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+Project Gutenberg's Stories by American Authors, Volume 2, by Various
+
+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: Stories by American Authors, Volume 2
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: January 24, 2010 [EBook #31064]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES BY AMERICAN AUTHORS, VOL 2 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by D Alexander, Juliet Sutherland and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Stories by American Authors
+
+VOLUME II
+
+ _THE TRANSFERRED GHOST_
+ BY FRANK R. STOCKTON
+
+ _A MARTYR TO SCIENCE_
+ BY MARY PUTNAM JACOBI, M. D.
+
+ _MRS. KNOLLYS_
+ BY J. S. OF DALE, AUTHOR OF "GUERNDALE"
+
+ _A DINNER-PARTY_
+ BY JOHN EDDY
+
+ _THE MOUNT OF SORROW_
+ BY HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD
+
+ _SISTER SILVIA_
+ BY MARY AGNES TINCKER
+
+ NEW YORK
+ CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
+ 1896
+
+
+
+
+ COPYRIGHT, 1884, BY
+ CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
+
+
+
+
+_The Stories in this Volume are protected by copyright, and are
+printed here by authority of the authors or their representatives._
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Frank R. Stockton]
+
+
+
+
+THE TRANSFERRED GHOST.
+
+BY FRANK R. STOCKTON.
+
+_Century Magazine, May, 1882._
+
+
+The country residence of Mr. John Hinckman was a delightful place to
+me, for many reasons. It was the abode of a genial, though somewhat
+impulsive, hospitality. It had broad, smooth-shaven lawns and towering
+oaks and elms; there were bosky shades at several points, and not far
+from the house there was a little rill spanned by a rustic bridge with
+the bark on; there were fruits and flowers, pleasant people, chess,
+billiards, rides, walks, and fishing. These were great attractions,
+but none of them, nor all of them together, would have been sufficient
+to hold me to the place very long. I had been invited for the trout
+season, but should, probably, have finished my visit early in the
+summer had it not been that upon fair days, when the grass was dry,
+and the sun not too hot, and there was but little wind, there strolled
+beneath the lofty elms, or passed lightly through the bosky shades,
+the form of my Madeline.
+
+This lady was not, in very truth, my Madeline. She had never given
+herself to me, nor had I, in any way, acquired possession of her. But
+as I considered her possession the only sufficient reason for the
+continuance of my existence, I called her, in my reveries, mine. It
+may have been that I would not have been obliged to confine the use of
+this possessive pronoun to my reveries had I confessed the state of my
+feelings to the lady.
+
+But this was an unusually difficult thing to do. Not only did I dread,
+as almost all lovers dread, taking the step which would in an instant
+put an end to that delightful season which may be termed the
+ante-interrogatory period of love, and which might at the same time
+terminate all intercourse or connection with the object of my passion;
+but I was, also, dreadfully afraid of John Hinckman. This gentleman
+was a good friend of mine, but it would have required a bolder man
+than I was at that time to ask him for the gift of his niece, who
+was the head of his household, and, according to his own frequent
+statement, the main prop of his declining years. Had Madeline
+acquiesced in my general views on the subject, I might have felt
+encouraged to open the matter to Mr. Hinckman, but, as I said before,
+I had never asked her whether or not she would be mine. I thought of
+these things at all hours of the day and night, particularly the
+latter.
+
+I was lying awake one night, in the great bed in my spacious chamber,
+when, by the dim light of the new moon, which partially filled the
+room, I saw John Hinckman standing by a large chair near the door. I
+was very much surprised at this for two reasons. In the first place,
+my host had never before come into my room, and, in the second place,
+he had gone from home that morning, and had not expected to return for
+several days. It was for this reason that I had been able that evening
+to sit much later than usual with Madeline on the moonlit porch. The
+figure was certainly that of John Hinckman in his ordinary dress, but
+there was a vagueness and indistinctness about it which presently
+assured me that it was a ghost. Had the good old man been murdered?
+and had his spirit come to tell me of the deed, and to confide to me
+the protection of his dear----? My heart fluttered at what I was
+about to think, but at this instant the figure spoke.
+
+"Do you know," he said, with a countenance that indicated anxiety, "if
+Mr. Hinckman will return to-night?"
+
+I thought it well to maintain a calm exterior, and I answered:
+
+"We do not expect him."
+
+"I am glad of that," said he, sinking into the chair by which he
+stood. "During the two years and a half that I have inhabited this
+house, that man has never before been away for a single night. You
+can't imagine the relief it gives me."
+
+And as he spoke he stretched out his legs and leaned back in the
+chair. His form became less vague, and the colors of his garments more
+distinct and evident, while an expression of gratified relief
+succeeded to the anxiety of his countenance.
+
+"Two years and a half!" I exclaimed. "I don't understand you."
+
+"It is fully that length of time," said the ghost, "since I first came
+here. Mine is not an ordinary case. But before I say anything more
+about it, let me ask you again if you are sure Mr. Hinckman will not
+return to-night?"
+
+"I am as sure of it as I can be of anything," I answered. "He left
+to-day for Bristol, two hundred miles away."
+
+"Then I will go on," said the ghost, "for I am glad to have the
+opportunity of talking to some one who will listen to me; but if John
+Hinckman should come in and catch me here, I should be frightened out
+of my wits."
+
+"This is all very strange," I said, greatly puzzled by what I had
+heard. "Are you the ghost of Mr. Hinckman?"
+
+This was a bold question, but my mind was so full of other emotions
+that there seemed to be no room for that of fear.
+
+"Yes, I am his ghost," my companion replied, "and yet I have no right
+to be. And this is what makes me so uneasy, and so much afraid of him.
+It is a strange story, and, I truly believe, without precedent. Two
+years and a half ago, John Hinckman was dangerously ill in this very
+room. At one time he was so far gone that he was really believed to be
+dead. It was in consequence of too precipitate a report in regard to
+this matter that I was, at that time, appointed to be his ghost.
+Imagine my surprise and horror, sir, when, after I had accepted the
+position and assumed its responsibilities, that old man revived,
+became convalescent, and eventually regained his usual health. My
+situation was now one of extreme delicacy and embarrassment. I had no
+power to return to my original unembodiment, and I had no right to be
+the ghost of a man who was not dead. I was advised by my friends to
+quietly maintain my position, and was assured that, as John Hinckman
+was an elderly man, it could not be long before I could rightfully
+assume the position for which I had been selected. But I tell you,
+sir," he continued, with animation, "the old fellow seems as vigorous
+as ever, and I have no idea how much longer this annoying state of
+things will continue. I spend my time trying to get out of that old
+man's way. I must not leave this house, and he seems to follow me
+everywhere. I tell you, sir, he haunts me."
+
+"That is truly a queer state of things," I remarked. "But why are you
+afraid of him? He couldn't hurt you."
+
+"Of course he couldn't," said the ghost. "But his very presence is a
+shock and terror to me. Imagine, sir, how you would feel if my case
+were yours."
+
+I could not imagine such a thing at all. I simply shuddered.
+
+"And if one must be a wrongful ghost at all," the apparition
+continued, "it would be much pleasanter to be the ghost of some man
+other than John Hinckman. There is in him an irascibility of temper,
+accompanied by a facility of invective, which is seldom met with. And
+what would happen if he were to see me, and find out, as I am sure he
+would, how long and why I had inhabited his house, I can scarcely
+conceive. I have seen him in his bursts of passion, and, although he
+did not hurt the people he stormed at any more than he would hurt me,
+they seemed to shrink before him."
+
+All this I knew to be very true. Had it not been for this peculiarity
+of Mr. Hinckman, I might have been more willing to talk to him about
+his niece.
+
+"I feel sorry for you," I said, for I really began to have a
+sympathetic feeling toward this unfortunate apparition. "Your case is
+indeed a hard one. It reminds me of those persons who have had
+doubles, and I suppose a man would often be very angry indeed when he
+found that there was another being who was personating himself."
+
+"Oh, the cases are not similar at all," said the ghost. "A double or
+doppelganger lives on the earth with a man, and, being exactly like
+him, he makes all sorts of trouble, of course. It is very different
+with me. I am not here to live with Mr. Hinckman. I am here to take
+his place. Now, it would make John Hinckman very angry if he knew
+that. Don't you know it would?"
+
+I assented promptly.
+
+"Now that he is away I can be easy for a little while," continued the
+ghost, "and I am so glad to have an opportunity of talking to you. I
+have frequently come into your room, and watched you while you slept,
+but did not dare to speak to you for fear that if you talked with me
+Mr. Hinckman would hear you, and come into the room to know why you
+were talking to yourself."
+
+"But would he not hear you?" I asked.
+
+"Oh, no," said the other, "there are times when any one may see me,
+but no one hears me except the person to whom I address myself."
+
+"But why did you wish to speak to me?" I asked.
+
+"Because," replied the ghost, "I like occasionally to talk to people,
+and especially to some one like yourself, whose mind is so troubled
+and perturbed that you are not likely to be frightened by a visit from
+one of us. But I particularly wanted to ask you to do me a favor.
+There is every probability, so far as I can see, that John Hinckman
+will live a long time, and my situation is becoming insupportable. My
+great object at present is to get myself transferred, and I think that
+you may, perhaps, be of use to me."
+
+"Transferred!" I exclaimed. "What do you mean by that?"
+
+"What I mean," said the other, "is this: Now that I have started on my
+career I have got to be the ghost of somebody; and I want to be the
+ghost of a man who is really dead."
+
+"I should think that would be easy enough," I said. "Opportunities
+must continually occur."
+
+"Not at all! not at all!" said my companion, quickly. "You have no
+idea what a rush and pressure there is for situations of this kind.
+Whenever a vacancy occurs, if I may express myself in that way, there
+are crowds of applications for the ghostship."
+
+"I had no idea that such a state of things existed," I said, becoming
+quite interested in the matter. "There ought to be some regular
+system, or order of precedence, by which you could all take your turns
+like customers in a barber's shop."
+
+"Oh dear, that would never do at all!" said the other. "Some of us
+would have to wait forever. There is always a great rush whenever a
+good ghostship offers itself--while, as you know, there are some
+positions that no one would care for. And it was in consequence of my
+being in too great a hurry on an occasion of the kind that I got
+myself into my present disagreeable predicament, and I have thought
+that it might be possible that you would help me out of it. You might
+know of a case where an opportunity for a ghostship was not generally
+expected, but which might present itself at any moment. If you would
+give me a short notice, I know I could arrange for a transfer."
+
+"What do you mean?" I exclaimed. "Do you want me to commit suicide? Or
+to undertake a murder for your benefit?"
+
+"Oh, no, no, no!" said the other, with a vapory smile. "I mean nothing
+of that kind. To be sure, there are lovers who are watched with
+considerable interest, such persons having been known, in moments of
+depression, to offer very desirable ghostships, but I did not think of
+anything of that kind in connection with you. You were the only person
+I cared to speak to, and I hoped that you might give me some
+information that would be of use; and, in return, I shall be very glad
+to help you in your love affair."
+
+"You seem to know that I have such an affair," I said.
+
+"Oh, yes," replied the other, with a little yawn. "I could not be here
+so much as I have been without knowing all about that."
+
+There was something horrible in the idea of Madeline and myself having
+been watched by a ghost, even, perhaps, when we wandered together in
+the most delightful and bosky places. But, then, this was quite an
+exceptional ghost, and I could not have the objections to him which
+would ordinarily arise in regard to beings of his class.
+
+"I must go now," said the ghost, rising, "but I will see you somewhere
+to-morrow night. And remember--you help me, and I'll help you."
+
+I had doubts the next morning as to the propriety of telling Madeline
+anything about this interview, and soon convinced myself that I must
+keep silent on the subject. If she knew there was a ghost about the
+house she would probably leave the place instantly. I did not mention
+the matter, and so regulated my demeanor that I am quite sure Madeline
+never suspected what had taken place. For some time I had wished that
+Mr. Hinckman would absent himself, for a day at least, from the
+premises. In such case I thought I might more easily nerve myself up
+to the point of speaking to Madeline on the subject of our future
+collateral existence, and, now that the opportunity for such speech
+had really occurred, I did not feel ready to avail myself of it. What
+would become of me if she refused me?
+
+I had an idea, however, that the lady thought that, if I were going to
+speak at all, this was the time. She must have known that certain
+sentiments were afloat within me, and she was not unreasonable in her
+wish to see the matter settled one way or the other. But I did not
+feel like taking a bold step in the dark. If she wished me to ask her
+to give herself to me, she ought to offer me some reason to suppose
+that she would make the gift. If I saw no probability of such
+generosity, I would prefer that things should remain as they were.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+That evening I was sitting with Madeline in the moonlit porch. It was
+nearly ten o'clock, and ever since supper-time I had been working
+myself up to the point of making an avowal of my sentiments. I had not
+positively determined to do this, but wished gradually to reach the
+proper point when, if the prospect looked bright, I might speak. My
+companion appeared to understand the situation--at least, I imagined
+that the nearer I came to a proposal the more she seemed to expect it.
+It was certainly a very critical and important epoch in my life. If I
+spoke, I should make myself happy or miserable forever, and if I did
+not speak I had every reason to believe that the lady would not give
+me another chance to do so.
+
+Sitting thus with Madeline, talking a little, and thinking very hard
+over these momentous matters, I looked up and saw the ghost, not a
+dozen feet away from us. He was sitting on the railing of the porch,
+one leg thrown up before him, the other dangling down as he leaned
+against a post. He was behind Madeline, but almost in front of me, as
+I sat facing the lady. It was fortunate that Madeline was looking out
+over the landscape, for I must have appeared very much startled. The
+ghost had told told me that he would see me some time this night, but
+I did not think he would make his appearance when I was in the company
+of Madeline. If she should see the spirit of her uncle, I could not
+answer for the consequences. I made no exclamation, but the ghost
+evidently saw that I was troubled.
+
+"Don't be afraid," he said--"I shall not let her see me; and she
+cannot hear me speak unless I address myself to her, which I do not
+intend to do."
+
+I suppose I looked grateful.
+
+"So you need not trouble yourself about that," the ghost continued;
+"but it seems to me that you are not getting along very well with your
+affair. If I were you, I should speak out without waiting any longer.
+You will never have a better chance. You are not likely to be
+interrupted; and, so far as I can judge, the lady seems disposed to
+listen to you favorably; that is, if she ever intends to do so. There
+is no knowing when John Hinckman will go away again; certainly not
+this summer. If I were in your place, I should never dare to make love
+to Hinckman's niece if he were anywhere about the place. If he should
+catch any one offering himself to Miss Madeline, he would then be a
+terrible man to encounter."
+
+I agreed perfectly to all this.
+
+"I cannot bear to think of him!" I ejaculated aloud.
+
+"Think of whom?" asked Madeline, turning quickly toward me.
+
+Here was an awkward situation. The long speech of the ghost, to which
+Madeline paid no attention, but which I heard with perfect
+distinctness, had made me forget myself.
+
+It was necessary to explain quickly. Of course, it would not do to
+admit that it was of her dear uncle that I was speaking; and so I
+mentioned hastily the first name I thought of.
+
+"Mr. Vilars," I said.
+
+This statement was entirely correct, for I never could bear to think
+of Mr. Vilars, who was a gentleman who had, at various times, paid
+much attention to Madeline.
+
+"It is wrong for you to speak in that way of Mr. Vilars," she said.
+"He is a remarkably well-educated and sensible young man, and has very
+pleasant manners. He expects to be elected to the legislature this
+fall, and I should not be surprised if he made his mark. He will do
+well in a legislative body, for whenever Mr. Vilars has anything to
+say he knows just how and when to say it."
+
+This was spoken very quietly, and without any show of resentment,
+which was all very natural, for if Madeline thought at all favorably
+of me she could not feel displeased that I should have disagreeable
+emotions in regard to a possible rival. The concluding words contained
+a hint which I was not slow to understand. I felt very sure that if
+Mr. Vilars were in my present position he would speak quickly enough.
+
+"I know it is wrong to have such ideas about a person," I said, "but I
+cannot help it."
+
+The lady did not chide me, and after this she seemed even in a softer
+mood. As for me, I felt considerably annoyed, for I had not wished to
+admit that any thought of Mr. Vilars had ever occupied my mind.
+
+"You should not speak aloud that way," said the ghost, "or you may get
+yourself into trouble. I want to see everything go well with you,
+because then you may be disposed to help me, especially if I should
+chance to be of any assistance to you, which I hope I shall be."
+
+I longed to tell him that there was no way in which he could help me
+so much as by taking his instant departure. To make love to a young
+lady with a ghost sitting on the railing near by, and that ghost the
+apparition of a much-dreaded uncle, the very idea of whom in such a
+position and at such a time made me tremble, was a difficult, if not
+an impossible, thing to do; but I forbore to speak, although I may
+have looked my mind.
+
+"I suppose," continued the ghost, "that you have not heard anything
+that might be of advantage to me. Of course, I am very anxious to
+hear, but if you have anything to tell me, I can wait until you are
+alone. I will come to you to-night in your room, or I will stay here
+until the lady goes away."
+
+"You need not wait here," I said; "I have nothing at all to say to
+you."
+
+Madeline sprang to her feet, her face flushed and her eyes ablaze.
+
+"Wait here!" she cried. "What do you suppose I am waiting for? Nothing
+to say to me indeed!--I should think so! What should you have to say
+to me?"
+
+"Madeline," I exclaimed, stepping toward her, "let me explain."
+
+But she had gone.
+
+Here was the end of the world for me! I turned fiercely to the ghost.
+
+"Wretched existence!" I cried. "You have ruined everything. You have
+blackened my whole life. Had it not been for you----"
+
+But here my voice faltered. I could say no more.
+
+"You wrong me," said the ghost. "I have not injured you. I have tried
+only to encourage and assist you, and it is your own folly that has
+done this mischief. But do not despair. Such mistakes as these can be
+explained. Keep up a brave heart. Good-by."
+
+And he vanished from the railing like a bursting soap-bubble.
+
+I went gloomily to bed, but I saw no apparitions that night except
+those of despair and misery which my wretched thoughts called up. The
+words I had uttered had sounded to Madeline like the basest insult. Of
+course, there was only one interpretation she could put upon them.
+
+As to explaining my ejaculations, that was impossible. I thought the
+matter over and over again as I lay awake that night, and I determined
+that I would never tell Madeline the facts of the case. It would be
+better for me to suffer all my life than for her to know that the
+ghost of her uncle haunted the house. Mr. Hinckman was away, and if
+she knew of his ghost she could not be made to believe that he was not
+dead. She might not survive the shock! No, my heart could bleed, but I
+would never tell her.
+
+The next day was fine, neither too cool nor too warm; the breezes were
+gentle, and nature smiled. But there were no walks or rides with
+Madeline. She seemed to be much engaged during the day, and I saw but
+little of her. When we met at meals she was polite, but very quiet and
+reserved. She had evidently determined on a course of conduct, and had
+resolved to assume that, although I had been very rude to her, she did
+not understand the import of my words. It would be quite proper, of
+course, for her not to know what I meant by my expressions of the
+night before.
+
+I was downcast and wretched, and said but little, and the only bright
+streak across the black horizon of my woe was the fact that she did
+not appear to be happy, although she affected an air of unconcern. The
+moonlit porch was deserted that evening, but wandering about the house
+I found Madeline in the library alone. She was reading, but I went in
+and sat down near her. I felt that, although I could not do so fully,
+I must in a measure explain my conduct of the night before. She
+listened quietly to a somewhat labored apology I made for the words I
+had used.
+
+"I have not the slightest idea what you meant," she said, "but you
+were very rude."
+
+I earnestly disclaimed any intention of rudeness, and assured her,
+with a warmth of speech that must have made some impression upon her,
+that rudeness to her would be an action impossible to me. I said a
+great deal upon the subject, and implored her to believe that if it
+were not for a certain obstacle I could speak to her so plainly that
+she would understand everything.
+
+She was silent for a time, and then she said, rather more kindly, I
+thought, than she had spoken before:
+
+"Is that obstacle in any way connected with my uncle?"
+
+"Yes," I answered, after a little hesitation, "it is, in a measure,
+connected with him."
+
+She made no answer to this, and sat looking at her book, but not
+reading. From the expression of her face, I thought she was somewhat
+softened toward me. She knew her uncle as well as I did, and she may
+have been thinking that, if he were the obstacle that prevented my
+speaking (and there were many ways in which he might be that
+obstacle), my position would be such a hard one that it would excuse
+some wildness of speech and eccentricity of manner. I saw, too, that
+the warmth of my partial explanations had had some effect on her, and
+I began to believe that it might be a good thing for me to speak my
+mind without delay. No matter how she should receive my proposition,
+my relations with her could not be worse than they had been the
+previous night and day, and there was something in her face which
+encouraged me to hope that she might forget my foolish exclamations
+of the evening before if I began to tell her my tale of love.
+
+I drew my chair a little nearer to her, and as I did so the ghost
+burst into the room from the doorway behind her. I say burst, although
+no door flew open and he made no noise. He was wildly excited, and
+waved his arms above his head. The moment I saw him, my heart fell
+within me. With the entrance of that impertinent apparition, every
+hope fled from me. I could not speak while he was in the room.
+
+I must have turned pale, and I gazed steadfastly at the ghost, almost
+without seeing Madeline, who sat between us.
+
+"Do you know," he cried, "that John Hinckman is coming up the hill? He
+will be here in fifteen minutes, and if you are doing anything in the
+way of love-making, you had better hurry it up. But this is not what I
+came to tell you. I have glorious news! At last I am transferred! Not
+forty minutes ago a Russian nobleman was murdered by the Nihilists.
+Nobody ever thought of him in connection with an immediate ghostship.
+My friends instantly applied for the situation for me, and obtained my
+transfer. I am off before that horrid Hinckman comes up the hill. The
+moment I reach my new position, I shall put off this hated semblance.
+Good-by. You can't imagine how glad I am to be, at last, the real
+ghost of somebody."
+
+"Oh!" I cried, rising to my feet and stretching out my arms in utter
+wretchedness, "I would to heaven you were mine!"
+
+"I _am_ yours," said Madeline, raising to me her tearful eyes.
+
+
+
+
+A MARTYR TO SCIENCE.
+
+BY MARY PUTNAM JACOBI, M.D.
+
+_Putnam's Magazine, August, 1869._
+
+
+My brief residence at Rome sufficed to destroy my illusions.
+
+A Frenchman, a student of medicine, I had, nevertheless, remained an
+ardent disciple of Catholicism,--the faith in which I had been brought
+up by a devout mother. She was an Italian, and from her I had
+inherited an intense, passionate nature, and capacity for belief,
+which my father's nationality failed to neutralize. From him, on the
+other hand, I had received my education, my profession, and a certain
+large habit of thought, which, disdaining all lesser interests,
+personal or national, occupied itself exclusively with themes of
+universal humanity. This habit, extremely characteristic of French
+intellect, concurred,--perhaps as much as anything else,--in making me
+an ultra-montanist. As an Italian, I believed in the Church with
+ardor,--because I believed; as a Frenchman, I demanded a church
+universal, as alone worthy of attaching my belief. The cause of the
+Pope was for me identified with the spiritual cause of the world, and
+the lukewarmness of so-called Liberal Catholics enraged me. I could
+understand the opposition of materialists, of atheists, or even
+Protestants. These all occupied a radically different base, and their
+eyes were turned toward a different horizon. But that a man could face
+Truth, and voluntarily scrimp his vision to a miserable corner of her
+robe,--could embrace a principle coldly, with the mere touch of a
+distant finger,--could pause to balance motives, and haggle over the
+price of devotion,--this was as incomprehensible to me as repugnant.
+My own sentiments were equally incomprehensible to the society by
+which I was surrounded, and the opposition which I constantly
+encountered served not a little to rivet my convictions, and fan my
+enthusiasm to passion.
+
+My father died almost immediately after launching me on my medical
+career,--and my darling mother, two years later. In my unutterable
+loneliness, I lost all heart for my studies, and breaking away from
+école and hospitals, wandered in Italy, seeking to quench a quenchless
+grief. There I married an Italian girl, whose hair and eyes reminded
+me of my mother, but who expended on the dream of Italian unity such
+enthusiasm as my mother had lavished for the temporal power of the
+Pope. I think I was unconsciously attracted by this very difference.
+Valeria's opposition to the Pope was so serious and whole-souled, that
+it seemed to invest his cause with new dignity, and in argument with
+her I acquired increased respect for my own theories and for myself as
+capable of sustaining them. Moreover, at the very moment that our
+intellects were most at variance, we were each conscious of a subtle
+sympathy of nature; we were animated by the same feeling, though
+working in different directions. Her antagonism, therefore, never
+irritated me, but,--when the more profound union had once been
+established,--fascinated me by a peculiar charm, and led me, by a
+healthful transition, back to the ruder antagonisms of practical life.
+For, deprived of the support of my mother's lofty confidence, and in
+the weakness following excessive sorrow, I had begun to secretly
+despair of an ideal, which seemed buried in her all-devouring grave.
+At the same time I clung to it the more intensely, precisely because
+it seemed unattainable,--from a sort of morbid craving for whatever
+had become as unattainable as my mother's presence. I loathed action,
+even for the realization of my dreams, and over-concentrated thought
+threatened to degenerate into a sickly reverie that should presently
+exhaust the forces of my life, like an unnaturally prolonged sleep.
+New influence added in this direction might have driven me insane,
+while the diversion afforded by Valeria's counter-enthusiasm and the
+necessity of making an active defence of my own, roused me, and
+brought back the blood to the surface of my life. It was, therefore,
+partly an instinct of self-preservation which led me to Valeria,--and
+she saved me--my noble wife saved me for other destinies.
+
+We returned to Paris, where I resumed and completed my medical
+studies, and I had just graduated when the war broke out in Italy.
+
+Four happy, healthful years had completely restored my mental
+equilibrium. I was no longer an extravagant fanatic, prepared for a
+cloister or a crusade, but still a tolerably ardent ultra-montanist,
+pivoted upon the theory of the temporal power of the Pope. Valeria's
+influence, in modifying the superficial exuberance of my enthusiasm,
+had only rendered its energy more practical, more eager for an
+opportunity to incarnate its ideal in vigorous facts. Now the
+opportunity had arrived, and the enthusiasm blazed forth afresh; all
+interests, all consciousness of other ties were absorbed in devotion
+to the Church of which I felt myself a not unimportant member. My
+fortune, my time, my life, were all too little to place at its
+disposal, and I hastened to enrol myself on the medical staff of a
+regiment of Papal Zouaves. Valeria, who had always reasoned against my
+theories, was too consistent herself to oppose me in putting them into
+practice, but she insisted on accompanying me to Italy. We parted at
+Civita Vecchia, I to go to Rome, she, with our two children, to
+Naples, where her family had formerly resided. She wrote to me every
+day, but after several weeks came a blank of three days without a
+letter. At the same moment arrived the news that the cholera was
+raging at Naples--news which rendered most ominous this sudden
+interruption of the correspondence. I obtained leave of absence and
+hurried south, to learn that my wife and babies were dead--fallen
+among the very first victims of the pestilence.
+
+Stunned and heart-sick, I returned to Rome, anxious to devote myself
+to the cause with the more desperate earnestness that it was the only
+living interest left to me in the world. I arrived just before the
+battle of Montana, and regretted that fortune had not assigned me a
+rôle among the soldiers of the cross, among those who might embrace a
+welcome death, in exchange for the glory of serving the Church.
+Resolved to approach this honor as nearly as possible, I contrived to
+obtain an appointment in the ambulance corps, and accompanied the
+troops to the field. I have no distinct recollection of that day,--the
+third after Valeria's funeral,--and which, as my first experience of a
+battle, assumed to me the magnificent proportions of an Austerlitz or
+Waterloo. I only know that, intoxicated by the novel excitement of the
+scene, perhaps by the mere smell of the gun-powder, I forgot the
+duties to which I was assigned, snatched a musket from a Zouave who
+had just expired at my feet, and rushed into the heart of the
+conflict. I received a slight wound in the forehead, staggered, fell,
+and fainted away. I suppose I must, at the same time, have received
+the shock from a larger ball than that which grazed my temple, and
+experienced some concussion of the brain, for I did not fully recover
+consciousness until I had been transported to the military hospital.
+
+Here I stayed a week, and came, for the first time, into near contact
+with my fellow-defenders of the faith. The contact, instead of
+warming, chilled me inexplicably. Instead of belief, I discovered
+scepticism; instead of enthusiasm, persiflage and eternal quizzing,
+intolerable in professed martyrs to a sacred cause.
+
+"Que voulez-vous?" they said, shrugging their shoulders at my
+indignant remonstrances. "The ass who carries all his panniers on the
+same side stumbles on his own nose. To each man his business; those
+who believe, don't fight; and we who fight cannot be expected to
+believe."
+
+I was surprised to find that my own loyalty became affected by this
+indifference, much more than by any influence to which I had hitherto
+been submitted. Others had sneered because they did not know; but
+these men precisely because they knew too well. The cause which
+depended so exclusively upon their bravado was belittled in their own
+eyes, and presently in mine also. I felt somewhat ashamed of the drops
+of blood I had lavished so heroically at Montana, and when the
+gazettes began to flourish the fame of the victory, repeat the dying
+speeches of fallen braves, and enrol rascally Zouaves on saintly
+calendars, I could have blushed in the dark--everywhere a little
+martyrdom, a little battle, and innumerable little apotheoses. I began
+to doubt the greatness of the cause made up of such infinitesimals. It
+is easy to serve ideas in which we have ceased to heartily believe,
+but it is impossible to fight for those that have become to us
+the least in the world ridiculous. Perhaps Valeria's death had
+unconsciously disheartened me for an enterprise which had been,
+however remotely, its occasion. Perhaps many of her words, whose force
+I had successfully resisted during her lifetime, now re echoed from
+her grave with more profound significance. But it is certain that, for
+the first time, I wavered in affection for my life-long ideal. Alarmed
+at myself, and determined, if possible, to reinvigorate my failing
+faith, I went back to Rome, trusting that the Holy City would inspire
+me afresh. Appointed to a civil office of considerable importance, I
+was soon introduced into the midst of the Papal Court, and behind the
+scenes of the magnificent theatrical display that had so long dazzled
+my imagination. I was initiated into the shameful mysteries of cabal
+and intrigue, and taught the precious secrets of Pope and Cardinals.
+On every side I saw falsehood, treachery, and duplicity welcomed as
+the ablest servitors of truth, the grandest professions assumed as an
+excuse for the most vulgar villainy, ambition glozed over by degrading
+humility, and sensuality all the more disgusting from the saintly
+robes in which it was paraded and but half concealed. My faith,
+already enfeebled, died of rapid decline, stifled by these monstrous
+fooleries. Disenchanted, revolted, disgusted, I resigned my position,
+and abandoned the Pope and his cause forever.
+
+I did not, therefore, enlist under Garibaldi. A tenacious loyalty to
+the memory of ideas I had once served would always prevent me from
+more actively attacking them, or from desecrating their graves.
+Moreover, the revulsion of feeling consequent upon my disillusion was
+so tremendous, that I was swept entirely out of the region of the
+questions at issue, and both sides became indifferent to me, both
+camps dim and shadowy in the distance.
+
+I returned, therefore, to France, and settled down in a remote corner
+of the provinces, to exercise my profession as a country physician.
+After the accumulated anguish of the last few months, the quiet
+dulness of the place was infinitely grateful to me. I was like a
+bruised swimmer, tossed upon a monotonous sandbank, who only asks to
+be left there in peace, until long repose has rested the aching limbs,
+and blunted the harrowing recollections of the shipwreck. The
+incessant excitement of Paris was intolerable to me, and scarcely less
+so the idea of revisiting its troops of sympathetic friends. They
+would proffer venal consolation for the loss of my wife and children;
+they would congratulate me maliciously on my conversion from
+ultra-montanism. I shrank from their curious eyes and voluble
+tongues, as a wounded man from the glittering apparatus of the
+surgeon, and like him turned over my face to the wall, to sleep.
+
+Two years thus passed away--two years of mornings and evenings,
+following one another in calm succession, like a row of stolid peasant
+gleaners going to the fields. I became inexpressibly soothed by their
+calm, and by the nice tact and exquisite courtesy of Nature, with whom
+I had done well to take refuge. She is never astonished, she asks no
+impertinent questions, but welcomes her guests with even suavity, like
+a liberal host, throwing open to them drawing-room or garret, as may
+best please their fancy. The growing trees had no time to turn round
+to look at me; the contended hills embraced me in their arms, and let
+me pass without a word; the grain ripened in the mellow autumn days,
+unheeding the little shadow that I threw across its sunshine. This
+preoccupied indifference of all living things, which would initiate a
+mere vexation, clamorous for sympathy, is like blessed balm to the
+sufferer from a profound grief or mortification. Counsel is good,
+friendliness precious, while anything remains to be done to avert an
+impending calamity. But pitying words over an accomplished and
+irremediable misfortune, serve only to revive useless pain, and
+blunder, like a man who should try to force open the eyelids of a
+corpse. Nature, wiser than officious human tenderness, takes the
+sorrow coolly, as a matter of course, and in silence buries it out of
+sight among a million others, already thickly strewn with withered
+leaves. And, in presence of her imperturbable serenity during the
+blackest days of frost and winter, the sufferer becomes insensibly
+inspired with her unspoken confidence in the final return of spring.
+The people of the village and the farms, rooted as their own beeches,
+reflected back upon Nature the same immovable calm. They did not
+disturb themselves about me, because my rôle in society was so
+evident, respectable, and satisfactory, that I offered no foothold for
+either curiosity or scandal. I had been sent by Providence and the
+Faculty of Medicine to cure their not too frequent rheumatisms and
+catarrhs; I acquitted myself not ill of my business,--they asked no
+more,--and neither offered nor expected personal interest or
+friendship.
+
+As the months rolled on, I became more interested than formerly in
+medical reading. Absorbed entirely in my books, I even fancied that
+the healing apathy which sheltered my life was growing more profound.
+This was a mistake; the thickening of the vapors that shut out the
+external world, really denoted that they were about to condense and
+precipitate themselves into a new creation. New interests were
+preparing, that should presently claim from my nature all the energy,
+enthusiasm, and passion which had once been devoted to the old. Of
+this I became aware in the following manner. One day, among a package
+of books sent to me from Paris, arrived a pamphlet just written in
+defence of a new theory concerning the movements of the human heart.
+My curiosity was excited by the idea of a new theory on such a famous
+subject, and my interest was by no means abated after perusal of the
+pamphlet. Exposition of this theory would demand a crowd of technical
+details, unintelligible to the general reader, and therefore
+inappropriate in this place. But let such an one take the trouble
+to listen for a moment to the ticking of a heart, seemingly so
+monotonous, simple, and easy to understand, and then reflect that the
+slight elements discoverable in this little sound, have been forced
+by human intellect into at least twenty different combinations, and
+afforded ground for as many theories, each defended with impassioned
+earnestness by a different observer. He may then realize something of
+the interest which attaches to the explanation of this phenomenon--may
+even experience a sort of mental vertigo, as if he had witnessed the
+evolution of a world out of nothing. Owing to the paucity of the facts
+to be observed, the finesse requisite for the observation, and the
+intellectual dexterity needed to retain such minute circumstances
+before the mind long enough to think about them, the problem is one of
+the most delicate and intricate offered by physiological science. Once
+engaged in its discussion, the mind becomes hopelessly fascinated, and
+continues to pirouette about an invisible point, that is neither a
+thought nor a material phenomenon, but, as it were, a refined essence
+of both.
+
+As in all series of vital actions, each item of the phenomenon in
+question is so interlinked with the rest, that an explanation of a
+part can never be considered final, so long as any problem remains
+unresolved. The latest experimentator, brooding over hitherto
+neglected details, may always hope to light upon some clue that shall
+unravel the entire entanglement in a different manner, and reform upon
+a new basis ideas now grouped in pretended fixity. The excitement
+caused by this possibility is amply sufficient to stimulate research.
+And there is no need to discover an immediate practical application
+for the theory in order to bait the interest of vulgar minds. These
+would always be incapable of such difficult investigations, while
+really competent students were supremely indifferent to all lesser
+advantages attached to the discovery of truth. As for me, I had been
+so long removed from active life and its necessities (for my
+professional career had as yet been too facile and commonplace to
+arouse me to them), that the impractical character of the subject
+constituted for me an additional charm. I recognized that it belonged,
+for the present at least, to the region of pure thought, pure science,
+accessible only to intelligences refined by nature, and enriched by
+superior culture. In addition, therefore, to the intrinsic interest
+of the problem, and the solid satisfaction arising from acute
+intellectual activity, I could, in pursuit of this theme, experience
+all the subtle pleasure derived from a consciousness of personal
+superiority--pleasure as attainable in solitude as elsewhere since the
+superiority was too real and unquestionable to require the
+confirmatory suffrage of the crowd.
+
+I abandoned all other studies, and threw myself impetuously into the
+current of these newly-received ideas. I ransacked my library, from
+Herophilus to Haller, from Galen to Helmholtz. England, Germany,
+Italy, France yielded up their tribute to my excited curiosity. And
+the theme, shifted, refracted from intellect to intellect, multiplied
+itself to bewildering complexity.
+
+Not content with reading, I performed experiments, repeating those of
+my predecessors, and inventing new to control their conclusions. "With
+my own hands I stirred the soil, fetid and palpitating with life," and
+in this inmost intimacy with Nature felt myself grow strong, as Antćus
+by contact with the mother earth. Thus roused from my long torpor into
+the most intense activity,--for all activity is slack in comparison
+with that of thought,--I became dissatisfied with the facility of my
+present surroundings. I was anxious to pit myself against the world of
+Paris. I wanted opposition, contradiction, in order to vanquish them,
+and absorb their force into the glory of my triumph. Moreover, my
+studies had now reached a point where they required the assistance
+that could only be obtained in a great city: in a word, I resolved to
+return to the capital, for a longer or shorter time, as the sequel
+should prove desirable. My means rendered me independent of my
+_clientčle_, and I left my patients without regret to the care of
+an easily procured substitute. It is so rare to alight upon an
+interesting case in the country! Nothing but rheumatism and measles,
+measles and rheumatism, and never an autopsy,--it is as monotonous as
+the treatment of fever and ague. I longed for the vast metropolitan
+hospitals, containing specimens of every shade of disease, and
+affording unlimited opportunities for auscultation. Of these I
+stood especially in need, for the train of thought suggested by
+physiological experiment must be completed by pathological researches,
+which could only be carried on at Paris.
+
+To Paris, therefore, I came, as to a new world, so completely had I
+been separated from it during the two last years. It was as if one of
+the spirits in the metempsychosis imagined by Fourier, had returned to
+the brilliant sphere from which death had driven him in temporary
+exile. I was at first enchanted, intoxicated. The mental activity
+which had seemed so intense in the sluggish province, needed to be
+quickened fourfold to keep abreast of the intellects with which I
+entered into relation, and the consciousness of the quickening
+affected me as with new wine. But, as I grew accustomed to my new
+medium, I became again subtly dissatisfied. It was not enough to be
+abreast of the world, I wanted to be a little ahead. In my solitude
+it was easy to cherish illusions concerning the value of my own work,
+to picture myself as a mighty and triumphant wrestler with Nature,
+capable, by his single strength, of forcing her reluctant secrets, to
+reveal them afterwards to an admiring world. But at Paris, with its
+enormous condensation of intellectual force, I could not flatter
+myself on the solitary greatness of my achievements, nor ignore the
+collective action of society. Whatever my attainment, I should be
+forced to share its fame with a hundred other workers, who had
+lent me, unasked, their aid. The distance between the person who
+uttered the last word, and him who said the next to the last, was
+infinitesimal, and this close proximity annoyed me. I longed for some
+brilliant occasion to surpass all my contemporaries in one great
+bound; an opportunity to bestow on science and humanity some unique
+benefit that could never be compared with those accumulated by
+lesser men. One day, revolving many things in my mind, I entered the
+Bibliothčque Impériale. Strolling idly past the grated bookcases, my
+attention was attracted by the title of a thin folio, wedged in
+between Lavater and Geoffroy St. Hilaire. An inexplicable impulse led
+me to demand this book, the "History of Vesalius and his Times." I had
+no particular reason, that I knew of, to be interested in Vesalius; I
+merely followed an idle whim, suggested rather by the peculiar shape
+and position of the folio, than by any solid reason; and this whim
+did not hurry me out of my lounging mood. I settled myself in one of
+the windows, and leisurely turned over the leaves of my book, reading
+a line here and a phrase there, until I alighted and settled upon the
+following passage: "So the rumor spread abroad that Vesalius had
+opened the chest of a living man to see his heart beat. And upon that
+the people were in a fury and the court hissed with rage, and Vesalius
+was obliged to flee from Spain before the power of the Inquisition;
+and some say that he then made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. But on
+his return he was shipwrecked on a desolate island and perished
+miserably. Hubert, in his _Vindicić contra tyrannus_ reports this
+history to the eternal shame of the Jesuits."
+
+The world often describes with minuteness the material framework of
+such noisy events as have impressed its coarse sensibilities. But it
+commonly neglects, because ignoring, the scenes wherein have taken
+place the crises of thought, or occurred the birth of new, indomitable
+ideas. To the thinker, however, such outer scenes remain inextricably
+associated with the thought that has sprung to life in their midst. To
+this day I preserve a vivid recollection of every item of the place
+where I read the story of Vesalius; the lofty reading-room, with its
+confused lining of many-colored books, the tables crowded by eager
+students, the broad, deep windows through which the sun streamed, and
+from which I, sitting with open folio on my lap, watched the shifting
+fountain and the swaying trees and the long, untrimmed grass in the
+courtyard below. For the story seemed to have laid hold of my inmost
+soul, and touched the spring of a long-hidden desire. Why I was so
+moved, I could not tell. What issue would open to this whirlpool of
+vague excitement in which I had fallen, I had no idea. But I was
+profoundly conscious both of the excitement and the emotion, and, with
+that refined epicureanism of which intellectual people alone are
+capable, I abandoned myself, for a time, to the subtle luxury of their
+enjoyment.
+
+My reverie was interrupted by the clanging of the great clock and the
+scarcely less harsh voice of the _gardien_ as he announced the hour
+for closing the library. Still wrapped in fantastic meditation, I
+descended the stairs to the street, and followed the rue Richelieu to
+the boulevard, there to mingle with the human stream that endlessly
+encircled the city like a new army of Gideon. Drifting in the current,
+I reached the Bastile, crossed the Pont d'Austerlitz, gained the
+Boulevard de l'Hôpital and continued walking to the Invalides, to the
+Avenues Jena and Wagram, and from the Place des Ternes, all along the
+exterior rampart. And as I walked, my entangled thoughts gradually
+disengaged themselves into clearness and precision.
+
+The biographer of Vesalius, who evidently shared the prejudices of the
+people, had exerted himself strenuously to disprove the calumny
+attached to the name of the great anatomist. He, like the rest, was
+blinded by that vulgar egotism which clamorously prefers the
+interests of individuals to those of society,--egotism no less
+short-sighted than vulgar, for the large and abstract interests cared
+for by science are precisely those which shall ultimately affect the
+greatest number of individuals; and no less inconsequent than
+short-sighted, since no one hesitates to ruin entire hosts of
+individuals upon the faintest chance of promoting the material
+interests of society. A stock company may immolate hundreds during the
+construction of a Panama railroad--a sovereign sacrifice thousands in
+the contest for a Crimean peninsula; the hue and cry only begins when
+the savant modestly begs permission to utilize a single life for the
+advancement of science. He is execrated as a monster, and burned alive
+in expiation of his crime. Absurd inconsistency, trivial superstition!
+from which it is time that at least the scientific world were
+emancipated. Long enough has the ignorant rabble exercised brute
+tyranny over intellects towering above its comprehension. The time
+for concession is past, the moment has arrived for the savant to
+assume the sway that rightfully devolves upon him and declare the
+confiscation of all claims to the supreme interest of the search after
+truth.
+
+For my part, therefore, so far from blaming Vesalius because he had
+dissected a living man, I should have accorded him most profound
+reverence for this proof of elevation above ordinary prejudice. And
+the more I thought over the matter, the more I became convinced that
+the accusation was well founded, that the deed had really been
+performed, which moral cowardice alone induced the glorious criminal
+to disavow.
+
+My brooding fancy, satiated with the image of the great anatomist,
+began to occupy itself with his so-called victim. Who was he? what
+motive had induced him to surrender his body to the scalpel of the
+master, his life to the realization of the master's idea? A slave, a
+debtor, from whom the ingenious savant had thus exacted a pound of
+flesh? A trembling poltroon, forced to the sacrifice more reluctantly
+than Isaac to the altar? I preferred rather to believe that it was a
+favorite pupil, burning with enthusiasm for the master, joyful to
+participate in his mighty labors at the cheap expense of his own
+lesser life. Had Vesalius been a general, and he an aide-de-camp
+before a rampart, all the world would have applauded him, rushing upon
+death at the word of command. I myself had known, by a brief
+experience, the thrilling impulse to fight, to die, in behalf of a
+cause. Rivers of blood had been shed for honor, for loyalty, for
+patriotism. Was the desire for truth less ardent than these worn-out
+passions! Could it not rather supply their place in the new world
+about to be created by science? What could produce a greater
+impression upon the entire world, and more forcibly announce the
+inauguration of a new era, than the voice of a man who should declare,
+"I refuse to draw my sword for the hideous folly of war; to surrender
+my life at the absurd caprice of princes; but I offer myself
+cheerfully, unreservedly, as the instrument of Science, in her
+majestic schemes for the discovery of truth!"
+
+My recent studies on the problem of the heart's movements brought me
+into peculiar sympathy with the object of Vesalius' researches. The
+tantalizing results as often obtained by experiments on lower animals,
+the uncertainty of the inferences that could be deduced from them to
+form a theory of the human organism, had often excited in me a lively
+desire for a direct experiment upon man. This desire had hitherto been
+smothered beneath the mass of conventional ideas, which so frequently
+overwhelm our timidity and enslave our feebleness in endless routine.
+But the daring word of genius had now struck the chains from my
+intellect, and emancipated me from the slavery of that hesitation.
+I--I would follow in the path already traced by that bolder mind; I
+would redeem that calumniated memory from disgrace, and enrich its
+glory by the surpassing realization of the original conception. _I_
+would inaugurate the new era; I would set the example of supreme
+heroism in science; and all the world, and all future ages, should
+preserve my name with reverent homage, and enwreath it with laurels
+of undying fame. For, that the purity of my motives might be above
+suspicion, I would perform the experiment, not as Vesalius in the
+capacity of anatomist, but as the victim, voluntarily devoting himself
+to the transcendent interests of an ideal cause.
+
+And as my mind leaped up into this grand thought, I felt cheek and
+brow flush with violent emotion. Carried along by the first impetus of
+the idea, I walked as rapidly as in a dream, unseeing, unhearing every
+thing that surrounded me. Before I knew whither I had come, I felt a
+cool wind blow over me, as if after a feverish journey on a heated
+road, I had suddenly stepped into a cool, dark cavern. And, looking
+out from the brilliant visions in which I was plunged, I found myself
+already entered within the gates of Pčre la Chaise--the city of the
+dead, of the vast majority to which I was to go over in fulfilment of
+my great idea. I wandered among the graves, and read the epitaphs, the
+reiterated dreary expressions of disappointment and despair, that the
+deceased had been passively torn from a world to which every fibre of
+their hearts was clinging. Not so would read _my_ epitaph, and I
+began to compose it, less as a witty amusement than as a device for
+resisting an insidious chill that had begun to creep over me like a
+damp exhalation from the graves. For my imagination suddenly pictured
+to itself the heavy tombstone pressing down, down forever, on the
+cruel coffin-lid beneath which I should be lying. I shuddered at the
+picture, I shuddered at death, and, leaning on an iron rail which girt
+in a tomb, hid my face in my arms to shut out the signs of decay and
+the more ghastly emblems of immortality with which the populous
+_cimetičre_ was crowded.
+
+Raising my head after a brief struggle, I perceived that I was
+standing in front of the famous tomb of Abelard and Heloise. The
+sculptured forms of the unhappy lovers reposed side by side on the lid
+of the stone mausoleum, as they had lain for six centuries, and
+immortalized the mingling of their mortal dust below. Tears sprang to
+my eyes as I looked at their still, peaceful faces, for I remembered
+my dead wife, and then, my lost children. Death, that contained them
+in its hollow caverns, could not be frightful to me. It was rather the
+treasure-house of all I possessed most precious, and which I should
+now hasten to reclaim. All the loneliness and longing which had been
+dulled by habit, and lately covered over by mental activity, awoke,
+and cried out passionately within me, repelling the slight pleasures
+of this world, as a child crying for its mother dashes aside an
+offered toy. What was left to me in life that I should cling to it?
+What ties bound me to this perfidious, slippery earth? To whom owed I
+any duties? Whose pillow would moisten with tears because I had passed
+out of sight? Destitute of personal interests, I could only devote
+myself to those of humanity, and that by some method that should
+concentrate in a single moment both the achievement and its reward.
+For small were the enjoyment to survive for fame, with whose report I
+could return laden to no fireside, for whose sake I could watch no
+eyes brighten in sweet pride of sympathy. I should sicken of it in
+half an hour, and my hard-earned laurels would become as dusty and
+lifeless as those ghastly wreaths of immortelles hanging around
+Heloise's tomb. So desolated love joined itself to restless ambition
+and ideal enthusiasm, to concentrate my life for the purpose from
+which, since then, it has never swerved.
+
+Thus resolved upon self-devotion, I set about the task of finding a
+colleague to share the risks and glory of my enterprise. I did not
+conceal from myself that upon him would devolve a rôle far more
+difficult and complicated than my own. From me, the subject of the
+proposed experiment, was only required sublime heroism for the
+sacrifice. But the man who should perform the operation must possess
+moral courage to face public criticism, perhaps opprobrium; a trained
+intellect, already habituated to discussion of the problem in
+question, and impassioned for its solution; great practical skill and
+finesse, able to appreciate and profit by every detail of the
+phenomena that would unroll themselves before his observation; iron
+nerve, that should remain unmoved by any startling peculiarities of
+the case in hand.
+
+The necessity for uniting so many characteristics, compelled me to
+abandon my first hope of forming a committee for the experiment; for
+as soon as I began to sound physiologists on the subject, I landed
+knee-deep in a mass of invincible prejudices and prepossessions. The
+scheme was too new, too daring for the capacity of the mediocrities
+which constitute the bulk of even the scientific world. I must
+discover some exceptional solitary enthusiast like myself, able to
+appreciate and embrace with joy the grand opportunity I offered him.
+To the search for this enthusiast, therefore, I bent all my energies,
+and knocked at many doors, wherever, through the windows, I believed
+to have detected on the hearth the upleaping of an inner flame.
+
+It was astonishing how often I knocked in vain! How often my
+insinuations, my suggestions, my direct propositions were repulsed! I
+appealed to a professor who had concentrated the best years of his
+life to the problem I proposed to solve,--he pooh-poohed my scheme. In
+vain I tried to explain my methods for overcoming its practical
+difficulties; he decried them all, I am convinced, from pure jealousy.
+
+"And you ought to know by this time," he added with a scarcely
+disguised sneer, "that a single experiment on a human subject would be
+of little value until its results were controlled by a dozen others.
+And I doubt that your enthusiasm would prove sufficiently contagious
+to furnish the supply for the dissecting table." And he obstinately
+shut his ears to any further argument.
+
+I disclosed my plan to a struggling physician, ready for any adventure
+that should thrust him into notoriety, bring his name before the
+public, and thus open the way to a prosperous _clientčle_. Yet he
+recoiled from a project fraught with promise so sure and magnificent
+as mine. A hospital _interne_, flushed with enthusiasm for his first
+practical studies, started with horror when I divulged my ideas.
+Many, true Parisian _railleurs_, regarded my proposition as an
+excellent joke.
+
+"Allons donc, c'est une vieille blague que tu nous fais lŕ."
+
+And all my protestations served only to increase their amusement, and
+their determination not to be taken in.
+
+A few eyed me suspiciously, as if they imagined I were insane, and one
+old bourgeois doctor had the impertinence to administer to me a moral
+lecture.
+
+"Young man," he said, "you are possessed by the same preposterous
+vanity which induced Empedocles to throw himself into Vesuvius, and
+Erostratus to fire the temple of Diana. I recommend a course of dry
+cupping to the nape of the neck, to relieve your congested and
+over-excited brain, and, in the mean time, a decent seclusion from
+society, that you insult with your absurdities."
+
+I flushed red with anger, but this last rebuff warned me that I must
+change my tactics. Like all reformers, I found the world too stiff and
+rigid for my purposes, and only harmed myself with kicking against the
+bristling pricks. I must turn to a new generation, to early youth, and
+find some mind still unformed and flexible, that I could myself submit
+to a far-sighted training, and cast into the mould of my own ideas.
+The opportunities of which my contemporaries were unworthy, I would
+reserve as a gracious boon for a well-initiated pupil.
+
+Two years had elapsed since my arrival at Paris, and the untiring
+energy with which I pursued physiological researches had begun to
+bring my name into notice. When, therefore, I proposed to open a
+course of lectures upon experimental physiology, my friends all
+encouraged me with flattering assurances.
+
+"A la bonne heure," exclaimed the student to whom had I once addressed
+my secret plans, "something sensible at last. I trust such rational
+occupation will purge your head of its maggots, and satisfy your
+aspirations for fame--"
+
+I smiled stealthily to myself. It is thus that the light world always
+measures the austerity of our resolutions by its own lightness!
+
+I obtained the requisite official permission, and opened the course at
+the École Pratique under the best auspices. The lectures were thronged
+from the beginning, and the interest by no means abated as the weeks
+rolled on. Enthusiastic myself, I possessed in no small degree the
+gift of communicating (on all ordinary subjects) my enthusiasm to
+others. I aimed less at imparting solid instruction to my pupils than
+at impressing their imagination by a series of skilfully arranged
+effects. My experiments, therefore, were governed by dramatic unity,
+rarely sought in the confused and arid expositions of official
+professors. Now I led my auditors into the inmost laboratories of
+Nature, and revealed, in plant and animal, the fine affinities that
+regulated her processes of nutrition. Now I traced some delicate
+nervous filament from the spinal column of the amphioxus to the
+cerebral hemisphere of the mammifer. Now I disclosed the ramifying
+canals in the vast system of circulation, mounting from the spongy
+network of the mollusk and the sluggish lymphatic of the reptile to
+the brilliant, bounding arteries of the double-hearted vertebrates.
+And always, beyond the last disclosure, after the most complete
+revelation, I hinted at something yet to come, some higher, unveiled
+mystery, to which all this grand series was but the prelude. As a
+priest who volubly initiates the neophytes into the service of the
+temple, but points in silence to the inner court containing the Deity
+for whom the service is performed, so I, after the most magnificent
+display of animal life, silently indicated a concealed hereafter, a
+culmination in the human body, hitherto withheld from our curious
+gaze. I thus strove to suggest an ideal, left for a time incomplete;
+to foster an impetuous impatience, that, stimulated by the great
+acquisitions of the past, should reach forward irresistibly for the
+greater prize of the future. I trusted that among all my auditors
+would be found one that should divine the cipher, and quicken over its
+subtle secret--one intellect, that, carried unconsciously along the
+current of my thought, should finally arrive at my unrevealed goal.
+
+Among the most constant attendants on the lectures, I had long noticed
+one young man of about twenty-two years old, who always occupied the
+same seat close to my operating-table. He was thin, shabbily dressed,
+with full, intense forehead, ravenous face, and brilliant eyes. His
+poverty was indicated not only by his toilette, and that special form
+of unfed expression peculiar to the studious hungry, but also by his
+absence from all the private classes, and redoubled assiduity at the
+public lectures. His intelligence was evident from the absorbed
+attention with which he followed the experiments, and from his manner
+of taking notes,--not at random, like most of the students, but at
+well-chosen points perceptible only to a person already in possession
+of a commanding view of the whole subject. By a little stratagem, I
+contrived one day to get hold of his note-book, and was surprised at
+the accurate observations, the acute suggestions, and range of
+information indicated by the marginal queries. Those who have ever
+experienced the delight of discovering an intellect--discovery more
+precious than that of a gold mine--can appreciate the eagerness with
+which I devoured these pages, finding everywhere the stamp of the mind
+I sought. And my satisfaction was redoubled by reflecting how greatly
+the youth and poverty of the writer might increase my facilities for
+obtaining complete possession of him. I was not long in devising a
+scheme for forcing the intimacy of the young man, who, like most poor
+students, was evidently as shy and proud as he was poor.
+
+One day, at the close of the lecture, I touched my student on the arm.
+
+"Be kind enough to wait a moment," I said, "I have something to say to
+you."
+
+The boy flushed and drew back a little with all the haughtiness of a
+sensitive person ill at ease with the world, and expecting from it
+nothing but rebuffs and insolence. I fancied that an anxious suspicion
+crossed his mind that I was about to lay claim to some payment for
+lessons, of which he had hitherto ignored the necessity. I waited till
+the greater part of the crowd had squeezed through the narrow door of
+the amphitheatre, dismissed the loiterers, and then turned to my
+companion with a frank air of relief, as to an equal with whom I could
+refresh myself after the fatigue of teaching lesser minds. I saw that
+I had already won his heart, before I began to speak.
+
+"I find that I require another assistant," I said. "The man that I
+have at present, is, as you know, a mere machine. I need some one
+interested, enthusiastic, capable of seconding me intelligently. I
+want, in short, a pupil. Will you fill the place?"
+
+Surprised, overwhelmed with an honor which he could so keenly
+appreciate, the young man flushed again, hesitated, stammered, and
+finally only succeeded in answering me with his beautiful eyes, for
+his tongue refused to speak. I already loved the boy; alas! how he has
+repaid my love!
+
+"It will be a mutual exchange of service," I continued. "You will be
+of great use to me in my preparations, and, in return, I may be able
+to initiate you into the mysteries of our art, somewhat more
+thoroughly than can be done in a public lecture."
+
+"I thank you, sir," said Guy. He tried to speak coldly, but he looked
+as if he longed to throw himself at my feet and cover my hand with
+kisses. To relieve his emotion, in which I secretly exulted, I patted
+him friendlily on the shoulder, and began immediately to discuss the
+programme for the following lecture.
+
+I had every reason to congratulate myself on my new assistant. His
+zeal and ingenuity not only seconded my researches, but often
+supplemented them when over-fatigue persuaded me to repose. And Guy's
+personal character proved as winning as his intellect keen and
+reliable. Before long I contrived that he should come and live with
+me, and I invented for him some light literary employment, by which he
+could pay me for his board and lodging, with an insignificant
+sacrifice of his time. He acceded to this arrangement upon its
+apparent terms, but none the less did he pierce its transparent
+motive, and tacitly devote to me his whole soul in acknowledgment of
+what he considered my delicate generosity. These unfledged souls are
+apt to throw themselves thus away in exchange for the most trifling
+pecuniary service, and torment themselves, moreover, that the
+compensation is so mean. I smiled at Guy's naďveté, but none the less
+turned it to account. From the foothold thus gained, I rapidly
+extended my influence over his entire nature. My larger experience
+enabled me to complete his unfinished thoughts, to sympathize with
+his scarcely conscious feelings, to subtly impress his principles and
+co-ordinate them to my own scheme. Having begun by forestalling his
+material necessities, I continued to supply the finer wants of heart
+and intellect so completely, that he became habituated to turn to me
+for everything, and to receive everything that came from me with
+implicit faith. I fed him, taught him, loved him, and all with such
+artfulness, that he felt my presence in his life only as a plant feels
+the sunshine in its calyx, conscious of no intrusion to be resented,
+or tyranny to be repelled. It is so easy to make the conquest of a
+young, ingenuous nature! so easy to fix its impetuous, unsuspecting
+enthusiasm! I marvel that these exquisite relations between master and
+pupil are so generally left uncultivated, or their charm wasted. I
+almost marvel that I did not rest completely satisfied with my life at
+that time; with its arduous study, and its growing fame, and Guy, with
+the delicious task of educating his supple intellect to my ideas, and
+penetrating his nature with my personality. Only the loftiness of my
+ideal saved it from making womanish shipwreck on this episode in its
+austere voyage towards the realization.
+
+As Guy became more and more competent, I delegated more and more into
+his hands the preparation for the lectures. The first excitement of
+getting them into train was past, the first keen interest dulled by
+habit; and when the second winter began, with repetition of all that
+had gone before, I went through the business almost mechanically.
+Often I left everything to my assistant, and shut myself up alone to
+dream over the project that secretly absorbed my soul. Guy fancied I
+was ill, and, as my exertions slackened, redoubled his own, consuming
+heart and brain in the resolve to maintain the course at the level of
+its original popularity. I was inwardly amused at his devotion to such
+secondary considerations, but did not interfere, for it helped to
+serve my purpose.
+
+Finally, I believed my pupil to be fully prepared, and decided that
+the moment had come for the complete revelation of myself.
+
+One evening,--I selected the evening advisedly, since at that time the
+imagination is more susceptible of impressions, and further removed
+from the vulgar influences of every-day life,--I entered our study.
+Guy was seated at a table, and working in his usual intense fashion,
+and I threw myself on a sofa beside him.
+
+"Guy," I exclaimed, "it tires me to look at you. For eight hours you
+have not stirred from those books. You will kill yourself."
+
+"Great loss," he answered, "so that it were in your service, and
+during the pursuit of knowledge."
+
+"You love me then, Guy?"
+
+"Love you!" He rose from the table, and coming to the sofa, kneeled
+and kissed my forehead, without shame, as in France men _can_ kiss
+each other.
+
+"My master, my friend!" he said; and I felt that he was mine, bound to
+me by a love passing the love of women. I drew him before me, and ran
+my fingers through his clustering hair. His affection was pleasant to
+me, independent of the use I meant to make of it; and I almost
+experienced a feminine desire to trifle with it for a moment, as one
+shifts a diamond from one hand to the other to watch its changing
+flame.
+
+"How much do you love me? as the children say. What would you do for
+me?"
+
+"I would die for you!" he answered vehemently.
+
+That is the first thing youth ever thinks of. From very fulness of
+life, it can afford to be on familiar terms with death.
+
+"Tut; that is unnecessary. But would you do anything I asked of you as
+a personal favor?"
+
+"Only try me. I would go to the ends of the earth for you."
+
+"_Tenez!_ suppose I was dying King Arthur and you my squire. Would you
+hesitate to fling away Excalibur at my command?"
+
+"The paltry bauble! What thought could I have to waste upon it while
+you were dying?"
+
+"But suppose this obedience did not suffice to release me. Suppose
+that, in my agony, I prayed you to drive your own sword into my heart
+to set me free. Would you do it?"
+
+He hesitated a moment. "That would be a terrible prayer; yet if you
+were suffering, and I knew that you must die, I would do even that for
+you."
+
+"You have said it," I cried, and leaped to my feet in uncontrollable
+excitement. "I have a request to make you, I have a prayer that you
+only can fulfil. Swear that you will grant it--swear by all your love
+for me, by all the gratitude which you profess, and for which I shall
+never claim other return--swear that you will do what I am about to
+bid you!"
+
+I saw that Guy was disquieted by my words and manner. Instead of
+replying with the bold confidence I had a right to expect, he recoiled
+from the revelation that pressed urgently on my lips.
+
+"Take care," he said, "your eyes are glittering as if you had a fever.
+Let us stop talking about this till to-morrow."
+
+The upstart boy, thus to dare to patronize me with his foresight and
+protection--_me_, who had taught him all he knew, and who was about to
+offer him a place on my giddy pinnacle of immortal fame! I was
+intensely angry, but succeeded in controlling myself, for I felt that
+an untimely explosion of violence might ruin all. I passed my hand
+over my eyes, as if to blur the glitter that had alarmed Guy's
+scrupulous feebleness, and sat down quietly again.
+
+"The fact is, my dear Guy," I said, "I have been waiting so long for
+an opportunity to execute a certain scheme of mine, that I cannot help
+being a little excited when this opportunity seems at last within my
+reach."
+
+"What kind of a scheme?" asked Guy.
+
+"A scheme for the advancement of the science in which we are both so
+interested."
+
+"Oh," said Guy, with an air of relief, "you know how you can rely upon
+me for any undertaking in that direction."
+
+"I should think so, especially when it concerns the problem upon which
+we have both been so long engaged--the movements of the heart."
+
+"What!" he exclaimed with delight. "You have discovered something new
+for that! Shall I ever cease to admire your masterly ingenuity. What
+is to be done? You want to send me to Africa to capture a live
+rhinoceros? I will set out to-morrow."
+
+"What would be the use! All the information that can be gained by
+experiment on the higher mammifers is already ours. Since the problem
+derives the greatest part of its interest from its application to man,
+it is on man that the new experiment should be performed."
+
+"Ah, yes," sighed Guy; "we are always tripping up against this
+impossibility."
+
+"Nothing is impossible," I answered. "I am resolved that the
+experiment shall be performed on man."
+
+Guy started, then laughed. "Oh! you are joking," he said.
+
+"Not the least in the world. I have even selected the subject."
+
+"Eh! well, since you are so determined, you may dissect me when you
+choose. Only I warn you of difficulties with the tribunals
+afterwards."
+
+"I leave you to settle with them. It is not you, but myself, who is to
+be the subject; and you must perform the experiment."
+
+I was surprised at the calmness with which I made this momentous
+revelation of my purpose. But we are always on the level of the
+circumstances to which we have attained, and they do not seem as awful
+as when viewed from the distance.
+
+Guy did not at all believe that I was in earnest, and half an hour's
+impetuous talking was needed to convince him of the reality and
+fixedness of my resolve. Then he tried to reason with me.
+
+"Your experiment will be utterly useless," he said; "because death
+will ensue almost immediately after the chest is opened. And during
+the few seconds that might intervene for observation, the heart would
+beat too rapidly to render observation possible."
+
+"I have devised means for palliating all these difficulties," I
+answered eagerly. "In the first place, the last act of the experiment
+must be preceded by the administration of woorara, to slacken the
+rapidity of the heart's action. In the second place, I do not propose
+to open the chest with the bistoury. The operation, even though aided
+by chloroform, would cause too violent a shock to the nervous system.
+But I intend to burn through gradually, by successive applications of
+caustic, as in the procedure for opening hepatic cysts. Deep-seated
+adhesions would form and shut out the lungs securely, and thus
+probably obviate the necessity for artificial respiration. The
+pericardium would be reached with comparatively little disturbance,
+and once exposed, the operator would be able to make a first and
+important series of observations, before proceeding farther. Finally,
+he would rend the pericardium, and arrive directly at the heart
+itself."
+
+"And kill you!" cried Guy.
+
+"I should die," I answered composedly, "as men have died after
+inoculating themselves with the plague; only my death would be more
+glorious, because incurred for pure science, and in face of a
+certainty. It is precisely on this account that the act will insure to
+our names the honor and reverence of all future generations."
+
+"Nonsense. You will be pitied as a suicide and madman, and I shall be
+hung at the next assizes."
+
+"Coward! traitor!" I burst forth in ungovernable passion. "_This_ is
+the extent of your devotion, then! _These_ your narrow calculations
+and sordid reckonings! You, the one soul in whom I trusted, the one
+friend I had in the world capable of appreciating me! Oh, shame on
+such ingratitude! Oh, miserable me, doomed to such disappointment!"
+
+He was deeply hurt. I saw that I had made some impression upon
+the hard skepticism with which the world had incased a naturally
+generous nature, and pressed my advantage. I poured out a torrent of
+eloquence, reasoning, prayers, entreaty. I wrestled with him as for
+the salvation of a soul; the night waned on our hot conversation, and
+finally, toward three o'clock, when the gray dawn began to point
+weirdly in the East, I gained the victory. Guy promised to fulfil
+my wish, at whatever risks to himself, and with the certainty of
+sacrificing my life in the experiment. On the spot, I drew up a paper
+testifying that the operation should have been performed at my express
+command, and stated the reasons in full. To this document, I trusted
+to obtain in the country the signature of two witnesses sufficiently
+incurious to sign without reading.
+
+For it was decided that, for the sake of greater secrecy and
+convenience, we should withdraw to the country, and I selected a
+locality about four hours' distance from Paris, where we were both
+unknown. These details settled, we separated for sleep.
+
+But I think neither of us closed our eyes that night; and Guy was so
+pale and haggard the next morning that I hardly knew him. During the
+week that we remained at Paris, making preparations for our departure,
+he hardly ate, or slept, or spoke, but seemed to waste and droop like
+a man in the clutch of a fiend. I became anxious. I was afraid he
+would fall ill, and thus be incapacitated for the performance of his
+duty.
+
+However, we managed to leave the city without accident, and installed
+ourselves in the lonely dwelling I had rented. We hired an old woman
+from the village to take charge of our housekeeping, and then devoted
+ourselves to our work. We engaged in a preliminary series of
+experiments, through which, as through a suite of lesser apartments
+leading to the throne-room, we were to approach the act that should
+crown them all.
+
+For the first time since he had been my pupil, I found Guy nervous,
+_maladroit_. He turned pale at the sight of blood. The struggling of a
+pigeon, or the yelp of a dog, seemed to make him sick, and a hundred
+times he laid down his scalpel as if unable to proceed. He was like a
+neophyte, and a prey to the sentimental horrors of which, up to this
+time, his absorbed intellect had been quite unconscious. I trembled.
+If his nerve should fail him when it became _my_ turn, and the whole
+costly experiment be thrown away through some awkwardness on his part!
+I was furious at the very idea, and told him so.
+
+"I will haunt you forever if you fail," I said, savagely.
+
+"You will in any case," answered Guy, sighing heavily.
+
+But at my instances, he tried to rouse himself from this inexplicable
+languor, and to drill hand and eye to exquisite precision. I watched
+him severely. I refused to pardon the least blunder. I trained him for
+this last trial, as men train horses for the winning race. Guy was
+really an able physiologist, and his skill only needed finishing
+touches to be as effective as was possible in the actual condition of
+science. After two or three weeks I was satisfied, and bade him
+prepare the next day to begin the last experiment.
+
+I shall never forget that day, the supreme moment of my life. I sat at
+the windows of an inner room, waiting for Guy, and looked out over the
+valley that basked in the afternoon sunshine. It was the beginning of
+September--one of those perfect days at the prime of the year, when
+life has reached its culmination, and pauses in the fulness of its own
+content. The air, ripe and balmy, purged of the rawness of Spring and
+the violent heat of Summer, was as yet untouched by the faintest
+frost, and restored to such perfection as mortals might breathe after
+the regeneration of the earth. The grain had been gathered in, but the
+unfallen fruit still weighed down the orchards, and absorbed the
+sunlight for its mellowing juices. The first press of the harvest
+season was over, the second had not yet begun; for one precious moment
+man and nature paused together, and surveyed the long ascent by which
+the year had climbed to these high table-lands of peace--not innocent
+peace, ignorant of action, but the peace of victory after conflict, of
+repose after strife, of maturity entering upon its rewards. In the
+perfection of these sunful days, all possibility of change seemed to
+have been outgrown, left far behind in an old, wearisome existence of
+long ago. The world had entered upon an eternal blessedness, and the
+jasper walls of heaven shut it out from harm forever, like coral reefs
+encircling a lagoon in the Pacific seas. Only by remembering the years
+that had been before, and the years that should follow after, could
+the reluctant mind convince itself that this seeming eternity was
+frail; that whoso lingered too long among the splendors of September
+would be surely overtaken by treacherous frost, and biting winter
+winds; that there was but one way to escape the revolting decline from
+this pinnacle of life--to die. That was my secret. I alone, of all who
+shivered at approaching winter, had learned how to escape. For me, not
+only the year, but life itself, should cease at its pinnacle, refusing
+to go down to a lower place, as a dethroned being prefers death to
+miserable exile. And with these thoughts, I felt myself possessed by
+an unutterable calm, such as comes to fever patients when they are
+dying.
+
+The first day of the experiment little was to be done. I called Guy,
+who lingered in the laboratory, and bade him apply the first layer of
+caustic to my breast, over the heart. The little operation required
+small skill, and this was fortunate, for Guy's hand trembled so
+violently, that a delicate manipulation would have been ruined. A drop
+of the paste fell on my coat-sleeve, and in a few minutes had burned a
+hole entirely through.
+
+"Look, Guy," I exclaimed, "through such a window shall you soon gaze
+at the central mystery of life. I almost envy you the opportunity."
+
+"Oh!" he cried, "if you would but take it! If you would but use me for
+your experiment, and spare me this dreadful trial!"
+
+He had urged this exchange from the beginning, but of course I would
+not consent. What! give up my great chance for immortality, surrender
+my unique place in the history of science and the world? No, indeed; I
+was already generous in sharing my achievement, in trusting the
+preservation of my fame to even my most loyal friend. Beyond that it
+were folly, madness, to go.
+
+"Nonsense," I replied therefore to this senseless entreaty. "That
+question has already been sufficiently discussed. Bah! that caustic
+burns."
+
+It was necessary to wait three or four days before renewing the
+caustic to deepen the eschar made by the first application. This delay
+gradually became intolerable to me,--the more, that Guy prolonged it
+on a multitude of trivial pretexts. I was finally obliged to resume
+the direction of affairs, and order him to proceed.
+
+He began to prepare some Vienna paste, but in a slow, dawdling manner
+that irritated my nerves to the last degree. I snatched the cup from
+his hand and stirred the caustic myself.
+
+"How many centuries have admired Socrates," I remarked, "for his
+theatrical pretence of drinking the hemlock voluntarily. In future
+ages men will remember with greater admiration how I, with my own
+hand, prepared the instrument of my death. Do not forget to mention
+this circumstance in your notes, and add that my hand did not
+tremble."
+
+I gave the caustic to Guy; but at the same moment the door opened
+behind us, and he sprang forward with a sudden cry, dashing the cup in
+pieces on the floor. I turned in angry surprise at the interruption,
+and saw two men standing in the room. They were perfect strangers to
+me, but came forward immediately and saluted me with the friendly
+courtesy of old acquaintance. I even fancied that I detected an
+intolerable softness in their manner, such as physicians sometimes
+assume in speaking to sick people. One of the intruders took my
+passive hand in his, and shook it with unnecessary cordiality,
+contriving, I think, at the same time to slip his fingers on my wrist,
+just over the pulse.
+
+My instinct was decidedly in favor of kicking these impertinent
+fellows down stairs. But so strong is the influence of civilized
+habit, that I restrained myself to a freezing politeness, inquiring to
+what I might be indebted for the honor, etc.
+
+"These gentlemen are friends of mine," interposed Guy, who had stooped
+on the floor to pick up the broken fragments of the cup, and who did
+not look at me as he spoke. "They are amateurs in our science, and
+would be much interested in examining the laboratory that we have
+installed here. But since they have taken a long journey, and must be
+hungry, I think we had better first order the déjeuner."
+
+"The devil!" I muttered inwardly. But at the same moment I reflected
+that these visitors with their congenial tastes might serve
+opportunity as witnesses to the experiment--even be useful in
+correcting any possible awkwardness in Guy's manipulation. I therefore
+addressed them in a tone of cordial hospitality.
+
+"We are at this moment engaged in some researches," I said, "that
+cannot fail to interest you, and where, perhaps, you may be of signal
+service, if you will consent to stay with us awhile and put up with
+our modest accommodations."
+
+"You honor our poor abilities," returned the first stranger, with a
+bland smile. "We shall be most happy to accept your amiable
+invitation."
+
+So we four sat down to the déjeuner, in the most cheerful possible
+humor. The black stain that burned on my breast stimulated me to a
+secret exultation; I felt a secret pride in anticipating the wonder of
+these men, when they should hereafter recall the gayety of my demeanor
+on this occasion. They, on the other hand, seconded me bravely in the
+conversation. Not for years had I met with companions so brilliant,
+witty, and sympathetic. They listened to me with the closest
+attention, and seemed to find a peculiar charm in the freaks of my
+fancy, to which, for the moment, I gave the rein.
+
+"These men are capable of appreciating me," I said to myself, and
+congratulated my good fortune which had sent them thither.
+
+Then I rose. "Gentlemen," I said, "I cannot express to you the
+pleasure that I have derived from your society. Before we adjourn to
+the laboratory, allow me, in English fashion, to propose a toast."
+
+"Wait a moment," said Guy, breaking the sullen silence he had hitherto
+maintained. "I ordered some Burgundy from Paris the other day, and it
+arrived this morning."
+
+He left the room, and presently returned with an uncorked bottle in
+his hand, which he set before me. I fancied, as he did so, that he
+looked rather significantly at the two strangers, but politeness
+forbade me to express my suspicion. I poured out the wine, and pushed
+the glasses to my companions.
+
+"Drink," I cried, "to the experiment that shall open a new era in
+science, and to the man that shall inaugurate a new revolution in the
+world." And I drained my glass.
+
+Whether or no the others followed my example, I cannot tell; for
+almost immediately I felt a subtle fire course through my veins,
+followed by a delicious languor that crept inwards to my heart, and
+seemed to arrest its pulsation by an irresistible persuasiveness to
+repose. Probably I swooned, for I lost all consciousness, and all
+recollection of time or place for many hours.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When I came to myself, I was a prisoner in this cursed asylum at
+Charenton.
+
+--Guy had betrayed me,--the false friend,--the poltroon,--and I, who
+trusted him too much, had fallen a victim to his stratagems. Whether
+he had been true to me at the beginning, and then had faltered at
+the last, or whether he had deceived me all along with affected
+complaisance, I never knew. For when he came to see me one day, my
+just resentment excited me to such a paroxysm of fury that the people
+here recommended him not to return, and I have never seen him since.
+So here I sit, in forced idleness, waiting for the arrival of some
+one who shall appreciate my great idea, and release me for its
+accomplishment. The people by whom I am surrounded are kind enough,
+but ignorant; they admire me, but are unable to understand me. So they
+bind me in silken chains, and clasp them with honeyed words, and I
+remain a prisoner. It is thus that the world rewards its greatest
+benefactors!
+
+
+
+
+MRS. KNOLLYS.
+
+BY J. S. OF DALE, AUTHOR OF "GUERNDALE."
+
+_Century Magazine, November, 1883._
+
+
+The great Pasterzen glacier rises in Western Austria, and flows into
+Carinthia, and is fourteen or seventeen miles long, as you measure it
+from its birth in the snow-field, or from where it begins to move from
+the higher snows and its active course is marked by the first wrinkle.
+It flows in a straight, steady sweep, a grand avenue, guarded by giant
+mountains, steep and wide; a prototype, huge and undesigned, of the
+giants' stairway in the Venice palace. No known force can block its
+path; it would need a cataclysm to reverse its progress. What falls
+upon it moves with it, what lies beneath it moves with it--down to the
+polished surface of the earth's frame, laid bare; no blade of grass
+grows so slowly as it moves, no meteor of the air is so irresistible.
+Its substant ice curls freely, moulds, and breaks itself like
+water,--breaks in waves, plastic like honey, crested lightly with a
+frozen spray; it winds tenderly about the rocky shore, and the
+granite, disintegrated into crumbs, flows on with it. All this so
+quietly that busy, officious little Man lived a score of thousand
+years before he noticed even that the glacier moved.
+
+Now, however, men have learned to congregate upon its shores, and
+admire. Scientists stick staves in the ground (not too near, lest the
+earth should move with it), and appraise the majesty of its motion;
+ladies, politely mystified, give little screams of pleased surprise;
+young men, secretly exultant, pace the yard or two between the sticks,
+a distance that takes the frozen stream a year to compass, and look
+out upon it half contemptuously. Then they cross it--carefully, they
+have enough respect left for that--with their cunningly nailed shoes
+and a rope; an hour or two they dally with it, till at last, being
+hungry and cold, they walk to the inn for supper. At supper they tell
+stories of their prowess, pay money to the guides who have protected
+them, and fall asleep after tea with weariness. Meantime, the darkness
+falls outside; but the white presence of the glacier breaks the night,
+and strange shapes unseen of men dance in its ashen hollows. It is
+so old that the realms of death and life conflict; change is on the
+surface, but immortality broods in the deeper places. The moon rises
+and sinks; the glacier moves silently, like a timepiece marking the
+centuries, grooving the record of its being on the world itself,--a
+feature to be read and studied by far-off generations of some other
+world. The glacier has a light of its own, and gleams to stars above,
+and the great Glockner mountain flings his shadow of the planets in
+its face.
+
+Mrs. Knollys was a young English bride, sunny-haired, hopeful-eyed,
+with lips that parted to make you love them,--parted before they
+smiled, and all the soft regions of her face broke into attendant
+dimples. And then, lest you should think it meant for you, she looked
+quickly up to "Charles," as she would then call him even to strangers,
+and Charles looked down to her. Charles was a short foot taller, with
+much the same hair and eyes, thick flossy whiskers, broad shoulders,
+and a bass voice. This was in the days before political economy cut
+Hymen's wings. Charles, like Mary, had little money, but great hopes;
+and he was clerk in a government office, with a friendly impression of
+everybody and much trust in himself. And old Harry Colquhoun, his
+chief, had given them six weeks to go to Switzerland and be happy in,
+all in celebration of Charles Knollys's majority and marriage to his
+young wife. So they had both forgotten heaven for the nonce, having a
+passable substitute; but the powers divine overlooked them pleasantly
+and forgave it. And even the phlegmatic driver of their _Einspänner_
+looked back from the corner of his eye at the _schöne Engländerin_,
+and compared her mentally with the far-famed beauty of the Königssee.
+So they rattled on in their curious conveyance, with the pole in the
+middle and the one horse out on one side, and still found more beauty
+in each other's eyes than in the world about them. Although Charles
+was only one and twenty, Mary Knollys was barely eighteen, and to her
+he seemed godlike in his age, as in all other things. Her life had
+been as simple as it had been short. She remembered being a little
+girl, and then the next thing that occurred was Charles Knollys, and
+positively the next thing she remembered of importance was being Mrs.
+Charles Knollys; so that old Mrs. Knollys, her guardian aunt and his,
+had first called her a love of a baby, and then but a baby in love.
+All this, of course, was five and forty years ago, for you know how
+old she was when she went again to Switzerland last summer--three and
+sixty.
+
+They first saw the great mountains from the summit of the Schafberg.
+This is a little height, three-cornered, between three lakes; a
+natural Belvedere for Central Europe. Mr. and Mrs. Knollys were seated
+on a couch of Alpine roses behind a rhododendron bush watching the
+sunset; but as Charles was desirous of kissing Mrs. Knollys, and the
+rhododendron bush was not thick enough, they were waiting for the sun
+to go down. He was very slow in doing this, and by way of consolation
+Knollys was keeping his wife's hand hidden in the folds of her dress.
+Undoubtedly a modern lady would have been talking of the scenery,
+giving word-color pictures of the view; but I am afraid Mrs. Knollys
+had been looking at her husband, and talking with him of the cottage
+they had bought in a Surrey village, not far from Box Hill, and
+thinking how the little carvings and embroideries would look there
+which they had bought abroad. And, indeed, Mrs. Charles secretly
+thought Box Hill an eminence far preferable to the Venediger, and
+Charles's face an infinitely more interesting sight than any lake,
+however expressive. But the sun, looking askance at them through the
+lower mist, was not jealous; all the same he spread his glory lavishly
+for them, and the bright little mirror of a lake twinkled cannily
+upward from below. Finally it grew dark; then there was less talking.
+It was full night when they went in, she leaning on his arm and
+looking up; and the moonbeam on the snowy shoulder of the Glockner,
+twenty leagues away, came over, straight-way, from the mountain to her
+face. Three days later, Charles Knollys, crossing with her the lower
+portion of the Pasterzen glacier, slipped into a crevasse, and
+vanished utterly from the earth.
+
+
+                         II.
+
+All this you know. And I was also told more of the young girl, bride
+and widow at eighteen; how she sought to throw herself into the clear
+blue gulf; how she refused to leave Heiligenblut; how she would sit,
+tearless, by the rim of the crevasse, day after day, and gaze into
+its profundity. A guide or man was always with her at these times, for
+it was still feared she would follow her young husband to the depths
+of that still sea. Her aunt went over from England to her; the summer
+waxed; autumn storms set in; but no power could win her from the place
+whence Charles had gone.
+
+If there was a time worse for her than that first moment, it was when
+they told her that his body never could be found. They did not dare to
+tell her this for many days, but busied themselves with idle cranes
+and ladders, and made futile pretences with ropes. Some of the big,
+simple-hearted guides even descended into the chasm, absenting
+themselves for an hour or so, to give her an idea that something was
+being done. Poor Mrs. Knollys would have followed them had she been
+allowed, to wander through the purple galleries, calling Charles. It
+was well she could not; for all Kaspar could do was to lower himself a
+hundred yards or so, chisel out a niche, and stand in it, smoking his
+honest pipe to pass the time, and trying to fancy he could hear the
+murmur of the waters down below. Meantime Mrs. Knollys strained her
+eyes, peering downward from above, leaning on the rope about her
+waist, looking over the clear brink of the bergschrund.
+
+It was the Herr Doctor Zimmermann who first told her the truth. Not
+that the good Doctor meant to do so. The Herr Doctor had had his
+attention turned to glaciers by some rounded stones in his garden
+by the Traunsee, and more particularly by the Herr Privatdocent
+Splüthner. Splüthner, like Uncle Toby, had his hobby-horse, his pet
+conjuring words, his gods _ex machinâ_, which he brought upon the
+field in scientific emergencies; and these gods, as with Thales, were
+Fire and Water. Craters and flood were his accustomed scapegoats, upon
+whose heads were charged all things unaccountable; and the Herr
+Doctor, who had only one element left to choose from, and that a
+passive one, but knew, on general principles, that Splüthner must be
+wrong, got as far off as he could and took Ice. And Splüthner having
+pooh-poohed this, Zimmermann rode his hypothesis with redoubled zeal.
+He became convinced that ice was the embodiment of orthodoxy. Fixing
+his professional spectacles on his substantial nose, he went into
+Carinthia and ascended the great Venice mountains, much as he would
+have performed any other scientific experiment. Then he encamped on
+the shores of the Pasterzen glacier, and proceeded to make a study of
+it.
+
+So it happened that the Doctor, taking a morning stroll over the
+subject of his experiment, in search of small things which might
+verify his theory, met Mrs. Knollys sitting in her accustomed place.
+The Doctor had been much puzzled, that morning, on finding in a rock
+at the foot of the glacier the impression, or sign-manual as it were,
+of a certain fish, whose acquaintance the Doctor had previously made
+only in tropical seas. This fact seeming, superficially, to chime in
+with Splüthnerian mistakes in a most heterodox way, the Doctor's mind
+had for a moment been diverted from the ice; and he was wondering what
+the fish had been going to do in that particular gallery, and secretly
+doubting whether it had known its own mind, and gone thither with the
+full knowledge and permission of its maternal relative. Indeed, the
+good Doctor would probably have ascribed its presence to the malicious
+and personal causation of the devil, but that the one point on which
+he and Splüthner were agreed was the ignoring of unscientific
+hypotheses. The Doctor's objections to the devil were none the less
+strenuous for being purely scientific.
+
+Thus ruminating, the Doctor came to the crevasse where Mrs. Knollys
+was sitting, and to which a little path had now been worn from the
+inn. There was nothing of scientific interest about the fair young
+English girl, and the Doctor did not notice her; but he took from his
+waistcoat-pocket a leaden bullet, moulded by himself, and marked
+"Johannes Carpentarius, Juvavianus, A. U. C. 2590," and dropped it,
+with much satisfaction, into the crevasse. Mrs. Knollys gave a little
+cry; the bullet was heard for some seconds tinkling against the sides
+of the chasm; the tinkles grew quickly fainter, but they waited in
+vain for the noise of the final fall. "May the Splüthner live that he
+may learn by it," muttered the Doctor; "I can never recover it."
+
+Then he remembered that the experiment had been attended with a sound
+unaccounted for by the conformity of the bullet to the laws of
+gravitation; and looking up he saw Mrs. Knollys in front of him, no
+longer crying, but very pale. Zimmermann started, and in his confusion
+dropped his best brass registering thermometer, which also rattled
+down the abyss.
+
+"You say," whispered Mrs. Knollys, "that it can never be recovered!"
+
+"Madam," spoke the Doctor, doffing his hat, "how would you recofer
+from a blace when the smallest approximation which I haf yet been able
+to make puts the depth from the surface to the bed of the gletscher at
+vrom sixteen hundred to sixteen hundred and sixty _mčtres_ in
+distance?" Doctor Zimmermann spoke very good English; and he pushed
+his hat upon the back of his head, and assumed his professional
+attitude.
+
+"But they all were trying----" Mrs. Knollys spoke faintly. "They said
+that they hoped he could be recovered." The stranger was the oldest
+gentleman she had seen, and Mrs. Knollys felt almost like confiding in
+him. "Oh, I must have the--the body." She closed in a sob; but the
+Herr Doctor caught at the last word, and this suggested to him only
+the language of scientific experiment.
+
+"Recofer it? If, madam," Zimmermann went on with all the satisfaction
+attendant on the enunciation of a scientific truth, "we take a body
+and drop it in the schrund of this gletscher; and the ice-stream moves
+so slower at its base than on the upper part, and the ice will cover
+it; efen if we could reach the base, which is a mile in depth. Then,
+see you, it is all caused by the motion of the ice----"
+
+But at this Mrs. Knollys had given a faint cry, and her guide rushed
+up angrily to the old professor, who stared helplessly forward. "God
+will help me, sir," said she to the Doctor, and she gave the guide her
+arm and walked wearily away.
