "and I made haste to come to you." + +"I wish to inspect your drawings," he said, tersely, as he waved the +young man to a seat. + +Frank Moray laid them down upon the table. There was something in +Varrick's manner that startled him, for he had always been courteous and +pleasant to him before. + +Varrick ran his eyes critically over the pieces of card-board, the frown +on his face deepening. + +"I hope the plans meet your approval, sir," said the young man, very +respectfully. "I showed them from day to day, as I progressed, to Miss +Jessie Bain, and she seemed very much interested in them." + +Those words were fatal to the young man's cause. With an angry gesture, +Varrick threw the drawings down upon the table. + +"Your plans do not please me at all," he returned. "Stop right where you +are. Return to your firm at once and tell them to send me another man, +an older man, one with more experience--one who can spend more time at +his business and less time in chattering. Your sketches are miserably +drawn!" + +Frank Moray had risen to his feet, his face white as death. + +"Mr. Varrick," he cried hoarsely, "let me beg of you to reconsider your +words. Only try me again. Let me make a new set of drawings to submit to +you. It would ruin my reputation if you were to send this message to the +firm, for they have hitherto placed much confidence in my work." + +"You will leave the house at once," he said, "and send a much older man, +I repeat, to continue the work." + +The poor fellow fairly staggered from the drawing-room. He could not +imagine why, in one short hour, he had dropped from heaven to the very +depths of Hades, as it were. + +Varrick breathed freely when he saw him leave the house and walk slowly +down the lilac-bordered path and out through the arched gate-way. + +A little later Jessie came flying into the library. Varrick was still +seated at the table, poring over his books. + +"Where is Mr. Moray--do you know?" she asked, quickly--"I want to return +him a paper he loaned me this morning. I have been looking everywhere +for him, but can not find him. There is something in the paper that you +would like to hear about too." + +"Sit down on this hassock, Jessie, and read it to me," he said. + +"Oh, no! You want to make fun of me," she pouted, "and see me get +puzzled over all the big words. Please read it yourself, Mr. Varrick." + +"Suppose you tell me the substance of it, and that will save me reading +it," he said. + +"Oh, I can do that. There isn't so much to tell. It's about a fire last +night on one of the little islands in the St. Lawrence. No doubt you +have heard of the place--Wau-Winet Island. The mysterious stone house +that was on it has been burned to the ground. The owner was away at the +time. It is supposed that everyone else on the island perished in the +flames." + +Hubert Varrick listened with interest, but he never dreamed how vitally, +in the near future, this catastrophe would concern him. + +He thought of his strange visit to that place, and that no doubt the +owner was none too sorry to see it laid to ashes, as he had acknowledged +that it had caused him much annoyance owing to the uncanny rumors +floating about that the place was haunted by a young and beautiful woman +whose spirit would not be laid. + +Then, in talking to Jessie during the next half hour he entirely forgot +the fire that had occurred on that far-away island in the St. Lawrence. + +He broached the subject that the architect had gone for good, narrowly +watching Jessie's pretty face as he told her. + +"Oh! I am so sorry," she declared, disappointedly, "for he was such a +nice young man; and in his spare moments he had promised to teach me to +sketch;" and her lovely face clouded. + +"Would not I do as well?" asked Hubert Varrick, gently, as his hand +closed over the little white one so near his own. + +The girl trembled beneath his touch. In that one moment her heart went +from her, and she experienced the sweet elysium of a young life just +awakening to love's bewildering dream. + +"Would I not make as good a teacher?" repeated Varrick, softly; and he +bent his dark, handsome head, looking earnestly into the girl's flushed +face. + +"Perhaps," she answered, evasively; and she was very much relieved to +hear some one calling her at that moment. + +Mrs. Varrick heard of the proposed sketching lessons with great +displeasure. Despite all that she had done and said, she saw these two +young people falling more and more in love with each other with every +passing day. + +"How can I stop it? What shall I do?" she asked herself night after +night, as she paced the floor of her _boudoir_. + +She fairly cursed the hour that brought lovely, innocent little Jessie +Bain beneath that roof, and she wished she knew of some way in which to +get rid of the girl for good and all. + +She paced the floor until the day dawned. A terrible scheme against the +life and happiness of poor Jessie Bain had entered her brain--a scheme +so dark and horrible that even she grew frightened as she contemplated +it. + +Then she set her lips together, muttering hoarsely: + +"I would do anything to part my son and Jessie Bain!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +GERELDA'S ESCAPE FROM WAU-WINET ISLAND. + + +The fire at Wau-Winet Island, as the papers had explained, had taken +place during the owner's absence. No one knew how it had happened; there +seemed to be no one left to tell the tale. + +When Captain Frazier returned that evening and found the place in ruins, +he was almost wild with grief. In his own mind he felt that he knew how +it had come about. + +In her desperation to get away, Gerelda had fired the house. But, for +all that, she had not succeeded in making her escape, as the flames must +have overtaken her. + +Those who watched Captain Frazier had great difficulty in preventing +him from flinging himself headlong into the bay, he seemed so distracted +over the loss of Gerelda, the girl whom he loved so sincerely. + +The truth of the matter was, Gerelda had not fired the place. It had +been caused by a spark from an open fire-place; and in the confusion and +the darkness of the night she had succeeded in making her way out of the +house and down to the shore. + +With trembling hands she had untied one of the little boats which lay +there rocking to and fro, had sprung into it, and ere the flames burst +through the arched windows of the stone house she was far across the +bay, and was soon lost to sight in the darkness. She had taken the +precaution to seize a long cloak and veil belonging to the maid, and +these she proceeded to don while in the boat. + +By daylight she found herself drifting slowly toward a little village, +and as the lights became clear enough to discern objects distinctly, she +saw that the place was Kingston. + +At this Gerelda was overjoyed, for she remembered her old nurse, whom +she had not seen since early childhood, lived here. The sun was shining +bright and clear when Gerelda Northrup stepped from the boat and wended +her way up the grass-grown streets of the quaint little Canadian town. + +By dint of inquiry here and there, she at length found the nurse's +home--a little cottage, almost covered with morning-glory vines, setting +back from the main road. + +Although the nurse had not seen Gerelda since she was a little child, +she knew her the moment her eyes rested upon her face, and with a cry +of amazement she drew back. + +"Gerelda Northrup!" she gasped. "Is it you, Miss Gerelda, or do my eyes +deceive me?" + +She had heard of the great marriage that was to take place at the +Crossmon Hotel, at Alexandria Bay, and heard, too, the whispered rumor +of the bride-elect's flight; and to see her standing there before her +almost took Nurse Henderson's breath away. + +She looked past Gerelda, expecting to see some tall and handsome +gentleman, with a grand carriage drawn up at the road-side, waiting for +her. The girl seemed to interpret her thoughts. + +"I have come alone," she said, briefly. "Won't you bid me enter?" + +"That I will, Miss Gerelda!" cried Nurse Henderson, laughing and crying +over her. + +But when she drew her into the house, and took off the long cloak she +wore, she was startled beyond expression to see that she wore a +bridal-dress all ruined and torn. + +Nurse Henderson held up her hands in wild alarm. + +"Oh, Miss Gerelda!" she cried; "what does it mean? I am terrified!" + +"Do not ask me any questions, I pray; I am not able to answer them just +yet. Some day I may tell you all, but not now." + +The old nurse placed her on a sofa, begging her to rest herself, as she +looked so pale and worn, saying that she might tell her anything she +wished, a little later, when she was stronger. + +It was a fortnight before Gerelda had strength to leave her old nurse's +home, and during that time she had made a _confidante_ of old Nurse +Henderson, pledging her beforehand never to reveal the story she had +told her. Nurse Henderson listened, horror-struck, to the story. + +"I am going to see for myself, Henderson," she added, in conclusion, +"just how much truth there is in this affair. If I find that Hubert +Varrick has been so false to me, it will surely kill me. I am going +there to see for myself." + +"You do not seem to realize, my dear," said Nurse Henderson, "that the +people say you eloped with his rival, and that he believes them." + +"He should have had more confidence in me, no matter what the world +says!" cried Gerelda, with flashing eyes. "He should have searched for +me. I have often thought since, that Heaven intended just what has +occurred to test his love for me. I firmly believe this. I intend to +disguise myself, and go boldly to his home and see for myself whether +the report is false or true. Of course, a rival would not stoop to make +up any falsehood against him and pour it into my ears. You will help me +to disguise myself, Henderson?" + +"I have thought it all out," continued the heiress, "while I have been +under this roof, and I have been trying to gain strength for the ordeal. +Let me tell it to you, Henderson, and you will marvel at my clever plan. +You know that from a child I could always do exquisite fancy-work. Well, +I mean to make use of that talent. Mrs. Varrick--Hubert's mother--has +always said she would give anything to find a person willing to come to +her home who could do just such fancy-work, and decorate her _boudoir_. +Now, I mean to go there in disguise, show her a sample of my work, and +say that I gave many lessons to Gerelda Northrup, and she will be only +too glad to have me come to her home at any price. Then I can see for +myself just how much my lover is grieving over my loss. He may be pining +away--ay, be at the very gates of death, probably. In that case I shall +reveal my identity at once. + +"Oh, Miss Gerelda, you could never go through all that! _You_ toil, even +for a day, for any one? Oh! pray abandon such a mad idea. Believe me, my +dear, such an idea is not practicable." + +But all her persuasion could not influence the girl to abandon her plan. + +A few days later a tall, slender woman robed in the severest black, with +a cap on her head and blue glasses covering her eyes, walked slowly up +the broad, graveled path that led to the Varrick mansion. + +Mrs. Varrick was seated on the porch. She looked highly displeased when +the servant approached her, announcing that this person--indicating +Gerelda--desired particularly to speak with her a few moments. + +"If you are a peddler or in search of work, you should go round to the +servants' door," she said, brusquely. + +Gerelda never knew until then what a very cross mother-in-law she had +escaped. + +"Step around there, and I will see you later," said Mrs. Varrick. + +This Gerelda was forced to do. She waited in the servants' hall an hour +or more before Mrs. Varrick remembered her and came to see what she +wanted. When she saw the samples of fancy-work her eyes lighted up. + +"They are very beautiful," she said, "but I am not in need of anything +of the kind just now. If you call round here a few months later, I might +find use for your services." + +Gerelda had been so confident of getting an opportunity to stay beneath +that roof, that the shock of these words nearly made her cry out and +betray herself. + +"Is there no young lady in the house to whom I could teach this art?" +she asked. + +As she spoke these words she heard a light foot-fall on the marble +floor, and the soft _frou frou_ of rustling skirts behind her, and she +turned her head quickly. + +There, standing in the door-way, she beheld Jessie Bain. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +LIFE WITHOUT LOVE IS LIKE A ROSE WITHOUT PERFUME. + + +For an instant these two young girls who were to be such bitter rivals +for one man's love looked at each other. + +"Oh, what exquisite embroidery!" cried Jessie. "Are you going to buy +some, Mrs. Varrick?" + +"I am thinking of engaging this young person to come to the house and +make some for me, under my supervision," she returned. + +"I would give so much to know how to make it!" exclaimed Jessie. + +"If this young woman will give you instructions, you can take them," +said Mrs. Varrick. + +At that moment Hubert Varrick entered. + +"What is all this discussion about, ladies?" he asked. + +Gerelda uttered a quick gasp as he crossed the threshold. Her heart was +in her eyes behind those blue glasses. She had pictured him as being +worn and haggard with grieving for her. Did her eyes deceive her? Hubert +Varrick looked brighter and happier than she had ever seen him look +before, and, like a flash, Captain Frazier's words occurred to her--he +had soon found consolation in a new love. + +"This woman is an adept at embroidering," said Jessie, "and she is to +teach me how to do it. When I have thoroughly learned it, the very first +thing I shall make will be a lovely smoking-jacket for you." + +"Oh, thank you!" exclaimed Hubert. "Believe that it will be a precious +souvenir. I shall want to keep it so nice, that I will hardly dare wear +it, lest I may soil it." + +The girl laughed a little merry laugh. It was well for her that she did +not turn and look at the stranger just then. Mrs. Varrick was making +arrangements with her, but she was so intently listening to that +whispered conversation about the jacket, that she scarcely heard a word +she said. She was only conscious that Mrs. Varrick had touched the bell +for one of the servants to come and show her the apartment she was to +occupy. + +"May I ask the name, please?" Mrs. Varrick said. + +"Miss Duncan," was the reply. + +From the moment Miss Duncan--as she called herself--entered that +household her torture began. It was bad enough to be told by Captain +Frazier of her would-be lover's lack of constancy; but to witness it +with her own eyes--ah, that was maddening! + +"Would that I had never entered this household!" she cried out. + +She was unable to do justice to her work. Her whole life merged into one +desire--to watch Hubert Varrick and Jessie Bain. + +She employed herself in embroidering a light silken scarf. This she +could take out under the trees, and see the two playing lawn-tennis on +the greensward just beyond the lilac hedge. + +There was not a movement that escaped her watchful eyes during the whole +live-long day. And during the evenings, too. Would she ever forget them? + +Yes, Captain Frazier was right-- Hubert Varrick had forgotten her. + +She could see that Mrs. Varrick had no love for the girl. Indeed, her +dislike was most pronounced; and she felt that Hubert must have done +considerable coaxing to gain his mother's consent to bring the girl +beneath that roof. + +When she learned from the housekeeper that Hubert Varrick was her +guardian, her rage knew no bounds. + +It was at this critical state of affairs that Hubert Varrick received a +telegram which called him to New York for a fortnight. + +Mrs. Varrick heard this announcement with a little start, while Jessie +Bain heard it with dismay. + +To her it meant two long, dreary weeks that must drag slowly by before +he should return again. + +No one knew what Miss Duncan thought when she heard the housekeeper +remarking that Mr. Hubert had gone to New York. + +Late that afternoon she was startled by a soft little tap at her door, +and in response to her "Come in," Jessie Bain entered. + +"I hope I have not interrupted you," said Jessie; "but I thought I would +like to come and sit with you, and watch you while you worked, if you +don't mind." + +"Not in the least," answered Miss Duncan. + +For a few moments there was a rigid silence between them, which Miss +Duncan longed to break by asking her when and where she first met Hubert +Varrick. + +But while she was thinking how she might best broach the subject, Jessie +turned to her and said, "I don't see how you can work with those blue +glasses on; it must be such a strain on your eyes;" adding, earnestly: +"But I suppose you are obliged to do it, and that makes considerable +difference." + +"You suppose wrong," returned Miss Duncan, with asperity. "I do it +because it is a pleasure to me." + +"Oh!" said Jessie. + +"It distracts my mind," continued Miss Duncan. "There are so many sad +things that occur in life, that one would give anything in this world to +be able to forget them." + +"Have you had a great sorrow?" asked Jessie. + +"So great that it has almost caused me to hate every woman," returned +Miss Duncan; adding: "It was love that caused it all. You will do well, +Miss Bain, if you never fall in love; for, at best, men are +treacherous." + +The girl flushed, wondering if the stranger had penetrated her secret. + +But she had been so careful to hide from every one that she had fallen +in love with handsome Hubert Varrick, it was almost impossible to guess +it. + +As Jessie Bain did not reply to the remark which she had just made, Miss +Duncan went on hurriedly, "There is not one man in a thousand who proves +true to the woman to whom he has plighted his troth. The next pretty +face he sees turns his head. I should never want to marry a man, or even +to be engaged to one if I knew that he had ever had another love. + +"By the way," she asked, suddenly lowering her voice, "I am surprised to +see Mr. Varrick looking so cheerful after the experience he has had with +his love affair." + +"He was too good for that proud heiress," Jessie declared, indignantly. +"I think Heaven intended that he should be spared from such a marriage. +I-- I fairly detest her name. Please do not let us talk about her, Miss +Duncan. I like to speak well of people, but I can think of nothing save +what is bad to say of her." + +With this she rose hastily, excused herself, and hurried from the room, +leaving her companion smarting from the stinging words that had fallen +from her lips. + +"The impudent creature!" fairly gasped the heiress, flinging aside her +embroidery and pacing up and down the floor like a caged animal. "I +shall take a bitter revenge on her for this, or my name is not Gerelda +Northrup!" + +The more she thought of it, the deeper her anger took root. They brought +her a tempting little repast; but she pushed the tea-tray from her, +leaving its contents untasted. She felt that food would have choked her. + +The sun went down, and the moon rose clear and bright over the distant +hills. One by one the lights in the Varrick mansion went out, and the +clock in the adjacent steeple struck the hours until midnight. Still +Gerelda Northrup paced up and down the narrow room, intent upon her own +dark thoughts. + +One o'clock chimed from the steeple, and another hour rolled slowly by; +then suddenly she stopped short, and crossed the room to where her +satchel lay on the wide window-sill. Opening it, she drew from it a +small vial containing white, glistening crystals, and hid it nervously +in her bosom; then, with trembling feet, she recrossed the room, opened +her door, and peered breathlessly out into the dimly lighted corridor. +No sound broke the awful stillness. + +Closing the door gently after her, the great heiress tiptoed her way +down the wide hall like a thief in the night, her footfalls making no +sound on the velvet carpet. Jessie's was the last door at the end of +the corridor. Miss Duncan knew this well. But before she had gained it +she saw Mrs. Varrick leave her room and step to Jessie's. + +She remembered Mrs. Varrick did not like the girl. A score of +conjectures flashed through her mind as to the object of that +surreptitious visit; but she put them all from her as being highly +impracticable and not to be thought of. + +The morrow would tell the story. She must wait patiently until then, and +find out for herself. + +How thankful she was that she had not been three minutes earlier. In +that case Mrs Varrick would have discovered her. And then, too, a +tragedy had been averted. + +She took the vial from her bosom, and with trembling hands shook its +contents from the window down into the grounds below, and threw the tiny +bottle out among the rose bushes, murmuring: + +"If it is ever done at all, it must not be done that way." + +Then she threw herself on the couch just as the day was breaking, and +dropped into an uneasy sleep, from which she was startled by a terrific +rap on the door. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +GERELDA COULD HAVE SAVED HER. + + +Hastily opening the door, Gerelda saw one of the maids. + +"My mistress wishes to see you in the morning-room," she said. "I have +brought you some breakfast. You are to partake of this first; but my +mistress hopes you will not be long." + +Gerelda swallowed a roll and drank the tea and hastened to the +morning-room. Here Gerelda found not only Mrs. Varrick, but every man +and woman who lived beneath the roof of the Varrick mansion. + +For a moment Gerelda hesitated. + +Had some one discovered that she was in disguise, and informed Mrs. +Varrick? She trembled violently from head to foot. + +Mrs. Varrick broke in upon her confused thoughts. + +"Pardon my somewhat abrupt summons, Miss Duncan," she said, motioning +her to a chair, "but something has occurred which renders it imperative +that I should speak collectively to every member of this household. + +"Most of you remember, no doubt, that I wore my diamond bracelet to the +opera last night. When I returned home I unclasped it from my arm, +myself, and laid it carefully away in my jewel-box. This morning it is +missing. My maid and I made a careful examination of the room where I am +in the habit of keeping my jewels. We found that the room had not been +entered from the outside, that all the windows and doors were securely +bolted on the inside. I am therefore forced to accept the theory that my +room was visited by some one from the inside of the house." + +"Wasn't it amazing!" cried Jessie, turning to Miss Duncan. "A thief +walking through the house in the dead of night, while we were all +sleeping! I am sure I should have been frightened into hysterics had I +known it." + +A cold, calm look from Mrs. Varrick's steel-gray eyes seemed to arrest +the words on the girl's lips, and that strange, uncanny gaze sent a +thrill creeping down to the very depths of Jessie Bain's soul. + +All in a flash, as Miss Duncan listened, she realized what was coming. + +"Let no one interrupt me unless I invite them to speak," said Mrs. +Varrick, continuing: "I will go on to say that the butler informs me +that he found no door or window open in any part of the house, when he +opened up the place this morning. + +"Have you missed anything, Miss Duncan?" + +"No," said Gerelda, quietly. + +"And you, Miss Bain?" + +"No. I have nothing that any thief would care to take," returned the +girl; "only this gold chain and this battered old locket which contains +my dead mother's picture, and I always wear this about my neck day and +night." + +Mrs. Varrick asked the same question of every one present--"if they had +lost anything during the night"--and each one answered in a positive +negative. + +"Then it seems that the thief was content with taking my diamond +bracelet," she said, sharply. + +Suddenly the housekeeper, who had been in Mrs. Varrick's service since +she had come there a bride, spoke out: + +"I am sure nobody would object, ma'am, if the trunks and boxes of every +one in the house were to be examined." + +Mrs. Varrick turned to the housekeeper. + +"I should not like to say that I suspect any one," she answered. "I have +sent for one of the most experienced detectives in the city, and am +expecting him to arrive at any moment. In the meantime, I desire that +you will all remain in this room." + +Miss Duncan had maintained throughout an attitude of polite +indifference. Now she realized what that visit to Jessie Bain's room, in +the dead of the night, meant. + +Then there commenced the greatest battle between Good and Evil that ever +was fought in a human heart. Should she save her rival, the girl whom +Hubert Varrick loved, or by her silence doom her to life-long misery? +While she was battling, Jessie smiled, murmuring in a low voice: "Isn't +it too bad, Miss Duncan, that Hubert--Mr. Varrick, I mean--should be +away from home just at this critical time?" + +Miss Duncan's face hardened, and all the kindliness in her nature +suddenly died out. + +The arrival, a little later, of the detective was a relief to every one. + +Mrs. Varrick hastily explained to him what had occurred, and her reason +for supposing that the theft of the diamond bracelet had been +accomplished by some one in the house. + +"Such a suspicion is, of course, very painful to me," she said; "but +under the circumstances I think it is better for the satisfaction of all +concerned that I should accept the offer made by my servants, and +request you to search their apartments. Miss Duncan, and Miss Jessie +Bain, my son's ward, will, just for form's sake, undergo the same +unpleasant ordeal." + +"Must I have my room searched, too?" asked Jessie Bain. + +"Is there any reason why you should object?" asked Mrs. Varrick. + +"No," answered Jessie, lifting her beautiful, innocent blue eyes to the +face of Hubert's mother; "there is no reason, only--only--" + +Here she stopped short, the color coming and going on her lovely face, +and a frightened look creeping about her quivering mouth. + +"I have no objection," she repeated, "to having everything in my room +searched; but, oh! it seems so terrible to have to do it!" + +"Do your duty, sir," said Mrs. Varrick, turning to the detective. + +She and the detective left the morning-room together, and they were all +startled at the sound of the key turning in the lock as the door closed +after them. Half an hour, an hour, and at length a second hour dragged +slowly by. + +Suddenly in the silence that had fallen upon the inmates of the +morning-room they caught the distant sound of the detective's deep +voice and the rustle of Mrs. Varrick's silk dress coming down the +corridor. + +Mrs. Varrick and the detective advanced to the center of the room, then +she stopped suddenly. + +"As you see," she commenced, in a high, shrill voice "the bracelet has +been unearthed and the thief discovered. I shall not prolong this +painful scene a moment longer than is absolutely necessary. Suffice it +to say, the girl I have befriended has robbed me. + +"The bracelet was found by the detective in the little hair trunk of +Jessie Bain. You will all please leave the room, all save Miss Bain." + +They all rose from their seats, and there was a great babble of voices. +As in a dream, Jessie saw them all file slowly out of the room, each one +casting that backward look of horror upon her as they went. The door +closed slowly after Miss Duncan; then she was alone with the detective +and Mrs Varrick, Hubert's mother. + +"There are no words that I can find to express to you, Jessie Bain, my +amazement and sorrow," she began, "at this, the evidence of your guilt." + +"Oh, Mrs. Varrick!" gasped Jessie, finding breath at last, though her +head seemed to reel with the horror of the situation, "by all that I +hold dear in this world, believe me, I am not guilty. I swear to you I +did not take your bracelet; I know as little of the theft as an unborn +babe!" + +Mrs. Varrick drew herself up haughtily. + +"The detective wishes me to give you up to the law, to cast you into +prison, but I can not quite make up my mind to do it. Now listen. +Because of my son's interest in you, I will spare you on one condition, +and that is, that you leave this place within the hour, and go far +away--so far that you will never again see any one who might know you; +least of all, my son. His anger against you would be terrible." + +All in vain Jessie threw herself at her feet, protesting over and over +again her innocence, and calling upon God and the angels to bear witness +to the truth of what she said. + +The detective had been pacing up and down the room, an expression of the +deepest concern on his face. + +He noted that instead of being glad to get off so easily from a terrible +affair that would cost her many a year behind grim prison walls, this +girl's agonizing cry was that she should remain there and prove her +innocence to Hubert Varrick. + +Surely, he thought, there must be some way of doing so. But Mrs. Varrick +was inexorable. + +The girl's lovely head was bowed to the very earth. + +"Have pity on me," moaned Jessie Bain, "and show me mercy!" + +"I will give you ten minutes to decide your future," was Mrs. Varrick's +heartless reply. + +When the ten minutes had elapsed, Mrs. Varrick rose majestically to her +feet. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +OUT IN THE COLD, BLEAK WORLD! + + +"No doubt you have decided ere this what course you intend to pursue," +said Mrs. Varrick sternly. + +"I-- I will do whatever you wish," sobbed the girl; "but oh! let me +plead with you to let me stay here until Mr. Varrick returns!" + +Mrs. Varrick's face grew livid in spots with anger, but by a splendid +effort she managed to control herself before the detective. She turned +to him. + +"Will you kindly step into an inner room, and there await the conclusion +of this conference?" she asked. + +He bowed courteously and complied with her request. When Mrs. Varrick +found herself alone with the girl, she made little effort to conceal her +hatred. + +"Why do you wish to see my son?" she asked, harshly. "To try to get him +to condone the atrocious wrong of which you have been guilty? Your +audacity amazes me!" + +"I have said that I am innocent!" said the girl, and she rose slowly to +her feet. + +"Never, with my consent, will he ever speak to you again! Do you hear +me? I would curse him if he did. + +"And it would not stop at that," went on Mrs. Varrick. "I would cut him +off without a dollar, and turn him into the streets a beggar! That would +soon bring him to his senses. Ay, I would do all that and more, if he +were even to speak to you again. So you can see for yourself the +position you would place him in by holding the least conversation with +him." + +"He shall not suffer because of me!" sobbed Jessie Bain. "I will go away +and never look upon his face again. I only wanted to tell him to believe +me. I am going, Mrs. Varrick, out into the cold and bitter world from +which he took me. Try to think of me as kindly as you can!" + +With this, she turned and walked slowly from the room. On the threshold +she paused and turned back. + +"Will you say to him--to your son, I mean--that I am very grateful for +all that he has done for me," she asked, "and that if the time ever +comes when I can repay it, I will do so? Tell him I would give my life, +if I could only serve him!" + +"One moment," said the lady, as she was about to close the door: "I do +not wish to send you away empty-handed." + +As she spoke she drew a purse from her pocket, saying: + +"You will find this well filled. There is only one condition I make in +giving it to you, and that is, that you sign a written agreement that +you will never seek or hold any communication with my son hereafter." + +"I am very poor indeed, madame," Jessie said, "but I-- I could not take +one penny from--from the person who believes me guilty of theft. But I +will sign the agreement, because--because you ask me to do so." + +"Then step this way," said Mrs. Varrick, going to the table, where, +pushing a folded paper aside, Jessie saw a closely written document +lying beneath it. On the further end of the table a gold pen was resting +on a bronze ink-tray. + +Mrs. Varrick dipped the pen in the ink, and handed it to the girl. + +"Sign there," she said, indicating, with a very shaking finger, a line +at the bottom. + +Perfectly innocent of the dastardly trap that had been set for her, +Jessie took the pen from the hand of Hubert's mother, and fearlessly +wrote her name--signing away all hopes of happiness for all time to +come, and putting a brand on her innocent brow more terrible than the +brand of Cain. + +Without waiting for the ink to dry upon it, Mrs. Varrick eagerly +snatched the paper and thrust it into her bosom. + +Jessie slowly left the room, and a few moments later, carrying the same +little bundle that she had brought with her, she passed slowly up the +walk and through the arched gate-way, Mrs. Varrick watching after her +from behind the lace-draped window. + +She watched her out of sight, praying that she might never see her face +again. + +"I have separated my son from her," she muttered, sinking down upon a +cushioned chair. "Any means was justifiable. He would have married +her--it was drifting toward that, and rapidly. I could see it. Heaven +only knows how I have plotted and planned, first to find some business +by which my son could be called from the city, and during his absence +get rid of that girl--so effectually get rid of her that she would +never cross his path again. And I have succeeded!" + +As she spoke she drew from her bosom the paper which Jessie Bain had +signed, and ran her eyes over it. + +Heaven pity any girl who signs a document the contents of which she is +ignorant! + +This document was a statement acknowledging that she, Jessie, had taken +Mrs. Varrick's diamond bracelet, and had hidden it in the bottom of her +trunk, intending to slip out the following day and dispose of it, +thinking she would have plenty of time to do so ere its loss was +discovered; but that in this she had miscalculated, as Mrs. Varrick soon +became aware of the theft; that search was made for it, and that a +detective, who had been secured for the purpose of tracing it, +discovered it in its hiding-place in her trunk; and that, knowing the +consequences, she in her terror had made a full confession, acknowledged +her guilt and threw herself completely upon Mrs. Varrick's mercy, who +had promised not to prosecute her providing she left the country, which +she was only too willing to do. + +And to this terrible document Jessie Bain signed her name clearly and +plainly. + +With hurried step Mrs. Varrick crossed the room and locked the precious +document in a secret drawer of her _escritoire_; then she remembered +that the detective was awaiting her. She summoned him quickly. + +"The matter has been adjusted, and we have rid the house of the girl's +presence," she said, coldly. "I thank you for your sagacity in tracing +my diamond bracelet," she said, thinking it best to throw in a dash of +covert flattery, "and I shall be pleased to settle your bill whenever +you wish to present it." + +The detective bowed himself out of her presence, and left the house, +musing on the mysterious robbery, and saying to himself: "I would be far +more apt to suspect the lady of the house than that young girl." + +He sighed and went on his way; but all day long, while immersed in the +business which usually was of such an exciting nature that he had no +time for any other thought, the lovely face of Jessie Bain rose up +before him. + +He threw down his pen at last in despair. + +"I must be bewitched," he muttered. "If I were a younger man I would +certainly say that I had fallen in love. I must find out where that girl +has gone, and have a little talk with her. I can not bring myself to +believe that she stole that bracelet." + +He put on his hat and reached for his cane. + +"I can not say how long it will be before I shall return," he said to +his fellow detective in charge of the office. + +In the meantime, in her lonely mansion, Mrs. Varrick was writing a long +letter to her son. In it she expressed the hope that he was having a +pleasant time, and that he must not hurry home, but stay and attend to +business thoroughly, even though it took him a little longer. But not +one word did she mention of Jessie Bain. So preoccupied was she with her +own thoughts that she did not know Hubert had entered the room until she +heard his voice. + +"I will save you the trouble of posting your letter, mother. I see it is +addressed to me. You can read me the contents in person." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +"I LOVE JESSIE BAIN WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL!" + + +Mrs. Varrick started back with a low cry. + +"Is it you, Hubert?" + +"Yes; but upon my honor, mother, you don't seem overglad to see me." + +"I thought you were to have been gone a fortnight." + +"I succeeded in getting the business attended to much more speedily than +you thought it could be done. I did not make any visits, as I was +anxious to get home. But, mother, how white and ill you look!" he added. + +"I am quite well, but I have been suffering from a nervous headache, +Hubert," she answered. + +"By the way," he said suddenly, "I did not forget to bring a few little +souvenirs home with me," and as he spoke he drew two small velvet cases +from his pocket, one of which he handed his mother, retaining the other +in his hand. + +Opening it, Mrs. Varrick found that it contained a magnificent diamond +bracelet. + +"That is to match, as near as possible, the beautiful bracelet you +already have, mother," he said, carelessly. + +She reeled back as though he had struck her a sudden blow, and looked at +him with terror in her eyes. + +"What is there in that other little velvet case?" she asked, as he made +no move to hand it to her. + +"It is not for you, mother," he responded. "It is for Jessie." + +He pressed the little spring and the lid of the purple velvet box flew +back, and there, lying on its shimmering satin bed, she beheld a +beautiful little turquois ring set with tiny diamonds. + +"Jessie has never had a ring in all her life," he declared, "and it will +please me to be the one to present her with the first one that will ever +grace her little hand. Girl-like, she is fond of such trinkets. The +sparkle of the tiny diamonds will delight her as nothing else has done +in her whole life." + +A discordant laugh broke from Mrs. Varrick's lips. + +"Ay, the glitter of diamonds pleases her. How well you know the girl!" +she cried shrilly. "But for glittering diamonds she might have lived a +happy enough life of it. Will people ever learn the lesson that they can +not pick up girls from the depths of poverty and obscurity and +transplant then into elegant surroundings and expect good to come of +it?" + +"This present is very inexpensive," declared Hubert. "Won't you please +ring for Jessie to come to us? I am anxious to see if it is the right +size. It will be fun to see her big blue eyes open and hear her exclaim +in dismay: 'Oh, Mr. Varrick, is it really for me?' Girls at her age are +enthusiastic, and their joy is genuine upon receiving any little token +of esteem." + +Again Mrs. Varrick laughed that harsh, discordant laugh. + +"The ring is very pretty, Hubert," she said ironically, "but Jessie Bain +would never thank you for so inexpensive a gift. That diamond bracelet +is much more to her fancy." + +"Girls of her age might fancy diamond bracelets, but they would never +care to possess them, because they could not wear them, as they would be +entirely out of place." + +For the third time that harsh, shrill laugh from Mrs. Varrick's lips +filled the room. + +"I repeat, this bracelet would be more to her fancy," she added, grimly. + +"If you will not ring for Jessie, I will do it myself," said Hubert, +good-humoredly; adding: "You are just a little bit jealous, mother, and +wish to keep me all to yourself, I imagine." + +But ere he could reach the bell-rope she had swiftly followed him and +laid a detaining hand on his arm. + +She had put off the telling of her story from moment to moment, but it +had to be told now. + +"You need not take the trouble to ring that bell," she said, "for it +would be useless--quite useless." + +"Why, what do you mean?" he asked, in unfeigned astonishment, thinking +that perhaps she meant to forbid him giving the girl the little ring; +and he grew nettled at that thought. + +He said to himself that he was over one-and-twenty, and was entitled to +do as he pleased in such matters. + +"Listen, Hubert; I have something to tell you, and you must hear me out. +Come and sit on this sofa beside me. I can tell you better then." + +"What is the meaning of all this secrecy, mother?" he cried. + +"To begin with," slowly began Mrs. Varrick, "Jessie Bain is no longer +under this roof." + +He looked at her as though he did not fully take in the meaning of her +words. + +"I will tell you the whole story, my son," she said; "but promise me +first that you will not interrupt me, no matter how much you may be +inclined to do so, and that you will hear without comment all that I +have to say." + +"Do I understand you to say that Jessie Bain is not here?" he cried. + +"Promise not to interrupt me and I will tell you all." + +He bowed his head in acknowledgment, though he did not gratify her by +saying as much in so many words. + +Slowly, in a clear, shrill voice, Mrs. Varrick began the story she had +so carefully rehearsed over and over again; but as the words fell from +her lips she could not trust herself to meet the clear, eagle glance her +son bent upon her. + +In horror which no pen could fully describe, Hubert Varrick listened to +the story from his mother's lips. In all her life Mrs. Varrick never saw +such a face as her son turned upon her. It was fairly distorted, with +great patches of red here and there upon it. + +He set his teeth so hard together that they cut through his lip; then he +raised his clinched hand and shook it in the air, crying in a voice of +bitter rage: + +"If an angel from heaven cried out trumpet-tongued that little Jessie +Bain was guilty, I should not believe her-- I would say that it was +false. It is some plan, some deep-laid scheme to blight the life of +Jessie Bain and ruin my happiness--ay, ruin my happiness, I say--for I +love that girl with all my heart and soul! How dare they, fiends +incarnate, attack her in my absence? And so you, my fine lady-mother, +have turned her out into the street," he went on, in a rage that nothing +could subdue. "Now listen to what I have to say, and heed it well: The +day that has seen her turned from this roof shall witness my leaving it. +You should have trusted and shielded her, no matter how dark appearances +were against her. I am going to find Jessie Bain, and when I do I shall +ask her to marry me!" + +There was a wild shriek from Mrs. Varrick's lips at this, but Hubert did +not heed it. + +"I can not live without her! If ill has befallen my darling I will shoot +myself through the heart, and beg with my dying breath that they bury us +both in one grave!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +"DO NOT LEAVE ME, FOR YOU ARE THE DELIGHT AND SUNSHINE OF MY LONELY +LIFE!" + + +The scene was one of such terror for Mrs. Varrick that she never forgot +it. + +"I shall leave this house!" he cried again. "I will not remain another +hour beneath this roof. I will find Jessie Bain, though I have to travel +this wide earth over to do it!" + +Suddenly he stopped short and looked at his mother; then he cried out +excitedly: "Where is the woman who came here with that embroidery-work? +More likely it was she who took the bracelet." + +But Mrs. Varrick shook her head. + +"You forget that the bracelet was found in Jessie's trunk," she said, +huskily, "and that she owned up to taking it in a written confession. As +for the strange embroidery woman, Miss Duncan, I paid her off and let +her go. She knows next to nothing of what took place in regard to the +bracelet. You must remember, too, that the girl was glad to get off so +easily." + +"Even though I _knew_ she was guilty, I could find forgiveness in my +heart for her, mother," he cried, huskily, "for I love her-- I _love_ +her as man can love but once in his life-time. You arrayed yourself as +her enemy, mother, and as such, you must be mine, until I can find +little Jessie and bring her back to you." + +"Oh, no, no, Hubert, darling!" cried Mrs. Varrick, striving to throw her +arms about him, but almost before she was aware of his intention, he had +quitted the room, strode down the corridor, and was half-way down the +walk that led to the great entrance gate. + +Varrick had walked a considerable distance from the house before his +mind settled down to anything like rational thoughts. Suddenly it +occurred to him that the quickest way to trace her would be to secure +the aid of an experienced detective. It was the merest chance that led +him to the office of Henry Byrne, the great detective--the very one +whose services his mother had enlisted to recover her valuable bracelet. + +It took but little conversation for the detective to learn that the +young man was desperately in love with the pretty little girl. This gave +the experienced man of the world food for thought. + +He did not tell young Varrick how interested he himself was in learning +the whereabouts of that pretty young girl. + +After an hour or more of earnest conversation, they parted, Byrne +agreeing to report what success he met at the hotel at which Hubert +Varrick said he intended stopping. + +Up to midnight, when they again met, Byrne could give him no definite +information; he did not even tell him that he thought he had a slight +clew which he intended to follow. + +Thus three days passed, and not even the slightest trace of Jessie Bain +could be discovered, and Hubert was beside himself with grief. + +In the midst of his trouble a strange event happened. + +As he was passing through the lobby of the hotel one evening, he met +Harry Maillard, Gerelda Northrup's cousin. + +Varrick turned quickly in an opposite direction, to avoid speaking to +him, when suddenly Maillard came forward and held out his hand to him. + +"I am glad to see you, old boy," he said, "and have been wondering where +you kept yourself of late." + +"I have been attending to business pretty closely," returned Varrick. + +"Take a cigar," said Maillard, extending a weed. "Let's sit down. I have +something to tell you." + +Varrick followed his friend, and soon they were seated together before +one of the open windows. + +"I have such wonderful news for you," said Maillard. "I learned from +Captain Frazier's valet, whom I met on the street, that his master had +been dead some time, having been killed in a railway accident. + +"Shortly after your unfortunate experience a great fire occurred in one +of the islands in the St. Lawrence, and Captain Frazier was there alone, +and had been alone, the man informed me. There was no lady about--of +this the valet was positive, and his last message to this man, who was +with him to the end, was to search for Gerelda Northrup, and tell her +that with his last breath he was murmuring her name, and that he wanted +to be buried on the spot where they had first met. + +"That is proof positive that Gerelda was not with Captain Frazier, and +that he, poor fellow, was entirely innocent of her whereabouts." + +Hubert Varrick was greatly amazed at this intelligence; but before he +could make any remark Maillard went on quickly: + +"We received a long letter from an old nurse who used to be in Gerelda's +family years ago. It was written at my cousin's dictation. She had been +very ill, the letter says; and in it she goes on to tell the wonderful +story of what caused her disappearance. + +"She says that during your momentary absence for a glass of wine, she +was abducted by a daring robber, who wished to secure the diamonds she +wore, and hold her as well for a heavy ransom; that, all in an instant, +while she awaited your return, she was chloroformed, a black cloak +thrown over her, and the last thing she was conscious of was being borne +with lightning-like rapidity down a ladder, a strong pair of burly arms +encircling her. + +"The night wind blowing on her face soon revived her; then she became +conscious that she was in a hack, and being rapidly driven along a +country road. + +"'We are far enough away now,' she heard a voice say; and at that moment +the vehicle came to a sudden stop. She was lifted out, the stifling +folds of the cloak were withdrawn from about her, the jewels she wore +were torn from her ears and breast, and from the coils of her hair the +diamond arrows, which fastened her bridal-veil, and the next instant +her inhuman abductor, having secured the jewels, flung her into the +deep, dark, rushing river, then drove rapidly away, all heedless of her +wild cries for help. + +"A Canadian fisherman, happening along in his boat just when she was +giving up the struggle for life rescued her. He took her to his humble +cot and to his aged mother, and under that roof she lay, racked with +brain-fever, for many weeks. + +"With the return of consciousness, she realized all that had transpired. + +"Fearing the shock to you both, she had these people take her to an old +nurse who happened to live in that vicinity, and this woman soon brought +her back to something like health and strength. Then Gerelda had the +woman write a long letter to me, telling me all, and bidding me break +the news gently to her mother and you. The letter ends by saying: + +"'By the time it was received she would be at home, and bid me hasten to +you with the wonderful intelligence, and bid you come to her quickly, +for her heart was breaking for a sight of you--her betrothed; that she +was counting the moments until she was restored to you, and once more +resting safely in your dear arms.' + +"I have been searching for you for some time, Hubert, to tell you our +darling Gerelda is home once more. It was only by the merest chance that +some one saw you enter this hotel and told me. I will be back in one +minute, depend upon it," said Maillard, seizing his hat and flying out +of the door without waiting for a reply. In fact, Varrick could not +have made him any had his life depended on it. + +In the midst of Hubert's conflicting thoughts, Maillard returned. + +"This way, Varrick," he called cheerily from the door-way; and a moment +later Varrick was hurried into the coupe, which had just drawn up to the +curbstone, and, with Maillard seated beside him, was soon whirling in +the direction of the Northrup mansion to which a servant admitted them. + +Maillard thrust aside the heavy satin _portieres_ of the drawing-room, +gently pushed his friend forward, and Hubert felt the heavy silken +draperies close in after him. Through the half gloom he saw a slender +figure flying toward him, and he heard a voice, the sound of which had +been dear to him in the old days that were past and gone, crying out: +"Oh, Hubert! Hubert!" and in that instant Gerelda was in his arms. + +Insensibly his arms closed around her; but there was no warmth in the +embrace. She held up her lovely face to be kissed, and he bent his +handsome head and gave her the caress she coveted; but for him was gone +all the old rapture that a kiss from those flower-like lips would have +brought. By Hubert Varrick, at this moment, it was given only from a +sense of duty, as love for Gerelda had died. + +"Oh, Hubert, Hubert! my darling!" she cried, "is it not like heaven to +be united again?" + +She would not notice his coldness; for Gerelda Northrup had laid the +most amazing plan that had ever entered a woman's head. + +Immediately upon her dismissal from the Varrick mansion she had stolen +back to the little hamlet where her old nurse lived, and had got the +woman to write a letter for her as she dictated it. + +She had said to herself that Hubert Varrick should be hers again, at +whatever cost, and that she might as well force him by any means that +lay in her power into a betrothal with herself again, as long as he was +not married to another. + +He should never know that she knew of his change of heart. She would +meet him and greet him as her betrothed lover, whom she was soon to +marry, and he would have to be a much smarter man than she took him to +be if he could find any way out of it. + +She had caused the nurse to write a similar letter to her mother; and +when her mother read it, and realized that her daughter had not eloped, +she received her back joyfully and with open arms. If an angel from +heaven had told her that her daughter had stolen back to the city in +disguise, and had been residing under the Varrick roof, she would have +declared that it was false--a mad prevarication. + +Mrs. Northrup was overjoyed to have the sunshine of her home, her +darling daughter, back again. + +With almost her first breath, after she had kissed her rapturously, she +told her that she had seen very little of Hubert Varrick, and that he +had never crossed the threshold since that fatal night on which he +believed that his bride to be had eloped from him. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +"HUBERT CARES FOR ME NO LONGER," SOBBED THE GIRL. + + +It seemed to Hubert Varrick, as he clasped his arms around Gerelda, that +he must be some other person than the man who had once loved this girl +to idolatry. Now the clasp of her hand or the touch of her lips did not +afford him an extra pulse-glow. + +"Tell me, Hubert," she cried, "that you are as glad to see me as I am to +see you." + +"It is a great surprise to me, Gerelda," he answered, huskily, "so great +that I am not quite myself just now. It will take me some little time to +collect my scattered senses." + +He led her to the nearest seat. + +"My cousin has told you all that has happened to me from the hour that +we parted until now, darling," she whispered. "Now tell me, Hubert, +about yourself. Your heart must have almost broken, dear. I was fearful +lest you might have pined away and died because of my untimely loss." + +"Oh, Gerelda!" he cried, starting up distressedly, tears choking his +voice, "do not say any more; you are unmanning me with every word you +utter. I-- I can not bear it!" + +"Forgive me, my darling!" she muttered. "You are right. It is best not +to probe fresh wounds. But, oh! Hubert, I am so thankful that the +workings of fate have joined our hearts together at last!" + +He could not find it in his heart to tell her the truth when she loved +him so; and yet he felt that he owed it to Gerelda to tell her all; but +it is hard, terribly hard to own up to being faithless; and he said to +himself that he could not tell her now, in the flush of her joy at +meeting him, but would break it to her later on. + +"This almost seems like getting acquainted with you and falling in love +with you over again," laughed Gerelda, as she talked to him in the same +gay, witty manner that had once so enthralled him in the old days. "I +wonder, Hubert," she said at length, "that you have not asked me to sing +or play for you. You used to be so delighted to hear me sing. While +lying on my sick-bed I heard my old nurse sing a song that you desired +me to learn. I have learned it now for you, Hubert. Listen to it, dear." + +As Gerelda spoke she picked up a mandolin, and after striking a few +softly vibrating notes, commenced to sing in a low strain the tender +words of his favorite song, which she knew would be sure to find an echo +in his heart, if anything in this world would. + +Ah! what a wondrous voice she had, so full of pathetic music and the +tenderness of wonderful love! + +He listened, and something very like the old love stirred his heart. + +The song had moved him, as she knew it would--ay, as nothing else in +this world could ever have done. + +He bowed his head, and Gerelda, looking at him keenly from under her +long lashes, saw that his strong hand was shaking like an oak leaf in +the wind. + +He leaned over and brushed back the curls caressingly from her forehead, +as a brother might have done. + +"You are very good to have learned that for my sake; Gerelda," he +murmured. "I thank you for it." + +"We must learn to sing it together," she declared. + +"My voice is not what it used to be," he said, apologetically. + +He lingered until the clock on the mantel struck ten; then he rose and +took his departure. + +To Gerelda's great chagrin, he made no offer to kiss her good-night at +parting. + +It was plainly evident that he wished her to understand that they were +on a different footing from what they were on that memorable night when +they were parted so strangely from each other. + +When his footsteps had died away, Gerelda flung herself face downward on +the divan, sobbing as if her heart would break; and in this position, a +few minutes later, her mother surprised her. + +"Why, Gerelda!" she cried. "I am shocked! What can this mean? It can not +be that you and your lover have had a quarrel the very hour in which you +have been restored to each other! Surely, there is no lingering doubt in +his heart now, that you eloped!" + +Gerelda eagerly seized upon this idea. + +"There seems to be, mother," she sobbed. + +Mrs. Northrup drew a cushioned chair close beside her daughter, and drew +the dark, curly head into her arms. + +"You must make a confidante of me, my darling, and tell me all he said," +she declared. "I was quite amazed to hear the servants say that he had +gone so early. I expected to be summoned every moment, to learn that +your impatient lover had sent out for a minister to perform the delayed +ceremony." + +Gerelda raised her tear-stained face and looked at her mother. + +"No; he did not even mention marriage, mother," she sobbed. + +"What!" shrieked Mrs. Northrup, in dismay. "Do I understand aright--he +made no mention of marriage?" + +The girl sobbed. Mrs. Northrup sprang to her feet and paced up and down +the floor. + +"I-- I do not understand it," she cried. "Tell me what he had to say; +repeat the conversation that passed between you." + +"It did not amount to anything," returned her daughter bitterly. "To be +quite plain with you, mamma, he was very distant and cold toward me. In +fact, it was almost like getting acquainted with him over again; and to +add insult to injury, as he took my hand for an instant at parting, he +said, 'Good-night, Miss Northrup.' Oh! what shall I do, mamma--advise +me! Ought I to give him up?" + +"No," said Mrs. Northrup, sternly, "that would never do. That marriage +must take place!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +WHAT OUGHT A GIRL DO IF THE MAN SHE LOVES CARES FOR ANOTHER? + + +"Do you hear me, Gerelda?" repeated Mrs. Northrup. "This marriage must +go on! It would be the talk of the whole country if Hubert Varrick +jilted you. But let me understand this matter thoroughly; did he give +you any sort of a hint that he wished to break off with you? You must +tell me all very plainly, and keep nothing back. I am older than you are +Gerelda, and know more concerning worldly affairs. I now say this much: +there must be a rival in the background. When a man has been in love +with one girl, and suddenly cools off, there is a reason for it, depend +on it." + +"Even if there was a rival in the way, tell me what I could do, mamma, +to--to win him back!" + +"When a man once ceases to love you, you might as well attempt to move a +mountain as to rekindle the old flame in his heart. I understand this +point thoroughly. You will have to make up your mind to marry him +without love." + +"It takes two to make a contract to marry," sobbed Gerelda. "I am +willing, but he does not seem to be." + +"It is plainly evident that I shall have to take the matter in hand," +said Mrs. Northrup. "When is he coming again?" + +"He didn't say," returned Gerelda, faintly. "But perhaps he may be here +to-morrow evening with some music I asked him to bring me." + +"Now, when he comes," said Mrs. Northrup, "I want you to make some +excuse to leave the room, for say, ten or fifteen minutes, and during +that time I will soon have this matter settled with Hubert Varrick." + +"It would not look well for you to mention the matter," cried Gerelda. + +"Somebody must do it," returned her mother, severely, "and the longer it +is put off the worse it will be; the marriage can not take place too +soon. Come, my dear," she added, "you must dry your tears. Never permit +any living man to have the power to give you a heartache." + +"You talk as if I was a machine, mother, and could cease loving at +will!" cried the beauty. + +"It is much as a woman makes up her mind. If you worry yourself into the +grave over a man, before the grass has time to grow over you he will +have consoled himself with another sweetheart. So dry your eyes, and +don't shed a tear over him." + +Gerelda walked slowly from the room. It was not so easy to take her +mother's advice, for she loved Hubert Varrick with all her heart; and +the very thought of him loving another was worse to her than a poisoned +arrow in her breast. + +She knew why he did not care for her. + +"I have only one hope," she murmured, leaning her tear-stained face +against the marble mantel, "and that is that Hubert may soon get over +his mad infatuation for that girl Jessie Bain." + +Gerelda sought her couch, but not to sleep; and it was not until +daylight stole through the room, heralding the approach of another day, +that slumber came to her. + +Hubert Varrick, in his room at the hotel, was quite as restless. He had +paced the floor, smoking cigar after cigar, trying to look the matter +calmly in the face, until he was fairly exhausted. + +He was glad to know that Gerelda had not been false to him; and yet, so +conflicting were his thoughts, that he almost wished to Heaven that she +had been, that he could have had some excuse to give her up. + +He made up his mind that he could not marry Gerelda while his heart was +so entirely another's, but he must break away from her gently. + +As he was passing a music store the next afternoon, he saw a piece of +music in the window which Gerelda had asked him to bring to her. He went +and purchased it, and was about sending it to her by a messenger boy, +when he thought it would look much better to take it himself; besides, +he had business to attend to in that locality. + +As he stepped upon the street car, he purchased a daily paper to pass +away the time. + +Upon opening it, an article met his view that nearly took his breath +away. + +The caption read: + +"_A Romance in Real Life.--The Prettiest Girl in the City and a +Well-known Young Millionaire the Hero and Heroine of the Episode_." + +Following this was an account of Gerelda's abduction, as she had related +it. In conclusion there was a statement by Mrs. Northrup to the effect +that Gerelda's lover, Mr. Varrick, was anxious to have the ceremony +consummated at once, and, in accordance with his earnest wish, the +marriage would take place shortly. + +Varrick stared hard at the paper. + +"The whole matter seems to have been fully arranged and settled without +the formality of consulting me," he muttered, grimly. + +After that he could see no way out of it. This had gone broadcast +throughout the city, he told himself, and now what could he do but marry +Gerelda; otherwise it would subject her to the severest criticism, and +himself to scorn. + +A woman's good name was at stake. Was he not in honor bound to shield +her? He would have been startled had he but known that this newspaper +article was the work of Mrs. Northrup. + +"I might as well accept the inevitable as my fate," he murmured, with a +sigh. "I might have been happy with Gerelda if I had never known Jessie +Bain." + +When he arrived at the Northrup mansion, Gerelda's mother came down to +welcome him. + +Like her daughter, she did not appear to notice his constraint, and +greeted him effusively, as in the old days. + +"Have you seen the morning paper, Hubert?" she asked, with a little +rippling laugh on her lips. "It is amusing to me how these newspaper men +get hold of things so quickly. I was down to one of the stores this +afternoon ordering the wedding-cards. I knew you would be anxious to get +them, and I wanted to relieve your mind and Gerelda's as well. I was +telling the designer the whole story--you know he is the same person who +got up the last cards for you--when a man who stood near us, he must +have been a reporter--took in every word I said. A few hours later, a +young man representing the paper came up to interview me on the subject, +remarking that I might as well tell the public the whole story, as the +main part of the affair was already in print. He gave me a _resume_ of +what was about to appear, and I had to acknowledge that he had the story +correct in most of its details." + +She was shrewd enough to note that Hubert Varrick grew very pale while +she was speaking, and she could not help but observe the hopelessness +that settled over his face. + +His heart was touched, in spite of himself, to see how gladly Gerelda +greeted him, and to note how she seemed to hang on every word that he +uttered, accepting his love as a matter of course. + +Of what use to make any demur now that the fiat had gone forth? There +was nothing for him to do but to accept the bride fate had intended for +him, and shut out from his heart all thoughts of that other love. + +It would be a terrible burden to go through life with, acting the part +of a dutiful husband to a young wife whom he pitied but did not love. + +Other men had gone through such ordeals. Surely he could be as brave as +they. + +And so the preparations for the wedding, for a second time, were begun. +Again the guests were bidden, and the event was to take place in +exactly six weeks from that day. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +LOVE IS BITTER AND THE WHOLE WORLD GOES WRONG WHEN TWO LOVERS PART IN +ANGER FOREVER. + + +We must return to our beautiful heroine, little Jessie Bain. + +When she turned her face from the Varrick mansion toward the cold and +desolate world, the girl's very heart seemed to stop still in her bosom. + +Jessie Bain knew little of traveling--she had not the least idea how to +get to her uncle's, although she had made that trip once before. She +walked one street after the other in the vain hope of finding the depot. +At last, fairly exhausted, she found herself just outside the entrance +to Central Park. + +Jessie entered the park, and sunk down on the nearest seat. + +Among those sauntering past in the crowd was a tall, broad-shouldered +young man, who stopped abruptly as his bold black eyes fell upon the +lovely young face. + +"Heavens! what a beauty!" he muttered, stopping short, under the +pretense of lighting a cigarette, and watching her covertly from under +his dark brows. + +Seating himself unconcernedly on the further end of the bench, the +stranger continued to watch Jessie, who had not even the slightest +intimation of his presence. + +He waited until the crowd thinned out, until only an occasional +straggler passed by; then he edged nearer the pretty little creature. + +"Ahem!" he began, with a slight cough. After several ineffectual +attempts to attract her attention in this way, the stranger spoke to +her. + +"A lovely day, isn't it?" he remarked. + +"Are you speaking to me, sir?" asked Jessie Bain, in great displeasure. + +"I am indeed so bold," he answered. "May I hope that you are not +offended with me for so doing, for I have a fancy to know such a pretty +young girl as yourself." + +"I am offended!" cried Jessie Bain, indignantly. "I always supposed +before this that people could sit down in a public park without being +molested; but it seems not; so I shall move on!" + +"So young, so beautiful, but so unkind," murmured the stranger, in a +melo-dramatic voice. + +"I can not think that we are strangers. I must have seen you somewhere, +believe me," he went on, rising suddenly and walking close by her side +as she started down the path. + +Jessie was now thoroughly frightened. She uttered a little, shrill cry. + +"What are you doing that for?" hissed the man, clutching her arm. "You +will have the police after us. Walk along quietly beside me, you little +fool; I have something to say to you." + +Terrified, Jessie only cried the louder and shriller, wrenching her arm +free from the stranger's grasp. + +At that instant a young man, who had happened along, and who had heard +the cry, sprang with alacrity to the young girl's rescue. + +"What is the matter?" he cried. "Is this fellow annoying you?" + +Jessie knew the voice at once, and sprang forward. She had recognized +the voice of the young architect. + +"Oh, save me--save me!" she cried. + +Even before she had time to utter a word the young man had recognized +Jessie Bain; and that very instant the man who had dared thus annoy her +was measuring his full length on the grass, sent there by the young +architect's vigorous arm. + +"I will have your life for this!" yelled the fellow, as he picked +himself up, but taking good care to keep well out of the reach of the +young girl's defender. + +"What in the world are you doing in the park, and so far away from home, +Miss Jessie?" Moray, the young architect, asked. + +Her lips quivered and her eyes filled with sudden tears. + +"Varrick Place isn't home to me any longer, Mr. Moray," she sobbed. "I +have just left it to-day--left it forever. I wish I had never seen the +place. It has caused me no end of sorrow." + +"I do not wish to pry into any of your affairs," he said, gently, as he +took her hand and walked slowly down the path with her; "but if you will +confide in me and tell me why you left, I might be able to help you." + +Little by little he drew from the girl the whole terrible story, until +she had told him all. + +Frank Moray's indignation knew no bounds. He could hardly restrain +himself from ejaculations of anger. + +"Of course, if you have friends, it would ill become me to persuade you +not to go to them; but if you ask my advice, I would say: remain here +for a little while and look about you. Come home with me. I have a dear +old mother who will receive you with open arms. My cousin Annabel, too, +will be glad to welcome you. Come home and talk to mother and let her +advise you what to do. Will you come with me, Miss Jessie?" + +The girl was only too glad to assent. + +When Jessie had finished her story, the impulse was strong within the +young architect's breast to ask the girl to marry him, then and there. + +He had never ceased caring for her from the first moment he had seen her +pretty face. But he told himself that it would seem too much like taking +an unfair advantage to say anything of love or marriage to her now. + +Mrs. Moray received the stranger with motherly kindness. + +"I have heard my son speak of you so often that I feel as though I were +well acquainted with you," she said, untying the girl's bonnet and +removing her mantle. + +"Come here, Annabel, my dear," she said, turning to a young girl who sat +in a little low rocker by the sewing machine, "and welcome Miss Bain." + +A slim, slight girl, in a jaunty blue cloth dress edged with white, +rose and came curiously forward, extending a little brown hand to +Jessie. + +"I am very glad to see you, Miss Bain," she said; "for Frank has talked +of you so much." + +"Won't you please call me Jessie?" returned the other. "No one has ever +called me Miss Bain before." + +"Nothing would please me better," returned Annabel. + +They spent a very pleasant evening, and then Annabel took Jessie off to +her room with her for the night. + +Long after the two girls had retired Mrs. Moray and her son sat talking +the matter over, and it was not long before Mrs. Moray discovered that +her boy was deeply in love with pretty Jessie Bain. + +Of course, like himself, she felt perfectly sure that the girl was +entirely innocent of what she had been accused of by Mrs. Varrick. + +But the very idea of the theft sent a thrill of horror through her +heart. She must discourage her son's love for the girl, for she would +rather see him dead and buried than wedded to one upon whose fair name +ever so slight a stain rested. She said to herself that the girl's stay +beneath their cottage roof must be cut as short as possible. + +It was decided that Jessie Bain should remain at the cottage of the +Morays until she had ample time to write to her uncle and receive his +reply. + +Jessie mailed her letter before she went to sleep that night. Annabel +easily dropped off to slumber, but it was not so with Jessie; for had +not this been the most eventful day of her life? + +How she wished Mrs. Varrick had not exacted a promise from her that she +would never again hold any communication with her son Hubert! Would he +believe her guilty when he returned home and his mother told him all +that had transpired? + +She could imagine the horror on his face as he listened; and this +thought was so bitter to Jessie that she cried herself to sleep over it. + +The third day of her stay a letter from her uncle came to her. Her +cousin was married and gone away, he wrote, and he would be only too +glad to forget and forgive by-gones. + +Two days later, Frank Moray saw her safely on the train which would take +her as far as Clayton, where her uncle promised to meet her. + +"If I write to you sometimes, will you answer my letters, little +Jessie?" asked Frank Moray, as he found her a seat in a well-crowded +car, and bent over her for the last glance into the girl's beautiful, +wistful face. + +"Yes," she answered, absently. + +For a moment his hand closed over hers; he looked at her with his whole +soul in his honest eyes, then he turned and quickly left her. + +He stood on the platform and watched her sweet face at the window until +the train was out of sight, then he moved slowly away. + +Jessie stared hard through the window, but she never saw any of the +scenes through which she was whirling so rapidly. Her thoughts were with +Hubert Varrick. + +It was dusk when she reached her destination, and according to his +promise her uncle was at the depot to meet her. + +It was with genuine joy that he hurried forward to greet the girl, +though they had parted but a few short months ago in such bitter anger. + +"I am glad to get you back again, little Jessie," he declared, eagerly; +"and, as I wrote to you, we will let by-gones be by-gones, little girl, +and forget the past unpleasantness between us by wiping it out of our +minds as though it had never been. I missed you awfully, little one, and +I've had a lonesome time of it since your cousin went away. Home isn't +home to a man without a neat little woman about to tidy things up a bit +and make it cheerful." + +How good it seemed to Jessie to have some one speak so kindly to her! He +was plain and homely, and coarse of speech, but he was the only being in +the whole wide world who really cared for her and offered her a shelter +in this her hour of need. But how desolate the place was, with its +little old-fashioned, low-ceiling kitchen, the huge fire-place on one +side, the cupboard on the other, whose chintz curtains were drawn back, +revealing the rows of cups and saucers and pile of plates of blue china, +more cracked and nicked than ever, and the pine table, with its +oil-cloth cover, and the old rag mat in the center of the floor! + +The girl's heart sank as she looked around. + +Could she make this place her home again? Its very atmosphere, redolent +with tobacco smoke and the strong odor of vegetables, took her breath +away. + +Ah! it was very hard for this girl, whose only fortune was a dower of +poverty, and who had had a slight taste of wealth and refinement, to +come back to the old life again and fall into the drudgery of other +days. + +She could not refuse her uncle when he pleaded to know where she went +and where she had been since the night he had driven her, in his mad +frenzy, out into the world. + +He listened in wonder. The girl's story almost seemed like a fairy tale +to him. But as he listened to the ending of it--surely the saddest story +that ever was told by girlish lips--of how she had left the Varrick +mansion, and of what Mrs. Varrick had accused her of doing, his rage +knew no bounds. + +"You might have known how it would all turn out!" he cried. "A poor +little field wren has no business in the gilded nest of the golden +eagle! You are at home again, little one. Think no more of those +people!" + +How little he realized that this was easier said than done. Where one's +heart is, there one's thoughts are also. + +The neighbors flocked in to see her. Every one was glad to have pretty, +saucy Jessie Bain back once more. But there was much mystery and silent +speculation as to where she had been. + +The girls of the neighborhood seemed to act shy of her. Even her old +companions nodded very stiffly when they met her, and walked on the +other side of the street when they saw her coming. + +The antagonism of the village girls was never so apparent until the +usual festivities of the autumn evenings approached. + +It was the custom of the village maidens of Alexandria Bay to +inaugurate the winter sports by giving a Halloween party, and every one +looked forward to this with the wildest anticipation. + +Jessie Bain had always been the moving spirit at these affairs, despite +the fact that they were generally held in the homes of some of the +wealthier girls, their houses being larger and more commodious. + +The party, which was to be on a fine scale this year, was now the talk +of the little town. + +But much to the sorrow and the amazement of Jessie Bain, day by day +rolled by without bringing her the usual invitation. + +It wanted but two days now to the all-important party. Jessie had gotten +her dress ready for the occasion, thinking that at the last moment some +of the girls would come in person and invite her. Not that she cared so +much for the fun, after all, but her uncle was anxious that she should +go more among the young folks, as she used to do. It was simply to +please him that she would mingle among the crowd of youths and maidens. + +At last the day of the Halloween party rolled round. + +"Well," said her uncle, as he sat down to the breakfast table and waited +for her to set on the morning meal, "I suppose you're getting all your +fixings ready to have a big time with the young folks to-night?" + +Before she could answer, there was the postman's whistle at the door. He +handed in a large, thick letter, and it was addressed to Jessie Bain. + +Jessie turned the letter over and over, looking in wonder at the +superscription. The envelope contained something else besides the +letter--a newspaper clipping. This Jessie put on the table to look over +after she had finished the letter. It was a bright, newsy epistle, +brimming over with kindly wishes for her happiness, and ending with a +hope that the writer might see her soon. + +"Who is it from?" asked her uncle. + +The girl dutifully read it out for him. + +"He seems to be a right nice young man, and quite taken up with you, +little Jess," he said, laughingly. + +He saw by the distressed look on her face that this idea did not please +her. + +"He would have to be a mighty nice fellow to get my consent to marry +you, my lass." + +"Do not fear, uncle," she said; "you will never be called upon to give +your consent to that. He is very nice indeed, but not such a one as I +could give my heart to, I assure you." + +"Then let me give you a word of advice; don't encourage him by writing +letters to him. But isn't there another part of the letter on the table +yonder you haven't read yet?" + +"I had almost forgotten it," returned Jessie. + +One glance as she spread it out at full length, then her face grew white +as death. + +"Bless me! I shall be late!" declared her uncle, putting on his hat and +hurrying from the room. + +She never remembered what he said as he passed out of the room. Her +heart, ay, her very soul, was engrossed in the printed lines before her. + +In startling headlines she read the words: + +"A NOTABLE MARRIAGE IN HIGH LIFE--MR. HUBERT VARRICK AND MISS NORTHRUP +WEDDED AT LAST." + +Then followed an account of the grand ceremony; of a mansion decorated +with roses; a description of the marriage; the elaborate +wedding-breakfast served in a perfect bower of orchids and ferns; and +then the names of the guests, who numbered nearly a thousand. + +Jessie Bain never finished the article. With a bitter cry she fell face +downward on the floor in a deep swoon. + +It was an hour or more ere she returned to consciousness. With trembling +hands the girl tore the newspaper clipping into a thousand shreds, lest +her eyes should ever fall on it again. + +"He is married--married!" she murmured; and the words seemed to fall +like ice upon her heart. + +How strange it seemed! She remembered but too well the last time she had +looked upon his face. + +Captain Carr did not come home for supper, and one of the neighboring +women dropped in to tell Jessie that he might not get home until far +into the night, for there had been a terrible accident on the river the +evening before, and his services were needed there. + +Night came on, darkness settled down over the world; then one by one the +stars came out, and a full moon rose clear and bright in the heavens. + +The sound of far-off strains of music and the echo of girlish laughter +suddenly fell upon her ears. Then it occurred to her that it must be +near midnight, that her companions of other days were in the midst of +their Halloween games in the big house on the hill. + +Only the little brook at the rear of her uncle's garden separated the +grounds. Some subtle instinct which she could not follow drew Jessie's +steps to the brook. + +The moon for a moment was hidden behind a cloud, but suddenly it burst +forth clear and bright in all its glory. For one brief instant the heart +in her bosom seemed to stand still. + +Was she mad, or did she dream? Was it the figure of a man picking his +way over the smooth white rocks that served as stepping-stones across +the shallow stream, and coming directly toward her? + +Midway he paused, and looked toward the cottage and the light which she +always placed in the window. Then the moon shone full upon his face, and +Jessie Bain looked at him with eyes that fairly bulged from their +sockets. His features were now clearly visible in the bright moonlight. +It was Hubert Varrick in the flesh, surely, or his wraith! + +In that first rapid glance she seemed to live an age; then, for the +second time that day, a merciful unconsciousness seized her. + +It was gray dawn when she regained her senses and crept back, +terror-stricken, to the house. + +Was it the idle fancy of her own vivid imagination, or did she really +see the image of Hubert Varrick confronting her by the brook as the +midnight bells of All-Halloween rang out slowly and solemnly on the +crisp, chilly night air? + +"I must be going mad--my brain must be turning," thought the girl, +shivering in every limb as she walked slowly back to the house. + +The sun was up high in the heavens ere her uncle returned. + +"Such a time as we've had, lass!" he cried, throwing down his cap. "A +steamer was wrecked the night before last, and all day yesterday and all +last night we were busy doing our utmost for the poor creatures who +barely escaped with their lives. We saved a good many who were in the +water for many hours, holding on to planks or life-preservers, and there +are many lost. It was the steamer 'St. Lawrence,' heavily laden, that +was to have connected with the boat for Montreal, for which most of the +passengers were bound. There is one woman whom they are bringing here. I +came on ahead to have you prepare a bed for her. Every house has been +called upon to give shelter to some one. It will make you a little more +work, lass, but it will only be for a little while." + +"I shall be glad of the work, for it will occupy my time and attention," +declared Jessie. + +She had scarcely uttered the words ere the men were seen approaching +with their burden. They brought the woman in and placed her on Jessie's +little cot. + +"Oh, how beautiful she is!" murmured Jessie, little dreaming who it was +that she was sheltering beneath that roof. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +WEDDING BELLS OUT OF TUNE. + + +Let us return to Hubert Varrick, and the marriage which was the +all-absorbing topic in fashionable circles. + +Mrs. Varrick had sent a note to her son at his hotel, begging for a +reconciliation, and stating that she would be at the wedding without +fail; but never a word did she say about Jessie Bain. + +It seemed like a dream to Hubert--his ride in a cab through the cool +crisp air to Gerelda's home on that eventful morning. + +He noticed one thing--that the sun did not shine that day; and he said +to himself that it boded ill for his wedding. + +The bride-elect and her mother welcomed him effusively. Bitter anger +filled the girl's heart to see how cold and stern he looked. She noticed +that he had no word, no smile for her. If she had not loved him so +madly, her pride would have rebelled, and she would have let him go his +way even then. + +She almost shrunk under the cold glance that rested upon her. She +trembled, even in that moment, as she thought how he would hate her if +he but knew how she had plotted to win him. Before she had a chance to +exchange a word with him, her maid of honor came fluttering down the +corridor, chattering in high spirits with Harry Maillard, who was to be +best man. + +She was quite as dazed as Varrick himself, until she found herself +standing beside him at the altar. + +It was over at last! The words had been spoken which made her Hubert +Varrick's wedded wife, through weal or through woe, till death did them +part. + +Then followed the sumptuous wedding-breakfast. While the merriment was +at its height, Varrick touched her lightly on the arm. + +"It wants but an hour and twenty minutes until train time. Would it not +be best to slip away now and arrange your traveling toilet?" + +"Yes," said Gerelda. + +No one noticed their exit, and at last they were alone together, away +from the throng of guests; but, much to the bride's disappointment, her +newly made husband did not seem to realize this fact, and Gerelda's face +flushed with disappointment. + +He escorted her as far as the door of her _boudoir_, and there he left +her, saying that he would return in half an hour, hoping that would be +sufficient time to exchange her bridal robes for her traveling-dress. +She smiled and nodded, declaring that he should find her ready before +that time. + +Hubert walked slowly on until he found himself at the door of the +conservatory. + +"It wouldn't be a bad idea to get a cigar and return here for a quiet +smoke," he thought. + +He immediately suited the action to the thought. Was it fate that led +him there? He had scarcely seated himself in one of the rustic +arm-chairs ere he heard the sound of approaching voices. + +He felt slightly annoyed that the retreat he had chosen was to be +invaded at that particular moment. + +He drew back among the large-leaved plants, which would effectually +screen him from the intruders, and hoped that their stay would be short. + +"I tell you it will be impossible for you to see her," said a voice, +which he recognized as belonging to Gerelda's maid. + +"But I must," retorted another voice which sounded strangely familiar. +"Give her the note I just gave you, and I will wager you something +handsome that she will see me. My good girl, let this plead for me with +you!" + +A jingle of silver accompanied the words, and Varrick could not help but +smile at the magical effect the little bribe had. + +"Of course, I'll take your note to her, sir," said the girl; "but that +isn't promising she'll see you." + +Somehow the idea formed itself in Varrick's mind that it was Mrs. +Northrup for whom the man asked. Had he thought for one moment that it +was Gerelda whom the man had asked for, he would have stepped forth and +inquired of him what he wanted. + +In a very few moments he heard the _frou-frou_ of a woman's garments and +the patter of hurrying feet. + +"Gerelda has come instead of her mother to see what this person wants," +he thought; adding impatiently: "This will never do; we shall be late +for the train, sure. I will have to take the man off her hands." + +At that instant, Gerelda, panting with excitement sprung across the +threshold of the conservatory. + +From his leafy seat Varrick could hear and see all that took place, +while no one could see him. + +He had risen, and was just about to step forward, when he caught sight +of Gerelda's face. The color of it held him spell-bound. It was as pale +as death, and her eyes flashed fire. She was fairly frothing at the +mouth, and the look of venomous rage that distorted her features +appalled him. + +"You!" cried Gerelda. "Have you risen from the grave to confront me?" + +"I am Captain Frazier--at your service, madame," returned her companion, +with a low bow. "As for my returning from the unknown shore, why, you +flatter me in imagining that I have so much power, though I have been +known to do some miraculous things before now. I am sorry that so many +of my friends believe the ridiculous story that was set afloat regarding +my supposed death. I am--" + +"Why are you here? What do you want?" cried Gerelda. + +"You are inclined to be brusque, my dear," he replied, tauntingly. "If +you had asked me that question half an hour ago, I should have answered, +'I am here to stop your marriage with Hubert Varrick at whatever cost. I +have traveled by night and by day, foot-sore and hungry, to get here in +time to prevent it.' I-- I thought you had perished in the fire on the +island, until I read the article in the paper announcing your marriage." + +"If this is all you have to say to me, permit me to say good-morning," +she returned icily, turning to leave the place. + +"You shall listen to me!" he cried. "I vowed in days gone by that you +should never be happy with Hubert Varrick. You promised that you would +marry me, and those words changed my whole life." + +"Well, now that I am another's bride, what can you do about it?" sneered +Gerelda. + +"I mean to see Varrick and have a little talk with him," he answered. "I +will tell him how, on the very night before the marriage was to have +taken place at the Crossmon Hotel, at Alexandria Bay, I threw myself on +my knees at your feet, and cried out to you to spare me; that you had +played with my heart too long, and urged you to fly with me, and that +you said, while I knelt before you, that if you decided to fly with me +you would let me know by sunrise the following morning, but that you +must have all night to think it over. + +"Do you dare face me and deny that?" continued Captain Frazier, seizing +her white wrist and holding it in an iron grip. + +"No, I do not deny it," she answered. "But what of it? What do you +expect to make of it?" + +"This!" he cried, furiously. "I intend to be even with you. I will have +a glorious revenge! I will see Hubert Varrick before he leaves this +house, and say to him: 'I hope you may be happy with your bride,' and I +will laugh in his face, crying out: 'She eloped with me not so very long +ago, and we went to my island home, where we kept in hiding until the +sensation should blow over. We remained there, as I can prove by all my +servants, and I was a very slave to her sweet caprices.'" + +"You would not say that!" cried Gerelda. "I would tell him my side of +the story--that you kidnapped me, and held me by force on the island." + +"Varrick is a man of the world," he returned, tauntingly. "Your side of +the story is too flimsy for him or any one else to believe." + +"Stop! You must not--you shall not!" cried Gerelda, wildly. "I-- I will +make terms with you. I see you are shabbily dressed and in want of +money. I will give you a check, here and now, for a thousand dollars, if +you will go away, never again to return, and have nothing to +say--nothing. Your story would ruin me, false though it is." + +The captain arched his eyebrows. + +"I think I could bring satisfactory proof as to where you passed your +time." + +Hubert Varrick, standing behind the foliage, was fairly stricken dumb by +what he heard and saw. + +He did not love his bride, but he believed in her implicitly. All the +old doubt which had filled his heart and killed his love for Gerelda +came surging back like a raging torrent, sweeping over his very soul. + +In that instant the thought of Jessie Bain came to him--sweet little +Jessie, whose love for him he had read in her every glance, and to whom +he had given all his heart with a deeper, stronger love than he had ever +given to Gerelda, even in those old days. How he longed to break from +the terrible nightmare which seemed to fetter him! + +"Your offer of a thousand dollars is a very fair one; but it will take +double that sum to purchase my silence. You are quite right in your +surmise. I am in need of money. With one fell swoop I have lost every +dollar of my fortune, and now that all romance and sentiment are over +between us, I have no compunction in showing you the mercenary side of +my nature. Make it two thousand, and I will consent to hold my peace, +seeing that I can not mend matters by undoing the marriage." + +"Come with me. We will settle this now and forever. I have but five +minutes to devote to you. Step this way," said Gerelda. + +The next instant they had disappeared, and Hubert Varrick was left +standing there alone. + +How long he stood there he never knew. His valet came in search of him. +He found him at the end of the conservatory, standing motionless as a +statue among the shrubbery. + +"Master," he said, "your bride bids me say to you that you have barely +time to get into your traveling clothes." + +He was shocked at the horrible laugh that broke from Varrick's lips. + +Had his master gone mad? he wondered. + +He followed the man without a word, and five minutes later, with a firm +step, he was walking down the corridor toward his bride's apartments. + +But ere he could knock upon the door, it was opened by Gerelda. He +offered his arm to Gerelda, and walked slowly by her side through the +throng of friends to the carriage in waiting; and, amid showers of rice, +peals of joyous laughter, and a world of good wishes, they were whirled +away. + +During the entire ride Varrick spoke no word. Gerelda watched him +narrowly out of the corner of her eye, wondering why he looked so +unusually angry. + +They were barely in time to catch the train, and it was not until they +were seated in their own compartment that Varrick ventured a remark to +the beautiful girl he had just made his wife, and who was looking up +into his face with such puzzled wonder in her great dark eyes. + +"I should like your attention for a few moments, Mrs. Varrick," he said, +turning to her with a haughty sternness that was new to him. + +"You are my wife," he went on; "the ceremony is barely over which made +you that, yet I would recall it if I could." + +"What do you mean, Hubert?" she cried, piteously. + +"We will not have any theatricals, if you please," he said, waving her +back. "A guilty conscience should need no accuser. It is best to speak +plainly to you, and to the point. Suffice it to say I was in the +conservatory at the time you entered. I heard all that passed between +Captain Frazier and yourself. Now, here is what I propose to do: We were +to take a wedding-trip to Montreal. We will go there, but when we reach +our destination, you and I will part forever. I shall institute +proceedings for a divorce at once, and I shall never know another happy +moment until the divorce is granted. You shall be wife of mine but in +name until we reach Montreal; then we part forever." + +"Oh, Hubert, Hubert, you will not do this!" she sobbed, wildly. "It +would ruin my life--kill me!" + +"You did not stop to think that marriage with you would ruin my life," +he interposed, bitterly. "What have you to say for yourself? Was +Captain Frazier's story false or true? Remember, I heard him say that he +could furnish proof of all he charged." + +"It is useless to hide the truth from you," she whispered, hoarsely. "I +see that you know all. Give me a chance to think--only to think of some +way out of it. It would kill me, Hubert, to part from you. Better death +than that. You are my world, the sunshine of my life. I would pine away +and die without you. Oh, Hubert, you must not leave me!" + +"The words are easily said," he replied, "but they do not sound sincere. +I may as well make a clean breast of the whole matter," he went on, "and +tell you the truth, Gerelda. I do not love you. I-- I--love another, +though that love has never been confessed to the one I love. I-- +I--married you because I felt in honor bound to do so, and in doing so I +crushed all the love that was budding in my heart. But was it worth the +sacrifice of two lives? You can not answer me. I shall not intrude upon +you again until we reach Montreal. You can send for your mother; it +would be best for me to leave you in her charge. Telegraph back to her +from the next station we arrive at. The moment we reach Montreal we part +forever!" + +But at that instant a strange event happened. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE COLLISION--THE PILOT AT THE WHEEL. + + +Gerelda had been looking intently out of the window. Suddenly she sprang +back with a wild cry that fairly froze the blood in Varrick's veins. + +"What has frightened you, Gerelda?" he asked, gravely; and the look she +turned on him he never forgot, there was something so terrible in the +gaze of those dark eyes. She did not attempt to repel him from drawing +near her, or from clasping her hands; but ever and anon she would laugh +that horrible laugh that froze the blood in his veins. + +"Let us talk the matter over calmly, Gerelda," he said at length, "and +arrive at an understanding." + +"There is no need," she returned. "As long as I understand, that is +quite sufficient." + +There was something in the tone of her voice that frightened him. He +looked into her face. A grayish pallor overspread it. To Varrick's +infinite surprise, Gerelda commenced to laugh immoderately; and these +spells of laughter so increased as the moments flew by, that he became +greatly alarmed. + +He wondered what he could do or say to comfort her. She grew so +alarmingly hysterical as he watched her, that it occurred to him he must +find medical aid for her. Fortune favored him; he found a doctor seated +in the compartment next to him. The gentleman was only too glad to be +able to render him every assistance in his power. + +One glance at the beautiful bride, and an expression of the gravest +apprehension swept over the doctor's face. + +"My dear sir," he said, turning to Varrick, "I have something to tell +you which you must summon all your fortitude to hear. Your young wife +has lost her reason; she is dangerously insane." + +Varrick started back as though the man had struck him a sudden blow. + +"You are bound for Montreal, I believe," continued the doctor. "You will +see the need of conveying her to an asylum, with the least possible +delay, as soon as you arrive there. If there is anything which I can do +to assist you during this journey, do not hesitate to call upon me. +Consider me entirely at your service." + +That was a day in Hubert Varrick's life that he never looked back to +without shuddering. How he passed the long hours he never knew. Gerelda +grew steadily more violent, and twice Varrick's life would have paid the +forfeit had it not been for his watchfulness. + +With great difficulty he succeeded, with the doctor's assistance, in +making the change from the train to the boat. + +That was how his wedding journey began. + +As night came on, the doctor touched him again on the arm. + +"You have not left your young bride's side for an instant during all +these long hours," he said. "You are wearing yourself out. Let me beg of +you to go out on deck and take a few turns up and down; the cool air +will revive you. Nay, you must not refuse; I insist upon it, or I shall +have you for a patient before your journey is ended." + +To this proposition, after some little coaxing, Varrick consented. + +The doctor was quite right; the cool air did revive him amazingly. He +felt feverish, and paced up and down the deck, a prey to the bitterest +thoughts that ever tortured a man's soul. + +One by one the stars came out in the great blue arch overhead, and +mirrored themselves in the bluer waters. + +Varrick watched them in silence, his heart in a whirl. All at once it +occurred to him that he knew the pilot of the boat--that, as he was from +Montreal, it wouldn't be a bad idea to interview him as to the location +of some private asylum to which he might take Gerelda. + +He acted upon this thought at once, and making his way to the upper +deck, he recognized the man at the wheel, in the dim light, although his +back was turned to him. + +"How are you, John?" he exclaimed, tapping him on the shoulder. "Don't +let me frighten you; it is your old friend Varrick." + +Much to his surprise, the pilot neither stirred nor spoke. Varrick +stepped around, and faced him with some little laughing remark on his +lips. But the words died away in his throat in a gasp. The dim light was +falling full upon the pilot's features. What was there in that ashy face +and those staring eyes that sent the cold blood back to his heart? + +"John!" he cried, bending nearer the man and catching hold of his arm +roughly as it rested upon the wheel. But his own dropped heavily to his +side. + +The terrible truth burst upon him with startling force--the pilot was +dead at the wheel! + +But even in the same instant that he made his horrible discovery, a +still greater one dawned upon him. Another steamer came puffing and +panting down the river, signaling the "St. Lawrence." + +Each turn of the ponderous wheels swept her nearer and nearer, and the +"St. Lawrence" was drifting directly across her bow. It was a moment so +feighted with horror it almost turned Varrick's brain. Five hundred +souls, or more, all unconscious of their deadly peril, were laughing and +chattering down below, and the pilot was dead at the wheel! + +Ere he could give the alarm, a terrible catastrophe would occur. He +realized this, and made the supreme effort of his life to avert it. But +fate was against him. In his mad haste to leap down the stair-way to +give warning, his foot slipped, and he fell headlong to the floor of the +lower deck, his temple, coming in contact with the railing, rendering +him unconscious. Heaven was merciful to him that he did not realize what +took place at that instant. + +There was a sudden shock, a terrible crash, and half a thousand souls, +with terrified shrieks on their lips, found themselves struggling in the +dark waters! + +It was a reign of terror that those who participated in it, never +forgot. + +When Hubert Varrick returned to consciousness he found himself lying +full length upon the greensward, and his face upturned to the moonlight, +with the dead and dying around him, and the groans of the wounded +ringing in his ears. + +For an instant he was bewildered; then, with a rush, Memory mounted its +throne in his whirling brain, and he recollected what had happened--the +pilot dead at the wheel, another steamer sweeping down upon them; how he +had rushed below to inform the passengers of their peril; how his foot +had slipped, and he knew no more. + +He realized that there must have been a horrible disaster. + +How came he there? Who had saved him? Then, like a flash, he thought of +Gerelda. Where was she? What had become of her? He struggled to his +feet, weak and dazed. + +He made the most diligent search for her, but she was nowhere to be +found. Some one at length came hurriedly up to him. In the clear bright +moonlight Varrick saw that it was the doctor in whose care he had left +his young bride when he had gone on deck for fresh air. + +"You are looking for _her_, sir?" he asked, huskily. + +"Yes," cried Varrick, tremulously. + +"Are you brave enough to hear the truth?" said the other, slowly. + +"Yes," answered Varrick. + +"Your wife was lost in the disaster. I was by her side when the steamer +was struck. We had both concluded to go on deck to join you. With the +first terrible lurch we were both thrown headlong into the water. I did +my utmost to save her, but it was not to be. A floating spar struck her, +and she went down before my eyes." + +For an instant Varrick neither moved nor spoke. + +"She is dead?" he interrogated. + +"Yes," returned the doctor. + +Varrick sank down upon a fallen log, and buried his face in his hands. +For a moment he could scarcely realize Gerelda's untimely fate. He had +not loved her, it was true; still, he would have given his life to have +had her reason restored to her. + +For an hour or more Hubert Varrick forgot his own sorrow in alleviating +the terrible distress of others. + +When there was no more assistance that he could render he thought it +would be best for him to get away from the place as quickly as possible. + +Scarcely heeding whither he went, he took the first path that presented +itself. How far he walked he had not the least idea. In the distance he +saw lights gleaming, and he knew that he was approaching some little +village. He said to himself that it would be best to stop there for a +few hours--until daylight, at least, and to recover Gerelda's body if +possible. + +He followed the path until it brought him to the edge of a little brook. +The white, shining stones that rose above the eddying little wavelets +seemed to invite him to cross to the other side. Midway over the brook +he paused. + +Was it only his fancy, or did he hear the sound of music and revelry? + +He stood quite still and looked around him; the scene seemed familiar. + +For an instant Hubert Varrick was startled; but as he gazed he +recognized the place. He must be at Fisher's Landing. Up there through +the trees, lay the home of Captain Carr, the uncle of little Jessie +Bain. + +As he stood gazing at it, the clock in some adjacent steeple slowly +struck the midnight hour. He wondered if Jessie was there. How he felt +like telling some one his troubles! + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +LOVE IS A POISONED ARROW IN SOME HEARTS. + + +Early the next morning Varrick was at the scene of the disaster, though +he was scarcely fit to leave his bed at the village hostelry. Most of +the bodies had been recovered or accounted for, save that of Gerelda. + +Varrick was just about to offer a large reward to any one who would +recover it, when two fishermen were seen making their way in a little +skiff toward the scene of the wreck. + +There was some object covered over with a dark cloak in the bottom of +their boat. They were making for the shore upon which the wreck was +strewn. + +Varrick sprung forward. + +"Is it the body of a woman you have there?" he cried. + +They lifted it out tenderly and uncovered the face. It was mutilated +beyond recognition, and the clothing was so torn and soiled by the +action of the waves that scarcely enough of it remained intact, to +disclose its color or texture. + +There was great consternation when Hubert Varrick returned home with the +body of his bride, and more than one whispered: "Fate seems to have been +against that marriage from the very first! 