+
+The professor still stared in amazement at her enthusiasm for
+scientific experiment and the passion with which she greeted his
+discoveries. Here was a person who utterly refused to be referred to
+the agency of ice, or even, like Splüthner, of Fire and Water; and
+went out of the range of allowable hypotheses to call upon a Noumenon.
+Now both Splüthner and Zimmermann had studied all natural agencies and
+made allowance for them, but for the Divine they had always hitherto
+proved an alibi. The Doctor could make nothing of it.
+
+At the inn that evening he saw Mrs. Knollys with swollen eyes; and
+remembering the scene of the afternoon, he made inquiries about her of
+the innkeeper. The latter had heard the guide's account of the
+meeting; and as soon as Zimmermann had made plain what he had told her
+of the falling body, "Triple blockhead!" said he. "_Es war ihr Mann._"
+The Herr Professor staggered back into his seat; and the kindly
+innkeeper ran upstairs to see what had happened to his poor young
+guest.
+
+Mrs. Knollys had recovered from the first shock by this time, but the
+truth could no longer be withheld. The innkeeper could but nod his
+head sadly, when she told him that to recover her Charles was
+hopeless. All the guides said the same thing. The poor girl's husband
+had vanished from the world as utterly as if his body had been burned
+to ashes and scattered in the pathway of the winds. Charles Knollys
+was gone, utterly gone; no more to be met with by his girl-wife, save
+as spirit to spirit, soul to soul, in ultramundane place. The
+fair-haired young Englishman lived but in her memory, as his soul, if
+still existent, lived in places indeterminate, unknowable to Doctor
+Zimmermann and his compeers. Slowly Mrs. Knollys acquired the belief
+that she was never to see her Charles again. Then, at last, she
+resolved to go--to go home. Her strength now gave way; and when her
+aunt left she had with her but the ghost of Mrs. Knollys--a broken
+figure, drooping in the carriage, veiled in black. The innkeeper and
+all the guides stood bare-headed, silent, about the door, as the
+carriage drove off, bearing the bereaved widow back to England.
+
+
+                         III.
+
+When the Herr Doctor had heard the innkeeper's answer, he sat for some
+time with his hands planted on his knees, looking through his
+spectacles at the opposite wall. Then he lifted one hand and struck
+his brow impatiently. It was his way, when a chemical reaction had
+come out wrong.
+
+"Triple blockhead!" said he; "triple blockhead, thou art so bad as
+Splüthner." No self-condemnation could have been worse to him than
+this. Thinking again of Mrs. Knollys, he gave one deep, gruff sob.
+Then he took his hat, and going out, wandered by the shore of the
+glacier in the night, repeating to himself the Englishwoman's words:
+"_They said that they hoped he could be recovered._" Zimmermann came
+to the tent where he kept his instruments, and stood there, looking at
+the sea of ice. He went to his measuring pegs, two rods of iron: one
+sunk deep and frozen in the glacier, the other drilled into a rock on
+the shore. "Triple blockhead!" said he again, "thou art worse than
+Splüthner. The Splüthner said the glacier did not move; thou, thou
+knowest that it does." He sighted from his rods to the mountain
+opposite. There was a slight and all but imperceptible change of
+direction from the day before.
+
+He could not bear to see the English girl again, and all the next day
+was absent from the inn. For a month he stopped at Heiligenblut, and
+busied himself with his instruments. The guides of the place greeted
+him coldly every day, as they started on their glacier excursions or
+their chamois hunting. But none the less did Zimmermann return the
+following summer, and work upon his great essay in refutation of the
+Splüthner.
+
+Mrs. Knollys went back to the little cottage in Surrey, and lived
+there. The chests and cases she brought back lay unopened in the
+store-room; the little rooms of the cottage that was to be their home
+remained bare and unadorned, as Charles had seen them last. She could
+not bring herself to alter them now. What she had looked forward to do
+with him she had no strength to do alone. She rarely went out. There
+was no place where she could go to think of him. He was gone; gone
+from England, gone from the very surface of the earth. If he had only
+been buried in some quiet English churchyard, she thought,--some green
+place lying open to the sun, where she could go and scatter flowers on
+his grave, where she could sit and look forward amid her tears to the
+time when she should lie side by side with him,--they would then be
+separated for her short life alone. Now it seemed to her that they
+were far apart forever.
+
+But late the next summer she had a letter from the place. It was from
+Dr. Zimmermann. There is no need here to trace the quaint German
+phrases, the formalism, the cold terms of science in which he made his
+meaning plain. It spoke of erosion; of the movement of the summer; of
+the action of the under-waters on the ice. And it told her, with
+tender sympathy oddly blended with the pride of scientific success,
+that he had given a year's most careful study to the place; with all
+his instruments of measurement he had tested the relentless glacier's
+flow; and it closed by assuring her that her husband might yet be
+found--in five and forty years. In five and forty years--the poor
+professor staked his scientific reputation on the fact--in five and
+forty years she might return, and the glacier would give up its dead.
+
+This letter made Mrs. Knollys happier. It made her willing to live; it
+made her almost long to live until old age--that her Charles's body
+might be given back. She took heart to beautify her little home. The
+trifling articles she had bought with Charles were now brought
+out,--the little curiosities and pictures he had given her on their
+wedding journey. She would ask how such and such a thing looked,
+turning her pretty head to some kind visitor, as she ranged them on
+the walls; and now and then she would have to lay the picture down and
+cry a little, silently, as she remembered where Charles had told her
+it would look best. Still, she sought to furnish the rooms as they had
+planned them in their mind; she made her surroundings, as nearly as
+she could, as they had pictured them together. One room she never went
+into; it was the room Charles had meant to have for the nursery. She
+had no child.
+
+But she changed, as we all change, with the passing of the years. I
+first remember her as a woman middle-aged, sweet-faced, hardly like a
+widow, nor yet like an old maid. She was rather like a young girl in
+love, with her lover absent on a long journey. She lived more with the
+memory of her husband, she clung to him more, than if she had had a
+child. She never married; you would have guessed that; but, after the
+Professor's letter, she never quite seemed to realize that her husband
+was dead. Was he not coming back to her?
+
+Never in all my knowledge of dear English women have I known a woman
+so much loved. In how many houses was she always the most welcome
+guest! How often we boys would go to her for sympathy! I know she was
+the confidante of all our love affairs. I cannot speak for girls; but
+I fancy she was much the same with them. Many of us owed our life's
+happiness to her. She would chide us gently in our pettiness and
+folly, and teach us, by her very presence and example, what thing it
+was that alone could keep life sweet. How well we all remember the
+little Surrey cottage, the little home fireside where the husband had
+never been! I think she grew to imagine his presence, even the
+presence of children: boys, curly-headed, like Charles, and sweet,
+blue-eyed daughters; and the fact that it was all imagining seemed but
+to make the place more holy. Charles still lived to her as she had
+believed him in the month that they were married; he lived through
+life with her as her young love had fancied he would be. She never
+thought of evil that might have occurred; of failing affection, of
+cares. Her happiness was in her mind alone; so all the earthly part
+was absent.
+
+There were but two events in her life--that which was past and that
+which was to come. She had lived through his loss; now she lived on
+for his recovery. But, as I have said, she changed, as all things
+mortal change; all but the earth and the ice-stream and the stars
+above it. She read much, and her mind grew deep and broad, none the
+less gentle with it all; she was wiser in the world; she knew the
+depths of human hope and sorrow. You remember her only as an old lady
+whom we loved. Only her heart did not change--I forgot that; her
+heart, and the memory of that last loving smile upon his face, as he
+bent down to look into her eyes, before he slipped and fell. She lived
+on, and waited for his body, as possibly his other self--who
+knows?--waited for hers. As she grew older she grew taller; her eyes
+were quieter, her hair a little straighter, darker than of yore; her
+face changed, only the expression remained the same. Mary Knollys!
+
+Human lives rarely look more than a year, or five, ahead; Mary Knollys
+looked five and forty. Many of us wait, and grow weary in waiting, for
+those few years alone, and for some living friend. Mary Knollys waited
+five and forty years--for the dead. Still, after that first year, she
+never wore all black; only silvery grays, and white with a black
+ribbon or two. I have said that she almost seemed to think her husband
+living. She would fancy his doing this and that with her; how he would
+joy in this good fortune, or share her sorrows--which were few,
+mercifully. His memory seemed to be a living thing to her, to go
+through life with her, hand in hand; it changed as she grew old; it
+altered itself to suit her changing thought; until the very memory of
+her memory seemed to make it sure that he had really been alive with
+her, really shared her happiness or sorrow, in the far-off days of her
+earliest widowhood. It hardly seemed that he had been gone already
+then--she remembered him so well. She could not think that he had
+never been with her in their little cottage. And now, at sixty, I know
+she thought of him as an old person too; sitting by their fireside,
+late in life, mature, deep-souled, wise with the wisdom of years,
+going back with her, fondly, to recall the old, old happiness of their
+bridal journey, when they set off for the happy honeymoon abroad, and
+the long life now past stretched brightly out before them both. She
+never spoke of this, and you children never knew it; but it was always
+in her mind.
+
+There was a plain stone in the little Surrey churchyard, now gray and
+moss-grown with the rains of forty years, on which you remember
+reading: "Charles Knollys--lost in Carinthia"----This was all she
+would have inscribed; he was but lost; no one _knew_ that he was dead.
+Was he not yet to be found? There was no grassy mound beside it; the
+earth was smooth. Not even the date was there. But Mrs. Knollys never
+went to read it. She waited until he should come; until that last
+journey, repeating the travels of their wedding-days, when she should
+go to Germany to bring him home.
+
+So the woman's life went on in England, and the glacier in the Alps
+moved on slowly; and the woman waited for it to be gone.
+
+
+                         IV.
+
+In the summer of 1882, the little Carinthian village of Heiligenblut
+was haunted by two persons. One was a young German scientist, with
+long hair and spectacles; the other was a tall English lady, slightly
+bent, with a face wherein the finger of time had deeply written tender
+things. Her hair was white as silver, and she wore a long black veil.
+Their habits were strangely similar. Every morning, when the eastern
+light shone deepest into the ice-cavern at the base of the great
+Pasterzen glacier, these two would walk thither; then both would sit
+for an hour or two and peer into its depths. Neither knew why the
+other was there. The woman would go back for an hour in the late
+afternoon; the man, never. He knew that the morning light was
+necessary for his search.
+
+The man was the famous young Zimmermann, son of his father, the old
+Doctor, long since dead. But the Herr Doctor had written a famous
+tract, when late in life, refuting all Splüthners, past, present, and
+to come; and had charged his son, in his dying moments, as a most
+sacred trust, that he should repair to the base of the Pasterzen
+glacier in the year 1882, where he would find a leaden bullet, graven
+with his father's name, and the date A. U. C. 2590. All this would be
+vindication of his father's science. Splüthner, too, was a very old
+man, and Zimmermann the younger (for even he was no longer young) was
+fearful lest Splüthner should not live to witness his own refutation.
+The woman and the man never spoke to each other.
+
+Alas, no one could have known Mrs. Knollys for the fair English girl
+who had been there in the young days of the century; not even the
+innkeeper, had he been there. But he, too, was long since dead. Mrs.
+Knollys was now bent and white-haired; she had forgotten, herself, how
+she had looked in those old days. Her life had been lived. She was now
+like a woman of another world; it seemed another world in which her
+fair hair had twined about her husband's fingers, and she and Charles
+had stood upon the evening mountain, and looked in one another's eyes.
+That was the world of her wedding-days, but it seemed more like a
+world she had left when born on earth. And now he was coming back to
+her in this. Meantime the great Pasterzen glacier had moved on,
+marking only the centuries; the men upon its borders had seen no
+change; the same great waves lifted their snowy heads upon its
+surface; the same crevasse still was where he had fallen. At night,
+the moonbeams, falling, still shivered off its glassy face; its pale
+presence filled the night, and immortality lay brooding in its
+hollows.
+
+Friends were with Mrs. Knollys, but she left them at the inn. One old
+guide remembered her, and asked to bear her company. He went with her
+in the morning, and sat a few yards from her, waiting. In the
+afternoon she went alone. He would not have credited you, had you told
+him that the glacier moved. He thought it but an Englishwoman's fancy,
+but he waited with her. Himself had never forgotten that old day. And
+Mrs. Knollys sat there silently, searching the clear depths of the
+ice, that she might find her husband.
+
+One night she saw a ghost. The latest beam of the sun, falling on a
+mountain opposite, had shone back into the ice-cavern; and seemingly
+deep within, in the grave azure light, she fancied she saw a face
+turned toward her. She even thought she saw Charles's yellow hair, and
+the self-same smile his lips had worn when he bent down to her before
+he fell. It could be but a fancy. She went home, and was silent with
+her friends about what had happened. In the moonlight she went back,
+and again the next morning before dawn. She told no one of her going;
+but the old guide met her at the door, and walked silently behind her.
+She had slept, the glacier ever present in her dreams.
+
+The sun had not yet risen when she came; and she sat a long time in
+the cavern, listening to the murmur of the river, flowing under the
+glacier at her feet. Slowly the dawn began, and again she seemed to
+see the shimmer of a face--such a face as one sees in the coals of a
+dying fire. Then the full sun came over the eastern mountain, and the
+guide heard a woman's cry. There before her was Charles Knollys! The
+face seemed hardly pale; and there was the same faint smile--a smile
+like her memory of it, five and forty years gone by. Safe in the
+clear ice, still, unharmed, there lay--O God! not her Charles; not the
+Charles of her own thought, who had lived through life with her and
+shared her sixty years; not the old man she had borne thither in her
+mind--but a boy, a boy of one and twenty lying asleep, a ghost from
+another world coming to confront her from the distant past, immortal
+in the immortality of the glacier. There was his quaint coat, of the
+fashion of half a century before; his blue eyes open; his young, clear
+brow; all the form of the past she had forgotten; and she his bride
+stood there to welcome him, with her wrinkles, her bent figure, and
+thin white hairs. She was living, he was dead; and she was two and
+forty years older than he.
+
+Then at last the long-kept tears came to her, and she bent her white
+head in the snow. The old man came up with his pick, silently, and
+began working in the ice. The woman lay weeping, and the boy with his
+still, faint smile, lay looking at them, through the clear ice-veil,
+from his open eyes.
+
+I believe that the Professor found his bullet; I know not. I believe
+that the scientific world rang with his name and the thesis that he
+published on the glacier's motion, and the changeless temperature his
+father's lost thermometer had shown. All this you may read. I know no
+more.
+
+But I know that in the English churchyard there are now two graves,
+and a single stone, to Charles Knollys and Mary, his wife; and the boy
+of one and twenty sleeps there with his bride of sixty-three: his
+young frame with her old one, his yellow hair beside her white. And I
+do not know that there is not some place, not here, where they are
+still together, and he is twenty-one and she is still eighteen. I do
+not know this; but I know that all the pamphlets of the German doctor
+cannot tell me it is false.
+
+Meantime the great Pasterzen glacier moves on, and the rocks with it;
+and the mountain flings his shadow of the planets in its face.
+
+
+
+
+A DINNER-PARTY.
+
+WAS IT A SUCCESS?
+
+BY JOHN EDDY.
+
+     "The work of feeding, you must understand,
+     Was but a fraction of the work in hand."
+
+_Atlantic Monthly, November, 1872._
+
+
+In the year of grace 1855 there resided at the fashionable end of one
+of the largest of our Eastern cities, a person who will be called for
+the purpose of this article Bernon Burchard. He is not a myth, but a
+veritable person. For fifteen years he had been a practising lawyer,
+and had risen to eminence in his profession. His personal appearance
+was fine and prepossessing. His mind was clear, vigorous, and
+well-stored with varied learning. His sense of honor was pure and
+discriminating, and like the president of the Jewish Sanhedrim in the
+days of Caius Cćsar, he "was had in reputation of all the people." He
+was blessed with a capacious soul, and seemed naturally inclined to
+acts of benevolence and generosity. In society he held the foremost
+rank, and was fitted by birthright, education, and taste for the
+highest social position. His noble nature, his wit and learning and
+generous flow of spirits, united to complete a most pleasing and model
+gentleman.
+
+At this time, upon the old estate in Lancashire, England, from which
+the first of the Burchards in this country emigrated in 1630, there
+resided Winfield Burchard, who dispensed generous hospitality to all
+the American kindred who made pilgrimage to fatherland. Mr. Bernon
+Burchard in particular, of all the name, had special occasion for
+holding the said Winfield in lasting remembrance and esteem for the
+many and great favors bestowed upon him and his immediate family
+during a series of years,--favors which were rendered doubly pleasing
+because it was nearly certain from the age and infirmities of the host
+that the branch of the family on this side of the Atlantic would never
+have the opportunity of reciprocating the favors in kind.
+
+At a certain period in the year first mentioned, when Bernon
+Burchard's enthusiasm was all aglow for his English namesake, there
+called upon him the Rev. Mr. Malcolm of Oxford, with a letter of
+introduction from Winfield, wherein he commended his nephew to the
+attention of Mr. Bernon for his many virtues and acquirements.
+
+He was cordially received, and Mr. Bernon Burchard at once determined
+to show his new cousin every mark of consideration and attention, as
+some slight token of the regard in which he held the writer of the
+letter.
+
+In personal appearance the Rev. Mr. Malcolm was of average height, of
+a lymphatic temperament, and of modest and retiring manners. His brown
+hair shaded bright hazel eyes, which under embarrassment or surprise
+flew about with remarkable rapidity, and occasionally gave his
+countenance a wildness of expression. He showed at least a smattering
+of a variety of knowledge; he had evidently enjoyed the acquaintance
+of many of the conspicuous men in Europe, and had the air of a man who
+had seen much of the world.
+
+Among other efforts for the entertainment of the Rev. Mr. Malcolm, and
+the only one pertinent to the object of this article, was a grand
+dinner-party, which surpassed all others that had ever been given in
+the city, both for the elegance and sumptuousness of the feast and the
+wit and learning displayed by the distinguished guests, as well as in
+another particular which it is our purpose to unfold.
+
+There were present, besides the Rev. Mr. Malcolm, a learned Doctor of
+Divinity, famous for his proficiency in the Hebrew language and in
+Rabbinical lore, and who was at times greatly embarrassed because of
+his inability to hold what he deemed a proper restraint over his
+risibles. There was also a professor of Greek literature, who
+delighted in the tragedies, especially of Euripides and Sophocles, but
+who had, nevertheless, a keen relish for the humorous. He was
+accustomed among scholars to quote certain old Latin and Greek authors
+who were seldom read, and it was a frequent remark among the learned,
+with a sly wink of the eye, that our professor had access to some
+books which other less favored literati had never seen. There was
+present a brace of literary gentlemen of ready memories and wits, who
+contributed largely to the enjoyment of the occasion, besides several
+lawyers of distinction, who as a class are always to be relied upon
+when festivity offers them a retainer; a Senator, who was grave
+and dignified; a Right Reverend, who was quite the contrary; a
+physiognomist and expert in handwriting, who was the gravest of all,
+and naturally so as he was intent on taking rather than making
+observations; and several others, who, to say the least, were good
+listeners.
+
+In Vespasian's time entertainments were first given _prćcise_, and
+Mr. Burchard's guests arrived at almost the same moment. As the
+physiognomist paid his respects to the host the Rev. Mr. Malcolm stood
+upon his right, and at the same moment the man who had the ordering of
+the feast, formerly called the butler, stood upon his left offering
+him a rolled-up napkin, which was the mode of announcing the readiness
+of the repast in the days of the Cćsars. This man with a napkin under
+his arm led the way to the dining-room, and Mr. Burchard brought up
+the rear, also an invariable rule for an "amphitrion" in the times of
+the gourmands.
+
+While the _convives_ were passing through the hall, Mr. Sidney, the
+physiognomist and expert, seemed disinclined to proceed. Mr. Burchard,
+supposing him to feel somewhat overawed in the presence of so wise a
+conclave, hurried him along, while Mr. Sidney whispered in his ear,
+"With all respect, sir, you are more blind than Bartimeus."
+
+Mr. Sidney has been heretofore described in the pages of the _Atlantic
+Monthly_ in these words, "His counterpart in personal appearance you
+may find in the thoroughfares at any hour of the day. There is nothing
+about him to attract attention. He is nearly forty-five years of age,
+and weighs perhaps two hundred pounds. His face is florid and his hair
+sandy. His eyes are small, piercing, and gray. His motions are slow,
+and none are made without a purpose. The wrinkles in his lips are at
+right angles with his mouth, and a close observer might detect in his
+countenance self-reliance, and tenacity of will and purpose."
+
+One of the most important personages present, and one who contributed
+largely to the success or non-success of the feast, was Mr. Burchard's
+major-domo Maguire, the same who handed the napkin to Mr. Burchard
+when Mr. Sidney entered the drawing-room. For eight years he had
+resided in the family, and had endeared himself to the whole
+household by the kindness of his heart, his devotion to the interests
+of his employer, and by his perfection of knowledge in every art which
+relates to an entertainment and the customs which prevail in refined
+society. He was small in stature, of dark complexion, smooth face,
+subdued expression of countenance, very quiet in his manners, and aged
+about forty-five.
+
+The Rev. Mr. Malcolm, most tastefully attired, was seated on the right
+of the host, and said grace in the most approved English formula and
+with distinct enunciation. The Doctor of Divinity sat on the left.
+Beside his plate was a bill of fare beautifully executed in Hebrew
+(much to the surprise of the host and to the credit of Maguire). The
+doctor's attempt at translating the same into English afforded not a
+little amusement, he being not particularly successful in the effort.
+Indeed, he was so perplexed thereby when pressed by the Professor of
+Greek, that he could not conceal his annoyance, and the whole company
+were equally excited lest the professor should press the Rabbin so
+far as to mar the harmony of the occasion. It was beginning to be
+painfully embarrassing, when the doctor discovered beside the
+professor's plate a similar bill of fare equally well executed in
+Greek, and the doctor begged leave to inquire of him, "What is the
+difference between _artos_ (bread) and _azumos_ (biscuit), and in what
+respect do the _tyrontes_ and _dolyres_ and _typhes_ and _placites_
+and _melitutes_ differ?"
+
+The professor became at once so confused as to put the whole company
+and the Rabbin in particular in the best of humor and indeed in almost
+uncontrollable laughter.
+
+"And what, if you please," further inquired the great Hebrew, "were
+those highly flavored _arto laganos_ and the _escarites_ which the
+Epicureans are said to have relished so highly that they could devour
+them even after the operation had become distressing?"
+
+The professor's pale face had changed to the color of a lobster's
+back, and those who had been so painfully perplexed by the
+discomfiture of the doctor were now carried to the other extreme by
+beholding him tear the weapon from his own flesh and hurl it with such
+effect against the attacking party. Again the excitement was becoming
+too exquisite for enjoyment. Nothing could have been more graceful
+than the turn that was given to the conversation by the Rev. Mr.
+Malcolm in sliding it off into a description of the Athenian matrons
+and maidens vying with each other in the markets in the sale of their
+seventy-two different kinds of bread and the conventional phrases
+which they were accustomed to use. As Mr. Malcolm repeated the calls
+with graceful and descriptive action, and the professor, who had
+recovered his equanimity, interpreted readily, the whole company could
+see in their mind's eye the girls and the matrons in the market of
+Athens who more than seventeen hundred years ago had called aloud
+their "_melitutes_ sweetened with the delicious honey of Mount
+Hymettus, and _tyrontes_ made of flour baked with cheese." If there
+was any lack of dignity in the reverend gentleman in his vivacious
+description, or in the change of his voice to distinguish the girl
+from the woman, it was credited to his sagacity and readiness to turn
+a bold corner in order to efface the fear and apprehension that had
+preceded. It also gave our professor an opportunity to translate what
+a few moments before he had been too much confused to do.
+
+Then came a glowing description of the venders of bread in ancient
+Rome and of the manners of the Ćdiles in their daily round among the
+bakers and bread-stands. Here again Mr. Malcolm was exceedingly happy
+in his imitations both of the manners of the Ćdiles and their remarks
+as they passed along, giving a _tableau vivant_ that was quite unique
+and very descriptive and enjoyable.
+
+The Right Reverend who was present made a historical reference to King
+Numa, and in the same connection declared that bread-making was as old
+as the human race. Malcolm smiled, and looked about so queerly that
+one of our literary friends offered him a penny. He was evidently
+confused, and seemed in doubt when another offered to make it
+twopence.
+
+"I have always supposed," said Malcolm very modestly, "that the Romans
+for five centuries were pultiphagists, and that Megalarte and
+Megalomanze were the first bread-makers," and then, not a little to
+the gratification of the professor, he quoted from an author whom the
+professor had before then enjoyed alone, and whom some of the company
+had thought to have been fictitious. He added that in Numa's time no
+bread had been made, and he quoted again from some unheard-of
+philosopher who declared that "invalids would become numerous in Rome
+should they cease to be pultiphagists and become eaters of bread."
+
+The countenance of the Right Reverend fell somewhat, and Malcolm and
+the professor drew closer together, and for a while took the lead of
+the conversation and in the entertainment of the company. The
+professor seemed enraptured at finding so proficient a Latin and Greek
+scholar, and one so familiar with the characters he had hitherto
+monopolized. Archilus, Acestius, Stephanus and Phisistion were superb.
+Mithaceus on Hotch-potch, Agis on Pickled Broom-buds, Hegesippus on
+Black-pudding, Crito on Soused Mackerel, were joyously hit off in
+turn, after which Malcolm began a description of the luxury of living
+in Trajan's reign.
+
+The greatest of all cooks, Apicius, was introduced as the author of
+several of the dishes which had so graced the pending feast. Then
+followed the brilliant kitcheners of Rome when foreign luxury was
+introduced into the empire from Asia, and as the procession passed
+along in grand review, some of the _bon mots_ of each were repeated,
+followed by the hearty laugh of the guests. Of these Pantaleon,
+Epiricus, Epenetus, Zophon, Chius, and Tyndaricus, whom Pliny styled
+"the gulf of all youth," received the most attention.
+
+Paulus Ćmilius, whose three days' triumph in Rome was graced by the
+captive monarch of Macedonia, came in for his share of honor for his
+declaration that "there is equal skill in bringing an army into the
+field and the setting forth of a feast, inasmuch as one is to annoy
+your enemy and the other to please your friend."
+
+Many instances of the great men of antiquity being engaged in
+cooking were recited: the cook of Charlemagne was the leader of
+his armies,--Patrocles, the geographer and governor of Syria under
+Seleucus and Antiochus, peeled onions,--the heroic Ulysses roasted a
+sirloin of beef,--the godlike Achilles washed cabbages,--Cincinnatus
+boiled the turnips upon which he dined,--the great Condé fried
+pancakes,--Curius Dentatus, who twice enjoyed the honors of a triumph,
+was found cooking peas in an earthen pot.
+
+Then followed a description of the luxury brought to Rome after the
+conquest of Asia, with talk of the edicts of Archian, Faunian, Didian,
+and others for its suppression,--the expense of a single meal being
+limited by imperial mandate to _centenos asses_,--of the resistance
+offered to these decrees by Durenius and others, and of bills of fare
+(first introduced by Vitellius). Most of the company had heard enough
+of this kind of conversation, and had turned their attention to the
+professor, who seemed transported with delight, especially when
+Malcolm quoted from Diocles on sweet-breads, Hicesius on potted
+pigeons, and Dionysius on sugar sops.
+
+From that day to the present time the professor has not ceased to
+inquire with profound admiration for that accomplished gentleman and
+ripe scholar and antiquarian, confidently expecting that he is yet to
+honor some of the great universities of the Old World, or that he is
+to be raised to some exalted position in the Church of England.
+
+It would be very agreeable to the writer to be allowed to communicate
+some of the hits and repartees which were tossed about the table, and
+which are omitted because unnecessary to the question in hand. There
+was, however, one other subject discussed which awakened a lively
+interest and is appropriate to the sequence.
+
+Mr. Malcolm started the inquiry whether it was consistent with the
+highest virtue and religion for a lawyer to accept a retainer and to
+act as counsel for a man accused of crime, when he knew or had
+reasonable cause to believe his client guilty of the offence charged.
+The lawyers, one and all, responded in the affirmative. Mr. Malcolm,
+as if in doubt, contented himself with inquiries. The Right Reverend
+and the Rabbin were decidedly opposed to the opinion of the bar. The
+subject was well discussed, and the lawyers carried all before them.
+All had given up the contest except the doctor, when Mr. Burchard
+inquired of him if he believed in capital punishment, and, receiving
+an affirmative nod, he proceeded: "You are aware that our laws require
+of every practitioner before he becomes a member of the legal
+profession that he shall take an oath that he will be faithful to his
+client?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And that our statutes provide that the court shall assign counsel to
+a criminal when he has not made that provision for himself?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And that the state at its own expense compels the attendance of the
+witnesses for the accused; and you approve these laws?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And once more, would you prefer that the court should hang a man
+accused of murder under a plea of guilty, or that the extreme penalty
+of the law should be enforced after a full hearing, and proof to the
+satisfaction of the jury beyond a reasonable doubt?"
+
+After a moment's reflection the doctor replied that he should prefer
+that the death penalty should be carried into effect _only_ after a
+verdict of guilty and upon the fullest investigation, for, said he,
+"it may be that the accused has a very imperfect knowledge as to what
+constitutes the offence charged; or he may be mistaken as to his
+duties and obligations; or, indeed, he may be laboring under a morbid
+condition of mind, so as to desire that his life may be legally taken,
+and I think I have known at least one such."
+
+"Then," said Mr. Burchard, "have you not admitted so much as to make
+untenable your position, namely, that you approve the law which
+requires an attorney to be faithful to his client, the law which
+assigns counsel to the accused, the law which compels the attendance
+of the witnesses for the criminal at the expense of the state, and
+provides that the accused shall be executed _only_ after the fullest
+investigation? What is the object of these enactments? Undoubtedly the
+interest of the state and not primarily of the criminal. The state in
+its wisdom requires for its own safety, and lest it should commit the
+crime and the blunder of hanging an innocent man, that the whole truth
+should be known. How greatly would the government and jurisprudence
+suffer if a guiltless man should be executed? When, therefore, a
+lawyer assumes the defence of a known murderer he is complying with
+the commands of the statutes and is serving the best interests of the
+government when he compels the prosecuting officer to the proof of the
+offence; and not only so, he is serving justice itself and not the
+criminal only. Even the judges have no authority to punish, except
+these provisions of law are complied with and the offence be proved.
+Who has not heard of the indictment of the two Bournes in Vermont, and
+of their having pleaded guilty to the crime of murder, for which they
+were on the eve of being executed, when the supposed murdered man put
+in his appearance? How much better would justice have appeared had
+the defence been conducted by a tenacious, faithful, and conscientious
+lawyer instead of being conducted in such a bungling manner that the
+bones of a horse did duty for the bones of the supposed murdered man!
+That case has done better duty as a bugbear for a century than any
+other legal decision."
+
+Mr. Burchard became quite warm, and made the assertion that he would
+never take a retainer, and afterwards, no matter what knowledge he
+should subsequently acquire, desert a client; and he doubted if a
+conscientious lawyer had a moral right to refuse to defend a brother
+mortal accused of crime. "For the refusal," said he, "proceeds upon
+the ground taken by the doctor, which substantially is that no defence
+ought to be made, but that sentence should be passed upon a real
+criminal whether the crime can be proved or not. And I am at a loss to
+discover how my friend the doctor can approve of the requirements of
+the statutes which have been referred to, and yet assert that honest,
+conscientious lawyers alone cannot comply with them."
+
+Mr. Burchard, feeling that he had been somewhat more enthusiastic than
+the occasion demanded, changed the subject in this wise:
+
+"You all remember that a certain firm in Philadelphia made a special
+deposit of eighteen thousand dollars in gold in the Trust Company, and
+some expert thieves by means of a forged check obtained possession of
+the money. The manner of accomplishing the feat was peculiar and was
+most adroitly carried out. The thief drove so sharp a bargain for
+funds current in New Orleans that the cashier's mind was diverted from
+the genuineness of the check to the percentage of exchange to be
+realized by the operation. Many propositions were made on both sides
+which were not mutually satisfactory. At last the rogue told the
+cashier that rather than submit to imposition he would take the gold,
+and the eighteen thousand dollars were handed over to him in
+twenty-dollar gold-pieces. The forgery was not discovered till
+thirteen days after, when the depositor called for his special
+deposit. Immediately detectives were employed. One of them you have
+all seen. He is a personal friend of mine, and his ability in this
+department surpasses Vidocq's as much as Vidocq's was superior to that
+of an ordinary country constable. He judged, by an intuition that none
+of us can comprehend, that these rogues had carried their plunder to
+Baltimore, and thither he proceeded. For three months he prowled about
+that city by night and by day, his mind intent upon the one object of
+ascertaining some clew that should direct him to the discovery of the
+robber. At the end of twelve weeks he had made no progress, and
+returned to Philadelphia. There he continued some ten days, and became
+discontented and vexed at being baffled. Asserting that he felt
+certain that the thieves made Baltimore their head-quarters, he
+proceeded thither again. After ten days' further search, one evening
+as he was walking slowly past a newspaper-stand on the corner of a
+street, he observed a boy who wore no hat purchase a New York _Herald_
+and give in exchange a twenty-dollar gold-piece. He followed the lad
+into a drinking-saloon in the rear of which was a gambling-room. He
+soon ascertained the proprietor's name, and learned that his family
+occupied the upper part of the house. He became acquainted with the
+proprietor's wife, and found that she was sister to the wife of C. B.,
+who was that year the president of the association of rogues, he
+having been elected to that position at M. in the State of Indiana in
+the month of August. He also learned that her father resided about
+fifty miles from Baltimore. The detective was aware that this close
+corporation of rascals had nine directors, and, knowing the position
+of C. B. in the association and his connection with the proprietor of
+the saloon, and understanding also the method of distribution, he
+concluded that two thousand dollars fell in the division to C. B., and
+a like amount to the proprietor of the saloon. He left the saloon at
+midnight, and drove immediately to the residence of the father of the
+proprietor's wife, and arrived there between nine and ten o'clock on
+the following morning, meeting the old gentleman in his wagon between
+his house and the main road, from which it was distant about half a
+mile. The detective was also aware of a rule among these robbers, that
+any considerable sum of money stolen, less ten per cent, should be
+buried for two years; and, having ascertained only what has been above
+related, he felt sure of the fact that the old gentleman was the
+keeper of one ninth, at least, of the money stolen. He also felt
+confident that he had gathered enough of the truth to make a powerful
+impression upon the man he had gone so far to see, and that if he was
+not altogether given over to the service of this band of bad men, he
+could state facts enough, which the old gentleman knew were profound
+secrets, to stagger his mind and arouse his conscience. After an
+interview of less than an hour this detective, by an art of which we
+cannot conceive, and by a magnetism and eloquence that no other man of
+my acquaintance ever possessed a tithe of, actually induced the father
+of these two women to dig up out of his garden two thousand dollars in
+twenty-dollar gold-pieces and hand them over to--my friend Mr. Sidney,
+_who sits at the other end of the table_. And not only so, but he
+prevailed upon the old gentleman to go with him to Baltimore in
+order to get possession of the other two thousand dollars held by
+the proprietor of the aforesaid saloon, which he also actually
+accomplished at a little inn about six miles from Baltimore, where the
+saloon-keeper and his wife met her father and my friend.
+
+"Yesterday in the Supreme Court I had occasion to avail myself of Mr.
+Sidney's marvellous ability as an expert in handwriting. The case
+turned entirely upon his testimony, although some twenty witnesses
+testified on each side that they had seen the defendant write, and
+that, in their opinion, the signature was or was not genuine. Mr.
+Sidney did not arrive till the moment the case was about to be given
+to the jury, and I had no opportunity of conversing with him, except
+to ascertain that in his judgment the signature was not a forgery.
+
+"After he took the witness-stand and had qualified himself as an
+expert in handwriting, the note in suit was handed him, and he was
+requested to state whether or not in his opinion the signature was
+genuine. It was some minutes before he responded. During the latter
+portion of the time of his silence his mind seemed intent upon
+something else. The presiding judge inquired of him if he intended to
+answer, when he replied:
+
+"'I was considering the matter, not whether the signature was genuine,
+but how I could convince the jury of the truth of what I have to say.
+This signature is genuine. The man who wrote it is a moral and
+religious man, and has therefore forgotten that he executed it. He is
+aged forty-seven, stands five feet ten, is broad-shouldered,
+full-favored, with muscular hands, thick, hard, and small; he is a
+merchant and a bachelor, and finds it hard to give up when he has been
+mistaken. I judge that the man who sits at the other end of the table
+wrote his name to this note, and I think I can convince him of it, for
+his honest face corresponds to the morality of the signature. The jury
+will observe that the first letter of the name is written while the
+quill pen was full of ink, which was almost exhausted on the second
+letter and replenished on the third, and the operation is repeated
+five times. I think, also, that the writer was in poor health, and his
+muscles relaxed when he wrote his name. I am of the opinion,
+therefore, that the signature was made while the writer was on his
+back and the nib of the pen was higher than the tip.'
+
+"At this point of the testimony the face of the defendant against
+whose interest the witness was testifying became luminous, and he at
+once rose and declared that the statement of the expert was the truth,
+and that it had altogether passed from his mind till that moment.
+
+"I hope now I shall have the pleasure of giving you such an
+entertainment that you will remember it for your lifetime; and I know
+whereof I affirm when I state that my friend here present will, one
+hundred times in succession and without a mistake, from a single
+specimen of the handwriting of an individual, give his age within two
+years, his height within an inch, his weight within ten pounds, his
+profession, whether married or single, his temperament and
+peculiarities, his moral character, whether--"
+
+Mr. Sidney was here observed to shake his head in a most determined
+manner.
+
+"Or if my friend," proceeded Mr. Burchard, "will give us the
+characteristics of some of our neighbors who may be passing, this
+company will be equally delighted and astonished, for I assert that
+he will invariably hit off the peculiarity of a man from a single
+glance better than any of us after ten years of intercourse and
+acquaintance."
+
+Again Mr. Sidney shook his head, and the subject was not again
+referred to.
+
+At a late hour the company separated, each asserting that he had never
+passed a more enjoyable evening.
+
+The reader will understand that only fragments of the conversation are
+here given, and only such and so much as bear upon the question at the
+head of the article. The sparkle of the remainder might be somewhat
+dimmed by a repetition, but so agreeable was the flow of soul, so
+entertaining the wit, so electric the repartees, and so graceful the
+turns in the conversation when the joke began to be too practical,
+that the whole company, without reference to the compliment of the
+host, declared to each other, as they met for months and years after,
+that in their lifetime they had never realized such elegant luxury and
+such unmitigated pleasure in an entertainment.
+
+Mr. Sidney again and again endeavored to speak a word confidentially
+to Mr. Burchard, but circumstances, and especially his devotion to
+Malcolm, prevented.
+
+Both Malcolm and Sidney were to take the night train for New York, and
+the time of its departure was near at hand. At last Mr. Sidney bade
+the host good-night, saying he should see him again before many days,
+but hoped he would soon recover from the infirmity in his eyes. Mr.
+Malcolm was the last to leave.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Early on the following morning, while Mr. Burchard was at breakfast,
+he received the following note:
+
+     BERNON BURCHARD, ESQ.:--
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--After leaving your hospitable mansion last
+     night, and while I was hastening to the station to take the
+     night train for New York, I was accosted by two watchmen who
+     arrested me, as they say, for burglary, and have detained me
+     at the police station till now. In order that I may keep my
+     appointment in New York, I have waived a preliminary
+     examination before the magistrate, and desire you will
+     become my bail, that I may be immediately released to the
+     important duties devolving upon me elsewhere. Before many
+     days the occasion of my haste will be ascertained, and that
+     it had no reference to the watchmen; and the prosecution
+     will be voluntarily _nol prosed_.
+
+                    Your friend and servant,
+                         MALCOLM.
+
+Mr. Burchard dropped his cup, and without communicating with his wife,
+hastened to the assistance of his relative, gave the required bail,
+and released his friend to proceed on his journey, all the while
+delighted with the thought that Winfield Burchard would sooner or
+later be informed that his letter of introduction was of some real
+value to his nephew.
+
+Before his departure, Malcolm handed to Mr. Burchard a draft for one
+thousand dollars, not to secure him as his bail, as he said, but as a
+retainer for his defence should such a necessity ever arise, and Mr.
+Malcolm added with a forced smile, "It is most singular that I, who
+doubted the propriety, should so soon claim the benefit of your
+declaration of your duty made last evening, to which I have so
+suddenly become a convert, but I most devoutly trust that I may rely
+upon your assistance at a time of so great humiliation and
+perplexity."
+
+To which Mr. Burchard replied that he should most gladly, to the
+utmost of his ability, labor incessantly for his guest and relative,
+but must insist that he should be left to do so of his own free will,
+without reference to any pecuniary compensation, and out of the high
+regard in which he held his friend and benefactor Winfield Burchard.
+
+To which Malcolm responded, "It would be an accommodation to me if you
+would take charge of the draft and collect the same and pass it to my
+credit, for I prefer not to carry about my person so large an amount
+of money."
+
+The result was that Mr. Burchard retained the draft. He then proceeded
+to the offices of several daily newspapers and suppressed the report
+of the arrest, "for," said he to the editors, "by allowing it to
+appear you will greatly injure the reputation of one of the most
+pious and accomplished clergymen in the English Church, and I am fully
+aware of the reason of his haste when overtaken by the watchmen, for
+he had left my house but a few minutes before and was hastening to the
+train when the real rogues ran past him."
+
+There was one scurrilous little journal among the newspapers at whose
+office Mr. Burchard neglected to call. In their next issue the
+following appeared:
+
+    "_Another Robbery._ About two o'clock last night the dwelling
+    of W---- H. B---- on B---- Street was burglariously entered,
+    and a considerable amount of silver plate, jewelry, and other
+    valuables taken and carried away. The loss is estimated at
+    two thousand five hundred dollars. The daughter of Mrs. B----
+    heard the noise of the robbers as they left the house and
+    gave the alarm. Two watchmen, who were in the immediate
+    vicinity, gave chase, and one of the robbers, who gave his
+    name as George Lathrop, not so swift of foot as the others,
+    was overtaken and carried to the police station, where he
+    waived an examination, gave the required bail of twelve
+    thousand dollars, and is now at large. There were two other
+    participators in the crime who outran the watchmen. Lathrop
+    was observed to throw away something in his flight. A
+    subsequent search discovered it to be a finely wrought mat of
+    curious construction, the handiwork of Miss B----, which
+    sufficiently identifies this one of the thieves with the
+    transaction. The other two were subsequently arrested and
+    held to bail in like amounts, but no part of the booty has
+    yet been recovered. From the promptness with which bail was
+    given, and the standing of the sureties, it would seem that
+    these burglars are not only men of property, but are
+    protected by men in high social position."
+
+On reading the foregoing Mr. Burchard's indignation knew no bounds. He
+blamed himself for not having recollected the existence of that
+scurrilous journal, which now seemed more mean and contemptible than
+ever. Those persons who understood how great a control Mr. Burchard
+had over his passions could nevertheless see that an earthquake was
+pent up in his bosom. He was almost beside himself with rage. When his
+indignation had somewhat subsided his pride and high sense of honor
+became equally disturbed. He feared that his guests of the previous
+evening might hear of the matter, and identify Malcolm with George
+Lathrop. Vexed almost beyond endurance, dejected and tormented almost
+beyond the rallying-point, he went to his house bewildered, and threw
+himself upon a lounge, and overcome by exhaustion fell asleep. When he
+awoke it was evening. He rose from his couch, seated himself before a
+bright wood fire, and looked intently into the coals. Snow was falling
+softly upon the pavements till the tramp of passing travellers became
+muffled and hushed. Maguire came into the library, and entered into
+conversation with Mr. Burchard concerning the entertainment of the
+previous evening, and finding that it was considered by him eminently
+successful, begged Mr. Burchard to give him a certificate which would
+secure him a similar place should anything ever occur by reason of
+which he should relinquish his present position. Whereupon Mr.
+Burchard turned to his writing-table and wrote as follows:
+
+                         December, 1855.
+
+     This is to certify that M. Maguire has resided in my family
+     for eight years last past, and during all that period has
+     conducted himself with the most perfect propriety, and has
+     shown consummate skill as a kitchener, and in all matters
+     pertaining to the order and etiquette of a feast has no
+     superior, and I do cordially recommend him, in case he shall
+     ever leave my employment, as an honest, upright, and
+     faithful man, and worthy of my regard.
+
+                         BERNON BURCHARD.
+
+This he handed to Maguire with the remark that if it was not
+sufficiently comprehensive he might dictate such an one as he desired
+and he would sign it. Maguire, perceiving that his employer was not in
+a talkative mood, quietly left the room. As he left, Mrs. Burchard
+came into the library and sat down to talk over the dinner-party. Both
+agreed that it was a great success, and that Maguire was a jewel. Mrs.
+Burchard began to laugh, and then asked, "Did you observe that pickle,
+my dear?"
+
+"What about the pickle?"
+
+"Why, the pickle which Mr. Malcolm took happened to have a cut nail
+extending the full length of it. Now, my dear, do you suppose that
+nail could have grown in the cucumber? Ha, ha! What an entertaining
+man he is, and what a fund of anecdote, and how well he tells a story;
+and yet I don't fancy him. Those bills of fare in Hebrew, Greek, and
+Latin, how did--"
+
+The door-bell rang and Mr. Sidney was announced. "Thank God!"
+exclaimed Mr. Burchard. So rejoiced was he that his whole frame
+trembled with emotion and tears trickled down his face. Grasping his
+hand with both his own, he asked, "You received my telegram, then?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then what brought you here so soon?"
+
+Mrs. Burchard perceiving the conversation was not free in her
+presence, quietly left the room, when Mr. Sidney assumed a grave
+demeanor and said: "Mr. Burchard, I have always believed you eminently
+an honorable and honest man, and do so still. Do you grant this of
+me?"
+
+"Yes, but if you did not receive my telegram, what brought you here
+to-night, for I am aware of the necessity you are under to be
+elsewhere?"
+
+"I told you I should soon return," said Mr. Sidney, "for I feared that
+you might compromise yourself to an unpardonable degree with the
+scamps by whom you have been surrounded, and the thought of it so
+weighed upon my mind that when I met the train at New Haven bound
+eastward I determined to come again to you and inform you of your
+peril."
+
+"I am not aware that I am in any peril."
+
+"If you were aware of it you would be safe, and your lack of knowledge
+is the reason of my return."
+
+"Have you any information of what has transpired since last evening?"
+inquired Mr. Burchard.
+
+"None, whatever."
+
+"Then unburden yourself with the least possible delay, for I have been
+so harassed and tormented during this day as almost to be overwhelmed;
+and as you are aware that I hold your judgment in these matters akin
+to prophecy, I beg you will proceed, for I have pondered over and over
+again your meaning when you compared me, both at the beginning and
+ending of the company, to Bartimeus."
+
+"First," said Mr. Sidney, "I wish you to understand that I have never
+before last night seen or heard of the two or three persons concerning
+whom I propose to speak, and I feel that I ought first to have your
+permission to say all that is in my mind, for it comes nearer home to
+you than you suppose."
+
+"You have it; go on."
+
+"If it be true that the heart of a man changeth his countenance, then
+it is absolutely certain to my mind that your clergyman is the most
+unmitigated scamp, and it may, with propriety, be said that he has no
+conscience at all, so perverted has it become. He is a gambler by
+profession, and a passer of counterfeit money, but his business is
+burglary. He has followed it for years, and had his mind not been on
+it for years, he could not have become so perfect in his craft. The
+one great quality demanded by his business is _patience_, and he has
+attained it. The most remarkable thing about him is his assurance. I
+never knew an instance of so bad a man having the audacity to appear
+in the company of gentlemen of refinement, and to say grace with a
+voice that had no heart in it. It is usually the last place that those
+of his craft seek, and I cannot yet comprehend how he wheedled you."
+
+Mr. Burchard explained, as has been previously stated.
+
+"And that Maguire of yours is as bad a woman as walks the earth."
+
+"Woman!" exclaimed Mr. Burchard; "for eight years he has been one of
+the most faithful servants and upright men I ever knew."
+
+"_Now, Mr. Burchard!_" said Mr. Sidney, looking him straight in the
+eye, "do you mean to tell me that you don't know Maguire is a woman?"
+
+"I surely do not so suspect even."
+
+"Then the blindness of Bartimeus was nothing to yours. Has she any
+beard? Has she a man's voice? Has she the figure of a man? Does she
+make any motions of body or limb like a man? Surely not. She is a
+woman, and has consummate art, more than any woman I ever saw save
+one. She consorts continually with thieves and robbers, and if you do
+not suspect it you ought to know it, and that is what has brought me
+here. Your house is on fire of hell, and you do not seem to apprehend
+it. Did you not notice at the table that she spilled some wine on the
+Reverend (?) Mr. Malcolm's head and white cravat, and do you suppose
+it was accidental? No, sir, they are better acquainted than you and I,
+for he did not start when it was done, but was conscious who did it.
+When I entered your drawing-room and saw you standing between these
+two graceless villains, I looked around me in order to ascertain how
+many of that stripe were present, and finding but one other, I
+concluded you had been imposed upon and that I would improve the
+opportunity to study human nature. I _should_ like to be informed how
+it came to pass that that reverend state's-prison bird obtained an
+invitation from you."
+
+Mr. Burchard explained the method of the introduction by a letter from
+his kinsman in England, as before stated.
+
+"Have you the letter?"
+
+The letter being produced, after a moment's examination he said: "Very
+well done. _Very_ well done. He is better at that than I supposed, yet
+many of the letters show more than one stroke of the pen. He is an
+Englishman, but learned to write in Germany. He was once a cook. He
+does not write Malcolm as if used to it, and that is an assumed name.
+Great nerve, assurance, self-reliance, and patience. Is fond of
+children. Has more conceit than his manners indicate, kind-hearted man
+and even generous in his way, but has no notion of truth or morals.
+Should say he had spent much of his time in Baden Baden and other like
+places. Is good at gambling, but burglary is his _forte_. Ah! yes,
+this specimen of his handwriting, if it is disguised, tells the whole
+story of his life. That was a pretty crowd, was it not? for me to show
+off, too, that I could read their characters in their faces."
+
+"Is it possible?" soliloquized Mr. Burchard, "and my admirable Maguire
+his accomplice!"
+
+Mr. Sidney asked for the last letters which he had received from
+Winfield Burchard, in order to compare the two, but examining his
+portfolio, all were gone.
+
+Mr. Burchard then stated to Mr. Sidney what had transpired during the
+day,--Malcolm's arrest, the giving of bail, the suppression of the
+report in the newspapers, and the report which appeared in one of the
+journals, his acceptance of the draft of one thousand dollars, and
+some other particulars, when Mr. Sidney said,--
+
+"Why were your eyes not opened by the fact that Malcolm did not give
+the same name to the watchmen as to you? That is an offence against
+the statute, and you know it, and an honest man, whether clergyman or
+boot-black, never descends to that. Besides, the robbery was
+committed, according to this account, more than an hour after the
+night train had gone to which your supposed relative was hastening.
+That mat also should have convinced you; and what an adept he was to
+have known enough of the forms of law to have waived a preliminary
+examination and to have secured you as bail before you had recovered
+from your dream! He managed well to get your opinion last night of the
+duty of lawyers to defend rogues. Mr. Burchard, you are harnessed. You
+must now defend that rascal. Your mouth is closed, you have pocketed a
+retainer. A thousand dollars' fee does not indicate light work, but
+seems to imply a strain upon your conscience. I once heard the
+ex-secretary of President Harrison's Cabinet decline a like amount
+because it implied too much for his honor."
+
+Mr. Sidney touched a sensitive place. If Mr. Burchard had any
+reputation or quality as a lawyer, it was for his unsullied integrity
+and keen sense of honor. The ability of Mr. Sidney in his department
+had not brought that comfort which Mr. Burchard had hoped for. His
+distress of mind was so great that Mr. Sidney judged he had gone
+beyond the limit of safety, and he quoted, "'Faithful are the wounds
+of a friend.' As your friend I open to your view the peril from which
+it is your duty to escape. If you are involved, extricate yourself
+with honor if you can, and if you cannot, then do no more than honor
+requires."
+
+A long pause ensued. At length Mr. Burchard broke the silence by
+inquiring what evidence there was that Maguire was criminal.
+
+"Because she gets the information for Malcolm, and draws plans of the
+houses which he intends to rob, and locates every piece of furniture
+in them so that he can enter the house and go through darkness to his
+objective point. He passes half his nights in her room. There the
+schemes are matured, and if you think her less criminal than Malcolm,
+you are welcome to your opinion."
+
+"But what information can you give me upon which I can act?"
+
+"She has deceived you in passing herself off as a man. She is in
+fellowship with Malcolm, while it is for her interest to be faithful
+to you, for by reason of being your man she has access to those houses
+which may be presumed to be profitable in the plundering. I cannot
+tell you any particular thing she has done, but I can send a message
+to the back door by reason of which she will fly from your house and
+never again show you her face."
+
+"What message will you send?"
+
+"I will write on a card these words, 'All is known, detectives are
+approaching.'"
+
+"Do it," said Mr. Burchard, "and if he is honest he will show it to me
+and ask advice, and we will see if he will fly."
+
+The card was delivered, no commotion followed. She was not seen to
+escape, though watch was set for the purpose. Search was made for her
+in vain. From the appearance of her room it was evident she had fled.
+It was months before she was heard from, and then the inquiry came
+from the chief of police in a Western city, "Did Mary Maguire, alias
+Sonsie Jane, alias Wily Mary, ever reside with Bernon Burchard? Is his
+certificate genuine?"
+
+In the mean time Mr. Burchard was intensely excited by conflicting
+emotions and the discussion within himself concerning his duty. Could
+he retain the money and give information to the police? No. Did the
+fraud of Malcolm vitiate his obligation to him? In some particulars,
+but not in all. Did his oath to be faithful to his client prevent him
+from withdrawing from the case till at least he had returned what he
+had received? Yes; but how could he return it, since it was doubtful
+if Malcolm would ever again appear?
+
+Before Mr. Sidney left town it was arranged that he should ascertain
+the whereabouts of Malcolm if possible, and, as the attorney of Mr.
+Burchard as bail, bring him hither at all hazards, and confine him in
+jail to await his trial or till he should procure other securities.
+Mr. Sidney stipulated that Mr. Burchard should not on any account
+telegraph to him or any other person upon the subject, because that
+the telegram would certainly reach Malcolm, if he was a chief member
+of a gang of villians, before it did him or the person to whom it
+should be addressed. This injunction, however, escaped the mind of Mr.
+Burchard. As the time for Malcolm's trial drew near, he, Mr. Burchard,
+became nervous and care-worn. Learning through a New York detective
+that Malcolm was in that city, he at once telegraphed to his attorney
+there to seek out the detective and have Malcolm arrested.
+
+The writer of this article, who was then aware that some great trouble
+shrouded the mind of Mr. Burchard, without knowing what it was,
+happened to be conversing with him on the street near his office door
+when the answer to the telegram arrived, and had the opportunity of
+reading it all except the signature. Before the message had been
+delivered to the attorney in New York, the answer came from Malcolm at
+New Orleans, printed upon a long strip of paper as follows:
+
+                         "NEW ORLEANS, March --, 1856.
+
+     "I never disappoint my bail. My thoughts on awful subjects
+     roll, damnation and the dead, what horrors seize the guilty
+     soul upon a dying bed. Lingering about these mortal shores
+     she makes a long delay, till like a flood with rapid force,
+     death sweeps the wretch away. Good for Doctor Watts. I have
+     three weeks yet to spare."
+
+How it was signed I am not aware. The envelope was marked "paid
+$32.75."
+
+On the afternoon previous to the sitting of the court at which Malcolm
+was under bail to appear, he unexpectedly presented himself at Mr.
+Burchard's office. The conflicting emotions in Mr. Burchard's breast
+upon beholding him can well be imagined. Indignation for the
+imposition and forgery was most apparent. Vengeance was secondary,
+tempered by the fact that he had made his appearance, although not
+yet safe in jail. His soul burst forth in a holy horror of a man
+apparently incapable of entertaining a moral sentiment, and so brazen
+as not to appreciate his guilt. His presence so exasperated Mr.
+Burchard that he rushed toward the door without any definite intention
+but to be rid of his visitor. Malcolm calmly placed his back against
+the closed door and said very coolly: "All this indignation is well
+enough before a jury, Mr. Burchard, and I read in your countenance
+what is passing in your mind, but it is wise to take men as they are
+and the world as it is, and not as it should be. I meet you to-day on
+equal terms. You claim something of me, and I of you. If you are a man
+of honor, fulfil your contract. If you are a sneak, do as I should
+have done had I forfeited my bail. I have shown the estimate I put
+upon my duty by appearing to discharge you as my bail in the face of
+the indignity I have put upon you, and knowing full well what I was to
+encounter. Show half my pluck and it will serve you well. I am not yet
+your prisoner, and by the Eternal! I will not be till to-morrow, when
+I shall be content with that position. On your peril answer me. Will
+you fulfil your agreement? Will you be a man or a knave?"
+
+Mr. Burchard answered not, but saw the desperate nature of the man
+with whom he had to deal, and that he was provided with weapons with
+which to enforce his argument. Malcolm proceeded, "I never was and
+never will be a sneak. I am bound by honor as well as you. You are a
+lawyer, and a good one. I am a burglar, sir, and am not ashamed of my
+jobs. You exalt your profession, and so do I mine. Business is
+business, and mine is as honorable as yours. Think you I am less
+public-spirited than you? Think you I love my wife and children less
+than you? Come, come, Mr. Burchard; down from your perch! You are a
+man of principle. I am no sardine. You have taken my money, and you
+cannot return it if you would, for the bankers upon whom it was drawn
+have failed, and the draft has not been presented and is your loss. I
+know what you would like to say. It is true I used dissimulation and
+procured an invitation to your dinner-party, and here is Winfield
+Burchard's letter to you (presenting it), whose handwriting I
+imitated; but it was all in my line. I laid a bet I could do it, and
+that draft was just the sum I won. Bristol Bill pays up like gentle
+folks, but then he didn't know my opportunities. What possessed you to
+dismiss Maguire? but no matter; that is all gone by. During the last
+eight years I have passed at least six hundred nights in your house,
+and have been very frequently in your sleeping-room, and have heard
+your confidential talk with your wife. Doubt it, do you? Yes, your
+door _was_ always bolted on the inside, and no other one opened into
+your chamber, but I can tell you conversations you had with your wife,
+which will convince you. Do you remember one night when your wife
+became nervous and fell to crying lest the pain she felt in her breast
+should prove to be a cancer, and you told her that you would go to
+Boston with her and consult Dr. Jackson and ask Dr. P. to go with you?
+Do, eh? And do you remember one night when your niece slept upon the
+sofa in your room? I had no idea she was there, and needlessly waked
+her. She screamed, and while you was attending to her fright I slipped
+out and didn't leave your door bolted. I heard you tell her she was
+dreaming.
+
+"And do you remember one night telling your wife that you could not
+imagine how three cigars got out of a new box you had opened the night
+before? Those cigars were the only things that either Maguire or I
+ever took from your house.
+
+"I will make you this proposition, and if you will accept it you will
+do well. By the night train my two accomplices in that job will
+arrive. I don't intend to be shut up till they come. I will pay for
+six men to sit up with me here to-night in this office, and you shall
+select them, and in the morning I will pay their fees and go to jail."
+
+The proposition was accepted, and the chief of police furnished the
+keepers.
+
+During that night Mr. Burchard's office was the scene of strange
+revelations. Malcolm furnished money to one of the officers, who
+brought in a basket of champagne, and ordered a supper at one o'clock
+in the morning, to be the most complete that money could buy and the
+city furnish. The officers were at liberty to invite in their friends
+who were reliable. Malcolm distributed to each of his keepers five
+times the sum of money agreed upon for their wages, and demanded of
+them a faithful performance of their duty. Some thirty had entered the
+office, and the door was closed and not to be opened on any account
+till supper was announced. Malcolm had sent to a neighboring
+bookstore, and obtained one pack of every edition of playing cards
+there kept for sale. Some forty packs with different backs were piled
+up at one end of the table. Malcolm invited some one to take a hand of
+euchre with him. The captain, who was considered the most expert
+player, took a chair at the corner of the table, and the rest were to
+observe the game, but say nothing which they should discover till the
+game was over. Malcolm took one of the packs from the envelope and
+said, "This edition was gotten up by Count ---- at ----, and with it
+he played twenty-one nights and won ---- thousand dollars before the
+markings were discovered. Cut the cards if you please, and mind, if
+you can, that the ten of spades is not turned." The cards were dealt
+and the ten of spades was turned. The two bowers and two aces were
+given to the captain, who ordered up the ten.
+
+"Now, captain, I have given you the bowers and two aces, and yet you
+are euchred." And so it was. Malcolm inquired if any one perceived how
+it was done, and, receiving a negative reply, said, "Very well, he
+shall do precisely the same thing, and see then if you detect the
+method. I will cut for a ten to be turned and order it up, and you
+will observe."
+
+Almost the same cards were put into Malcolm's hand, as had been put
+into the captain's.
+
+"Now," said Malcolm, "I order it up, and will make one," and so it
+was.
+
+"Did any of you see how that was done?"
+
+None could detect. The cards were again shuffled by a looker-on. It
+was Malcolm's deal.
+
+"I must not make too often. This time you shall march. You see I have
+given you three trumps and a king and an ace of another suit." And so
+it was.
+
+The cards were shuffled again. "You must make one this time." And so
+it was.
+
+"Now," said Malcolm, "please say whether I shall make one, or lose
+one, or go out."
+
+It was the captain's deal, and the company requested Malcolm to go out
+if he could.
+
+"Very well then, I cut a bower; the left is next above it as they fell
+into the last hand, and so will not be out."
+
+Malcolm ordered up a queen, took it out with a king, and made three
+low clubs and won the game.
+
+"Let's take another pack while these gimlet-eyed fellows hunt up the
+markings. This edition was gotten up by Sunderland for a high-low-jack
+pack, and was read the first night. The profession never use it, the
+marks are so apparent. Try it once at all-fours."
+
+The cards were dealt by the captain, and Malcolm said, "I will stand,
+although I have but one trump, for you have none." And Malcolm made
+three points.
+
+"Had you detected the manipulation, I should have lost and you would
+have made three.
+
+"Try another pack. This had a run of three months before it was
+detected. It is well executed, and only the most sagacious and
+quick-sighted are never mistaken in the cards. There is not an edition
+of cards that I cannot read as well by seeing one side as the other.
+No pack was ever edited in fairness to both parties. A man is a fool
+who will get out such an edition. I carried two new ones to the B----
+house in London, and won thirteen nights with them."
+
+One of the company who had been out and returned, produced a pack with
+plain backs, and asked triumphantly if Mr. Malcolm would please to
+read them by the backs.
+
+"This edition," said Malcolm, "was gotten up in Edinburgh by an
+Irishman named Mulligan, and was popular for a while, but when he won
+every night with it suspicions were aroused, and finally a boy twelve
+years old deciphered it. I can tell each card across the room." And he
+did.
+
+And so the entertainment went on, Malcolm winning every game till
+supper was served; not one of the company detecting how it was done.
+
+"Now, boys," said Malcolm "this is my treat, and please enjoy
+yourselves, for I shall expect you all to be in court when my case is
+tried, to laugh on my side. Lawyers don't understand the value of a
+chuckle in swaying a jury in a doubtful case. Lay to. 'The art of
+cookery,' says Henry Cornelius Agrippa, 'is very useful if not
+dishonest.' My appetite is good, and I trust you are all likewise
+minded, for Beaumont and Fletcher say, 'What an excellent thing God
+did bestow upon man when he gave him a good appetite. Mine is almost
+equal to that of Erisichthon described by Ovid,--
+
+     'Thus Erisichthon's profane chops devour
+     All sorts of food: in him food is the cause
+     Of hunger: and he will employ his jaws
+     To whet his appetite.'
+
+"'Tis said that Maximus, the Emperor who succeeded Alexander Memneaus,
+consumed forty pounds of flesh in one day, and drank an amphora of
+wine containing forty-eight quarts.
+
+"Waiter, pass your wines. No blue ruin or heavy wet. In the days of
+the great Cćsar all feasts began with eggs and ended with fruits,
+cream and apples; hence the proverb, _ab avo usque ad mala_, and the
+man who did not crush his eggshell or put his folded napkin on his
+left knee, was considered a fool. As we have not eggs we will do our
+best with the napkins. No melancholy subjects at this table. So here's
+luck." And all drank a bumper.
+
+"Did you ever hear how Pope Julius III. became enraged against his
+cook for not having saved him a cold peacock for supper, and how he
+began to blaspheme? Whereupon one of his cardinals said to him, 'Let
+not your Holiness be so moved with a matter of so little weight.'
+'What!' said the pope, 'if God was so angry for one apple that he cast
+our first parents out of Paradise, why may not I, his vicar, be angry
+for a peacock, sithers a peacock is greater than an apple?'
+
+"The oysters from Tarentum, so prized by one of the Cćsars, I forget
+which, were not to be compared to these. Captain, take a hand at them.
+Let me give you a song."
+
+And with a sweet melodious voice and a Scotch accent, he sang Burns's
+Ode on the Haggis.
+
+     "'Fair, fa' your honest, sonsie face,
+     Great chieftain o' the pudding race:
+     Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
+         Paunch, tripe, or thairm;
+     Weel are ye worthy o' a grace
+         As lang's my arm.'
+
+"This bird is excellent; whoever cooked it,
+
+                       'His name should be enrolled
+     In Estcourt's book, whose gridiron's framed of gold.'
+
+"Help yourselves, gentlemen, digestion is the business of the stomach,
+and indigestion that of the physicians. It is better to dine late, for
+one can then concentrate all his thoughts upon his plate, forget
+business, and only think of eating and drinking and going to bed. Ha,
+ha! I should have omitted the bed in quoting from the gourmands, for
+they would rather fast than be obliged to eat a good dinner in a
+hurry. Five hours is little enough, provided Mr. Burchard shall not in
+the mean time appear and drive us away.
+
+"This venison is delicious; none was ever better served. The Roman
+Senators debated the question how a turbot should be cooked, and the
+author of this dish deserves a place among such.
+
+"Montmaur is reported to have said that Easter and Christmas were the
+two best days in the year. Easter because it was farthest from Lent,
+and Christmas because then you breakfasted at midnight. Who says this
+is not equal to Montmaur's Christmas breakfast?"
+
+This sort of banter, interspersed with songs and stories, was kept up
+till a late hour, when all of a sudden the keepers awoke to the fact
+that Malcolm had flown. The visitors laughed heartily. The company
+dispersed, not standing upon the order of their going. The table was
+cleared, and the office put in order. Only one of the keepers
+remained, who resembled in appearance a cat that had played with her
+mouse and lost it; the others were out looking for Malcolm. At an
+early hour in the morning he returned, and seating himself at Mr.
+Burchard's desk, wrote him this note:
+
+     MR. BURCHARD,--
+
+    I trust I did not disturb your repose. I found, this morning,
+    in your safe in your house this pretty little casket sent
+    you from your English namesake. I have seen it often before,
+    but wanted another squint at it, and I have brought it to
+    your office lest some burglar might steal it from your house.
+    I noticed your wife's watch lying around loose in your
+    sleeping-room, which is of no great value--to me,--and I
+    contented myself with the charms, which I will put into your
+    steel chest, here in the office, for safe keeping against the
+    time of my need. The putting a yoke on the keys of your door,
+    so I could not turn them with the nippers, was all useless.
+    The chair poised against your sleeping-room door gave me a
+    deal of trouble, and I could not put it back as I found it.
+    Please excuse me. The thread on the stairs attached to an
+    alarm-bell might as well have been omitted. The old-fashioned
+    fork against the bolt I put back as I found it, and came out
+    by the dining-room window. Your portfolio you will find
+    between the beds on which you were sleeping. It took me half
+    an hour to make you turn over so I could do it. George Waters
+    is my counsel, to whom I have committed my case. He will
+    arrange the evidence. Unless you eat your own words, you will
+    sit beside him and ask the jury if they believe the case is
+    made out beyond a reasonable doubt, for I know better than
+    you the weight of your character. I shall be in jail by
+    breakfast-time.
+
+                         MALCOLM.
+
+At the bottom of the note was a well-drawn hand with spread fingers
+at the end of a man's nose.
+
+When all the officers had returned, dropping in one by one, towards
+morning, they were somewhat surprised and relieved upon beholding
+Malcolm. He informed them that it would be all right if they would all
+appear at his trial and laugh for him.
+
+At the trial, Mr. Burchard, care-worn and nervous, made his
+appearance. Mr. Waters conducted the testimony for the defence. Mr.
+Burchard inquired of him what testimony Malcolm relied upon, and was
+answered that no testimony whatever was to be introduced, but he would
+rely altogether upon the lack of testimony on the part of the
+government. A cold shiver ran down Burchard's backbone. The question
+of guilty or not guilty turned upon the identity of the mat previously
+spoken of, which, it was asserted, Malcolm threw away as he ran. The
+watchman testified positively to the fact, but it was in the night,
+and he might have been mistaken. Mr. W. H. B. testified generally as
+to the robbery, and recognized the mat as probably the one made by his
+daughter, although he could not positively make oath to the fact. As
+the case turned upon the testimony of Miss B., I give the whole of the
+cross-examination.
+
+_Question by Mr. Waters._ You have said that you _know_ this mat to
+    have been the work of your own hands, and that you made it
+    for a particular purpose. If you please, what was that
+    purpose?
+
+    _Answer._ I had presented me on Christmas a fine statuette
+    of Samuel, which I admired so much that I worked this mat
+    with great care upon which to place it.
+
+    _Q._ And did you work it from a pattern?
+
+    _A._ Yes, sir.
+
+    _Q._ And have you ever seen others like it?
+
+    _A._ Yes, sir, three, but not in this city.
+
+    _Q._ And where did you get the pattern?
+
+    _A._ From a friend in Philadelphia.
+
+    _Q._ Now, if you have seen other mats like this, how do you
+    know, of your own knowledge, that this is not some other
+    lady's work?
+
+    _A._ I know it is my work because the centre portion of the
+    mat was left plain, which centre is exactly the size of the
+    base of my statuette.
+
+    _Q._ Is there any other reason which you can give?
+
+    _A._ I know it looks like my mat.
+
+    _Q._ Certainly, but would it not look like your mat if it had
+    been wrought by another lady?
+
+    _A._ Perhaps so.
+
+    _Q._ You say _perhaps_ so; would it not certainly so look?
+
+    _A._ I think it would.
+
+    _Q._ Have you the statuette now?
+
+    _A._ Yes, sir, it is at our house.
+
+At this point of the trial the statuette was sent for and brought into
+court by the father of the witness. Mr. Waters took it into his
+possession. Considerable discussion arose when the prosecuting
+attorney insisted upon being allowed to examine it. Mr. Waters became
+almost violent, and declared he would smash the image rather than be
+so imposed upon. He was cross-examining the witness with no testimony
+for the accused, and he insisted upon his rights without interruption.
+The court ruled in Mr. Waters's favor. He, holding the statuette by
+the base, walked up to Miss B., and inquired of her if she recognized
+it as her own.
+
+    _A._ I certainly do.
+
+    _Q._ And how do you know it is certainly your own?
+
+    _A._ It is just like mine.
+
+    _Q._ But are there not other copies so like it as that you
+    cannot tell the difference, nor one from the others?
+
+    _A._ Yes.
+
+    _Q._ How then can you say for a certainty that this is yours?
+
+    _A._ Because my father has just brought it from our house,
+    and I saw him go for it and return with it. I can give no
+    better reason.
+
+    _Q._ Can you say of your own knowledge, from an examination
+    of the image, that it is yours?
+
+    _A._ No, sir.
+
+    _Q._ Have you any more reliable knowledge concerning the mat
+    being yours?
+
+    _A._ Yes, for the space in the middle was made expressly to
+    fit the base of the statuette.
+
+    _Q._ And are you willing to risk your testimony upon that
+    fact alone?
+
+    _A._ I am.
+
+The mat and the statuette were then shown the witness and the jury,
+and the base of the statuette overlapped the plain surface in the
+centre of the mat half an inch. The witness became faint, and was
+carried into the lobby. The jury, without leaving their seats,
+rendered a verdict of NOT GUILTY.
+
+The captain feasted Malcolm that night, and obtained from him the
+secret of his defence. Maguire, as a woman, had procured the situation
+of cook in the house of Mr. W. H. B., and had substituted for the
+original Samuel another, altogether similar, except that its base was
+half an inch larger.
+
+The captain further inquired what had been Malcolm's occupation in
+early life, and how he had acquired so much knowledge of the gourmands
+and feasts.
+
+"I was cook at Baden Baden," said Malcolm, "at the B---- House. There
+I met Count S., who took a fancy to me. I served also at the tables,
+after that as waiter in the house, and keeping an eye open I was a
+great help to the Count. He knew everything about the table, kitchen,
+and the larder, and I remembered what he used to repeat night after
+night, when a year or two ago I found Dick Humelbergius's book upon
+the art of never breakfasting at home and always dining abroad. I
+found everything recorded there, and that is pretty much the only book
+I ever read. I can quote Latin, and know where to put it in, but what
+the ---- the meaning of it is, I have no notion."
+
+"Allow me further to inquire by what process or contrivance you can
+slide a bolt on the opposite side of the door?"
+
+"I paid $3500 for that information, and don't propose to part with
+it."
+
+"Then advise me what is best for me to do when I find a burglar in my
+sleeping-room in the night time?"
+
+"Do nothing, sir, unless you are hunting up a graveyard. We never
+desire to maim or kill, but we can. I should be poorly provided or
+skilled if I was not ready for such emergencies. As soon as the
+burglar leaves your room, rise and light the gas, and he will trouble
+you no more."
+
+"One other question. Did you rob and then burn the Jenks house?"
+
+"That is not a question to be answered, but I will say that I have a
+drawing of the house and the location of every piece of furniture in
+it, which is perfect."
+
+To this day, only two of the persons who were present at the
+dinner-party are aware of the history of the two worthies, the
+Reverend Mr. Malcolm of Oxford and Maguire the butler of Mr. Bernon
+Burchard.
+
+
+
+
+THE MOUNT OF SORROW.
+
+BY HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD.
+
+_Harper's Magazine, June, 1883._
+
+
+Never did anything seem fresher and sweeter than the plateau on which
+we emerged in the early sunset, after defiling all day through the
+dark deep mountain-sides in the rain.
+
+We had promised Rhoda to assault her winter fastness whenever she
+should summon us; and now, in obedience to her message, a gay party of
+us had left the railway, and had driven, sometimes in slushy snow and
+sometimes on bare ground, up the old mountain-road, laughing and
+singing and jangling our bells, till at length the great bare woods,
+lifting their line forever before us and above us, gave place to bald
+black mountain-sides, whose oppressive gloom and silence stifled
+everything but a longing to escape from between them, and from the
+possible dangers in crossing bridges, and fording streams swollen by
+the fortnight's thaws and rains. Now and then the stillness resolved
+itself into the murmuring of bare sprays, the rustling of rain, the
+dancing of innumerable unfettered brooks glittering with motion, but
+without light, from the dusky depths; now and then a ghastly lustre
+shot from the ice still hanging like a glacier upon some upper steep,
+or a strange gleam from the sodden snow on their floors lightened the
+roofs of the leafless forests that overlapped the chasms, and trailed
+their twisted roots like shapes of living horror. What was there, I
+wondered, so darkly familiar in it all? in what nightmare had I
+dreamed it all before? Long ere the journey's end our spirits became
+dead as last night's wine; we shared the depression of all nature, and
+felt as if we had come out of chaos and the end of all things when the
+huge mountain gates closed behind us, and we dashed out on the plateau
+where the grass, from which the wintry wrapping had been washed, had
+not lost all its greenness, and in the sudden lifting of the
+rain-cloud a red sparkle of sunset lighted the windows, as if a
+hundred flambeaux had been kindled to greet us.
+
+A huge fire burned in the fireplace of the drawing-room when we had
+mounted the stairs and crossed the great hall, where other fires were
+blazing and sending ruddy flames to skim among the cedar rafters; and
+all that part of the house sacred to Colonel Vorse, and opened now the
+first time in many winters, was thoroughly warm and cheerful with
+lights and flowers and rugs and easy-chairs and books. We might
+easily have fancied ourselves, that night, in those spacious rooms,
+when, toilets made and dinner over, we re-assembled around the solid
+glow of the chimney logs, a modern party in some old medićval chamber,
+all the more for the spirit of the scene outside, where the storm was
+telling its rede again, rain changing to snow, and a cruel blast
+keening round the many gables and screaming down the chimneys. After
+all, Rhoda's and Merivale's plan of having us in the hills before
+late-lingering winter should be quite gone, and doing a little Sintram
+business with skates and wolves and hill visions, should have been
+carried out earlier. To them it was all but little less novel than it
+was to me, and Rhoda, who, although a year or two my junior, had been
+my intimate, so far as I ever had an intimate, would not rest till she
+had devised this party, without which she knew she could not have me,
+even persuading our good old Dr. Devens to leave his pulpit and
+people, and stamp the proceeding with his immaculate respectability.
+As it was, however, it looked as though we were simply to be shut in
+by a week of storm following the thaw. Well, there are compensations
+in all things: perhaps two people in whom I had some interest would
+know each other a trifle better before the week ended then.
+
+The place was really the home of Rhoda and Merivale, or was now to
+become so. Colonel Vorse, their father, who had married so young that
+he felt but little older than they, and was quite their companion,
+was still the owner of the vast summer hostelry, although no longer
+its manager. After accumulating his fortune he had taken his children
+about the world, educating them and himself at the same time, with now
+an object lesson in Germany and now another in Peru, and finally
+returning to this place, which, so far as we could see, was absolute
+desolation, without a neighbor, but which to him was bristling with
+memories and associations and old friends across the intervale and
+over the mountain and round the spur. There was something weird to me,
+as I looked out at the flying whiteness of the moonlit storm, in those
+acquaintances of his among the hollows of these pallid hills; it
+seemed as though they must partake of the coldness and whiteness, and
+as if they were only dead people, when all was said. Perhaps Dr.
+Devens, who half the way up had been quoting,
+
+                   "Pavilioned high, he sits
+     In darkness from excessive splendor born,"
+
+had another phase of the same feeling. I heard him saying, as I passed
+him five minutes before, where he sat astride a chair in front of the
+long oriel casement: "There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which
+the vulture's eye hath not seen: the lion's whelps have not trodden
+it, nor the fierce lion passed by it. He putteth forth his hand upon
+the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. He cutteth out
+rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing. He
+bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid
+bringeth he forth to light." He is expecting a convulsion of nature, I
+remember thinking, as I went by and paused at another window myself. A
+convulsion of nature! I fancy that he found it.
+
+"There is something eerie here," I said, as I still gazed at the
+scene; for the dim gigantic shapes of the hills rose round us like
+sheeted ghosts, while the flying scud of the storm, filled with the
+white diffusion of unseen light, every now and then opened to let the
+glimpses out. "And see the witch-fires," as the rosy reflections of
+our burning logs and lights danced on the whirling snow without. "Is
+there anything wanting to make us feel as if we had been caught here
+by some spell, and were to be held by some charm?"
+
+"I wish I knew the charm," said Colonel Vorse, by my side, and half
+under his breath. And then I felt a little angrier with myself for
+coming than I had felt before.
+
+"I often hear you talking of your belief in certain telluric forces
+that must have most power among the mountains where they first had
+play, and where earth is not only beneath, but is above you and around
+you. Well, we are here in the stronghold of these telluric forces. I
+am their old friend and ally: let me see what they will do for me."
+
+It was true. And I half shivered with an indefinite fear that I might
+be compelled, in spite of all wish and prejudice, and birthright--I,
+the child of proud old colonial grandees of the South; he, the son of
+a mountain farmer, who had married a mate of his own degree, and had
+kept a mountain inn till fortune found him and death took her. My
+father at least was the child of those proud old colonials, and I had
+lived with his people and been reared on their traditions. Who my
+mother was I never knew; for my father had married her in some
+romantic fashion--a runaway match--and she had died at my birth, and
+he had shortly followed her. I had nothing that belonged to her but
+the half of a broken miniature my father had once painted of her, as I
+understood. I always wore it, with I know not what secret sentiment,
+but I showed it to nobody. I had sometimes wondered about the other
+half, but my life had not left me much time for sentiment or
+wonder--full of gayety till my grandfather's death left me homeless;
+full of gayety since his friend Mrs. Montresor had adopted me for
+child and companion, subject to her kind whims and tyrannies. But if
+she took me here and took me there, and clad me like a princess, I was
+none the less aware of the fact that I was without a penny--morbidly
+aware of it without doubt. But it disposed me to look with favor on no
+rich man's suit, and the lover as penniless as I and as fine as my
+ideal lover had not yet appeared. It made me almost hate the face and
+form, the color, the hair, that they dared to call Titianesque, speak
+of as if it were the free booty of pigment and canvas, and wish to
+drag captive in the golden chains of their wealth. When I had met
+Colonel Vorse, a year ago, twice my age though he was, he was the
+first one I had wished as poor as I--he the plebeian newly rich. Yet
+not so newly rich was he that he had not had time to become used to
+his riches, to see the kingdoms of the earth and weigh them in his
+balance, to serve his country on the battle-field, and his State in
+the council-chamber; and, for the rest, contact with the world is
+sadly educating.
+
+"I often look at Colonel Vorse among the men born in the purple," said
+Mrs. Montresor once--she thought people born in the purple were simply
+those who had never earned their living--"and he is the superior of
+them all. What a country it is where a man keeping a common tavern in
+the first half of his life may make himself the equal of sovereigns in
+the other half! I don't understand it; he is the finest gentleman of
+them all. And he looks it. Don't you think so, Helena?"
+
+But I never told Mrs. Montresor what I thought. It is all very well to
+generalize and to be glad that certain institutions produce certain
+effects; but of course you are superior to the institutions, or you
+wouldn't be generalizing so, and all the more, of course, superior to
+the effects, and so I don't see how it signifies to you personally.
+
+"You ought to have your head carried on a pike," said Mrs. Montresor,
+again. "You will, if we ever have any _bonnets rouges_ in America. You
+are the aristocrat pure and simple. The Princess Lamballe was nothing
+to you. You think humanity exists so that _nous autres_, by standing
+on it, may get the light and air. You are sure that you are made of
+different clay--the canaille of street mud, for instance, and you of
+the fine white stuff from which they mould Dresden china. You are
+quite a study to me, my love. I expect to see you marry a pavior yet,
+either one who lays down or one who tears up paving-stones." But I had
+only laughed again. She plumed herself on being cosmopolitan even to
+her principles.
+
+"You give me credit for too much thinking on the subject," I said, "if
+it is credit. Indeed, I don't concern myself about such people; and as
+for marrying one of them, I could as soon marry into a different race,
+African or Mongolian. They are a different race."
+
+And I remembered all this as Colonel Vorse stood leaning his hand
+above me on the jamb of the window-frame--for although I was tall, he
+was a son of Anak--with that air which, never vaunting strength,
+always made you aware of its repression. I could fancy hearing Mrs.
+Montresor say, "That air of his! it always fetches women!" for she
+loved a little slang, by some antipodal attraction of her refinement,
+and I instinctively stiffened myself, determined it should never fetch
+_me_. And here he was calling his allies, the spirits and powers of
+the dark and terrible mountain heights and depths, and openly giving
+battle. I don't know why it depressed me; I felt as if the very fact
+that it did was a half surrender; I looked up at him a moment; I
+forgot who he was; I wished he was as poor as I. But to become the
+mother of Rhoda, my friend, and of Merivale, that laughing young
+giant--what absurdity, if all the rest were equal! And that other, the
+dead woman, the first wife--should one not always be jealous of that
+sweet early love? Could one endure it? Here among these hills with all
+their ghostliness she would haunt me. And then I turned and swept away
+to the fireside, holding out my hands to the flame, and glad to sink
+into the chair that some one had left empty there.
+
+I hardly knew what world I was living in when, perhaps a half-hour
+later, I heard Colonel Vorse's voice. "The trouble is that men are
+_not_ born free and equal," he was saying. "Free? They are hampered by
+inheritance and circumstance from the moment of birth. Equal? It is a
+self-evident lie. And the world has rhapsodized for a hundred years
+over so clumsy a statement. All men are born with equal rights. That
+is the precise statement. My rights--rights to life, liberty, and the
+pursuit of happiness--are equal to the rights of all the princelings
+of the earth; their rights equal only to mine. So far as they
+interfere with my rights they are public enemies, and are to be dealt
+with; and so far as I interfere with their rights, I am a trespasser
+to be punished. Otherwise, prince or peasant, each is a man, whether
+he wears a blouse or a star and garter; and if man was made in the
+image of God, let us do no indignity to that image in one or in
+another."
+
+Did I understand him? Was Colonel Vorse proclaiming himself the equal
+of Prince San Sorcererino who had entertained us in his palaces last
+year? Well. And was he not? All at once something seemed to sift away
+from before my eyes--a veil that had hidden my kind from me. Was there
+no longer even that natural aristocracy in which Shakspeare or Homer
+or Dante was king? Was the world a brotherhood, and they the public
+enemy, the enemy of the great perfect race to come, who helped one
+brother take advantage of another? Were those ribbons in the
+buttonhole, the gifts of kings, of no more worth than the ribbons of
+cigars?
+
+Mrs. Montresor was toying with her fan beside me, and talking in an
+undertone behind it. "What prince of all that you have seen or read
+of," said she, "if born on a meagre mountain farm, would have made his
+fortune and have educated himself, as this man has done? I think the
+kings who founded races of kings were like him. And what prince of
+them all alive looks so much the prince as he? This one as fat as
+Falstaff and as low, that one with a hump on his back, the other
+without brains, the next with brains awry, and none of them made as
+becomes a man. Tell me, Helena?"
+
+"I think you are in love yourself," I said.
+
+She laughed. "As tall as Saul, as dark, as lordly in all proportions,
+as gentle as Jonathan, and with a soul like David's--why shouldn't I
+be?" she said. "And he not the equal of the granddaughter of a South
+Carolina planter! Tell me again, Helena, what has she ever done to
+prove herself his equal?"
+
+She had had a fancy--Heaven knows why--that her young mother, who had
+run away with her father, was the daughter of a noble foreign family;
+or else why should the match have been clandestine? She had had a
+fancy that she was therefore noble, as her mother was--the mother even
+whose name her child did not know other than as the slaves had told
+her the young bridegroom called her Pansy because of a pair of
+purple-dark eyes. That was about all. That was all the answer I could
+have made, had I spoken, to her gentle raillery, half mockery, in
+which she did not quite believe herself. But even were it so, and the
+daughter noble as the mother, could blood that had filtered through
+generations of oppressors lounging in laps of luxury be pure as this
+blood that had informed none but simple and innocent lives, and seemed
+just now as if it had come fresh from the hands of the Maker? I
+surveyed him from behind the hand-screen that failed to keep the ruddy
+flames from my face, and if I felt him in that glance to be one of the
+sons of God, and I but one of the daughters of men, again I did not
+tell Mrs. Montresor.
+
+But the witch could always read my thoughts. "Still," she said, "he
+has kept a tavern. There is no getting round that fact by all the
+poetry in the world. Then why try to get round it? He has furnished
+food and shelter to the tired and roofless--as noble a way to make
+money, surely, as working the bones and muscles of slaves, and
+accepting the gold they earn."
+
+"That is the last I have of such gold," I cried, in a stifled way; and
+I unclasped the old bracelet on my wrist and tossed it behind the
+back-log--people were too gayly engaged to observe us at the moment.
+"I think," I said then, turning upon her, "that you are employed as an
+advocate, unless--you are really weary of me."
+
+"Weary of you!" she exclaimed, half under her breath though it
+was--"weary of you, when you are such unceasing variety to me that if
+you married ten thousand tavern-keepers I should always have a room in
+the inn!"
+
+"Thank Heaven," I answered her, gayly, "it is an impossibility that I
+should ever marry _one_." And then there was a lull in the laughter
+and the snatches of song and conversation on the other side of the
+room; and while I was still gazing after my bracelet and into the
+chimney-place, where the flames wallowed about unhewn forest logs that
+took two men to cast to them, Colonel Vorse came over to us.
+
+"You will turn into salamanders," he said.
+
+"It is bad enough to be in hot water," said Mrs. Montresor, lightly.
+"I will leave the fire to you and Helena."
+
+"Where you sit," said Colonel Vorse then to me, "if you turn your head
+slightly to the left, and shade your eyes, you can see the side of the
+darkest and sternest of our mountains. You know we do not call our
+hills by the names they have in maps and government surveys; the old
+settlers who first came here called this one, for unknown reasons of
+their own, the Mount of Sorrow. It has always been the Mount of
+Sorrow."
+
+"An ominous name for so near a neighbor," I said.
+
+"Ah! you think this region is oppressive, or perhaps dull and tame,
+without life or stir--desolate, in fact. What if I should tell you
+that it bubbles, like a caldron over the bottomless pit, with griefs
+and sins!--that in lives condemned to perpetual imprisonment on
+these bare rocks, feeding on themselves, traits intensifying, the
+loneliness, the labor, the negation, slowly extract the juices of
+humanity, and make crime a matter to be whispered of among them? If
+they feel they are forgotten by God, what matters the murder or the
+suicide more or less that gives release? It is hell here or hell
+there: they are sure of this--they have it; the other may not come to
+pass."
+
+"What do you mean?" I said, with white lips; for as he spoke it seemed
+as if I had come into a land of lepers. "Here in this white solitude,
+among lives fed from the primitive sources of nature and the dew of
+the morning--"
+
+"I mean," he said, "that I refuse to accept the factitious aid your
+thoughts have lately been bringing to me. You see I have preternatural
+senses. Because I was born in the snows of the mountains I am no whit
+whiter than those born in the purlieus of the police stations of the
+cities. We are simply of the same human nature. When I win regard, it
+must be for no idle fancy, but for my own identity."
+
+"Well," I said, "I do not believe you."
+
+"Ah!" he replied, "have I gained a point, and found an advocate in an
+ideal of me? That would be as romantic as any of the romance of the
+hills. And there _is_ romance here, whether it is born of crime, or of
+joy, or of sorrow. There is romance enough on that old Mount of Sorrow
+that you see when the storm opens and strips it in that sudden white
+glory. Keep your eye, if you please, on a spot half-way up the sky,
+and when the apparition comes again you will find the dark outline of
+a dwelling there. It was a dwelling once; now it is only a ruin, hut
+and barn and byre. Why do you shudder? Do you see it? It is only a
+shadow. But a shadow with outlines black enough to defy the whitest
+blast that ever blew. Sometimes it seems to me as though that old ruin
+were itself a ghostly thing, a spectre of tragedies that will not
+down; for the avalanches divide and leave it, and the storms whistle
+over and beat against it, and it is always there when the sun rises. I
+don't know what it has to do with my fortunes; I don't know why it is
+a blotch upon the face of nature to me; but if ever I grow sad or sick
+at heart I feel as though I should be made whole again could that evil
+thing be removed."
+
+"Why not remove it?"
+
+"It does not belong to me. I can do nothing with it. I am not
+sure that it belongs to any one--which adds to the spectral, you
+see--although I suppose there is somewhere a nameless heir. How
+restless you are!" he said, gently. "Will you come out in the long
+hall where the great window gives an unobstructed view of the thing,
+and walk off this nervousness? The storm is lifting, I think; the moon
+is going to overcome. One may see by the way the fire burns that the
+temperature is mounting. Perhaps we shall have a snow-slide as we
+walk."
+
+Rhoda and Merivale were singing some of the songs they had learned
+since they came into the hill country, Mrs. Montresor was nodding
+behind her fan an accompaniment to Dr. Devens's remarks, Adčle was
+deep in her novel, and a flirtation and some portfolios of prints
+occupied the rest. To refuse was only to attract attention; besides, I
+should like to walk. I rose and went out with him into the hall that
+shut off the wing from the great empty caravansary.
+
+     "'And the long carpets rose along the gusty floor,'"
+
+I quoted as we walked; and despite the fire burning on either side, he
+had brought me a fur for my shoulders.
+
+"Yes," he said, "there comes the moon at last. Now you shall see the
+black and white of it."
+
+"Oh!" I cried, clasping my hands, as all the silvery lights and
+immense shadows burst out in a terrible sort of radiance. "The world
+began to be made here! Poets should be born here!"
+
+"Instead of tavern-keepers," said he, "which brings me to my story. I
+am forty-three years old. Of course I was younger twenty-three years
+ago. That must have been not long before you came into the world
+yourself. Do you insist upon thinking twenty years' difference in age
+makes any disparity, except in the case of him who has lost just that
+twenty years' sweetness out of his life?"
+
+"I hardly see what that has to do with the story of the Mount of
+Sorrow," I said, as we turned from the window to measure the length of
+the hall again.
+
+"I hope," said he, "that the suffrage reform, which is to admit women
+to the ballot, will never let them sit on the judicial bench, for
+mercy is foreign to the heart of a woman."
+
+"Is it not a strange way of telling a story?" I exclaimed.
+
+"Patience!" he laughed. "The story is so short it needs a little
+preface. As I was saying then, when I was twenty years old or so, the
+name of old Raynier, of the Mount of Sorrow, was a by-word of terror
+through the region round, as the name of his father was, and his
+father before him. He had no other property than the sterile farm
+half-way up the mountain, and almost inaccessible--in winter entirely
+inaccessible--where he raised not half a support on the slips of earth
+among the ledges; his few starved sheep and goats did what they could
+for him, and his rifle did the rest. The first Raynier of them all
+was possibly an escaped convict, who fortified his retreat by these
+mountain-sides. He had no money; the women spun and wove all that was
+worn. He had no education; no Raynier had ever had; no Raynier had
+ever had occasion to sign his mark, let alone his name. There had been
+one son in each generation; neither church nor school ever saw him;
+his existence was scarcely known till he was ready to marry, and then
+he came down, and by no one knows what other magic than a savage
+force of nature took the prettiest girl of the valley to his
+eyrie--sometimes his wife, sometimes not. When she died, and she
+always died, the Raynier of the day replaced her. He did not always
+wait for her to die before replacing her. But sudden deaths were no
+uncommon thing in that house; there was a burial-ground scooped in the
+hill-side. And who was there to interfere? Perhaps no one knew there
+had been a death till the year was out. What if a woman went mad? That
+happened anywhere. People below might prate of murder, or suicide, or
+slow poison; there was nobody to whom it was vital enough to open the
+question seriously; and then they feared the Raynier with an uncanny
+fear, as people fear a catamount in the woods, or the goblin of old
+wives' tales after dark. There were horrible stories of bouts and
+brawls, of tortures, gags, whips, and--oh, no matter! Nor was all the
+crime on the shoulders of the Raynier men. It was understood that more
+than one woman of the name found life too intolerable to endure its
+conditions when the fumes of a charcoal fire after a drunken feast,
+or a quick thrust over the edge of a precipice, or a bit of weed in
+the broth, made life easier, till remorse brought madness. And
+finally, if any Raynier died what may be called a natural death, it
+was either from starvation or from delirium tremens. You see they were
+a precious lot."
+
+"A precious lot!" I said, trembling. "Ah, what is heaven made of? Poor
+wretches, they could not help it. From generation to generation the
+children of such people must needs be criminal."
+
+"I don't know. If removed from such influence. To my mind environment
+is strong as heredity, quite as strong. It destroys the old and
+creates the new. However, environment and heredity worked together up
+there. In my day--to continue--the Raynier family was larger than
+usual. The last wife still lived, a miserable cowed creature, white as
+ashes, face and hair and bleached scared eyes, eyes that looked as if
+they saw phantoms rather than people. Her mind was partially gone. I
+was a famous mountaineer then, and climbing wherever foot of man had
+been before, I once in a while came upon some or other of that family,
+and sometimes paused at the door, where I had first to teach the
+bloodhounds a lesson. I never entered the filthy place but once. There
+were two sons and a daughter. Oh, how immortally beautiful that girl
+was! Such velvet darkness in the eye, such statuesque lines, such
+rose-leaf color, such hair--'hair like the thistle-down tinted with
+gold,' as John Mills, the Scotch poet-player, sang. The old man
+Raynier worshipped her, perhaps as a wild beast loves its whelp. But
+he had all sorts of fanciful names for her, Heart's-ease and Heart's
+Delight, and Violet and Rose and Lily. He grew almost gentle when he
+spoke to her; and he never knew that she was feeble-minded. She just
+missed being an imbecile. Perhaps you would not have known that all
+at once; you might not have found it out at all only meeting her
+casually. The old man Raynier sent her down to school--the first that
+had ever been there: she could never learn to read. She could not
+always tell her name. Still, her mind was innocent--perhaps because it
+was a blank. I have sometimes thought that blank mind of hers may have
+been a dead-wall through which the vices of her forebears could not
+pass, and so her children, if she had them, may have escaped the
+inheritance, and found a chance for good again, as if crime should at
+last estop itself. That may be."
+
+"Oh, I think this is terrible!" I said, as we turned again in our
+walk. "Make haste, please, and be through."
+
+"Yes, it is. But I would show you that life can be anything but
+commonplace in this wilderness. Well, blank or not, she had a lover,
+who had found her out in his sketching rambles, a young painter from
+some distant parts, and the first boarder I ever had, by the way. And
+all the Rayniers swore they would have his life sooner than he should
+have her. One day I had been hunting on old Mount Sorrow, as it
+happened; there had been a sudden frost following rain that had frozen
+the water in the cracks of the cliffs, and made the way not only
+slippery, but dangerous; for in the heat of the noon sun the ice was
+melting, and every now and then its expansion was rending some
+fragment of rock so that your footing might vanish from beneath, or
+some shower of stones come rattling down from above; and I was tired
+when I reached the Raynier place, led by a blaze of maple boughs that
+started out like torches to show the way, and stopped to rest. I
+looked up at an enormous shelf of rock, half clad with reddened vines
+that fluttered like pestilence flags--a shelf that, although some
+hundred feet or so away from it, yet overhung the place and cast a
+perpetual shadow there. I wondered then why Nature had no secret
+springs of feeling to thrill her and cause her to rend the rocks and
+cover such a den of iniquity as we all held the spot to be. But Nature
+was just as fair that ambrosial September day as if there was not a
+dissonance. Perhaps she knew the right of the Rayniers to life,
+liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A delicious scent of the balsam
+from the pines filled the air, the sunshine swept over the hills below
+in waves of light, and the hills themselves were like waves of a
+golden green and purple sea where now and then a rainbow swam and
+broke. Peace and perfectness, I said, peace and perfectness. These
+people live and are happy. On the other side one looked into the
+dreary defile of the mountain gate, with its black depths hung with
+cloud, and remembered that if there was not a hell, there ought to be.
+I was thinking this as I sat there, when I heard a wild cry, an
+agonized shriek, blood-curdling, repeated and repeated from within.
+It was the girl's voice. I was on my feet, and, in spite of the
+bloodhounds, making for the spot and among the crew. The old woman
+cowered in the corner, the two brothers held the girl, the old man
+towered over her, his great eyes blazing in his ashen face. I can't
+tell you what they were doing. Sometimes I have thought old Raynier
+was burning her with a hot iron he held--"
+
+"Oh, horrible! horrible!"
+
+"Burning her with a hot iron to make her give up her lover! Sometimes
+I have thought he was only demolishing the little likenesses of him
+and of herself, which that lover had painted, and which she cherished,
+perhaps as his work, perhaps for the unwonted gewgaw of the slender
+golden frame, for the one picture was already in fragments, and
+although she clutched half of the other, the broken half had fallen
+and rolled away. I have it somewhere. I will show it to you. I had no
+time, indeed, to see what it was they were doing, for behind me
+bounded that lover like a whirlwind, thrust one brother and the other
+aside, seized the girl, darted over the door-sill with her, and down
+the crags of the mountain path. He should have what help I could give.
+I was after him, stooping to catch up the fragment of painting as I
+turned, down the cliff's edge, they following. And all at once I
+stopped as if paralyzed to the marrow by a clap of thunder, and turned
+my head to see the old man with his white hair streaming, and his arms
+uplifted in his cursing, as he came leaping on, and the next moment
+the shelf of overhanging rock had fallen, had cleft the house in
+twain, and mother and father and sons and hounds were dust with the
+dust flying over the precipices. I saw it."
+
+"Oh!" I cried, with my hands over my eyes. "Why did it not strike you
+blind?"
+
+"And here," said Colonel Vorse, leading my steps to an old cabinet in
+an alcove, "ought to be the half of that little likeness I picked up
+as I ran. I wonder what became of the other half--what became of the
+girl--if the lover married her--if she knew enough to know he didn't
+marry her--if she lived long enough for him to find out she was a
+fool--if she was the last of the Rayniers?" As he ceased, he put the
+half of the little miniature into my hands.
+
+It was a broken bit of ivory, and on it the upper part of a face,
+sketchily done, with pansy-dark eyes and blush rose skin--without a
+frame. I had the frame.
+
+A heart beat, a fluttering breath, a reeling sense of the world
+staggering away from me, and then my bewildered senses were at work
+again, and an agony like death was cutting me to the heart as we
+resumed our walking.
+
+Should I tell him? Should I go on with my secret, my inheritance, my
+curse, and let no man know? If it ate out my heart, the sooner to
+end; my heart was broken now. Never, never now could fireside shine
+for me, could lover's lips be mine, could little faces sun themselves
+in my smile.
+
+We paused before the great window, with those vague white shapes
+before us, for my feet would not obey me, and the light behind us
+shone on the bit of ivory. If I told him, it would be easier for him
+to bear; he would see the impossibility, he would desire my love no
+longer. My fearful inheritance would yawn like a gulf between us with
+its impassable darkness.
+
+"And the ruin on the hill-side is an eye-sore," I said. "But it is
+easy to remove it. I suppose it belongs to me. For--look here--it is I
+who must be the last of the Rayniers." And I drew from my breast the
+broken thing, the halved miniature, that in my mock sentiment I had
+worn so long.
+
+"You!" cried he. "You!" And his feet tottered, and he leaned against
+the casement for support--he who an hour or so ago had seemed so full
+of repressed strength that he could have pulled his house down about
+his ears. Well, had he not done so?
+
+I moved to his side, and held the thing that he might see where the
+pieces matched, the line of the cheek flowing into the lovely curve of
+the chin, the flickering sweetness of the lovely mouth, the lambent
+glance of the lovely eye. "It is my mother, you see," I said. "And it
+needs no words to say it."
+
+"It needs no words to say it," he repeated, hoarsely. "It is your
+image. Oh, my God! What have I done! what have I done! My darling, my
+darling, you must let me repair it by a lifetime of devotion." And he
+had his arms about me, and was drawing me to his heaving breast, his
+throbbing heart.
+
+"No! no! no!" I sobbed. "It is impossible. I am wrecked; I am ruined;
+I can be no man's wife. You see yourself--I will never--" But his lips
+were silencing mine, and I lay there with those arms about me a
+moment; I lay there like one in heaven suspended over hell.
+
+"What do I care," he whispered, "for all the Rayniers in Christendom
+or out of it, but you? I have learned in this moment that you love me!
+I will never give you up."
+
+"You must," I groaned.
+
+"I tell you I never will," he said, his voice husky and low and
+trembling, but his eye and his grasp firm. "I have assured you that
+environment, education, art, can supplement nature and heredity. They
+have done so with you. You are your father's child. You received from
+your mother only the vital spark, only this beauty, this fatal beauty.
+If you inherited all that the Rayniers ever had, then I love, I love,
+I love all that the Rayniers ever were, for I love you. I have your
+love, Helena, and I will never let you go." While speaking he had
+touched the bell at his hand, and now he sent the answering servant
+for Dr. Devens, who came at once, supposing some sight of the snow
+was in store.
+
+"Bid them all out here, Doctor," cried Colonel Vorse. "Ah, here they
+come! In this part of the country we need no license for marriage.
+Here are a bride and groom awaiting your blessing. Perform your
+office, sir." And before I could summon heart or voice, making no
+response, bewildered and faint, I was the wife of Colonel Vorse, and
+my husband's arms were supporting me as the words of the prayer and
+benediction rolled over us.
+
+"There is no time like the present," he cried, gayly, his tones no
+longer broken, "as I have always found." And suddenly, before he
+ceased, and while they all thronged round me, there came a sharp
+strange sigh singing through the air, that grew into the wild
+discordant music of multitudinous echoes, and we all turned and sprang
+intuitively to see, rent in the moonlight and sheathed in the glorious
+spray of a thousand ice-falls, the Mount of Sorrow bow its head and
+come down, and, while the whole earth shook and smoked back in hoar
+vapors, the great snow-slide in its swift sheeting splendor flash and
+wipe out before our eyes the last timber of the hut and barn and byre
+of the Rayniers.
+
+
+
+
+SISTER SILVIA.
+
+BY MARY AGNES TINCKER.
+
+_Lippincott's Magazine, December, 1878._
+
+
+Monte Compatri is one of the eastern outlying peaks of the Alban
+Mountains, and, like so many Italian mountains, has its road climbing
+to and fro in long loops to a gray little city at the top. This city
+of Monte Compatri is a full and busy hive, with solid blocks of
+houses, and the narrowest of streets that break now and then into
+stairs. For those old builders respected the features of a landscape
+as though they had been the features of a face, and no more thought of
+levelling inequalities of land than of shaving down or raising up
+noses. When a man had a house-lot in a hollow, he built his house
+there, and made steps to go down to it: his neighbor, who owned a
+rocky knoll, built his house at the top, and made stairs to go up to
+it. Moreover, if the land was a bit in the city, the house was made in
+the shape of it, and was as likely to have corners in obtuse or acute
+as in right angles.
+
+The inhabitants of Monte Compatri have two streets of which they are
+immensely proud--the Lungara, which wriggles through the middle of the
+town, and the Giro, which makes the entire circuit of the town,
+leaving outside only the rim of houses that rise from the edge of the
+mountain, some of them founded on the natural rock, others stretching
+roots of masonry far down into the earth.
+
+One of these houses on the Giro had for generations been in the
+possession of the Guai family. One after another had held it at an
+easy rent from Prince Borghese, the owner of the town. The vineyard
+and orchard below in the Campagna they owned, and from those their
+wealth was derived. For it was wealth for such people to have a house
+full of furniture, linen and porcelain--where, perhaps, a connoisseur
+might have found some rare bits of old china--besides having a
+thousand scudi in bank.
+
+In this position was the head of the family when he died, leaving a
+grown-up son and daughter, and his wife about to become a mother for
+the third time.
+
+"Pepina shall have her portion in money, since she is to marry soon,"
+the father said. "Give her three hundred scudi in gold and a hundred
+in pearls. The rest of the money shall be for my wife to do as she
+likes with. For the little one, when it shall come, Matteo shall put
+in the bank every year thirty scudi, and when it shall be of age, be
+it girl or boy, he shall divide the land equally with it."
+
+So said Giovanni Guai, and died, and his wife let him talk
+uncontradicted, since it was for the last time. They had lived a
+stormy life, his heavy fist opposed to her indefatigable tongue, and
+she contemplated with silent triumph the prospect of being left in
+possession of the field. Besides, would he not see afterward what she
+did--see and be helpless to oppose? So she let him die fancying that
+he had disposed of his property.
+
+"The child is sure to be a girl," she said afterward, "and I mean her
+to be a nun. The land shall not be cut up. Matteo shall be a rich man
+and pile up a fortune. He shall be the richest man in Monte Compatri,
+and a girl shall not stand in his way."
+
+Nature verified the mother's prophecy and sent a little girl. Silvia
+they called her, and, since she was surely to be a nun, she grew to be
+called Sister Silvia by everybody, even before she was old enough to
+recognize her own name.
+
+The house of the Guai, on its inner wall, opened on the comparatively
+quiet Giro. From the windows and door could be heard the buzz and hum
+of the Lungara, where everybody--men, women, children, cats and
+dogs--were out with every species of work and play when the sun began
+to decline. This was the part of the house most frequented and liked
+by the family. They could see their neighbors even when they were at
+work in their houses, and could exchange gossip and stir the polenta
+at the same time. The other side of the house they avoided. It was
+lonely and it was sunny. For Italians would have the sun, like the
+Lord, to be for ever knocking at the door and for ever shut out. It
+must shine upon their outer walls, but not by any means enter their
+windows.
+
+As years passed, however, there grew to be one exception in this
+regard. Sister Silvia loved not the town with its busy streets, nor
+the front windows with their gossiping heads thrust out or in. She had
+her own chamber on the Campagna side, and there she sat the livelong
+day with knitting or sewing, never going out, except at early
+morning to hear mass. There her mother accompanied her--a large,
+self-satisfied woman beside a pallid little maiden who never raised
+her eyes. Or, if her mother could not go, Matteo stalked along by her
+side, and with his black looks made everybody afraid to glance her
+way. Nobody liked to encounter the two black eyes of Matteo Guai. It
+was understood that the knife in his belt was sharp, and that no
+scruple of conscience would stand between him and any vengeance he
+might choose to take for any affront he might choose to imagine.
+
+After mass, then, and the little work her mother permitted the girl to
+do for health's sake, Silvia sat alone by her window and looked out on
+the splendor which her eyes alone could appreciate. There lay the
+Campagna rolling and waving for miles and miles around, till the
+Sabines, all rose and amethyst, hemmed it in with their exquisite
+wall, and the sea curved a gleaming sickle to cut off its flowery
+passage, or the nearer mountains stood guard, almost covered by the
+green spray it threw up their rocky sides. She sat and stared at Rome
+while her busy fingers knit--at the wonderful city where she was one
+day to go and be a nun, where the pope lived and kings came to worship
+him. In the morning light the Holy City lay in the midst of the
+Campagna like her mother's wedding-pearls when dropped in a heap on
+their green cushion; and Silvia knelt with her face that way and
+prayed for a soul as white, for she was to be the spouse of Christ,
+and her purity was all that she could bring Him as a dowry. But when
+evening came, and that other airy sea of fine golden mist flowed in
+from the west, and made a gorgeous blur of all things, then the city
+seemed to float upward from the earth and rise toward heaven all
+stirring with the wings of its guardian angels, and Silvia would beg
+that the New Jerusalem might not be assumed till she should have the
+happiness of being in it.
+
+But there was a lovely view nearer than this visionary one, though the
+little nun seldom looked at it. If she should lean from her window she
+would see the mountain-side dropping from the gray walls of her home,
+with clinging flowery vines and trees growing downward, while the
+olives and grapevines of the Campagna came to meet them, setting here
+and there a precarious little garden half-way up the steep. Just
+under her window an almost perpendicular path came up, crept round the
+walls and entered the town. But no one ever used this road now, for a
+far wider and better one had been constructed at the other side of the
+mountain, and all the people came up that way when the day's work was
+over in the Campagna.
+
+One summer afternoon Silvia's reveries were broken by her mother's
+voice calling her: "Silvia, come and prepare the salad for Matteo."
+
+It was an extraordinary request, but the girl went at once without
+question. She seized upon every opportunity to practise obedience in
+preparation for that time when her life would be made up of obedience
+and prayer.
+
+Her mother was sitting by one of the windows talking with Matteo, who
+had just come up from the Campagna. He had an unsocial habit of eating
+alone, and, as he ate nothing when down in the vineyard, always wanted
+his supper as soon as he came up. The table was set for him with
+snow-white cloth and napkin, silver knife, fork and spoon, a loaf of
+bread and a decanter of golden-sparkling wine icy cold from the grotto
+hewn in the rock beneath the house; and he was just eating his
+_minestra_ of vegetables when his sister came in. At the other end of
+the long table was a head of crisp white lettuce, lying on a clean
+linen towel, and two bottles--one of white vinegar, the other of oil
+as sweet as cream and as bright as sunshine. Monte Compatri had no
+need to send to Lucca for oil of olives while its own orchards
+dropped such streams of pure richness.
+
+The room was large and dingy. The brick floor had never known other
+cleansing than sprinkling and sweeping, the yellow-washed walls had
+become with time a pale, mottled brown, the paint had disappeared
+under a fixed dinginess which the dusting-brush alone could not
+remove, and the glass of the windows had never been washed except by
+the rain. Yet, for all that, the place had an air of cleanliness. For
+though these people do not clean their houses more than they clean
+their yards, yet their clothing and tables and beds are clean.
+Plentiful white linen, stockings like snow, and bright dishes and
+metals give a look of freshness and show well on the dim background.
+Heavy walnut presses, carved and black with age, stood against
+the walls, drinking-glasses and candlesticks sparkled on a dark
+bureau-top, there was a bright picture or two, and the sunlighted
+tinware of a house at the other side of the street threw a cluster of
+tiny rays like a bouquet of light in at the window. Silvia received
+these sun-blossoms on her head when she placed herself at the lower
+end of the table. She pushed the sleeves of her white sack back from
+her slim white arms, and began washing the lettuce-leaves in a bowl of
+fresh water and breaking them in the towel. The leaves broke with
+a fine snap and dropped in pieces as stiff as paper into a large
+dark-blue plate of old Japanese ware. A connoisseur in porcelain would
+have set such a plate on his drawing-room wall as a picture.
+
+"How does Claudio work?" the mother asked of her son.
+
+"He works well," Matteo replied. "He is worth two of our common
+fellows, if he _is_ educated."
+
+"Nevertheless, I should not have employed him," the mother said. "He
+has disobeyed and disappointed his parents, and he should be punished.
+They meant him to be a priest, and raked and scraped every soldo to
+educate him. Now, just when he is at the point of being able to repay
+them, he makes up his mind that he has no vocation for the priesthood,
+and breaks their hearts by his ingratitude. It is nonsense to set
+one's will up so and have such scruples. Obedience is vocation enough
+for anything. There should be a prison where parents could put the
+children who disobey them."
+
+The Sora Guai spoke sternly, and looked as if she would not have
+hesitated to put a refractory child in the deepest of dungeons.
+
+"He was a fool, but he earns his money," Matteo responded, and,
+drawing a plate of deliciously fried frogs toward him, began to gnaw
+them and throw the bones on the floor.
+
+Silvia gave him the salad, and poured wine and water into the tumbler
+for him, while his mother went to the kitchen for a dish of fricasseed
+pigeons.
+
+"There's no onion in the salad," Matteo grumbled when she came back.
+
+Silvia uttered an exclamation of dismay, ran for a silvery-white
+little onion and sliced it thinly into the salad.
+
+"Forgive me, Matteo," she said. "I was distracted by the thought of
+Claudio. It seems such a terrible thing."
+
+"It would be a much more terrible thing if it were a girl who
+disobeyed," Matteo growled. He did not like that girls should
+criticise men.
+
+"So it would," the girl responded, with meek readiness.
+
+"I don't know why I feel so tired to-day," the mother said, sinking
+into a chair again. "My bones ache as if I had been working in the
+vineyard all day."
+
+"You are not ill, mamma?" exclaimed Silvia, blushing with alarm.
+
+The answer was a hesitating one: "I don't see what can ail me. It
+wouldn't be anything, only that I am so tired without having done
+much."
+
+"Perhaps it's the weather, mamma," Silvia suggested.
+
+Gentle as she was, she had adopted the ruthless and ungrateful Italian
+custom of ascribing every ache and pain of the body to some almost
+imperceptible change in their too beautiful weather. The smallest
+cloud goes laden with more accusations than it holds drops of rain,
+and the ill winds that blow nobody any good blow through those shining
+skies from morning till night and from night till morning again.
+
+The Sora Guai was sicker than she dreamed. It was not the summer sun
+that scorched her so, nor the _scirocco_ that made her head so heavy.
+What malaria she had found to breathe on the mountain-top it would be
+hard to say; but the dreaded _perniciosa_ had caught her in its grasp,
+and she was doomed. The fever burned fiercely for a few days, and when
+it was quenched there was nothing left but ashes.
+
+And thus died the only earthly thing to which Sister Silvia's heart
+clung. The mother had been stern, but the daughter was too submissive
+to need correction. She had never had any will of her own, except to
+love and obey. Collision between them was therefore impossible, and
+the daughter felt as a frail plant growing under a shadowing tree
+might feel if the tree were cut down. She was bare to every wind that
+blew. She had no companions of her own age--she had no companion of
+any age, in fact--and she had not been accustomed to think for herself
+in the smallest thing.
+
+She had got bent into a certain shape, however, and her brother and
+sister felt quite safe on her account. Everybody knew that she was to
+be a nun of the Perpetual Adoration; that she was soon to go to the
+convent of Santa Maria Maddalena on the Quirinal in Rome; and that,
+once entered there, she would never again see a person from outside.
+The town's-people were accustomed to the wall of silence and seclusion
+which had already grown up about her, and they did not even seek to
+salute her when they met her going to and from church in the morning.
+To these simple citizens, ignorant but reverential, Sister Silvia's
+lowered eyelids were as inviolate as the pearl gates of the New
+Jerusalem. Besides, to help their reverence, there were the fierce
+black eyes and strange reputation of Matteo. So when, a day or two
+after her mother's death, his sister begged him to accompany her to
+church in the early morning, and leave her in the care of some decent
+woman there, Matteo replied that she might go by herself.
+
+She set out for the first time alone on what had ever been to her a
+_via sacra_, and was now become a _via dolorosa_, where her tears
+dropped as she walked. And going so once, she went again. Pepina, the
+elder sister, a widow now, had come home to keep house for Matteo, but
+she was too much taken up with work, the care of her two children and
+looking out for a second husband to have time to watch Silvia, and
+after a few weeks the young girl went as unheeded as a matron in her
+daily walk.
+
+At home her life was nearly the same. She mended the clothes from the
+washing and knit stockings, and sat at her window and looked off over
+the Campagna toward Rome.
+
+One evening she sat there before going to bed and watched the
+moonlight turn all the earth to black and silver under the purple
+sky--a black like velvet, so deep and soft was it, and a silver like
+white fire, clear and splendid, yet beautifully soft. She was feeling
+desolate, and her tears dropped down, now and then breaking into sobs.
+It had been pleasant to sit there alone when she knew that her mother
+was below stairs, strong, healthy and gay. All that life had been as
+the oil over which her little flame burned. Lacking it, she grew dim,
+just as the floating wick in her little blue vase before the Madonna
+grew dim when the oil was gone.
+
+As she wept and heard unconsciously the nightingales, she grew
+conscious of another song that mingled with theirs. It was a human
+voice, clear and sweet as an angel's, and it sang a melody she knew in
+little snatches that seemed to begin and end in a sigh. The voice came
+nearer and paused beneath a fig tree, and the words grew distinct.
+
+"Pietŕ, signore, di me dolente," it sang.
+
+Silvia leaned out of the window and looked down at the singer. His
+face was lifted to the white moonlight, and seemed in its pallid
+beauty a concentration of the moonlight. Only his face was visible,
+for the shadow of the tree hid all his figure. One might almost have
+expected to catch a glimmer of two motionless wings bearing up that
+face, so fair it was.
+
+To Silvia it was as if another self, who grieved also, but who
+could speak, were uttering all her pain, and lightening it so. She
+recognized Claudio's voice. He was the chief singer in the cathedral,
+and sang like an angel. She was afraid that Claudio had done very
+wrong in not being a priest, but, for all that, she had often found
+her devotion increased by his singing. The Christmas night would not
+have been half so joyful lacking his _Adeste Fideles_; the _Stabat
+Mater_ sung by him in Holy Week made her tears of religious sorrow
+burst forth afresh; and when on Easter morning he sang the _Gloria_
+it had seemed to her that the heavens were opening.
+
+For all that, however, he had been to her not a person, but a voice.
+That he should come here and express her sorrow made him seem
+different. For the first time she looked at his face. By daylight it
+was thin and finely featured, and of a clear darkness like shaded
+water, through which the faintest tinge of color is visible. In this
+transfigurating moonlight it became of a luminous whiteness.
+
+The song ended, the singer turned his head slightly and looked up at
+Silvia's window. She did not draw back. There was no recognition of
+any human sympathy with him, and no slightest consciousness of that
+airy and silent friendship which had long been weaving itself over the
+tops of the mountains that separated them. How could she know that
+Claudio had sung for her, and that it had been the measure of his
+success to see her head droop or lift as he sang of sorrow and pain or
+of joy and triumph? The choir had their post over the door; and,
+besides, she never glanced up even in going out. Therefore she gazed
+down into his uplifted face with a sweet and sorrowful tranquillity,
+her soul pure and candid to its uttermost depths.
+
+For Claudio, who had sung to express his sympathy for her, but had not
+dreamed of seeing her, it was as if the dark-blue sky above had opened
+and an angel had looked out when he saw her face. He could only
+stretch his clasped hands toward her.
+
+The gesture made her weep anew, for it was like human kindness. She
+hid her face in her handkerchief, and he saw her wipe the tears away
+again and again.
+
+Claudio remembered a note he carried. It had been written the night
+before--not with any hope of her ever seeing it, but, as he had
+written her hundreds of notes before, pouring out his heart into them
+because it was too full to bear without that relief. He took the note
+out, but how should he give it to her? The window was too far above
+for him to toss so light a thing unless it should be weighted with a
+stone; and he could not throw a stone at Silvia's window. He held it
+up, and, that she might see it more clearly, tore up a handful of red
+poppies and laid it white on the blossoms that were a deep red by
+night.
+
+Silvia understood, and after a moment's study dropped him down the
+ball of her knitting; and soon the note came swaying up through the
+still air resting on its cushion of poppies, for Claudio had wound the
+thread about both flowers and letter.
+
+He smiled with an almost incredulous delight as he saw the package
+arrive safely at its destination, and caught afterward the faint red
+light of the lamp that Silvia had taken down from before her Madonna
+to read the note by. Since she was a little thing only five or six
+years old his heart had turned toward her, and her small white face
+had been to him the one star in a dim life. He still kept two or three
+tiny flowers she had given him years before when his family and hers
+were coming together down from Monte San Silvestro at the other side
+of Monte Compatri. The two children, with others, had stopped to stick
+fresh flowers through the wire screen before the great crucifix
+half-way up the mountain, and Silvia had given Claudio these blossoms.
+He had laid them away with his treasures and relics--the bit of muslin
+from the veil of Our Lady of Loretto, the almost invisible speck from
+the cord of St. Francis of Assisi and the little paper of the ashes of
+Blessed Joseph Labré. In those days he was the little priest and she
+the little nun, and their companions stood respectfully back for them.
+Now he was no more the priest, and she was up there in her window
+against the sky reading the note he had written her.
+
+This is what the note said:
+
+    "My heart is breaking for your sorrow. Why should such eyes
+    as yours be permitted to weep? Who is there to wipe those
+    tears away? Oh that I might catch them as they fall! Drop me
+    down a handkerchief that has been wet with them, that I may
+    keep it as a relic. Tell me of some way in which I can
+    console you and spend my life to serve you."
+
+She read with a mingling of consolation and astonishment. Why, this
+was more than her mother cared for her! But perhaps men were really
+more strongly loving than women. It would seem so, since God, who
+knows all, when He wanted to express His love to mankind, took the
+form of a man, not of a woman. Then she considered whether, and how,
+she should answer this note, and the result of her considering was
+this, written hastily on a bit of paper in which some Agnus Dei had
+been wrapped:
+
+     "I do not know what I ought to write to you, but I thank
+     you for your kindness. It comforts me, and I have need of
+     comfort. I think, though, that it may be wrong for you to
+     speak of my handkerchief as if it were a relic. Relics are
+     things which have belonged to the saints, and I am not a
+     saint at all, though I hope to become one. I frequently do
+     wrong. Spend your life in serving God, and pray for me. You
+     pray in singing, and your singing is very sweet.
+
+                         "SILVIA."
+
+It seemed to her a simple and merely polite note. To him it was as
+the spark to a magazine of powder. All the possibilities of his life,
+only half hoped or half dreamed of, burst at once into a flame of
+certainty. She had need of comfort, and he comforted her! His voice
+was sweet to her, and his singing was a prayer!
+
+Silvia should not be a nun. She should break the bond imposed by her
+mother, as he had broken that imposed by his parents. She should be
+his wife, and they would live in Rome. He knew that his voice would
+find bread for them.
+
+All this flashed through his mind as he read, and pressed to his lips
+the handkerchief which she had dropped down to him, though it was not
+a relic. He lifted his arms upward toward her window with a rapturous
+joy, as if to embrace her, but she did not look out again. A little
+scruple for having deprived the Madonna for a moment of her lamp had
+made her resolve to say at once a decade of the rosary in expiation.
+He waited till the sound of closing doors and wandering voices told
+that the inhabitants gathered for the evening in the Lungara were
+separating to their homes, then went reluctantly away. Matteo would be
+at home, and Matteo's face might look down at him from that other
+window beside Silvia's. So he also went home, with the moonlight
+between his feet and the ground and stars sparkling in his brain. He
+felt as if his head were the sky.
+
+This was an August night. One day in October, Matteo told his sister
+that she was to go to Rome with him the next morning to pass a month
+with a family they knew there, and afterward begin her novitiate in
+the convent of the Sacramentarians at Monte Cavallo. He had received a
+letter from the Signora Fantini, who would receive her and do
+everything for her. He and Pepina had no time, now that the vintage
+had begun, to attend to such affairs, even if they knew how.
+
+Silvia grew pale. She had not expected to go before the spring, and
+now all was arranged without a word being said to her, and she was to
+go without saying good-bye to any one.
+
+Matteo's sharp eyes were watching her. "You will be ready to start at
+seven o'clock," he said; "I must be back to-morrow night."
+
+"Yes, Matteo," she faltered, hesitated a moment, then ventured to add,
+"I did not expect to go to soon."
+
+"And what of that?" he demanded roughly. "You were to go at the proper
+time, and the proper time is to-morrow."
+
+She trembled, but ventured another word: "I should like to see my
+confessor first."
+
+"He will come here this evening to see you," her brother replied: "I
+have already talked with him. You have nothing else to do. Pepina will
+pack your trunk while you are talking with the priest."
+
+Silvia had no more to say. She was bound hand and foot. Besides, she
+was willing to go, she assured herself. It was her duty to obey her
+parents, or the ones who stood in their place and had authority over
+her. Matteo said she must go; therefore it was her duty to go, and she
+was willing.
+
+But the willing girl looked very pale and walked about with a very
+feeble step, and it was hard work to keep the tears that were every
+moment rising to her eyes from falling over her cheeks. It was such a
+pitiful face, indeed, that Father Teodoli, when he came just before
+Ave Maria, asked if Silvia were ill.
+
+"She has had a toothache," Matteo said quickly, and gave his sister a
+glance.
+
+"And what have you done for it, my child?" the priest asked kindly.
+
+"Nothing," Silvia faltered out.
+
+"I will leave you to give Silvia all the advice she needs," Matteo
+said after the compliments of welcome were over. "I have to go down
+the Lungara for men to work in the vineyard to-morrow. Silvia, come
+and shut the door after me: there is too much draught here."
+
+Silvia followed her brother to the door, trembling for what he might
+say or do. Well she knew that his command was given only that he might
+have a chance to speak with her alone.
+
+"Mind what you say to your confessor," he whispered, grasping her arm
+and speaking in her ear. "You are to be a nun: you wish to be, and you
+are willing to set out to-morrow. Tell him no nonsense--do you
+hear?--or it will be worse for you. I shall know every word you say.
+If he asks if you had a toothache, say Yes. Do you hear?"
+
+"Yes, Matteo."
+
+She went back half fainting, and did as she had been commanded. If
+there had been any little lurking impulse to beg for another week or
+month, it died of fear. If she had any confession to make of other
+wishes than those chosen for her, she postponed it. Matteo might be
+behind the door listening, or in the next room or at the window. It
+seemed to her that he could make himself invisible in order to keep
+guard over her.
+
+So the priest talked a little, learned nothing, gave some advice,
+recommended himself to her prayers, gave her his benediction, and
+went. Then Pepina called her to see the trunk all packed with linen
+that had been laid by for her for years, and Matteo, who had really
+been lurking about the house, told her to go to bed, and himself
+really went off this time to the Lungara. Pepina's lover came for her
+to sit out on the doorstep with him, and Silvia was left alone. Nobody
+cared for her. All had other interests, and they forgot her the moment
+she was out of their sight. Worse, even: they wanted her to be for
+ever out of their sight, that they might never have to think of her.
+
+But no: there was one who did not forget her--who would perhaps
+now have heard that she was going away, and be waiting in the
+mountain-path for her. She hastened to her room, locked the door and
+went to the window. He made a gesture of haste, and she dropped the
+ball down to him. This was not the second time that their conversation
+had been held by means of a thread. Indeed, they had come to talk so
+every night. At first it had been a few words only, and Silvia's
+unconsciousness and her sincerity in her intention to follow her
+mother's will had imposed silence on the young man. But little by
+little he had ventured, and she had understood; and within the last
+week there had been no concealments between them, though Silvia still
+resisted all his prayers to change her resolution and brave her
+brother.
+
+His first note was in her hands in a moment:
+
+"Is it possible that what I hear is true? I will not believe it: I
+will not let you go."
+
+"Yes, and I must go," she wrote back. "I have to start at seven in the
+morning. Dear Claudio, be resigned: there is no help for it."
+
+"Silvia, why will you persist in ruining your life and mine? It is a
+sin. Say that you are too sick to go to-morrow. Stay in bed all day,
+and by night I will have a rope-ladder for you to come down to me. We
+can run away and hide somewhere."
+
+"I cannot. We could never hide from Matteo: he would find us out and
+kill us both."
+
+"I will go to the Holy Father and tell him all. We could be in Rome
+early in the morning if we should walk all night."
+
+"Matteo would hear us: he hears everything. We should never reach
+Rome. He would find us wherever we might be hidden. If we were dead
+and buried he would pull us out of the ground to stab us. I must go.
+I have sinned in having so much intercourse with you. Be resigned,
+Claudio. Be a good man, and we shall meet in heaven. The earth is a
+terrible place: I am afraid of it. I want to shut myself up in the
+convent and be at peace. I fear so much that I tremble all the time.
+Say addio."
+
+"I cannot. Will you stay in bed to-morrow, and let me try if I cannot
+go to Rome?"
+
+"Say addio, Claudio. I dare not stay here any longer: I hear some one
+outside my door. I say addio to you now. I shall not drop the ball
+again."
+
+She did not even draw it up again, for the thread caught on a nail in
+the wall and broke. And at the same time there was a knock at her
+door.
+
+"Silvia, why do you not go to bed?" Matteo called out: "I hear you
+up."
+
+"I am going now," she made haste to answer, and in her terror threw
+herself on the bed without undressing. She wondered if Matteo could
+hear her heart beat through the wall or see how she was shaking.
+
+The next morning at seven o'clock Silvia and her brother took their
+seats in the clumsy coach that goes from Monte Compatri to Rome
+whenever there are passengers enough to fill it, and after confused
+leavetakings from all but the one she wished most to see they set out.
+Claudio was invisible. In fact, he had lain on the ground all night
+beneath her window, and now, hidden in a tree, was watching the
+winding road for an occasional glimpse of the carriage as it bore his
+love away.
+
+The peasants of Italy, when they see the Milky Way stretching its
+wavering, cloudy path across the sky, shining as if made up of the
+footprints of innumerable saints, say that it is the road to
+Jerusalem. The road to the New Jerusalem has no such pallid and
+spiritual glory: its colors are those of life. No death but that of
+martyrdom, with its rosy blood, waving palm-branch and golden crown,
+is figured there. Life, and the joy of life, beauty so profuse that it
+can afford to have a few blemishes like a slatternly Venus, and the
+_dolce far niente_ of poverty that neither works nor starves,--they
+lie all along the road.
+
+Silvia was young, and had all her life looked forward to this journey.
+She could not be quite indifferent. She looked and listened, though
+all the time her heart was heavy for Claudio. They reached the gate of
+St. John Lateran just as all the bells began to ring for the noon
+_Angelus_, and in fifteen minutes were at the Signora Fantini's door
+and Silvia in the kind lady's arms. It seemed to the girl that she had
+found her mother again. That this lady was more gracious, graceful,
+kind and beautiful than her mother had ever been she would not think.
+She was simply another mother. And when Matteo had gone away home
+again, not too soon, and when, after a few days' sightseeing, the
+signora, suspecting that the continued sadness of her young guest had
+some other cause than separation from her brother and sister, sought
+persistently and artfully to win her secret, Silvia told her all with
+many tears. She was going to be a nun because her mother had said that
+she must--and she was willing to be a nun--certainly she was willing.
+But, for all that, if it could have been so, she would have been so
+happy with Claudio, and she never should be quite happy without him.
+
+"Then you must not be a nun," the signora said decidedly. "The thing
+is all wrong. You have no vocation. You should have said all this
+before."
+
+For already the signora had taken Silvia to see the Superior at Monte
+Cavallo, who had promised to receive the young novice in three weeks,
+and had told her what work she could perform in the convent. "You are
+not strong, I think," she had said, "but you can knit the stockings.
+All have to work."
+
+And Monsignor Catinari, whose business it was to examine all
+candidates for the conventual life, had held a long conversation with
+her and gone away perfectly satisfied.
+
+But when the signora proposed to undo all this, Silvia was wild with
+terror. No, no, she would be a nun. Her mother had said so, she wished
+it, and Matteo would kill her if she should refuse.
+
+"Leave it all to me," the signora said, and laid her motherly hand on
+the trembling little ones held out to her in entreaty. "We will look
+out for that. Matteo shall not hurt you or Claudio. I am going to send
+for Monsignor Catinari again, and you must tell him the truth this
+time. And then we will see what can be done in the case. Don't look so
+terrified, child. Do you think that Matteo rules the world?"
+
+Poor little Silvia could not be reassured, for to her other terrors
+was now added Monsignor Catinari's possible wrath. To her, men were
+objects of terror. The doctrine of masculine supremacy, so pitilessly
+upheld in Italy, was exaggerated to her mind by her brother's
+character; and though she believed that help was sometimes possible,
+she also believed that it often came too late, as in the case of poor
+Beatrice Cenci. They might stand between her and Matteo, but if he had
+first killed her, what good would it do? She had a fixed idea that he
+would kill her.
+
+Monsignor Catinari was indeed much provoked when the signora told him
+the true story of the little novice.
+
+"Just see what creatures girls are!" he exclaimed. "How are we to know
+if they have a vocation or not? That girl professed herself both
+willing and desirous to be a nun."
+
+He did not scold Silvia, however. When he saw her pretty frightened
+face his heart relented. "You have told me a good many lies, my
+child," he said, "but I forgive you, since they were not intended in
+malice. We will say no more about it. I learn from the signora that
+this Claudio is a good young man, so the sooner you are married the
+better. Cheer up: we will have you a bride by the first week of
+November; and if Claudio has such a wonderful voice, he can make his
+way in Rome." The reassurances of a man were more effectual than those
+of a woman.
+
+"At last I believe! at last I fear no more!" Silvia cried, throwing
+herself into the arms of the Signora Fantini when the Monsignor was
+gone. "Oh how beautiful the earth is! how beautiful life is!"
+
+"We will then begin immediately to enjoy life," the signora replied.
+"Collation is ready, and Nanna has bought us some of the most
+delicious grapes. See how large and rich they are! One could almost
+slice them. There! these black figs are like honey. Try one now,
+before your soup. The macaroni that will be brought in presently was
+made in the house--none of your Naples stuff, made nobody knows how or
+by whom. What else Nanna has for us I cannot say. She was very secret
+this morning, and I suspect that means rice-balls seasoned with
+mushrooms and hashed giblets of turkey. She always becomes mysterious
+when those are in preparation. Eat well, child, and get a little flesh
+and color before Claudio comes."
+
+They made a merry breakfast, with the noon sun sending its golden
+arrows through every tiniest chink of the closed shutters and an
+almost summer heat reigning without. Then there was an hour of sleep,
+then a drive to the Pincio to see all the notable people who came up
+there to look at or speak to each other while the sun sank behind St.
+Peter's. And in the evening after dinner they went to the housetop to
+see the fireworks which were being displayed for some festa or other;
+and later there was music, and then to bed.
+
+Life became an enchantment to the little bride-elect, as life in Italy
+will become to any one who has not too heavy a cross to bear. For
+peace in this beautiful land means delight, not merely the absence of
+pain. How the sun shone! and how the fountains danced! What roses
+bloomed everywhere! what fruits of Eden were everywhere piled! How
+soft the speech was! and how sweet the smiles! And when it was
+discovered that Silvia had a beautiful voice, so that she and Claudio
+would be like a pair of birds together, then it seemed to her that a
+nest of twigs on a tree-branch would be all that she could desire.
+
+They took her to see the pope on one of those days. It was as if they
+had taken her to heaven. To her he was the soul of Rome, the reason
+why Rome was; and when she saw his white figure against the scarlet
+background of cardinals she remembered how Rome looked against the
+rosy Campagna at sunset from her far-away window in Monte Compatri.
+
+"A little _sposa_, is she?" the pope said when Monsignor Catinari
+presented her.--"I bless you, my child: wear this in memory of me." He
+gave her a little gold medal from a tiny pocket at his side, laid his
+hand on her head, and passed on. It was too much: she had to weep for
+joy.
+
+Then, when the audience was over, they took her through the museum and
+library, and some one gave her a bunch of roses out of the pope's
+private garden, and she was put into a carriage and driven home, her
+heart beating somewhere in her head, her feet winged and her eyes
+dazzled.
+
+There was a rapturous letter from Claudio awaiting her, and by that
+she knew that it was not all a dream. She rattled the paper in her
+hands as she sat with her eyes shut, half dreaming, to make sure and
+keep sure that she was not to wake up presently to bitterness. Claudio
+would come to Rome in a week, and perhaps they would be married before
+he should go back. There was no letter from Matteo. So much the
+better.
+
+One golden day succeeded another, and Silvia changed from a lily to a
+rose with marvellous rapidity. She was not a ruddy, full-leaved rose,
+though, but like one of those delicate ones with clouds of red on them
+and petals that only touch the calyx, as if they were wings and must
+be free to move. She was slim and frail, and her color wavered, and
+her head had a little droop, and her voice was low. She had always
+been the stillest creature alive; and now, full of happiness as she
+was, her feelings showed themselves in an uneasy stirring, like that
+of a flower in which a bee has hidden itself. After the first outburst
+she did not so much say that she was happy as breathe and look it.
+
+One noonday, when life seemed too beautiful to last, and they all sat
+together after breakfast, the signora, her daughter and Silvia, too
+contented to say a word, the door opened, and Matteo Guai came in with
+a black, smileless face, and not the slightest salutation for his
+sister. He had come to take Silvia home, he replied briefly to the
+signora's compliments. She must be ready in an hour. The vintage was
+suffering by his absence, and it was necessary that he should return
+at once.
+
+Signora Fantini poured out the most voluble exclamations, prayers and
+protests. She had forty engagements for Silvia. They had had only a
+few days' visit from her, and she was to have stayed a month. They
+would themselves accompany her to Monte Compatri later if it was
+necessary that she should go. But, in fine, Monsignor Catinari did not
+expect her to return.
+
+"I am the head of the family, and my sister has to obey me till she is
+married," Matteo replied doggedly. "I suppose that Monsignor Catinari
+will not deny that. The Church always supports the authority of the
+master of the family."
+
+"Why, of course," the signora replied, rather confused by this
+irresistible argument, "you have the right, and no one will resist
+you. But as a favor now--" and the signora assumed her most coaxing
+smile, and even advanced a plump white hand to touch Matteo's sleeve.
+
+She might as well have tried to bewitch and persuade the bronze
+Augustus on the Capitoline Hill.
+
+"Things have changed since it was promised that Silvia should stay a
+month with you," Matteo replied. "There is work at home for her to do.
+Since she is not to be a nun, she must work. Let her be ready to start
+in an hour: my carriage is waiting at the door. I am going out into
+the piazza for a little while. I will send a man up for her trunk when
+I am ready to start."
+
+Silvia uttered not a word. At sight of her brother she had sunk back
+in her chair white and speechless. On hearing his voice she had closed
+her eyes.
+
+He half turned to her before going out, looking at her out of the
+corners of his evil eyes, a cold, strange smile wreathing his lips.
+"So you are not going to be a nun?" he said.
+
+She did not respond. Only the quiver of her lowered eyelids and a
+slight shiver told that she knew he was addressing her.
+
+Matteo went out, and the signora, at her wits' end, undertook to
+encourage Silvia. There was no time to see Monsignor Catinari or to
+appeal to any authority; and if there were, it would have availed
+nothing perhaps. Almost any one would have said that the girl's
+terrors were fanciful, and that it was quite natural her brother, who
+would lose five hundred scudi by her change of purpose, should require
+her to work as other girls of her condition worked.
+
+"Cheer up and go with him, _figlia mia_," she said, "and leave all to
+me. I will see Monsignor Catinari this very evening, and post a letter
+to you before I go to bed. If Matteo is unkind to you, we will have
+you taken away from him at once. And, in any case, you shall be
+married in a few weeks at the most, as Monsignor promised. Don't cry
+so: don't say that you cannot go. I am sorry and vexed, my dear, but
+I see no way but for you to go. Depend upon me. No harm shall come to
+you. I will myself come to Monte Compatri within the week, and arrange
+all for you. Besides, recollect that you will see Claudio: he is there
+waiting for you. Perhaps you may see him this very evening."
+
+The Signora Fantini's efforts to cheer and reassure the sister were as
+ineffectual as her efforts to persuade the brother had been. Silvia
+submitted because she had no strength to resist.
+
+"O Madonna mia!" she kept murmuring, "he will kill me! he will kill
+me! O Madonna mia! pray for me."
+
+When an Italian says that he will come back in an hour, you may look
+for him after two hours. Matteo was no exception to the rule. It was
+already mid-afternoon when the porter came up and said that Silvia's
+brother was waiting for her below.
+
+The signora gave her a tumbler half full of _vin santo_, which she
+kept for special occasions--a strong, delicious wine with the perfume
+of a whole garden in it. "Drink every drop," she commanded: "it will
+give you courage. You had better be a little tipsy than fainting away.
+And put this bottle into your pocket to drink when you have need on
+the way."
+
+More dead than alive, Silvia was placed in the little old-fashioned
+carriage that Matteo had hired to come to Rome in, and her brother
+took his seat beside her. The Signora Fantini and her daughter leaned
+from the window, kissing their hands to her and shaking their
+handkerchiefs as long as she was in sight. And as long as she was in
+sight they saw her pale face turned backward, looking at them. Then
+the tawny stone of a church-corner hid her from their eyes for ever.
+
+Who knows or can guess what that drive was? The two passed through
+Frascati, and Matteo stopped to speak to an acquaintance there. They
+drove around Monte Porzio, and Matteo stopped again, to buy a glass of
+wine and some figs. He offered some to his sister, but she shook her
+head.
+
+"She is sleepy," her brother said to the man of whom he had bought.
+"Give me another tumbler of wine: it isn't bad."
+
+"It is the last barrel I have of the vintage of two years ago," the
+man replied. "It was a good vintage. If the signorina would take a
+drop she would sleep the better. Besides, the night is coming on and
+there is a chill in the air."
+
+Silvia opened her eyes and made the little horizontal motion with her
+forefinger which in Italy means no.
+
+"She will sleep well enough," Matteo said, and drove on.
+
+Night was coming on, and they had no more towns to pass--only a bit
+more of lonely level road and the lonely road that wound to and fro up
+the mountain-side. At the best, they could not reach home before ten
+o'clock. The road went to and fro--sometimes open, to give a view of
+the Campagna and the Sabine Mountains, and Soracte swimming in a
+lustrous dimness on the horizon; sometimes shut in closely by trees,
+that made it almost black in spite of the moon. For the moon was low
+and gave but little light, being but a crescent as yet. There was a
+shooting star now and then, breaking out like a rocket with a trail of
+sparks or slipping small and pallid across the sky.
+
+One of these latter might have been poor Silvia's soul slipping away
+from the earth. It went out there somewhere on the mountain-side.
+Matteo said the carriage tilted, and she, being asleep, fell out
+before he could prevent. Her temple struck a sharp rock, and Claudio
+missed his bride.
+
+He had to keep quiet about it, though. What could he prove? what could
+any one prove? Where knives are sharp and people mind their own
+business, or express their opinions only by a shrug of the shoulders
+and a grimace, how is a poor boy, how is even a rich man or a rich
+woman, to come at the truth in such a case? Besides, the truth would
+not have brought her back, poor little Silvia!
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
+
+Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors; otherwise
+every effort has been made to remain true to the author's words and
+intent.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Stories by American Authors, Volume 2, by Various
+
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Stories By American Authors, Volume 2, by Various.
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+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's Stories by American Authors, Volume 2, by Various
+
+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: Stories by American Authors, Volume 2
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: January 24, 2010 [EBook #31064]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES BY AMERICAN AUTHORS, VOL 2 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by D Alexander, Juliet Sutherland and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<p class="front1"><span style="margin-left: 5em;">Stories by</span></p>
+<p class="front2"><span style="margin-right: 5em;">American Authors</span></p>
+
+<h3>VOLUME II</h3>
+
+<p class="gap">&#160;</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="CONTENTS">
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left"><a href="#Page_5"><i>THE TRANSFERRED GHOST</i></a></td>
+<td class="bl" align="center">&#160;</td>
+<td align="left"><a href="#A_DINNER-PARTY"><i>A DINNER-PARTY</i></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right"><small>BY FRANK R. STOCKTON</small></td>
+<td class="bl" align="center">&#160;</td>
+<td align="right"><small>BY JOHN EDDY</small></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left"><a href="#A_MARTYR_TO_SCIENCE"><i>A MARTYR TO SCIENCE</i></a></td>
+<td class="bl" align="center">&#160;</td>
+<td align="left"><a href="#THE_MOUNT_OF_SORROW"><i>THE MOUNT OF SORROW</i></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right"><small>BY MARY PUTNAM JACOBI, M. D.</small></td>
+<td class="bl" align="center">&#160;</td>
+<td align="right"><small>BY HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD</small></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left"><a href="#MRS_KNOLLYS"><i>MRS. KNOLLYS</i></a></td>
+<td class="bl" align="center">&#160;</td>
+<td align="left"><a href="#SISTER_SILVIA"><i>SISTER SILVIA</i></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right"><small>BY J. S. OF DALE, AUTHOR OF &#8220;GUERNDALE&#8221;</small></td>
+<td class="bl" align="center">&#160;</td>
+<td align="right"><small>BY MARY AGNES TINCKER</small></td></tr>
+
+</table></div>
+
+<p class="gap">&#160;</p>
+
+<h4>NEW YORK</h4>
+<h3>CHARLES SCRIBNER&#8217;S SONS</h3>
+<h4>1896</h4>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1884, by</span> <br />
+CHARLES SCRIBNER&#8217;S SONS</p>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+<div class="centerbox bbox"><small><sup>*</sup><sub>*</sub><sup>*</sup></small> <i>The Stories in this Volume are protected by
+copyright, and are printed here by authority of the authors or their
+representatives.</i></div>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 276px;">
+<img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="276" height="500" alt="Frank R. Stockton" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p><h2>THE TRANSFERRED GHOST.</h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By Frank R. Stockton.</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">&#8258; <i>Century Magazine, May, 1882.</i></p>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">he</span> country residence of Mr. John Hinckman was a delightful place to
+me, for many reasons. It was the abode of a genial, though somewhat
+impulsive, hospitality. It had broad, smooth-shaven lawns and towering
+oaks and elms; there were bosky shades at several points, and not far
+from the house there was a little rill spanned by a rustic bridge with
+the bark on; there were fruits and flowers, pleasant people, chess,
+billiards, rides, walks, and fishing. These were great attractions,
+but none of them, nor all of them together, would have been sufficient
+to hold me to the place very long. I had been invited for the trout
+season, but should, probably, have finished my visit early in the
+summer had it not been that upon fair days, when the grass was dry,
+and the sun not too hot, and there was but little wind, there strolled
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>beneath the lofty elms, or passed lightly through the bosky shades,
+the form of my Madeline.</p>
+
+<p>This lady was not, in very truth, my Madeline. She had never given
+herself to me, nor had I, in any way, acquired possession of her. But
+as I considered her possession the only sufficient reason for the
+continuance of my existence, I called her, in my reveries, mine. It
+may have been that I would not have been obliged to confine the use of
+this possessive pronoun to my reveries had I confessed the state of my
+feelings to the lady.</p>
+
+<p>But this was an unusually difficult thing to do. Not only did I dread,
+as almost all lovers dread, taking the step which would in an instant
+put an end to that delightful season which may be termed the
+ante-interrogatory period of love, and which might at the same time
+terminate all intercourse or connection with the object of my passion;
+but I was, also, dreadfully afraid of John Hinckman. This gentleman
+was a good friend of mine, but it would have required a bolder man
+than I was at that time to ask him for the gift of his niece, who was
+the head of his household, and, according to his own frequent
+statement, the main prop of his declining years. Had Madeline
+acquiesced in my general views on the subject, I might have felt
+encouraged to open the matter to Mr. Hinckman, but, as I said before,
+I had never asked her whether or not she would be mine. I thought of
+these things at all hours of the day and night, particularly the
+latter.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p><p>I was lying awake one night, in the great bed in my spacious chamber,
+when, by the dim light of the new moon, which partially filled the
+room, I saw John Hinckman standing by a large chair near the door. I
+was very much surprised at this for two reasons. In the first place,
+my host had never before come into my room, and, in the second place,
+he had gone from home that morning, and had not expected to return for
+several days. It was for this reason that I had been able that evening
+to sit much later than usual with Madeline on the moonlit porch. The
+figure was certainly that of John Hinckman in his ordinary dress, but
+there was a vagueness and indistinctness about it which presently
+assured me that it was a ghost. Had the good old man been murdered?
+and had his spirit come to tell me of the deed, and to confide to me
+the protection of his dear&mdash;&mdash;? My heart fluttered at what I was
+about to think, but at this instant the figure spoke.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you know,&#8221; he said, with a countenance that indicated anxiety, &#8220;if
+Mr. Hinckman will return to-night?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I thought it well to maintain a calm exterior, and I answered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We do not expect him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am glad of that,&#8221; said he, sinking into the chair by which he
+stood. &#8220;During the two years and a half that I have inhabited this
+house, that man has never before been away for a single night. You
+can&#8217;t imagine the relief it gives me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p><p>And as he spoke he stretched out his legs and leaned back in the
+chair. His form became less vague, and the colors of his garments more
+distinct and evident, while an expression of gratified relief
+succeeded to the anxiety of his countenance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Two years and a half!&#8221; I exclaimed. &#8220;I don&#8217;t understand you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is fully that length of time,&#8221; said the ghost, &#8220;since I first came
+here. Mine is not an ordinary case. But before I say anything more
+about it, let me ask you again if you are sure Mr. Hinckman will not
+return to-night?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am as sure of it as I can be of anything,&#8221; I answered. &#8220;He left
+to-day for Bristol, two hundred miles away.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I will go on,&#8221; said the ghost, &#8220;for I am glad to have the
+opportunity of talking to some one who will listen to me; but if John
+Hinckman should come in and catch me here, I should be frightened out
+of my wits.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This is all very strange,&#8221; I said, greatly puzzled by what I had
+heard. &#8220;Are you the ghost of Mr. Hinckman?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This was a bold question, but my mind was so full of other emotions
+that there seemed to be no room for that of fear.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I am his ghost,&#8221; my companion replied, &#8221;and yet I have no right
+to be. And this is what makes me so uneasy, and so much afraid of him.
+It is a strange story, and, I truly believe, without precedent. Two
+years and a half ago, John <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>Hinckman was dangerously ill in this very
+room. At one time he was so far gone that he was really believed to be
+dead. It was in consequence of too precipitate a report in regard to
+this matter that I was, at that time, appointed to be his ghost.
+Imagine my surprise and horror, sir, when, after I had accepted the
+position and assumed its responsibilities, that old man revived,
+became convalescent, and eventually regained his usual health. My
+situation was now one of extreme delicacy and embarrassment. I had no
+power to return to my original unembodiment, and I had no right to be
+the ghost of a man who was not dead. I was advised by my friends to
+quietly maintain my position, and was assured that, as John Hinckman
+was an elderly man, it could not be long before I could rightfully
+assume the position for which I had been selected. But I tell you,
+sir,&#8221; he continued, with animation, &#8220;the old fellow seems as vigorous
+as ever, and I have no idea how much longer this annoying state of
+things will continue. I spend my time trying to get out of that old
+man&#8217;s way. I must not leave this house, and he seems to follow me
+everywhere. I tell you, sir, he haunts me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is truly a queer state of things,&#8221; I remarked. &#8220;But why are you
+afraid of him? He couldn&#8217;t hurt you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course he couldn&#8217;t,&#8221; said the ghost. &#8220;But his very presence is a
+shock and terror to me. Imagine, sir, how you would feel if my case
+were yours.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p><p>I could not imagine such a thing at all. I simply shuddered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And if one must be a wrongful ghost at all,&#8221; the apparition
+continued, &#8220;it would be much pleasanter to be the ghost of some man
+other than John Hinckman. There is in him an irascibility of temper,
+accompanied by a facility of invective, which is seldom met with. And
+what would happen if he were to see me, and find out, as I am sure he
+would, how long and why I had inhabited his house, I can scarcely
+conceive. I have seen him in his bursts of passion, and, although he
+did not hurt the people he stormed at any more than he would hurt me,
+they seemed to shrink before him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>All this I knew to be very true. Had it not been for this peculiarity
+of Mr. Hinckman, I might have been more willing to talk to him about
+his niece.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I feel sorry for you,&#8221; I said, for I really began to have a
+sympathetic feeling toward this unfortunate apparition. &#8220;Your case is
+indeed a hard one. It reminds me of those persons who have had
+doubles, and I suppose a man would often be very angry indeed when he
+found that there was another being who was personating himself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, the cases are not similar at all,&#8221; said the ghost. &#8220;A double or
+doppelganger lives on the earth with a man, and, being exactly like
+him, he makes all sorts of trouble, of course. It is very different
+with me. I am not here to live with Mr. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>Hinckman. I am here to take
+his place. Now, it would make John Hinckman very angry if he knew
+that. Don&#8217;t you know it would?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I assented promptly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now that he is away I can be easy for a little while,&#8221; continued the
+ghost, &#8220;and I am so glad to have an opportunity of talking to you. I
+have frequently come into your room, and watched you while you slept,
+but did not dare to speak to you for fear that if you talked with me
+Mr. Hinckman would hear you, and come into the room to know why you
+were talking to yourself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But would he not hear you?&#8221; I asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no,&#8221; said the other, &#8220;there are times when any one may see me,
+but no one hears me except the person to whom I address myself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But why did you wish to speak to me?&#8221; I asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because,&#8221; replied the ghost, &#8220;I like occasionally to talk to people,
+and especially to some one like yourself, whose mind is so troubled
+and perturbed that you are not likely to be frightened by a visit from
+one of us. But I particularly wanted to ask you to do me a favor.
+There is every probability, so far as I can see, that John Hinckman
+will live a long time, and my situation is becoming insupportable. My
+great object at present is to get myself transferred, and I think that
+you may, perhaps, be of use to me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Transferred!&#8221; I exclaimed. &#8220;What do you mean by that?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;What I mean,&#8221; said the other, &#8220;is this: Now that I have started on my
+career I have got to be the ghost of somebody; and I want to be the
+ghost of a man who is really dead.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I should think that would be easy enough,&#8221; I said. &#8220;Opportunities
+must continually occur.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not at all! not at all!&#8221; said my companion, quickly. &#8220;You have no
+idea what a rush and pressure there is for situations of this kind.
+Whenever a vacancy occurs, if I may express myself in that way, there
+are crowds of applications for the ghostship.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I had no idea that such a state of things existed,&#8221; I said, becoming
+quite interested in the matter. &#8220;There ought to be some regular
+system, or order of precedence, by which you could all take your turns
+like customers in a barber&#8217;s shop.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh dear, that would never do at all!&#8221; said the other. &#8220;Some of us
+would have to wait forever. There is always a great rush whenever a
+good ghostship offers itself&mdash;while, as you know, there are some
+positions that no one would care for. And it was in consequence of my
+being in too great a hurry on an occasion of the kind that I got
+myself into my present disagreeable predicament, and I have thought
+that it might be possible that you would help me out of it. You might
+know of a case where an opportunity for a ghostship was not generally
+expected, but which might present itself at any moment. If you would
+give <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>me a short notice, I know I could arrange for a transfer.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean?&#8221; I exclaimed. &#8220;Do you want me to commit suicide? Or
+to undertake a murder for your benefit?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no, no, no!&#8221; said the other, with a vapory smile. &#8220;I mean nothing
+of that kind. To be sure, there are lovers who are watched with
+considerable interest, such persons having been known, in moments of
+depression, to offer very desirable ghostships, but I did not think of
+anything of that kind in connection with you. You were the only person
+I cared to speak to, and I hoped that you might give me some
+information that would be of use; and, in return, I shall be very glad
+to help you in your love affair.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You seem to know that I have such an affair,&#8221; I said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes,&#8221; replied the other, with a little yawn. &#8220;I could not be here
+so much as I have been without knowing all about that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was something horrible in the idea of Madeline and myself having
+been watched by a ghost, even, perhaps, when we wandered together in
+the most delightful and bosky places. But, then, this was quite an
+exceptional ghost, and I could not have the objections to him which
+would ordinarily arise in regard to beings of his class.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I must go now,&#8221; said the ghost, rising, &#8220;but I will see you somewhere
+to-morrow night. And remember&mdash;you help me, and I&#8217;ll help you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p><p>I had doubts the next morning as to the propriety of telling Madeline
+anything about this interview, and soon convinced myself that I must
+keep silent on the subject. If she knew there was a ghost about the
+house she would probably leave the place instantly. I did not mention
+the matter, and so regulated my demeanor that I am quite sure Madeline
+never suspected what had taken place. For some time I had wished that
+Mr. Hinckman would absent himself, for a day at least, from the
+premises. In such case I thought I might more easily nerve myself up
+to the point of speaking to Madeline on the subject of our future
+collateral existence, and, now that the opportunity for such speech
+had really occurred, I did not feel ready to avail myself of it. What
+would become of me if she refused me?</p>
+
+<p>I had an idea, however, that the lady thought that, if I were going to
+speak at all, this was the time. She must have known that certain
+sentiments were afloat within me, and she was not unreasonable in her
+wish to see the matter settled one way or the other. But I did not
+feel like taking a bold step in the dark. If she wished me to ask her
+to give herself to me, she ought to offer me some reason to suppose
+that she would make the gift. If I saw no probability of such
+generosity, I would prefer that things should remain as they were.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>That evening I was sitting with Madeline in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>moonlit porch. It was
+nearly ten o&#8217;clock, and ever since supper-time I had been working
+myself up to the point of making an avowal of my sentiments. I had not
+positively determined to do this, but wished gradually to reach the
+proper point when, if the prospect looked bright, I might speak. My
+companion appeared to understand the situation&mdash;at least, I imagined
+that the nearer I came to a proposal the more she seemed to expect it.
+It was certainly a very critical and important epoch in my life. If I
+spoke, I should make myself happy or miserable forever, and if I did
+not speak I had every reason to believe that the lady would not give
+me another chance to do so.</p>
+
+<p>Sitting thus with Madeline, talking a little, and thinking very hard
+over these momentous matters, I looked up and saw the ghost, not a
+dozen feet away from us. He was sitting on the railing of the porch,
+one leg thrown up before him, the other dangling down as he leaned
+against a post. He was behind Madeline, but almost in front of me, as
+I sat facing the lady. It was fortunate that Madeline was looking out
+over the landscape, for I must have appeared very much startled. The
+ghost had told told me that he would see me some time this night, but
+I did not think he would make his appearance when I was in the company
+of Madeline. If she should see the spirit of her uncle, I could not
+answer for the consequences. I made no exclamation, but the ghost
+evidently saw that I was troubled.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid,&#8221; he said&mdash;&#8220;I shall not let her see me; and she
+cannot hear me speak unless I address myself to her, which I do not
+intend to do.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I suppose I looked grateful.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So you need not trouble yourself about that,&#8221; the ghost continued;
+&#8220;but it seems to me that you are not getting along very well with your
+affair. If I were you, I should speak out without waiting any longer.
+You will never have a better chance. You are not likely to be
+interrupted; and, so far as I can judge, the lady seems disposed to
+listen to you favorably; that is, if she ever intends to do so. There
+is no knowing when John Hinckman will go away again; certainly not
+this summer. If I were in your place, I should never dare to make love
+to Hinckman&#8217;s niece if he were anywhere about the place. If he should
+catch any one offering himself to Miss Madeline, he would then be a
+terrible man to encounter.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I agreed perfectly to all this.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I cannot bear to think of him!&#8221; I ejaculated aloud.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Think of whom?&#8221; asked Madeline, turning quickly toward me.</p>
+
+<p>Here was an awkward situation. The long speech of the ghost, to which
+Madeline paid no attention, but which I heard with perfect
+distinctness, had made me forget myself.</p>
+
+<p>It was necessary to explain quickly. Of course, it would not do to
+admit that it was of her dear <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>uncle that I was speaking; and so I
+mentioned hastily the first name I thought of.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Vilars,&#8221; I said.</p>
+
+<p>This statement was entirely correct, for I never could bear to think
+of Mr. Vilars, who was a gentleman who had, at various times, paid
+much attention to Madeline.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is wrong for you to speak in that way of Mr. Vilars,&#8221; she said.
+&#8220;He is a remarkably well-educated and sensible young man, and has very
+pleasant manners. He expects to be elected to the legislature this
+fall, and I should not be surprised if he made his mark. He will do
+well in a legislative body, for whenever Mr. Vilars has anything to
+say he knows just how and when to say it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This was spoken very quietly, and without any show of resentment,
+which was all very natural, for if Madeline thought at all favorably
+of me she could not feel displeased that I should have disagreeable
+emotions in regard to a possible rival. The concluding words contained
+a hint which I was not slow to understand. I felt very sure that if
+Mr. Vilars were in my present position he would speak quickly enough.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I know it is wrong to have such ideas about a person,&#8221; I said, &#8220;but I
+cannot help it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The lady did not chide me, and after this she seemed even in a softer
+mood. As for me, I felt considerably annoyed, for I had not wished to
+admit that any thought of Mr. Vilars had ever occupied my mind.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;You should not speak aloud that way,&#8221; said the ghost, &#8220;or you may get
+yourself into trouble. I want to see everything go well with you,
+because then you may be disposed to help me, especially if I should
+chance to be of any assistance to you, which I hope I shall be.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I longed to tell him that there was no way in which he could help me
+so much as by taking his instant departure. To make love to a young
+lady with a ghost sitting on the railing near by, and that ghost the
+apparition of a much-dreaded uncle, the very idea of whom in such a
+position and at such a time made me tremble, was a difficult, if not
+an impossible, thing to do; but I forbore to speak, although I may
+have looked my mind.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I suppose,&#8221; continued the ghost, &#8220;that you have not heard anything
+that might be of advantage to me. Of course, I am very anxious to
+hear, but if you have anything to tell me, I can wait until you are
+alone. I will come to you to-night in your room, or I will stay here
+until the lady goes away.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You need not wait here,&#8221; I said; &#8220;I have nothing at all to say to
+you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Madeline sprang to her feet, her face flushed and her eyes ablaze.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wait here!&#8221; she cried. &#8220;What do you suppose I am waiting for? Nothing
+to say to me indeed!&mdash;I should think so! What should you have to say
+to me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Madeline,&#8221; I exclaimed, stepping toward her, &#8220;let me explain.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But she had gone.</p>
+
+<p>Here was the end of the world for me! I turned fiercely to the ghost.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wretched existence!&#8221; I cried. &#8220;You have ruined everything. You have
+blackened my whole life. Had it not been for you&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But here my voice faltered. I could say no more.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You wrong me,&#8221; said the ghost. &#8220;I have not injured you. I have tried
+only to encourage and assist you, and it is your own folly that has
+done this mischief. But do not despair. Such mistakes as these can be
+explained. Keep up a brave heart. Good-by.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And he vanished from the railing like a bursting soap-bubble.</p>
+
+<p>I went gloomily to bed, but I saw no apparitions that night except
+those of despair and misery which my wretched thoughts called up. The
+words I had uttered had sounded to Madeline like the basest insult. Of
+course, there was only one interpretation she could put upon them.</p>
+
+<p>As to explaining my ejaculations, that was impossible. I thought the
+matter over and over again as I lay awake that night, and I determined
+that I would never tell Madeline the facts of the case. It would be
+better for me to suffer all my life than for her to know that the
+ghost of her uncle haunted the house. Mr. Hinckman was away, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>if
+she knew of his ghost she could not be made to believe that he was not
+dead. She might not survive the shock! No, my heart could bleed, but I
+would never tell her.</p>
+
+<p>The next day was fine, neither too cool nor too warm; the breezes were
+gentle, and nature smiled. But there were no walks or rides with
+Madeline. She seemed to be much engaged during the day, and I saw but
+little of her. When we met at meals she was polite, but very quiet and
+reserved. She had evidently determined on a course of conduct, and had
+resolved to assume that, although I had been very rude to her, she did
+not understand the import of my words. It would be quite proper, of
+course, for her not to know what I meant by my expressions of the
+night before.</p>
+
+<p>I was downcast and wretched, and said but little, and the only bright
+streak across the black horizon of my woe was the fact that she did
+not appear to be happy, although she affected an air of unconcern. The
+moonlit porch was deserted that evening, but wandering about the house
+I found Madeline in the library alone. She was reading, but I went in
+and sat down near her. I felt that, although I could not do so fully,
+I must in a measure explain my conduct of the night before. She
+listened quietly to a somewhat labored apology I made for the words I
+had used.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have not the slightest idea what you meant,&#8221; she said, &#8220;but you
+were very rude.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I earnestly disclaimed any intention of rudeness, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>and assured her,
+with a warmth of speech that must have made some impression upon her,
+that rudeness to her would be an action impossible to me. I said a
+great deal upon the subject, and implored her to believe that if it
+were not for a certain obstacle I could speak to her so plainly that
+she would understand everything.</p>
+
+<p>She was silent for a time, and then she said, rather more kindly, I
+thought, than she had spoken before:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is that obstacle in any way connected with my uncle?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; I answered, after a little hesitation, &#8220;it is, in a measure,
+connected with him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She made no answer to this, and sat looking at her book, but not
+reading. From the expression of her face, I thought she was somewhat
+softened toward me. She knew her uncle as well as I did, and she may
+have been thinking that, if he were the obstacle that prevented my
+speaking (and there were many ways in which he might be that
+obstacle), my position would be such a hard one that it would excuse
+some wildness of speech and eccentricity of manner. I saw, too, that
+the warmth of my partial explanations had had some effect on her, and
+I began to believe that it might be a good thing for me to speak my
+mind without delay. No matter how she should receive my proposition,
+my relations with her could not be worse than they had been the
+previous night and day, and there was something in her face which
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>encouraged me to hope that she might forget my foolish exclamations
+of the evening before if I began to tell her my tale of love.</p>
+
+<p>I drew my chair a little nearer to her, and as I did so the ghost
+burst into the room from the doorway behind her. I say burst, although
+no door flew open and he made no noise. He was wildly excited, and
+waved his arms above his head. The moment I saw him, my heart fell
+within me. With the entrance of that impertinent apparition, every
+hope fled from me. I could not speak while he was in the room.</p>
+
+<p>I must have turned pale, and I gazed steadfastly at the ghost, almost
+without seeing Madeline, who sat between us.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you know,&#8221; he cried, &#8220;that John Hinckman is coming up the hill? He
+will be here in fifteen minutes, and if you are doing anything in the
+way of love-making, you had better hurry it up. But this is not what I
+came to tell you. I have glorious news! At last I am transferred! Not
+forty minutes ago a Russian nobleman was murdered by the Nihilists.
+Nobody ever thought of him in connection with an immediate ghostship.
+My friends instantly applied for the situation for me, and obtained my
+transfer. I am off before that horrid Hinckman comes up the hill. The
+moment I reach my new position, I shall put off this hated semblance.
+Good-by. You can&#8217;t imagine how glad I am to be, at last, the real
+ghost of somebody.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; I cried, rising to my feet and stretching out my arms in utter
+wretchedness, &#8220;I would to heaven you were mine!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I <i>am</i> yours,&#8221; said Madeline, raising to me her tearful eyes.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="A_MARTYR_TO_SCIENCE" id="A_MARTYR_TO_SCIENCE"></a>A MARTYR TO SCIENCE.</h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By Mary Putnam Jacobi, M.D.</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">&#8258; <i>Putnam&#8217;s Magazine, August, 1869.</i></p>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">M</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">y</span> brief residence at Rome sufficed to destroy my illusions.</p>
+
+<p>A Frenchman, a student of medicine, I had, nevertheless, remained an
+ardent disciple of Catholicism,&mdash;the faith in which I had been brought
+up by a devout mother. She was an Italian, and from her I had
+inherited an intense, passionate nature, and capacity for belief,
+which my father&#8217;s nationality failed to neutralize. From him, on the
+other hand, I had received my education, my profession, and a certain
+large habit of thought, which, disdaining all lesser interests,
+personal or national, occupied itself exclusively with themes of
+universal humanity. This habit, extremely characteristic of French
+intellect, concurred,&mdash;perhaps as much as anything else,&mdash;in making me
+an ultra-montanist. As an Italian, I believed in the Church with
+ardor,&mdash;because <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>I believed; as a Frenchman, I demanded a church
+universal, as alone worthy of attaching my belief. The cause of the
+Pope was for me identified with the spiritual cause of the world, and
+the lukewarmness of so-called Liberal Catholics enraged me. I could
+understand the opposition of materialists, of atheists, or even
+Protestants. These all occupied a radically different base, and their
+eyes were turned toward a different horizon. But that a man could face
+Truth, and voluntarily scrimp his vision to a miserable corner of her
+robe,&mdash;could embrace a principle coldly, with the mere touch of a
+distant finger,&mdash;could pause to balance motives, and haggle over the
+price of devotion,&mdash;this was as incomprehensible to me as repugnant.
+My own sentiments were equally incomprehensible to the society by
+which I was surrounded, and the opposition which I constantly
+encountered served not a little to rivet my convictions, and fan my
+enthusiasm to passion.</p>
+
+<p>My father died almost immediately after launching me on my medical
+career,&mdash;and my darling mother, two years later. In my unutterable
+loneliness, I lost all heart for my studies, and breaking away from
+&eacute;cole and hospitals, wandered in Italy, seeking to quench a quenchless
+grief. There I married an Italian girl, whose hair and eyes reminded
+me of my mother, but who expended on the dream of Italian unity such
+enthusiasm as my mother had lavished for the temporal power of the
+Pope. I think I was unconsciously attracted by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>this very difference.
+Valeria&#8217;s opposition to the Pope was so serious and whole-souled, that
+it seemed to invest his cause with new dignity, and in argument with
+her I acquired increased respect for my own theories and for myself as
+capable of sustaining them. Moreover, at the very moment that our
+intellects were most at variance, we were each conscious of a subtle
+sympathy of nature; we were animated by the same feeling, though
+working in different directions. Her antagonism, therefore, never
+irritated me, but,&mdash;when the more profound union had once been
+established,&mdash;fascinated me by a peculiar charm, and led me, by a
+healthful transition, back to the ruder antagonisms of practical life.
+For, deprived of the support of my mother&#8217;s lofty confidence, and in
+the weakness following excessive sorrow, I had begun to secretly
+despair of an ideal, which seemed buried in her all-devouring grave.
+At the same time I clung to it the more intensely, precisely because
+it seemed unattainable,&mdash;from a sort of morbid craving for whatever
+had become as unattainable as my mother&#8217;s presence. I loathed action,
+even for the realization of my dreams, and over-concentrated thought
+threatened to degenerate into a sickly reverie that should presently
+exhaust the forces of my life, like an unnaturally prolonged sleep.
+New influence added in this direction might have driven me insane,
+while the diversion afforded by Valeria&#8217;s counter-enthusiasm and the
+necessity of making an active defence of my own, roused me, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>brought back the blood to the surface of my life. It was, therefore,
+partly an instinct of self-preservation which led me to Valeria,&mdash;and
+she saved me&mdash;my noble wife saved me for other destinies.</p>
+
+<p>We returned to Paris, where I resumed and completed my medical
+studies, and I had just graduated when the war broke out in Italy.</p>
+
+<p>Four happy, healthful years had completely restored my mental
+equilibrium. I was no longer an extravagant fanatic, prepared for a
+cloister or a crusade, but still a tolerably ardent ultra-montanist,
+pivoted upon the theory of the temporal power of the Pope. Valeria&#8217;s
+influence, in modifying the superficial exuberance of my enthusiasm,
+had only rendered its energy more practical, more eager for an
+opportunity to incarnate its ideal in vigorous facts. Now the
+opportunity had arrived, and the enthusiasm blazed forth afresh; all
+interests, all consciousness of other ties were absorbed in devotion
+to the Church of which I felt myself a not unimportant member. My
+fortune, my time, my life, were all too little to place at its
+disposal, and I hastened to enrol myself on the medical staff of a
+regiment of Papal Zouaves. Valeria, who had always reasoned against my
+theories, was too consistent herself to oppose me in putting them into
+practice, but she insisted on accompanying me to Italy. We parted at
+Civita Vecchia, I to go to Rome, she, with our two children, to
+Naples, where her family had formerly resided. She wrote to me every
+day, but after <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>several weeks came a blank of three days without a
+letter. At the same moment arrived the news that the cholera was
+raging at Naples&mdash;news which rendered most ominous this sudden
+interruption of the correspondence. I obtained leave of absence and
+hurried south, to learn that my wife and babies were dead&mdash;fallen
+among the very first victims of the pestilence.</p>
+
+<p>Stunned and heart-sick, I returned to Rome, anxious to devote myself
+to the cause with the more desperate earnestness that it was the only
+living interest left to me in the world. I arrived just before the
+battle of Montana, and regretted that fortune had not assigned me a
+r&ocirc;le among the soldiers of the cross, among those who might embrace a
+welcome death, in exchange for the glory of serving the Church.
+Resolved to approach this honor as nearly as possible, I contrived to
+obtain an appointment in the ambulance corps, and accompanied the
+troops to the field. I have no distinct recollection of that day,&mdash;the
+third after Valeria&#8217;s funeral,&mdash;and which, as my first experience of a
+battle, assumed to me the magnificent proportions of an Austerlitz or
+Waterloo. I only know that, intoxicated by the novel excitement of the
+scene, perhaps by the mere smell of the gun-powder, I forgot the
+duties to which I was assigned, snatched a musket from a Zouave who
+had just expired at my feet, and rushed into the heart of the
+conflict. I received a slight wound in the forehead, staggered, fell,
+and fainted away. I suppose <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>I must, at the same time, have received
+the shock from a larger ball than that which grazed my temple, and
+experienced some concussion of the brain, for I did not fully recover
+consciousness until I had been transported to the military hospital.</p>
+
+<p>Here I stayed a week, and came, for the first time, into near contact
+with my fellow-defenders of the faith. The contact, instead of
+warming, chilled me inexplicably. Instead of belief, I discovered
+scepticism; instead of enthusiasm, persiflage and eternal quizzing,
+intolerable in professed martyrs to a sacred cause.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Que voulez-vous?&#8221; they said, shrugging their shoulders at my
+indignant remonstrances. &#8220;The ass who carries all his panniers on the
+same side stumbles on his own nose. To each man his business; those
+who believe, don&#8217;t fight; and we who fight cannot be expected to
+believe.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I was surprised to find that my own loyalty became affected by this
+indifference, much more than by any influence to which I had hitherto
+been submitted. Others had sneered because they did not know; but
+these men precisely because they knew too well. The cause which
+depended so exclusively upon their bravado was belittled in their own
+eyes, and presently in mine also. I felt somewhat ashamed of the drops
+of blood I had lavished so heroically at Montana, and when the
+gazettes began to flourish the fame of the victory, repeat the dying
+speeches of fallen braves, and enrol <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>rascally Zouaves on saintly
+calendars, I could have blushed in the dark&mdash;everywhere a little
+martyrdom, a little battle, and innumerable little apotheoses. I began
+to doubt the greatness of the cause made up of such infinitesimals. It
+is easy to serve ideas in which we have ceased to heartily believe,
+but it is impossible to fight for those that have become to us the
+least in the world ridiculous. Perhaps Valeria&#8217;s death had
+unconsciously disheartened me for an enterprise which had been,
+however remotely, its occasion. Perhaps many of her words, whose force
+I had successfully resisted during her lifetime, now re echoed from
+her grave with more profound significance. But it is certain that, for
+the first time, I wavered in affection for my life-long ideal. Alarmed
+at myself, and determined, if possible, to reinvigorate my failing
+faith, I went back to Rome, trusting that the Holy City would inspire
+me afresh. Appointed to a civil office of considerable importance, I
+was soon introduced into the midst of the Papal Court, and behind the
+scenes of the magnificent theatrical display that had so long dazzled
+my imagination. I was initiated into the shameful mysteries of cabal
+and intrigue, and taught the precious secrets of Pope and Cardinals.
+On every side I saw falsehood, treachery, and duplicity welcomed as
+the ablest servitors of truth, the grandest professions assumed as an
+excuse for the most vulgar villainy, ambition glozed over by degrading
+humility, and sensuality all the more disgusting from the saintly
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>robes in which it was paraded and but half concealed. My faith,
+already enfeebled, died of rapid decline, stifled by these monstrous
+fooleries. Disenchanted, revolted, disgusted, I resigned my position,
+and abandoned the Pope and his cause forever.</p>
+
+<p>I did not, therefore, enlist under Garibaldi. A tenacious loyalty to
+the memory of ideas I had once served would always prevent me from
+more actively attacking them, or from desecrating their graves.
+Moreover, the revulsion of feeling consequent upon my disillusion was
+so tremendous, that I was swept entirely out of the region of the
+questions at issue, and both sides became indifferent to me, both
+camps dim and shadowy in the distance.</p>
+
+<p>I returned, therefore, to France, and settled down in a remote corner
+of the provinces, to exercise my profession as a country physician.