'What is to be, will be.' +These two proposed to marry, but a Higher Power decreed that they were +not for each other." + +The same thought had come to Hubert Varrick as he paced wearily up and +down his own room. + +It was a nine-days' subject for pity and comment, and then the public +ceased to think about it, and Gerelda's fate was at last forgotten. + +Hubert Varrick then arranged his business for a trip abroad, and when he +said good-bye to his mother and Mrs. Northrup, he added that he might be +gone years, perhaps forever. + +In the very moment that he uttered those words, how strange it was that +the thought came over him that he might never see Jessie Bain again. + +But this thought, at such a time, he put from him as unworthy to linger +in his breast. And when the "City of Paris" sailed away, among her +passengers was Hubert Varrick. + +He watched the line of shore until it disappeared from his sight, and a +heavy sigh throbbed on his lips as his thoughts dwelt sadly on Gerelda, +his fair young bride, who lay sleeping on the hill-side just where the +setting sun glinted the marble shaft over her grave with a touch of pale +gold. + +Let us return to the cottage home of Jessie Bain, and see what is taking +place there on this memorable day. + +For a week after the unfortunate young girl was brought under that roof, +carried there from the wreck, her life hung as by a single thread. The +waves had been merciful to her, for they had balked death by washing her +ashore. + +A handkerchief marked with the name "Margaret Moore" had been found +floating near her, and this, they supposed, belonged to her. + +How strange it is that such a little incident can change the whole +current of a human being's life. + +The daily papers far and wide duly chronicled the rescue of Margaret +Moore. No one recognized the name, no friends came to claim her. They +had made a pitiful discovery, however, in the interim--the poor young +creature had become hopelessly insane, whether through fright, or by +being struck upon the head by a piece of the wreck, they could not as +yet determine. + +Jessie Bain's pity for her knew no bounds. She pleaded with her uncle +with all the eloquence she was capable of to allow the stranger to +remain beneath that roof and in the end her pleading prevailed, and +Margaret Moore was installed as a fixture in the Carr homestead. + +Jessie Bain would sit and watch her by the hour, noting how soft and +white her hands were, and how ladylike her manners. She said to herself +that she must be a perfect lady, and to the manner born. + +There was something so pathetic about her--(she was by no means +violent)--that Jessie could not help but love her. And the words were +ever upon her lips, that she was to be parted from her lover as soon as +her journey ended; that he had discovered all, and now he had ceased to +love her; that twice she had nearly won him, but that fate had stepped +in-between them. + +Of course, Jessie knew that her words were but the outgrowth of a +deranged mind, and that there had been no lover on the steamer "St. +Lawrence" with Margaret Moore. All day long the girl would wring her +hands and call for her lover, until it made Jessie's heart bleed to hear +her. + +But there was no tangible sense to any remarks that she made. She seemed +so grateful to Jessie, who in turn grew very fond of her grateful +charge. Jessie Bain was not a reader of the newspapers. She never knew +that Hubert Varrick had been on the ill-fated "St. Lawrence" on that +memorable night, and that he had lost his bride. + +Frank Moray, who had been only too glad to send Jessie the item +announcing Hubert Varrick's marriage to another, took good care not to +let her know that Varrick was free again. So the girl dreamed of him as +being off in Europe somewhere, happy with his beautiful bride. Of +course, he had forgotten her long since--that was to be expected; in +fact, she would not have it otherwise. + +Two months had gone by since that Hallowe'en night. It had made little +change in the Carr household. The captain still plied his trade up and +down the river, Jessie divided her time between taking care of her +uncle's humble cottage and watching over poor Margaret Moore. + +There were times when the girl really seemed to understand just how much +Jessie was doing for her, and certainly it was gratitude that looked out +of the dark, wistful eyes. + +There were times too when Jessie was quite sure that Memory was +struggling back to its vacant throne. + +"Who are you?" she would whisper, earnestly, gazing into Jessie's face. +"And what is your name? It seems as if I had heard it and known it in +some other world." + +Jessie would laugh amusedly at this. Once, much to Jessie's surprise, +when she questioned her as to why she was sitting in the sunshine, +thinking so deeply upon some subject, Margaret Moore answered simply: + +"I was thinking about love!" + +There were times when Margaret Moore seemed rational enough; but her +past life was a blank to her. She always insisted that Jessie Bain's +face was the first she had ever seen in this world. + +It was the first one which she had beheld when consciousness came to her +as she lay on her sick-bed; and to say that she fairly idolized Jessie +was but expressing it very mildly. + +The day came when she proved that devotion with a heroism that people +never forgot. It happened in this way: + +One cold, frosty morning early in January, in tidying up Petie's cage, +the door was accidently left open, and the little canary, who was +Jessie's especial pride, slipped from his cage and flew out at the open +door-way, into the bitter cold of the winter morn. + +With a cry of terror, Jessie Bain sprung after her pet. Down the village +street he flew, making straight toward the river, Jessie following as +fast as her feet could carry her, wringing her hands and calling to him. +Margaret Moore followed in the rear. On the river's brink Jessie paused, +and, with tears in her eyes, watched her pet in his mad flight. By this +time Margaret Moore had caught up to her. + +At that instant Jessie saw the bird whirl in mid-air, spread his yellow +wings, then fall headlong upon the ice that covered the river, and +Jessie sprang forward, and was soon making her way to where the canary +lay. But the ice was not strong enough to bear her. There was a crash, a +cry, and in an instant Jessie Bain had disappeared. The ice had given +way beneath her weight, and the dark waters had swallowed her. + +For an instant Margaret Moore stood dazed; then, with a shriek of +terror, she flew over the ice and was kneeling at the spot where Jessie +had disappeared, watching for her to come to the surface. + +Once, twice, the golden hair showed for an instant; but each time it +eluded the grasp of the girl who made such agonizing attempts to catch +it. The third and last time it appeared. Would she be able to save her? + +Margaret Moore turned her white face up to Heaven, and her lips moved; +then she reached forward, plunged her right arm desperately down into +the ice-cold water, grasped at the sinking form, and caught it; but she +could not draw the body up. + +"Jessie Bain! Jessie Bain!" she cried; "you will slip away from me! I +can not hold you! + +"Help! help!" she shrieked, in terror. But there was no help at hand. + +All in vain were her pitiful cries. Margaret's hands were torn and +bleeding, and slowly but surely freezing. They must soon relax their +hold, and poor Jessie Bain would slip down, down into a watery grave. + +Ten, twenty minutes passed. Surely it was by a superhuman effort that +that slender arm retained its burden; but it could not hold out much +longer. + +So intense was her terror, Margaret Moore did not realize her own great +physical pain. By an almost superhuman effort she attempted to cry out +again. + +This time she was successful. Her voice rose shrill and clear over the +barren waste of frozen ice, over the waving trees, and down the road +beyond. It reached the ears of a man who was hurrying rapidly through +the snow-drifts. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +IT IS SO HARD FOR A YOUNG GIRL TO FACE THE WORLD ALONE. + + +"Help! help!" the words echoed sharp and clear again through the frosty +morning air, and this time the man walking hurriedly along the road +heard it distinctly, paused, and turned a very startled face toward the +river. + +It required but a glance to take in the terrible situation; the young +girl stretched at full length on the ice, holding by main strength, +something above the aperture in the ice; it was certainly a woman's +head. + +"Courage, courage!" he cried in a voice like a bugle blast. "Help is at +hand! Hold on!" And in less time than it takes to tell it, he had +reached the girl's side. + +"Save her, save her!" gasped Margaret Moore. "My hands are frozen; I can +not hold on any longer;" and with this she sunk back unconscious, and +the burden she held would have slipped from her cramped fingers back +into the dark, cold waves had not the stranger caught it in time. It +required all his strength, however, to draw the body, slim though it +was, from the water. + +One glance at the marble-white face, and he uttered a little cry: + +"Great Heaven! if it isn't Jessie Bain!" + +Laying his dripping burden on the bank, the man lost no time in +dragging Margaret Moore back from her perilous position; then the +stranger, who was a fisherman, summoned assistance, and the two young +girls were quickly carried back to the cottage, and a neighbor called +in. + +Jessie was the first to recover consciousness. She had suffered a +terrible shock, a severe chill, but the blood of youth bounded quickly +in her veins. Save a little fever, which was the natural result of the +counter-action, she was none the worse for her thrilling experience. + +With Margaret Moore it was different. The doctor who had been called in +shook his head gravely over her condition. + +"It may be a very serious matter," he said, slowly; "it may result in +both hands having to be amputated, leaving her a cripple for life. +Deranged and a cripple!" he added, pityingly, under his breath. "It +would be better far if the poor thing were to die than to drag out the +existence marked out for her." + +"You will do all that you possibly can to save her hands?" said Captain +Carr, anxiously. + +"Yes, certainly," returned the doctor, "all that it is possible to do." + +Jessie Bain's gratitude knew no bounds when she learned how near she had +come to losing her life, and that she owed her rescue to the heroism of +faithful Margaret Moore. She wept as she had never wept before when she +discovered how dearly it might cost poor Margaret. + +Alas! how true it is that trouble never comes singly! At this crisis of +affairs, Captain Carr suddenly succumbed to a malady that had been +troubling him for years, and Jessie Bain found herself thrown homeless, +penniless upon the world. She was thankful that poor Margaret Moore did +not realize the calamity that had overtaken her. That humble cottage +roof which had sheltered her so long would cover her head no more. + +"There is only one thing to be done, and that is to place the girl in an +asylum," the neighbors advised. + +This Jessie Bain stoutly declared she never would do as long as she had +two hands to work for the unfortunate girl. + +"I shall turn all my little possessions into money," she declared, "and +go immediately to New York City and find something to do. She shall go +with me and share my fortunes; my last crust of bread I will divide with +her." + +Every one thanked Heaven that by almost a miracle Margaret Moore's hands +were saved to her. + +A few days later Jessie Bain bid adieu forever to Fisher's Landing, +accompanied by the girl who followed her so patiently out into the +world. + +How strange it is that New York City is generally the objective point +for the poor and friendless in search of employment. + +The journey to the great metropolis was a long one. They reached there +just as the sun was sinking. + +The first thing to be thought of was shelter. Inquiring in the drug +store opposite the depot, she found that there was a small +boarding-house down the first cross-street. + +Jessie soon found the street and number to which she had been directed. +A pleasant-faced maid opened the door. She was immediately shown into +the parlor, and a brisk, bustling little woman soon put in an +appearance. + +She looked curiously at the two pretty young girls when she learned +their errand. + +"This is a theatrical boarding-place," she said, "and all of our rooms +are full save two, and they are to be occupied on the twentieth. You +might have them up to that time, I suppose," she added, unwilling to let +the chance of making a few extra dollars go by her. "Or perhaps you and +your sister could make the smaller one do for both." + +"We could indeed!" eagerly assented Jessie. + +She had noticed that the woman had called Margaret Moore her sister, and +she said to herself that perhaps it would be as well to let it go at +that, as it would certainly save much explanation. + +And then again, if the landlady knew that her companion had lost her +reason, she would never allow them to stay there over night, no matter +how harmless she might be. + +Jessie started out bright and early the next morning to search for +employment, cautioning Margaret over and over again not to quit the +room, and to answer no questions that might be put to her. After the +first day's experience, she returned, heartsick and discouraged, to the +boarding-house. + +"Didn't find anything to do, eh?" remarked the landlady, +sympathetically, as she met her at the door. + +"No," said Jessie; "but I hope to meet with better luck to-morrow." + +"Why don't you try to get on the stage," said Mrs. Tracy, patting the +girl's shoulder. "You are young, and, to tell you the truth, you've an +uncommonly pretty face." + +"The stage?" echoed Jessie. "Why, I was never on the stage in all my +life. What could I do on the stage?" + +"You would make your fortune," declared the woman, "if you were clever. +And there's your sister, too, she is almost as pretty as yourself. She'd +like it, I am sure." + +At that moment a woman who was passing hurriedly through the dimly +lighted hall stopped short. + +"What is this I hear, Mrs. Tracy?" she exclaimed. "Are you advising your +new boarders, those two pretty, young girls, to go on the stage?" + +"Yes," returned the other. "They are looking for work, and drudgery +would be such hardship for them. And to tell the exact truth, Manager +Morgan of the Society Belle Company, who is stopping with me, told me he +would find a place in his company for her if she would leave her sister +and go out on the road; and, furthermore, that he would push her, and +take great pains in learning her all the stage business." + +That evening, by his eager request, the manager was introduced to Jessie +Bain. + +He told a story so glowing, Jessie felt sorely tempted to accept his +offer of a position on the stage. He promised her such a wonderful large +salary and such grand times that she was surprised. Jessie's only +objection in not accepting the offer was the thought that she should be +parted from Margaret, which, the manager assured her, would have to be, +as he had no room in his company for two. + +"You can board her right here at Mrs. Tracy's," he suggested, "as your +salary will be ample to pay for her. It is a chance that not one girl +out of a thousand ever gets. You must realize that fact." + +"Do you think I had better accept it, Mrs. Tracy?" asked Jessie. + +"Indeed, I shouldn't hesitate," was the reply. "I'm not a theatrical +person myself, although I do keep this boarding-house for them, and I +don't know much about life behind the foot-lights, only as I hear them +tell about it; but if I were in your place, it seems to me that I should +accept it. If you don't like it, or get something better, it's easy +enough to make a change, you know." + +Jessie took this view of the case, too, and she signed a contract with +the manager of the theatrical company. + +"I hope I shall have a good part in the play," said Jessie, anxiously; +"and, believe me, I will do my best to make it a success." + +"Your face alone will insure that," said Manager Morgan, with a bland +smile that might have warned the girl. "I will cast you for the lovely +young heiress in the play. You will wear fine dresses and look charming. +The part will suit you exactly." + +"But I have no fine clothes," said Jessie, much down-hearted. + +"Do not let such a little matter as that trouble you, I pray," he said +gallantly. "I will advance you the required amount; you can pay me when +you like." + +Jessie said to herself that she had never met so kind a gentleman, and +her gratitude was accordingly very great. + +The next morning she was waited upon by a French _modiste_, who seemed +to know just what she required, and a few days later, half a dozen +dresses, so gorgeous that they fairly took Jessie Bain's breath away, +were sent up to her. + +She tried to explain to Margaret, who had settled down into a strange +and unaccountable apathy, all about her wonderful good luck; but she +answered her with only vacant monosyllables. And knowing that part of +the truth must be told sooner or later, Jessie was forced to admit to +Mrs. Tracy that Margaret had lost her reason, but that she was by no +means harmful. + +"That is no secret to me," responded Mrs. Tracy. "Every one in the +boarding-house thought that from the first day you came here, though you +tried hard to hide her malady from us. And I repeat my offer, that you +can leave your sister in my charge, and I will do my very best for her. +Let me tell you why," she added, in a low voice. "I had a daughter of my +own once who looked very like your sister Margaret. She lost her reason +because of an unhappy love affair, and she drooped and died. For her +sake my heart bleeds with pity for any young girl whose reason has been +dethroned. God help her!" + +So it was settled that Margaret was to remain with Mrs. Tracy. + +"After a few rehearsals you will get to know what you have got to do, +quite well," said Manager Morgan, as he handed Jessie her part to learn. +"Our company has been called together very hurriedly. We expected that +it would be fully a month later ere rehearsals would begin and our +members be called together. I have the same people who were with me last +year, all save the young lady whose place you take, and they are all +well up in their parts and don't need rehearsals. We go out on the road +in one week more. I shall have to coach you in your part." + +The handsome Mr. Morgan made himself most agreeable during those days of +rehearsal, and if Jessie Bain's heart had not been entirely frozen by +the frost of that earlier love for Hubert Varrick, which had come to +such a bitter ending, she might have fancied this handsome, dandified +manager. + +The company were to open their season at Albany, and at last the day +arrived for Mr. Morgan and Jessie to start. + +There was to be just one rehearsal the following forenoon, and the next +evening the play was to be produced. + +It was a bitter trial for Jessie to leave Margaret alone there; but the +bitterest blow of all was that she could not make Margaret understand +that they were to be separated from each other for many long weeks. + +It was snowing hard when the train steamed into Albany. Mr. Morgan, who +had gone up by an earlier train, met her at the depot. + +"We will go right to the theater," he said; "the remainder of the +company are there; they are all waiting for us." + +Jessie felt a little disappointed at not getting a cup of good hot tea; +but she was too timid to mention it. + +A dozen or more faces were eagerly turned toward them when they entered +the theater. Four very much over-dressed young women, sitting in a group +and laughing rather hilariously, and half a dozen long-ulstered, +curly-mustached _blase_-appearing gentlemen, stared boldly at the timid, +shrinking young girl whom Manager Morgan led forward. + +"Our new leading lady, Miss Jessie Bain," he announced, briefly; adding +quickly after this general introduction: "Clear the stage every one who +is not discovered in the first act." + +The way these gentlemen and ladies fairly flew into the wings astonished +Jessie. They acted more like frightened children, afraid of a +school-master than like ladies and gentlemen who were great heroes and +heroines of the drama. Jessie stood quite still, not a little +bewildered. + +"Excuse me; but were you ever on before?" asked one of the girls, eyeing +Jessie curiously. + +"No," she answered; "but I do hope I will get along. I am very anxious +to learn." + +At this there was a great deal of suppressed tittering, which rather +nettled Jessie. + +"You must have wonderful confidence in yourself to attempt to play your +part to-night, with only this one rehearsal. Aren't you afraid you will +get stage-frightened?" + +"I used to take part in all the entertainments that we used to give at +home in the little village I came from. Once I had a very long part, and +I always had an excellent memory." + +"Let me give you a little word of advice," said the girl, who introduced +herself as Mally Marsh, linking her arm in Jessie's and drawing her +into one of the dark recesses of the wings, where they were quite alone +together. "Did you see the girl in the sealskin coat who sat at my right +as you came up? I want to tell you about her." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +"PRAY, PERMIT ME TO ESCORT YOU HOME," SAID THE HANDSOME STRANGER, +STEPPING TO JESSIE'S SIDE AND RAISING HIS HAT WITH A PROFOUND BOW. + + +Jessie looked out on to the stage at the very pretty girl at whom her +companion was nodding. + +"That is the one you mean?" she said. + +"Yes; that's Celey Dunbar," returned her companion; "and I repeat that I +want to warn you about her. Celey was Manager Morgan's sweetheart last +season. We all thought he was engaged to her at one time, but he soon +tired of her. She is as fond of him as ever, though, and she'll make it +hot for you if you don't watch out. + +"Now, you see the girl in the long gray cloak, going on with her part +out there? Well, that's Dovie Davis. Her husband is the handsome, +dashing young fellow over yonder, who is to be your lover in the play. +She's as jealous as green-gages of him, and while he is making love to +you, on the stage, she'll be watching you from some entrance, as a cat +would a mouse, and woe be to you if you make your part too real! The +other lady over there is keeping company with that good-looking fellow +she is talking to; so keep your eyes off him. + +"The fellow in the long ulster and silk hat I claim as my especial +property. Don't look so dumfounded, goosie; I mean he's my beau. We +always manage to get into the same company, and it would be war to the +knife with any girl who attempted to flirt with him." + +"You need not be afraid of my ever attempting to flirt with him," said +Jessie gravely. + +"Well, it doesn't come amiss to learn a thing or two in season," +returned Mally, with a nod. "All theatrical companies pair off like +that. + +"The other two young gents who passed by the wing a moment ago, and were +watching you so intently, are married. Now, let me repeat the lesson +again, so as to impress it upon your mind: Celey Dunbar is Manager +Morgan's ex-sweetheart; Mrs. Dovie Davis is married; that gay, jolly +girl is Daisy Lee, the soubrette of the company; she'd cut out any one +of us if she could; but she's so merry a sprite we don't mind her, +especially as none of the fellows take to her particularly." + +To Jessie that rehearsal seemed like a bewildering dream. The ladies of +the company looked at her coldly, but the gentlemen were wonderfully +pleasant to her. They talked to her as freely as though they had known +her for years, instead of only an hour. This embarrassed Jessie +greatly; she hardly knew how to take this unaccustomed familiarity. + +After rehearsal was over, Manager Morgan took her back to her hotel, +frowning darkly at Celey Dunbar, who made a bold attempt to walk with +them. + +"Be ready at seven o'clock sharp," he said, as he left her at the door. + +Left to herself when dinner was over, Jessie sat quietly down in her +lonely little room to think. + +She wondered how such people as she had met that day could play the +different parts in the beautiful story whose every incident Manager +Morgan had explained to her. + +"Certainly it isn't very romantic," she thought, "to have the hero lover +of the play a married man." + +Night came at last, and feeling more frightened than she had ever felt +in her life before, Jessie emerged from her dressing-room. Mally Marsh +accompanied her to the wing to see that she went on all right when her +cue was given. + +"There's a big house out in front," whispered Mally. "Ah! there's your +cue now." + +Out in the center of the stage stood a young man, exclaiming eagerly, as +he looked in their direction: + +"Ah, here comes the little society belle now!" + +"Go on; walk right out on the stage," whispered Mally, giving Jessie a +push. + +Jessie never knew how she got there. + +The glare of the foot-lights blinded her. The words her companion +uttered fell upon dazed ears. She tried to speak the words that she had +learned so perfectly, but they seemed to die away in her throat; no +sound could she utter. A great numbness was clutching at her +heart-strings, and she could move neither hand nor foot. + +"Aha! our little beauty is stage-frightened," she heard Celey Dunbar +whisper from one of the wings of the stage, in a loud, triumphant voice. +"I am just glad of it. That's what Manager Morgan gets by bringing in a +novice. Ha! ha! ha!" + +Those words stung Jessie into action, and quick as a flash the truant +lines recurred to her, and to the great chagrin of her rival in the +wings, she went on with her part unfalteringly to the very end. + +Her beauty, and her fresh, sweet simplicity and naturalness quite took +the audience by storm, and the curtain was rung down at length amid the +wildest storm of applause that that theater had ever known. + +The manager was delighted with Jessie Bain's success. The ladies of the +company were furious, and they gathered together in one of the entrances +and watched her. + +"Stage life is coming to a pretty how-de-do," cried one, furiously, +"when women who have been before the foot-lights for ten years--ay, +given the best years of their lives to the stage--have to stand aside, +for a novice like that!" + +"My husband plays altogether too ardent a lover to her!" cried Dovie +Davis, jealously. "I won't stand it! Either she leaves this company at +the end of a fortnight, or my husband and I do; that's all there is +about it!" + +This appeared to be the sentiment of every woman in the company, and +they did not attempt to conceal their dislike as she passed them by +during the evening. + +Just before the curtain went down, Manager Morgan received a telegram +which called him to Rochester. He had barely time to catch the train, +and in his hurry he quite forgot to leave instructions to have some one +see Jessie Bain to the hotel. + +As Jessie emerged from her dressing-room she looked around for Mr. +Morgan. He was nowhere about. + +"I thought you'd never come out of your dressing-room, ma'am," said the +man who was waiting to turn the lights out. "Every one's gone--you're +the last one." + +"Has--has Mr. Morgan gone?" echoed Jessie, in great trepidation. + +"Every one's gone, I said," was the saucy reply. + +And the man turned the light out in her face, and she was obliged to +grope her way as best she could along the dark entry. After floundering +about the building for almost ten minutes, until the great tears were +rolling down her cheeks with fright, she at length called loudly to some +one to come to her assistance. + +The same man who had turned out the gas on her now came grumblingly to +her rescue. At length she found herself out on the street. + +Before she had time to turn and ask the man the way to the hotel, he had +slammed the door to in her face and turned the key in the lock with a +loud, resounding click, and Jessie found herself standing ankle-deep in +the snow-drift, with the wind whirling about her and dashing the +blinding snow in her face. + +Suddenly from out the dark shadows of an adjacent door-way sprung a man +in a long ulster. + +"Don't be frightened, Miss Bain," he exclaimed. "I have been waiting for +you almost an hour, to see you home." + +Jessie started back in dismay. At that instant he half turned, and the +flickering light from the gas-lamp fell full upon his face, and she +recognized him as one of the members of the company--Walter Winans, whom +Mally Marsh had said was her beau. + +Even had this not been the case, Jessie could never have admired so +bold-looking a fellow. + +"Excuse me, but I am very sorry that you waited for me, Mr. Winans," +said Jessie, coldly. "I can find my way back to the hotel alone." + +"Phew! What an independent little piece we are, to be sure!" he cried. +"You're not expecting any one else, are you?" he inquired looking +hastily around. + +"No," said Jessie, simply. + +"Come on, then, with me," he said, seizing her arm and fairly dragging +her along. + +Discretion seemed the better part of valor to Jessie. She thought it +would not be wise to offend the young man; and, to tell the truth, she +was rather glad to have some one to pilot her along through the terrible +snow-drifts. + +"Let me tell you something," said Winans, without waiting for her +answer. "I have taken quite a liking to you, Jessie Bain--this is +between you and me--and I hope very much that the feeling will be +reciprocated, little girl. I'll be only too glad to escort you to and +from the theater every night, if you like. Don't let any of the girls of +this company talk you into the belief that they have any claim on me. + +"You must not think it strange that I took an interest in you, little +Jessie, from the first moment I saw you," continued Winans, pressing the +girl's hand softly, as they pushed on bravely through the terrible +snow-drifts. "There was something about you very different from the rest +of the girls whom I have met." + +"I trust you will not talk so to me, Mr. Winans," said Jessie. + +"But I must," he insisted. "I must tell you all that is in my heart. +Surely you can not blame a fellow so very much for being unfortunate +enough to fall desperately in love with you!" + +He had spoken the words eagerly, and it never occurred to him that they +had been uttered so loudly that any one passing might have heard them. + +Suddenly from out the shadow of an arched door-way sprang a woman, who +planted herself directly in the snowy path before them. + +"Stop!" she cried. "Don't dare advance a step further!" and quick as a +flash she drew a heavy riding-whip from the folds of her cloak. Once, +twice, thrice it cut through the snow-laden air, and fell upon Winans' +defenseless head. + +Smarting with pain, he dropped Jessie's arm and sprang forward, and +attempted to wrest the whip from the infuriated young woman's hands. + +"Take that! and that! and that!" she cried, again and yet again; and +with each word the blows rained down faster and faster upon his face and +hands. + +There was but one way to escape, and that was in ignominious flight. + +"So," cried Mally Marsh, as she turned to Jessie "this is all the heed +you paid to my warning, is it? If I gave you your just deserts, I would +thrash you within an inch of your life, for attempting to take my lover +away from me! Now listen to what I have to say, girl, and take warning: +You must leave this company at once. If you do not do so, I will not +answer for myself. Do not make it an excuse that you have no money. +Here!" and with the word she flung a bill in her face. "The depot is to +your right. Go there, and take the first train back to the city whence +you came. Go, I say, while yet I can keep my wrath in check." + +Jessie stood there for a moment like one stupefied. She tried to explain +how it had happened, but her companion would not listen and walked away. + +As one lost, Jessie wandered to the depot, where a policeman, noticing +her distress, drew her story from her. He said he knew of a most +respectable old woman who was looking for a companion and wrote her name +and address on a piece of paper for Jessie. The policeman readily +consented to allow her to remain in the station until morning. It was a +long and weary wait and at eight o'clock Jessie went to the house to +which the policeman had directed her. + +A pompous footman conducted her to a spacious drawing-room, and placed a +seat for her. + +After a long and dreary wait which seemed hours to Jessie, though in +reality it was not over twenty minutes, she heard the rustle of a +woman's dress. An instant later, a little white, shrivelled hand, loaded +with jewels pushed aside the satin _portieres_, and an old lady appeared +on the threshold. + +Jessie rose hesitatingly from her seat with a little courtesy. + +"You came in answer to my advertisement for a companion?" the little old +lady began. + +"Yes, madame," returned Jessie. + +"Where were you in service last?" + +"I have never had a position of the kind before," said Jessie, +hesitatingly, "but if you would try me, madame, I would do my very best +to suit you." + +"Speak a little louder," said the old lady, sharply. "I am a trifle hard +of hearing. Mind, just a trifle, I can not quite hear you." + +Jessie repeated in a louder tone what she had said. + +"Your appearance suits me exactly," returned Mrs. Bassett; "but I could +not take a person into my household who is an entire stranger, and who +has no references to offer to assure me of her respectability." + +Jessie's eyes filled with tears. + +"I am so sorry," she faltered; "but as I am a stranger in Albany, there +is no one here to whom I could apply for a reference." + +"I like your face very much indeed," repeated Mrs. Bassett, more to +herself than to the girl; then, turning to her suddenly, she asked: +"Where are you from--where's your home?" + +"A little village on the St. Lawrence River called Fisher's Landing," +returned Jessie. "My uncle, Captain Carr, died a week ago, and I was +forced to leave my old home, and go out into the world and earn my own +living." + +"Did you say you lived at Fisher's Landing?" exclaimed the old lady, +"and that Captain Carr of that place was your uncle?" + +"Yes, madame," returned Jessie. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +JESSIE BAIN ENTERS THE HOUSE OF SECRETS. + + +The old lady stared at Jessie through her spectacles. + +"You need no other recommendation. I once met Captain Carr under +thrilling circumstances, my child. I was out in a row-boat one day--some +ten years ago--when a steamer almost ran down our little skiff. I would +have been capsized, and perhaps drowned, had it not been for the bravery +of Captain Carr, of Fisher's Landing. I made him a handsome little +present, and from that day to this I have never heard from him. Captain +Carr dead, and his niece out in the world looking for a situation! You +shall come to me, if you like, reference or no reference, my dear.' + +"Oh, madam, you are so very, very kind!" sobbed Jessie. + +The little old lady touched a silver bell close at hand, and a tidy, +elderly maid appeared. + +"Harriet, I have engaged this young woman as companion," she said. "She +came in answer to yesterday's advertisement in the _Argus_. You will +take her to her room at once. She is to occupy the little room directly +off mine." + +The room into which she ushered Jessie was a small, dingy apartment, +with draperies so sombre that they seemed almost black. The curtains +were closely drawn, and an unmistakable atmosphere of mustiness pervaded +the apartment. + +"Have you had breakfast, miss?" asked Harriet, looking sharply into the +girl's pale face, and adding before she had time to reply: "Even though +you have breakfasted, a cup of hot tea will do you good this cold, crisp +morning. My lady will be pleased to have you come down to the table. The +bell will ring in about ten minutes. You can easily make your way there. +Step down the corridor, and turn into the passage-way at the right; the +second door." + +Jessie bowed her thanks, and murmured that she would be very grateful +for a cup of tea. It was not long before she heard the breakfast-bell. +Hastily quitting the room, she made her way down the corridor. In her +confusion, the girl made the mistake of turning to the left, instead of +the right, as she had been directed. + +"The second door," she muttered to herself. + +As she reached it she paused abruptly. It was slightly ajar. Glancing in +hesitatingly, she saw that it looked more like a young lady's _boudoir_ +than an ordinary breakfast-room. Before a mirror at the further end of +the apartment sat a young girl in the sun-light. A maid was brushing out +the wavy masses of her warm-tinted auburn hair. + +While Jessie was hesitating as to whether she should tap on the door +and make her presence known or walk on further through the corridor, a +conversation which she could not help overhearing, held her spell-bound, +fairly rooted to the spot. + +"I assure you it is quite true, Janet," the lovely young girl was saying +in a very fretful, angry voice. "The old lady has got a companion in the +house at last. But she shall not stay long beneath this roof depend upon +that, Janet. She is young and very beautiful. + +"I would not care so much, if it were not that the handsome grandson is +expected to arrive every day." + +"Surely, Miss Rosamond, you, with all your beauty, do not fear a rival +in the little humble companion." + +"Companions have been known to do a great deal of mischief before now, +and, as I have said, the girl is remarkably pretty. I saw her from the +library window as she was coming up the front steps, and then, when old +Mrs. Bassett came down to the library, I was safely ensconced behind the +silken draperies of the bay-window, and I heard all that was said. You +may be sure that I was angry enough. She shall not stay here long, if I +can help it. I will make it so unpleasant for her that she will be glad +to go. I detest the girl already, on general principles." + +Jessie Bain cowered back, dazed and bewildered, almost doubting her own +senses as to what she had just heard. + +Smarting with bitter pain, Jessie turned away and hurried swiftly down +the corridor in the opposite direction. + +She was quickly retracing her steps back to her own room, when she met +Harriet again in the corridor. + +"I was just coming for you, miss," she said, "thinking that you might +not be able to find your way, after all, there are so many twists and +turns hereabouts," and without further ado she quickly retraced her +steps, nodding to Jessie to follow. + +The breakfast-room into which she was ushered was by far the most +commodious room in the house. + +A great, square apartment with ceilings and panelings of solid oak, +massive side-boards, which contained the family silver for fully a +century or more, great, high-backed chairs with heavy carvings, done up +in leather, and a polished, inlaid floor, with here and there a velvet +rug or tiger's skin. + +The old lady was seated at the table as Harriet ushered in the young +girl. She smiled, and nodded a welcome. Opposite her sat a little old +man with large ears, who peered at her sharply from over a pair of +double-barreled, gold-rimmed eyeglasses. + +"This is the young person whom I have just engaged as my companion," +said Mrs. Bassett, shrilly, turning toward her husband. + +"H'm!" ejaculated the old gentleman. "What did you say this young +woman's name was?" + +"Bain," she replied. + +"Hey?" he exclaimed, holding his right hand trumpet fashion, to his ear. +"Give me the name a little louder." + +"Miss Bain-- Jessie Bain!" shouted his wife, in an ear-splitting voice +that made every nerve in Jessie's body throb and quiver. + +"Ah--h'm-- Miss Bain," he repeated; adding, as he cleared out his +throat: "I am very anxious to have the papers read while we breakfast. +You may as well begin by reading this morning's reports," he said, +handing her a paper which lay folded beside his plate. "You may turn to +the stock reports first, Miss Bain. Third column on the first page, Miss +Bain." + +She had scarcely finished the first paragraph ere the old gentleman +commanded her to stop. + +"Can you understand one word that this young woman is reading?" he +inquired, turning sharply to his wife. + +"No. Miss Bain must read louder," she said. "I do not quite catch it." + +The perspiration stood out in great balls on Jessie's pale face. She had +raised her voice to almost a shout already, and her throat was beginning +to ache terribly, for the strain upon it was very great. How she ever +struggled down to the bottom of that column, she never knew. The +appearance of the breakfast tray was a welcome relief to her. + +"You read very nicely," complimented the old gentleman. "I enjoy +listening to you. I shall give you the privilege of reading all my +papers aloud every forenoon." + +Jessie looked helplessly at him. The strain had been so great that her +throat pained her terribly; but she made no demur. How could she? + +At that moment the door swung slowly open, and a tall, beautiful girl +entered. + +Jessie knew her at the first startled glance. It was the lovely girl +whom she had heard talking to her maid about her, but a little while +before. + +She took the seat at the end of the table without so much as deigning to +glance at the new-comer. + +"My dear, let me present you to Miss Bain-- Miss Bain, my husband's +_protegee_, Rosamond Lee," exclaimed Mrs. Bassett. + +Jessie bowed wistfully, shyly; Miss Rosamond barely lifted her eyebrows +in acknowledgment of the presentation. + +The old gentleman and his wife screamed at each other on the main topics +of the day, Miss Rosamond looked exceedingly bored, while Jessie had +great difficulty in swallowing, her throat ached so severely. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +"OH, TO SLEEP MY LIFE AWAY, AND BE WITH THEE AT REST!" + + +Rosamond Lee completely ignored the lovely young stranger seated at the +table opposite her; but Jessie had the uncomfortable feeling that she +was watching her. + +The conversation had ceased, when suddenly Mr. Bassett announced: "I +have just received a letter from my grandson. He will be with us a week +from to-day. He will remain with us a month." + +During the next few days the household was quite upset, so great were +the preparations made for the coming stranger. Most of the forenoons had +been spent by Jessie in reading the daily papers to the old couple in +the library. One morning Rosamond Lee came to her quite excitedly, just +as she was about to begin her duties. + +"Miss Bain," she said, arching her eyebrows haughtily, "I do not think +my guardian has thought to mention the subject to you, but for the next +few weeks you are to exchange places with my maid, Janet; she has hurt +her hand, but that will not hinder her from reading the papers and +attending to Mrs. Bassett's wants. During that time, while you are +performing the services of maid to me, you will remember that your place +is not in the library, but in my own suite of rooms. I must also mention +to you that you will be excused from joining us at the table." + +Jessie flushed and then paled. It was not so much on account of the +menial position to which she was assigned, as the manner in which the +change had been made known to her. + +"You may as well commence your duties at once," said Rosamond, +imperiously, "and make the change to my apartments without further +delay." + +"I have a letter to write for Mrs. Bassett, to her grandson, I believe," +said Jessie, in a low voice. "Shall I not remain in the library until +after that is done? Mrs. Bassett told me to remind her of it to-day." + +"Never mind about it," said Rosamond Lee, hurriedly, "I will attend to +it. I always write the letters to her grandson for her. I am amazed that +she should call upon you. You must come with me at once to my rooms." + +Jessie put down the paper she was reading and followed her. + +As Jessie Bain entered Rosamond's room, she was surprised at the array +of dresses lying on the sofa, the chair-backs, and every conceivable +place. + +"I want these all overhauled at once," began the beauty. "They must be +finished by the end of the week." + +Jessie looked around at the dresses, surprised at the great amount of +work which Miss Lee was so confident she could accomplish in so short a +time. + +Jessie was sure that she saw Rosamond Lee's maid busily stitching away +when she had first entered the room, but she rose hastily and went into +an inner apartment, and a moment later returned with her hand done up +and her arm in a sling. + +Rosamond Lee said to herself that it had been a wise stratagem on her +part to make her maid exchange places with Jessie Bain until after the +handsome young man should come and go. + +The tasks that Rosamond Lee laid out for Jessie were cruelly hard. She +would say to her each morning, as she laid out this or that bit of work: + +"This must be finished by to-morrow morning." + +As soon as the clock struck nine, Rosamond would seek her downy couch. +Not for anything in the world would she have lost the few hours of +beauty-sleep before midnight, so essential to young girl's good looks. + +But there must be no beauty-sleep for the tired young girl who plied her +needle. + +"How dare you!" Rosamond cried. "What do you mean by loitering in this +manner?" + +Miss Rosamond insisted that while she was performing the duties of maid +to her, Jessie must take her meals up in her room, declaring that it +really took too much time for her to go and come to the dining-room to +her meals. + +On the third afternoon of her banishment she heard the sound of +carriage-wheels, followed by the servants in the corridor crying out +excitedly: + +"He has come at last! Now the old gentleman and his wife will be in the +seventh heaven!" + +It mattered little to Jessie Bain. She cared not who came or went. She +knew that some young man was expected; but she had not taken interest +enough to listen when the maid, who had come in to do up their rooms +that morning, had broached the subject concerning him. + +"Miss Rosamond is very much in love with him," commented the girl, in a +significant whisper, after taking a swift glance over her shoulder to +make sure they were quite alone. "Well, it's no wonder, either, for a +handsome-looking gentleman he is--tall, broad-shouldered, and kindly. He +will inherit an enormous fortune from old Mr. and Mrs. Bassett, for they +just idolize him. His mother was their only child. He always came here +once a year, ever since he was a little lad, they say, and all the old +servants love him." + +The maid had scarcely finished her recital, concerning the coming of the +handsome heir, when the door was suddenly flung open, and Rosamond Lee, +breathless and flushed with excitement, sprung into the room. + +"Where's my pale-blue dress with the black velvet bows? Get it for me, +somebody--anybody! I want to put it on at once!" she fairly cried. + +"The pale-blue dress is not finished yet," Jessie answered, falteringly. +"You know you changed your mind about having it altered the next moment +after you had laid it out, and told me not to touch it until you decided +fully just how you wanted it done. I have been sewing on the rose-pink +cashmere--" + +"You horrid creature!" screamed Rosamond Lee. "I can scarcely keep my +hands off you! You didn't want to see me looking well in my pale-blue +dress, and delayed fixing it on purpose. Oh, you horrid, horrid +creature!" and with this she seized Jessie Bain by the shoulders and +shook her until the girl's slender form bent like a reed in the storm. + +The maid, who watched this proceeding, was fairly speechless with +terror. She would have flung herself between Jessie Bain and the +infuriated beauty had she dared, but she knew that would mean instant +dismissal, and despite her intense indignation, she was obliged to stand +there and coolly witness it all. + +"There," cried Rosamond Lee, fairly out of breath, "I hope I have taught +you that I won't be trifled with. Now help me get on the rose cashmere +as quick as you can." + +Jessie Bain never knew how she managed to fasten the dress on the irate +beauty. + +The maid came to her rescue, noting that Jessie Bain was by far too +nervous to do the heiress's bidding. + +The look of thankfulness she gave her amply repaid her. + +A moment later Miss Rosamond flounced out of the room. The door had +scarcely closed after her ere Jessie Bain's strength gave way entirely, +and she sank to the floor in a swoon. + +"Poor thing!" cried the maid, bending over her, "I shall advise her to +leave this place at once. But, after all, maybe it is with her as it is +with me--she would have no home to go to if she left here, and her next +mistress might be as cruel, though she couldn't be any worse." + +Her diligent efforts were soon rewarded by seeing Jessie Bain open her +eyes. + +"You are faint and weak. Come to the window and get a breath of air. A +breath of the cool, crisp air will do you a world of good." + +Jessie made no attempt to resist her when she took her in her arms and +carried her to the window, and threw open the sash. Jessie inhaled a +deep breath of the cool morning air. Ah, yes! the air was refreshing. + +"Don't lean so far out," cautioned her companion, "Miss Rosamond might +see you! She is standing in the bay-window of the library with handsome +Mr. Hubert; and to see her smile, so bland and child-like, any one would +declare that she had no temper at all, but, instead, the disposition of +an angel." + +Jessie gave a startled look, intending to get quickly out of sight ere +Rosamond Lee should observe her; but that glance fairly froze the blood +in her veins. Yes, Rosamond Lee was standing by the window, looking as +sweet and bland as a great wax doll. + +But it was on the face of her companion that Jessie's eyes were riveted. +It seemed to her in that instant that the heart in her bosom fairly +stood still, for the face she saw was Hubert Varrick's! + +"He has had ever so much trouble," the girl went on. "He has been +married, but his young wife died, and he is now a widower, free to marry +again if he finds any one whom he can love as he did the one he lost." + +With that, the girl left the room, and then Jessie Bain gave vent to the +grief that filled her heart to overflowing. + +"I must go away from here," she sobbed; "I must not meet him again, for +did I not give his mother my written word that I would not speak to him +again, nor let him know where I was, and I must keep my solemn pledge." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +"AH! IF I BUT KNEW WHERE MY TRUE LOVE IS!" + + +Hubert Varrick felt excessively bored at the beauty's persistent efforts +to amuse him during the afternoon that followed, and he experienced a +great relief when he made his escape to his own room. + +He had come there to visit his aged relatives and have a few days of +quiet and rest from the turmoils and cares of a busy life, not to dance +attendance on a capricious society girl. He had been back from Europe +only a month. Directly on his return, he went to Fisher's Landing, there +to be met with the intelligence that Jessie's uncle had died a fortnight +ago, and that she was thrown penniless on the world, and had started out +to battle for bread, none knew whither. + +The shock of this intelligence nearly killed Hubert Varrick. He almost +moved heaven and earth to find her; but every effort was useless; Jessie +Bain seemed to have suddenly vanished from the face of the earth. + +Hubert had been with his grandparents but a day when he felt strongly +tempted to make excuses to get away at once; but before the shadows of +that night fell, an event happened which changed the whole current of +his life. + +It came about in this way: + +When he excused himself for leaving the drawing-room late that +afternoon, under the plea of smoking a cigar and having letters to +write, Rosamond, much incensed, had retired to her own _boudoir_, for +she felt that she had made no headway with the handsome young heir. +There was no one else to vent her spite on, save the young girl whom she +found bending patiently over her dresses, stitching away as though for +dear life. + +"Why don't you sew faster?" Rosamond cried at length. "You will never +get that done in time for me to wear this evening." + +"I promise you, Miss Rosamond, that I will have it finished if the +velvet ribbon comes in time." + +"Hasn't it come yet?" cried the beauty, aghast. "Why, it's almost dark +now. There's nothing else for it but for you to go after it, Jessie +Bain; and mind that you get there before the store closes. Start at +once." + +Jessie laid down her work, walked slowly to the closet, and donned her +hat and little jacket. After carefully learning the street and number, +Jessie set out on her journey. It was fully two miles. The girl's heart +sank as she stepped from the porch, and noted how deep the snow was. +She wished that the heiress had given her her fare on the street-car; +but such a thought had never entered the selfish head of this pampered +creature of luxury. + +Half an hour or more had passed. Long since one of the servants had +lighted the chandelier, heaped more coal in the glowing grate, and drew +the satin draperies over the frosty windows. + +"Dear me, I wish I had told her to get a few flowers for me!" Rosamond +muttered. Then she sat up straight in her chair. "Gracious me! how +forgetful I am," she cried. "That velvet ribbon did come just as I was +about to go down to luncheon, and I tossed it on a divan in the corner. +It must be there now." + +Springing from her seat, she went to the spot indicated. Yes, the little +package was there. + +"That Jessie Bain must have seen it," she muttered, angrily. "She must +have passed it by a dozen times. No one can tell me that she did not +open it--those girls are so prying. And now for spite she'll take as +much time as she wishes to go and come. She ought to be back by this +time. When she does come I shall scold her." + +One, two hours passed. The clock on the mantle slowly chimed the hour of +seven. Still the girl had not returned. Rosamond Lee was in a towering +rage. She had sent for her own maid to help her dress, and she was +obliged to wear a dress which was not near so becoming to her as the +blue cashmere which she felt sure would fascinate handsome Hubert +Varrick. + +When the dinner-bell rang she hurried to the dining-room. Only the old +gentleman and his wife were at the table. + +"Where is Mr. Varrick?" she asked. "Surely, he has not dined yet?" + +"Oh, no," said the old lady, complacently sipping her tea. "He went out +for a walk some two hours ago, and he has not yet returned." + +Rosamond started. Some two hours! Why, that was just about the time that +Jessie Bain had left the house. + +She wondered if by any chance he had seen her. What if he should have +asked the girl where she was going, and learn that she had been sent by +her so long a distance, and in the deep snow, on such a trifling errand! +The girl might tell it out of pure spite. Laughing lightly, Rosamond +shook off this fear. + +She had never seen a man whom she liked as well as she liked Hubert +Varrick. She always had her own way through life, and now that she had +settled it in her mind that she would like to have this same Hubert +Varrick for her husband, she no more thought it possible for her will to +be thwarted than she deemed it possible for the night to turn suddenly +into day. Rosamond was almost beside herself with excitement when that +wedding was so summarily broken off. + +"It was the hand of Fate!" she cried. "He was intended for me. That is +why that marriage did not take place." + +She had made numerous little excuses to go to Boston with her maid, and +always called at his mother's house, making herself most agreeable to +the haughty mother, for the sake of the handsome son. + +Rosamond had quite wormed herself into the good graces of Hubert's +mother. She had not been there for over six months, however, and +consequently had never heard of Jessie Bain. + +She had been waiting long and patiently, when suddenly she had read of +his marriage to Geralda Northrup, and almost immediately after came the +startling intelligence of the disaster in which he had lost his bride. +And again Rosamond Lee said that Gerelda was not to have him, that Fate +intended him for her; and she timed her visit to her guardian's when she +knew he would be there. + +Rosamond tried hard to take an interest in the dinner, but everything +seemed to go wrong with her. The tea was too weak, the biscuits too +cold, and the tarts too sweet. + +She did her best to keep up the conversation with her guardian and his +chatty old wife, but it was a dismal failure. At every footstep she +started. Why did he not come? + +It was a relief to her when the meal was over. She walked slowly into +the drawing-room, angry enough to find old Mr. Bassett and his wife had +preceded her, and that they had settled themselves down there for a long +evening. Up and down the length of the long room Rosamond swept to and +fro, stopping every now and then to draw the heavy curtains aside, in +order to strain her eyes out into the darkness of the night. + +Ah, what a terrible storm was raging outside! What a wild night it was! +The snow drifted in great white mountains against the window-panes, and +as far as her eyes could reach, the great white snow-drifts greeted her +sight. The bronze clock on the mantle struck the hour of eight in loud, +sonorous strokes. With a guilty thrill of her heart, she thought of +Jessie Bain. Hastily excusing herself, she hurried to her room. + +Of course the girl would be there--there was no doubt about that. With a +nervous hand Rosamond flung open the door, crossed the handsome +_boudoir_ with swift step, and looked into the little room beyond. But +the slender form which she had expected to see was not there. + +"Janet!" she called, sharply, "where is that Jessie Bain? I sent her on +an errand--hasn't she returned yet? What in the world do you think is +keeping that girl?" + +"Look out of that window, ma'am, and that will tell you," returned +Janet, laconically. "I tell you, Miss Rosamond, your sending the girl +out on such a night as this is the talk of the whole house." + +"Did she go round tattling in the servants' hall?" cried the heiress, +quivering with rage. + +"I'll tell you how it came about," said Janet. "One of the maids, who +was at the window, called to her as she was going out. I heard it all +from another window. + +"'Why, where are you going, Miss Bain?' she called, 'you are mad to step +out-of-doors in the face of such a storm as this!' + +"'I'm going on an errand for Miss Rosamond,' she answered. + +"'You will have a hard time getting to the street-car.' + +"'I shall not ride,' said Jessie Bain, 'I shall walk!' + +"'Walk?' screamed the other. 'Oh, Jessie Bain, don't you do it; you will +perish; and all because that Rosamond Lee was too stingy to give you +your car-fare. I wish to Heaven that I had the money with me, I'd give +it to you in a minute. But hold on, wait a second-- I'll go and tell the +servants about it, and I reckon that some of them can raise enough money +to see you through.' + +"With that I slipped down to the servants' hall, to be ahead of her, and +to hear what she would say, and, oh! bless my life, what a +tongue-lashing they all gave you! It's a wonder your ears didn't burn +like fire, miss. + +"They said it was a beastly shame. They wished a mob would come in and +give you a ducking out in the snow-drift, and see how you would like it. +They were not long in making up the money, but when they went to look +for Jessie she was nowhere to be seen. + +"I am almost certain that Mr. Hubert Varrick must have heard something +of what was said, for one of the girls saw him standing in the door-way, +listening intently. Before she could utter a word of warning he turned, +with something very like a muttered threat on his lips, and strode down +the corridor. + +"When night fell and Jessie Bain had not returned, the anger of the +servants ran high. I attempted to take your part, saying that you didn't +know how bad the day really was, when they set upon me with the fury of +devils. + +"'Don't attempt to shield her!' they cried, brandishing their fists in +my face, some of them grazing my very nose. + +"'Like mistress, like maid.' We hate you almost as much as we do her. +None of us shall close our eyes to-night until Jessie Bain has been +found; and if she lies dead under the snow-drifts, we will form a +little band that will avenge her! If Jessie Bain has died from exposure +to the terrible storm, Rosamond Lee, who caused it all, shall suffer for +it! If she is not here by midnight--hark you, Janet! bear this message +from us to your mistress, the haughty, heartless heiress--" + +But what that message was, Janet whispered in her mistress's ear. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +HUBERT VARRICK RESCUES JESSIE BAIN. + + +We must return to Jessie Bain. + +The girl had scarcely proceeded a block through the blinding snow-drifts +ere she began to grow chill and numb. + +"I can never make my way to the store!" she moaned. "I-- I will perish +in this awful cold!" + +She grew bewildered as to the direction which had been given her. "It +can not be that I am going the right way," she sobbed. + +Involuntarily she turned around and took the first cross-street in view. +She had scarcely made her way half a dozen blocks when the knowledge was +fully forced upon her that she must have lost her way, that each step +she took was bringing her toward the suburbs of the city instead of the +business portion. + +Jessie stopped short. Then she fell. Hubert Varrick, on the other side +of the street, saw the slender figure suddenly reel backward, whirl +about, and then fall face downward in a huge snow-drift that swallowed +her from sight. He plunged quickly forward, muttering to himself: "What +a terrible thing it is for a weak woman to be out on such a night as +this!" + +And he wondered if it could be the poor sewing-girl whom he had just +heard the servants discussing. They had said that Rosamond Lee had sent +her to one of the stores for a few yards of velvet ribbon, without +giving her her car-fare, expecting her to walk all the way in the face +of such a storm. + +"I declare, it is a thousand pities!" muttered Varrick. + +In less time than it takes to tell it he had reached the spot where the +girl lay prostrate. + +Heavens! how thinly she was clad! And he shivered even from the depths +of his fur-lined overcoat at the very thought of it. + +Deftly as a woman might have done, he raised her, remembering that there +was a drug store across the way to which he could carry her. For one +instant his eyes rested on her face in the dim, uncertain, fading +daylight; then an awful cry broke from his lips--a cry of horror. + +"My God! is it Jessie Bain? Am I mad, or am I dreaming?" + +He looked again. Surely there was no mistaking that lovely face, with +the curling locks lying over her white forehead. + +Do not censure him, that in that instant he forgot the whole world, only +remembering that fate had given into his arms the one being in this +wide earth his soul longed for. He had found Jessie Bain. + +Mad with delight, he clasped her in his arms and covered her face with +fervid kisses. He kissed the snowy cheeks and lips, and the +cotton-gloved hands. Then the thought suddenly occurred to him that he +was losing valuable time. Every moment was precious, her young life +might be in jeopardy while he was keeping her out there in the bitter +cold. + +In a trice he tore off his warm fur coat, wrapped it about her, and +hurried over to the drug store, bearing his beautiful burden as though +she were but a child. + +"This way!" he called out sharply to the clerk in attendance. "Attend +quickly to this young lady! She has been overcome with the cold! She is +dying!" + +The young man behind the counter responded with alacrity, and hurriedly +resorted to the restoratives usually applied in those cases, Hubert +Varrick standing by, watching every action, his heart in his eyes, his +face pale as death. + +Every effort of the young man to revive Jessie Bain seemed futile. + +"I should not wonder, sir, if this was a case of heart failure," he +declared. "Generally they die instantly, though I have known them to +linger for several hours. You had better summon an ambulance, sir, and +have her taken to the hospital. There is one just around the corner. +Shall I ring for it, sir?" + +"No; I will carry her there myself. You say it is just around the +corner?" + +Feeing the man generously, even though he had failed to restore the poor +girl, Hubert Varrick caught her in his arms once more, again faced the +terrible storm with her, and arrived at the hospital, panting at every +step, for he had run the entire distance. + +He summoned a doctor. To him he stated his mission, adding that he +feared the girl was dying, and that he would give half his fortune if +the doctor would but save her life, as it was more precious to him than +the whole world beside. + +The man of medicine said it was only a question of suspended animation. +If pneumonia did not set in, there was no cause for alarm. + +Jessie was quickly given in charge of one of the nurses, a gentle, +madonna-faced woman. She was quickly put to bed, and everything done for +her that skill and experience could suggest. Hubert Varrick begged +permission to sit by her couch and watch the progress of their efforts. + +"Do your best," he cried, his strong voice quivering with emotion, "and +I will make it worth your while. You can name your own price." + +The long hours of the night passed; morning broke cold and gray through +the eastern sky, making the soft lamp-light that flooded the room look +pale and wan in the dim, gray morn. The white face lying against the +pillow had never stirred, nor had the blue eyes unclosed. The sun was +high in the heavens when it occurred to him, for the first time, that +the folks would be greatly worried about him. During the night the +girl's white lips had parted, and she murmured, faintly: "I must push on +through the terrible storm, though the faintness of death seems creeping +over me, for Miss Rosamond is waiting for the velvet ribbon." + +Hubert Varrick's strained ears had caught the words as he bent over her, +and as he heard them his rage knew no bounds, for it was clear enough to +him now that Jessie Bain, the girl he loved, had been the victim of +Rosamond Lee's cruelty. The blood fairly boiled in his veins. He felt +that he could never look upon Rosamond Lee's face again. + +He was so accustomed to terrible surprises that nothing seemed to affect +him of late. That Jessie Bain should have found employment under his own +grandfather's roof shocked him a little at first. + +But as he began to fully realize it, he said to himself that it was the +hand of fate that had led her there, that he might find her. It was not +until the sun had climbed the horizon, had crossed it, and was sinking +down on the other side, that consciousness came back to Jessie Bain. +With the first fluttering of the white eyelids, the doctor in attendance +motioned Hubert Varrick away. + +"She must not see you," he said. "It might give her a set-back. Just now +we can not be too careful of her." + +This was a great disappointment to Varrick, but he tried to bear it +patiently. + +For two long and weary weeks Jessie Bain was too ill to leave the +shelter of that roof. Hubert Varrick took rooms in a lodging-house +opposite, that he might be near her at all times. + +Great was Jessie Bain's consternation, when consciousness returned to +her, to find herself in a hospital, with a kindly-faced nurse bending +over her. + +"What has happened?" she cried. "Why am I here? Ah, let me get back to +Miss Rosamond!" she cried. "She will be so very angry with me." + +Gently the nurse informed her that she had been there a fortnight. She +told her how a gentleman had saved her from the terrible storm, bringing +her there in his arms, his own coat wrapped about her, and how he had +ever since spent his time hanging about the place, feeing with gold +those who attended her to do everything in their power for her. + +"I did not know that there was any one in this whole wide world that +would do so much for me," murmured Jessie, in bewilderment. "Please +thank him for me, kind nurse." + +"Nay, you must do that yourself, child," said the woman, smilingly. "And +let me tell you this: he seems to be greatly in love with you." + +"It can not be." + +"I assure you that it is quite true. Every one is speaking of how +devoted he is to you. If I were you, I'd-- Ah! here he comes now. I will +leave you alone with him to thank him, my dear." + +So saying, the nurse left the room. + +"Little Jessie!" Hubert whispered, almost beside himself with joy. + +"Mr. Varrick!" she breathed in a low voice of awe. + +Then he poured a tale of passionate love into her ears, but before +Jessie could answer he had caught the little hands again in his warm +clasp, covered them with kisses, and was gone. + +Jessie Bain tried to collect her scattered senses. Her head seemed in a +whirl. All that had happened within the last few minutes appeared but +the coinage of her own brain. + +When the nurse came in again she found the girl feverish with +excitement. + +"Come, come, my dear; this will never do," said the nurse. "You will be +sure to have a relapse if you are not very careful. Think how badly that +would make the young man feel." + +Jessie smiled. Suddenly a low cry broke from her lips, and she started +up pale with emotion. She had suddenly