+After the accumulated anguish of the last few months, the quiet
+dulness of the place was infinitely grateful to me. I was like a
+bruised swimmer, tossed upon a monotonous sandbank, who only asks to
+be left there in peace, until long repose has rested the aching limbs,
+and blunted the harrowing recollections of the shipwreck. The
+incessant excitement of Paris was intolerable to me, and scarcely less
+so the idea of revisiting its troops of sympathetic friends. They
+would proffer venal consolation for the loss of my wife and children;
+they would congratulate me maliciously on my conversion from
+ultra-montanism. I shrank from their curious eyes <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>and voluble
+tongues, as a wounded man from the glittering apparatus of the
+surgeon, and like him turned over my face to the wall, to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Two years thus passed away&mdash;two years of mornings and evenings,
+following one another in calm succession, like a row of stolid peasant
+gleaners going to the fields. I became inexpressibly soothed by their
+calm, and by the nice tact and exquisite courtesy of Nature, with whom
+I had done well to take refuge. She is never astonished, she asks no
+impertinent questions, but welcomes her guests with even suavity, like
+a liberal host, throwing open to them drawing-room or garret, as may
+best please their fancy. The growing trees had no time to turn round
+to look at me; the contended hills embraced me in their arms, and let
+me pass without a word; the grain ripened in the mellow autumn days,
+unheeding the little shadow that I threw across its sunshine. This
+preoccupied indifference of all living things, which would initiate a
+mere vexation, clamorous for sympathy, is like blessed balm to the
+sufferer from a profound grief or mortification. Counsel is good,
+friendliness precious, while anything remains to be done to avert an
+impending calamity. But pitying words over an accomplished and
+irremediable misfortune, serve only to revive useless pain, and
+blunder, like a man who should try to force open the eyelids of a
+corpse. Nature, wiser than officious human tenderness, takes the
+sorrow coolly, as a matter of course, and in silence buries <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>it out of
+sight among a million others, already thickly strewn with withered
+leaves. And, in presence of her imperturbable serenity during the
+blackest days of frost and winter, the sufferer becomes insensibly
+inspired with her unspoken confidence in the final return of spring.
+The people of the village and the farms, rooted as their own beeches,
+reflected back upon Nature the same immovable calm. They did not
+disturb themselves about me, because my r&ocirc;le in society was so
+evident, respectable, and satisfactory, that I offered no foothold for
+either curiosity or scandal. I had been sent by Providence and the
+Faculty of Medicine to cure their not too frequent rheumatisms and
+catarrhs; I acquitted myself not ill of my business,&mdash;they asked no
+more,&mdash;and neither offered nor expected personal interest or
+friendship.</p>
+
+<p>As the months rolled on, I became more interested than formerly in
+medical reading. Absorbed entirely in my books, I even fancied that
+the healing apathy which sheltered my life was growing more profound.
+This was a mistake; the thickening of the vapors that shut out the
+external world, really denoted that they were about to condense and
+precipitate themselves into a new creation. New interests were
+preparing, that should presently claim from my nature all the energy,
+enthusiasm, and passion which had once been devoted to the old. Of
+this I became aware in the following manner. One day, among a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>package
+of books sent to me from Paris, arrived a pamphlet just written in
+defence of a new theory concerning the movements of the human heart.
+My curiosity was excited by the idea of a new theory on such a famous
+subject, and my interest was by no means abated after perusal of the
+pamphlet. Exposition of this theory would demand a crowd of technical
+details, unintelligible to the general reader, and therefore
+inappropriate in this place. But let such an one take the trouble to
+listen for a moment to the ticking of a heart, seemingly so
+monotonous, simple, and easy to understand, and then reflect that the
+slight elements discoverable in this little sound, have been forced by
+human intellect into at least twenty different combinations, and
+afforded ground for as many theories, each defended with impassioned
+earnestness by a different observer. He may then realize something of
+the interest which attaches to the explanation of this phenomenon&mdash;may
+even experience a sort of mental vertigo, as if he had witnessed the
+evolution of a world out of nothing. Owing to the paucity of the facts
+to be observed, the finesse requisite for the observation, and the
+intellectual dexterity needed to retain such minute circumstances
+before the mind long enough to think about them, the problem is one of
+the most delicate and intricate offered by physiological science. Once
+engaged in its discussion, the mind becomes hopelessly fascinated, and
+continues to pirouette about an invisible point, that is neither a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>thought nor a material phenomenon, but, as it were, a refined essence
+of both.</p>
+
+<p>As in all series of vital actions, each item of the phenomenon in
+question is so interlinked with the rest, that an explanation of a
+part can never be considered final, so long as any problem remains
+unresolved. The latest experimentator, brooding over hitherto
+neglected details, may always hope to light upon some clue that shall
+unravel the entire entanglement in a different manner, and reform upon
+a new basis ideas now grouped in pretended fixity. The excitement
+caused by this possibility is amply sufficient to stimulate research.
+And there is no need to discover an immediate practical application
+for the theory in order to bait the interest of vulgar minds. These
+would always be incapable of such difficult investigations, while
+really competent students were supremely indifferent to all lesser
+advantages attached to the discovery of truth. As for me, I had been
+so long removed from active life and its necessities (for my
+professional career had as yet been too facile and commonplace to
+arouse me to them), that the impractical character of the subject
+constituted for me an additional charm. I recognized that it belonged,
+for the present at least, to the region of pure thought, pure science,
+accessible only to intelligences refined by nature, and enriched by
+superior culture. In addition, therefore, to the intrinsic interest of
+the problem, and the solid satisfaction arising from acute
+intellectual activity, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>I could, in pursuit of this theme, experience
+all the subtle pleasure derived from a consciousness of personal
+superiority&mdash;pleasure as attainable in solitude as elsewhere since the
+superiority was too real and unquestionable to require the
+confirmatory suffrage of the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>I abandoned all other studies, and threw myself impetuously into the
+current of these newly-received ideas. I ransacked my library, from
+Herophilus to Haller, from Galen to Helmholtz. England, Germany,
+Italy, France yielded up their tribute to my excited curiosity. And
+the theme, shifted, refracted from intellect to intellect, multiplied
+itself to bewildering complexity.</p>
+
+<p>Not content with reading, I performed experiments, repeating those of
+my predecessors, and inventing new to control their conclusions. &#8220;With
+my own hands I stirred the soil, fetid and palpitating with life,&#8221; and
+in this inmost intimacy with Nature felt myself grow strong, as Ant&aelig;us
+by contact with the mother earth. Thus roused from my long torpor into
+the most intense activity,&mdash;for all activity is slack in comparison
+with that of thought,&mdash;I became dissatisfied with the facility of my
+present surroundings. I was anxious to pit myself against the world of
+Paris. I wanted opposition, contradiction, in order to vanquish them,
+and absorb their force into the glory of my triumph. Moreover, my
+studies had now reached a point where they required the assistance
+that could only be obtained in a great city: in a word, I resolved <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>to
+return to the capital, for a longer or shorter time, as the sequel
+should prove desirable. My means rendered me independent of my
+<i>client&egrave;le</i>, and I left my patients without regret to the care of an
+easily procured substitute. It is so rare to alight upon an
+interesting case in the country! Nothing but rheumatism and measles,
+measles and rheumatism, and never an autopsy,&mdash;it is as monotonous as
+the treatment of fever and ague. I longed for the vast metropolitan
+hospitals, containing specimens of every shade of disease, and
+affording unlimited opportunities for auscultation. Of these I stood
+especially in need, for the train of thought suggested by
+physiological experiment must be completed by pathological researches,
+which could only be carried on at Paris.</p>
+
+<p>To Paris, therefore, I came, as to a new world, so completely had I
+been separated from it during the two last years. It was as if one of
+the spirits in the metempsychosis imagined by Fourier, had returned to
+the brilliant sphere from which death had driven him in temporary
+exile. I was at first enchanted, intoxicated. The mental activity
+which had seemed so intense in the sluggish province, needed to be
+quickened fourfold to keep abreast of the intellects with which I
+entered into relation, and the consciousness of the quickening
+affected me as with new wine. But, as I grew accustomed to my new
+medium, I became again subtly dissatisfied. It was not enough to be
+abreast of the world, I wanted to be a little ahead. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>In my solitude
+it was easy to cherish illusions concerning the value of my own work,
+to picture myself as a mighty and triumphant wrestler with Nature,
+capable, by his single strength, of forcing her reluctant secrets, to
+reveal them afterwards to an admiring world. But at Paris, with its
+enormous condensation of intellectual force, I could not flatter
+myself on the solitary greatness of my achievements, nor ignore the
+collective action of society. Whatever my attainment, I should be
+forced to share its fame with a hundred other workers, who had lent
+me, unasked, their aid. The distance between the person who uttered
+the last word, and him who said the next to the last, was
+infinitesimal, and this close proximity annoyed me. I longed for some
+brilliant occasion to surpass all my contemporaries in one great
+bound; an opportunity to bestow on science and humanity some unique
+benefit that could never be compared with those accumulated by lesser
+men. One day, revolving many things in my mind, I entered the
+Biblioth&egrave;que Imp&eacute;riale. Strolling idly past the grated bookcases, my
+attention was attracted by the title of a thin folio, wedged in
+between Lavater and Geoffroy St. Hilaire. An inexplicable impulse led
+me to demand this book, the &#8220;History of Vesalius and his Times.&#8221; I had
+no particular reason, that I knew of, to be interested in Vesalius; I
+merely followed an idle whim, suggested rather by the peculiar shape
+and position of the folio, than by any solid reason; and this whim
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>did not hurry me out of my lounging mood. I settled myself in one of
+the windows, and leisurely turned over the leaves of my book, reading
+a line here and a phrase there, until I alighted and settled upon the
+following passage: &#8220;So the rumor spread abroad that Vesalius had
+opened the chest of a living man to see his heart beat. And upon that
+the people were in a fury and the court hissed with rage, and Vesalius
+was obliged to flee from Spain before the power of the Inquisition;
+and some say that he then made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. But on
+his return he was shipwrecked on a desolate island and perished
+miserably. Hubert, in his <i>Vindici&aelig; contra tyrannus</i> reports this
+history to the eternal shame of the Jesuits.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The world often describes with minuteness the material framework of
+such noisy events as have impressed its coarse sensibilities. But it
+commonly neglects, because ignoring, the scenes wherein have taken
+place the crises of thought, or occurred the birth of new, indomitable
+ideas. To the thinker, however, such outer scenes remain inextricably
+associated with the thought that has sprung to life in their midst. To
+this day I preserve a vivid recollection of every item of the place
+where I read the story of Vesalius; the lofty reading-room, with its
+confused lining of many-colored books, the tables crowded by eager
+students, the broad, deep windows through which the sun streamed, and
+from which I, sitting with open folio on my lap, watched the shifting
+fountain and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>the swaying trees and the long, untrimmed grass in the
+courtyard below. For the story seemed to have laid hold of my inmost
+soul, and touched the spring of a long-hidden desire. Why I was so
+moved, I could not tell. What issue would open to this whirlpool of
+vague excitement in which I had fallen, I had no idea. But I was
+profoundly conscious both of the excitement and the emotion, and, with
+that refined epicureanism of which intellectual people alone are
+capable, I abandoned myself, for a time, to the subtle luxury of their
+enjoyment.</p>
+
+<p>My reverie was interrupted by the clanging of the great clock and the
+scarcely less harsh voice of the <i>gardien</i> as he announced the hour
+for closing the library. Still wrapped in fantastic meditation, I
+descended the stairs to the street, and followed the rue Richelieu to
+the boulevard, there to mingle with the human stream that endlessly
+encircled the city like a new army of Gideon. Drifting in the current,
+I reached the Bastile, crossed the Pont d&#8217;Austerlitz, gained the
+Boulevard de l&#8217;H&ocirc;pital and continued walking to the Invalides, to the
+Avenues Jena and Wagram, and from the Place des Ternes, all along the
+exterior rampart. And as I walked, my entangled thoughts gradually
+disengaged themselves into clearness and precision.</p>
+
+<p>The biographer of Vesalius, who evidently shared the prejudices of the
+people, had exerted himself strenuously to disprove the calumny
+attached to the name of the great anatomist. He, like the rest, was
+blinded by that vulgar egotism which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>clamorously prefers the
+interests of individuals to those of society,&mdash;egotism no less
+short-sighted than vulgar, for the large and abstract interests cared
+for by science are precisely those which shall ultimately affect the
+greatest number of individuals; and no less inconsequent than
+short-sighted, since no one hesitates to ruin entire hosts of
+individuals upon the faintest chance of promoting the material
+interests of society. A stock company may immolate hundreds during the
+construction of a Panama railroad&mdash;a sovereign sacrifice thousands in
+the contest for a Crimean peninsula; the hue and cry only begins when
+the savant modestly begs permission to utilize a single life for the
+advancement of science. He is execrated as a monster, and burned alive
+in expiation of his crime. Absurd inconsistency, trivial superstition!
+from which it is time that at least the scientific world were
+emancipated. Long enough has the ignorant rabble exercised brute
+tyranny over intellects towering above its comprehension. The time for
+concession is past, the moment has arrived for the savant to assume
+the sway that rightfully devolves upon him and declare the
+confiscation of all claims to the supreme interest of the search after
+truth.</p>
+
+<p>For my part, therefore, so far from blaming Vesalius because he had
+dissected a living man, I should have accorded him most profound
+reverence for this proof of elevation above ordinary prejudice. And
+the more I thought over the matter, the more I became convinced that
+the accusation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>was well founded, that the deed had really been
+performed, which moral cowardice alone induced the glorious criminal
+to disavow.</p>
+
+<p>My brooding fancy, satiated with the image of the great anatomist,
+began to occupy itself with his so-called victim. Who was he? what
+motive had induced him to surrender his body to the scalpel of the
+master, his life to the realization of the master&#8217;s idea? A slave, a
+debtor, from whom the ingenious savant had thus exacted a pound of
+flesh? A trembling poltroon, forced to the sacrifice more reluctantly
+than Isaac to the altar? I preferred rather to believe that it was a
+favorite pupil, burning with enthusiasm for the master, joyful to
+participate in his mighty labors at the cheap expense of his own
+lesser life. Had Vesalius been a general, and he an aide-de-camp
+before a rampart, all the world would have applauded him, rushing upon
+death at the word of command. I myself had known, by a brief
+experience, the thrilling impulse to fight, to die, in behalf of a
+cause. Rivers of blood had been shed for honor, for loyalty, for
+patriotism. Was the desire for truth less ardent than these worn-out
+passions! Could it not rather supply their place in the new world
+about to be created by science? What could produce a greater
+impression upon the entire world, and more forcibly announce the
+inauguration of a new era, than the voice of a man who should declare,
+&#8220;I refuse to draw my sword for the hideous folly of war; to surrender
+my life at the absurd <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>caprice of princes; but I offer myself
+cheerfully, unreservedly, as the instrument of Science, in her
+majestic schemes for the discovery of truth!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>My recent studies on the problem of the heart&#8217;s movements brought me
+into peculiar sympathy with the object of Vesalius&#8217; researches. The
+tantalizing results as often obtained by experiments on lower animals,
+the uncertainty of the inferences that could be deduced from them to
+form a theory of the human organism, had often excited in me a lively
+desire for a direct experiment upon man. This desire had hitherto been
+smothered beneath the mass of conventional ideas, which so frequently
+overwhelm our timidity and enslave our feebleness in endless routine.
+But the daring word of genius had now struck the chains from my
+intellect, and emancipated me from the slavery of that hesitation.
+I&mdash;I would follow in the path already traced by that bolder mind; I
+would redeem that calumniated memory from disgrace, and enrich its
+glory by the surpassing realization of the original conception. <i>I</i>
+would inaugurate the new era; I would set the example of supreme
+heroism in science; and all the world, and all future ages, should
+preserve my name with reverent homage, and enwreath it with laurels of
+undying fame. For, that the purity of my motives might be above
+suspicion, I would perform the experiment, not as Vesalius in the
+capacity of anatomist, but as the victim, voluntarily devoting himself
+to the transcendent interests of an ideal cause.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p><p>And as my mind leaped up into this grand thought, I felt cheek and
+brow flush with violent emotion. Carried along by the first impetus of
+the idea, I walked as rapidly as in a dream, unseeing, unhearing every
+thing that surrounded me. Before I knew whither I had come, I felt a
+cool wind blow over me, as if after a feverish journey on a heated
+road, I had suddenly stepped into a cool, dark cavern. And, looking
+out from the brilliant visions in which I was plunged, I found myself
+already entered within the gates of P&egrave;re la Chaise&mdash;the city of the
+dead, of the vast majority to which I was to go over in fulfilment of
+my great idea. I wandered among the graves, and read the epitaphs, the
+reiterated dreary expressions of disappointment and despair, that the
+deceased had been passively torn from a world to which every fibre of
+their hearts was clinging. Not so would read <i>my</i> epitaph, and I began
+to compose it, less as a witty amusement than as a device for
+resisting an insidious chill that had begun to creep over me like a
+damp exhalation from the graves. For my imagination suddenly pictured
+to itself the heavy tombstone pressing down, down forever, on the
+cruel coffin-lid beneath which I should be lying. I shuddered at the
+picture, I shuddered at death, and, leaning on an iron rail which girt
+in a tomb, hid my face in my arms to shut out the signs of decay and
+the more ghastly emblems of immortality with which the populous
+<i>cimeti&egrave;re</i> was crowded.</p>
+
+<p>Raising my head after a brief struggle, I perceived <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>that I was
+standing in front of the famous tomb of Abelard and Heloise. The
+sculptured forms of the unhappy lovers reposed side by side on the lid
+of the stone mausoleum, as they had lain for six centuries, and
+immortalized the mingling of their mortal dust below. Tears sprang to
+my eyes as I looked at their still, peaceful faces, for I remembered
+my dead wife, and then, my lost children. Death, that contained them
+in its hollow caverns, could not be frightful to me. It was rather the
+treasure-house of all I possessed most precious, and which I should
+now hasten to reclaim. All the loneliness and longing which had been
+dulled by habit, and lately covered over by mental activity, awoke,
+and cried out passionately within me, repelling the slight pleasures
+of this world, as a child crying for its mother dashes aside an
+offered toy. What was left to me in life that I should cling to it?
+What ties bound me to this perfidious, slippery earth? To whom owed I
+any duties? Whose pillow would moisten with tears because I had passed
+out of sight? Destitute of personal interests, I could only devote
+myself to those of humanity, and that by some method that should
+concentrate in a single moment both the achievement and its reward.
+For small were the enjoyment to survive for fame, with whose report I
+could return laden to no fireside, for whose sake I could watch no
+eyes brighten in sweet pride of sympathy. I should sicken of it in
+half an hour, and my hard-earned laurels would become as dusty and
+lifeless <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>as those ghastly wreaths of immortelles hanging around
+Heloise&#8217;s tomb. So desolated love joined itself to restless ambition
+and ideal enthusiasm, to concentrate my life for the purpose from
+which, since then, it has never swerved.</p>
+
+<p>Thus resolved upon self-devotion, I set about the task of finding a
+colleague to share the risks and glory of my enterprise. I did not
+conceal from myself that upon him would devolve a r&ocirc;le far more
+difficult and complicated than my own. From me, the subject of the
+proposed experiment, was only required sublime heroism for the
+sacrifice. But the man who should perform the operation must possess
+moral courage to face public criticism, perhaps opprobrium; a trained
+intellect, already habituated to discussion of the problem in
+question, and impassioned for its solution; great practical skill and
+finesse, able to appreciate and profit by every detail of the
+phenomena that would unroll themselves before his observation; iron
+nerve, that should remain unmoved by any startling peculiarities of
+the case in hand.</p>
+
+<p>The necessity for uniting so many characteristics, compelled me to
+abandon my first hope of forming a committee for the experiment; for
+as soon as I began to sound physiologists on the subject, I landed
+knee-deep in a mass of invincible prejudices and prepossessions. The
+scheme was too new, too daring for the capacity of the mediocrities
+which constitute the bulk of even the scientific world. I must
+discover some exceptional solitary <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>enthusiast like myself, able to
+appreciate and embrace with joy the grand opportunity I offered him.
+To the search for this enthusiast, therefore, I bent all my energies,
+and knocked at many doors, wherever, through the windows, I believed
+to have detected on the hearth the upleaping of an inner flame.</p>
+
+<p>It was astonishing how often I knocked in vain! How often my
+insinuations, my suggestions, my direct propositions were repulsed! I
+appealed to a professor who had concentrated the best years of his
+life to the problem I proposed to solve,&mdash;he pooh-poohed my scheme. In
+vain I tried to explain my methods for overcoming its practical
+difficulties; he decried them all, I am convinced, from pure jealousy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And you ought to know by this time,&#8221; he added with a scarcely
+disguised sneer, &#8220;that a single experiment on a human subject would be
+of little value until its results were controlled by a dozen others.
+And I doubt that your enthusiasm would prove sufficiently contagious
+to furnish the supply for the dissecting table.&#8221; And he obstinately
+shut his ears to any further argument.</p>
+
+<p>I disclosed my plan to a struggling physician, ready for any adventure
+that should thrust him into notoriety, bring his name before the
+public, and thus open the way to a prosperous <i>client&egrave;le</i>. Yet he
+recoiled from a project fraught with promise so sure and magnificent
+as mine. A hospital <i>interne</i>, flushed with enthusiasm for his first
+practical <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>studies, started with horror when I divulged my ideas.
+Many, true Parisian <i>railleurs</i>, regarded my proposition as an
+excellent joke.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Allons donc, c&#8217;est une vieille blague que tu nous fais l&agrave;.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And all my protestations served only to increase their amusement, and
+their determination not to be taken in.</p>
+
+<p>A few eyed me suspiciously, as if they imagined I were insane, and one
+old bourgeois doctor had the impertinence to administer to me a moral
+lecture.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Young man,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you are possessed by the same preposterous
+vanity which induced Empedocles to throw himself into Vesuvius, and
+Erostratus to fire the temple of Diana. I recommend a course of dry
+cupping to the nape of the neck, to relieve your congested and
+over-excited brain, and, in the mean time, a decent seclusion from
+society, that you insult with your absurdities.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I flushed red with anger, but this last rebuff warned me that I must
+change my tactics. Like all reformers, I found the world too stiff and
+rigid for my purposes, and only harmed myself with kicking against the
+bristling pricks. I must turn to a new generation, to early youth, and
+find some mind still unformed and flexible, that I could myself submit
+to a far-sighted training, and cast into the mould of my own ideas.
+The opportunities of which my contemporaries were unworthy, I would
+reserve as a gracious boon for a well-initiated pupil.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p><p>Two years had elapsed since my arrival at Paris, and the untiring
+energy with which I pursued physiological researches had begun to
+bring my name into notice. When, therefore, I proposed to open a
+course of lectures upon experimental physiology, my friends all
+encouraged me with flattering assurances.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A la bonne heure,&#8221; exclaimed the student to whom had I once addressed
+my secret plans, &#8220;something sensible at last. I trust such rational
+occupation will purge your head of its maggots, and satisfy your
+aspirations for fame&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I smiled stealthily to myself. It is thus that the light world always
+measures the austerity of our resolutions by its own lightness!</p>
+
+<p>I obtained the requisite official permission, and opened the course at
+the &Eacute;cole Pratique under the best auspices. The lectures were thronged
+from the beginning, and the interest by no means abated as the weeks
+rolled on. Enthusiastic myself, I possessed in no small degree the
+gift of communicating (on all ordinary subjects) my enthusiasm to
+others. I aimed less at imparting solid instruction to my pupils than
+at impressing their imagination by a series of skilfully arranged
+effects. My experiments, therefore, were governed by dramatic unity,
+rarely sought in the confused and arid expositions of official
+professors. Now I led my auditors into the inmost laboratories of
+Nature, and revealed, in plant and animal, the fine affinities that
+regulated her processes of nutrition. Now I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>traced some delicate
+nervous filament from the spinal column of the amphioxus to the
+cerebral hemisphere of the mammifer. Now I disclosed the ramifying
+canals in the vast system of circulation, mounting from the spongy
+network of the mollusk and the sluggish lymphatic of the reptile to
+the brilliant, bounding arteries of the double-hearted vertebrates.
+And always, beyond the last disclosure, after the most complete
+revelation, I hinted at something yet to come, some higher, unveiled
+mystery, to which all this grand series was but the prelude. As a
+priest who volubly initiates the neophytes into the service of the
+temple, but points in silence to the inner court containing the Deity
+for whom the service is performed, so I, after the most magnificent
+display of animal life, silently indicated a concealed hereafter, a
+culmination in the human body, hitherto withheld from our curious
+gaze. I thus strove to suggest an ideal, left for a time incomplete;
+to foster an impetuous impatience, that, stimulated by the great
+acquisitions of the past, should reach forward irresistibly for the
+greater prize of the future. I trusted that among all my auditors
+would be found one that should divine the cipher, and quicken over its
+subtle secret&mdash;one intellect, that, carried unconsciously along the
+current of my thought, should finally arrive at my unrevealed goal.</p>
+
+<p>Among the most constant attendants on the lectures, I had long noticed
+one young man of about twenty-two years old, who always occupied the
+same <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>seat close to my operating-table. He was thin, shabbily dressed,
+with full, intense forehead, ravenous face, and brilliant eyes. His
+poverty was indicated not only by his toilette, and that special form
+of unfed expression peculiar to the studious hungry, but also by his
+absence from all the private classes, and redoubled assiduity at the
+public lectures. His intelligence was evident from the absorbed
+attention with which he followed the experiments, and from his manner
+of taking notes,&mdash;not at random, like most of the students, but at
+well-chosen points perceptible only to a person already in possession
+of a commanding view of the whole subject. By a little stratagem, I
+contrived one day to get hold of his note-book, and was surprised at
+the accurate observations, the acute suggestions, and range of
+information indicated by the marginal queries. Those who have ever
+experienced the delight of discovering an intellect&mdash;discovery more
+precious than that of a gold mine&mdash;can appreciate the eagerness with
+which I devoured these pages, finding everywhere the stamp of the mind
+I sought. And my satisfaction was redoubled by reflecting how greatly
+the youth and poverty of the writer might increase my facilities for
+obtaining complete possession of him. I was not long in devising a
+scheme for forcing the intimacy of the young man, who, like most poor
+students, was evidently as shy and proud as he was poor.</p>
+
+<p>One day, at the close of the lecture, I touched my student on the arm.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Be kind enough to wait a moment,&#8221; I said, &#8220;I have something to say to
+you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The boy flushed and drew back a little with all the haughtiness of a
+sensitive person ill at ease with the world, and expecting from it
+nothing but rebuffs and insolence. I fancied that an anxious suspicion
+crossed his mind that I was about to lay claim to some payment for
+lessons, of which he had hitherto ignored the necessity. I waited till
+the greater part of the crowd had squeezed through the narrow door of
+the amphitheatre, dismissed the loiterers, and then turned to my
+companion with a frank air of relief, as to an equal with whom I could
+refresh myself after the fatigue of teaching lesser minds. I saw that
+I had already won his heart, before I began to speak.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I find that I require another assistant,&#8221; I said. &#8220;The man that I
+have at present, is, as you know, a mere machine. I need some one
+interested, enthusiastic, capable of seconding me intelligently. I
+want, in short, a pupil. Will you fill the place?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Surprised, overwhelmed with an honor which he could so keenly
+appreciate, the young man flushed again, hesitated, stammered, and
+finally only succeeded in answering me with his beautiful eyes, for
+his tongue refused to speak. I already loved the boy; alas! how he has
+repaid my love!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It will be a mutual exchange of service,&#8221; I continued. &#8220;You will be
+of great use to me in my preparations, and, in return, I may be able
+to initiate you into the mysteries of our art, somewhat <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>more
+thoroughly than can be done in a public lecture.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I thank you, sir,&#8221; said Guy. He tried to speak coldly, but he looked
+as if he longed to throw himself at my feet and cover my hand with
+kisses. To relieve his emotion, in which I secretly exulted, I patted
+him friendlily on the shoulder, and began immediately to discuss the
+programme for the following lecture.</p>
+
+<p>I had every reason to congratulate myself on my new assistant. His
+zeal and ingenuity not only seconded my researches, but often
+supplemented them when over-fatigue persuaded me to repose. And Guy&#8217;s
+personal character proved as winning as his intellect keen and
+reliable. Before long I contrived that he should come and live with
+me, and I invented for him some light literary employment, by which he
+could pay me for his board and lodging, with an insignificant
+sacrifice of his time. He acceded to this arrangement upon its
+apparent terms, but none the less did he pierce its transparent
+motive, and tacitly devote to me his whole soul in acknowledgment of
+what he considered my delicate generosity. These unfledged souls are
+apt to throw themselves thus away in exchange for the most trifling
+pecuniary service, and torment themselves, moreover, that the
+compensation is so mean. I smiled at Guy&#8217;s na&iuml;vet&eacute;, but none the less
+turned it to account. From the foothold thus gained, I rapidly
+extended my influence over his entire nature. My larger experience
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>enabled me to complete his unfinished thoughts, to sympathize with
+his scarcely conscious feelings, to subtly impress his principles and
+co-ordinate them to my own scheme. Having begun by forestalling his
+material necessities, I continued to supply the finer wants of heart
+and intellect so completely, that he became habituated to turn to me
+for everything, and to receive everything that came from me with
+implicit faith. I fed him, taught him, loved him, and all with such
+artfulness, that he felt my presence in his life only as a plant feels
+the sunshine in its calyx, conscious of no intrusion to be resented,
+or tyranny to be repelled. It is so easy to make the conquest of a
+young, ingenuous nature! so easy to fix its impetuous, unsuspecting
+enthusiasm! I marvel that these exquisite relations between master and
+pupil are so generally left uncultivated, or their charm wasted. I
+almost marvel that I did not rest completely satisfied with my life at
+that time; with its arduous study, and its growing fame, and Guy, with
+the delicious task of educating his supple intellect to my ideas, and
+penetrating his nature with my personality. Only the loftiness of my
+ideal saved it from making womanish shipwreck on this episode in its
+austere voyage towards the realization.</p>
+
+<p>As Guy became more and more competent, I delegated more and more into
+his hands the preparation for the lectures. The first excitement of
+getting them into train was past, the first keen interest dulled by
+habit; and when the second winter <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>began, with repetition of all that
+had gone before, I went through the business almost mechanically.
+Often I left everything to my assistant, and shut myself up alone to
+dream over the project that secretly absorbed my soul. Guy fancied I
+was ill, and, as my exertions slackened, redoubled his own, consuming
+heart and brain in the resolve to maintain the course at the level of
+its original popularity. I was inwardly amused at his devotion to such
+secondary considerations, but did not interfere, for it helped to
+serve my purpose.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, I believed my pupil to be fully prepared, and decided that
+the moment had come for the complete revelation of myself.</p>
+
+<p>One evening,&mdash;I selected the evening advisedly, since at that time the
+imagination is more susceptible of impressions, and further removed
+from the vulgar influences of every-day life,&mdash;I entered our study.
+Guy was seated at a table, and working in his usual intense fashion,
+and I threw myself on a sofa beside him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Guy,&#8221; I exclaimed, &#8220;it tires me to look at you. For eight hours you
+have not stirred from those books. You will kill yourself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Great loss,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;so that it were in your service, and
+during the pursuit of knowledge.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You love me then, Guy?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Love you!&#8221; He rose from the table, and coming to the sofa, kneeled
+and kissed my forehead, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>without shame, as in France men <i>can</i> kiss
+each other.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My master, my friend!&#8221; he said; and I felt that he was mine, bound to
+me by a love passing the love of women. I drew him before me, and ran
+my fingers through his clustering hair. His affection was pleasant to
+me, independent of the use I meant to make of it; and I almost
+experienced a feminine desire to trifle with it for a moment, as one
+shifts a diamond from one hand to the other to watch its changing
+flame.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How much do you love me? as the children say. What would you do for
+me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I would die for you!&#8221; he answered vehemently.</p>
+
+<p>That is the first thing youth ever thinks of. From very fulness of
+life, it can afford to be on familiar terms with death.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Tut; that is unnecessary. But would you do anything I asked of you as
+a personal favor?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Only try me. I would go to the ends of the earth for you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>Tenez!</i> suppose I was dying King Arthur and you my squire. Would you
+hesitate to fling away Excalibur at my command?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The paltry bauble! What thought could I have to waste upon it while
+you were dying?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But suppose this obedience did not suffice to release me. Suppose
+that, in my agony, I prayed you to drive your own sword into my heart
+to set me free. Would you do it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He hesitated a moment. &#8220;That would be a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>terrible prayer; yet if you
+were suffering, and I knew that you must die, I would do even that for
+you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have said it,&#8221; I cried, and leaped to my feet in uncontrollable
+excitement. &#8220;I have a request to make you, I have a prayer that you
+only can fulfil. Swear that you will grant it&mdash;swear by all your love
+for me, by all the gratitude which you profess, and for which I shall
+never claim other return&mdash;swear that you will do what I am about to
+bid you!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I saw that Guy was disquieted by my words and manner. Instead of
+replying with the bold confidence I had a right to expect, he recoiled
+from the revelation that pressed urgently on my lips.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Take care,&#8221; he said, &#8220;your eyes are glittering as if you had a fever.
+Let us stop talking about this till to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The upstart boy, thus to dare to patronize me with his foresight and
+protection&mdash;<i>me</i>, who had taught him all he knew, and who was about to
+offer him a place on my giddy pinnacle of immortal fame! I was
+intensely angry, but succeeded in controlling myself, for I felt that
+an untimely explosion of violence might ruin all. I passed my hand
+over my eyes, as if to blur the glitter that had alarmed Guy&#8217;s
+scrupulous feebleness, and sat down quietly again.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The fact is, my dear Guy,&#8221; I said, &#8220;I have been waiting so long for
+an opportunity to execute a certain scheme of mine, that I cannot help
+being <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>a little excited when this opportunity seems at last within my
+reach.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What kind of a scheme?&#8221; asked Guy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A scheme for the advancement of the science in which we are both so
+interested.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; said Guy, with an air of relief, &#8220;you know how you can rely upon
+me for any undertaking in that direction.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I should think so, especially when it concerns the problem upon which
+we have both been so long engaged&mdash;the movements of the heart.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What!&#8221; he exclaimed with delight. &#8220;You have discovered something new
+for that! Shall I ever cease to admire your masterly ingenuity. What
+is to be done? You want to send me to Africa to capture a live
+rhinoceros? I will set out to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What would be the use! All the information that can be gained by
+experiment on the higher mammifers is already ours. Since the problem
+derives the greatest part of its interest from its application to man,
+it is on man that the new experiment should be performed.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah, yes,&#8221; sighed Guy; &#8220;we are always tripping up against this
+impossibility.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nothing is impossible,&#8221; I answered. &#8220;I am resolved that the
+experiment shall be performed on man.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Guy started, then laughed. &#8220;Oh! you are joking,&#8221; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not the least in the world. I have even selected the subject.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Eh! well, since you are so determined, you may dissect me when you
+choose. Only I warn you of difficulties with the tribunals
+afterwards.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I leave you to settle with them. It is not you, but myself, who is to
+be the subject; and you must perform the experiment.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I was surprised at the calmness with which I made this momentous
+revelation of my purpose. But we are always on the level of the
+circumstances to which we have attained, and they do not seem as awful
+as when viewed from the distance.</p>
+
+<p>Guy did not at all believe that I was in earnest, and half an hour&#8217;s
+impetuous talking was needed to convince him of the reality and
+fixedness of my resolve. Then he tried to reason with me.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your experiment will be utterly useless,&#8221; he said; &#8220;because death
+will ensue almost immediately after the chest is opened. And during
+the few seconds that might intervene for observation, the heart would
+beat too rapidly to render observation possible.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have devised means for palliating all these difficulties,&#8221; I
+answered eagerly. &#8220;In the first place, the last act of the experiment
+must be preceded by the administration of woorara, to slacken the
+rapidity of the heart&#8217;s action. In the second place, I do not propose
+to open the chest with the bistoury. The operation, even though aided
+by chloroform, would cause too violent a shock to the nervous system.
+But I intend to burn through gradually, by successive applications of
+caustic, as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>in the procedure for opening hepatic cysts. Deep-seated
+adhesions would form and shut out the lungs securely, and thus
+probably obviate the necessity for artificial respiration. The
+pericardium would be reached with comparatively little disturbance,
+and once exposed, the operator would be able to make a first and
+important series of observations, before proceeding farther. Finally,
+he would rend the pericardium, and arrive directly at the heart
+itself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And kill you!&#8221; cried Guy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I should die,&#8221; I answered composedly, &#8220;as men have died after
+inoculating themselves with the plague; only my death would be more
+glorious, because incurred for pure science, and in face of a
+certainty. It is precisely on this account that the act will insure to
+our names the honor and reverence of all future generations.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nonsense. You will be pitied as a suicide and madman, and I shall be
+hung at the next assizes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Coward! traitor!&#8221; I burst forth in ungovernable passion. &#8220;<i>This</i> is
+the extent of your devotion, then! <i>These</i> your narrow calculations
+and sordid reckonings! You, the one soul in whom I trusted, the one
+friend I had in the world capable of appreciating me! Oh, shame on
+such ingratitude! Oh, miserable me, doomed to such disappointment!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He was deeply hurt. I saw that I had made some impression upon the
+hard skepticism with which the world had incased a naturally generous
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>nature, and pressed my advantage. I poured out a torrent of
+eloquence, reasoning, prayers, entreaty. I wrestled with him as for
+the salvation of a soul; the night waned on our hot conversation, and
+finally, toward three o&#8217;clock, when the gray dawn began to point
+weirdly in the East, I gained the victory. Guy promised to fulfil my
+wish, at whatever risks to himself, and with the certainty of
+sacrificing my life in the experiment. On the spot, I drew up a paper
+testifying that the operation should have been performed at my express
+command, and stated the reasons in full. To this document, I trusted
+to obtain in the country the signature of two witnesses sufficiently
+incurious to sign without reading.</p>
+
+<p>For it was decided that, for the sake of greater secrecy and
+convenience, we should withdraw to the country, and I selected a
+locality about four hours&#8217; distance from Paris, where we were both
+unknown. These details settled, we separated for sleep.</p>
+
+<p>But I think neither of us closed our eyes that night; and Guy was so
+pale and haggard the next morning that I hardly knew him. During the
+week that we remained at Paris, making preparations for our departure,
+he hardly ate, or slept, or spoke, but seemed to waste and droop like
+a man in the clutch of a fiend. I became anxious. I was afraid he
+would fall ill, and thus be incapacitated for the performance of his
+duty.</p>
+
+<p>However, we managed to leave the city without <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>accident, and installed
+ourselves in the lonely dwelling I had rented. We hired an old woman
+from the village to take charge of our housekeeping, and then devoted
+ourselves to our work. We engaged in a preliminary series of
+experiments, through which, as through a suite of lesser apartments
+leading to the throne-room, we were to approach the act that should
+crown them all.</p>
+
+<p>For the first time since he had been my pupil, I found Guy nervous,
+<i>maladroit</i>. He turned pale at the sight of blood. The struggling of a
+pigeon, or the yelp of a dog, seemed to make him sick, and a hundred
+times he laid down his scalpel as if unable to proceed. He was like a
+neophyte, and a prey to the sentimental horrors of which, up to this
+time, his absorbed intellect had been quite unconscious. I trembled.
+If his nerve should fail him when it became <i>my</i> turn, and the whole
+costly experiment be thrown away through some awkwardness on his part!
+I was furious at the very idea, and told him so.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will haunt you forever if you fail,&#8221; I said, savagely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You will in any case,&#8221; answered Guy, sighing heavily.</p>
+
+<p>But at my instances, he tried to rouse himself from this inexplicable
+languor, and to drill hand and eye to exquisite precision. I watched
+him severely. I refused to pardon the least blunder. I trained him for
+this last trial, as men train horses for the winning race. Guy was
+really an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>able physiologist, and his skill only needed finishing
+touches to be as effective as was possible in the actual condition of
+science. After two or three weeks I was satisfied, and bade him
+prepare the next day to begin the last experiment.</p>
+
+<p>I shall never forget that day, the supreme moment of my life. I sat at
+the windows of an inner room, waiting for Guy, and looked out over the
+valley that basked in the afternoon sunshine. It was the beginning of
+September&mdash;one of those perfect days at the prime of the year, when
+life has reached its culmination, and pauses in the fulness of its own
+content. The air, ripe and balmy, purged of the rawness of Spring and
+the violent heat of Summer, was as yet untouched by the faintest
+frost, and restored to such perfection as mortals might breathe after
+the regeneration of the earth. The grain had been gathered in, but the
+unfallen fruit still weighed down the orchards, and absorbed the
+sunlight for its mellowing juices. The first press of the harvest
+season was over, the second had not yet begun; for one precious moment
+man and nature paused together, and surveyed the long ascent by which
+the year had climbed to these high table-lands of peace&mdash;not innocent
+peace, ignorant of action, but the peace of victory after conflict, of
+repose after strife, of maturity entering upon its rewards. In the
+perfection of these sunful days, all possibility of change seemed to
+have been outgrown, left far behind in an old, wearisome existence of
+long ago. The world had entered upon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>an eternal blessedness, and the
+jasper walls of heaven shut it out from harm forever, like coral reefs
+encircling a lagoon in the Pacific seas. Only by remembering the years
+that had been before, and the years that should follow after, could
+the reluctant mind convince itself that this seeming eternity was
+frail; that whoso lingered too long among the splendors of September
+would be surely overtaken by treacherous frost, and biting winter
+winds; that there was but one way to escape the revolting decline from
+this pinnacle of life&mdash;to die. That was my secret. I alone, of all who
+shivered at approaching winter, had learned how to escape. For me, not
+only the year, but life itself, should cease at its pinnacle, refusing
+to go down to a lower place, as a dethroned being prefers death to
+miserable exile. And with these thoughts, I felt myself possessed by
+an unutterable calm, such as comes to fever patients when they are
+dying.</p>
+
+<p>The first day of the experiment little was to be done. I called Guy,
+who lingered in the laboratory, and bade him apply the first layer of
+caustic to my breast, over the heart. The little operation required
+small skill, and this was fortunate, for Guy&#8217;s hand trembled so
+violently, that a delicate manipulation would have been ruined. A drop
+of the paste fell on my coat-sleeve, and in a few minutes had burned a
+hole entirely through.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Look, Guy,&#8221; I exclaimed, &#8220;through such a window shall you soon gaze
+at the central mystery of life. I almost envy you the opportunity.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; he cried, &#8220;if you would but take it! If you would but use me for
+your experiment, and spare me this dreadful trial!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He had urged this exchange from the beginning, but of course I would
+not consent. What! give up my great chance for immortality, surrender
+my unique place in the history of science and the world? No, indeed; I
+was already generous in sharing my achievement, in trusting the
+preservation of my fame to even my most loyal friend. Beyond that it
+were folly, madness, to go.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nonsense,&#8221; I replied therefore to this senseless entreaty. &#8220;That
+question has already been sufficiently discussed. Bah! that caustic
+burns.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was necessary to wait three or four days before renewing the
+caustic to deepen the eschar made by the first application. This delay
+gradually became intolerable to me,&mdash;the more, that Guy prolonged it
+on a multitude of trivial pretexts. I was finally obliged to resume
+the direction of affairs, and order him to proceed.</p>
+
+<p>He began to prepare some Vienna paste, but in a slow, dawdling manner
+that irritated my nerves to the last degree. I snatched the cup from
+his hand and stirred the caustic myself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How many centuries have admired Socrates,&#8221; I remarked, &#8220;for his
+theatrical pretence of drinking the hemlock voluntarily. In future
+ages men will remember with greater admiration how I, with my own
+hand, prepared the instrument of my death. Do not forget to mention
+this circumstance in your notes, and add that my hand did not
+tremble.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p><p>I gave the caustic to Guy; but at the same moment the door opened
+behind us, and he sprang forward with a sudden cry, dashing the cup in
+pieces on the floor. I turned in angry surprise at the interruption,
+and saw two men standing in the room. They were perfect strangers to
+me, but came forward immediately and saluted me with the friendly
+courtesy of old acquaintance. I even fancied that I detected an
+intolerable softness in their manner, such as physicians sometimes
+assume in speaking to sick people. One of the intruders took my
+passive hand in his, and shook it with unnecessary cordiality,
+contriving, I think, at the same time to slip his fingers on my wrist,
+just over the pulse.</p>
+
+<p>My instinct was decidedly in favor of kicking these impertinent
+fellows down stairs. But so strong is the influence of civilized
+habit, that I restrained myself to a freezing politeness, inquiring to
+what I might be indebted for the honor, etc.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;These gentlemen are friends of mine,&#8221; interposed Guy, who had stooped
+on the floor to pick up the broken fragments of the cup, and who did
+not look at me as he spoke. &#8220;They are amateurs in our science, and
+would be much interested in examining the laboratory that we have
+installed here. But since they have taken a long journey, and must be
+hungry, I think we had better first order the d&eacute;jeuner.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The devil!&#8221; I muttered inwardly. But at the same moment I reflected
+that these visitors with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>their congenial tastes might serve
+opportunity as witnesses to the experiment&mdash;even be useful in
+correcting any possible awkwardness in Guy&#8217;s manipulation. I therefore
+addressed them in a tone of cordial hospitality.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We are at this moment engaged in some researches,&#8221; I said, &#8220;that
+cannot fail to interest you, and where, perhaps, you may be of signal
+service, if you will consent to stay with us awhile and put up with
+our modest accommodations.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You honor our poor abilities,&#8221; returned the first stranger, with a
+bland smile. &#8220;We shall be most happy to accept your amiable
+invitation.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>So we four sat down to the d&eacute;jeuner, in the most cheerful possible
+humor. The black stain that burned on my breast stimulated me to a
+secret exultation; I felt a secret pride in anticipating the wonder of
+these men, when they should hereafter recall the gayety of my demeanor
+on this occasion. They, on the other hand, seconded me bravely in the
+conversation. Not for years had I met with companions so brilliant,
+witty, and sympathetic. They listened to me with the closest
+attention, and seemed to find a peculiar charm in the freaks of my
+fancy, to which, for the moment, I gave the rein.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;These men are capable of appreciating me,&#8221; I said to myself, and
+congratulated my good fortune which had sent them thither.</p>
+
+<p>Then I rose. &#8220;Gentlemen,&#8221; I said, &#8220;I cannot express to you the
+pleasure that I have derived <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>from your society. Before we adjourn to
+the laboratory, allow me, in English fashion, to propose a toast.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wait a moment,&#8221; said Guy, breaking the sullen silence he had hitherto
+maintained. &#8220;I ordered some Burgundy from Paris the other day, and it
+arrived this morning.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He left the room, and presently returned with an uncorked bottle in
+his hand, which he set before me. I fancied, as he did so, that he
+looked rather significantly at the two strangers, but politeness
+forbade me to express my suspicion. I poured out the wine, and pushed
+the glasses to my companions.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Drink,&#8221; I cried, &#8220;to the experiment that shall open a new era in
+science, and to the man that shall inaugurate a new revolution in the
+world.&#8221; And I drained my glass.</p>
+
+<p>Whether or no the others followed my example, I cannot tell; for
+almost immediately I felt a subtle fire course through my veins,
+followed by a delicious languor that crept inwards to my heart, and
+seemed to arrest its pulsation by an irresistible persuasiveness to
+repose. Probably I swooned, for I lost all consciousness, and all
+recollection of time or place for many hours.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>When I came to myself, I was a prisoner in this cursed asylum at
+Charenton.</p>
+
+<p>&mdash;Guy had betrayed me,&mdash;the false friend,&mdash;the poltroon,&mdash;and I, who
+trusted him too much, had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>fallen a victim to his stratagems. Whether
+he had been true to me at the beginning, and then had faltered at the
+last, or whether he had deceived me all along with affected
+complaisance, I never knew. For when he came to see me one day, my
+just resentment excited me to such a paroxysm of fury that the people
+here recommended him not to return, and I have never seen him since.
+So here I sit, in forced idleness, waiting for the arrival of some one
+who shall appreciate my great idea, and release me for its
+accomplishment. The people by whom I am surrounded are kind enough,
+but ignorant; they admire me, but are unable to understand me. So they
+bind me in silken chains, and clasp them with honeyed words, and I
+remain a prisoner. It is thus that the world rewards its greatest
+benefactors!</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="MRS_KNOLLYS" id="MRS_KNOLLYS"></a>MRS. KNOLLYS.</h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By J. S. of Dale, Author of &#8220;Guerndale.&#8221;</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">&#8258; <i>Century Magazine, November, 1883.</i></p>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">he</span> great Pasterzen glacier rises in Western Austria, and flows into
+Carinthia, and is fourteen or seventeen miles long, as you measure it
+from its birth in the snow-field, or from where it begins to move from
+the higher snows and its active course is marked by the first wrinkle.
+It flows in a straight, steady sweep, a grand avenue, guarded by giant
+mountains, steep and wide; a prototype, huge and undesigned, of the
+giants&#8217; stairway in the Venice palace. No known force can block its
+path; it would need a cataclysm to reverse its progress. What falls
+upon it moves with it, what lies beneath it moves with it&mdash;down to the
+polished surface of the earth&#8217;s frame, laid bare; no blade of grass
+grows so slowly as it moves, no meteor of the air is so irresistible.
+Its substant ice curls freely, moulds, and breaks itself like
+water,&mdash;breaks <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>in waves, plastic like honey, crested lightly with a
+frozen spray; it winds tenderly about the rocky shore, and the
+granite, disintegrated into crumbs, flows on with it. All this so
+quietly that busy, officious little Man lived a score of thousand
+years before he noticed even that the glacier moved.</p>
+
+<p>Now, however, men have learned to congregate upon its shores, and
+admire. Scientists stick staves in the ground (not too near, lest the
+earth should move with it), and appraise the majesty of its motion;
+ladies, politely mystified, give little screams of pleased surprise;
+young men, secretly exultant, pace the yard or two between the sticks,
+a distance that takes the frozen stream a year to compass, and look
+out upon it half contemptuously. Then they cross it&mdash;carefully, they
+have enough respect left for that&mdash;with their cunningly nailed shoes
+and a rope; an hour or two they dally with it, till at last, being
+hungry and cold, they walk to the inn for supper. At supper they tell
+stories of their prowess, pay money to the guides who have protected
+them, and fall asleep after tea with weariness. Meantime, the darkness
+falls outside; but the white presence of the glacier breaks the night,
+and strange shapes unseen of men dance in its ashen hollows. It is so
+old that the realms of death and life conflict; change is on the
+surface, but immortality broods in the deeper places. The moon rises
+and sinks; the glacier moves silently, like a timepiece marking the
+centuries, grooving the record of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>its being on the world itself,&mdash;a
+feature to be read and studied by far-off generations of some other
+world. The glacier has a light of its own, and gleams to stars above,
+and the great Glockner mountain flings his shadow of the planets in
+its face.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Knollys was a young English bride, sunny-haired, hopeful-eyed,
+with lips that parted to make you love them,&mdash;parted before they
+smiled, and all the soft regions of her face broke into attendant
+dimples. And then, lest you should think it meant for you, she looked
+quickly up to &#8220;Charles,&#8221; as she would then call him even to strangers,
+and Charles looked down to her. Charles was a short foot taller, with
+much the same hair and eyes, thick flossy whiskers, broad shoulders,
+and a bass voice. This was in the days before political economy cut
+Hymen&#8217;s wings. Charles, like Mary, had little money, but great hopes;
+and he was clerk in a government office, with a friendly impression of
+everybody and much trust in himself. And old Harry Colquhoun, his
+chief, had given them six weeks to go to Switzerland and be happy in,
+all in celebration of Charles Knollys&#8217;s majority and marriage to his
+young wife. So they had both forgotten heaven for the nonce, having a
+passable substitute; but the powers divine overlooked them pleasantly
+and forgave it. And even the phlegmatic driver of their <i>Einsp&auml;nner</i>
+looked back from the corner of his eye at the <i>sch&ouml;ne Engl&auml;nderin</i>,
+and compared her mentally with the far-famed beauty of the K&ouml;nigssee.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>So they rattled on in their curious conveyance, with the pole in the
+middle and the one horse out on one side, and still found more beauty
+in each other&#8217;s eyes than in the world about them. Although Charles
+was only one and twenty, Mary Knollys was barely eighteen, and to her
+he seemed godlike in his age, as in all other things. Her life had
+been as simple as it had been short. She remembered being a little
+girl, and then the next thing that occurred was Charles Knollys, and
+positively the next thing she remembered of importance was being Mrs.
+Charles Knollys; so that old Mrs. Knollys, her guardian aunt and his,
+had first called her a love of a baby, and then but a baby in love.
+All this, of course, was five and forty years ago, for you know how
+old she was when she went again to Switzerland last summer&mdash;three and
+sixty.</p>
+
+<p>They first saw the great mountains from the summit of the Schafberg.
+This is a little height, three-cornered, between three lakes; a
+natural Belvedere for Central Europe. Mr. and Mrs. Knollys were seated
+on a couch of Alpine roses behind a rhododendron bush watching the
+sunset; but as Charles was desirous of kissing Mrs. Knollys, and the
+rhododendron bush was not thick enough, they were waiting for the sun
+to go down. He was very slow in doing this, and by way of consolation
+Knollys was keeping his wife&#8217;s hand hidden in the folds of her dress.
+Undoubtedly a modern lady would have been talking of the scenery,
+giving word-color pictures of the view; but I am afraid Mrs. Knollys
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>had been looking at her husband, and talking with him of the cottage
+they had bought in a Surrey village, not far from Box Hill, and
+thinking how the little carvings and embroideries would look there
+which they had bought abroad. And, indeed, Mrs. Charles secretly
+thought Box Hill an eminence far preferable to the Venediger, and
+Charles&#8217;s face an infinitely more interesting sight than any lake,
+however expressive. But the sun, looking askance at them through the
+lower mist, was not jealous; all the same he spread his glory lavishly
+for them, and the bright little mirror of a lake twinkled cannily
+upward from below. Finally it grew dark; then there was less talking.
+It was full night when they went in, she leaning on his arm and
+looking up; and the moonbeam on the snowy shoulder of the Glockner,
+twenty leagues away, came over, straight-way, from the mountain to her
+face. Three days later, Charles Knollys, crossing with her the lower
+portion of the Pasterzen glacier, slipped into a crevasse, and
+vanished utterly from the earth.</p>
+
+<h3>II.</h3>
+
+<p>All this you know. And I was also told more of the young girl, bride
+and widow at eighteen; how she sought to throw herself into the clear
+blue gulf; how she refused to leave Heiligenblut; how she would sit,
+tearless, by the rim of the crevasse, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>day after day, and gaze into
+its profundity. A guide or man was always with her at these times, for
+it was still feared she would follow her young husband to the depths
+of that still sea. Her aunt went over from England to her; the summer
+waxed; autumn storms set in; but no power could win her from the place
+whence Charles had gone.</p>
+
+<p>If there was a time worse for her than that first moment, it was when
+they told her that his body never could be found. They did not dare to
+tell her this for many days, but busied themselves with idle cranes
+and ladders, and made futile pretences with ropes. Some of the big,
+simple-hearted guides even descended into the chasm, absenting
+themselves for an hour or so, to give her an idea that something was
+being done. Poor Mrs. Knollys would have followed them had she been
+allowed, to wander through the purple galleries, calling Charles. It
+was well she could not; for all Kaspar could do was to lower himself a
+hundred yards or so, chisel out a niche, and stand in it, smoking his
+honest pipe to pass the time, and trying to fancy he could hear the
+murmur of the waters down below. Meantime Mrs. Knollys strained her
+eyes, peering downward from above, leaning on the rope about her
+waist, looking over the clear brink of the bergschrund.</p>
+
+<p>It was the Herr Doctor Zimmermann who first told her the truth. Not
+that the good Doctor meant to do so. The Herr Doctor had had his
+attention turned to glaciers by some rounded stones <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>in his garden by
+the Traunsee, and more particularly by the Herr Privatdocent
+Spl&uuml;thner. Spl&uuml;thner, like Uncle Toby, had his hobby-horse, his pet
+conjuring words, his gods <i>ex machin&acirc;</i>, which he brought upon the
+field in scientific emergencies; and these gods, as with Thales, were
+Fire and Water. Craters and flood were his accustomed scapegoats, upon
+whose heads were charged all things unaccountable; and the Herr
+Doctor, who had only one element left to choose from, and that a
+passive one, but knew, on general principles, that Spl&uuml;thner must be
+wrong, got as far off as he could and took Ice. And Spl&uuml;thner having
+pooh-poohed this, Zimmermann rode his hypothesis with redoubled zeal.
+He became convinced that ice was the embodiment of orthodoxy. Fixing
+his professional spectacles on his substantial nose, he went into
+Carinthia and ascended the great Venice mountains, much as he would
+have performed any other scientific experiment. Then he encamped on
+the shores of the Pasterzen glacier, and proceeded to make a study of
+it.</p>
+
+<p>So it happened that the Doctor, taking a morning stroll over the
+subject of his experiment, in search of small things which might
+verify his theory, met Mrs. Knollys sitting in her accustomed place.
+The Doctor had been much puzzled, that morning, on finding in a rock
+at the foot of the glacier the impression, or sign-manual as it were,
+of a certain fish, whose acquaintance the Doctor had previously made
+only in tropical seas. This fact seeming, superficially, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>to chime in
+with Spl&uuml;thnerian mistakes in a most heterodox way, the Doctor&#8217;s mind
+had for a moment been diverted from the ice; and he was wondering what
+the fish had been going to do in that particular gallery, and secretly
+doubting whether it had known its own mind, and gone thither with the
+full knowledge and permission of its maternal relative. Indeed, the
+good Doctor would probably have ascribed its presence to the malicious
+and personal causation of the devil, but that the one point on which
+he and Spl&uuml;thner were agreed was the ignoring of unscientific
+hypotheses. The Doctor&#8217;s objections to the devil were none the less
+strenuous for being purely scientific.</p>
+
+<p>Thus ruminating, the Doctor came to the crevasse where Mrs. Knollys
+was sitting, and to which a little path had now been worn from the
+inn. There was nothing of scientific interest about the fair young
+English girl, and the Doctor did not notice her; but he took from his
+waistcoat-pocket a leaden bullet, moulded by himself, and marked
+&#8220;Johannes Carpentarius, Juvavianus, A. U. C. 2590,&#8221; and dropped it,
+with much satisfaction, into the crevasse. Mrs. Knollys gave a little
+cry; the bullet was heard for some seconds tinkling against the sides
+of the chasm; the tinkles grew quickly fainter, but they waited in
+vain for the noise of the final fall. &#8220;May the Spl&uuml;thner live that he
+may learn by it,&#8221; muttered the Doctor; &#8220;I can never recover it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Then he remembered that the experiment had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>been attended with a sound
+unaccounted for by the conformity of the bullet to the laws of
+gravitation; and looking up he saw Mrs. Knollys in front of him, no
+longer crying, but very pale. Zimmermann started, and in his confusion
+dropped his best brass registering thermometer, which also rattled
+down the abyss.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You say,&#8221; whispered Mrs. Knollys, &#8220;that it can never be recovered!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Madam,&#8221; spoke the Doctor, doffing his hat, &#8220;how would you recofer
+from a blace when the smallest approximation which I haf yet been able
+to make puts the depth from the surface to the bed of the gletscher at
+vrom sixteen hundred to sixteen hundred and sixty <i>m&egrave;tres</i> in
+distance?&#8221; Doctor Zimmermann spoke very good English; and he pushed
+his hat upon the back of his head, and assumed his professional
+attitude.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But they all were trying&mdash;&mdash;&#8221; Mrs. Knollys spoke faintly. &#8220;They said
+that they hoped he could be recovered.&#8221; The stranger was the oldest
+gentleman she had seen, and Mrs. Knollys felt almost like confiding in
+him. &#8220;Oh, I must have the&mdash;the body.&#8221; She closed in a sob; but the
+Herr Doctor caught at the last word, and this suggested to him only
+the language of scientific experiment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Recofer it? If, madam,&#8221; Zimmermann went on with all the satisfaction
+attendant on the enunciation of a scientific truth, &#8220;we take a body
+and drop it in the schrund of this gletscher; and the ice-stream moves
+so slower at its base than on the upper <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>part, and the ice will cover
+it; efen if we could reach the base, which is a mile in depth. Then,
+see you, it is all caused by the motion of the ice&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But at this Mrs. Knollys had given a faint cry, and her guide rushed
+up angrily to the old professor, who stared helplessly forward. &#8220;God
+will help me, sir,&#8221; said she to the Doctor, and she gave the guide her
+arm and walked wearily away.</p>
+
+<p>The professor still stared in amazement at her enthusiasm for
+scientific experiment and the passion with which she greeted his
+discoveries. Here was a person who utterly refused to be referred to
+the agency of ice, or even, like Spl&uuml;thner, of Fire and Water; and
+went out of the range of allowable hypotheses to call upon a Noumenon.
+Now both Spl&uuml;thner and Zimmermann had studied all natural agencies and
+made allowance for them, but for the Divine they had always hitherto
+proved an alibi. The Doctor could make nothing of it.</p>
+
+<p>At the inn that evening he saw Mrs. Knollys with swollen eyes; and
+remembering the scene of the afternoon, he made inquiries about her of
+the innkeeper. The latter had heard the guide&#8217;s account of the
+meeting; and as soon as Zimmermann had made plain what he had told her
+of the falling body, &#8220;Triple blockhead!&#8221; said he. &#8220;<i>Es war ihr Mann.</i>&#8221;
+The Herr Professor staggered back into his seat; and the kindly
+innkeeper ran upstairs to see what had happened to his poor young
+guest.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Knollys had recovered from the first shock by this time, but the
+truth could no longer be withheld. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>The innkeeper could but nod his
+head sadly, when she told him that to recover her Charles was
+hopeless. All the guides said the same thing. The poor girl&#8217;s husband
+had vanished from the world as utterly as if his body had been burned
+to ashes and scattered in the pathway of the winds. Charles Knollys
+was gone, utterly gone; no more to be met with by his girl-wife, save
+as spirit to spirit, soul to soul, in ultramundane place. The
+fair-haired young Englishman lived but in her memory, as his soul, if
+still existent, lived in places indeterminate, unknowable to Doctor
+Zimmermann and his compeers. Slowly Mrs. Knollys acquired the belief
+that she was never to see her Charles again. Then, at last, she
+resolved to go&mdash;to go home. Her strength now gave way; and when her
+aunt left she had with her but the ghost of Mrs. Knollys&mdash;a broken
+figure, drooping in the carriage, veiled in black. The innkeeper and
+all the guides stood bare-headed, silent, about the door, as the
+carriage drove off, bearing the bereaved widow back to England.</p>
+
+<h3>III.</h3>
+
+<p>When the Herr Doctor had heard the innkeeper&#8217;s answer, he sat for some
+time with his hands planted on his knees, looking through his
+spectacles at the opposite wall. Then he lifted one hand and struck
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>his brow impatiently. It was his way, when a chemical reaction had
+come out wrong.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Triple blockhead!&#8221; said he; &#8220;triple blockhead, thou art so bad as
+Spl&uuml;thner.&#8221; No self-condemnation could have been worse to him than
+this. Thinking again of Mrs. Knollys, he gave one deep, gruff sob.
+Then he took his hat, and going out, wandered by the shore of the
+glacier in the night, repeating to himself the Englishwoman&#8217;s words:
+&#8220;<i>They said that they hoped he could be recovered.</i>&#8221; Zimmermann came
+to the tent where he kept his instruments, and stood there, looking at
+the sea of ice. He went to his measuring pegs, two rods of iron: one
+sunk deep and frozen in the glacier, the other drilled into a rock on
+the shore. &#8220;Triple blockhead!&#8221; said he again, &#8220;thou art worse than
+Spl&uuml;thner. The Spl&uuml;thner said the glacier did not move; thou, thou
+knowest that it does.&#8221; He sighted from his rods to the mountain
+opposite. There was a slight and all but imperceptible change of
+direction from the day before.</p>
+
+<p>He could not bear to see the English girl again, and all the next day
+was absent from the inn. For a month he stopped at Heiligenblut, and
+busied himself with his instruments. The guides of the place greeted
+him coldly every day, as they started on their glacier excursions or
+their chamois hunting. But none the less did Zimmermann return the
+following summer, and work upon his great essay in refutation of the
+Spl&uuml;thner.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Knollys went back to the little cottage in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>Surrey, and lived
+there. The chests and cases she brought back lay unopened in the
+store-room; the little rooms of the cottage that was to be their home
+remained bare and unadorned, as Charles had seen them last. She could
+not bring herself to alter them now. What she had looked forward to do
+with him she had no strength to do alone. She rarely went out. There
+was no place where she could go to think of him. He was gone; gone
+from England, gone from the very surface of the earth. If he had only
+been buried in some quiet English churchyard, she thought,&mdash;some green
+place lying open to the sun, where she could go and scatter flowers on
+his grave, where she could sit and look forward amid her tears to the
+time when she should lie side by side with him,&mdash;they would then be
+separated for her short life alone. Now it seemed to her that they
+were far apart forever.</p>
+
+<p>But late the next summer she had a letter from the place. It was from
+Dr. Zimmermann. There is no need here to trace the quaint German
+phrases, the formalism, the cold terms of science in which he made his
+meaning plain. It spoke of erosion; of the movement of the summer; of
+the action of the under-waters on the ice. And it told her, with
+tender sympathy oddly blended with the pride of scientific success,
+that he had given a year&#8217;s most careful study to the place; with all
+his instruments of measurement he had tested the relentless glacier&#8217;s
+flow; and it closed by assuring her that her husband might yet be
+found&mdash;in five and forty <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>years. In five and forty years&mdash;the poor
+professor staked his scientific reputation on the fact&mdash;in five and
+forty years she might return, and the glacier would give up its dead.</p>
+
+<p>This letter made Mrs. Knollys happier. It made her willing to live; it
+made her almost long to live until old age&mdash;that her Charles&#8217;s body
+might be given back. She took heart to beautify her little home. The
+trifling articles she had bought with Charles were now brought
+out,&mdash;the little curiosities and pictures he had given her on their
+wedding journey. She would ask how such and such a thing looked,
+turning her pretty head to some kind visitor, as she ranged them on
+the walls; and now and then she would have to lay the picture down and
+cry a little, silently, as she remembered where Charles had told her
+it would look best. Still, she sought to furnish the rooms as they had
+planned them in their mind; she made her surroundings, as nearly as
+she could, as they had pictured them together. One room she never went
+into; it was the room Charles had meant to have for the nursery. She
+had no child.</p>
+
+<p>But she changed, as we all change, with the passing of the years. I
+first remember her as a woman middle-aged, sweet-faced, hardly like a
+widow, nor yet like an old maid. She was rather like a young girl in
+love, with her lover absent on a long journey. She lived more with the
+memory of her husband, she clung to him more, than if she had had a
+child. She never married; you would have guessed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>that; but, after the
+Professor&#8217;s letter, she never quite seemed to realize that her husband
+was dead. Was he not coming back to her?</p>
+
+<p>Never in all my knowledge of dear English women have I known a woman
+so much loved. In how many houses was she always the most welcome
+guest! How often we boys would go to her for sympathy! I know she was
+the confidante of all our love affairs. I cannot speak for girls; but
+I fancy she was much the same with them. Many of us owed our life&#8217;s
+happiness to her. She would chide us gently in our pettiness and
+folly, and teach us, by her very presence and example, what thing it
+was that alone could keep life sweet. How well we all remember the
+little Surrey cottage, the little home fireside where the husband had
+never been! I think she grew to imagine his presence, even the
+presence of children: boys, curly-headed, like Charles, and sweet,
+blue-eyed daughters; and the fact that it was all imagining seemed but
+to make the place more holy. Charles still lived to her as she had
+believed him in the month that they were married; he lived through
+life with her as her young love had fancied he would be. She never
+thought of evil that might have occurred; of failing affection, of
+cares. Her happiness was in her mind alone; so all the earthly part
+was absent.</p>
+
+<p>There were but two events in her life&mdash;that which was past and that
+which was to come. She had lived through his loss; now she lived on
+for his recovery. But, as I have said, she changed, as all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>things
+mortal change; all but the earth and the ice-stream and the stars
+above it. She read much, and her mind grew deep and broad, none the
+less gentle with it all; she was wiser in the world; she knew the
+depths of human hope and sorrow. You remember her only as an old lady
+whom we loved. Only her heart did not change&mdash;I forgot that; her
+heart, and the memory of that last loving smile upon his face, as he
+bent down to look into her eyes, before he slipped and fell. She lived
+on, and waited for his body, as possibly his other self&mdash;who
+knows?&mdash;waited for hers. As she grew older she grew taller; her eyes
+were quieter, her hair a little straighter, darker than of yore; her
+face changed, only the expression remained the same. Mary Knollys!</p>
+
+<p>Human lives rarely look more than a year, or five, ahead; Mary Knollys
+looked five and forty. Many of us wait, and grow weary in waiting, for
+those few years alone, and for some living friend. Mary Knollys waited
+five and forty years&mdash;for the dead. Still, after that first year, she
+never wore all black; only silvery grays, and white with a black
+ribbon or two. I have said that she almost seemed to think her husband
+living. She would fancy his doing this and that with her; how he would
+joy in this good fortune, or share her sorrows&mdash;which were few,
+mercifully. His memory seemed to be a living thing to her, to go
+through life with her, hand in hand; it changed as she grew old; it
+altered itself to suit her changing thought; until the very <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>memory of
+her memory seemed to make it sure that he had really been alive with
+her, really shared her happiness or sorrow, in the far-off days of her
+earliest widowhood. It hardly seemed that he had been gone already
+then&mdash;she remembered him so well. She could not think that he had
+never been with her in their little cottage. And now, at sixty, I know
+she thought of him as an old person too; sitting by their fireside,
+late in life, mature, deep-souled, wise with the wisdom of years,
+going back with her, fondly, to recall the old, old happiness of their
+bridal journey, when they set off for the happy honeymoon abroad, and
+the long life now past stretched brightly out before them both. She
+never spoke of this, and you children never knew it; but it was always
+in her mind.</p>
+
+<p>There was a plain stone in the little Surrey churchyard, now gray and
+moss-grown with the rains of forty years, on which you remember
+reading: &#8220;Charles Knollys&mdash;lost in Carinthia&#8221;&mdash;&mdash;This was all she
+would have inscribed; he was but lost; no one <i>knew</i> that he was dead.
+Was he not yet to be found? There was no grassy mound beside it; the
+earth was smooth. Not even the date was there. But Mrs. Knollys never
+went to read it. She waited until he should come; until that last
+journey, repeating the travels of their wedding-days, when she should
+go to Germany to bring him home.</p>
+
+<p>So the woman&#8217;s life went on in England, and the glacier in the Alps
+moved on slowly; and the woman waited for it to be gone.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p><h3>IV.</h3>
+
+<p>In the summer of 1882, the little Carinthian village of Heiligenblut
+was haunted by two persons. One was a young German scientist, with
+long hair and spectacles; the other was a tall English lady, slightly
+bent, with a face wherein the finger of time had deeply written tender
+things. Her hair was white as silver, and she wore a long black veil.
+Their habits were strangely similar. Every morning, when the eastern
+light shone deepest into the ice-cavern at the base of the great
+Pasterzen glacier, these two would walk thither; then both would sit
+for an hour or two and peer into its depths. Neither knew why the
+other was there. The woman would go back for an hour in the late
+afternoon; the man, never. He knew that the morning light was
+necessary for his search.</p>
+
+<p>The man was the famous young Zimmermann, son of his father, the old
+Doctor, long since dead. But the Herr Doctor had written a famous
+tract, when late in life, refuting all Spl&uuml;thners, past, present, and
+to come; and had charged his son, in his dying moments, as a most
+sacred trust, that he should repair to the base of the Pasterzen
+glacier in the year 1882, where he would find a leaden bullet, graven
+with his father&#8217;s name, and the date A. U. C. 2590. All this would be
+vindication of his father&#8217;s science. Spl&uuml;thner, too, was a very old
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>man, and Zimmermann the younger (for even he was no longer young) was
+fearful lest Spl&uuml;thner should not live to witness his own refutation.
+The woman and the man never spoke to each other.</p>
+
+<p>Alas, no one could have known Mrs. Knollys for the fair English girl
+who had been there in the young days of the century; not even the
+innkeeper, had he been there. But he, too, was long since dead. Mrs.
+Knollys was now bent and white-haired; she had forgotten, herself, how
+she had looked in those old days. Her life had been lived. She was now
+like a woman of another world; it seemed another world in which her
+fair hair had twined about her husband&#8217;s fingers, and she and Charles
+had stood upon the evening mountain, and looked in one another&#8217;s eyes.
+That was the world of her wedding-days, but it seemed more like a
+world she had left when born on earth. And now he was coming back to
+her in this. Meantime the great Pasterzen glacier had moved on,
+marking only the centuries; the men upon its borders had seen no
+change; the same great waves lifted their snowy heads upon its
+surface; the same crevasse still was where he had fallen. At night,
+the moonbeams, falling, still shivered off its glassy face; its pale
+presence filled the night, and immortality lay brooding in its
+hollows.</p>
+
+<p>Friends were with Mrs. Knollys, but she left them at the inn. One old
+guide remembered her, and asked to bear her company. He went with her
+in the morning, and sat a few yards from her, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>waiting. In the
+afternoon she went alone. He would not have credited you, had you told
+him that the glacier moved. He thought it but an Englishwoman&#8217;s fancy,
+but he waited with her. Himself had never forgotten that old day. And
+Mrs. Knollys sat there silently, searching the clear depths of the
+ice, that she might find her husband.</p>
+
+<p>One night she saw a ghost. The latest beam of the sun, falling on a
+mountain opposite, had shone back into the ice-cavern; and seemingly
+deep within, in the grave azure light, she fancied she saw a face
+turned toward her. She even thought she saw Charles&#8217;s yellow hair, and
+the self-same smile his lips had worn when he bent down to her before
+he fell. It could be but a fancy. She went home, and was silent with
+her friends about what had happened. In the moonlight she went back,
+and again the next morning before dawn. She told no one of her going;
+but the old guide met her at the door, and walked silently behind her.
+She had slept, the glacier ever present in her dreams.</p>
+
+<p>The sun had not yet risen when she came; and she sat a long time in
+the cavern, listening to the murmur of the river, flowing under the
+glacier at her feet. Slowly the dawn began, and again she seemed to
+see the shimmer of a face&mdash;such a face as one sees in the coals of a
+dying fire. Then the full sun came over the eastern mountain, and the
+guide heard a woman&#8217;s cry. There before her was Charles Knollys! The
+face seemed hardly pale; and there was the same faint smile&mdash;a smile
+like her <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>memory of it, five and forty years gone by. Safe in the
+clear ice, still, unharmed, there lay&mdash;O God! not her Charles; not the
+Charles of her own thought, who had lived through life with her and
+shared her sixty years; not the old man she had borne thither in her
+mind&mdash;but a boy, a boy of one and twenty lying asleep, a ghost from
+another world coming to confront her from the distant past, immortal
+in the immortality of the glacier. There was his quaint coat, of the
+fashion of half a century before; his blue eyes open; his young, clear
+brow; all the form of the past she had forgotten; and she his bride
+stood there to welcome him, with her wrinkles, her bent figure, and
+thin white hairs. She was living, he was dead; and she was two and
+forty years older than he.</p>
+
+<p>Then at last the long-kept tears came to her, and she bent her white
+head in the snow. The old man came up with his pick, silently, and
+began working in the ice. The woman lay weeping, and the boy with his
+still, faint smile, lay looking at them, through the clear ice-veil,
+from his open eyes.</p>
+
+<p>I believe that the Professor found his bullet; I know not. I believe
+that the scientific world rang with his name and the thesis that he
+published on the glacier&#8217;s motion, and the changeless temperature his
+father&#8217;s lost thermometer had shown. All this you may read. I know no
+more.</p>
+
+<p>But I know that in the English churchyard there are now two graves,
+and a single stone, to Charles Knollys and Mary, his wife; and the boy
+of one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>and twenty sleeps there with his bride of sixty-three: his
+young frame with her old one, his yellow hair beside her white. And I
+do not know that there is not some place, not here, where they are
+still together, and he is twenty-one and she is still eighteen. I do
+not know this; but I know that all the pamphlets of the German doctor
+cannot tell me it is false.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime the great Pasterzen glacier moves on, and the rocks with it;
+and the mountain flings his shadow of the planets in its face.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="A_DINNER-PARTY" id="A_DINNER-PARTY"></a>A DINNER-PARTY.</h2>
+
+<h3>WAS IT A SUCCESS?</h3>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By John Eddy.</span></p>
+
+<div class="centerbox2 bbox"><p>&#8220;The work of feeding, you must understand,<br />
+Was but a fraction of the work in hand.&#8221;</p></div>
+
+<p class="center">&#8258; <i>Atlantic Monthly, November, 1872.</i></p>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">I</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">n</span> the year of grace 1855 there resided at the fashionable end of one
+of the largest of our Eastern cities, a person who will be called for
+the purpose of this article Bernon Burchard. He is not a myth, but a
+veritable person. For fifteen years he had been a practising lawyer,
+and had risen to eminence in his profession. His personal appearance
+was fine and prepossessing. His mind was clear, vigorous, and
+well-stored with varied learning. His sense of honor was pure and
+discriminating, and like the president of the Jewish Sanhedrim in the
+days of Caius C&aelig;sar, he &#8220;was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>had in reputation of all the people.&#8221; He
+was blessed with a capacious soul, and seemed naturally inclined to
+acts of benevolence and generosity. In society he held the foremost
+rank, and was fitted by birthright, education, and taste for the
+highest social position. His noble nature, his wit and learning and
+generous flow of spirits, united to complete a most pleasing and model
+gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>At this time, upon the old estate in Lancashire, England, from which
+the first of the Burchards in this country emigrated in 1630, there
+resided Winfield Burchard, who dispensed generous hospitality to all
+the American kindred who made pilgrimage to fatherland. Mr. Bernon
+Burchard in particular, of all the name, had special occasion for
+holding the said Winfield in lasting remembrance and esteem for the
+many and great favors bestowed upon him and his immediate family
+during a series of years,&mdash;favors which were rendered doubly pleasing
+because it was nearly certain from the age and infirmities of the host
+that the branch of the family on this side of the Atlantic would never
+have the opportunity of reciprocating the favors in kind.</p>
+
+<p>At a certain period in the year first mentioned, when Bernon
+Burchard&#8217;s enthusiasm was all aglow for his English namesake, there
+called upon him the Rev. Mr. Malcolm of Oxford, with a letter of
+introduction from Winfield, wherein he commended his nephew to the
+attention of Mr. Bernon for his many virtues and acquirements.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p><p>He was cordially received, and Mr. Bernon Burchard at once determined
+to show his new cousin every mark of consideration and attention, as
+some slight token of the regard in which he held the writer of the
+letter.</p>
+
+<p>In personal appearance the Rev. Mr. Malcolm was of average height, of
+a lymphatic temperament, and of modest and retiring manners. His brown
+hair shaded bright hazel eyes, which under embarrassment or surprise
+flew about with remarkable rapidity, and occasionally gave his
+countenance a wildness of expression. He showed at least a smattering
+of a variety of knowledge; he had evidently enjoyed the acquaintance
+of many of the conspicuous men in Europe, and had the air of a man who
+had seen much of the world.</p>
+
+<p>Among other efforts for the entertainment of the Rev. Mr. Malcolm, and
+the only one pertinent to the object of this article, was a grand
+dinner-party, which surpassed all others that had ever been given in
+the city, both for the elegance and sumptuousness of the feast and the
+wit and learning displayed by the distinguished guests, as well as in
+another particular which it is our purpose to unfold.</p>
+
+<p>There were present, besides the Rev. Mr. Malcolm, a learned Doctor of
+Divinity, famous for his proficiency in the Hebrew language and in
+Rabbinical lore, and who was at times greatly embarrassed because of
+his inability to hold what he deemed a proper restraint over his
+risibles. There <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>was also a professor of Greek literature, who
+delighted in the tragedies, especially of Euripides and Sophocles, but
+who had, nevertheless, a keen relish for the humorous. He was
+accustomed among scholars to quote certain old Latin and Greek authors
+who were seldom read, and it was a frequent remark among the learned,
+with a sly wink of the eye, that our professor had access to some
+books which other less favored literati had never seen. There was
+present a brace of literary gentlemen of ready memories and wits, who
+contributed largely to the enjoyment of the occasion, besides several
+lawyers of distinction, who as a class are always to be relied upon
+when festivity offers them a retainer; a Senator, who was grave and
+dignified; a Right Reverend, who was quite the contrary; a
+physiognomist and expert in handwriting, who was the gravest of all,
+and naturally so as he was intent on taking rather than making
+observations; and several others, who, to say the least, were good
+listeners.</p>
+
+<p>In Vespasian&#8217;s time entertainments were first given <i>pr&aelig;cise</i>, and Mr.
+Burchard&#8217;s guests arrived at almost the same moment. As the
+physiognomist paid his respects to the host the Rev. Mr. Malcolm stood
+upon his right, and at the same moment the man who had the ordering of
+the feast, formerly called the butler, stood upon his left offering
+him a rolled-up napkin, which was the mode of announcing the readiness
+of the repast in the days of the C&aelig;sars. This man with a napkin under
+his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>arm led the way to the dining-room, and Mr. Burchard brought up
+the rear, also an invariable rule for an &#8220;amphitrion&#8221; in the times of
+the gourmands.</p>
+
+<p>While the <i>convives</i> were passing through the hall, Mr. Sidney, the
+physiognomist and expert, seemed disinclined to proceed. Mr. Burchard,
+supposing him to feel somewhat overawed in the presence of so wise a
+conclave, hurried him along, while Mr. Sidney whispered in his ear,
+&#8220;With all respect, sir, you are more blind than Bartimeus.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Sidney has been heretofore described in the pages of the <i>Atlantic
+Monthly</i> in these words, &#8220;His counterpart in personal appearance you
+may find in the thoroughfares at any hour of the day. There is nothing
+about him to attract attention. He is nearly forty-five years of age,
+and weighs perhaps two hundred pounds. His face is florid and his hair
+sandy. His eyes are small, piercing, and gray. His motions are slow,
+and none are made without a purpose. The wrinkles in his lips are at
+right angles with his mouth, and a close observer might detect in his
+countenance self-reliance, and tenacity of will and purpose.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>One of the most important personages present, and one who contributed
+largely to the success or non-success of the feast, was Mr. Burchard&#8217;s
+major-domo Maguire, the same who handed the napkin to Mr. Burchard
+when Mr. Sidney entered the drawing-room. For eight years he had
+resided in the family, and had endeared himself to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>whole
+household by the kindness of his heart, his devotion to the interests
+of his employer, and by his perfection of knowledge in every art which
+relates to an entertainment and the customs which prevail in refined
+society. He was small in stature, of dark complexion, smooth face,
+subdued expression of countenance, very quiet in his manners, and aged
+about forty-five.</p>
+
+<p>The Rev. Mr. Malcolm, most tastefully attired, was seated on the right
+of the host, and said grace in the most approved English formula and
+with distinct enunciation. The Doctor of Divinity sat on the left.
+Beside his plate was a bill of fare beautifully executed in Hebrew
+(much to the surprise of the host and to the credit of Maguire). The
+doctor&#8217;s attempt at translating the same into English afforded not a
+little amusement, he being not particularly successful in the effort.
+Indeed, he was so perplexed thereby when pressed by the Professor of
+Greek, that he could not conceal his annoyance, and the whole company
+were equally excited lest the professor should press the Rabbin so far
+as to mar the harmony of the occasion. It was beginning to be
+painfully embarrassing, when the doctor discovered beside the
+professor&#8217;s plate a similar bill of fare equally well executed in
+Greek, and the doctor begged leave to inquire of him, &#8220;What is the
+difference between <i>artos</i> (bread) and <i>azumos</i> (biscuit), and in what
+respect do the <i>tyrontes</i> and <i>dolyres</i> and <i>typhes</i> and <i>placites</i>
+and <i>melitutes</i> differ?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p><p>The professor became at once so confused as to put the whole company
+and the Rabbin in particular in the best of humor and indeed in almost
+uncontrollable laughter.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And what, if you please,&#8221; further inquired the great Hebrew, &#8220;were
+those highly flavored <i>arto laganos</i> and the <i>escarites</i> which the
+Epicureans are said to have relished so highly that they could devour
+them even after the operation had become distressing?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The professor&#8217;s pale face had changed to the color of a lobster&#8217;s
+back, and those who had been so painfully perplexed by the
+discomfiture of the doctor were now carried to the other extreme by
+beholding him tear the weapon from his own flesh and hurl it with such
+effect against the attacking party. Again the excitement was becoming
+too exquisite for enjoyment. Nothing could have been more graceful
+than the turn that was given to the conversation by the Rev. Mr.
+Malcolm in sliding it off into a description of the Athenian matrons
+and maidens vying with each other in the markets in the sale of their
+seventy-two different kinds of bread and the conventional phrases
+which they were accustomed to use. As Mr. Malcolm repeated the calls
+with graceful and descriptive action, and the professor, who had
+recovered his equanimity, interpreted readily, the whole company could
+see in their mind&#8217;s eye the girls and the matrons in the market of
+Athens who more than seventeen hundred years ago had called aloud
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>their &#8220;<i>melitutes</i> sweetened with the delicious honey of Mount
+Hymettus, and <i>tyrontes</i> made of flour baked with cheese.&#8221; If there
+was any lack of dignity in the reverend gentleman in his vivacious
+description, or in the change of his voice to distinguish the girl
+from the woman, it was credited to his sagacity and readiness to turn
+a bold corner in order to efface the fear and apprehension that had
+preceded. It also gave our professor an opportunity to translate what
+a few moments before he had been too much confused to do.</p>
+
+<p>Then came a glowing description of the venders of bread in ancient
+Rome and of the manners of the &AElig;diles in their daily round among the
+bakers and bread-stands. Here again Mr. Malcolm was exceedingly happy
+in his imitations both of the manners of the &AElig;diles and their remarks
+as they passed along, giving a <i>tableau vivant</i> that was quite unique
+and very descriptive and enjoyable.</p>
+
+<p>The Right Reverend who was present made a historical reference to King
+Numa, and in the same connection declared that bread-making was as old
+as the human race. Malcolm smiled, and looked about so queerly that
+one of our literary friends offered him a penny. He was evidently
+confused, and seemed in doubt when another offered to make it
+twopence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have always supposed,&#8221; said Malcolm very modestly, &#8220;that the Romans
+for five centuries were pultiphagists, and that Megalarte and
+Megalomanze were the first bread-makers,&#8221; and then, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>not a little to
+the gratification of the professor, he quoted from an author whom the
+professor had before then enjoyed alone, and whom some of the company
+had thought to have been fictitious. He added that in Numa&#8217;s time no
+bread had been made, and he quoted again from some unheard-of
+philosopher who declared that &#8220;invalids would become numerous in Rome
+should they cease to be pultiphagists and become eaters of bread.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The countenance of the Right Reverend fell somewhat, and Malcolm and
+the professor drew closer together, and for a while took the lead of
+the conversation and in the entertainment of the company. The
+professor seemed enraptured at finding so proficient a Latin and Greek
+scholar, and one so familiar with the characters he had hitherto
+monopolized. Archilus, Acestius, Stephanus and Phisistion were superb.
+Mithaceus on Hotch-potch, Agis on Pickled Broom-buds, Hegesippus on
+Black-pudding, Crito on Soused Mackerel, were joyously hit off in
+turn, after which Malcolm began a description of the luxury of living
+in Trajan&#8217;s reign.</p>
+
+<p>The greatest of all cooks, Apicius, was introduced as the author of
+several of the dishes which had so graced the pending feast. Then
+followed the brilliant kitcheners of Rome when foreign luxury was
+introduced into the empire from Asia, and as the procession passed
+along in grand review, some of the <i>bon mots</i> of each were repeated,
+followed by the hearty laugh of the guests. Of these <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>Pantaleon,
+Epiricus, Epenetus, Zophon, Chius, and Tyndaricus, whom Pliny styled
+&#8220;the gulf of all youth,&#8221; received the most attention.</p>
+
+<p>Paulus &AElig;milius, whose three days&#8217; triumph in Rome was graced by the
+captive monarch of Macedonia, came in for his share of honor for his
+declaration that &#8220;there is equal skill in bringing an army into the
+field and the setting forth of a feast, inasmuch as one is to annoy
+your enemy and the other to please your friend.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Many instances of the great men of antiquity being engaged in cooking
+were recited: the cook of Charlemagne was the leader of his
+armies,&mdash;Patrocles, the geographer and governor of Syria under
+Seleucus and Antiochus, peeled onions,&mdash;the heroic Ulysses roasted a
+sirloin of beef,&mdash;the godlike Achilles washed cabbages,&mdash;Cincinnatus
+boiled the turnips upon which he dined,&mdash;the great Cond&eacute; fried
+pancakes,&mdash;Curius Dentatus, who twice enjoyed the honors of a triumph,
+was found cooking peas in an earthen pot.</p>
+
+<p>Then followed a description of the luxury brought to Rome after the
+conquest of Asia, with talk of the edicts of Archian, Faunian, Didian,
+and others for its suppression,&mdash;the expense of a single meal being
+limited by imperial mandate to <i>centenos asses</i>,&mdash;of the resistance
+offered to these decrees by Durenius and others, and of bills of fare
+(first introduced by Vitellius). Most of the company had heard enough
+of this kind of conversation, and had turned their attention to the
+professor, who seemed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>transported with delight, especially when
+Malcolm quoted from Diocles on sweet-breads, Hicesius on potted
+pigeons, and Dionysius on sugar sops.</p>
+
+<p>From that day to the present time the professor has not ceased to
+inquire with profound admiration for that accomplished gentleman and
+ripe scholar and antiquarian, confidently expecting that he is yet to
+honor some of the great universities of the Old World, or that he is
+to be raised to some exalted position in the Church of England.</p>
+
+<p>It would be very agreeable to the writer to be allowed to communicate
+some of the hits and repartees which were tossed about the table, and
+which are omitted because unnecessary to the question in hand. There
+was, however, one other subject discussed which awakened a lively
+interest and is appropriate to the sequence.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Malcolm started the inquiry whether it was consistent with the
+highest virtue and religion for a lawyer to accept a retainer and to
+act as counsel for a man accused of crime, when he knew or had
+reasonable cause to believe his client guilty of the offence charged.
+The lawyers, one and all, responded in the affirmative. Mr. Malcolm,
+as if in doubt, contented himself with inquiries. The Right Reverend
+and the Rabbin were decidedly opposed to the opinion of the bar. The
+subject was well discussed, and the lawyers carried all before them.
+All had given up the contest except the doctor, when Mr. Burchard
+inquired of him if he believed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>in capital punishment, and, receiving
+an affirmative nod, he proceeded: &#8220;You are aware that our laws require
+of every practitioner before he becomes a member of the legal
+profession that he shall take an oath that he will be faithful to his
+client?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And that our statutes provide that the court shall assign counsel to
+a criminal when he has not made that provision for himself?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And that the state at its own expense compels the attendance of the
+witnesses for the accused; and you approve these laws?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And once more, would you prefer that the court should hang a man
+accused of murder under a plea of guilty, or that the extreme penalty
+of the law should be enforced after a full hearing, and proof to the
+satisfaction of the jury beyond a reasonable doubt?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>After a moment&#8217;s reflection the doctor replied that he should prefer
+that the death penalty should be carried into effect <i>only</i> after a
+verdict of guilty and upon the fullest investigation, for, said he,
+&#8220;it may be that the accused has a very imperfect knowledge as to what
+constitutes the offence charged; or he may be mistaken as to his
+duties and obligations; or, indeed, he may be laboring under a morbid
+condition of mind, so as to desire that his life may be legally taken,
+and I think I have known at least one such.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; said Mr. Burchard, &#8220;have you not admitted so much as to make
+untenable your position, namely, that you approve the law which
+requires an attorney to be faithful to his client, the law which
+assigns counsel to the accused, the law which compels the attendance
+of the witnesses for the criminal at the expense of the state, and
+provides that the accused shall be executed <i>only</i> after the fullest
+investigation? What is the object of these enactments? Undoubtedly the
+interest of the state and not primarily of the criminal. The state in
+its wisdom requires for its own safety, and lest it should commit the
+crime and the blunder of hanging an innocent man, that the whole truth
+should be known. How greatly would the government and jurisprudence
+suffer if a guiltless man should be executed? When, therefore, a
+lawyer assumes the defence of a known murderer he is complying with
+the commands of the statutes and is serving the best interests of the
+government when he compels the prosecuting officer to the proof of the
+offence; and not only so, he is serving justice itself and not the
+criminal only. Even the judges have no authority to punish, except
+these provisions of law are complied with and the offence be proved.
+Who has not heard of the indictment of the two Bournes in Vermont, and
+of their having pleaded guilty to the crime of murder, for which they
+were on the eve of being executed, when the supposed murdered man put
+in his appearance? How much better would justice have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>appeared had
+the defence been conducted by a tenacious, faithful, and conscientious
+lawyer instead of being conducted in such a bungling manner that the
+bones of a horse did duty for the bones of the supposed murdered man!
+That case has done better duty as a bugbear for a century than any
+other legal decision.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Burchard became quite warm, and made the assertion that he would
+never take a retainer, and afterwards, no matter what knowledge he
+should subsequently acquire, desert a client; and he doubted if a
+conscientious lawyer had a moral right to refuse to defend a brother
+mortal accused of crime. &#8220;For the refusal,&#8221; said he, &#8220;proceeds upon
+the ground taken by the doctor, which substantially is that no defence
+ought to be made, but that sentence should be passed upon a real
+criminal whether the crime can be proved or not. And I am at a loss to
+discover how my friend the doctor can approve of the requirements of
+the statutes which have been referred to, and yet assert that honest,
+conscientious lawyers alone cannot comply with them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Burchard, feeling that he had been somewhat more enthusiastic than
+the occasion demanded, changed the subject in this wise:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You all remember that a certain firm in Philadelphia made a special
+deposit of eighteen thousand dollars in gold in the Trust Company, and
+some expert thieves by means of a forged check obtained possession of
+the money. The manner of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>accomplishing the feat was peculiar and was
+most adroitly carried out. The thief drove so sharp a bargain for
+funds current in New Orleans that the cashier&#8217;s mind was diverted from
+the genuineness of the check to the percentage of exchange to be
+realized by the operation. Many propositions were made on both sides
+which were not mutually satisfactory. At last the rogue told the
+cashier that rather than submit to imposition he would take the gold,
+and the eighteen thousand dollars were handed over to him in
+twenty-dollar gold-pieces. The forgery was not discovered till
+thirteen days after, when the depositor called for his special
+deposit. Immediately detectives were employed. One of them you have
+all seen. He is a personal friend of mine, and his ability in this
+department surpasses Vidocq&#8217;s as much as Vidocq&#8217;s was superior to that
+of an ordinary country constable. He judged, by an intuition that none
+of us can comprehend, that these rogues had carried their plunder to
+Baltimore, and thither he proceeded. For three months he prowled about
+that city by night and by day, his mind intent upon the one object of
+ascertaining some clew that should direct him to the discovery of the
+robber. At the end of twelve weeks he had made no progress, and
+returned to Philadelphia. There he continued some ten days, and became
+discontented and vexed at being baffled. Asserting that he felt
+certain that the thieves made Baltimore their head-quarters, he
+proceeded thither again. After ten days&#8217; further <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>search, one evening
+as he was walking slowly past a newspaper-stand on the corner of a
+street, he observed a boy who wore no hat purchase a New York <i>Herald</i>
+and give in exchange a twenty-dollar gold-piece. He followed the lad
+into a drinking-saloon in the rear of which was a gambling-room. He
+soon ascertained the proprietor&#8217;s name, and learned that his family
+occupied the upper part of the house. He became acquainted with the
+proprietor&#8217;s wife, and found that she was sister to the wife of C. B.,
+who was that year the president of the association of rogues, he
+having been elected to that position at M. in the State of Indiana in
+the month of August. He also learned that her father resided about
+fifty miles from Baltimore. The detective was aware that this close
+corporation of rascals had nine directors, and, knowing the position
+of C. B. in the association and his connection with the proprietor of
+the saloon, and understanding also the method of distribution, he
+concluded that two thousand dollars fell in the division to C. B., and
+a like amount to the proprietor of the saloon. He left the saloon at
+midnight, and drove immediately to the residence of the father of the
+proprietor&#8217;s wife, and arrived there between nine and ten o&#8217;clock on
+the following morning, meeting the old gentleman in his wagon between
+his house and the main road, from which it was distant about half a
+mile. The detective was also aware of a rule among these robbers, that
+any considerable sum of money stolen, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>less ten per cent, should be
+buried for two years; and, having ascertained only what has been above
+related, he felt sure of the fact that the old gentleman was the
+keeper of one ninth, at least, of the money stolen. He also felt
+confident that he had gathered enough of the truth to make a powerful
+impression upon the man he had gone so far to see, and that if he was
+not altogether given over to the service of this band of bad men, he
+could state facts enough, which the old gentleman knew were profound
+secrets, to stagger his mind and arouse his conscience. After an
+interview of less than an hour this detective, by an art of which we
+cannot conceive, and by a magnetism and eloquence that no other man of
+my acquaintance ever possessed a tithe of, actually induced the father
+of these two women to dig up out of his garden two thousand dollars in
+twenty-dollar gold-pieces and hand them over to&mdash;my friend Mr. Sidney,
+<i>who sits at the other end of the table</i>. And not only so, but he
+prevailed upon the old gentleman to go with him to Baltimore in order
+to get possession of the other two thousand dollars held by the
+proprietor of the aforesaid saloon, which he also actually
+accomplished at a little inn about six miles from Baltimore, where the
+saloon-keeper and his wife met her father and my friend.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yesterday in the Supreme Court I had occasion to avail myself of Mr.
+Sidney&#8217;s marvellous ability as an expert in handwriting. The case
+turned entirely upon his testimony, although some twenty <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>witnesses
+testified on each side that they had seen the defendant write, and
+that, in their opinion, the signature was or was not genuine. Mr.
+Sidney did not arrive till the moment the case was about to be given
+to the jury, and I had no opportunity of conversing with him, except
+to ascertain that in his judgment the signature was not a forgery.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;After he took the witness-stand and had qualified himself as an
+expert in handwriting, the note in suit was handed him, and he was
+requested to state whether or not in his opinion the signature was
+genuine. It was some minutes before he responded. During the latter
+portion of the time of his silence his mind seemed intent upon
+something else. The presiding judge inquired of him if he intended to
+answer, when he replied:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I was considering the matter, not whether the signature was genuine,
+but how I could convince the jury of the truth of what I have to say.
+This signature is genuine. The man who wrote it is a moral and
+religious man, and has therefore forgotten that he executed it. He is
+aged forty-seven, stands five feet ten, is broad-shouldered,
+full-favored, with muscular hands, thick, hard, and small; he is a
+merchant and a bachelor, and finds it hard to give up when he has been
+mistaken. I judge that the man who sits at the other end of the table
+wrote his name to this note, and I think I can convince him of it, for
+his honest face corresponds to the morality of the signature. The jury
+will observe that the first letter of the name is written while <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>the
+quill pen was full of ink, which was almost exhausted on the second
+letter and replenished on the third, and the operation is repeated
+five times. I think, also, that the writer was in poor health, and his
+muscles relaxed when he wrote his name. I am of the opinion,
+therefore, that the signature was made while the writer was on his
+back and the nib of the pen was higher than the tip.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At this point of the testimony the face of the defendant against
+whose interest the witness was testifying became luminous, and he at
+once rose and declared that the statement of the expert was the truth,
+and that it had altogether passed from his mind till that moment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hope now I shall have the pleasure of giving you such an
+entertainment that you will remember it for your lifetime; and I know
+whereof I affirm when I state that my friend here present will, one
+hundred times in succession and without a mistake, from a single
+specimen of the handwriting of an individual, give his age within two
+years, his height within an inch, his weight within ten pounds, his
+profession, whether married or single, his temperament and
+peculiarities, his moral character, whether&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Sidney was here observed to shake his head in a most determined
+manner.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Or if my friend,&#8221; proceeded Mr. Burchard, &#8220;will give us the
+characteristics of some of our neighbors who may be passing, this
+company will be equally delighted and astonished, for I assert <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>that
+he will invariably hit off the peculiarity of a man from a single
+glance better than any of us after ten years of intercourse and
+acquaintance.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again Mr. Sidney shook his head, and the subject was not again
+referred to.</p>
+
+<p>At a late hour the company separated, each asserting that he had never
+passed a more enjoyable evening.</p>
+
+<p>The reader will understand that only fragments of the conversation are
+here given, and only such and so much as bear upon the question at the
+head of the article. The sparkle of the remainder might be somewhat
+dimmed by a repetition, but so agreeable was the flow of soul, so
+entertaining the wit, so electric the repartees, and so graceful the
+turns in the conversation when the joke began to be too practical,
+that the whole company, without reference to the compliment of the
+host, declared to each other, as they met for months and years after,
+that in their lifetime they had never realized such elegant luxury and
+such unmitigated pleasure in an entertainment.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Sidney again and again endeavored to speak a word confidentially
+to Mr. Burchard, but circumstances, and especially his devotion to
+Malcolm, prevented.</p>
+
+<p>Both Malcolm and Sidney were to take the night train for New York, and
+the time of its departure was near at hand. At last Mr. Sidney bade
+the host good-night, saying he should see him again before many days,
+but hoped he would soon recover <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>from the infirmity in his eyes. Mr.
+Malcolm was the last to leave.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>Early on the following morning, while Mr. Burchard was at breakfast,
+he received the following note:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Bernon Burchard, Esq.</span>:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">My dear Sir</span>,&mdash;After leaving your hospitable mansion last
+night, and while I was hastening to the station to take the
+night train for New York, I was accosted by two watchmen who
+arrested me, as they say, for burglary, and have detained me
+at the police station till now. In order that I may keep my
+appointment in New York, I have waived a preliminary
+examination before the magistrate, and desire you will
+become my bail, that I may be immediately released to the
+important duties devolving upon me elsewhere. Before many
+days the occasion of my haste will be ascertained, and that
+it had no reference to the watchmen; and the prosecution
+will be voluntarily <i>nol prosed</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 5em;">Your friend and servant,</span><br />
+<span class="smcap"><span style="margin-right: 2em;">Malcolm.</span></span></p></div>
+
+<p>Mr. Burchard dropped his cup, and without communicating with his wife,
+hastened to the assistance of his relative, gave the required bail,
+and released his friend to proceed on his journey, all the while
+delighted with the thought that Winfield Burchard would sooner or
+later be informed that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>his letter of introduction was of some real
+value to his nephew.</p>
+
+<p>Before his departure, Malcolm handed to Mr. Burchard a draft for one
+thousand dollars, not to secure him as his bail, as he said, but as a
+retainer for his defence should such a necessity ever arise, and Mr.
+Malcolm added with a forced smile, &#8220;It is most singular that I, who
+doubted the propriety, should so soon claim the benefit of your
+declaration of your duty made last evening, to which I have so
+suddenly become a convert, but I most devoutly trust that I may rely
+upon your assistance at a time of so great humiliation and
+perplexity.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>To which Mr. Burchard replied that he should most gladly, to the
+utmost of his ability, labor incessantly for his guest and relative,
+but must insist that he should be left to do so of his own free will,
+without reference to any pecuniary compensation, and out of the high
+regard in which he held his friend and benefactor Winfield Burchard.</p>
+
+<p>To which Malcolm responded, &#8220;It would be an accommodation to me if you
+would take charge of the draft and collect the same and pass it to my
+credit, for I prefer not to carry about my person so large an amount
+of money.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The result was that Mr. Burchard retained the draft. He then proceeded
+to the offices of several daily newspapers and suppressed the report
+of the arrest, &#8220;for,&#8221; said he to the editors, &#8220;by allowing it to
+appear you will greatly injure the reputation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>of one of the most
+pious and accomplished clergymen in the English Church, and I am fully
+aware of the reason of his haste when overtaken by the watchmen, for
+he had left my house but a few minutes before and was hastening to the
+train when the real rogues ran past him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was one scurrilous little journal among the newspapers at whose
+office Mr. Burchard neglected to call. In their next issue the
+following appeared:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>&#8220;<i>Another Robbery.</i> About two o&#8217;clock last night the dwelling of W&mdash;&mdash;
+H. B&mdash;&mdash; on <span style="white-space: nowrap;">B&mdash;&mdash;</span> Street was burglariously entered, and a considerable
+amount of silver plate, jewelry, and other valuables taken and carried
+away. The loss is estimated at two thousand five hundred dollars. The
+daughter of Mrs. B&mdash;&mdash; heard the noise of the robbers as they left the
+house and gave the alarm. Two watchmen, who were in the immediate
+vicinity, gave chase, and one of the robbers, who gave his name as
+George Lathrop, not so swift of foot as the others, was overtaken and
+carried to the police station, where he waived an examination, gave
+the required bail of twelve thousand dollars, and is now at large.
+There were two other participators in the crime who outran the
+watchmen. Lathrop was observed to throw away something in his flight.
+A subsequent search discovered it to be a finely wrought mat of
+curious construction, the handiwork of Miss B&mdash;&mdash;, which sufficiently
+identifies this one of the thieves with the transaction. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>other
+two were subsequently arrested and held to bail in like amounts, but
+no part of the booty has yet been recovered. From the promptness with
+which bail was given, and the standing of the sureties, it would seem
+that these burglars are not only men of property, but are protected by
+men in high social position.&#8221;</p></div>
+
+<p>On reading the foregoing Mr. Burchard&#8217;s indignation knew no bounds. He
+blamed himself for not having recollected the existence of that
+scurrilous journal, which now seemed more mean and contemptible than
+ever. Those persons who understood how great a control Mr. Burchard
+had over his passions could nevertheless see that an earthquake was
+pent up in his bosom. He was almost beside himself with rage. When his
+indignation had somewhat subsided his pride and high sense of honor
+became equally disturbed. He feared that his guests of the previous
+evening might hear of the matter, and identify Malcolm with George
+Lathrop. Vexed almost beyond endurance, dejected and tormented almost
+beyond the rallying-point, he went to his house bewildered, and threw
+himself upon a lounge, and overcome by exhaustion fell asleep. When he
+awoke it was evening. He rose from his couch, seated himself before a
+bright wood fire, and looked intently into the coals. Snow was falling
+softly upon the pavements till the tramp of passing travellers became
+muffled and hushed. Maguire came into the library, and entered into
+conversation with Mr. Burchard <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>concerning the entertainment of the
+previous evening, and finding that it was considered by him eminently
+successful, begged Mr. Burchard to give him a certificate which would
+secure him a similar place should anything ever occur by reason of
+which he should relinquish his present position. Whereupon Mr.
+Burchard turned to his writing-table and wrote as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 2em;">December, 1855.</span></p>
+
+<p>This is to certify that M. Maguire has resided in my family
+for eight years last past, and during all that period has
+conducted himself with the most perfect propriety, and has
+shown consummate skill as a kitchener, and in all matters
+pertaining to the order and etiquette of a feast has no
+superior, and I do cordially recommend him, in case he shall
+ever leave my employment, as an honest, upright, and
+faithful man, and worthy of my regard.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 2em;"><span class="smcap">Bernon Burchard.</span></span></p></div>
+
+<p>This he handed to Maguire with the remark that if it was not
+sufficiently comprehensive he might dictate such an one as he desired
+and he would sign it. Maguire, perceiving that his employer was not in
+a talkative mood, quietly left the room. As he left, Mrs. Burchard
+came into the library and sat down to talk over the dinner-party. Both
+agreed that it was a great success, and that Maguire was a jewel. Mrs.
+Burchard began to laugh, and then asked, &#8220;Did you observe that pickle,
+my dear?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;What about the pickle?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, the pickle which Mr. Malcolm took happened to have a cut nail
+extending the full length of it. Now, my dear, do you suppose that
+nail could have grown in the cucumber? Ha, ha! What an entertaining
+man he is, and what a fund of anecdote, and how well he tells a story;
+and yet I don&#8217;t fancy him. Those bills of fare in Hebrew, Greek, and
+Latin, how did&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The door-bell rang and Mr. Sidney was announced. &#8220;Thank God!&#8221;
+exclaimed Mr. Burchard. So rejoiced was he that his whole frame
+trembled with emotion and tears trickled down his face. Grasping his
+hand with both his own, he asked, &#8220;You received my telegram, then?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then what brought you here so soon?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Burchard perceiving the conversation was not free in her
+presence, quietly left the room, when Mr. Sidney assumed a grave
+demeanor and said: &#8220;Mr. Burchard, I have always believed you eminently
+an honorable and honest man, and do so still. Do you grant this of
+me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, but if you did not receive my telegram, what brought you here
+to-night, for I am aware of the necessity you are under to be
+elsewhere?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I told you I should soon return,&#8221; said Mr. Sidney, &#8220;for I feared that
+you might compromise yourself to an unpardonable degree with the
+scamps by whom you have been surrounded, and the thought of it so
+weighed upon my mind that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>when I met the train at New Haven bound
+eastward I determined to come again to you and inform you of your
+peril.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am not aware that I am in any peril.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you were aware of it you would be safe, and your lack of knowledge
+is the reason of my return.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Have you any information of what has transpired since last evening?&#8221;
+inquired Mr. Burchard.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;None, whatever.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then unburden yourself with the least possible delay, for I have been
+so harassed and tormented during this day as almost to be overwhelmed;
+and as you are aware that I hold your judgment in these matters akin
+to prophecy, I beg you will proceed, for I have pondered over and over
+again your meaning when you compared me, both at the beginning and
+ending of the company, to Bartimeus.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;First,&#8221; said Mr. Sidney, &#8220;I wish you to understand that I have never
+before last night seen or heard of the two or three persons concerning
+whom I propose to speak, and I feel that I ought first to have your
+permission to say all that is in my mind, for it comes nearer home to
+you than you suppose.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have it; go on.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If it be true that the heart of a man changeth his countenance, then
+it is absolutely certain to my mind that your clergyman is the most
+unmitigated scamp, and it may, with propriety, be said that he has no
+conscience at all, so perverted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>has it become. He is a gambler by
+profession, and a passer of counterfeit money, but his business is
+burglary. He has followed it for years, and had his mind not been on
+it for years, he could not have become so perfect in his craft. The
+one great quality demanded by his business is <i>patience</i>, and he has
+attained it. The most remarkable thing about him is his assurance. I
+never knew an instance of so bad a man having the audacity to appear
+in the company of gentlemen of refinement, and to say grace with a
+voice that had no heart in it. It is usually the last place that those
+of his craft seek, and I cannot yet comprehend how he wheedled you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Burchard explained, as has been previously stated.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And that Maguire of yours is as bad a woman as walks the earth.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Woman!&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Burchard; &#8220;for eight years he has been one of
+the most faithful servants and upright men I ever knew.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>Now, Mr. Burchard!</i>&#8221; said Mr. Sidney, looking him straight in the
+eye, &#8220;do you mean to tell me that you don&#8217;t know Maguire is a woman?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I surely do not so suspect even.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then the blindness of Bartimeus was nothing to yours. Has she any
+beard? Has she a man&#8217;s voice? Has she the figure of a man? Does she
+make any motions of body or limb like a man? Surely not. She is a
+woman, and has consummate art, more than any woman I ever saw save
+one. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>She consorts continually with thieves and robbers, and if you do
+not suspect it you ought to know it, and that is what has brought me
+here. Your house is on fire of hell, and you do not seem to apprehend
+it. Did you not notice at the table that she spilled some wine on the
+Reverend (?) Mr. Malcolm&#8217;s head and white cravat, and do you suppose
+it was accidental? No, sir, they are better acquainted than you and I,
+for he did not start when it was done, but was conscious who did it.
+When I entered your drawing-room and saw you standing between these
+two graceless villains, I looked around me in order to ascertain how
+many of that stripe were present, and finding but one other, I
+concluded you had been imposed upon and that I would improve the
+opportunity to study human nature. I <i>should</i> like to be informed how
+it came to pass that that reverend state&#8217;s-prison bird obtained an
+invitation from you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Burchard explained the method of the introduction by a letter from
+his kinsman in England, as before stated.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Have you the letter?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The letter being produced, after a moment&#8217;s examination he said: &#8220;Very
+well done. <i>Very</i> well done. He is better at that than I supposed, yet
+many of the letters show more than one stroke of the pen. He is an
+Englishman, but learned to write in Germany. He was once a cook. He
+does not write Malcolm as if used to it, and that is an assumed name.
+Great nerve, assurance, self-reliance, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>and patience. Is fond of
+children. Has more conceit than his manners indicate, kind-hearted man
+and even generous in his way, but has no notion of truth or morals.
+Should say he had spent much of his time in Baden Baden and other like
+places. Is good at gambling, but burglary is his <i>forte</i>. Ah! yes,
+this specimen of his handwriting, if it is disguised, tells the whole
+story of his life. That was a pretty crowd, was it not? for me to show
+off, too, that I could read their characters in their faces.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is it possible?&#8221; soliloquized Mr. Burchard, &#8220;and my admirable Maguire
+his accomplice!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Sidney asked for the last letters which he had received from
+Winfield Burchard, in order to compare the two, but examining his
+portfolio, all were gone.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Burchard then stated to Mr. Sidney what had transpired during the
+day,&mdash;Malcolm&#8217;s arrest, the giving of bail, the suppression of the
+report in the newspapers, and the report which appeared in one of the
+journals, his acceptance of the draft of one thousand dollars, and
+some other particulars, when Mr. Sidney said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why were your eyes not opened by the fact that Malcolm did not give
+the same name to the watchmen as to you? That is an offence against
+the statute, and you know it, and an honest man, whether clergyman or
+boot-black, never descends to that. Besides, the robbery was
+committed, according to this account, more than an hour after <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>the
+night train had gone to which your supposed relative was hastening.
+That mat also should have convinced you; and what an adept he was to
+have known enough of the forms of law to have waived a preliminary
+examination and to have secured you as bail before you had recovered
+from your dream! He managed well to get your opinion last night of the
+duty of lawyers to defend rogues. Mr. Burchard, you are harnessed. You
+must now defend that rascal. Your mouth is closed, you have pocketed a
+retainer. A thousand dollars&#8217; fee does not indicate light work, but
+seems to imply a strain upon your conscience. I once heard the
+ex-secretary of President Harrison&#8217;s Cabinet decline a like amount
+because it implied too much for his honor.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Sidney touched a sensitive place. If Mr. Burchard had any
+reputation or quality as a lawyer, it was for his unsullied integrity
+and keen sense of honor. The ability of Mr. Sidney in his department
+had not brought that comfort which Mr. Burchard had hoped for. His
+distress of mind was so great that Mr. Sidney judged he had gone
+beyond the limit of safety, and he quoted, &#8220;&#8216;Faithful are the wounds
+of a friend.&#8217; As your friend I open to your view the peril from which
+it is your duty to escape. If you are involved, extricate yourself
+with honor if you can, and if you cannot, then do no more than honor
+requires.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A long pause ensued. At length Mr. Burchard broke the silence by
+inquiring what evidence there was that Maguire was criminal.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Because she gets the information for Malcolm, and draws plans of the
+houses which he intends to rob, and locates every piece of furniture
+in them so that he can enter the house and go through darkness to his
+objective point. He passes half his nights in her room. There the
+schemes are matured, and if you think her less criminal than Malcolm,
+you are welcome to your opinion.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But what information can you give me upon which I can act?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She has deceived you in passing herself off as a man. She is in
+fellowship with Malcolm, while it is for her interest to be faithful
+to you, for by reason of being your man she has access to those houses
+which may be presumed to be profitable in the plundering. I cannot
+tell you any particular thing she has done, but I can send a message
+to the back door by reason of which she will fly from your house and
+never again show you her face.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What message will you send?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will write on a card these words, &#8216;All is known, detectives are
+approaching.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do it,&#8221; said Mr. Burchard, &#8220;and if he is honest he will show it to me
+and ask advice, and we will see if he will fly.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The card was delivered, no commotion followed. She was not seen to
+escape, though watch was set for the purpose. Search was made for her
+in vain. From the appearance of her room it was evident she had fled.
+It was months before she was heard from, and then the inquiry came
+from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>the chief of police in a Western city, &#8220;Did Mary Maguire, alias
+Sonsie Jane, alias Wily Mary, ever reside with Bernon Burchard? Is his
+certificate genuine?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>In the mean time Mr. Burchard was intensely excited by conflicting
+emotions and the discussion within himself concerning his duty. Could
+he retain the money and give information to the police? No. Did the
+fraud of Malcolm vitiate his obligation to him? In some particulars,
+but not in all. Did his oath to be faithful to his client prevent him
+from withdrawing from the case till at least he had returned what he
+had received? Yes; but how could he return it, since it was doubtful
+if Malcolm would ever again appear?</p>
+
+<p>Before Mr. Sidney left town it was arranged that he should ascertain
+the whereabouts of Malcolm if possible, and, as the attorney of Mr.
+Burchard as bail, bring him hither at all hazards, and confine him in
+jail to await his trial or till he should procure other securities.
+Mr. Sidney stipulated that Mr. Burchard should not on any account
+telegraph to him or any other person upon the subject, because that
+the telegram would certainly reach Malcolm, if he was a chief member
+of a gang of villians, before it did him or the person to whom it
+should be addressed. This injunction, however, escaped the mind of Mr.
+Burchard. As the time for Malcolm&#8217;s trial drew near, he, Mr. Burchard,
+became nervous and care-worn. Learning through a New York detective
+that Malcolm was in that city, he at once <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>telegraphed to his attorney
+there to seek out the detective and have Malcolm arrested.</p>
+
+<p>The writer of this article, who was then aware that some great trouble
+shrouded the mind of Mr. Burchard, without knowing what it was,
+happened to be conversing with him on the street near his office door
+when the answer to the telegram arrived, and had the opportunity of
+reading it all except the signature. Before the message had been
+delivered to the attorney in New York, the answer came from Malcolm at
+New Orleans, printed upon a long strip of paper as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 2em;">&#8220;<span class="smcap">New Orleans</span>, March &mdash;, 1856.</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I never disappoint my bail. My thoughts on awful subjects
+roll, damnation and the dead, what horrors seize the guilty
+soul upon a dying bed. Lingering about these mortal shores
+she makes a long delay, till like a flood with rapid force,
+death sweeps the wretch away. Good for Doctor Watts. I have
+three weeks yet to spare.&#8221;</p></div>
+
+<p>How it was signed I am not aware. The envelope was marked &#8220;paid
+$32.75.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>On the afternoon previous to the sitting of the court at which Malcolm
+was under bail to appear, he unexpectedly presented himself at Mr.
+Burchard&#8217;s office. The conflicting emotions in Mr. Burchard&#8217;s breast
+upon beholding him can well be imagined. Indignation for the
+imposition and forgery was most apparent. Vengeance was secondary,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>tempered by the fact that he had made his appearance, although not
+yet safe in jail. His soul burst forth in a holy horror of a man
+apparently incapable of entertaining a moral sentiment, and so brazen
+as not to appreciate his guilt. His presence so exasperated Mr.
+Burchard that he rushed toward the door without any definite intention
+but to be rid of his visitor. Malcolm calmly placed his back against
+the closed door and said very coolly: &#8220;All this indignation is well
+enough before a jury, Mr. Burchard, and I read in your countenance
+what is passing in your mind, but it is wise to take men as they are
+and the world as it is, and not as it should be. I meet you to-day on
+equal terms. You claim something of me, and I of you. If you are a man
+of honor, fulfil your contract. If you are a sneak, do as I should
+have done had I forfeited my bail. I have shown the estimate I put
+upon my duty by appearing to discharge you as my bail in the face of
+the indignity I have put upon you, and knowing full well what I was to
+encounter. Show half my pluck and it will serve you well. I am not yet
+your prisoner, and by the Eternal! I will not be till to-morrow, when
+I shall be content with that position. On your peril answer me. Will
+you fulfil your agreement? Will you be a man or a knave?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Burchard answered not, but saw the desperate nature of the man
+with whom he had to deal, and that he was provided with weapons with
+which to enforce his argument. Malcolm proceeded, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>&#8220;I never was and
+never will be a sneak. I am bound by honor as well as you. You are a
+lawyer, and a good one. I am a burglar, sir, and am not ashamed of my
+jobs. You exalt your profession, and so do I mine. Business is
+business, and mine is as honorable as yours. Think you I am less
+public-spirited than you? Think you I love my wife and children less
+than you? Come, come, Mr. Burchard; down from your perch! You are a
+man of principle. I am no sardine. You have taken my money, and you
+cannot return it if you would, for the bankers upon whom it was drawn
+have failed, and the draft has not been presented and is your loss. I
+know what you would like to say. It is true I used dissimulation and
+procured an invitation to your dinner-party, and here is Winfield
+Burchard&#8217;s letter to you (presenting it), whose handwriting I
+imitated; but it was all in my line. I laid a bet I could do it, and
+that draft was just the sum I won. Bristol Bill pays up like gentle
+folks, but then he didn&#8217;t know my opportunities. What possessed you to
+dismiss Maguire? but no matter; that is all gone by. During the last
+eight years I have passed at least six hundred nights in your house,
+and have been very frequently in your sleeping-room, and have heard
+your confidential talk with your wife. Doubt it, do you? Yes, your
+door <i>was</i> always bolted on the inside, and no other one opened into
+your chamber, but I can tell you conversations you had with your wife,
+which will convince you. Do you remember one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>night when your wife
+became nervous and fell to crying lest the pain she felt in her breast
+should prove to be a cancer, and you told her that you would go to
+Boston with her and consult Dr. Jackson and ask Dr. P. to go with you?
+Do, eh? And do you remember one night when your niece slept upon the
+sofa in your room? I had no idea she was there, and needlessly waked
+her. She screamed, and while you was attending to her fright I slipped
+out and didn&#8217;t leave your door bolted. I heard you tell her she was
+dreaming.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And do you remember one night telling your wife that you could not
+imagine how three cigars got out of a new box you had opened the night
+before? Those cigars were the only things that either Maguire or I
+ever took from your house.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will make you this proposition, and if you will accept it you will
+do well. By the night train my two accomplices in that job will
+arrive. I don&#8217;t intend to be shut up till they come. I will pay for
+six men to sit up with me here to-night in this office, and you shall
+select them, and in the morning I will pay their fees and go to jail.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The proposition was accepted, and the chief of police furnished the
+keepers.</p>
+
+<p>During that night Mr. Burchard&#8217;s office was the scene of strange
+revelations. Malcolm furnished money to one of the officers, who
+brought in a basket of champagne, and ordered a supper at one o&#8217;clock
+in the morning, to be the most complete that money could buy and the
+city furnish. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>The officers were at liberty to invite in their friends
+who were reliable. Malcolm distributed to each of his keepers five
+times the sum of money agreed upon for their wages, and demanded of
+them a faithful performance of their duty. Some thirty had entered the
+office, and the door was closed and not to be opened on any account
+till supper was announced. Malcolm had sent to a neighboring
+bookstore, and obtained one pack of every edition of playing cards
+there kept for sale. Some forty packs with different backs were piled
+up at one end of the table. Malcolm invited some one to take a hand of
+euchre with him. The captain, who was considered the most expert
+player, took a chair at the corner of the table, and the rest were to
+observe the game, but say nothing which they should discover till the
+game was over. Malcolm took one of the packs from the envelope and
+said, &#8220;This edition was gotten up by Count &mdash;&mdash; at &mdash;&mdash;, and with it
+he played twenty-one nights and won &mdash;&mdash; thousand dollars before the
+markings were discovered. Cut the cards if you please, and mind, if
+you can, that the ten of spades is not turned.&#8221; The cards were dealt
+and the ten of spades was turned. The two bowers and two aces were
+given to the captain, who ordered up the ten.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, captain, I have given you the bowers and two aces, and yet you
+are euchred.&#8221; And so it was. Malcolm inquired if any one perceived how
+it was done, and, receiving a negative reply, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>said, &#8220;Very well, he
+shall do precisely the same thing, and see then if you detect the
+method. I will cut for a ten to be turned and order it up, and you
+will observe.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Almost the same cards were put into Malcolm&#8217;s hand, as had been put
+into the captain&#8217;s.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; said Malcolm, &#8220;I order it up, and will make one,&#8221; and so it
+was.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Did any of you see how that was done?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>None could detect. The cards were again shuffled by a looker-on. It
+was Malcolm&#8217;s deal.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I must not make too often. This time you shall march. You see I have
+given you three trumps and a king and an ace of another suit.&#8221; And so
+it was.</p>
+
+<p>The cards were shuffled again. &#8220;You must make one this time.&#8221; And so
+it was.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; said Malcolm, &#8220;please say whether I shall make one, or lose
+one, or go out.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was the captain&#8217;s deal, and the company requested Malcolm to go out
+if he could.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well then, I cut a bower; the left is next above it as they fell
+into the last hand, and so will not be out.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Malcolm ordered up a queen, took it out with a king, and made three
+low clubs and won the game.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s take another pack while these gimlet-eyed fellows hunt up the
+markings. This edition was gotten up by Sunderland for a high-low-jack
+pack, and was read the first night. The profession <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>never use it, the
+marks are so apparent. Try it once at all-fours.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The cards were dealt by the captain, and Malcolm said, &#8220;I will stand,
+although I have but one trump, for you have none.&#8221; And Malcolm made
+three points.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Had you detected the manipulation, I should have lost and you would
+have made three.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Try another pack. This had a run of three months before it was
+detected. It is well executed, and only the most sagacious and
+quick-sighted are never mistaken in the cards. There is not an edition
+of cards that I cannot read as well by seeing one side as the other.
+No pack was ever edited in fairness to both parties. A man is a fool
+who will get out such an edition. I carried two new ones to the B&mdash;&mdash;
+house in London, and won thirteen nights with them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>One of the company who had been out and returned, produced a pack with
+plain backs, and asked triumphantly if Mr. Malcolm would please to
+read them by the backs.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This edition,&#8221; said Malcolm, &#8220;was gotten up in Edinburgh by an
+Irishman named Mulligan, and was popular for a while, but when he won
+every night with it suspicions were aroused, and finally a boy twelve
+years old deciphered it. I can tell each card across the room.&#8221; And he
+did.</p>
+
+<p>And so the entertainment went on, Malcolm winning every game till
+supper was served; not one of the company detecting how it was done.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Now, boys,&#8221; said Malcolm &#8220;this is my treat, and please enjoy
+yourselves, for I shall expect you all to be in court when my case is
+tried, to laugh on my side. Lawyers don&#8217;t understand the value of a
+chuckle in swaying a jury in a doubtful case. Lay to. &#8216;The art of
+cookery,&#8217; says Henry Cornelius Agrippa, &#8216;is very useful if not
+dishonest.&#8217; My appetite is good, and I trust you are all likewise
+minded, for Beaumont and Fletcher say, &#8216;What an excellent thing God
+did bestow upon man when he gave him a good appetite. Mine is almost
+equal to that of Erisichthon described by Ovid,&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="centerbox3 bbox"><p>&#8216;Thus Erisichthon&#8217;s profane chops devour<br />
+All sorts of food: in him food is the cause<br />
+Of hunger: and he will employ his jaws<br />
+To whet his appetite.&#8217;</p></div>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8217;Tis said that Maximus, the Emperor who succeeded Alexander Memneaus,
+consumed forty pounds of flesh in one day, and drank an amphora of
+wine containing forty-eight quarts.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Waiter, pass your wines. No blue ruin or heavy wet. In the days of
+the great C&aelig;sar all feasts began with eggs and ended with fruits,
+cream and apples; hence the proverb, <i>ab avo usque ad mala</i>, and the
+man who did not crush his eggshell or put his folded napkin on his
+left knee, was considered a fool. As we have not eggs we will do our
+best with the napkins. No melancholy subjects at this table. So here&#8217;s
+luck.&#8221; And all drank a bumper.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Did you ever hear how Pope Julius III. became enraged against his
+cook for not having saved him a cold peacock for supper, and how he
+began to blaspheme? Whereupon one of his cardinals said to him, &#8216;Let
+not your Holiness be so moved with a matter of so little weight.&#8217;
+&#8216;What!&#8217; said the pope, &#8216;if God was so angry for one apple that he cast
+our first parents out of Paradise, why may not I, his vicar, be angry
+for a peacock, sithers a peacock is greater than an apple?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The oysters from Tarentum, so prized by one of the C&aelig;sars, I forget
+which, were not to be compared to these. Captain, take a hand at them.
+Let me give you a song.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And with a sweet melodious voice and a Scotch accent, he sang Burns&#8217;s
+Ode on the Haggis.</p>
+
+<div class="centerbox3 bbox"><p>&#8220;&#8216;Fair, fa&#8217; your honest, sonsie face,<br />
+Great chieftain o&#8217; the pudding race:<br />
+Aboon them a&#8217; ye tak your place,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Paunch, tripe, or thairm;</span><br />
+Weel are ye worthy o&#8217; a grace<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">As lang&#8217;s my arm.&#8217;</span></p></div>
+
+<p>&#8220;This bird is excellent; whoever cooked it,</p>
+
+<div class="centerbox4 bbox"><p><span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">&#8216;His name should be enrolled</span><br />
+In Estcourt&#8217;s book, whose gridiron&#8217;s framed of gold.&#8217;</p></div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Help yourselves, gentlemen, digestion is the business of the stomach,
+and indigestion that of the physicians. It is better to dine late, for
+one can then concentrate all his thoughts upon his plate, forget
+business, and only think of eating and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>drinking and going to bed. Ha,
+ha! I should have omitted the bed in quoting from the gourmands, for
+they would rather fast than be obliged to eat a good dinner in a
+hurry. Five hours is little enough, provided Mr. Burchard shall not in
+the mean time appear and drive us away.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This venison is delicious; none was ever better served. The Roman
+Senators debated the question how a turbot should be cooked, and the
+author of this dish deserves a place among such.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Montmaur is reported to have said that Easter and Christmas were the
+two best days in the year. Easter because it was farthest from Lent,
+and Christmas because then you breakfasted at midnight. Who says this
+is not equal to Montmaur&#8217;s Christmas breakfast?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This sort of banter, interspersed with songs and stories, was kept up
+till a late hour, when all of a sudden the keepers awoke to the fact
+that Malcolm had flown. The visitors laughed heartily. The company
+dispersed, not standing upon the order of their going. The table was
+cleared, and the office put in order. Only one of the keepers
+remained, who resembled in appearance a cat that had played with her
+mouse and lost it; the others were out looking for Malcolm. At an
+early hour in the morning he returned, and seating himself at Mr.
+Burchard&#8217;s desk, wrote him this note:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Mr. Burchard</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>I trust I did not disturb your repose. I
+found, this morning, in your safe in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>your house this pretty
+little casket sent you from your English namesake. I have
+seen it often before, but wanted another squint at it, and I
+have brought it to your office lest some burglar might steal
+it from your house. I noticed your wife&#8217;s watch lying around
+loose in your sleeping-room, which is of no great value&mdash;to
+me,&mdash;and I contented myself with the charms, which I will
+put into your steel chest, here in the office, for safe
+keeping against the time of my need. The putting a yoke on
+the keys of your door, so I could not turn them with the
+nippers, was all useless. The chair poised against your
+sleeping-room door gave me a deal of trouble, and I could
+not put it back as I found it. Please excuse me. The thread
+on the stairs attached to an alarm-bell might as well have
+been omitted. The old-fashioned fork against the bolt I put
+back as I found it, and came out by the dining-room window.
+Your portfolio you will find between the beds on which you
+were sleeping. It took me half an hour to make you turn over
+so I could do it. George Waters is my counsel, to whom I
+have committed my case. He will arrange the evidence. Unless
+you eat your own words, you will sit beside him and ask the
+jury if they believe the case is made out beyond a
+reasonable doubt, for I know better than you the weight of
+your character. I shall be in jail by breakfast-time.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 2em;"><span class="smcap">Malcolm.</span></span></p></div>
+
+<p>At the bottom of the note was a well-drawn <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>hand with spread fingers
+at the end of a man&#8217;s nose.</p>
+
+<p>When all the officers had returned, dropping in one by one, towards
+morning, they were somewhat surprised and relieved upon beholding
+Malcolm. He informed them that it would be all right if they would all
+appear at his trial and laugh for him.</p>
+
+<p>At the trial, Mr. Burchard, care-worn and nervous, made his
+appearance. Mr. Waters conducted the testimony for the defence. Mr.
+Burchard inquired of him what testimony Malcolm relied upon, and was
+answered that no testimony whatever was to be introduced, but he would
+rely altogether upon the lack of testimony on the part of the
+government. A cold shiver ran down Burchard&#8217;s backbone. The question
+of guilty or not guilty turned upon the identity of the mat previously
+spoken of, which, it was asserted, Malcolm threw away as he ran. The
+watchman testified positively to the fact, but it was in the night,
+and he might have been mistaken. Mr. W. H. B. testified generally as
+to the robbery, and recognized the mat as probably the one made by his
+daughter, although he could not positively make oath to the fact. As
+the case turned upon the testimony of Miss B., I give the whole of the
+cross-examination.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><i>Question by Mr. Waters.</i> You have said that you <i>know</i> this mat to
+have been the work of your own hands, and that you made it for a
+particular purpose. If you please, what was that purpose?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answer.</i> I had presented me on Christmas a fine <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>statuette of Samuel,
+which I admired so much that I worked this mat with great care upon
+which to place it.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> And did you work it from a pattern?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i> Yes, sir.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> And have you ever seen others like it?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i> Yes, sir, three, but not in this city.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> And where did you get the pattern?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i> From a friend in Philadelphia.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> Now, if you have seen other mats like this, how do you know, of
+your own knowledge, that this is not some other lady&#8217;s work?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i> I know it is my work because the centre portion of the mat was
+left plain, which centre is exactly the size of the base of my
+statuette.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> Is there any other reason which you can give?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i> I know it looks like my mat.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> Certainly, but would it not look like your mat if it had been
+wrought by another lady?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i> Perhaps so.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> You say <i>perhaps</i> so; would it not certainly so look?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i> I think it would.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> Have you the statuette now?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i> Yes, sir, it is at our house.</p></div>
+
+<p>At this point of the trial the statuette was sent for and brought into
+court by the father of the witness. Mr. Waters took it into his
+possession. Considerable discussion arose when the prosecuting
+attorney insisted upon being allowed to examine it. Mr. Waters became
+almost violent, and declared <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>he would smash the image rather than be
+so imposed upon. He was cross-examining the witness with no testimony
+for the accused, and he insisted upon his rights without interruption.
+The court ruled in Mr. Waters&#8217;s favor. He, holding the statuette by
+the base, walked up to Miss B., and inquired of her if she recognized
+it as her own.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><i>A.</i> I certainly do.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> And how do you know it is certainly your own?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i> It is just like mine.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> But are there not other copies so like it as that you cannot tell
+the difference, nor one from the others?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i> Yes.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> How then can you say for a certainty that this is yours?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i> Because my father has just brought it from our house, and I saw
+him go for it and return with it. I can give no better reason.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> Can you say of your own knowledge, from an examination of the
+image, that it is yours?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i> No, sir.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> Have you any more reliable knowledge concerning the mat being
+yours?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i> Yes, for the space in the middle was made expressly to fit the
+base of the statuette.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> And are you willing to risk your testimony upon that fact alone?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i> I am.</p></div>
+
+<p>The mat and the statuette were then shown the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>witness and the jury,
+and the base of the statuette overlapped the plain surface in the
+centre of the mat half an inch. The witness became faint, and was
+carried into the lobby. The jury, without leaving their seats,
+rendered a verdict of <small>NOT GUILTY</small>.</p>
+
+<p>The captain feasted Malcolm that night, and obtained from him the
+secret of his defence. Maguire, as a woman, had procured the situation
+of cook in the house of Mr. W. H. B., and had substituted for the
+original Samuel another, altogether similar, except that its base was
+half an inch larger.</p>
+
+<p>The captain further inquired what had been Malcolm&#8217;s occupation in
+early life, and how he had acquired so much knowledge of the gourmands
+and feasts.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I was cook at Baden Baden,&#8221; said Malcolm, &#8220;at the B&mdash;&mdash; House. There
+I met Count S., who took a fancy to me. I served also at the tables,
+after that as waiter in the house, and keeping an eye open I was a
+great help to the Count. He knew everything about the table, kitchen,
+and the larder, and I remembered what he used to repeat night after
+night, when a year or two ago I found Dick Humelbergius&#8217;s book upon
+the art of never breakfasting at home and always dining abroad. I
+found everything recorded there, and that is pretty much the only book
+I ever read. I can quote Latin, and know where to put it in, but what
+the &mdash;&mdash; the meaning of it is, I have no notion.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Allow me further to inquire by what process or contrivance you can
+slide a bolt on the opposite side of the door?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I paid $3500 for that information, and don&#8217;t propose to part with
+it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then advise me what is best for me to do when I find a burglar in my
+sleeping-room in the night time?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do nothing, sir, unless you are hunting up a graveyard. We never
+desire to maim or kill, but we can. I should be poorly provided or
+skilled if I was not ready for such emergencies. As soon as the
+burglar leaves your room, rise and light the gas, and he will trouble
+you no more.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;One other question. Did you rob and then burn the Jenks house?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is not a question to be answered, but I will say that I have a
+drawing of the house and the location of every piece of furniture in
+it, which is perfect.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>To this day, only two of the persons who were present at the
+dinner-party are aware of the history of the two worthies, the
+Reverend Mr. Malcolm of Oxford and Maguire the butler of Mr. Bernon
+Burchard.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_MOUNT_OF_SORROW" id="THE_MOUNT_OF_SORROW"></a>THE MOUNT OF SORROW.</h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By Harriet Prescott Spofford.</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">&#8258; <i>Harper&#8217;s Magazine, June, 1883.</i></p>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">N</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">ever</span> did anything seem fresher and sweeter than the plateau on which
+we emerged in the early sunset, after defiling all day through the
+dark deep mountain-sides in the rain.</p>
+
+<p>We had promised Rhoda to assault her winter fastness whenever she
+should summon us; and now, in obedience to her message, a gay party of
+us had left the railway, and had driven, sometimes in slushy snow and
+sometimes on bare ground, up the old mountain-road, laughing and
+singing and jangling our bells, till at length the great bare woods,
+lifting their line forever before us and above us, gave place to bald
+black mountain-sides, whose oppressive gloom and silence stifled
+everything but a longing to escape from between them, and from the
+possible dangers in crossing bridges, and fording streams swollen by
+the fortnight&#8217;s thaws and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>rains. Now and then the stillness resolved
+itself into the murmuring of bare sprays, the rustling of rain, the
+dancing of innumerable unfettered brooks glittering with motion, but
+without light, from the dusky depths; now and then a ghastly lustre
+shot from the ice still hanging like a glacier upon some upper steep,
+or a strange gleam from the sodden snow on their floors lightened the
+roofs of the leafless forests that overlapped the chasms, and trailed
+their twisted roots like shapes of living horror. What was there, I
+wondered, so darkly familiar in it all? in what nightmare had I
+dreamed it all before? Long ere the journey&#8217;s end our spirits became
+dead as last night&#8217;s wine; we shared the depression of all nature, and
+felt as if we had come out of chaos and the end of all things when the
+huge mountain gates closed behind us, and we dashed out on the plateau
+where the grass, from which the wintry wrapping had been washed, had
+not lost all its greenness, and in the sudden lifting of the
+rain-cloud a red sparkle of sunset lighted the windows, as if a
+hundred flambeaux had been kindled to greet us.</p>
+
+<p>A huge fire burned in the fireplace of the drawing-room when we had
+mounted the stairs and crossed the great hall, where other fires were
+blazing and sending ruddy flames to skim among the cedar rafters; and
+all that part of the house sacred to Colonel Vorse, and opened now the
+first time in many winters, was thoroughly warm and cheerful with
+lights and flowers and rugs and easy-chairs <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>and books. We might
+easily have fancied ourselves, that night, in those spacious rooms,
+when, toilets made and dinner over, we re-assembled around the solid
+glow of the chimney logs, a modern party in some old medi&aelig;val chamber,
+all the more for the spirit of the scene outside, where the storm was
+telling its rede again, rain changing to snow, and a cruel blast
+keening round the many gables and screaming down the chimneys. After
+all, Rhoda&#8217;s and Merivale&#8217;s plan of having us in the hills before
+late-lingering winter should be quite gone, and doing a little Sintram
+business with skates and wolves and hill visions, should have been
+carried out earlier. To them it was all but little less novel than it
+was to me, and Rhoda, who, although a year or two my junior, had been
+my intimate, so far as I ever had an intimate, would not rest till she
+had devised this party, without which she knew she could not have me,
+even persuading our good old Dr. Devens to leave his pulpit and
+people, and stamp the proceeding with his immaculate respectability.
+As it was, however, it looked as though we were simply to be shut in
+by a week of storm following the thaw. Well, there are compensations
+in all things: perhaps two people in whom I had some interest would
+know each other a trifle better before the week ended then.</p>
+
+<p>The place was really the home of Rhoda and Merivale, or was now to
+become so. Colonel Vorse, their father, who had married so young that
+he felt but little older than they, and was quite <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>their companion,
+was still the owner of the vast summer hostelry, although no longer
+its manager. After accumulating his fortune he had taken his children
+about the world, educating them and himself at the same time, with now
+an object lesson in Germany and now another in Peru, and finally
+returning to this place, which, so far as we could see, was absolute
+desolation, without a neighbor, but which to him was bristling with
+memories and associations and old friends across the intervale and
+over the mountain and round the spur. There was something weird to me,
+as I looked out at the flying whiteness of the moonlit storm, in those
+acquaintances of his among the hollows of these pallid hills; it
+seemed as though they must partake of the coldness and whiteness, and
+as if they were only dead people, when all was said. Perhaps Dr.
+Devens, who half the way up had been quoting,</p>
+
+<div class="centerbox2 bbox"><p><span style="margin-left: 5em;">&#8220;Pavilioned high, he sits</span><br />
+In darkness from excessive splendor born,&#8221;</p></div>
+
+<p>had another phase of the same feeling. I heard him saying, as I passed
+him five minutes before, where he sat astride a chair in front of the
+long oriel casement: &#8220;There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which
+the vulture&#8217;s eye hath not seen: the lion&#8217;s whelps have not trodden
+it, nor the fierce lion passed by it. He putteth forth his hand upon
+the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. He cutteth out
+rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing. He
+bindeth <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid
+bringeth he forth to light.&#8221; He is expecting a convulsion of nature, I
+remember thinking, as I went by and paused at another window myself. A
+convulsion of nature! I fancy that he found it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is something eerie here,&#8221; I said, as I still gazed at the
+scene; for the dim gigantic shapes of the hills rose round us like
+sheeted ghosts, while the flying scud of the storm, filled with the
+white diffusion of unseen light, every now and then opened to let the
+glimpses out. &#8220;And see the witch-fires,&#8221; as the rosy reflections of
+our burning logs and lights danced on the whirling snow without. &#8220;Is
+there anything wanting to make us feel as if we had been caught here
+by some spell, and were to be held by some charm?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wish I knew the charm,&#8221; said Colonel Vorse, by my side, and half
+under his breath. And then I felt a little angrier with myself for
+coming than I had felt before.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I often hear you talking of your belief in certain telluric forces
+that must have most power among the mountains where they first had
+play, and where earth is not only beneath, but is above you and around
+you. Well, we are here in the stronghold of these telluric forces. I
+am their old friend and ally: let me see what they will do for me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was true. And I half shivered with an indefinite fear that I might
+be compelled, in spite of all wish and prejudice, and birthright&mdash;I,
+the child of proud old colonial grandees of the South; he, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>son of
+a mountain farmer, who had married a mate of his own degree, and had
+kept a mountain inn till fortune found him and death took her. My
+father at least was the child of those proud old colonials, and I had
+lived with his people and been reared on their traditions. Who my
+mother was I never knew; for my father had married her in some
+romantic fashion&mdash;a runaway match&mdash;and she had died at my birth, and
+he had shortly followed her. I had nothing that belonged to her but
+the half of a broken miniature my father had once painted of her, as I
+understood. I always wore it, with I know not what secret sentiment,
+but I showed it to nobody. I had sometimes wondered about the other
+half, but my life had not left me much time for sentiment or
+wonder&mdash;full of gayety till my grandfather&#8217;s death left me homeless;
+full of gayety since his friend Mrs. Montresor had adopted me for
+child and companion, subject to her kind whims and tyrannies. But if
+she took me here and took me there, and clad me like a princess, I was
+none the less aware of the fact that I was without a penny&mdash;morbidly
+aware of it without doubt. But it disposed me to look with favor on no
+rich man&#8217;s suit, and the lover as penniless as I and as fine as my
+ideal lover had not yet appeared. It made me almost hate the face and
+form, the color, the hair, that they dared to call Titianesque, speak
+of as if it were the free booty of pigment and canvas, and wish to
+drag captive in the golden chains of their wealth. When I had met
+Colonel Vorse, a year <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>ago, twice my age though he was, he was the
+first one I had wished as poor as I&mdash;he the plebeian newly rich. Yet
+not so newly rich was he that he had not had time to become used to
+his riches, to see the kingdoms of the earth and weigh them in his
+balance, to serve his country on the battle-field, and his State in
+the council-chamber; and, for the rest, contact with the world is
+sadly educating.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I often look at Colonel Vorse among the men born in the purple,&#8221; said
+Mrs. Montresor once&mdash;she thought people born in the purple were simply
+those who had never earned their living&mdash;&#8220;and he is the superior of
+them all. What a country it is where a man keeping a common tavern in
+the first half of his life may make himself the equal of sovereigns in
+the other half! I don&#8217;t understand it; he is the finest gentleman of
+them all. And he looks it. Don&#8217;t you think so, Helena?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But I never told Mrs. Montresor what I thought. It is all very well to
+generalize and to be glad that certain institutions produce certain
+effects; but of course you are superior to the institutions, or you
+wouldn&#8217;t be generalizing so, and all the more, of course, superior to
+the effects, and so I don&#8217;t see how it signifies to you personally.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You ought to have your head carried on a pike,&#8221; said Mrs. Montresor,
+again. &#8220;You will, if we ever have any <i>bonnets rouges</i> in America. You
+are the aristocrat pure and simple. The Princess Lamballe was nothing
+to you. You think humanity exists so that <i>nous autres</i>, by standing
+on it, may get <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>the light and air. You are sure that you are made of
+different clay&mdash;the canaille of street mud, for instance, and you of
+the fine white stuff from which they mould Dresden china. You are
+quite a study to me, my love. I expect to see you marry a pavior yet,
+either one who lays down or one who tears up paving-stones.&#8221; But I had
+only laughed again. She plumed herself on being cosmopolitan even to
+her principles.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You give me credit for too much thinking on the subject,&#8221; I said, &#8220;if
+it is credit. Indeed, I don&#8217;t concern myself about such people; and as
+for marrying one of them, I could as soon marry into a different race,
+African or Mongolian. They are a different race.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And I remembered all this as Colonel Vorse stood leaning his hand
+above me on the jamb of the window-frame&mdash;for although I was tall, he
+was a son of Anak&mdash;with that air which, never vaunting strength,
+always made you aware of its repression. I could fancy hearing Mrs.
+Montresor say, &#8220;That air of his! it always fetches women!&#8221; for she
+loved a little slang, by some antipodal attraction of her refinement,
+and I instinctively stiffened myself, determined it should never fetch
+<i>me</i>. And here he was calling his allies, the spirits and powers of
+the dark and terrible mountain heights and depths, and openly giving
+battle. I don&#8217;t know why it depressed me; I felt as if the very fact
+that it did was a half surrender; I looked up at him a moment; I
+forgot who he was; I wished he was as poor as I. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>But to become the
+mother of Rhoda, my friend, and of Merivale, that laughing young
+giant&mdash;what absurdity, if all the rest were equal! And that other, the
+dead woman, the first wife&mdash;should one not always be jealous of that
+sweet early love? Could one endure it? Here among these hills with all
+their ghostliness she would haunt me. And then I turned and swept away
+to the fireside, holding out my hands to the flame, and glad to sink
+into the chair that some one had left empty there.</p>
+
+<p>I hardly knew what world I was living in when, perhaps a half-hour
+later, I heard Colonel Vorse&#8217;s voice. &#8220;The trouble is that men are
+<i>not</i> born free and equal,&#8221; he was saying. &#8220;Free? They are hampered by
+inheritance and circumstance from the moment of birth. Equal? It is a
+self-evident lie. And the world has rhapsodized for a hundred years
+over so clumsy a statement. All men are born with equal rights. That
+is the precise statement. My rights&mdash;rights to life, liberty, and the
+pursuit of happiness&mdash;are equal to the rights of all the princelings
+of the earth; their rights equal only to mine. So far as they
+interfere with my rights they are public enemies, and are to be dealt
+with; and so far as I interfere with their rights, I am a trespasser
+to be punished. Otherwise, prince or peasant, each is a man, whether
+he wears a blouse or a star and garter; and if man was made in the
+image of God, let us do no indignity to that image in one or in
+another.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Did I understand him? Was Colonel Vorse proclaiming <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>himself the equal
+of Prince San Sorcererino who had entertained us in his palaces last
+year? Well. And was he not? All at once something seemed to sift away
+from before my eyes&mdash;a veil that had hidden my kind from me. Was there
+no longer even that natural aristocracy in which Shakspeare or Homer
+or Dante was king? Was the world a brotherhood, and they the public
+enemy, the enemy of the great perfect race to come, who helped one
+brother take advantage of another? Were those ribbons in the
+buttonhole, the gifts of kings, of no more worth than the ribbons of
+cigars?</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Montresor was toying with her fan beside me, and talking in an
+undertone behind it. &#8220;What prince of all that you have seen or read
+of,&#8221; said she, &#8220;if born on a meagre mountain farm, would have made his
+fortune and have educated himself, as this man has done? I think the
+kings who founded races of kings were like him. And what prince of
+them all alive looks so much the prince as he? This one as fat as
+Falstaff and as low, that one with a hump on his back, the other
+without brains, the next with brains awry, and none of them made as
+becomes a man. Tell me, Helena?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think you are in love yourself,&#8221; I said.</p>
+
+<p>She laughed. &#8220;As tall as Saul, as dark, as lordly in all proportions,
+as gentle as Jonathan, and with a soul like David&#8217;s&mdash;why shouldn&#8217;t I
+be?&#8221; she said. &#8220;And he not the equal of the granddaughter of a South
+Carolina planter! Tell me again, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>Helena, what has she ever done to
+prove herself his equal?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She had had a fancy&mdash;Heaven knows why&mdash;that her young mother, who had
+run away with her father, was the daughter of a noble foreign family;
+or else why should the match have been clandestine? She had had a
+fancy that she was therefore noble, as her mother was&mdash;the mother even
+whose name her child did not know other than as the slaves had told
+her the young bridegroom called her Pansy because of a pair of
+purple-dark eyes. That was about all. That was all the answer I could
+have made, had I spoken, to her gentle raillery, half mockery, in
+which she did not quite believe herself. But even were it so, and the
+daughter noble as the mother, could blood that had filtered through
+generations of oppressors lounging in laps of luxury be pure as this
+blood that had informed none but simple and innocent lives, and seemed
+just now as if it had come fresh from the hands of the Maker? I
+surveyed him from behind the hand-screen that failed to keep the ruddy
+flames from my face, and if I felt him in that glance to be one of the
+sons of God, and I but one of the daughters of men, again I did not
+tell Mrs. Montresor.</p>
+
+<p>But the witch could always read my thoughts. &#8220;Still,&#8221; she said, &#8220;he
+has kept a tavern. There is no getting round that fact by all the
+poetry in the world. Then why try to get round it? He has furnished
+food and shelter to the tired and roofless&mdash;as noble a way to make
+money, surely, as working <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>the bones and muscles of slaves, and
+accepting the gold they earn.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is the last I have of such gold,&#8221; I cried, in a stifled way; and
+I unclasped the old bracelet on my wrist and tossed it behind the
+back-log&mdash;people were too gayly engaged to observe us at the moment.
+&#8220;I think,&#8221; I said then, turning upon her, &#8220;that you are employed as an
+advocate, unless&mdash;you are really weary of me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Weary of you!&#8221; she exclaimed, half under her breath though it
+was&mdash;&#8220;weary of you, when you are such unceasing variety to me that if
+you married ten thousand tavern-keepers I should always have a room in
+the inn!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank Heaven,&#8221; I answered her, gayly, &#8220;it is an impossibility that I
+should ever marry <i>one</i>.&#8221; And then there was a lull in the laughter
+and the snatches of song and conversation on the other side of the
+room; and while I was still gazing after my bracelet and into the
+chimney-place, where the flames wallowed about unhewn forest logs that
+took two men to cast to them, Colonel Vorse came over to us.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You will turn into salamanders,&#8221; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is bad enough to be in hot water,&#8221; said Mrs. Montresor, lightly.
+&#8220;I will leave the fire to you and Helena.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where you sit,&#8221; said Colonel Vorse then to me, &#8220;if you turn your head
+slightly to the left, and shade your eyes, you can see the side of the
+darkest and sternest of our mountains. You know we do <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>not call our
+hills by the names they have in maps and government surveys; the old
+settlers who first came here called this one, for unknown reasons of
+their own, the Mount of Sorrow. It has always been the Mount of
+Sorrow.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An ominous name for so near a neighbor,&#8221; I said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah! you think this region is oppressive, or perhaps dull and tame,
+without life or stir&mdash;desolate, in fact. What if I should tell you
+that it bubbles, like a caldron over the bottomless pit, with griefs
+and sins!&mdash;that in lives condemned to perpetual imprisonment on these
+bare rocks, feeding on themselves, traits intensifying, the
+loneliness, the labor, the negation, slowly extract the juices of
+humanity, and make crime a matter to be whispered of among them? If
+they feel they are forgotten by God, what matters the murder or the
+suicide more or less that gives release? It is hell here or hell
+there: they are sure of this&mdash;they have it; the other may not come to
+pass.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean?&#8221; I said, with white lips; for as he spoke it seemed
+as if I had come into a land of lepers. &#8220;Here in this white solitude,
+among lives fed from the primitive sources of nature and the dew of
+the morning&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I mean,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that I refuse to accept the factitious aid your
+thoughts have lately been bringing to me. You see I have preternatural
+senses. Because I was born in the snows of the mountains I am no whit
+whiter than those born in the purlieus <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>of the police stations of the
+cities. We are simply of the same human nature. When I win regard, it
+must be for no idle fancy, but for my own identity.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; I said, &#8220;I do not believe you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; he replied, &#8220;have I gained a point, and found an advocate in an
+ideal of me? That would be as romantic as any of the romance of the
+hills. And there <i>is</i> romance here, whether it is born of crime, or of
+joy, or of sorrow. There is romance enough on that old Mount of Sorrow
+that you see when the storm opens and strips it in that sudden white
+glory. Keep your eye, if you please, on a spot half-way up the sky,
+and when the apparition comes again you will find the dark outline of
+a dwelling there. It was a dwelling once; now it is only a ruin, hut
+and barn and byre. Why do you shudder? Do you see it? It is only a
+shadow. But a shadow with outlines black enough to defy the whitest
+blast that ever blew. Sometimes it seems to me as though that old ruin
+were itself a ghostly thing, a spectre of tragedies that will not
+down; for the avalanches divide and leave it, and the storms whistle
+over and beat against it, and it is always there when the sun rises. I
+don&#8217;t know what it has to do with my fortunes; I don&#8217;t know why it is
+a blotch upon the face of nature to me; but if ever I grow sad or sick
+at heart I feel as though I should be made whole again could that evil
+thing be removed.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not remove it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;It does not belong to me. I can do nothing with it. I am not sure
+that it belongs to any one&mdash;which adds to the spectral, you
+see&mdash;although I suppose there is somewhere a nameless heir. How
+restless you are!&#8221; he said, gently. &#8220;Will you come out in the long
+hall where the great window gives an unobstructed view of the thing,
+and walk off this nervousness? The storm is lifting, I think; the moon
+is going to overcome. One may see by the way the fire burns that the
+temperature is mounting. Perhaps we shall have a snow-slide as we
+walk.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Rhoda and Merivale were singing some of the songs they had learned
+since they came into the hill country, Mrs. Montresor was nodding
+behind her fan an accompaniment to Dr. Devens&#8217;s remarks, Ad&egrave;le was
+deep in her novel, and a flirtation and some portfolios of prints
+occupied the rest. To refuse was only to attract attention; besides, I
+should like to walk. I rose and went out with him into the hall that
+shut off the wing from the great empty caravansary.</p>
+
+<p class="center">&#8220;&#8216;And the long carpets rose along the gusty floor,&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I quoted as we walked; and despite the fire burning on either side, he
+had brought me a fur for my shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he said, &#8220;there comes the moon at last. Now you shall see the
+black and white of it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; I cried, clasping my hands, as all the silvery lights and
+immense shadows burst out in a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>terrible sort of radiance. &#8220;The world
+began to be made here! Poets should be born here!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Instead of tavern-keepers,&#8221; said he, &#8220;which brings me to my story. I
+am forty-three years old. Of course I was younger twenty-three years
+ago. That must have been not long before you came into the world
+yourself. Do you insist upon thinking twenty years&#8217; difference in age
+makes any disparity, except in the case of him who has lost just that
+twenty years&#8217; sweetness out of his life?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hardly see what that has to do with the story of the Mount of
+Sorrow,&#8221; I said, as we turned from the window to measure the length of
+the hall again.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hope,&#8221; said he, &#8220;that the suffrage reform, which is to admit women
+to the ballot, will never let them sit on the judicial bench, for
+mercy is foreign to the heart of a woman.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is it not a strange way of telling a story?&#8221; I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Patience!&#8221; he laughed. &#8220;The story is so short it needs a little
+preface. As I was saying then, when I was twenty years old or so, the
+name of old Raynier, of the Mount of Sorrow, was a by-word of terror
+through the region round, as the name of his father was, and his
+father before him. He had no other property than the sterile farm
+half-way up the mountain, and almost inaccessible&mdash;in winter entirely
+inaccessible&mdash;where he raised not half a support on the slips of earth
+among the ledges; his few starved sheep and goats did what they could
+for him, and his rifle did the rest. The first Raynier of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>them all
+was possibly an escaped convict, who fortified his retreat by these
+mountain-sides. He had no money; the women spun and wove all that was
+worn. He had no education; no Raynier had ever had; no Raynier had
+ever had occasion to sign his mark, let alone his name. There had been
+one son in each generation; neither church nor school ever saw him;
+his existence was scarcely known till he was ready to marry, and then
+he came down, and by no one knows what other magic than a savage force
+of nature took the prettiest girl of the valley to his
+eyrie&mdash;sometimes his wife, sometimes not. When she died, and she
+always died, the Raynier of the day replaced her. He did not always
+wait for her to die before replacing her. But sudden deaths were no
+uncommon thing in that house; there was a burial-ground scooped in the
+hill-side. And who was there to interfere? Perhaps no one knew there
+had been a death till the year was out. What if a woman went mad? That
+happened anywhere. People below might prate of murder, or suicide, or
+slow poison; there was nobody to whom it was vital enough to open the
+question seriously; and then they feared the Raynier with an uncanny
+fear, as people fear a catamount in the woods, or the goblin of old
+wives&#8217; tales after dark. There were horrible stories of bouts and
+brawls, of tortures, gags, whips, and&mdash;oh, no matter! Nor was all the
+crime on the shoulders of the Raynier men. It was understood that more
+than one woman of the name found life too intolerable to endure its
+conditions <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>when the fumes of a charcoal fire after a drunken feast,
+or a quick thrust over the edge of a precipice, or a bit of weed in
+the broth, made life easier, till remorse brought madness. And
+finally, if any Raynier died what may be called a natural death, it
+was either from starvation or from delirium tremens. You see they were
+a precious lot.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A precious lot!&#8221; I said, trembling. &#8220;Ah, what is heaven made of? Poor
+wretches, they could not help it. From generation to generation the
+children of such people must needs be criminal.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know. If removed from such influence. To my mind environment
+is strong as heredity, quite as strong. It destroys the old and
+creates the new. However, environment and heredity worked together up
+there. In my day&mdash;to continue&mdash;the Raynier family was larger than
+usual. The last wife still lived, a miserable cowed creature, white as
+ashes, face and hair and bleached scared eyes, eyes that looked as if
+they saw phantoms rather than people. Her mind was partially gone. I
+was a famous mountaineer then, and climbing wherever foot of man had
+been before, I once in a while came upon some or other of that family,
+and sometimes paused at the door, where I had first to teach the
+bloodhounds a lesson. I never entered the filthy place but once. There
+were two sons and a daughter. Oh, how immortally beautiful that girl
+was! Such velvet darkness in the eye, such statuesque lines, such
+rose-leaf color, such hair&mdash;&#8216;hair like the thistle-down tinted with
+gold,&#8217; as John Mills, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>Scotch poet-player, sang. The old man
+Raynier worshipped her, perhaps as a wild beast loves its whelp. But
+he had all sorts of fanciful names for her, Heart&#8217;s-ease and Heart&#8217;s
+Delight, and Violet and Rose and Lily. He grew almost gentle when he
+spoke to her; and he never knew that she was feeble-minded. She just
+missed being an imbecile. Perhaps you would not have known that all at
+once; you might not have found it out at all only meeting her
+casually. The old man Raynier sent her down to school&mdash;the first that
+had ever been there: she could never learn to read. She could not
+always tell her name. Still, her mind was innocent&mdash;perhaps because it
+was a blank. I have sometimes thought that blank mind of hers may have
+been a dead-wall through which the vices of her forebears could not
+pass, and so her children, if she had them, may have escaped the
+inheritance, and found a chance for good again, as if crime should at
+last estop itself. That may be.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I think this is terrible!&#8221; I said, as we turned again in our
+walk. &#8220;Make haste, please, and be through.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, it is. But I would show you that life can be anything but
+commonplace in this wilderness. Well, blank or not, she had a lover,
+who had found her out in his sketching rambles, a young painter from
+some distant parts, and the first boarder I ever had, by the way. And
+all the Rayniers swore they would have his life sooner than he should
+have her. One day I had been hunting on old Mount <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>Sorrow, as it
+happened; there had been a sudden frost following rain that had frozen
+the water in the cracks of the cliffs, and made the way not only
+slippery, but dangerous; for in the heat of the noon sun the ice was
+melting, and every now and then its expansion was rending some
+fragment of rock so that your footing might vanish from beneath, or
+some shower of stones come rattling down from above; and I was tired
+when I reached the Raynier place, led by a blaze of maple boughs that
+started out like torches to show the way, and stopped to rest. I
+looked up at an enormous shelf of rock, half clad with reddened vines
+that fluttered like pestilence flags&mdash;a shelf that, although some
+hundred feet or so away from it, yet overhung the place and cast a
+perpetual shadow there. I wondered then why Nature had no secret
+springs of feeling to thrill her and cause her to rend the rocks and
+cover such a den of iniquity as we all held the spot to be. But Nature
+was just as fair that ambrosial September day as if there was not a
+dissonance. Perhaps she knew the right of the Rayniers to life,
+liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A delicious scent of the balsam
+from the pines filled the air, the sunshine swept over the hills below
+in waves of light, and the hills themselves were like waves of a
+golden green and purple sea where now and then a rainbow swam and
+broke. Peace and perfectness, I said, peace and perfectness. These
+people live and are happy. On the other side one looked into the
+dreary defile of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>mountain gate, with its black depths hung with
+cloud, and remembered that if there was not a hell, there ought to be.
+I was thinking this as I sat there, when I heard a wild cry, an
+agonized shriek, blood-curdling, repeated and repeated from within. It
+was the girl&#8217;s voice. I was on my feet, and, in spite of the
+bloodhounds, making for the spot and among the crew. The old woman
+cowered in the corner, the two brothers held the girl, the old man
+towered over her, his great eyes blazing in his ashen face. I can&#8217;t
+tell you what they were doing. Sometimes I have thought old Raynier
+was burning her with a hot iron he held&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, horrible! horrible!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Burning her with a hot iron to make her give up her lover! Sometimes
+I have thought he was only demolishing the little likenesses of him
+and of herself, which that lover had painted, and which she cherished,
+perhaps as his work, perhaps for the unwonted gewgaw of the slender
+golden frame, for the one picture was already in fragments, and
+although she clutched half of the other, the broken half had fallen
+and rolled away. I have it somewhere. I will show it to you. I had no
+time, indeed, to see what it was they were doing, for behind me
+bounded that lover like a whirlwind, thrust one brother and the other
+aside, seized the girl, darted over the door-sill with her, and down
+the crags of the mountain path. He should have what help I could give.
+I was after him, stooping to catch up the fragment of painting as I
+turned, down the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>cliff&#8217;s edge, they following. And all at once I
+stopped as if paralyzed to the marrow by a clap of thunder, and turned
+my head to see the old man with his white hair streaming, and his arms
+uplifted in his cursing, as he came leaping on, and the next moment
+the shelf of overhanging rock had fallen, had cleft the house in
+twain, and mother and father and sons and hounds were dust with the
+dust flying over the precipices. I saw it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; I cried, with my hands over my eyes. &#8220;Why did it not strike you
+blind?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And here,&#8221; said Colonel Vorse, leading my steps to an old cabinet in
+an alcove, &#8220;ought to be the half of that little likeness I picked up
+as I ran. I wonder what became of the other half&mdash;what became of the
+girl&mdash;if the lover married her&mdash;if she knew enough to know he didn&#8217;t
+marry her&mdash;if she lived long enough for him to find out she was a
+fool&mdash;if she was the last of the Rayniers?&#8221; As he ceased, he put the
+half of the little miniature into my hands.</p>
+
+<p>It was a broken bit of ivory, and on it the upper part of a face,
+sketchily done, with pansy-dark eyes and blush rose skin&mdash;without a
+frame. I had the frame.</p>
+
+<p>A heart beat, a fluttering breath, a reeling sense of the world
+staggering away from me, and then my bewildered senses were at work
+again, and an agony like death was cutting me to the heart as we
+resumed our walking.</p>
+
+<p>Should I tell him? Should I go on with my secret, my inheritance, my
+curse, and let no man <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>know? If it ate out my heart, the sooner to
+end; my heart was broken now. Never, never now could fireside shine
+for me, could lover&#8217;s lips be mine, could little faces sun themselves
+in my smile.</p>
+
+<p>We paused before the great window, with those vague white shapes
+before us, for my feet would not obey me, and the light behind us
+shone on the bit of ivory. If I told him, it would be easier for him
+to bear; he would see the impossibility, he would desire my love no
+longer. My fearful inheritance would yawn like a gulf between us with
+its impassable darkness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And the ruin on the hill-side is an eye-sore,&#8221; I said. &#8220;But it is
+easy to remove it. I suppose it belongs to me. For&mdash;look here&mdash;it is I
+who must be the last of the Rayniers.&#8221; And I drew from my breast the
+broken thing, the halved miniature, that in my mock sentiment I had
+worn so long.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You!&#8221; cried he. &#8220;You!&#8221; And his feet tottered, and he leaned against
+the casement for support&mdash;he who an hour or so ago had seemed so full
+of repressed strength that he could have pulled his house down about
+his ears. Well, had he not done so?</p>
+
+<p>I moved to his side, and held the thing that he might see where the
+pieces matched, the line of the cheek flowing into the lovely curve of
+the chin, the flickering sweetness of the lovely mouth, the lambent
+glance of the lovely eye. &#8220;It is my mother, you see,&#8221; I said. &#8220;And it
+needs no words to say it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It needs no words to say it,&#8221; he repeated, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>hoarsely. &#8220;It is your
+image. Oh, my God! What have I done! what have I done! My darling, my
+darling, you must let me repair it by a lifetime of devotion.&#8221; And he
+had his arms about me, and was drawing me to his heaving breast, his
+throbbing heart.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No! no! no!&#8221; I sobbed. &#8220;It is impossible. I am wrecked; I am ruined;
+I can be no man&#8217;s wife. You see yourself&mdash;I will never&mdash;&#8221; But his lips
+were silencing mine, and I lay there with those arms about me a
+moment; I lay there like one in heaven suspended over hell.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What do I care,&#8221; he whispered, &#8220;for all the Rayniers in Christendom
+or out of it, but you? I have learned in this moment that you love me!
+I will never give you up.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must,&#8221; I groaned.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I tell you I never will,&#8221; he said, his voice husky and low and
+trembling, but his eye and his grasp firm. &#8220;I have assured you that
+environment, education, art, can supplement nature and heredity. They
+have done so with you. You are your father&#8217;s child. You received from
+your mother only the vital spark, only this beauty, this fatal beauty.
+If you inherited all that the Rayniers ever had, then I love, I love,
+I love all that the Rayniers ever were, for I love you. I have your
+love, Helena, and I will never let you go.&#8221; While speaking he had
+touched the bell at his hand, and now he sent the answering servant
+for Dr. Devens, who came at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>once, supposing some sight of the snow
+was in store.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bid them all out here, Doctor,&#8221; cried Colonel Vorse. &#8220;Ah, here they
+come! In this part of the country we need no license for marriage.
+Here are a bride and groom awaiting your blessing. Perform your
+office, sir.&#8221; And before I could summon heart or voice, making no
+response, bewildered and faint, I was the wife of Colonel Vorse, and
+my husband&#8217;s arms were supporting me as the words of the prayer and
+benediction rolled over us.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is no time like the present,&#8221; he cried, gayly, his tones no
+longer broken, &#8220;as I have always found.&#8221; And suddenly, before he
+ceased, and while they all thronged round me, there came a sharp
+strange sigh singing through the air, that grew into the wild
+discordant music of multitudinous echoes, and we all turned and sprang
+intuitively to see, rent in the moonlight and sheathed in the glorious
+spray of a thousand ice-falls, the Mount of Sorrow bow its head and
+come down, and, while the whole earth shook and smoked back in hoar
+vapors, the great snow-slide in its swift sheeting splendor flash and
+wipe out before our eyes the last timber of the hut and barn and byre
+of the Rayniers.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="SISTER_SILVIA" id="SISTER_SILVIA"></a>SISTER SILVIA.</h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By Mary Agnes Tincker.</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">&#8258; <i>Lippincott&#8217;s Magazine, December, 1878.</i></p>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">M</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">onte</span> Compatri is one of the eastern outlying peaks of the Alban
+Mountains, and, like so many Italian mountains, has its road climbing
+to and fro in long loops to a gray little city at the top. This city
+of Monte Compatri is a full and busy hive, with solid blocks of
+houses, and the narrowest of streets that break now and then into
+stairs. For those old builders respected the features of a landscape
+as though they had been the features of a face, and no more thought of
+levelling inequalities of land than of shaving down or raising up
+noses. When a man had a house-lot in a hollow, he built his house
+there, and made steps to go down to it: his neighbor, who owned a
+rocky knoll, built his house at the top, and made stairs to go up to
+it. Moreover, if the land was a bit in the city, the house was made in
+the shape of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>it, and was as likely to have corners in obtuse or acute
+as in right angles.</p>
+
+<p>The inhabitants of Monte Compatri have two streets of which they are
+immensely proud&mdash;the Lungara, which wriggles through the middle of the
+town, and the Giro, which makes the entire circuit of the town,
+leaving outside only the rim of houses that rise from the edge of the
+mountain, some of them founded on the natural rock, others stretching
+roots of masonry far down into the earth.</p>
+
+<p>One of these houses on the Giro had for generations been in the
+possession of the Guai family. One after another had held it at an
+easy rent from Prince Borghese, the owner of the town. The vineyard
+and orchard below in the Campagna they owned, and from those their
+wealth was derived. For it was wealth for such people to have a house
+full of furniture, linen and porcelain&mdash;where, perhaps, a connoisseur
+might have found some rare bits of old china&mdash;besides having a
+thousand scudi in bank.</p>
+
+<p>In this position was the head of the family when he died, leaving a
+grown-up son and daughter, and his wife about to become a mother for
+the third time.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pepina shall have her portion in money, since she is to marry soon,&#8221;
+the father said. &#8220;Give her three hundred scudi in gold and a hundred
+in pearls. The rest of the money shall be for my wife to do as she
+likes with. For the little one, when it shall come, Matteo shall put
+in the bank <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>every year thirty scudi, and when it shall be of age, be
+it girl or boy, he shall divide the land equally with it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>So said Giovanni Guai, and died, and his wife let him talk
+uncontradicted, since it was for the last time. They had lived a
+stormy life, his heavy fist opposed to her indefatigable tongue, and
+she contemplated with silent triumph the prospect of being left in
+possession of the field. Besides, would he not see afterward what she
+did&mdash;see and be helpless to oppose? So she let him die fancying that
+he had disposed of his property.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The child is sure to be a girl,&#8221; she said afterward, &#8220;and I mean her
+to be a nun. The land shall not be cut up. Matteo shall be a rich man
+and pile up a fortune. He shall be the richest man in Monte Compatri,
+and a girl shall not stand in his way.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Nature verified the mother&#8217;s prophecy and sent a little girl. Silvia
+they called her, and, since she was surely to be a nun, she grew to be
+called Sister Silvia by everybody, even before she was old enough to
+recognize her own name.</p>
+
+<p>The house of the Guai, on its inner wall, opened on the comparatively
+quiet Giro. From the windows and door could be heard the buzz and hum
+of the Lungara, where everybody&mdash;men, women, children, cats and
+dogs&mdash;were out with every species of work and play when the sun began
+to decline. This was the part of the house most frequented and liked
+by the family. They could see their neighbors <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>even when they were at
+work in their houses, and could exchange gossip and stir the polenta
+at the same time. The other side of the house they avoided. It was
+lonely and it was sunny. For Italians would have the sun, like the
+Lord, to be for ever knocking at the door and for ever shut out. It
+must shine upon their outer walls, but not by any means enter their
+windows.</p>
+
+<p>As years passed, however, there grew to be one exception in this
+regard. Sister Silvia loved not the town with its busy streets, nor
+the front windows with their gossiping heads thrust out or in. She had
+her own chamber on the Campagna side, and there she sat the livelong
+day with knitting or sewing, never going out, except at early morning
+to hear mass. There her mother accompanied her&mdash;a large,
+self-satisfied woman beside a pallid little maiden who never raised
+her eyes. Or, if her mother could not go, Matteo stalked along by her
+side, and with his black looks made everybody afraid to glance her
+way. Nobody liked to encounter the two black eyes of Matteo Guai. It
+was understood that the knife in his belt was sharp, and that no
+scruple of conscience would stand between him and any vengeance he
+might choose to take for any affront he might choose to imagine.</p>
+
+<p>After mass, then, and the little work her mother permitted the girl to
+do for health&#8217;s sake, Silvia sat alone by her window and looked out on
+the splendor which her eyes alone could appreciate. There lay the
+Campagna rolling and waving for miles <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>and miles around, till the
+Sabines, all rose and amethyst, hemmed it in with their exquisite
+wall, and the sea curved a gleaming sickle to cut off its flowery
+passage, or the nearer mountains stood guard, almost covered by the
+green spray it threw up their rocky sides. She sat and stared at Rome
+while her busy fingers knit&mdash;at the wonderful city where she was one
+day to go and be a nun, where the pope lived and kings came to worship
+him. In the morning light the Holy City lay in the midst of the
+Campagna like her mother&#8217;s wedding-pearls when dropped in a heap on
+their green cushion; and Silvia knelt with her face that way and
+prayed for a soul as white, for she was to be the spouse of Christ,
+and her purity was all that she could bring Him as a dowry. But when
+evening came, and that other airy sea of fine golden mist flowed in
+from the west, and made a gorgeous blur of all things, then the city
+seemed to float upward from the earth and rise toward heaven all
+stirring with the wings of its guardian angels, and Silvia would beg
+that the New Jerusalem might not be assumed till she should have the
+happiness of being in it.</p>
+
+<p>But there was a lovely view nearer than this visionary one, though the
+little nun seldom looked at it. If she should lean from her window she
+would see the mountain-side dropping from the gray walls of her home,
+with clinging flowery vines and trees growing downward, while the
+olives and grapevines of the Campagna came to meet them, setting here
+and there a precarious little garden <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>half-way up the steep. Just
+under her window an almost perpendicular path came up, crept round the
+walls and entered the town. But no one ever used this road now, for a
+far wider and better one had been constructed at the other side of the
+mountain, and all the people came up that way when the day&#8217;s work was
+over in the Campagna.</p>
+
+<p>One summer afternoon Silvia&#8217;s reveries were broken by her mother&#8217;s
+voice calling her: &#8220;Silvia, come and prepare the salad for Matteo.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was an extraordinary request, but the girl went at once without
+question. She seized upon every opportunity to practise obedience in
+preparation for that time when her life would be made up of obedience
+and prayer.</p>
+
+<p>Her mother was sitting by one of the windows talking with Matteo, who
+had just come up from the Campagna. He had an unsocial habit of eating
+alone, and, as he ate nothing when down in the vineyard, always wanted
+his supper as soon as he came up. The table was set for him with
+snow-white cloth and napkin, silver knife, fork and spoon, a loaf of
+bread and a decanter of golden-sparkling wine icy cold from the grotto
+hewn in the rock beneath the house; and he was just eating his
+<i>minestra</i> of vegetables when his sister came in. At the other end of
+the long table was a head of crisp white lettuce, lying on a clean
+linen towel, and two bottles&mdash;one of white vinegar, the other of oil
+as sweet as cream and as bright as sunshine. Monte Compatri had no
+need to send to Lucca for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>oil of olives while its own orchards
+dropped such streams of pure richness.</p>
+
+<p>The room was large and dingy. The brick floor had never known other
+cleansing than sprinkling and sweeping, the yellow-washed walls had
+become with time a pale, mottled brown, the paint had disappeared
+under a fixed dinginess which the dusting-brush alone could not
+remove, and the glass of the windows had never been washed except by
+the rain. Yet, for all that, the place had an air of cleanliness. For
+though these people do not clean their houses more than they clean
+their yards, yet their clothing and tables and beds are clean.
+Plentiful white linen, stockings like snow, and bright dishes and
+metals give a look of freshness and show well on the dim background.