recalled poor Margaret and she +told the nurse the whole story. + +"Give me her address, and I will telegraph there for you," said the +nurse. "To be frank with you, the gentleman left a well-filled purse, +which he bid us place at your disposal. You are to want for no luxury +that money can purchase for you." + +Jessie Bain was overcome by the wonderful kindness of Hubert Varrick. +Her first thought was that she could never accept another penny, for she +was too much indebted to him already. Then came the thought of +Margaret--poor Margaret! She begged the nurse to send a telegram in all +haste, informing the boarding-house keeper that the money for Margaret +Moore's board would be forthcoming. + +This request was carried out at once, and within an hour the answer came +back that Jessie Bain's telegram had come too late. No money having come +in time for the girl's board, she had been sent to one of the public +asylums, and while _en route_ there, by some means she had made her +escape, and her whereabouts was then unknown. + +Jessie's grief was great upon hearing this. The nurse believed that the +bitter sobs which shook Jessie's slender frame would give her a relapse +that would keep her there for many a day. + +"There is but one thing to do," she said, trying to console Jessie, "and +that is to get back your health and strength as soon as you can, and +make a search for her. You will find her if you advertise and offer a +reward to any one who will tell you of her whereabouts." + +Surely, the money which Hubert Varrick had placed at her disposal could +not be used for a nobler purpose; and then, if Heaven intended her to +get well and strong again, she could soon pay him the amount borrowed. +Again the nurse did everything in her power to carry out her patient's +wishes. The advertisement duly appeared in the leading New York papers, +but as the days passed, all hope that she would be able to find Margaret +was abandoned. + +In the third day after Hubert Varrick's departure, a long letter came +for her. + +"What do you think I have for you, Miss Bain?" said the nurse. + +"Has the--the letter come that Mr. Varrick said he would write?" she +asked, eagerly. + +"That's just what it is," was the smiling reply; and the thick, white +envelope was placed in her hands. + +"I will leave you alone while you read it, Miss Bain," and added +smilingly: "A young girl loves best to be alone when she reads such a +letter as I imagine this to be. There--there; don't blush and look so +embarrassed." + +The next moment Jessie was alone with Hubert's letter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +"I WOULD RATHER WALK BY YOUR SIDE IN TROUBLE THAN SIT ON A THRONE BY THE +MIGHTIEST KING." + + +With trembling hands the girl broke the seal, drew forth the missive, +and slowly unfolded it. It was long and closely written: + + "DEAR LITTLE JESSIE," it began, "I know that the contents of this + letter will surprise you, but the thoughts born of longings + impossible to suppress, even though I would, fill my brain to + overflowing and must find utterance in these pages. + + "There are many men who can express their heart-thoughts in burning + words, but this boon is not given to me. I can only tell you my + hopes and fears and longings in the old, conventional words; but + the earnest wish is mine that they may find an echo in your heart, + little girl. + + "With your woman's quick wit you must have read my secret--which + every one else seems to have discerned--and that is, I love you, + dear--love you with all the strength of my heart. + + "I wonder, Jessie, if you could ever care enough for me to marry + me. + + "There, the words are written at last. I intended them to seem so + impressive, but they read far too coldly on the white paper, to + express the world of tenderness in my soul which would make them + eloquent if I could but hold your hands clasped tightly in my own + at this moment and whisper them to you. + + "If you can but care for me, dear Jessie, I will be the happiest + man the whole world holds. Your 'yes' or 'no' will mean life or + death for me. + + "I can not think, after all that I have gone through, that Heaven + would be so cruel as to have me hope for your love in vain. When I + come to you, Jessie, I shall ask you for my answer. I am an + impatient lover; I count the long days and hours that must wing + their slow flight by until we meet again. + + "I will not take you to the home of my mother, Jessie, dear, for I + quite believe you would be happier with me elsewhere. There is a + beautiful little cottage in the suburbs of the city, a charming, + home-like place. By the time that this letter reaches you I will + have purchased it, so confident am I that I can win you, little + Jessie. + + "I shall set workmen upon it at once, to make a veritable fairy's + bower of it ere you behold it, and it will be ready for us by early + spring. + + "We will spend the intervening time--which will be our + honey-moon--either in Florida or abroad, as best pleases you. Your + will shall be my law. I will make you so happy, Jessie, that you + will never regret the hour in which you gave your heart to me. + + "It will take but a day for this letter to reach you, and another + must elapse ere I can hear from you. They will be two days hard for + me to endure, Jessie. When a man is in love--deeply, desperately + in love--it is madness for him to attempt to do any kind of + business, as his mind is not on it, he can think of but one + object--the girl whom he idolizes. His one hope is to be near her, + his one prayer is that her love is his, in return for the mighty + affection that sways his whole being, and leads him into the + ideal--the soul-world, which throws the halo of memory and + anticipation around the image of her whom he loves. + + "Yours lovingly, + "Hubert Varrick." + +Jessie Bain read the letter through, the color coming and going on her +face, her heart aglow. Once, twice, thrice she read it through, then, +with a little sob, she pressed it closely to her breast. + +"Hubert Varrick loves me!" Jessie whispered the words over and over +again to herself, wondering if she should not awake presently and find +it only an empty dream. + +He was waiting for her answer. She smiled at the thought. + +"My darling Hubert, my love, my king, as though it could be anything +else but yes--yes, a thousand times yes!" she murmured. + +But even in this moment of ecstatic joy, the sword of destiny fell +swiftly and unerringly upon her hapless golden head. + +God pity and help her in her mortal anguish, for in this moment she +remembered that she had given Hubert's mother her sacred promise, nay, +her _vow_, that she would never cross her son's path again. + +When the nurse returned, after the lapse of perhaps a quarter of an +hour, to Jessie's bedside, she found the girl sobbing as though her +heart would break, and the letter torn into a thousand pieces, which +were fluttering over the counterpane. + +"I hope you have not heard any bad news, Miss Bain," she said, +earnestly. + +Jessie raised her tear-stained face from her hands, and smiled up into +her face, the most pitiful smile that ever was seen. + +"I have heard music so sweet that it might have opened up heaven to me, +if fate had not been against me," she murmured, with quivering lips, the +tears starting afresh to her blue eyes. + +These words completely puzzled the old nurse. But ere she could utter +the words on her lips, Jessie continued: + +"I wish I could have some writing materials; I should like to answer +this letter which I have received." + +"Do you think you feel strong enough to attempt to write it now?" she +asked dubiously. + +"Yes," said Jessie; adding under her breath: "I must write it quickly, +while I have the courage to do it." + +The pen which she held trembled in her hand. But at length, after many +futile attempts, she penned the following epistle: + + "Dear Mr. Varrick,--Your letter has just reached me, and oh! I can + not tell you how happy your words made me. But, Mr. Varrick, it can + not be; we are destined by a fate most cruel, to be nothing to each + other. I may as well tell you the truth-- I do love you with all my + heart. But there is a barrier between us which can never be + bridged over in this world. Your mother knows what it is; she will + tell you about it. + + "I intend leaving this place to-day, and going out into the + coldness and darkness of the world. Please do not attempt to find + me, as seeing you again would only be more pitiful for me. But take + this assurance with you down to the very grave: I shall always love + you while my life lasts. Your image, and yours alone, will forever + be enshrined in my heart. + + "Good-bye again, dear Hubert, I bless you from the bottom of my + heart for the love you have offered me and the honor you have paid + me in asking me to be your wife. Think kindly of me some time. + + "Yours, with a breaking heart, + "Jessie Bain." + +When next the nurse made her rounds, to her great amazement she found +the girl, weak as she was, already dressed, and putting on her hat. +Nurses and doctors were unable to change her determination to leave. + +"What of the young gentleman from whom you had the letter?" asked +Jessie's nurse. + +"The letter that I have written is to him," she said, in a very husky +voice. "He will understand. I will leave it in your care to send to him, +if you will be so kind." + +The nurse took charge of the letter. + +"I do not wish you to mail it until to-night," said Jessie, eagerly, +"for I-- I will not be able to leave ere that time. You have been so +kind to me," she added, "Oh, believe me that I do not know how to thank +you for all you have done!" + +"A little more strength would not have come amiss to you," one of the +doctors said gravely. "One thing, however, I insist upon--rest until +late in the afternoon, and then leave us if you really must." + +With a little sigh Jessie took off her hat again. + +Remaining there a few hours longer would not matter much, she told +herself; Hubert Varrick would not receive her letter until the following +morning. She could leave that night, and be so far away by day-break +that he could never find her. But what strange freaks Fate plays upon us +to carry out its designs. + +When the nurse left Jessie Bain, she took the all-important letter with +her, and quite forgetful of the promise which she had made the girl, not +to send the letter out until night, she proceeded to stamp it as she saw +the letter-carrier stop at the door to take up the mail. + +It would be very nice to send it by special delivery, she thought. He +will receive it all the sooner; and hastily adding the additional stamp +required, she handed it to the postman. + +An hour later it was on its way, and a little past noon Jessie's letter +reached its destination and was promptly delivered. + +Hubert had been summoned to his mother's home from the hotel where he +had been stopping. She had been seized with a serious illness, and had +hastily sent for him to come to her at once. He had responded with +alacrity to his mother's telegram. He had scarcely divested himself of +his fur overcoat in the corridor, ere the special messenger arrived with +Jessie's letter. He thrust it into his pocket, this sweet missive, to +read at his leisure, murmuring as he did so: "This is neither the time +nor place to learn the contents of my darling's letter. I must be all +alone when I read it." + +Thrusting it into his pocket, Varrick hurried quickly to his mother's +_boudoir_. With a great cry of relief she reached out her hand to him. +"Thank God, you are here at last." + +The trouble about Jessie Bain had been temporarily bridged over when he +had married Gerelda; yet, ever since, there had been a constraint +between mother and son which she very perceptibly felt. + +She had always said to herself that he would never forget Jessie Bain, +and when he became a widower the terror was strong within her that he +would make an attempt to find her. + +"Will the girl keep her promise," she asked herself over and over again, +"and never cross his path again?" + +It all rested on that. But it weighed heavily on her mind that she had +accused the girl wrongfully, and she told herself that God would surely +take vengeance upon her if she stood at heaven's gate with that sin on +her soul. + +In this hour, she must tell Hubert the truth, keeping nothing back. She +would not implicate herself, as that would bring horror into his eyes. +He must never know that she had concocted that plot in order to ruin the +girl. + +Hubert greeted his mother with all the old-time boyish, affectionate +ardor and she asked herself how she could tell him the truth--that which +was weighing so heavily on her mind. + +She gave a glad cry as he came up to the velvet divan upon which she +reclined, and held out her arms to him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +A MOTHER'S PLEA. + + +"Hubert, my boy!" she murmured, tremulously. + +"Mother!" he answered, embracing her; then, flinging himself on a low +hassock by her side, he caught both of her hands in his and kissed them. + +"I am so glad you are come, my son," she breathed--"I am so ill!" + +He tried to cheer her with his brave, bright words; but she only smiled +at him faintly, wistfully. + +She brought round the subject uppermost in her mind. + +"I wonder what has became of Jessie Bain?" she asked, abruptly. + +"Why do you ask me, mother?" he replied, evasively, flushing to the +roots of his curling hair--and that blush betrayed to her keen eyes that +he had not as yet lost interest in the girl. + +"I want you to promise me, Hubert," she whispered, "that if anything +should ever happen to me, you will not think of even searching for +Jessie Bain, in order to marry her." + +He dropped the white, jeweled hands he held, and looked at her in grave +apprehension, a troubled look in his earnest eyes. + +"I wish I could promise what you ask, mother," he said; "but +unfortunately, I-- I can not; it is too late! I have already searched +for Jessie Bain, and found her, and have offered her my heart and hand." + +A low cry from his mother arrested the words on his lips. + +"I knew it-- I feared it!" cried Mrs. Varrick, beating the air +distressedly with her jeweled hands. "But it must not be, Hubert." + +"It is too late for interference now, mother; the fiat has gone forth." + +Still she looked at him with dilated eyes. + +"Would you marry her against my will?" she gasped, looking at him with a +gaze which he never liked to remember in the years that followed. + +"Do not force me to answer at such a time, mother," he said, +distressedly. "I could not tell you a falsehood, and the truth might be +unpleasant for you to hear." + +"She will not marry you!" cried Mrs. Varrick. "I know a very good reason +why she will not." + +A smile curved the corners of her son's mobile lips, and he drew from +his pocket the precious missive and held it up before her. + +"I do not know of any reason why I should keep anything from you, +mother," he said. "This letter is Jessie's acceptance." + +A grayish pallor stole over Mrs. Varrick's face. + +Even in death--for she supposed herself to be dying--the ruling passion +that had taken possession of her life, was still strong within her. + +Her idolized son must never make such a _mes-alliance_ as to marry +Jessie Bain--a girl so far beneath him. + +"I have not as yet read its contents," continued Hubert. "If you like, +mother, I will read it aloud to you, and upon reflection, when you see +how well we love each other, you will realize how cruel it would be to +attempt to tear our lives asunder. I am pledged to her, mother, by the +most solemn vows a man can make; and though I love you dearly, mother, +not even for your sake will I give her up. Only a craven lover would +stoop to that. A man's deepest and truest love is given to the woman +whom he would make his wife. His affection for his mother comes next." + +Mrs. Varrick was too overcome for speech by the angry tempest that raged +in her soul. + +By this time Hubert Varrick had broken the seal, drawn forth the letter, +and commenced reading its contents aloud. He had scarcely reached the +second page ere he stopped short, dumfounded; for there the words +confronted him which made the blood turn to ice in his veins, and his +heart to almost stop beating. + +He sprung to his feet and looked at his mother. + +"Mother," he cried, hoarsely, "what can this mean? Jessie refuses me, +and she says you know the reason why she must do so. What is that +reason, mother? I beg you to tell me." + +"She has given me her solemn promise not to marry you. That much I may +tell you, nothing more," returned Mrs. Varrick, huskily. + +"But it is my right to know, mother," he cried, sharply. "You must not +keep it from me. I tell you that my whole life lies in the issue." + +"Step to my desk in the corner--the key is in it--and you will find in +the right-hand drawer a folded paper; bring it to me. This will tell you +what you want to know," she said, unsteadily, as he placed the paper in +her hand. "Open it, and read it for yourself." + +This he did with trembling hands; but when his eye had traversed half +the page, he flung the note from him as though it were a viper that had +stung and mortally wounded him. + +"You see it is a confession from Jessie Bain that she stole my bracelet; +it is her written acknowledgment, with her name affixed. That is the +reason why she feels there is a barrier between you. Our ancestors, +Hubert, have always been noted for being proud, high-bred men and women. +No stain has ever darkened their fair names. If you wedded this girl, +you would be the first to bring shame upon the name of Varrick." + +"Not so, mother," he cried. "Despite the evidence of my own eyes, I can +not, I will not believe my darling guilty. There is some terrible +mistake--something which I do not understand. I will make it the work of +my life to clear up this mystery, and to prove to you, despite all the +evidence against my darling, that she is innocent." + +"Will you make a vow to me that you will never marry her until her +innocence is proven?" she cried, seizing Hubert's hand and pressing it +spasmodically in both of hers. "Remember that I, as your mother, have a +right to demand this--you owe it to me." + +For a moment Hubert Varrick hesitated. + +"If you are so sure of her innocence, surely you need have no +hesitation," his mother whispered. + +Hubert Varrick did not speak for an instant; a thousand tumultuous +thoughts surged through his brain. + +Slowly, solemnly, he turned toward his mother. + +"So sure am I that I can prove her innocence, that I will accede to your +request, mother dear," he answered, in a clear, firm voice, his eyes +meeting her own. + +"I am content," murmured Mrs. Varrick, sinking back upon her pillow. + +She said to herself that if he followed that condition he would never +wed Jessie Bain. + +Hubert rose quickly to his feet. + +"I will take you at your word, mother," he declared promptly, rising +suddenly to his feet. "You shall hear from me in regard to this within +three days' time. I am going direct to Jessie. If your symptoms should +change for the worse, telegraph me." + +Kissing his mother hurriedly, and before she could make any protest to +this arrangement, Hubert hurried out of the room and out of the house. + +He was barely in time to catch the train for Albany, and arrived there +just as the dusk was creeping up and the golden-hearted stars were +coming out. + +He made his way with all haste to the place where he had left Jessie. He +must see her, and have a talk with her. He would not take "no" for an +answer. + +The neat little maid who opened the door for him recognized the +gentleman at once. + +He had placed a bill in her hand at parting, and she was not likely to +forget the handsome young man. + +He was shown into the visitors' sitting-room. + +"I should like to be permitted to see Miss Bain," he said. "Will you +kindly take that message for me to the matron in charge?" + +The girl looked at him with something very like astonishment in her +face. + +"Did you not know, sir--" she asked, somewhat curiously, as she +hesitated on the threshold. + +"Know what?" he demanded, brusquely. "What is there to know, my good +girl?" + +"Miss Bain has gone, sir," she replied. "She left the place for good +quite an hour ago!" + +Varrick was completely astounded. He could scarcely believe the evidence +of his own senses; his ears must have deceived him. + +At this juncture the matron entered. She corroborated the maid's +statement-- Miss Bain had left the place quite an hour before. + +"Could you tell me where she went?" he asked. + +"She intended taking the train for New York. She was very weak, by no +means able to leave here, sir. We tried to keep her; but it was of no +use; she had certainly made up her mind to go, and go she did!" + +It seemed to Hubert Varrick that life was leaving his body. + +How he made his way out of the place, he never afterward remembered. + +There was but one other course to pursue, and that was, to go to New +York by the first outgoing train, and try to find her. + +Hailing a passing cab, he sprang into it, remembering just in time that +the New York express left the depot at seven o'clock. If the man drove +sharp he might make it, but it would be as much as he could do. + +He gave the man a double fare, who, whipping up his horses, fairly +whirled down the snow-packed road in the direction of the depot. + +"I am afraid that I can not make the train, sir," called the driver, +hoarsely, as Hubert Varrick leaned out of the window, crying excitedly +that he would quadruple his fare if he would make the horses go faster. + +Again he plied his whip to the flanks of the horses, but they could not +increase their speed, for they were doing their very best at that +moment. + +Nearer and nearer sounded the shrieking whistle of the far-off train. +They reached the depot just as the train swept round the bend of the +road. + +"Thank God, I am in time!" cried Hubert Varrick, as he rushed along the +platform. "If I had missed this train, I should have had to wait until +to-morrow morning. I shall have little enough time to purchase my +ticket. I--" + +The rest of the sentence was never uttered. He stopped short. Standing +on the platform, watching with wistful eyes the incoming train, was +Jessie Bain! + +A great cry broke from his lips. In an instant he was standing beside +her, her hands in his, crying excitedly: + +"Oh! Jessie, Jessie. Thank Heaven I am in time!" + +"Mr. Varrick!" she gasped, faintly. At that instant the train stopped at +the station. + +"You must not go on board!" he cried, excitedly. "Jessie, you must +listen to what I have to say to you," he commanded. "You must not go to +New York." + +There was a sternness in his voice that held her spell-bound for an +instant. + +"Come into the waiting-room," he said. "I must speak with you." + +Drawing her hand within his arm, he fairly compelled her to obey him; +and as they crossed the threshold the train thundered on again. + +The room was crowded. This certainly was not the time or place to utter +the burning words that were on his lips. An idea occurred to him. He +would get a coach, drive about the city, through the park, and as they +rode, he could talk with her entirely free from interruption. + +Hailing a coach that stood by the curbstone, he proceeded to assist his +companion into it. She was too overcome by emotion to exert any will of +her own. + +He took his seat by her side, and a moment later they were bowling +slowly down the wide avenue through which he had driven so furiously but +a little while before. + +"Now, Jessie," he began, tremulously; "listen to me, I pray you. I have +traveled all the way back to Boston for your dear sake, to see you, to +hold your hands, to speak with you, and to tell you I do not consider +the little tear-blotted note you sent me, a fitting answer to my letter. +I can not take 'no,' for an answer, Jessie, dear. You could not mean it. +When I read what you wrote me, in answer to my burning words of love, it +nearly unmanned me. You said, in that little note, that you did care for +me; you acknowledged it. Now, I ask you, why, if this be true, would you +doom me, as well as yourself, to a life of misery. You say there is a +mystery, deep and fathomless, which separates us from each other for all +time to come? This I must refuse to believe. You say it is something +which my mother knows? Will you confess to me, Jessie, my darling, my +precious one, just what you mean? Remember that the happiness of two +lives hangs upon your answer." + +The girl was crying as though her heart would break, her lovely face +buried in her hands. + +He sat by her side very gravely, waiting until the storm of tears should +have subsided. + +He well knew that it was better that such grief, which seemed to rend +her very soul, should waste itself in tears. At length, when her sobs +grew fainter and she became calmer, he ventured to speak once more. + +"I beg you to tell me, Jessie," he went on, "just what it is that holds +our two lives asunder." + +He longed with all his soul to take her in his arms, pillow the golden +head on his breast, and let her weep her grief out there. But he must +not; he must control the longing that was eating his heart away. + +"Be candid with me, Jessie," he said, his voice trembling and husky. "Do +not conceal anything from me. The hour has come when nothing but +frankness will answer, and I must know all, from beginning to end. What +is it, I ask again, that my mother knows which you alluded to in your +note, saying that it had the power to part us? Dear little Jessie, sweet +one, confide in me! I repeat, keep nothing from me." + +Through the tears which lay trembling on her long lashes, Jessie raised +her lovely blue eyes and looked at him, her lips quivering piteously. + +For an instant she could not speak, so great was her emotion; then by a +mighty effort she controlled herself, and answered in a broken voice: + +"I-- I made a solemn pledge to your mother, the day I left your house, +that I would never cross your path again, that I-- I should do my best +to avoid you and steal quietly away out of your life. I-- I signed the +paper and left it in your mother's hands. That, and that alone, +satisfied her. Then I went away out of your life, though it almost broke +my heart to do so. I-- I have kept my promise to her. I meant to go away +and to never look upon your face, even though I knew that Heaven had +answered my prayer and given me your love--which I prize more than life +itself--when everything else in this world was taken from me." + +As Varrick listened, a terrible whiteness had overspread his face. + +"Answer me this, Jessie," he asked; in the greatest agitation: "Why did +you sign the other paper which you left with my mother that day? Answer +me, Jessie--you must!" + +"I signed no other paper than that which contained the promise I have +just spoken to you about," the girl returned earnestly, puzzled as to +what he could mean. + +For answer, he drew forth the note which he had taken from his mother's +writing-desk and placed in his breast pocket, and put it in Jessie's +hand. + +"This note has been written by my mother," he said, "and this is your +signature, which I would know anywhere in the world, my darling," he +went on, huskily. "Oh, my love, my love! explain it to me!" + +She had taken the paper from his hands, and run her eyes rapidly over +the written words. They seemed to stand out in letters of fire. Her +brain whirled around; her very senses seemed leaving her. + +"Oh, Hubert! Hubert! listen to me!" she cried, forgetful of her +surroundings, as she flung herself on her knees at his feet. "This is +not the paper I signed, although the signature is so startlingly like my +own that I am bewildered. I signed a paper which said that I would never +cross your path again; but not this one--oh, not this one! I-- I never +saw this paper before. Oh, Hubert-- Mr. Varrick-- I plead with you not +to believe that I could ever have signed a paper acknowledging that I +took your mother's diamond bracelet! I have never taken anything which +did not belong to me in all my life. I would have died first--starved on +the street!" + +Words can not describe what the thoughts were that coursed through +Hubert Varrick's brain as he slowly raised her. + +"Tell me, Jessie," he cried, "did you read over the paper which you +signed?" + +"No," she sobbed; "I did not read it. Your mother wrote it, telling me +what was in it--that I was never to cross your path again, because she +wished it so, and I signed it without reading it. Indeed, I could not +have read a line to have saved my life, my eyes were so blinded with +tears, just as they are now." + +A grayish pallor spread over his face; a startling revelation had come +to him: his _mother_ had written the terrible document, every line of +which she knew to be false, relying upon the girl's agitation not to +discover its contents ere she signed it! + +Yes, that was the solution of the mystery; he saw through the whole +contemptible affair. + +Only his mother's illness prevented him from stopping at the first +telegraph office and sending a dispatch to her to let her know that he +had discovered all. + +"You do not believe it--you will not believe that I took the bracelet?" +Jessie was sobbing out. "Speak to me, oh, I implore you, and tell me +that you believe me innocent!" + +He turned suddenly and took her in his arms. + +"Believe in your innocence, my darling?" he answered, suddenly. "Yes, +before Heaven I do! You are innocent--innocent as a little child. I +intend to take you directly to my mother, and this mystery shall then be +unraveled." + +Despite the girl's protestations, he insisted that it must be so, and +the first outgoing train bore them on their way back to Boston. + +It so happened that he found a lady acquaintance on board, an old friend +of his mother, who willingly took charge of Jessie on the journey. + +"Keep up a brave heart, little Jessie," whispered Hubert, as he bid the +ladies good-night. "All will come out well. Nothing on earth shall take +you from me again." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +RETURNING GOOD FOR EVIL. + + +When the train reached Boston, Varrick took a cab at once for his home, +Jessie and his mother's friend accompanying him. They had barely reached +the entrance gate, ere they saw, through the dense foliage of trees that +surrounded the old mansion, that lights were moving quickly in the east +wing of the house that was occupied by his mother. + +His sharp ring had scarcely died away when the footman came hurriedly to +the door. + +"Now that I have seen you safely home, with Miss Bain beneath your +mother's roof, I shall have to hurry on," declared his mother's friend. +"I know your mother will forgive me, Hubert, for not stopping a few +days, or at least a few hours, when you explain to her that it is a +necessity for me to resume my journey. You must see me back to the +carriage." + +Persuasion was of no avail. Leaving Jessie in the vestibule for a few +moments, Hubert complied with her request. When he returned a moment +later, he found her in earnest conversation with the servant. + +"Oh, Mr. Varrick-- Hubert!" Jessie cried excitedly. "You must go to your +mother at once. I hear she is very, very ill, and that all of the +servants, for some reason, have fled from the house. Even the nurse, for +some reason, refused to remain. Oh, Mr. Varrick!" she repeated, eagerly, +"let me go to her bedside and nurse her. She is out of her head, and +will never know." + +Tears rushed to Varrick's eyes. + +"You are an angel, Jessie!" he cried, kissing her hand warmly. "It shall +be as you wish. Follow me!" + +They entered noiselessly. Mrs. Varrick was tossing restlessly to and fro +on a bed of pain. The family doctor was bending over her, with a look of +alarm in his face. Hubert stole softly to the bedside, Jessie following. + +All in an instant, before the doctor could spring forward to prevent +them, both had suddenly bent down and kissed the sufferer repeatedly. + +"Great God!" gasped the doctor, "the mischief has been done! I did not +have an instant's time to warn you. Your mother is alarmingly ill with +that dread disease, small-pox! I am forced to say to you that after what +has occurred--your contact with my patient, I shall be obliged to +quarantine you both." + +"Great God!" Hubert cried, turning pale as death as he looked at +Jessie. + +"Do not fear for me, Mr. Varrick," she said, "I am not afraid." + +"For myself I do not care, for I passed through such a siege when I was +a child, and came out of it unscathed. But you, Jessie? Oh, it must not +be--it shall not be--that you, too, must suffer this dread contagion!" + +"It is too late now for useless reflection. It would be better to face +the consequences than seek to avoid them. If it is destined that either +one of you should succumb to this disease, you could not avoid it, +believe me, though you flew to the other end of the world. Take it very +calmly, and hope for the best. Forget your danger, now that you are face +to face with it, and let us do our utmost to relieve my suffering +patient." + +"He is right," said Jessie. + +In this Hubert Varrick was forced to concur. + +"Heaven bless you for your kindness!" he murmured. + +The touch of those cool, soft hands on Mrs. Varrick's burning brow had a +most marvelous effect in soothing her. During the fortnight that +followed she would have no one else by her bedside but Jessie; she would +take medicine from no one else. She called for her incessantly while she +was out of her sight. + +"If she recovers, it will all be due to you, Miss Bain," the doctor said +one day. + +There came a day when the ravages of the terrible disease had worn +themselves out, and Mrs. Varrick opened her eyes to consciousness. Her +life had been spared; but, ah! never again in this world would any one +look with anything save horror upon her. Her son dreaded the hour when +she should look in the mirror and see the poor scarred face reflected +there. + +When she realized that she owed her very life to the girl who had +watched over her so ceaselessly and that that girl was Jessie Bain, her +emotion was great. She buried her poor face in her hands, and they heard +her murmur brokenly: + +"God is surely heaping coals of fire upon my head." + +On the very day that she was able to leave her couch for the first time, +and to lean on that strong brave young arm that helped her into the +sunny drawing-room, Jessie herself was stricken down. + +In those days that had dragged their slow flight by, Mrs. Varrick had +experienced a great change of heart. She had learned to love Jessie a +thousand times more than she ever hated her. And now when this calamity +came upon the girl, her grief knew no bounds. + +What if the girl should die, and Hubert should still believe her guilty +of the theft of the diamonds. God would never forgive her for her sin. +There was but one way to atone for it, and that was to make a full +confession. + +It was the hardest task of her life when her son, whom she had sent for, +stood before her. When she attempted to utter the words, to lead to the +subject uppermost in her mind, her heart grew faint, her lips faltered. + +"Come and sit beside me, Hubert; I have something to tell you," she +said. + +He did as she requested, attempting to take her thin, white hands down +from her poor disfigured face. + +"Promise, beforehand, that