+Heavy walnut presses, carved and black with age, stood against the
+walls, drinking-glasses and candlesticks sparkled on a dark
+bureau-top, there was a bright picture or two, and the sunlighted
+tinware of a house at the other side of the street threw a cluster of
+tiny rays like a bouquet of light in at the window. Silvia received
+these sun-blossoms on her head when she placed herself at the lower
+end of the table. She pushed the sleeves of her white sack back from
+her slim white arms, and began washing the lettuce-leaves in a bowl of
+fresh water and breaking them in the towel. The leaves broke with a
+fine snap and dropped in pieces as stiff as paper into a large
+dark-blue plate of old Japanese ware. A connoisseur in porcelain would
+have set <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>such a plate on his drawing-room wall as a picture.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How does Claudio work?&#8221; the mother asked of her son.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He works well,&#8221; Matteo replied. &#8220;He is worth two of our common
+fellows, if he <i>is</i> educated.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nevertheless, I should not have employed him,&#8221; the mother said. &#8220;He
+has disobeyed and disappointed his parents, and he should be punished.
+They meant him to be a priest, and raked and scraped every soldo to
+educate him. Now, just when he is at the point of being able to repay
+them, he makes up his mind that he has no vocation for the priesthood,
+and breaks their hearts by his ingratitude. It is nonsense to set
+one&#8217;s will up so and have such scruples. Obedience is vocation enough
+for anything. There should be a prison where parents could put the
+children who disobey them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The Sora Guai spoke sternly, and looked as if she would not have
+hesitated to put a refractory child in the deepest of dungeons.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He was a fool, but he earns his money,&#8221; Matteo responded, and,
+drawing a plate of deliciously fried frogs toward him, began to gnaw
+them and throw the bones on the floor.</p>
+
+<p>Silvia gave him the salad, and poured wine and water into the tumbler
+for him, while his mother went to the kitchen for a dish of fricasseed
+pigeons.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no onion in the salad,&#8221; Matteo grumbled when she came back.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p><p>Silvia uttered an exclamation of dismay, ran for a silvery-white
+little onion and sliced it thinly into the salad.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Forgive me, Matteo,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I was distracted by the thought of
+Claudio. It seems such a terrible thing.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It would be a much more terrible thing if it were a girl who
+disobeyed,&#8221; Matteo growled. He did not like that girls should
+criticise men.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So it would,&#8221; the girl responded, with meek readiness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know why I feel so tired to-day,&#8221; the mother said, sinking
+into a chair again. &#8220;My bones ache as if I had been working in the
+vineyard all day.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are not ill, mamma?&#8221; exclaimed Silvia, blushing with alarm.</p>
+
+<p>The answer was a hesitating one: &#8220;I don&#8217;t see what can ail me. It
+wouldn&#8217;t be anything, only that I am so tired without having done
+much.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps it&#8217;s the weather, mamma,&#8221; Silvia suggested.</p>
+
+<p>Gentle as she was, she had adopted the ruthless and ungrateful Italian
+custom of ascribing every ache and pain of the body to some almost
+imperceptible change in their too beautiful weather. The smallest
+cloud goes laden with more accusations than it holds drops of rain,
+and the ill winds that blow nobody any good blow through those shining
+skies from morning till night and from night till morning again.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p><p>The Sora Guai was sicker than she dreamed. It was not the summer sun
+that scorched her so, nor the <i>scirocco</i> that made her head so heavy.
+What malaria she had found to breathe on the mountain-top it would be
+hard to say; but the dreaded <i>perniciosa</i> had caught her in its grasp,
+and she was doomed. The fever burned fiercely for a few days, and when
+it was quenched there was nothing left but ashes.</p>
+
+<p>And thus died the only earthly thing to which Sister Silvia&#8217;s heart
+clung. The mother had been stern, but the daughter was too submissive
+to need correction. She had never had any will of her own, except to
+love and obey. Collision between them was therefore impossible, and
+the daughter felt as a frail plant growing under a shadowing tree
+might feel if the tree were cut down. She was bare to every wind that
+blew. She had no companions of her own age&mdash;she had no companion of
+any age, in fact&mdash;and she had not been accustomed to think for herself
+in the smallest thing.</p>
+
+<p>She had got bent into a certain shape, however, and her brother and
+sister felt quite safe on her account. Everybody knew that she was to
+be a nun of the Perpetual Adoration; that she was soon to go to the
+convent of Santa Maria Maddalena on the Quirinal in Rome; and that,
+once entered there, she would never again see a person from outside.
+The town&#8217;s-people were accustomed to the wall of silence and seclusion
+which had already grown up about her, and they did not even seek to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>salute her when they met her going to and from church in the morning.
+To these simple citizens, ignorant but reverential, Sister Silvia&#8217;s
+lowered eyelids were as inviolate as the pearl gates of the New
+Jerusalem. Besides, to help their reverence, there were the fierce
+black eyes and strange reputation of Matteo. So when, a day or two
+after her mother&#8217;s death, his sister begged him to accompany her to
+church in the early morning, and leave her in the care of some decent
+woman there, Matteo replied that she might go by herself.</p>
+
+<p>She set out for the first time alone on what had ever been to her a
+<i>via sacra</i>, and was now become a <i>via dolorosa</i>, where her tears
+dropped as she walked. And going so once, she went again. Pepina, the
+elder sister, a widow now, had come home to keep house for Matteo, but
+she was too much taken up with work, the care of her two children and
+looking out for a second husband to have time to watch Silvia, and
+after a few weeks the young girl went as unheeded as a matron in her
+daily walk.</p>
+
+<p>At home her life was nearly the same. She mended the clothes from the
+washing and knit stockings, and sat at her window and looked off over
+the Campagna toward Rome.</p>
+
+<p>One evening she sat there before going to bed and watched the
+moonlight turn all the earth to black and silver under the purple
+sky&mdash;a black like velvet, so deep and soft was it, and a silver like
+white fire, clear and splendid, yet beautifully soft. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>She was feeling
+desolate, and her tears dropped down, now and then breaking into sobs.
+It had been pleasant to sit there alone when she knew that her mother
+was below stairs, strong, healthy and gay. All that life had been as
+the oil over which her little flame burned. Lacking it, she grew dim,
+just as the floating wick in her little blue vase before the Madonna
+grew dim when the oil was gone.</p>
+
+<p>As she wept and heard unconsciously the nightingales, she grew
+conscious of another song that mingled with theirs. It was a human
+voice, clear and sweet as an angel&#8217;s, and it sang a melody she knew in
+little snatches that seemed to begin and end in a sigh. The voice came
+nearer and paused beneath a fig tree, and the words grew distinct.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Piet&agrave;, signore, di me dolente,&#8221; it sang.</p>
+
+<p>Silvia leaned out of the window and looked down at the singer. His
+face was lifted to the white moonlight, and seemed in its pallid
+beauty a concentration of the moonlight. Only his face was visible,
+for the shadow of the tree hid all his figure. One might almost have
+expected to catch a glimmer of two motionless wings bearing up that
+face, so fair it was.</p>
+
+<p>To Silvia it was as if another self, who grieved also, but who could
+speak, were uttering all her pain, and lightening it so. She
+recognized Claudio&#8217;s voice. He was the chief singer in the cathedral,
+and sang like an angel. She was afraid that Claudio had done very
+wrong in not being a priest, but, for all that, she had often found
+her devotion <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>increased by his singing. The Christmas night would not
+have been half so joyful lacking his <i>Adeste Fideles</i>; the <i>Stabat
+Mater</i> sung by him in Holy Week made her tears of religious sorrow
+burst forth afresh; and when on Easter morning he sang the <i>Gloria</i> it
+had seemed to her that the heavens were opening.</p>
+
+<p>For all that, however, he had been to her not a person, but a voice.
+That he should come here and express her sorrow made him seem
+different. For the first time she looked at his face. By daylight it
+was thin and finely featured, and of a clear darkness like shaded
+water, through which the faintest tinge of color is visible. In this
+transfigurating moonlight it became of a luminous whiteness.</p>
+
+<p>The song ended, the singer turned his head slightly and looked up at
+Silvia&#8217;s window. She did not draw back. There was no recognition of
+any human sympathy with him, and no slightest consciousness of that
+airy and silent friendship which had long been weaving itself over the
+tops of the mountains that separated them. How could she know that
+Claudio had sung for her, and that it had been the measure of his
+success to see her head droop or lift as he sang of sorrow and pain or
+of joy and triumph? The choir had their post over the door; and,
+besides, she never glanced up even in going out. Therefore she gazed
+down into his uplifted face with a sweet and sorrowful tranquillity,
+her soul pure and candid to its uttermost depths.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p><p>For Claudio, who had sung to express his sympathy for her, but had not
+dreamed of seeing her, it was as if the dark-blue sky above had opened
+and an angel had looked out when he saw her face. He could only
+stretch his clasped hands toward her.</p>
+
+<p>The gesture made her weep anew, for it was like human kindness. She
+hid her face in her handkerchief, and he saw her wipe the tears away
+again and again.</p>
+
+<p>Claudio remembered a note he carried. It had been written the night
+before&mdash;not with any hope of her ever seeing it, but, as he had
+written her hundreds of notes before, pouring out his heart into them
+because it was too full to bear without that relief. He took the note
+out, but how should he give it to her? The window was too far above
+for him to toss so light a thing unless it should be weighted with a
+stone; and he could not throw a stone at Silvia&#8217;s window. He held it
+up, and, that she might see it more clearly, tore up a handful of red
+poppies and laid it white on the blossoms that were a deep red by
+night.</p>
+
+<p>Silvia understood, and after a moment&#8217;s study dropped him down the
+ball of her knitting; and soon the note came swaying up through the
+still air resting on its cushion of poppies, for Claudio had wound the
+thread about both flowers and letter.</p>
+
+<p>He smiled with an almost incredulous delight as he saw the package
+arrive safely at its destination, and caught afterward the faint red
+light of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>lamp that Silvia had taken down from before her Madonna
+to read the note by. Since she was a little thing only five or six
+years old his heart had turned toward her, and her small white face
+had been to him the one star in a dim life. He still kept two or three
+tiny flowers she had given him years before when his family and hers
+were coming together down from Monte San Silvestro at the other side
+of Monte Compatri. The two children, with others, had stopped to stick
+fresh flowers through the wire screen before the great crucifix
+half-way up the mountain, and Silvia had given Claudio these blossoms.
+He had laid them away with his treasures and relics&mdash;the bit of muslin
+from the veil of Our Lady of Loretto, the almost invisible speck from
+the cord of St. Francis of Assisi and the little paper of the ashes of
+Blessed Joseph Labr&eacute;. In those days he was the little priest and she
+the little nun, and their companions stood respectfully back for them.
+Now he was no more the priest, and she was up there in her window
+against the sky reading the note he had written her.</p>
+
+<p>This is what the note said:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>&#8220;My heart is breaking for your sorrow. Why should such eyes as yours
+be permitted to weep? Who is there to wipe those tears away? Oh that I
+might catch them as they fall! Drop me down a handkerchief that has
+been wet with them, that I may keep it as a relic. Tell me of some way
+in which I can console you and spend my life to serve you.&#8221;</p></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p><p>She read with a mingling of consolation and astonishment. Why, this
+was more than her mother cared for her! But perhaps men were really
+more strongly loving than women. It would seem so, since God, who
+knows all, when He wanted to express His love to mankind, took the
+form of a man, not of a woman. Then she considered whether, and how,
+she should answer this note, and the result of her considering was
+this, written hastily on a bit of paper in which some Agnus Dei had
+been wrapped:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>&#8220;I do not know what I ought to write to you, but I thank you
+for your kindness. It comforts me, and I have need of
+comfort. I think, though, that it may be wrong for you to
+speak of my handkerchief as if it were a relic. Relics are
+things which have belonged to the saints, and I am not a
+saint at all, though I hope to become one. I frequently do
+wrong. Spend your life in serving God, and pray for me. You
+pray in singing, and your singing is very sweet.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 2em;">&#8220;<span class="smcap">Silvia.</span>&#8221;</span></p></div>
+
+<p>It seemed to her a simple and merely polite note. To him it was as the
+spark to a magazine of powder. All the possibilities of his life, only
+half hoped or half dreamed of, burst at once into a flame of
+certainty. She had need of comfort, and he comforted her! His voice
+was sweet to her, and his singing was a prayer!</p>
+
+<p>Silvia should not be a nun. She should break <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>the bond imposed by her
+mother, as he had broken that imposed by his parents. She should be
+his wife, and they would live in Rome. He knew that his voice would
+find bread for them.</p>
+
+<p>All this flashed through his mind as he read, and pressed to his lips
+the handkerchief which she had dropped down to him, though it was not
+a relic. He lifted his arms upward toward her window with a rapturous
+joy, as if to embrace her, but she did not look out again. A little
+scruple for having deprived the Madonna for a moment of her lamp had
+made her resolve to say at once a decade of the rosary in expiation.
+He waited till the sound of closing doors and wandering voices told
+that the inhabitants gathered for the evening in the Lungara were
+separating to their homes, then went reluctantly away. Matteo would be
+at home, and Matteo&#8217;s face might look down at him from that other
+window beside Silvia&#8217;s. So he also went home, with the moonlight
+between his feet and the ground and stars sparkling in his brain. He
+felt as if his head were the sky.</p>
+
+<p>This was an August night. One day in October, Matteo told his sister
+that she was to go to Rome with him the next morning to pass a month
+with a family they knew there, and afterward begin her novitiate in
+the convent of the Sacramentarians at Monte Cavallo. He had received a
+letter from the Signora Fantini, who would receive her and do
+everything for her. He and Pepina had no time, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>now that the vintage
+had begun, to attend to such affairs, even if they knew how.</p>
+
+<p>Silvia grew pale. She had not expected to go before the spring, and
+now all was arranged without a word being said to her, and she was to
+go without saying good-bye to any one.</p>
+
+<p>Matteo&#8217;s sharp eyes were watching her. &#8220;You will be ready to start at
+seven o&#8217;clock,&#8221; he said; &#8220;I must be back to-morrow night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Matteo,&#8221; she faltered, hesitated a moment, then ventured to add,
+&#8220;I did not expect to go to soon.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And what of that?&#8221; he demanded roughly. &#8220;You were to go at the proper
+time, and the proper time is to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She trembled, but ventured another word: &#8220;I should like to see my
+confessor first.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He will come here this evening to see you,&#8221; her brother replied: &#8220;I
+have already talked with him. You have nothing else to do. Pepina will
+pack your trunk while you are talking with the priest.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Silvia had no more to say. She was bound hand and foot. Besides, she
+was willing to go, she assured herself. It was her duty to obey her
+parents, or the ones who stood in their place and had authority over
+her. Matteo said she must go; therefore it was her duty to go, and she
+was willing.</p>
+
+<p>But the willing girl looked very pale and walked about with a very
+feeble step, and it was hard work to keep the tears that were every
+moment rising to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>her eyes from falling over her cheeks. It was such a
+pitiful face, indeed, that Father Teodoli, when he came just before
+Ave Maria, asked if Silvia were ill.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She has had a toothache,&#8221; Matteo said quickly, and gave his sister a
+glance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And what have you done for it, my child?&#8221; the priest asked kindly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nothing,&#8221; Silvia faltered out.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will leave you to give Silvia all the advice she needs,&#8221; Matteo
+said after the compliments of welcome were over. &#8220;I have to go down
+the Lungara for men to work in the vineyard to-morrow. Silvia, come
+and shut the door after me: there is too much draught here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Silvia followed her brother to the door, trembling for what he might
+say or do. Well she knew that his command was given only that he might
+have a chance to speak with her alone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mind what you say to your confessor,&#8221; he whispered, grasping her arm
+and speaking in her ear. &#8220;You are to be a nun: you wish to be, and you
+are willing to set out to-morrow. Tell him no nonsense&mdash;do you
+hear?&mdash;or it will be worse for you. I shall know every word you say.
+If he asks if you had a toothache, say Yes. Do you hear?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Matteo.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She went back half fainting, and did as she had been commanded. If
+there had been any little lurking impulse to beg for another week or
+month, it died of fear. If she had any confession to make <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>of other
+wishes than those chosen for her, she postponed it. Matteo might be
+behind the door listening, or in the next room or at the window. It
+seemed to her that he could make himself invisible in order to keep
+guard over her.</p>
+
+<p>So the priest talked a little, learned nothing, gave some advice,
+recommended himself to her prayers, gave her his benediction, and
+went. Then Pepina called her to see the trunk all packed with linen
+that had been laid by for her for years, and Matteo, who had really
+been lurking about the house, told her to go to bed, and himself
+really went off this time to the Lungara. Pepina&#8217;s lover came for her
+to sit out on the doorstep with him, and Silvia was left alone. Nobody
+cared for her. All had other interests, and they forgot her the moment
+she was out of their sight. Worse, even: they wanted her to be for
+ever out of their sight, that they might never have to think of her.</p>
+
+<p>But no: there was one who did not forget her&mdash;who would perhaps now
+have heard that she was going away, and be waiting in the
+mountain-path for her. She hastened to her room, locked the door and
+went to the window. He made a gesture of haste, and she dropped the
+ball down to him. This was not the second time that their conversation
+had been held by means of a thread. Indeed, they had come to talk so
+every night. At first it had been a few words only, and Silvia&#8217;s
+unconsciousness and her sincerity in her intention to follow her
+mother&#8217;s will had imposed silence on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>young man. But little by
+little he had ventured, and she had understood; and within the last
+week there had been no concealments between them, though Silvia still
+resisted all his prayers to change her resolution and brave her
+brother.</p>
+
+<p>His first note was in her hands in a moment:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is it possible that what I hear is true? I will not believe it: I
+will not let you go.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, and I must go,&#8221; she wrote back. &#8220;I have to start at seven in the
+morning. Dear Claudio, be resigned: there is no help for it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Silvia, why will you persist in ruining your life and mine? It is a
+sin. Say that you are too sick to go to-morrow. Stay in bed all day,
+and by night I will have a rope-ladder for you to come down to me. We
+can run away and hide somewhere.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I cannot. We could never hide from Matteo: he would find us out and
+kill us both.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will go to the Holy Father and tell him all. We could be in Rome
+early in the morning if we should walk all night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Matteo would hear us: he hears everything. We should never reach
+Rome. He would find us wherever we might be hidden. If we were dead
+and buried he would pull us out of the ground to stab us. I must go. I
+have sinned in having so much intercourse with you. Be resigned,
+Claudio. Be a good man, and we shall meet in heaven. The earth is a
+terrible place: I am afraid of it. I want to shut myself up in the
+convent and be at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>peace. I fear so much that I tremble all the time.
+Say addio.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I cannot. Will you stay in bed to-morrow, and let me try if I cannot
+go to Rome?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Say addio, Claudio. I dare not stay here any longer: I hear some one
+outside my door. I say addio to you now. I shall not drop the ball
+again.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She did not even draw it up again, for the thread caught on a nail in
+the wall and broke. And at the same time there was a knock at her
+door.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Silvia, why do you not go to bed?&#8221; Matteo called out: &#8220;I hear you
+up.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am going now,&#8221; she made haste to answer, and in her terror threw
+herself on the bed without undressing. She wondered if Matteo could
+hear her heart beat through the wall or see how she was shaking.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning at seven o&#8217;clock Silvia and her brother took their
+seats in the clumsy coach that goes from Monte Compatri to Rome
+whenever there are passengers enough to fill it, and after confused
+leavetakings from all but the one she wished most to see they set out.
+Claudio was invisible. In fact, he had lain on the ground all night
+beneath her window, and now, hidden in a tree, was watching the
+winding road for an occasional glimpse of the carriage as it bore his
+love away.</p>
+
+<p>The peasants of Italy, when they see the Milky Way stretching its
+wavering, cloudy path across the sky, shining as if made up of the
+footprints of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>innumerable saints, say that it is the road to
+Jerusalem. The road to the New Jerusalem has no such pallid and
+spiritual glory: its colors are those of life. No death but that of
+martyrdom, with its rosy blood, waving palm-branch and golden crown,
+is figured there. Life, and the joy of life, beauty so profuse that it
+can afford to have a few blemishes like a slatternly Venus, and the
+<i>dolce far niente</i> of poverty that neither works nor starves,&mdash;they
+lie all along the road.</p>
+
+<p>Silvia was young, and had all her life looked forward to this journey.
+She could not be quite indifferent. She looked and listened, though
+all the time her heart was heavy for Claudio. They reached the gate of
+St. John Lateran just as all the bells began to ring for the noon
+<i>Angelus</i>, and in fifteen minutes were at the Signora Fantini&#8217;s door
+and Silvia in the kind lady&#8217;s arms. It seemed to the girl that she had
+found her mother again. That this lady was more gracious, graceful,
+kind and beautiful than her mother had ever been she would not think.
+She was simply another mother. And when Matteo had gone away home
+again, not too soon, and when, after a few days&#8217; sightseeing, the
+signora, suspecting that the continued sadness of her young guest had
+some other cause than separation from her brother and sister, sought
+persistently and artfully to win her secret, Silvia told her all with
+many tears. She was going to be a nun because her mother had said that
+she must&mdash;and she was willing to be a nun&mdash;certainly she was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>willing.
+But, for all that, if it could have been so, she would have been so
+happy with Claudio, and she never should be quite happy without him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then you must not be a nun,&#8221; the signora said decidedly. &#8220;The thing
+is all wrong. You have no vocation. You should have said all this
+before.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>For already the signora had taken Silvia to see the Superior at Monte
+Cavallo, who had promised to receive the young novice in three weeks,
+and had told her what work she could perform in the convent. &#8220;You are
+not strong, I think,&#8221; she had said, &#8220;but you can knit the stockings.
+All have to work.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And Monsignor Catinari, whose business it was to examine all
+candidates for the conventual life, had held a long conversation with
+her and gone away perfectly satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>But when the signora proposed to undo all this, Silvia was wild with
+terror. No, no, she would be a nun. Her mother had said so, she wished
+it, and Matteo would kill her if she should refuse.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Leave it all to me,&#8221; the signora said, and laid her motherly hand on
+the trembling little ones held out to her in entreaty. &#8220;We will look
+out for that. Matteo shall not hurt you or Claudio. I am going to send
+for Monsignor Catinari again, and you must tell him the truth this
+time. And then we will see what can be done in the case. Don&#8217;t look so
+terrified, child. Do you think that Matteo rules the world?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p><p>Poor little Silvia could not be reassured, for to her other terrors
+was now added Monsignor Catinari&#8217;s possible wrath. To her, men were
+objects of terror. The doctrine of masculine supremacy, so pitilessly
+upheld in Italy, was exaggerated to her mind by her brother&#8217;s
+character; and though she believed that help was sometimes possible,
+she also believed that it often came too late, as in the case of poor
+Beatrice Cenci. They might stand between her and Matteo, but if he had
+first killed her, what good would it do? She had a fixed idea that he
+would kill her.</p>
+
+<p>Monsignor Catinari was indeed much provoked when the signora told him
+the true story of the little novice.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Just see what creatures girls are!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;How are we to know
+if they have a vocation or not? That girl professed herself both
+willing and desirous to be a nun.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He did not scold Silvia, however. When he saw her pretty frightened
+face his heart relented. &#8220;You have told me a good many lies, my
+child,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but I forgive you, since they were not intended in
+malice. We will say no more about it. I learn from the signora that
+this Claudio is a good young man, so the sooner you are married the
+better. Cheer up: we will have you a bride by the first week of
+November; and if Claudio has such a wonderful voice, he can make his
+way in Rome.&#8221; The reassurances of a man were more effectual than those
+of a woman.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;At last I believe! at last I fear no more!&#8221; Silvia cried, throwing
+herself into the arms of the Signora Fantini when the Monsignor was
+gone. &#8220;Oh how beautiful the earth is! how beautiful life is!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We will then begin immediately to enjoy life,&#8221; the signora replied.
+&#8220;Collation is ready, and Nanna has bought us some of the most
+delicious grapes. See how large and rich they are! One could almost
+slice them. There! these black figs are like honey. Try one now,
+before your soup. The macaroni that will be brought in presently was
+made in the house&mdash;none of your Naples stuff, made nobody knows how or
+by whom. What else Nanna has for us I cannot say. She was very secret
+this morning, and I suspect that means rice-balls seasoned with
+mushrooms and hashed giblets of turkey. She always becomes mysterious
+when those are in preparation. Eat well, child, and get a little flesh
+and color before Claudio comes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They made a merry breakfast, with the noon sun sending its golden
+arrows through every tiniest chink of the closed shutters and an
+almost summer heat reigning without. Then there was an hour of sleep,
+then a drive to the Pincio to see all the notable people who came up
+there to look at or speak to each other while the sun sank behind St.
+Peter&#8217;s. And in the evening after dinner they went to the housetop to
+see the fireworks which were being displayed for some festa or other;
+and later there was music, and then to bed.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p><p>Life became an enchantment to the little bride-elect, as life in Italy
+will become to any one who has not too heavy a cross to bear. For
+peace in this beautiful land means delight, not merely the absence of
+pain. How the sun shone! and how the fountains danced! What roses
+bloomed everywhere! what fruits of Eden were everywhere piled! How
+soft the speech was! and how sweet the smiles! And when it was
+discovered that Silvia had a beautiful voice, so that she and Claudio
+would be like a pair of birds together, then it seemed to her that a
+nest of twigs on a tree-branch would be all that she could desire.</p>
+
+<p>They took her to see the pope on one of those days. It was as if they
+had taken her to heaven. To her he was the soul of Rome, the reason
+why Rome was; and when she saw his white figure against the scarlet
+background of cardinals she remembered how Rome looked against the
+rosy Campagna at sunset from her far-away window in Monte Compatri.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A little <i>sposa</i>, is she?&#8221; the pope said when Monsignor Catinari
+presented her.&mdash;&#8220;I bless you, my child: wear this in memory of me.&#8221; He
+gave her a little gold medal from a tiny pocket at his side, laid his
+hand on her head, and passed on. It was too much: she had to weep for
+joy.</p>
+
+<p>Then, when the audience was over, they took her through the museum and
+library, and some one gave her a bunch of roses out of the pope&#8217;s
+private garden, and she was put into a carriage and driven <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>home, her
+heart beating somewhere in her head, her feet winged and her eyes
+dazzled.</p>
+
+<p>There was a rapturous letter from Claudio awaiting her, and by that
+she knew that it was not all a dream. She rattled the paper in her
+hands as she sat with her eyes shut, half dreaming, to make sure and
+keep sure that she was not to wake up presently to bitterness. Claudio
+would come to Rome in a week, and perhaps they would be married before
+he should go back. There was no letter from Matteo. So much the
+better.</p>
+
+<p>One golden day succeeded another, and Silvia changed from a lily to a
+rose with marvellous rapidity. She was not a ruddy, full-leaved rose,
+though, but like one of those delicate ones with clouds of red on them
+and petals that only touch the calyx, as if they were wings and must
+be free to move. She was slim and frail, and her color wavered, and
+her head had a little droop, and her voice was low. She had always
+been the stillest creature alive; and now, full of happiness as she
+was, her feelings showed themselves in an uneasy stirring, like that
+of a flower in which a bee has hidden itself. After the first outburst
+she did not so much say that she was happy as breathe and look it.</p>
+
+<p>One noonday, when life seemed too beautiful to last, and they all sat
+together after breakfast, the signora, her daughter and Silvia, too
+contented to say a word, the door opened, and Matteo Guai came in with
+a black, smileless face, and not the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>slightest salutation for his
+sister. He had come to take Silvia home, he replied briefly to the
+signora&#8217;s compliments. She must be ready in an hour. The vintage was
+suffering by his absence, and it was necessary that he should return
+at once.</p>
+
+<p>Signora Fantini poured out the most voluble exclamations, prayers and
+protests. She had forty engagements for Silvia. They had had only a
+few days&#8217; visit from her, and she was to have stayed a month. They
+would themselves accompany her to Monte Compatri later if it was
+necessary that she should go. But, in fine, Monsignor Catinari did not
+expect her to return.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am the head of the family, and my sister has to obey me till she is
+married,&#8221; Matteo replied doggedly. &#8220;I suppose that Monsignor Catinari
+will not deny that. The Church always supports the authority of the
+master of the family.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, of course,&#8221; the signora replied, rather confused by this
+irresistible argument, &#8220;you have the right, and no one will resist
+you. But as a favor now&mdash;&#8221; and the signora assumed her most coaxing
+smile, and even advanced a plump white hand to touch Matteo&#8217;s sleeve.</p>
+
+<p>She might as well have tried to bewitch and persuade the bronze
+Augustus on the Capitoline Hill.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Things have changed since it was promised that Silvia should stay a
+month with you,&#8221; Matteo replied. &#8220;There is work at home for her to do.
+Since she is not to be a nun, she must work. Let her be ready to start
+in an hour: my carriage is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>waiting at the door. I am going out into
+the piazza for a little while. I will send a man up for her trunk when
+I am ready to start.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Silvia uttered not a word. At sight of her brother she had sunk back
+in her chair white and speechless. On hearing his voice she had closed
+her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>He half turned to her before going out, looking at her out of the
+corners of his evil eyes, a cold, strange smile wreathing his lips.
+&#8220;So you are not going to be a nun?&#8221; he said.</p>
+
+<p>She did not respond. Only the quiver of her lowered eyelids and a
+slight shiver told that she knew he was addressing her.</p>
+
+<p>Matteo went out, and the signora, at her wits&#8217; end, undertook to
+encourage Silvia. There was no time to see Monsignor Catinari or to
+appeal to any authority; and if there were, it would have availed
+nothing perhaps. Almost any one would have said that the girl&#8217;s
+terrors were fanciful, and that it was quite natural her brother, who
+would lose five hundred scudi by her change of purpose, should require
+her to work as other girls of her condition worked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Cheer up and go with him, <i>figlia mia</i>,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and leave all to
+me. I will see Monsignor Catinari this very evening, and post a letter
+to you before I go to bed. If Matteo is unkind to you, we will have
+you taken away from him at once. And, in any case, you shall be
+married in a few weeks at the most, as Monsignor promised. Don&#8217;t cry
+so: <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>don&#8217;t say that you cannot go. I am sorry and vexed, my dear, but
+I see no way but for you to go. Depend upon me. No harm shall come to
+you. I will myself come to Monte Compatri within the week, and arrange
+all for you. Besides, recollect that you will see Claudio: he is there
+waiting for you. Perhaps you may see him this very evening.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The Signora Fantini&#8217;s efforts to cheer and reassure the sister were as
+ineffectual as her efforts to persuade the brother had been. Silvia
+submitted because she had no strength to resist.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;O Madonna mia!&#8221; she kept murmuring, &#8220;he will kill me! he will kill
+me! O Madonna mia! pray for me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>When an Italian says that he will come back in an hour, you may look
+for him after two hours. Matteo was no exception to the rule. It was
+already mid-afternoon when the porter came up and said that Silvia&#8217;s
+brother was waiting for her below.</p>
+
+<p>The signora gave her a tumbler half full of <i>vin santo</i>, which she
+kept for special occasions&mdash;a strong, delicious wine with the perfume
+of a whole garden in it. &#8220;Drink every drop,&#8221; she commanded: &#8220;it will
+give you courage. You had better be a little tipsy than fainting away.
+And put this bottle into your pocket to drink when you have need on
+the way.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>More dead than alive, Silvia was placed in the little old-fashioned
+carriage that Matteo had hired <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>to come to Rome in, and her brother
+took his seat beside her. The Signora Fantini and her daughter leaned
+from the window, kissing their hands to her and shaking their
+handkerchiefs as long as she was in sight. And as long as she was in
+sight they saw her pale face turned backward, looking at them. Then
+the tawny stone of a church-corner hid her from their eyes for ever.</p>
+
+<p>Who knows or can guess what that drive was? The two passed through
+Frascati, and Matteo stopped to speak to an acquaintance there. They
+drove around Monte Porzio, and Matteo stopped again, to buy a glass of
+wine and some figs. He offered some to his sister, but she shook her
+head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She is sleepy,&#8221; her brother said to the man of whom he had bought.
+&#8220;Give me another tumbler of wine: it isn&#8217;t bad.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is the last barrel I have of the vintage of two years ago,&#8221; the
+man replied. &#8220;It was a good vintage. If the signorina would take a
+drop she would sleep the better. Besides, the night is coming on and
+there is a chill in the air.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Silvia opened her eyes and made the little horizontal motion with her
+forefinger which in Italy means no.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She will sleep well enough,&#8221; Matteo said, and drove on.</p>
+
+<p>Night was coming on, and they had no more towns to pass&mdash;only a bit
+more of lonely level road and the lonely road that wound to and fro up
+the mountain-side. At the best, they could not reach <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>home before ten
+o&#8217;clock. The road went to and fro&mdash;sometimes open, to give a view of
+the Campagna and the Sabine Mountains, and Soracte swimming in a
+lustrous dimness on the horizon; sometimes shut in closely by trees,
+that made it almost black in spite of the moon. For the moon was low
+and gave but little light, being but a crescent as yet. There was a
+shooting star now and then, breaking out like a rocket with a trail of
+sparks or slipping small and pallid across the sky.</p>
+
+<p>One of these latter might have been poor Silvia&#8217;s soul slipping away
+from the earth. It went out there somewhere on the mountain-side.
+Matteo said the carriage tilted, and she, being asleep, fell out
+before he could prevent. Her temple struck a sharp rock, and Claudio
+missed his bride.</p>
+
+<p>He had to keep quiet about it, though. What could he prove? what could
+any one prove? Where knives are sharp and people mind their own
+business, or express their opinions only by a shrug of the shoulders
+and a grimace, how is a poor boy, how is even a rich man or a rich
+woman, to come at the truth in such a case? Besides, the truth would
+not have brought her back, poor little Silvia!</p>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Transcriber&#8217;s Note:</span></h3>
+
+<p>Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters&#8217; errors; otherwise
+every effort has been made to remain true to the author&#8217;s words and
+intent.</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Stories by American Authors, Volume 2, by Various
+
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+</body>
+</html>
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+Project Gutenberg's Stories by American Authors, Volume 2, by Various
+
+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: Stories by American Authors, Volume 2
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: January 24, 2010 [EBook #31064]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES BY AMERICAN AUTHORS, VOL 2 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by D Alexander, Juliet Sutherland and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Stories by American Authors
+
+VOLUME II
+
+ _THE TRANSFERRED GHOST_
+ BY FRANK R. STOCKTON
+
+ _A MARTYR TO SCIENCE_
+ BY MARY PUTNAM JACOBI, M. D.
+
+ _MRS. KNOLLYS_
+ BY J. S. OF DALE, AUTHOR OF "GUERNDALE"
+
+ _A DINNER-PARTY_
+ BY JOHN EDDY
+
+ _THE MOUNT OF SORROW_
+ BY HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD
+
+ _SISTER SILVIA_
+ BY MARY AGNES TINCKER
+
+ NEW YORK
+ CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
+ 1896
+
+
+
+
+ COPYRIGHT, 1884, BY
+ CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
+
+
+
+
+_The Stories in this Volume are protected by copyright, and are
+printed here by authority of the authors or their representatives._
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Frank R. Stockton]
+
+
+
+
+THE TRANSFERRED GHOST.
+
+BY FRANK R. STOCKTON.
+
+_Century Magazine, May, 1882._
+
+
+The country residence of Mr. John Hinckman was a delightful place to
+me, for many reasons. It was the abode of a genial, though somewhat
+impulsive, hospitality. It had broad, smooth-shaven lawns and towering
+oaks and elms; there were bosky shades at several points, and not far
+from the house there was a little rill spanned by a rustic bridge with
+the bark on; there were fruits and flowers, pleasant people, chess,
+billiards, rides, walks, and fishing. These were great attractions,
+but none of them, nor all of them together, would have been sufficient
+to hold me to the place very long. I had been invited for the trout
+season, but should, probably, have finished my visit early in the
+summer had it not been that upon fair days, when the grass was dry,
+and the sun not too hot, and there was but little wind, there strolled
+beneath the lofty elms, or passed lightly through the bosky shades,
+the form of my Madeline.
+
+This lady was not, in very truth, my Madeline. She had never given
+herself to me, nor had I, in any way, acquired possession of her. But
+as I considered her possession the only sufficient reason for the
+continuance of my existence, I called her, in my reveries, mine. It
+may have been that I would not have been obliged to confine the use of
+this possessive pronoun to my reveries had I confessed the state of my
+feelings to the lady.
+
+But this was an unusually difficult thing to do. Not only did I dread,
+as almost all lovers dread, taking the step which would in an instant
+put an end to that delightful season which may be termed the
+ante-interrogatory period of love, and which might at the same time
+terminate all intercourse or connection with the object of my passion;
+but I was, also, dreadfully afraid of John Hinckman. This gentleman
+was a good friend of mine, but it would have required a bolder man
+than I was at that time to ask him for the gift of his niece, who
+was the head of his household, and, according to his own frequent
+statement, the main prop of his declining years. Had Madeline
+acquiesced in my general views on the subject, I might have felt
+encouraged to open the matter to Mr. Hinckman, but, as I said before,
+I had never asked her whether or not she would be mine. I thought of
+these things at all hours of the day and night, particularly the
+latter.
+
+I was lying awake one night, in the great bed in my spacious chamber,
+when, by the dim light of the new moon, which partially filled the
+room, I saw John Hinckman standing by a large chair near the door. I
+was very much surprised at this for two reasons. In the first place,
+my host had never before come into my room, and, in the second place,
+he had gone from home that morning, and had not expected to return for
+several days. It was for this reason that I had been able that evening
+to sit much later than usual with Madeline on the moonlit porch. The
+figure was certainly that of John Hinckman in his ordinary dress, but
+there was a vagueness and indistinctness about it which presently
+assured me that it was a ghost. Had the good old man been murdered?
+and had his spirit come to tell me of the deed, and to confide to me
+the protection of his dear----? My heart fluttered at what I was
+about to think, but at this instant the figure spoke.
+
+"Do you know," he said, with a countenance that indicated anxiety, "if
+Mr. Hinckman will return to-night?"
+
+I thought it well to maintain a calm exterior, and I answered:
+
+"We do not expect him."
+
+"I am glad of that," said he, sinking into the chair by which he
+stood. "During the two years and a half that I have inhabited this
+house, that man has never before been away for a single night. You
+can't imagine the relief it gives me."
+
+And as he spoke he stretched out his legs and leaned back in the
+chair. His form became less vague, and the colors of his garments more
+distinct and evident, while an expression of gratified relief
+succeeded to the anxiety of his countenance.
+
+"Two years and a half!" I exclaimed. "I don't understand you."
+
+"It is fully that length of time," said the ghost, "since I first came
+here. Mine is not an ordinary case. But before I say anything more
+about it, let me ask you again if you are sure Mr. Hinckman will not
+return to-night?"
+
+"I am as sure of it as I can be of anything," I answered. "He left
+to-day for Bristol, two hundred miles away."
+
+"Then I will go on," said the ghost, "for I am glad to have the
+opportunity of talking to some one who will listen to me; but if John
+Hinckman should come in and catch me here, I should be frightened out
+of my wits."
+
+"This is all very strange," I said, greatly puzzled by what I had
+heard. "Are you the ghost of Mr. Hinckman?"
+
+This was a bold question, but my mind was so full of other emotions
+that there seemed to be no room for that of fear.
+
+"Yes, I am his ghost," my companion replied, "and yet I have no right
+to be. And this is what makes me so uneasy, and so much afraid of him.
+It is a strange story, and, I truly believe, without precedent. Two
+years and a half ago, John Hinckman was dangerously ill in this very
+room. At one time he was so far gone that he was really believed to be
+dead. It was in consequence of too precipitate a report in regard to
+this matter that I was, at that time, appointed to be his ghost.
+Imagine my surprise and horror, sir, when, after I had accepted the
+position and assumed its responsibilities, that old man revived,
+became convalescent, and eventually regained his usual health. My
+situation was now one of extreme delicacy and embarrassment. I had no
+power to return to my original unembodiment, and I had no right to be
+the ghost of a man who was not dead. I was advised by my friends to
+quietly maintain my position, and was assured that, as John Hinckman
+was an elderly man, it could not be long before I could rightfully
+assume the position for which I had been selected. But I tell you,
+sir," he continued, with animation, "the old fellow seems as vigorous
+as ever, and I have no idea how much longer this annoying state of
+things will continue. I spend my time trying to get out of that old
+man's way. I must not leave this house, and he seems to follow me
+everywhere. I tell you, sir, he haunts me."
+
+"That is truly a queer state of things," I remarked. "But why are you
+afraid of him? He couldn't hurt you."
+
+"Of course he couldn't," said the ghost. "But his very presence is a
+shock and terror to me. Imagine, sir, how you would feel if my case
+were yours."
+
+I could not imagine such a thing at all. I simply shuddered.
+
+"And if one must be a wrongful ghost at all," the apparition
+continued, "it would be much pleasanter to be the ghost of some man
+other than John Hinckman. There is in him an irascibility of temper,
+accompanied by a facility of invective, which is seldom met with. And
+what would happen if he were to see me, and find out, as I am sure he
+would, how long and why I had inhabited his house, I can scarcely
+conceive. I have seen him in his bursts of passion, and, although he
+did not hurt the people he stormed at any more than he would hurt me,
+they seemed to shrink before him."
+
+All this I knew to be very true. Had it not been for this peculiarity
+of Mr. Hinckman, I might have been more willing to talk to him about
+his niece.
+
+"I feel sorry for you," I said, for I really began to have a
+sympathetic feeling toward this unfortunate apparition. "Your case is
+indeed a hard one. It reminds me of those persons who have had
+doubles, and I suppose a man would often be very angry indeed when he
+found that there was another being who was personating himself."
+
+"Oh, the cases are not similar at all," said the ghost. "A double or
+doppelganger lives on the earth with a man, and, being exactly like
+him, he makes all sorts of trouble, of course. It is very different
+with me. I am not here to live with Mr. Hinckman. I am here to take
+his place. Now, it would make John Hinckman very angry if he knew
+that. Don't you know it would?"
+
+I assented promptly.
+
+"Now that he is away I can be easy for a little while," continued the
+ghost, "and I am so glad to have an opportunity of talking to you. I
+have frequently come into your room, and watched you while you slept,
+but did not dare to speak to you for fear that if you talked with me
+Mr. Hinckman would hear you, and come into the room to know why you
+were talking to yourself."
+
+"But would he not hear you?" I asked.
+
+"Oh, no," said the other, "there are times when any one may see me,
+but no one hears me except the person to whom I address myself."
+
+"But why did you wish to speak to me?" I asked.
+
+"Because," replied the ghost, "I like occasionally to talk to people,
+and especially to some one like yourself, whose mind is so troubled
+and perturbed that you are not likely to be frightened by a visit from
+one of us. But I particularly wanted to ask you to do me a favor.
+There is every probability, so far as I can see, that John Hinckman
+will live a long time, and my situation is becoming insupportable. My
+great object at present is to get myself transferred, and I think that
+you may, perhaps, be of use to me."
+
+"Transferred!" I exclaimed. "What do you mean by that?"
+
+"What I mean," said the other, "is this: Now that I have started on my
+career I have got to be the ghost of somebody; and I want to be the
+ghost of a man who is really dead."
+
+"I should think that would be easy enough," I said. "Opportunities
+must continually occur."
+
+"Not at all! not at all!" said my companion, quickly. "You have no
+idea what a rush and pressure there is for situations of this kind.
+Whenever a vacancy occurs, if I may express myself in that way, there
+are crowds of applications for the ghostship."
+
+"I had no idea that such a state of things existed," I said, becoming
+quite interested in the matter. "There ought to be some regular
+system, or order of precedence, by which you could all take your turns
+like customers in a barber's shop."
+
+"Oh dear, that would never do at all!" said the other. "Some of us
+would have to wait forever. There is always a great rush whenever a
+good ghostship offers itself--while, as you know, there are some
+positions that no one would care for. And it was in consequence of my
+being in too great a hurry on an occasion of the kind that I got
+myself into my present disagreeable predicament, and I have thought
+that it might be possible that you would help me out of it. You might
+know of a case where an opportunity for a ghostship was not generally
+expected, but which might present itself at any moment. If you would
+give me a short notice, I know I could arrange for a transfer."
+
+"What do you mean?" I exclaimed. "Do you want me to commit suicide? Or
+to undertake a murder for your benefit?"
+
+"Oh, no, no, no!" said the other, with a vapory smile. "I mean nothing
+of that kind. To be sure, there are lovers who are watched with
+considerable interest, such persons having been known, in moments of
+depression, to offer very desirable ghostships, but I did not think of
+anything of that kind in connection with you. You were the only person
+I cared to speak to, and I hoped that you might give me some
+information that would be of use; and, in return, I shall be very glad
+to help you in your love affair."
+
+"You seem to know that I have such an affair," I said.
+
+"Oh, yes," replied the other, with a little yawn. "I could not be here
+so much as I have been without knowing all about that."
+
+There was something horrible in the idea of Madeline and myself having
+been watched by a ghost, even, perhaps, when we wandered together in
+the most delightful and bosky places. But, then, this was quite an
+exceptional ghost, and I could not have the objections to him which
+would ordinarily arise in regard to beings of his class.
+
+"I must go now," said the ghost, rising, "but I will see you somewhere
+to-morrow night. And remember--you help me, and I'll help you."
+
+I had doubts the next morning as to the propriety of telling Madeline
+anything about this interview, and soon convinced myself that I must
+keep silent on the subject. If she knew there was a ghost about the
+house she would probably leave the place instantly. I did not mention
+the matter, and so regulated my demeanor that I am quite sure Madeline
+never suspected what had taken place. For some time I had wished that
+Mr. Hinckman would absent himself, for a day at least, from the
+premises. In such case I thought I might more easily nerve myself up
+to the point of speaking to Madeline on the subject of our future
+collateral existence, and, now that the opportunity for such speech
+had really occurred, I did not feel ready to avail myself of it. What
+would become of me if she refused me?
+
+I had an idea, however, that the lady thought that, if I were going to
+speak at all, this was the time. She must have known that certain
+sentiments were afloat within me, and she was not unreasonable in her
+wish to see the matter settled one way or the other. But I did not
+feel like taking a bold step in the dark. If she wished me to ask her
+to give herself to me, she ought to offer me some reason to suppose
+that she would make the gift. If I saw no probability of such
+generosity, I would prefer that things should remain as they were.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+That evening I was sitting with Madeline in the moonlit porch. It was
+nearly ten o'clock, and ever since supper-time I had been working
+myself up to the point of making an avowal of my sentiments. I had not
+positively determined to do this, but wished gradually to reach the
+proper point when, if the prospect looked bright, I might speak. My
+companion appeared to understand the situation--at least, I imagined
+that the nearer I came to a proposal the more she seemed to expect it.
+It was certainly a very critical and important epoch in my life. If I
+spoke, I should make myself happy or miserable forever, and if I did
+not speak I had every reason to believe that the lady would not give
+me another chance to do so.
+
+Sitting thus with Madeline, talking a little, and thinking very hard
+over these momentous matters, I looked up and saw the ghost, not a
+dozen feet away from us. He was sitting on the railing of the porch,
+one leg thrown up before him, the other dangling down as he leaned
+against a post. He was behind Madeline, but almost in front of me, as
+I sat facing the lady. It was fortunate that Madeline was looking out
+over the landscape, for I must have appeared very much startled. The
+ghost had told told me that he would see me some time this night, but
+I did not think he would make his appearance when I was in the company
+of Madeline. If she should see the spirit of her uncle, I could not
+answer for the consequences. I made no exclamation, but the ghost
+evidently saw that I was troubled.
+
+"Don't be afraid," he said--"I shall not let her see me; and she
+cannot hear me speak unless I address myself to her, which I do not
+intend to do."
+
+I suppose I looked grateful.
+
+"So you need not trouble yourself about that," the ghost continued;
+"but it seems to me that you are not getting along very well with your
+affair. If I were you, I should speak out without waiting any longer.
+You will never have a better chance. You are not likely to be
+interrupted; and, so far as I can judge, the lady seems disposed to
+listen to you favorably; that is, if she ever intends to do so. There
+is no knowing when John Hinckman will go away again; certainly not
+this summer. If I were in your place, I should never dare to make love
+to Hinckman's niece if he were anywhere about the place. If he should
+catch any one offering himself to Miss Madeline, he would then be a
+terrible man to encounter."
+
+I agreed perfectly to all this.
+
+"I cannot bear to think of him!" I ejaculated aloud.
+
+"Think of whom?" asked Madeline, turning quickly toward me.
+
+Here was an awkward situation. The long speech of the ghost, to which
+Madeline paid no attention, but which I heard with perfect
+distinctness, had made me forget myself.
+
+It was necessary to explain quickly. Of course, it would not do to
+admit that it was of her dear uncle that I was speaking; and so I
+mentioned hastily the first name I thought of.
+
+"Mr. Vilars," I said.
+
+This statement was entirely correct, for I never could bear to think
+of Mr. Vilars, who was a gentleman who had, at various times, paid
+much attention to Madeline.
+
+"It is wrong for you to speak in that way of Mr. Vilars," she said.
+"He is a remarkably well-educated and sensible young man, and has very
+pleasant manners. He expects to be elected to the legislature this
+fall, and I should not be surprised if he made his mark. He will do
+well in a legislative body, for whenever Mr. Vilars has anything to
+say he knows just how and when to say it."
+
+This was spoken very quietly, and without any show of resentment,
+which was all very natural, for if Madeline thought at all favorably
+of me she could not feel displeased that I should have disagreeable
+emotions in regard to a possible rival. The concluding words contained
+a hint which I was not slow to understand. I felt very sure that if
+Mr. Vilars were in my present position he would speak quickly enough.
+
+"I know it is wrong to have such ideas about a person," I said, "but I
+cannot help it."
+
+The lady did not chide me, and after this she seemed even in a softer
+mood. As for me, I felt considerably annoyed, for I had not wished to
+admit that any thought of Mr. Vilars had ever occupied my mind.
+
+"You should not speak aloud that way," said the ghost, "or you may get
+yourself into trouble. I want to see everything go well with you,
+because then you may be disposed to help me, especially if I should
+chance to be of any assistance to you, which I hope I shall be."
+
+I longed to tell him that there was no way in which he could help me
+so much as by taking his instant departure. To make love to a young
+lady with a ghost sitting on the railing near by, and that ghost the
+apparition of a much-dreaded uncle, the very idea of whom in such a
+position and at such a time made me tremble, was a difficult, if not
+an impossible, thing to do; but I forbore to speak, although I may
+have looked my mind.
+
+"I suppose," continued the ghost, "that you have not heard anything
+that might be of advantage to me. Of course, I am very anxious to
+hear, but if you have anything to tell me, I can wait until you are
+alone. I will come to you to-night in your room, or I will stay here
+until the lady goes away."
+
+"You need not wait here," I said; "I have nothing at all to say to
+you."
+
+Madeline sprang to her feet, her face flushed and her eyes ablaze.
+
+"Wait here!" she cried. "What do you suppose I am waiting for? Nothing
+to say to me indeed!--I should think so! What should you have to say
+to me?"
+
+"Madeline," I exclaimed, stepping toward her, "let me explain."
+
+But she had gone.
+
+Here was the end of the world for me! I turned fiercely to the ghost.
+
+"Wretched existence!" I cried. "You have ruined everything. You have
+blackened my whole life. Had it not been for you----"
+
+But here my voice faltered. I could say no more.
+
+"You wrong me," said the ghost. "I have not injured you. I have tried
+only to encourage and assist you, and it is your own folly that has
+done this mischief. But do not despair. Such mistakes as these can be
+explained. Keep up a brave heart. Good-by."
+
+And he vanished from the railing like a bursting soap-bubble.
+
+I went gloomily to bed, but I saw no apparitions that night except
+those of despair and misery which my wretched thoughts called up. The
+words I had uttered had sounded to Madeline like the basest insult. Of
+course, there was only one interpretation she could put upon them.
+
+As to explaining my ejaculations, that was impossible. I thought the
+matter over and over again as I lay awake that night, and I determined
+that I would never tell Madeline the facts of the case. It would be
+better for me to suffer all my life than for her to know that the
+ghost of her uncle haunted the house. Mr. Hinckman was away, and if
+she knew of his ghost she could not be made to believe that he was not
+dead. She might not survive the shock! No, my heart could bleed, but I
+would never tell her.
+
+The next day was fine, neither too cool nor too warm; the breezes were
+gentle, and nature smiled. But there were no walks or rides with
+Madeline. She seemed to be much engaged during the day, and I saw but
+little of her. When we met at meals she was polite, but very quiet and
+reserved. She had evidently determined on a course of conduct, and had
+resolved to assume that, although I had been very rude to her, she did
+not understand the import of my words. It would be quite proper, of
+course, for her not to know what I meant by my expressions of the
+night before.
+
+I was downcast and wretched, and said but little, and the only bright
+streak across the black horizon of my woe was the fact that she did
+not appear to be happy, although she affected an air of unconcern. The
+moonlit porch was deserted that evening, but wandering about the house
+I found Madeline in the library alone. She was reading, but I went in
+and sat down near her. I felt that, although I could not do so fully,
+I must in a measure explain my conduct of the night before. She
+listened quietly to a somewhat labored apology I made for the words I
+had used.
+
+"I have not the slightest idea what you meant," she said, "but you
+were very rude."
+
+I earnestly disclaimed any intention of rudeness, and assured her,
+with a warmth of speech that must have made some impression upon her,
+that rudeness to her would be an action impossible to me. I said a
+great deal upon the subject, and implored her to believe that if it
+were not for a certain obstacle I could speak to her so plainly that
+she would understand everything.
+
+She was silent for a time, and then she said, rather more kindly, I
+thought, than she had spoken before:
+
+"Is that obstacle in any way connected with my uncle?"
+
+"Yes," I answered, after a little hesitation, "it is, in a measure,
+connected with him."
+
+She made no answer to this, and sat looking at her book, but not
+reading. From the expression of her face, I thought she was somewhat
+softened toward me. She knew her uncle as well as I did, and she may
+have been thinking that, if he were the obstacle that prevented my
+speaking (and there were many ways in which he might be that
+obstacle), my position would be such a hard one that it would excuse
+some wildness of speech and eccentricity of manner. I saw, too, that
+the warmth of my partial explanations had had some effect on her, and
+I began to believe that it might be a good thing for me to speak my
+mind without delay. No matter how she should receive my proposition,
+my relations with her could not be worse than they had been the
+previous night and day, and there was something in her face which
+encouraged me to hope that she might forget my foolish exclamations
+of the evening before if I began to tell her my tale of love.
+
+I drew my chair a little nearer to her, and as I did so the ghost
+burst into the room from the doorway behind her. I say burst, although
+no door flew open and he made no noise. He was wildly excited, and
+waved his arms above his head. The moment I saw him, my heart fell
+within me. With the entrance of that impertinent apparition, every
+hope fled from me. I could not speak while he was in the room.
+
+I must have turned pale, and I gazed steadfastly at the ghost, almost
+without seeing Madeline, who sat between us.
+
+"Do you know," he cried, "that John Hinckman is coming up the hill? He
+will be here in fifteen minutes, and if you are doing anything in the
+way of love-making, you had better hurry it up. But this is not what I
+came to tell you. I have glorious news! At last I am transferred! Not
+forty minutes ago a Russian nobleman was murdered by the Nihilists.
+Nobody ever thought of him in connection with an immediate ghostship.
+My friends instantly applied for the situation for me, and obtained my
+transfer. I am off before that horrid Hinckman comes up the hill. The
+moment I reach my new position, I shall put off this hated semblance.
+Good-by. You can't imagine how glad I am to be, at last, the real
+ghost of somebody."
+
+"Oh!" I cried, rising to my feet and stretching out my arms in utter
+wretchedness, "I would to heaven you were mine!"
+
+"I _am_ yours," said Madeline, raising to me her tearful eyes.
+
+
+
+
+A MARTYR TO SCIENCE.
+
+BY MARY PUTNAM JACOBI, M.D.
+
+_Putnam's Magazine, August, 1869._
+
+
+My brief residence at Rome sufficed to destroy my illusions.
+
+A Frenchman, a student of medicine, I had, nevertheless, remained an
+ardent disciple of Catholicism,--the faith in which I had been brought
+up by a devout mother. She was an Italian, and from her I had
+inherited an intense, passionate nature, and capacity for belief,
+which my father's nationality failed to neutralize. From him, on the
+other hand, I had received my education, my profession, and a certain
+large habit of thought, which, disdaining all lesser interests,
+personal or national, occupied itself exclusively with themes of
+universal humanity. This habit, extremely characteristic of French
+intellect, concurred,--perhaps as much as anything else,--in making me
+an ultra-montanist. As an Italian, I believed in the Church with
+ardor,--because I believed; as a Frenchman, I demanded a church
+universal, as alone worthy of attaching my belief. The cause of the
+Pope was for me identified with the spiritual cause of the world, and
+the lukewarmness of so-called Liberal Catholics enraged me. I could
+understand the opposition of materialists, of atheists, or even
+Protestants. These all occupied a radically different base, and their
+eyes were turned toward a different horizon. But that a man could face
+Truth, and voluntarily scrimp his vision to a miserable corner of her
+robe,--could embrace a principle coldly, with the mere touch of a
+distant finger,--could pause to balance motives, and haggle over the
+price of devotion,--this was as incomprehensible to me as repugnant.
+My own sentiments were equally incomprehensible to the society by
+which I was surrounded, and the opposition which I constantly
+encountered served not a little to rivet my convictions, and fan my
+enthusiasm to passion.
+
+My father died almost immediately after launching me on my medical
+career,--and my darling mother, two years later. In my unutterable
+loneliness, I lost all heart for my studies, and breaking away from
+ecole and hospitals, wandered in Italy, seeking to quench a quenchless
+grief. There I married an Italian girl, whose hair and eyes reminded
+me of my mother, but who expended on the dream of Italian unity such
+enthusiasm as my mother had lavished for the temporal power of the
+Pope. I think I was unconsciously attracted by this very difference.
+Valeria's opposition to the Pope was so serious and whole-souled, that
+it seemed to invest his cause with new dignity, and in argument with
+her I acquired increased respect for my own theories and for myself as
+capable of sustaining them. Moreover, at the very moment that our
+intellects were most at variance, we were each conscious of a subtle
+sympathy of nature; we were animated by the same feeling, though
+working in different directions. Her antagonism, therefore, never
+irritated me, but,--when the more profound union had once been
+established,--fascinated me by a peculiar charm, and led me, by a
+healthful transition, back to the ruder antagonisms of practical life.
+For, deprived of the support of my mother's lofty confidence, and in
+the weakness following excessive sorrow, I had begun to secretly
+despair of an ideal, which seemed buried in her all-devouring grave.
+At the same time I clung to it the more intensely, precisely because
+it seemed unattainable,--from a sort of morbid craving for whatever
+had become as unattainable as my mother's presence. I loathed action,
+even for the realization of my dreams, and over-concentrated thought
+threatened to degenerate into a sickly reverie that should presently
+exhaust the forces of my life, like an unnaturally prolonged sleep.
+New influence added in this direction might have driven me insane,
+while the diversion afforded by Valeria's counter-enthusiasm and the
+necessity of making an active defence of my own, roused me, and
+brought back the blood to the surface of my life. It was, therefore,
+partly an instinct of self-preservation which led me to Valeria,--and
+she saved me--my noble wife saved me for other destinies.
+
+We returned to Paris, where I resumed and completed my medical
+studies, and I had just graduated when the war broke out in Italy.
+
+Four happy, healthful years had completely restored my mental
+equilibrium. I was no longer an extravagant fanatic, prepared for a
+cloister or a crusade, but still a tolerably ardent ultra-montanist,
+pivoted upon the theory of the temporal power of the Pope. Valeria's
+influence, in modifying the superficial exuberance of my enthusiasm,
+had only rendered its energy more practical, more eager for an
+opportunity to incarnate its ideal in vigorous facts. Now the
+opportunity had arrived, and the enthusiasm blazed forth afresh; all
+interests, all consciousness of other ties were absorbed in devotion
+to the Church of which I felt myself a not unimportant member. My
+fortune, my time, my life, were all too little to place at its
+disposal, and I hastened to enrol myself on the medical staff of a
+regiment of Papal Zouaves. Valeria, who had always reasoned against my
+theories, was too consistent herself to oppose me in putting them into
+practice, but she insisted on accompanying me to Italy. We parted at
+Civita Vecchia, I to go to Rome, she, with our two children, to
+Naples, where her family had formerly resided. She wrote to me every
+day, but after several weeks came a blank of three days without a
+letter. At the same moment arrived the news that the cholera was
+raging at Naples--news which rendered most ominous this sudden
+interruption of the correspondence. I obtained leave of absence and
+hurried south, to learn that my wife and babies were dead--fallen
+among the very first victims of the pestilence.
+
+Stunned and heart-sick, I returned to Rome, anxious to devote myself
+to the cause with the more desperate earnestness that it was the only
+living interest left to me in the world. I arrived just before the
+battle of Montana, and regretted that fortune had not assigned me a
+role among the soldiers of the cross, among those who might embrace a
+welcome death, in exchange for the glory of serving the Church.
+Resolved to approach this honor as nearly as possible, I contrived to
+obtain an appointment in the ambulance corps, and accompanied the
+troops to the field. I have no distinct recollection of that day,--the
+third after Valeria's funeral,--and which, as my first experience of a
+battle, assumed to me the magnificent proportions of an Austerlitz or
+Waterloo. I only know that, intoxicated by the novel excitement of the
+scene, perhaps by the mere smell of the gun-powder, I forgot the
+duties to which I was assigned, snatched a musket from a Zouave who
+had just expired at my feet, and rushed into the heart of the
+conflict. I received a slight wound in the forehead, staggered, fell,
+and fainted away. I suppose I must, at the same time, have received
+the shock from a larger ball than that which grazed my temple, and
+experienced some concussion of the brain, for I did not fully recover
+consciousness until I had been transported to the military hospital.
+
+Here I stayed a week, and came, for the first time, into near contact
+with my fellow-defenders of the faith. The contact, instead of
+warming, chilled me inexplicably. Instead of belief, I discovered
+scepticism; instead of enthusiasm, persiflage and eternal quizzing,
+intolerable in professed martyrs to a sacred cause.
+
+"Que voulez-vous?" they said, shrugging their shoulders at my
+indignant remonstrances. "The ass who carries all his panniers on the
+same side stumbles on his own nose. To each man his business; those
+who believe, don't fight; and we who fight cannot be expected to
+believe."
+
+I was surprised to find that my own loyalty became affected by this
+indifference, much more than by any influence to which I had hitherto
+been submitted. Others had sneered because they did not know; but
+these men precisely because they knew too well. The cause which
+depended so exclusively upon their bravado was belittled in their own
+eyes, and presently in mine also. I felt somewhat ashamed of the drops
+of blood I had lavished so heroically at Montana, and when the
+gazettes began to flourish the fame of the victory, repeat the dying
+speeches of fallen braves, and enrol rascally Zouaves on saintly
+calendars, I could have blushed in the dark--everywhere a little
+martyrdom, a little battle, and innumerable little apotheoses. I began
+to doubt the greatness of the cause made up of such infinitesimals. It
+is easy to serve ideas in which we have ceased to heartily believe,
+but it is impossible to fight for those that have become to us
+the least in the world ridiculous. Perhaps Valeria's death had
+unconsciously disheartened me for an enterprise which had been,
+however remotely, its occasion. Perhaps many of her words, whose force
+I had successfully resisted during her lifetime, now re echoed from
+her grave with more profound significance. But it is certain that, for
+the first time, I wavered in affection for my life-long ideal. Alarmed
+at myself, and determined, if possible, to reinvigorate my failing
+faith, I went back to Rome, trusting that the Holy City would inspire
+me afresh. Appointed to a civil office of considerable importance, I
+was soon introduced into the midst of the Papal Court, and behind the
+scenes of the magnificent theatrical display that had so long dazzled
+my imagination. I was initiated into the shameful mysteries of cabal
+and intrigue, and taught the precious secrets of Pope and Cardinals.
+On every side I saw falsehood, treachery, and duplicity welcomed as
+the ablest servitors of truth, the grandest professions assumed as an
+excuse for the most vulgar villainy, ambition glozed over by degrading
+humility, and sensuality all the more disgusting from the saintly
+robes in which it was paraded and but half concealed. My faith,
+already enfeebled, died of rapid decline, stifled by these monstrous
+fooleries. Disenchanted, revolted, disgusted, I resigned my position,
+and abandoned the Pope and his cause forever.
+
+I did not, therefore, enlist under Garibaldi. A tenacious loyalty to
+the memory of ideas I had once served would always prevent me from
+more actively attacking them, or from desecrating their graves.
+Moreover, the revulsion of feeling consequent upon my disillusion was
+so tremendous, that I was swept entirely out of the region of the
+questions at issue, and both sides became indifferent to me, both
+camps dim and shadowy in the distance.
+
+I returned, therefore, to France, and settled down in a remote corner
+of the provinces, to exercise my profession as a country physician.
+After the accumulated anguish of the last few months, the quiet
+dulness of the place was infinitely grateful to me. I was like a
+bruised swimmer, tossed upon a monotonous sandbank, who only asks to
+be left there in peace, until long repose has rested the aching limbs,
+and blunted the harrowing recollections of the shipwreck. The
+incessant excitement of Paris was intolerable to me, and scarcely less
+so the idea of revisiting its troops of sympathetic friends. They
+would proffer venal consolation for the loss of my wife and children;
+they would congratulate me maliciously on my conversion from
+ultra-montanism. I shrank from their curious eyes and voluble
+tongues, as a wounded man from the glittering apparatus of the
+surgeon, and like him turned over my face to the wall, to sleep.
+
+Two years thus passed away--two years of mornings and evenings,
+following one another in calm succession, like a row of stolid peasant
+gleaners going to the fields. I became inexpressibly soothed by their
+calm, and by the nice tact and exquisite courtesy of Nature, with whom
+I had done well to take refuge. She is never astonished, she asks no
+impertinent questions, but welcomes her guests with even suavity, like
+a liberal host, throwing open to them drawing-room or garret, as may
+best please their fancy. The growing trees had no time to turn round
+to look at me; the contended hills embraced me in their arms, and let
+me pass without a word; the grain ripened in the mellow autumn days,
+unheeding the little shadow that I threw across its sunshine. This
+preoccupied indifference of all living things, which would initiate a
+mere vexation, clamorous for sympathy, is like blessed balm to the
+sufferer from a profound grief or mortification. Counsel is good,
+friendliness precious, while anything remains to be done to avert an
+impending calamity. But pitying words over an accomplished and
+irremediable misfortune, serve only to revive useless pain, and
+blunder, like a man who should try to force open the eyelids of a
+corpse. Nature, wiser than officious human tenderness, takes the
+sorrow coolly, as a matter of course, and in silence buries it out of
+sight among a million others, already thickly strewn with withered
+leaves. And, in presence of her imperturbable serenity during the
+blackest days of frost and winter, the sufferer becomes insensibly
+inspired with her unspoken confidence in the final return of spring.
+The people of the village and the farms, rooted as their own beeches,
+reflected back upon Nature the same immovable calm. They did not
+disturb themselves about me, because my role in society was so
+evident, respectable, and satisfactory, that I offered no foothold for
+either curiosity or scandal. I had been sent by Providence and the
+Faculty of Medicine to cure their not too frequent rheumatisms and
+catarrhs; I acquitted myself not ill of my business,--they asked no
+more,--and neither offered nor expected personal interest or
+friendship.
+
+As the months rolled on, I became more interested than formerly in
+medical reading. Absorbed entirely in my books, I even fancied that
+the healing apathy which sheltered my life was growing more profound.
+This was a mistake; the thickening of the vapors that shut out the
+external world, really denoted that they were about to condense and
+precipitate themselves into a new creation. New interests were
+preparing, that should presently claim from my nature all the energy,
+enthusiasm, and passion which had once been devoted to the old. Of
+this I became aware in the following manner. One day, among a package
+of books sent to me from Paris, arrived a pamphlet just written in
+defence of a new theory concerning the movements of the human heart.
+My curiosity was excited by the idea of a new theory on such a famous
+subject, and my interest was by no means abated after perusal of the
+pamphlet. Exposition of this theory would demand a crowd of technical
+details, unintelligible to the general reader, and therefore
+inappropriate in this place. But let such an one take the trouble
+to listen for a moment to the ticking of a heart, seemingly so
+monotonous, simple, and easy to understand, and then reflect that the
+slight elements discoverable in this little sound, have been forced
+by human intellect into at least twenty different combinations, and
+afforded ground for as many theories, each defended with impassioned
+earnestness by a different observer. He may then realize something of
+the interest which attaches to the explanation of this phenomenon--may
+even experience a sort of mental vertigo, as if he had witnessed the
+evolution of a world out of nothing. Owing to the paucity of the facts
+to be observed, the finesse requisite for the observation, and the
+intellectual dexterity needed to retain such minute circumstances
+before the mind long enough to think about them, the problem is one of
+the most delicate and intricate offered by physiological science. Once
+engaged in its discussion, the mind becomes hopelessly fascinated, and
+continues to pirouette about an invisible point, that is neither a
+thought nor a material phenomenon, but, as it were, a refined essence
+of both.
+
+As in all series of vital actions, each item of the phenomenon in
+question is so interlinked with the rest, that an explanation of a
+part can never be considered final, so long as any problem remains
+unresolved. The latest experimentator, brooding over hitherto
+neglected details, may always hope to light upon some clue that shall
+unravel the entire entanglement in a different manner, and reform upon
+a new basis ideas now grouped in pretended fixity. The excitement
+caused by this possibility is amply sufficient to stimulate research.
+And there is no need to discover an immediate practical application
+for the theory in order to bait the interest of vulgar minds. These
+would always be incapable of such difficult investigations, while
+really competent students were supremely indifferent to all lesser
+advantages attached to the discovery of truth. As for me, I had been
+so long removed from active life and its necessities (for my
+professional career had as yet been too facile and commonplace to
+arouse me to them), that the impractical character of the subject
+constituted for me an additional charm. I recognized that it belonged,
+for the present at least, to the region of pure thought, pure science,
+accessible only to intelligences refined by nature, and enriched by
+superior culture. In addition, therefore, to the intrinsic interest
+of the problem, and the solid satisfaction arising from acute
+intellectual activity, I could, in pursuit of this theme, experience
+all the subtle pleasure derived from a consciousness of personal
+superiority--pleasure as attainable in solitude as elsewhere since the
+superiority was too real and unquestionable to require the
+confirmatory suffrage of the crowd.
+
+I abandoned all other studies, and threw myself impetuously into the
+current of these newly-received ideas. I ransacked my library, from
+Herophilus to Haller, from Galen to Helmholtz. England, Germany,
+Italy, France yielded up their tribute to my excited curiosity. And
+the theme, shifted, refracted from intellect to intellect, multiplied
+itself to bewildering complexity.
+
+Not content with reading, I performed experiments, repeating those of
+my predecessors, and inventing new to control their conclusions. "With
+my own hands I stirred the soil, fetid and palpitating with life," and
+in this inmost intimacy with Nature felt myself grow strong, as Antaeus
+by contact with the mother earth. Thus roused from my long torpor into
+the most intense activity,--for all activity is slack in comparison
+with that of thought,--I became dissatisfied with the facility of my
+present surroundings. I was anxious to pit myself against the world of
+Paris. I wanted opposition, contradiction, in order to vanquish them,
+and absorb their force into the glory of my triumph. Moreover, my
+studies had now reached a point where they required the assistance
+that could only be obtained in a great city: in a word, I resolved to
+return to the capital, for a longer or shorter time, as the sequel
+should prove desirable. My means rendered me independent of my
+_clientele_, and I left my patients without regret to the care of
+an easily procured substitute. It is so rare to alight upon an
+interesting case in the country! Nothing but rheumatism and measles,
+measles and rheumatism, and never an autopsy,--it is as monotonous as
+the treatment of fever and ague. I longed for the vast metropolitan
+hospitals, containing specimens of every shade of disease, and
+affording unlimited opportunities for auscultation. Of these I
+stood especially in need, for the train of thought suggested by
+physiological experiment must be completed by pathological researches,
+which could only be carried on at Paris.
+
+To Paris, therefore, I came, as to a new world, so completely had I
+been separated from it during the two last years. It was as if one of
+the spirits in the metempsychosis imagined by Fourier, had returned to
+the brilliant sphere from which death had driven him in temporary
+exile. I was at first enchanted, intoxicated. The mental activity
+which had seemed so intense in the sluggish province, needed to be
+quickened fourfold to keep abreast of the intellects with which I
+entered into relation, and the consciousness of the quickening
+affected me as with new wine. But, as I grew accustomed to my new
+medium, I became again subtly dissatisfied. It was not enough to be
+abreast of the world, I wanted to be a little ahead. In my solitude
+it was easy to cherish illusions concerning the value of my own work,
+to picture myself as a mighty and triumphant wrestler with Nature,
+capable, by his single strength, of forcing her reluctant secrets, to
+reveal them afterwards to an admiring world. But at Paris, with its
+enormous condensation of intellectual force, I could not flatter
+myself on the solitary greatness of my achievements, nor ignore the
+collective action of society. Whatever my attainment, I should be
+forced to share its fame with a hundred other workers, who had
+lent me, unasked, their aid. The distance between the person who
+uttered the last word, and him who said the next to the last, was
+infinitesimal, and this close proximity annoyed me. I longed for some
+brilliant occasion to surpass all my contemporaries in one great
+bound; an opportunity to bestow on science and humanity some unique
+benefit that could never be compared with those accumulated by
+lesser men. One day, revolving many things in my mind, I entered the
+Bibliotheque Imperiale. Strolling idly past the grated bookcases, my
+attention was attracted by the title of a thin folio, wedged in
+between Lavater and Geoffroy St. Hilaire. An inexplicable impulse led
+me to demand this book, the "History of Vesalius and his Times." I had
+no particular reason, that I knew of, to be interested in Vesalius; I
+merely followed an idle whim, suggested rather by the peculiar shape
+and position of the folio, than by any solid reason; and this whim
+did not hurry me out of my lounging mood. I settled myself in one of
+the windows, and leisurely turned over the leaves of my book, reading
+a line here and a phrase there, until I alighted and settled upon the
+following passage: "So the rumor spread abroad that Vesalius had
+opened the chest of a living man to see his heart beat. And upon that
+the people were in a fury and the court hissed with rage, and Vesalius
+was obliged to flee from Spain before the power of the Inquisition;
+and some say that he then made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. But on
+his return he was shipwrecked on a desolate island and perished
+miserably. Hubert, in his _Vindiciae contra tyrannus_ reports this
+history to the eternal shame of the Jesuits."
+
+The world often describes with minuteness the material framework of
+such noisy events as have impressed its coarse sensibilities. But it
+commonly neglects, because ignoring, the scenes wherein have taken
+place the crises of thought, or occurred the birth of new, indomitable
+ideas. To the thinker, however, such outer scenes remain inextricably
+associated with the thought that has sprung to life in their midst. To
+this day I preserve a vivid recollection of every item of the place
+where I read the story of Vesalius; the lofty reading-room, with its
+confused lining of many-colored books, the tables crowded by eager
+students, the broad, deep windows through which the sun streamed, and
+from which I, sitting with open folio on my lap, watched the shifting
+fountain and the swaying trees and the long, untrimmed grass in the
+courtyard below. For the story seemed to have laid hold of my inmost
+soul, and touched the spring of a long-hidden desire. Why I was so
+moved, I could not tell. What issue would open to this whirlpool of
+vague excitement in which I had fallen, I had no idea. But I was
+profoundly conscious both of the excitement and the emotion, and, with
+that refined epicureanism of which intellectual people alone are
+capable, I abandoned myself, for a time, to the subtle luxury of their
+enjoyment.
+
+My reverie was interrupted by the clanging of the great clock and the
+scarcely less harsh voice of the _gardien_ as he announced the hour
+for closing the library. Still wrapped in fantastic meditation, I
+descended the stairs to the street, and followed the rue Richelieu to
+the boulevard, there to mingle with the human stream that endlessly
+encircled the city like a new army of Gideon. Drifting in the current,
+I reached the Bastile, crossed the Pont d'Austerlitz, gained the
+Boulevard de l'Hopital and continued walking to the Invalides, to the
+Avenues Jena and Wagram, and from the Place des Ternes, all along the
+exterior rampart. And as I walked, my entangled thoughts gradually
+disengaged themselves into clearness and precision.
+
+The biographer of Vesalius, who evidently shared the prejudices of the
+people, had exerted himself strenuously to disprove the calumny
+attached to the name of the great anatomist. He, like the rest, was
+blinded by that vulgar egotism which clamorously prefers the
+interests of individuals to those of society,--egotism no less
+short-sighted than vulgar, for the large and abstract interests cared
+for by science are precisely those which shall ultimately affect the
+greatest number of individuals; and no less inconsequent than
+short-sighted, since no one hesitates to ruin entire hosts of
+individuals upon the faintest chance of promoting the material
+interests of society. A stock company may immolate hundreds during the
+construction of a Panama railroad--a sovereign sacrifice thousands in
+the contest for a Crimean peninsula; the hue and cry only begins when
+the savant modestly begs permission to utilize a single life for the
+advancement of science. He is execrated as a monster, and burned alive
+in expiation of his crime. Absurd inconsistency, trivial superstition!
+from which it is time that at least the scientific world were
+emancipated. Long enough has the ignorant rabble exercised brute
+tyranny over intellects towering above its comprehension. The time
+for concession is past, the moment has arrived for the savant to
+assume the sway that rightfully devolves upon him and declare the
+confiscation of all claims to the supreme interest of the search after
+truth.
+
+For my part, therefore, so far from blaming Vesalius because he had
+dissected a living man, I should have accorded him most profound
+reverence for this proof of elevation above ordinary prejudice. And
+the more I thought over the matter, the more I became convinced that
+the accusation was well founded, that the deed had really been
+performed, which moral cowardice alone induced the glorious criminal
+to disavow.
+
+My brooding fancy, satiated with the image of the great anatomist,
+began to occupy itself with his so-called victim. Who was he? what
+motive had induced him to surrender his body to the scalpel of the
+master, his life to the realization of the master's idea? A slave, a
+debtor, from whom the ingenious savant had thus exacted a pound of
+flesh? A trembling poltroon, forced to the sacrifice more reluctantly
+than Isaac to the altar? I preferred rather to believe that it was a
+favorite pupil, burning with enthusiasm for the master, joyful to
+participate in his mighty labors at the cheap expense of his own
+lesser life. Had Vesalius been a general, and he an aide-de-camp
+before a rampart, all the world would have applauded him, rushing upon
+death at the word of command. I myself had known, by a brief
+experience, the thrilling impulse to fight, to die, in behalf of a
+cause. Rivers of blood had been shed for honor, for loyalty, for
+patriotism. Was the desire for truth less ardent than these worn-out
+passions! Could it not rather supply their place in the new world
+about to be created by science? What could produce a greater
+impression upon the entire world, and more forcibly announce the
+inauguration of a new era, than the voice of a man who should declare,
+"I refuse to draw my sword for the hideous folly of war; to surrender
+my life at the absurd caprice of princes; but I offer myself
+cheerfully, unreservedly, as the instrument of Science, in her
+majestic schemes for the discovery of truth!"
+
+My recent studies on the problem of the heart's movements brought me
+into peculiar sympathy with the object of Vesalius' researches. The
+tantalizing results as often obtained by experiments on lower animals,
+the uncertainty of the inferences that could be deduced from them to
+form a theory of the human organism, had often excited in me a lively
+desire for a direct experiment upon man. This desire had hitherto been
+smothered beneath the mass of conventional ideas, which so frequently
+overwhelm our timidity and enslave our feebleness in endless routine.
+But the daring word of genius had now struck the chains from my
+intellect, and emancipated me from the slavery of that hesitation.
+I--I would follow in the path already traced by that bolder mind; I
+would redeem that calumniated memory from disgrace, and enrich its
+glory by the surpassing realization of the original conception. _I_
+would inaugurate the new era; I would set the example of supreme
+heroism in science; and all the world, and all future ages, should
+preserve my name with reverent homage, and enwreath it with laurels
+of undying fame. For, that the purity of my motives might be above
+suspicion, I would perform the experiment, not as Vesalius in the
+capacity of anatomist, but as the victim, voluntarily devoting himself
+to the transcendent interests of an ideal cause.
+
+And as my mind leaped up into this grand thought, I felt cheek and
+brow flush with violent emotion. Carried along by the first impetus of
+the idea, I walked as rapidly as in a dream, unseeing, unhearing every
+thing that surrounded me. Before I knew whither I had come, I felt a
+cool wind blow over me, as if after a feverish journey on a heated
+road, I had suddenly stepped into a cool, dark cavern. And, looking
+out from the brilliant visions in which I was plunged, I found myself
+already entered within the gates of Pere la Chaise--the city of the
+dead, of the vast majority to which I was to go over in fulfilment of
+my great idea. I wandered among the graves, and read the epitaphs, the
+reiterated dreary expressions of disappointment and despair, that the
+deceased had been passively torn from a world to which every fibre of
+their hearts was clinging. Not so would read _my_ epitaph, and I
+began to compose it, less as a witty amusement than as a device for
+resisting an insidious chill that had begun to creep over me like a
+damp exhalation from the graves. For my imagination suddenly pictured
+to itself the heavy tombstone pressing down, down forever, on the
+cruel coffin-lid beneath which I should be lying. I shuddered at the
+picture, I shuddered at death, and, leaning on an iron rail which girt
+in a tomb, hid my face in my arms to shut out the signs of decay and
+the more ghastly emblems of immortality with which the populous
+_cimetiere_ was crowded.
+
+Raising my head after a brief struggle, I perceived that I was
+standing in front of the famous tomb of Abelard and Heloise. The
+sculptured forms of the unhappy lovers reposed side by side on the lid
+of the stone mausoleum, as they had lain for six centuries, and
+immortalized the mingling of their mortal dust below. Tears sprang to
+my eyes as I looked at their still, peaceful faces, for I remembered
+my dead wife, and then, my lost children. Death, that contained them
+in its hollow caverns, could not be frightful to me. It was rather the
+treasure-house of all I possessed most precious, and which I should
+now hasten to reclaim. All the loneliness and longing which had been
+dulled by habit, and lately covered over by mental activity, awoke,
+and cried out passionately within me, repelling the slight pleasures
+of this world, as a child crying for its mother dashes aside an
+offered toy. What was left to me in life that I should cling to it?
+What ties bound me to this perfidious, slippery earth? To whom owed I
+any duties? Whose pillow would moisten with tears because I had passed
+out of sight? Destitute of personal interests, I could only devote
+myself to those of humanity, and that by some method that should
+concentrate in a single moment both the achievement and its reward.
+For small were the enjoyment to survive for fame, with whose report I
+could return laden to no fireside, for whose sake I could watch no
+eyes brighten in sweet pride of sympathy. I should sicken of it in
+half an hour, and my hard-earned laurels would become as dusty and
+lifeless as those ghastly wreaths of immortelles hanging around
+Heloise's tomb. So desolated love joined itself to restless ambition
+and ideal enthusiasm, to concentrate my life for the purpose from
+which, since then, it has never swerved.
+
+Thus resolved upon self-devotion, I set about the task of finding a
+colleague to share the risks and glory of my enterprise. I did not
+conceal from myself that upon him would devolve a role far more
+difficult and complicated than my own. From me, the subject of the
+proposed experiment, was only required sublime heroism for the
+sacrifice. But the man who should perform the operation must possess
+moral courage to face public criticism, perhaps opprobrium; a trained
+intellect, already habituated to discussion of the problem in
+question, and impassioned for its solution; great practical skill and
+finesse, able to appreciate and profit by every detail of the
+phenomena that would unroll themselves before his observation; iron
+nerve, that should remain unmoved by any startling peculiarities of
+the case in hand.
+
+The necessity for uniting so many characteristics, compelled me to
+abandon my first hope of forming a committee for the experiment; for
+as soon as I began to sound physiologists on the subject, I landed
+knee-deep in a mass of invincible prejudices and prepossessions. The
+scheme was too new, too daring for the capacity of the mediocrities
+which constitute the bulk of even the scientific world. I must
+discover some exceptional solitary enthusiast like myself, able to
+appreciate and embrace with joy the grand opportunity I offered him.
+To the search for this enthusiast, therefore, I bent all my energies,
+and knocked at many doors, wherever, through the windows, I believed
+to have detected on the hearth the upleaping of an inner flame.
+
+It was astonishing how often I knocked in vain! How often my
+insinuations, my suggestions, my direct propositions were repulsed! I
+appealed to a professor who had concentrated the best years of his
+life to the problem I proposed to solve,--he pooh-poohed my scheme. In
+vain I tried to explain my methods for overcoming its practical
+difficulties; he decried them all, I am convinced, from pure jealousy.
+
+"And you ought to know by this time," he added with a scarcely
+disguised sneer, "that a single experiment on a human subject would be
+of little value until its results were controlled by a dozen others.
+And I doubt that your enthusiasm would prove sufficiently contagious
+to furnish the supply for the dissecting table." And he obstinately
+shut his ears to any further argument.
+
+I disclosed my plan to a struggling physician, ready for any adventure
+that should thrust him into notoriety, bring his name before the
+public, and thus open the way to a prosperous _clientele_. Yet he
+recoiled from a project fraught with promise so sure and magnificent
+as mine. A hospital _interne_, flushed with enthusiasm for his first
+practical studies, started with horror when I divulged my ideas.
+Many, true Parisian _railleurs_, regarded my proposition as an
+excellent joke.
+
+"Allons donc, c'est une vieille blague que tu nous fais la."
+
+And all my protestations served only to increase their amusement, and
+their determination not to be taken in.
+
+A few eyed me suspiciously, as if they imagined I were insane, and one
+old bourgeois doctor had the impertinence to administer to me a moral
+lecture.
+
+"Young man," he said, "you are possessed by the same preposterous
+vanity which induced Empedocles to throw himself into Vesuvius, and
+Erostratus to fire the temple of Diana. I recommend a course of dry
+cupping to the nape of the neck, to relieve your congested and
+over-excited brain, and, in the mean time, a decent seclusion from
+society, that you insult with your absurdities."
+
+I flushed red with anger, but this last rebuff warned me that I must
+change my tactics. Like all reformers, I found the world too stiff and
+rigid for my purposes, and only harmed myself with kicking against the
+bristling pricks. I must turn to a new generation, to early youth, and
+find some mind still unformed and flexible, that I could myself submit
+to a far-sighted training, and cast into the mould of my own ideas.
+The opportunities of which my contemporaries were unworthy, I would
+reserve as a gracious boon for a well-initiated pupil.
+
+Two years had elapsed since my arrival at Paris, and the untiring
+energy with which I pursued physiological researches had begun to
+bring my name into notice. When, therefore, I proposed to open a
+course of lectures upon experimental physiology, my friends all
+encouraged me with flattering assurances.
+
+"A la bonne heure," exclaimed the student to whom had I once addressed
+my secret plans, "something sensible at last. I trust such rational
+occupation will purge your head of its maggots, and satisfy your
+aspirations for fame--"
+
+I smiled stealthily to myself. It is thus that the light world always
+measures the austerity of our resolutions by its own lightness!
+
+I obtained the requisite official permission, and opened the course at
+the Ecole Pratique under the best auspices. The lectures were thronged
+from the beginning, and the interest by no means abated as the weeks
+rolled on. Enthusiastic myself, I possessed in no small degree the
+gift of communicating (on all ordinary subjects) my enthusiasm to
+others. I aimed less at imparting solid instruction to my pupils than
+at impressing their imagination by a series of skilfully arranged
+effects. My experiments, therefore, were governed by dramatic unity,
+rarely sought in the confused and arid expositions of official
+professors. Now I led my auditors into the inmost laboratories of
+Nature, and revealed, in plant and animal, the fine affinities that
+regulated her processes of nutrition. Now I traced some delicate
+nervous filament from the spinal column of the amphioxus to the
+cerebral hemisphere of the mammifer. Now I disclosed the ramifying
+canals in the vast system of circulation, mounting from the spongy
+network of the mollusk and the sluggish lymphatic of the reptile to
+the brilliant, bounding arteries of the double-hearted vertebrates.
+And always, beyond the last disclosure, after the most complete
+revelation, I hinted at something yet to come, some higher, unveiled
+mystery, to which all this grand series was but the prelude. As a
+priest who volubly initiates the neophytes into the service of the
+temple, but points in silence to the inner court containing the Deity
+for whom the service is performed, so I, after the most magnificent
+display of animal life, silently indicated a concealed hereafter, a
+culmination in the human body, hitherto withheld from our curious
+gaze. I thus strove to suggest an ideal, left for a time incomplete;
+to foster an impetuous impatience, that, stimulated by the great
+acquisitions of the past, should reach forward irresistibly for the
+greater prize of the future. I trusted that among all my auditors
+would be found one that should divine the cipher, and quicken over its
+subtle secret--one intellect, that, carried unconsciously along the
+current of my thought, should finally arrive at my unrevealed goal.
+
+Among the most constant attendants on the lectures, I had long noticed
+one young man of about twenty-two years old, who always occupied the
+same seat close to my operating-table. He was thin, shabbily dressed,
+with full, intense forehead, ravenous face, and brilliant eyes. His
+poverty was indicated not only by his toilette, and that special form
+of unfed expression peculiar to the studious hungry, but also by his
+absence from all the private classes, and redoubled assiduity at the
+public lectures. His intelligence was evident from the absorbed
+attention with which he followed the experiments, and from his manner
+of taking notes,--not at random, like most of the students, but at
+well-chosen points perceptible only to a person already in possession
+of a commanding view of the whole subject. By a little stratagem, I
+contrived one day to get hold of his note-book, and was surprised at
+the accurate observations, the acute suggestions, and range of
+information indicated by the marginal queries. Those who have ever
+experienced the delight of discovering an intellect--discovery more
+precious than that of a gold mine--can appreciate the eagerness with
+which I devoured these pages, finding everywhere the stamp of the mind
+I sought. And my satisfaction was redoubled by reflecting how greatly
+the youth and poverty of the writer might increase my facilities for
+obtaining complete possession of him. I was not long in devising a
+scheme for forcing the intimacy of the young man, who, like most poor
+students, was evidently as shy and proud as he was poor.
+
+One day, at the close of the lecture, I touched my student on the arm.
+
+"Be kind enough to wait a moment," I said, "I have something to say to
+you."
+
+The boy flushed and drew back a little with all the haughtiness of a
+sensitive person ill at ease with the world, and expecting from it
+nothing but rebuffs and insolence. I fancied that an anxious suspicion
+crossed his mind that I was about to lay claim to some payment for
+lessons, of which he had hitherto ignored the necessity. I waited till
+the greater part of the crowd had squeezed through the narrow door of
+the amphitheatre, dismissed the loiterers, and then turned to my
+companion with a frank air of relief, as to an equal with whom I could
+refresh myself after the fatigue of teaching lesser minds. I saw that
+I had already won his heart, before I began to speak.
+
+"I find that I require another assistant," I said. "The man that I
+have at present, is, as you know, a mere machine. I need some one
+interested, enthusiastic, capable of seconding me intelligently. I
+want, in short, a pupil. Will you fill the place?"
+
+Surprised, overwhelmed with an honor which he could so keenly
+appreciate, the young man flushed again, hesitated, stammered, and
+finally only succeeded in answering me with his beautiful eyes, for
+his tongue refused to speak. I already loved the boy; alas! how he has
+repaid my love!
+
+"It will be a mutual exchange of service," I continued. "You will be
+of great use to me in my preparations, and, in return, I may be able
+to initiate you into the mysteries of our art, somewhat more
+thoroughly than can be done in a public lecture."
+
+"I thank you, sir," said Guy. He tried to speak coldly, but he looked
+as if he longed to throw himself at my feet and cover my hand with
+kisses. To relieve his emotion, in which I secretly exulted, I patted
+him friendlily on the shoulder, and began immediately to discuss the
+programme for the following lecture.
+
+I had every reason to congratulate myself on my new assistant. His
+zeal and ingenuity not only seconded my researches, but often
+supplemented them when over-fatigue persuaded me to repose. And Guy's
+personal character proved as winning as his intellect keen and
+reliable. Before long I contrived that he should come and live with
+me, and I invented for him some light literary employment, by which he
+could pay me for his board and lodging, with an insignificant
+sacrifice of his time. He acceded to this arrangement upon its
+apparent terms, but none the less did he pierce its transparent
+motive, and tacitly devote to me his whole soul in acknowledgment of
+what he considered my delicate generosity. These unfledged souls are
+apt to throw themselves thus away in exchange for the most trifling
+pecuniary service, and torment themselves, moreover, that the
+compensation is so mean. I smiled at Guy's naivete, but none the less
+turned it to account. From the foothold thus gained, I rapidly
+extended my influence over his entire nature. My larger experience
+enabled me to complete his unfinished thoughts, to sympathize with
+his scarcely conscious feelings, to subtly impress his principles and
+co-ordinate them to my own scheme. Having begun by forestalling his
+material necessities, I continued to supply the finer wants of heart
+and intellect so completely, that he became habituated to turn to me
+for everything, and to receive everything that came from me with
+implicit faith. I fed him, taught him, loved him, and all with such
+artfulness, that he felt my presence in his life only as a plant feels
+the sunshine in its calyx, conscious of no intrusion to be resented,
+or tyranny to be repelled. It is so easy to make the conquest of a
+young, ingenuous nature! so easy to fix its impetuous, unsuspecting
+enthusiasm! I marvel that these exquisite relations between master and
+pupil are so generally left uncultivated, or their charm wasted. I
+almost marvel that I did not rest completely satisfied with my life at
+that time; with its arduous study, and its growing fame, and Guy, with
+the delicious task of educating his supple intellect to my ideas, and
+penetrating his nature with my personality. Only the loftiness of my
+ideal saved it from making womanish shipwreck on this episode in its
+austere voyage towards the realization.
+
+As Guy became more and more competent, I delegated more and more into
+his hands the preparation for the lectures. The first excitement of
+getting them into train was past, the first keen interest dulled by
+habit; and when the second winter began, with repetition of all that
+had gone before, I went through the business almost mechanically.
+Often I left everything to my assistant, and shut myself up alone to
+dream over the project that secretly absorbed my soul. Guy fancied I
+was ill, and, as my exertions slackened, redoubled his own, consuming
+heart and brain in the resolve to maintain the course at the level of
+its original popularity. I was inwardly amused at his devotion to such
+secondary considerations, but did not interfere, for it helped to
+serve my purpose.
+
+Finally, I believed my pupil to be fully prepared, and decided that
+the moment had come for the complete revelation of myself.
+
+One evening,--I selected the evening advisedly, since at that time the
+imagination is more susceptible of impressions, and further removed
+from the vulgar influences of every-day life,--I entered our study.
+Guy was seated at a table, and working in his usual intense fashion,
+and I threw myself on a sofa beside him.
+
+"Guy," I exclaimed, "it tires me to look at you. For eight hours you
+have not stirred from those books. You will kill yourself."
+
+"Great loss," he answered, "so that it were in your service, and
+during the pursuit of knowledge."
+
+"You love me then, Guy?"
+
+"Love you!" He rose from the table, and coming to the sofa, kneeled
+and kissed my forehead, without shame, as in France men _can_ kiss
+each other.
+
+"My master, my friend!" he said; and I felt that he was mine, bound to
+me by a love passing the love of women. I drew him before me, and ran
+my fingers through his clustering hair. His affection was pleasant to
+me, independent of the use I meant to make of it; and I almost
+experienced a feminine desire to trifle with it for a moment, as one
+shifts a diamond from one hand to the other to watch its changing
+flame.
+
+"How much do you love me? as the children say. What would you do for
+me?"
+
+"I would die for you!" he answered vehemently.
+
+That is the first thing youth ever thinks of. From very fulness of
+life, it can afford to be on familiar terms with death.
+
+"Tut; that is unnecessary. But would you do anything I asked of you as
+a personal favor?"
+
+"Only try me. I would go to the ends of the earth for you."
+
+"_Tenez!_ suppose I was dying King Arthur and you my squire. Would you
+hesitate to fling away Excalibur at my command?"
+
+"The paltry bauble! What thought could I have to waste upon it while
+you were dying?"
+
+"But suppose this obedience did not suffice to release me. Suppose
+that, in my agony, I prayed you to drive your own sword into my heart
+to set me free. Would you do it?"
+
+He hesitated a moment. "That would be a terrible prayer; yet if you
+were suffering, and I knew that you must die, I would do even that for
+you."
+
+"You have said it," I cried, and leaped to my feet in uncontrollable
+excitement. "I have a request to make you, I have a prayer that you
+only can fulfil. Swear that you will grant it--swear by all your love
+for me, by all the gratitude which you profess, and for which I shall
+never claim other return--swear that you will do what I am about to
+bid you!"
+
+I saw that Guy was disquieted by my words and manner. Instead of
+replying with the bold confidence I had a right to expect, he recoiled
+from the revelation that pressed urgently on my lips.
+
+"Take care," he said, "your eyes are glittering as if you had a fever.
+Let us stop talking about this till to-morrow."
+
+The upstart boy, thus to dare to patronize me with his foresight and
+protection--_me_, who had taught him all he knew, and who was about to
+offer him a place on my giddy pinnacle of immortal fame! I was
+intensely angry, but succeeded in controlling myself, for I felt that
+an untimely explosion of violence might ruin all. I passed my hand
+over my eyes, as if to blur the glitter that had alarmed Guy's
+scrupulous feebleness, and sat down quietly again.
+
+"The fact is, my dear Guy," I said, "I have been waiting so long for
+an opportunity to execute a certain scheme of mine, that I cannot help
+being a little excited when this opportunity seems at last within my
+reach."
+
+"What kind of a scheme?" asked Guy.
+
+"A scheme for the advancement of the science in which we are both so
+interested."
+
+"Oh," said Guy, with an air of relief, "you know how you can rely upon
+me for any undertaking in that direction."
+
+"I should think so, especially when it concerns the problem upon which
+we have both been so long engaged--the movements of the heart."
+
+"What!" he exclaimed with delight. "You have discovered something new
+for that! Shall I ever cease to admire your masterly ingenuity. What
+is to be done? You want to send me to Africa to capture a live
+rhinoceros? I will set out to-morrow."
+
+"What would be the use! All the information that can be gained by
+experiment on the higher mammifers is already ours. Since the problem
+derives the greatest part of its interest from its application to man,
+it is on man that the new experiment should be performed."
+
+"Ah, yes," sighed Guy; "we are always tripping up against this
+impossibility."
+
+"Nothing is impossible," I answered. "I am resolved that the
+experiment shall be performed on man."
+
+Guy started, then laughed. "Oh! you are joking," he said.
+
+"Not the least in the world. I have even selected the subject."
+
+"Eh! well, since you are so determined, you may dissect me when you
+choose. Only I warn you of difficulties with the tribunals
+afterwards."
+
+"I leave you to settle with them. It is not you, but myself, who is to
+be the subject; and you must perform the experiment."
+
+I was surprised at the calmness with which I made this momentous
+revelation of my purpose. But we are always on the level of the
+circumstances to which we have attained, and they do not seem as awful
+as when viewed from the distance.
+
+Guy did not at all believe that I was in earnest, and half an hour's
+impetuous talking was needed to convince him of the reality and
+fixedness of my resolve. Then he tried to reason with me.
+
+"Your experiment will be utterly useless," he said; "because death
+will ensue almost immediately after the chest is opened. And during
+the few seconds that might intervene for observation, the heart would
+beat too rapidly to render observation possible."
+
+"I have devised means for palliating all these difficulties," I
+answered eagerly. "In the first place, the last act of the experiment
+must be preceded by the administration of woorara, to slacken the
+rapidity of the heart's action. In the second place, I do not propose
+to open the chest with the bistoury. The operation, even though aided
+by chloroform, would cause too violent a shock to the nervous system.
+But I intend to burn through gradually, by successive applications of
+caustic, as in the procedure for opening hepatic cysts. Deep-seated
+adhesions would form and shut out the lungs securely, and thus
+probably obviate the necessity for artificial respiration. The
+pericardium would be reached with comparatively little disturbance,
+and once exposed, the operator would be able to make a first and
+important series of observations, before proceeding farther. Finally,
+he would rend the pericardium, and arrive directly at the heart
+itself."
+
+"And kill you!" cried Guy.
+
+"I should die," I answered composedly, "as men have died after
+inoculating themselves with the plague; only my death would be more
+glorious, because incurred for pure science, and in face of a
+certainty. It is precisely on this account that the act will insure to
+our names the honor and reverence of all future generations."
+
+"Nonsense. You will be pitied as a suicide and madman, and I shall be
+hung at the next assizes."
+
+"Coward! traitor!" I burst forth in ungovernable passion. "_This_ is
+the extent of your devotion, then! _These_ your narrow calculations
+and sordid reckonings! You, the one soul in whom I trusted, the one
+friend I had in the world capable of appreciating me! Oh, shame on
+such ingratitude! Oh, miserable me, doomed to such disappointment!"
+
+He was deeply hurt. I saw that I had made some impression upon
+the hard skepticism with which the world had incased a naturally
+generous nature, and pressed my advantage. I poured out a torrent of
+eloquence, reasoning, prayers, entreaty. I wrestled with him as for
+the salvation of a soul; the night waned on our hot conversation, and
+finally, toward three o'clock, when the gray dawn began to point
+weirdly in the East, I gained the victory. Guy promised to fulfil
+my wish, at whatever risks to himself, and with the certainty of
+sacrificing my life in the experiment. On the spot, I drew up a paper
+testifying that the operation should have been performed at my express
+command, and stated the reasons in full. To this document, I trusted
+to obtain in the country the signature of two witnesses sufficiently
+incurious to sign without reading.
+
+For it was decided that, for the sake of greater secrecy and
+convenience, we should withdraw to the country, and I selected a
+locality about four hours' distance from Paris, where we were both
+unknown. These details settled, we separated for sleep.
+
+But I think neither of us closed our eyes that night; and Guy was so
+pale and haggard the next morning that I hardly knew him. During the
+week that we remained at Paris, making preparations for our departure,
+he hardly ate, or slept, or spoke, but seemed to waste and droop like
+a man in the clutch of a fiend. I became anxious. I was afraid he
+would fall ill, and thus be incapacitated for the performance of his
+duty.
+
+However, we managed to leave the city without accident, and installed
+ourselves in the lonely dwelling I had rented. We hired an old woman
+from the village to take charge of our housekeeping, and then devoted
+ourselves to our work. We engaged in a preliminary series of
+experiments, through which, as through a suite of lesser apartments
+leading to the throne-room, we were to approach the act that should
+crown them all.
+
+For the first time since he had been my pupil, I found Guy nervous,
+_maladroit_. He turned pale at the sight of blood. The struggling of a
+pigeon, or the yelp of a dog, seemed to make him sick, and a hundred
+times he laid down his scalpel as if unable to proceed. He was like a
+neophyte, and a prey to the sentimental horrors of which, up to this
+time, his absorbed intellect had been quite unconscious. I trembled.
+If his nerve should fail him when it became _my_ turn, and the whole
+costly experiment be thrown away through some awkwardness on his part!
+I was furious at the very idea, and told him so.
+
+"I will haunt you forever if you fail," I said, savagely.
+
+"You will in any case," answered Guy, sighing heavily.
+
+But at my instances, he tried to rouse himself from this inexplicable
+languor, and to drill hand and eye to exquisite precision. I watched
+him severely. I refused to pardon the least blunder. I trained him for
+this last trial, as men train horses for the winning race. Guy was
+really an able physiologist, and his skill only needed finishing
+touches to be as effective as was possible in the actual condition of
+science. After two or three weeks I was satisfied, and bade him
+prepare the next day to begin the last experiment.
+
+I shall never forget that day, the supreme moment of my life. I sat at
+the windows of an inner room, waiting for Guy, and looked out over the
+valley that basked in the afternoon sunshine. It was the beginning of
+September--one of those perfect days at the prime of the year, when
+life has reached its culmination, and pauses in the fulness of its own
+content. The air, ripe and balmy, purged of the rawness of Spring and
+the violent heat of Summer, was as yet untouched by the faintest
+frost, and restored to such perfection as mortals might breathe after
+the regeneration of the earth. The grain had been gathered in, but the
+unfallen fruit still weighed down the orchards, and absorbed the
+sunlight for its mellowing juices. The first press of the harvest
+season was over, the second had not yet begun; for one precious moment
+man and nature paused together, and surveyed the long ascent by which
+the year had climbed to these high table-lands of peace--not innocent
+peace, ignorant of action, but the peace of victory after conflict, of
+repose after strife, of maturity entering upon its rewards. In the
+perfection of these sunful days, all possibility of change seemed to
+have been outgrown, left far behind in an old, wearisome existence of
+long ago. The world had entered upon an eternal blessedness, and the
+jasper walls of heaven shut it out from harm forever, like coral reefs
+encircling a lagoon in the Pacific seas. Only by remembering the years
+that had been before, and the years that should follow after, could
+the reluctant mind convince itself that this seeming eternity was
+frail; that whoso lingered too long among the splendors of September
+would be surely overtaken by treacherous frost, and biting winter
+winds; that there was but one way to escape the revolting decline from
+this pinnacle of life--to die. That was my secret. I alone, of all who
+shivered at approaching winter, had learned how to escape. For me, not
+only the year, but life itself, should cease at its pinnacle, refusing
+to go down to a lower place, as a dethroned being prefers death to
+miserable exile. And with these thoughts, I felt myself possessed by
+an unutterable calm, such as comes to fever patients when they are
+dying.
+
+The first day of the experiment little was to be done. I called Guy,
+who lingered in the laboratory, and bade him apply the first layer of
+caustic to my breast, over the heart. The little operation required
+small skill, and this was fortunate, for Guy's hand trembled so
+violently, that a delicate manipulation would have been ruined. A drop
+of the paste fell on my coat-sleeve, and in a few minutes had burned a
+hole entirely through.
+
+"Look, Guy," I exclaimed, "through such a window shall you soon gaze
+at the central mystery of life. I almost envy you the opportunity."
+
+"Oh!" he cried, "if you would but take it! If you would but use me for
+your experiment, and spare me this dreadful trial!"
+
+He had urged this exchange from the beginning, but of course I would
+not consent. What! give up my great chance for immortality, surrender
+my unique place in the history of science and the world? No, indeed; I
+was already generous in sharing my achievement, in trusting the
+preservation of my fame to even my most loyal friend. Beyond that it
+were folly, madness, to go.
+
+"Nonsense," I replied therefore to this senseless entreaty. "That
+question has already been sufficiently discussed. Bah! that caustic
+burns."
+
+It was necessary to wait three or four days before renewing the
+caustic to deepen the eschar made by the first application. This delay
+gradually became intolerable to me,--the more, that Guy prolonged it
+on a multitude of trivial pretexts. I was finally obliged to resume
+the direction of affairs, and order him to proceed.
+
+He began to prepare some Vienna paste, but in a slow, dawdling manner
+that irritated my nerves to the last degree. I snatched the cup from
+his hand and stirred the caustic myself.
+
+"How many centuries have admired Socrates," I remarked, "for his
+theatrical pretence of drinking the hemlock voluntarily. In future
+ages men will remember with greater admiration how I, with my own
+hand, prepared the instrument of my death. Do not forget to mention
+this circumstance in your notes, and add that my hand did not
+tremble."
+
+I gave the caustic to Guy; but at the same moment the door opened
+behind us, and he sprang forward with a sudden cry, dashing the cup in
+pieces on the floor. I turned in angry surprise at the interruption,
+and saw two men standing in the room. They were perfect strangers to
+me, but came forward immediately and saluted me with the friendly
+courtesy of old acquaintance. I even fancied that I detected an
+intolerable softness in their manner, such as physicians sometimes
+assume in speaking to sick people. One of the intruders took my
+passive hand in his, and shook it with unnecessary cordiality,
+contriving, I think, at the same time to slip his fingers on my wrist,
+just over the pulse.
+
+My instinct was decidedly in favor of kicking these impertinent
+fellows down stairs. But so strong is the influence of civilized
+habit, that I restrained myself to a freezing politeness, inquiring to
+what I might be indebted for the honor, etc.
+
+"These gentlemen are friends of mine," interposed Guy, who had stooped
+on the floor to pick up the broken fragments of the cup, and who did
+not look at me as he spoke. "They are amateurs in our science, and
+would be much interested in examining the laboratory that we have
+installed here. But since they have taken a long journey, and must be
+hungry, I think we had better first order the dejeuner."
+
+"The devil!" I muttered inwardly. But at the same moment I reflected
+that these visitors with their congenial tastes might serve
+opportunity as witnesses to the experiment--even be useful in
+correcting any possible awkwardness in Guy's manipulation. I therefore
+addressed them in a tone of cordial hospitality.
+
+"We are at this moment engaged in some researches," I said, "that
+cannot fail to interest you, and where, perhaps, you may be of signal
+service, if you will consent to stay with us awhile and put up with
+our modest accommodations."
+
+"You honor our poor abilities," returned the first stranger, with a
+bland smile. "We shall be most happy to accept your amiable
+invitation."
+
+So we four sat down to the dejeuner, in the most cheerful possible
+humor. The black stain that burned on my breast stimulated me to a
+secret exultation; I felt a secret pride in anticipating the wonder of
+these men, when they should hereafter recall the gayety of my demeanor
+on this occasion. They, on the other hand, seconded me bravely in the
+conversation. Not for years had I met with companions so brilliant,
+witty, and sympathetic. They listened to me with the closest
+attention, and seemed to find a peculiar charm in the freaks of my
+fancy, to which, for the moment, I gave the rein.
+
+"These men are capable of appreciating me," I said to myself, and
+congratulated my good fortune which had sent them thither.
+
+Then I rose. "Gentlemen," I said, "I cannot express to you the
+pleasure that I have derived from your society. Before we adjourn to
+the laboratory, allow me, in English fashion, to propose a toast."
+
+"Wait a moment," said Guy, breaking the sullen silence he had hitherto
+maintained. "I ordered some Burgundy from Paris the other day, and it
+arrived this morning."
+
+He left the room, and presently returned with an uncorked bottle in
+his hand, which he set before me. I fancied, as he did so, that he
+looked rather significantly at the two strangers, but politeness
+forbade me to express my suspicion. I poured out the wine, and pushed
+the glasses to my companions.
+
+"Drink," I cried, "to the experiment that shall open a new era in
+science, and to the man that shall inaugurate a new revolution in the
+world." And I drained my glass.
+
+Whether or no the others followed my example, I cannot tell; for
+almost immediately I felt a subtle fire course through my veins,
+followed by a delicious languor that crept inwards to my heart, and
+seemed to arrest its pulsation by an irresistible persuasiveness to
+repose. Probably I swooned, for I lost all consciousness, and all
+recollection of time or place for many hours.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When I came to myself, I was a prisoner in this cursed asylum at
+Charenton.
+
+--Guy had betrayed me,--the false friend,--the poltroon,--and I, who
+trusted him too much, had fallen a victim to his stratagems. Whether
+he had been true to me at the beginning, and then had faltered at
+the last, or whether he had deceived me all along with affected
+complaisance, I never knew. For when he came to see me one day, my
+just resentment excited me to such a paroxysm of fury that the people
+here recommended him not to return, and I have never seen him since.
+So here I sit, in forced idleness, waiting for the arrival of some
+one who shall appreciate my great idea, and release me for its
+accomplishment. The people by whom I am surrounded are kind enough,
+but ignorant; they admire me, but are unable to understand me. So they
+bind me in silken chains, and clasp them with honeyed words, and I
+remain a prisoner. It is thus that the world rewards its greatest
+benefactors!
+
+
+
+
+MRS. KNOLLYS.
+
+BY J. S. OF DALE, AUTHOR OF "GUERNDALE."
+
+_Century Magazine, November, 1883._
+
+
+The great Pasterzen glacier rises in Western Austria, and flows into
+Carinthia, and is fourteen or seventeen miles long, as you measure it
+from its birth in the snow-field, or from where it begins to move from
+the higher snows and its active course is marked by the first wrinkle.
+It flows in a straight, steady sweep, a grand avenue, guarded by giant
+mountains, steep and wide; a prototype, huge and undesigned, of the
+giants' stairway in the Venice palace. No known force can block its
+path; it would need a cataclysm to reverse its progress. What falls
+upon it moves with it, what lies beneath it moves with it--down to the
+polished surface of the earth's frame, laid bare; no blade of grass
+grows so slowly as it moves, no meteor of the air is so irresistible.
+Its substant ice curls freely, moulds, and breaks itself like
+water,--breaks in waves, plastic like honey, crested lightly with a
+frozen spray; it winds tenderly about the rocky shore, and the
+granite, disintegrated into crumbs, flows on with it. All this so
+quietly that busy, officious little Man lived a score of thousand
+years before he noticed even that the glacier moved.
+
+Now, however, men have learned to congregate upon its shores, and
+admire. Scientists stick staves in the ground (not too near, lest the
+earth should move with it), and appraise the majesty of its motion;
+ladies, politely mystified, give little screams of pleased surprise;
+young men, secretly exultant, pace the yard or two between the sticks,
+a distance that takes the frozen stream a year to compass, and look
+out upon it half contemptuously. Then they cross it--carefully, they
+have enough respect left for that--with their cunningly nailed shoes
+and a rope; an hour or two they dally with it, till at last, being
+hungry and cold, they walk to the inn for supper. At supper they tell
+stories of their prowess, pay money to the guides who have protected
+them, and fall asleep after tea with weariness. Meantime, the darkness
+falls outside; but the white presence of the glacier breaks the night,
+and strange shapes unseen of men dance in its ashen hollows. It is
+so old that the realms of death and life conflict; change is on the
+surface, but immortality broods in the deeper places. The moon rises
+and sinks; the glacier moves silently, like a timepiece marking the
+centuries, grooving the record of its being on the world itself,--a
+feature to be read and studied by far-off generations of some other
+world. The glacier has a light of its own, and gleams to stars above,
+and the great Glockner mountain flings his shadow of the planets in
+its face.
+
+Mrs. Knollys was a young English bride, sunny-haired, hopeful-eyed,
+with lips that parted to make you love them,--parted before they
+smiled, and all the soft regions of her face broke into attendant
+dimples. And then, lest you should think it meant for you, she looked
+quickly up to "Charles," as she would then call him even to strangers,
+and Charles looked down to her. Charles was a short foot taller, with
+much the same hair and eyes, thick flossy whiskers, broad shoulders,
+and a bass voice. This was in the days before political economy cut
+Hymen's wings. Charles, like Mary, had little money, but great hopes;
+and he was clerk in a government office, with a friendly impression of
+everybody and much trust in himself. And old Harry Colquhoun, his
+chief, had given them six weeks to go to Switzerland and be happy in,
+all in celebration of Charles Knollys's majority and marriage to his
+young wife. So they had both forgotten heaven for the nonce, having a
+passable substitute; but the powers divine overlooked them pleasantly
+and forgave it. And even the phlegmatic driver of their _Einspaenner_
+looked back from the corner of his eye at the _schoene Englaenderin_,
+and compared her mentally with the far-famed beauty of the Koenigssee.
+So they rattled on in their curious conveyance, with the pole in the
+middle and the one horse out on one side, and still found more beauty
+in each other's eyes than in the world about them. Although Charles
+was only one and twenty, Mary Knollys was barely eighteen, and to her
+he seemed godlike in his age, as in all other things. Her life had
+been as simple as it had been short. She remembered being a little
+girl, and then the next thing that occurred was Charles Knollys, and
+positively the next thing she remembered of importance was being Mrs.
+Charles Knollys; so that old Mrs. Knollys, her guardian aunt and his,
+had first called her a love of a baby, and then but a baby in love.
+All this, of course, was five and forty years ago, for you know how
+old she was when she went again to Switzerland last summer--three and
+sixty.
+
+They first saw the great mountains from the summit of the Schafberg.
+This is a little height, three-cornered, between three lakes; a
+natural Belvedere for Central Europe. Mr. and Mrs. Knollys were seated
+on a couch of Alpine roses behind a rhododendron bush watching the
+sunset; but as Charles was desirous of kissing Mrs. Knollys, and the
+rhododendron bush was not thick enough, they were waiting for the sun
+to go down. He was very slow in doing this, and by way of consolation
+Knollys was keeping his wife's hand hidden in the folds of her dress.
+Undoubtedly a modern lady would have been talking of the scenery,
+giving word-color pictures of the view; but I am afraid Mrs. Knollys
+had been looking at her husband, and talking with him of the cottage
+they had bought in a Surrey village, not far from Box Hill, and
+thinking how the little carvings and embroideries would look there
+which they had bought abroad. And, indeed, Mrs. Charles secretly
+thought Box Hill an eminence far preferable to the Venediger, and
+Charles's face an infinitely more interesting sight than any lake,
+however expressive. But the sun, looking askance at them through the
+lower mist, was not jealous; all the same he spread his glory lavishly
+for them, and the bright little mirror of a lake twinkled cannily
+upward from below. Finally it grew dark; then there was less talking.
+It was full night when they went in, she leaning on his arm and
+looking up; and the moonbeam on the snowy shoulder of the Glockner,
+twenty leagues away, came over, straight-way, from the mountain to her
+face. Three days later, Charles Knollys, crossing with her the lower
+portion of the Pasterzen glacier, slipped into a crevasse, and
+vanished utterly from the earth.
+
+
+                         II.
+
+All this you know. And I was also told more of the young girl, bride
+and widow at eighteen; how she sought to throw herself into the clear
+blue gulf; how she refused to leave Heiligenblut; how she would sit,
+tearless, by the rim of the crevasse, day after day, and gaze into
+its profundity. A guide or man was always with her at these times, for
+it was still feared she would follow her young husband to the depths
+of that still sea. Her aunt went over from England to her; the summer
+waxed; autumn storms set in; but no power could win her from the place
+whence Charles had gone.
+
+If there was a time worse for her than that first moment, it was when
+they told her that his body never could be found. They did not dare to
+tell her this for many days, but busied themselves with idle cranes
+and ladders, and made futile pretences with ropes. Some of the big,
+simple-hearted guides even descended into the chasm, absenting
+themselves for an hour or so, to give her an idea that something was
+being done. Poor Mrs. Knollys would have followed them had she been
+allowed, to wander through the purple galleries, calling Charles. It
+was well she could not; for all Kaspar could do was to lower himself a
+hundred yards or so, chisel out a niche, and stand in it, smoking his
+honest pipe to pass the time, and trying to fancy he could hear the
+murmur of the waters down below. Meantime Mrs. Knollys strained her
+eyes, peering downward from above, leaning on the rope about her
+waist, looking over the clear brink of the bergschrund.
+
+It was the Herr Doctor Zimmermann who first told her the truth. Not
+that the good Doctor meant to do so. The Herr Doctor had had his
+attention turned to glaciers by some rounded stones in his garden
+by the Traunsee, and more particularly by the Herr Privatdocent
+Spluethner. Spluethner, like Uncle Toby, had his hobby-horse, his pet
+conjuring words, his gods _ex machina_, which he brought upon the
+field in scientific emergencies; and these gods, as with Thales, were
+Fire and Water. Craters and flood were his accustomed scapegoats, upon
+whose heads were charged all things unaccountable; and the Herr
+Doctor, who had only one element left to choose from, and that a
+passive one, but knew, on general principles, that Spluethner must be
+wrong, got as far off as he could and took Ice. And Spluethner having
+pooh-poohed this, Zimmermann rode his hypothesis with redoubled zeal.
+He became convinced that ice was the embodiment of orthodoxy. Fixing
+his professional spectacles on his substantial nose, he went into
+Carinthia and ascended the great Venice mountains, much as he would
+have performed any other scientific experiment. Then he encamped on
+the shores of the Pasterzen glacier, and proceeded to make a study of
+it.
+
+So it happened that the Doctor, taking a morning stroll over the
+subject of his experiment, in search of small things which might
+verify his theory, met Mrs. Knollys sitting in her accustomed place.
+The Doctor had been much puzzled, that morning, on finding in a rock
+at the foot of the glacier the impression, or sign-manual as it were,
+of a certain fish, whose acquaintance the Doctor had previously made
+only in tropical seas. This fact seeming, superficially, to chime in
+with Spluethnerian mistakes in a most heterodox way, the Doctor's mind
+had for a moment been diverted from the ice; and he was wondering what
+the fish had been going to do in that particular gallery, and secretly
+doubting whether it had known its own mind, and gone thither with the
+full knowledge and permission of its maternal relative. Indeed, the
+good Doctor would probably have ascribed its presence to the malicious
+and personal causation of the devil, but that the one point on which
+he and Spluethner were agreed was the ignoring of unscientific
+hypotheses. The Doctor's objections to the devil were none the less
+strenuous for being purely scientific.
+
+Thus ruminating, the Doctor came to the crevasse where Mrs. Knollys
+was sitting, and to which a little path had now been worn from the
+inn. There was nothing of scientific interest about the fair young
+English girl, and the Doctor did not notice her; but he took from his
+waistcoat-pocket a leaden bullet, moulded by himself, and marked
+"Johannes Carpentarius, Juvavianus, A. U. C. 2590," and dropped it,
+with much satisfaction, into the crevasse. Mrs. Knollys gave a little
+cry; the bullet was heard for some seconds tinkling against the sides
+of the chasm; the tinkles grew quickly fainter, but they waited in
+vain for the noise of the final fall. "May the Spluethner live that he
+may learn by it," muttered the Doctor; "I can never recover it."
+
+Then he remembered that the experiment had been attended with a sound
+unaccounted for by the conformity of the bullet to the laws of
+gravitation; and looking up he saw Mrs. Knollys in front of him, no
+longer crying, but very pale. Zimmermann started, and in his confusion
+dropped his best brass registering thermometer, which also rattled
+down the abyss.
+
+"You say," whispered Mrs. Knollys, "that it can never be recovered!"
+
+"Madam," spoke the Doctor, doffing his hat, "how would you recofer
+from a blace when the smallest approximation which I haf yet been able
+to make puts the depth from the surface to the bed of the gletscher at
+vrom sixteen hundred to sixteen hundred and sixty _metres_ in
+distance?" Doctor Zimmermann spoke very good English; and he pushed
+his hat upon the back of his head, and assumed his professional
+attitude.
+
+"But they all were trying----" Mrs. Knollys spoke faintly. "They said
+that they hoped he could be recovered." The stranger was the oldest
+gentleman she had seen, and Mrs. Knollys felt almost like confiding in
+him. "Oh, I must have the--the body." She closed in a sob; but the
+Herr Doctor caught at the last word, and this suggested to him only
+the language of scientific experiment.
+
+"Recofer it? If, madam," Zimmermann went on with all the satisfaction
+attendant on the enunciation of a scientific truth, "we take a body
+and drop it in the schrund of this gletscher; and the ice-stream moves
+so slower at its base than on the upper part, and the ice will cover
+it; efen if we could reach the base, which is a mile in depth. Then,
+see you, it is all caused by the motion of the ice----"
+
+But at this Mrs. Knollys had given a faint cry, and her guide rushed
+up angrily to the old professor, who stared helplessly forward. "God
+will help me, sir," said she to the Doctor, and she gave the guide her
+arm and walked wearily away.
+
+The professor still stared in amazement at her enthusiasm for
+scientific experiment and the passion with which she greeted his
+discoveries. Here was a person who utterly refused to be referred to
+the agency of ice, or even, like Spluethner, of Fire and Water; and
+went out of the range of allowable hypotheses to call upon a Noumenon.
+Now both Spluethner and Zimmermann had studied all natural agencies and
+made allowance for them, but for the Divine they had always hitherto
+proved an alibi. The Doctor could make nothing of it.
+
+At the inn that evening he saw Mrs. Knollys with swollen eyes; and
+remembering the scene of the afternoon, he made inquiries about her of
+the innkeeper. The latter had heard the guide's account of the
+meeting; and as soon as Zimmermann had made plain what he had told her
+of the falling body, "Triple blockhead!" said he. "_Es war ihr Mann._"
+The Herr Professor staggered back into his seat; and the kindly
+innkeeper ran upstairs to see what had happened to his poor young
+guest.
+
+Mrs. Knollys had recovered from the first shock by this time, but the
+truth could no longer be withheld. The innkeeper could but nod his
+head sadly, when she told him that to recover her Charles was
+hopeless. All the guides said the same thing. The poor girl's husband
+had vanished from the world as utterly as if his body had been burned
+to ashes and scattered in the pathway of the winds. Charles Knollys
+was gone, utterly gone; no more to be met with by his girl-wife, save
+as spirit to spirit, soul to soul, in ultramundane place. The
+fair-haired young Englishman lived but in her memory, as his soul, if
+still existent, lived in places indeterminate, unknowable to Doctor
+Zimmermann and his compeers. Slowly Mrs. Knollys acquired the belief
+that she was never to see her Charles again. Then, at last, she
+resolved to go--to go home. Her strength now gave way; and when her
+aunt left she had with her but the ghost of Mrs. Knollys--a broken
+figure, drooping in the carriage, veiled in black. The innkeeper and
+all the guides stood bare-headed, silent, about the door, as the
+carriage drove off, bearing the bereaved widow back to England.
+
+
+                         III.
+
+When the Herr Doctor had heard the innkeeper's answer, he sat for some
+time with his hands planted on his knees, looking through his
+spectacles at the opposite wall. Then he lifted one hand and struck
+his brow impatiently. It was his way, when a chemical reaction had
+come out wrong.
+
+"Triple blockhead!" said he; "triple blockhead, thou art so bad as
+Spluethner." No self-condemnation could have been worse to him than
+this. Thinking again of Mrs. Knollys, he gave one deep, gruff sob.
+Then he took his hat, and going out, wandered by the shore of the
+glacier in the night, repeating to himself the Englishwoman's words:
+"_They said that they hoped he could be recovered._" Zimmermann came
+to the tent where he kept his instruments, and stood there, looking at
+the sea of ice. He went to his measuring pegs, two rods of iron: one
+sunk deep and frozen in the glacier, the other drilled into a rock on
+the shore. "Triple blockhead!" said he again, "thou art worse than
+Spluethner. The Spluethner said the glacier did not move; thou, thou
+knowest that it does." He sighted from his rods to the mountain
+opposite. There was a slight and all but imperceptible change of
+direction from the day before.
+
+He could not bear to see the English girl again, and all the next day
+was absent from the inn. For a month he stopped at Heiligenblut, and
+busied himself with his instruments. The guides of the place greeted
+him coldly every day, as they started on their glacier excursions or
+their chamois hunting. But none the less did Zimmermann return the
+following summer, and work upon his great essay in refutation of the
+Spluethner.
+
+Mrs. Knollys went back to the little cottage in Surrey, and lived
+there. The chests and cases she brought back lay unopened in the
+store-room; the little rooms of the cottage that was to be their home
+remained bare and unadorned, as Charles had seen them last. She could
+not bring herself to alter them now. What she had looked forward to do
+with him she had no strength to do alone. She rarely went out. There
+was no place where she could go to think of him. He was gone; gone
+from England, gone from the very surface of the earth. If he had only
+been buried in some quiet English churchyard, she thought,--some green
+place lying open to the sun, where she could go and scatter flowers on
+his grave, where she could sit and look forward amid her tears to the
+time when she should lie side by side with him,--they would then be
+separated for her short life alone. Now it seemed to her that they
+were far apart forever.
+
+But late the next summer she had a letter from the place. It was from
+Dr. Zimmermann. There is no need here to trace the quaint German
+phrases, the formalism, the cold terms of science in which he made his
+meaning plain. It spoke of erosion; of the movement of the summer; of
+the action of the under-waters on the ice. And it told her, with
+tender sympathy oddly blended with the pride of scientific success,
+that he had given a year's most careful study to the place; with all
+his instruments of measurement he had tested the relentless glacier's
+flow; and it closed by assuring her that her husband might yet be
+found--in five and forty years. In five and forty years--the poor
+professor staked his scientific reputation on the fact--in five and
+forty years she might return, and the glacier would give up its dead.
+
+This letter made Mrs. Knollys happier. It made her willing to live; it
+made her almost long to live until old age--that her Charles's body
+might be given back. She took heart to beautify her little home. The
+trifling articles she had bought with Charles were now brought
+out,--the little curiosities and pictures he had given her on their
+wedding journey. She would ask how such and such a thing looked,
+turning her pretty head to some kind visitor, as she ranged them on
+the walls; and now and then she would have to lay the picture down and
+cry a little, silently, as she remembered where Charles had told her
+it would look best. Still, she sought to furnish the rooms as they had
+planned them in their mind; she made her surroundings, as nearly as
+she could, as they had pictured them together. One room she never went
+into; it was the room Charles had meant to have for the nursery. She
+had no child.
+
+But she changed, as we all change, with the passing of the years. I
+first remember her as a woman middle-aged, sweet-faced, hardly like a
+widow, nor yet like an old maid. She was rather like a young girl in
+love, with her lover absent on a long journey. She lived more with the
+memory of her husband, she clung to him more, than if she had had a
+child. She never married; you would have guessed that; but, after the
+Professor's letter, she never quite seemed to realize that her husband
+was dead. Was he not coming back to her?
+
+Never in all my knowledge of dear English women have I known a woman
+so much loved. In how many houses was she always the most welcome
+guest! How often we boys would go to her for sympathy! I know she was
+the confidante of all our love affairs. I cannot speak for girls; but
+I fancy she was much the same with them. Many of us owed our life's
+happiness to her. She would chide us gently in our pettiness and
+folly, and teach us, by her very presence and example, what thing it
+was that alone could keep life sweet. How well we all remember the
+little Surrey cottage, the little home fireside where the husband had
+never been! I think she grew to imagine his presence, even the
+presence of children: boys, curly-headed, like Charles, and sweet,
+blue-eyed daughters; and the fact that it was all imagining seemed but
+to make the place more holy. Charles still lived to her as she had
+believed him in the month that they were married; he lived through
+life with her as her young love had fancied he would be. She never
+thought of evil that might have occurred; of failing affection, of
+cares. Her happiness was in her mind alone; so all the earthly part
+was absent.
+
+There were but two events in her life--that which was past and that
+which was to come. She had lived through his loss; now she lived on
+for his recovery. But, as I have said, she changed, as all things
+mortal change; all but the earth and the ice-stream and the stars
+above it. She read much, and her mind grew deep and broad, none the
+less gentle with it all; she was wiser in the world; she knew the
+depths of human hope and sorrow. You remember her only as an old lady
+whom we loved. Only her heart did not change--I forgot that; her
+heart, and the memory of that last loving smile upon his face, as he
+bent down to look into her eyes, before he slipped and fell. She lived
+on, and waited for his body, as possibly his other self--who
+knows?--waited for hers. As she grew older she grew taller; her eyes
+were quieter, her hair a little straighter, darker than of yore; her
+face changed, only the expression remained the same. Mary Knollys!
+
+Human lives rarely look more than a year, or five, ahead; Mary Knollys
+looked five and forty. Many of us wait, and grow weary in waiting, for
+those few years alone, and for some living friend. Mary Knollys waited
+five and forty years--for the dead. Still, after that first year, she
+never wore all black; only silvery grays, and white with a black
+ribbon or two. I have said that she almost seemed to think her husband
+living. She would fancy his doing this and that with her; how he would
+joy in this good fortune, or share her sorrows--which were few,
+mercifully. His memory seemed to be a living thing to her, to go
+through life with her, hand in hand; it changed as she grew old; it
+altered itself to suit her changing thought; until the very memory of
+her memory seemed to make it sure that he had really been alive with
+her, really shared her happiness or sorrow, in the far-off days of her
+earliest widowhood. It hardly seemed that he had been gone already
+then--she remembered him so well. She could not think that he had
+never been with her in their little cottage. And now, at sixty, I know
+she thought of him as an old person too; sitting by their fireside,
+late in life, mature, deep-souled, wise with the wisdom of years,
+going back with her, fondly, to recall the old, old happiness of their
+bridal journey, when they set off for the happy honeymoon abroad, and
+the long life now past stretched brightly out before them both. She
+never spoke of this, and you children never knew it; but it was always
+in her mind.
+
+There was a plain stone in the little Surrey churchyard, now gray and
+moss-grown with the rains of forty years, on which you remember
+reading: "Charles Knollys--lost in Carinthia"----This was all she
+would have inscribed; he was but lost; no one _knew_ that he was dead.
+Was he not yet to be found? There was no grassy mound beside it; the
+earth was smooth. Not even the date was there. But Mrs. Knollys never
+went to read it. She waited until he should come; until that last
+journey, repeating the travels of their wedding-days, when she should
+go to Germany to bring him home.
+
+So the woman's life went on in England, and the glacier in the Alps
+moved on slowly; and the woman waited for it to be gone.
+
+
+                         IV.
+
+In the summer of 1882, the little Carinthian village of Heiligenblut
+was haunted by two persons. One was a young German scientist, with
+long hair and spectacles; the other was a tall English lady, slightly
+bent, with a face wherein the finger of time had deeply written tender
+things. Her hair was white as silver, and she wore a long black veil.
+Their habits were strangely similar. Every morning, when the eastern
+light shone deepest into the ice-cavern at the base of the great
+Pasterzen glacier, these two would walk thither; then both would sit
+for an hour or two and peer into its depths. Neither knew why the
+other was there. The woman would go back for an hour in the late
+afternoon; the man, never. He knew that the morning light was
+necessary for his search.
+
+The man was the famous young Zimmermann, son of his father, the old
+Doctor, long since dead. But the Herr Doctor had written a famous
+tract, when late in life, refuting all Spluethners, past, present, and
+to come; and had charged his son, in his dying moments, as a most
+sacred trust, that he should repair to the base of the Pasterzen
+glacier in the year 1882, where he would find a leaden bullet, graven
+with his father's name, and the date A. U. C. 2590. All this would be
+vindication of his father's science. Spluethner, too, was a very old
+man, and Zimmermann the younger (for even he was no longer young) was
+fearful lest Spluethner should not live to witness his own refutation.
+The woman and the man never spoke to each other.
+
+Alas, no one could have known Mrs. Knollys for the fair English girl
+who had been there in the young days of the century; not even the
+innkeeper, had he been there. But he, too, was long since dead. Mrs.
+Knollys was now bent and white-haired; she had forgotten, herself, how
+she had looked in those old days. Her life had been lived. She was now
+like a woman of another world; it seemed another world in which her
+fair hair had twined about her husband's fingers, and she and Charles
+had stood upon the evening mountain, and looked in one another's eyes.
+That was the world of her wedding-days, but it seemed more like a
+world she had left when born on earth. And now he was coming back to
+her in this. Meantime the great Pasterzen glacier had moved on,
+marking only the centuries; the men upon its borders had seen no
+change; the same great waves lifted their snowy heads upon its
+surface; the same crevasse still was where he had fallen. At night,
+the moonbeams, falling, still shivered off its glassy face; its pale
+presence filled the night, and immortality lay brooding in its
+hollows.
+
+Friends were with Mrs. Knollys, but she left them at the inn. One old
+guide remembered her, and asked to bear her company. He went with her
+in the morning, and sat a few yards from her, waiting. In the
+afternoon she went alone. He would not have credited you, had you told
+him that the glacier moved. He thought it but an Englishwoman's fancy,
+but he waited with her. Himself had never forgotten that old day. And
+Mrs. Knollys sat there silently, searching the clear depths of the
+ice, that she might find her husband.
+
+One night she saw a ghost. The latest beam of the sun, falling on a
+mountain opposite, had shone back into the ice-cavern; and seemingly
+deep within, in the grave azure light, she fancied she saw a face
+turned toward her. She even thought she saw Charles's yellow hair, and
+the self-same smile his lips had worn when he bent down to her before
+he fell. It could be but a fancy. She went home, and was silent with
+her friends about what had happened. In the moonlight she went back,
+and again the next morning before dawn. She told no one of her going;
+but the old guide met her at the door, and walked silently behind her.
+She had slept, the glacier ever present in her dreams.
+
+The sun had not yet risen when she came; and she sat a long time in
+the cavern, listening to the murmur of the river, flowing under the
+glacier at her feet. Slowly the dawn began, and again she seemed to
+see the shimmer of a face--such a face as one sees in the coals of a
+dying fire. Then the full sun came over the eastern mountain, and the
+guide heard a woman's cry. There before her was Charles Knollys! The
+face seemed hardly pale; and there was the same faint smile--a smile
+like her memory of it, five and forty years gone by. Safe in the
+clear ice, still, unharmed, there lay--O God! not her Charles; not the
+Charles of her own thought, who had lived through life with her and
+shared her sixty years; not the old man she had borne thither in her
+mind--but a boy, a boy of one and twenty lying asleep, a ghost from
+another world coming to confront her from the distant past, immortal
+in the immortality of the glacier. There was his quaint coat, of the
+fashion of half a century before; his blue eyes open; his young, clear
+brow; all the form of the past she had forgotten; and she his bride
+stood there to welcome him, with her wrinkles, her bent figure, and
+thin white hairs. She was living, he was dead; and she was two and
+forty years older than he.
+
+Then at last the long-kept tears came to her, and she bent her white
+head in the snow. The old man came up with his pick, silently, and
+began working in the ice. The woman lay weeping, and the boy with his
+still, faint smile, lay looking at them, through the clear ice-veil,
+from his open eyes.
+
+I believe that the Professor found his bullet; I know not. I believe
+that the scientific world rang with his name and the thesis that he
+published on the glacier's motion, and the changeless temperature his
+father's lost thermometer had shown. All this you may read. I know no
+more.
+
+But I know that in the English churchyard there are now two graves,
+and a single stone, to Charles Knollys and Mary, his wife; and the boy
+of one and twenty sleeps there with his bride of sixty-three: his
+young frame with her old one, his yellow hair beside her white. And I
+do not know that there is not some place, not here, where they are
+still together, and he is twenty-one and she is still eighteen. I do
+not know this; but I know that all the pamphlets of the German doctor
+cannot tell me it is false.
+
+Meantime the great Pasterzen glacier moves on, and the rocks with it;
+and the mountain flings his shadow of the planets in its face.
+
+
+
+
+A DINNER-PARTY.
+
+WAS IT A SUCCESS?
+
+BY JOHN EDDY.
+
+     "The work of feeding, you must understand,
+     Was but a fraction of the work in hand."
+
+_Atlantic Monthly, November, 1872._
+
+
+In the year of grace 1855 there resided at the fashionable end of one
+of the largest of our Eastern cities, a person who will be called for
+the purpose of this article Bernon Burchard. He is not a myth, but a
+veritable person. For fifteen years he had been a practising lawyer,
+and had risen to eminence in his profession. His personal appearance
+was fine and prepossessing. His mind was clear, vigorous, and
+well-stored with varied learning. His sense of honor was pure and
+discriminating, and like the president of the Jewish Sanhedrim in the
+days of Caius Caesar, he "was had in reputation of all the people." He
+was blessed with a capacious soul, and seemed naturally inclined to
+acts of benevolence and generosity. In society he held the foremost
+rank, and was fitted by birthright, education, and taste for the
+highest social position. His noble nature, his wit and learning and
+generous flow of spirits, united to complete a most pleasing and model
+gentleman.
+
+At this time, upon the old estate in Lancashire, England, from which
+the first of the Burchards in this country emigrated in 1630, there
+resided Winfield Burchard, who dispensed generous hospitality to all
+the American kindred who made pilgrimage to fatherland. Mr. Bernon
+Burchard in particular, of all the name, had special occasion for
+holding the said Winfield in lasting remembrance and esteem for the
+many and great favors bestowed upon him and his immediate family
+during a series of years,--favors which were rendered doubly pleasing
+because it was nearly certain from the age and infirmities of the host
+that the branch of the family on this side of the Atlantic would never
+have the opportunity of reciprocating the favors in kind.
+
+At a certain period in the year first mentioned, when Bernon
+Burchard's enthusiasm was all aglow for his English namesake, there
+called upon him the Rev. Mr. Malcolm of Oxford, with a letter of
+introduction from Winfield, wherein he commended his nephew to the
+attention of Mr. Bernon for his many virtues and acquirements.
+
+He was cordially received, and Mr. Bernon Burchard at once determined
+to show his new cousin every mark of consideration and attention, as
+some slight token of the regard in which he held the writer of the
+letter.
+
+In personal appearance the Rev. Mr. Malcolm was of average height, of
+a lymphatic temperament, and of modest and retiring manners. His brown
+hair shaded bright hazel eyes, which under embarrassment or surprise
+flew about with remarkable rapidity, and occasionally gave his
+countenance a wildness of expression. He showed at least a smattering
+of a variety of knowledge; he had evidently enjoyed the acquaintance
+of many of the conspicuous men in Europe, and had the air of a man who
+had seen much of the world.
+
+Among other efforts for the entertainment of the Rev. Mr. Malcolm, and
+the only one pertinent to the object of this article, was a grand
+dinner-party, which surpassed all others that had ever been given in
+the city, both for the elegance and sumptuousness of the feast and the
+wit and learning displayed by the distinguished guests, as well as in
+another particular which it is our purpose to unfold.
+
+There were present, besides the Rev. Mr. Malcolm, a learned Doctor of
+Divinity, famous for his proficiency in the Hebrew language and in
+Rabbinical lore, and who was at times greatly embarrassed because of
+his inability to hold what he deemed a proper restraint over his
+risibles. There was also a professor of Greek literature, who
+delighted in the tragedies, especially of Euripides and Sophocles, but
+who had, nevertheless, a keen relish for the humorous. He was
+accustomed among scholars to quote certain old Latin and Greek authors
+who were seldom read, and it was a frequent remark among the learned,
+with a sly wink of the eye, that our professor had access to some
+books which other less favored literati had never seen. There was
+present a brace of literary gentlemen of ready memories and wits, who
+contributed largely to the enjoyment of the occasion, besides several
+lawyers of distinction, who as a class are always to be relied upon
+when festivity offers them a retainer; a Senator, who was grave
+and dignified; a Right Reverend, who was quite the contrary; a
+physiognomist and expert in handwriting, who was the gravest of all,
+and naturally so as he was intent on taking rather than making
+observations; and several others, who, to say the least, were good
+listeners.
+
+In Vespasian's time entertainments were first given _praecise_, and
+Mr. Burchard's guests arrived at almost the same moment. As the
+physiognomist paid his respects to the host the Rev. Mr. Malcolm stood
+upon his right, and at the same moment the man who had the ordering of
+the feast, formerly called the butler, stood upon his left offering
+him a rolled-up napkin, which was the mode of announcing the readiness
+of the repast in the days of the Caesars. This man with a napkin under
+his arm led the way to the dining-room, and Mr. Burchard brought up
+the rear, also an invariable rule for an "amphitrion" in the times of
+the gourmands.
+
+While the _convives_ were passing through the hall, Mr. Sidney, the
+physiognomist and expert, seemed disinclined to proceed. Mr. Burchard,
+supposing him to feel somewhat overawed in the presence of so wise a
+conclave, hurried him along, while Mr. Sidney whispered in his ear,
+"With all respect, sir, you are more blind than Bartimeus."
+
+Mr. Sidney has been heretofore described in the pages of the _Atlantic
+Monthly_ in these words, "His counterpart in personal appearance you
+may find in the thoroughfares at any hour of the day. There is nothing
+about him to attract attention. He is nearly forty-five years of age,
+and weighs perhaps two hundred pounds. His face is florid and his hair
+sandy. His eyes are small, piercing, and gray. His motions are slow,
+and none are made without a purpose. The wrinkles in his lips are at
+right angles with his mouth, and a close observer might detect in his
+countenance self-reliance, and tenacity of will and purpose."
+
+One of the most important personages present, and one who contributed
+largely to the success or non-success of the feast, was Mr. Burchard's
+major-domo Maguire, the same who handed the napkin to Mr. Burchard
+when Mr. Sidney entered the drawing-room. For eight years he had
+resided in the family, and had endeared himself to the whole
+household by the kindness of his heart, his devotion to the interests
+of his employer, and by his perfection of knowledge in every art which
+relates to an entertainment and the customs which prevail in refined
+society. He was small in stature, of dark complexion, smooth face,
+subdued expression of countenance, very quiet in his manners, and aged
+about forty-five.
+
+The Rev. Mr. Malcolm, most tastefully attired, was seated on the right
+of the host, and said grace in the most approved English formula and
+with distinct enunciation. The Doctor of Divinity sat on the left.
+Beside his plate was a bill of fare beautifully executed in Hebrew
+(much to the surprise of the host and to the credit of Maguire). The
+doctor's attempt at translating the same into English afforded not a
+little amusement, he being not particularly successful in the effort.
+Indeed, he was so perplexed thereby when pressed by the Professor of
+Greek, that he could not conceal his annoyance, and the whole company
+were equally excited lest the professor should press the Rabbin so
+far as to mar the harmony of the occasion. It was beginning to be
+painfully embarrassing, when the doctor discovered beside the
+professor's plate a similar bill of fare equally well executed in
+Greek, and the doctor begged leave to inquire of him, "What is the
+difference between _artos_ (bread) and _azumos_ (biscuit), and in what
+respect do the _tyrontes_ and _dolyres_ and _typhes_ and _placites_
+and _melitutes_ differ?"
+
+The professor became at once so confused as to put the whole company
+and the Rabbin in particular in the best of humor and indeed in almost
+uncontrollable laughter.
+
+"And what, if you please," further inquired the great Hebrew, "were
+those highly flavored _arto laganos_ and the _escarites_ which the
+Epicureans are said to have relished so highly that they could devour
+them even after the operation had become distressing?"
+
+The professor's pale face had changed to the color of a lobster's
+back, and those who had been so painfully perplexed by the
+discomfiture of the doctor were now carried to the other extreme by
+beholding him tear the weapon from his own flesh and hurl it with such
+effect against the attacking party. Again the excitement was becoming
+too exquisite for enjoyment. Nothing could have been more graceful
+than the turn that was given to the conversation by the Rev. Mr.
+Malcolm in sliding it off into a description of the Athenian matrons
+and maidens vying with each other in the markets in the sale of their
+seventy-two different kinds of bread and the conventional phrases
+which they were accustomed to use. As Mr. Malcolm repeated the calls
+with graceful and descriptive action, and the professor, who had
+recovered his equanimity, interpreted readily, the whole company could
+see in their mind's eye the girls and the matrons in the market of
+Athens who more than seventeen hundred years ago had called aloud
+their "_melitutes_ sweetened with the delicious honey of Mount
+Hymettus, and _tyrontes_ made of flour baked with cheese." If there
+was any lack of dignity in the reverend gentleman in his vivacious
+description, or in the change of his voice to distinguish the girl
+from the woman, it was credited to his sagacity and readiness to turn
+a bold corner in order to efface the fear and apprehension that had
+preceded. It also gave our professor an opportunity to translate what
+a few moments before he had been too much confused to do.
+
+Then came a glowing description of the venders of bread in ancient
+Rome and of the manners of the AEdiles in their daily round among the
+bakers and bread-stands. Here again Mr. Malcolm was exceedingly happy
+in his imitations both of the manners of the AEdiles and their remarks
+as they passed along, giving a _tableau vivant_ that was quite unique
+and very descriptive and enjoyable.
+
+The Right Reverend who was present made a historical reference to King
+Numa, and in the same connection declared that bread-making was as old
+as the human race. Malcolm smiled, and looked about so queerly that
+one of our literary friends offered him a penny. He was evidently
+confused, and seemed in doubt when another offered to make it
+twopence.
+
+"I have always supposed," said Malcolm very modestly, "that the Romans
+for five centuries were pultiphagists, and that Megalarte and
+Megalomanze were the first bread-makers," and then, not a little to
+the gratification of the professor, he quoted from an author whom the
+professor had before then enjoyed alone, and whom some of the company
+had thought to have been fictitious. He added that in Numa's time no
+bread had been made, and he quoted again from some unheard-of
+philosopher who declared that "invalids would become numerous in Rome
+should they cease to be pultiphagists and become eaters of bread."
+
+The countenance of the Right Reverend fell somewhat, and Malcolm and
+the professor drew closer together, and for a while took the lead of
+the conversation and in the entertainment of the company. The
+professor seemed enraptured at finding so proficient a Latin and Greek
+scholar, and one so familiar with the characters he had hitherto
+monopolized. Archilus, Acestius, Stephanus and Phisistion were superb.
+Mithaceus on Hotch-potch, Agis on Pickled Broom-buds, Hegesippus on
+Black-pudding, Crito on Soused Mackerel, were joyously hit off in
+turn, after which Malcolm began a description of the luxury of living
+in Trajan's reign.
+
+The greatest of all cooks, Apicius, was introduced as the author of
+several of the dishes which had so graced the pending feast. Then
+followed the brilliant kitcheners of Rome when foreign luxury was
+introduced into the empire from Asia, and as the procession passed
+along in grand review, some of the _bon mots_ of each were repeated,
+followed by the hearty laugh of the guests. Of these Pantaleon,
+Epiricus, Epenetus, Zophon, Chius, and Tyndaricus, whom Pliny styled
+"the gulf of all youth," received the most attention.
+
+Paulus AEmilius, whose three days' triumph in Rome was graced by the
+captive monarch of Macedonia, came in for his share of honor for his
+declaration that "there is equal skill in bringing an army into the
+field and the setting forth of a feast, inasmuch as one is to annoy
+your enemy and the other to please your friend."
+
+Many instances of the great men of antiquity being engaged in
+cooking were recited: the cook of Charlemagne was the leader of
+his armies,--Patrocles, the geographer and governor of Syria under
+Seleucus and Antiochus, peeled onions,--the heroic Ulysses roasted a
+sirloin of beef,--the godlike Achilles washed cabbages,--Cincinnatus
+boiled the turnips upon which he dined,--the great Conde fried
+pancakes,--Curius Dentatus, who twice enjoyed the honors of a triumph,
+was found cooking peas in an earthen pot.
+
+Then followed a description of the luxury brought to Rome after the
+conquest of Asia, with talk of the edicts of Archian, Faunian, Didian,
+and others for its suppression,--the expense of a single meal being
+limited by imperial mandate to _centenos asses_,--of the resistance
+offered to these decrees by Durenius and others, and of bills of fare
+(first introduced by Vitellius). Most of the company had heard enough
+of this kind of conversation, and had turned their attention to the
+professor, who seemed transported with delight, especially when
+Malcolm quoted from Diocles on sweet-breads, Hicesius on potted
+pigeons, and Dionysius on sugar sops.
+
+From that day to the present time the professor has not ceased to
+inquire with profound admiration for that accomplished gentleman and
+ripe scholar and antiquarian, confidently expecting that he is yet to
+honor some of the great universities of the Old World, or that he is
+to be raised to some exalted position in the Church of England.
+
+It would be very agreeable to the writer to be allowed to communicate
+some of the hits and repartees which were tossed about the table, and
+which are omitted because unnecessary to the question in hand. There
+was, however, one other subject discussed which awakened a lively
+interest and is appropriate to the sequence.
+
+Mr. Malcolm started the inquiry whether it was consistent with the
+highest virtue and religion for a lawyer to accept a retainer and to
+act as counsel for a man accused of crime, when he knew or had
+reasonable cause to believe his client guilty of the offence charged.
+The lawyers, one and all, responded in the affirmative. Mr. Malcolm,
+as if in doubt, contented himself with inquiries. The Right Reverend
+and the Rabbin were decidedly opposed to the opinion of the bar. The
+subject was well discussed, and the lawyers carried all before them.
+All had given up the contest except the doctor, when Mr. Burchard
+inquired of him if he believed in capital punishment, and, receiving
+an affirmative nod, he proceeded: "You are aware that our laws require
+of every practitioner before he becomes a member of the legal
+profession that he shall take an oath that he will be faithful to his
+client?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And that our statutes provide that the court shall assign counsel to
+a criminal when he has not made that provision for himself?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And that the state at its own expense compels the attendance of the
+witnesses for the accused; and you approve these laws?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And once more, would you prefer that the court should hang a man
+accused of murder under a plea of guilty, or that the extreme penalty
+of the law should be enforced after a full hearing, and proof to the
+satisfaction of the jury beyond a reasonable doubt?"
+
+After a moment's reflection the doctor replied that he should prefer
+that the death penalty should be carried into effect _only_ after a
+verdict of guilty and upon the fullest investigation, for, said he,
+"it may be that the accused has a very imperfect knowledge as to what
+constitutes the offence charged; or he may be mistaken as to his
+duties and obligations; or, indeed, he may be laboring under a morbid
+condition of mind, so as to desire that his life may be legally taken,
+and I think I have known at least one such."
+
+"Then," said Mr. Burchard, "have you not admitted so much as to make
+untenable your position, namely, that you approve the law which
+requires an attorney to be faithful to his client, the law which
+assigns counsel to the accused, the law which compels the attendance
+of the witnesses for the criminal at the expense of the state, and
+provides that the accused shall be executed _only_ after the fullest
+investigation? What is the object of these enactments? Undoubtedly the
+interest of the state and not primarily of the criminal. The state in
+its wisdom requires for its own safety, and lest it should commit the
+crime and the blunder of hanging an innocent man, that the whole truth
+should be known. How greatly would the government and jurisprudence
+suffer if a guiltless man should be executed? When, therefore, a
+lawyer assumes the defence of a known murderer he is complying with
+the commands of the statutes and is serving the best interests of the
+government when he compels the prosecuting officer to the proof of the
+offence; and not only so, he is serving justice itself and not the
+criminal only. Even the judges have no authority to punish, except
+these provisions of law are complied with and the offence be proved.
+Who has not heard of the indictment of the two Bournes in Vermont, and
+of their having pleaded guilty to the crime of murder, for which they
+were on the eve of being executed, when the supposed murdered man put
+in his appearance? How much better would justice have appeared had
+the defence been conducted by a tenacious, faithful, and conscientious
+lawyer instead of being conducted in such a bungling manner that the
+bones of a horse did duty for the bones of the supposed murdered man!
+That case has done better duty as a bugbear for a century than any
+other legal decision."
+
+Mr. Burchard became quite warm, and made the assertion that he would
+never take a retainer, and afterwards, no matter what knowledge he
+should subsequently acquire, desert a client; and he doubted if a
+conscientious lawyer had a moral right to refuse to defend a brother
+mortal accused of crime. "For the refusal," said he, "proceeds upon
+the ground taken by the doctor, which substantially is that no defence
+ought to be made, but that sentence should be passed upon a real
+criminal whether the crime can be proved or not. And I am at a loss to
+discover how my friend the doctor can approve of the requirements of
+the statutes which have been referred to, and yet assert that honest,
+conscientious lawyers alone cannot comply with them."
+
+Mr. Burchard, feeling that he had been somewhat more enthusiastic than
+the occasion demanded, changed the subject in this wise:
+
+"You all remember that a certain firm in Philadelphia made a special
+deposit of eighteen thousand dollars in gold in the Trust Company, and
+some expert thieves by means of a forged check obtained possession of
+the money. The manner of accomplishing the feat was peculiar and was
+most adroitly carried out. The thief drove so sharp a bargain for
+funds current in New Orleans that the cashier's mind was diverted from
+the genuineness of the check to the percentage of exchange to be
+realized by the operation. Many propositions were made on both sides
+which were not mutually satisfactory. At last the rogue told the
+cashier that rather than submit to imposition he would take the gold,
+and the eighteen thousand dollars were handed over to him in
+twenty-dollar gold-pieces. The forgery was not discovered till
+thirteen days after, when the depositor called for his special
+deposit. Immediately detectives were employed. One of them you have
+all seen. He is a personal friend of mine, and his ability in this
+department surpasses Vidocq's as much as Vidocq's was superior to that
+of an ordinary country constable. He judged, by an intuition that none
+of us can comprehend, that these rogues had carried their plunder to
+Baltimore, and thither he proceeded. For three months he prowled about
+that city by night and by day, his mind intent upon the one object of
+ascertaining some clew that should direct him to the discovery of the
+robber. At the end of twelve weeks he had made no progress, and
+returned to Philadelphia. There he continued some ten days, and became
+discontented and vexed at being baffled. Asserting that he felt
+certain that the thieves made Baltimore their head-quarters, he
+proceeded thither again. After ten days' further search, one evening
+as he was walking slowly past a newspaper-stand on the corner of a
+street, he observed a boy who wore no hat purchase a New York _Herald_
+and give in exchange a twenty-dollar gold-piece. He followed the lad
+into a drinking-saloon in the rear of which was a gambling-room. He
+soon ascertained the proprietor's name, and learned that his family
+occupied the upper part of the house. He became acquainted with the
+proprietor's wife, and found that she was sister to the wife of C. B.,
+who was that year the president of the association of rogues, he
+having been elected to that position at M. in the State of Indiana in
+the month of August. He also learned that her father resided about
+fifty miles from Baltimore. The detective was aware that this close
+corporation of rascals had nine directors, and, knowing the position
+of C. B. in the association and his connection with the proprietor of
+the saloon, and understanding also the method of distribution, he
+concluded that two thousand dollars fell in the division to C. B., and
+a like amount to the proprietor of the saloon. He left the saloon at
+midnight, and drove immediately to the residence of the father of the
+proprietor's wife, and arrived there between nine and ten o'clock on
+the following morning, meeting the old gentleman in his wagon between
+his house and the main road, from which it was distant about half a
+mile. The detective was also aware of a rule among these robbers, that
+any considerable sum of money stolen, less ten per cent, should be
+buried for two years; and, having ascertained only what has been above
+related, he felt sure of the fact that the old gentleman was the
+keeper of one ninth, at least, of the money stolen. He also felt
+confident that he had gathered enough of the truth to make a powerful
+impression upon the man he had gone so far to see, and that if he was
+not altogether given over to the service of this band of bad men, he
+could state facts enough, which the old gentleman knew were profound
+secrets, to stagger his mind and arouse his conscience. After an
+interview of less than an hour this detective, by an art of which we
+cannot conceive, and by a magnetism and eloquence that no other man of
+my acquaintance ever possessed a tithe of, actually induced the father
+of these two women to dig up out of his garden two thousand dollars in
+twenty-dollar gold-pieces and hand them over to--my friend Mr. Sidney,
+_who sits at the other end of the table_. And not only so, but he
+prevailed upon the old gentleman to go with him to Baltimore in
+order to get possession of the other two thousand dollars held by
+the proprietor of the aforesaid saloon, which he also actually
+accomplished at a little inn about six miles from Baltimore, where the
+saloon-keeper and his wife met her father and my friend.
+
+"Yesterday in the Supreme Court I had occasion to avail myself of Mr.
+Sidney's marvellous ability as an expert in handwriting. The case
+turned entirely upon his testimony, although some twenty witnesses
+testified on each side that they had seen the defendant write, and
+that, in their opinion, the signature was or was not genuine. Mr.
+Sidney did not arrive till the moment the case was about to be given
+to the jury, and I had no opportunity of conversing with him, except
+to ascertain that in his judgment the signature was not a forgery.
+
+"After he took the witness-stand and had qualified himself as an
+expert in handwriting, the note in suit was handed him, and he was
+requested to state whether or not in his opinion the signature was
+genuine. It was some minutes before he responded. During the latter
+portion of the time of his silence his mind seemed intent upon
+something else. The presiding judge inquired of him if he intended to
+answer, when he replied:
+
+"'I was considering the matter, not whether the signature was genuine,
+but how I could convince the jury of the truth of what I have to say.
+This signature is genuine. The man who wrote it is a moral and
+religious man, and has therefore forgotten that he executed it. He is
+aged forty-seven, stands five feet ten, is broad-shouldered,
+full-favored, with muscular hands, thick, hard, and small; he is a
+merchant and a bachelor, and finds it hard to give up when he has been
+mistaken. I judge that the man who sits at the other end of the table
+wrote his name to this note, and I think I can convince him of it, for
+his honest face corresponds to the morality of the signature. The jury
+will observe that the first letter of the name is written while the
+quill pen was full of ink, which was almost exhausted on the second
+letter and replenished on the third, and the operation is repeated
+five times. I think, also, that the writer was in poor health, and his
+muscles relaxed when he wrote his name. I am of the opinion,
+therefore, that the signature was made while the writer was on his
+back and the nib of the pen was higher than the tip.'
+
+"At this point of the testimony the face of the defendant against
+whose interest the witness was testifying became luminous, and he at
+once rose and declared that the statement of the expert was the truth,
+and that it had altogether passed from his mind till that moment.
+
+"I hope now I shall have the pleasure of giving you such an
+entertainment that you will remember it for your lifetime; and I know
+whereof I affirm when I state that my friend here present will, one
+hundred times in succession and without a mistake, from a single
+specimen of the handwriting of an individual, give his age within two
+years, his height within an inch, his weight within ten pounds, his
+profession, whether married or single, his temperament and
+peculiarities, his moral character, whether--"
+
+Mr. Sidney was here observed to shake his head in a most determined
+manner.
+
+"Or if my friend," proceeded Mr. Burchard, "will give us the
+characteristics of some of our neighbors who may be passing, this
+company will be equally delighted and astonished, for I assert that
+he will invariably hit off the peculiarity of a man from a single
+glance better than any of us after ten years of intercourse and
+acquaintance."
+
+Again Mr. Sidney shook his head, and the subject was not again
+referred to.
+
+At a late hour the company separated, each asserting that he had never
+passed a more enjoyable evening.
+
+The reader will understand that only fragments of the conversation are
+here given, and only such and so much as bear upon the question at the
+head of the article. The sparkle of the remainder might be somewhat
+dimmed by a repetition, but so agreeable was the flow of soul, so
+entertaining the wit, so electric the repartees, and so graceful the
+turns in the conversation when the joke began to be too practical,
+that the whole company, without reference to the compliment of the
+host, declared to each other, as they met for months and years after,
+that in their lifetime they had never realized such elegant luxury and
+such unmitigated pleasure in an entertainment.
+
+Mr. Sidney again and again endeavored to speak a word confidentially
+to Mr. Burchard, but circumstances, and especially his devotion to
+Malcolm, prevented.
+
+Both Malcolm and Sidney were to take the night train for New York, and
+the time of its departure was near at hand. At last Mr. Sidney bade
+the host good-night, saying he should see him again before many days,
+but hoped he would soon recover from the infirmity in his eyes. Mr.
+Malcolm was the last to leave.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Early on the following morning, while Mr. Burchard was at breakfast,
+he received the following note:
+
+     BERNON BURCHARD, ESQ.:--
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--After leaving your hospitable mansion last
+     night, and while I was hastening to the station to take the
+     night train for New York, I was accosted by two watchmen who
+     arrested me, as they say, for burglary, and have detained me
+     at the police station till now. In order that I may keep my
+     appointment in New York, I have waived a preliminary
+     examination before the magistrate, and desire you will
+     become my bail, that I may be immediately released to the
+     important duties devolving upon me elsewhere. Before many
+     days the occasion of my haste will be ascertained, and that
+     it had no reference to the watchmen; and the prosecution
+     will be voluntarily _nol prosed_.
+
+                    Your friend and servant,
+                         MALCOLM.
+
+Mr. Burchard dropped his cup, and without communicating with his wife,
+hastened to the assistance of his relative, gave the required bail,
+and released his friend to proceed on his journey, all the while
+delighted with the thought that Winfield Burchard would sooner or
+later be informed that his letter of introduction was of some real
+value to his nephew.
+
+Before his departure, Malcolm handed to Mr. Burchard a draft for one
+thousand dollars, not to secure him as his bail, as he said, but as a
+retainer for his defence should such a necessity ever arise, and Mr.
+Malcolm added with a forced smile, "It is most singular that I, who
+doubted the propriety, should so soon claim the benefit of your
+declaration of your duty made last evening, to which I have so
+suddenly become a convert, but I most devoutly trust that I may rely
+upon your assistance at a time of so great humiliation and
+perplexity."
+
+To which Mr. Burchard replied that he should most gladly, to the
+utmost of his ability, labor incessantly for his guest and relative,
+but must insist that he should be left to do so of his own free will,
+without reference to any pecuniary compensation, and out of the high
+regard in which he held his friend and benefactor Winfield Burchard.
+
+To which Malcolm responded, "It would be an accommodation to me if you
+would take charge of the draft and collect the same and pass it to my
+credit, for I prefer not to carry about my person so large an amount
+of money."
+
+The result was that Mr. Burchard retained the draft. He then proceeded
+to the offices of several daily newspapers and suppressed the report
+of the arrest, "for," said he to the editors, "by allowing it to
+appear you will greatly injure the reputation of one of the most
+pious and accomplished clergymen in the English Church, and I am fully
+aware of the reason of his haste when overtaken by the watchmen, for
+he had left my house but a few minutes before and was hastening to the
+train when the real rogues ran past him."
+
+There was one scurrilous little journal among the newspapers at whose
+office Mr. Burchard neglected to call. In their next issue the
+following appeared:
+
+    "_Another Robbery._ About two o'clock last night the dwelling
+    of W---- H. B---- on B---- Street was burglariously entered,
+    and a considerable amount of silver plate, jewelry, and other
+    valuables taken and carried away. The loss is estimated at
+    two thousand five hundred dollars. The daughter of Mrs. B----
+    heard the noise of the robbers as they left the house and
+    gave the alarm. Two watchmen, who were in the immediate
+    vicinity, gave chase, and one of the robbers, who gave his
+    name as George Lathrop, not so swift of foot as the others,
+    was overtaken and carried to the police station, where he
+    waived an examination, gave the required bail of twelve
+    thousand dollars, and is now at large. There were two other
+    participators in the crime who outran the watchmen. Lathrop
+    was observed to throw away something in his flight. A
+    subsequent search discovered it to be a finely wrought mat of
+    curious construction, the handiwork of Miss B----, which
+    sufficiently identifies this one of the thieves with the
+    transaction. The other two were subsequently arrested and
+    held to bail in like amounts, but no part of the booty has
+    yet been recovered. From the promptness with which bail was
+    given, and the standing of the sureties, it would seem that
+    these burglars are not only men of property, but are
+    protected by men in high social position."
+
+On reading the foregoing Mr. Burchard's indignation knew no bounds. He
+blamed himself for not having recollected the existence of that
+scurrilous journal, which now seemed more mean and contemptible than
+ever. Those persons who understood how great a control Mr. Burchard
+had over his passions could nevertheless see that an earthquake was
+pent up in his bosom. He was almost beside himself with rage. When his
+indignation had somewhat subsided his pride and high sense of honor
+became equally disturbed. He feared that his guests of the previous
+evening might hear of the matter, and identify Malcolm with George
+Lathrop. Vexed almost beyond endurance, dejected and tormented almost
+beyond the rallying-point, he went to his house bewildered, and threw
+himself upon a lounge, and overcome by exhaustion fell asleep. When he
+awoke it was evening. He rose from his couch, seated himself before a
+bright wood fire, and looked intently into the coals. Snow was falling
+softly upon the pavements till the tramp of passing travellers became
+muffled and hushed. Maguire came into the library, and entered into
+conversation with Mr. Burchard concerning the entertainment of the
+previous evening, and finding that it was considered by him eminently
+successful, begged Mr. Burchard to give him a certificate which would
+secure him a similar place should anything ever occur by reason of
+which he should relinquish his present position. Whereupon Mr.
+Burchard turned to his writing-table and wrote as follows:
+
+                         December, 1855.
+
+     This is to certify that M. Maguire has resided in my family
+     for eight years last past, and during all that period has
+     conducted himself with the most perfect propriety, and has
+     shown consummate skill as a kitchener, and in all matters
+     pertaining to the order and etiquette of a feast has no
+     superior, and I do cordially recommend him, in case he shall
+     ever leave my employment, as an honest, upright, and
+     faithful man, and worthy of my regard.
+
+                         BERNON BURCHARD.
+
+This he handed to Maguire with the remark that if it was not
+sufficiently comprehensive he might dictate such an one as he desired
+and he would sign it. Maguire, perceiving that his employer was not in
+a talkative mood, quietly left the room. As he left, Mrs. Burchard
+came into the library and sat down to talk over the dinner-party. Both
+agreed that it was a great success, and that Maguire was a jewel. Mrs.
+Burchard began to laugh, and then asked, "Did you observe that pickle,
+my dear?"
+
+"What about the pickle?"
+
+"Why, the pickle which Mr. Malcolm took happened to have a cut nail
+extending the full length of it. Now, my dear, do you suppose that
+nail could have grown in the cucumber? Ha, ha! What an entertaining
+man he is, and what a fund of anecdote, and how well he tells a story;
+and yet I don't fancy him. Those bills of fare in Hebrew, Greek, and
+Latin, how did--"
+
+The door-bell rang and Mr. Sidney was announced. "Thank God!"
+exclaimed Mr. Burchard. So rejoiced was he that his whole frame
+trembled with emotion and tears trickled down his face. Grasping his
+hand with both his own, he asked, "You received my telegram, then?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then what brought you here so soon?"
+
+Mrs. Burchard perceiving the conversation was not free in her
+presence, quietly left the room, when Mr. Sidney assumed a grave
+demeanor and said: "Mr. Burchard, I have always believed you eminently
+an honorable and honest man, and do so still. Do you grant this of
+me?"
+
+"Yes, but if you did not receive my telegram, what brought you here
+to-night, for I am aware of the necessity you are under to be
+elsewhere?"
+
+"I told you I should soon return," said Mr. Sidney, "for I feared that
+you might compromise yourself to an unpardonable degree with the
+scamps by whom you have been surrounded, and the thought of it so
+weighed upon my mind that when I met the train at New Haven bound
+eastward I determined to come again to you and inform you of your
+peril."
+
+"I am not aware that I am in any peril."
+
+"If you were aware of it you would be safe, and your lack of knowledge
+is the reason of my return."
+
+"Have you any information of what has transpired since last evening?"
+inquired Mr. Burchard.
+
+"None, whatever."
+
+"Then unburden yourself with the least possible delay, for I have been
+so harassed and tormented during this day as almost to be overwhelmed;
+and as you are aware that I hold your judgment in these matters akin
+to prophecy, I beg you will proceed, for I have pondered over and over
+again your meaning when you compared me, both at the beginning and
+ending of the company, to Bartimeus."
+
+"First," said Mr. Sidney, "I wish you to understand that I have never
+before last night seen or heard of the two or three persons concerning
+whom I propose to speak, and I feel that I ought first to have your
+permission to say all that is in my mind, for it comes nearer home to
+you than you suppose."
+
+"You have it; go on."
+
+"If it be true that the heart of a man changeth his countenance, then
+it is absolutely certain to my mind that your clergyman is the most
+unmitigated scamp, and it may, with propriety, be said that he has no
+conscience at all, so perverted has it become. He is a gambler by
+profession, and a passer of counterfeit money, but his business is
+burglary. He has followed it for years, and had his mind not been on
+it for years, he could not have become so perfect in his craft. The
+one great quality demanded by his business is _patience_, and he has
+attained it. The most remarkable thing about him is his assurance. I
+never knew an instance of so bad a man having the audacity to appear
+in the company of gentlemen of refinement, and to say grace with a
+voice that had no heart in it. It is usually the last place that those
+of his craft seek, and I cannot yet comprehend how he wheedled you."
+
+Mr. Burchard explained, as has been previously stated.
+
+"And that Maguire of yours is as bad a woman as walks the earth."
+
+"Woman!" exclaimed Mr. Burchard; "for eight years he has been one of
+the most faithful servants and upright men I ever knew."
+
+"_Now, Mr. Burchard!_" said Mr. Sidney, looking him straight in the
+eye, "do you mean to tell me that you don't know Maguire is a woman?"
+
+"I surely do not so suspect even."
+
+"Then the blindness of Bartimeus was nothing to yours. Has she any
+beard? Has she a man's voice? Has she the figure of a man? Does she
+make any motions of body or limb like a man? Surely not. She is a
+woman, and has consummate art, more than any woman I ever saw save
+one. She consorts continually with thieves and robbers, and if you do
+not suspect it you ought to know it, and that is what has brought me
+here. Your house is on fire of hell, and you do not seem to apprehend
+it. Did you not notice at the table that she spilled some wine on the
+Reverend (?) Mr. Malcolm's head and white cravat, and do you suppose
+it was accidental? No, sir, they are better acquainted than you and I,
+for he did not start when it was done, but was conscious who did it.
+When I entered your drawing-room and saw you standing between these
+two graceless villains, I looked around me in order to ascertain how
+many of that stripe were present, and finding but one other, I
+concluded you had been imposed upon and that I would improve the
+opportunity to study human nature. I _should_ like to be informed how
+it came to pass that that reverend state's-prison bird obtained an
+invitation from you."
+
+Mr. Burchard explained the method of the introduction by a letter from
+his kinsman in England, as before stated.
+
+"Have you the letter?"
+
+The letter being produced, after a moment's examination he said: "Very
+well done. _Very_ well done. He is better at that than I supposed, yet
+many of the letters show more than one stroke of the pen. He is an
+Englishman, but learned to write in Germany. He was once a cook. He
+does not write Malcolm as if used to it, and that is an assumed name.
+Great nerve, assurance, self-reliance, and patience. Is fond of
+children. Has more conceit than his manners indicate, kind-hearted man
+and even generous in his way, but has no notion of truth or morals.
+Should say he had spent much of his time in Baden Baden and other like
+places. Is good at gambling, but burglary is his _forte_. Ah! yes,
+this specimen of his handwriting, if it is disguised, tells the whole
+story of his life. That was a pretty crowd, was it not? for me to show
+off, too, that I could read their characters in their faces."
+
+"Is it possible?" soliloquized Mr. Burchard, "and my admirable Maguire
+his accomplice!"
+
+Mr. Sidney asked for the last letters which he had received from
+Winfield Burchard, in order to compare the two, but examining his
+portfolio, all were gone.
+
+Mr. Burchard then stated to Mr. Sidney what had transpired during the
+day,--Malcolm's arrest, the giving of bail, the suppression of the
+report in the newspapers, and the report which appeared in one of the
+journals, his acceptance of the draft of one thousand dollars, and
+some other particulars, when Mr. Sidney said,--
+
+"Why were your eyes not opened by the fact that Malcolm did not give
+the same name to the watchmen as to you? That is an offence against
+the statute, and you know it, and an honest man, whether clergyman or
+boot-black, never descends to that. Besides, the robbery was
+committed, according to this account, more than an hour after the
+night train had gone to which your supposed relative was hastening.
+That mat also should have convinced you; and what an adept he was to
+have known enough of the forms of law to have waived a preliminary
+examination and to have secured you as bail before you had recovered
+from your dream! He managed well to get your opinion last night of the
+duty of lawyers to defend rogues. Mr. Burchard, you are harnessed. You
+must now defend that rascal. Your mouth is closed, you have pocketed a
+retainer. A thousand dollars' fee does not indicate light work, but
+seems to imply a strain upon your conscience. I once heard the
+ex-secretary of President Harrison's Cabinet decline a like amount
+because it implied too much for his honor."
+
+Mr. Sidney touched a sensitive place. If Mr. Burchard had any
+reputation or quality as a lawyer, it was for his unsullied integrity
+and keen sense of honor. The ability of Mr. Sidney in his department
+had not brought that comfort which Mr. Burchard had hoped for. His
+distress of mind was so great that Mr. Sidney judged he had gone
+beyond the limit of safety, and he quoted, "'Faithful are the wounds
+of a friend.' As your friend I open to your view the peril from which
+it is your duty to escape. If you are involved, extricate yourself
+with honor if you can, and if you cannot, then do no more than honor
+requires."
+
+A long pause ensued. At length Mr. Burchard broke the silence by
+inquiring what evidence there was that Maguire was criminal.
+
+"Because she gets the information for Malcolm, and draws plans of the
+houses which he intends to rob, and locates every piece of furniture
+in them so that he can enter the house and go through darkness to his
+objective point. He passes half his nights in her room. There the
+schemes are matured, and if you think her less criminal than Malcolm,
+you are welcome to your opinion."
+
+"But what information can you give me upon which I can act?"
+
+"She has deceived you in passing herself off as a man. She is in
+fellowship with Malcolm, while it is for her interest to be faithful
+to you, for by reason of being your man she has access to those houses
+which may be presumed to be profitable in the plundering. I cannot
+tell you any particular thing she has done, but I can send a message
+to the back door by reason of which she will fly from your house and
+never again show you her face."
+
+"What message will you send?"
+
+"I will write on a card these words, 'All is known, detectives are
+approaching.'"
+
+"Do it," said Mr. Burchard, "and if he is honest he will show it to me
+and ask advice, and we will see if he will fly."
+
+The card was delivered, no commotion followed. She was not seen to
+escape, though watch was set for the purpose. Search was made for her
+in vain. From the appearance of her room it was evident she had fled.
+It was months before she was heard from, and then the inquiry came
+from the chief of police in a Western city, "Did Mary Maguire, alias
+Sonsie Jane, alias Wily Mary, ever reside with Bernon Burchard? Is his
+certificate genuine?"
+
+In the mean time Mr. Burchard was intensely excited by conflicting
+emotions and the discussion within himself concerning his duty. Could
+he retain the money and give information to the police? No. Did the
+fraud of Malcolm vitiate his obligation to him? In some particulars,
+but not in all. Did his oath to be faithful to his client prevent him
+from withdrawing from the case till at least he had returned what he
+had received? Yes; but how could he return it, since it was doubtful
+if Malcolm would ever again appear?
+
+Before Mr. Sidney left town it was arranged that he should ascertain
+the whereabouts of Malcolm if possible, and, as the attorney of Mr.
+Burchard as bail, bring him hither at all hazards, and confine him in
+jail to await his trial or till he should procure other securities.
+Mr. Sidney stipulated that Mr. Burchard should not on any account
+telegraph to him or any other person upon the subject, because that
+the telegram would certainly reach Malcolm, if he was a chief member
+of a gang of villians, before it did him or the person to whom it
+should be addressed. This injunction, however, escaped the mind of Mr.
+Burchard. As the time for Malcolm's trial drew near, he, Mr. Burchard,
+became nervous and care-worn. Learning through a New York detective
+that Malcolm was in that city, he at once telegraphed to his attorney
+there to seek out the detective and have Malcolm arrested.
+
+The writer of this article, who was then aware that some great trouble
+shrouded the mind of Mr. Burchard, without knowing what it was,
+happened to be conversing with him on the street near his office door
+when the answer to the telegram arrived, and had the opportunity of
+reading it all except the signature. Before the message had been
+delivered to the attorney in New York, the answer came from Malcolm at
+New Orleans, printed upon a long strip of paper as follows:
+
+                         "NEW ORLEANS, March --, 1856.
+
+     "I never disappoint my bail. My thoughts on awful subjects
+     roll, damnation and the dead, what horrors seize the guilty
+     soul upon a dying bed. Lingering about these mortal shores
+     she makes a long delay, till like a flood with rapid force,
+     death sweeps the wretch away. Good for Doctor Watts. I have
+     three weeks yet to spare."