you will not hate me." + +"I could not hate you, mother," he said, gently. + +Burying her face still deeper in the folds of her handkerchief, while +her form swayed to and fro, she told him all in broken words. At length +she had finished, and a silence like death fell between them. Raising +her head slowly from the folds of her handkerchief, she cast her eyes +fearfully in his direction. To her intense amazement, she saw him +leaning back comfortably in his seat. + +"Hubert!" she gasped, "are you not bitterly angry with me? Speak!" + +"I was very angry, I confess, mother, when this was first known to me; +but I have had time since to think the matter over calmly. You acted +under the pressure of intense excitement, I concluded, and pride, which +was always your besetting sin, mother; and that gained the ascendency +over you to the extent that you would rather have seen Jessie in a +prison cell, though she was innocent, than see her my wife!" + +"You knew it before I told you?" she exclaimed. "But how did you find +out?" + +"That must be _my_ secret, for the time being, mother," he returned. "Be +thankful that no harm came from your nefarious scheme. If Jessie had +been thrown into a prison cell and persecuted unjustly, I admit that I +should never have forgiven you while life lasted. Now, every thought is +swallowed up in the fear that her illness may terminate as yours did, +mother. But this I say to you: if she were the most-scarred creature on +the face of the earth, I should still love her and wish to marry her." + +"I should not oppose it, my son," said his mother. + +The terrible calamity which Mrs. Varrick had so long dreaded had not +happened--her son had not turned against her. + +We will pass over the fortnight that followed. Heaven had been merciful. +Despite the fact that she had nursed Mrs. Varrick day and night, she +herself had suffered but a slight attack of the dread contagion, and +there were tears in both Hubert's and his mother's eyes when the doctor +informed them that there would be no trace of the dread disease on the +girl's fair face. + +The road back to health and strength was but a short one, for Jessie had +youth to help her in the great struggle. When she found that Mrs. +Varrick had become reconciled to her, and had even consented to her +marriage with her idolized son, and was laying plans for it, her joy +knew no bounds. + +It was the happiest household ever seen that gathered around Jessie Bain +when she was able to sit up. All the old servants were so glad to see +Jessie her bright, merry self once more, and to have their young master +Hubert and pretty Jessie reunited. They talked of their coming wedding +as the greatest event that would ever take place there, and they made +the greatest preparations for the coming marriage. + +Again cards were sent out, and the first person who received one was +Rosamond Lee. + +Her amazement and rage knew no bounds. She had never heard from Jessie +Bain since the hour she was sent out in that terrible storm. Nor had she +ever seen Hubert Varrick since, nor heard from him. Somehow it had run +in her mind that he might have met the girl, and she had told him all +that had happened; and she decided that, under existing circumstances, +she had better remain away from the wedding. + +"There is no use in my remaining in this house, with this fussy old man +and woman," she said flinging down the invitation, which she had been +reading aloud to her maid. "I only came to this lonely place with the +hope of winning handsome Hubert Varrick, and I have fooled away my time +here all in vain, it seems. We had better get away at once." + +Despite the protestations of old Mr. and Mrs. Bassett, Rosamond Lee and +her maid left the house that very day. + +The servants of the place were indeed glad to get rid of them; and as +they were being driven away in the Bassett carriage, the maid, looking +back by chance, saw every one of them standing at an upper window, +making wild grimaces at them, which Rosamond Lee's maid venomously +returned, saying to herself that she should never see them again. + +Rosamond Lee's home was in New York City, and it was not until she got +on the train bound for the metropolis that she gave full vent to her +feelings and railed bitterly against the unkindness of fate in giving a +grand man like Hubert Varrick to such a little nobody as that miserable, +white-faced Jessie Bain. + +"I hope she will never be happy with him!" she added, in a burst of +bitterness. + +When they reached the city, they drove directly to the boarding-house +where they were accustomed to stop. As strange fate would have it, it +was the very boarding-house beneath whose roof Jessie Bain and Margaret +had found shelter when Jessie had come to New York in search of work. +The landlady was very glad to welcome back Miss Rosamond Lee and her +maid. + +"You came back quite unexpectedly, Miss Lee," said the landlady. "We can +get your room ready, however, without delay. There is a young girl in +the little hall bedroom that your maid has always had. Still, as she +doesn't pay anything, she can be moved. By the way, I want you to take +notice of her when you see her. She's as pretty as a picture but she's +not quite right in her head. + +"She was brought here by a young girl who took pity on her, and while +the young girl was off securing work, she suddenly became so +unmanageable that we thought the best thing to do was to send her to an +asylum. But on her way there she made her escape from the vehicle. The +driver never missed her until he had reached his destination. + +"Search was made for her, and for many weeks we attempted to trace her, +but it was all of no avail. Only last night, by the merest chance, we +came face to face with her at a flower-stand, where they had taken her +for her pretty face, to make sales for them. I brought her home at once, +for there had been a good reward offered to any one who would find her. + +"Here another difficulty presented itself. + +"The young girl who caused the reward to be offered is now missing--at +least, I can not find her." + +"Why don't you insert a 'personal' in the paper?" drawled Rosamond Lee. + +"That would be a capital idea. Gracious! I wonder that I did not think +of it before," said the landlady. "But, dear me! I'm not a good hand at +composing anything of that kind for the paper." + +"I'll write it out for you, if you like," said Rosamond, indolently. + +The landlady took her at her word. + +"The name of the young girl whom I wish to find is Jessie Bain," she +began. + +A great cry broke from Rosamond Lee's lips, and her face grew ashen. + +"Did I hear you say Jessie Bain?" she asked. + +"Yes; that was the name," returned the landlady, wonderingly. "Do you +know her?" + +"Yes-- I don't know. Describe her. It must be one and the same person," +she added under her breath. + +"I shouldn't be at all surprised," continued the woman, "for she went to +Albany, the very place you have just come from." + +"It's the same one," cried Rosamond Lee. "Tell me the story of this +demented girl over again in all its details. I was not paying attention +before. I did not half listen to all you said." + +The landlady went over the story a second time for Rosamond's benefit. + +Miss Lee meanwhile paced the room excitedly up and down. + +"I'll tell you what I think," she cried excitedly. "Those two girls are +surely adventuresses of the worst type. You say at first that she called +the demented girl her sister, and then afterward admitted that she was +not. You see, there was something wrong from the start. Now let me tell +you an intensely interesting sequel to your story: The girl Jessie Bain +has, since the few short weeks that she left your place, captured in the +matrimonial noose one of the wealthiest young men in Boston." + +"Well, well what a marvelous story!" declared the landlady; and her +opinion of Jessie Bain went up forthwith instead of being lowered, as +Rosamond calculated it would be. + +"The idea of an adventuress daring to attempt to capture Hubert +Varrick!" the girl cried. "That is the point I want you to see. I have a +great plan," continued Rosamond. "I will write to Hubert Varrick at +once, that he may save himself from the snare which is being laid for +his unwary feet by that cunning creature, or I will go to his mother and +tell her all about it. I will make it a point to have a talk with this +Margaret Moore at once. Do send her in to me." + +The landlady could not very well refuse the request so eagerly made. +When Margaret Moore came into the room, a few minutes later, and +Rosamond's eyes fell upon her, she gave a sudden start, mentally +ejaculating: + +"Great goodness! where have I seen that girl before? Her face is +certainly familiar!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +A TERRIBLE REVELATION. + + +Rosamond Lee stared hard at the lovely girl as she advanced toward where +she sat. + +"Where have I seen that face before?" she asked herself, in wonder. +"Come and sit down beside me," she said, with a winning smile, as she +made room for her on the divan. "I would like so much to talk with you. + +"I have heard all of your story," she continued, "and I feel so sorry +for you! I sent for you to tell you if there is any way that I can aid +you in searching for your sister, I shall be only too happy to do so." + +"The young girl you speak of is not my sister," corrected Margaret; "but +I love her quite as dearly as though she were." + +"Not your sister?" repeated Rosamond. + +"No," was the answer; "but I love her quite as much as though she were." + +"Tell me about her." + +Margaret leaned forward, thoughtful for a moment, looking with dreamy +eyes into the fire. + +"I have very little to tell," she said. "I have not known the young girl +as long as people imagine. Her uncle saved me from a wrecked steamboat, +and she nursed me back to health and strength. Who I am or what I was +before that accident, I can not remember; everything seems a blank to +me. There are whole days even now when the darkness of death creeps over +my mind, and I do not realize what is taking place about me. This sweet, +young girl has been my faithful friend, even after her uncle died, +sharing her every penny with me. Now she is lost to me forever. She went +away, and I can not trace her. There is another feeling which sometimes +steals over me," murmured Margaret, "a thought which is cruel, and which +I can not shake off, that sometimes impresses me strangely, that somehow +we have met in some other world, and that she was my enemy." + +"What a strange notion!" said Rosamond. + +"Oh, that thought has grieved me so!" continued Margaret, in a low, sad +voice. + +"I hear that she left you to go on the stage," said Rosamond. + +"Yes; that is quite true," was the reply. "She went with a manager who +was stopping at this house." + +"Supposing that I should put you on the track of your friend, would +you--" + +"Do you know where she is?" + +"I think I do," was Rosamond's guarded answer. "But what I was going to +say is, if I take you to a gentleman who knows her whereabouts, will you +tell him, as you have told me, that she went off with a strange man to +be an actress?" + +"Yes, indeed; why not?" returned Margaret. + +"We will take the afternoon train," suggested Rosamond. + +The landlady made no objection to this, and the first act in the great +tragedy was begun as the Boston express moved slowly out of the depot, +bearing with it Rosamond Lee and her companion. + +On their journey Rosamond talked incessantly of Jessie Bain, plying the +girl beside her with every conceivable question concerning her, until at +last Margaret grew quite restless under the ceaseless cross-examination. +All unconsciously, her manner grew haughty, and Rosamond noticed it. + +At a way-station, some twenty miles this side of Boston, a tall, +dark-bearded man boarded the train. The only seat vacant was the one +across the aisle from the two girls. This he took, and was soon immersed +in the columns of the paper which he had taken from his pocket. + +"Are we almost there?" exclaimed Margaret. + +The stranger across the aisle started violently and looked around. + +"That voice!" he muttered. + +There was but one being in this world with accents like it, and that was +Gerelda Northrup, who lay in her watery grave somewhere in the St. +Lawrence River. + +Captain Frazier--for it was he--gave another quick glance at the two +girls opposite him, and bent forward in his seat, that he might catch a +better view of the one nearest him, whose face was averted. + +Again she spoke, and this time the accents were more startlingly +familiar than ever. Frazier sprang to his feet, walked down to the end +of the car, then turned and slowly retraced his steps, watching the girl +intently the while. + +"I could almost swear that I am getting the tremens again, or that my +eyes deceive me," he muttered. "If ever I saw Gerelda Northrup in the +flesh, that is she!" + +He stopped short, and touched her on the shoulder, his eyes almost +bulging from their sockets. + +"Miss Northrup-- I-- I mean Mrs. Varrick--is this you? In the name of +Heaven, speak to me!" + +She looked at him, her great dark eyes studying his face with a troubled +expression. + +"Varrick!" she muttered below her breath. "Where have I heard that name +before? And your face too! Where have I seen it? It recalls something +out of my past life," she muttered. + +With a low cry he bent forward. + +"Then it _is_ you, Gerelda-- Mrs. Varrick?" + +Rosamond Lee, whose face had grown from red to white, sprung excitedly +to her feet. + +"What mystery is this?" she cried. "What do you mean by calling this +girl Mrs. Varrick? There is a friend of mine--a Mr. Hubert Varrick--who +is soon to be married to a Jessie Bain. You haven't the two mixed, have +you, sir?" + +Frazier turned impatiently to her. + +"I have seen the announcement of Hubert Varrick's marriage to Jessie +Bain," he returned, his face darkening. "But the question is: how dare +he attempt to marry another girl while he has a wife living. I do not +know who you may be, madame," facing Rosamond impatiently. "You say that +you know Hubert Varrick well, yet you do not appear conversant with his +history. He married this young girl sitting beside you, who was then +Miss Gerelda Northrup. On their wedding journey the steamer 'St. +Lawrence' was lost, and she was supposed by all her friends to have +perished in the frightful accident." + +While he had been speaking, Gerelda--for it was indeed she--had been +watching him intently. + +As he proceeded with his story, a great tremor shook her frame. + +With a low cry she sprung to her feet. + +"Oh, I remember-- I remember _all_ now!" shrieked Gerelda. "I-- I was on +the train with Hubert whom I had just married. Then we went on the +steamer. We had a quarrel, and he told me that he did not love me, even +though he had wedded me, and I-- Oh, the words drove me mad! There was a +great rumbling of the boiler, a crashing of timbers, and I felt myself +plunged in the water. But my head--it pains so terribly! I scarcely felt +the chill of the water. The next I remember I was lying in a cottage, +with a young girl bending over me. My God! it was Jessie Bain, my enemy. +I remember it all now. I wonder that memory did not come back to me when +I heard the name Jessie Bain. She did not know that it was I who was +Hubert Varrick's wife, or she would have let me die." + +The effect of Gerelda's words was startling upon Rosamond. + +"What are you going to do about it?" she asked, eagerly. + +"Do?" echoed Gerelda. "I am going to claim my husband. He is mine, and +all the powers on earth can never take him from me!" + +"I suppose," said Rosamond, "now, from the way this amazing affair has +culminated, you will not want me to go with you to Hubert-- Mr. +Varrick, I mean." + +Gerelda turned haughtily on her. + +"No," she said. "Why should you wish to go with me to my husband? What +interest have you in him?" + +Rosamond shrunk back abashed, though she stammered: + +"I-- I should like to see how he takes it." + +"I would like to accompany you for the same reason," interposed Captain +Frazier. "He will be angry enough at you coming back to frustrate his +marriage with the girl whom he idolizes so madly." + +Gerelda's face grew stormy as she listened. There was an expression in +her eyes not good to see, and which Captain Frazier knew boded no good +to the object of her wrath. + +At this juncture the express rolled into the Boston depot. Bidding +Rosamond Lee and Captain Frazier a hasty good-bye, and insisting that +under no circumstances should they accompany her, Gerelda hailed a cab, +and gave the order: "To the Varrick mansion." + +Captain Frazier stepped suddenly forward and hailed a passing cab, +saying to himself that he must be present, at all hazards, at that +meeting which was to take place between Gerelda and Hubert Varrick. + +"Keep yonder carriage in sight," he said, pointing out the vehicle just +ahead of them, and producing, as he spoke, a bank-note, which he thrust +into the cab-man's hand. + +The man did his duty well. + +Pausing suddenly, and bending low, he whispered to the occupant of his +vehicle that the carriage ahead had stopped short. + +"All right," said Captain Frazier, sharply. "Spring out--here is your +fee, my good man." + +The captain drew back into the shadow of the tall pines as his carriage +drove away, lest the occupant of the vehicle ahead should discover his +presence there. He saw Gerelda alight and pause involuntarily before the +arched entrance gate that led around to the rear of the Varrick mansion. + +Captain Frazier watched her keenly as she stood there for a moment, +quite irresolute. His heart was all in a whirl, as he glanced up at the +grand old mansion whose huge chimneys confronted him from over the tops +of the trees. + +"From the very beginning, Varrick has always had the best of me," he +muttered. "I never loved but one thing in all my life," he cried, +hoarsely; "and that was Gerelda Northrup, and he won her from me. From +that moment on I have cursed him with all the passionate hatred of my +nature. Since that time life has held but one aim for me--and that was, +to crush him--and that opportunity will soon be mine--that hour is now +at hand. He will shortly be wedded to another, if Gerelda does not +interfere, and then--ah!--and then--" + +His soliloquy was suddenly cut short, for the sound of approaching +footsteps was heard on the snow. + +He would have drawn back into the shadow of the interlacing pines, but +that he saw he was observed by a minister who stepped eagerly forward. + +"You are a stranger in our midst," he said, holding out his hand to him; +"I do not recollect having seen your face before. I-- I have a favor to +ask of you. Would you mind lending me your assistance as far as the +house yonder--the Varrick mansion--which you can see over the trees? I-- +I am not very well--have just recovered from a spell of sickness. I-- I +wish to visit the inmates of the mansion to perfect some arrangements +concerning a happy event that is to take place on the morrow, within +those walls. I find myself overtaken by a sudden faintness. I repeat, +would you object to giving me your arm as far as the entrance gate +yonder?" + +Captain Frazier complied, with a profound bow. + +"I shall be only too happy to render you any assistance in my power," he +murmured. "I used to know the family at Varrick mansion a few years +ago," he went on. "I am not so well acquainted, however, with the +present heir. Pardon me, but may I ask if the event to which you allude, +that is to take place to-morrow, is a marriage ceremony?" + +The minister bowed gravely. + +"Between young Mr. Varrick and a Miss Bain?" + +Again the reverend gentleman inclined his head in the affirmative, +remarking that the bride-to-be was as sweet and gracious as she was +beautiful. + +Captain Frazier looked narrowly at his companion for an instant, then he +asked, quickly: + +"Again I ask your pardon for the questions I wish to put to you, but are +you not the same minister who was sent to perform the marriage ceremony +up at the Thousand Islands? and, again, the same minister who, later on, +united Mr. Varrick in marriage to the beautiful Gerelda Northrup?" + +The reverend gentleman bowed, wondering vaguely why the stranger should +catechise him after this fashion. + +"You seem well acquainted with the family history, my friend," he +remarked, slowly. + +"Yes," Frazier answered, shortly, adding, in a low, smooth voice: "It +was a fatal accident which robbed Hubert Varrick, some time since, of +the bride whom he had just wedded. Her death has never been clearly +proven, has it?" + +"Oh, yes, it has," returned the minister. "Her body was among the +unfortunates who were afterward recovered." + +"Ah!" said Frazier, _sotto voice_, adding: "It is so very strange, my +good sir, that after this thrilling experience, Varrick should take it +upon himself to secure another wife." + +The good minister looked at him, quite embarrassed. He did not care to +discuss the subject with one who was an entire stranger to him, +wondering that he should introduce such a personal subject, and at such +a time and place. + +"Excuse me, my friend, but I feel a little delicacy in discussing so +personal a matter," he said, gently. + +But this did not in the least abash Captain Frazier. + +"It seems to me that I should insist upon proof positive--ay, proof +beyond any possibility of doubt--that my first wife was dead ere I +contracted a second alliance," remarked Frazier, quite significantly. + +"Mr. Varrick believes that he has this, I understand," said the +minister, gravely. + +Frazier shrugged his shoulders, turned and looked at the man from under +his lowering brows--a look which the minister did not relish. + +"But, then, Varrick has always believed in second marriages," remarked +Frazier, flippantly. + +The minister started, giving an uncomfortable glance at the other. + +"I believe the girl to whom he is about to be united is Varrick's first +love?" Frazier went on, nonchalantly. + +"Indeed you are mistaken," retorted his companion earnestly. "I have +known Hubert Varrick for long years, and to my certain knowledge he +never had a fancy for any of the fair sex previous to the time he met +beautiful Miss Northrup. She was his first love. Of that I am quite +positive." + +By this time they had reached the bend in the road hard by the entrance +gate. + +The reverend gentleman could not help but notice that his companion +seemed unduly excited over the questions which he had propounded and the +answers which he had received thereto, and he felt not a little relieved +at bidding him good-afternoon and thanking him for the service which he +had rendered him; and he wondered greatly that he excused himself at the +entrance gate, instead of accompanying him to the house, if he was as +intimate a friend of the family as he claimed to be. + +The minister proceeded slowly up the wide stone walk, from which the +snow had been carefully brushed, with a very thoughtful expression on +his face. + +Mrs. Varrick stood at the drawing-room window, and, noticing his +approach, hurriedly rang for a servant to admit him at once. + +He found himself ushered into the wide corridor before he could even +touch the bell. Mrs. Varrick was on the threshold of the drawing-room, +waiting to greet him as he stepped forward. + +"I thought I observed some one with you at the gate?" she said, as she +held out her white hand, sparkling with jewels, to welcome him. "Why did +you not bring your friend in with you?" + +The minister bowed low over the extended white hand. + +"You are very kind to accord me such a privilege," he declared, +gratefully; "but the person to whom you allude is an entire stranger to +me--a gentleman whom I met by the road-side, and whom I was obliged to +call upon for assistance, being suddenly attacked with my old enemy, +faintness. I may add, however, that he seemed to have been an +acquaintance of the family." + +"Perhaps he is an acquaintance of my _son_; his friends are so numerous +that it is very hard for me to keep track of them," added Mrs. Varrick, +asking: "Why did he not come into the house with you?" + +"He declined, stating no reason," was the reply. + +Looking through the drawing-room window a few moments later, the +minister espied the stranger leaning against the gate, looking eagerly +toward the house, and he called Mrs. Varrick's attention to the fact at +once. + +She touched the bell quickly, and to the servant who appeared, she gave +hurried instructions concerning the man. + +"I have sent out to invite the gentleman to come into the house," she +explained. "Hubert will be in directly, and I know that this will meet +with his approval. He has very little time to spare to any one just +now," she explained, with a smile, "he is so wrapped up in his +_fiancee_, and will be, I suppose, from now on." + +"Naturally," responded the minister, with a twinkle in his grave eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +THE MIDNIGHT VISITOR. + + +But we must now return to Gerelda. She fell back, pale and trembling, +among the cushions of the carriage, her brain in a whirl, her heart +panting almost to suffocation. + +At the entrance gate of the old mansion, Gerelda dismissed the cab. +Stealing around by the rear wall, she entered the grounds by an unused +gravel walk, and gained the arbor. Then she crept up to one of the +windows whose blind had swung open from a fierce gust of wind. The room +into which she gazed had not changed much. A bright fire glowed cheerily +in the grate, its radiance rendering all objects about it clear and +distinct. + +She distinguished two figures standing hand in hand in the softened +shadows. The girl's face, radiant with the light of love, was upturned +toward the handsome one bending over her. He was talking to her in the +sweet, deep musical voice Gerelda remembered so well. + +She saw the girl lay one little hand caressingly on his arm, and droop +her pretty, golden head until it nearly rested on his broad shoulder. +Then Gerelda heard him say, "I have in my pocket the wedding-gift with +which I am to present you. It is not so very costly, but you will +appreciate it, I hope," disclosing as he spoke a ruby velvet case, the +spring of which he touched lightly, and the lid flew back, revealing a +magnificent diamond necklace and a pendant star. + +"Oh, Hubert, you can not mean that that is for me!" cried Jessie. + +But the second dinner-bell rang, and ere the sound died away, Mrs. +Varrick and a few guests entered the room. All further private +conversation was now at an end, but from that moment all sights and +sounds were lost to the creature outside. She had fallen in a little +dark heap on the ice-covered porch, lost to the world's misery in +pitiful unconsciousness. + +The house was wrapped in darkness when she woke to consciousness. +Gerelda struggled to her feet, muttering to herself that it was surely +death that was stealing slowly but surely over her. + +Slowly, from over the distant hills, she heard some church-clock ring +out the hour. "Eleven!" she counted, in measured strokes. As the sound +died away, Gerelda crept round the house to the servants' entrance. + +To her intense delight, the door yielded to her touch, and Gerelda +glided noiselessly across the threshold. The butler sat before the dying +embers of the fire, his paper was lying at his feet, and his glasses +were in his lap. So sound was his slumber that he did not awaken as the +door opened. Gerelda passed him like a shadow and gained the door-way +that led into the corridor. + +She knew Hubert's custom of going to the library long after the rest of +the family had retired for the night. She would make her way there, and +confront him. As she reached the door she heard voices within. She +recognized them at once as Hubert's and his mother's. + +She crouched behind the heavy velvet _portieres_ of the arched door-way, +until his mother should leave. + +"Good-night again, Hubert," the mother said. + +"Good-night mother," he answered. + +He flung himself down in the soft-cushioned arm-chair beside the glowing +grate, drew a cigar from his pocket and lighted it, dreamily watching +the curling rings. Suddenly he became aware that there was another +presence within the room beside his own. + +His eyes became riveted upon a dark object near the door-way. It +occurred to him how strangely like a woman the dark shadow looked. + +And as he gazed, lo! it moved, and to his utmost amazement, advanced +slowly toward him. For an instant all his powers seemed to leave him. + +"Gerelda, by all that's merciful," he cried. + +"Yes, it is I, Gerelda!" she cried, hoarsely, confronting him. "I have +come back from the grave to claim you!" + +She did not heed his wild cry of horror, but went on, mockingly: "You do +not seem pleased to see me, judging from your manner." + +For an instant the world seemed closing around Hubert Varrick. + +She cried, "I repeat that I am here to claim you!" flinging herself in +an arm-chair opposite him. + +"Now that your wife is with you once again, you are saved the +trouble--just, in time, too--of wedding a new one;" adding: "You are not +giving me the welcome which I expected in my husband's home. Turn on +the lights and ring for every one to come hither!" she said. "If you +refuse to ring the bell, I shall." + +Hubert Varrick cried out that he could not bear it; he pleaded with her +to leave the house with him; that since Heaven had brought her back to +him, he would make the best of it; all that he would ask would be that +she should come quietly away with him. + +This did not suit Gerelda at all; she had set her heart upon abusing +Jessie Bain, and she would brook no refusal. She sprang hastily for the +bell-rope. Divining her object, he caught her arm. + +If he had not been so intensely excited he would have realized, even in +that dim light, that there was something horribly wrong about her; that +once more reason, which had been until so lately clouded, wavered in the +balance. + +"Unhand me, or I shall scream!" she cried. + +Varrick placed one hand hurriedly over her mouth, in his agony, hardly +heeding what he was doing. + +"For the love of Heaven, I beg you to listen to me!" he cried. "You +must--you shall!" + +She sprang backward from him, falling heavily over one of the chairs as +she did so. There was a heavy thud which awakened with a start the +sleeping butler on the floor below. With one bound he had reached the +door that opened upon the lower corridor. + +"Thieves! robbers!" he ejaculated under his breath. + +His first impulse was to cry aloud, but the next moment it occurred to +him that the better plan would be to break upon the midnight intruder +unawares, and assist his master in vanquishing him. The door was ajar, +and in the semi-darkness he beheld Hubert Varrick, his master, +struggling desperately with some dark, swaying figure. In that same +instant Varrick tripped upon a hassock and fell backward, striking his +head heavily against the marble mantel. + +The butler lost no time. Quick as a flash he had cleared the distance +between the door-way and that other figure--which attempted to clutch at +him in turn--and raising the knife he had caught up from the table of +the room below, he buried it to the hilt in the swaying, writhing form. +The next instant it fell heavily at his feet. A moan, that sounded +wonderfully like a woman's, fell upon his horrified ear. + +Varrick did not rise, though the terrified butler called upon him +vehemently. He had the presence of mind, even in that calamity, to turn +on the gas, and as a flood of light illumined the scene, he saw that it +was a _woman_ lying at his feet--ay, a woman into whose body he had +plunged that fatal knife!--while his master lay unconscious but a few +feet distant. + +"Help! I am dying!" gasped the woman. + +Those words recalled his scattered senses. Self-preservation is strong +within us all. As in a glass, darkly, the terrified butler, realizing +what he had done, saw arrest and prison before him, and realized that +the gallows yawned before him in the near future. + +The thought came to him that there was but one thing to do, and that was +to make his escape. + +Every moment was precious. His strained ear caught the sound of a +commotion on the floor above. He knew in an instant more they would find +him there with the tell-tale knife, dripping with blood, in his hand. + +He flung it from him and made a dash from the room. It was not a moment +too soon, for the opposite door, which led to the private stair-way, had +barely closed after him ere the sound of approaching footsteps was +plainly heard hurrying quickly toward the library. + +In that instant Hubert Varrick--who had been dazed by his fall, and the +terrible blow on his head caused by striking it against the mantel--was +struggling to a sitting posture. Varrick had scarcely regained his feet +ere the _portieres_ were flung quickly aside, and his mother and half a +dozen servants appeared. + +A horrible shriek rent the air as Mrs. Varrick's eyes fell upon her son, +and the figure of a woman but a few feet from him with a knife lying +beside her. + +"What does it mean?" cried Mrs. Varrick. + +He pointed to the fallen figure. + +"Gerelda has come back to torture me, mother!" he cried. + +By a terrible effort Gerelda struggled to her knees. + +"Hear me, one and all!" she cried. "Listen; while yet the strength is +mine, I will proclaim it! See, I am dying--that man, my husband, is my +murderer! He murdered me to keep me from touching the bell-rope--to tell +you all I was here!" + +With this horrible accusation on her lips, Gerelda sunk back +unconscious. + +Who shall picture the scene that ensued? + +"It is false--all false--so help me Heaven!" Hubert panted. That was all +that he could say. + +The sound of the commotion within had reached the street, and had +brought two of the night-watchmen hurrying to the scene. Their loud +peal at the bell brought down a servant, who admitted them at once. In a +trice they had sprung up the broad stair-way to the landing above, from +whence the excited voices proceeded, appearing on the threshold just in +time to hear Gerelda's terrible accusation. Each laid a hand on Hubert +Varrick's shoulder. + +"You will have to come with us," they said. + +Mrs. Varrick sprung forward and flung herself on her knees before them. + +"Oh, you must not, you shall not take him!" she cried; "my darling son +is innocent!" + +It was a mercy from Heaven that unconsciousness came upon her in that +moment and the dread happenings of the world were lost to her. There +were the bitterest wailings from the old servants as the men of the law +led Hubert away. + +In the excitement no one had remembered Gerelda; now the servants +carried her to a _boudoir_ across the hall, and summoned a doctor. + +"If this poor girl recovers it will be little short of a miracle," he +said. + +Through all this commotion Jessie Bain slept on, little realizing the +tragic events that were transpiring around her. No one thought of +awakening her. The sun was shining bright and clear when she opened her +eyes on the light the next morning. + +How strangely still the house seemed! For a moment Jessie was +bewildered. Had it not been that the sun lay in a great bar in the +center of the room--and it never reached this point until nearly eight +in the morning--she would have thought that it was very, very early. + +"My wedding-day!" murmured the girl, slipping from her couch and gazing +through the lace-draped windows on the white world without. But at that +moment a maid entered and she told Jessie Bain the story of the tragedy. + +A thunder-bolt from a clear sky, the earth suddenly opening beneath her +feet, could not have startled Jessie Bain more. A few minutes later she +recovered her composure and hurried to Mrs. Varrick's room. + +Mrs. Varrick reached out her hand to Jessie, and the next moment they +were sobbing wildly in each other's arms. Little by little the girl's +noble spirit in all its grandeur gained the ascendency. Slowly she +turned to the housekeeper, who was sobbing over the fact that there was +no one to take care of Hubert's wife, until a trained nurse the doctor +had expected should arrive. + +"She shall be _my_ care," said Jessie, determinedly. "I will go to her +at once; lead the way, please." + +Who shall picture the dismay of Jessie when she looked upon the face of +the woman who had come between her and the man she was to have wedded +that day and found that it was the very creature whom she herself had +sheltered--the girl whom she had known as Margaret Moore? + +The doctor was greatly moved at the heroic stand Jessie Bain proposed to +take in nursing her rival back to health and strength. + +"Not one woman in a thousand would do it," he declared. "May Heaven +bless you for it! Besides," he added in a low, grave voice, "you could +serve poor Hubert Varrick in no better way than by restoring her. If +she dies it will go hard indeed with young Varrick." + +Jessie realized this but too well, and bent all her energies to nurse +her back to health and strength, though what she suffered no one in this +world could tell. + +If Margaret recovered, she knew that she would go away with Hubert. He +might not love her, but he would be obliged to live his whole life out +with her. If she died, he would hang for it. Better that he should live, +even with the other one, than die. + +Her heart went out to Hubert Varrick in the bitterest of sorrow. She +realized what he must be suffering. She would have flown to him on the +wings of love, but she dared not. + +She wrote a letter to him for his mother, at her dictation, adding a +little tear-blotted postscript of her own, making no mention of her own +great love and the sorrow that had darkened her young life. In that +letter she urged him to keep up brave spirits; that everything was being +done for Gerelda, his wife, that could be done; that she was sitting up +night and day nursing her. + +When Hubert Varrick received that tear-stained missive, in the +loneliness of his desolate cell he bowed his head and wept like a child, +crying out to Heaven that he was surely the most wretched man on God's +earth. + +He tried to think out all the horrors of that bitter midnight tragedy, +which seemed more like a dream to him than a reality. He could not +understand how Gerelda came by that wound, unless, through her terrible +rage, she had attempted to take her life by her own hand; and through +the same intense rage, strong even in death, wanted to persecute him +even after she had known that her moments were numbered. + +As for Gerelda, her life hung by the slenderest of threads for many days +after, and during these anxious hours no one could induce Jessie Bain to +leave her bedside. But at last the hour came when the doctors pronounced +Gerelda out of danger. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +CAPTAIN FRAZIER PLOTS AGAIN. + + +We must return to Captain Frazier, whom we left standing at the gate +when he had parted from the minister, who had gone into the Varrick +mansion to make arrangements for the wedding which was to take place on +the morrow. + +"Gerelda must have made herself known to them by this time, and a lively +scene is probably ensuing," he muttered. "I should like to have seen +Varrick when Gerelda confronted him, and cheated him out of Jessie Bain. +In that moment, perhaps, it occurred to him what I must have suffered +when he cheated me out of winning lovely Gerelda Northrup at the +Thousand Islands last summer--curse him for it! How strange it is that +from that very date my life went all wrong! I invested every dollar I +had in that stone house on Wau-Winet Island, and that fire wiped me out +completely. I have had the devil's own luck with everything I touched. +Everything has gone back on me, every scheme has fallen through, and the +best of plans panned out wrong. I should say that I am pursued by a +relentless Nemesis. I am growing desperate. Why should Hubert Varrick +have so much of this world's good things and I so little? I am reduced +to very near my last dollar. I have scarcely enough in my pocket to pay +a week's lodging; and when that goes, the Lord knows what the outcome of +it will be. Up to date, I am 'too proud to beg, too honest to steal,' as +the old song goes; but when a man reaches the end of his resources +there's no telling what he may do." + +He walked away swiftly among the trees and threaded his way quickly +through the net-work of streets, until he found himself at last standing +before a dingy little two-story brick house in a narrow court. Advancing +hurriedly up to the stone flagging, he knocked loudly. There was no +response. + +"Evidently no one is in," he muttered. "I will call later in the +evening." + +He retraced his steps back to the heart of the city, and feeling +exceedingly fatigued, he entered a _cafe_. + +"I have almost got to the end of my rope," he muttered, mechanically +picking up a newspaper. "If my luck doesn't change within the next few +days, I shall do something so desperate that people will never forget +the name of Captain Frazier." + +He ran his eye idly down the different columns. Suddenly a paragraph +attracted his attention. He read it over slowly half a dozen times; +then, without waiting to partake of the repast he had ordered, he +hurried to the desk, paid his bill, and rushed out into the street. + +"I have no time to lose," he muttered; "this country is getting too hot +for me. I must get away at once. If I but had the wherewith I would take +the first outgoing steamer. What a capital idea it would be!" he cried, +laughing aloud, grimly. "If I could manage to abduct Hubert Varrick's +intended bride and hold her for a ransom? I made a success of it with +Gerelda Northrup when she stood at the very altar with him; and what a +man does once he can do again. The first time it was done for love's +sake; now it would be a question of money with me. I have but little +time to lose." + +Again he made his way to the lonely, red-brick house on the side street, +taking good care that he was not observed. In response to his repeated +knocks, the door was opened at length by a small, dark-complexioned man. + +"Captain Frazier! by all that's amazing!" he cried. "When did you blow +into port, I should like to know?" + +"I came in this morning," was the reply. + +"I am never quite sure what you want of me," replied the other, eyeing +the captain suspiciously in the dim twilight. "But come in--come in," he +added, hastily. "We are just sitting down to supper. Come and take +something with us, if you're not too proud to sit at our humble table." + +"I've got over being proud long ago," said the captain, following the +other along a very narrow hall. + +The interior of the room into which he was ushered bespoke the fact that +it was inhabited by men--presumably sailors, from the nautical +implements thrown promiscuously about. It was unoccupied, and Captain +Frazier took his seat at the head of the table. + +"Some of the boys left very hurriedly when they heard the loud, +resounding knock on the front door," his companion said, laughingly, as +he heaped the tempting viands on Frazier's plate. + +The captain, whose appetite had been sadly neglected, paid great +attention to the savory dishes before him. + +"We have been accustomed to talking and eating at the same time," he +began. + +"Of course," returned the other. + +"When do you make your next trip out?" + +"In a week's time, probably, if all is favorable." + +"I think I shall ship with you," said the captain. "This part of the +country is getting too unsafe for me. I see by to-day's paper that they +are searching for me." + +"Well, you must have expected that." + +"Yes, I have determined to leave the country," Captain Frazier repeated; +"but I do not propose to go alone." + +His companion looked at him curiously, wondering what was coming; then, +leaning nearer him, the captain whispered a plot in his ear that made +his friend open his heavy eyes wide in amazement. + +"I haven't a cent of money," admitted the captain; "but if you will work +with me, you shall have half the ransom." + +"A woman is a nuisance on board of a boat like ours," said the other; +"but if you are sure so large an amount will be paid for her return, it +will be well worth working for." + +An hour longer they conferred, and when Frazier left the red-brick house +on the side street, the most daring plan the brain of man had ever +conceived was well-nigh settled. + +When the hour of eleven struck clear and sharp, Captain Frazier was +standing silently before the Varrick mansion. In making a tour of the +grounds, much to Frazier's amazement, he found the rear door ajar. + +"The devil helps his own," he muttered, sarcastically. "I imagined that +I should have a serious time in gaining admittance, when lo! the portals +are thrown open for the wishing." + +He made his way through the dimly lighted corridors, dodging into the +first door that presented itself when he heard the sound of voices +approaching. + +He found himself in the library, and had just time to dodge behind a +_jardiniere_ on a heavy, square pedestal, which was placed in a recess +in the wall, when Hubert Varrick entered. He was followed a moment later +by his mother. He heard him talk over his future plans for the coming +marriage on the morrow, and a great wonder filled his mind. Had not +Gerelda seen him yet? + +It had been many hours since he himself had seen her enter those very +gates. While he was thinking over the matter, Hubert's mother left the +room. Much to the watcher's discomfiture, Hubert Varrick did not follow, +but instead, threw himself down in an easy-chair before the glowing +grate-fire, and lighted a cigar. + +Scarcely a moment had elapsed ere he heard the sound of cautious +footsteps. Peering again out of the foliage which concealed him so well, +he saw Gerelda cautiously approach through the open door-way, and again +he was compelled to be a listener to all that transpired. + +Then, like a flash, came the terrible _denouement_, and Frazier, +crouching behind the huge pillar, distinctly saw the butler enter and he +witnessed the crime. He tried to prevent it by springing forward in time +to save the hapless girl, but he seemed powerless to move either hand or +foot. He could not have taken one step had his very life depended on it. +And when the terrible crime had been committed, and people flocked to +the room, he dared not come forward, lest he should be accused of the +horrible crime himself. In the great excitement he soon made his escape, +though it was not until he found himself several blocks from the scene +of the catastrophe that he dared stop to take breath. + +The next day the captain made another visit to the little stone house, +assuring his friends that this would make no difference in their plans, +that, as soon as the excitement subsided, he would carry out his +original scheme. + +A week passed by, and during that time Captain Frazier, prowling +incessantly about the neighborhood, watched carefully his opportunity to +meet Jessie Bain. + +The owner of a little sloop lying under cover down the bay was greatly +annoyed at the loss of time; he was waiting too long, he told Frazier +repeatedly, declaring at length that unless Frazier could manage to gain +possession of the girl that very night that he would have to sail +without her. This decision made Captain Frazier desperate, for he was +now reduced to his last penny. + +It was no easy matter to gain an entrance into the Varrick mansion a +second time, and no one but the most desperate man in the world would +have thought of attempting it; but, as on a former occasion, at last +fate aided him. + +The drawing-room being considered too warm, one of the servants threw +open a large French window to cool off the apartment. This was Frazier's +chance. Like a shadow he stole into the room. + +It was no easy matter to make out in which room he should find Jessie +Bain. At length the sound of light, measured footsteps in a room he was +just passing fell upon his keen ear. He pushed the door cautiously open. +All was darkness within, save a narrow strip of light that came from the +closely drawn _portieres_ of an inner apartment. Applying his eye to a +small slit in the heavy velvet, he saw the object of his search. She was +bending over a woman's form lying on a couch, a form he knew to be +Gerelda's, while standing a little distance from them was a doctor +mixing a potion. He heard him give Jessie Bain strict injunctions +regarding the administration of it; then he saw the physician take his +leave. + +For a moment a death-like silence reigned in the room. + +"Let me implore you," sobbed Jessie, "to save the man you love from the +terrible fate that awaits him." + +"I would not lift my finger or my voice to save him. If I must die, it +is a satisfaction to me to know that he must die too!" whispered +Gerelda. + +"Cruel, cruel creature!" cried Jessie. "May Heaven find pardon for you, +for I can not. I will ask no more for mercy at your hands. But hear me! +I will save Hubert Varrick if it lies within human power. I will find a +way; he shall not die, I swear it!" + +A gleam crept into Gerelda's eyes. + +"He is beyond your aid!" she cried, excitedly, half rising on her +pillow. The effort this cost her proved almost too much for her. A +dangerous whiteness overspread her face, and she fell back fainting, a +small stream of blood trickling from her lips. Jessie sprang quickly to +her feet, and administered a cordial from a small vial. + +At that moment the doctor entered. He was alarmed at the expression on +his patient's face. + +"There has been a sudden change for the worse," he declared. "Still, I +knew it would come sooner or later. I said from the first, if she lived +the week out I should be surprised. I see now that the end is very near. +When the sun rises on the morrow, her spirit will have reached its last +resting-place, poor soul. You will need to exert extra care over her +to-night, Miss Bain." + +Soon after he took his departure, and once more Jessie was left alone +with the girl whom Hubert Varrick had wedded, but did not love--the girl +who had blasted all the happiness this world held for her. Yet she felt +sorry from the depths of her soul that the girl's life was ebbing away +so fast. + +Midnight struck, and the little hands of the cuckoo-clock on the mantel +crept slowly round to one. Still there was no change, save that the +white face on the pillow grew whiter, with a tinge of gray on it now. + +The clock on the mantel seemed to tick louder and louder, and cry out +hoarsely: + +"Time is fleeing fast! It will soon be too late for Gerelda to clear +Hubert Varrick and save him from a felon's death!" + +Jessie Bain paced the floor up and down, in agony. + +Suddenly a thought came to her--a thought so terrible that it nearly +took her breath away. + +"I will try it," whispered Jessie, hoarsely. + +She crept pantingly across the room to an escritoire which stood in the +corner. Raising the lid, she drew from it a sheet of paper and a pen, +and catching up a tiny ink-well, she hurried back to the bedside. +Bending with palpitating heart over the still form lying there, Jessie +Bain muttered: + +"No one will ever know," taking a quick glance about the room. "Gerelda +and I are all alone together--all alone!" + +Thrusting the pen in the limp fingers, Jessie Bain dipped it in the ink, +and with her own hand guided the hand of Gerelda, making her write the +following words on the white paper: + + "VARRICK MANSION, _February 23d_, 1909. + + "To those whom it may concern: I, Gerelda Varrick, lying on my + death-bed, and realizing that the end may come at any moment, wish + to clear from any suspicion, Hubert Varrick. I do solemnly swear + it was not he who struck the fatal blow at me which ends my life. + It was some stranger, to me unknown. + + "[Signed] GERELDA VARRICK. + "Witnessed by ----." + +And here Jessie took the pen from the limp fingers affixing her own +signature--"JESSIE BAIN." + +The deed was done. Jessie drew a long, deep breath, ere she could reach +forth to secure the all-important paper, a great faintness seized her, +and throwing up her hands, she fell in a dead faint beside Gerelda's +bed. + +Scarcely a moment had elapsed ere the _portieres_ that shut off an inner +room were thrust quickly aside by a man's hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +IN THE TOILS. + + +Captain Frazier had seen all that had transpired. + +He was just about to spring into the apartment and tear the paper from +Jessie Bain's hands, when he saw her fall lifeless by the couch. Quickly +he flung the _portieres_ aside and sprang into the apartment. It was but +the work of a moment to secure the document, and to thrust it in his +vest-pocket. Then, without an instant's loss of time, he caught up the +insensible form of Jessie, throwing a dark, heavy shawl about her, he +shot hurriedly out of the room and down the corridor, making for the +drawing-room, whose long French windows opened on the porch. He had +scarcely crossed the threshold ere he heard the sound of hurrying +footsteps. + +"Ha! they heard the sound of her fall," he muttered, dashing open the +window and springing through it with his burden, landing knee-deep in +the white, soft snow-drift. + +It took but a moment more to gain the road, and then he well knew the +dark, waving pines would screen him from the sight of any one who might +attempt to pursue him. As he stopped to take breath for a moment, he +glanced back at the mansion, and saw lights moving to and fro in the +upper windows. + +Dashing breathlessly onward, he threaded his way up one deserted street +and down another, dodging into hall-ways if he saw a lone pedestrian +quite a distance off, approaching, remaining there until their footsteps +had passed and died away. To add to his annoyance Jessie began to show +signs of returning consciousness. + +"This will never do at this crisis of affairs," he cried to himself. + +He had come well equipped for the emergency, and drawing a small vial +from an inner pocket, he dashed half of its contents over the shawl +which enveloped the girl's head. Its pungent odors soon quieted Jessie's +struggles. + +Hailing a passing coupe, he soon deposited his burden therein, jumping +in himself after giving instructions to the driver to make all possible +haste. They were jostled along the road with lightning-like rapidity, +and half an hour afterward had made the distance, and the cab drew up in +the loneliest part of the wharf. + +"Here we are, sir," the driver said, springing down from his box and +opening the door. + +The gentleman within did not respond. + +"What is the matter with the man?" he muttered, striking a match and +thrusting it into the strange customer's face. He drew back with a great +cry. The man's face was as white as death, and at that instant he +became aware of the strong odor of chloroform, which filled the vehicle +to suffocation. + +"Here's a pretty go," muttered the cabman, "and in my coach too. + +"The best thing to do would be to dash a cup of water over him and +restore him to consciousness." + +The cabman hurried to a watering-trough a few feet distant. Snatching up +one of the tin cups which was fastened to it by a chain, he soon +wrenched it free. But before he had advanced a single step with its +contents, a great cry of horror broke from his lips; the horses dashed +suddenly forward and were galloping madly down the same street which +they had so lately traversed. + +He reported his loss to the nearest station, not daring to mention the +serious condition of the occupants of the cab. But up to noon the +following day not even a trace of the vehicle could be discovered. + +Old Mrs. Varrick was fairly paralyzed over the disappearance of little +Jessie, whom she had learned to love as a daughter. She would not +believe that she had left the house of her own accord--wandered away +from it. + +"There has been foul play here," she cried. + +And immediately old Stephen, the servant, said to himself: + +"It all comes from the stranger who was loitering about the place about +a week ago;" and he made up his mind to do a little detective work on +his own account. "If he is in the city, I will find him," he muttered. +"I will tramp night and day up and down the streets until I meet him. +Then I will openly accuse him of abducting poor pretty Miss Jessie." + +He went to his old mistress and asked for leave of absence for a few +days. Mrs. Varrick shook her head mournfully. + +"I should not think you would want to leave me, when you see me in all +this trouble, Stephen," she said. "You should stand by me, though every +one else fails me. Only this morning the butler gave notice that he +intended to leave here on the morrow, and he, like yourself, has been +with me for years." + +"I am not surprised to hear that, ma'am," returned Stephen, laconically, +"for ever since that fatal night in the library the butler has had a +very horror of the place. He's as tender-hearted as a little child, +ma'am, the butler is. Why, he takes Master Hubert's trials to heart +terribly. He walks the floor night and day, muttering excitedly: 'Heaven +save poor Master Hubert!'" + +Although every precaution was taken to keep the news of Jessie's +disappearance from Hubert Varrick, the knowledge soon reached him. + +"My God! did I not have enough to bear before," he murmured, "that this +new weight of woe has fallen upon me?" + +In his sorrow he was thankful that at least one person besides his +mother seemed to believe so utterly in his innocence--and that was the +butler. He came to see him daily and wept over him, muttering strangely +incoherent words, declaring over and over again that he must be proven +innocent, though the heavens fell. + +"As near as I can see, it will end in a prison cell for life or the +gallows," said Hubert, gulping down a sob. + +"But they mustn't hang--you shan't hang!" cried the butler, excitedly. +"I will--" + +The sentence was never finished. He sat back, trembling in every limb, +in his seat, his face ashy white, his features working convulsively. + +At last the butler came no more to see him, and Hubert heard that he, +too, had suddenly disappeared. + +The day of the trial dawned clear and bright, without one cloud in the +blue azure sky to mar the perfect day. It was a morn dark enough in the +history of Hubert Varrick, as he paced up and down the narrow limits of +his lonely cell, looking through the grating on the gay, bright world +outside. + +It did not matter much to him if he left it, he told himself. Suddenly +there was the sound of a key turning in the lock, and glancing up, +Varrick beheld the old butler standing before him. + +He greeted the old servant with a wistful smile, and for a moment +neither could speak, so great was their emotion. + +"I have been a long way off, Master Hubert," he said, huskily; "but I +couldn't stay away when I thought how near it was to--to the time." + +"Thank you for your devotion," said Hubert, gratefully. "I am glad you +came to see me; and, whatever betides," he continued, huskily, "I hope +you will think none the worse of me. Believe that I am innocent; and, +dear friend, if the time should ever come when you could clear my +stained name from the awful cloud which darkens it, I pray you promise +me that you will do it. I can never rest in my grave until this horrible +mystery has been cleared." The old butler trembled like a leaf. "I shall +haunt the scene of that terrible tragedy, and--" + +A great shriek burst from the butler's white lips, and he fell to the +floor in a terrible spasm. + +The attendant pacing back and forth in the corridor without, hastily +removed him. They spoke of it with pity, how devoted he was to his young +master. + +At noon the case was called, and the greatest of excitement prevailed +from one end of the city to the other, for there were few men as popular +there as Hubert Varrick. The spacious room was crowded to overflowing. +There was a great flutter of excitement when the handsome prisoner was +led into the court-room. Those who had known him from childhood were +touched with the deepest pity for him. They could not believe him +guilty. + +In that hour quite as exciting an event was taking place in another part +of the great city. + +To explain it we must go back to the thrilling runaway that took place a +few days before, when Jessie Bain, powerless to aid herself lay back +among the cushions of the coach, all unconscious that the mad horses +were whirling her on to death and destruction. They careened wildly +around first one corner and then another, making straight for the river. + +At one of the crossings a man stood, his head bent on his breast, and +his eyes looking wistfully toward the dark water beyond. + +"If I had the courage," he muttered, "I would drown myself. I can not +rest night or day with this load on my mind. It almost seems to me that +I am going mad! How terrible to me is the thought that I--whom all the +world has always regarded as an honest man--am an unconfessed murderer!" + +The very air seemed to repeat his words--"a murderer!"--and the old +butler--for it was he--shuddered, as he muttered half aloud: + +"I never meant to do it, God knows!" + +Suddenly the sound of wheels smote his startled ear. + +"A runaway!" he cried. + +Without an instant's hesitation he threw himself forward. What mattered +it if he lost his life in the attempt? He would save the occupants of +the carriage, or give his wretched life in the attempt. + +Nearer, nearer came the galloping horses, and just as he was about to +throw himself forward to seize them by the bits, they collided with the +street lamp. In an instant of time the vehicle was smashed into a +thousand pieces. + +One of the occupants, a woman, was hurled headlong to the pavement; her +companion, half in and half out of the coach, was caught in the jam of +the door, while his coat was fairly torn from his body, the papers that +had been in his breast packet strewing the street. The butler sprang +forward to seize the man and save him, but fate willed it otherwise. + +He was too late. And as he stood there paralyzed with horror, the team +plunged from the dock down, down into the dark waves. In an instant only +a few white bubbles remained to mark the spot where horses, vehicle, and +the unfortunate man had gone down. + +The butler, who had witnessed all the terrible catastrophe, turned his +immediate attention to the poor creature whom he believed must be dead, +she lay so white and still, face downward, in the snow-drift. + +"Great God! It is Jessie Bain!" + +He gathered her up quickly in his arms, together with a few papers that +lay under his feet, and carried her to his own lodgings, which were but +a few yards distant. He meant to convey her, as soon as it was fairly +light, back to the Varrick Mansion. + +In the meantime, he would do his best toward restoring her. After +pouring a glass of brandy down her throat, he sought to bring back +warmth to the ice-cold hands by rubbing them vigorously; but it seemed +all useless, useless. Wrapping her in warm blankets, he drew the settle +upon which he had placed her, closer to the coal fire and waited to see +if the warmth would not soon revive her. + +Then his eyes fell upon the papers he had picked up. One of them lay +slightly open, and by chance his eyes lighted upon the contents. What +was there about it that caught and held his gaze spell-bound? The second +and third he scanned. Then, clutching it closely, his hands trembling +like aspen leaves, he read on and on until the last word was reached. + +"Great God!" he muttered, half dazed and crazed, "it is the confession +of Hubert Varrick's wife that he did not do the deed of which she +accused him. No one must ever see this!" he cried. "I will burn this +confession, and no one will ever know of it." + +Cautiously he made his way to the glowing fire. What was that strange, +sharp, rustling sound? He glanced fearfully over his shoulder. Jessie +Bain was sitting upon the settle, gazing at him with terror-distended +eyes. For an instant the girl was bewildered at her strange +surroundings, then she recognized the butler who had left the Varrick +mansion a few days before. What was she doing here in his presence? + +The last thing she remembered was standing over unconscious Gerelda, and +guiding her hand to write the words that would save Hubert Varrick's +life. As she looked she saw that same confession in the butler's hands. +What was he doing with it? Great Gad! how came he by it? As she gazed +she saw him carefully approach the grate, and hold the paper over the +flames. + +With one bound Jessie Bain had reached his side and torn it from his +grasp, just as the flames had caught at it. + +"What would you do?" she screamed. + +He looked at her with cunning eyes. + +"How came you by this?" he cried, in an awful voice, as he struggled +with her desperately to gain the paper. + +No word answered him. + +"You shall not have it!" he cried, wrenching it from her by main force. +"You shall not show this up to the world until it is too late to affect +Hubert Varrick." + +A cry of agony burst from Jessie's death-white lips. She saw, in her +terror, that the old butler had lost his reason, and yet withal he was +so cunning. + +She pleaded with him on her knees, but it was useless. He muttered over +and over again that she should not have the paper, that he would keep +her there a prisoner until all was over. + +Despite her entreaties, to her great horror the man kept his word, and +Jessie found herself a prisoner in the isolated place. She was too weak +to make any effort to escape; there was none to hear her faint cries. + +It must be said for the man that he tended her as faithfully as a woman +might have done; but he was deaf to her pitiful and desperate appeal. He +taunted her from day to day with the knowledge that it wanted but one +day more to Hubert Varrick's trial. At last the terrible time dawned. It +seemed to Jessie that she would go mad with the horror of it. + +She tried with all her weak strength to break the firm old locks that +held her a prisoner there, but it was useless, useless. The sun slowly +climbed the heavens, and she knew, oh God! she knew what was to happen +to Hubert Varrick within those hours. + +She sunk on her knees, crying out that if she could not aid the man she +loved, that the same sun would set upon her lifeless form--she would +kill herself. + +Hardly had this resolve become a fixed purpose with her, ere she became +conscious of a loud knock at the door. + +"I-- I am a prisoner here!" she cried. "I beg you, whoever you are, +break the lock of the door!" + +This was hastily complied with, and she saw standing before her two +officers of the law. + +"Oh, sir!" she gasped, "take me to Hubert Varrick at once, or it will be +too late to save him!" + +"We are here for that very purpose," answered one of them. "We know all. +The late butler of the Varrick mansion has just breathed his last, and +confessed all--that it was he who committed the murder, and just how it +happened, begging us to come after you, and to liberate you at once, and +tell you that Hubert Varrick is now free. A carriage is in waiting. Come +at once. Mrs. Varrick awaits you there," he adding, noting how stunned +the girl looked, as though she could hardly believe what she heard. + +There was one thing that Jessie never quite fully understood: how she +reached the lonely cottage of the old butler. She believed his mind must +have been wandering when he gave such a singular account of a runaway, +and a gentleman being with her in the coupe. She firmly insisted that +the butler must have chloroformed her, abducted her, and brought her to +that place, in the hope that she would then be powerless to aid Hubert +Varrick. + +Who could describe the meeting between Hubert and Jessie and Mrs. +Varrick which occurred an hour later at the Varrick mansion. + +Hubert would have taken the girl he loved so madly, in his arms on sight +and covered her face with kisses, but she held him off at arm's-length, +though she longed to rest in his strong arms and weep on the broad bosom +that she knew beat for her alone. + +"No, you must not touch me, Hubert," she whispered. "It would not seem +right so--so soon after--after poor Gerelda's untimely death." + +"Forgive me--pardon me, Jessie," he answered, brokenly. "For the moment +I had--_forgotten_, my love for you was so great!" + +Here Mrs. Varrick quickly interposed: + +"Jessie is quite right, my boy," she said. "You must not mention one +word of love to her for many a day yet. Perhaps your troubles will be +over before many months." + +"If you both think that, it will not do for me to remain beneath this +roof where Jessie is," he declared, huskily. "I am only human, you know, +and we both love each other so!" + +Thus it was that it was arranged that it was best for Hubert to go away, +travel abroad, and return a year from that day to claim Jessie. But it +was with many misgivings that Hubert tore himself away. + +"If anything comes of this enforced separation, always remember that I +pleaded hard against it, but in the end yielded to your wishes." On the +morrow Hubert Varrick left Boston. + +During the months that followed Jessie lived quietly at the Varrick +mansion with Hubert's mother. + +The year of probation had not yet waned, when, one lovely April morning, +while Jessie was walking through the grounds that surrounded the +mansion, she espied a bearded stranger standing at the gate, leaning on +it with folded arms, evidently lost in admiration of the early +blossoming buds and half-blown roses. + +"Permit me to gather you some of the roses you seem to be admiring so +much, sir," she said, courteously. + +"Pardon me, would you permit me to enter and gather for myself the one I +care for most?" + +The request was an odd one, but she granted it with a smile. + +He swung open the heavy gate, and in an instant was by her side, folding +her in his arms, and kissing her with all his soul on his lips. + +"Am I changed so that Love can not recognise me?" he cried. + +"Hubert--oh, Hubert! is it _you_--_really you_?" sobbed Jessie, laughing +and crying all in a breath. + +And there Mrs. Varrick found them an hour later, planning for the +marriage, which Hubert declared should be solemnized before the sun set. +This time he had his own way, and when the stars came out, they shone on +sweet little Jessie Bain, a bride; and surely the sweetest and most +adorable one that ever a young husband worshiped. + +And there we will leave them, dear reader, for when a girl marries, all +the ills of life should be left behind her, and she should dwell in +sunshine and love ever after. + +Those who knew her as pretty, saucy, sweet Jessie Bain never forgot her. +And may I hope that this will be the case with you, my dear reader? + + + + * * * * * + + + +THE A. and L. 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