+
+How it was signed I am not aware. The envelope was marked "paid
+$32.75."
+
+On the afternoon previous to the sitting of the court at which Malcolm
+was under bail to appear, he unexpectedly presented himself at Mr.
+Burchard's office. The conflicting emotions in Mr. Burchard's breast
+upon beholding him can well be imagined. Indignation for the
+imposition and forgery was most apparent. Vengeance was secondary,
+tempered by the fact that he had made his appearance, although not
+yet safe in jail. His soul burst forth in a holy horror of a man
+apparently incapable of entertaining a moral sentiment, and so brazen
+as not to appreciate his guilt. His presence so exasperated Mr.
+Burchard that he rushed toward the door without any definite intention
+but to be rid of his visitor. Malcolm calmly placed his back against
+the closed door and said very coolly: "All this indignation is well
+enough before a jury, Mr. Burchard, and I read in your countenance
+what is passing in your mind, but it is wise to take men as they are
+and the world as it is, and not as it should be. I meet you to-day on
+equal terms. You claim something of me, and I of you. If you are a man
+of honor, fulfil your contract. If you are a sneak, do as I should
+have done had I forfeited my bail. I have shown the estimate I put
+upon my duty by appearing to discharge you as my bail in the face of
+the indignity I have put upon you, and knowing full well what I was to
+encounter. Show half my pluck and it will serve you well. I am not yet
+your prisoner, and by the Eternal! I will not be till to-morrow, when
+I shall be content with that position. On your peril answer me. Will
+you fulfil your agreement? Will you be a man or a knave?"
+
+Mr. Burchard answered not, but saw the desperate nature of the man
+with whom he had to deal, and that he was provided with weapons with
+which to enforce his argument. Malcolm proceeded, "I never was and
+never will be a sneak. I am bound by honor as well as you. You are a
+lawyer, and a good one. I am a burglar, sir, and am not ashamed of my
+jobs. You exalt your profession, and so do I mine. Business is
+business, and mine is as honorable as yours. Think you I am less
+public-spirited than you? Think you I love my wife and children less
+than you? Come, come, Mr. Burchard; down from your perch! You are a
+man of principle. I am no sardine. You have taken my money, and you
+cannot return it if you would, for the bankers upon whom it was drawn
+have failed, and the draft has not been presented and is your loss. I
+know what you would like to say. It is true I used dissimulation and
+procured an invitation to your dinner-party, and here is Winfield
+Burchard's letter to you (presenting it), whose handwriting I
+imitated; but it was all in my line. I laid a bet I could do it, and
+that draft was just the sum I won. Bristol Bill pays up like gentle
+folks, but then he didn't know my opportunities. What possessed you to
+dismiss Maguire? but no matter; that is all gone by. During the last
+eight years I have passed at least six hundred nights in your house,
+and have been very frequently in your sleeping-room, and have heard
+your confidential talk with your wife. Doubt it, do you? Yes, your
+door _was_ always bolted on the inside, and no other one opened into
+your chamber, but I can tell you conversations you had with your wife,
+which will convince you. Do you remember one night when your wife
+became nervous and fell to crying lest the pain she felt in her breast
+should prove to be a cancer, and you told her that you would go to
+Boston with her and consult Dr. Jackson and ask Dr. P. to go with you?
+Do, eh? And do you remember one night when your niece slept upon the
+sofa in your room? I had no idea she was there, and needlessly waked
+her. She screamed, and while you was attending to her fright I slipped
+out and didn't leave your door bolted. I heard you tell her she was
+dreaming.
+
+"And do you remember one night telling your wife that you could not
+imagine how three cigars got out of a new box you had opened the night
+before? Those cigars were the only things that either Maguire or I
+ever took from your house.
+
+"I will make you this proposition, and if you will accept it you will
+do well. By the night train my two accomplices in that job will
+arrive. I don't intend to be shut up till they come. I will pay for
+six men to sit up with me here to-night in this office, and you shall
+select them, and in the morning I will pay their fees and go to jail."
+
+The proposition was accepted, and the chief of police furnished the
+keepers.
+
+During that night Mr. Burchard's office was the scene of strange
+revelations. Malcolm furnished money to one of the officers, who
+brought in a basket of champagne, and ordered a supper at one o'clock
+in the morning, to be the most complete that money could buy and the
+city furnish. The officers were at liberty to invite in their friends
+who were reliable. Malcolm distributed to each of his keepers five
+times the sum of money agreed upon for their wages, and demanded of
+them a faithful performance of their duty. Some thirty had entered the
+office, and the door was closed and not to be opened on any account
+till supper was announced. Malcolm had sent to a neighboring
+bookstore, and obtained one pack of every edition of playing cards
+there kept for sale. Some forty packs with different backs were piled
+up at one end of the table. Malcolm invited some one to take a hand of
+euchre with him. The captain, who was considered the most expert
+player, took a chair at the corner of the table, and the rest were to
+observe the game, but say nothing which they should discover till the
+game was over. Malcolm took one of the packs from the envelope and
+said, "This edition was gotten up by Count ---- at ----, and with it
+he played twenty-one nights and won ---- thousand dollars before the
+markings were discovered. Cut the cards if you please, and mind, if
+you can, that the ten of spades is not turned." The cards were dealt
+and the ten of spades was turned. The two bowers and two aces were
+given to the captain, who ordered up the ten.
+
+"Now, captain, I have given you the bowers and two aces, and yet you
+are euchred." And so it was. Malcolm inquired if any one perceived how
+it was done, and, receiving a negative reply, said, "Very well, he
+shall do precisely the same thing, and see then if you detect the
+method. I will cut for a ten to be turned and order it up, and you
+will observe."
+
+Almost the same cards were put into Malcolm's hand, as had been put
+into the captain's.
+
+"Now," said Malcolm, "I order it up, and will make one," and so it
+was.
+
+"Did any of you see how that was done?"
+
+None could detect. The cards were again shuffled by a looker-on. It
+was Malcolm's deal.
+
+"I must not make too often. This time you shall march. You see I have
+given you three trumps and a king and an ace of another suit." And so
+it was.
+
+The cards were shuffled again. "You must make one this time." And so
+it was.
+
+"Now," said Malcolm, "please say whether I shall make one, or lose
+one, or go out."
+
+It was the captain's deal, and the company requested Malcolm to go out
+if he could.
+
+"Very well then, I cut a bower; the left is next above it as they fell
+into the last hand, and so will not be out."
+
+Malcolm ordered up a queen, took it out with a king, and made three
+low clubs and won the game.
+
+"Let's take another pack while these gimlet-eyed fellows hunt up the
+markings. This edition was gotten up by Sunderland for a high-low-jack
+pack, and was read the first night. The profession never use it, the
+marks are so apparent. Try it once at all-fours."
+
+The cards were dealt by the captain, and Malcolm said, "I will stand,
+although I have but one trump, for you have none." And Malcolm made
+three points.
+
+"Had you detected the manipulation, I should have lost and you would
+have made three.
+
+"Try another pack. This had a run of three months before it was
+detected. It is well executed, and only the most sagacious and
+quick-sighted are never mistaken in the cards. There is not an edition
+of cards that I cannot read as well by seeing one side as the other.
+No pack was ever edited in fairness to both parties. A man is a fool
+who will get out such an edition. I carried two new ones to the B----
+house in London, and won thirteen nights with them."
+
+One of the company who had been out and returned, produced a pack with
+plain backs, and asked triumphantly if Mr. Malcolm would please to
+read them by the backs.
+
+"This edition," said Malcolm, "was gotten up in Edinburgh by an
+Irishman named Mulligan, and was popular for a while, but when he won
+every night with it suspicions were aroused, and finally a boy twelve
+years old deciphered it. I can tell each card across the room." And he
+did.
+
+And so the entertainment went on, Malcolm winning every game till
+supper was served; not one of the company detecting how it was done.
+
+"Now, boys," said Malcolm "this is my treat, and please enjoy
+yourselves, for I shall expect you all to be in court when my case is
+tried, to laugh on my side. Lawyers don't understand the value of a
+chuckle in swaying a jury in a doubtful case. Lay to. 'The art of
+cookery,' says Henry Cornelius Agrippa, 'is very useful if not
+dishonest.' My appetite is good, and I trust you are all likewise
+minded, for Beaumont and Fletcher say, 'What an excellent thing God
+did bestow upon man when he gave him a good appetite. Mine is almost
+equal to that of Erisichthon described by Ovid,--
+
+     'Thus Erisichthon's profane chops devour
+     All sorts of food: in him food is the cause
+     Of hunger: and he will employ his jaws
+     To whet his appetite.'
+
+"'Tis said that Maximus, the Emperor who succeeded Alexander Memneaus,
+consumed forty pounds of flesh in one day, and drank an amphora of
+wine containing forty-eight quarts.
+
+"Waiter, pass your wines. No blue ruin or heavy wet. In the days of
+the great Caesar all feasts began with eggs and ended with fruits,
+cream and apples; hence the proverb, _ab avo usque ad mala_, and the
+man who did not crush his eggshell or put his folded napkin on his
+left knee, was considered a fool. As we have not eggs we will do our
+best with the napkins. No melancholy subjects at this table. So here's
+luck." And all drank a bumper.
+
+"Did you ever hear how Pope Julius III. became enraged against his
+cook for not having saved him a cold peacock for supper, and how he
+began to blaspheme? Whereupon one of his cardinals said to him, 'Let
+not your Holiness be so moved with a matter of so little weight.'
+'What!' said the pope, 'if God was so angry for one apple that he cast
+our first parents out of Paradise, why may not I, his vicar, be angry
+for a peacock, sithers a peacock is greater than an apple?'
+
+"The oysters from Tarentum, so prized by one of the Caesars, I forget
+which, were not to be compared to these. Captain, take a hand at them.
+Let me give you a song."
+
+And with a sweet melodious voice and a Scotch accent, he sang Burns's
+Ode on the Haggis.
+
+     "'Fair, fa' your honest, sonsie face,
+     Great chieftain o' the pudding race:
+     Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
+         Paunch, tripe, or thairm;
+     Weel are ye worthy o' a grace
+         As lang's my arm.'
+
+"This bird is excellent; whoever cooked it,
+
+                       'His name should be enrolled
+     In Estcourt's book, whose gridiron's framed of gold.'
+
+"Help yourselves, gentlemen, digestion is the business of the stomach,
+and indigestion that of the physicians. It is better to dine late, for
+one can then concentrate all his thoughts upon his plate, forget
+business, and only think of eating and drinking and going to bed. Ha,
+ha! I should have omitted the bed in quoting from the gourmands, for
+they would rather fast than be obliged to eat a good dinner in a
+hurry. Five hours is little enough, provided Mr. Burchard shall not in
+the mean time appear and drive us away.
+
+"This venison is delicious; none was ever better served. The Roman
+Senators debated the question how a turbot should be cooked, and the
+author of this dish deserves a place among such.
+
+"Montmaur is reported to have said that Easter and Christmas were the
+two best days in the year. Easter because it was farthest from Lent,
+and Christmas because then you breakfasted at midnight. Who says this
+is not equal to Montmaur's Christmas breakfast?"
+
+This sort of banter, interspersed with songs and stories, was kept up
+till a late hour, when all of a sudden the keepers awoke to the fact
+that Malcolm had flown. The visitors laughed heartily. The company
+dispersed, not standing upon the order of their going. The table was
+cleared, and the office put in order. Only one of the keepers
+remained, who resembled in appearance a cat that had played with her
+mouse and lost it; the others were out looking for Malcolm. At an
+early hour in the morning he returned, and seating himself at Mr.
+Burchard's desk, wrote him this note:
+
+     MR. BURCHARD,--
+
+    I trust I did not disturb your repose. I found, this morning,
+    in your safe in your house this pretty little casket sent
+    you from your English namesake. I have seen it often before,
+    but wanted another squint at it, and I have brought it to
+    your office lest some burglar might steal it from your house.
+    I noticed your wife's watch lying around loose in your
+    sleeping-room, which is of no great value--to me,--and I
+    contented myself with the charms, which I will put into your
+    steel chest, here in the office, for safe keeping against the
+    time of my need. The putting a yoke on the keys of your door,
+    so I could not turn them with the nippers, was all useless.
+    The chair poised against your sleeping-room door gave me a
+    deal of trouble, and I could not put it back as I found it.
+    Please excuse me. The thread on the stairs attached to an
+    alarm-bell might as well have been omitted. The old-fashioned
+    fork against the bolt I put back as I found it, and came out
+    by the dining-room window. Your portfolio you will find
+    between the beds on which you were sleeping. It took me half
+    an hour to make you turn over so I could do it. George Waters
+    is my counsel, to whom I have committed my case. He will
+    arrange the evidence. Unless you eat your own words, you will
+    sit beside him and ask the jury if they believe the case is
+    made out beyond a reasonable doubt, for I know better than
+    you the weight of your character. I shall be in jail by
+    breakfast-time.
+
+                         MALCOLM.
+
+At the bottom of the note was a well-drawn hand with spread fingers
+at the end of a man's nose.
+
+When all the officers had returned, dropping in one by one, towards
+morning, they were somewhat surprised and relieved upon beholding
+Malcolm. He informed them that it would be all right if they would all
+appear at his trial and laugh for him.
+
+At the trial, Mr. Burchard, care-worn and nervous, made his
+appearance. Mr. Waters conducted the testimony for the defence. Mr.
+Burchard inquired of him what testimony Malcolm relied upon, and was
+answered that no testimony whatever was to be introduced, but he would
+rely altogether upon the lack of testimony on the part of the
+government. A cold shiver ran down Burchard's backbone. The question
+of guilty or not guilty turned upon the identity of the mat previously
+spoken of, which, it was asserted, Malcolm threw away as he ran. The
+watchman testified positively to the fact, but it was in the night,
+and he might have been mistaken. Mr. W. H. B. testified generally as
+to the robbery, and recognized the mat as probably the one made by his
+daughter, although he could not positively make oath to the fact. As
+the case turned upon the testimony of Miss B., I give the whole of the
+cross-examination.
+
+_Question by Mr. Waters._ You have said that you _know_ this mat to
+    have been the work of your own hands, and that you made it
+    for a particular purpose. If you please, what was that
+    purpose?
+
+    _Answer._ I had presented me on Christmas a fine statuette
+    of Samuel, which I admired so much that I worked this mat
+    with great care upon which to place it.
+
+    _Q._ And did you work it from a pattern?
+
+    _A._ Yes, sir.
+
+    _Q._ And have you ever seen others like it?
+
+    _A._ Yes, sir, three, but not in this city.
+
+    _Q._ And where did you get the pattern?
+
+    _A._ From a friend in Philadelphia.
+
+    _Q._ Now, if you have seen other mats like this, how do you
+    know, of your own knowledge, that this is not some other
+    lady's work?
+
+    _A._ I know it is my work because the centre portion of the
+    mat was left plain, which centre is exactly the size of the
+    base of my statuette.
+
+    _Q._ Is there any other reason which you can give?
+
+    _A._ I know it looks like my mat.
+
+    _Q._ Certainly, but would it not look like your mat if it had
+    been wrought by another lady?
+
+    _A._ Perhaps so.
+
+    _Q._ You say _perhaps_ so; would it not certainly so look?
+
+    _A._ I think it would.
+
+    _Q._ Have you the statuette now?
+
+    _A._ Yes, sir, it is at our house.
+
+At this point of the trial the statuette was sent for and brought into
+court by the father of the witness. Mr. Waters took it into his
+possession. Considerable discussion arose when the prosecuting
+attorney insisted upon being allowed to examine it. Mr. Waters became
+almost violent, and declared he would smash the image rather than be
+so imposed upon. He was cross-examining the witness with no testimony
+for the accused, and he insisted upon his rights without interruption.
+The court ruled in Mr. Waters's favor. He, holding the statuette by
+the base, walked up to Miss B., and inquired of her if she recognized
+it as her own.
+
+    _A._ I certainly do.
+
+    _Q._ And how do you know it is certainly your own?
+
+    _A._ It is just like mine.
+
+    _Q._ But are there not other copies so like it as that you
+    cannot tell the difference, nor one from the others?
+
+    _A._ Yes.
+
+    _Q._ How then can you say for a certainty that this is yours?
+
+    _A._ Because my father has just brought it from our house,
+    and I saw him go for it and return with it. I can give no
+    better reason.
+
+    _Q._ Can you say of your own knowledge, from an examination
+    of the image, that it is yours?
+
+    _A._ No, sir.
+
+    _Q._ Have you any more reliable knowledge concerning the mat
+    being yours?
+
+    _A._ Yes, for the space in the middle was made expressly to
+    fit the base of the statuette.
+
+    _Q._ And are you willing to risk your testimony upon that
+    fact alone?
+
+    _A._ I am.
+
+The mat and the statuette were then shown the witness and the jury,
+and the base of the statuette overlapped the plain surface in the
+centre of the mat half an inch. The witness became faint, and was
+carried into the lobby. The jury, without leaving their seats,
+rendered a verdict of NOT GUILTY.
+
+The captain feasted Malcolm that night, and obtained from him the
+secret of his defence. Maguire, as a woman, had procured the situation
+of cook in the house of Mr. W. H. B., and had substituted for the
+original Samuel another, altogether similar, except that its base was
+half an inch larger.
+
+The captain further inquired what had been Malcolm's occupation in
+early life, and how he had acquired so much knowledge of the gourmands
+and feasts.
+
+"I was cook at Baden Baden," said Malcolm, "at the B---- House. There
+I met Count S., who took a fancy to me. I served also at the tables,
+after that as waiter in the house, and keeping an eye open I was a
+great help to the Count. He knew everything about the table, kitchen,
+and the larder, and I remembered what he used to repeat night after
+night, when a year or two ago I found Dick Humelbergius's book upon
+the art of never breakfasting at home and always dining abroad. I
+found everything recorded there, and that is pretty much the only book
+I ever read. I can quote Latin, and know where to put it in, but what
+the ---- the meaning of it is, I have no notion."
+
+"Allow me further to inquire by what process or contrivance you can
+slide a bolt on the opposite side of the door?"
+
+"I paid $3500 for that information, and don't propose to part with
+it."
+
+"Then advise me what is best for me to do when I find a burglar in my
+sleeping-room in the night time?"
+
+"Do nothing, sir, unless you are hunting up a graveyard. We never
+desire to maim or kill, but we can. I should be poorly provided or
+skilled if I was not ready for such emergencies. As soon as the
+burglar leaves your room, rise and light the gas, and he will trouble
+you no more."
+
+"One other question. Did you rob and then burn the Jenks house?"
+
+"That is not a question to be answered, but I will say that I have a
+drawing of the house and the location of every piece of furniture in
+it, which is perfect."
+
+To this day, only two of the persons who were present at the
+dinner-party are aware of the history of the two worthies, the
+Reverend Mr. Malcolm of Oxford and Maguire the butler of Mr. Bernon
+Burchard.
+
+
+
+
+THE MOUNT OF SORROW.
+
+BY HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD.
+
+_Harper's Magazine, June, 1883._
+
+
+Never did anything seem fresher and sweeter than the plateau on which
+we emerged in the early sunset, after defiling all day through the
+dark deep mountain-sides in the rain.
+
+We had promised Rhoda to assault her winter fastness whenever she
+should summon us; and now, in obedience to her message, a gay party of
+us had left the railway, and had driven, sometimes in slushy snow and
+sometimes on bare ground, up the old mountain-road, laughing and
+singing and jangling our bells, till at length the great bare woods,
+lifting their line forever before us and above us, gave place to bald
+black mountain-sides, whose oppressive gloom and silence stifled
+everything but a longing to escape from between them, and from the
+possible dangers in crossing bridges, and fording streams swollen by
+the fortnight's thaws and rains. Now and then the stillness resolved
+itself into the murmuring of bare sprays, the rustling of rain, the
+dancing of innumerable unfettered brooks glittering with motion, but
+without light, from the dusky depths; now and then a ghastly lustre
+shot from the ice still hanging like a glacier upon some upper steep,
+or a strange gleam from the sodden snow on their floors lightened the
+roofs of the leafless forests that overlapped the chasms, and trailed
+their twisted roots like shapes of living horror. What was there, I
+wondered, so darkly familiar in it all? in what nightmare had I
+dreamed it all before? Long ere the journey's end our spirits became
+dead as last night's wine; we shared the depression of all nature, and
+felt as if we had come out of chaos and the end of all things when the
+huge mountain gates closed behind us, and we dashed out on the plateau
+where the grass, from which the wintry wrapping had been washed, had
+not lost all its greenness, and in the sudden lifting of the
+rain-cloud a red sparkle of sunset lighted the windows, as if a
+hundred flambeaux had been kindled to greet us.
+
+A huge fire burned in the fireplace of the drawing-room when we had
+mounted the stairs and crossed the great hall, where other fires were
+blazing and sending ruddy flames to skim among the cedar rafters; and
+all that part of the house sacred to Colonel Vorse, and opened now the
+first time in many winters, was thoroughly warm and cheerful with
+lights and flowers and rugs and easy-chairs and books. We might
+easily have fancied ourselves, that night, in those spacious rooms,
+when, toilets made and dinner over, we re-assembled around the solid
+glow of the chimney logs, a modern party in some old mediaeval chamber,
+all the more for the spirit of the scene outside, where the storm was
+telling its rede again, rain changing to snow, and a cruel blast
+keening round the many gables and screaming down the chimneys. After
+all, Rhoda's and Merivale's plan of having us in the hills before
+late-lingering winter should be quite gone, and doing a little Sintram
+business with skates and wolves and hill visions, should have been
+carried out earlier. To them it was all but little less novel than it
+was to me, and Rhoda, who, although a year or two my junior, had been
+my intimate, so far as I ever had an intimate, would not rest till she
+had devised this party, without which she knew she could not have me,
+even persuading our good old Dr. Devens to leave his pulpit and
+people, and stamp the proceeding with his immaculate respectability.
+As it was, however, it looked as though we were simply to be shut in
+by a week of storm following the thaw. Well, there are compensations
+in all things: perhaps two people in whom I had some interest would
+know each other a trifle better before the week ended then.
+
+The place was really the home of Rhoda and Merivale, or was now to
+become so. Colonel Vorse, their father, who had married so young that
+he felt but little older than they, and was quite their companion,
+was still the owner of the vast summer hostelry, although no longer
+its manager. After accumulating his fortune he had taken his children
+about the world, educating them and himself at the same time, with now
+an object lesson in Germany and now another in Peru, and finally
+returning to this place, which, so far as we could see, was absolute
+desolation, without a neighbor, but which to him was bristling with
+memories and associations and old friends across the intervale and
+over the mountain and round the spur. There was something weird to me,
+as I looked out at the flying whiteness of the moonlit storm, in those
+acquaintances of his among the hollows of these pallid hills; it
+seemed as though they must partake of the coldness and whiteness, and
+as if they were only dead people, when all was said. Perhaps Dr.
+Devens, who half the way up had been quoting,
+
+                   "Pavilioned high, he sits
+     In darkness from excessive splendor born,"
+
+had another phase of the same feeling. I heard him saying, as I passed
+him five minutes before, where he sat astride a chair in front of the
+long oriel casement: "There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which
+the vulture's eye hath not seen: the lion's whelps have not trodden
+it, nor the fierce lion passed by it. He putteth forth his hand upon
+the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. He cutteth out
+rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing. He
+bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid
+bringeth he forth to light." He is expecting a convulsion of nature, I
+remember thinking, as I went by and paused at another window myself. A
+convulsion of nature! I fancy that he found it.
+
+"There is something eerie here," I said, as I still gazed at the
+scene; for the dim gigantic shapes of the hills rose round us like
+sheeted ghosts, while the flying scud of the storm, filled with the
+white diffusion of unseen light, every now and then opened to let the
+glimpses out. "And see the witch-fires," as the rosy reflections of
+our burning logs and lights danced on the whirling snow without. "Is
+there anything wanting to make us feel as if we had been caught here
+by some spell, and were to be held by some charm?"
+
+"I wish I knew the charm," said Colonel Vorse, by my side, and half
+under his breath. And then I felt a little angrier with myself for
+coming than I had felt before.
+
+"I often hear you talking of your belief in certain telluric forces
+that must have most power among the mountains where they first had
+play, and where earth is not only beneath, but is above you and around
+you. Well, we are here in the stronghold of these telluric forces. I
+am their old friend and ally: let me see what they will do for me."
+
+It was true. And I half shivered with an indefinite fear that I might
+be compelled, in spite of all wish and prejudice, and birthright--I,
+the child of proud old colonial grandees of the South; he, the son of
+a mountain farmer, who had married a mate of his own degree, and had
+kept a mountain inn till fortune found him and death took her. My
+father at least was the child of those proud old colonials, and I had
+lived with his people and been reared on their traditions. Who my
+mother was I never knew; for my father had married her in some
+romantic fashion--a runaway match--and she had died at my birth, and
+he had shortly followed her. I had nothing that belonged to her but
+the half of a broken miniature my father had once painted of her, as I
+understood. I always wore it, with I know not what secret sentiment,
+but I showed it to nobody. I had sometimes wondered about the other
+half, but my life had not left me much time for sentiment or
+wonder--full of gayety till my grandfather's death left me homeless;
+full of gayety since his friend Mrs. Montresor had adopted me for
+child and companion, subject to her kind whims and tyrannies. But if
+she took me here and took me there, and clad me like a princess, I was
+none the less aware of the fact that I was without a penny--morbidly
+aware of it without doubt. But it disposed me to look with favor on no
+rich man's suit, and the lover as penniless as I and as fine as my
+ideal lover had not yet appeared. It made me almost hate the face and
+form, the color, the hair, that they dared to call Titianesque, speak
+of as if it were the free booty of pigment and canvas, and wish to
+drag captive in the golden chains of their wealth. When I had met
+Colonel Vorse, a year ago, twice my age though he was, he was the
+first one I had wished as poor as I--he the plebeian newly rich. Yet
+not so newly rich was he that he had not had time to become used to
+his riches, to see the kingdoms of the earth and weigh them in his
+balance, to serve his country on the battle-field, and his State in
+the council-chamber; and, for the rest, contact with the world is
+sadly educating.
+
+"I often look at Colonel Vorse among the men born in the purple," said
+Mrs. Montresor once--she thought people born in the purple were simply
+those who had never earned their living--"and he is the superior of
+them all. What a country it is where a man keeping a common tavern in
+the first half of his life may make himself the equal of sovereigns in
+the other half! I don't understand it; he is the finest gentleman of
+them all. And he looks it. Don't you think so, Helena?"
+
+But I never told Mrs. Montresor what I thought. It is all very well to
+generalize and to be glad that certain institutions produce certain
+effects; but of course you are superior to the institutions, or you
+wouldn't be generalizing so, and all the more, of course, superior to
+the effects, and so I don't see how it signifies to you personally.
+
+"You ought to have your head carried on a pike," said Mrs. Montresor,
+again. "You will, if we ever have any _bonnets rouges_ in America. You
+are the aristocrat pure and simple. The Princess Lamballe was nothing
+to you. You think humanity exists so that _nous autres_, by standing
+on it, may get the light and air. You are sure that you are made of
+different clay--the canaille of street mud, for instance, and you of
+the fine white stuff from which they mould Dresden china. You are
+quite a study to me, my love. I expect to see you marry a pavior yet,
+either one who lays down or one who tears up paving-stones." But I had
+only laughed again. She plumed herself on being cosmopolitan even to
+her principles.
+
+"You give me credit for too much thinking on the subject," I said, "if
+it is credit. Indeed, I don't concern myself about such people; and as
+for marrying one of them, I could as soon marry into a different race,
+African or Mongolian. They are a different race."
+
+And I remembered all this as Colonel Vorse stood leaning his hand
+above me on the jamb of the window-frame--for although I was tall, he
+was a son of Anak--with that air which, never vaunting strength,
+always made you aware of its repression. I could fancy hearing Mrs.
+Montresor say, "That air of his! it always fetches women!" for she
+loved a little slang, by some antipodal attraction of her refinement,
+and I instinctively stiffened myself, determined it should never fetch
+_me_. And here he was calling his allies, the spirits and powers of
+the dark and terrible mountain heights and depths, and openly giving
+battle. I don't know why it depressed me; I felt as if the very fact
+that it did was a half surrender; I looked up at him a moment; I
+forgot who he was; I wished he was as poor as I. But to become the
+mother of Rhoda, my friend, and of Merivale, that laughing young
+giant--what absurdity, if all the rest were equal! And that other, the
+dead woman, the first wife--should one not always be jealous of that
+sweet early love? Could one endure it? Here among these hills with all
+their ghostliness she would haunt me. And then I turned and swept away
+to the fireside, holding out my hands to the flame, and glad to sink
+into the chair that some one had left empty there.
+
+I hardly knew what world I was living in when, perhaps a half-hour
+later, I heard Colonel Vorse's voice. "The trouble is that men are
+_not_ born free and equal," he was saying. "Free? They are hampered by
+inheritance and circumstance from the moment of birth. Equal? It is a
+self-evident lie. And the world has rhapsodized for a hundred years
+over so clumsy a statement. All men are born with equal rights. That
+is the precise statement. My rights--rights to life, liberty, and the
+pursuit of happiness--are equal to the rights of all the princelings
+of the earth; their rights equal only to mine. So far as they
+interfere with my rights they are public enemies, and are to be dealt
+with; and so far as I interfere with their rights, I am a trespasser
+to be punished. Otherwise, prince or peasant, each is a man, whether
+he wears a blouse or a star and garter; and if man was made in the
+image of God, let us do no indignity to that image in one or in
+another."
+
+Did I understand him? Was Colonel Vorse proclaiming himself the equal
+of Prince San Sorcererino who had entertained us in his palaces last
+year? Well. And was he not? All at once something seemed to sift away
+from before my eyes--a veil that had hidden my kind from me. Was there
+no longer even that natural aristocracy in which Shakspeare or Homer
+or Dante was king? Was the world a brotherhood, and they the public
+enemy, the enemy of the great perfect race to come, who helped one
+brother take advantage of another? Were those ribbons in the
+buttonhole, the gifts of kings, of no more worth than the ribbons of
+cigars?
+
+Mrs. Montresor was toying with her fan beside me, and talking in an
+undertone behind it. "What prince of all that you have seen or read
+of," said she, "if born on a meagre mountain farm, would have made his
+fortune and have educated himself, as this man has done? I think the
+kings who founded races of kings were like him. And what prince of
+them all alive looks so much the prince as he? This one as fat as
+Falstaff and as low, that one with a hump on his back, the other
+without brains, the next with brains awry, and none of them made as
+becomes a man. Tell me, Helena?"
+
+"I think you are in love yourself," I said.
+
+She laughed. "As tall as Saul, as dark, as lordly in all proportions,
+as gentle as Jonathan, and with a soul like David's--why shouldn't I
+be?" she said. "And he not the equal of the granddaughter of a South
+Carolina planter! Tell me again, Helena, what has she ever done to
+prove herself his equal?"
+
+She had had a fancy--Heaven knows why--that her young mother, who had
+run away with her father, was the daughter of a noble foreign family;
+or else why should the match have been clandestine? She had had a
+fancy that she was therefore noble, as her mother was--the mother even
+whose name her child did not know other than as the slaves had told
+her the young bridegroom called her Pansy because of a pair of
+purple-dark eyes. That was about all. That was all the answer I could
+have made, had I spoken, to her gentle raillery, half mockery, in
+which she did not quite believe herself. But even were it so, and the
+daughter noble as the mother, could blood that had filtered through
+generations of oppressors lounging in laps of luxury be pure as this
+blood that had informed none but simple and innocent lives, and seemed
+just now as if it had come fresh from the hands of the Maker? I
+surveyed him from behind the hand-screen that failed to keep the ruddy
+flames from my face, and if I felt him in that glance to be one of the
+sons of God, and I but one of the daughters of men, again I did not
+tell Mrs. Montresor.
+
+But the witch could always read my thoughts. "Still," she said, "he
+has kept a tavern. There is no getting round that fact by all the
+poetry in the world. Then why try to get round it? He has furnished
+food and shelter to the tired and roofless--as noble a way to make
+money, surely, as working the bones and muscles of slaves, and
+accepting the gold they earn."
+
+"That is the last I have of such gold," I cried, in a stifled way; and
+I unclasped the old bracelet on my wrist and tossed it behind the
+back-log--people were too gayly engaged to observe us at the moment.
+"I think," I said then, turning upon her, "that you are employed as an
+advocate, unless--you are really weary of me."
+
+"Weary of you!" she exclaimed, half under her breath though it
+was--"weary of you, when you are such unceasing variety to me that if
+you married ten thousand tavern-keepers I should always have a room in
+the inn!"
+
+"Thank Heaven," I answered her, gayly, "it is an impossibility that I
+should ever marry _one_." And then there was a lull in the laughter
+and the snatches of song and conversation on the other side of the
+room; and while I was still gazing after my bracelet and into the
+chimney-place, where the flames wallowed about unhewn forest logs that
+took two men to cast to them, Colonel Vorse came over to us.
+
+"You will turn into salamanders," he said.
+
+"It is bad enough to be in hot water," said Mrs. Montresor, lightly.
+"I will leave the fire to you and Helena."
+
+"Where you sit," said Colonel Vorse then to me, "if you turn your head
+slightly to the left, and shade your eyes, you can see the side of the
+darkest and sternest of our mountains. You know we do not call our
+hills by the names they have in maps and government surveys; the old
+settlers who first came here called this one, for unknown reasons of
+their own, the Mount of Sorrow. It has always been the Mount of
+Sorrow."
+
+"An ominous name for so near a neighbor," I said.
+
+"Ah! you think this region is oppressive, or perhaps dull and tame,
+without life or stir--desolate, in fact. What if I should tell you
+that it bubbles, like a caldron over the bottomless pit, with griefs
+and sins!--that in lives condemned to perpetual imprisonment on
+these bare rocks, feeding on themselves, traits intensifying, the
+loneliness, the labor, the negation, slowly extract the juices of
+humanity, and make crime a matter to be whispered of among them? If
+they feel they are forgotten by God, what matters the murder or the
+suicide more or less that gives release? It is hell here or hell
+there: they are sure of this--they have it; the other may not come to
+pass."
+
+"What do you mean?" I said, with white lips; for as he spoke it seemed
+as if I had come into a land of lepers. "Here in this white solitude,
+among lives fed from the primitive sources of nature and the dew of
+the morning--"
+
+"I mean," he said, "that I refuse to accept the factitious aid your
+thoughts have lately been bringing to me. You see I have preternatural
+senses. Because I was born in the snows of the mountains I am no whit
+whiter than those born in the purlieus of the police stations of the
+cities. We are simply of the same human nature. When I win regard, it
+must be for no idle fancy, but for my own identity."
+
+"Well," I said, "I do not believe you."
+
+"Ah!" he replied, "have I gained a point, and found an advocate in an
+ideal of me? That would be as romantic as any of the romance of the
+hills. And there _is_ romance here, whether it is born of crime, or of
+joy, or of sorrow. There is romance enough on that old Mount of Sorrow
+that you see when the storm opens and strips it in that sudden white
+glory. Keep your eye, if you please, on a spot half-way up the sky,
+and when the apparition comes again you will find the dark outline of
+a dwelling there. It was a dwelling once; now it is only a ruin, hut
+and barn and byre. Why do you shudder? Do you see it? It is only a
+shadow. But a shadow with outlines black enough to defy the whitest
+blast that ever blew. Sometimes it seems to me as though that old ruin
+were itself a ghostly thing, a spectre of tragedies that will not
+down; for the avalanches divide and leave it, and the storms whistle
+over and beat against it, and it is always there when the sun rises. I
+don't know what it has to do with my fortunes; I don't know why it is
+a blotch upon the face of nature to me; but if ever I grow sad or sick
+at heart I feel as though I should be made whole again could that evil
+thing be removed."
+
+"Why not remove it?"
+
+"It does not belong to me. I can do nothing with it. I am not
+sure that it belongs to any one--which adds to the spectral, you
+see--although I suppose there is somewhere a nameless heir. How
+restless you are!" he said, gently. "Will you come out in the long
+hall where the great window gives an unobstructed view of the thing,
+and walk off this nervousness? The storm is lifting, I think; the moon
+is going to overcome. One may see by the way the fire burns that the
+temperature is mounting. Perhaps we shall have a snow-slide as we
+walk."
+
+Rhoda and Merivale were singing some of the songs they had learned
+since they came into the hill country, Mrs. Montresor was nodding
+behind her fan an accompaniment to Dr. Devens's remarks, Adele was
+deep in her novel, and a flirtation and some portfolios of prints
+occupied the rest. To refuse was only to attract attention; besides, I
+should like to walk. I rose and went out with him into the hall that
+shut off the wing from the great empty caravansary.
+
+     "'And the long carpets rose along the gusty floor,'"
+
+I quoted as we walked; and despite the fire burning on either side, he
+had brought me a fur for my shoulders.
+
+"Yes," he said, "there comes the moon at last. Now you shall see the
+black and white of it."
+
+"Oh!" I cried, clasping my hands, as all the silvery lights and
+immense shadows burst out in a terrible sort of radiance. "The world
+began to be made here! Poets should be born here!"
+
+"Instead of tavern-keepers," said he, "which brings me to my story. I
+am forty-three years old. Of course I was younger twenty-three years
+ago. That must have been not long before you came into the world
+yourself. Do you insist upon thinking twenty years' difference in age
+makes any disparity, except in the case of him who has lost just that
+twenty years' sweetness out of his life?"
+
+"I hardly see what that has to do with the story of the Mount of
+Sorrow," I said, as we turned from the window to measure the length of
+the hall again.
+
+"I hope," said he, "that the suffrage reform, which is to admit women
+to the ballot, will never let them sit on the judicial bench, for
+mercy is foreign to the heart of a woman."
+
+"Is it not a strange way of telling a story?" I exclaimed.
+
+"Patience!" he laughed. "The story is so short it needs a little
+preface. As I was saying then, when I was twenty years old or so, the
+name of old Raynier, of the Mount of Sorrow, was a by-word of terror
+through the region round, as the name of his father was, and his
+father before him. He had no other property than the sterile farm
+half-way up the mountain, and almost inaccessible--in winter entirely
+inaccessible--where he raised not half a support on the slips of earth
+among the ledges; his few starved sheep and goats did what they could
+for him, and his rifle did the rest. The first Raynier of them all
+was possibly an escaped convict, who fortified his retreat by these
+mountain-sides. He had no money; the women spun and wove all that was
+worn. He had no education; no Raynier had ever had; no Raynier had
+ever had occasion to sign his mark, let alone his name. There had been
+one son in each generation; neither church nor school ever saw him;
+his existence was scarcely known till he was ready to marry, and then
+he came down, and by no one knows what other magic than a savage
+force of nature took the prettiest girl of the valley to his
+eyrie--sometimes his wife, sometimes not. When she died, and she
+always died, the Raynier of the day replaced her. He did not always
+wait for her to die before replacing her. But sudden deaths were no
+uncommon thing in that house; there was a burial-ground scooped in the
+hill-side. And who was there to interfere? Perhaps no one knew there
+had been a death till the year was out. What if a woman went mad? That
+happened anywhere. People below might prate of murder, or suicide, or
+slow poison; there was nobody to whom it was vital enough to open the
+question seriously; and then they feared the Raynier with an uncanny
+fear, as people fear a catamount in the woods, or the goblin of old
+wives' tales after dark. There were horrible stories of bouts and
+brawls, of tortures, gags, whips, and--oh, no matter! Nor was all the
+crime on the shoulders of the Raynier men. It was understood that more
+than one woman of the name found life too intolerable to endure its
+conditions when the fumes of a charcoal fire after a drunken feast,
+or a quick thrust over the edge of a precipice, or a bit of weed in
+the broth, made life easier, till remorse brought madness. And
+finally, if any Raynier died what may be called a natural death, it
+was either from starvation or from delirium tremens. You see they were
+a precious lot."
+
+"A precious lot!" I said, trembling. "Ah, what is heaven made of? Poor
+wretches, they could not help it. From generation to generation the
+children of such people must needs be criminal."
+
+"I don't know. If removed from such influence. To my mind environment
+is strong as heredity, quite as strong. It destroys the old and
+creates the new. However, environment and heredity worked together up
+there. In my day--to continue--the Raynier family was larger than
+usual. The last wife still lived, a miserable cowed creature, white as
+ashes, face and hair and bleached scared eyes, eyes that looked as if
+they saw phantoms rather than people. Her mind was partially gone. I
+was a famous mountaineer then, and climbing wherever foot of man had
+been before, I once in a while came upon some or other of that family,
+and sometimes paused at the door, where I had first to teach the
+bloodhounds a lesson. I never entered the filthy place but once. There
+were two sons and a daughter. Oh, how immortally beautiful that girl
+was! Such velvet darkness in the eye, such statuesque lines, such
+rose-leaf color, such hair--'hair like the thistle-down tinted with
+gold,' as John Mills, the Scotch poet-player, sang. The old man
+Raynier worshipped her, perhaps as a wild beast loves its whelp. But
+he had all sorts of fanciful names for her, Heart's-ease and Heart's
+Delight, and Violet and Rose and Lily. He grew almost gentle when he
+spoke to her; and he never knew that she was feeble-minded. She just
+missed being an imbecile. Perhaps you would not have known that all
+at once; you might not have found it out at all only meeting her
+casually. The old man Raynier sent her down to school--the first that
+had ever been there: she could never learn to read. She could not
+always tell her name. Still, her mind was innocent--perhaps because it
+was a blank. I have sometimes thought that blank mind of hers may have
+been a dead-wall through which the vices of her forebears could not
+pass, and so her children, if she had them, may have escaped the
+inheritance, and found a chance for good again, as if crime should at
+last estop itself. That may be."
+
+"Oh, I think this is terrible!" I said, as we turned again in our
+walk. "Make haste, please, and be through."
+
+"Yes, it is. But I would show you that life can be anything but
+commonplace in this wilderness. Well, blank or not, she had a lover,
+who had found her out in his sketching rambles, a young painter from
+some distant parts, and the first boarder I ever had, by the way. And
+all the Rayniers swore they would have his life sooner than he should
+have her. One day I had been hunting on old Mount Sorrow, as it
+happened; there had been a sudden frost following rain that had frozen
+the water in the cracks of the cliffs, and made the way not only
+slippery, but dangerous; for in the heat of the noon sun the ice was
+melting, and every now and then its expansion was rending some
+fragment of rock so that your footing might vanish from beneath, or
+some shower of stones come rattling down from above; and I was tired
+when I reached the Raynier place, led by a blaze of maple boughs that
+started out like torches to show the way, and stopped to rest. I
+looked up at an enormous shelf of rock, half clad with reddened vines
+that fluttered like pestilence flags--a shelf that, although some
+hundred feet or so away from it, yet overhung the place and cast a
+perpetual shadow there. I wondered then why Nature had no secret
+springs of feeling to thrill her and cause her to rend the rocks and
+cover such a den of iniquity as we all held the spot to be. But Nature
+was just as fair that ambrosial September day as if there was not a
+dissonance. Perhaps she knew the right of the Rayniers to life,
+liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A delicious scent of the balsam
+from the pines filled the air, the sunshine swept over the hills below
+in waves of light, and the hills themselves were like waves of a
+golden green and purple sea where now and then a rainbow swam and
+broke. Peace and perfectness, I said, peace and perfectness. These
+people live and are happy. On the other side one looked into the
+dreary defile of the mountain gate, with its black depths hung with
+cloud, and remembered that if there was not a hell, there ought to be.
+I was thinking this as I sat there, when I heard a wild cry, an
+agonized shriek, blood-curdling, repeated and repeated from within.
+It was the girl's voice. I was on my feet, and, in spite of the
+bloodhounds, making for the spot and among the crew. The old woman
+cowered in the corner, the two brothers held the girl, the old man
+towered over her, his great eyes blazing in his ashen face. I can't
+tell you what they were doing. Sometimes I have thought old Raynier
+was burning her with a hot iron he held--"
+
+"Oh, horrible! horrible!"
+
+"Burning her with a hot iron to make her give up her lover! Sometimes
+I have thought he was only demolishing the little likenesses of him
+and of herself, which that lover had painted, and which she cherished,
+perhaps as his work, perhaps for the unwonted gewgaw of the slender
+golden frame, for the one picture was already in fragments, and
+although she clutched half of the other, the broken half had fallen
+and rolled away. I have it somewhere. I will show it to you. I had no
+time, indeed, to see what it was they were doing, for behind me
+bounded that lover like a whirlwind, thrust one brother and the other
+aside, seized the girl, darted over the door-sill with her, and down
+the crags of the mountain path. He should have what help I could give.
+I was after him, stooping to catch up the fragment of painting as I
+turned, down the cliff's edge, they following. And all at once I
+stopped as if paralyzed to the marrow by a clap of thunder, and turned
+my head to see the old man with his white hair streaming, and his arms
+uplifted in his cursing, as he came leaping on, and the next moment
+the shelf of overhanging rock had fallen, had cleft the house in
+twain, and mother and father and sons and hounds were dust with the
+dust flying over the precipices. I saw it."
+
+"Oh!" I cried, with my hands over my eyes. "Why did it not strike you
+blind?"
+
+"And here," said Colonel Vorse, leading my steps to an old cabinet in
+an alcove, "ought to be the half of that little likeness I picked up
+as I ran. I wonder what became of the other half--what became of the
+girl--if the lover married her--if she knew enough to know he didn't
+marry her--if she lived long enough for him to find out she was a
+fool--if she was the last of the Rayniers?" As he ceased, he put the
+half of the little miniature into my hands.
+
+It was a broken bit of ivory, and on it the upper part of a face,
+sketchily done, with pansy-dark eyes and blush rose skin--without a
+frame. I had the frame.
+
+A heart beat, a fluttering breath, a reeling sense of the world
+staggering away from me, and then my bewildered senses were at work
+again, and an agony like death was cutting me to the heart as we
+resumed our walking.
+
+Should I tell him? Should I go on with my secret, my inheritance, my
+curse, and let no man know? If it ate out my heart, the sooner to
+end; my heart was broken now. Never, never now could fireside shine
+for me, could lover's lips be mine, could little faces sun themselves
+in my smile.
+
+We paused before the great window, with those vague white shapes
+before us, for my feet would not obey me, and the light behind us
+shone on the bit of ivory. If I told him, it would be easier for him
+to bear; he would see the impossibility, he would desire my love no
+longer. My fearful inheritance would yawn like a gulf between us with
+its impassable darkness.
+
+"And the ruin on the hill-side is an eye-sore," I said. "But it is
+easy to remove it. I suppose it belongs to me. For--look here--it is I
+who must be the last of the Rayniers." And I drew from my breast the
+broken thing, the halved miniature, that in my mock sentiment I had
+worn so long.
+
+"You!" cried he. "You!" And his feet tottered, and he leaned against
+the casement for support--he who an hour or so ago had seemed so full
+of repressed strength that he could have pulled his house down about
+his ears. Well, had he not done so?
+
+I moved to his side, and held the thing that he might see where the
+pieces matched, the line of the cheek flowing into the lovely curve of
+the chin, the flickering sweetness of the lovely mouth, the lambent
+glance of the lovely eye. "It is my mother, you see," I said. "And it
+needs no words to say it."
+
+"It needs no words to say it," he repeated, hoarsely. "It is your
+image. Oh, my God! What have I done! what have I done! My darling, my
+darling, you must let me repair it by a lifetime of devotion." And he
+had his arms about me, and was drawing me to his heaving breast, his
+throbbing heart.
+
+"No! no! no!" I sobbed. "It is impossible. I am wrecked; I am ruined;
+I can be no man's wife. You see yourself--I will never--" But his lips
+were silencing mine, and I lay there with those arms about me a
+moment; I lay there like one in heaven suspended over hell.
+
+"What do I care," he whispered, "for all the Rayniers in Christendom
+or out of it, but you? I have learned in this moment that you love me!
+I will never give you up."
+
+"You must," I groaned.
+
+"I tell you I never will," he said, his voice husky and low and
+trembling, but his eye and his grasp firm. "I have assured you that
+environment, education, art, can supplement nature and heredity. They
+have done so with you. You are your father's child. You received from
+your mother only the vital spark, only this beauty, this fatal beauty.
+If you inherited all that the Rayniers ever had, then I love, I love,
+I love all that the Rayniers ever were, for I love you. I have your
+love, Helena, and I will never let you go." While speaking he had
+touched the bell at his hand, and now he sent the answering servant
+for Dr. Devens, who came at once, supposing some sight of the snow
+was in store.
+
+"Bid them all out here, Doctor," cried Colonel Vorse. "Ah, here they
+come! In this part of the country we need no license for marriage.
+Here are a bride and groom awaiting your blessing. Perform your
+office, sir." And before I could summon heart or voice, making no
+response, bewildered and faint, I was the wife of Colonel Vorse, and
+my husband's arms were supporting me as the words of the prayer and
+benediction rolled over us.
+
+"There is no time like the present," he cried, gayly, his tones no
+longer broken, "as I have always found." And suddenly, before he
+ceased, and while they all thronged round me, there came a sharp
+strange sigh singing through the air, that grew into the wild
+discordant music of multitudinous echoes, and we all turned and sprang
+intuitively to see, rent in the moonlight and sheathed in the glorious
+spray of a thousand ice-falls, the Mount of Sorrow bow its head and
+come down, and, while the whole earth shook and smoked back in hoar
+vapors, the great snow-slide in its swift sheeting splendor flash and
+wipe out before our eyes the last timber of the hut and barn and byre
+of the Rayniers.
+
+
+
+
+SISTER SILVIA.
+
+BY MARY AGNES TINCKER.
+
+_Lippincott's Magazine, December, 1878._
+
+
+Monte Compatri is one of the eastern outlying peaks of the Alban
+Mountains, and, like so many Italian mountains, has its road climbing
+to and fro in long loops to a gray little city at the top. This city
+of Monte Compatri is a full and busy hive, with solid blocks of
+houses, and the narrowest of streets that break now and then into
+stairs. For those old builders respected the features of a landscape
+as though they had been the features of a face, and no more thought of
+levelling inequalities of land than of shaving down or raising up
+noses. When a man had a house-lot in a hollow, he built his house
+there, and made steps to go down to it: his neighbor, who owned a
+rocky knoll, built his house at the top, and made stairs to go up to
+it. Moreover, if the land was a bit in the city, the house was made in
+the shape of it, and was as likely to have corners in obtuse or acute
+as in right angles.
+
+The inhabitants of Monte Compatri have two streets of which they are
+immensely proud--the Lungara, which wriggles through the middle of the
+town, and the Giro, which makes the entire circuit of the town,
+leaving outside only the rim of houses that rise from the edge of the
+mountain, some of them founded on the natural rock, others stretching
+roots of masonry far down into the earth.
+
+One of these houses on the Giro had for generations been in the
+possession of the Guai family. One after another had held it at an
+easy rent from Prince Borghese, the owner of the town. The vineyard
+and orchard below in the Campagna they owned, and from those their
+wealth was derived. For it was wealth for such people to have a house
+full of furniture, linen and porcelain--where, perhaps, a connoisseur
+might have found some rare bits of old china--besides having a
+thousand scudi in bank.
+
+In this position was the head of the family when he died, leaving a
+grown-up son and daughter, and his wife about to become a mother for
+the third time.
+
+"Pepina shall have her portion in money, since she is to marry soon,"
+the father said. "Give her three hundred scudi in gold and a hundred
+in pearls. The rest of the money shall be for my wife to do as she
+likes with. For the little one, when it shall come, Matteo shall put
+in the bank every year thirty scudi, and when it shall be of age, be
+it girl or boy, he shall divide the land equally with it."
+
+So said Giovanni Guai, and died, and his wife let him talk
+uncontradicted, since it was for the last time. They had lived a
+stormy life, his heavy fist opposed to her indefatigable tongue, and
+she contemplated with silent triumph the prospect of being left in
+possession of the field. Besides, would he not see afterward what she
+did--see and be helpless to oppose? So she let him die fancying that
+he had disposed of his property.
+
+"The child is sure to be a girl," she said afterward, "and I mean her
+to be a nun. The land shall not be cut up. Matteo shall be a rich man
+and pile up a fortune. He shall be the richest man in Monte Compatri,
+and a girl shall not stand in his way."
+
+Nature verified the mother's prophecy and sent a little girl. Silvia
+they called her, and, since she was surely to be a nun, she grew to be
+called Sister Silvia by everybody, even before she was old enough to
+recognize her own name.
+
+The house of the Guai, on its inner wall, opened on the comparatively
+quiet Giro. From the windows and door could be heard the buzz and hum
+of the Lungara, where everybody--men, women, children, cats and
+dogs--were out with every species of work and play when the sun began
+to decline. This was the part of the house most frequented and liked
+by the family. They could see their neighbors even when they were at
+work in their houses, and could exchange gossip and stir the polenta
+at the same time. The other side of the house they avoided. It was
+lonely and it was sunny. For Italians would have the sun, like the
+Lord, to be for ever knocking at the door and for ever shut out. It
+must shine upon their outer walls, but not by any means enter their
+windows.
+
+As years passed, however, there grew to be one exception in this
+regard. Sister Silvia loved not the town with its busy streets, nor
+the front windows with their gossiping heads thrust out or in. She had
+her own chamber on the Campagna side, and there she sat the livelong
+day with knitting or sewing, never going out, except at early
+morning to hear mass. There her mother accompanied her--a large,
+self-satisfied woman beside a pallid little maiden who never raised
+her eyes. Or, if her mother could not go, Matteo stalked along by her
+side, and with his black looks made everybody afraid to glance her
+way. Nobody liked to encounter the two black eyes of Matteo Guai. It
+was understood that the knife in his belt was sharp, and that no
+scruple of conscience would stand between him and any vengeance he
+might choose to take for any affront he might choose to imagine.
+
+After mass, then, and the little work her mother permitted the girl to
+do for health's sake, Silvia sat alone by her window and looked out on
+the splendor which her eyes alone could appreciate. There lay the
+Campagna rolling and waving for miles and miles around, till the
+Sabines, all rose and amethyst, hemmed it in with their exquisite
+wall, and the sea curved a gleaming sickle to cut off its flowery
+passage, or the nearer mountains stood guard, almost covered by the
+green spray it threw up their rocky sides. She sat and stared at Rome
+while her busy fingers knit--at the wonderful city where she was one
+day to go and be a nun, where the pope lived and kings came to worship
+him. In the morning light the Holy City lay in the midst of the
+Campagna like her mother's wedding-pearls when dropped in a heap on
+their green cushion; and Silvia knelt with her face that way and
+prayed for a soul as white, for she was to be the spouse of Christ,
+and her purity was all that she could bring Him as a dowry. But when
+evening came, and that other airy sea of fine golden mist flowed in
+from the west, and made a gorgeous blur of all things, then the city
+seemed to float upward from the earth and rise toward heaven all
+stirring with the wings of its guardian angels, and Silvia would beg
+that the New Jerusalem might not be assumed till she should have the
+happiness of being in it.
+
+But there was a lovely view nearer than this visionary one, though the
+little nun seldom looked at it. If she should lean from her window she
+would see the mountain-side dropping from the gray walls of her home,
+with clinging flowery vines and trees growing downward, while the
+olives and grapevines of the Campagna came to meet them, setting here
+and there a precarious little garden half-way up the steep. Just
+under her window an almost perpendicular path came up, crept round the
+walls and entered the town. But no one ever used this road now, for a
+far wider and better one had been constructed at the other side of the
+mountain, and all the people came up that way when the day's work was
+over in the Campagna.
+
+One summer afternoon Silvia's reveries were broken by her mother's
+voice calling her: "Silvia, come and prepare the salad for Matteo."
+
+It was an extraordinary request, but the girl went at once without
+question. She seized upon every opportunity to practise obedience in
+preparation for that time when her life would be made up of obedience
+and prayer.
+
+Her mother was sitting by one of the windows talking with Matteo, who
+had just come up from the Campagna. He had an unsocial habit of eating
+alone, and, as he ate nothing when down in the vineyard, always wanted
+his supper as soon as he came up. The table was set for him with
+snow-white cloth and napkin, silver knife, fork and spoon, a loaf of
+bread and a decanter of golden-sparkling wine icy cold from the grotto
+hewn in the rock beneath the house; and he was just eating his
+_minestra_ of vegetables when his sister came in. At the other end of
+the long table was a head of crisp white lettuce, lying on a clean
+linen towel, and two bottles--one of white vinegar, the other of oil
+as sweet as cream and as bright as sunshine. Monte Compatri had no
+need to send to Lucca for oil of olives while its own orchards
+dropped such streams of pure richness.
+
+The room was large and dingy. The brick floor had never known other
+cleansing than sprinkling and sweeping, the yellow-washed walls had
+become with time a pale, mottled brown, the paint had disappeared
+under a fixed dinginess which the dusting-brush alone could not
+remove, and the glass of the windows had never been washed except by
+the rain. Yet, for all that, the place had an air of cleanliness. For
+though these people do not clean their houses more than they clean
+their yards, yet their clothing and tables and beds are clean.
+Plentiful white linen, stockings like snow, and bright dishes and
+metals give a look of freshness and show well on the dim background.
+Heavy walnut presses, carved and black with age, stood against
+the walls, drinking-glasses and candlesticks sparkled on a dark
+bureau-top, there was a bright picture or two, and the sunlighted
+tinware of a house at the other side of the street threw a cluster of
+tiny rays like a bouquet of light in at the window. Silvia received
+these sun-blossoms on her head when she placed herself at the lower
+end of the table. She pushed the sleeves of her white sack back from
+her slim white arms, and began washing the lettuce-leaves in a bowl of
+fresh water and breaking them in the towel. The leaves broke with
+a fine snap and dropped in pieces as stiff as paper into a large
+dark-blue plate of old Japanese ware. A connoisseur in porcelain would
+have set such a plate on his drawing-room wall as a picture.
+
+"How does Claudio work?" the mother asked of her son.
+
+"He works well," Matteo replied. "He is worth two of our common
+fellows, if he _is_ educated."
+
+"Nevertheless, I should not have employed him," the mother said. "He
+has disobeyed and disappointed his parents, and he should be punished.
+They meant him to be a priest, and raked and scraped every soldo to
+educate him. Now, just when he is at the point of being able to repay
+them, he makes up his mind that he has no vocation for the priesthood,
+and breaks their hearts by his ingratitude. It is nonsense to set
+one's will up so and have such scruples. Obedience is vocation enough
+for anything. There should be a prison where parents could put the
+children who disobey them."
+
+The Sora Guai spoke sternly, and looked as if she would not have
+hesitated to put a refractory child in the deepest of dungeons.
+
+"He was a fool, but he earns his money," Matteo responded, and,
+drawing a plate of deliciously fried frogs toward him, began to gnaw
+them and throw the bones on the floor.
+
+Silvia gave him the salad, and poured wine and water into the tumbler
+for him, while his mother went to the kitchen for a dish of fricasseed
+pigeons.
+
+"There's no onion in the salad," Matteo grumbled when she came back.
+
+Silvia uttered an exclamation of dismay, ran for a silvery-white
+little onion and sliced it thinly into the salad.
+
+"Forgive me, Matteo," she said. "I was distracted by the thought of
+Claudio. It seems such a terrible thing."
+
+"It would be a much more terrible thing if it were a girl who
+disobeyed," Matteo growled. He did not like that girls should
+criticise men.
+
+"So it would," the girl responded, with meek readiness.
+
+"I don't know why I feel so tired to-day," the mother said, sinking
+into a chair again. "My bones ache as if I had been working in the
+vineyard all day."
+
+"You are not ill, mamma?" exclaimed Silvia, blushing with alarm.
+
+The answer was a hesitating one: "I don't see what can ail me. It
+wouldn't be anything, only that I am so tired without having done
+much."
+
+"Perhaps it's the weather, mamma," Silvia suggested.
+
+Gentle as she was, she had adopted the ruthless and ungrateful Italian
+custom of ascribing every ache and pain of the body to some almost
+imperceptible change in their too beautiful weather. The smallest
+cloud goes laden with more accusations than it holds drops of rain,
+and the ill winds that blow nobody any good blow through those shining
+skies from morning till night and from night till morning again.
+
+The Sora Guai was sicker than she dreamed. It was not the summer sun
+that scorched her so, nor the _scirocco_ that made her head so heavy.
+What malaria she had found to breathe on the mountain-top it would be
+hard to say; but the dreaded _perniciosa_ had caught her in its grasp,
+and she was doomed. The fever burned fiercely for a few days, and when
+it was quenched there was nothing left but ashes.
+
+And thus died the only earthly thing to which Sister Silvia's heart
+clung. The mother had been stern, but the daughter was too submissive
+to need correction. She had never had any will of her own, except to
+love and obey. Collision between them was therefore impossible, and
+the daughter felt as a frail plant growing under a shadowing tree
+might feel if the tree were cut down. She was bare to every wind that
+blew. She had no companions of her own age--she had no companion of
+any age, in fact--and she had not been accustomed to think for herself
+in the smallest thing.
+
+She had got bent into a certain shape, however, and her brother and
+sister felt quite safe on her account. Everybody knew that she was to
+be a nun of the Perpetual Adoration; that she was soon to go to the
+convent of Santa Maria Maddalena on the Quirinal in Rome; and that,
+once entered there, she would never again see a person from outside.
+The town's-people were accustomed to the wall of silence and seclusion
+which had already grown up about her, and they did not even seek to
+salute her when they met her going to and from church in the morning.
+To these simple citizens, ignorant but reverential, Sister Silvia's
+lowered eyelids were as inviolate as the pearl gates of the New
+Jerusalem. Besides, to help their reverence, there were the fierce
+black eyes and strange reputation of Matteo. So when, a day or two
+after her mother's death, his sister begged him to accompany her to
+church in the early morning, and leave her in the care of some decent
+woman there, Matteo replied that she might go by herself.
+
+She set out for the first time alone on what had ever been to her a
+_via sacra_, and was now become a _via dolorosa_, where her tears
+dropped as she walked. And going so once, she went again. Pepina, the
+elder sister, a widow now, had come home to keep house for Matteo, but
+she was too much taken up with work, the care of her two children and
+looking out for a second husband to have time to watch Silvia, and
+after a few weeks the young girl went as unheeded as a matron in her
+daily walk.
+
+At home her life was nearly the same. She mended the clothes from the
+washing and knit stockings, and sat at her window and looked off over
+the Campagna toward Rome.
+
+One evening she sat there before going to bed and watched the
+moonlight turn all the earth to black and silver under the purple
+sky--a black like velvet, so deep and soft was it, and a silver like
+white fire, clear and splendid, yet beautifully soft. She was feeling
+desolate, and her tears dropped down, now and then breaking into sobs.
+It had been pleasant to sit there alone when she knew that her mother
+was below stairs, strong, healthy and gay. All that life had been as
+the oil over which her little flame burned. Lacking it, she grew dim,
+just as the floating wick in her little blue vase before the Madonna
+grew dim when the oil was gone.
+
+As she wept and heard unconsciously the nightingales, she grew
+conscious of another song that mingled with theirs. It was a human
+voice, clear and sweet as an angel's, and it sang a melody she knew in
+little snatches that seemed to begin and end in a sigh. The voice came
+nearer and paused beneath a fig tree, and the words grew distinct.
+
+"Pieta, signore, di me dolente," it sang.
+
+Silvia leaned out of the window and looked down at the singer. His
+face was lifted to the white moonlight, and seemed in its pallid
+beauty a concentration of the moonlight. Only his face was visible,
+for the shadow of the tree hid all his figure. One might almost have
+expected to catch a glimmer of two motionless wings bearing up that
+face, so fair it was.
+
+To Silvia it was as if another self, who grieved also, but who
+could speak, were uttering all her pain, and lightening it so. She
+recognized Claudio's voice. He was the chief singer in the cathedral,
+and sang like an angel. She was afraid that Claudio had done very
+wrong in not being a priest, but, for all that, she had often found
+her devotion increased by his singing. The Christmas night would not
+have been half so joyful lacking his _Adeste Fideles_; the _Stabat
+Mater_ sung by him in Holy Week made her tears of religious sorrow
+burst forth afresh; and when on Easter morning he sang the _Gloria_
+it had seemed to her that the heavens were opening.
+
+For all that, however, he had been to her not a person, but a voice.
+That he should come here and express her sorrow made him seem
+different. For the first time she looked at his face. By daylight it
+was thin and finely featured, and of a clear darkness like shaded
+water, through which the faintest tinge of color is visible. In this
+transfigurating moonlight it became of a luminous whiteness.
+
+The song ended, the singer turned his head slightly and looked up at
+Silvia's window. She did not draw back. There was no recognition of
+any human sympathy with him, and no slightest consciousness of that
+airy and silent friendship which had long been weaving itself over the
+tops of the mountains that separated them. How could she know that
+Claudio had sung for her, and that it had been the measure of his
+success to see her head droop or lift as he sang of sorrow and pain or
+of joy and triumph? The choir had their post over the door; and,
+besides, she never glanced up even in going out. Therefore she gazed
+down into his uplifted face with a sweet and sorrowful tranquillity,
+her soul pure and candid to its uttermost depths.
+
+For Claudio, who had sung to express his sympathy for her, but had not
+dreamed of seeing her, it was as if the dark-blue sky above had opened
+and an angel had looked out when he saw her face. He could only
+stretch his clasped hands toward her.
+
+The gesture made her weep anew, for it was like human kindness. She
+hid her face in her handkerchief, and he saw her wipe the tears away
+again and again.
+
+Claudio remembered a note he carried. It had been written the night
+before--not with any hope of her ever seeing it, but, as he had
+written her hundreds of notes before, pouring out his heart into them
+because it was too full to bear without that relief. He took the note
+out, but how should he give it to her? The window was too far above
+for him to toss so light a thing unless it should be weighted with a
+stone; and he could not throw a stone at Silvia's window. He held it
+up, and, that she might see it more clearly, tore up a handful of red
+poppies and laid it white on the blossoms that were a deep red by
+night.
+
+Silvia understood, and after a moment's study dropped him down the
+ball of her knitting; and soon the note came swaying up through the
+still air resting on its cushion of poppies, for Claudio had wound the
+thread about both flowers and letter.
+
+He smiled with an almost incredulous delight as he saw the package
+arrive safely at its destination, and caught afterward the faint red
+light of the lamp that Silvia had taken down from before her Madonna
+to read the note by. Since she was a little thing only five or six
+years old his heart had turned toward her, and her small white face
+had been to him the one star in a dim life. He still kept two or three
+tiny flowers she had given him years before when his family and hers
+were coming together down from Monte San Silvestro at the other side
+of Monte Compatri. The two children, with others, had stopped to stick
+fresh flowers through the wire screen before the great crucifix
+half-way up the mountain, and Silvia had given Claudio these blossoms.
+He had laid them away with his treasures and relics--the bit of muslin
+from the veil of Our Lady of Loretto, the almost invisible speck from
+the cord of St. Francis of Assisi and the little paper of the ashes of
+Blessed Joseph Labre. In those days he was the little priest and she
+the little nun, and their companions stood respectfully back for them.
+Now he was no more the priest, and she was up there in her window
+against the sky reading the note he had written her.
+
+This is what the note said:
+
+    "My heart is breaking for your sorrow. Why should such eyes
+    as yours be permitted to weep? Who is there to wipe those
+    tears away? Oh that I might catch them as they fall! Drop me
+    down a handkerchief that has been wet with them, that I may
+    keep it as a relic. Tell me of some way in which I can
+    console you and spend my life to serve you."
+
+She read with a mingling of consolation and astonishment. Why, this
+was more than her mother cared for her! But perhaps men were really
+more strongly loving than women. It would seem so, since God, who
+knows all, when He wanted to express His love to mankind, took the
+form of a man, not of a woman. Then she considered whether, and how,
+she should answer this note, and the result of her considering was
+this, written hastily on a bit of paper in which some Agnus Dei had
+been wrapped:
+
+     "I do not know what I ought to write to you, but I thank
+     you for your kindness. It comforts me, and I have need of
+     comfort. I think, though, that it may be wrong for you to
+     speak of my handkerchief as if it were a relic. Relics are
+     things which have belonged to the saints, and I am not a
+     saint at all, though I hope to become one. I frequently do
+     wrong. Spend your life in serving God, and pray for me. You
+     pray in singing, and your singing is very sweet.
+
+                         "SILVIA."
+
+It seemed to her a simple and merely polite note. To him it was as
+the spark to a magazine of powder. All the possibilities of his life,
+only half hoped or half dreamed of, burst at once into a flame of
+certainty. She had need of comfort, and he comforted her! His voice
+was sweet to her, and his singing was a prayer!
+
+Silvia should not be a nun. She should break the bond imposed by her
+mother, as he had broken that imposed by his parents. She should be
+his wife, and they would live in Rome. He knew that his voice would
+find bread for them.
+
+All this flashed through his mind as he read, and pressed to his lips
+the handkerchief which she had dropped down to him, though it was not
+a relic. He lifted his arms upward toward her window with a rapturous
+joy, as if to embrace her, but she did not look out again. A little
+scruple for having deprived the Madonna for a moment of her lamp had
+made her resolve to say at once a decade of the rosary in expiation.
+He waited till the sound of closing doors and wandering voices told
+that the inhabitants gathered for the evening in the Lungara were
+separating to their homes, then went reluctantly away. Matteo would be
+at home, and Matteo's face might look down at him from that other
+window beside Silvia's. So he also went home, with the moonlight
+between his feet and the ground and stars sparkling in his brain. He
+felt as if his head were the sky.
+
+This was an August night. One day in October, Matteo told his sister
+that she was to go to Rome with him the next morning to pass a month
+with a family they knew there, and afterward begin her novitiate in
+the convent of the Sacramentarians at Monte Cavallo. He had received a
+letter from the Signora Fantini, who would receive her and do
+everything for her. He and Pepina had no time, now that the vintage
+had begun, to attend to such affairs, even if they knew how.
+
+Silvia grew pale. She had not expected to go before the spring, and
+now all was arranged without a word being said to her, and she was to
+go without saying good-bye to any one.
+
+Matteo's sharp eyes were watching her. "You will be ready to start at
+seven o'clock," he said; "I must be back to-morrow night."
+
+"Yes, Matteo," she faltered, hesitated a moment, then ventured to add,
+"I did not expect to go to soon."
+
+"And what of that?" he demanded roughly. "You were to go at the proper
+time, and the proper time is to-morrow."
+
+She trembled, but ventured another word: "I should like to see my
+confessor first."
+
+"He will come here this evening to see you," her brother replied: "I
+have already talked with him. You have nothing else to do. Pepina will
+pack your trunk while you are talking with the priest."
+
+Silvia had no more to say. She was bound hand and foot. Besides, she
+was willing to go, she assured herself. It was her duty to obey her
+parents, or the ones who stood in their place and had authority over
+her. Matteo said she must go; therefore it was her duty to go, and she
+was willing.
+
+But the willing girl looked very pale and walked about with a very
+feeble step, and it was hard work to keep the tears that were every
+moment rising to her eyes from falling over her cheeks. It was such a
+pitiful face, indeed, that Father Teodoli, when he came just before
+Ave Maria, asked if Silvia were ill.
+
+"She has had a toothache," Matteo said quickly, and gave his sister a
+glance.
+
+"And what have you done for it, my child?" the priest asked kindly.
+
+"Nothing," Silvia faltered out.
+
+"I will leave you to give Silvia all the advice she needs," Matteo
+said after the compliments of welcome were over. "I have to go down
+the Lungara for men to work in the vineyard to-morrow. Silvia, come
+and shut the door after me: there is too much draught here."
+
+Silvia followed her brother to the door, trembling for what he might
+say or do. Well she knew that his command was given only that he might
+have a chance to speak with her alone.
+
+"Mind what you say to your confessor," he whispered, grasping her arm
+and speaking in her ear. "You are to be a nun: you wish to be, and you
+are willing to set out to-morrow. Tell him no nonsense--do you
+hear?--or it will be worse for you. I shall know every word you say.
+If he asks if you had a toothache, say Yes. Do you hear?"
+
+"Yes, Matteo."
+
+She went back half fainting, and did as she had been commanded. If
+there had been any little lurking impulse to beg for another week or
+month, it died of fear. If she had any confession to make of other
+wishes than those chosen for her, she postponed it. Matteo might be
+behind the door listening, or in the next room or at the window. It
+seemed to her that he could make himself invisible in order to keep
+guard over her.
+
+So the priest talked a little, learned nothing, gave some advice,
+recommended himself to her prayers, gave her his benediction, and
+went. Then Pepina called her to see the trunk all packed with linen
+that had been laid by for her for years, and Matteo, who had really
+been lurking about the house, told her to go to bed, and himself
+really went off this time to the Lungara. Pepina's lover came for her
+to sit out on the doorstep with him, and Silvia was left alone. Nobody
+cared for her. All had other interests, and they forgot her the moment
+she was out of their sight. Worse, even: they wanted her to be for
+ever out of their sight, that they might never have to think of her.
+
+But no: there was one who did not forget her--who would perhaps
+now have heard that she was going away, and be waiting in the
+mountain-path for her. She hastened to her room, locked the door and
+went to the window. He made a gesture of haste, and she dropped the
+ball down to him. This was not the second time that their conversation
+had been held by means of a thread. Indeed, they had come to talk so
+every night. At first it had been a few words only, and Silvia's
+unconsciousness and her sincerity in her intention to follow her
+mother's will had imposed silence on the young man. But little by
+little he had ventured, and she had understood; and within the last
+week there had been no concealments between them, though Silvia still
+resisted all his prayers to change her resolution and brave her
+brother.
+
+His first note was in her hands in a moment:
+
+"Is it possible that what I hear is true? I will not believe it: I
+will not let you go."
+
+"Yes, and I must go," she wrote back. "I have to start at seven in the
+morning. Dear Claudio, be resigned: there is no help for it."
+
+"Silvia, why will you persist in ruining your life and mine? It is a
+sin. Say that you are too sick to go to-morrow. Stay in bed all day,
+and by night I will have a rope-ladder for you to come down to me. We
+can run away and hide somewhere."
+
+"I cannot. We could never hide from Matteo: he would find us out and
+kill us both."
+
+"I will go to the Holy Father and tell him all. We could be in Rome
+early in the morning if we should walk all night."
+
+"Matteo would hear us: he hears everything. We should never reach
+Rome. He would find us wherever we might be hidden. If we were dead
+and buried he would pull us out of the ground to stab us. I must go.
+I have sinned in having so much intercourse with you. Be resigned,
+Claudio. Be a good man, and we shall meet in heaven. The earth is a
+terrible place: I am afraid of it. I want to shut myself up in the
+convent and be at peace. I fear so much that I tremble all the time.
+Say addio."
+
+"I cannot. Will you stay in bed to-morrow, and let me try if I cannot
+go to Rome?"
+
+"Say addio, Claudio. I dare not stay here any longer: I hear some one
+outside my door. I say addio to you now. I shall not drop the ball
+again."
+
+She did not even draw it up again, for the thread caught on a nail in
+the wall and broke. And at the same time there was a knock at her
+door.
+
+"Silvia, why do you not go to bed?" Matteo called out: "I hear you
+up."
+
+"I am going now," she made haste to answer, and in her terror threw
+herself on the bed without undressing. She wondered if Matteo could
+hear her heart beat through the wall or see how she was shaking.
+
+The next morning at seven o'clock Silvia and her brother took their
+seats in the clumsy coach that goes from Monte Compatri to Rome
+whenever there are passengers enough to fill it, and after confused
+leavetakings from all but the one she wished most to see they set out.
+Claudio was invisible. In fact, he had lain on the ground all night
+beneath her window, and now, hidden in a tree, was watching the
+winding road for an occasional glimpse of the carriage as it bore his
+love away.
+
+The peasants of Italy, when they see the Milky Way stretching its
+wavering, cloudy path across the sky, shining as if made up of the
+footprints of innumerable saints, say that it is the road to
+Jerusalem. The road to the New Jerusalem has no such pallid and
+spiritual glory: its colors are those of life. No death but that of
+martyrdom, with its rosy blood, waving palm-branch and golden crown,
+is figured there. Life, and the joy of life, beauty so profuse that it
+can afford to have a few blemishes like a slatternly Venus, and the
+_dolce far niente_ of poverty that neither works nor starves,--they
+lie all along the road.
+
+Silvia was young, and had all her life looked forward to this journey.
+She could not be quite indifferent. She looked and listened, though
+all the time her heart was heavy for Claudio. They reached the gate of
+St. John Lateran just as all the bells began to ring for the noon
+_Angelus_, and in fifteen minutes were at the Signora Fantini's door
+and Silvia in the kind lady's arms. It seemed to the girl that she had
+found her mother again. That this lady was more gracious, graceful,
+kind and beautiful than her mother had ever been she would not think.
+She was simply another mother. And when Matteo had gone away home
+again, not too soon, and when, after a few days' sightseeing, the
+signora, suspecting that the continued sadness of her young guest had
+some other cause than separation from her brother and sister, sought
+persistently and artfully to win her secret, Silvia told her all with
+many tears. She was going to be a nun because her mother had said that
+she must--and she was willing to be a nun--certainly she was willing.
+But, for all that, if it could have been so, she would have been so
+happy with Claudio, and she never should be quite happy without him.
+
+"Then you must not be a nun," the signora said decidedly. "The thing
+is all wrong. You have no vocation. You should have said all this
+before."
+
+For already the signora had taken Silvia to see the Superior at Monte
+Cavallo, who had promised to receive the young novice in three weeks,
+and had told her what work she could perform in the convent. "You are
+not strong, I think," she had said, "but you can knit the stockings.
+All have to work."
+
+And Monsignor Catinari, whose business it was to examine all
+candidates for the conventual life, had held a long conversation with
+her and gone away perfectly satisfied.
+
+But when the signora proposed to undo all this, Silvia was wild with
+terror. No, no, she would be a nun. Her mother had said so, she wished
+it, and Matteo would kill her if she should refuse.
+
+"Leave it all to me," the signora said, and laid her motherly hand on
+the trembling little ones held out to her in entreaty. "We will look
+out for that. Matteo shall not hurt you or Claudio. I am going to send
+for Monsignor Catinari again, and you must tell him the truth this
+time. And then we will see what can be done in the case. Don't look so
+terrified, child. Do you think that Matteo rules the world?"
+
+Poor little Silvia could not be reassured, for to her other terrors
+was now added Monsignor Catinari's possible wrath. To her, men were
+objects of terror. The doctrine of masculine supremacy, so pitilessly
+upheld in Italy, was exaggerated to her mind by her brother's
+character; and though she believed that help was sometimes possible,
+she also believed that it often came too late, as in the case of poor
+Beatrice Cenci. They might stand between her and Matteo, but if he had
+first killed her, what good would it do? She had a fixed idea that he
+would kill her.
+
+Monsignor Catinari was indeed much provoked when the signora told him
+the true story of the little novice.
+
+"Just see what creatures girls are!" he exclaimed. "How are we to know
+if they have a vocation or not? That girl professed herself both
+willing and desirous to be a nun."
+
+He did not scold Silvia, however. When he saw her pretty frightened
+face his heart relented. "You have told me a good many lies, my
+child," he said, "but I forgive you, since they were not intended in
+malice. We will say no more about it. I learn from the signora that
+this Claudio is a good young man, so the sooner you are married the
+better. Cheer up: we will have you a bride by the first week of
+November; and if Claudio has such a wonderful voice, he can make his
+way in Rome." The reassurances of a man were more effectual than those
+of a woman.
+
+"At last I believe! at last I fear no more!" Silvia cried, throwing
+herself into the arms of the Signora Fantini when the Monsignor was
+gone. "Oh how beautiful the earth is! how beautiful life is!"
+
+"We will then begin immediately to enjoy life," the signora replied.
+"Collation is ready, and Nanna has bought us some of the most
+delicious grapes. See how large and rich they are! One could almost
+slice them. There! these black figs are like honey. Try one now,
+before your soup. The macaroni that will be brought in presently was
+made in the house--none of your Naples stuff, made nobody knows how or
+by whom. What else Nanna has for us I cannot say. She was very secret
+this morning, and I suspect that means rice-balls seasoned with
+mushrooms and hashed giblets of turkey. She always becomes mysterious
+when those are in preparation. Eat well, child, and get a little flesh
+and color before Claudio comes."
+
+They made a merry breakfast, with the noon sun sending its golden
+arrows through every tiniest chink of the closed shutters and an
+almost summer heat reigning without. Then there was an hour of sleep,
+then a drive to the Pincio to see all the notable people who came up
+there to look at or speak to each other while the sun sank behind St.
+Peter's. And in the evening after dinner they went to the housetop to
+see the fireworks which were being displayed for some festa or other;
+and later there was music, and then to bed.
+
+Life became an enchantment to the little bride-elect, as life in Italy
+will become to any one who has not too heavy a cross to bear. For
+peace in this beautiful land means delight, not merely the absence of
+pain. How the sun shone! and how the fountains danced! What roses
+bloomed everywhere! what fruits of Eden were everywhere piled! How
+soft the speech was! and how sweet the smiles! And when it was
+discovered that Silvia had a beautiful voice, so that she and Claudio
+would be like a pair of birds together, then it seemed to her that a
+nest of twigs on a tree-branch would be all that she could desire.
+
+They took her to see the pope on one of those days. It was as if they
+had taken her to heaven. To her he was the soul of Rome, the reason
+why Rome was; and when she saw his white figure against the scarlet
+background of cardinals she remembered how Rome looked against the
+rosy Campagna at sunset from her far-away window in Monte Compatri.
+
+"A little _sposa_, is she?" the pope said when Monsignor Catinari
+presented her.--"I bless you, my child: wear this in memory of me." He
+gave her a little gold medal from a tiny pocket at his side, laid his
+hand on her head, and passed on. It was too much: she had to weep for
+joy.
+
+Then, when the audience was over, they took her through the museum and
+library, and some one gave her a bunch of roses out of the pope's
+private garden, and she was put into a carriage and driven home, her
+heart beating somewhere in her head, her feet winged and her eyes
+dazzled.
+
+There was a rapturous letter from Claudio awaiting her, and by that
+she knew that it was not all a dream. She rattled the paper in her
+hands as she sat with her eyes shut, half dreaming, to make sure and
+keep sure that she was not to wake up presently to bitterness. Claudio
+would come to Rome in a week, and perhaps they would be married before
+he should go back. There was no letter from Matteo. So much the
+better.
+
+One golden day succeeded another, and Silvia changed from a lily to a
+rose with marvellous rapidity. She was not a ruddy, full-leaved rose,
+though, but like one of those delicate ones with clouds of red on them
+and petals that only touch the calyx, as if they were wings and must
+be free to move. She was slim and frail, and her color wavered, and
+her head had a little droop, and her voice was low. She had always
+been the stillest creature alive; and now, full of happiness as she
+was, her feelings showed themselves in an uneasy stirring, like that
+of a flower in which a bee has hidden itself. After the first outburst
+she did not so much say that she was happy as breathe and look it.
+
+One noonday, when life seemed too beautiful to last, and they all sat
+together after breakfast, the signora, her daughter and Silvia, too
+contented to say a word, the door opened, and Matteo Guai came in with
+a black, smileless face, and not the slightest salutation for his
+sister. He had come to take Silvia home, he replied briefly to the
+signora's compliments. She must be ready in an hour. The vintage was
+suffering by his absence, and it was necessary that he should return
+at once.
+
+Signora Fantini poured out the most voluble exclamations, prayers and
+protests. She had forty engagements for Silvia. They had had only a
+few days' visit from her, and she was to have stayed a month. They
+would themselves accompany her to Monte Compatri later if it was
+necessary that she should go. But, in fine, Monsignor Catinari did not
+expect her to return.
+
+"I am the head of the family, and my sister has to obey me till she is
+married," Matteo replied doggedly. "I suppose that Monsignor Catinari
+will not deny that. The Church always supports the authority of the
+master of the family."
+
+"Why, of course," the signora replied, rather confused by this
+irresistible argument, "you have the right, and no one will resist
+you. But as a favor now--" and the signora assumed her most coaxing
+smile, and even advanced a plump white hand to touch Matteo's sleeve.
+
+She might as well have tried to bewitch and persuade the bronze
+Augustus on the Capitoline Hill.
+
+"Things have changed since it was promised that Silvia should stay a
+month with you," Matteo replied. "There is work at home for her to do.
+Since she is not to be a nun, she must work. Let her be ready to start
+in an hour: my carriage is waiting at the door. I am going out into
+the piazza for a little while. I will send a man up for her trunk when
+I am ready to start."
+
+Silvia uttered not a word. At sight of her brother she had sunk back
+in her chair white and speechless. On hearing his voice she had closed
+her eyes.
+
+He half turned to her before going out, looking at her out of the
+corners of his evil eyes, a cold, strange smile wreathing his lips.
+"So you are not going to be a nun?" he said.
+
+She did not respond. Only the quiver of her lowered eyelids and a
+slight shiver told that she knew he was addressing her.
+
+Matteo went out, and the signora, at her wits' end, undertook to
+encourage Silvia. There was no time to see Monsignor Catinari or to
+appeal to any authority; and if there were, it would have availed
+nothing perhaps. Almost any one would have said that the girl's
+terrors were fanciful, and that it was quite natural her brother, who
+would lose five hundred scudi by her change of purpose, should require
+her to work as other girls of her condition worked.
+
+"Cheer up and go with him, _figlia mia_," she said, "and leave all to
+me. I will see Monsignor Catinari this very evening, and post a letter
+to you before I go to bed. If Matteo is unkind to you, we will have
+you taken away from him at once. And, in any case, you shall be
+married in a few weeks at the most, as Monsignor promised. Don't cry
+so: don't say that you cannot go. I am sorry and vexed, my dear, but
+I see no way but for you to go. Depend upon me. No harm shall come to
+you. I will myself come to Monte Compatri within the week, and arrange
+all for you. Besides, recollect that you will see Claudio: he is there
+waiting for you. Perhaps you may see him this very evening."
+
+The Signora Fantini's efforts to cheer and reassure the sister were as
+ineffectual as her efforts to persuade the brother had been. Silvia
+submitted because she had no strength to resist.
+
+"O Madonna mia!" she kept murmuring, "he will kill me! he will kill
+me! O Madonna mia! pray for me."
+
+When an Italian says that he will come back in an hour, you may look
+for him after two hours. Matteo was no exception to the rule. It was
+already mid-afternoon when the porter came up and said that Silvia's
+brother was waiting for her below.
+
+The signora gave her a tumbler half full of _vin santo_, which she
+kept for special occasions--a strong, delicious wine with the perfume
+of a whole garden in it. "Drink every drop," she commanded: "it will
+give you courage. You had better be a little tipsy than fainting away.
+And put this bottle into your pocket to drink when you have need on
+the way."
+
+More dead than alive, Silvia was placed in the little old-fashioned
+carriage that Matteo had hired to come to Rome in, and her brother
+took his seat beside her. The Signora Fantini and her daughter leaned
+from the window, kissing their hands to her and shaking their
+handkerchiefs as long as she was in sight. And as long as she was in
+sight they saw her pale face turned backward, looking at them. Then
+the tawny stone of a church-corner hid her from their eyes for ever.
+
+Who knows or can guess what that drive was? The two passed through
+Frascati, and Matteo stopped to speak to an acquaintance there. They
+drove around Monte Porzio, and Matteo stopped again, to buy a glass of
+wine and some figs. He offered some to his sister, but she shook her
+head.
+
+"She is sleepy," her brother said to the man of whom he had bought.
+"Give me another tumbler of wine: it isn't bad."
+
+"It is the last barrel I have of the vintage of two years ago," the
+man replied. "It was a good vintage. If the signorina would take a
+drop she would sleep the better. Besides, the night is coming on and
+there is a chill in the air."
+
+Silvia opened her eyes and made the little horizontal motion with her
+forefinger which in Italy means no.
+
+"She will sleep well enough," Matteo said, and drove on.
+
+Night was coming on, and they had no more towns to pass--only a bit
+more of lonely level road and the lonely road that wound to and fro up
+the mountain-side. At the best, they could not reach home before ten
+o'clock. The road went to and fro--sometimes open, to give a view of
+the Campagna and the Sabine Mountains, and Soracte swimming in a
+lustrous dimness on the horizon; sometimes shut in closely by trees,
+that made it almost black in spite of the moon. For the moon was low
+and gave but little light, being but a crescent as yet. There was a
+shooting star now and then, breaking out like a rocket with a trail of
+sparks or slipping small and pallid across the sky.
+
+One of these latter might have been poor Silvia's soul slipping away
+from the earth. It went out there somewhere on the mountain-side.
+Matteo said the carriage tilted, and she, being asleep, fell out
+before he could prevent. Her temple struck a sharp rock, and Claudio
+missed his bride.
+
+He had to keep quiet about it, though. What could he prove? what could
+any one prove? Where knives are sharp and people mind their own
+business, or express their opinions only by a shrug of the shoulders
+and a grimace, how is a poor boy, how is even a rich man or a rich
+woman, to come at the truth in such a case? Besides, the truth would
+not have brought her back, poor little Silvia!
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
+
+Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors; otherwise
+every effort has been made to remain true to the author's words and
+intent.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Stories by American Authors, Volume 2, by Various
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